Patent Description:
Internet of Things (IoT) grows rapidly in recent years. A Machine Type Communication (MTC) technology and a Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) technology are typical representatives of cellular Internet of Things technologies. Since the MTC/NB-IoT is widely applied to scenarios (for example, data collection) that mostly do not require high communication capabilities, user equipment for the MTC/NB-IoT doesn't require high communication capability. Thus, for the sake of cost, compared with an ordinary mobile phone, the user equipment for the MTC/NB-IoT allows a great decline in processing capability.

In an MTC/NB-IoT application scenario, for being transmitted from or received by the user equipment, a data packet is divided into a plurality of transmission blocks (TBs). Each transmission block is scheduled through an individual signaling on which a respective blind detection is performed by the user equipment, which results in more power consumption.

In order to overcome the above problems, in a related art, a plurality of transmission blocks are continuously scheduled through one signaling, so that a number of the blind detections performed by a user can be reduced. However, other problems may be introduced due to insufficient processing capabilities of the user equipment.

A document, <NPL>, presents a MAC protocol, based on MC-CDMA that uses an Access Point (AP) to centrally control the network and provide QoS support. The proposed protocol takes the intervals between two consecutive beacon frames - superframes, as the basic structure element of the centrally controlled MAC. After a guard interval of one slot, a beacon transmission is followed by the transmission of the Clear-To-Send-cumulative (CTScum) frame. CTScum is transmitted in parallel via all cchs, and contains information for the forthcoming transmissions during CFP in each cch, the so called access grants. An access grant contains the address of the transmitters in the order of transmission within a superframe and may be different for each cch. An extra byte in CTScum signals the periodic repetition of the cch allocation within a superframe, valid until the end of the superframe and the period duration, in order to reduce overhead. Another example is given in document <CIT>, disclosing a method for MTC downlink communication. The base station provides a slot allocated to plural MTC devices for downlink communication. The slot is repeated in each frame and includes information multiplexed for several MTC devices.

According to the present invention, two adjacent transmission blocks of a plurality of transmission blocks are spaced by a preset time interval. Therefore, compared with the case that the transmission blocks are continuously scheduled in a related art, user equipment takes more time to process a resource corresponding to each of the transmission blocks, so as to ensure that the transmission blocks are transmitted and received well.

The drawings related to the description of the examples will be briefly introduced to explain the technical solutions provided by the examples of the present invention more clearly. It is obvious that, the drawings in the following description illustrate only some examples of the present invention, and based on these drawings, those of ordinary skill in the art may obtain other drawings without creative work.

The following, in conjunction with the drawings of the examples of the present invention, will clearly and completely describe the technical solutions provided in the examples of the present invention. It is obvious that the described examples are partial examples, not all implementations of the present invention. Based on the examples provided in the present invention, all of other examples, which can be obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative work, shall fall within the protection scope of this application.

<FIG> is a schematic flowchart illustrating a method of processing transmission blocks according to the present invention. The method illustrated in the example may be applied to user equipment. The user equipment implements its communication based on MTC and/or NB-IoT technologies, with a lower data processing capability than a general mobile phone.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the method of processing transmission blocks according to the invention includes the following steps.

At step S1, a scheduling signaling is received from a base station, where the scheduling signaling is configured to schedule a plurality of transmission blocks. In some examples, for each of the transmission blocks, its data size may be identical with or different from another one, without being limited by the present invention.

At step S2, the plurality of transmission blocks are transmitted to the base station and/or the plurality of transmission blocks are received from the base station, where two adjacent transmission blocks of the plurality of transmission blocks are spaced by a preset time interval.

Regardless of whether the user equipment transmits the plurality of transmission blocks to the base station or receives the plurality of transmission blocks from the base station, the user equipment processes resources on which the transmission blocks are carried. <FIG> is a schematic diagram illustrating receiving transmission blocks in the related arts. As illustrated in <FIG>, for example, <NUM> transmission blocks are received from the base station, which respectively correspond to physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) resources: PDSCH1, PDSCH2, PDSCH3, and PDSCH4. The <NUM> transmission blocks are continuously scheduled through a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) signaling, and thus the resources respectively corresponding to the <NUM> transmission blocks are not to be spaced in time since the <NUM> transmission blocks are continuously scheduled. Meanwhile, the transmission blocks corresponding to the PDSCH resources may not be obtained unless the user equipment performs operations such as demodulating the PDSCH resources.

In the case that the user equipment has a low data processing capability, i.e., a slow data processing speed, the user equipment may not complete demodulating the PDSCH1 to obtain the first transmission block within a time period t1 corresponding to the PDSCH1. Considering that the user equipment has received the PDSCH2 before receiving the PDSCH3, if the first transmission block is not demodulated from the PDSCH1 until the user equipment receives the PDSCH3, it is possible that the user equipment ignores the PDSCH2 and only demodulates the PDSCH3 that is most recently received, which may result in fewer demodulated transmission blocks than the transmission blocks transmitted from the base station.

According to some examples of the present invention, two adjacent transmission blocks of the transmission blocks are spaced by the preset time interval. Therefore, compared with the case that the transmission blocks are continuously scheduled in the related art, the user equipment takes more time to process the resource corresponding to each of the transmission blocks, so as to ensure that the transmission blocks are transmitted and received well. That is, no transmission is performed during the preset time interval.

<FIG> is a schematic diagram illustrating receiving transmission blocks according to the present invention. As illustrated in <FIG>, for example, receiving the <NUM> transmission blocks from the base station is still taken as an example. Since in the plurality of transmission blocks, two adjacent transmission blocks are spaced by the preset time interval t0, a time period between receiving the PDSCH1 and receiving the PDSCH2, t1+t0, is given to the user equipment to demodulate the first transmission block from the PDSCH1, according to the invention. Therefore, it can be guaranteed to a large extent that when receiving the PDSCH2, the user equipment has completed the demodulation of another PDSCH resource and thus can demodulate the PDSCH2. Accordingly, it can be guaranteed that the <NUM> transmission blocks are demodulated by the user equipment, so as to ensure that the transmission blocks are received well.

<FIG> is a schematic flowchart illustrating another method of processing transmission blocks according to an example of the present invention. As illustrated in <FIG>, on the basis of the example illustrated in <FIG>, the method further includes:
at step S3, the preset time interval is determined based on a communication protocol with the base station before the plurality of transmission blocks are transmitted to the base station or received from the base station.

In one example, the preset time interval may be configured in the communication protocol between the base station and the user equipment in advance, so that the user equipment can directly determine the preset time interval based on the communication protocol when communicating with the base station. In some examples, the user equipment may determine the preset time interval before transmitting the plurality of transmission blocks to the base station, or the user equipment may determine the preset time interval before receiving the plurality of transmission blocks from the base station.

<FIG> is a schematic flowchart illustrating another method of processing transmission blocks according to an example of the present invention. As illustrated in <FIG>, on the basis of the example illustrated in <FIG>, the method further includes:.

In one example, the user equipment may determine the preset time interval based on its own data processing capability information. For example, the weaker the data processing capability is, the longer the determined preset time interval may be, while the stronger the data processing capability is, the shorter the determined preset time interval may be. Then, the determined preset time interval may be sent to the base station, so that the base station may also transmit and receive transmission blocks based on the preset time interval, and thereby communicates with the user equipment well. In some examples, the user equipment may send the preset time interval to the base station before transmitting the plurality of transmission blocks to the base station, or the user equipment may send the preset time interval to the base station before receiving the plurality of transmission blocks from the base station.

It should be noted that the user equipment may perform sending the preset time interval to the base station after receiving a trigger message from the base station, or may actively perform it as required, e.g., when a communication connection with the base station is established.

<FIG> is a schematic flowchart illustrating another method of processing transmission blocks according to an example of the present invention. As illustrated in <FIG>, on the basis of the example illustrated in <FIG>, that the preset time interval is sent to the base station includes:.

In one example, the user equipment may first determine the indication information corresponding to the preset time interval and then send the indication information to the base station. Since the base station stores the first association relationship in advance, after receiving the indication information, the base station can determine the preset time interval corresponding to the indication information. Therefore, the base station may also transmit and receive transmission blocks based on the preset time interval, and thereby communicates with the user equipment well.

For example, the first association relationship may be shown in Table <NUM>:.

If an indicator sent by the user equipment is <NUM>, the base station may determine based on the first association relationship that the user equipment is to receive and transmit the transmission blocks by the preset time interval of <NUM> milliseconds.

<FIG> is a schematic flowchart illustrating another method of processing transmission blocks according to an example of the present invention. As illustrated in <FIG>, on the basis of the example illustrated in <FIG>, the method further includes:
at step S6, the preset time interval is received from the base station before the plurality of transmission blocks are transmitted to the base station or received from the base station.

In one example, the preset time interval may also be configured by the base station and sent to the user equipment, so that the user equipment can transmit and receive the transmission blocks based on the preset time interval. In some examples, the user equipment may receive the preset time interval from the base station before transmitting the plurality of transmission blocks to the base station, or the user equipment may receive the preset time interval from the base station before receiving the plurality of transmission blocks from the base station.

<FIG> is a schematic flowchart illustrating another method of processing transmission blocks according to an example of the present invention. As illustrated in <FIG>, on the basis of the example illustrated in <FIG>, that the preset time interval is received from the base station includes:.

In one example, the base station may determine the data size of transmission blocks to be sent. In particular, the base station may determine the data size of transmission block based on pre-stored configuration information or based on data processing capability information of the user equipment. Further, data to be transmitted may be divided into the plurality of transmission blocks based on the determined data size.

After receiving the data size of transmission block, the user equipment may determine the preset time interval corresponding to the data size, and then may transmit and receive the transmission blocks based on the preset time interval. Besides, since the base station stores the second association relationship in advance, based on the second association relationship, the base station can determine the preset time interval corresponding to the data size of transmission block sent to the user equipment by it, so that the base station can also transmit and receive transmission blocks by the preset time interval, and thereby ensures that the communication between the base station and the user equipment can work well. In some examples, based on the second association relationship, the larger the data size of transmission block is, the longer the determined preset time interval may be, while the smaller the data size of transmission block is, the shorter the determined preset time interval may be.

For example, the second association relationship may be shown in Table <NUM>:.

If the data size of transmission block to be sent is between X bits and Y bits, based on the second association relationship, the user equipment may determine to receive and transmit the transmission blocks by the preset time interval of <NUM> milliseconds. In some examples, the respective values of X, Y, and Z may be configured as required.

In one example, the base station may first indicate the plurality of time intervals to the user equipment through the radio resource control signaling, and further indicate the preset time interval among the indicated plurality of time intervals through a physical downlink control channel message. Accordingly, the overhead of the physical downlink control message can be reduced.

In some examples, the time intervals supported by the user equipment constitute a time interval set, a plurality of first characters may be contained in the radio resource control signaling, and there is a correspondence between first characters and time intervals, so that the user equipment may determine the plurality of time intervals in the time interval set based on the plurality of first characters in accordance with the correspondence between first characters and time intervals. Correspondingly, a second character may be included in the physical downlink control channel message, and there is a correspondence between second characters and time intervals, so that the user equipment may determine the preset time interval from the plurality of time intervals based on the second character in accordance with the correspondence between second characters and time intervals.

For example, the user equipment may support <NUM> time intervals in total. It occupies <NUM> bits if the preset time interval is just indicated among the <NUM> time intervals through the physical downlink control channel message, while only <NUM> bits if <NUM> time intervals are first indicated among the <NUM> time intervals through the radio resource control signaling and then the preset time interval is indicated among the <NUM> time intervals through the physical download control channel message.

In one example, the user equipment may determine the plurality of time intervals based on its own data processing capability information. For example, the user equipment may support <NUM> time intervals, and accordingly determine <NUM> time intervals from the <NUM> time intervals to match its own data processing capability.

In addition, the user equipment may also send its own data processing capability information to the base station, and the base station may determine the plurality of time intervals based on a correspondence between data processing capability information and time intervals as well as based on the received data processing capability information.

Then, the base station may further indicate the preset time interval among the determined plurality of time intervals through the radio resource control signaling or the physical downlink control channel message, which can accordingly reduce the overhead of the physical downlink control message.

In some examples, a first character may be included in the radio resource control signaling, and there is a correspondence between first characters and time intervals, so that the user equipment may determine the preset time interval from the plurality of time intervals based on the first character in accordance with the correspondence between first characters and time intervals. A second character may be included in the physical downlink control channel message, and there is a correspondence between second characters and time intervals, so that the user equipment may determine the preset time interval from the plurality of time intervals based on the second character in accordance with the correspondence between second characters and time intervals.

For example, the user equipment may support <NUM> time intervals in total. It occupies <NUM> bits if the preset time interval is just indicated among the <NUM> time intervals through the physical downlink control channel message, while only <NUM> bits if <NUM> time intervals are first indicated among the <NUM> time intervals based on the data processing capability information and then the preset time interval is indicated among the <NUM> time intervals through the physical download control channel message.

In one example, the base station may determine the data size of transmission block to be sent. For example, the base station may determine the data size of transmission block based on pre-stored configuration information or based on data processing capability information of the user equipment. Further, data to be transmitted may be divided into the plurality of transmission blocks based on the determined data size.

The user equipment may determine the plurality of time intervals based on the data size of transmission block sent by the base station. For example, the user equipment may support <NUM> time intervals, and accordingly determine <NUM> time intervals from the <NUM> time intervals to match the data size of transmission block sent by the base station.

In addition, the base station may further determine the plurality of time intervals based on the determined data size of transmission block in accordance with the correspondence between data sizes of transmission block and time intervals.

Then, the base station may further indicate the preset time interval among the determined plurality of time intervals through a radio resource control signaling or the physical downlink control channel message, which can accordingly reduce the overhead of the physical downlink control message.

For example, the user equipment may support <NUM> time intervals in total. It occupies <NUM> bits if the preset time interval is just indicated among the <NUM> time intervals through the physical downlink control channel message, while only <NUM> bits if <NUM> time intervals are first indicated among the <NUM> time intervals based on the data size of transmission block and then the preset time interval is indicated among the <NUM> time intervals through the physical download control channel message.

<FIG> is a schematic flowchart illustrating a method of processing transmission blocks according to an example of the present invention. The apparatus for processing transmission blocks illustrated in the example is applied to a base station. The base station may be a <NUM>-based base station or a <NUM> base station. The base station communicates with the user equipment of the examples illustrated in <FIG>.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the method of processing transmission blocks includes:.

<FIG> is a schematic flowchart illustrating another method of processing transmission blocks according to an example of the present invention. As illustrated in <FIG>, on the basis of the example illustrated in <FIG>, the method further includes:
at step S3', the preset time interval is determined based on a communication protocol with the user equipment before the plurality of transmission blocks are transmitted to the user equipment or received from the user equipment.

<FIG> is a schematic flowchart illustrating another method of processing transmission blocks according to an example of the present invention. As illustrated in <FIG>, on the basis of the example illustrated in <FIG>, the method further includes:
at step S4', the preset time interval is received from the user equipment before the plurality of transmission blocks are transmitted to the user equipment or received from the user equipment.

<FIG> is a schematic flowchart illustrating another method of processing transmission blocks according to an example of the present invention. As illustrated in <FIG>, based on the example illustrated in <FIG>, that the preset time interval is received from the user equipment includes:.

<FIG> is a schematic flowchart illustrating another method of processing transmission blocks according to an example of the present invention. As illustrated in <FIG>, on the basis of the example illustrated in <FIG>, the method further includes:
at step S5', the preset time interval is sent to the user equipment before the plurality of transmission blocks are transmitted to the user equipment or received from the user equipment.

<FIG> is a schematic flowchart illustrating another method of processing transmission blocks according to an example of the present invention. As illustrated in <FIG>, on the basis of the example illustrated in <FIG>, that the preset time interval is sent to the user equipment includes:.

<FIG> is a schematic block diagram illustrating an apparatus for processing transmission blocks according to an example. The apparatus illustrated in the example may be applied to user equipment. The user equipment may implement its communication based on MTC and/or NB-IoT technologies, with a lower data processing capability than a general mobile phone.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the apparatus for processing transmission blocks according to the example may include:.

<FIG> is a schematic block diagram illustrating another apparatus for processing transmission blocks according to an example. As illustrated in <FIG>, on the basis of the example illustrated in <FIG>, the apparatus further includes:
a first determining module <NUM>, configured to determine the preset time interval based on a communication protocol with the base station before the communicating module <NUM> transmits the plurality of transmission blocks to the base station or receives the plurality of transmission blocks from the base station.

<FIG> is a schematic block diagram illustrating another apparatus for processing transmission blocks according to an example. As illustrated in <FIG>, on the basis of the example illustrated in <FIG>, the apparatus further includes:.

<FIG> is a schematic block diagram illustrating an interval sending module according to an example. As illustrated in <FIG>, on the basis of the example illustrated in <FIG>, the interval sending module <NUM> includes:.

<FIG> is a schematic block diagram illustrating another apparatus for processing transmission blocks according to an example. As illustrated in <FIG>, on the basis of the example illustrated in <FIG>, the apparatus further includes:
an interval receiving module <NUM>, configured to receive the preset time interval from the base station before the plurality of transmission blocks are transmitted to the base station or received from the base station.

<FIG> is a schematic block diagram illustrating an interval receiving module according to an example. As illustrated in <FIG>, on the basis of the example illustrated in <FIG>, the interval receiving module <NUM> includes:.

<FIG> is a schematic block diagram illustrating another interval receiving module according to an example. As illustrated in <FIG>, on the basis of the example illustrated in <FIG>, the interval receiving module <NUM> includes:.

<FIG> is a schematic block diagram illustrating an apparatus for processing transmission blocks according to an example. The apparatus for processing transmission blocks illustrated in the example may be applied to a base station. The base station may be a <NUM>-based base station or a <NUM> base station. The base station may communicate with the user equipment of the examples illustrated in <FIG> and <FIG>.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the apparatus for processing transmission blocks includes:.

<FIG> is a schematic block diagram illustrating another apparatus for processing transmission blocks according to an example. As illustrated in <FIG>, on the basis of the example illustrated in <FIG>, the apparatus for processing transmission blocks further includes:
an interval determining module <NUM>', configured to determine the preset time interval based on a communication protocol with the user equipment before the communicating module transmits the plurality of transmission blocks to the user equipment or receives the plurality of transmission blocks from the user equipment.

<FIG> is a schematic block diagram illustrating another apparatus for processing transmission blocks according to an example. As illustrated in <FIG>, on the basis of the example illustrated in <FIG>, the apparatus for processing transmission blocks further includes:
an interval receiving module <NUM>', configured to receive the preset time interval from the user equipment before the communicating module transmits the plurality of transmission blocks to the user equipment or receives the plurality of transmission blocks from the user equipment.

<FIG> is a schematic block diagram illustrating an interval receiving module according to an example. As illustrated in <FIG>, on the basis of the example illustrated in <FIG>, the interval receiving module <NUM>' includes:.

<FIG> is a schematic block diagram illustrating another apparatus for processing transmission blocks according to an example. As illustrated in <FIG>, on the basis of the example illustrated in <FIG>, the apparatus for processing transmission blocks further includes:
an interval sending module <NUM>', configured to send the preset time interval to the user equipment before the communicating module transmits the plurality of transmission blocks to the user equipment or receives the plurality of transmission blocks from the user equipment.

<FIG> is a schematic block diagram illustrating an interval sending module according to an example. As illustrated in <FIG>, on the basis of the example illustrated in <FIG>, the interval sending module <NUM>' includes:.

<FIG> is a schematic block diagram illustrating another interval sending module according to an example. As illustrated in <FIG>, on the basis of the example illustrated in <FIG>, the interval sending module <NUM>' includes:.

Regarding the apparatus in the foregoing examples, the specific manner in which each module performs its operation has been described in detail in the examples of the corresponding method, and will not be repeated here.

Since the apparatus examples essentially correspond to the method examples, reference may be made to the description of related parts of the method examples. The apparatus examples described above are merely illustrative, where the units described as separate members may be or not be physically separated, and the members displayed as units may be or not be physical units, i.e., may be located in one place, or may be distributed to a plurality of network units. Some or all of the modules may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the objectives of the implementations of the examples. It can be understood and implemented by those of ordinary skill in the art without any creative effort.

<FIG> is a structural schematic diagram illustrating a device for processing transmission blocks according to an example. The device <NUM> may be provided as a base station. As illustrated in <FIG>, the device <NUM> includes a processing component <NUM>, a wireless transmission/reception component <NUM>, an antenna component <NUM>, and a signal processing part peculiar to the wireless interface. The processing component <NUM> may further include one or more processors. One of the processors in the processing component <NUM> may be configured to perform the method of processing transmission blocks described by any one of the foregoing examples illustrated in <FIG>.

<FIG> is a structural schematic diagram illustrating a device <NUM> for processing transmission blocks according to an example. For example, the device <NUM> may be a mobile phone, a computer, a digital broadcasting terminal, a messaging device, a game console, a tablet device, a medical device, a fitness device, a personal digital assistant, and the like.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the device <NUM> may include one or more of the following components: a processing component <NUM>, a memory <NUM>, a power supply 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 the overall operations of the device <NUM>, such as operations associated with display, phone calls, data communications, camera operations, and recording operations. The processing element <NUM> may include one or more processors <NUM> to execute instructions to complete all or part of the steps of the above method illustrated in <FIG>. In addition, the processing component <NUM> may include one or more modules which facilitate the interaction between the processing component <NUM> and other components. For example, the processing component <NUM> may include a multimedia module to facilitate the interaction between the multimedia component <NUM> and the processing component <NUM>.

Examples of such data include instructions for any application or method operated on the device <NUM>, contact data, phonebook data, messages, pictures, videos, and the like. The memory <NUM> may be implemented by any type of volatile or non-volatile storage device or a combination thereof, such as static random access memory (SRAM), electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), erasable programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM), programmable Read Only Memory (PROM), Read Only Memory (ROM), Magnetic Memory, Flash Memory, Disk or Optical Disk.

The power supply component <NUM> provides power to different components of the device <NUM>. The power supply component <NUM> may include a power management system, one or more power supplies, and other components associated with generating, managing, and distributing power for the device <NUM>.

The multimedia component <NUM> includes a screen providing an output interface between the device <NUM> and a user. In some examples, the screen may include a liquid crystal display (LCD) and a touch panel (TP). If the screen includes the TP, the screen may be implemented as a touch screen to receive input signals from the user. The TP may include one or more touch sensors to sense touches, swipes, and gestures on the TP. The touch sensors may not only sense a boundary of a touch or swipe, but also sense a lasting time and a pressure associated with the touch or swipe. In some examples, the multimedia component <NUM> includes a front camera and/or a rear camera. The front camera and/or rear camera may receive external multimedia data when the device <NUM> is in an operating mode, such as a photographing mode or a video mode. Each front camera and rear camera may be a fixed optical lens system or have focal length and optical zooming capability.

The audio component <NUM> is configured to output and/or input an audio signal. For example, the audio component <NUM> includes a microphone (MIC) that is configured to receive an external audio signal when the device <NUM> is in an operating mode, such as a call mode, a recording mode, and a voice recognition mode. The received audio signal may be further stored in the memory <NUM> or sent via the communication component <NUM>. In some examples, the audio component <NUM> also includes a speaker for outputting an audio signal.

The I/O interface <NUM> provides an interface between the processing component <NUM> and a peripheral interface module. The above peripheral interface module may be a keyboard, a click wheel, buttons, or the like. These buttons may include but not limited to, a home button, a volume button, a start button and a lock button.

The sensor component <NUM> includes one or more sensors to provide the device <NUM> with status assessments in various aspects. For example, the sensor component <NUM> may detect an open/closed state of the device <NUM> and a relative positioning of components such as the display and keypad of the device <NUM>, and the sensor component <NUM> may also detect a change in position of the device <NUM> or a component of the device <NUM>, the presence or absence of user contact with the device <NUM>, orientation or acceleration/deceleration of the device <NUM>, and temperature change of the device <NUM>. The sensor component <NUM> may include a proximity sensor configured to detect the presence of a nearby object without any physical contact. The sensor component <NUM> may further include an optical sensor, such as a Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) or Charged Coupled Device (CCD) image sensor which is used in imaging applications. In some examples, the sensor component <NUM> may also include an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, a magnetic sensor, a pressure sensor, or a temperature sensor.

The communication component <NUM> is configured to facilitate wired or wireless communication between the device <NUM> and other devices. The device <NUM> may access a wireless network based on a communication standard, such as WiFi, <NUM> or <NUM>, or a combination thereof. In an exemplary example, the communication component <NUM> receives broadcast signals or broadcast related information from an external broadcast management system via a broadcast channel. In an exemplary example, the communication component <NUM> also includes a near field communication (NFC) module to facilitate short-range communication. For example, the NFC module may 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 some exemplary examples, the device <NUM> may be implemented by 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, microcontrollers, microprocessors, or other electronic components for performing the method of processing transmission blocks described in any of the above examples.

In some exemplary examples, there is also provided a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions, such as the memory <NUM> including instructions executable by the processor <NUM> of the device <NUM> to implement the above methods illustrated in <FIG>. For example, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may be a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disk, an optical data storage device, and the like. The scope of the present invention is to be limited only by the appended claims.

It should be noted that the relational terms such as "first" and "second" used herein are merely intended to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation rather than to require or imply any such actual relationship or order existing between these entities or operations. Also, the term "including", "containing", or any variation thereof is intended to encompass non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article, or device including a series of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not listed explicitly or those elements inherent to such a process, method, article, or device. Without more limitations, an element defined by the statement "including a. " shall not be precluded to include additional same elements present in a process, method, article or device including the element.

Claim 1:
A method of processing transmission blocks, applied to user equipment, wherein the user equipment is a Narrow Band Internet of Things, NB-IoT, type device, or a Machine Type Communication, MTC, type device; the method comprising:
receiving (S1) a scheduling signaling from a base station, wherein the scheduling signaling is configured to schedule a plurality of transmission blocks; and
performing (S2) a transmission on the plurality of transmission blocks with the base station,
wherein two adjacent transmission blocks of the plurality of transmission blocks are spaced by a preset time interval;
wherein the preset time interval is configured for the NB-IoT type device or the MTC type device to demodulate the previous transmission block; and
wherein the transmission is one of an uplink transmission or a downlink transmission.