PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-12218767-B2
Application Number: US-202117773146-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Systems, methods, and devices for HARQ management in non-terrestrial networks

Abstract:
Techniques, described herein, include solutions for managing hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) processes and communications for non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) (e.g., a wireless communication network that includes a satellite network component). A user equipment (UE) may connect to an NTN and determine hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) capabilities regarding NTNs. The UE may also communicate a HARQ disablement message to the NTN and communicate with NTN without HARQ procedures. The HARQ disablement message may provide the HARQ disablement capabilities of the UE and/or be a request for the network to disable HARQ. The HARQ disablement message may include a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message and may address HARQ disablement per logical channel identifier (LCID) or dedicated radio bearer (DRB).

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A baseband processor configured to perform operations comprising:
 receiving a request, from a non-terrestrial network (NTN), for hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) disablement information, the HARQ disablement information indicating whether or not a user equipment (UE) is capable of communication with the NTN without HARQ feedback; and 
 in response,
 determining HARQ disablement information; 
 causing transmission of a message communicating the HARQ disablement information to the NTN; and 
 controlling a transceiver to communicate with the NTN in accordance with the HARQ disablement information. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The baseband processor of  claim 1 , wherein the HARQ disablement information is communicated via a UE Capability Information radio resource control (RRC) message. 
     
     
       3. The baseband processor of  claim 1 , wherein the HARQ disablement information comprises an lcp-Restriction-NTN information element (IE) indicating whether the UE supports HARQ disablement for logical channels indicated by an RRC message from the NTN. 
     
     
       4. The baseband processor of  claim 1 , wherein the HARQ disablement information comprises an indication that the UE supports downlink (DL) HARQ disablement and uplink (UL) HARQ disablement. 
     
     
       5. The baseband processor of  claim 1 , wherein the HARQ disablement information comprises a request for HARQ disablement. 
     
     
       6. The baseband processor of  claim 1 , wherein the HARQ disablement information comprises a UE Assistance Information RRC message that includes a request to disable HARQ. 
     
     
       7. The baseband processor of  claim 1 , wherein the HARQ disablement information comprises an indication that the UE supports DL HARQ disablement and UL HARQ disablement for a dedicate radio bearer (DRB). 
     
     
       8. The baseband processor of  claim 1 , wherein the operations comprise communicating with the NTN in accordance with the HARQ disablement information in response to receiving an RRC reconfiguration message, from the NTN, configuring HARQ disablement. 
     
     
       9. The baseband processor of  claim 1 , wherein the HARQ disablement information comprises MAC CEs configured to indicate DL HARQ disablement and UL HARQ disablement per logical channel identifier (LCID). 
     
     
       10. The baseband processor of  claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise communicating with the NTN in accordance with the HARQ disablement information in response to receiving a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message indicating DL HARQ disablement and UL HARQ disablement for a dedicated radio bearer (DRB). 
     
     
       11. The baseband processor of  claim 10 , wherein the DRB corresponds to a quality of service (QoS) for which DL HARQ disablement and UL HARQ is disabled for NTN. 
     
     
       12. The baseband processor of  claim 10 , wherein the RRC reconfiguration message includes a radio bearer configuration information element (IE) indicating the DRB. 
     
     
       13. A user equipment (UE), configured to:
 receive a request, from a non-terrestrial network (NTN), for hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) disablement information, the HARQ disablement information indicating whether or not a user equipment (UE) is capable of communication with the NTN without HARQ feedback; and 
 in response,
 determine HARQ disablement information; 
 transmit a message communicating the HARQ disablement information to the NTN; and 
 communicate with the NTN in accordance with the HARQ disablement information. 
 
 
     
     
       14. The UE of  claim 13 , wherein the HARQ disablement information is communicated via a UE Capability Information radio resource control (RRC) message. 
     
     
       15. The UE of  claim 14 , wherein the HARQ disablement information comprises an lcp-Restriction-NTN information element (IE) indicating whether the UE supports HARQ disablement for logical channels indicated by an RRC message from the NTN; and wherein the HARQ disablement information further comprises an indication that the UE supports downlink (DL) HARQ disablement and uplink (UL) HARQ disablement. 
     
     
       16. The UE of  claim 13 , wherein the HARQ disablement information comprises a UE Assistance Information RRC message that includes a request to disable HARQ and the HARQ disablement information further comprises an indication that the UE supports DL HARQ disablement and UL HARQ disablement for a dedicate radio bearer (DRB). 
     
     
       17. A method performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising:
 establishing a connection with a non-terrestrial network (NTN); 
 receiving a request, from a non-terrestrial network (NTN), for hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) disablement information, the HARQ disablement information indicating whether or not a user equipment (UE) is capable of communication with the NTN without HARQ feedback; and 
 in response,
 determining HARQ disablement information; 
 transmitting a message communicating the HARQ disablement information to the NTN; and 
 communicating with the NTN in accordance with the HARQ disablement information. 
 
 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 communicating with the NTN in accordance with the HARQ disablement information in response to receiving a RRC reconfiguration message indicating DL HARQ disablement and UL HARQ disablement for a dedicated radio bearer (DRB). 
 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 18 , wherein the DRB corresponds to a quality of service (QoS) for which DL HARQ disablement and UL HARQ is disabled for NTN. 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 19 , wherein the RRC reconfiguration message includes a radio bearer configuration information element (IE) indicating the DRB.

Description:
This application is a National Phase entry application of International Patent Application No. PCT/CN2021/111055 filed Aug. 5, 2021, entitled “SYSTEMS, METHODS, AND DEVICES FOR HARQ MANAGEMENT IN NON-TERRESTRIAL NETWORKS”, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety. 
     FIELD 
     This disclosure relates to wireless communication networks including techniques for managing non-terrestrial networks. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Wireless communication networks may include user equipment (UEs) (e.g., smartphones, tablet computers, etc.) capable of communicating with base stations and other network nodes. Some types of wireless networks include non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) that involve satellites configured to further enable network devices to communicate with one another. Important aspects of wireless networks include processes and procedures that help ensure information transmitted between devices arrive in a timely and complete manner. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present disclosure will be readily understood and enabled by the detailed description and accompanying figures of the drawings. Like reference numerals may designate like features and structural elements. Figures and corresponding descriptions are provided as non-limiting examples of aspects, implementations, etc., of the present disclosure, and references to “an” or “one” aspect, implementation, etc., may not necessarily refer to the same aspect, implementation, etc., and may mean at least one, one or more, etc. 
         FIG.  1    is a diagram of an example network according to one or more implementations described herein. 
         FIG.  2    is a diagram of an example overview of hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) management in a non-terrestrial network (NTN). 
         FIG.  3    is a diagram of an example of a process for disabling HARQ signaling in an NTN. 
         FIG.  4    is a diagram of an example of a process for providing user equipment (UE) capabilities regarding HARQ feedback disablement. 
         FIG.  5    is a diagram of an example of a process for requesting HARQ disablement in an NTN. 
         FIG.  6    is a diagram of examples of media access control (MAC) control elements (CEs) for indicating, per logical channel identifier (LCID), enablement/disablement for HARQ processes. 
         FIG.  7    is a diagram of an example of a process for disabling HARQ in an NTN per dedicated radio bearer (DRB). 
         FIG.  8    is a diagram of an example of components of a device according to one or more implementations described herein. 
         FIG.  9    is a diagram of example interfaces of baseband circuitry according to one or more implementations described herein. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. Like reference numbers in different drawings may identify the same or similar features, elements, operations, etc. Additionally, the present disclosure is not limited to the following description as other implementations may be utilized, and structural or logical changes made, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. 
     Some wireless communication networks may include user equipment (UEs) capable of communicating wirelessly with base stations and other network nodes. Non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) may comprise wireless networks that include satellites configured to operate as network components and thereby further enable devices (e.g., UEs, base stations, etc.) to communicate with one another. NTNs may be configured to implement fourth generation (4G) technology, fifth generation (5G) or new radio (NR) technology, sixth generation (6G) technology, and so on. While the use of satellites may create a more dynamic or expansive network, satellites may also increase an amount of power devices use in communicating with one another, an amount of time transmissions and responses may take to travel from a source to a destination, and so on. An aspect of NTNs that may further increase the power and time required for communication may include hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) procedures (e.g., HARQ feedback). 
     A HARQ procedure may include a combination of high-rate forward error correction (FEC) and automatic repeat request (ARQ) error-control techniques. In standard ARQ, redundant bits may be added to data to be transmitted using an error-detecting (ED) code, such as a cyclic redundancy check (CRC). Receivers detecting a corrupted message may request a new message from the sender. In hybrid-ARQ (or HARQ), original data may be encoded with an FEC code, and parity bits may be either immediately sent along with the message or only transmitted upon request when a receiver detects an erroneous message. The FEC code may be chosen to correct an expected subset of errors that may occur, while the ARQ method is used as a fallback to correct errors that are uncorrectable using only the redundancy sent in the initial transmission. Indeed, HARQ procedures may include a feedback component (e.g., HARQ feedback) which may include one or more operations whereby a receiving device determines and indicates whether information from a transmitting device has been successfully received and decoded (resulting in an acknowledgement (ACK) response to the transmitting device) or unsuccessfully received and decoded (resulting in non-acknowledgement (NACK) response to the transmitting device), which can often result in devices waiting for successful transmission, receiving retransmissions, and/or performing other resource-costing processes. As communications within an NTN can inherently tend to use extra power and time to transmit and receive information (e.g., because of the use of satellites), implementing HARQ procedures can result in a further increase in the power and time required for device communications because of the signaling redundancy and verification involved. Meanwhile, the value of HARQ procedures may have diminishing returns in certain situations, or the cost of HARQ procedures may outweigh its benefits. As such, disabling HARQ procedures may be beneficial for at least some communications in an NTN. 
     In bands and architectures that the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) has considered so far, few or no situations were encountered where they impacted HARQ feedback in terms of latencies. Hence, it was up to the network to decide to enable or disable HARQ feedback and therefore, no explicit signaling was specified. NTN is a scenario where having HARQ feedback would impact latency in ways where maintaining quality of service (QoS) and high throughputs may not be possible due to large propagation speeds. The problem with these large latencies is that, in a HARQ enabled scenario, in case of retransmissions, the UE may just be monitoring the channel, waiting for the retransmissions to complete. The network in this case can disable HARQ using the existing implicit mechanism, but due to the large propagation delay associated with NTN networks, the UE may be unaware of disablement of HARQ for a period of time, resulting in significant power penalties associated with channel monitoring (e.g., the power may be linearly related to the amount of time the UE spends in the channel monitoring state). Having a mechanism where the UE can know this information ahead of time and the ability to enable/disable HARQ would immensely benefit power usage at the UE. 
     Techniques, described herein, may be used to enable/disable HARQ procedures (e.g., HARQ feedback) to increase efficient power usage and transmission efficiency. As described below, a UE may inform the NTN that the UE supports disablement of HARQ for uplink (UL) and/or downlink (DL) transmissions and the NTN may respond by disabling HARQ procedures for the UE. In some scenarios, the UE may proactively send requests to the NTN to disable HARQ for UL and/or DL transmission, and the NTN may respond in various ways to do so. Also described herein are solutions for enabling/disabling HARQ procedures for certain logical channels and/or dedicated radio bearers (DRBs) in NTNs. Further, the techniques described below include one or more media access control (MAC) control elements (CEs), radio resource control (RRC) messages, Information Elements (IEs), and parameters for achieving these benefits and improving NTNs in a meaningful way. 
     For example, disabling HARQ procedures may enable a UE to know a HARQ feedback state of a particular communication (e.g., without having to wait to determine, by reception or lack thereof, whether an explicit network retransmission request arrives). As such, the techniques described herein provide solutions for enhancing the performance of NTNs to save time, conserve power, and simplify network processes. In some implementations, disabling HARQ, as described herein, may include disabling the entire HARQ procedure. In some implementations, disabling HARQ, as described herein, may include disabling a portion of the HARQ process, such as portions of a HARQ procedure relating to waiting for, or providing, HARQ feedback (e.g., providing an acknowledgement (ACK) and/or negative acknowledgement (NACK). 
       FIG.  1    is an example network  100  according to one or more implementations described herein. Example network  100  may include UEs  110 - 1 ,  110 - 2 , etc. (referred to collectively as “UEs  110 ” and individually as “UE  110 ”), a radio access network (RAN)  120 , a core network (CN)  130 , application servers  140 , external networks  150 , and satellites  160 - 1 ,  160 - 2 , etc. (referred to collectively as “satellites  160 ” and individually as “satellite  160 ”). As shown, network  100  may include a non-terrestrial network (NTN) comprising one or more satellites  160  (e.g., of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS)) in communication with UEs  110  and RAN  120 . 
     The systems and devices of example network  100  may operate in accordance with one or more communication standards, such as 2nd generation (2G), 3rd generation (3G), 4th generation (4G) (e.g., long-term evolution (LTE)), and/or 5th generation (5G) (e.g., new radio (NR)) communication standards of the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP). Additionally, or alternatively, one or more of the systems and devices of example network  100  may operate in accordance with other communication standards and protocols discussed herein, including future versions or generations of 3GPP standards (e.g., sixth generation (6G) standards, seventh generation (7G) standards, etc.), institute of electrical and electronics engineers (IEEE) standards (e.g., wireless metropolitan area network (WMAN), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX), etc.), and more. 
     As shown, UEs  110  may include smartphones (e.g., handheld touchscreen mobile computing devices connectable to one or more wireless communication networks). Additionally, or alternatively, UEs  110  may include other types of mobile or non-mobile computing devices capable of wireless communications, such as personal data assistants (PDAs), pagers, laptop computers, desktop computers, wireless handsets, etc. In some implementations, UEs  110  may include internet of things (IOT) devices (or IoT UEs) that may comprise a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applications utilizing short-lived UE connections. Additionally, or alternatively, an IoT UE may utilize one or more types of technologies, such as machine-to-machine (M2M) communications or machine-type communications (MTC) (e.g., to exchanging data with an MTC server or other device via a public land mobile network (PLMN)), proximity-based service (ProSe) or device-to-device (D2D) communications, sensor networks, IoT networks, and more. Depending on the scenario, an M2M or MTC exchange of data may be a machine-initiated exchange, and an IoT network may include interconnecting IoT UEs (which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices within an Internet infrastructure) with short-lived connections. In some scenarios, IoT UEs may execute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate the connections of the IoT network. 
     UEs  110  may communicate and establish a connection with (e.g., be communicatively coupled) with RAN  120 , which may involve one or more wireless channels  114 - 1  and  114 - 2 , each of which may comprise a physical communications interface/layer. In some implementations, a UE may be configured with dual connectivity (DC) as a multi-radio access technology (multi-RAT) or multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), where a multiple receive and transmit (Rx/Tx) capable UE may use resources provided by different network nodes (e.g.,  122 - 1  and  122 - 2 ) that may be connected via non-ideal backhaul (e.g., where one network node provides NR access and the other network node provides either E-UTRA for LTE or NR access for 5G). In such a scenario, one network node may operate as a master node (MN) and the other as the secondary node (SN). The MN and SN may be connected via a network interface, and at least the MN may be connected to the CN  130 . Additionally, at least one of the MN or the SN may be operated with shared spectrum channel access, and functions specified for UE  110  can be used for an integrated access and backhaul mobile termination (IAB-MT). Similar for UE  101 , the IAB-MT may access the network using either one network node or using two different nodes with enhanced dual connectivity (EN-DC) architectures, new radio dual connectivity (NR-DC) architectures, or the like. In some implementations, a base station (as described herein) may be an example of network node  122 . 
     As shown, UE  110  may also, or alternatively, connect to access point (AP)  116  via connection interface  118 , which may include an air interface enabling UE  110  to communicatively couple with AP  116 . AP  116  may comprise a wireless local area network (WLAN), WLAN node, WLAN termination point, etc. The connection  1207  may comprise a local wireless connection, such as a connection consistent with any IEEE 702.11 protocol, and AP  116  may comprise a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi®) router or other AP. While not explicitly depicted in  FIG.  1   , AP  116  may be connected to another network (e.g., the Internet) without connecting to RAN  120  or CN  130 . In some scenarios, UE  110 , RAN  120 , and AP  116  may be configured to utilize LTE-WLAN aggregation (LWA) techniques or LTE WLAN radio level integration with IPsec tunnel (LWIP) techniques. LWA may involve UE  110  in RRC_CONNECTED being configured by RAN  120  to utilize radio resources of LTE and WLAN. LWIP may involve UE  110  using WLAN radio resources (e.g., connection interface  118 ) via IPsec protocol tunneling to authenticate and encrypt packets (e.g., Internet Protocol (IP) packets) communicated via connection interface  118 . IPsec tunneling may include encapsulating the entirety of original IP packets and adding a new packet header, thereby protecting the original header of the IP packets. 
     RAN  120  may include one or more RAN nodes  122 - 1  and  122 - 2  (referred to collectively as RAN nodes  122 , and individually as RAN node  122 ) that enable channels  114 - 1  and  114 - 2  to be established between UEs  110  and RAN  120 . RAN nodes  122  may include network access points configured to provide radio baseband functions for data and/or voice connectivity between users and the network based on one or more of the communication technologies described herein (e.g., 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, WiFi, etc.). As examples therefore, a RAN node may be an E-UTRAN Node B (e.g., an enhanced Node B, eNodeB, eNB, 4G base station, etc.), a next generation base station (e.g., a 5G base station, NR base station, next generation eNBs (gNB), etc.). RAN nodes  122  may include a roadside unit (RSU), a transmission reception point (TRxP or TRP), and one or more other types of ground stations (e.g., terrestrial access points). In some scenarios, RAN node  122  may be a dedicated physical device, such as a macrocell base station, and/or a low power (LP) base station for providing femtocells, picocells or other like having smaller coverage areas, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth compared to macrocells. As described below, in some implementations, satellites  160  may operate as base stations (e.g., RAN nodes  122 ) with respect to UEs  110 . As such, references herein to a base station, RAN node  122 , etc., may involve implementations where the base station, RAN node  122 , etc., is a terrestrial network node and also to implementation where the base station, RAN node  122 , etc., is a non-terrestrial network node (e.g., satellite  160 ). 
     Some or all of RAN nodes  122  may be implemented as one or more software entities running on server computers as part of a virtual network, which may be referred to as a centralized RAN (CRAN) and/or a virtual baseband unit pool (vBBUP). In these implementations, the CRAN or vBBUP may implement a RAN function split, such as a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) split wherein radio resource control (RRC) and PDCP layers may be operated by the CRAN/vBBUP and other Layer 2 (L2) protocol entities may be operated by individual RAN nodes  122 ; a media access control (MAC)/physical (PHY) layer split wherein RRC, PDCP, radio link control (RLC), and MAC layers may be operated by the CRAN/vBBUP and the PHY layer may be operated by individual RAN nodes  122 ; or a “lower PHY” split wherein RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC layers and upper portions of the PHY layer may be operated by the CRAN/vBBUP and lower portions of the PHY layer may be operated by individual RAN nodes  122 . This virtualized framework may allow freed-up processor cores of RAN nodes  122  to perform or execute other virtualized applications. 
     In some implementations, an individual RAN node  122  may represent individual gNB-distributed units (DUs) connected to a gNB-control unit (CU) via individual F1 interfaces. In such implementations, the gNB-DUs may include one or more remote radio heads or radio frequency (RF) front end modules (RFEMs), and the gNB-CU may be operated by a server (not shown) located in RAN  120  or by a server pool (e.g., a group of servers configured to share resources) in a similar manner as the CRAN/vBBUP. Additionally, or alternatively, one or more of RAN nodes  122  may be next generation eNBs (i.e., gNBs) that may provide evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) user plane and control plane protocol terminations toward UEs  110 , and that may be connected to a 5G core network (5GC)  130  via an NG interface. 
     Any of the RAN nodes  122  may terminate an air interface protocol and may be the first point of contact for UEs  110 . In some implementations, any of the RAN nodes  122  may fulfill various logical functions for the RAN  120  including, but not limited to, radio network controller (RNC) functions such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobility management. UEs  110  may be configured to communicate using orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) communication signals with each other or with any of the RAN nodes  122  over a multicarrier communication channel in accordance with various communication techniques, such as, but not limited to, an OFDMA communication technique (e.g., for downlink communications) or a single carrier frequency-division multiple access (SC-FDMA) communication technique (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink (SL) communications), although the scope of such implementations may not be limited in this regard. The OFDM signals may comprise a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers. 
     In some implementations, a downlink resource grid may be used for downlink transmissions from any of the RAN nodes  122  to UEs  110 , and uplink transmissions may utilize similar techniques. The grid may be a time-frequency grid (e.g., a resource grid or time-frequency resource grid) that represents the physical resource for downlink in each slot. Such a time-frequency plane representation is a common practice for OFDM systems, which makes it intuitive for radio resource allocation. Each column and each row of the resource grid corresponds to one OFDM symbol and one OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration of the resource grid in the time domain corresponds to one slot in a radio frame. The smallest time-frequency unit in a resource grid is denoted as a resource element. Each resource grid comprises resource blocks, which describe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements. Each resource block may comprise a collection of resource elements (REs); in the frequency domain, this may represent the smallest quantity of resources that currently may be allocated. There are several different physical downlink channels that are conveyed using such resource blocks. 
     Further, RAN nodes  122  may be configured to wirelessly communicate with UEs  110 , and/or one another, over a licensed medium (also referred to as the “licensed spectrum” and/or the “licensed band”), an unlicensed shared medium (also referred to as the “unlicensed spectrum” and/or the “unlicensed band”), or combination thereof. A licensed spectrum may include channels that operate in the frequency range of approximately 400 MHZ to approximately 3.8 GHz, whereas the unlicensed spectrum may include the 5 GHz band. A licensed spectrum may correspond to channels or frequency bands selected, reserved, regulated, etc., for certain types of wireless activity (e.g., wireless telecommunication network activity), whereas an unlicensed spectrum may correspond to one or more frequency bands that are not restricted for certain types of wireless activity. Whether a particular frequency band corresponds to a licensed medium or an unlicensed medium may depend on one or more factors, such as frequency allocations determined by a public-sector organization (e.g., a government agency, regulatory body, etc.) or frequency allocations determined by a private-sector organization involved in developing wireless communication standards and protocols, etc. 
     To operate in the unlicensed spectrum, UEs  110  and the RAN nodes  122  may operate using licensed assisted access (LAA), eLAA, and/or feLAA mechanisms. In these implementations, UEs  110  and the RAN nodes  122  may perform one or more known medium-sensing operations or carrier-sensing operations in order to determine whether one or more channels in the unlicensed spectrum is unavailable or otherwise occupied prior to transmitting in the unlicensed spectrum. The medium/carrier sensing operations may be performed according to a listen-before-talk (LBT) protocol. 
     The LAA mechanisms may be built upon carrier aggregation (CA) technologies of LTE-Advanced systems. In CA, each aggregated carrier is referred to as a component carrier (CC). In some cases, individual CCs may have a different bandwidth than other CCs. In time division duplex (TDD) systems, the number of CCs as well as the bandwidths of each CC may be the same for DL and UL. CA also comprises individual serving cells to provide individual CCs. The coverage of the serving cells may differ, for example, because CCs on different frequency bands will experience different pathloss. A primary service cell or PCell may provide a primary component carrier (PCC) for both UL and DL, and may handle RRC and non-access stratum (NAS) related activities. The other serving cells are referred to as SCells, and each SCell may provide an individual secondary component carrier (SCC) for both UL and DL. The SCCs may be added and removed as required, while changing the PCC may require UE  110  to undergo a handover. In LAA, eLAA, and feLAA, some or all of the SCells may operate in the unlicensed spectrum (referred to as “LAA SCells”), and the LAA SCells are assisted by a PCell operating in the licensed spectrum. When a UE is configured with more than one LAA SCell, the UE may receive UL grants on the configured LAA SCells indicating different PUSCH starting positions within a same subframe. 
     The PDSCH may carry user data and higher layer signaling to UEs  110 . The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) may carry information about the transport format and resource allocations related to the PDSCH channel, among other things. The PDCCH may also inform UEs  110  about the transport format, resource allocation, and hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) information related to the uplink shared channel. Typically, downlink scheduling (e.g., assigning control and shared channel resource blocks to UE  110 - 2  within a cell) may be performed at any of the RAN nodes  122  based on channel quality information fed back from any of UEs  110 . The downlink resource assignment information may be sent on the PDCCH used for (e.g., assigned to) each of UEs  110 . 
     The PDCCH uses control channel elements (CCEs) to convey the control information, wherein a number of CCEs (e.g., 6 or the like) may consists of a resource element groups (REGs), where a REG is defined as a physical resource block (PRB) in an OFDM symbol. Before being mapped to resource elements, the PDCCH complex-valued symbols may first be organized into quadruplets, which may then be permuted using a sub-block interleaver for rate matching, for example. Each PDCCH may be transmitted using one or more of these CCEs, where each CCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements known as REGs. Four quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) symbols may be mapped to each REG. The PDCCH may be transmitted using one or more CCEs, depending on the size of the DCI and the channel condition. There may be four or more different PDCCH formats defined in LTE with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation level, L=1, 2, 4, 8, or 16). 
     Some implementations may use concepts for resource allocation for control channel information that are an extension of the above-described concepts. For example, some implementations may utilize an extended (E)-PDCCH that uses PDSCH resources for control information transmission. The EPDCCH may be transmitted using one or more ECCEs. Similar to the above, each ECCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements known as an EREGs. An ECCE may have other numbers of EREGs in some situations. 
     The RAN nodes  122  may be configured to communicate with one another via interface  123 . In implementations where the system is an LTE system, interface  123  may be an X2 interface. The X2 interface may be defined between two or more RAN nodes  122  (e.g., two or more eNBs/gNBs or a combination thereof) that connect to evolved packet core (EPC) or CN  130 , or between two eNBs connecting to an EPC. In some implementations, the X2 interface may include an X2 user plane interface (X2-U) and an X2 control plane interface (X2-C). The X2-U may provide flow control mechanisms for user data packets transferred over the X2 interface and may be used to communicate information about the delivery of user data between eNBs or gNBs. For example, the X2-U may provide specific sequence number information for user data transferred from a master eNB (MeNB) to a secondary eNB (SeNB); information about successful in sequence delivery of PDCP packet data units (PDUs) to a UE  110  from an SeNB for user data; information of PDCP PDUs that were not delivered to a UE  110 ; information about a current minimum desired buffer size at the SeNB for transmitting to the UE user data; and the like. The X2-C may provide intra-LTE access mobility functionality (e.g., including context transfers from source to target eNBs, user plane transport control, etc.), load management functionality, and inter-cell interference coordination functionality. 
     As shown, RAN  120  may be connected (e.g., communicatively coupled) to CN  130 . CN  130  may comprise a plurality of network elements  132 , which are configured to offer various data and telecommunications services to customers/subscribers (e.g., users of UEs  110 ) who are connected to the CN  130  via the RAN  120 . In some implementations, CN  130  may include an evolved packet core (EPC), a 5G CN, and/or one or more additional or alternative types of CNs. The components of the CN  130  may be implemented in one physical node or separate physical nodes including components to read and execute instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium). In some implementations, network function virtualization (NFV) may be utilized to virtualize any or all the above-described network node roles or functions via executable instructions stored in one or more computer-readable storage mediums (described in further detail below). A logical instantiation of the CN  130  may be referred to as a network slice, and a logical instantiation of a portion of the CN  130  may be referred to as a network sub-slice. Network Function Virtualization (NFV) architectures and infrastructures may be used to virtualize one or more network functions, alternatively performed by proprietary hardware, onto physical resources comprising a combination of industry-standard server hardware, storage hardware, or switches. In other words, NFV systems may be used to execute virtual or reconfigurable implementations of one or more EPC components/functions. 
     As shown, CN  130 , application servers  140 , and external networks  150  may be connected to one another via interfaces  134 ,  136 , and  138 , which may include IP network interfaces. Application servers  140  may include one or more server devices or network elements (e.g., virtual network functions (VNFs) offering applications that use IP bearer resources with CN  130  (e.g., universal mobile telecommunications system packet services (UMTS PS) domain, LTE PS data services, etc.). Application servers  140  may also, or alternatively, be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., voice over IP (VOIP sessions, push-to-talk (PTT) sessions, group communication sessions, social networking services, etc.) for UEs  110  via the CN  130 . Similarly, external networks  150  may include one or more of a variety of networks, including the Internet, thereby providing the mobile communication network and UEs  110  of the network access to a variety of additional services, information, interconnectivity, and other network features. 
     As shown, example network  100  may include an NTN that may comprise one or more satellites  160 - 1  and  160 - 2  (collectively, “satellites  160 ”). Satellites  160  may be in communication with UEs  110  via service link or wireless interface  162  and/or RAN  120  via feeder links or wireless interfaces  164  (depicted individually as  164 - 1  and  164 ). In some implementations, satellite  160  may operate as a passive or transparent network relay node regarding communications between UE  110  and the terrestrial network (e.g., RAN  120 ). In some implementations, satellite  160  may operate as an active or regenerative network node such that satellite  160  may operate as a base station to UEs  110  (e.g., as a gNB of RAN  120 ) regarding communications between UE  110  and RAN  120 . In some implementations, satellites  160  may communicate with one another via a direct wireless interface (e.g.,  166 ) or an indirect wireless interface (e.g., via RAN  120  using interfaces  164 - 1  and  164 - 2 ). 
     Additionally, or alternatively, satellite  160  may include a GEO satellite, LEO satellite, or another type of satellite. Satellite  160  may also, or alternatively pertain to one or more satellite systems or architectures, such as a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), global positioning system (GPS), global navigation satellite system (GLONASS), BeiDou navigation satellite system (BDS), etc. In some implementations, satellites  160  may operate as bases stations (e.g., RAN nodes  122 ) with respect to UEs  110 . As such, references herein to a base station, RAN node  122 , etc., may involve implementations where the base station, RAN node  122 , etc., is a terrestrial network node and implementation, where the base station, RAN node  122 , etc., is a non-terrestrial network node (e.g., satellite  160 ). 
       FIG.  2    is a diagram of an example overview  200  of HARQ management in an NTN. As shown, overview  200  may include UE  110  connected to an NTN comprising a satellite  160  and base station  122 . Briefly, UE  110  may send information describing the HARQ capabilities of UE  110  to base station  122  via satellite  160  (at  1 ). HARQ capabilities, as described herein, may include an indication of whether a particular device (e.g., UE  110 ) is capable of disabling (and operating without) HARQ procedures. HARQ capabilities may also include an indication of whether the device may enable HARQ procedures. UE  110  may also, or alternatively, communicate a request to the NTN to disable HARQ procedures (also at  1 ). Satellite  160  may relay this information to base station  122 , and base station  122  may respond by disabling HARQ procedures for UL and/or DL communications (at  2 ). UE  110 , satellite  160 , and base station  122  may continue signaling one another without encumbrances associated with implementing wasteful or unnecessary HARQ procedures in an NTN environment (at  3 ). 
       FIG.  3    is a diagram of an example of a process  300  for disabling HARQ signaling in an NTN. Process  300  may be implemented by UE  110 . In some implementations, some or all of process  300  may be performed by one or more other systems or devices, including one or more of the devices of  FIG.  1   , such as base station  122 . Additionally, process  300  may include one or more fewer, additional, differently ordered and/or arranged operations than those shown in  FIG.  3   . In some implementations, some or all of the operations of process  300  may be performed independently, successively, simultaneously, etc., of one or more of the other operations of process  300 . As such, the techniques described herein are not limited to a number, sequence, arrangement, timing, etc., of the operations or process depicted in  FIG.  3   . Additionally, while process  300  may be primarily described from the perspective a particular device (e.g., UE  110 ), the techniques described herein also include corresponding operations performed by a corresponding device (e.g., base station  122 , satellite  160 , etc.). 
     A shown, process  300  may include connecting to an NTN (block  310 ). For example, UE  110  may connect to an NTN via satellite  160  and base station  122 . In some implementations, satellite  160  may operate as a passive or transparent network relay node regarding communications between UE  110  and base station  122 . In some implementations, satellite  160  may operate as an active or regenerative network node such that satellite  160  may operate as a base station to UE  110 . As such, references herein to base station  122  may refer to either/both implementations. 
     Process  300  may include receiving a request for UE capability information regarding HARQ disablement for NTN communications (block  320 ). For example, UE  110  may receive, from base station  122 , a request for information describing abilities, limitations, configurations, etc., of UE  110  relative to the NTN. For example, the request may include an inquiry about whether UE  110  may be configured to support with one or more restrictions regarding the NTN. In a particular example, the request may include a UECapabilityEnquiry message that includes a lcpRestrictionNTN IE with a corresponding value of “true”. 
     Process  300  may include determining HARQ disablement information (block  330 ). For example, UE  110  may determine whether UE  110  is capable of supporting HARQ restrictions when communicating with the NTN. HARQ disablement information may include whether UE  110  is capable of supporting HARQ disablement in general, whether UE is capable of supporting HARQ disablement regarding DL communications, UL communications, one or more logical channels, one or more dedicated radio bearers (DRBs), etc., and/or any combination thereof. In some implementations, UE  110  may make this determination based on one or more factors, including HARQ NTN default settings, a type of communication UE  110  may be sending/receiving from the NTN, a QoS, a frequency of communication, a network congestion level, a transmission/reception time measured within the NTN, etc. 
     Process  300  may also include communicating HARQ disablement information to the NTN (block  340 ). For example, UE  110  may transmit a message to base station  122 , indicating whether UE  110  supports HARQ disablement regarding the NTN. In some implementations, the HARQ disablement information may also include an indication of whether UE  110  supports disablement of HARQ DL, and disablement HARQ UL, HARQ disablement regarding one or more logical channels, dedicated resource bearers, etc. As described herein, UE  110  may provide this information via one or more MAC CEs, one or more RRC messages, etc. For example, UE  110  may provide the NTN with a UE-NR-Capability message that includes a lcp-Restriction-NTN IE with a corresponding value of “support”. The message may also include a harq-disable-supported-DL IE with a value of “support” and a harq-disable-supported-UL IE with a value of “support.” In some implementations, providing base station  122  with this information may cause disablement of HARQ DL and disablement HARQ UL for UE  110  within the NTN. 
     NTNs, though part of NR, may be an alternate RAT due to the physical layer characteristics of the non-terrestrial channels including propagation delay. Hence treating NTNs as a separate RAT (e.g., with precedence set by other agreements of additional SIBs and network indications) is useful. Additionally, the lcp-restriction parameter designed for a typical RAT (a non-NTN) has been designed for Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communication (URLLC) and industrial IoT traffic. Support of this parameter for NTN implies that URLLC/IIOT needs to be supported on NTN which is not possible due to the high propagation delay. So having a separate parameter, e.g., a lcp-Restriction-NTN, may be useful. 
     Process  300  may also include communicating with the NTN in accordance with the HARQ disablement information (block  350 ). For example, upon providing base station  122  the HARQ disablement information, UE  110  may proceed to communicate with the NTN without implementing HARQ procedures (which may include or be limited to prohibiting HARQ feedback) for communications in the DL direction and/or UL direction. In some implementations, this may include UE  110  receiving a message (e.g., an RRC Reconfiguration message) from base station  122  about HARQ disablement (e.g., whether HARQ is disabled for DL communications, whether HARQ is disabled for UL communications, whether HARQ is disabled for one or more logical channels, whether HARQ is disabled for DL communications, DRBs, etc., and/or any combination thereof. As such, the techniques described herein may provide solutions for HARQ DL and/or HARQ UL disablement, such that UE  110  may communicate with NTN in a faster and/or more power-efficient manner. 
       FIG.  4    is a diagram of an example of a process  400  for providing UE capabilities regarding HARQ feedback disablement. As shown, example  400  includes UE  110 , base station  122 , and satellite  160 . In some implementations, some or all of example  400  may be performed by one or more other systems or devices, including one or more of the devices of  FIG.  1   . Additionally, example  400  may include one or more fewer, additional, differently ordered and/or arranged operations than those shown in  FIG.  4   . In some implementations, some or all of the operations of example  400  may be performed independently, successively, simultaneously, etc., of one or more of the other operations of example  400 . As such, the techniques described herein are not limited to a number, sequence, arrangement, timing, etc., of the operations or process depicted in  FIG.  4   . 
     As shown, base station  122  may communicate a UE capability request, regarding NTN restrictions, to UE  110  (at  410 ). The request may include a UE Capability Information message with one or more IE. In some implementations, the message may include a UE Capability Enquiry message. The message may include a lcp-Restriction-NTN IE with a value of “true.” This may indicate that the NTN supports NTN restrictions, such as HARQ DL and/or HARQ UL disablement. 
     UE  110  may determine the HARQ capabilities of UE  110  regarding the NTN (at  420 ). UE  110  may determine this based on one or more factors, including UE configuration and/or capability information stored by UE  110 , a type of connection between UE  110  and the NTN, an NTN type, a type of information that UE  110  intends send/receive to the NTN, etc. UE  110  may communicate UE capability information to base station  122  (at  430 ). The UE capability information may include a UE-NR-Capability message or a UECapability Information message. The message may include a MAC parameter of lcp-Restriction-NTN indicating a value of “supported.” This may imply or indicate that HARQ feedback disablement is possible. 
     In some implementations, the UE capability information may also, or alternatively, include a harq-disablement-supported-DL, with a value of “supported,” which may cause or enable the NTN to configure DL HARQ disablement for UE  110 . Additionally, or alternatively, the UE capability information may also, or alternatively, include a harq-disablement-supported-UL, with a value of “supported,” which may inform the NTN that UE  110  is capable of HARQ UL disablement. In response to receiving the UE capability information, base station  122  may proceed to disable HARQ DL and/or HARQ UL for UE  110  (at  440 ). While not shown in  FIG.  4   , base station  122  may notify of the HARQ DL and/or UL disablement. 
       FIG.  5    is a diagram of an example  500  of a process for requesting HARQ disablement in an NTN. As shown, example  500  includes UE  110 , base station  122 , and satellite  160 . In some implementations, some or all of example  500  may be performed by one or more other systems or devices, including one or more of the devices of  FIG.  1   . Additionally, example  500  may include one or more fewer, additional, differently ordered and/or arranged operations than those shown in  FIG.  5   . In some implementations, some or all of the operations of example  500  may be performed independently, successively, simultaneously, etc., of one or more of the other operations of example  500 . As such, the techniques described herein are not limited to a number, sequence, arrangement, timing, etc., of the operations or process depicted in  FIG.  5   . 
     As shown, UE  110  determine whether to disable HARQ DL and/or HARQ UL for NTN communications (at  510 ). In some implementations, UE  110  may determine whether to disable HARQ DL and/or HARQ UL based on one or more of a variety of factors, such as HARQ NTN default settings stored by UE  110 , a type of communication UE  110  may be sending/receiving from the NTN, a QoS, a frequency of communication, a network congestion level, a transmission/reception time measured within the NTN, etc. 
     UE  110  may communicate UE assistance information to base station  122  (at  520 ). The US assistance information may include a UEAssistanceInformation message. In some implementations, the UE assistance information may include a request for HARQ DL disablement. In some implementations, this request may include a harq-disablement-DL-Request IE, which may indicate a particular DRB (via a “forDRBId” value). Additionally, or alternatively, the UE assistance information may include a request for HARQ UL disablement. In some implementations, this request may include a harq-disablement-UL-Request IE, which may indicate a particular DRB (via a “forDRBId” value). As such, UE  110  may send UE assistance information to request HARQ DL disablement and/or HARQ UL disablement from base station  122 . While not shown in  FIG.  5   , in some implementations, base station  122  may limit the number of such requests (e.g., UE assistance information requests) from UE  110  by implementing a prohibit timer, imposing for example a maximum threshold of requests from UE  110  over a selected duration. In response to receiving the UE assistance information, base station  122  may proceed to disable HARQ DL and/or HARQ UL for UE  110  (at  530 ). 
     While not shown in  FIG.  5   , base station  122  may notify UE  110  of the HARQ DL and/or UL disablement. In some implementations, base station  122  may do so using an RRC message (e.g., an RRC Reconfiguration message). Additionally, or alternatively, base station  122  may use one or more of the IEs (e.g., a harq-disablement-DL IE, harq-disablement-UL IE, etc.) with corresponding values (e.g., a DRBId). 
       FIG.  6    is a diagram of examples  600  of MAC CEs for indicating, per logical channel identifier (LCID) enablement/disablement for HARQ processes. As shown, examples  600  may include a MAC CE for LCIDs of an UL shared channel (UL-SCH), which may include a first octet (OCT 1) comprising logical channel identifiers (LCG0, LCG1, etc.) and a second octet (OCT 2) comprising of indicators (0/1) of whether HARQ feedback is disabled/enabled on the corresponding logical channel. The notation 0/1 indicates disabled/enabled as 0 may indicate disabled and 1 may indicate enabled. Examples  600  also include a MAC CE for LCIDs of a DL-SCH), which may include a first octet (OCT 1) comprising logical channel identifiers (LCG0, LCG1, etc.) and a second octet (OCT 2) comprising of indicators (0/1) of whether HARQ feedback is disabled/enabled on the corresponding logical channel. The notation 0/1 indicates disabled/enabled as 0 may indicate disabled and 1 may indicate enabled. The MAC CEs of  FIG.  6    may enable UE  110  to provide updates more frequently in scenarios where, for example, sufficient packet delay budget (PDB) limits may not remain on UE  110  for managing QoS and/or UE  110  flushes the data due to accumulated inherent delays. 
       FIG.  7    is a diagram of an example  700  of a process for disabling HARQ in an NTN per dedicated radio bearer (DRB). As shown, example  700  includes UE  110 , base station  122 , and satellite  160 . In some implementations, some or all of example  700  may be performed by one or more other systems or devices, including one or more of the devices of  FIG.  1   . Additionally, example  700  may include one or more fewer, additional, differently ordered and/or arranged operations than those shown in  FIG.  7   . In some implementations, some or all of the operations of example  700  may be performed independently, successively, simultaneously, etc., of one or more of the other operations of example  700 . As such, the techniques described herein are not limited to a number, sequence, arrangement, timing, etc., of the operations or process depicted in  FIG.  7   . 
     As shown, base station  122  may determine whether to disable HARQ for a DRB (at  710 ). For example, when a DRB is created, base station  122  may determine whether a QoS of the DRB falls within a pre-selected range of DRBs to have HARQ disabled. Additionally, or alternatively, when a DRB is created, base station  122  may determine whether a 5G QoS identifier (5QI) of the DRB corresponds to 5Q is selected, identified, or associated with HARQ disablement. When base station  122  determines that HARQ is to be disabled for the DRB, base station  122  may proceed by communicating an RRC reconfiguration message to UE  110  (at  720 ). The message may include one or more IEs to indicate the DRB to be added and HARQ information about the DRB. For example, the message may include a RadioBearerConfig IE to define the new DRB. Additionally, or alternatively, the message may include an lcp-restriction-NTN IE with a value of “true” to indicate that the DRB is subject to restrictions. The message may also include a harq-disable-DL IE with a value of “true” to indicate that the disablement of HARQ DL for the DRB. The message may also include a harq-disable-UL IE with a value of “true” to indicate the disablement of HARQ UL for the DRB. In response to the message, UE  110  may disable HARQ DL and HARQ UL for the DRB (at  730 ). 
     In some implementations, example  700  may reduce the configurability options of enabling/disabling HARQ but may enable a cleaner end-to-end managed solution as HARQ feedback may more directly align with service delay designations of the DRB. Additionally, or alternatively, UE  110  may not be disposed to communicate back and forth (as frequently) regarding HARQ feedback states. Further, since enabling/disabling HARQ may be provided at the time of bearer setup, unnecessary signaling on an already expensive link (in terms of latency) may be avoided. 
       FIG.  8    is a diagram of an example of components of a device according to one or more implementations described herein. In some implementations, the device  800  can include application circuitry  802 , baseband circuitry  804 , RF circuitry  806 , front-end module (FEM) circuitry  808 , one or more antennas  810 , and power management circuitry (PMC)  812  coupled together at least as shown. The components of the illustrated device  800  can be included in a UE or a RAN node. In some implementations, the device  800  can include fewer elements (e.g., a RAN node may not utilize application circuitry  802 , and instead include a processor/controller to process IP data received from a CN such as 5GC  130  or an Evolved Packet Core (EPC)). In some implementations, the device  800  can include additional elements such as, for example, memory/storage, display, camera, sensor (including one or more temperature sensors, such as a single temperature sensor, a plurality of temperature sensors at different locations in device  800 , etc.), or input/output (I/O) interface. In other implementations, the components described below can be included in more than one device (e.g., said circuitries can be separately included in more than one device for Cloud-RAN (C-RAN) implementations). 
     The application circuitry  802  can include one or more application processors. For example, the application circuitry  802  can include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processor(s) can include any combination of general-purpose processors and dedicated processors (e.g., graphics processors, application processors, etc.). The processors can be coupled with or can include memory/storage and can be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory/storage to enable various applications or operating systems to run on the device  800 . In some implementations, processors of application circuitry  802  can process IP data packets received from an EPC. 
     The baseband circuitry  804  can include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The baseband circuitry  804  can include one or more baseband processors or control logic to process baseband signals received from a receive signal path of the RF circuitry  806  and to generate baseband signals for a transmit signal path of the RF circuitry  806 . Baseband circuitry  804  can interface with the application circuitry  802  for generation and processing of the baseband signals and for controlling operations of the RF circuitry  806 . For example, in some implementations, the baseband circuitry  804  can include a 3G baseband processor  804 A, a 4G baseband processor  804 B, a 5G baseband processor  804 C, or other baseband processor(s)  804 D for other existing generations, generations in development or to be developed in the future (e.g., 2G, 6G, etc.). The baseband circuitry  804  (e.g., one or more of baseband processors  804 A-D) can handle various radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuitry  806 . In other implementations, some or all of the functionality of baseband processors  804 A-D can be included in modules stored in the memory  804 G and executed via a Central Processing Unit (CPU)  804 E. The radio control functions can include, but are not limited to, signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. In some implementations, modulation/demodulation circuitry of the baseband circuitry  804  can include Fast-Fourier Transform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping/de-mapping functionality. In some implementations, encoding/decoding circuitry of the baseband circuitry  804  can include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, or Low-Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder/decoder functionality. Implementations of modulation/demodulation and encoder/decoder functionality are not limited to these examples and can include other suitable functionality in other implementations. 
     In some implementations, the baseband circuitry  804  can include one or more audio digital signal processor(s) (DSP)  804 F. The audio DSPs  804 F can include elements for compression/decompression and echo cancellation and can include other suitable processing elements in other implementations. Components of the baseband circuitry can be suitably combined in a single chip, a single chipset, or disposed on a same circuit board in some implementations. In some implementations, some or all of the constituent components of the baseband circuitry  804  and the application circuitry  802  can be implemented together such as, for example, on a system on a chip (SOC). 
     In some implementations, the baseband circuitry  804  can provide for communication compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some implementations, the baseband circuitry  804  can support communication with a NG-RAN, an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) or other wireless metropolitan area networks (WMAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless personal area network (WPAN), etc. Implementations in which the baseband circuitry  804  is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol can be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry. 
     RF circuitry  806  can enable communication with wireless networks using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In various implementations, the RF circuitry  806  can include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate the communication with the wireless network. RF circuitry  806  can include a receive signal path which can include circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry  808  and provide baseband signals to the baseband circuitry  804 . RF circuitry  806  can also include a transmit signal path which can include circuitry to up-convert baseband signals provided by the baseband circuitry  804  and provide RF output signals to the FEM circuitry  808  for transmission. 
     In some implementations, the receive signal path of the RF circuitry  806  can include mixer circuitry  806 A, amplifier circuitry  806 B and filter circuitry  806 C. In some implementations, the transmit signal path of the RF circuitry  806  can include filter circuitry  806 C and mixer circuitry  806 A. RF circuitry  806  can also include synthesizer circuitry  806 D for synthesizing a frequency for use by the mixer circuitry  806 A of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some implementations, the mixer circuitry  806 A of the receive signal path can be configured to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry  808  based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry  806 D. The amplifier circuitry  806 B can be configured to amplify the down-converted signals and the filter circuitry  806 C can be a low-pass filter (LPF) or band-pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signals to generate output baseband signals. Output baseband signals can be provided to the baseband circuitry  804  for further processing. In some implementations, the output baseband signals can be zero-frequency baseband signals, although this is not a requirement. In some implementations, mixer circuitry  806 A of the receive signal path can comprise passive mixers, although the scope of the implementations is not limited in this respect. 
     In some implementations, the mixer circuitry  806 A of the transmit signal path can be configured to up-convert input baseband signals based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry  806 D to generate RF output signals for the FEM circuitry  808 . The baseband signals can be provided by the baseband circuitry  804  and can be filtered by filter circuitry  806 C. 
     In some implementations, the mixer circuitry  806 A of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry  806 A of the transmit signal path can include two or more mixers and can be arranged for quadrature down conversion and up conversion, respectively. In some implementations, the mixer circuitry  806 A of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry  806 A of the transmit signal path can include two or more mixers and can be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some implementations, the mixer circuitry  806 A of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry  806 A can be arranged for direct down conversion and direct up conversion, respectively. In some implementations, the mixer circuitry  806 A of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry  806 A of the transmit signal path can be configured for super-heterodyne operation. 
     In some implementations, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals can be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the implementations is not limited in this respect. In some alternate implementations, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals can be digital baseband signals. In these alternate implementations, the RF circuitry  806  can include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry and the baseband circuitry  804  can include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RF circuitry  806 . 
     In some dual-mode implementations, a separate radio IC circuitry can be provided for processing signals for each spectrum, although the scope of the implementations is not limited in this respect. 
     In some implementations, the synthesizer circuitry  806 D can be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+1 synthesizer, although the scope of the implementations is not limited in this respect as other types of frequency synthesizers can be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuitry  806 D can be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider. 
     The synthesizer circuitry  806 D can be configured to synthesize an output frequency for use by the mixer circuitry  806 A of the RF circuitry  806  based on a frequency input and a divider control input. In some implementations, the synthesizer circuitry  806 D can be a fractional N/N+1 synthesizer. 
     In some implementations, frequency input can be provided by a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement. Divider control input can be provided by either the baseband circuitry  804  or the applications circuitry  802  depending on the desired output frequency. In some implementations, a divider control input (e.g., N) can be determined from a look-up table based on a channel indicated by the applications circuitry  802 . 
     Synthesizer circuitry  806 D of the RF circuitry  806  can include a divider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer and a phase accumulator. In some implementations, the divider can be a dual modulus divider (DMD) and the phase accumulator can be a digital phase accumulator (DPA). In some implementations, the DMD can be configured to divide the input signal by either N or N+1 (e.g., based on a carry out) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example implementations, the DLL can include a set of cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phase detector, a charge pump and a D-type flip-flop. In these implementations, the delay elements can be configured to break a VCO period up into Nd equal packets of phase, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle. 
     In some implementations, synthesizer circuitry  806 D can be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in other implementations, the output frequency can be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and divider circuitry to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency with multiple different phases with respect to each other. In some implementations, the output frequency can be a LO frequency (fLO). In some implementations, the RF circuitry  806  can include an IQ/polar converter. 
     FEM circuitry  808  can include a receive signal path which can include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or more antennas  810 , amplify the received signals and provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the RF circuitry  806  for further processing. FEM circuitry  808  can also include a transmit signal path which can include circuitry configured to amplify signals for transmission provided by the RF circuitry  806  for transmission by one or more of the one or more antennas  810 . In various implementations, the amplification through the transmit or receive signal paths can be done solely in the RF circuitry  806 , solely in the FEM circuitry  808 , or in both the RF circuitry  806  and the FEM circuitry  808 . 
     In some implementations, the FEM circuitry  808  can include a TX/RX switch to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuitry can include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry can include an LNA to amplify received RF signals and provide the amplified received RF signals as an output (e.g., to the RF circuitry  806 ). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuitry  808  can include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify input RF signals (e.g., provided by RF circuitry  806 ), and one or more filters to generate RF signals for subsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the one or more antennas  810 ). 
     In some implementations, the PMC  812  can manage power provided to the baseband circuitry  804 . In particular, the PMC  812  can control power-source selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-to-DC conversion. The PMC  812  can often be included when the device  800  is capable of being powered by a battery, for example, when the device is included in a UE. The PMC  812  can increase the power conversion efficiency while providing desirable implementation size and heat dissipation characteristics. 
     While  FIG.  8    shows the PMC  812  coupled only with the baseband circuitry  804 . However, in other implementations, the PMC  812  may be additionally or alternatively coupled with, and perform similar power management operations for, other components such as, but not limited to, application circuitry  802 , RF circuitry  806 , or FEM circuitry  808 . 
     In some implementations, the PMC  812  can control, or otherwise be part of, various power saving mechanisms of the device  800 . For example, if the device  800  is in an RRC_Connected state, where it is still connected to the RAN node as it expects to receive traffic shortly, then it can enter a state known as Discontinuous Reception Mode (DRX) after a period of inactivity. During this state, the device  800  can power down for brief intervals of time and thus save power. 
     If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time, then the device  800  can transition off to an RRC_Idle state, where it disconnects from the network and does not perform operations such as channel quality feedback, handover, etc. The device  800  goes into a very low power state and it performs paging where again it periodically wakes up to listen to the network and then powers down again. The device  800  may not receive data in this state; in order to receive data, it can transition back to RRC_Connected state. 
     An additional power saving mode can allow a device to be unavailable to the network for periods longer than a paging interval (ranging from seconds to a few hours). During this time, the device is totally unreachable to the network and can power down completely. Any data sent during this time incurs a large delay and it is assumed the delay is acceptable. 
     Processors of the application circuitry  802  and processors of the baseband circuitry  804  can be used to execute elements of one or more instances of a protocol stack. For example, processors of the baseband circuitry  804 , alone or in combination, can be used execute Layer 3, Layer 2, or Layer 1 functionality, while processors of the baseband circuitry  804  can utilize data (e.g., packet data) received from these layers and further execute Layer 4 functionality (e.g., transmission communication protocol (TCP) and user datagram protocol (UDP) layers). As referred to herein, Layer 3 can comprise a RRC layer, described in further detail below. As referred to herein, Layer 2 can comprise a medium access control (MAC) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, described in further detail below. As referred to herein, Layer 1 can comprise a physical (PHY) layer of a UE/RAN node, described in further detail below. 
       FIG.  9    is a diagram of example interfaces of baseband circuitry according to one or more implementations described herein. As discussed above, the baseband circuitry  804  of  FIG.  8    can comprise processors  804 A- 804 E and a memory  804 G utilized by said processors. Each of the processors  804 A- 804 E can include a memory interface,  904 A- 904 E, respectively, to send/receive data to/from the memory  804 G. 
     The baseband circuitry  804  can further include one or more interfaces to communicatively couple to other circuitries/devices, such as a memory interface  912  (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from memory external to the baseband circuitry  804 ), an application circuitry interface  914  (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from the application circuitry  802  of  FIG.  8   ), an RF circuitry interface  916  (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from RF circuitry  806  of  FIG.  8   ), a wireless hardware connectivity interface  918  (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from Near Field Communication (NFC) components, Bluetooth® components (e.g., Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi® components, and other communication components), and a power management interface  920  (e.g., an interface to send/receive power or control signals to/from the PMC  812 ). 
     Examples herein can include subject matter such as a method, means for performing acts or blocks of the method, at least one machine-readable medium including executable instructions that, when performed by a machine (e.g., a processor (e.g., processor, etc.) with memory, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or the like) cause the machine to perform acts of the method or of an apparatus or system for concurrent communication using multiple communication technologies according to implementations and examples described. 
     In example 1, a baseband processor of a user equipment (UE) may comprise one or more processors configured to: establish a connection with a non-terrestrial network (NTN); receive a request, from the NTN, for hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) disablement information, the HARQ disablement information comprising capabilities of the UE to communicate with the NTN without HARQ feedback; determine HARQ disablement information; communicate the HARQ disablement information to the NTN; and communicate with the NTN in accordance with the HARQ disablement information. 
     In example 2, the HARQ disablement information is communicated via a UE Capability Information radio resource control (RRC) message. In example 3, the HARQ disablement information comprises an lcp-Restriction-NTN information element (IE) indicating whether the UE supports HARQ disablement for logical channels indicated by an RRC message from the NTN. In example 4, the HARQ disablement information comprises an indication that the UE supports downlink (DL) HARQ disablement and uplink (UL) HARQ disablement. In example 5, the HARQ disablement information comprises a request for HARQ disablement. 
     In example 6, the HARQ disablement information comprises a UE Assistance Information RRC message that includes a request to disable HARQ. In example 7, the HARQ disablement information comprises an indication that the UE supports DL HARQ disablement and UL HARQ disablement for a dedicate radio bearer (DRB). In example 8, the one or more processors are configured to communicate with the NTN in accordance with the HARQ disablement information in response to receiving an RRC reconfiguration message, from the NTN, configuring HARQ disablement. 
     In example 9, the HARQ disablement information comprises MAC CEs configured to indicate DL HARQ disablement and UL HARQ disablement per logical channel identifier (LCID). In example 10, the one or more processors are further configured to communicate with the NTN in accordance with the HARQ disablement information in response to receiving a RRC reconfiguration message indicating DL HARQ disablement and UL HARQ disablement for a dedicated radio bearer (DRB). In example 11, the DRB corresponds to a quality of service (QoS) for which DL HARQ disablement and UL HARQ is disabled for NTN. In example 12, the RRC reconfiguration message includes a radio bearer configuration information element (IE) indicating the DRB. 
     In example, 13, a user equipment (UE) may be configured to: establish a connection with a non-terrestrial network (NTN); receive a request, from the NTN, for hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) disablement information, the HARQ disablement information comprising capabilities of the UE to communicate with the NTN without HARQ feedback; determine HARQ disablement information; communicate the HARQ disablement information to the NTN; and communicate with the NTN in accordance with the HARQ disablement information. In example 14, a method performed by a user equipment (UE) may comprise: establishing a connection with a non-terrestrial network (NTN); receiving a request, from the NTN, for hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) disablement information, the HARQ disablement information comprising capabilities of the UE to communicate with the NTN without HARQ feedback; determining HARQ disablement information; communicating the HARQ disablement information to the NTN; and communicating with the NTN in accordance with the HARQ disablement information. 
     The above description of illustrated examples, implementations, aspects, etc., of the subject disclosure, including what is described in the Abstract, is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosed aspects to the precise forms disclosed. While specific examples, implementations, aspects, etc., are described herein for illustrative purposes, various modifications are possible that are considered within the scope of such examples, implementations, aspects, etc., as those skilled in the relevant art can recognize. 
     In this regard, while the disclosed subject matter has been described in connection with various examples, implementations, aspects, etc., and corresponding Figures, where applicable, it is to be understood that other similar aspects can be used or modifications and additions can be made to the disclosed subject matter for performing the same, similar, alternative, or substitute function of the subject matter without deviating therefrom. Therefore, the disclosed subject matter should not be limited to any single example, implementation, or aspect described herein, but rather should be construed in breadth and scope in accordance with the appended claims below. 
     In particular regard to the various functions performed by the above described components or structures (assemblies, devices, circuits, systems, etc.), the terms (including a reference to a “means”) used to describe such components are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, to any component or structure which performs the specified function of the described component (e.g., that is functionally equivalent), even though not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure which performs the function in the herein illustrated exemplary implementations. In addition, while a particular feature may have been disclosed with respect to only one of several implementations, such feature may be combined with one or more other features of the other implementations as may be desired and advantageous for any given or particular application. 
     As used herein, the term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” rather than an exclusive “or”. That is, unless specified otherwise, or clear from context, “X employs A or B” is intended to mean any of the natural inclusive permutations. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; or X employs both A and B, then “X employs A or B” is satisfied under any of the foregoing instances. In addition, the articles “a” and “an” as used in this application and the appended claims should generally be construed to mean “one or more” unless specified otherwise or clear from context to be directed to a singular form. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms “including”, “includes”, “having”, “has”, “with”, or variants thereof are used in either the detailed description and the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising.” Additionally, in situations wherein one or more numbered items are discussed (e.g., a “first X”, a “second X”, etc.), in general the one or more numbered items can be distinct, or they can be the same, although in some situations the context may indicate that they are distinct or that they are the same. 
     It is well understood that the use of personally identifiable information should follow privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmental requirements for maintaining the privacy of users. In particular, personally identifiable information data should be managed and handled so as to minimize risks of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly indicated to users.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20210805
Publication Date: 20250204
Grant Date: 20250204
Priority Date: 20210805
Inventors: HU, HAIJING
VANGALA, SARMA V
SIROTKIN, ALEXANDER
YE, CHUNXUAN
ZHANG, DAWEI
XU, FANGLI
PALLE VENKATA, Naveen Kumar R
NUGGEHALLI, PAVAN
ROSSBACH, Ralf
Gurumoorthy, Sethuraman
CHEN, YUQIN
WU, ZHIBIN
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "H04W84/06", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L1/1825", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L1/1825", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L1/1864", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L1/1864", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W84/06", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L1/1825", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L1/1864", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 85154102