I 1111111111111111 1111111111 111111111111111 11111 1111111111111111 IIII IIII IIII
`US010492179B2
`
`c12) United States Patent
`Baldemair et al.
`
`US 10,492,179 B2
`(IO) Patent No.:
`(45) Date of Patent:
`Nov. 26, 2019
`
`(54) RESOURCE SIGNALING FOR PUCCH
`
`(56)
`
`References Cited
`
`(71) Applicant: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
`(publ), Stockholm (SE)
`
`(72)
`
`Inventors: Robert Baldemair, Solna (SE); Erik
`Dahlman, Stockholm (SE); Sorour
`Falahati, Stockholm (SE); Stefan
`Parkvall, Bromma (SE)
`
`(73) Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
`(Puhl) (SE)
`
`( *) Notice:
`
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term ofthis
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U.S.C. 154(b) by O days.
`
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`2015/0085714 Al*
`
`2016/0270066 Al*
`
`3/2015 Liang .................... H04L 1/1614
`370/280
`9/2016 Seo ......................... H04L 5/001
`(Continued)
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`
`Written Opinion of the International Searching Authority, PCT/
`SE2017/050134, WIPO, dated Aug. 16, 2018, [database online],
`[retrieved on May 7, 2019] Retrieved from WIPO using Internet
`(Year: 2018).*
`
`(Continued)
`
`(21) Appl. No.: 16/294,356
`
`(22) Filed:
`
`Mar. 6, 2019
`
`(65)
`
`Prior Publication Data
`
`US 2019/0208518 Al
`
`Jul. 4, 2019
`
`Related U.S. Application Data
`
`application
`of
`(63) Continuation
`PCT/SE2017/050134, filed on Feb. 13, 2017.
`
`No.
`
`(51)
`
`Int. Cl.
`H04W72/04
`H04L 1116
`
`(2009.01)
`(2006.01)
`(Continued)
`
`(52) U.S. Cl.
`CPC ....... H04W 7210406 (2013.01); H04L 111607
`(2013.01); H04L 111614 (2013.01);
`(Continued)
`( 58) Field of Classification Search
`CPC .......... H04W 72/0406; H04W 72/0413; H04L
`1/1607; H04L 1/1854; H04L 1/1861;
`(Continued)
`
`Primary Examiner - Omar J Ghowrwal
`(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm - Christopher & Weisberg,
`P.A.
`
`(57)
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`There is disclosed a User Equipment, UE, for a Radio
`Access Network. The UE is adapted for transmitting
`acknowledgement signaling pertaining to downlink data, the
`downlink data having one or more downlink data elements.
`The acknowledgement signaling has an uplink signaling
`format including one or more acknowledgement substruc(cid:173)
`tures, each of the substructures carrying acknowledgement
`information pertaining to a downlink data element. Each of
`the acknowledgment substructures is mapped to a different
`of the downlink data elements based on at least one
`acknowledgement position indication provided in downlink
`control signaling received by the UE. The disclosure also
`pertains to related devices and methods.
`
`18 Claims, 10 Drawing Sheets
`
`ARl=O
`T=3:-------==========JA~R~l=~O~======::::-(cid:173)
`ARl=O
`T=2
`
`0
`
`0
`0
`0
`
`DataO
`
`0
`0
`
`Data 1
`
`N o Data2
`
`0
`
`Slot n
`
`Slot n+l
`
`Slot n+2
`
`Slot n+3
`
`\
`
`(transmitted in slot n+3)
`
`Configured PUCCH resources can be of
`different payload size, i.e. ARI can select
`among different PUCCH sizes
`Timing indicator used to indicate sub(cid:173)
`resources in PUCCH format selected by ARI
`
`1
`
`APPLE 1001
`
`

`

`US 10,492,179 B2
`Page 2
`
`(51)
`
`(2006.01)
`(2006.01)
`
`Int. Cl.
`H04L 1118
`H04L 5100
`(52) U.S. Cl.
`CPC .......... H04L 111854 (2013.01); H04L 111861
`(2013.01); H04L 510055 (2013.01); H04W
`7210413 (2013.01); H04L 5/0053 (2013.01)
`( 58) Field of Classification Search
`CPC ... H04L 5/0055; H04L 5/0053; H04L 5/0092;
`H04L 1/1614
`See application file for complete search history.
`
`(56)
`
`References Cited
`
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`2018/0019843 Al*
`2019/0029052 Al*
`
`1/2018 Papasakellariou .... H04L 1/1864
`1/2019 Yang ..................... H04W72/04
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`
`International Search Report dated Sep. 1, 2017 for International
`Application No. PCT/SE2017/050134 filed on Feb. 13, 2017; Con(cid:173)
`sisting of 4 pages.
`
`* cited by examiner
`
`2
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`U.S. Patent
`
`Nov. 26, 2019
`Nov.26, 2019
`
`Sheet 1 of 10
`Sheet 1 of 10
`
`US 10,492,179 B2
`US 10,492,179 B2
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`U.S. Patent
`
`Nov. 26, 2019
`
`Sheet 2 of 10
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`US 10,492,179 B2
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`I u u
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`U.S. Patent
`U.S. Patent
`
`Nov.26, 2019
`Nov. 26, 2019
`
`Sheet 3 of 10
`Sheet 3 of 10
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`US 10,492,179 B2
`US 10,492,179 B2
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`
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`
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`
`resources in PUCCH format selected by ARI
`Timing indicator used to indicate sub(cid:173)
`among different PUCCH sizes
`different payload size, i.e. ARI can select
`Configured PUCCH resources can be of
`
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`

`

`U.S. Patent
`U.S. Patent
`
`Nov.26, 2019
`Nov. 26, 2019
`
`Sheet 5 of 10
`Sheet 5 of 10
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`US 10,492,179 B2
`US 10,492,179 B2
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`U.S. Patent
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`Nov. 26, 2019
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`Sheet 6 of 10
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`US 10,492,179 B2
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`Nov.26, 2019
`Nov. 26, 2019
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`Sheet 7 of 10
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`US 10,492,179 B2
`US 10,492,179 B2
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`U.S. Patent
`U.S. Patent
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`Nov.26, 2019
`Nov. 26, 2019
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`Sheet 8 of 10
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`US 10,492,179 B2
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`U.S. Patent
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`Nov.26, 2019
`Nov. 26, 2019
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`Sheet 9 of 10
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`US 10,492,179 B2
`US 10,492,179 B2
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`U.S. Patent
`U.S. Patent
`
`Nov.26, 2019
`Nov. 26, 2019
`
`Sheet 10 of 10
`Sheet 10 of 10
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`US 10,492,179 B2
`US 10,492,179 B2
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`

`

`US 10,492,179 B2
`
`1
`RESOURCE SIGNALING FOR PUCCH
`
`CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED
`APPLICATION
`
`This application is a continuation of International Appli(cid:173)
`cation No. PCT/SE2017/050134, filed Feb. 13, 2017, the
`entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.
`
`TECHNICAL FIELD
`
`This disclosure pertains to wireless communication tech(cid:173)
`nology, in particular in the context of Radio Access Tech(cid:173)
`nology/Networks (RAT/RAN).
`
`BACKGROUND
`
`New wireless communication technologies, e.g. 5G tech(cid:173)
`nologies like 3GPP New Radio, are being developed and
`introduced for a wide range of use cases. To cover this wide
`range, more flexibility for signaling is desirable, in particular
`for control signaling.
`
`SUMMARY
`
`It is an object of the present disclosure to provide
`approaches allowing flexible transmission of uplink control
`signaling, respectively acknowledgement signaling. In the
`context of this disclosure, acknowledgement signaling may
`be considered a form of uplink control signaling, and/or be
`included and/or implemented therein, or be separately
`implemented. For example, uplink control signaling may
`comprise acknowledgement signaling next to for example
`scheduling grants and/or measurement reporting. Alterna(cid:173)
`tively, acknowledgement signaling may be implemented to 35
`only comprise acknowledgement information, at per indi(cid:173)
`vidual message.
`Accordingly, there is disclosed a user equipment, UE, for
`a Radio Access Network. The UE is adapted for transmitting
`acknowledgement signaling pertaining to downlink data. 40
`The downlink data comprises one or more downlink data
`elements. The acknowledgement signaling has an uplink
`signaling format comprising one or more acknowledgement
`substructures, wherein each of the substructures carry
`acknowledgement information pertaining to a downlink data 45
`element. Further, each of the acknowledgment substructures
`is mapped to a different of the downlink data elements based
`on at least one acknowledgement position indication pro(cid:173)
`vided in downlink control signaling received by the UE. The
`UE may comprise processing circuitry and/or radio circuitry, 50
`in particular a transmitter or transceiver, and/or be adapted
`to use such, for transmitting acknowledgement signaling.
`Alternatively or additionally, the UE may comprise a trans(cid:173)
`mitting module for such transmitting. It may be considered
`that the UE comprises a receiver, and/or a receiving module, 55
`for receiving downlink data and/or downlink control signal(cid:173)
`ing, e.g. from a network node.
`A method of operating a user Equipment, UE, in a Radio
`Access Network is also proposed. The method comprises
`transmitting acknowledgement signaling pertaining
`to 60
`downlink data, the downlink data comprising one or more
`downlink data elements. The acknowledgement signaling
`has an uplink signaling format comprising one or more
`acknowledgement substructures, each of the substructures
`carrying acknowledgement information pertaining to a 65
`downlink data element. Further, each of the acknowledg(cid:173)
`ment substructures is mapped to a different of the downlink
`
`2
`data elements based on at least one acknowledgement posi(cid:173)
`tion indication provided in downlink control signaling
`received by the UE. The method may comprise receiving
`downlink data and/or downlink control signaling, e.g. from
`5 a network node.
`Moreover, a network node for a Radio Access Network
`may be considered. The network node is adapted for trans(cid:173)
`mitting downlink control signaling comprising an acknowl(cid:173)
`edgement position indication. The acknowledgement posi-
`10 tion indication indicates a mapping of at
`least one
`acknowledgement substructure of an uplink signaling for(cid:173)
`mat comprising one or more acknowledgement substruc(cid:173)
`tures to a corresponding data element of downlink data,
`wherein the acknowledgement substructure is mapped for
`15 carrying acknowledgement information pertaining to the
`downlink data element. The network node may comprise
`processing circuitry and/or radio circuitry, in particular a
`transmitter or transceiver, and/or be adapted to use such, for
`transmitting acknowledgement signaling. Alternatively or
`20 additionally, the network node may comprise a transmitting
`module for such transmitting.
`In addition, there is described a method of operating a
`network node in a Radio Access Network. The method
`comprises transmitting downlink control signaling compris-
`25 ing an acknowledgement position indication. The acknowl(cid:173)
`edgement position indication indicates a mapping of at least
`one acknowledgement substructure of an uplink signaling
`format comprising one or more acknowledgement substruc(cid:173)
`tures to a corresponding data element of downlink data,
`30 wherein the acknowledgement substructure is mapped for
`carrying acknowledgement information pertaining to the
`downlink data element.
`Transmitting downlink control signaling may be trans(cid:173)
`mitting to one or more than one UEs. It may generally be
`considered that transmitting downlink control signaling is an
`example and/or part of configuring the UE/s, in particular
`configuring on the physical layer and/or dynamic configur(cid:173)
`ing.
`Alternatively, there may be considered a network node for
`a RAN, the network node being adapted for receiving
`acknowledgement signaling having an uplink signaling for(cid:173)
`mat as discussed herein. The network node may in some
`variant be implemented as network node adapted for trans(cid:173)
`mitting downlink control signaling as described herein.
`Independently, there may be considered a method of oper(cid:173)
`ating a network node in a RAN, the method comprising
`receiving acknowledgement signaling having an uplink sig(cid:173)
`naling format as discussed herein. The method may com(cid:173)
`prise transmitting downlink control signaling as described
`herein, in particular before receiving, and/or for configuring,
`the acknowledgement signaling respectively the format.
`Receiving acknowledgement signaling may be based on a
`corresponding configuration, which may be known to the
`network node, which may determine it itself (for configuring
`the UE), and/or may have received corresponding informa(cid:173)
`tion from another network node and/or the UE. The network
`node may comprise and/or utilize a receiver and/or a receiv(cid:173)
`ing module for such receiving.
`The proposed approaches allow flexible signaling to a UE
`of which substructure, e.g. of a resource, for use for
`acknowledgement signaling. Thus, acknowledgement sig(cid:173)
`naling may be adapted to a wide range of uses and situations,
`ensuring reliable information. It should be noted that in the
`context of this disclosure, a single acknowledgement sub-
`structure in an uplink signaling format mapped to one data
`element is considered to represent each of the acknowledge-
`ment substructures of the format being mapped to a different
`
`13
`
`

`

`US 10,492,179 B2
`
`3
`data element, if there is no mapping of the substructure to
`more than one data element (or vice versa).
`The acknowledgment substructures may be transmitted in
`the same message and/or format and/or be jointly encoded
`and/or modulated and/or be transmitted on the same
`resource, which may be an uplink control signaling resource.
`Such a resource may be configured to the UE, e.g. in a
`resource pool. In particular, resource and/or resource pool
`may be pre-configured, e.g. before receiving the data ele(cid:173)
`ments and/or the downlink control signaling. The mapping
`described herein may generally be considered to map data
`element/s to different substructures transmitted on the same
`resource.
`Generally, the downlink control signaling and the down(cid:173)
`link data may be transmitted on different channels, in 15
`particular different physical charmels. Downlink signaling
`may be transmitted by a network node. Downlink control
`signaling may comprise downlink control
`information
`(DCI), and/or may be transmitted on a (ore more than one)
`shared or dedicated charmel, e.g. a downlink control chan(cid:173)
`nel, for example a PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control
`CHannel), or a shared or broadcast channel. Downlink data
`may be transmitted on a ( or more than one) shared or
`dedicated charmel, e.g. a PDSCH (Physical Downlink
`Shared CHannel).
`The downlink control signaling may comprise different
`message, e.g. different DCI messages, in particular received
`(by the UE) and/or transmitted (by the network node) in
`different time structures or TTis.
`an 30
`represent
`Acknowledgement
`information may
`acknowledgment or non-acknowledgement, e.g. of correct
`reception of the corresponding data element, and optionally
`may represent an indication of non-reception. In particular,
`acknowledgment information may represent ARQ (Auto(cid:173)
`matic Repeat request) and/or HARQ (Hybrid Automatic 35
`Repeat reQuest) feedback. Correct reception may include
`correct decoding/demodulation, e.g. according to anARQ or
`HARQ process, for example based on error detection and/or
`forward error correction coding, which may be based on a
`data element being received. Correspondingly, incorrect 40
`reception (non-acknowledgement) may refer to detection of
`an error during decoding/demodulating. Non-reception may
`indicate non-reception of a data element and/or non-recep(cid:173)
`tion of an acknowledgement position indication indicating a
`mapping pertaining to the data element. Non-reception may 45
`for example by indicated by a DTX (Discontinuous Trans(cid:173)
`mission) indication.
`The acknowledgement position indication may be selec(cid:173)
`tive between two or more different uplink signaling formats.
`A radio node may select, and/or be adapted to select, the 50
`acknowledgement position indication based on a suitable
`uplink signaling format. The uplink signaling formats may
`correspond to, and/or configured for, specific uplink
`resources. For example, for different configured (or sched(cid:173)
`uled) uplink resources, there may be used and/or associated 55
`different uplink signaling formats, for example depending
`on the size (in time-frequency space, e.g. represented by
`resource elements) of the resource/s.
`It may be considered that the acknowledgment position
`indication indicates a timing and/or resource for transmitting 60
`the acknowledgement signaling. The timing may generally
`represent a time structure or interval used for transmission,
`e.g. a slot or mini-slot or shortened slot or similar, in
`particular a specific time structure or interval. Transmission
`may be intended within this time structure or interval, e.g. at 65
`the beginning or end, but not limited thereto. Such a time
`structure or interval or TTI may represent and/or comprise
`
`4
`a plurality of symbols or resource elements (in time),
`respectively the associated time intervals, for example at
`least 2, at least 3, at least 4, at least 7 or at least 14 such time
`intervals, e.g. symbol time intervals. In general, the timing
`5 may be represented by a timing difference or time shift, e.g.
`between the timing of reception of the acknowledgement
`position indication and/or the data/data element/s it pertains
`to, and the intended or scheduled transmitting time structure,
`e.g. for transmitting the corresponding acknowledgement
`10 signaling. The time difference or time shift may me in some
`variants be represented by time value (e.g., in seconds or
`subunits thereof), or a time structure number, e.g. a differ(cid:173)
`ence in slot number between reception and transmission.
`Such a difference may for example be an integer number.
`The downlink control signaling may comprise one or
`more messages, wherein each message may comprise at
`least one acknowledgement position indication. The mes(cid:173)
`sage may for example be DCI messages. Different messages
`may pertain to different data elements and/or data provided
`20 on different downlink charmels.
`It may be considered that the acknowledgement position
`indication pertains to one downlink data element. Different
`acknowledgement position indications may pertain to dif(cid:173)
`ferent data elements, and/or may be included in different
`25 messages. However, in some variants, a message may com(cid:173)
`prise more than one acknowledgement position indication,
`and/or an acknowledgement position indication may pertain
`to more than one data element. In the latter case, there may
`be provided one-to-one mappings of data elements to sub(cid:173)
`structures by the indication.
`Generally, to each acknowledgement substructure there
`may be associated and/or mapped a single data element. It
`may be considered that the mapping between data elements
`and acknowledgement substructures is a one-to-one map(cid:173)
`ping.
`The acknowledgement position indication may comprise
`a resource selection indication like a resource selection
`parameter. The resource selection indication may indicate a
`resource for transmitting the acknowledgement indication,
`the resource being selected from a number of possible
`resources configured for acknowledgement signaling and/or
`uplink control signaling, e.g. on a PUCCH. A resource
`selection parameter may for example be an ARI (ACK/
`NACK Resource Indicator). The resource may be a resource
`of a pool of resources configured recurrently for a plurality
`of time structures or intervals, e.g. slots and/or mini-slot or
`shortened slots, such that for each such structure or interval
`of this plurality, the resources are available ( considering that
`they are shifted in time).
`Alternatively or additionally, the acknowledgement posi(cid:173)
`tion indication may comprise a timing indication like a
`timing parameter, the timing indication indicating a timing
`for transmitting the acknowledgement signaling, as well as
`indicating to which acknowledgement substructure of a
`resource a data element is mapped. The timing may be as
`discussed herein, in particular be represented by a difference
`in time structure or interval, e.g. difference in slot or
`mini-slot or shortened slot, in particular between the slot of
`reception, e.g. of the acknowledgement position indication
`and/or the data element/s, and the (intended or indicated or
`scheduled or configured) time structure or interval for trans-
`mitting. It should be noted that the data element/s and the
`corresponding acknowledgement position indication may be
`transmitted (respectively received) in the same time struc(cid:173)
`ture or interval, or in different time structures or intervals,
`depending on whether and/or how their respective charmels
`are synchronized and/or timed. The timing indication may
`
`14
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`

`US 10,492,179 B2
`
`5
`be referenced ( e.g., by the UE and/or the network node) to
`either (if differently timed) or both (e.g., if simultaneous).
`The reference may be defined by the standard and/or implied
`and/or configured. A timing parameter may be represented
`by, and/or implemented as, a timing indicator.
`Generally, a timing may represent a time interval like a
`slot or mini-slot or shortened slot for transmitting the
`acknowledgement signaling. A time structure or interval as
`referenced herein may in general be represented by a slot
`and/or mini-slot and/or shortened slot and/or be considered
`to represent a transmission time interval (TTI).
`There is also disclosed a program product comprising
`instructions causing processing circuitry to perform and/or
`control any one method described herein.
`Moreover, there is envisioned a carrier medium arrange(cid:173)
`ment carrying and/or storing a program product as described
`herein.
`An indication, in particular an acknowledgement position
`indication, may explicitly and/or implicitly indicate the
`information it represents and/or indicates. Implicit indica(cid:173)
`tion may for example be based on position and/or resource
`used for transmission. Explicit indication may for example
`be based on a parametrization with one or more parameters,
`and/or one or more index or indices, and/or one or more bit
`patterns representing the information. In particular, an 25
`acknowledgement position indication may comprise a
`resource selection indication ( e.g., an ARI) having a bit
`pattern of one or more than one bits, and/or a timing
`indication (e.g., a timing indicator) having a bit pattern of
`one or more than one bits. These indications may be joined 30
`together, e.g. jointly encoded, to represent on position indi(cid:173)
`cation, or be transmitted separately. Such transmission may
`be in the same message, but with separate indications, e.g.
`according to a downlink control signaling format, which
`may be defined by a standard.
`Signaling on a resource and/or resource structure associ(cid:173)
`ated to a specific channel may be considered to comprise
`and/or pertain to signals and/or symbols of the specific
`channel. For example, signaling on a PUCCH resource
`structure may comprise and/or pertain to signaling of and/or 40
`associated to PUCCH, whereas signaling on a PUSCH
`resource structure may comprise and/or pertain to signaling
`of and/or associated to PUCCH. Thus signaling on PUCCH
`or a related resource structure is different from signaling on
`a PUSCH.
`Signaling may be according to a specific signaling format,
`in particular according to an uplink signaling format. A
`signaling format may generally define and/or determine a
`message structure and/or a bit structure or pattern. Such a
`structure or pattern may comprise a plurality of substruc(cid:173)
`tures. A substructure may comprise one or more bits. Dif(cid:173)
`ferent substructures may comprise different numbers of bits.
`However, in some variant each acknowledgement substruc(cid:173)
`ture of a signaling format may comprise the same number of
`bits. A substructure may be associated and/or mapped
`uniquely to a data element. A multi-bit (2 or more) substruc(cid:173)
`ture may for example be used for providing the possibility
`of indicating non-reception in addition to ACK/NACK,
`and/or for error-padding, and/or for improved or more
`detailed ARQ/HARQ signaling. A substructure carrying
`information may comprise one or more bits representing the
`information carried, e.g. ACK/NACK information.
`Transmitting acknowledgement signaling may comprise
`encoding and/or modulating, e.g. the uplink signaling format
`and/or the substructures, and/or the corresponding informa(cid:173)
`tion or bits. Encoding and/or modulating may comprise error
`detection coding and/or forward error correction encoding
`
`6
`and/or scrambling. An uplink format may represent a bit
`structure comprising a plurality of bits, which may be
`structured according to one or more substructures, e.g.
`acknowledgement substructures. Jointly encoding and/or
`5 modulating may comprise encompassing the jointly encoded
`or modulated information or bits into the same coding, e.g.
`error coding (detection and/or error correction coding) and/
`or scrambling and/or modulating. Thus, jointly encoded
`information may be protected by the same bits of error
`10 coding, respectively subjected to the same modulation and/
`or scrambling event.
`An acknowledgement position indication may generally
`be considered to indicate a position of the mapped substruc(cid:173)
`ture in the uplink signaling format, e.g. a number and/or
`15 range of bits, and/or in relation to other substructure/s. The
`information/bits in a substructure may generally indicate
`whether reception of the mapped/corresponding data ele(cid:173)
`ment is acknowledged or not.
`time-frequency
`indicate
`A resource may generally
`20 resource (or range/sin time-frequency space), in particular
`a resource structure, e.g. a resource structure comprising one
`or more resource elements. A resource may be part of a
`resource pool comprising a one or a plurality of resources,
`which may be configured (scheduled) for uplink transmis(cid:173)
`sion. Each resource may be possibly used for the acknowl(cid:173)
`edgement signaling. Different resources may be different in
`size, e.g. range in frequency and/or time space. Different
`resources may be considered to pertain to, and/or be sched(cid:173)
`uled for, the same time structure/TT!, e.g., to the same slot
`or mini-slot or shortened slot. A resource pool may be
`configured for a plurality of time structures/TTis. The
`resource pool may be configured by the network node, or
`more generally by the RAN. A resource and/or resource pool
`may be represented and/or configured according to a
`35 resource configuration, in particular an uplink control sig(cid:173)
`naling configuration, which may in particular be a PUCCH
`configuration. A PUCCH configuration may represent
`resources for PUCCH signaling, in particular acknowledge-
`ment signaling on PUCCH.
`It may be considered that to a resource there is associated
`one or more different uplink signaling formats, and/or that to
`different resources there are associated different uplink
`signaling formats. Different formats may differ in the num(cid:173)
`ber of acknowledgement substructures, and/or in the length
`45 (e.g., in bit) of the substructures. In some variants, a timing
`indication (in particular a timing indicator indicating a time
`shift) may have or represent an integer value in a range
`representing the number of different acknowledgement sub(cid:173)
`structures in the uplink signaling format it pertains to. For
`50 example, if the format has 3 acknowledgement substruc(cid:173)
`tures, the indication may represent values between O and 2,
`or 1 and 3. A time shift may represent a shift in slots and be
`referred to as slot shift.
`Generally, the UE may select, and/or be adapted for
`55 selecting, a resource for transmitting acknowledgement sig(cid:173)
`naling based on a configuration, e.g. an uplink control
`signaling resource configuration, in particular a PUCCH
`configuration. The network node may be adapted for con(cid:173)
`figuring the configuration, and/or configure the configura-
`60 tion. Such configuring may be on the RRC layer, e.g. via
`RRC signaling, and/or be considered statically, or semi(cid:173)
`statically (e.g., being valid until changed by other RRC
`signaling, or covering a predefined plurality of timing struc(cid:173)
`tures and/or TTI), which may also be referred to a persistent
`65 or semi-persistent, respectively.
`It may generally be considered that acknowledgement
`signaling comprises one uplink signaling format and/or one
`
`15
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`

`US 10,492,179 B2
`
`7
`message with such a format, and/or that the acknowledg(cid:173)
`ment signaling, respectively the format or message or the
`bits in the substructures, are jointly encoded and/or modu(cid:173)
`lated for transmission, e.g. as part of transmitting.
`Transmitting acknowledgement signaling may be based
`on, and/or comprise, determining acknowledgement infor(cid:173)
`mation pertaining to the one or more data elements. Deter(cid:173)
`mining such information may comprise performing an ARQ
`and/or HARQ process and/or determining correct reception
`of the data elements (and/or considering non-reception).
`Alternatively or additionally, transmitting acknowledgement
`signaling may comprise and/or be based on receiving the
`downlink data, respectively the downlink data elements, for
`example based on a configuration, which may be a downlink
`data configuration. Such a configuration may be configured
`by the network node. The configuration may (statically
`and/or dynamically, e.g. in part both) may be valid for one
`or more than one time structure or TTL However, in some
`cases, the configuration may be dynamically adapted for
`each time structure or TTI, e.g. as configured by a network
`node.
`Acknowledgement signaling may be considered pertain(cid:173)
`ing to downlink data if it comprises acknowledgement
`information pertaining to the downlink data respectively the
`data element/s thereof. Downlink data may generally rep(cid:173)
`resent data transmitted on a downlink channel, e.g. subject
`to one or more ARQ or HARQ processes. A data element
`may in particular represent a ( e.g., a single) data block
`(transport block), which may be associated to a specific
`ARQ/HARQ process. In particular, different data elements
`may be associated to different ARQ/HARQ processes
`(which may run in parallel).
`Data elements of the data may be transmitted by the
`network node, and/or under control or monitoring by the
`network node, which may be adapted accordingly, and/or
`utilize its circuitry accordingly, and/or comprise a data
`transmitting module therefor. Generally, data elements may
`be associated to one or more different transmissions/trans(cid:173)
`mission events and/or messages, in particular to transmis(cid:173)
`sions at different times or different time structures or inter(cid:173)
`vals, e.g. TTis. The approaches described herein allow
`flexible acknowledgement/HARQ feedback for data ele(cid:173)
`ments received in different time structures/TTL A UE may
`receive, and/or be adapted to receive and/or to utilize its
`circuitry to receive, the downlink data and/or the data
`elements, e.g. based on a configuration.
`Transmitting the acknowledgment signaling may be in or
`on a resource, which may be indicated by the acknowledg(cid:173)
`ment position indication, in particular a resource selection
`indication.
`PUCCH and/or a downlink control channel may be imple(cid:173)
`mented as defined according to a 3GPP standard, in particu-
`lar according to LTE or NR, as amended as suggested herein. 55
`A PUCCH may generally be a physical channel for
`transmitting uplink control signaling, e.g. UCI and/or
`HARQ signaling and/or measurement reports and/or sched(cid:173)
`uling request