HK1251842B - Ofdma-based multiplexing of uplink control information - Google Patents

Description

OFDMA-based multiplexing of uplink control information

Priority claim

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/199,058, filed on July 30, 2015, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/269,363, filed on December 18, 2015, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

Technical Field

The embodiments described herein generally relate to wireless networks and communication systems. Some embodiments relate to cellular communication networks including 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) networks, 3GPP LTE (Long Term Evolution) networks, and 3GPP LTE-A (LTE Advanced) networks, but the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

Background Art

In Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, mobile terminals (referred to as user equipment or UE) are connected to the cellular network via base stations (referred to as evolved Node Bs or eNBs). Current LTE systems utilize Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) for the downlink (DL) and a related technology, Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA), for the uplink (UL). OFDMA-based multi-carrier modulation is an attractive uplink air interface for next-generation radio access technologies because it can simplify receiver architecture and enhance interference cancellation mechanisms when the downlink air interface is also OFDMA-based. However, the new multi-carrier modulation scheme in the uplink also requires a redesign of resource element (RE) mapping when uplink control information (UCI) is sent along with data on a shared uplink channel. Methods and associated apparatus for transmitting uplink control information in an uplink shared channel based on an OFDMA waveform are described herein.

Summary of the Invention

In a first aspect of the present disclosure, a device for a user equipment (UE) is provided. The device includes a memory and processing circuitry configured to: encode uplink control information (UCI) multiplexed with uplink shared channel (UL-SCH) data for transmission on a shared orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) channel in a physical resource block (PRB) of a subframe containing multiple time-frequency resource elements (REs); map a first type of UCI selected from a hybrid automatic repeat-request (HARQ-ACK) signal or a channel state information (CSI) signal to an OFDM symbol of the subframe that also contains a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) RE; and map a second type of UCI, different from the first type, selected from the hybrid automatic repeat-request (HARQ-ACK) signal or the channel state information (CSI) signal, to an OFDM symbol of the subframe that does not contain a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) RE.

In a second aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus for a user equipment (UE) is provided. The apparatus includes a memory and a processing circuit, wherein the memory and the processing circuit are configured to: encode uplink control information (UCI) multiplexed with uplink shared channel (UL-SCH) data for transmission on a shared orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) channel in a physical resource block (PRB) of a subframe containing multiple time-frequency resource elements (REs), wherein the shared OFDMA channel includes a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) and a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH); and encode the UL-SCH data on the PUSCH and the UCI on the PUCCH when the UE receives one type of downlink control information, and encode the UL-SCH data and the UCI on the PUCCH when the UE receives another type of downlink control information.

In a third aspect of the present disclosure, a computer-readable medium comprising instructions is provided, which, when executed by a processing circuit of a user equipment (UE), causes the UE to: multiplex uplink control information (UCI) and uplink shared channel (UL-SCH) data in a physical resource block (PRB) of a subframe comprising multiple time-frequency resource elements (REs) for transmission in a shared orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) channel; map a first type of UCI selected from a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) signal or a channel state information (CSI) signal to an RE of an OFDM symbol of the subframe that also comprises a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) RE; and map a second type of UCI selected from a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) signal or a channel state information (CSI) signal to an RE of an OFDM symbol of the subframe that does not comprise a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) RE.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG1 illustrates an example UE and eNB according to some embodiments.

FIG2 illustrates PUSCH with symmetric UL/DL and PUSCH with SC-FDMA according to some embodiments.

FIG3 shows examples of DMRS patterns for different numbers of layers according to some embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates RE mapping of UCI using symmetric UL/DL waveforms according to some embodiments.

FIG5 illustrates RE numbering of UCI resources on an OFDM symbol containing DMRS of an example DMRS pattern according to some embodiments.

6 illustrates RE numbering of UCI resources on an OFDM symbol containing DMRS of an example DMRS pattern using different mapping rules per slot according to some embodiments.

FIG. 7 shows an example of UCI mapping based on distance to DMRS symbols according to some embodiments.

FIG8 shows an example of DMRS patterns and associated UCI mapping based on proximity to DMRS REs according to some embodiments.

9 shows an example of transport layer dependent DMRS patterns for a subframe with time multiplexed PUSCH and PUCCH regions in accordance with some embodiments.

Figure 10 shows an example of a transport layer independent DMRS pattern for a subframe with time multiplexed PUSCH and PUCCH according to some embodiments.

FIG11 shows an example of a DMRS pattern for a subframe with time-multiplexed PUSCH and PUCCH regions in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG12 illustrates an example of a user equipment device according to some embodiments.

FIG13 illustrates an example of a computing machine according to some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Figure 1 shows an example of components of a UE 400 and a base station or eNB 300. The eNB 300 includes processing circuitry 301 connected to a radio transceiver 302 for providing an air interface. The UE 400 includes processing circuitry 401 connected to a radio transceiver 402 for providing an interface. Each of the transceivers in these devices is connected to an antenna 55.

LTE's physical layer is based on Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) for the downlink and a related technology, Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiplexing (SC-FDM), for the uplink. In OFDM/SC-FDM, composite modulation symbols according to a modulation scheme such as QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) are each mapped to a specific OFDM/SC-FDM subcarrier (called a Resource Element (RE)) transmitted during an OFDM/SC-FDM symbol. An RE is the smallest physical resource in LTE. LTE also provides MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) operation, in which multiple layers of data are transmitted and received by multiple antennas, and each of the composite modulation symbols is mapped to one of multiple transmission layers and then to a specific antenna port. Each RE is then uniquely identified by an OFDM symbol index, a subcarrier position, and an antenna port within a radio frame, as explained below.

LTE transmissions in the time domain are organized into radio frames, each of which has a duration of 10 ms. Each radio frame consists of 10 subframes, each of which consists of two consecutive 0.5 ms slots. Each slot consists of six indexed OFDM symbols for the extended cyclic prefix and seven indexed OFDM symbols for the standard cyclic prefix. A group of resource elements corresponding to 12 consecutive subcarriers in a single slot is called a resource block (RB) and, with respect to the physical layer, a physical resource block (PRB).

The UE sends multiple control signals, known as uplink control information (UCI), to the eNB. Current LTE standards specify that the UE transmit a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ-ACK) signal on the uplink (UL) in response to receiving a data packet on the downlink (DL). The HARQ-ACK signal has either an ACK value or a NAK value, depending on whether the data packet was received correctly. The UE sends a Scheduling Request (SR) signal to request UL resources for signal transmission. The UE sends a Channel State Information (CSI) report, which includes a Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) signal that informs the eNB of the DL channel conditions it is experiencing, enabling the eNB to perform channel-dependent scheduling of DL data packets. The UE also transmits a Precoding Matrix Indicator/Rank Indicator (PMI/RI) signal as part of the CSI to inform the eNB how to combine signals for transmission from multiple eNB antennas to the UE according to the principles of Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO). Any possible combination of HARQ-ACK, SR, CQI, PMI, and RI signals may be sent by the UE along with data information in the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), or separately from data signals in the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH).

In current LTE systems, uplink control information (UCI), such as channel state information (CSI) or HARQ ACK/NACK feedback, can be transmitted on either the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). In the latter case, UCI needs to be multiplexed with uplink shared channel (UL-SCH) data. Additionally, each PUSCH transmission is accompanied by a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) to allow demodulation of PUSCH symbols at the receiver. The mapping of DMRS, UCI, and UL-SCH data to physical resources is closely interconnected. For example, UCI transmissions are generally more protected than data transmissions, as unsuccessful UCI transmissions can potentially trigger downlink retransmissions or result in suboptimal adaptive modulation and coding (AMC). Therefore, in LTE, ACK/NACK bits can be mapped to resource elements (REs) adjacent to the DMRS in the time/frequency resource grid.

As mentioned above, the uplink air interface for current LTE systems is based on SC-FDMA. SC-FDMA waveforms offer many advantages, the most significant of which is a low peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR). Low PAPR enables more efficient operation of the user equipment (UE)'s power amplifier (PA). However, asymmetric designs, where different waveforms are used for the uplink and downlink, are no longer justified by the improved PA efficiency, as the advantages of a symmetrical uplink/downlink air interface may outweigh the advantages of SC-FDMA. For example, in current LTE systems, a UE may need to implement both an OFDMA receiver and an SC-FDMA receiver to receive downlink transmissions from the eNB and device-to-device transmissions from another UE, respectively. Furthermore, for highly dynamic flexible duplex systems (i.e., where the uplink and downlink are no longer frequency-division duplexed (FDD) in different frequency bands or time-division duplexed in different subframes), it is advantageous to use symmetric DMRS patterns in each duplex direction to implement complex, potentially network-assisted, interference cancellation and mitigation mechanisms.

In current LTE systems, each time slot of an uplink subframe contains one SC-FDMA symbol dedicated to DMRS transmission. Let M _SC be the transmission bandwidth of the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), where the PUSCH occupies N _PRB physical resource blocks (PRBs) in the LTE time/frequency resource grid, i.e., M _SC = 12N _PRB . The UE then transmits M _SC DMRS symbols in each time slot of PUSCH transmission. Therefore, DMRS REs and data or UCI REs never share the same resources in the time or frequency domain: DMRS symbols are transmitted on all subcarriers of the SC-FDMA symbol carrying DMRS. On the other hand, since OFDMA does not need to maintain the single-carrier property of SC-FDMA, the downlink DMRS pattern can be less restrictive so that data, UCI, and DMRS symbols can be multiplexed on different subcarriers of a given OFDM symbol. However, in the downlink, downlink control information (DCI) has always been sent on the dedicated physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and never multiplexed onto the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). Therefore, no multiplexing mechanism for UCI on PUSCH with a common DMRS pattern is known. Therefore, a novel RE mapping mechanism is needed for a symmetric UL/DL design with OFDMA waveforms in each duplex direction. In addition, the multiplexing of UCI and UL-SCH data should be general enough to accommodate a large number of different DMRS patterns while retaining most of the performance advantages of SC-FDMA.

In the above embodiments, UCI is transmitted on an OFDMA-based uplink. In some embodiments, UCI symbols are mapped to resource elements (REs) in a time/frequency resource grid to maximize frequency diversity. In addition, UCI can be mapped while taking into account channel estimation performance by mapping UCI symbols to the REs closest to the DMRS carrying these REs (in terms of OFDM subcarriers/symbols). The mapping of UCI to REs can take into account whether the OFDM symbol also carries DMRS or only carries UL-SCH data. The mapping of UCI to REs can also take into account dynamic DMRS patterns that change between subframes according to pre-defined rules or as indicated by downlink control information (DCI) scheduling PUSCH associated with the DMRS. The mapping of UCI to REs can also be performed based on the UCI payload size. The types of UCI mentioned throughout the embodiments described below (e.g., HARQ-ACK/NACK, CSI, RI, PMI, and SR) are illustrative, and other types of UCI should not be considered to be excluded from these embodiments.

Figure 2 shows examples of PUSCH RE mapping for an OFDMA-based symmetric UL/DL waveform and LTE PUSCH RE mapping for an SC-FDMA waveform, respectively. Referring now to the right portion of Figure 2, in legacy LTE systems, DMRS occupies the entire transmission bandwidth on symbol 4 of each slot (for a standard cyclic prefix), as depicted in Figure 2. If modulated HARQ ACK/NACK bits are present, the modulated HARQ ACK/NACK bits are then mapped to resources directly adjacent to the SC-FDMA symbols carrying the DMRS. The number of symbols carrying ACK/NACK information depends on the UE higher layer configuration and the transmission parameters of the UL-SCH data multiplexed with the HARQ ACK/NACK bits. Next, if rank indicator bits are present, the rank indicator bits are mapped to SC-FDMA symbols adjacent to the resources reserved for HARQ ACK/NACK transmission, as depicted in Figure 2. Finally, if channel quality indicator (CQI) bits are present, they are first multiplexed with the UL-SCH data and then mapped to time/frequency resources not already occupied by DMRS, sounding reference signal (SRS), RI (if any), and HARQ ACK/NACK UCI (if any).

Referring to the left part of Figure 2, for the UL OFDMA waveform, DMRS mapping may not be as regular as in the case of SC-FDMA. For example, the UL OFDMA waveform does not need to maintain the single carrier characteristics of SC-FDMA. Therefore, in order to maximize spectrum efficiency, a DMRS pattern for PUSCH similar to that in Figure 2 can be adopted. However, it should be noted that the DMRS pattern depicted here is only used as an example and does not exclude other DMRS patterns. In addition, the number of subcarriers and OFDM symbols per physical resource block (PRB) depicted in Figure 2 is also only used as an example. For example, in the case where the network configures an extended cyclic prefix (CP), the number of OFDM symbols may be different from that shown in Figure 2. Therefore, the DMRS pattern may look different from the example in Figure 2.

A characteristic of DMRS patterns for multi-carrier modulation schemes such as OFDMA is that for a given OFDM symbol, some subcarriers within a physical resource block (PRB) may contain DMRS REs while others may not. This situation does not occur in DMRS patterns based on SC-FDMA. Therefore, existing rules regarding how to map UCI and UL-SCH data for PUSCH transmission no longer apply. A novel RE mapping mechanism is described herein that allows multiplexing of UCI and UL-SCH data in PUSCH transmissions based on UL OFDMA waveforms. In addition, the proposed UCI mapping mechanism is not static but rule-based to facilitate dynamic adaptation of UCI mapping in the event of DMRS pattern changes, for example, through pre-defined rules that depend on the subframe or through dynamic indications in the downlink control information. In addition, in some embodiments, in the case of self-contained frame structures or in the case of synchronous or sequential transmission of xPUSCH and xPUCCH in the same subframe, this dynamic adaptation of UCI mapping can also be determined based on the UCI payload size.

In one embodiment, different types of UCI are mapped to different OFDM symbols. To this end, OFDM symbols within a PRB are grouped based on whether they contain DMRS REs. Figure 2 illustrates this example. In the first slot, symbols #4 and #7 are reserved for rank indication (RI), with symbols in each slot numbered from 1 to 7. In the second slot, symbols #1 and #4 are reserved for rank indication. In this example, the last OFDM symbol of the second slot is excluded, assuming that it can be used to transmit a sounding reference signal (SRS). Similarly, the first symbol of the first slot is excluded, leaving the total number of REs reserved for potential RI transmission the same as in LTE: _4MSC . Since the depicted DMRS pattern is merely an example for ease of illustration, other time/frequency resources used for RI transmission are not excluded. Similarly, the second set of resources (i.e., those OFDM symbols also containing DMRS REs) are reserved for HARQ ACK/NACK transmission. In the example of FIG2 , symbols #5 and #6 in the first slot are reserved, and symbols #2, #3, #5, and #6 in the second slot are reserved. Symbols #2 and #3 in the first slot are excluded, so that the total number of REs reserved for potential HARQ ACK/NACK transmission remains the same as in LTE, i.e., 4M _SC . Since the depicted DMRS pattern serves only as an example for simplicity of presentation, other time/frequency resources for HARQ ACK/NACK transmission are not excluded. In another embodiment, OFDM symbols carrying DMRS are reserved for potential rank indication transmission, while OFDM symbols not carrying DMRS are reserved for potential HARQ ACK/NACK feedback transmission.

In any of the above embodiments, CQI information can be multiplexed with UL-SCH data before RE mapping. In each embodiment, UL-SCH and CQI data can be mapped first in the frequency domain (e.g., in increasing order of subcarrier index) and then in the time domain (e.g., in increasing order of OFDM symbol index). Alternatively, UL-SCH and CQI data can be mapped first in time and then in frequency.

A potential disadvantage of frequency-first mapping for concatenated UL-SCH and CQI data is that the CQI information cannot achieve the frequency diversity gain in the presence of inter-slot frequency hopping. To exploit the frequency diversity gain provided by frequency hopping, a hybrid RE mapping approach can be used for UL-SCH and CQI data mapping. In this embodiment, CQI data is first mapped in the time domain (e.g., in increasing order of symbol index) and then mapped in the frequency domain. UL-SCH data can be mapped first in the frequency domain and then in the time domain. This structure allows for a pipelined decoder architecture for data at the eNB side with frequency-first mapping, while allowing for frequency diversity for CQI information in the presence of intra-subframe (i.e., slot-based) frequency hopping.

Assuming frequency-first mapping is applied, in another embodiment, CQI and UL-SCH data multiplexing is performed such that the CQI information is first divided into multiple segments. These segments are then evenly distributed across the two time slots to obtain frequency diversity gain in the presence of frequency hopping. In this option, the CQI information applies a frequency-first mapping order like the UL-SCH data, but the CQI is effectively mapped to predetermined resources across the two time slots (e.g., the first OFDM symbol starting from the lowest frequency index of each time slot) to take advantage of frequency hopping.

In any of the above embodiments, the UE determines the actual number of REs used for UCI transmission using a combination of parameters that are semi-statically configured and dynamically signaled. For example, the actual number of REs used for UCI in a PUSCH allocation may depend on the UL-SCH payload, the UCI payload, the PUSCH transmission bandwidth, the SRS configuration, and/or the UCI-specific offset parameter. These parameters may be dynamically signaled to the UE in the downlink control information (DCI), which carries the UL grant for UL-SCH data multiplexed with UCI on the PUSCH. In addition, some of these parameters may also depend on higher layers of the UE, which the eNB may control via the radio resource control (RRC) protocol.

In any of the above embodiments, the UE may first map the reference signals and sounding reference signals to the time/frequency resource grid. The UE may then map the modulated rank indicator bits to the corresponding resources. This may free up some resources reserved for RI transmission. Next, the UE maps the modulated CQI bits to the remaining resources before mapping the modulated UL-SCH data to resources not occupied by DMRS, SRS, RI, or CQI. Finally, the UE maps the modulated HARQ ACK/NACK bits to resources reserved for HARQ ACK/NACK transmission, potentially puncturing CQI and/or UL-SCH symbols.

In one embodiment, the UE always maps UCI around DMRS REs based on the number of layers used for PUSCH transmissions carrying UCI. Referring to the example in Figure 3, if the number of transmission layers is 1-4, the UE maps UCI according to the DMRS pattern on the left; otherwise, if the number of transmission layers is greater than 4, the UE maps UCI according to the DMRS pattern on the right side of Figure 3 (this is only used as an example for simplified illustration). In another embodiment, the UE always maps UCI assuming the maximum possible number of transmission layers. For example, even if the actual number of transmission layers is less than or equal to four, the UE still uses the DMRS pattern on the right side of Figure 3 when mapping UCI.

Whenever the number of modulated UCI symbols for a particular type (e.g., RI or HARQ ACK/NACK) is less than the number of REs reserved for that type of UCI, an RE mapping mechanism is needed to map the UCI to the reserved REs. In one embodiment, the number of modulated symbols for a particular UCI type (e.g., RI or HARQ ACK/NACK) is Q, and the total number of REs reserved for that UCI type is Q _reserved . To map Q symbols to Q _reserved resources, the reserved REs for that UCI type (Q _reserved of them) are consecutively numbered from 1 to floor(Q _reserved /Q) (rounding Q _reserved /Q down), where the floor() operator returns the largest integer less than or equal to its input. Figure 4 shows an example of this, where on the left side of the figure, M _SC = 12, Q = 7, and Q _reserved = 48. In this example: 1) UCI is always mapped assuming the maximum number of possible transmission layers; 2) the modulated CQI bits and the modulated UL-SCH bits are mapped first in frequency and then in time, multiplexing the CQI with the UL-SCH; 3) the modulated RI bits are mapped to OFDM symbols that do not contain DMRS REs; 4) the modulated HARQ-ACK bits are mapped to OFDM symbols that contain DMRS REs; 5) SRS is sent on the last OFDM symbol; and 6) the modulated UL-SCH bits are mapped using the remaining REs.

Figure 4 also illustrates how the above mapping rules differ from SC-FDMA. Since SC-FDMA waveforms inherently provide frequency diversity by spreading each symbol across the entire transmission bandwidth via a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) expansion operation, the potentially small number of RI and HARQ ACK/NACK symbols required for OFDMA waveforms need to be interleaved across the entire transmission bandwidth. As can be seen from the example in Figure 4, simply numbering the REs reserved for certain UCIs results in clustering that reduces overall frequency diversity. For example, for the case of M _SC = 12, Q = 7, and Q _reserved = 48, all RI symbols are mapped to only two subcarriers.

In another embodiment, UCI is mapped to REs so that the clustering phenomenon depicted in Figure 4 does not occur. Now, focusing on the case where UCI is mapped to OFDM symbols that do not contain DMRS, the UE first calculates the UCI step size according to the following equation:

Where the ceil() operator returns the smallest integer greater than or equal to its input, N _UCI is the number of OFDM symbols reserved for UCI transmission. The i-th modulated UCI symbol (i=0, ..., Q-1) is then mapped to the k-th subcarrier in the PUSCH transmission bandwidth on the l-th symbol according to the following equation:

l＝i mod N _UCI

Note that when frequency hopping is used to transmit PUSCH, the subcarrier index k will be different between the two time slots, i.e., k=0 can represent different subcarriers in the first time slot and the second time slot according to the UE's frequency hopping configuration. In other words, for each time slot allocated by PUSCH, the subcarriers are numbered from k=0 to M _SC .

In another embodiment, UCI is mapped to REs based on their relative position to DMRS-carrying REs on the same OFDM symbol, i.e., UCI of a given type is only mapped to OFDM symbols with DMRS. In the first stage, for each OFDM symbol reserved for UCI transmission of a given type, the UE numbers all subcarriers except those containing DMRS in increasing order of subcarrier index, based on their distance (in number of subcarriers) to the nearest RE containing DMRS on the same OFDM symbol. This is illustrated for the second OFDM symbol in FIG5 for the exemplary DMRS pattern in FIG3. Note that in this case, a DMRS pattern for layer 1-4 transmission is assumed, so that the UCI resources include REs reserved for higher layer transmission.

In another embodiment, in the first phase, the UE numbers all subcarriers except those containing DMRS according to their distance (in number of subcarriers) to the closest RE containing DMRS on the same OFDM symbol, where the starting subcarrier alternates between OFDM symbols reserved for a given type of UCI transmission. In the example of FIG5 , the UE numbers the subcarriers according to a specified rule: in increasing order of subcarrier index on the first OFDM symbol reserved for a given type of UCI transmission, in decreasing order of subcarrier index on the second OFDM symbol reserved for a given type of UCI transmission, in increasing order of subcarrier index on the third OFDM symbol reserved for a given type of UCI transmission, and so on.

In another embodiment, in the first stage, the UE numbers all subcarriers except the subcarriers containing DMRS according to their distance (in number of subcarriers) to the closest RE containing DMRS on the same OFDM symbol, where the starting subcarrier alternates between OFDM symbols and slots reserved for UCI transmission of a given type. In the example of Figure 6, the UE numbers the subcarriers according to the following specified rules: in increasing order of subcarrier index on the first OFDM symbol reserved for a given type of UCI transmission in the first time slot, in decreasing order of subcarrier index on the second OFDM symbol reserved for a given type of UCI transmission in the first time slot, in increasing order of subcarrier index on the third OFDM symbol reserved for a given type of UCI transmission in the first time slot, and so on; and in the second time slot, the UE numbers the subcarriers according to the following specified rules: in decreasing order of subcarrier index on the first OFDM symbol reserved for a given type of UCI transmission, in increasing order of subcarrier index on the second OFDM symbol reserved for a given type of UCI transmission, in decreasing order of subcarrier index on the third OFDM symbol reserved for a given type of UCI transmission, and so on.

In any of the above embodiments, in the second stage, the UE may then number all resource elements reserved for UCI transmission of a given type from m=0, ..., Qreserved-1, first according to the index derived from the relative distance from the RE to the DMRS RE on the same symbol, then in increasing order of the time slot index, and then in decreasing order of the OFDM symbol index.

In another embodiment, in the second phase, to support aperiodic UCI-only transmission based on transmit diversity (where space-frequency block coding (SFBC) may be used), the UE may pair-number all resource elements reserved for UCI transmission. The numbering may be performed by: 1) numbering the first two consecutive REs by an index derived from the relative distance from the RE to the DMRS RE on the same symbol; 2) then numbering the two consecutive REs in increasing order by the slot index; 3) then numbering the two consecutive REs in increasing order by the OFDM symbol index. Finally, in the third phase, the UE maps Q modulated UCI symbols (i=0, ..., Q-1) to Qreserved REs by mapping the first modulated UCI symbol i=0 to the reserved RE indexed by m=0, the second modulated UCI symbol i=1 to the reserved RE indexed by m=1, the third modulated UCI symbol i=2 to the reserved RE numbered m=3, and so on. In Figure 7, an example is given for the case of M _SC = 12, Q = 7, Q _reserved = 48, and N _UCI = 4. Note that the DMRS pattern may change dynamically from subframe to subframe, either due to predefined rules or due to explicit signaling in the downlink control information (DCI) that schedules the associated PUSCH transmission. For example, in some subframes, the DMRS pattern may be shifted left/right by P symbols to avoid collision with other synchronization or reference signal transmissions in the same subframe. In another example, the DMRS pattern may change from subframe to subframe due to the number of transmission layers indicated in the DCI changing. In this case, the UCI RE mapping for UCI transmission on the PUSCH dynamically adapts to the DMRS pattern in a given subframe.

In another embodiment, UCI is mapped to REs in the time/frequency grid based solely on proximity to DMRS-carrying REs, regardless of whether a given OFDM symbol contains DMRS REs. Figure 8 shows an example of such UCI-to-RE mapping.

UL-SCH data and UCI can also be transmitted simultaneously in the same subframe by configuring a dedicated PUSCH and dedicated physical downlink control channel (PUCCH) for UL-SCH data in the same subframe. In one embodiment, the PUCCH is transmitted adjacent to the PUSCH, where the PUCCH and PUSCH are frequency-division multiplexed or time-division multiplexed. This can be useful in certain scenarios, such as when CQI or CSI feedback is multiplexed with data in the same subframe. In this case, localized PUCCH transmission can help improve performance.

In another embodiment, PUCCH is sent before or after PUSCH but in the same subframe. For example, PUCCH and PUSCH transmissions can be time division multiplexed (TDM) with a DMRS pattern, as shown in Figures 9 to 11.

Another option, particularly for UCI related to channel state information (CSI), is to include the CQI and/or RI in the data packet along with the UL-SCH bits. In one embodiment, the medium access control (MAC) header of the corresponding transport block indicates whether the CQI and/or RI are present in the payload portion. The CQI and/or RI can be separately encoded and protected by a cyclic redundancy check (CRC). In this option, the resource mapping only follows the data packet and is not defined separately for the UCI and data included in the payload of the corresponding transport block.

In another embodiment, the mapping of UCI depends on the payload size of some or all UCI to be transmitted in a subframe. For example, for subframes with PUSCH and PUCCH transmissions from the same UE (e.g., as shown in Figures 9 to 11), HARQ ACK/NACK bits can always be sent on the PUCCH. PUCCH resources can be semi-statically configured (i.e., certain symbols in certain subframes are always allocated for PUCCH transmission) or dynamically signaled (e.g., via Layer 1 downlink control information or Layer 2 MAC control elements). However, other UCI, such as CSI, rank indication, or measurement reports, can always be sent on the PUSCH.

In another example, in addition to the HARQ ACK/NACK bits, periodic CSI is always sent on the PUCCH, regardless of whether the PUSCH transmission of the same UE occurs in the same subframe. In the case where some UCI is always sent on the PUCCH, the UE may need an UL grant to submit other UCI on the PUSCH. In the above example, in the case where some UCI is sent on the PUSCH, such UCI can be mapped to resource elements in the time/frequency resource grid according to the embodiments described elsewhere in this document.

In another embodiment, all UCI is always sent on the PUSCH, even if the UE has a valid PUCCH resource allocation in the same subframe. In one example, the eNB schedules the PUSCH to carry all UCI in a given subframe. In another example, some subframes are semi-statically configured for UCI transmission on the PUSCH. In another example, the eNB indicates to the UE whether to send UCI on the PUSCH or the PUCCH via downlink control information (DCI). For example, in a subframe allocated for UCI transmission to a UE, if the UE receives one type of downlink control information, the UE sends only UL-SCH data on the PUSCH and UCI on the PUCCH. In another example, in a subframe allocated for UCI transmission to a UE, if the UE receives another type of downlink control information, it multiplexes UL-SCH data and UCI and sends the UCI on the PUSCH. In these examples, only some UCI may be sent on the PUSCH (with or without multiplexing the UCI with UL-SCH data), while other UCI is sent on the PUCCH. Specifically, the UE may always send HARQ ACK/NACK on the PUCCH, while other UCI is sent on the PUSCH (with or without multiplexing the other UCI with UL-SCH data).

Example UE Description

As used herein, the term "circuitry" may refer to or include, or may be a portion of, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or grouped) and/or memory (shared, dedicated, or grouped) that executes one or more software or firmware programs, combinational logic circuitry, and/or other appropriate hardware components that provide the described functionality. In some embodiments, the circuit may be implemented in one or more software or firmware modules, or the functionality associated with the circuit may be implemented by one or more software or firmware modules. In some embodiments, the circuit may include logic that is at least partially operable in hardware.

The embodiments described herein can be implemented as a system using any appropriately configured hardware and/or software. FIG12 illustrates example components of a user equipment (UE) device 100 for one embodiment. In some embodiments, the UE device 100 may include application circuitry 102, baseband circuitry 104, radio frequency (RF) circuitry 106, front-end module (FEM) circuitry 108, and one or more antennas 110, coupled together at least as shown.

Application circuitry 102 may include one or more application processors. For example, application circuitry 102 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processor(s) may include any combination of general-purpose processors and specialized processors (e.g., graphics processors, application processors, etc.). The processor(s) may be coupled to and/or include a memory/storage device and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory/storage device to enable various applications and/or operating systems to run on the system.

The baseband circuitry 104 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The baseband circuitry 104 may include one or more baseband processors and/or control logic to process baseband signals received from the receive signal path of the RF circuitry 106 and generate baseband signals for the transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 106. The baseband processing circuitry 104 may interface with the application circuitry 102 to generate and process baseband signals and control the operation of the RF circuitry 106. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 104 may include a second-generation (2G) baseband processor 104a, a third-generation (3G) baseband processor 104b, a fourth-generation (4G) baseband processor 104c, and/or one or more other baseband processors 104d of other existing, developing, or future generations (e.g., fifth-generation (5G), 6G, etc.). The baseband circuitry 104 (e.g., one or more baseband processors 104a-d) may handle various radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuitry 106. Radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radio frequency frequency shifting, and the like. In some embodiments, the modulation/demodulation circuitry of baseband circuitry 104 may include fast Fourier transform (FFT), precoding, and/or constellation mapping/demapping functions. In some embodiments, the encoding/decoding circuitry of baseband circuitry 104 may include convolution, tail-biting, turbo, Viterbi, and/or low-density parity check (LDPC) encoder/decoder functions. Embodiments of the modulation/demodulation and encoder/decoder functions are not limited to these examples and may include other suitable functions in other embodiments.

In some embodiments, the baseband circuit 104 may include elements of a protocol stack, such as elements of the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (EUTRAN) protocol, including, for example, physical (PHY), media access control (MAC), radio link control (RLC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), and/or radio resource control (RRC) elements. The central processing unit (CPU) 104e of the baseband circuit 104 may be configured to run elements of the protocol stack for signaling at the PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP, and/or RRC layers. In some embodiments, the baseband circuit may include one or more audio digital signal processors (DSPs) 104f. The audio DSP(s) 104f may include elements for compression/decompression and echo cancellation, and in other embodiments may include other appropriate processing elements. The components of the baseband circuit may be suitably combined in a single chip or a single chipset, or in some embodiments may be deployed on the same circuit board. In some embodiments, some or all of the components of the baseband circuit 104 and the application circuit 102 may be implemented together, for example, on a system on a chip (SOC).

In some embodiments, baseband circuitry 104 can provide communications compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, baseband circuitry 104 can support communications with an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (EUTRAN) and/or other wireless metropolitan area networks (WMANs), wireless local area networks (WLANs), and wireless personal area networks (WPANs). Embodiments in which baseband circuitry 104 is configured to support radio communications using more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multimode baseband circuitry.

RF circuitry 106 may enable communication with a wireless network using modulated electromagnetic radiation over a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, RF circuitry 106 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, and the like that facilitate communication with the wireless network. RF circuitry 106 may include a receive signal path that may include circuitry that downconverts RF signals received from FEM circuitry 108 and provides baseband signals to baseband circuitry 104. RF circuitry 106 may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry that upconverts baseband signals provided by baseband circuitry 104 and provides an RF output signal to FEM circuitry 108 for transmission.

In some embodiments, RF circuitry 106 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of RF circuitry 106 may include a mixer circuit 106a, an amplifier circuit 106b, and a filter circuit 106c. The transmit signal path of RF circuitry 106 may include a filter circuit 106c and the mixer circuit 106a. RF circuitry 106 may also include a synthesizer circuit 106d for synthesizing frequencies for use by mixer circuitry 106a in the receive and transmit signal paths. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 106a in the receive signal path may be configured to downconvert the RF signal received from FEM circuitry 108 based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry 106d. Amplifier circuitry 106b may be configured to amplify the downconverted signal, and filter circuitry 106c may be a low-pass filter (LPF) or a band-pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the downconverted signal to generate an output baseband signal. The output baseband signal may be provided to baseband circuitry 104 for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signal may be a zero-frequency baseband signal, although this is not required. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 106a of the receive signal path may include a passive mixer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, mixer circuit 106 a of the transmit signal path may be configured to up-convert an input baseband signal based on a synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuit 106 d to generate an RF output signal for RF circuit 108. The baseband signal may be provided by baseband circuit 104 and may be filtered by filter circuit 106 c. Filter circuit 106 c may include a low-pass filter (LPF), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 106a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 106a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be respectively arranged for quadrature down-conversion and/or up-conversion. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 106a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 106a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be respectively arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 106a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 106a of the transmit signal path may be respectively arranged for direct down-conversion and/or direct up-conversion. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 106a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 106a of the transmit signal path may be configured for superheterodyne operation.

In some embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be analog baseband signals, but the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternative embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be digital baseband signals. In these alternative embodiments, RF circuitry 106 may include an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), and baseband circuitry 104 may include a digital baseband interface for communication with RF circuitry 106.

In some dual-mode embodiments, separate radio IC circuitry may be provided for processing signals for each spectrum, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 106 d may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional-N/N+1 synthesizer, but the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect, as other types of frequency synthesizers may also be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuit 106 d may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer including a frequency divider and a phase-locked loop.

Synthesizer circuit 106d may be configured to synthesize an output frequency for use by mixer circuit 106a of RF circuit 106 based on a frequency input and a divider control input. In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 106d may be a fractional-N/N+1 synthesizer.

In some embodiments, the frequency input can be provided by a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), but this is not required. Depending on the desired output frequency, the divider control input can be provided by either baseband circuitry 104 or application processor 102. In some embodiments, the divider control input (e.g., N) can be determined from a lookup table based on the channel indicated by application processor 102.

The synthesizer circuit 106d of the RF circuit 106 may include a frequency divider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer, and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the frequency divider may be a dual-modulus frequency divider (DMD), and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide the input signal by N or N+1 (e.g., based on a carry out) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, the DLL may include a set of cascaded tunable delay elements, a phase detector, a charge pump, and a D-type flip-flop. In these embodiments, the delay elements may be configured to decompose the VCO period into Nd equal phase packets, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuit 106 d can be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in other embodiments, 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 a quadrature generator and divider circuit to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency with multiple different phases relative to each other. In some embodiments, the output frequency can be the LO frequency (f _LO ). In some embodiments, the RF circuit 106 can include an IQ/polarity converter.

FEM circuitry 108 may include a receive signal path that may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or more antennas 110, amplify the received signals, and provide the amplified versions of the received signals to RF circuitry 106 for further processing. FEM circuitry 108 may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry configured to transmit signals provided to RF circuitry 106 for transmission by one or more of one or more antennas 1210.

In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 108 may include a TX/RX switch that switches between transmit and receive modes of operation. The FEM circuitry may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry may include a low noise amplifier (LNA) to amplify a received RF signal and provide the amplified received RF signal as an output (e.g., to the output of the RF circuitry 106). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuitry 108 may include a power amplifier (PA) that amplifies an input RF signal (e.g., provided by the RF circuitry 106) and one or more filters that generate an RF signal for subsequent transmission (e.g., to one or more of the one or more antennas 110).

In some embodiments, the UE device 100 may include additional elements, such as memory/storage, a display, a camera, sensors, and/or input/output (I/O) interfaces.

Example Machine Description

Figure 13 shows a block diagram of an example machine 500 that can perform any one or more of the techniques (e.g., methods) discussed herein. In alternative embodiments, the machine 500 can operate as a standalone device or can be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment, the machine 500 can operate as a server machine, a client machine, or both in a server-client network environment. In an example, the machine 500 can be used as a peer in a peer-to-peer (P2P) (or other distributed) network environment. The machine 500 can be a user equipment (UE), an evolved node B (eNB), a Wi-Fi access point (AP), a Wi-Fi station (STA), a personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile phone, a smart phone, a network appliance, a network router, a switch or a bridge, or any machine capable of executing instructions (sequentially or otherwise) specifying the actions that the machine will take. Further, while a single machine is illustrated, the term "machine" shall also be taken to include any collection of machines that individually or jointly execute one (or more) sets of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, e.g., cloud computing, Software as a Service (SaaS), and other computer cluster configurations.

The examples described herein may include logic or multiple components, modules, or mechanisms, or may be run on the logic or multiple components, modules, or mechanisms. A module is a tangible entity (e.g., hardware) that can perform a specified operation, and may be configured or arranged in a particular manner. In one example, a circuit may be arranged as a module (e.g., internally or relative to an external entity such as other circuits) in a specified manner. In an example, a circuit may be arranged as a module (e.g., internally or relative to an external entity such as other circuits) in a specified manner. In an example, all or part of one or more computer systems (e.g., independent client or server computer systems) or one or more hardware processors may be configured as a module that performs a specified operation by firmware or software (e.g., instructions, application program parts, or applications). In an example, software may reside on a machine-readable medium. In an example, when software is executed by the underlying hardware of a module, hardware is caused to perform a specified operation.

Thus, the term "module" is understood to include a tangible entity, i.e., an entity that is physically constructed, specifically configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarily (e.g., provisionally) configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a specified manner or to perform part or all of any of the operations described herein. Considering an example in which a module is temporarily configured, it is not necessary for each module in the module to be instantiated at any time. For example, where a module comprises a general-purpose hardware processor configured using software, the general-purpose hardware processor can be configured as corresponding different modules at different times. Thus, software can configure a hardware processor to, for example, constitute a particular module at one instance in time, and constitute a different module at a different instance in time.

The machine (e.g., a computer system) 500 may include a hardware processor 502 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a hardware processor core, or any combination thereof), a main memory 504, and a static memory 506, some or all of which may communicate with each other via an interconnection (e.g., a bus) 508. The machine 500 may also include a display unit 510, an alphanumeric input device 512 (e.g., a keyboard), and a user interface (UI) navigation device 514 (e.g., a mouse). In an example, the display unit 510, the input device 512, and the UI navigation device 514 may be a touch screen display. The machine 500 may also include a storage device (e.g., a drive unit) 516, a signal generating device 518 (e.g., a speaker), a network interface device 520, and one or more sensors 521 (e.g., a global positioning system (GPS) sensor, a compass, an accelerometer, or other sensors). The machine 500 may include an output controller 528, such as a serial (e.g., universal serial bus (USB)), parallel, or other wired or wireless (e.g., infrared (IR), near field communication (NFC), etc.) connection, to communicate with or control one or more peripheral devices (e.g., a printer, a card reader, etc.).

The storage device 516 may include a machine-readable medium 522 having stored thereon one or more data structures or instructions 524 (e.g., software) embodying or utilized by one or more techniques or functionality described herein. The instructions 524 may also reside, completely or at least partially, in the main memory 504, in the static memory 506, or in the hardware processor 502 during execution by the machine 500. In one example, one or a combination of the hardware processor 502, the main memory 504, the static memory 506, or the storage device 516 may constitute a machine-readable medium.

Although the machine-readable medium 522 is shown as a single medium, the term "machine-readable medium" may include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database and/or associated caches and servers) configured to store one or more instructions 524.

The term "machine-readable medium" may include any medium that can store, encode, or carry instructions for execution by the machine 500 and cause the machine 500 to perform any one or more of the techniques disclosed herein, or any medium that can store, encode, or carry data structures used by or associated with these instructions. Non-limiting examples of machine-readable media may include solid-state memory, and optical and magnetic media. Specific examples of machine-readable media may include: non-volatile memory, such as semiconductor memory devices (e.g., electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM)) and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; random access memory (RAM); and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. In some examples, the machine-readable medium may include non-transitory machine-readable media. In some examples, the machine-readable medium may include machine-readable media that is not a transient propagation signal.

Instructions 524 may also be sent or received over a communication network 526 via the network interface device 520 using a transmission medium using any of a variety of transmission protocols (e.g., frame relay, Internet Protocol (IP), transmission control protocol (TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP), hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), etc.). Example communication networks may include a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a packet data network (e.g., the Internet), a mobile telephone network (e.g., a cellular network), a plain old telephone (POTS) network, a wireless data network (e.g., the so-called Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 family of standards, the so-called IEEE 802.16 family of standards), the IEEE 802.15.4 family of standards, the Long Term Evolution (LTE) family of standards, the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) family of standards, a peer-to-peer (P2P) network, etc. In an example, the network interface device 520 may include one or more physical jacks (e.g., Ethernet, coaxial, or telephone jacks) or one or more antennas to connect to the communication network 526. In one example, the network interface device 520 may include multiple antennas to communicate wirelessly using at least one of single-input multiple-output (SIMO), multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), or multiple-input single-output (MISO) techniques. In some examples, the network interface device 520 may communicate wirelessly using multi-user MIMO technology. The term "transmission medium" should be understood to include any intangible medium capable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructions for execution by the machine 500, including digital or analog communication signals or other intangible media to facilitate communication of such software.

Additional Notes and Examples

In Example 1, an apparatus for a user equipment (UE) includes a memory and a processing circuit, wherein the memory and the processing circuit are configured to: encode uplink control information (UCI) multiplexed with uplink shared channel (UL-SCH) data for transmission on a shared orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) channel in a physical resource block (PRB) of a subframe comprising a plurality of time-frequency resource elements (REs); map a first type of UCI selected from a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) signal or a channel state information (CSI) signal to an RE of an OFDM symbol of the subframe that also includes a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) RE; and map a second type of UCI different from the first type selected from the hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) signal or the channel state information (CSI) signal to an RE of an OFDM symbol of the subframe that does not include a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) RE.

In Example 2, the subject matter of any example herein may also include, wherein the memory and processing circuitry maps the HARQ-ACK signal to the REs of the OFDM symbols of the subframe that do not contain DMRS REs, and maps the rank indicator (RI) signal to the REs of the OFDM symbols of the subframe that also contain DMRS REs.

In Example 3, the subject matter of any example herein may also include, wherein the memory and processing circuitry maps the HARQ-ACK signal to REs of OFDM symbols of a subframe that also contain DMRS REs, and maps the rank indicator (RI) signal to REs of OFDM symbols of a subframe that do not contain DMRS REs.

In Example 4, the subject matter of any example herein may further include, wherein the memory and processing circuitry maps CSI signals of REs that are not mapped to an OFDM symbol containing a DMRS RE to other REs of the subframe based on distances between the other REs of the subframe and the DMRS RE.

In Example 5, an apparatus for a UE (user equipment) or any example herein includes a memory and a processing circuit, wherein the memory and the processing circuit are configured to: encode uplink control information (UCI) multiplexed with uplink shared channel (UL-SCH) data for transmission on a shared orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) channel in a physical resource block (PRB) of a subframe comprising multiple time-frequency resource elements (REs); and multiplex channel quality information (CQI) and UL-SCH data before RE mapping.

In Example 6, the subject matter of any of the examples herein may further include, wherein the memory and processing circuitry maps channel quality information (CQI) concatenated with the UL-SCH data to REs of the PRBs first in the frequency domain and then in the time domain.

In Example 7, the subject matter of any of the examples herein may further include, wherein the memory and processing circuitry maps channel quality information (CQI) concatenated with the UL-SCH data to REs of the PRBs first in the time domain and then in the frequency domain.

In Example 8, the subject matter of any of the examples herein may also include, wherein the memory and processing circuitry maps channel quality information (CQI) to the UE of the PRB first in the time domain and then in the frequency domain, and maps UL-SCH data to the UE of the PRB first in the frequency domain and then in the time domain.

In Example 9, the subject matter of any of the examples herein may also include, wherein the memory and processing circuitry divides channel quality information (CQI) into multiple segments, maps the CQI segments first in the frequency domain and then in the frequency domain to REs of the PRBs so that the segments are evenly distributed across two time slots of the subframe, and maps the UL-SCH data first in the frequency domain and then in the time domain to the REs of the PRBs.

In Example 10, the subject matter of any of the examples herein may also include, wherein the memory and processing circuitry: multiplexes CQI with UL-SCH data by mapping the modulated CQI bits first in frequency and then in time followed by the modulated UL-QCH bits; maps the modulated rank indicator (RI) bits to OFDM symbols that do not contain demodulation reference signal (DMRS) REs; maps the modulated HARQ-ACK bits to OFDM symbols that contain DMRS REs; maps the sounding reference signal (SRS) to the last OFDM symbol of the subframe; and maps the modulated UL-SCH data bits to the remaining REs of the subframe.

In Example 11, the subject matter of any of the examples herein may further include, wherein the memory and processing circuitry maps the UCI to the REs assuming that the DMRS pattern corresponds to a maximum possible number of transmission layers.

In Example 12, an apparatus for a UE (user equipment) includes a memory and a processing circuit; wherein the memory and the processing circuit are configured to: encode uplink control information (UCI) multiplexed with uplink shared channel (UL-SCH) data for transmission on a shared orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) channel in a physical resource block (PRB) of a subframe containing multiple time-frequency resource elements (REs), wherein the shared OFDMA channel includes a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) and a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH); and encode UL-SCH data on the PUSCH and UCI on the PUCCH when the UE receives one type of downlink control information, and encode UL-SCH data and UCI on the PUSCH when the UE receives another type of downlink control information.

In Example 13, the subject matter of any of the examples herein may further include, wherein the memory and the processing circuitry time division multiplex the PUCCH and the PUSCH.

In Example 14, the subject matter of any of the examples herein may further include, wherein the memory and the processing circuitry frequency division multiplex the PUCCH and the PUSCH.

In Example 15, the subject matter of any of the examples herein may further include, wherein the memory and processing circuitry maps the HARQ ACK/NACK bits to the PUCCH and maps other UCI to the PUSCH.

In Example 16, a computer-readable medium includes instructions that, when executed by a processing circuit of a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to perform any of the functions of the memory and processing circuit described in Examples 1 to 15.

In Example 17, a method for operating a UE includes performing any functionality of the memory and processing circuitry and the transceiver of any one of Examples 1 to 15.

In Example 18, an apparatus for a UE includes means for performing any functionality of the memory and processing circuitry and transceiver of any one of Examples 1 to 15.

In Example 19, the subject matter of any of the examples herein can further include a radio transceiver coupled to the memory and the processing circuit.

In Example 20, the subject matter of any of the examples herein may further include, wherein the processing circuit comprises a baseband processor.

The above description includes reference to the accompanying drawings that form a part of the detailed description. The accompanying drawings show specific embodiments that can be implemented by way of illustration. These embodiments are also referred to as "examples" herein. These examples may include elements other than those shown or described. However, examples that include the elements shown or described are also contemplated. In addition, examples that use any combination or arrangement of those elements (or one or more aspects thereof) shown or described for a particular example (or one or more aspects thereof) or for other examples (or one or more aspects thereof) shown or described herein are also contemplated.

The publications, patents, and patent documents mentioned in this document are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety, as if individually incorporated by reference. In the event of inconsistent usages between this document and a document incorporated by reference, the usage in the incorporated reference(s) supersedes the usage in this document; for irreconcilable inconsistencies, the usage in this document controls.

In this document, independent of the use or instance of "at least one" or "one or more", the terms "a" or "an" as commonly used in patent documents will include one or more. In this document, the term "or" is used to refer to a non-exclusive or, so that unless otherwise indicated, "A or B" includes "A but not B", "B but not A", and "A and B". In the appended claims, the terms "including" and "in which" are used as the plain English equivalents of the corresponding terms "comprising" and "wherein". In addition, in the appended claims, the terms "including" and "comprising" are open-ended, that is, systems, devices, products, or processes that include other elements in addition to the items listed after the term in the claim are still considered to fall within the scope of protection of the claim. In addition, in the appended claims, the terms "first", "second", "third", etc. are used merely as labels and are not intended to indicate the numerical order of their objects.

The above embodiments may be implemented in various hardware configurations that may include a processor that may be configured to perform instructions for performing the techniques described herein. These instructions may be contained in a machine-readable medium such as an appropriate storage medium, or memory, or other processor-executable medium.

The embodiments described herein may be implemented in a variety of environments, such as a wireless local area network (WLAN), a third generation partnership project (3GPP) universal terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN), or a long term evolution (LTE), or a portion of a long term evolution (LTE) communication system, but the scope of the present invention is not limited in this respect. Examples of LTE systems include multiple mobile stations, defined as user equipment (UE) by the LTE specifications, communicating with base stations, defined as eNBs, by the LTE specifications.

The antennas mentioned here may include one or more directional or omnidirectional antennas, including, for example, dipole antennas, monopole antennas, patch antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas, or other types of antennas suitable for the transmission of RF signals. In some embodiments, a single antenna with multiple apertures may be used to replace two or more antennas. In these embodiments, each aperture may be considered a separate antenna. In some multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) embodiments, antennas may be effectively separated to utilize different channel characteristics and spatial diversity that may be generated between each antenna and the antenna of the transmitting station. In some MIMO embodiments, antennas may be separated by up to 1/10 of a wavelength or more.

In some embodiments, the receivers described herein may be configured to receive signals according to a particular communication standard (e.g., an IEEE standard, including the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard, and/or specifications proposed for WLANs), although the scope of the present invention is not limited in this respect, as they are also suitable for transmitting and/or receiving communications according to other technologies and standards. In some embodiments, the receivers may be configured to receive signals according to the IEEE 802.16-2004, IEEE 802.16(e), and/or IEEE 802.16(m) standards for Wireless Metropolitan Area Networks (WMANs), including variations and evolutions thereof, although the scope of the present invention is not limited in this respect, as they are also suitable for transmitting and/or receiving communications according to other technologies and standards. In some embodiments, the receivers may be configured to receive signals according to the Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) LTE communication standard. For more information on IEEE 802.11 and IEEE 802.16, see “IEEE Standards for Information Technology—Telecommunications and Information Exchange between Systems”—Local Area Networks—Specific Requirements—Part 11 “Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY), ISO/IEC 8802-11:1999” and “Metropolitan Area Networks—Specific Requirements—Part 16: “Air Interface for Fixed Broadband Wireless Access Systems,” May 2005 and related amendments/versions. For more information on the UTRAN LTE standard, see the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standard for UTRAN-LTE (including its variants and evolutions).

The above description is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive. For example, the above examples (or one or more aspects thereof) may be used in conjunction with other examples. For example, a person of ordinary skill in the art may use other embodiments after reading the above description. The abstract is used to enable the reader to quickly identify the essence of the present disclosure. The abstract is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in the above detailed description, various features may be combined to simplify the disclosure. However, the claims may not set forth every feature disclosed herein, as the embodiments may feature a subset of these features. In addition, an embodiment may include fewer features than those disclosed in a particular example. Therefore, the appended claims are incorporated into the detailed description, wherein the claims themselves constitute separate embodiments. The scope of the embodiments disclosed herein is determined by reference to the appended claims and the full scope of equivalents to which these claims are entitled.

Claims (28)

1. A communication device, comprising: At least one processor is configured to enable the user equipment (UE): Uplink control information (UCI) is multiplexed with uplink shared channel (UL-SCH) data for transmission on orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols in the time domain and on physical resource blocks (PRBs) in the frequency domain, wherein the OFDM symbols and PRBs include multiple time-frequency resource elements (REs). Divide the Channel State Information (CSI) bits into multiple segments; The UCI, which includes modulated Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request Acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) bits and modulated CSI bits, is mapped to the RE of the OFDM symbol that does not contain the demodulation reference signal (DMRS) RE. The mapping includes mapping the modulated CSI bits of the plurality of segments to REs first in the frequency domain and then in the time domain, and after mapping the modulated CSI bits, mapping the UL-SCH data to REs of the PRB first in the frequency domain and then in the time domain. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the HARQ-ACK bit is mapped to the RE reserved for the HARQ-ACK bit after the mapping of the UL-SCH data. 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the CSI mapped by the RE puncture reserved for the HARQ-ACK bit. 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the UL-SCH data mapped by the RE puncture reserved for the HARQ-ACK bit. 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the UL-SCH data is mapped to the remaining REs that do not contain CSI or DMRS. 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the OFDM symbol to which the DMRS is mapped is dynamically changed based on signaling in downlink control information (DCI), the signaling in the DCI scheduling the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) of the UL-SCH. 7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the OFDM symbol to which the DMRS is mapped is offset according to the DCI. 8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the mapping of the UCI is dynamically changed based on the OFDM symbol to which the DMRS is mapped. 9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the symbol to which the DMRS is mapped is offset within the OFDM symbol of the subframe. 10. A computer-readable medium including instructions executable by at least one processor of a user equipment (UE) to: Uplink control information (UCI) is multiplexed with uplink shared channel (UL-SCH) data for transmission on orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols in the time domain and on physical resource blocks (PRBs) in the frequency domain, wherein the OFDM symbols and PRBs include multiple time-frequency resource elements (REs). Divide the Channel State Information (CSI) bits into multiple segments; The UCI, which includes modulated Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request Acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) bits and modulated CSI bits, is mapped to the RE of the OFDM symbol that does not contain the demodulation reference signal (DMRS) RE. The mapping includes mapping the modulated CSI bits of the plurality of segments to REs first in the frequency domain and then in the time domain, and after mapping the modulated CSI bits, mapping the UL-SCH data to REs of the PRB first in the frequency domain and then in the time domain. 11. The medium of claim 10, wherein the HARQ-ACK bit is mapped to the RE reserved for the HARQ-ACK bit after the mapping of the UL-SCH data. 12. The medium of claim 10, wherein the CSI mapped by the RE puncture reserved for the HARQ-ACK bit. 13. The medium of claim 10, wherein the UL-SCH data mapped by the RE puncture reserved for the HARQ-ACK bits. 14. The medium of claim 10, wherein the UL-SCH data is mapped to the remaining REs that do not contain CSI or DMRS. 15. The medium of claim 10, wherein the OFDM symbol to which the DMRS is mapped is dynamically changed based on signaling in the downlink control information (DCI), the signaling in the DCI scheduling the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) of the UL-SCH. 16. The medium of claim 15, wherein the OFDM symbol to which the DMRS is mapped is offset according to the DCI. 17. The medium of claim 16, wherein the mapping of the UCI is dynamically changed based on the OFDM symbol to which the DMRS is mapped. 18. The medium of claim 16, wherein the symbol to which the DMRS is mapped is offset within the OFDM symbol of the subframe. 19. A method of operating a user equipment (UE), comprising: Uplink control information (UCI) is multiplexed with uplink shared channel (UL-SCH) data for transmission on orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols in the time domain and on physical resource blocks (PRBs) in the frequency domain, wherein the OFDM symbols and PRBs include multiple time-frequency resource elements (REs). Divide the Channel State Information (CSI) bits into multiple segments; The UCI, which includes modulated Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request Acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) bits and modulated CSI bits, is mapped to the RE of the OFDM symbol that does not contain the demodulation reference signal (DMRS) RE. The mapping includes mapping the modulated CSI bits of the plurality of segments to REs first in the frequency domain and then in the time domain, and after mapping the modulated CSI bits, mapping the UL-SCH data to REs of the PRB first in the frequency domain and then in the time domain. 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the HARQ-ACK bit is mapped to the RE reserved for the HARQ-ACK bit after the mapping of the UL-SCH data. 21. The method of claim 19, wherein the CSI mapped by the RE puncture reserved for the HARQ-ACK bit. 22. The method of claim 19, wherein the UL-SCH data mapped by the RE puncture reserved for the HARQ-ACK bits. 23. The method of claim 19, wherein the UL-SCH data is mapped to the remaining REs that do not contain CSI or DMRS. 24. The method of claim 19, wherein the OFDM symbol to which the DMRS is mapped is dynamically changed based on signaling in the downlink control information (DCI), the signaling in the DCI scheduling the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) of the UL-SCH. 25. The method of claim 24, wherein the OFDM symbol to which the DMRS is mapped is offset according to the DCI. 26. The method of claim 25, wherein the mapping of the UCI is dynamically changed based on the OFDM symbol to which the DMRS is mapped. 27. The method of claim 25, wherein the symbol to which the DMRS is mapped is offset within the OFDM symbol of the subframe. 28. A user equipment comprising means for performing the method as described in any one of claims 19-27.