HK1261805B - Apparatus and operating method for user equipment, apparatus for evolved node b and medium - Google Patents

Description

Device and operation method for user equipment, device and medium for base station

Priority claim

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Nos. 62/307,197, filed March 11, 2016, and 62/326,409, filed April 22, 2016, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

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

The explosive growth of wireless traffic has led to an urgent need to increase rates. With mature physical layer technologies, further improvements in spectrum efficiency will be negligible. On the other hand, the scarcity of licensed spectrum in low frequency bands makes spectrum expansion problematic. Therefore, there is new interest in the operation of LTE systems in unlicensed spectrum. One such technology is called Licensed Assisted Access (LAA), which extends the system bandwidth by leveraging the flexible carrier aggregation (CA) framework introduced by LTE Advanced, where the primary component carrier (called primary cell or PCell) operates in the licensed spectrum and one or more secondary component carriers (called secondary cells or SCells) operate in the unlicensed spectrum. Another approach is a standalone LTE system in unlicensed spectrum, where LTE-based technologies operate only in the unlicensed spectrum without the need for an "anchor" in the licensed spectrum, the so-called MulteFire (MF).

To operate in unlicensed spectrum, MF and LAA systems require different signal structures and signaling techniques than legacy LTE systems. For example, the non-exclusive nature of unlicensed spectrum requires mechanisms for LAA/MF systems to fairly share the wireless medium with other systems, including systems operating using other technologies such as Wi-Fi. LAA/MF incorporates a listen-before-talk (LBT) process, in which a wireless transmitter first listens to the medium and transmits only when it senses that the medium is idle. The present disclosure relates to processes for triggering and sending uplink control information (UCI) applicable to LAA/MF systems.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

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

FIG2 illustrates an example of a MulteFire or LAA frame structure in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG3 shows a B-IFDMA interlace.

FIG4 illustrates aperiodic CSI reporting on unlicensed spectrum triggered by uplink grant.

FIG5 illustrates an example of a user equipment device according to some embodiments.

FIG6 illustrates an example of a computing machine according to some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, mobile terminals (referred to as user equipment or UE) connect to a cellular network via a base station (referred to as an evolved Node B or eNB). LTE systems typically use licensed spectrum for both uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) transmissions between the UE and the eNB. 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 wireless transceiver 302 for providing an air interface. The eNB 400 includes processing circuitry 401 connected to a wireless transceiver 402 for providing an air interface over a wireless medium. Each transceiver in the device is connected to an antenna 55.

Current LTE systems use Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) based on Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) for the downlink (DL) and a related technique, Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) based on DFT-precoded OFDM, for the uplink (UL). LTE systems can operate in either Time Division Duplex (TDD) mode, where UL and DL communications are time-multiplexed in separate time slots within the same frequency band, or in Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) mode, where uplink and downlink communications are performed in different frequency bands. Due to the lack of a pair of frequency bands in the unlicensed spectrum dedicated to LTE systems, the unlicensed carriers used for both LAA and MF are typically operated in TDD mode.

In OFDMA/SC-FDMA, composite modulation symbols according to a modulation scheme such as QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) are each mapped to a specific OFDM subcarrier (called a resource element (RE)) transmitted during an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol. REs are the smallest physical resource in LTE. LTE also provides MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) operation, in which multiple data layers are transmitted and received by multiple antennas, and in which each composite modulation symbol is mapped to one of multiple transmission layers and then to a specific antenna port. Each RE is then uniquely identified by an antenna port, a subcarrier position, and an OFDM symbol index within a radio frame having 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 includes six indexed OFDM symbols for an extended cyclic prefix and seven indexed OFDM symbols for a normal cyclic prefix. A group of resource elements corresponding to twelve consecutive subcarriers within a single slot is called a resource block (RB), or, for the physical layer, a physical resource block (PRB).

In LTE, DL data flows into and out of the Media Access Control (MAC) protocol layer via a transport channel called the Downlink Shared Channel (DL-SCH). UL data flows into and out of the MAC layer via a transport channel called the Uplink Shared Channel (UL-SCH). The physical layer transmits UL data via the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) and DL data via the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH). The eNB sends Downlink Control Information (DCI) to the UE via the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH). The UE sends Uplink Control Information (UCI) to the eNB via the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) or via the PUSCH, where the UCI can be multiplexed with the UL data. In addition, each PUSCH or PUCCH transmission is accompanied by a Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS) to allow the eNB to demodulate the PUSCH or PUCCH symbols.

The UCI sent by the UE may include one or more of the following. In response to data packet reception on the DL, a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) is sent, where the HARQ-ACK has an ACK or NAK value, respectively, depending on whether the data packet reception is correct or incorrect. (HARQ-ACK may also be referred to as A/N in this document.) The UE may also send a scheduling request (SR) signal to request UL resources for data transmission. The UE sends a channel state information (CSI) report periodically or aperiodically at the request of the eNB. The CSI report may include: a channel quality indicator (CQI) signal to inform the eNB of the DL channel conditions it experiences; and a precoder matrix indicator/rank indicator (PMI/RI) signal to inform the eNB how to combine signal transmissions from multiple eNB antennas to the UE according to the multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) principle.

LAA is based on the carrier aggregation framework of LTE. A primary component carrier (called a primary cell or PCell) operates in the licensed spectrum and serves as an anchor point, and is aggregated with one or more secondary component carriers (called secondary cells or SCells) operating in the unlicensed spectrum. As in conventional LTE carrier aggregation, an LAA system may also have one or more SCells operating in the licensed spectrum. In an MF system, the SCell and any PCells operate only in the unlicensed spectrum. In both the LAA system and the MF system, a listen-before-talk (LBT) mechanism is implemented, which involves the transmitter ensuring that there are no ongoing transmissions on the carrier frequency before sending. LBT provides fair coexistence between the LAA/MF system and other technologies such as Wi-Fi that utilize the same spectrum. The transmitter performs the LBT process by evaluating whether the frequency channel is available (i.e., clear channel assessment or CCA), and if the channel is sensed as idle, sends continuous bursts on the channel across one or more subframes, depending on the reserved maximum channel occupancy time (MCOT).

Figure 2 shows an example of a MulteFire or LAA frame structure for time division duplex (TDD) mode according to one embodiment. In this structure, the DL burst from the eNB is preceded by a conventional LBT. The subsequent DL subframe contains a PDCCH preceding the DL data. The PDCCH may contain a UL grant of PUSCH resources for the UE to send UL data in the UL subframe, and/or may grant resource transmission for a so-called long or extended physical uplink control channel (ePUCCH), etc. The ePUCCH spans subframes (i.e., 12 or 14 OFDM symbols) in the time domain and across the system bandwidth in the frequency domain. The transmission of the ePUCCH from the UE can be triggered by a UL grant in the PDCCH, or via a so-called common PDCCH (cPDCCH) without a UL grant. UL control signals can also be sent via a so-called shortened PUCCH (sPUCCH) format, which is located in the UL part of a special subframe where the transition between DL and UL subframes occurs.

The waveform used to transmit PUSCH and ePUCCH in MulteFire carriers and LAA unlicensed carriers is block interleaved frequency division multiple access (B-IFDMA), which is a generalization of DFT precoded OFDMA with interleaved subcarrier allocation. The B-IFDMA waveform is an interleaved band structure, where each interleaved band consists of one or more RBs spaced apart in frequency. In one embodiment, each interleaved band includes 10 RBs distributed (equally spaced) across the entire system bandwidth. A single or multiple interleaved bands can be assigned to each UE. In one embodiment, PUSCH consists of one or more interleaved bands and ePUCCH consists of one interleaved band. Figure 3 shows the B-IFDMA interleaved bands occupied by ePUCCH. The design of the PUSCH interleaved bands is similar. The ePUCCH interleaved bands can be frequency multiplexed with PUSCH interleaved bands transmitted from the same UE or from different UEs anchored at the same eNB. Reference signals and data symbols are time multiplexed with DMRS located at symbol 3 of each time slot for PUSCH and at symbols 1 and 5 of each time slot for ePUCCH.

Similar to legacy LTE as described above, various types of UCI, such as HARQ-ACK feedback on the PDSCH, scheduling requests (SRs), and/or channel state information (CSI) feedback in the form of CSI reports, can be transmitted via sPUCCH, ePUCCH, or PUSCH. One aspect of the present disclosure relates to embodiments in which UCI within the ePUCCH is code-division multiplexed with UCI transmitted from other UEs using a spreading sequence. Another aspect of the present disclosure relates to embodiments in which the eNB triggers the transmission of aperiodic CSI reports from the UE via the PUSCH.

UCI's Code Division Multiplexing

In one embodiment, for a 20 MHz system bandwidth, each B-IFDMA interlace band consists of 10 RBs. In one embodiment, each RB consists of 14 symbols, of which 2 symbols are occupied by DMRS. Then, equivalently, each RB consists of 144 REs (12 RE/symbol and 12 symbols within a subframe) to produce 1440 REs for each ePUCCH interlace band. Therefore, it may be a waste to transmit UCI from only one UE on one interlace band, and multiplexing of UCI from multiple UEs can make more efficient use of ePUCCH resources. Described below are embodiments of code division multiplexing UCI within ePUCCH via spreading sequences. These embodiments provide the ability to multiplex UCI for a large number of UEs and/or the ability to multiplex UCI payload bits of variable size.

In one embodiment, UCI is multiplexed via X orthogonal spreading sequences, where X is an integer that can be as high as 144 when there are 144 REs per RB. Each coded Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) symbol of the UCI is spread in the time and frequency domains with a length-144 orthogonal spreading code. Frequency-first mapping or time-first mapping can be used to map the spread symbols to each RE. In another embodiment, up to 12 orthogonal Hadamard sequences can be used independently in the frequency and time domains (i.e., on OFDM symbols) to effectively allow up to 144 UCIs to be multiplexed within an interleaved band. In this case, each coded QPSK symbol is spread in the time and frequency domains with a length-12 orthogonal spreading code. Examples of orthogonal sequences for any embodiment include Zadoff-Chu sequences with different cyclic shifts, orthogonal cover codes (OCCs), Hadamard sequences, or any combination thereof.

In the above embodiment, the UCI information bits can be encoded using a forward error correction code, such as a tail-biting convolutional code (TBCC) or a Reed-Mueller code. Prior to encoding, an 8- or 16-bit cyclic redundancy check (CRC) can be appended to the information bits. The coded bits are then rate-matched before being modulated onto QPSK symbols and spread using the indicated spreading sequence.

When a total of 144 spreading sequences are used, a total of 20 coded bits can be transmitted via QPSK on one interleaved band. That is, each QPSK symbol (2 bits) is spread across the entire RB, and there are 10 RBs in one interleaved band to produce 20 bits. In other words, as a result of spreading across 10 RBs, the UCI equivalently occupies 10 REs. The following options can be used to transmit a larger number of coded bits. In the first option, in order to increase the number of possible coding capacities per interleaved band, the number of spreading sequences can be reduced. For example, instead of 12 orthogonal sequences in the time domain and frequency domain, 12 orthogonal sequences in the time domain and 6 orthogonal sequences in the frequency domain can be used, so that each UCI equivalently occupies 20 REs, equivalently increasing the number of coded bits to 40 bits. In the second option, the coded bits of the UCI are segmented and then mapped to REs with different spreading sequences. In one embodiment, the 40 coded bits are divided into 2 parts, each with 20 bits. The coded bits modulated onto the QPSK symbols are then spread in time/frequency using two spreading sequences from the available 144 sequences.

The multiplexing capability depends on the number of DMRS sequences that can be embedded in the ePUCCH. Legacy DMRS supports up to 12 different cyclic shifts, so if only multiplexing via cyclic shift is used, the number of UEs that can be multiplexed is limited to 12. The number of DMRS sequences that can be multiplexed within a subframe can be increased by increasing the number of symbols containing DMRS sequences. Orthogonal cover codes can also be applied to DMRS symbols to increase the number of UEs that can be multiplexed.

UCI with different payload sizes can also be multiplexed. In one embodiment, coding and rate matching are applied to the UCI to generate multiple bits that, after modulation onto QPSK symbols, can be mapped to an appropriate number of REs using a spreading sequence. For example, if the number of information bits in the UCI is 1, coding and rate matching can be applied to generate 20 bits that can be mapped onto 10 QPSK symbols, since if each QPSK symbol is maximally spread across each RB in an interlace using an orthogonal spreading sequence, there are equivalently 10 available QPSK symbols in each interlace. If the number of coded bits exceeds the capacity allowed by one spreading sequence, the coded bits of the UCI can be split as described above.

In another aspect, the specific spreading sequence that the UE will use for UCI transmission can be communicated via a UL Grant. In one embodiment, the eNB indicates the starting and ending indices of the spreading sequence from the available number of spreading sequences via the UL Grant. The number of bits required is 2*ceil(log(N)), where N is the total number of spreading sequences. In one embodiment, N=144, and the number of bits required in the UL Grant is 2*8=16. In another embodiment, the eNB separately indicates the starting and ending indices of the spreading sequences in the frequency and time domains. The number of bits required for this is 4*ceil(log(N)), where N is the total number of spreading sequences in the time and frequency domains. In one embodiment, N=12, and the number of bits required in the UL Grant is 4*4=16. In another embodiment, the eNB indicates the index of the spreading sequence from the available number of spreading sequences via the UL Grant, and the UE implicitly determines the number of spreading sequences required for UCI transmission based on the type of UCI. The number of bits required for this embodiment is ceil(log(N)), where N is the total number of spreading sequences. In one embodiment, N=144 and the number of bits required in the UL grant is 8. In another embodiment, the eNB separately indicates the starting index of the spreading sequence for both time domain and frequency domain spreading. In this case, the number of required bits is 2*ceil(log(N)), where N is the total number of sequences in the time domain or frequency domain. In one embodiment, N=12 and the number of bits required in the UL grant is 2*4=8. The UE can implicitly determine the number of spreading sequences required for UCI transmission based on the type of UCI. In one embodiment, if a larger UCI payload size needs to be transmitted, the next spreading sequence in the frequency domain is used. In another embodiment, if a larger UCI payload size needs to be transmitted, the next spreading sequence in the time domain is used.

In another embodiment, the ePUCCH is triggered by the cPDCCH. In this case, the sequence allocation for each UE is semi-statistically configured via radio resource control (RRC) signaling. When a trigger for a specific interlace is sent via the cPDCCH, all UEs configured for that interlace will use the corresponding sequence to spread and transmit the UCI.

Triggering aperiodic CSI reporting for transmission via PUSCH

In LTE, CRS is used for CSI measurement (CSI/PMI/RI) and demodulation in transmission modes TM1-TM7, while CRS is only used for CSI measurement in TM8. In transmission modes TM9 and TM10, CSI-RS, a cell-specific sparse sequence (in both the frequency and time domains, compared to CRS), is used for CSI measurement. For TM8, TM9, and TM10, UE-specific DMRS is used for PDSCH demodulation. Based on the reception of CRS/CSI-RS, LTE Release 12 supports: 1) periodic reporting, in which the UE periodically reports CSI on pre-configured PUCCH/PUSCH resources, with a periodicity configured by higher layers; and 2) aperiodic reporting, in which CSI reporting is triggered using DCI by dynamically assigning UL resources in PUSCH transmissions. Upon receiving DCI format 0 or a random access response grant in subframe n, the UE performs aperiodic CSI (ACSI) reporting using PUSCH in subframe n+k. The eNodeB can also configure the periodicity parameters. The size of a single report is limited to approximately 11 bits, depending on the reporting mode. The eNodeB explicitly triggers (requests) aperiodic reporting using a specific bit in the PDCCH UL grant. Aperiodic reports can be piggybacked with data or sent separately on the PUSCH. When a CSI report is transmitted on the PUSCH along with uplink data, it is multiplexed with the transport block via the so-called L1 layer (i.e., the CSI report is not part of the uplink transport block).

CSI-RS based transmission modes including TM9 and TM10 are supported on the LAA SCell in the MF system. The embodiments described below relate to transmitting aperiodic CSI reports for LAA and MF systems on the interleaved band structure of the uplink waveform. The resources required for aperiodic CSI reporting can be much smaller than the resource allocation granularity of the interleaved band structure of the UL waveform operating on the unlicensed spectrum. Some embodiments discussed below relate to the problem of how to efficiently transmit aperiodic CSI reports in LAA and MF systems. Some embodiments relate to a way of indicating an ACSI reporting request to the UE.

In license-assisted access operation, aperiodic CSI reports can be transmitted via the PCell using Release 13-compatible UEs by dynamically allocating PUSCH resources on the PCell via UL grant. Alternatively, aperiodic CSI reports can be transmitted via PUSCH on unlicensed carriers, providing a scalable approach as the number of configured unlicensed carriers increases. Figure 4 shows an example of aperiodic CSI reporting, where the UL grant triggers a CSI reporting event at the UE 4 ms (i.e., 4 subframes) after the UL grant is transmitted.

As mentioned above, aperiodic CSI reporting can be piggybacked on the PUSCH. On the other hand, in some cases, it may be necessary to report only aperiodic CSI, for example because the eNB only wants ACSI reporting or the UE does not have any UL data to be multiplexed with the aperiodic CSI report. In this case, aperiodic CSI needs to be sent separately on the PUSCH. In legacy LTE systems, when CSI reporting is triggered by DCI signaling (UL approval) with an MCS index set to 1 or the reserved values {29, 30, 31}, the eNB is implicitly supported by assigning a small amount of resources (e.g., less than or equal to 4 PRBs) for this case where only ACSI reporting is required.

As described above, B-IFDMA is a UL waveform used to transmit PUSCH/PUCCH on unlicensed spectrum in MF and LAA systems, where each interlace band consists of 10 PRBs distributed (equally spaced) across the entire system bandwidth. A single or multiple interlace bands can be assigned to each UE, so in MF and LAA systems, the minimum resource allocation granularity is one interlace band or the equivalent of 10 PRBs. Therefore, it is important to consider efficient ways to transmit only non-periodic CSI reports (ACSI only) (perhaps with reduced waste of physical resources). In addition to the efficiency of resource use, depending on the method used to allocate resource elements for CSI reports, it is possible that if there is no transmission in some resources, the channel can be acquired by other operators after sensing an idle medium. The embodiments described below relate to methods for indicating the transmission of only ACSI reports, distinguishing only ACSI reports from general ACSI reports (with/without UL data), and improving resource utilization efficiency of transmissions of only ACSI reports.

In one embodiment, the aperiodic CSI-only reporting is explicitly indicated via the ACSI request field in the DCI. In LTE carrier aggregation, two bits are considered to indicate different options for aperiodic CSI transmission along with UL-SCH data (or not triggering aperiodic CSI reporting). The design can also be extended and/or modified to include an ACSI-only option. There are several possible ways to indicate this. In a first option, another bit is provided in addition to the existing bits of the aperiodic CSI request field. The DCI with this additional bit can be sent only on the UE-specific PDCCH search space. The MSB or LSB in the extended 3-bit field can be considered to indicate whether the aperiodic CSI request is ACSI-only without UL-SCH data or ACSI with UL-SCH data. In a second option, the mapping between the two-bit aperiodic CSI request field state and the different ACSI transmission indications is redefined. In one embodiment, the following mapping between the ACSI request field states and different indications may be defined (possibly with an option to implicitly indicate no aperiodic CSI by, for example, changing the CRS): 1) 00: SIB-2 linked aperiodic CSI with UL-SCH data; 2) 01: first higher layer signaling to indicate the target cell for aperiodic CSI with UL-SCH data; 3) 10: second higher layer signaling to indicate the target cell for aperiodic CSI with UL-SCH data; 4) 11: only aperiodic CSI without UL-SCH data.

In one embodiment, the indication of only ACSI is implicitly indicated. One way to achieve this is by changing the CRS (e.g., phase shifting), where the UE should test two hypotheses for the CRS in order to recognize the indication. One embodiment of this option is that the eNB sends the same CRS sequence {x} as in legacy LTE when ACSI is multiplexed with UL data, and sends {-x} for ACSI-only transmission. Another way to indicate only non-periodic CSI reporting via PUSCH is via resource allocation signaling. For example, by denoting the minimum resource allocation granularity by Y (Y<10), the method for indicating PUSCH transmission of only UCI in legacy LTE can be extended by constraining the number of PRBs to NPRB≤Y, where NPRB is the number of allocated PRBs.

The following embodiments relate to how ACSI reports are transmitted. In one embodiment suitable for LAA systems, if aperiodic CSI reporting is required while the UE does not have any UL data, the aperiodic CSI reporting can be configured to be transmitted on the PCell PUSCH. Since the PCell does not use the B-IFDMA PUSCH waveform, resource allocation granularity does not cause any issues. Then, when the CSI report is triggered by an UL grant, the eNB can support the transmission of aperiodic CSI reports without UL data by assigning less than or equal to 4 PRBs.

In other embodiments applicable to both LAA systems and MF systems, the transmission of non-periodic CSI reports can be performed on the SCell PUSCH. In one embodiment, if the eNB only requires ACSI reporting, it will not multiplex the data with the ACSI report even if the UE has UL data, and only transmit ACSI (if the resource allocation granularity does not match the size of the ACSI report, the remaining resources may be wasted). Otherwise, when the UE has UL data that can be used for multiplexing with CSI, the non-periodic CSI is carried with the data. If the UE does not have UL data, only ACSI is transmitted on the SCell PUSCH. The multiplexing of CSI reports and UL data can be performed in the time domain and/or frequency domain. For example, the UE can first load the ACSI information bits and then load the additional data bits for the remaining PRBs.

In another embodiment, the minimum resource allocation granularity is configured to be less than 10 PRBs. When triggering aperiodic CSI reporting, the eNB can signal this configuration, or the UE can determine the configuration based on its UL data availability. In order to reduce the resource allocation granularity, the following options can be applied. One option is to divide the bandwidth into several groups, for example 10 groups. Then one interleaving band can be allocated in each group or one interleaving band can be allocated in a subset of the group (reducing the periodicity of the PRBs of one interleaving band). Another option is to enable time slot based resource assignment. In this way, one or two time slots of an interleaving band can be assigned to a UE. Another option is to assign edge PRBs (i.e., at the edge of the system bandwidth) for transmission of only ACSI. The remaining PRBs of the interleaving band can possibly be assigned to other UEs.

Example UE Description

As used herein, the term "circuit" may refer to, be part of, or include: an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) and/or memory (shared, dedicated, or group) that executes one or more software or firmware programs, combinational logic circuits, and/or other suitable 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 operates at least partially in hardware.

The embodiments described herein can be implemented into a system using suitably configured hardware and/or software. FIG5 illustrates example components of a user equipment (UE) 100 in accordance with 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.

The application circuitry 102 may include one or more application processors. For example, the application circuitry 102 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core processors or multi-core processors. The processors may include any combination of general-purpose processors and specialized processors (e.g., graphics processors, application processors, etc.). The processors may be coupled to and/or include memory/storage and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory/storage 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 processors 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 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 other baseband processors 104d for other existing, developing, or future generations (e.g., fifth generation (5G), 6G, etc.). The baseband circuitry 104 (e.g., one or more of the 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 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 circuitry 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) elements, medium access control (MAC) elements, radio link control (RLC) elements, packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) elements, and/or radio resource control (RRC) elements. The central processing unit (CPU) 104e of the baseband circuitry 104 may be configured to execute elements of the protocol stack for signaling at the PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP, and/or RRC layers. In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry may include one or more audio digital signal processors (DSPs) 104f. The audio DSPs 104f may include elements for compression/decompression and echo cancellation, and in other embodiments may include other suitable processing elements. In some embodiments, the components of the baseband circuitry may be appropriately combined in a single chip, a single chipset, or provided on the same circuit board. In some embodiments, some or all of the components of the baseband circuitry 104 and the application circuitry 102 may be implemented together, for example, on a system-on-chip (SOC).

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

The RF circuitry 106 may enable communication with a wireless network using modulated electromagnetic radiation over a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, the RF circuitry 106 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate communication with the wireless network. The RF circuitry 106 may include a receive signal path, which may include circuitry for downconverting RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 108 and providing a baseband signal to the baseband circuitry 104. The RF circuitry 106 may also include a transmit signal path, which may include circuitry for upconverting baseband signals provided by the baseband circuitry 104 and providing an RF output signal to the 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 mixer circuitry 106a, amplifier circuitry 106b, and filter circuitry 106c. The transmit signal path of RF circuitry 106 may include filter circuitry 106c and mixer circuitry 106a. RF circuitry 106 may also include synthesizer circuitry 106d for synthesizing frequencies used 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, but this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 106a of the receive signal path may include a passive mixer, but the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this regard.

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

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 arranged for quadrature down-conversion and/or up-conversion, respectively. 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 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 arranged for direct down-conversion and/or direct up-conversion, respectively. 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 regard. In some alternative embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be digital baseband signals. In these alternative embodiments, the RF circuitry 106 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry, and the baseband circuitry 104 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the 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 regard.

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 regard, as other types of frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuit 106 d may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer including a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider.

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

In some embodiments, the frequency input may be provided by a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), but this is not required. Depending on the desired output frequency, the divider control input may be provided by baseband circuitry 104 or application processor 102. In some embodiments, the divider control input (e.g., N) may 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 divider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer, and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the divider may be a dual-mode 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) 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 a VCO cycle into Nd equal phase groups, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this manner, 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 an 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 an LO frequency (f _LO ). In some embodiments, the RF circuit 106 can include an IQ/polar converter.

FEM circuitry 108 may include a receive signal path, which 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, which may include circuitry configured to amplify transmit signals provided by RF circuitry 106 for transmission by one or more of one or more antennas 110.

In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 108 may include a TX/RX switch to switch 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 RF circuitry 106). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuitry 108 may include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify an input RF signal (e.g., provided by the RF circuitry 106) and one or more filters to generate an RF signal for subsequent transmission (e.g., by 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, displays, cameras, sensors, and/or input/output (I/O) interfaces.

Example Machine Description

FIG6 shows a block diagram of an example machine 500 on which any one or more of the techniques (e.g., methods) discussed herein can be performed. 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 machine 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 smartphone, a network appliance, a network router, a switch or a bridge, or any machine capable of executing instructions (sequentially or otherwise) specifying the actions to be taken by the machine. 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 a set (or multiple 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.

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

Thus, the term "module" is understood to encompass a tangible entity, whether 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 the example of temporarily configuring modules, each module need not be instantiated at any time. For example, where the modules comprise a general-purpose hardware processor configured using software, the general-purpose hardware processor can be configured as correspondingly different modules at different times. The software can configure the hardware processor accordingly, e.g., to constitute a particular module at one instance in time and to 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 link (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 additionally 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, such as 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 on which is stored one or more sets of data structures and instructions 524 (e.g., software) embodying or used by any one or more of the techniques or functionality described herein. The instructions 524 may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 504, within the static storage 506, or within the hardware processor 502 during execution thereof by the machine 500. In an example, one or any combination of the hardware processor 502, the main memory 504, the static storage 506, and the storage device 516 may constitute a machine-readable medium.

Although machine-readable medium 522 is illustrated as a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium” may include a single medium or multiple media (eg, 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 is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructions for execution by the machine 500 and causing the machine 500 to perform any one or more of the techniques of the present disclosure, or that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying 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 temporarily propagating signal.

The instructions 524 may also be sent or received via a communication network 526 using a transmission medium via a network interface device 520 utilizing 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.). Exemplary communication networks may include a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a packet data network (e.g., the Internet), a mobile phone network (e.g., a cellular network), a plain old telephone (POTS) network, and a wireless data network (e.g., the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 series of standards, the IEEE 802.16 series of standards), the IEEE 802.15.4 series of standards, the Long Term Evolution (LTE) series of standards, the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) series of standards, or 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 an 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), and multiple-input single-output (MISO) technologies. 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 that facilitate such communication.

Additional notes and examples:

In Example 1, an apparatus for a user equipment (UE) includes: a memory and a processing circuit; wherein the processing circuit is used to: demodulate downlink control information (DCI), the DCI being received from an evolved Node B (eNB) in a current downlink (DL) subframe via a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) with an uplink (UL) resource grant or via a common PDCCH (cPDCCH), wherein the DCI requests uplink control information (UCI) to be sent via an extended physical uplink control channel (ePUCCH) in a subsequent UL subframe, wherein the ePUCCH includes a block-interleaved frequency division multiple access (B-IFDMA) interlace; and map the UCI to resource elements (REs) of the B-IFDMA interlace using an orthogonal spreading sequence to allow the UCI to be code division multiplexed with UCI from other UEs.

In Example 2, the subject matter of any of the examples herein can optionally include where the orthogonal spreading sequence is a Hadamard sequence, a Zadoff-Chu sequence, an orthogonal cover code (OCC), or any combination of orthogonal spreading sequences.

In Example 3, the subject matter of any of the examples herein can optionally include, wherein the B-IFDMA interlace comprises 10 resource blocks (RBs) equally spaced across the channel bandwidth.

In Example 4, the subject matter of any example herein may optionally include, wherein the processing circuit is configured to spread the UCI using an orthogonal spreading sequence having a length less than or equal to the number of REs in an RB of an interleaving band that are not used to transmit a demodulation reference signal (DMRS).

In Example 5, the subject matter of any example herein may optionally include, wherein the processing circuit is used to: spread the UCI in the time domain using an orthogonal spreading sequence having a length less than or equal to the number of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols in a subframe that are not used to transmit a demodulation reference signal (DMRS).

In Example 6, the subject matter of any example herein may optionally include, wherein the processing circuit is used to: spread the UCI in the frequency domain using an orthogonal spreading sequence having a length less than or equal to the number of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarriers not used for transmitting a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) in a resource block of a subframe.

In Example 7, the subject matter of any of the examples herein can optionally include, wherein the processing circuit is to: independently spread the UCI in the time domain and the frequency domain using a frequency domain orthogonal spreading sequence and a time domain orthogonal spreading sequence.

In Example 8, the subject matter of any example herein may optionally include, wherein the processing circuit is used to: encode the information bits of the UCI using a forward error correction code and append a cyclic redundancy check sequence thereto; perform rate matching on the encoded information bits; modulate the encoded and rate matched information bits to one or more quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) symbols; and map the QPSK symbols to REs of a B-IFDMA interleaving band using an orthogonal spreading sequence.

In Example 9, the subject matter of any example herein may optionally include, wherein the processing circuit is used to: split the information bits of the UCI into one or more parts; encode each information bit part of the UCI using a forward error correction code and append a cyclic redundancy check sequence thereto; perform rate matching on each encoded information bit part; modulate each encoded and rate matched information bit part to one or more orthogonal phase shift keying (QPSK) symbols; and map the QPSK symbols of each part to REs of a B-IFDMA interleaving band using an orthogonal spreading sequence.

In Example 10, the subject matter of any of the examples herein can optionally include, wherein the forward error correction code is a tail-biting convolutional code (TBCC) or a Reed-Mueller (RM) code.

In Example 11, the subject matter of any of the examples herein can optionally include, wherein the processing circuit is to map the UCI to REs of a B-IFDMA interlace using an orthogonal spreading sequence specified by a start and end index included in the DCI.

In Example 12, the subject matter of any example herein can optionally include, wherein the processing circuit is to: map the UCI to REs of a B-IFDMA interlace using an orthogonal spreading sequence specified by start and end indices of the frequency domain and time domain orthogonal spreading sequences contained in the DCI.

In Example 13, the subject matter of any of the examples herein can optionally include, wherein the processing circuit is to map the UCI to REs of a B-IFDMA interlace using an orthogonal spreading sequence specified by an index identifying one of a plurality of orthogonal spreading sequences included in the DCI.

In Example 14, the subject matter of any of the examples herein can optionally include, wherein the processing circuit is to: implicitly determine the number of spreading sequences required for UCI transmission based on the type of UCI.

In Example 15, the subject matter of any example herein may optionally include, wherein the processing circuit is configured to map the UCI to REs of a B-IFDMA interlace using a spreading sequence specified by an index identifying one of a plurality of frequency-domain orthogonal spreading sequences and identifying one of a plurality of time-domain orthogonal spreading sequences contained in the DCI.

In Example 16, the subject matter of any example herein may optionally include, wherein the processing circuit is configured to: when the ePUCCH is triggered by the cPDCCH requesting the transmission of UCI, map the UCI to resource elements (REs) of the B-IFDMA interlace using an orthogonal spreading sequence semi-statistically configured by radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

In Example 17, an apparatus for an evolved Node B (eNB) includes a memory and processing circuitry configured to: encode downlink control information (DCI) for transmission to a user equipment (UE) in a current downlink (DL) subframe via a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) with an uplink (UL) resource grant or via a common PDCCH (cPDCCH), wherein the DCI requests transmission of uplink control information (UCI) via an extended physical uplink control channel (ePUCCH) in a subsequent UL subframe, wherein the ePUCCH comprises a block-interleaved frequency division multiple access (B-IFDMA) interlace; and decode UCI from resource elements (REs) of the B-IFDMA interlace, wherein the UCI has been mapped to the resource elements using an orthogonal spreading sequence to allow the UCI to be code division multiplexed with UCI from other UEs.

In Example 18, the subject matter of any of the examples herein can optionally include, wherein the processing circuit is to encode the DCI to include a start index and an end index of an orthogonal spreading sequence used by the UE to map the UCI to REs of a B-IFDMA interlace.

In Example 19, the subject matter of any example herein may optionally include, wherein the processing circuit is to: encode the DCI to include a start index and an end index of a frequency domain and time domain orthogonal spreading sequence used by the UE to map the UCI to REs of a B-IFDMA interlace.

In Example 20, the subject matter of any of the examples herein can optionally include, wherein the processing circuit is to encode the DCI to include an index identifying one of a plurality of orthogonal spreading sequences used by the UE to map UCI to REs of a B-IFDMA interlace.

In Example 21, the subject matter of any example herein may optionally include, wherein the processing circuit is used to: encode the DCI to include an index identifying one of a plurality of frequency-domain orthogonal spreading sequences used by the UE to map UCI to REs of a B-IFDMA interleaved band and an index identifying one of a plurality of time-domain orthogonal spreading sequences used by the UE to map UCI to REs of a B-IFDMA interleaved band.

In Example 22, the subject matter of any of the examples herein can optionally include, wherein the processing circuit is to: semi-statistically configure, via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, a specific orthogonal spreading sequence for use by the UE in response to a UCI request via a cPDCCH.

In Example 23, an apparatus for a user equipment (UE) includes: a memory and a processing circuit, the processing circuit being configured to: demodulate downlink control information (DCI), the DCI being received from an evolved Node B (eNB) in a current downlink (DL) subframe via a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) with an uplink (UL) resource grant, the DCI requesting uplink control information (UCI) to be sent via a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) in a subsequent UL subframe, wherein the PUSCH includes a block-interleaved frequency division multiple access (B-IFDMA) interlace band in an unlicensed spectrum; and multiplex or not multiplex the UCI with uplink shared channel (UL-SCH) data as indicated by the DCI.

In Example 24, the subject matter of any of the examples herein can optionally include, wherein whether the UCI is to be multiplexed with UL-SCH data is indicated by one bit of a three-bit field in the DCI.

In Example 25, the subject matter of any of the examples herein can optionally include, wherein the indication that the UCI is not multiplexed with UL-SCH data is indicated by a specific value of a two-bit field in the DCI.

In Example 26, the subject matter of any of the examples herein can optionally include, wherein whether the UCI is to be multiplexed with the UL-SCH data is indicated by a phase shift of a cell-specific reference signal (CRS) transmitted by the eNB.

In Example 27, the subject matter of any of the examples herein can optionally include, wherein whether the UCI is to be multiplexed with UL-SCH data is indicated by a resource size granted by the UL resource grant.

In Example 28, an apparatus for an evolved Node B (eNB) includes a memory and processing circuitry configured to: encode downlink control information (DCI) for transmission to a user equipment (UE) in a current downlink (DL) subframe via a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) with an uplink (UL) resource grant, the DCI requesting transmission of uplink control information (UCI) via a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) in a subsequent UL subframe, wherein the PUSCH comprises a block-interleaved frequency division multiple access (B-IFDMA) interlace band in an unlicensed spectrum; and indicate in the DCI whether the UCI should be multiplexed with uplink shared channel (UL-SCH) data.

In Example 29, the subject matter of any of the examples herein can optionally include, wherein whether the UCI is to be multiplexed with UL-SCH data is indicated by one bit of a three-bit field in the DCI.

In Example 30, the subject matter of any of the examples herein may optionally include, wherein the indication that the UCI is not multiplexed with UL-SCH data is indicated by a specific value of a two-bit field in the DCI.

In Example 31, the subject matter of any of the examples herein may optionally include, wherein whether the UCI is to be multiplexed with the UL-SCH data is indicated by a phase shift of a cell-specific reference signal (CRS) transmitted by the eNB.

In Example 32, the subject matter of any of the examples herein can optionally include, wherein whether the UCI is to be multiplexed with UL-SCH data is indicated by a resource size granted by the UL resource grant.

In Example 33, a method for operating a user equipment (UE) includes performing the functions of the memory and processing circuitry as described in any example herein.

In Example 34, a user equipment (UE) includes means for performing the functions of the memory and processing circuitry as described in any of the examples herein.

In example 35, a computer-readable medium comprises instructions that, when executed by a processing circuit of a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to perform the functionality of the memory and processing circuit as described in any example herein.

In Example 36, a method for operating an evolved Node B (eNB) includes performing the functions of a memory and a processing circuit as described in any example herein.

In Example 37, an evolved Node B (eNB) includes means for performing the functions of the memory and processing circuitry as described in any example herein.

In example 38, a computer-readable medium comprises instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry of an evolved Node B (eNB), cause the eNB to perform the functionality of the memory and processing circuitry as described in any example herein.

In Example 39, the subject matter of any of the examples herein may further include a radio transceiver connected to the memory and the processing circuit.

The above detailed description includes reference to the accompanying drawings that form a part of the detailed description. As an illustration, the accompanying drawings show specific embodiments that can be put into practice. These embodiments are also referred to as "examples" in this article. Such examples may include elements other than those shown or described. However, it is also possible to envision examples that include the elements shown or described. In addition, it is also possible to envision examples that use any combination or permutation of those elements (or one or more aspects thereof) shown or described with respect to a specific example (or one or more aspects thereof) or with respect to other examples (or one or more aspects thereof) shown or described herein.

The publications, patents, and patent documents referred to herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety, as if individually incorporated by reference. In the event of any inconsistency between the usages of this document and those incorporated by reference, the usage in the incorporated references supplements that of this document; for irreconcilable inconsistencies, the usage in this document controls.

In this document, as is common in patent documents, the words "a" or "an" are used to include one or more than one, independent of any other instance or usage of "at least one" or "one or more." Unless otherwise stated, the word "or" is used herein to refer to a non-exclusive "or" such that "A or B" includes "A, but not B," "B, but not A," and "A and B." In the appended claims, the words "include" and "in which" are used as equivalents of the corresponding words "comprise" and "in which." Moreover, in the appended claims, the words "include" and "comprising" are open-ended; that is, systems, devices, articles, or processes that include elements other than those listed after such words in a claim are still considered to fall within the scope of the claim. In addition, in the appended claims, the words "first," "second," and "third," etc. are used merely as labels and are not intended to imply a numerical order of their objects.

The embodiments described above may be implemented in various hardware configurations, which may include a processor for executing instructions that implement the described techniques. Such instructions may be contained in a machine-readable medium such as a suitable 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 portion of a long term evolution (LTE) communication system, but the scope of the present invention is not limited in this respect. The exemplary LTE system includes a plurality of mobile stations, defined by the LTE specifications as user equipment (UE), communicating with a base station, defined by the LTE specifications as an eNB.

The antennas referenced herein 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 transmitting RF signals. In some embodiments, instead of two or more antennas, a single antenna with multiple apertures may be used. In these embodiments, each aperture may be considered a separate antenna. In some multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) embodiments, the antennas may be effectively separated to exploit spatial diversity and the different channel characteristics that may arise between each antenna and the antenna of the transmitting station. In some MIMO embodiments, the antennas may be separated by as much as 1/10 wavelength or more.

In some embodiments, the receivers described herein can be configured to receive signals according to a specified communication standard, such as an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standard including the IEEE 802.11 standard and/or proposed specifications for WLANs, although the scope of the present invention is not limited in this respect as they may also be adapted to transmit and/or receive communications according to other technologies and standards. In some embodiments, the receivers can 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 may also be adapted to transmit and/or receive communications according to other technologies and standards. In some embodiments, the receivers can be configured to receive signals according to the Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) LTE communication standard. For more information about the IEEE 802.11 and IEEE 802.16 standards, 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 about the UTRAN LTE standard, see the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standard for UTRAN-LTE, including its variations 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 combination with other examples. For example, a person of ordinary skill in the art may use other embodiments when viewing the above description. The abstract is intended to allow the reader to quickly determine the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. Moreover, in the above detailed description, various features may be combined together to simplify the disclosure. However, the claims may not set forth every feature disclosed herein because an embodiment may feature a subset of the features. In addition, an embodiment may include fewer features than those disclosed in a particular example. Therefore, the claims attached hereto are included in the detailed description, where the claims may be based on themselves as separate embodiments. The scope of the embodiments disclosed herein will be determined with reference to the appended claims and the full scope of equivalents to such claims.

Claims (24)

1. An apparatus for a user equipment (UE), the apparatus comprising: Memory and processing circuitry; The processing circuit is used for: Demodulate downlink control information (DCI), which is received from the base station in the current downlink DL subframe via a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) with uplink UL resource approval. The DCI triggers the transmission of uplink control information (UCI) via an extended physical uplink control channel (ePUCCH) in subsequent UL subframes in unlicensed spectrum. Wherein, the ePUCCH includes a block-interleaved frequency division multiple access (B-IFDMA) interleaving band; and Map the UCI to the B-IFDMA interleaving band. The processing circuit is configured to perform the following operations to map the UCI to the B-IFDMA interleaving band: The information bits of the UCI are encoded using forward error correction codes, and a cyclic redundancy check sequence is appended to the information bits. Rate matching is performed on the encoded information bits; The encoded and rate-matched information bits are modulated onto one or more quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) symbols; Multiple orthogonal spreading sequences can be determined from a set of available orthogonal spreading sequences; and The plurality of orthogonal spread spectrum sequences are applied to the one or more QPSK symbols and the QPSK symbols are mapped to the B-IFDMA interleaving band. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the orthogonal spreading sequence is a Hadamard sequence, a Zadoff-Chu sequence, an orthogonal coverage code (OCC), or any combination of orthogonal spreading sequences. 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the B-IFDMA interleaving band comprises 10 resource blocks (RBs) equally spaced across the channel bandwidth. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is used for: The UCI is spread using an orthogonal spreading sequence of length less than or equal to the number of resource elements REs in the RBs of the interleaved band that are not used to transmit the demodulation reference signal DMRS. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is configured to: The UCI is spread in the time domain using an orthogonal spreading sequence of length less than or equal to the number of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols in the subframe that are not used to transmit the demodulation reference signal (DMRS). 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is configured to: The UCI is spread in the frequency domain using an orthogonal spreading sequence of the number of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarriers in a resource block of length less than or equal to that of the subframe that are not used to transmit the demodulation reference signal (DMRS). 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is configured to: The UCI is spread independently in the time and frequency domains using frequency-domain orthogonal spreading sequences and time-domain orthogonal spreading sequences. 8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the memory and processing circuitry are used for: Divide the information bits of the UCI into one or more parts; Each information bit portion of the UCI is encoded using forward error correction codes, and a cyclic redundancy check sequence is appended to each information bit portion. Rate matching is performed on each encoded information bit portion; Modulate each encoded and rate-matched information bit portion onto one or more QPSK symbols; and The QPSK symbols of each section are mapped to the resource elements (REs) of the B-IFDMA interleaving band using an orthogonal spread spectrum sequence. 9. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the forward error correction code is a tail-biting convolutional code (TBCC) or a Reed-Mueller (RM) code. 10. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to: map the UCI to resource elements (REs) of the B-IFDMA interleaving band using an orthogonal spread spectrum sequence specified by a start index and an end index contained in the DCI. 11. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to: map the UCI to resource elements RE of the B-IFDMA interleaving band using an orthogonal spreading sequence specified by a start index and an end index of a frequency-domain and time-domain orthogonal spreading sequence contained in the DCI. 12. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein, The plurality of orthogonal spread spectrum sequences are included in the DCI. 13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the processing circuit is configured to: The number of spreading sequences required for UCI transmission is implicitly determined based on the type of UCI. 14. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to: map the UCI to the resource element RE of the B-IFDMA interleaving band using a spreading sequence specified by an index containing an index that identifies one of a plurality of frequency-domain orthogonal spreading sequences and an index that identifies one of a plurality of time-domain orthogonal spreading sequences in the DCI. 15. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the memory is configured to: store orthogonal spread spectrum sequences semi-statistically configured by Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, and wherein the processing circuitry is configured to: when the ePUCCH is triggered by a common PDCCH (cPDCCH) requesting the transmission of a UCI, map the UCI to a resource element (RE) of the B-IFDMA interleaving band using the stored orthogonal spread spectrum sequences. 16. An apparatus for a base station, the apparatus comprising: The memory and processing circuitry are configured as follows: Downlink control information (DCI) is encoded so that it can be transmitted to user equipment (UE) in the current downlink DL subframe via physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) with uplink UL resource approval, wherein the DCI triggers uplink control information (UCI) to be transmitted from the UE in subsequent UL subframes via extended physical uplink control channel (ePUCCH) in unlicensed spectrum; Wherein, the ePUCCH includes a block-interleaved frequency division multiple access (B-IFDMA) interleaving band; and Decode the UCI from the B-IFDMA interleaved band, wherein the UCI has been time-domain mapped to the B-IFDMA interleaved band using multiple orthogonal spreading sequences from a set of available orthogonal spreading sequences, and The information bits of the UCI have been encoded using forward error correction codes and appended with a cyclic redundancy check sequence. The encoded information bits have been rate matched. The encoded and rate matched information bits have been modulated onto one or more quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) symbols. The multiple quadrature spread spectrum sequences have been applied to the one or more QPSK symbols, and the QPSK symbols have been mapped onto the B-IFDMA interleaving band. 17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to: The DCI is encoded to include the start and end indices of the orthogonal spread spectrum sequence of the resource element RE used by the UE to map the UCI to the B-IFDMA interleaving band. 18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the processing circuit is configured to: The DCI is encoded to include the start and end indices of the frequency and time domain orthogonal spread spectrum sequences used by the UE to map the UCI to the resource element RE of the B-IFDMA interleaving band. 19. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to: The DCI is encoded to include an index that identifies one or more of the plurality of orthogonal spread spectrum sequences used by the UE to map the UCI to the resource element RE of the B-IFDMA interleaving band. 20. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to: The DCI is encoded to include one or more of a plurality of frequency-domain orthogonal spread spectrum sequences that identify the UE for mapping the UCI to the resource element RE of the B-IFDMA interleaving band, and an index that identifies one of a plurality of time-domain orthogonal spread spectrum sequences that identify the UE for mapping the UCI to the RE of the B-IFDMA interleaving band. 21. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the processing circuit is configured to: A specific orthogonal spread spectrum sequence is semi-statistically configured by Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling for the UE to transmit UCI. 22. A method for operating a user equipment (UE), comprising: Demodulate downlink control information (DCI), which is received from the base station in the current downlink DL subframe via a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) with uplink UL resource approval. The DCI triggers the transmission of uplink control information (UCI) via an extended physical uplink control channel (ePUCCH) in subsequent UL subframes in unlicensed spectrum. Wherein, the ePUCCH includes a block-interleaved frequency division multiple access (B-IFDMA) interleaving band; and The UCI is mapped to the B-IFDMA interleaving band using multiple orthogonal spreading sequences, and The mapping includes: The information bits of the UCI are encoded using forward error correction codes, and a cyclic redundancy check sequence is appended to the information bits. Rate matching is performed on the encoded information bits; The encoded and rate-matched information bits are modulated onto one or more quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) symbols; Multiple orthogonal spreading sequences can be determined from a set of available orthogonal spreading sequences; and The plurality of orthogonal spread spectrum sequences are applied to the one or more QPSK symbols and the QPSK symbols are mapped to the B-IFDMA interleaving band. 23. The method of claim 22, wherein the orthogonal spreading sequence is a Hadamard sequence, a Zadoff-Chu sequence, an orthogonal covering code (OCC), or any combination of orthogonal spreading sequences. 24. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processing circuit of a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to perform the method as described in any one of claims 22-23.