Methods, apparatuses, and systems for providing transfer block indication in uplink grant-free transmissions

Abstract

A system, apparatus, method, and non-transitory computer readable medium for providing transfer block indications in uplink (UL) grant-free transmissions may include a memory having computer readable instructions stored thereon, and at least one processor configured to execute the computer readable instructions to transmit a first transport block (TB) to a base station (BS) during a first transmission time interval (TTI) using a grant-free UL transmission, receive a UL grant from the BS in a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) region during a time window, determine a target of the UL grant, the target including at least one of the first TB, a second TB, or a previously transmitted TB, based on the UL grant, and transmitting the target of the UL grant to the BS.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A User Equipment (UE) device for providing transport block indications in uplink (UL) grant-free transmissions, the device comprising:
 a memory having computer readable instructions stored thereon; and   at least one processor configured to execute the computer readable instructions to,
 transmit a first transport block (TB) to a base station (BS) during a first transmission time interval (TTI) using a grant-free UL transmission, 
 receive a UL grant from the BS in a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) region during a time window, 
 determine a target of the UL grant, the target including at least one of the first TB, a second TB, or a previously transmitted TB, based on the UL grant; 
 transmit the target of the UL grant to the BS; 
 autonomously select a hybrid automatic repeat query (HARQ) process ID for the grant-free UL transmission; and 
 determine a number of bits associated with a new data indicator (NDI) included in the UL grant; and 
   in response to the determined number of NDI bits being 2,
 perform at least one of, 
 stopping transmission of the first TB using the grant-free UL transmission and determining whether to transmit a new TB based on a value of a different bit field included in the UL grant, the UL grant including the HARQ process ID that is selected by UE, 
 retransmitting the first TB to the BS based on the UL grant, 
 continuing transmission of the first TB using the grant-free UL transmission and retransmitting a previous TB scheduled for transmission prior to the first TB to the BS based on the UL grant, the UL grant including grant-based UL transmission scheduling information using a HARQ process ID selected by the BS, and 
 continuing transmission of the first TB using the grant-free UL transmission and transmitting the second TB to the BS based on the UL grant. 
   
     
     
         2 . The UE device of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to,
 analyze a transport block size (TBS) of the UL grant and a TBS of the transmitted first TB.   
     
     
         3 . The UE device of  claim 2 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to,
 in response to the TBS of the UL grant being the same or being a next higher TBS value as the TBS of the transmitted first TB,
 retransmit the first TB to the BS based on the UL grant. 
   
     
     
         4 . The UE device of  claim 2 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to,
 in response to the TBS of the UL grant not being the same and not being a next higher TBS value as the TBS of the transmitted first TB,
 transmit the second TB to the BS based on the UL grant. 
   
     
     
         5 . The UE device of  claim 1 , wherein in response to the determined number of NDI bits being 1, the at least one processor is further configured to,
 determine the PDCCH region associated with the UL grant; and   based on the determined PDCCH region and a value of the NDI bit, perform at least one of,
 stopping transmission of the first TB using the grant-free UL transmission and determining whether to transmit a new TB based on a value of a different bit field included in the UL grant, the UL grant including the HARQ process ID that is selected by the UE, 
 retransmitting the first TB to the BS based on the UL grant, 
 retransmitting the previous TB to the BS based on the UL grant, and 
 transmitting the second TB to the BS based on the UL grant. 
   
     
     
         6 . The UE device of  claim 1 , wherein in response to results of the determination indicating that the second TB is to be transmitted, the at least one processor is configured to transmit the second TB to the BS based on the UL grant as an ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) data packet or an enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) data packet. 
     
     
         7 . The UE device of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to,
 in response to the UL grant is received in a predefined or a configured timing after the first TTI of transmitting the first TB,   retransmit the first TB to the BS based on the UL grant; or   transmit the second TB to the BS based on the UL grant.   
     
     
         8 . A User Equipment (UE) device for providing transport block indications in uplink (UL) grant-free transmissions, the device comprising:
 a memory having computer readable instructions stored thereon; and   at least one processor configured to execute the computer readable instructions to,
 transmit a first transport block (TB) to a base station (BS) during a first transmission time interval (TTI) using a grant-free UL transmission, 
 receive a UL grant from the BS in a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) region during a time window, 
 determine a target of the UL grant, the target including at least one of the first TB, a second TB, or a previously transmitted TB, based on the UL grant, 
 transmit the target of the UL grant to the BS, 
 autonomously select a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARM) process ID for the grant-free UL transmission; and 
 determine a number of bits associated with a new data indicator (NDI) included in the UL grant; and 
 in response to the determined number of NDI bits being 1, the at least one processor is further configured to,
 determine the PDCCH region associated with the UL grant, and 
 based on the determined PDCCH region and a value of the NDI bit, perform at least one of, 
 stopping transmission of the first TB using the grant-free UL transmission and determining whether to transmit a new TB based on a value of a different bit field included in the UL grant, the UL grant including the HARQ process ID that is selected by the UE, 
 retransmitting the first TB to the BS based on the UL grant, 
 retransmitting the previous TB to the BS based on the UL grant, and 
 transmitting the second TB to the BS based on the UL grant. 
 
   
     
     
         9 . A base station (BS) device for providing transfer block indications in uplink (UL) grant-free transmissions, the BS device comprising:
 a memory having computer readable instructions stored thereon; and   at least one processor configured to execute the computer readable instructions to,
 receive a first transport block (TB) from a User Equipment (UE) during a first transmission time interval (TTI) using a grant-free UL transmission, 
 determine whether to provide a UL transmission grant to the UE, 
 set a bit length associated with a new data indicator (NDI), 
 transmit a UL grant to the UE in a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) region during a time window, the UL grant indicating results of the determination of the UL transmission grant status, and the UL grant including the NDI, 
 receive at least one of the first TB, a second TB, or a previously transmitted TB from the UE based on the UL transmission grant status; and 
   wherein the transmission of the UL grant to the UE causes the UE to,
 autonomously select a hybrid automatic repeat query (HARQ) process ID for the grant-free UL transmission, 
 determine a number of bits associated with the NDI included in the UL grant, and 
 in response to the determined number of NDI bits being 2, the UE is further caused to perform at least one of,
 stop transmission of the first TB using the grant-free UL transmission and determining whether to transmit a new TB based on a value of a different bit field included in the UL grant, the UL grant including the HARQ process ID that is selected by UE, 
 retransmit the first TB to the BS based on the UL grant, 
 continue transmission of the first TB using the grant-free UL transmission and retransmitting a previous TB scheduled for transmission prior to the first TB to the BS based on the UL grant, the UL grant including grant-based UL transmission scheduling information using a HARQ process ID selected by the BS, and 
 continue transmission of the first TB using the grant-free UL transmission and transmitting the second TB to the BS based on the UL grant. 
 
   
     
     
         10 . The BS device of  claim 9 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to,
 determine a transport block size (TBS) of the UL grant based on a TBS of the received first TB and results of the determination of the UL transmission grant status.   
     
     
         11 . The BS device of  claim 10 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to,
 in response to the determined TBS of the UL grant being the same or being a next higher TBS value as the TBS of the transmitted first TB,
 receive a retransmission of the first TB from the UE based on the transmitted UL grant. 
   
     
     
         12 . The BS device of  claim 10 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to,
 in response to the determined TBS of the UL grant not being the same and not being a next higher TBS value as the TBS of the received first TB,
 receive the second TB from the UE based on the transmitted UL grant. 
   
     
     
         13 . The BS device of  claim 9 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
 select a HARQ process ID; and   set a value for the NDI bits.   
     
     
         14 . The BS device of  claim 13 , wherein in response to the set number of NDI bits being 1, the at least one processor is further configured to,
 select the PDCCH region associated with the UL grant; and   wherein the set value of the NDI bit and the selected PDCCH region cause the UE to perform at least one of,
 stop transmission of the first TB using the grant-free UL transmission and determine whether to transmit a new TB based on a value of a different bit field included in the UL grant, the UL grant including the HARQ process ID selected by the UE, 
 retransmit the first TB to the BS based on the transmitted UL grant, 
 retransmit the previous TB to the BS based on the transmitted UL grant, and 
 transmit the second TB to the BS based on the transmitted UL grant. 
   
     
     
         15 . The BS device of  claim 9 , wherein the second TB is transmitted from the UE as an ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) data packet or an enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) data packet. 
     
     
         16 . A base station (BS) device for providing transfer block indications in uplink (UL) grant-free transmissions, the BS device comprising:
 a memory having computer readable instructions stored thereon; and   at least one processor configured to execute the computer readable instructions to,
 receive a first transport block (TB) from a User Equipment (UE) during a first transmission time interval (TTI) using a grant-free UL transmission, 
 determine whether to provide a UL transmission grant to the UE, 
 set a bit length associated with a new data indicator (NDI), 
 transmit a UL grant to the UE in a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) region during a time window, the UL grant indicating results of the determination of the UL transmission grant status, and the UL grant including the NDI, and 
 receive at least one of the first TB, a second TB, or a previously transmitted TB from the UE based on the UL transmission grant status; and 
   wherein the transmission of the UL grant to the UE causes the UE to,
 autonomously select a hybrid automatic repeat query (HARQ) process ID for the grant-free UL transmission, 
 determine a number of bits associated with the NDI included in the UL grant, and 
 in response to the determined number of NDI bits being 1,
 determine the PDCCH region associated with the UL grant, and 
 based on the determined PDCCH region and a value of the NDI bit, the UE is further caused to perform at least one of, 
 stopping transmission of the first TB using the grant-free UL transmission and determining whether to transmit a new TB based on a value of a different bit field included in the UL grant, the UL grant including the HARQ process ID that is selected by the UE, 
 retransmitting the first TB to the BS based on the UL grant, 
 retransmitting the previous TB to the BS based on the UL grant, and 
 transmitting the second TB to the BS based on the UL grant. 
 
   
     
     
         17 . A method for providing transfer block indications in uplink (UL) grant-free transmissions, the method comprising:
 transmitting a first transport block (TB) to a base station (BS) during a first time transmission interval (TTI) using a grant-free UL transmission;   receiving a UL grant from the BS in a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) region during a time window, the UL grant indicating whether the BS grants UL transmission;   determining a target of the UL grant, the target including at least one of the first TB, a second TB, or a previously transmitted TB based on the UL grant;   transmitting the target of the UL grant to the BS;   autonomously selecting a HARQ process ID for the grant-free UL transmission;   determining a number of bits associated with a new data indicator (NDI) included in the UL grant; and   in response to the determined number of NDI bits being 2, performing at least one of,
 stopping transmission of the first TB using the grant-free UL transmission and determining whether to transmit a new TB based on a value of a different bit field included in the UL grant, the UL grant including the HARQ process ID that is selected by UE, 
 retransmitting the first TB to the BS based on the UL grant, 
 continuing transmission of the first TB using the grant-free UL transmission and retransmitting a previous TB scheduled for transmission prior to the first TB to the BS based on the UL grant, the UL grant including grant-based UL transmission scheduling information using a HARQ process ID selected by the BS, and 
 continuing transmission of the first TB using the grant-free UL transmission and transmitting the second TB to the BS based on the UL grant. 
   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 analyzing a transport block size (TBS) of the UL grant and a TBS of the transmitted first TB.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein in response to the TBS of the UL grant being the same or being a next higher TBS value as the TBS of the transmitted first TB, the method further comprises:
 retransmitting the first TB to the BS based on the UL grant.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein in response to the TBS of the UL grant not being the same and not being a next higher TBS value as the TBS of the transmitted first TB, the method further comprises:
 transmitting the second TB to the BS based on the UL grant.   
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein in response to the determined number of NDI bits being 1, the method further comprises:
 determining the PDCCH region associated with the UL grant; and   based on the determined PDCCH region and a value of the NDI bit, performing at least one of,
 stopping transmission of the first TB using the grant-free UL transmission and determining whether to transmit a new TB based on a value of a different bit field included in the UL grant, the UL grant including the HARQ process ID that is selected by the UE, 
 retransmitting the first TB to the BS based on the UL grant, 
 retransmitting the previous TB to the BS based on the UL grant, and 
 transmitting the second TB to the BS based on the UL grant. 
   
     
     
         22 . A method for providing transfer block indications in uplink (UL) grant-free transmissions, the method comprising:
 transmitting a first transport block (TB) to a base station (BS) during a first time transmission interval (TTI) using a grant-free UL transmission;   receiving a UL grant from the BS in a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) region during a time window, the UL grant indicating whether the BS grants UL transmission;   determining a target of the UL grant, the target including at least one of the first TB, a second TB, or a previously transmitted TB based on the UL grant;   transmitting the target of the UL grant to the BS;   autonomously selecting a hybrid automatic repeat query (HARQ) process ID for the grant-free UL transmission;   determining a number of bits associated with a new data indicator (NDI) included in the UL grant; and   in response to the determined number of NDI bits being 1,
 determining the PDCCH region associated with the UL grant; and 
 based on the determined PDCCH region and a value of the NDI bit, performing at least one of,
 stopping transmission of the first TB using the grant-free UL transmission and determining whether to transmit a new TB based on a value of a different bit field included in the UL grant, the UL grant including the HARQ process ID that is selected by the UE, 
 retransmitting the first TB to the BS based on the UL grant, 
 retransmitting the previous TB to the BS based on the UL grant, and 
 transmitting the second TB to the BS based on the UL grant.