Decoding data in new radio ultra-reliable low latency communications with multiple transmission points

Abstract

Described is a technology to reduce the interference between two or more transmit receive (Tx/Rx) points (TRPs) and improve the reliability for New Radio ultra reliable low latency communication (NR URLLC) applications. The technology operates in one aspect at a network node, and in another aspect at a user equipment. If a network device decides to use packet duplication, the network device can indicate duplication to the user equipment. The network device can send duplicate copies, e.g., via two different antenna panels, or can send one copy and coordinate with another network device (e.g., another cell) to send the other copy. When the user equipment receives the copies, the user equipment combines the data, e.g., via soft combining or concatenation into combined data, and decodes the combined data. Weights, such as corresponding to channel quality from each transmit source, can be used as factors in the combining of the data.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method, comprising:
 determining, by network equipment comprising a processor, whether to employ packet duplication for packet transmission to a user equipment, and   in response to determining to employ the packet duplication, facilitating, by the network equipment, transmitting multiple copies of a packet from multiple transmit sources to the user equipment.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein facilitating the transmitting of the multiple copies comprises:
 transmitting, by the network equipment as a first transmit source of the multiple transmit sources, a first copy of the multiple copies of the packet to the user equipment.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein facilitating the transmitting of the multiple copies further comprises:
 coordinating, by the network equipment, scheduling of the transmitting the first copy of the packet with a transmission of a second copy of the packet via a second transmit source to the user equipment.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the transmitting of the first copy of the packet comprises transmitting an ultra-reliable low-latency communication transport block data transmission. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein facilitating the transmitting comprises:
 determining, by the network equipment, whether to indicate the packet duplication to the user equipment.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising, in response to determining to indicate the packet duplication to the user equipment:
 facilitating, by the network equipment, transmitting an indication of the packet duplication to the user equipment.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the network equipment comprises a first antenna panel as a first transmit source of the multiple transmit sources and a second antenna panel as a second transmit source of the multiple transmit sources, and wherein facilitating the transmitting comprises facilitating transmitting a first copy of the packet via the first antenna panel, and facilitating transmitting a second copy of the packet via the second antenna panel. 
     
     
         8 . Network equipment, comprising:
 a processor; and   a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:
 determining whether to employ duplication of packets to a user equipment, and 
 in response to determining to employ the duplication of packets, facilitating communicating multiple copies of a packet from multiple transmit sources to the user equipment. 
   
     
     
         9 . The network equipment of  claim 8 , wherein facilitating the communicating comprises:
 communicating, by the network equipment as a first transmit source of the multiple transmit sources, a first copy of the multiple copies of the packet to the user equipment.   
     
     
         10 . The network equipment of  claim 9 , wherein the facilitating the communicating further comprises:
 synchronizing scheduling of the communicating the first copy of the packet with communicating a second copy of the packet from a second transmit source to the user equipment.   
     
     
         11 . The network equipment of  claim 9 , wherein communicating the first copy of the packet comprises communicating an ultra-reliable low-latency communication transport block data transmission. 
     
     
         12 . The network equipment of  claim 8 , wherein facilitating the communicating comprises:
 in response to determining that the multiple transmit sources employ a same code rate for communicating the packet, communicating an indication of the duplication of the packet to the user equipment.   
     
     
         13 . The network equipment of  claim 12 , wherein communicating the indication comprises employing an explicit indication. 
     
     
         14 . The network equipment of  claim 8 , wherein the network equipment comprises a first antenna panel as a first transmit source of the multiple transmit sources and a second antenna panel as a second transmit source of the multiple transmit sources, and wherein the facilitating the communicating comprises communicating a first copy of the packet via the first antenna panel, and communicating a second copy of the packet via the second antenna panel. 
     
     
         15 . A non-transitory machine-readable medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor of network equipment, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:
 determining whether to duplicate transmission of a packet to a user equipment, and   in response to determining to duplicate transmission of the packet to the user equipment, facilitating sending multiple copies of the packet from multiple transmit sources to the user equipment.   
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein facilitating the sending comprises:
 sending, by the network equipment as a first transmit source of the multiple transmit sources, a first copy of the multiple copies of the packet to the user equipment.   
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein the facilitating the sending further comprises:
 coordinating scheduling of the communicating the first copy of the packet with communicating of a second copy of the packet from a second transmit source to the user equipment.   
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein sending the first copy of the packet comprises sending an ultra-reliable low-latency communication transport block data transmission. 
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein facilitating the sending comprises:
 in response to determining that the multiple transmit sources employ a same code rate for sending the packet, sending an indication of the duplication transmission of the packet to the user equipment.   
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein sending the indication comprises employing an implicit indication.