5G NEW RADIO ULTRA RELIABLE LOW LATENCY COMMUNICATIONS IN MILLIMETER WAVE SPECTRUM

FIELD:

[0001] Some example embodiments may generally relate to mobile or wireless telecommunication systems, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) or fifth generation (5G) radio access technology or new radio (NR) access technology, or other communications systems. For example, certain embodiments may relate to apparatuses, systems, and/or methods for improving 5G NR ultra reliable low latency communications (URLLC) in millimeter wave (mmwave) spectrum.

BACKGROUND:

[0002] Examples of mobile or wireless telecommunication systems may include the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), Long Term Evolution (LTE) Evolved UTRAN (E-UTRAN), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), MulteFire, LTE-A Pro, and/or fifth generation (5G) radio access technology or new radio (NR) access technology. Fifth generation (5G) wireless systems refer to the next generation (NG) of radio systems and network architecture. 5G is mostly built on a new radio (NR), but the 5G (or NG) network can also build on E-UTRAN radio. It is estimated that NR will provide bitrates on the order of 10-20 Gbit/s or higher, and will support at least enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) and ultra-reliable low-latency-communication (URLLC) as well as massive machine type communication (mMTC). NR is expected to deliver extreme broadband and ultra-robust, low latency connectivity and massive networking to support the Internet of Things (IoT). With IoT and machine-to-machine (M2M) communication becoming more widespread, there will be a growing need for networks that meet the needs of lower power, low data rate, and long battery life. It is noted that, in 5G, the nodes that can provide radio access functionality to a user equipment (i.e., similar to Node B in UTRAN or eNB in LTE) are named gNB when built on NR radio and named NG-eNB when built on E-UTRAN radio.

SUMMARY:

[0003] One embodiment may be directed to a method. The method may include receiving, from a network node, a configuration information element. The method may also include performing, in response to receiving the configuration information element, a grant-free synchronous non-adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request retransmission. In an example embodiment, the grant-free synchronous non-adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request retransmission may be performed without a physical downlink control channel scheduling grant from the network node.

[0004] Another example embodiment may be directed to an apparatus. The apparatus may include means for receiving, from a network node, a configuration information element. The apparatus may also include means for performing, in response to receiving the configuration information element, a grant-free synchronous non-adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request retransmission. In an example embodiment, the grant-free synchronous non- adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request retransmission may be performed without a physical downlink control channel scheduling grant from the network node.

[0005] Another example embodiment may be directed to an apparatus which may include at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code. The at least one memory and the computer program code may be configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to receive, from a network node, a configuration information element. The apparatus may also be caused to perform, in response to receiving the configuration information element, a grant-free synchronous non-adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request retransmission. In an example embodiment, the grant-free synchronous non-adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request retransmission may be performed without a physical downlink control channel scheduling grant from the network node.

[0006] In accordance with some example embodiments, a non-transitory computer readable medium can be encoded with instructions that may, when executed in hardware, perform a method. The method may include receiving, from a network node, a configuration information element. The method may also include performing, in response to receiving the configuration information element, a grant- free synchronous non-adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request retransmission. In an example embodiment, the grant-free synchronous non-adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request retransmission may be performed without a physical downlink control channel scheduling grant from the network node.

[0007] In accordance with some example embodiments, a computer program product may perform a method. The method may include receiving, from a network node, a configuration information element. The method may also include performing, in response to receiving the configuration information element, a grant-free synchronous non-adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request retransmission. In an example embodiment, the grant-free synchronous non-adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request retransmission may be performed without a physical downlink control channel scheduling grant from the network node.

[0008] In accordance with some example embodiments, an apparatus may include circuitry configured to receive, from a network node, a configuration information element. The apparatus may also include circuitry configured to perform, in response to receiving the configuration information element, a grant-free synchronous non-adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request retransmission. In an example embodiment, the grant-free synchronous non- adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request retransmission may be performed without a physical downlink control channel scheduling grant from the network node.

[0009] In accordance with some example embodiments, a method may include specifying, by a network node, a usage of a grant-free synchronous non- adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request retransmission by adding a new field to a configuration information element. The method may also include, based on the addition of the new field, triggering a user equipment to perform the grant-free synchronous, non-adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request retransmission without a physical downlink control channel scheduling grant from the network node.

[0010] In accordance with some example embodiments, an apparatus may include means for adding, by a network node, a new field to a configuration information element, wherein the new field specifies a usage of a grant-free synchronous non-adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request retransmission. The apparatus may also include means for, based on the addition of the new field, triggering a user equipment to perform a synchronous, non-adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request retransmission without a physical downlink control channel scheduling grant from the network node.

[0011] In accordance with some example embodiments, an apparatus may include at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code. The at least one memory and the computer program code may be configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to specify, by a network node, a usage of a grant- free synchronous non-adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request retransmission by adding a new field to a configuration information element. The apparatus may also be caused to, based on the addition of the new field, trigger a user equipment to perform the grant-free synchronous non-adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request retransmission without a physical downlink control channel scheduling grant from the network node.

[0012] In accordance with some example embodiments, a non-transitory computer readable medium can be encoded with instructions that may, when executed in hardware, perform a method. The method may include specifying, by a network node, a usage of a grant-free synchronous non-adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request retransmission by adding a new field to a configuration information element. The method may also include, based on the addition of the new field, triggering a user equipment to perform the grant- free synchronous, non-adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request retransmission without a physical downlink control channel scheduling grant from the network node.

[0013] In accordance with some example embodiments, a computer program product may perform a method. The method may include specifying, by a network node, a usage of a grant-free synchronous non-adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request retransmission by adding a new field to a configuration information element. The method may also include, based on the addition of the new field, triggering a user equipment to perform the grant- free synchronous, non-adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request retransmission without a physical downlink control channel scheduling grant from the network node.

[0014] In accordance with some embodiments, an apparatus may include circuitry configured to specify, by a network node, a usage of a grant-free synchronous non-adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request retransmission by adding a new field to a configuration information element. The apparatus may also include circuitry configured to, based on the addition of the new field, trigger a user equipment to perform the grant-free synchronous non-adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request retransmission without a physical downlink control channel scheduling grant from the network node.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS :

[0015] For proper understanding of example embodiments, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0016] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of Type 1 and Type 2 configured grants.

[0017] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of periodic“beam sweeping” at a mmwave gNB receiver.

[0018] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of configuring period beam sweeping to match an uplink configured grant periodicity of 4 slots = 56 symbols = 0.5 ms with a 120 kHz subcarrier spacing numerology.

[0019] FIG. 4 illustrates a flow diagram of a method, according to an example embodiment.

[0020] FIG. 5 illustrates a flow diagram of another method, according to an example embodiment.

[0021] FIG. 6a illustrates an apparatus, according to an example embodiment.

[0022] FIG. 6b illustrates another apparatus, according to an example embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION:

[0023] It will be readily understood that the components of certain example embodiments, as generally described and illustrated in the figures herein, may be arranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations. Thus, the following is a detailed description of some example embodiments of systems, methods, apparatuses, and computer program products for reinforcement learning (RL) based inter-radio access technology (inter-RAT) load balancing under multi-carrier dynamic spectrum sharing (SS) context. [0024] The features, structures, or characteristics of example embodiments described throughout this specification may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more example embodiments. For example, the usage of the phrases “certain embodiments,” “an example embodiment,” “some embodiments,” or other similar language, throughout this specification refers to the fact that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment. Thus, appearances of the phrases“in certain embodiments,”“an example embodiment,”“in some embodiments,”“in other embodiments,” or other similar language, throughout this specification do not necessarily all refer to the same group of embodiments, and the described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more example embodiments.

[0025] Additionally, if desired, the different functions or steps discussed below may be performed in a different order and/or concurrently with each other. Furthermore, if desired, one or more of the described functions or steps may be optional or may be combined. As such, the following description should be considered as merely illustrative of the principles and teachings of certain example embodiments, and not in limitation thereof.

[0026] 5G is expected to have multiple radio interfaces, for example below 6GHz, cmWave and mmwave, and also to be integradable with existing legacy radio access technologies, such as the LTE. Integration with LTE may be implemented, at least in the early phase, as a system, where macro coverage is provided by LTE and 5G radio interface access comes from small cells by aggregation to LTE. In other words, 5G is planned to support both inter-RAT operability (such as LTE-5G) and inter-RI operability (inter-radio interface operability, such as below 6GHz - cmWave, below 6GHz - cmWave - mmwave). One of the concepts considered to be used in 5G networks is network slicing in which multiple independent and dedicated virtual sub- networks (network instances) may be created within the same infrastructure to run services that have different requirements on latency, reliability, throughput and/or mobility.

[0027] The current architecture in LTE networks is fully distributed in the radio and fully centralized in the core network. The low latency applications and services in 5G require to bring the content close to the radio which leads to local breakout and multi-access edge computing (MEC). 5G enables analytics and knowledge generation to occur at the source of the data. This approach may require leveraging resources that may not be continuously connected to a network such as laptops, smartphones, tablets and sensors. MEC provides a distributed computing environment for application and service hosting. 5G also has the ability to store and process content in close proximity to cellular subscribers for faster response time. Edge computing covers a wide range of technologies such as wireless sensor networks, mobile data acquisition, mobile signature analysis, cooperative distributed peer-to- peer ad hoc networking and processing also classifiable as local cloud/fog computing and grid/mesh computing, dew computing, mobile edge computing, cloudlet, distributed data storage and retrieval, autonomic self- healing networks, remote cloud services, augmented and virtual reality, data caching, Internet of Things (massive connectivity and/or latency critical), and critical communications (autonomous vehicles, traffic safety, real-time analytics, time-critical control, healthcare applications).

[0028] 3 ^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Rel-15 and 3GPP Rel-16 for ultra reliable low latency communications (URLLC) have focused primarily on sub-6 GHz, with increasing interest to utilize the large amount of spectrum available in the millimeter (mm) wave band in both licensed as well as unlicensed spectrum for use cases. Such use cases may be applied in automated factories, which falls under the umbrella of the Industrial Internet of Things (HOT). [0029] Current implementations of 5G NR in the mmwave band utilizes an analog beamforming front-end with a grid of beams to keep implementation reasonably feasible. This suggests that in each scheduling instant, only a single beam direction may be scheduled at a time. However, this may pose a challenge when scheduling URLLC traffic, and trying to meet stringent latency and reliability requirements. In particular, the target in 3GPP Rel-15 is 99.999% reliability (i.e., error rate of le-5) with less than 1 millisecond delay in the radio access network (RAN). Here, the delay may include queuing delay in the RAN, plus any over the air transmission delay due to hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) retransmissions.

[0030] Another challenge with URLLC, particularly in the mmwave channel environment, is that achieving such low error rates on the data channel may require an even more reliable control channel used to schedule the data channel. This control channel in 5G NR is known as the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). The PDCCH supports compact downlink control information (DCI) formats and high aggregation levels including, for example, up to an aggregation level of 16, to achieve low error rates. The summary of studies done by various entities in 3 GPP focus on how a more stringent target error rate of le-6 or even stricter for PDCCH may be required in order to allow for a le-5 target error rate for data, given that the PDCCH channel does not benefit from HARQ retransmissions that can be used on the data channel. Further, the data channel cannot be decoded if the PDCCH is not received properly by the UE. However, it has been shown that with some possible reduction in the message sizes sent on PDCCH, the le-6 error rate requirement can be met.

[0031] Certain example embodiments may relate to optimizing the 5G NR design for URLLC, particularly when utilized in the mmwave spectrum band. Furthermore, certain example embodiments may address at least two challenges that are present for deploying URLLC systems in the mmwave frequency band. One problem involves wastage of downlink (DL) slots to schedule uplink (UL) traffic. Due to analog beamforming front-end used in 5G NR mmwave systems, transmission from (DL) or reception on (UL) may only be performed in one beam direction in a given time instant. This means that, if scheduling of a transmission from a user is desired from a user on the UL in timeslot T, a PDCCH scheduling grant must first be sent in the DL in timeslot T-K, where K is the time required for the UE to receive and process the scheduling grant. However, sending the PDCCH scheduling grant in the DL to schedule UL traffic in a later time slot means that the entire DL slot is forced to use the beam direction that the user will be utilizing in the UL to transmit its information, because in a mmwave system, transmission may only be performed on one beam direction at a time.

[0032] Such transmission essentially wastes an entire DL slot just to issue this scheduling grant without benefiting any DL URLLC traffic. It is possible there may be some user served by this same beam in the DL with data that can also be piggybacked on this DL beam. However, in general, this may not be the case, and there may be DL traffic for users on other beams that are pending and now competing with the need to issue PDCCH scheduling grants in the DL for UL traffic.

[0033] Another problem involves an extremely stringent error rate requirement for PDCCH scheduling grants. In particular, the reliability requirements for URLLC may be increased from 99.999% in 3GPP Rel-15 to an even more aggressive reliability target of 99.9999% - 99.999999% (i.e., error rates of le-6 to le-8) still with the 1ms latency bound for applications such as motion control in automated factors. This would suggest that error rates of le-7 to le-9 would be required for PDCCH, which are extremely challenging to achieve in a wireless 5G NR system, particularly in the mmwave propagation environment. [0034] Configured-grant (CG) (i.e., grant-free) operation is one of the existing enablers in 3GPP Rel-15 for achieving low transmission latencies in the UL direction for URLLC, since the phases of sending scheduling requests and waiting for scheduling grant are skipped. In this case, the UE does not need the dynamic scheduling-grant on PDCCH from the gNB before starting UL transmissions.

[0035] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of Type 1 and Type 2 configured grants. As illustrated in FIG. 1, there may be two types of CG that may be set up including, for example, Type 1 CG and Type 2 CG. When either Type 1 CG or Type 2 CG is configured, the UE may autonomously start the UL data transmission according to the configured periodicity and radio resources in the CG configuration. In addition, Type 1 CG relies only on radio resource control (RRC) configured parameters, and no PDCCH transmission is involved in activating/deactivating the CG. For example, at 100, gNB may send RRC configuration parameters to the UE. Once the RRC configuration parameters are received, data may be sent to the UE for buffering. At 105, the data may be transmitted from the UE to the gNB, and at 110, the gNB may provide feedback to the UE in response to the data. After the feedback is provided, the gNB may transmit an RRC deactivation to the UE.

[0036] On the other hand, Type 2 CG relies on both the RRC configured parameters and an activation/deactivation command via the PDCCH as illustrated in FIG. 1. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 1, at 120, the gNB may send RRC configuration parameters to the UE. At 125, the gNB may transmit CG activation to the UE in the form of PHY activation (PDCCH). The UE may then, at 130, send a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) acknowledgement to the gNB, after which data may be received at the UE for buffering. At 135, the data may be sent from the UE to the gNB, and at 140, the gNB may provide feedback to the UE in response to the data. After the feedback is provided, the gNB may, at 145, send to the UE a CG deactivation in the form of PHY deactivation (PDCCH).

[0037] As illustrated in FIG. 1, for Type 2 CG, to ensure reliable reception of the CG activation/deactivation from the gNB to the UE, a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) is defined in which a confirmation is sent from the UE to the gNB when a CG activation/deactivation message is received on the PDCCH. This minimizes misunderstandings on the desired configuration by making the system less prone to errors on the PDCCH grant sending the activation/deactivation message. For example, if a CG activation message is sent by the gNB on PDCCH but is not received properly by the UE, the UE will not generate the MAC CE acknowledging the reception of this message, and the gNB may then make repeated attempts to activate the CG again until a confirmation is received. In this manner, less concern is required concerning the per-transmission PDCCH error rate when it is used to set up a Type 2 CG.

[0038] It may be possible to reduce the burden on the DL mmwave scheduler where only one beam may be scheduled at a time when configured grants are used for UL data. In addition, since PDCCH scheduling grants only need to be issued for retransmitting UL data and not for the initial transmission, this can relax the reliability requirement on PDCCH needed to achieve a given error rate target on the data channel.

[0039] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of periodic “beam sweeping” at a mmwave gNB receiver. In a mmwave system, whenever configured grant resources allow a user to autonomously transmit data, it may be necessary to ensure that the gNB receiver is receiving on the corresponding beam for this user since there can only be reception on one beam at a time in a mmwave system using an analog-beamforming front end transceiver. Since configured grant resources are periodic in nature, this suggests that it would be necessary to periodically be ready to receive on the correct beam for this user. Furthermore, service to all locations in the cell within a certain time budget must be provided due to the tight latency constraint of URLLC traffic. Thus, this imposes a period“beam sweeping” to take place in the UL, which matches the configured grant allocations, as illustrated in FIG. 2. The availability of mini-slots allows for a high level of time-division multiplexing (TDM) of beams in a compact time duration. This may be helpful as only one beam may be scheduled at a time in an mmwave system.

[0040] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of configuring period beam sweeping to match an uplink configured grant periodicity of 4 slots = 56 symbols = 0.5 ms with a 120 kHz subcarrier spacing numerology. The example illustrated in FIG. 3 is relevant to the URLLC use case where the periodicity of the UL configured grants to be 4 slots = 56 symbols, which is approximately 0.5 ms with the 120 kHz subcarrier spacing relevant to mmwave spectrum. This suggests that UL configured grant resources are available every 0.5 ms for each UE so that the frame alignment delay will be at most 0.5 ms. If the shortest mini-slot duration of 2 symbols is used, this gives 7 mini-slots per slot, and hence a total of 28 mini-slots in the 0.5 ms period window. However, not all of these are available to the UL typically in a time division duplex (TDD) system. In addition, when configuring a 0.5 ms periodicity for UL configured grants, at most 12 UL beams may be swept through every 0.5 ms.

[0041] In certain examples, configured grants may be valid for the initial data transmission where the PDCCH scheduling grant may be avoided, and autonomous transmission on the pre-configured radio resources may take place. If there is a need for an HARQ transmission, then a dynamic PDCCH scheduling grant in the DL must still be issued to schedule the UL retransmission. For URLLC latency constraints, there is typically only a time budget for a single HARQ retransmission. Using previously known equations, a PDCCH error rate of le-9 would still be needed for these retransmission scheduling grants for a data channel error rate target of le-8 that is required for the more demanding industrial IoT smart factory applications. In addition, as previously discussed, the need to dynamically schedule a retransmission in the UL suggests that a PDCCH grant has to be issued in the DL in a prior slot in the corresponding beam of this user, creating competition for with other DL URLLC traffic.

[0042] In the current 3GPP specification, the only way PDCCH scheduling grants may be avoided all together for UL configured grant transmissions is to use one-shot scheduling in which no HARQ retransmissions are allowed, or to use the“K-repetitions” feature. In K-repetitions, the data transmission is autonomously retransmitted in consecutive slots after the first transmission without waiting for any HARQ ACK/NACK feedback. The disadvantage, however, to not having any retransmission is that it may become difficult to achieve the stringent error rate requirements of le-5 to le-8.

[0043] Additionally, the disadvantage to the K-repetitions scheme is that it is wasteful of air interface resources as the transmission is always repeated (i.e., retransmitted) several times when it may have been successfully decoded early on. In addition, specifically for mmwave systems, using K-repetitions may suggest that the same beam must be scheduled in consecutive mini-slots which increases the length of the time it takes to cycle through all beams hosting active users, which will introduce a larger queueing delay. This may easily be understood by considering what occurs in FIG. 3 if a repetition factor of 2 is used. It would suggest that instead of cycling through 12 beams in 0.5 ms, only 6 beams could be cycled through in 0.5 ms.

[0044] According to certain example embodiments, PDCCH scheduling grants may be eliminated for HARQ retransmissions for CG scheduling in the UL. This suggests that once the UL CG is set up and initiated (which may be done reliably for both Type 1 and Type 2 CGs), there would be no need to issue PDCCH scheduling grants at all for either fresh data transmissions or retransmissions of UL data packets. [0045] In certain example embodiments, eliminating PDCCH scheduling grants for UL retransmission may amount to changing the current asynchronous, adaptive HARQ mechanism that is part of the 3 GPP Rel-15 standard applicable to all traffic types (eMBB and URLLC) to allow the option for a synchronous, non-adaptive HARQ mechanism. This mechanism may be specifically for URLLC users set up with CGs in the UL and/or semi- persistent scheduling on the DL. In addition, the synchronous, non-adaptive HARQ retransmissions may take on the resources identified by the CG in UL. As CG resources may be periodic, this provides a means for the HARQ retransmissions to become synchronous where the fixed time between the initial transmission and the HARQ transmission needs to be defined. The fixed time between the initial transmission and the HARQ retransmissions may be some multiple of the CG periodicity. In addition, since there is no longer any dynamic PDCCH grant sent for retransmission, the HARQ mechanisms may now change from adaptive to non-adaptive where the same number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) and modulation and coding scheme (MCS) level as for the first transmission are used for the retransmission, and a predefined redundancy version (RV) sequence may be defined for the retransmissions.

[0046] Changing from asynchronous adaptive HARQ to synchronous non- adaptive HARQ when eliminating PDCCH scheduling grants for UL retransmissions may result in introducing ambiguity at the gNB receiver as to when the UE is initiating a fresh data transmission on the UL on the CG resources as opposed to a data retransmission. This may occur due to missed physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) detection by the gNB and/or ACK/NACK signaling errors by the UE. According to certain example embodiments, there may be provided a method to perform a Layer- 1 encoding of a new data indicator (NDI) on the UL using the existing data demodulation reference signal (DMRS) structure so that this ambiguity will not exist. For example, in Layer- 1 encoding, the data may be represented purely at the physical (PHY) layer, not encoded at the MAC layer with error protection. In one example embodiment, the Layer- 1 encoding may be performed by the choice of the sequence used for the DMRS.

[0047] According to certain example embodiments, by using a Layer- 1 encoding, and not relying on blind Layer-2 hypothesis testing by the gNB, it may be possible to provide a fast way for the gNB to differentiate between the initial transmission of the UE and a retransmission. Having a fast method such as this may be critical given the reduced processing times for decoding at the gNB, which may be required for URLLC. According to certain example embodiments, Layer-2 hypothesis testing corresponds to conducting hypothesis testing at the MAC layer. For example, one hypothesis may be that the transmission from the user was the first transmission of the data packet, and hence it may not need to be soft-combined with any previous transmission of the same packet. The other hypothesis may be that this is a retransmission of a previously transmitted packet. Thus, the information may be combined with a previous retransmission via a HARQ combination. Further, the Layer- 2 hypothesis testing may include hypotheses at the MAC layer in terms of deciding how the physical layer (Layer- 1) data should be processed.

[0048] In an example embodiment, to allow for elimination of PDCCH scheduling grants for retransmissions for CG in the UL, a new field may be added to the ConfiguredGrantConfig information element described in 3 GPP TS 38.331 V15.4.0. The new field may specify the usage of grant-free synchronous non-adaptive HARQ retransmissions, and may specify the various information. For example, the new field may specify max Ha rq Re 7v, which corresponds to a maximum number of HARQ retransmissions that are allowed by the UE. According to an example embodiment, for URLLC, this value may be set to 1. [0049] In another example embodiment, the new field may specify, HarqRTT- cg-periodicity , which corresponds to the HARQ round-trip time to use expressed as a multiple of the CG periodicity value. In a further example embodiment, the new field may specify RV-sequenceReTx , which corresponds to the redundancy version values to use on subsequent retransmissions. According to another example embodiment, the new field may specify dmrs-Seqlnitialization-Retransmission , which corresponds to a DMRS sequence initialization configuration to use for retransmission. The DMRS sequence initialization field may have a value of 0 and 1 so that two different DMRS sequences can be produced for a given UE’s UL transmission. Thus, by limiting the transmission to a single retransmission, it may be possible to unambiguously identify the retransmission from the initial transmission.

[0050] According to an example embodiment, an additional field may be added to the ConfiguredGrantConfig information element described in 3 GPP TS 38.331 V15.4.0, which contains the information specified by the new field described above:

synchronousHARQ SEQUENCE {

maxHarqReT x INTEGER ( 1 )

RV-sequenceReTx ENUMERATED {sl-000, s2-020}

HarqRTT-cg-periodicity ENUMERATED {nl, n2, n4, n8} dmrs-Seqlnitialization-Retransmission INTEGER (0..1 )

}

With the above sequence, additional text may be added that specifies various behavior. For example, when the synchronousHARQ field is specified in the ConfiguredGrantConfig information element, the UE may perform synchronous, non-adaptive ELARQ for retransmission in which there is no need for a PDCCH scheduling grant from the gNB. Further, upon not receiving an ACK from the gNB after the initial autonomous transmission on the configured grant resources, the UE may autonomously retransmit the data using the redundancy version index specified in RV-sequenceReTx on the configured grant resources at time [(HarqRTT-cg-periodicity)*periodicity\ after the initial data transmission. Here, the periodicity may be the periodicity of the configured grant resources specified in the existing ConfiguredGrantConfig information element. In addition, according the data retransmitted by the UE may correspond to the traffic or information that the UE is transmitted to the base station. In an example embodiment, the data may correspond to user plane traffic.

[0051] Additionally, in an example embodiment, for this retransmission, the UE may use the dmrs-Seqlnitialization-Retransmission as the value for the DM-RS sequence initialization. In certain example embodiments, the dmrs- Seqlnitialization-Retransmission value may be different from the DMRS sequence initialization used in the DCI command used to start CG scheduling in the case of Type 2 CG, or different from the dmrs-Seqlnitialization value specified as part of the rrc-ConfiguredUplinkGrant information element for Type 1 CGs. By using a different value for retransmissions as compared to the initial transmission, the gNB may have a method to figure out at its receiver based on Layer- 1 (LI) information (the physical layer (PHY) in the protocol stack), if the UE is sending a new packet or retransmitting a packet. That is, the gNB may serve the role of a new data indicator (NDI).

[0052] In an example embodiment, since the DMRS sequence initialization value may be different for retransmissions compared to the initial transmission, this may enable the gNB to detect if the UE is sending an initial transmission or a retransmission. This may be possible by the gNB performing a Layer- 1 hypothesis test on which DMRS sequence is being used by the UE, which it can do, for example, by performing a correlation against the two possible sequences to see which provides a large result. According to an example embodiment, the Gold sequences (e.g., a specific type of sequence in the channel coding literature) used for the DMRS sequence may have low cross correlation when different sequence initialization values are used. A reason this is needed may be that without any explicitly PDCCH scheduling grants being sent anymore, the gNB has no way of knowing if the UE is transmitting a new packet or retransmitting a packet. This may be due to several reasons.

[0053] For instance, in an example embodiment, the gNB may have failed to detect the initial new data transmission on PUSCH on the CG resources (detected DTX by mistake). Therefore, no ACK is sent and the UE assumes NACK and retransmits the packet. Since the gNB uses a different DMRS sequence initializer, if the gNB detects the transmission this time, it understands the UE is retransmitting, and knows the redundancy version to use when decoding. The gNB also knows whether the UE has exhausted its maximum number of ELARQ transmissions. In a further example embodiment, a method may include the gNB having buffered the previous signal and attempts to soft-combine the previous signal with the current retransmission to improve decoding performance.

[0054] According to another example embodiment, the gNB may have no way of knowing if the UE is transmitting a new packet or retransmitting a packet because the gNB did detect the first transmission and decoded it properly, and sent an ACK to the UE. However, the UE may have failed to detect the ACK and instead assumed NACK, and therefore retransmitted the packet when the gNB was not expecting it. Since the DMRS sequence initializer allows the gNB to see the UE transmitting the packet by mistake, the gNB may immediately discard it without having to perform decoding. According to an example embodiment, because the UE transmitted the data by mistake (which the gNB can tell by determining the DMRS sequence the UE is transmitting with), the UE may not then try to and decode information bits the user transmitted along with the DMRS.

[0055] According to certain example embodiments, DMRS sequence initialization single bit (value 0 or 1) may be used so that the gNB may differentiate the initial transmission from the retransmission. If multiple retransmissions were desired, the extension according to certain example embodiments may provide several modifications. According to an example embodiment, the extension may refer to having multiple bits to allow several different DMRS sequences rather than just having a single initialization bit for the DMRS sequence, which may only give 2 sequences (0 representing one sequence and 1 representing another sequence). Further, a different sequence may be used for each of the retransmissions. For example, in one embodiment, if there were 2 bits, this may give 4 possible values for the DMRS sequence. One value may be used for the initial transmission, another for the first retransmission, another for the second retransmission, and finally another for the third retransmission.

[0056] One modification may be to add new options to the DMRS- uplinkConfig::transformPrecodingDisabled variable to allow more than two scrambling IDs to be specified. In certain example embodiments, the scrambling IDs may represent specific numbers that may be used in the end to generate the DMRS sequence used by the UE when it transmits data. As different values result in a different sequence generated, these values may “scramble” the sequence to different values which have low cross-correlation with each other given that these may be Gold sequences. For example if up to 3 HARQ retransmissions (4 total transmissions) were allowed, then 4 different scrambling IDs would need to be specified as follows, where scramblingID2 and scrambling ID3 represent the new scrambling IDs:

DMRS-UplinkConfig::transformPrecodingDisabled SEQUENCE {

scramblinglDO INTEGER (0..65535)

scramblinglD 1 INTEGER (0..65535)

scramblingID2 INTEGER (0..65535)

scramblingID3 INTEGER (0..65535)

}

[0057] Another modification may be to specify for new grant- free synchronous, a non-adaptive HARQ scheme for CGs that for each autonomous retransmission, a different DMRS sequence initializer is chosen for each retransmission, corresponding to the different scramblinglD options now present in the updated DMRS-

UplinkConfig: :transformPrecodingDisabled variable. In a further modification, the n SCID (scrambling ID) variable may take on more than just values of 0 and 1 corresponding to the scramblinglDO and scramblinglD 1 , but may take on an extended set of values to allow for more scrambling IDs. The scrambling ID may also be used to form the DMRS sequence used by the UE when it transmits data. According to an example embodiment, the n_SCID variable may take on values n_SCID in {0, 1, 2, 3} corresponding to the 4 scrambling IDs in the example described above. According to certain example embodiments, allowing more than 1 HARQ retransmission may require more extensive changes to the 3GPP specifications, and more complicated Layer- 1 hypothesis testing required at the gNB to determine the HARQ retransmission number being used by the UE.

[0058] FIG. 4 illustrates an example flow diagram of a method, according to an example embodiment. In certain example embodiments, the flow diagram of FIG. 4 may be performed a mobile station and/or UE, for instance similar to apparatus 10 illustrated in FIG. 6a. According to one example embodiment, the method of FIG. 4 include initially, at 200, receiving, from a network node, a configuration information element. The method may also include at 205, performing, in response to receiving the configuration information element, a grant-free synchronous non-adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request retransmission. In an example embodiment, the grant-free synchronous non- adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request retransmission is performed without a physical downlink control channel scheduling grant from the network node.

[0059] According to a further example embodiment, the configuration information element comprises a new field that specifies a usage of the grant- free synchronous non-adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request retransmission. In another example embodiment, the new field may specify at least one of a maxHarqReTx configuration, which defines a maximum number of hybrid automatic repeat request retransmissions, a HarqRTT-cg- periodicity configuration, which defines a hybrid automatic repeat request round-trip time to use, an RV-sequenceReTx configuration, which defines redundancy version values to be used for retransmissions, and a dmrs- Seqlnitialization-Retransmission configuration, which defines a demodulation reference signal sequence initiation configuration to use for retransmission.

[0060] In an example embodiment, the method may include, at 210, upon not receiving any acknowledgement from the network node after an initial autonomous transmission on configured grant resources, autonomously retransmitting data using a redundancy index specified in the RV- sequenceReTx configuration of the new field. Further, at 215, the method may include using the dmrs-Seqlnitialization-Retransmission configuration as a sequence initialization for retransmission. In addition, at 220, the method may include performing multiple grant-free synchronous non-adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request retransmissions. According to an example embodiment, performing the multiple grant-free synchronous non-adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request retransmissions comprises specifying a plurality of scrambling identifications. The method may also include, at 225, specifying for a configured grant, that for an autonomous retransmission, a different demodulation reference signal sequence initializer is selected for each retransmission.

[0061] FIG. 5 illustrates a flow diagram of another method, according to an example embodiment. In an example embodiment, the method of FIG. 5 may be performed by a network entity or network node in a 3 GPP system, such as LTE or 5G-NR. For instance, in an example embodiment, the method of FIG. 5 may be performed by a base station, eNB, or gNB, for instance similar to apparatus 20 illustrated in FIG. 6b.

[0062] According to an example embodiment, the method of FIG. 5 may include initially, at 300, specifying, by a network node, a usage of a grant- free synchronous non-adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request retransmission by adding a new field to a configuration information element. The method may also include, at 305, based on the addition of the new field, triggering a user equipment to perform the grant-free synchronous, non-adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request retransmission without a physical downlink control channel scheduling grant from the network node. In addition, the method may include at 310, receiving the grant- free synchronous non-adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request retransmission from the user equipment according to specific configuration information specified by the new field. Further, at 315, the method may include determining whether the user equipment is sending a new packet or retransmitting a packet.

[0063] According to an example embodiment, determining whether the user equipment is sending a new packet or retransmitting a packet may be done by performing a Layer- 1 hypothesis test. According to another example embodiment, the Layer- 1 hypothesis test may be performed on which demodulation reference signal sequence is being used by the user equipment by performing a correlation against two possible demodulation reference signal sequences to determine which sequence provides a larger result. In a further example embodiment, the configuration information element specifies at least one of a maxHarqReTx configuration, which defines a maximum number of hybrid automatic repeat request retransmissions, a HarqRTT-cg- periodicity configuration, which defines a hybrid automatic repeat request round-trip time to use, an RV-sequenceReTx configuration, which defines redundancy version values to be used for retransmissions, and a dmrs- Seqlnitialization-Retransmission configuration, which defines a demodulation reference signal sequence initiation configuration to use for retransmission. According to a further example embodiment, the grant-free synchronous non-adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request retransmission comprises a different demodulation reference signal sequence from another grant-free synchronous non-adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request retransmission.

[0064] FIG. 6a illustrates an apparatus 10 according to an example embodiment. In an embodiment, apparatus 10 may be a node or element in a communications network or associated with such a network, such as a UE, mobile equipment (ME), mobile station, mobile device, stationary device, IoT device, or other device. As described herein, UE may alternatively be referred to as, for example, a mobile station, mobile equipment, mobile unit, mobile device, user device, subscriber station, wireless terminal, tablet, smart phone, IoT device, sensor or NB-IoT device, or the like. As one example, apparatus 10 may be implemented in, for instance, a wireless handheld device, a wireless plug-in accessory, or the like.

[0065] In some example embodiments, apparatus 10 may include one or more processors, one or more computer-readable storage medium (for example, memory, storage, or the like), one or more radio access components (for example, a modem, a transceiver, or the like), and/or a user interface. In some embodiments, apparatus 10 may be configured to operate using one or more radio access technologies, such as GSM, LTE, LTE-A, NR, 5G, WLAN, WiFi, NB-IoT, Bluetooth, NFC, MulteFire, and/or any other radio access technologies. It should be noted that one of ordinary skill in the art would understand that apparatus 10 may include components or features not shown in FIG. 6a.

[0066] As illustrated in the example of FIG. 6a, apparatus 10 may include or be coupled to a processor 12 for processing information and executing instructions or operations. Processor 12 may be any type of general or specific purpose processor. In fact, processor 12 may include one or more of general- purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and processors based on a multi-core processor architecture, as examples. While a single processor 12 is shown in FIG. 6a, multiple processors may be utilized according to other embodiments. For example, it should be understood that, in certain example embodiments, apparatus 10 may include two or more processors that may form a multiprocessor system (e.g., in this case processor 12 may represent a multiprocessor) that may support multiprocessing. According to certain example embodiments, the multiprocessor system may be tightly coupled or loosely coupled (e.g., to form a computer cluster).

[0067] Processor 12 may perform functions associated with the operation of apparatus 10 including, as some examples, precoding of antenna gain/phase parameters, encoding and decoding of individual bits forming a communication message, formatting of information, and overall control of the apparatus 10, including processes illustrated in FIGs. 1-4.

[0068] Apparatus 10 may further include or be coupled to a memory 14 (internal or external), which may be coupled to processor 12, for storing information and instructions that may be executed by processor 12. Memory 14 may be one or more memories and of any type suitable to the local application environment, and may be implemented using any suitable volatile or nonvolatile data storage technology such as a semiconductor-based memory device, a magnetic memory device and system, an optical memory device and system, fixed memory, and/or removable memory. For example, memory 14 can be comprised of any combination of random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), static storage such as a magnetic or optical disk, hard disk drive (HDD), or any other type of non-transitory machine or computer readable media. The instructions stored in memory 14 may include program instructions or computer program code that, when executed by processor 12, enable the apparatus 10 to perform tasks as described herein.

[0069] In an embodiment, apparatus 10 may further include or be coupled to (internal or external) a drive or port that is configured to accept and read an external computer readable storage medium, such as an optical disc, USB drive, flash drive, or any other storage medium. For example, the external computer readable storage medium may store a computer program or software for execution by processor 12 and/or apparatus 10 to perform any of the methods illustrated in FIGs. 1-4.

[0070] In some embodiments, apparatus 10 may also include or be coupled to one or more antennas 15 for receiving a downlink signal and for transmitting via an uplink from apparatus 10. Apparatus 10 may further include a transceiver 18 configured to transmit and receive information. The transceiver 18 may also include a radio interface (e.g., a modem) coupled to the antenna 15. The radio interface may correspond to a plurality of radio access technologies including one or more of GSM, LTE, LTE-A, 5G, NR, WLAN, NB-IoT, Bluetooth, BT-LE, NFC, RFID, UWB, and the like. The radio interface may include other components, such as filters, converters (for example, digital-to-analog converters and the like), symbol demappers, signal shaping components, an Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) module, and the like, to process symbols, such as OFDMA symbols, carried by a downlink or an uplink.

[0071] For instance, transceiver 18 may be configured to modulate information on to a carrier waveform for transmission by the antenna(s) 15 and demodulate information received via the antenna(s) 15 for further processing by other elements of apparatus 10. In other embodiments, transceiver 18 may be capable of transmitting and receiving signals or data directly. Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, apparatus 10 may include an input and/or output device (I/O device). In certain embodiments, apparatus 10 may further include a user interface, such as a graphical user interface or touchscreen.

[0072] In an embodiment, memory 14 stores software modules that provide functionality when executed by processor 12. The modules may include, for example, an operating system that provides operating system functionality for apparatus 10. The memory may also store one or more functional modules, such as an application or program, to provide additional functionality for apparatus 10. The components of apparatus 10 may be implemented in hardware, or as any suitable combination of hardware and software. According to an example embodiment, apparatus 10 may optionally be configured to communicate with apparatus 10 via a wireless or wired communications link 70 according to any radio access technology, such as NR.

[0073] According to certain example embodiments, processor 12 and memory 14 may be included in or may form a part of processing circuitry or control circuitry. In addition, in some embodiments, transceiver 28 may be included in or may form a part of transceiving circuitry.

[0074] As discussed above, according to certain example embodiments, apparatus 10 may be a UE for example. According to certain embodiments, apparatus 10 may be controlled by memory 14 and processor 12 to perform the functions associated with example embodiments described herein. For instance, in one embodiment, apparatus 10 may be controlled by memory 14 and processor 12 to receive, from a network node, a configuration information element. Apparatus 10 may also be controlled by memory 14 and processor 12 to perform, in response to receiving the configuration information element, a grant-free synchronous non-adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request retransmission. In an example embodiment, the grant-free synchronous non- adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request retransmission is performed without a physical downlink control channel scheduling grant from the network node. [0075] FIG. 6b illustrates an apparatus 20 according to an example embodiment. In an example embodiment, the apparatus 20 may be a RAT, node, host, or server in a communication network or serving such a network. For example, apparatus 20 may be a satellite, base station, a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNB), 5G Node B or access point, next generation Node B (NG-NB or gNB), and/or WLAN access point, associated with a radio access network (RAN), such as an LTE network, 5G or NR. It should be noted that one of ordinary skill in the art would understand that apparatus 20 may include components or features not shown in FIG. 6b.

[0076] As illustrated in the example of FIG. 6b, apparatus 20 may include a processor 22 for processing information and executing instructions or operations. Processor 22 may be any type of general or specific purpose processor. For example, processor 22 may include one or more of general- purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and processors based on a multi-core processor architecture, as examples. While a single processor 22 is shown in FIG. 6b, multiple processors may be utilized according to other embodiments. For example, it should be understood that, in certain embodiments, apparatus 20 may include two or more processors that may form a multiprocessor system (e.g., in this case processor 22 may represent a multiprocessor) that may support multiprocessing. In certain embodiments, the multiprocessor system may be tightly coupled or loosely coupled (e.g., to form a computer cluster.

[0077] According to certain example embodiments, processor 22 may perform functions associated with the operation of apparatus 20, which may include, for example, precoding of antenna gain/phase parameters, encoding and decoding of individual bits forming a communication message, formatting of information, and overall control of the apparatus 20, including processes illustrated in FIGS. 1-3 and 5.

[0078] Apparatus 20 may further include or be coupled to a memory 24 (internal or external), which may be coupled to processor 22, for storing information and instructions that may be executed by processor 22. Memory 24 may be one or more memories and of any type suitable to the local application environment, and may be implemented using any suitable volatile or nonvolatile data storage technology such as a semiconductor-based memory device, a magnetic memory device and system, an optical memory device and system, fixed memory, and/or removable memory. For example, memory 24 can be comprised of any combination of random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), static storage such as a magnetic or optical disk, hard disk drive (HDD), or any other type of non-transitory machine or computer readable media. The instructions stored in memory 24 may include program instructions or computer program code that, when executed by processor 22, enable the apparatus 20 to perform tasks as described herein.

[0079] In an embodiment, apparatus 20 may further include or be coupled to (internal or external) a drive or port that is configured to accept and read an external computer readable storage medium, such as an optical disc, USB drive, flash drive, or any other storage medium. For example, the external computer readable storage medium may store a computer program or software for execution by processor 22 and/or apparatus 20 to perform the methods illustrated in FIGs. 1-3 and 5.

[0080] In certain example embodiments, apparatus 20 may also include or be coupled to one or more antennas 25 for transmitting and receiving signals and/or data to and from apparatus 20. Apparatus 20 may further include or be coupled to a transceiver 28 configured to transmit and receive information. The transceiver 28 may include, for example, a plurality of radio interfaces that may be coupled to the antenna(s) 25. The radio interfaces may correspond to a plurality of radio access technologies including one or more of GSM, NB- IoT, LTE, 5G, WLAN, Bluetooth, BT-LE, NFC, radio frequency identifier (RFID), ultrawi deband (UWB), MulteFire, and the like. The radio interface may include components, such as filters, converters (for example, digital-to- analog converters and the like), mappers, a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) module, and the like, to generate symbols for a transmission via one or more downlinks and to receive symbols (for example, via an uplink).

[0081] As such, transceiver 28 may be configured to modulate information on to a carrier waveform for transmission by the antenna(s) 25 and demodulate information received via the antenna(s) 25 for further processing by other elements of apparatus 20. In other embodiments, transceiver 18 may be capable of transmitting and receiving signals or data directly. Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, apparatus 20 may include an input and/or output device (I/O device).

[0082] In an embodiment, memory 24 may store software modules that provide functionality when executed by processor 22. The modules may include, for example, an operating system that provides operating system functionality for apparatus 20. The memory may also store one or more functional modules, such as an application or program, to provide additional functionality for apparatus 20. The components of apparatus 20 may be implemented in hardware, or as any suitable combination of hardware and software.

[0083] According to some embodiments, processor 22 and memory 24 may be included in or may form a part of processing circuitry or control circuitry. In addition, in some embodiments, transceiver 28 may be included in or may form a part of transceiving circuitry.

[0084] As used herein, the term“circuitry” may refer to hardware-only circuitry implementations (e.g., analog and/or digital circuitry), combinations of hardware circuits and software, combinations of analog and/or digital hardware circuits with software/firmware, any portions of hardware processor(s) with software (including digital signal processors) that work together to cause an apparatus (e.g., apparatus 10 and 20) to perform various functions, and/or hardware circuit(s) and/or processor(s), or portions thereof, that use software for operation but where the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation. As a further example, as used herein, the term“circuitry” may also cover an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors), or portion of a hardware circuit or processor, and its accompanying software and/or firmware. The term circuitry may also cover, for example, a baseband integrated circuit in a server, cellular network node or device, or other computing or network device.

[0085] As introduced above, in certain embodiments, apparatus 20 may be a radio resource manager, RAT, node, host, or server in a communication network or serving such a network. For example, apparatus 20 may be a satellite, base station, a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNB), 5G Node B or access point, next generation Node B (NG-NB or gNB), and/or WLAN access point, associated with a radio access network (RAN), such as an LTE network, 5G or NR. According to certain embodiments, apparatus 20 may be controlled by memory 24 and processor 22 to perform the functions associated with any of the embodiments described herein.

[0086] For instance, in one embodiment, apparatus 20 may be controlled by memory 24 and processor 22 to specify, by a network node, a usage of a grant- free synchronous non-adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request retransmission by adding a new field to a configuration information element. Apparatus 20 may also be controlled by memory 24 and processor 22 to, based on the addition of the new field, trigger a user equipment to perform the grant- free synchronous non-adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request retransmission without a physical downlink control channel scheduling grant from the network node. [0087] Certain example embodiments described herein provide several technical improvements, enhancements, and /or advantages. In some example embodiments, it may be possible to eliminate PDCCH scheduling grants for UL retransmissions, which would benefit 5GNR mmwave systems. This is at least because no DL beam scheduling opportunities are wasted where a beam would have had to have been scheduled in the DL simply to issue a PDCCH retransmission scheduling grant for an UL retransmission. This suggests that the DL scheduler is now free to schedule beams in the DL based on the demands of the DL URLLC traffic alone and not balance the needs for scheduling grants to support the UL, improving URLLC performance.

[0088] According to other example embodiments, it may be possible to avoid an error rate requirement on PDCCH as stringent as 1 e-9 for UL CGs, which are used for UL URLLC traffic. Further, this avoidance may be achieved without the inefficient use of time domain resources that autonomous repetitions would incur as in the conventional art. Specifically, for mmwave systems where only 1 beam may be scheduled at a time, wastage of time domain resources may incur a significant performance penalty.

[0089] In other example embodiments, while PDCCH scheduling grants are still needed for DL URLLC traffic, the fact that the need for issuing PDCCH UL scheduling grants have been eliminated allows for more resources to make the DL traffic based PDCCH scheduling grants more reliable through higher aggregation levels, time/frequency repetition, etc. In addition, as noted above, by using a Layer- 1 encoding, and not relying on blind Layer-2 hypothesis testing by the gNB, it may be possible to provide a fast way for the gNB to differentiate between the initial transmission of the UE and a retransmission. Having a fast method such as this may be critical given the reduced processing times for decoding at the gNB, which may be required for URLLC.

[0090] A computer program product may comprise one or more computer- executable components which, when the program is run, are configured to carry out some example embodiments. The one or more computer-executable components may be at least one software code or portions of it. Modifications and configurations required for implementing functionality of an example embodiment may be performed as routine(s), which may be implemented as added or updated software routine(s). Software routine(s) may be downloaded into the apparatus.

[0091] As an example, software or a computer program code or portions of it may be in a source code form, object code form, or in some intermediate form, and it may be stored in some sort of carrier, distribution medium, or computer readable medium, which may be any entity or device capable of carrying the program. Such carriers may include a record medium, computer memory, read-only memory, photoelectrical and/or electrical carrier signal, telecommunications signal, and software distribution package, for example. Depending on the processing power needed, the computer program may be executed in a single electronic digital computer or it may be distributed amongst a number of computers. The computer readable medium or computer readable storage medium may be a non-transitory medium.

[0092] In other example embodiments, the functionality may be performed by hardware or circuitry included in an apparatus (e.g., apparatus 10 or apparatus 20), for example through the use of an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable gate array (PGA), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or any other combination of hardware and software. In yet another example embodiment, the functionality may be implemented as a signal, a non-tangible means that can be carried by an electromagnetic signal downloaded from the Internet or other network.

[0093] According to an example embodiment, an apparatus, such as a node, device, or a corresponding component, may be configured as circuitry, a computer or a microprocessor, such as single-chip computer element, or as a chipset, including at least a memory for providing storage capacity used for arithmetic operation and an operation processor for executing the arithmetic operation.

[0094] One having ordinary skill in the art will readily understand that the invention as discussed above may be practiced with steps in a different order, and/or with hardware elements in configurations which are different than those which are disclosed. Therefore, although the invention has been described based upon these example embodiments, it would be apparent to those of skill in the art that certain modifications, variations, and alternative constructions would be apparent, while remaining within the spirit and scope of example embodiments. Although the above embodiments refer to 5G NR and LTE technology, the above embodiments may also apply to any other present or future 3 GPP technology, such as LTE-advanced, and/or fourth generation (4G) technology.

[0095] Partial Glossary

[0096] DCI Downlink Control Information

[0097] eNB Enhanced Node B

[0098] gNB 5G or NR Base Station

[0099] LTE Long Term Evolution

[0100] MAC Medium Access Control

[0101] MCS Modulation and coding Scheme

[0102] Mmwave Millimeter Wave

[0103] NDI New Data Indicator

[0104] NR New Radio

[0105] PUS CH Physical Uplink Shared Channel

[0106J PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel

[0107J PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel

[0108] RLC Radio Link Control

[0109] RRC Radio Resource Control

[0110] UE User Equipment