CAPABILITY NOTIFICATION FOR USER EQUIPMENT LATENCY REDUCTION

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments described herein generally relate to the field of communications and, more particularly, capability notification for user equipment latency reduction. RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit under 35 USC 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/402,353 filed September 30, 2016, which application is incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth.

BACKGROUND

In the operation of a user equipment (UE) in a 3GPP Long-Term Evolution (LTE) network, there are instances in which there is latency in operation because of the scheduling requirements for the UE.

Scheduling requirements for a UE include Semi-Persistent Scheduling (SPS), wherein an eNB (Evolved Node B) can assign a predefined chunk of radio resources for VoIP (Voice Over IP (Internet Protocol)) users. This scheduling is semi-persistent in the sense that the eNB can change the resource allocation type or location if required for link adaptation or other factors.

However, SPS requires a specific period for SPS signaling intervals even if such period is not required at a certain time.

A UE may include one or more capabilities for reducing latency in operation, wherein such capabilities may include support for modification of SPS intervals and other scheduling requirements. However, an eNB or network requires knowledge regarding the existence of available latency reduction capabilities in order to take advantage of such capabilities to reduce unnecessary latency in operation. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments described here are illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals refer to similar elements.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an apparatus for signaling of capabilities for latency reduction in a user equipment according to some embodiments;

FIG. 2 is an illustration of capabilities for latency reduction in a user equipment according to some embodiments; FIG. 3 is an illustration of UE latency reduction capability indication using UE capability signaling according to some embodiments;

FIG. 4 is a table to illustrate combinations of capability bits for latency reduction according to some embodiments;

FIG. 5 is an illustration of a process for notification and use of UE support for latency reduction capabilities according to some embodiments;

FIG. 6 is an illustration of capability field descriptions for notification of the latency reduction capabilities of a UE according to some embodiments;

FIG. 7 illustrates an architecture of a system 600 of a network in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 8 illustrates example components of a device 700 in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 9 illustrates example interfaces of baseband circuitry in accordance with some embodiments; and

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions from a machine -readable or computer-readable medium and perform one or more methodologies.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments described herein are generally directed to capability notification for user equipment latency reduction.

In some embodiments, a user equipment (UE) includes elements to support certain scheduling capabilities to reduce latency when conventional scheduling restrictions are not needed. In some embodiments, the apparatus, system, or process provides for capability signaling to provides notice of the one or more latency reduction capabilities (which may also be referred to as features or similar terms) of a UE. The latency reduction capabilities may include operations performed pursuant to 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) TS (Technical Specification) 36.321 (Group Radio Access Network; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol specification); and 3 GPP TS 36.331 (Group Radio Access Network; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Radio Resource Control (RRC); Protocol specification).

However, notification regarding the existence of available latency reduction capabilities is needed in order to take advantage of such capabilities to reduce unnecessary latency in operation.

In some embodiments, an apparatus, system, or process includes one or more of the following: (a) Provides a UE capability bit or combination of bits or other similar notification to support one or more latency reduction capabilities.

(b) Specifies which combinations of latency reduction capabilities are valid and supported, and which combinations are not valid, wherein an apparatus or system is to provide latency reduction capabilities according to a valid combination, and is not to provide latency reduction capabilities according to an invalid combination.

(c) Provides radio resource control (RRC) based UE capability information signaling for latency reduction capabilities.

(d) Provides UE category based capability indication to indicate latency reduction capability support.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an apparatus for signaling of capabilities for latency reduction in a user equipment according to some embodiments. A UE 100 (such as UE 800 illustrated in FIG. 8) includes baseband circuitry including one or more baseband processors 105, such as the baseband circuitry 804 including baseband processors 804A-804C illustrated in FIGs. 8 and 9. In some embodiments, the one or more baseband processors 105 or other baseband circuitry are to provide for implementing supported latency reduction capabilities (such as capabilities illustrated in FIG. 2). In some embodiments, the one or more baseband processors 105 or other baseband circuitry are to provide for notification to, for example, an eNB or network, regarding UE support for latency reduction capabilities.

In some embodiments, the one or more baseband processors 105 are to provide notification regarding latency reduction capability support of the UE via one or more notification processes, wherein the notification processes include:

120: Capability Indication using UE Capability Signaling - In some embodiments, the one or more baseband processors 105 are to provide notification of latency reduction capabilities through use of UE capability signaling. In some embodiments, UE capability signaling includes generation of a UECapabilitylnformation message in response to a UECapabilityEnquiry message received by the UE from the Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), the UECapabilitylnformation message including a UE-EUTRA-Capability information element having latency reduction parameters LatRed-Parameters indicating which latency notification capabilities are supported by the UE. In some embodiments, UE capability signaling includes one or more capability bits to indicate which latency reduction capabilities are supported by the UE 100, wherein each capability bit may represent one or more supported capabilities. UE capability signaling may include, but is not limited to, signaling illustrated in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4.

125: Capability Indication using RRC Connection Reconfiguration or Other Request - In some embodiments, a network is to send an indication (which may be referred to as a request message) to the UE 100 requesting information on one or more of supported latency reduction features or elements, for example by using an RRCConnectionReconfiguration message, pursuant to 3 GPP TS 36.331.

In some embodiments, the UE 100 is to respond to the received network indication, such as the RRCConnectionReconfiguration request, providing the network with a notification containing the requested information regarding one or more supported latency reduction features or elements, for example using an RRCConnectionReconfiguationComplete message.

In some embodiments, if a request message, such as a RRC reconfiguration message, is lost due to any reason, the network may be required to detect the loss of message, and to retransmit the request message.

130: Capability Indication Based on Pre-configured UE Classes/Category - In some embodiments, a pre-defined class or the category of UEs is mapped to a set of latency reduction features or elements as described below. When the UE 100 indicates the class or category of the UE to the network during an attach procedure, the network will implicitly be provided notice regarding the supported latency reduction features or elements of the UE 100.

Latency reduction capabilities to be supported by the UE 100 may include the capabilities described in Table 1.

Latency Reduction Capability

UL Grant Skipping (Reduction Separate configuration of skipping for SPS of Padding and dynamic grant

If short periodicity (below 10ms) is

configured, UL SPS grant skipping is always configured

If UL SPS grant skipping is configured, SPS implicit release is not supported

SPS Activation/Reactivation/ SPS configuration MAC CE for SPS

(re)activation and deactivation when

Deactivation

skipping padding feature is configured

Prioritization of Non- Adaptive Allow and prioritize non- adaptive HARQ

HARQ Retransmission Over retransmissions on SPS resources when short New Transmission SPS interval is configured

Table 1 - Examples of UE Latency Capabilities

FIG. 2 is an illustration regarding notification of supported latency reduction capabilities in a user equipment according to some embodiments. A UE may include one or more of a set of latency reduction capabilities. In some embodiments, notice regarding which UE capabilities of the set of capabilities are supported is made available to an eNB or network (E-UTRAN) to enable the utilization of the capabilities in scheduling for the UE.

In some embodiments, a UE, such as UE 100 illustrated in FIG. 1, provides capability notification 205 regarding which of the following set of UE latency reduction capabilities are supported:

210: Support for a short SPS interval.

215: Support for SPS grant skipping, wherein grant skipping refers to skipping uplink (UL) transmissions for an uplink grant if no data is available for transmission.

220: Support for dynamic grant skipping.

225: Support for a short SPS internal in time division duplex (TDD).

230: Support for SPS activation/reactivation/deactivation feedback support using a SPS confirmation medium access control (MAC) control element (CE).

235: Support for prioritization of non-adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) retransmission on SPS resources (configured grant).

FIG. 3 is an illustration of UE latency reduction capability indication using UE capability signaling according to some embodiments. In some embodiments, one or more baseband processors of a UE are operable to generate UE capability signaling 300 (such as generation of a UECapabilitylnformation message in response to a UECapabilityEnquiry message) to an eNB or to a network regarding latency reduction capabilities. In some embodiments, the latency reduction capabilities of a UE are signaled as follows:

305: Single indication bit for all capabilities - In some embodiments, the UE 200 indicates latency reduction capability using a single bit information to indicate that all latency reduction capabilities of a set of capabilities (such as the capabilities illustrated in FIG. 2) are supported by the UE. The supported features may include the following:

1. Short SPS interval support;

2. SPS grant skipping support;

3. Dynamic grant skipping-support;

4. Short SPS interval in TDD support;

5. SPS activation/reactivation/deactivation feedback support using new SPS confirmation MAC CE; and

6. Prioritization of non-adaptive HARQ retransmission on SPS resources (configured grant) support.

310: Separate/multiple indication bits for capabilities - In some embodiments, based on the set of latency reduction capabilities described in 305, alternatively one or more of the following separate capability indications are sent by the UE to the eNB/network indicating support of:

1. Short SPS interval;

2. Short SPS interval in TDD;

3. SPS grant skipping;

4. Dynamic grant skipping;

5. SPS activation/reactivation/deactivation feedback support using new SPS confirmation MAC CE; or

6. Prioritization of non-adaptive HARQ retransmission on SPS resources.

In some embodiments, the capability signaling of 310 may include additional bits to indicate other capabilities in addition to the ones listed above.

In some embodiments, as support for a short SPS interval may be utilized as a primary feature to provide latency reduction, a UE that supports latency reduction may at minimum support a short SPS interval, which thus may be utilized to reduce required capability signaling. A UE supporting the short SPS interval may also be required to support allowing and prioritizing non-adaptive HARQ retransmission on the SPS resources. In some embodiments, a single capability indication is utilized to indicate that the UE supports a short SPS interval, and further allows and prioritizes non-adaptive HARQ retransmissions on the SPS resources, as follows:

315: Indication for short SPS interval and non-adaptive HARQ retransmission - In some embodiments, a single bit capability indication is to indicate that the UE supports: 1. Short SPS interval; and

2. Allowing and prioritizing non-adaptive HARQ retransmissions on the SPS resources (configured grants).

Given that UL grant skipping is configurable separately for SPS grants (configured grants) and dynamic grants (other than configured grants), a UE may only support UL grant skipping but not support a short SPS interval. Further, the UE may only support SPS grant skipping, which may implicitly mean that the UE supports SPS confirmation MAC CE for

activation/reactivation/deactivation feedback. Alternatively, a UE may only support dynamic grant skipping, or both. A UE supporting UL dynamic grant skipping may not necessarily support UL SPS grant skipping, and vice-versa. In some embodiments, separate capability indications may be utilized to indicate UE support for UL SPS grant skipping and UL dynamic grant skipping. In some embodiments, latency reduction capability signaling may be as follows:

320: Separate capability bits for support of skipping of uplink grants - In some

embodiments, separate capability bits may be used to indicate that the UE supports:

1. Skipping of UL SPS grants (configured grants); or

2. Skipping of UL dynamic grants (other than configured grants).

325 : Single bit indication for support of skipping of uplink grants - In some embodiments, a single capability bit may alternatively be used to indicate that the UE supports skipping of all UL grants, and indicates support of:

1. UL SPS grants (configured grants); and

2. UL dynamic grants (other than configured grants).

Further, when a UE supports UL grant skipping for SPS grants, the UE may be required to also support SPS activation/reactivation/deactivation feedback based on the SPS confirmation MAC CE. In addition, the UE may be required to ignore SPS implicit release. In some embodiments, capability signaling may include the following regarding such latency reduction capabilities:

330: Single capability bit to indicate support of skipping of uplink grants, ignoring implicit release, and supporting SPS confirmation MAC CE - In some embodiments, a single capability indication is provided to indicate that the UE:

1. Supports UL SPS grant skipping,

2. Ignores SPS implicit release, and

3. Supports SPS confirmation MAC CE for activation/reactivation/ deactivation feedback. When a UE supports short SPS interval, the UE may be required to support UL grant skipping, at least for the SPS grants. When a UE supports a short SPS interval, the UE may be further required to support allowing and prioritizing non-adaptive HARQ retransmission on the SPS resources. When a UE supports UL grant skipping for SPS grants, the UE may be further required to support SPS activation/reactivation/deactivation feedback based on new SPS confirmation MAC CE. In addition, the UE may be required to be capable of ignoring SPS implicit release. In some embodiments, latency reduction capability signaling may include the following regarding support of such capabilities:

335 : Single capability bit to indicate short SPS interval support and additional support - In some embodiments, a single capability indication bit is to indicate that the UE includes the following capabilities:

1. Support for a short SPS interval;

2. Support for allowing and prioritizing non-adaptive HARQ retransmissions on the SPS resources;

3. Support for UL SPS grant skipping;

4. Ignores SPS implicit release; and

5. Support for SPS confirmation MAC CE for activation/reactivation/ deactivation feedback.

However, a UE supporting the above features indicated in 335 may or may not support latency reduction and/or a short SPS interval in TDD. For this reason, in some embodiments a separate indication (in addition to the indication bit described in 335) is provided to indicate that latency reduction features are supported in TDD. Capability signaling may include the following:

340: Single capability bit to indicate short SPS interval support in TDD - In some embodiments a single capability indication bit indicates that the UE includes the following capabilities:

1. Support for short SPS interval in TDD;

2. Support for skipping an SPS UL occasion that falls on a special subframe or downlink subframe;

3. No rounding of intervals less than 10ms down to the nearest integer that is a multiple of 10 sub-frames; and

4. Allows and prioritizes non-adaptive HARQ retransmissions on the SPS resources. When a UE supports a short SPS interval for TDD, the UE may be required to also support UL grant skipping, at least for the SPS grants. In some embodiments, latency reduction capability signaling in this instance may include the following:

345: Single capability bit to indicate short SPS interval support in TDD and UL Grant

Skipping - In some embodiments, a single capability indication bit indicates that the UE includes the following capabilities:

1. Supports a short SPS interval for TDD; 2. Supports skipping the SPS UL occasion which falls on a special subframe or downlink subframe;

3. Supports not rounding the intervals less than 10ms down to the nearest integer which is multiple of 10 sub-frames,

4. Supports allowing and prioritizing non-adaptive HARQ retransmissions on the SPS resources;

5. Supports UL SPS grant skipping;

6. Ignores SPS implicit release; and

7. Supports SPS confirmation MAC CE for activation/reactivation/ deactivation feedback. A UE may support a combination of certain latency reduction capabilities, wherein certain of the possible combinations of the capabilities are valid and supported, and certain of the possible combinations are not valid because such combinations would not support certain connected capabilities (as further illustrated in FIG. 4). In some embodiments, latency reduction capability signaling may include the following:

350: Set of capability bits to indicate combination of UE support for short SPS interval and grant skipping - In some embodiments, a capability indication for a UE includes the following set of 4 capability bits:

1. Short SPS interval support;

2. Short SPS interval in TDD support;

3. SPS grant skipping support; and

4. Dynamic grant skipping support.

FIG. 4 is a table to illustrate combinations of capability bits for latency reduction according to some embodiments. In some embodiments, the indicated capabilities as provided in 350 in FIG. 3 may in combination represent a valid and supported combination, or may represent an invalid combination. The table provided in FIG. 4 lists the different possible combinations of capabilities, and their respective validity or invalidity. In some embodiments, a UE is to operate to provide a valid and supported combination of (zero or more) latency reduction capabilities, and provide notice of combination of such latency reduction capabilities, as provided in FIG. 4. In some embodiments, a notification describing an invalid combination of capabilities may be rejected by the receiving eNB or network. A UE is to provide latency reduction capabilities according to a valid combination of capabilities, and is not to provide latency reduction capabilities according to an invalid combination of capabilities.

For example, in the table as illustrated in FIG. 4, it may be presumed that, if the latency reduction/short SPS interval support in TDD is indicated, then this implicitly means that the short SPS interval is supported by the UE. Alternatively, in some embodiments it may be presumed that the latency reduction/short SPS support in TDD indication also requires having short SPS interval support by the UE. In some embodiments, a notification providing a combination of capabilities that does not provide such support is invalid.

FIG. 5 is an illustration of a process for notification and use of UE support for latency reduction capabilities according to some embodiments. In some embodiments, a process includes:

505: Operate UE in LTE network.

510: Enable any one or more supported latency reduction capabilities of the UE, if required. In some embodiments, the supported latency reduction capabilities, if any, are included in the capabilities 210-235 illustrated in FIG. 2.

515: In some embodiments, a UE is to receive a request including an inquiry regarding latency reduction capabilities of the UE (such as a UECapabilityEnquiry message).

520: Generate a notification to a eNB or the network regarding the supported latency reduction capabilities of the UE. In some embodiments, the notification is provided in response to a request, such as provided in 515. In some embodiments, the notification may be provided as indicated in FIG. 1, the notification being a capability indication using UE capability signaling (120 in FIG. 1); a capability indication using RRC reconfiguration (125 in FIG. 1) such as a notification provided in response to a RRC reconfiguration request; or a capability indication provided using UE classes or the UE category (130 in FIG. 1), with the network being implicitly provided notice regarding the supported latency reduction capabilities of the UE by the applicable UE class or by the UE category.

In some embodiments, the latency reduction notification is limited to a valid combination of capabilities, such as, for example, illustrated in FIG. 4.

525: In some embodiments, the UE may further receive notification regarding scheduling for the UE, wherein the scheduling is based at least in part on the supported latency reduction capabilities of the UE; and

530: Implement the received scheduling for the UE.

In an example, the UE capability indications as indicated above may be specified and implemented in the 3GPP specifications. In this example, the modifications below may be implemented (such as in 3GPP TS 36.331 [2] subclause 6.3.6) as shown below, wherein the language in bold text is added.

UE-EUTRA-Capability information element

- ASN1 START

«skipped» UE-EUTRA-Capability-vl4xy-IEs ::= SEQUENCE {

laa-Parameters-vl4xy LAA-Parameters-vl4xy OPTIONAL, nonCriticalExtension UE-EUTRA-Capability-vl4yz-IEs OPTIONAL

}

UE-EUTRA-Capability-vl4yz-IEs :: SEQUENCE {

latRed-Parameters-vl4yz LatRed-Parameters-vl4yz OPTIONAL, nonCriticalExtension SEQUENCE { }

OPTIONAL

}

«skipped»

LatRed-Parameters-vl4yz ::= SEQUENCE {

shortSPS-Interval-rl4 ENUMERATED {supported} OPTIONAL, shortSPS-IntervalTDD-rl4 ENUMERATED {supported} OPTIONAL, spsGrantSkipping-rl4 ENUMERATED {supported} OPTIONAL, dynamicGrantSkipping-rl4 ENUMERATED {supported} OPTIONAL

}

«skipped»

- ASN1 START FIG. 6 is an illustration of capability field descriptions for notification of the latency reduction capabilities of a UE according to some embodiments. As provided in FIG. 6, capability field descriptions in UE EUTRA are provided for dynamicGrantSkipping, indicating whether the UE supports skipping UL transmissions for an uplink grant other than a configured uplink grant if no data is available for transmission in the UE buffer; shortSPS-Interval, indicating whether the UE supports uplink SPS intervals shorter than 10ms, and allowing and prioritizing non-adaptive HARQ retransmissions on the SPS resources; shortSPS-IntervalTDD, indicating whether the UE supports latency reduction features in TDD mode; and

spsGrantSkipping, indicating whether the UE supports latency reduction features in TDD mode. UE-EUTRA-Capability Field Descriptions FDD/TDD

diff

dynamicGrantS kipping

Indicates whether the UE supports skipping UL transmissions for an

uplink grant other than a configured uplink grant if no data is available

for transmission in the UE buffer as described in TS 36.321 [6]. shortSPS-Interval

Indicates whether the UE supports uplink SPS intervals shorter than

10ms, and allowing and prioritizing non- adaptive HARQ

retransmissions on the SPS resources. A UE supporting shortSPS- Interval shall support spsGrantSkipping. shortSPS-IntervalTDD

Indicates whether the UE supports latency reduction features in TDD

mode, i.e., support SPS intervals shorter than 10ms for TDD, does not

round the intervals less than 10ms down to the nearest integer which is

multiple of 10 sub-frames, skips the SPS UL occasion which falls on the

special subframe or downlink subframe and allows and prioritizes non- adaptive HARQ retransmission on the SPS resources. A UE supporting

shortSPS-IntervalTDD shall support spsGrantSkipping. spsGrantSkipping

Indicates whether the UE supports skipping UL transmissions for a

configured uplink grant if no data is available for transmission in the

UE buffer, ignores SPS implicit release, and SPS confirmation MAC

CE for activation/reactivation/deactivation feedback as described in TS

36.321 [6]. A UE supporting shortSPS-Interval or shortSPS- IntervalTDD shall support spsGrantSkipping.

In some embodiments, the following provisions may be provided (such as in TS 36.306 [3] subclause 4.3) with regard to latency reduction parameters:

4.3-xx Latency Reduction parameters

4.3-xx.l dynamicGrantSkipping-rl4 This field indicates whether the UE supports skipping UL transmissions for an uplink grant other than a configured uplink grant if no data is available for transmission in the UE buffer as described in TS 36.321 [4].

4.3.XX.2 shortSPS-Interval-rl4

This field indicates whether the UE supports uplink SPS intervals shorter than 10ms. If a

UE supports short SPS intervals, it shall allow and prioritize non-adaptive HARQ

retransmissions on the SPS resources. A UE supporting shortSPS -Interval shall also support spsGrantSkipping-rl4.

4.3.XX.3 shortSPS-IntervalTDD-rl4

This field indicates whether the UE supports latency reduction features in TDD mode, i.e., support SPS intervals shorter than 10ms for TDD. If the UE supports shortSPS-IntervalTDD-rl4, it does not round the SPS intervals less than 10ms down to the nearest integer which is multiple of 10 sub-frames, it skips the SPS UL occasion which falls on the special subframe or downlink subframe, and it allows and prioritizes non-adaptive HARQ retransmission on the SPS resources. A UE supporting shortSPS-IntervalTDD-rl4 shall support spsGrantSkipping-rl4.

4.3.XX.4 spsGrantSkipping-rl4

This field indicates whether the UE supports skipping UL transmissions for a configured uplink grant if no data is available for transmission in the UE buffer as described in TS 36.321 [4]. The UE supporting spsGrantSkipping-rl4 shall ignore SPS implicit release, and support SPS confirmation MAC CE for activation/reactivation/deactivation feedback. Supporting

spsGrantSkipping-rl4 is mandatory for the UE supporting short SPS intervals (indicated by shortSPS-Interval-rl4 or shortSPS-IntervalTDD-rl4).

In some embodiments, notification of latency reduction capabilities of a UE may be made as provided in the following examples:

(1) An LTE UE is to indicate its capabilities regarding the latency reduction features supported by the UE to the network.

(2) The UE of example (1), wherein the indication of capabilities is sent to the network using UE capability indication signaling (such as illustrated in FIG. 3).

(3) The UE of example (1) or (2), wherein the capability is indicated using a single bit to represent that the UE is capable of one or more of the latency reduction elements as provided in the above described embodiments.

(4) The UE of examples (1) or (2), wherein the capability is indicated using multiple bits to represent that the UE is capable of one or more of the latency reduction elements as described with the help of the embodiments above.

(5) The UE of examples (1) or (2), wherein the capability indication bit or bits may implicitly indicate the support for other elements.

(6) The UE of examples (1) or (2), wherein the capability indication bit may indicate that the UE supporting the short SPS interval also supports allowing and prioritizing non-adaptive HARQ retransmission on the SPS resources (configured grants).

(7) The UE of examples (1) or (2), wherein the capability indication bit may indicate that the UE supporting a short SPS interval also supports UL SPS grant skipping.

(8) The UE of examples (1) or (2), wherein the capability indication bit may indicate that the UE supporting UL SPS grant skipping also supports UL dynamic grant skipping.

(9) The UE of examples (1) or (2), wherein the UE supporting UL SPS grant skipping also supports ignoring SPS implicit release and supporting SPS confirmation MAC CE for activation/reactivation/deactivation feedback.

(10) The UE of examples (1) or (2), wherein the capability indication bit may indicate that the UE supporting a short SPS interval also supports allowing and prioritizing non-adaptive HARQ retransmissions on the SPS resources, UL SPS grant skipping, ignoring SPS implicit release, and SPS confirmation MAC CE for activation/reactivation/deactivation feedback.

(11) The UE of examples (1) or (2), wherein the capability indication bit may indicate that the UE supporting latency reduction in TDD also supports a short SPS interval for TDD, does not round the intervals less than 10ms down to the nearest integer which is multiple of 10 sub- frames, supports skipping of the SPS UL occasion that falls on the special subframe or downlink subframe and allow, and prioritizes non-adaptive HARQ retransmission on the SPS resources.

(12) The UE of examples (1) or (2), wherein the capability indication bit may indicate that the UE supporting latency reduction in TDD also supports a short SPS interval for TDD, does not round the intervals less than 10ms down to the nearest integer which is multiple of 10 sub- frames, support skipping of the SPS UL occasion which falls on the special subframe or downlink subframe, allows and prioritizes non-adaptive HARQ retransmission on the SPS resources, supports UL SPS grant skipping, ignores SPS implicit release, and/or supports SPS confirmation MAC CE for activation/reactivation/deactivation feedback.

(13) The UE of example (1), wherein the indication of capabilities is sent to the network using RRC signaling.

(14) The UE of example (13), wherein the indication of capabilities is sent to the network using RRC signaling at the request of the network.

(15) The UE of example (14), wherein the request from the network is in the form of dedicated RRC signaling or broadcast signaling such as SIB.

(16) The UE of example (1), wherein the indication of capabilities is implicitly made known to the network based on the applicable UE category or the UE class. FIG. 7 illustrates an architecture of a system 700 of a network in accordance with some embodiments. The system 700 is shown to include a user equipment (UE) 701 and a UE 702. The UEs 701 and 702 are illustrated as smartphones (e.g., handheld touchscreen mobile computing devices connectable to one or more cellular networks), but may also comprise any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as Personal Data Assistants (PDAs), pagers, laptop computers, desktop computers, wireless handsets, or any computing device including a wireless communications interface.

In some embodiments, any of the UEs 701 and 702 can comprise an Internet of Things (IoT) UE, which can comprise a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applications utilizing short-lived UE connections. An IoT UE can utilize technologies such as machine-to- machine (M2M) or machine-type communications (MTC) for exchanging data with an MTC server or device via a public land mobile network (PLMN), Proximity-Based Service (ProSe) or device-to-device (D2D) communication, sensor networks, or IoT networks. The M2M or MTC exchange of data may be a machine-initiated exchange of data. An IoT network describes interconnecting IoT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure), with short-lived connections. The IoT UEs may execute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate the connections of the IoT network.

The UEs 701 and 702 may be configured to connect, e.g., communicatively couple, with a radio access network (RAN) 710— the RAN 710 may be, for example, an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), a NextGen RAN (NG RAN), or some other type of RAN. The UEs 701 and 702 utilize connections 703 and 704, respectively, each of which comprises a physical communications interface or layer (discussed in further detail below); in this example, the connections 703 and 704 are illustrated as an air interface to enable communicative coupling, and can be consistent with cellular communications protocols, such as a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) protocol, a code-division multiple access (CDMA) network protocol, a Push-to-Talk (PTT) protocol, a PTT over Cellular (POC) protocol, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) protocol, a 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) protocol, a fifth generation (5G) protocol, a New Radio (NR) protocol, and the like.

In this embodiment, the UEs 701 and 702 may further directly exchange communication data via a ProSe interface 705. The ProSe interface 705 may alternatively be referred to as a sidelink interface comprising one or more logical channels, including but not limited to a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), a Physical Sidelink Discovery Channel (PSDCH), and a Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH).

The UE 702 is shown to be configured to access an access point (AP) 706 via connection 707. The connection 707 can comprise a local wireless connection, such as a connection consistent with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, wherein the AP 706 would comprise a wireless fidelity (WiFi®) router. In this example, the AP 706 is shown to be connected to the Internet without connecting to the core network of the wireless system (described in further detail below).

The RAN 710 can include one or more access nodes that enable the connections 703 and 704. These access nodes (ANs) can be referred to as base stations (BSs), NodeBs, evolved NodeBs (eNBs), next Generation NodeBs (gNB), RAN nodes, and so forth, and can comprise ground stations (e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stations providing coverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). The RAN 710 may include one or more RAN nodes for providing macrocells, e.g., macro RAN node 711, and one or more RAN nodes for providing femtocells or picocells (e.g., cells having smaller coverage areas, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth compared to macrocells), e.g., low power (LP) RAN node 712.

Any of the RAN nodes 711 and 712 can terminate the air interface protocol and can be the first point of contact for the UEs 701 and 702. In some embodiments, any of the RAN nodes 711 and 712 can fulfill various logical functions for the RAN 710 including, but not limited to, radio network controller (RNC) functions such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobility management.

In accordance with some embodiments, the UEs 701 and 702 can be configured to communicate using Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) communication signals with each other or with any of the RAN nodes 711 and 712 over a multicarrier communication channel in accordance various communication techniques, such as, but not limited to, an Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) communication technique (e.g., for downlink communications) or a Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) communication technique (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink

communications), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. The OFDM signals can comprise a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers.

In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid can be used for downlink transmissions from any of the RAN nodes 711 and 712 to the UEs 701 and 702, while uplink transmissions can utilize similar techniques. The grid can be a time -frequency grid, called a resource grid or time- frequency resource grid, which is the physical resource in the downlink in each slot. Such a time-frequency plane representation is a common practice for OFDM systems, which makes it intuitive for radio resource allocation. Each column and each row of the resource grid corresponds to one OFDM symbol and one OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration of the resource grid in the time domain corresponds to one slot in a radio frame. The smallest time- frequency unit in a resource grid is denoted as a resource element. Each resource grid comprises a number of resource blocks, which describe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements. Each resource block comprises a collection of resource elements; in the frequency domain, this may represent the smallest quantity of resources that currently can be allocated. There are several different physical downlink channels that are conveyed using such resource blocks.

The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) may carry user data and higher-layer signaling to the UEs 701 and 702. The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) may carry information about the transport format and resource allocations related to the PDSCH channel, among other things. It may also inform the UEs 701 and 702 about the transport format, resource allocation, and H-ARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request) information related to the uplink shared channel. Typically, downlink scheduling (assigning control and shared channel resource blocks to the UE 102 within a cell) may be performed at any of the RAN nodes 711 and 712 based on channel quality information fed back from any of the UEs 701 and 702. The downlink resource assignment information may be sent on the PDCCH used for (e.g., assigned to) each of the UEs 701 and 702.

The PDCCH may use control channel elements (CCEs) to convey the control information. Before being mapped to resource elements, the PDCCH complex-valued symbols may first be organized into quadruplets, which may then be permuted using a sub-block interleaver for rate matching. Each PDCCH may be transmitted using one or more of these CCEs, where each CCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements known as resource element groups (REGs). Four Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) symbols may be mapped to each REG. The PDCCH can be transmitted using one or more CCEs, depending on the size of the downlink control information (DCI) and the channel condition. There can be four or more different PDCCH formats defined in LTE with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation level, L=l, 2, 4, or 8).

Some embodiments may use concepts for resource allocation for control channel information that are an extension of the above-described concepts. For example, some embodiments may utilize an enhanced physical downlink control channel (EPDCCH) that uses PDSCH resources for control information transmission. The EPDCCH may be transmitted using one or more enhanced the control channel elements (ECCEs). Similar to above, each ECCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements known as an enhanced resource element groups (EREGs). An ECCE may have other numbers of EREGs in some situations. The RAN 710 is shown to be communicatively coupled to a core network (CN) 720— via an SI interface 713. In embodiments, the CN 720 may be an evolved packet core (EPC) network, a NextGen Packet Core (NPC) network, or some other type of CN. In this embodiment the SI interface 713 is split into two parts: the Sl-U interface 714, which carries traffic data between the RAN nodes 711 and 712 and the serving gateway (S-GW) 722, and the Sl-mobility management entity (MME) interface 715, which is a signaling interface between the RAN nodes 711 and 712 and MMEs 721.

In this embodiment, the CN 720 comprises the MMEs 721, the S-GW 722, the Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (P-GW) 723, and a home subscriber server (HSS) 724. The MMEs 721 may be similar in function to the control plane of legacy Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Support Nodes (SGSN). The MMEs 721 may manage mobility aspects in access such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. The HSS 724 may comprise a database for network users, including subscription-related information to support the network entities' handling of communication sessions. The CN 720 may comprise one or several HSSs 724, depending on the number of mobile subscribers, on the capacity of the equipment, on the organization of the network, etc. For example, the HSS 724 can provide support for routing/roaming, authentication, authorization, naming/addressing resolution, location dependencies, etc.

The S-GW 722 may terminate the SI interface 713 towards the RAN 710, and routes data packets between the RAN 710 and the CN 720. In addition, the S-GW 722 may be a local mobility anchor point for inter-RAN node handovers and also may provide an anchor for inter- 3 GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful intercept, charging, and some policy enforcement.

The P-GW 723 may terminate an SGi interface toward a PDN. The P-GW 723 may route data packets between the EPC network 723 and external networks such as a network including the application server 730 (alternatively referred to as application function (AF)) via an Internet Protocol (IP) interface 725. Generally, the application server 730 may be an element offering applications that use IP bearer resources with the core network (e.g., UMTS Packet Services (PS) domain, LTE PS data services, etc.). In this embodiment, the P-GW 723 is shown to be communicatively coupled to an application server 730 via an IP communications interface 725. The application server 730 can also be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) sessions, PTT sessions, group

communication sessions, social networking services, etc.) for the UEs 701 and 702 via the CN 720. The P-GW 723 may further be a node for policy enforcement and charging data collection. Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCRF) 726 is the policy and charging control element of the CN 720. In a non-roaming scenario, there may be a single PCRF in the Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) associated with a UE's Internet Protocol Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) session. In a roaming scenario with local breakout of traffic, there may be two PCRFs associated with a UE's IP-CAN session: a Home PCRF (H-PCRF) within a HPLMN and a Visited PCRF (V-PCRF) within a Visited Public Land Mobile Network

(VPLMN). The PCRF 726 may be communicatively coupled to the application server 730 via the P-GW 723. The application server 730 may signal the PCRF 726 to indicate a new service flow and select the appropriate Quality of Service (QoS) and charging parameters. The PCRF 726 may provision this rule into a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) (not shown) with the appropriate traffic flow template (TFT) and QoS class of identifier (QCI), which commences the QoS and charging as specified by the application server 730.

FIG. 8 illustrates example components of a device 800 in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, the device 800 may include application circuitry 802, baseband circuitry 804, Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry 806, front-end module (FEM) circuitry 808, one or more antennas 810, and power management circuitry (PMC) 812 coupled together at least as shown. The components of the illustrated device 800 may be included in a UE or a RAN node. In some embodiments, the device 800 may include less elements (e.g., a RAN node may not utilize application circuitry 802, and instead include a processor/controller to process IP data received from an EPC). In some embodiments, the device 800 may include additional elements such as, for example, memory/storage, display, camera, sensor, or input/output (I/O) interface. In other embodiments, the components described below may be included in more than one device (e.g., said circuitries may be separately included in more than one device for Cloud- RAN (C-RAN) implementations).

The application circuitry 802 may include one or more application processors. For example, the application circuitry 802 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processor(s) may include any combination of general-purpose processors and dedicated processors (e.g., graphics processors, application processors, etc.). The processors may be coupled with or may include memory/storage and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory/storage to enable various applications or operating systems to run on the device 800. In some embodiments, processors of application circuitry 802 may process IP data packets received from an EPC.

The baseband circuitry 804 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The baseband circuitry 804 may include one or more baseband processors or control logic to process baseband signals received from a receive signal path of the RF circuitry 806 and to generate baseband signals for a transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 806. Baseband processing circuity 804 may interface with the application circuitry 802 for generation and processing of the baseband signals and for controlling operations of the RF circuitry 806. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 804 may include a third generation (3G) baseband processor 804A, a fourth generation (4G) baseband processor 804B, a fifth generation (5G) baseband processor 804C, or other baseband processor(s) 804D for other existing generations, generations in development or to be developed in the future (e.g., second generation (2G), sixth generation (6G), etc.). The baseband circuitry 804 (e.g., one or more of baseband processors 804 A-D) may handle various radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuitry 806. In other

embodiments, some or all of the functionality of baseband processors 804 A-D may be included in modules stored in the memory 804G and executed via a Central Processing Unit (CPU) 804E. The radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments,

modulation/demodulation circuitry of the baseband circuitry 804 may include Fast-Fourier Transform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping/demapping functionality. In some embodiments, encoding/decoding circuitry of the baseband circuitry 804 may include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, or Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder/decoder functionality. Embodiments of modulation/demodulation and encoder/decoder functionality are not limited to these examples and may include other suitable functionality in other embodiments.

In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 804 may include one or more audio digital signal processor(s) (DSP) 804F. The audio DSP(s) 804F may be include elements for compression/decompression and echo cancellation and may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments. Components of the baseband circuitry may be suitably combined in a single chip, a single chipset, or disposed on a same circuit board in some embodiments. In some embodiments, some or all of the constituent components of the baseband circuitry 804 and the application circuitry 802 may be implemented together such as, for example, on a system on a chip (SOC).

In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 804 may provide for communication compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 804 may support communication with an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) or other wireless metropolitan area networks (WMAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless personal area network (WPAN). Embodiments in which the baseband circuitry 804 is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry.

RF circuitry 806 may enable communication with wireless networks using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, the RF circuitry 806 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate the communication with the wireless network. RF circuitry 806 may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 808 and provide baseband signals to the baseband circuitry 804. RF circuitry 806 may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry to up-convert baseband signals provided by the baseband circuitry 804 and provide RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 808 for transmission.

In some embodiments, the receive signal path of the RF circuitry 806 may include mixer circuitry 806a, amplifier circuitry 806b and filter circuitry 806c. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 806 may include filter circuitry 806c and mixer circuitry 806a. RF circuitry 806 may also include synthesizer circuitry 806d for synthesizing a frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 806a of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 806a of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 808 based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry 806d. The amplifier circuitry 806b may be configured to amplify the down-converted signals and the filter circuitry 806c may be a low-pass filter (LPF) or band-pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down- converted signals to generate output baseband signals. Output baseband signals may be provided to the baseband circuitry 804 for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signals may be zero-frequency baseband signals, although this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 806a of the receive signal path may comprise passive mixers, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 806a of the transmit signal path may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 806d to generate RF output signals for the FEM circuitry 808. The baseband signals may be provided by the baseband circuitry 804 and may be filtered by filter circuitry 806c.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 806a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 806a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature downconversion and upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 806a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 806a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 806a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 806a may be arranged for direct downconversion and direct upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 806a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 806a of the transmit signal path may be configured for super-heterodyne operation.

In some embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternate embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals may be digital baseband signals. In these alternate embodiments, the RF circuitry 806 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to- analog converter (DAC) circuitry and the baseband circuitry 804 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RF circuitry 806.

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

In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 806d may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+l synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other types of frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuitry 806d may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider.

The synthesizer circuitry 806d may be configured to synthesize an output frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 806a of the RF circuitry 806 based on a frequency input and a divider control input. In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 806d may be a fractional N/N+l synthesizer.

In some embodiments, frequency input may be provided by a voltage controlled oscillator

(VCO), although that is not a requirement. Divider control input may be provided by either the baseband circuitry 804 or the applications processor 802 depending on the desired output frequency. In some embodiments, a divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a look-up table based on a channel indicated by the applications processor 802.

Synthesizer circuitry 806d of the RF circuitry 806 may include a divider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the divider may be a dual modulus divider (DMD) and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DP A). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide the input signal by either N or N+l (e.g., based on a carry out) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, the DLL may include a set of cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phase detector, a charge pump and a D-type flip-flop. In these embodiments, the delay elements may be configured to break a VCO period up into Nd equal packets of phase, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 806d may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and divider circuitry to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency with multiple different phases with respect to each other. In some embodiments, the output frequency may be a LO frequency (fLO). In some

embodiments, the RF circuitry 806 may include an IQ/polar converter.

FEM circuitry 808 may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or more antennas 810, amplify the received signals and provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the RF circuitry 806 for further processing. FEM circuitry 808 may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry configured to amplify signals for transmission provided by the RF circuitry 806 for transmission by one or more of the one or more antennas 810. In various embodiments, the amplification through the transmit or receive signal paths may be done solely in the RF circuitry 806, solely in the FEM 808, or in both the RF circuitry 806 and the FEM 808.

In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 808 may include a TX/RX switch to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuitry may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry may include an LNA to amplify received RF signals and provide the amplified received RF signals as an output (e.g., to the RF circuitry 806). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuitry 808 may include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify input RF signals (e.g., provided by RF circuitry 806), and one or more filters to generate RF signals for subsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the one or more antennas 810).

In some embodiments, the PMC 812 may manage power provided to the baseband circuitry 804. In particular, the PMC 812 may control power-source selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-to-DC conversion. The PMC 812 may often be included when the device 800 is capable of being powered by a battery, for example, when the device is included in a UE. The PMC 812 may increase the power conversion efficiency while providing desirable implementation size and heat dissipation characteristics.

While FIG. 8 shows the PMC 812 coupled only with the baseband circuitry 804. However, in other embodiments, the PMC 812 may be additionally or alternatively coupled with, and perform similar power management operations for, other components such as, but not limited to, application circuitry 802, RF circuitry 806, or FEM 808.

In some embodiments, the PMC 812 may control, or otherwise be part of, various power saving mechanisms of the device 800. For example, if the device 800 is in an RRC_Connected state, where it is still connected to the RAN node as it expects to receive traffic shortly, then it may enter a state known as Discontinuous Reception Mode (DRX) after a period of inactivity. During this state, the device 800 may power down for brief intervals of time and thus save power.

If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time, then the device 800 may transition off to an RRC_Idle state, where it disconnects from the network and does not perform operations such as channel quality feedback, handover, etc. The device 800 goes into a very low power state and it performs paging where again it periodically wakes up to listen to the network and then powers down again. The device 800 may not receive data in this state, in order to receive data, it must transition back to RRC_Connected state.

An additional power saving mode may allow a device to be unavailable to the network for periods longer than a paging interval (ranging from seconds to a few hours). During this time, the device is totally unreachable to the network and may power down completely. Any data sent during this time incurs a large delay and it is assumed the delay is acceptable.

Processors of the application circuitry 802 and processors of the baseband circuitry 804 may be used to execute elements of one or more instances of a protocol stack. For example, processors of the baseband circuitry 804, alone or in combination, may be used execute Layer 3, Layer 2, or Layer 1 functionality, while processors of the application circuitry 804 may utilize data (e.g., packet data) received from these layers and further execute Layer 4 functionality (e.g., transmission communication protocol (TCP) and user datagram protocol (UDP) layers). As referred to herein, Layer 3 may comprise a radio resource control (RRC) layer, described in further detail below. As referred to herein, Layer 2 may comprise a medium access control (MAC) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, described in further detail below. As referred to herein, Layer 1 may comprise a physical (PHY) layer of a UE/RAN node, described in further detail below.

FIG. 9 illustrates example interfaces of baseband circuitry in accordance with some embodiments. As discussed above, the baseband circuitry 804 of FIG. 8 may comprise processors 804A-804E and a memory 804G utilized by said processors. Each of the processors 804A-804E may include a memory interface, 904A-904E, respectively, to send/receive data to/from the memory 804G. The baseband circuitry 804 may further include one or more interfaces to communicatively couple to other circuitries/devices, such as a memory interface 912 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from memory external to the baseband circuitry 804), an application circuitry interface 914 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from the application circuitry 802 of FIG. 8), an RF circuitry interface 916 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from RF circuitry 806 of FIG. 8), a wireless hardware connectivity interface 918 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from Near Field Communication (NFC) components, Bluetooth® components (e.g., Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi® components, and other communication components), and a power management interface 920 (e.g., an interface to send/receive power or control signals to/from the PMC 812.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions from a machine -readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non- transitory machine-readable storage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. Specifically, FIG. 10 shows a diagrammatic representation of hardware resources 1000 including one or more processors (or processor cores) 1010, one or more memory/storage devices 1020, and one or more communication resources 1030, each of which may be communicatively coupled via a bus 1040. For embodiments where node virtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor 1002 may be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices/sub-slices to utilize the hardware resources 1000.

The processors 1010 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a digital signal processor (DSP) such as a baseband processor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a radio-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor, or any suitable combination thereof) may include, for example, a processor 1012 and a processor 1014.

The memory/storage devices 1020 may include main memory, disk storage, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory/storage devices 1020 may include, but are not limited to any type of volatile or non-volatile memory such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random-access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), Flash memory, solid-state storage, etc.

The communication resources 1030 may include interconnection or network interface components or other suitable devices to communicate with one or more peripheral devices 1004 or one or more databases 1006 via a network 1008. For example, the communication resources 1030 may include wired communication components (e.g., for coupling via a Universal Serial Bus (USB)), cellular communication components, NFC components, Bluetooth® components (e.g., Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi® components, and other communication components.

Instructions 1050 may comprise software, a program, an application, an applet, an app, or other executable code for causing at least any of the processors 1010 to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. The instructions 1050 may reside, completely or partially, within at least one of the processors 1010 (e.g., within the processor's cache memory), the memory/storage devices 1020, or any suitable combination thereof. Furthermore, any portion of the instructions 1050 may be transferred to the hardware resources 1000 from any combination of the peripheral devices 1004 or the databases 1006. Accordingly, the memory of processors 1010, the memory/storage devices 1020, the peripheral devices 1004, and the databases 1006 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.

In some embodiments, an apparatus for a user equipment (UE) includes one or more baseband processors to generate a UECapabilitylnformation message in response to a

UECapabilityEnquiry message, the UECapabilitylnformation message including a UE-EUTRA- Capability information element having latency reduction parameters LatRed-Parameters indicating which latency notification capabilities are supported by the UE; and a memory to store the UECapabilityEnquiry message.

In some embodiments, the latency reduction parameters include an indication

dynamicGrantSkipping whether the UE supports skipping uplink transmission for an uplink grant other than a configured uplink grant if not data is available for transmission.

In some embodiments, the latency reduction parameters include an indication shortSPS- Interval whether the UE supports semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) intervals shorter than 10 milliseconds and allowing and prioritizing non-adaptive HARQ retransmissions on the SPS resources.

In some embodiments, the latency reduction parameters include an indication shortSPS-

IntervalTDD whether the UE supports latency reduction in time division duplex (TDD), supporting semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) intervals shorter than 10ms for TDD, does not round the intervals less than 10ms down to the nearest integer which is multiple of 10 sub- frames, skips a SPS uplink (UL) occasion that falls on a special subframe or downlink subframe, and allows and prioritizes non-adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) retransmission on SPS resources.

In some embodiments, the latency reduction parameters include an indication

spsGrantSkipping whether the UE supports skipping uplink (UL) transmissions for a configured uplink grant if no data is available for transmission in a UE buffer, ignores semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) implicit release, and SPS confirmation medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) activation/reactivation/deactivation feedback.

In some embodiments, the latency reduction parameters include a plurality of indication bits, a combination of the indication bits to indicate which latency reduction capabilities are supported by the UE.

In some embodiments, the plurality of indication bits includes a first indication bit indicating support of a short semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) interval; a second indication bit indicating support of a short SPS interval in time division duplex (TDD); a third indication bit indicating support of SPS grant skipping; and a fourth indication bit indicating support of dynamic grant skipping.

In some embodiments, possible combinations of the indication bits include one or more valid combinations of indication bits and one or more invalid combinations of indication bits.

In some embodiments, the apparatus is to provide latency reduction capabilities according to a valid combination of indication bits, and is not to provide latency reduction capabilities according to an invalid combination of indication bits.

In some embodiments, the UECapabilitylnformation message is provided to an evolved node B (eNB) or long-term evolution (LTE) network.

In some embodiments, a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon data representing sequences of instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations including receiving a UECapabilityEnquiry message for a user equipment

(UE) in a long-term evolution LTE network; and generating a UECapabilitylnformation message in response to the UECapabilityEnquiry message, generating the UECapabilitylnformation message including generating a UE-EUTRA-Capability information element having latency reduction parameters LatRed-P ammeters indicating which latency notification capabilities are supported by the UE.

In some embodiments, the latency reduction parameters include an indication

dynamicGrantSkipping whether the UE supports skipping uplink transmission for an uplink grant other than a configured uplink grant if not data is available for transmission.

In some embodiments, the latency reduction parameters include an indication shortSPS- Interval whether the UE supports semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) intervals shorter than 10 milliseconds and allowing and prioritizing non-adaptive HARQ retransmissions on the SPS resources.

In some embodiments, the latency reduction parameters include an indication shortSPS- IntervalTDD whether the UE supports latency reduction in time division duplex (TDD), supporting semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) intervals shorter than 10ms for TDD, does not round the intervals less than 10ms down to the nearest integer which is multiple of 10 sub- frames, skips a SPS uplink (UL) occasion that falls on a special subframe or downlink subframe, and allows and prioritizes non- adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) retransmission on SPS resources.

In some embodiments, the latency reduction parameters include an indication

spsGrantSkipping whether the UE supports skipping uplink (UL) transmissions for a configured uplink grant if no data is available for transmission in a UE buffer, ignores semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) implicit release, and SPS confirmation medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) activation/reactivation/deactivation feedback.

In some embodiments, the latency reduction parameters include a plurality of indication bits, a combination of the indication bits to indicate which latency reduction capabilities are supported by the UE.

In some embodiments, the plurality of indication bits includes a first indication bit indicating support of a short semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) interval; a second indication bit indicating support of a short SPS interval in time division duplex (TDD); a third indication bit indicating support of SPS grant skipping; and a fourth indication bit indicating support of dynamic grant skipping.

In some embodiments, possible combinations of the indication bits include one or more valid combinations of indication bits and one or more invalid combinations of indication bits.

In some embodiments, the UE is to provide latency reduction capabilities according to a valid combination of indication bits, and is not to provide latency reduction capabilities according to an invalid combination of indication bits.

In some embodiments, an apparatus includes means for receiving a UECapabilityEnquiry message for a user equipment (UE) in a long-term evolution LTE network; and means for generating a UECapabilitylnformation message in response to the UECapabilityEnquiry message, the means for generating the UECapabilitylnformation message includes means for generating a UE-EUTRA-Capability information element having latency reduction parameters

LatRed-Parameters indicating which latency notification capabilities are supported by the UE.

In some embodiments, the latency reduction parameters include an indication

dynamicGrantSkipping whether the UE supports skipping uplink transmission for an uplink grant other than a configured uplink grant if not data is available for transmission.

In some embodiments, the latency reduction parameters include an indication shortSPS-

Interval whether the UE supports semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) intervals shorter than 10 milliseconds and allowing and prioritizing non-adaptive HARQ retransmissions on the SPS resources. In some embodiments, the latency reduction parameters include an indication shortSPS- IntervalTDD whether the UE supports latency reduction in time division duplex (TDD), supporting semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) intervals shorter than 10ms for TDD, does not round the intervals less than 10ms down to the nearest integer which is multiple of 10 sub- frames, skips a SPS uplink (UL) occasion that falls on a special subframe or downlink subframe, and allows and prioritizes non-adaptive hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) retransmission on SPS resources.

In some embodiments, the latency reduction parameters include an indication

spsGrantSkipping whether the UE supports skipping uplink (UL) transmissions for a configured uplink grant if no data is available for transmission in a UE buffer, ignores semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) implicit release, and SPS confirmation medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) activation/reactivation/deactivation feedback.

In some embodiments, the latency reduction parameters include a plurality of indication bits, a combination of the indication bits to indicate which latency reduction capabilities are supported by the UE.

In some embodiments, the plurality of indication bits includes a first indication bit indicating support of a short semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) interval; a second indication bit indicating support of a short SPS interval in time division duplex (TDD); a third indication bit indicating support of SPS grant skipping; and a fourth indication bit indicating support of dynamic grant skipping.

In some embodiments, possible combinations of the indication bits include one or more valid combinations of indication bits and one or more invalid combinations of indication bits.

In some embodiments, the UE is to provide latency reduction capabilities according to a valid combination of indication bits, and is not to provide latency reduction capabilities according to an invalid combination of indication bits.

In some embodiments, a system for a user equipment (UE) includes one or more baseband processors to generate a UECapabilitylnformation message in response to a

UECapabilityEnquiry message, the UECapabilitylnformation message including a UE-EUTRA- Capability information element having latency reduction parameters LatRed-Parameters indicating which latency notification capabilities are supported by the UE; a memory to store the UECapabilityEnquiry message; a transmitter or receiver to transmit or receive signals; and an antenna for wireless signal reception and transmission.

In some embodiments, the latency reduction parameters include a plurality of indication bits, a combination of the indication bits to indicate which latency reduction capabilities are supported by the UE. In some embodiments, the plurality of indication bits includes a first indication bit indicating support of a short semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) interval; a second indication bit indicating support of a short SPS interval in time division duplex (TDD); a third indication bit indicating support of SPS grant skipping; and a fourth indication bit indicating support of dynamic grant skipping.

In the description above, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the described embodiments. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that embodiments may be practiced without some of these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form. There may be intermediate structure between illustrated components. The components described or illustrated herein may have additional inputs or outputs that are not illustrated or described.

Various embodiments may include various processes. These processes may be performed by hardware components or may be embodied in computer program or machine-executable instructions, which may be used to cause a general-purpose or special-purpose processor or logic circuits programmed with the instructions to perform the processes. Alternatively, the processes may be performed by a combination of hardware and software.

Portions of various embodiments may be provided as a computer program product, which may include a computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer program instructions, which may be used to program a computer (or other electronic devices) for execution by one or more processors to perform a process according to certain embodiments. The computer-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, magnetic disks, optical disks, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically-erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic or optical cards, flash memory, or other type of computer-readable medium suitable for storing electronic instructions. Moreover, embodiments may also be downloaded as a computer program product, wherein the program may be transferred from a remote computer to a requesting computer. In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium has stored thereon data representing sequences of instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform certain operations.

Many of the methods are described in their most basic form, but processes can be added to or deleted from any of the methods and information can be added or subtracted from any of the described messages without departing from the basic scope of the present embodiments. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many further modifications and adaptations can be made. The particular embodiments are not provided to limit the concept but to illustrate it. The scope of the embodiments is not to be determined by the specific examples provided above but only by the claims below.

If it is said that an element "A" is coupled to or with element "B," element A may be directly coupled to element B or be indirectly coupled through, for example, element C. When the specification or claims state that a component, feature, structure, process, or characteristic A "causes" a component, feature, structure, process, or characteristic B, it means that "A" is at least a partial cause of "B" but that there may also be at least one other component, feature, structure, process, or characteristic that assists in causing "B." If the specification indicates that a component, feature, structure, process, or characteristic "may", "might", or "could" be included, that particular component, feature, structure, process, or characteristic is not required to be included. If the specification or claim refers to "a" or "an" element, this does not mean there is only one of the described elements.

An embodiment is an implementation or example. Reference in the specification to "an embodiment," "one embodiment," "some embodiments," or "other embodiments" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiments is included in at least some embodiments, but not necessarily all embodiments. The various appearances of "an embodiment," "one embodiment," or "some embodiments" are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiments. It should be appreciated that in the foregoing description of exemplary embodiments, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of one or more of the various novel aspects. This method of disclosure, however, is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, novel aspects lie in less than all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment. Thus, the claims are hereby expressly incorporated into this description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment.