WO2016119193A1

WO2016119193A1 - Method and apparatus for performing fractional subframe transmission

Info

Publication number: WO2016119193A1
Application number: PCT/CN2015/071899
Authority: WO
Inventors: Lei Jiang; Hongmei Liu; Gang Wang; Zhennian SUN; Chuangxin JIANG
Original assignee: Nec Corporation
Priority date: 2015-01-30
Filing date: 2015-01-30
Publication date: 2016-08-04

Abstract

Embodiments of the disclosure provide a method and apparatus for performing fractional subframe transmission. The method may comprise: determining a transport block size based on a number of available symbols in a fractional subframe; and transmitting data of the transport block size in the fractional subframe.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PERFORMING FRACTIONAL SUBFRAME TRANSMISSION

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to communication techniques. More particularly， embodiments of the present invention relate to a method and apparatus for performing fractional subframe transmission.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) ， the network structure and various technologies needed for a terminal’s movement between a 3GPP wireless communication network and a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) network are called interworking WLAN. The multi-mode wireless communication technology has evolved to use multiple wireless communication technologies at the same time. The use of multiple wireless communication technologies simultaneously thereby increases transfer rates per unit time or improves the reliability of the terminal.

In wireless communication， spectrum is very rare resource. A licensed band represents a frequency band that is exclusively licensed to a specific operator to provide specific wireless services. On the other hand， an unlicensed band represents a frequency band that is not allocated to a specific operator， but is opened so that all entities meeting the predefined requirements may use the frequency band.

In some regions in the world， unlicensed band technologies need to abide to certain regulations， for example， Listen-Before-Talk (LBT) ， and channel bandwidth occupancy requirements. LBT results in an uncertainty of channel availability. For instance， an unlicensed band may be available at any time during a subframe.

WLAN that uses Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) is the typical wireless communication technology used in the unlicensed band. Time granularity of current Long Term Evolution (LTE) is much larger than that of WiFi， which leads to the low competitive strength of License Assisted Access (LAA) with LBT. As such， fair coexistence between LTE and other technologies such as WiFi as well as between LTE operators is expected. In order to be more competitive in the unlicensed band， fractional subframe transmission may be performed.

As for a factional subframe， a portion of symbols are available for data transmission. Therefore， the transport block size associated with the factional subframe is different from that associated with a complete subframe.

In order to perform the fractional subframe transmission more efficiently， there is a need to match the transport block size to available symbols in a fractional subframe.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention proposes a solution regarding fractional subframe transmission. Specifically， the present invention provides a method and apparatus for matching the transport block size to available symbols in a fractional subframe.

According to a first aspect of embodiments of the present invention， embodiments of the invention provide a method for performing fractional subframe transmission. The method may comprise： determining a transport block size based on a number of available symbols in a fractional subframe； and transmitting data of the transport block size in the fractional subframe. The method may be performed at a transmitter.

According to a second aspect of embodiments of the present invention， embodiments of the invention provide a method for performing fractional subframe transmission. The method may comprise： determining a transport block size based on a number of available symbols in a fractional subframe； and receiving data of the transport block size in the fractional subframe. The method may be performed at a receiver.

According to a third aspect of embodiments of the present invention， embodiments of the invention provide an apparatus for performing fractional subframe transmission. The apparatus may comprise： a first determining unit configured to determine a transport block size based on a number of available symbols in a fractional subframe； and a transmitting unit configured to transmit data of the transport block size in the fractional subframe. The apparatus may be implemented at a transmitter.

According to a fourth aspect of embodiments of the present invention， embodiments of the invention provide an apparatus for performing fractional subframe transmission. The apparatus may comprise： a second determining unit configured to determine a transport block size based on a number of available symbols in a fractional subframe； and a receiving unit configured to receive data of the transport block size in the fractional subframe. The apparatus may be implemented at a receiver.

Other features and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention will also be apparent from the following description of specific embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings， which illustrate， by way of example， the principles of embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the invention are presented in the sense of examples and their advantages are explained in greater detail below， with reference to the accompanying drawings， where

FIG. 1 illustrates a flow chart of a method 100 for performing fractional subframe transmission at a transmitter according to an embodiment of the invention；

FIG. 2 illustrates a flow chart of a method 200 for performing fractional subframe transmission at a transmitter according to another embodiment of the invention；

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow chart of a method 300 for performing fractional subframe transmission at a receiver according to an embodiment of the invention；

FIG. 4 illustrates a flow chart of a method 400 for performing fractional subframe transmission at a receiver according to another embodiment of the invention；

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus 500 for performing fractional subframe transmission according to embodiments of the invention； and

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus 600 for performing fractional subframe transmission according to embodiments of the invention.

Throughout the figures， same or similar reference numbers indicate same or similar elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The subject matter described herein will now be discussed with reference to several example embodiments. It should be understood these embodiments are discussed only for the purpose of enabling those skilled persons in the art to better understand and thus implement the subject matter described herein， rather than suggesting any limitations on the scope of the subject matter.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein， the singular forms “a， ” “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well， unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises， ” “comprising， ” “includes” and/or “including， ” when used herein， specify the presence of stated features， integers， steps， operations， elements and/or components， but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features， integers， steps， operations， elements， components and/or groups thereof.

It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations， the functions/acts noted may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example， two functions or acts shown in succession may in fact be executed concurrently or may sometimes be executed in the reverse order， depending upon the functionality/acts involved.

Embodiments of the present invention are directed to a solution for performing fractional subframe transmission. The solution may be carried out between a receiver and a transmitter. In particular， the transmitter may determine a transport block size based on a number of available symbols in a fractional subframe and transmit data of the transport block size in the fractional subframe. The receiver may determine a transport block size based on a number of available symbols in a fractional subframe in a similar way and receive data of the transport block size in the fractional subframe. In this way， the transport block size may be matched to the available symbols in the fractional subframe.

In embodiments of the present invention， a fractional subframe may refer to a subframe for downlink transmission or a subframe for uplink transmission， wherein one part of the fractional subframe is used for transmission of control information or data and the other part is not used for the transmission. For example， for a downlink subframe comprising 14 symbols， if only the last 6 symbols are available for the downlink transmission while the first 8 symbols are unavailable， this subframe may be considered as a factional subframe.

In the disclosure， the fractional subframe transmission may refer to the transmission performed on one or more subframes， and at least one of the one or more subframes is a fractional subframe. By way of example， the fractional subframe transmission may comprise various cases， such as the first subframe being a fractional subframe， the last subframe being a fractional subframe， both the first and the last subframes being fractional subframes， and the like.

In some embodiments， the fractional subframe transmission may be downlink or uplink cellular transmission. In downlink transmission， the receiver may comprise user equipment (UE) ， such as a terminal， a Mobile Terminal (MT) ， a Subscriber Station (SS) ， a Portable Subscriber Station (PSS) ， Mobile Station (MS) ， or an Access Terminal (AT) . Meanwhile， the transmitter may comprise a base station (BS) ， such as a node B (NodeB or NB) ， or an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB) . In uplink transmission， the transmitter may comprise a UE and the receiver may comprise a BS.

According to some other embodiments of the present invention， the fractional subframe transmission may be D2D transmission. In this regard， the receiver may be a Device-to-Device (D2D) receiver and the transmitter may be a D2D transmitter.

Embodiments of the present invention may be applied in various communication systems， including but not limited to a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system or a Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) system. Given the rapid development in communications， there will of course also be future type wireless communication technologies and systems with which the present invention may be embodied. It should not be seen as limiting the scope of the invention to only the aforementioned system.

According to embodiments of the present invention， the fractional subframe transmission may be carried out in several ways. In some embodiments， upon detecting that a channel becomes available， the transmitter may determine a target position from at least one potential position predefined in a subframe and perform the fractional subframe transmission from the target position. The receiver may determine a target position from the at least one predefined potential position in a similar way and receive the fractional subframe transmission from the target position.

According to embodiments， a subframe may comprise a plurality of symbols. By way of example， a subframe may be 1 ms and comprise 14 symbols，， for example， symbols 0 to 13. A position， such as a potential position， a target position， a current position， a next position， may refer to a time point or a time period in the subframe. In some embodiments， a position may correspond to an instant in a subframe. As an alternative， a position may correspond to a symbol of a subframe. In this regard， the position may occupy a time period， for example， the time period of a symbol. In the context， a target position may refer to a position from which the fractional transmission may start， and a potential position may refer to a predefined position that is a candidate of the target position.

According to embodiments of the present invention， there may be one or more potential positions predefined in a subframe. Each of the potential positions may correspond to a symbol of the subframe periodically or aperiodically. In some embodiments， the potential positions may comprise every three symbols， for example， symbols 0， 3， 6， 9 and 12. For instance， the potential positions may be set at

mod (N， Nd) ＝ x (x∈ [0， Nd-I] ) ， (1)

where N represents the index of a symbol in a subframe， and Nd represents the interval between two potential positions and may be an integer ranged from 1 to the total number of symbols in the subframe， for example 14. According to equation (1) ， it may be determined that the smaller the Nd is， the denser the potential positions are. In some embodiments， each symbol in a subframe may be predefined as a potential position.

It is to be noted that the above examples are illustrated for example， rather than limitation. It can be appreciated that， in alternative embodiments， there may be aperiodic configurations of the potential positions. For instance， the potential positions may correspond to the symbols 0， 3， 8 and 12.

According to embodiments of the present invention， Clear Chanel Assessment (CCA) or Extended Clear Chanel Assessment (eCCA) may be performed. With the CCA/eCCA， the transmitter may detect whether a channel is available. In response to detecting that the channel becomes available， the transmitter may determine the target position from one or more potential positions in several ways. In some embodiments， whether a current position is a potential position is detected first. If the current position is a potential position， the current position may be determined as the target position； otherwise， a channel occupation signal may be transmitted from the current position until a potential position.

According to embodiments of the present invention， the transmitter may send an indicator at the target position to a receiver. The indicator may indicate a size of control information of the fractional subframe transmission， for example， the number of symbols of Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) . In some embodiments， the indicator may be implemented as Physical Control Format Indicator Channel (PCFICH) ， or any other suitable indicator. Upon receiving the indicator， the receiver may know the size of the control information. For example， when the receiver detects PCFICH， it may have the knowledge of the number symbols of PDCCH. It is to be noted that the above example is shown only for illustration purpose， without suggesting any limitations on the scope of the subject matter described herein. As can be appreciated， in some embodiments， the control information may be configured by higher layer signaling or configured according to specification (s) .

According to embodiments of the present invention， the transmitter may determine the number of available symbols in the subframe based on the target position， and transmit control information and data of the fractional subframe transmission from the target position based on the number of the available symbols. In some embodiments， the control information may be transmitted on PDCCH， and the data may be transmitted on Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) .

Now some exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the figures. Reference is first made to FIG. 1， which illustrates a flow chart of a method 100 for performing fractional subframe transmission at a transmitter according to an embodiment of the invention. The method 100 may be performed at a transmitter and other suitable device.

The method 100 starts at step S 110， in which a transport block size is determined based on a number of available symbols in a fractional subframe.

According to embodiments of the present invention， the first subframe and/or the last subframe of the factional subframe transmission may be a fractional subframe. Thus， at step S 110， the transmitter may determine the transport block size for the first subframe and/or the last subframe.

In some embodiments， the number of available symbols may be determined based on the target position and the total number of symbols in a subframe. By way of example， if there are 14 symbols in one subframe， and if the target position corresponds to the sixth symbol， that is， symbol 5， it may be determined that there are 8 available symbols， i.e.， symbols 6 to 13. For another example， if there are 12 symbols in one subframe， and if the target position corresponds to the eighth symbol， that is， symbol 7， it may be determined that there are 4 available symbols， i.e.， symbols 8 to 11.

The transport block size indicates the size of a data block to be transmitted in the fractional subframe transmission. According to embodiments of the present invention， the transport block size may be determined in several ways. In some embodiments， a scaling factor associated with the number of the available symbols may be determined and the transport block size may be determined based on the scaling factor. It is to be noted that the embodiments are only for the purpose of illustration， without suggesting any limitations on the subject matter described herein. According to embodiments of the present invention， the transport block size may be determined at least partially based on the scaling factor， instead of merely based on the scaling factor.

The scaling factor associated with the number of the available symbols may be determined in several ways. In some embodiments， responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 4， the associated scaling factor may be determined as 0.25； responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 5， the associated scaling factor may be determined as 0.25 or 0.375； responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 6， the associated scaling factor may be determined as 0.375； responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 7， the associated scaling factor may be determined as 0.375 or 0.5； responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 8， the associated scaling factor may be determined as 0.5 or 0.75； responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 9， 10， 11 or 12， the associated scaling factor may be determined as 0.75； and responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 13 or 14，the associated scaling factor may be determined as 1.

The transport block size may be determined in several ways. In an exemplary embodiment， a first resource block number which indicates a number of resource blocks allocated for transmission is obtained， and a second resource block number may be determined based on the first resource block number and the scaling factor. Then， the transport block size may be determined based on the second resource block number.

At step S 120， data of the transport block size is transmitted in the fractional subframe.

In some embodiments， the fractional subframe may be the first subframe of the fractional subframe transmission. The transmitter may transmit data of the transport block size in the available symbols of the fractional subframe. If the size of data to be transmitted is larger than the transport block size， the transmitter may transmit the remaining data in at least one subframe following the fractional subframe. In an exemplary embodiment， the at least one subframe may comprise a fractional subframe. Alternatively， in another exemplary embodiment， the fractional subframe transmission ends at a complete subframe and the at least one subframe may not comprise a fractional subframe.

Reference is now made to FIG. 2， which illustrates a flow chart of a method 200 for performing fractional subframe transmission at a transmitter according to another embodiment of the invention. The method 200 may be considered as a specific implementation of the method 100 described above with reference to Fig. 1. However， it is noted that this is only for the purpose of illustrating the principles of the present invention， rather than limiting the scope thereof.

Method 200 begins at step S210， in which a scaling factor associated with the number of the available symbols is determined.

According to embodiments of the present invention， the scaling factor may be defined in several ways. Table 1 illustrates an example of scaling factors associated with different numbers of available symbols.

Table 1

Number of available symbols	Scaling factor
Number of available symbols	Scaling factor	1， 2， 3	N/A
4	0.25	1， 2， 3	N/A
4	0.25	5	0.25， 0.375
6	0.375	5	0.25， 0.375
6	0.375	7	0.375， 0.5
8	0.5， 0.75	7	0.375， 0.5
8	0.5， 0.75	9， 10， 11， 12	0.75
13， 14	1	9， 10， 11， 12	0.75

In some embodiments， if the number of the available symbols is 1， 2 or 3， the transmitter may use the available symbols to transmit control information of the fractional subframe transmission， and may determine that the available symbols are not enough for transmitting data after the transmission of the control information. In this regard， the scaling factor may be designed as a value of “N/A” ， which indicates that the scaling factor is “not available” . In an exemplary embodiment， if the number of the available symbols is 4， that is， if there are 4 symbols available， the transmitter may determine that the scaling factor is 0.25. In an exemplary embodiment， if the number of the available symbols is 5， that is， if there are 5 symbols available， the transmitter may determine that the scaling factor is 0.25 or 0.375. In an exemplary embodiment， if the number of the available symbols is 6， that is， if there are 6 symbols available， the transmitter may determine that the scaling factor is 0.375. In an exemplary embodiment， if the number of the available symbols is 7， that is， if there are 7 symbols available， the transmitter may determine that the scaling factor is 0.375 or 0.5. In an exemplary embodiment， if the number of the available symbols is 8， that is， if there are 8 symbols available， the transmitter may determine that the scaling factor is 0.5 or 0.75. In an exemplary embodiment， if the number of the available symbols is 9， 10， 11 or 12， that is， ifthere are 9， 10， 11 or 12 symbols available， the transmitter may determine that the scaling factor is 0.75. In an exemplary embodiment， ifthe number of the available symbols is 13 or 14， that is， ifthere are 13 or 14 symbols available， the transmitter may determine that the scaling factor is 1.

At step S220， a first resource block number which indicates a number of resource blocks allocated for transmission is obtained.

The first resource block number indicates a number of resource blocks allocated for transmission. In some embodiments， the first resource block number may be determined by the transmitter in real time.

At step S230， a second resource block number is determined based on the first resource block number and the scaling factor.

In an exemplary embodiment， the second resource block number may be determined as follows：

wherein N’ _PRB represents the first resource block number， N _PRB represents the second resource block number， and Factor represents the scaling factor.

At step S240， the transport block size is determined based on the second resource block number.

In some embodiments， a transport block size table may be used for determining the transport block size. Table 2 illustrates an exemplary transport block size table.

Table 2

The horizontal direction of Table 2 may correspond to a resource block number， for example， the second resource block number in the embodiments， and the vertical direction may correspond to a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) . In the embodiments， when the transmitter determines the second resource block number as well as the MCS that is employed currently， it may determine the transport block size by looking up the Table 2 based on the second resource block number and the MCS. By way of example， if the second resource block number is 8， and the MCS is 8， the transport block size may be determined as 1096.

It is to be noted that although the dimension of Table 2 is 10× 27， it is simplification of 3GPP TS36.213 whose dimension is 34× 110. It is further to be noted that the above example table is only for the purpose of illustration， without suggesting any limitations on the subject matter described herein. Any other suitable table may be used in the determination of the transport block size.

At step S250， data of the transport block size is transmitted in the fractional subframe.

This step is similar to step S120. In some embodiments， there may be 6 available symbols in the first subframe of the fractional subframe transmission， and the transmitter may determine the transport block size associated with the 6 available symbols according to the

method

100 or 200. If the size of the data to be transmitted is larger than the transport block size， the transmitter may transmit data of the transport block size on the 6 available symbols of the first subframe. With respect to the remaining data to be transmitted， the transmitter may transmit it in one or more subframes following the first subframe.

Reference is now made to FIG. 3， which illustrates a flow chart of a method 300 for performing fractional subframe transmission at a receiver according to an embodiment of the invention. The method 300 may be performed at a receiver and other suitable device.

According to embodiments of the present invention， there may be at least one potential position predefined in a subframe. In some embodiments， a plurality of potential positions may periodically correspond to symbols of the subframe， for example according to equation (1) . Alternatively， there may be aperiodic configurations of the potential positions. For instance， the potential positions may correspond to the symbols 0， 3， 8 and 12.

The target position indicates when the fractional subframe transmission starts. There may be several ways for the receiver to determine the target position based on one or more potential positions predefined in the subframe. In some embodiments， the transmitter may send an indicator at the target position to a receiver， wherein the indicator， for example PCFICH， may indicate a size of control information of the fractional subframe transmission. In this way， the target position may be indicated explicitly. For the receiver， it may detect the indicator at one of the at least one potential position， for example， denoted as potential position 1. In response to that the indicator is detected， the receiver may determine the one of the at least one potential position as the target position. Otherwise， the receiver may determine that this potential position is not the target position and carry out the same detection on a further potential position， for example potential position 2， and so on.

Alternatively， in some embodiments， the transmitter may not send the indicator. In this case， the receiver may make blind decoding for control information of the fractional subframe transmission at one of the at least one potential position. In response to that the blind decoding is success， the receiver may determine the one of the at least one potential position as the target position.

In some embodiments， based on the indicator indicating the size of control information of the fractional subframe transmission， the receiver may know the size of the control information and accordingly receive the control information from the target position.

According to embodiments of the present invention， a number of available symbols in the subframe may be determined based on the target position， and the control information and data of the fractional subframe transmission may be received based on the number of the available symbols.

At step S310， a transport block size is determined based on a number of available symbols in a fractional subframe.

In some embodiments， the number of available symbols may be determined based on the target position and the total number of symbols in a subframe. By way of example， if there are 14 symbols in one subframe， which may be denoted as symbols 0 to 13. If the target position corresponds to the sixth symbol， that is， symbol 5， it may be determined that there are 8 available symbols， i.e.， symbols 6 to 13. For another example， if there are 12 symbols in one subframe， and if the target position corresponds to the eighth symbol， that is， symbol 7， it may be determined that there are 4 available symbols， i.e.， symbols 8 to 11.

The transport block size indicates the size of a data block to be transmitted in the fractional subframe transmission. According to embodiments of the present invention， the transport block size may be determined in several ways. In some embodiments， a scaling factor associated with the number of the available symbols may be determined and the transport block size may be determined based on the scaling factor.

At step S320， data of the transport block size is received in the fractional subframe.

In some embodiments， the fractional subframe may be the first subframe of the fractional subframe transmission. The receiver may receive data of the transport block size in the available symbols of the fractional subframe. If the size of data transmitted by the transmitter is larger than the transport block size， the receiver may receive the remaining data in at least one subframe following the fractional subframe.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flow chart of a method 400 for performing fractional subframe transmission at a receiver according to another embodiment of the invention. The method 400 may be considered as a specific implementation of the method 300 described above with reference to Fig. 3. However， it is noted that this is only for the purpose of illustrating the principles of the present invention， rather than limiting the scope thereof.

Method 400 begins at step S410， in which a scaling factor associated with the number of the available symbols is determined.

In some embodiments， the scaling factor may be determined according to Table 1 which illustrates an example of scaling factors associated with different numbers of available symbols.

In an exemplary embodiment， if the number of the available symbols is 1， 2 or 3， the receiver may determine that there is no data transmitted and there is no need to determine the transport block size. In an exemplary embodiment， if the number of the available symbols is 4， the receiver may determine that the associated scaling factor is 0.25. In an exemplary embodiment， if the number of the available symbols is 5， the receiver may determine that the associated scaling factor is 0.25 or 0.375. In an exemplary embodiment， if the number of the available symbols is 6， the receiver may determine that the associated scaling factor is 0.375. In an exemplary embodiment， if the number of the available symbols is 7， the receiver may determine that the associated scaling factor is 0.375 or 0.5. In an exemplary embodiment， if the number of the available symbols is 8， the receiver may determine that the associated scaling factor is 0.5 or 0.75. In an exemplary embodiment， ifthe number of the available symbols is 9， 10，11 or 12， the receiver may determine that the associated scaling factor is 0.75. In an exemplary embodiment， if the number of the available symbols is 13 or 14， the receiver may determine that the associated scaling factor is 1.

At step S420， a first resource block number which indicates a number of resource blocks allocated for transmission is obtained. In some embodiments， as for the receiver， the first resource block number may be notified by the transmitter.

At step S430， a second resource block number is determined based on the first resource block number and the scaling factor. In some embodiments， the second resource block number may be determined according to equation (2) .

At step S440， the transport block size may be determined based on the second resource block number.

In some embodiments， a transport block size table， for example Table 2， may be used for determining the transport block size. In particular， if the receiver determines the second resource block number as well as the MCS which is employed currently， it may determine the transport block size by looking up the Table 2.

At step S450， data of the transport block size is received in the fractional subframe. This step is similar to step S320 and descriptions are not detailed here.

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus 500 for performing fractional subframe transmission according to embodiments of the invention. In accordance with embodiments of the present invention， the apparatus 500 may be implemented at a transmitter， for example， a BS， a D2D transmitter or any other applicable device.

As shown， the apparatus 500 comprises： a first determining unit 510 configured to determine a transport block size based on a number of available symbols in a fractional subframe； and a transmitting unit 520 configured to transmit data of the transport block size in the fractional subframe.

According to embodiments of the present invention， the first determining unit 510 may comprise： a scaling factor determining unit configured to determine a scaling factor associated with the number of the available symbols； and a size determining unit configured to determnine the transport block size based on the scaling factor.

In some embodiments， the scaling factor determining unit may be further configured to perform at least one of： responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 4， determining that the associated scaling factor is 0.25； responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 5， determining that the associated scaling factor is 0.25 or 0.375； responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 6， determining that the associated scaling factor is 0.375； responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 7， determining that the associated scaling factor is 0.375 or 0.5； responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 8， determining that the associated scaling factor is 0.5 or 0.75； responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 9， 10， 11 or 12， determining that the associated scaling factor is 0.75； and responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 13 or 14， determining that the associated scaling factor is 1.

In some embodiments， the size determining unit may comprise： an obtaining unit configured to obtain a first resource block number which indicates a number of resource blocks allocated for transmission； and a resource block determining unit configured to determine a second resource block number based on the first resource block number and the scaling factor， wherein the size determining unit is further configured to determine the transport block size based on the second resource block number.

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus 600 for performing fractional subframe transmission according to embodiments of the invention. In accordance with embodiments of the present invention， the apparatus 600 may be implemented at a receiver， for example， a cellular UE， a D2D receiver or any other applicable device.

As shown， the apparatus 600 comprises： a second determining unit 610 configured to determine a transport block size based on a number of available symbols in a fractional subframe； and a receiving unit 620 configured to receive data of the transport block size in the fractional subframe.

According to embodiments of the present invention， the second determining unit 610 may comprise： a scaling factor determining unit configured to determine a scaling factor associated with the number of the available symbols； and a size determining unit configured to determine the transport block size based on the scaling factor.

It is also to be noted that the

apparatuses

500 and 600 may be respectively implemented by any suitable technique either known at present or developed in the future. Further， a single device shown in FIG. 5 or FIG. 6 may be alternatively implemented in multiple devices separately， and multiple separated devices may be implemented in a single device. The scope of the present invention is not limited in these regards.

It is noted that the apparatus 500 may be configured to implement functionalities as described with reference to FIGs. l-2， and the apparatus 600 may be configured to implement functionalities as described with reference to FIGs. 3-4. Therefore， the features discussed with respect to the

method

100 or 200 may apply to the corresponding components of the apparatus 500， and the features discussed with respect to the

method

300 or 400 may apply to the corresponding components of the apparatus 600. It is further noted that the components of the apparatus 500 or the apparatus 600 may be embodied in hardware， software， firmware， and/or any combination thereof. For example， the components of the apparatus 500 or the apparatus 600 may be respectively implemented by a circuit， a processor or any other appropriate device. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the aforesaid examples are only for illustration not limitation.

In some embodiment of the present disclosure， the apparatus 500 or the apparatus 600 may comprise at least one processor. The at least one processor suitable for use with embodiments of the present disclosure may include， by way of example， both general and special purpose processors already known or developed in the future. The apparatus 500 or the apparatus 600 may further comprise at least one memory. The at least one memory may include， for example， semiconductor memory devices， e.g.， RAM， ROM， EPROM， EEPROM， and flash memory devices. The at least one memory may be used to store program of computer executable instructions. The program can be written in any high-level and/or low-level compliable or interpretable programming languages. In accordance with embodiments， the computer executable instructions may be configured， with the at least one processor， to cause the apparatus 500 to at least perform according to the

method

100 or 200 as discussed above， or to cause the apparatus 600 to at least perform according to the

method

300 or 400 as discussed above.

Based on the above description， the skilled in the art would appreciate that the present disclosure may be embodied in an apparatus， a method， or a computer program product. In general， the various exemplary embodiments may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits， software， logic or any combination thereof. For example， some aspects may be implemented in hardware， while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller， microprocessor or other computing device， although the disclosure is not limited thereto. While various aspects of the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure may be illustrated and described as block diagrams， flowcharts， or using some other pictorial representation， it is well understood that these blocks， apparatus， systems， techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in， as non-limiting examples， hardware， software， firmware， special purpose circuits or logic， general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices， or some combination thereof.

The various blocks shown in FIGs. 1-4 may be viewed as method steps， and/or as operations that result from operation of computer program code， and/or as a plurality of coupled logic circuit elements constructed to carry out the associated function (s) . At least some aspects of the exemplary embodiments of the disclosures may be practiced in various components such as integrated circuit chips and modules， and that the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure may be realized in an apparatus that is embodied as an integrated circuit， FPGA or ASIC that is configurable to operate in accordance with the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

While this specification contains many specific implementation details， these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of any disclosure or of what may be claimed， but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments of particular disclosures. Certain features that are described in this specification in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely， various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination. Moreover， although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such， one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination， and the claimed combination may be directed to a sub-combination or variation of a sub-combination.

Similarly， while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order， this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order， or that all illustrated operations be performed， to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances， multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Moreover， the separation of various system components in the embodiments described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all embodiments， and it should be understood that the described program components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single software product or packaged into multiple software products.

Various modifications， adaptations to the foregoing exemplary embodiments of this disclosure may become apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts in view of the foregoing description， when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Any and all modifications will still fall within the scope of the non-limiting and exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. Furthermore， other embodiments of the disclosures set forth herein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which these embodiments of the disclosure pertain having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings.

Therefore， it is to be understood that the embodiments of the disclosure are not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are used herein， they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purpose of limitation.

Claims

A method of performing fractional subframe transmission， comprising：

determining a transport block size based on a number of available symbols in a fractional subframe； and

transmitting data of the transport block size in the fractional subframe.
The method of Claim 1， wherein determining a transport block size based on a number of available symbols in a fractional subframe comprises：

determining a scaling factor associated with the number of the available symbols； and

determining the transport block size based on the scaling factor.
The method of Claim 2， wherein determining a scaling factor associated with the number of the available symbols comprises at least one of：

responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 4， determining that the associated scaling factor is 0.25；

responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 5， determining that the associated scaling factor is 0.25 or 0.375；

responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 6， determining that the associated scaling factor is 0.375；

responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 7， determining that the associated scaling factor is 0.375 or 0.5；

responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 8， determining that the associated scaling factor is 0.5 or 0.75；

responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 9， 10， 11 or 12， determining that the associated scaling factor is 0.75； and

responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 13 or 14， determining that the associated scaling factor is 1.
The method of Claim 2， wherein determining the transport block size based on the scaling factor comprises：

obtaining a first resource block number which indicates a number of resource blocks allocated for transmission；

determining a second resource block number based on the first resource block number and the scaling factor； and

determining the transport block size based on the second resource block number.
A method of performing fractional subframe transmission， comprising：

determining a transport block size based on a number of available symbols in a fractional subframe； and

receiving data of the transport block size in the fractional subframe.
The method of Claim 5， wherein determining a transport block size based on a number of available symbols in a fractional subframe comprises：

determining a scaling factor associated with the number of the available symbols； and

determining the transport block size based on the scaling factor.
The method of Claim 6， wherein determining a scaling factor associated with the number of the available symbols comprises at least one of：

responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 4， determining that the associated scaling factor is 0.25；

responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 5， determining that the associated scaling factor is 0.25 or 0.375；

responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 6， determining that the associated scaling factor is 0.375；

responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 7， determining that the associated scaling factor is 0.375 or 0.5；

responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 8， determining that the associated scaling factor is 0.5 or 0.75；

responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 9， 10， 11 or 12， determining that the associated scaling factor is 0.75； and

responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 13 or 14， determining that the associated scaling factor is 1.
The method of Claim 6， wherein determining the transport block size based on the scaling factor comprises：

obtaining a first resource block number which indicates a number of resource blocks allocated for transmission；

determining a second resource block number based on the first resource block number and the scaling factor； and

determining the transport block size based on the second resource block number.
An apparatus of performing fractional subframe transmission， comprising：

a first determining unit configured to determine a transport block size based on a number of available symbols in a fractional subframe； and

a transmitting unit configured to transmit data of the transport block size in the fractional subframe.
The apparatus of Claim 9， wherein the first determining unit comprises：

a scaling factor determining unit configured to determine a scaling factor associated with the number of the available symbols； and

a size determining unit configured to determine the transport block size based on the scaling factor.
The apparatus of Claim 10， wherein the scaling factor determining unit is further configured to perform at least one of：

responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 4， determining that the associated scaling factor is 0.25；

responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 5， determining that the associated scaling factor is 0.25 or 0.375；

responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 6， determining that the associated scaling factor is 0.375；

responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 7， determining that the associated scaling factor is 0.375 or 0.5；

responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 8， determining that the associated scaling factor is 0.5 or 0.75；

responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 9， 10， 11 or 12， determining that the associated scaling factor is 0.75； and

responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 13 or 14， determining that the associated scaling factor is 1.
The apparatus of Claim 10， wherein the size determining unit comprises：

an obtaining unit configured to obtain a first resource block number which indicates a number of resource blocks allocated for transmission； and

a resource block determining unit configured to determine a second resource block number based on the first resource block number and the scaling factor，

wherein the size determining unit is further configured to determine the transport block size based on the second resource block number.
An apparatus of performing fractional subframe transmission， comprising：

a second determining unit configured to determine a transport block size based on a number of available symbols in a fractional subframe； and

a receiving unit configured to receive data of the transport block size in the fractional subframe.
The apparatus of Claim 13， wherein the second determining unit comprises：

a scaling factor determining unit configured to determine a scaling factor associated with the number of the available symbols； and

a size determining unit configured to determine the transport block size based on the scaling factor.
The apparatus of Claim 14， wherein the scaling factor determining unit is further configured to perform at least one of：

responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 4， determining that the associated scaling factor is 0.25；

responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 5， determining that the associated scaling factor is 0.25 or 0.375；

responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 6， determining that the associated scaling factor is 0.375；

responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 7， determining that the associated scaling factor is 0.375 or 0.5；

responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 8， determining that the associated scaling factor is 0.5 or 0.75；

responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 9， 10， 11 or 12， determining that the associated scaling factor is 0.75； and

responsive to that the number of the available symbols is 13 or 14， determining that the associated scaling factor is 1.
The apparatus of Claim 14， wherein the size determining unit comprises：

an obtaining unit configured to obtain a first resource block number which indicates a number of resource blocks allocated for transmission； and

a resource block determining unit configured to determine a second resource block number based on the first resource block number and the scaling factor，

wherein the size determining unit is further configured to determine the transport block size based on the second resource block number.