WO2022151319A1

WO2022151319A1 - Soft combining for relay routing

Info

Publication number: WO2022151319A1
Application number: PCT/CN2021/072041
Authority: WO
Inventors: Luanxia YANG; Changlong Xu; Jing Sun; Xiaoxia Zhang; Hao Xu; Shaozhen GUO
Original assignee: Qualcomm Incorporated
Priority date: 2021-01-15
Filing date: 2021-01-15
Publication date: 2022-07-21

Abstract

Wireless communications systems and methods related to soft combining are provided. A wireless communication device receives, via a first link, group information and a first data block including a plurality of data sub-blocks. The group information includes a plurality of user equipment (UE) packet IDs, where each UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs corresponds to a UE from among a plurality of UEs. Each of the data sub-blocks is associated with a UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs. The wireless communication device receives, via a second link different from the first link, a second data block associated with a second UE packet ID and performs soft combining between a first data sub-block of the plurality of data sub-blocks and the second data block to decode information data based on the first UE packet ID and the second UE packet ID being equal.

Description

SOFT COMBINING FOR RELAY ROUTING

Luanxia Yang, Changlong Xu, Jing Sun, Xiaoxia Zhang, Hao Xu, Shaozhen Guo

TECHNICAL FIELD

This application relates to wireless communication systems, and more particularly to performing soft combining on data transmitted over multiple links.

INTRODUCTION

Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power) . A wireless multiple-access communications system may include a number of base stations (BSs) , each simultaneously supporting communications for multiple communication devices, which may be otherwise known as user equipment (UE) .

To meet the growing demands for expanded mobile broadband connectivity, wireless communication technologies are advancing from the long term evolution (LTE) technology to a next generation new radio (NR) technology, which may be referred to as 5 ^th Generation (5G) . For example, NR is designed to provide a lower latency, a higher bandwidth or a higher throughput, and a higher reliability than LTE. NR is designed to operate over a wide array of spectrum bands, for example, from low-frequency bands below about 1 gigahertz (GHz) and mid-frequency bands from about 1 GHz to about 6 GHz, to high-frequency bands such as millimeter wave (mmWave) bands. NR is also designed to operate across different spectrum types, from licensed spectrum to unlicensed and shared spectrum. Spectrum sharing enables operators to opportunistically aggregate spectrums to dynamically support high-bandwidth services. Spectrum sharing can extend the benefit of NR technologies to operating entities that may not have access to a licensed spectrum.

One approach to providing high-reliability communication is to apply hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) techniques. For example, a BS may transmit a downlink (DL) transmission to a UE and the UE may provide the BS with a reception status of the DL transmission. If the UE receives the DL transmission successfully, the UE may transmit a HARQ-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) to the BS. Conversely, if the UE fails to receive the DL transmission successfully, the UE may transmit a HARQ-negative-acknowledgement (HARQ-NACK) to the BS. Upon receiving a HARQ-NACK from the UE, the BS may retransmit the DL transmission. The BS may retransmit the DL transmission until a HARQ-ACK is received from the UE or reaching a certain retransmission limit. In some aspects, in addition to transmitting a HARQ-NACK, the data-receiving device may temporarily store the data that was not properly received or decoded. When the transmitting device resends the data in response to the HARQ-NACK, the data-receiving device may perform soft combining using the stored data and the retransmitted data to improve the likelihood of successfully decoding the transmitted data.

Another approach to providing high-reliability communication is to use relays to facilitate communication between a BS and a UE, for example, in an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) scenario. A relay device, which may be an anchor node or another UE, may be used in situations where a UE and BS are distant. For example, a UE and BS may have a direct communication link, as well as an additional link through a relay, or multiple additional links through multiple relays. The links may involve multiple hops, with signals between the UE and BS traveling through multiple interconnected relays.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF SOME EXAMPLES

The following summarizes some aspects of the present disclosure to provide a basic understanding of the discussed technology. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated features of the disclosure and is intended neither to identify key or critical elements of all aspects of the disclosure nor to delineate the scope of any or all aspects of the disclosure. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects of the disclosure in summary form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

In one aspect of the disclosure, a method of wireless communication performed by a wireless communication device includes receiving, via a first link, group information and a first data block including a plurality of data sub-blocks, wherein the group information includes a plurality of user equipment (UE) packet IDs, wherein each UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs corresponds to a UE from among a plurality of UEs and a hybrid automatic request repeat (HARQ) process from among a plurality of HARQ processes at the corresponding UE, wherein each of the plurality of data sub-blocks is associated with a UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs, and wherein a first UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs corresponds to a first UE of the plurality of UEs. The method further includes receiving, via a second link different from the first link, a second data block associated with a second UE packet ID. The method further includes performing soft combining between a first data sub-block of the plurality of data sub- blocks and the second data block to decode information data based on the first UE packet ID being the same as the second UE packet ID.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure, a method of wireless communication performed by a wireless communication device includes receiving, via at least a first link and a second link, a plurality of data blocks, wherein each data block of the plurality of data blocks is associated with one UE packet ID of a plurality of UE packet IDs, wherein each UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs corresponds to a UE from among a plurality of UEs and a HARQ process from among a plurality of HARQ processes at the corresponding UE, and wherein a first UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs corresponds to a first UE of the plurality of UEs. The method further includes encoding each data block of the plurality of data blocks into a plurality of encoded data blocks. The method further includes transmitting group information including the plurality of UE packet IDs and a combination data block including the plurality of encoded data blocks.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure a wireless communication device comprises a transceiver and a processor. The transceiver is configured to receive, via a first link, group information and a first data block including a plurality of data sub-blocks, wherein the group information includes a plurality of UE packet IDs, wherein each UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs corresponds to a UE from among a plurality of UEs and a HARQ process from among a plurality of HARQ processes at the corresponding UE, wherein each of the plurality of data sub-blocks is associated with a UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs, and wherein a first UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs corresponds to a first UE of the plurality of UEs. The transceiver is further configured to receive, via a second link different from the first link, a second data block associated with a second UE packet ID. The processor is configured to perform soft combining between a first data sub-block of the plurality of data sub-blocks and the second data block to decode information data based on the first UE packet ID being the same as the second UE packet ID.

In an additional aspect of the disclosure a wireless communication device comprises a transceiver and a processor. The transceiver is configured to receive, via at least a first link and a second link, a plurality of data blocks, wherein each data block of the plurality of data blocks is associated with one UE packet ID of a plurality of UE packet IDs, wherein each UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs corresponds to a UE from among a plurality of UEs and a HARQ process from among a plurality of HARQ processes at the corresponding UE, and wherein a first UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs corresponds to a first UE of the plurality of UEs. The processor is configured to encode each data block of the plurality of data blocks into a plurality of encoded data blocks. The transceiver is further configured to transmit group information including the plurality of UE packet IDs and a combination data block including the plurality of encoded data blocks.

Other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, upon reviewing the following description of specific, exemplary aspects of the present invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures. While features of the present invention may be discussed relative to certain aspects and figures below, all aspects of the present invention can include one or more of the advantageous features discussed herein. In other words, while one or more aspects may be discussed as having certain advantageous features, one or more of such features may also be used in accordance with the various aspects of the invention discussed herein. In similar fashion, while exemplary aspects may be discussed below as device, system, or method aspects it should be understood that such exemplary aspects can be implemented in various devices, systems, and methods.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless communication network according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates communication scenario that includes relays according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates a hybrid automatic repeat request communication scenario in a shared radio frequency band according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates a scheme for supporting soft combining according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates a scheme for supporting soft combining according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6A illustrates a communication scenario according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6B is a sequence diagram illustrating a communication method according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7A illustrates a communication scenario according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7B is a sequence diagram illustrating a communication method according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates a block diagram of a base station according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 illustrates a block diagram of a user equipment according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of a communication method according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of a communication method according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description set forth below, in connection with the appended drawings, is intended as a description of various configurations and is not intended to represent the only configurations in which the concepts described herein may be practiced. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of the various concepts. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these concepts may be practiced without these specific details. In some aspects, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring such concepts.

This disclosure relates generally to wireless communications systems, also referred to as wireless communications networks. In various aspects, the techniques and apparatus may be used for wireless communication networks such as code division multiple access (CDMA) networks, time division multiple access (TDMA) networks, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) networks, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) networks, single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) networks, LTE networks, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) networks, 5 ^th Generation (5G) or new radio (NR) networks, as well as other communications networks. As described herein, the terms “networks” and “systems” may be used interchangeably.

An OFDMA network may implement a radio technology such as evolved UTRA (E-UTRA) , Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11, IEEE 802.16, IEEE 802.20, flash-OFDM and the like. UTRA, E-UTRA, and GSM are part of universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS) . In particular, long term evolution (LTE) is a release of UMTS that uses E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, GSM, UMTS and LTE are described in documents provided from an organization named “3rd Generation Partnership Project” (3GPP) , and cdma2000 is described in documents from an organization named “3rd Generation Partnership Project 2” (3GPP2) . These various radio technologies and standards are known or are being developed. For example, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is a collaboration between groups of telecommunications associations that aims to define a globally applicable third generation (3G) mobile phone specification. 3GPP long term evolution (LTE) is a 3GPP project which was aimed at improving the UMTS mobile phone standard. The 3GPP may define specifications for the next generation of mobile networks, mobile systems, and mobile devices. The present disclosure is concerned with the evolution of wireless technologies from LTE, 4G, 5G, NR, and beyond with shared access to wireless spectrum between networks using a collection of new and different radio access technologies or radio air interfaces.

In particular, 5G networks contemplate diverse deployments, diverse spectrum, and diverse services and devices that may be implemented using an OFDM-based unified, air interface. In order to achieve these goals, further enhancements to LTE and LTE-A are considered in addition to development of the new radio technology for 5G NR networks. The 5G NR will be capable of scaling to provide coverage (1) to a massive Internet of things (IoTs) with a ULtra-high density (e.g., ～1M nodes/km ²) , ultra-low complexity (e.g., ～10s of bits/sec) , ultra-low energy (e.g., ～10+years of battery life) , and deep coverage with the capability to reach challenging locations; (2) including mission-critical control with strong security to safeguard sensitive personal, financial, or classified information, ultra-high reliability (e.g., ～99.9999%reliability) , ultra-low latency (e.g., ～ 1 ms) , and users with wide ranges of mobility or lack thereof; and (3) with enhanced mobile broadband including extreme high capacity (e.g., ～ 10 Tbps/km ²) , extreme data rates (e.g., multi-Gbps rate, 100+ Mbps user experienced rates) , and deep awareness with advanced discovery and optimizations.

The 5G NR may be implemented to use optimized OFDM-based waveforms with scalable numerology and transmission time interval (TTI) ; having a common, flexible framework to efficiently multiplex services and features with a dynamic, low-latency time division duplex (TDD) /frequency division duplex (FDD) design; and with advanced wireless technologies, such as massive multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) , robust millimeter wave (mmWave) transmissions, advanced channel coding, and device-centric mobility. Scalability of the numerology in 5G NR, with scaling of subcarrier spacing, may efficiently address operating diverse services across diverse spectrum and diverse deployments. For example, in various outdoor and macro coverage deployments of less than 3GHz FDD/TDD implementations, subcarrier spacing may occur with 15 kHz, for example over 5, 10, 20 MHz, and the like bandwidth (BW) . For other various outdoor and small cell coverage deployments of TDD greater than 3 GHz, subcarrier spacing may occur with 30 kHz over 80/100 MHz BW. For other various indoor wideband implementations, using a TDD over the unlicensed portion of the 5 GHz band, the subcarrier spacing may occur with 60 kHz over a 160 MHz BW. Finally, for various deployments transmitting with mmWave components at a TDD of 28 GHz, subcarrier spacing may occur with 120 kHz over a 500 MHz BW.

The scalable numerology of the 5G NR facilitates scalable TTI for diverse latency and quality of service (QoS) requirements. For example, shorter TTI may be used for low latency and high reliability, while longer TTI may be used for higher spectral efficiency. The efficient multiplexing of long and short TTIs to allow transmissions to start on symbol boundaries. 5G NR also contemplates a self-contained integrated subframe design with UL/downlink scheduling information, data, and acknowledgement in the same subframe. The self-contained integrated subframe supports communications in unlicensed or contention-based shared spectrum, adaptive UL/downlink that may be flexibly configured on a per-cell basis to dynamically switch between UL and downlink to meet the current traffic needs.

Various other aspects and features of the disclosure are further described below. It should be apparent that the teachings herein may be embodied in a wide variety of forms and that any specific structure, function, or both being disclosed herein is merely representative and not limiting. Based on the teachings herein one of an ordinary level of skill in the art should appreciate that an aspect disclosed herein may be implemented independently of any other aspects and that two or more of these aspects may be combined in various ways. For example, an apparatus may be implemented or a method may be practiced using any number of the aspects set forth herein. In addition, such an apparatus may be implemented or such a method may be practiced using other structure, functionality, or structure and functionality in addition to or other than one or more of the aspects set forth herein. For example, a method may be implemented as part of a system, device, apparatus, and/or as instructions stored on a computer readable medium for execution on a processor or computer. Furthermore, an aspect may comprise at least one element of a claim.

Hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) techniques may be employed by devices to increase the reliability of communication between them. For example, a base station (BS) and a user equipment (UE) may be directly communicating with each other. The BS may transmit a downlink (DL) transmission to a UE and the UE may provide the BS with a reception status of the DL transmission. If the UE receives the DL transmission successfully, the UE may transmit a HARQ-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK, also referred to as simply ACK) to the BS. Conversely, if the UE fails to receive the DL transmission successfully, the UE may transmit a HARQ-negative-acknowledgement (HARQ-NACK, also referred to as simply NACK) to the BS. Upon receiving a NACK from the UE, the BS may retransmit the DL transmission. The BS may retransmit the DL transmission until an ACK is received from the UE or reaching a certain retransmission limit. In some aspects, the UE may perform soft combining to further increase the likelihood of successful reception of the data transmitted by the BS. During soft combining, in addition to transmitting a NACK, the UE may temporarily store (e.g., in a buffer) the data that was not correctly received during the original transmission. When the BS resends the data in response to the NACK, the UE device may combine the stored data and the retransmitted data to improve the likelihood of successfully decoding the intended data transmission. Soft combining may include chase combining, where the original transmission and the retransmission are identical, and incremental redundancy, where the retransmission includes a different set of coded bits than the original transmission with different redundancy versions. The UE may run multiple HARQ processes simultaneously (e.g., 2, 4, 6, 10, 12, or 16 processes) , each identified by a HARQ identifier (ID) . The UE may include the HARQ ID in transmissions to the BS and vice versa to identify to which HARQ processes a particular transmission corresponds. Though the example given describes downlink communication from a BS to a UE, the same techniques may be applied in the uplink direction, when the UE transmits data to the BS. In either direction, the soft combining may be performed by a relay between the UE and the BS, which may be, for example, another UE or an anchor node.

Expanding HARQ techniques (including soft combining) to situations where the UE and BS are not exclusively communicating through a direct link poses complications. The UE and the BS may be communicating through multiple links, some or all running through one or more relays. A relay device, which may be an anchor node or another UE, may be used in situations where a UE and BS are distant. A UE and BS may have a direct communication link, as well as an additional link through a relay, or multiple additional links through multiple relays. In some cases, the UE and BS may not have a direct link and communicate only through the relays. Links may involve multiple hops, with signals between the UE and BS traveling through multiple interconnected relays. A different HARQ process, with a different HARQ process ID, may be employed for each link between the UE and the BS. For example, if the UE has a direct link to the BS and an additional link to the BS through a relay, transmissions received by the BS over the direct link may have a different HARQ ID than transmissions received over the relay link, even if one of the transmissions is a retransmission as a result of a HARQ-NACK. Because of the different HARQ process IDs, the BS may be unable to determine that one of the transmissions is actually a retransmission of the same data from the UE, and thus may be unable to perform soft combining. Accordingly, aspects of the present improve communication reliability by enabling devices in multi-link and/or multi-relay routing situations to perform soft combining.

For instance, there may be multiple links between a source (a transmitting device, e.g., a UE, BS, or an anchor node) and a destination (a receiving device, e.g., a UE, BS, or an anchor node) , with at least one or more of the links running through a relay device (e.g., an anchor node, or a UE acting as a relay) . A relay may receive data from more than one source and aggregate the data from each source before transmitting the aggregated data to the destination. For example, the relay may combine the data received from each source into a combination transport block (TB) , with the data from each source being represented in the combination TB by a sub-TB. When a relay receives data from a single source over multiple links, the data transmitted on each link may include a different HARQ process ID. When the data is transmitted by the relay to the destination, the destination may be unable to soft combine the different transmissions from the same source (which may be a transmission and a retransmission following a NACK) because of the different HARQ process IDs used by the source when transmitting the data over multiple links. Aspects of the present disclosure employ a UE packet ID to identify transmissions from a single source over multiple links, with related transmissions (e.g., a transmission and the corresponding retransmission following a NACK) sharing the same UE packet ID even when transmitted over different links. The destination may then use the UE packet ID to identify transmissions for soft combining.

The UE packet ID may be used to identify data received from the same source, regardless of how many links were used to receive the data. A different UE packet ID may be used for each HARQ process ID at a source. That is, each UE packet ID corresponds both to a UE, and to a HARQ process on the UE, so that two HARQ processes on the same UE may be represented by different UE packet IDs. The UE packet ID may be represented, for example, by a four-bit field, allowing up to sixteen HARQ processes within a UE to be represented. In general, a UE packet ID may be represented by 2^n bits, where n is the maximum number of HARQ process within a UE. As described herein, the UE packet ID corresponding to each UE and HARQ process within the UE may be configured by a BS and transmitted by the UE through one or more relays, or the BS may configure the UE packet ID directly with UE through a radio resource control (RRC) message.

As described above, aspects of the present disclosure allow a relay device to package data from multiple sources as sub-TBs in a combination TB. The relay may use a separate encoder for each sub-TB, so that data blocks received from multiple sources may be encoded differently. Data received by the relay from the same source, including data received over different links, however, may use the same encoding scheme and same TB size. Different coding rates can be used, even for data received from the same source over different links.

In some aspects, the destination device, which may be, for example, a BS, a UE, or an anchor node, may receive, via a first link, group information and a first data block (e.g., a combination TB) including a plurality of data sub-blocks (e.g., sub-TBs) . The group information may include a plurality of UE packet IDs, where each UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs corresponds to a UE from among a plurality of UEs. The group information may also include a HARQ process (indicated, for example, by a HARQ process ID) from among a plurality of HARQ processes at the corresponding UE. Each UE packet ID may identify both a UE and a specific HARQ process at the UE. Each of the plurality of data sub-blocks may be associated with a UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs. In some aspects, the group information may also include a UE ID (which may be, for example, the C-RNTI of the UE) , redundancy version (RV) , new data indicator (NDI) , and the HARQ process ID of a relay the data is being transmitted through. In some aspects, receiving the group information and the first data block may include receiving a communication signal from a relay including the group information, the first data block, and a HARQ process ID associated with the relay, which may be used to identify data transmitted from the relay. A first UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs may correspond to a first UE of the plurality of UEs.

In some aspects, the group information may be included in the first data block (e.g., in the combination TB) . A fixed number of bits of the group information may include the group information corresponding to each UE. The group information may include an indication of whether the first data block includes information for a particular UE. The indication may include a bit in the group information for each UE indicating whether the data from the UE is included in the first data block. For example, the group information may indicate whether the first data block includes information data from the first UE. If so, the indication bit may be set to 1. When no data from the first UE is included, the indication bit may be set to 0, and the BS may assume the sub-block (e.g., the sub-TB) of the first data block corresponding to the first UE can be ignored.

In some aspects, the number of bits allocated in the group information for the UEs may be variable. For example, the group information size may vary based on the number of UEs connected to the BS, with the group information being smaller when the number of connected UEs is smaller. Additionally, the number of UEs that have data to be transmitted to the BS via the relay may be different at different points of time. To facilitate the variable group information size, the group information may include an indication of a length associated with the group information. The length indication may be included in a header of the group information (e.g., as a sub-header, which may be encoded separately from the rest of the group information) .

In some aspects, one or more of the UEs with data included in the first data block may not support soft combining. Since the UE packet IDs are introduced at least in part to support soft combining, it may be unnecessary to include the UE packet IDs of UEs which do not support soft combining. In this situation, a bit may be added to the sub-header for each UE for which data is included in the first data block indicating whether a UE packet ID is included for the UE. Alternately, the NDI may be repurposed to indicate whether soft combining may be performed. For example, setting the NDI corresponding to a UE to 1 may indicate that a UE packet ID for that UE is not included and/or that soft combining should not be performed for the data from that UE.

In the uplink direction, the group information may be received as part of uplink control information (UCI) , which may piggyback over a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) , or be included as part of the first data block (e.g., in the combination TB) . In the downlink direction, the group information may be received via downlink control information (DCI) including the first UE packet ID, via a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) , or piggybacked on the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) . The DCI may include a HARQ process ID field indicating the first UE packet ID. In some aspects, the DCI may include a number of bits (e.g., 4 bits for up to 16 HARQ processes) for each UE for which data is included in the first data block, indicating the UE packet ID. Alternately, the four DCI bits used to indicate the HARQ process ID may be repurposed to indicate the UE packet ID, since transmissions to multiple UEs through the same relay may share the same HARQ process ID (e.g., the HARQ process ID of the relay) . An additional sub-header may be added to the DCI to indicate the HARQ process ID of the relay.

In some aspects, the destination device may receive, via a second link different from the first link, a second data block associated with a second UE packet ID. The destination device may then perform soft combining between a first data sub-block of the plurality of data sub-blocks and the second data block to decode information data based on the first UE packet ID being the same as the second UE packet ID. For example, the second data block may be a retransmission of the first data block in a response to a NACK. The source device may use the same UE packet ID from the first transmission on the first link to indicate that the second transmission on the second link is a retransmission. While the UE packet IDs associated with the first data sub-block and the second data sub-block are the same, the HARQ process IDs (for the first link and the second link) may be different. In some aspects, the second data block may include a second plurality of data sub-blocks, and the second UE packet ID is associated with the first UE and a second data sub-block of the second plurality of data sub-blocks. For example, the second data block may, like the first data block, be a combination TB (e.g., from a relay) . The destination device may then perform the soft combining between the first data sub-block and the second data sub-block based on the first UE packet ID being the same as the second UE packet ID.

Aspects of the present disclosure can provide several benefits. For example, the use of a UE packet ID to identify individual UEs and HARQ processes within the UEs allows multi-link and/or multi-relay communications to be used in combination with soft combining. Wireless communication devices can then take advantage of the coverage improvements afforded by relay communications with the increased reliability provided by HARQ soft combining techniques. Since soft combing may reduce the number of retransmissions required when a reception failure occurs, power savings may also be realized at the UE over existing methods involving communication over multiple links.

FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless communication network 100 according to some aspects of the present disclosure. The network 100 may be a 5G network. The network 100 includes a number of base stations (BSs) 105 (individually labeled as 105a, 105b, 105c, 105d, 105e, and 105f) and other network entities. A BS 105 may be a station that communicates with UEs 115 (individually labeled as 115a, 115b, 115c, 115d, 115e, 115f, 115g, 115h, and 115k) and may also be referred to as an evolved node B (eNB) , a next generation eNB (gNB) , an access point, and the like. Each BS 105 may provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area. In 3GPP, the term “cell” can refer to this particular geographic coverage area of a BS 105 and/or a BS subsystem serving the coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used.

A BS 105 may provide communication coverage for a macro cell or a small cell, such as a pico cell or a femto cell, and/or other types of cell. A macro cell generally covers a relatively large geographic area (e.g., several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscriptions with the network provider. A small cell, such as a pico cell, would generally cover a relatively smaller geographic area and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscriptions with the network provider. A small cell, such as a femto cell, would also generally cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home) and, in addition to unrestricted access, may also provide restricted access by UEs having an association with the femto cell (e.g., UEs in a closed subscriber group (CSG) , UEs for users in the home, and the like) . A BS for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro BS. A BS for a small cell may be referred to as a small cell BS, a pico BS, a femto BS or a home BS. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the

BSs

105d and 105e may be regular macro BSs, while the BSs 105a-105c may be macro BSs enabled with one of three dimension (3D) , full dimension (FD) , or massive MIMO. The BSs 105a-105c may take advantage of their higher dimension MIMO capabilities to exploit 3D beamforming in both elevation and azimuth beamforming to increase coverage and capacity. The BS 105f may be a small cell BS which may be a home node or portable access point. A BS 105 may support one or multiple (e.g., two, three, four, and the like) cells.

The network 100 may support synchronous or asynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, the BSs may have similar frame timing, and transmissions from different BSs may be approximately aligned in time. For asynchronous operation, the BSs may have different frame timing, and transmissions from different BSs may not be aligned in time.

The UEs 115 are dispersed throughout the wireless network 100, and each UE 115 may be stationary or mobile. A UE 115 may also be referred to as a terminal, a mobile station, a subscriber unit, a station, or the like. A UE 115 may be a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA) , a wireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, or the like. In one aspect, a UE 115 may be a device that includes a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) . In another aspect, a UE may be a device that does not include a UICC. In some aspects, the UEs 115 that do not include UICCs may also be referred to as IoT devices or internet of everything (IoE) devices. The UEs 115a-115d are examples of mobile smart phone-type devices accessing network 100. A UE 115 may also be a machine specifically configured for connected communication, including machine type communication (MTC) , enhanced MTC (eMTC) , narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) and the like. The UEs 115e-115h are examples of various machines configured for communication that access the network 100. The UEs 115i-115k are examples of vehicles equipped with wireless communication devices configured for communication that access the network 100. A UE 115 may be able to communicate with any type of the BSs, whether macro BS, small cell, or the like. In FIG. 1, a lightning bolt (e.g., communication links) indicates wireless transmissions between a UE 115 and a serving BS 105, which is a BS designated to serve the UE 115 on the downlink (DL) and/or uplink (UL) , desired transmission between BSs 105, backhaul transmissions between BSs, or sidelink transmissions between UEs 115.

In operation, the BSs 105a-105c may serve the

UEs

115a and 115b using 3D beamforming and coordinated spatial techniques, such as coordinated multipoint (CoMP) or multi-connectivity. The macro BS 105d may perform backhaul communications with the BSs 105a-105c, as well as small cell, the BS 105f. The macro BS 105d may also transmits multicast services which are subscribed to and received by the

UEs

115c and 115d. Such multicast services may include mobile television or stream video, or may include other services for providing community information, such as weather emergencies or alerts, such as Amber alerts or gray alerts.

The BSs 105 may also communicate with a core network. The core network may provide user authentication, access authorization, tracking, Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity, and other access, routing, or mobility functions. At least some of the BSs 105 (e.g., which may be an example of a gNB or an access node controller (ANC) ) may interface with the core network through backhaul links (e.g., NG-C, NG-U, etc. ) and may perform radio configuration and scheduling for communication with the UEs 115. In various examples, the BSs 105 may communicate, either directly or indirectly (e.g., through core network) , with each other over backhaul links (e.g., X1, X2, etc. ) , which may be wired or wireless communication links.

The network 100 may also support mission critical communications with ultra-reliable and redundant links for mission critical devices, such as the UE 115e, which may be a drone. Redundant communication links with the UE 115e may include links from the

macro BSs

105d and 105e, as well as links from the small cell BS 105f. Other machine type devices, such as the UE 115f (e.g., a thermometer) , the UE 115g (e.g., smart meter) , and UE 115h (e.g., wearable device) may communicate through the network 100 either directly with BSs, such as the small cell BS 105f, and the macro BS 105e, or in multi-action-size configurations by communicating with another user device which relays its information to the network, such as the UE 115f communicating temperature measurement information to the smart meter, the UE 115g, which is then reported to the network through the small cell BS 105f. The network 100 may also provide additional network efficiency through dynamic, low-latency TDD/FDD communications, such asV2V, V2X, C-V2X communications between a

UE

115i, 115j, or 115k and other UEs 115, and/or vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications between a

UE

115i, 115j, or 115k and a BS 105.

In some implementations, the network 100 utilizes OFDM-based waveforms for communications. An OFDM-based system may partition the system BW into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, which are also commonly referred to as subcarriers, tones, bins, or the like. Each subcarrier may be modulated with data. In some aspects, the subcarrier spacing between adjacent subcarriers may be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) may be dependent on the system BW. The system BW may also be partitioned into subbands. In other aspects, the subcarrier spacing and/or the duration of TTIs may be scalable.

In some aspects, the BSs 105 can assign or schedule transmission resources (e.g., in the form of time-frequency resource blocks (RB) ) for downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) transmissions in the network 100. DL refers to the transmission direction from a BS 105 to a UE 115, whereas UL refers to the transmission direction from a UE 115 to a BS 105. The communication can be in the form of radio frames. A radio frame may be divided into a plurality of subframes or slots, for example, about 10. Each slot may be further divided into mini-slots. In a FDD mode, simultaneous UL and DL transmissions may occur in different frequency bands. For example, each subframe includes a UL subframe in a UL frequency band and a DL subframe in a DL frequency band. In a TDD mode, UL and DL transmissions occur at different time periods using the same frequency band. For example, a subset of the subframes (e.g., DL subframes) in a radio frame may be used for DL transmissions and another subset of the subframes (e.g., UL subframes) in the radio frame may be used for UL transmissions.

The DL subframes and the UL subframes can be further divided into several regions. For example, each DL or UL subframe may have pre-defined regions for transmissions of reference signals, control information, and data. Reference signals are predetermined signals that facilitate the communications between the BSs 105 and the UEs 115. For example, a reference signal can have a particular pilot pattern or structure, where pilot tones may span across an operational BW or frequency band, each positioned at a pre-defined time and a pre-defined frequency. For example, a BS 105 may transmit cell specific reference signals (CRSs) and/or channel state information –reference signals (CSI-RSs) to enable a UE 115 to estimate a DL channel. Similarly, a UE 115 may transmit sounding reference signals (SRSs) to enable a BS 105 to estimate a UL channel. Control information may include resource assignments and protocol controls. Data may include protocol data and/or operational data. In some aspects, the BSs 105 and the UEs 115 may communicate using self-contained subframes. A self-contained subframe may include a portion for DL communication and a portion for UL communication. A self-contained subframe can be DL-centric or UL-centric. A DL-centric subframe may include a longer duration for DL communication than for UL communication. A UL-centric subframe may include a longer duration for UL communication than for UL communication.

In some aspects, the network 100 may be an NR network deployed over a licensed spectrum. The BSs 105 can transmit synchronization signals (e.g., including a primary synchronization signal (PSS) and a secondary synchronization signal (SSS) ) in the network 100 to facilitate synchronization. The BSs 105 can broadcast system information associated with the network 100 (e.g., including a master information block (MIB) , remaining system information (RMSI) , and other system information (OSI) ) to facilitate initial network access. In some aspects, the BSs 105 may broadcast the PSS, the SSS, and/or the MIB in the form of synchronization signal block (SSBs) over a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) and may broadcast the RMSI and/or the OSI over a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) .

In some aspects, a UE 115 attempting to access the network 100 may perform an initial cell search by detecting a PSS from a BS 105. The PSS may enable synchronization of period timing and may indicate a physical layer identity value. The UE 115 may then receive a SSS. The SSS may enable radio frame synchronization, and may provide a cell identity value, which may be combined with the physical layer identity value to identify the cell. The PSS and the SSS may be located in a central portion of a carrier or any suitable frequencies within the carrier.

After receiving the PSS and SSS, the UE 115 may receive a MIB. The MIB may include system information for initial network access and scheduling information for RMSI and/or OSI. After decoding the MIB, the UE 115 may receive RMSI and/or OSI. The RMSI and/or OSI may include radio resource control (RRC) information related to random access channel (RACH) procedures, paging, control resource set (CORESET) for physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring, physical UL control channel (PUCCH) , physical UL shared channel (PUSCH) , power control, and SRS.

After obtaining the MIB, the RMSI and/or the OSI, the UE 115 can perform a random access procedure to establish a connection with the BS 105. In some examples, the random access procedure may be a four-step random access procedure. For example, the UE 115 may transmit a random access preamble and the BS 105 may respond with a random access response. The random access response (RAR) may include a detected random access preamble identifier (ID) corresponding to the random access preamble, timing advance (TA) information, a UL grant, a temporary cell-radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) , and/or a backoff indicator. Upon receiving the random access response, the UE 115 may transmit a connection request to the BS 105 and the BS 105 may respond with a connection response. The connection response may indicate a contention resolution. In some examples, the random access preamble, the RAR, the connection request, and the connection response can be referred to as message 1 (MSG1) , message 2 (MSG2) , message 3 (MSG3) , and message 4 (MSG4) , respectively. In some examples, the random access procedure may be a two-step random access procedure, where the UE 115 may transmit a random access preamble and a connection request in a single transmission and the BS 105 may respond by transmitting a random access response and a connection response in a single transmission.

After establishing a connection, the UE 115 and the BS 105 can enter a normal operation stage, where operational data may be exchanged. For example, the BS 105 may schedule the UE 115 for UL and/or DL communications. The BS 105 may transmit UL and/or DL scheduling grants to the UE 115 via a PDCCH. The scheduling grants may be transmitted in the form of DL control information (DCI) . The BS 105 may transmit a DL communication signal (e.g., carrying data) to the UE 115 via a PDSCH according to a DL scheduling grant. The UE 115 may transmit a UL communication signal to the BS 105 via a PUSCH and/or PUCCH according to a UL scheduling grant.

In some aspects, the BS 105 may communicate with a UE 115 using HARQ techniques to improve communication reliability, for example, to provide a URLLC service. The BS 105 may schedule a UE 115 for a PDSCH communication by transmitting a DL grant in a PDCCH. The BS 105 may transmit a DL data packet to the UE 115 according to the schedule in the PDSCH. The DL data packet may be transmitted in the form of a transport block (TB) . If the UE 115 receives the DL data packet successfully, the UE 115 may transmit a HARQ ACK to the BS 105. Conversely, if the UE 115 fails to receive the DL transmission successfully, the UE 115 may transmit a HARQ NACK to the BS 105. Upon receiving a HARQ NACK from the UE 115, the BS 105 may retransmit the DL data packet to the UE 115. The retransmission may include the same coded version of DL data as the initial transmission. Alternatively, the retransmission may include a different coded version of the DL data than the initial transmission. The UE 115 may apply soft combining to combine the encoded data received from the initial transmission and the retransmission for decoding. The BS 105 and the UE 115 may also apply HARQ for UL communications using substantially similar mechanisms as the DL HARQ.

In some aspects, the network 100 may operate over a system BW or a component carrier (CC) BW. The network 100 may partition the system BW into multiple BWPs (e.g., portions) . A BS 105 may dynamically assign a UE 115 to operate over a certain BWP (e.g., a certain portion of the system BW) . The assigned BWP may be referred to as the active BWP. The UE 115 may monitor the active BWP for signaling information from the BS 105. The BS 105 may schedule the UE 115 for UL or DL communications in the active BWP. In some aspects, a BS 105 may assign a pair of BWPs within the CC to a UE 115 for UL and DL communications. For example, the BWP pair may include one BWP for UL communications and one BWP for DL communications.

FIG. 2 illustrates communication scenario 200 that includes

relays

224, 226, and 228 according to some aspects of the present disclosure. Each

relay

224, 226, and 228 may be, for example, a UE 115 or an anchor node in an IAB. For simplicity, scenario 200 includes a BS 205, which may be a BS 105, three

relays

224, 226, and 228, and a UE 215, which may be a UE 115, but a greater or fewer number of each type of device may be supported. Two different communication links are shown originating and terminating at UE 215. Link 236 connects UE 215 to BS 205 (in three hops) through relay 228, and link 238 connects UE 215 to BS 205 (in two hops) through relay 224. Data transmitted through link 236 travels first to relay 228, which then transmits it over link 232 to relay 226, which finally transmits it over link 230 to BS 205. Data transmitted from the UE 215 to the BS 205 over link 238 travels first to relay 224, which then transmits it to BS 205 over link 234. UE 215 may transmit data over one or both

links

236 and 238. Similarly, BS 205 may transmit data to UE 215 starting at links 230 and/or 234, with the data flowing to the UE 215 in reverse order from the upstream transmission.

As described above and in greater detail in FIG. 3, the BS 205 and UE 215 may employ HARQ to improve communication reliability. For example, in the downstream direction, BS 205 may transmit a data signal over link 230. If the UE successfully receives and decodes the data signal, the UE may transmit an ACK over link 236. Otherwise, the UE may store the transmitted data (e.g., in a buffer) and transmit a NACK over link 236. In response to the NACK, the BS may retransmit the data. If the retransmission cannot be decoded by the UE 215, the UE 215 may attempt to soft combine the retransmitted data with the data stored in the buffer to decode the data.

Using the techniques described in this disclosure, the UE 215 may also soft combine signals transmitted over multiple links. For example, the BS 205 may transmit the original transmission over link 234, and retransmit the data (e.g., after a NACK) over link 230. As described above and with respect to the following figures, the UE 215 may soft combine the data received over both link 234 and link 230 based on the UE packet ID assigned to the UE by the BS 205. Similarly, BS 205 may soft combine data transmitted by the UE 215 over multiple links. As illustrated in FIGs. 6A, 6B, 7A, and 7B, relays (such as

relays

224, 226, and 228) may soft combine data using the same techniques described herein when they receive data from a device (e.g., a UE 115) over multiple links.

FIG. 3 illustrates a HARQ communication scenario 300 in a shared radio frequency band according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The scenario 300 may correspond to a HARQ communication scenario in the network 100 when the network 100 operates over a shared frequency band or an unlicensed frequency band. In FIG. 3, the x-axis represents time in some constant units.

In the scenario 300, a BS 105 may communicate data with a UE 115 using HARQ. For HARQ communications, a transmitting node (e.g., the UE 115) may transmit data (e.g., in the form of a TB) to a receiving node (e.g., the BS 105) . The receiving node may provide the transmitting node with a feedback on the reception status of the data. For example, the receiving node may transmit an acknowledgement (ACK) to the transmitting node to indicate a successful decoding of the data. Conversely, the receiving node may transmit a negative-ACK (NACK) to the transmitting node to indicate a decoding failure for the data. When the transmitting node receives an ACK from the receiving node, the transmitting node may transmit new data in a subsequent transmission. However, when the transmitting node receives a NACK from the receiving node, the transmitting node may retransmit the same data to the receiving node. In an example, the transmitting node may use the same encoding version for the initial transmission and the retransmission. In an example, the transmitting node may use different encoding versions for the initial transmission and the retransmission. In an example, the receiving node may perform soft-combining to decode the data based on the initial transmission and the retransmission. For simplicity of discussion and illustration, FIG. 3 illustrates the HARQ communication in the context of UL data communications, though similar HARQ mechanisms may be applied to DL data communications.

As an example, the UE 115 includes a HARQ component 310. The HARQ component 310 is configured to perform multiple parallel HARQ processes 312 for UL data communications. The HARQ processes 312 may operate independent of each other. In other words, the ACKs, NACKs, and/or retransmissions are determined and processed separately for each HARQ process at the BS 105 and at the UE 115. Each HARQ process 312 may be identified by an HARQ process ID. For example, the HARQ processes 312 may be identified by identifiers H1, H2, …Hn. The BS 105 may communicate with the UE 115 in units of slots. The slots are shown as S1, S2, …, S11. The BS 105 transmits a scheduling grant 320a to the UE 115 in the slot S1. The scheduling grant 320a indicates a HARQ transmission (Tx) occasion 340 in the slot S5 for the HARQ process H1 312. The UE 115 transmits a TB or a HARQ data block 330 (shown as 330a) of the HARQ process H1 312 at a time T1 of the slot S5. The data block 330 may include UL data (e.g., PUSCH data) . The data block 330a may correspond to a particular encoded version of the data block 330.

The UE 115 may prepare the data block 330a prior to the scheduled slot S5 206. The UE 115 may transmit the data block 330a in the remaining time of the slot S5. Decoding of the data block 330a may fail at the BS 105. The BS 105 may transmit a NACK to the UE 115 indicating the decoding failure and may schedule the UE 115 to retransmit the data block 330. As shown, the BS 105 transmits another scheduling grant 320b to the UE 115 in slot S7. The scheduling grant 320b indicates a HARQ transmission occasion 340 in the slot S11 206 for the UE 115 to retransmit the data block 330. The UE 115 retransmits the data block 330 (shown as 330b) in the slot S11. The data block 330b may correspond to a particular encoded version of the data block 330. The

blocks

330a and 330b may correspond to the same encoded version of the data block 330 or different encoded versions of the data block 330. For example, the BS 105 successfully decodes the data block 330b. Thus, the BS 105 may transmit an ACK to the UE 115 indicating the successful decoding and may subsequently schedule the UE 115 for a new data transmission. In some aspects, the BS 105 may store (e.g., in a buffer) the data bock 330a prior to transmitting the NACK to the UE 115. When the BS receives block 330b (the retransmission of the data in block 330a) , the BS 105 may soft combine block 330b with the stored block 330a to aid decoding of the data. While the scenario 300 illustrates the scheduling and transmission for one HARQ process 312, similar scenarios may occur for communications of different HARQ processes.

FIG. 4 illustrates a scheme 400 for supporting soft combining according to some aspects of the present disclosure. The scheme 400 may be employed by a BS (such as BS 105) , UE (such as UE 115) , and/or a relay (such as

relays

224, 226, and 228, which may be, e.g., UEs 115 or anchor nodes) . Scheme 400 illustrates how group information 402 for a number of UEs 115 (UE-1, UE-2, and UE-N) may be structured to support soft combining in the downlink direction. The group information 402 may be transmitted as part of UCI, which may piggyback over PUSCH or be included as part of a combination TB 450.

Group information 402 may include a relay process ID 404, a sub-header 406, and information about one or more UEs 115. As illustrated, group information 402 includes information about N UEs 115 in blocks 408 corresponding to UE-1, 410 corresponding to UE-2, and 412 corresponding to UE-N. Group information 402 may also include a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) 414 to aid in error detection and recovery.

Relay process ID 404 may identify the relay (e.g.,

relay

224, 226, or 228) transmitting the group information 402. In some aspects, the relay process ID 404 may correspond to the HARQ ID of the relay transmitting or receiving the group information 402. The relay process ID 404 may be used by a BS 105, UE 115, or a different relay to address a transmission to the relay corresponding to relay process ID 404.

Blocks

408, 410, and 412 may include information about UE-1, UE-2, and UE-N, respectively. For example, each

block

408, 410, and 412 may include the UE ID (which may be, for example, the C-RNTI) and the UE packet ID corresponding to its respective UE, as well as the RV and NDI corresponding to a transmission to its respective UE.

In some aspects, group information 402 may include a sub-header 406, illustrated in an expanded view immediately below the block corresponding to sub-header 406 in group information 402. The information included in sub-header 406 may depend on how the group information 402 indicates whether it includes information for a particular UE 115. For example, group information 402 may include information blocks 408, 410, and 412 whether or not the information blocks include valid data corresponding to UE-1, UE-2, and UE-N, respectively. In this case, sub-header 406 may include

indications

418, 420, and 422 to indicate whether the data in

blocks

408, 410, and 412, respectively, are valid. For example,

indications

418, 420, and 422 may include a single bit set to 1 to indicate valid data and set to 0 to indicate invalid data. If, for example, block 408 for UE-1 contains valid data, block 410 for UE-2 does not contain valid data, and block 412 for UE-N contains valid data, then UE-1 indication 418 may be set to 1, UE-2 indication 420 may be set to 0, and UE-N indication 422 may be set to 1. In some aspects, the meaning of 0 and 1 in

indications

418, 420, and 422 may be reversed.

In some aspects, rather than include blocks for UEs 115 that may not include valid information, group information 402 may omit blocks without valid data, which may result in the group information 402 varying in size over different transmissions. In this case, the sub-header 406 may include a size indication 416 indicating the size of the group information 402. For example, during a first transmission, the group information 402 may include valid information for all UEs corresponding to

blocks

408, 410, and 412. During a second transmission, no information may be included for UE-2 so that block 410 is omitted from group information 402. Size indication 416 for the first transmission may then indicate a larger size than size indication 416 for the second transmission.

Combination TB 450 illustrates a structure for a combination TB 450 according to some aspects of the present disclosure. As described in detail above, and with respect to FIGs. 5-11, a wireless communication device (e.g., a BS 105, UE 115, and/or a

relay

224, 226, or 228) may receive, transmit, or generate a combination TB 450 including data for multiple UEs 115. In some aspects, the combination TB 450 may include group information 402 corresponding to the various UE 115s for which data is included. Combination TB 450 includes the same group information illustrated atop FIG. 4. Each

block

408, 410, and 412 (corresponding to UE-1, UE-2, and UE-N) may indicate where in the combination TB 450 includes data for a particular UE 115 is located. For example, block 408 may indicate the data for UE-1 is located in sub-block 452 of combination TB 450, block 410 may indicate the data for UE-2 is located in sub-block 454 of combination TB 450, and block 412 may indicate the data for UE-N is located in sub-block 456 of combination TB 450. The location of the sub-blocks 452, 454, and 456 may be indicated by an index and/or offset, or may be fixed.

FIG. 5 illustrates a scheme 500 for supporting soft combining according to some aspects of the present disclosure. The scheme 500 may be employed by a BS (such as BS 105) , UE (such as UE 115) , and/or a relay (such as

relays

224, 226, and 228) . Scheme 500 illustrates how group information 502 for a number of UEs 115 may be structured to support soft combining in the downlink direction. The group information 502 may be transmitted in DCI, for example, over PDCCH, or piggybacked over PDSCH. Group information 502 may include a number of

blocks

506, 508, and 510 including information corresponding to UE-1, UE-2, and UE-N, respectively. Each

block

506, 508, and 510 may include the UE ID (which may be, for example, the C-RNTI) and UE packet ID corresponding to its respective UE. That is, block 506 may include the UE ID and UE packet ID corresponding to UE-1, block 508 may include the UE ID and UE packet ID corresponding to UE-2, and block 510 may include the UE ID and UE packet ID corresponding to UE-N. The information in

blocks

506, 508, and 510 may be used to indicate the location of data intended for UE-1, UE-2, and UE-N, respectively, in a subsequently transmitted combination TB, similar to what was described with respect to combination TB 450 in FIG. 4. In some aspects, 4 bits may be added to the DCI for each UE 115 (UE-1, UE-2, and UE-N) to indicate the UE packet ID. The DCI for each UE 115 would continue to include the UE ID, HARQ process ID, and other information included in existing DCI.

In some aspects, an optional relay process ID 504 may be included in the group information 502. Multiple UEs 115 (e.g., UE-1, UE-2, and UE-N) may share the same HARQ process ID (e.g., the HARQ process ID of the relay transmitting the group information 502) , so bits ordinarily used to indicate the HARQ process ID in the DCI can instead be used to indicate the UE packet ID for each UE 115. The relay process ID 504 may then be added to the group information 502 to indicate the HARQ process ID of the relay shared among UE-1, UE-2, and UE-N.

FIG. 6A illustrates an exemplary uplink communication scenario 600 which may be used in conjunction with method 650 of FIG. 6B according to some aspects of the present disclosure. In communication scenario 600A, two UEs 115, UE 615 and UE 620, may transmit data to BS 605, which may be a BS 105. UE 615 has two links to BS 605: a direct link 630, and a link 632 through relay 610 (which may, for example, an anchor node or a UE 115) . UE 620 has a single link 640 to BS 605, through relay 610. Relay 610 has a single link 648 to BS 605.

FIG. 6B is a sequence diagram illustrating a communication method 650 according to some aspects of the present disclosure. The communication method 650 may be performed by the BS 605, the relay 610, and the two UEs, 615 and 620, configured as illustrated in scenario 600 of FIG. 6A.

At action 660, BS 605 may transmit a configuration to UE 615 that includes the UE packet IDs to be used by UE 615 when transmitting uplink data. The UE packet IDs may also be used by other devices (e.g., BS 605 and relay 610) when transmitting downlink data to UE 615, so that UE 615 may identify data intended for it. In some other aspects, the configuration may include a set of UE packet IDs for uplink communications with the UE 615 and another set of UE packet IDs for downlink communications with the UE 615. As illustrated, BS 605 directly transmits the configuration to UE 615 (e.g., via RRC) , but BS 605 may instead (or also) transmit the configuration via the relay 610.

At action 662, BS 605 may transmit a configuration to UE 620 that includes the UE packet IDs to be used by UE 615 when transmitting uplink data. The UE packet IDs may also be used by other devices (e.g., BS 605 and relay 610) when transmitting data to UE 620, so that UE 620 may identify data intended for it. In some other aspects, the configuration may include a set of UE packet IDs for uplink communications with the UE 620 and another set of UE packet IDs for downlink communications with the UE 620. As illustrated, BS 605 directly transmits the configuration to UE 620 (e.g., via RRC) , but BS 605 may instead (or also) transmit the configuration via the relay 610.

At action 664, UE 615 may transmit a data signal to relay 610 intended for BS 605. The data signal includes a packet (e.g., the data) and a packet ID k as configured by the BS 605 at action 660. The packet ID k identifies UE 615 and a HARQ process at UE 615.

At action 666, UE 620 may transmit a data signal to relay 610 intended for BS 605. The data signal includes a packet (e.g., the data) and a packet ID m as configured by the BS 605 at action 660. The packet ID m identifies UE 620 and a HARQ process at UE 620.

At action 668, the relay 610 may generate a combination TB including sub-blocks containing the data transmitted by UE 615 and UE 620. In some aspects, the relay 610 may separately encode the packet (with the UE packet ID k) received from the UE 620 into a first sub-block and encode the packet (with the UE packet ID m) received from the UE 615 into a second sub-block. In some aspects, the relay 610 may use different encoding schemes for the first and second sub-blocks. In addition, relay 610 may generate group information as described in FIG. 4 and include it in the combination TB. The group information aids upstream devices (e.g., BS 605) in identifying which sub-block of the combination TB corresponds to which UE (615 or 620) .

At action 670, the relay 610 may transmit the combination TB to the BS 605.

At action 672, UE 615 may transmit an additional data signal directly to BS 605. The data signal may be a retransmission of the data transmitted via the relay at action 666 (e.g., following a HARQ-NACK, not shown, by BS 605) , and includes the same UE packet ID, m, allowing the BS 605 to determine that the retransmission corresponds to the same UE 615 and HARQ process as the earlier transmission at action 666.

At action 674, the BS 605 may perform soft combining on the data received from UE 615 (with packet ID m) via the relay 610 at action 666 and directly from the UE 615 at action 672. While FIG. 6B illustrates soft combining at the BS 605 for simplicity, soft combining following the same scheme may also be performed by the relay 610 (e.g., if UE 615 retransmitted data with the same packet ID, m, through the relay 610) .

FIG. 7A illustrates an exemplary downlink communication scenario 700 which may be used in conjunction with method 750 of FIG. 7B according to some aspects of the present disclosure. In communication scenario 700A, a BS 705 (which may be a BS 105) transmits data to two UEs 115, UE 720 and UE 722. BS 705 has two

links

730 and 732 to both

UEs

720 and 722. Link 732 runs through relay 715 and link 730 runs through relay 710 and then to through relay 715 through link 734. Relay 715 is connected to UE 720 through link 736 and to UE 722 through link 738.

FIG. 7B is a sequence diagram illustrating a communication method 750 according to some aspects of the present disclosure. The communication method 750 may be performed by the BS 705, the

relays

710 and 715, and the

UEs

720 and 722, configured as illustrated in scenario 700 of FIG. 7A.

At action 752, BS 705 may generate a combination TB containing data for UE 720 and for UE 722. The data for each of

UE

720 and 722 may include as sub-blocks of the combination TB, and each sub-block may use a different encoding scheme. The sub-block for UE 720 may be identified using UE packet ID p, and the sub-block for UE 722 may be identified with UE packet ID n.

At action 754, BS 705 may transmit DCI (e.g., via PDCCH, or piggybacked on PDSCH) include group information indicating that packet ID n corresponds to UE 722 and packet ID p corresponds to UE 720. The group information can also include a relay HARQ process ID identifying a DL HARQ process between BS 705 and relay 710. The group information may be structured as illustrated in FIG. 5. The DCI may also include scheduling information (e.g., resource allocation and/or MCS) for the combination TB. In some aspects, the DCI may include all the group information (e.g., HARQ process ID, RV, NDI similar to the

blocks

506, 508 to 510 for each UE 720 and UE 722) . In some other aspects, the DCI may include relay HARQ process ID and UE packet IDs (e.g., UE packet ID p and UE packet ID n) , and the group information (e.g., HARQ process ID, RV, NDI for each UE 720 and UE 722) may be part of the combination TB, for example, as a sub-header within the combination TB, similar to the uplink combination TB shown in FIG. 4.

At action 756, BS 705 may transmit the combination TB it generated at action 752 to the relay 710.

At action 758, relay 710 may generate a new combination TB that includes the data for

UEs

720 and 722 included in the combination TB received from the BS 705 in action 756. The combination TB generated by relay 710 may include additional data from additional BSs 105 (not pictured) , and/or may use a different MCS than the one used in action 756.

At action 760, relay 710 may transmit DCI including the group information received at action 754 to relay 715. The DCI may also include scheduling information (e.g., resource allocation and MCS) for the combination TB. In some aspects, the DCI may include all the group information (e.g., HARQ process ID, RV, NDI similar to the

blocks

At action 762, relay 710 may transmit the combination TB generated at action 758 to relay 715. If the relay 715 successfully decoded the combination TB, the relay 715 may forward the data with the packet ID n to the UE 722 and the data with the packet ID p to the UE 720. The relay 715 may also transmit an ACK (for the relay HARQ process) to the BS 705. If, however, the relay 715 fails to decode the combination TB, the relay 715 may transmit an NACK (for the relay HARQ process) to the BS 705, which may then retransmit the combination TB. The relay 715 may also transmit a NACK for a sub-block of the combination TB (e.g., the sub-block corresponding to UE packet ID p) if it fails to decode that sub-block, in which case the BS 705 may retransmit the data in the sub-block rather than the entire combination TB.

At action 764, BS 705 may transmit a data signal (including a data packet) intended for UE 722, with packet ID n. The transmission may be a retransmission of the data included (with packet ID n) for UE 722 as part of the combination TB generated in action 752. For instance, the retransmission for the packet ID n may be in response to failing to receive an ACK from the UE 720 for the data with packet ID n sent via the combination TB at action 752.

At action 766, BS 705 may transmit a data signal (including a data packet) intended for UE 720, with packet ID p. The transmission may be a retransmission of the data included (with packet ID p) for UE 720 as part of the combination TB generated in action 752. For instance, the retransmission for the packet ID p may be in response to failing to receive an ACK from the UE 722 for the data with packet ID p sent via the combination TB at action 752.

At action 768, relay 715 may perform soft combining on the data signals (e.g., the packets) received from BS 705 for UE 722 at

actions

756 and 764. The packets for soft combining may be identified as those sharing the packet ID n.

At action 770, the relay 715 may transit a TB including the data with packet ID n to UE 720.

At action 772, relay 715 may perform soft combining on the data signals (e.g., the packets) received from BS 705 for UE 720 at

actions

756 and 766. The packets for soft combining may be identified as those sharing the packet ID p.

At action 774, the relay 715 may transmit a TB including the data with packet ID p to UE 722.

While FIG. 7B illustrates the relay 715 performing soft combining, other devices downstream from BS 705 may perform soft combining. For example, if a direct link were established between relay 710 and UE 722, UE 722 could perform soft combining on packets received from relay 715 and relay 710 that share the same UE packet ID.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an exemplary BS 800 according to some aspects of the present disclosure. The BS 800 may be a BS 105 as discussed in FIGS. 1-7 and 9-11. A shown, the BS 800 may include a processor 802, a memory 804, a soft combining module 808, a combination TB generation module 809, a transceiver 810 including a modem subsystem 812 and a RF unit 814, and one or more antennas 816. These elements may be coupled with one another. The term “coupled” may refer to directly or indirectly coupled or connected to one or more intervening elements. For instance, these elements may be in direct or indirect communication with each other, for example via one or more buses.

The processor 802 may have various features as a specific-type processor. For example, these may include a CPU, a DSP, an ASIC, a controller, a FPGA device, another hardware device, a firmware device, or any combination thereof configured to perform the operations described herein. The processor 802 may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

The memory 804 may include a cache memory (e.g., a cache memory of the processor 802) , RAM, MRAM, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, a solid state memory device, one or more hard disk drives, memristor-based arrays, other forms of volatile and non-volatile memory, or a combination of different types of memory. In some aspects, the memory 804 may include a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The memory 804 may store instructions 806. The instructions 806 may include instructions that, when executed by the processor 802, cause the processor 802 to perform operations described herein, for example, aspects of FIGS. 1-5, 6A-6B, 7A-7B, and 10-11. Instructions 806 may also be referred to as program code. The program code may be for causing a wireless communication device to perform these operations, for example by causing one or more processors (such as processor 802) to control or command the wireless communication device to do so. The terms “instructions” and “code” should be interpreted broadly to include any type of computer-readable statement (s) . For example, the terms “instructions” and “code” may refer to one or more programs, routines, sub-routines, functions, procedures, etc. “Instructions” and “code” may include a single computer-readable statement or many computer-readable statements.

The soft combining module 808 may be implemented via hardware, software, or combinations thereof. For example, the soft combining module 808 may be implemented as a processor, circuit, and/or instructions 806 stored in the memory 804 and executed by the processor 802. In some examples, the soft combining module 808 can be integrated within the modem subsystem 812. For example, the soft combining module 808 can be implemented by a combination of software components (e.g., executed by a DSP or a general processor) and hardware components (e.g., logic gates and circuitry) within the modem subsystem 812.

The combination TB generation module 809 may be implemented via hardware, software, or combinations thereof. For example, the combination TB generation module 809 may be implemented as a processor, circuit, and/or instructions 806 stored in the memory 804 and executed by the processor 802. In some examples, the combination TB generation module 809 can be integrated within the modem subsystem 812. For example, the soft combining module 808 can be implemented by a combination of software components (e.g., executed by a DSP or a general processor) and hardware components (e.g., logic gates and circuitry) within the modem subsystem 812.

The soft combining module 808 and/or the combination TB generation module 809 may communicate with one or more components of BS 800 to implement various aspects of the present disclosure, for example, aspects of FIGS. 1-5, 6A-6B, 7A-7B, and 10-11. In some aspects, the soft combining module 808 and the TB generation module 809 may be part of the same component. In other aspects, the soft combining module 808 and the TB generation module 809 may be separate components.

For instance, the soft combining module 808 may receive, via a first link, group information and a first data block (e.g., a combination TB) including a plurality of data sub-blocks (e.g., sub-TBs) . The group information may include a plurality of UE packet IDs, where each UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs corresponds to a UE 115 from among a plurality of UEs 115. The group information may also include a HARQ process (indicated, for example, by a HARQ process ID) from among a plurality of HARQ processes at the corresponding UE 115. Each UE packet ID may identify both a UE 115 and a specific HARQ process at the UE 115. Each of the plurality of data sub-blocks may be associated with a UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs. A first UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs may correspond to a first UE 115 of the plurality of UEs 115.

In some aspects, the group information may be included in the first data block (e.g., in the combination TB) . The group information may also include a UE ID (which may be, for example, the C-RNTI of the UE 115) , redundancy version (RV) , new data indicator (NDI) , and the HARQ process ID of a relay the data is being transmitted through. In some aspects, the soft combining module 808 may receive the group information and the first data block by receiving a communication signal, from a relay via the first link, that includes the group information, the first data block, and a HARQ process ID associated with the relay.

In some aspects, a fixed number of bits of the group information may include the group information corresponding to each UE 115. The group information may include an indication of whether the first data block includes information data from a particular UE 115. The indication may include a bit in the group information for each UE 115 indicating whether the data from the UE 115 is included in the first data block. For example, the group information may indicate whether the first data block includes information data from the first UE 115. If so, the indication bit may be set to 1. When no data from the first UE 115 is included, the indication bit may be set to 0.

In some aspects, the number of bits allocated in the group information for the UEs 115 may be variable. For example, the group information size may vary based on the number of UEs 115 connected to the BS, with the group information being smaller when the number of connected UEs 115 is smaller. The group information may include an indication of a length associated with the group information. The length indication may be included in a header of the group information (e.g., as a sub-header, which may be encoded separately from the rest of the group information) .

In some aspects, the group information further includes an indication of whether the group information includes a UE packet ID associated with the first UE 115. For example, it may be unnecessary to include the UE packet IDs of UEs 115 which do not support soft combining. In this situation, a bit may be added to the sub-header for each UE 115 for which data is included in the first data block indicating whether a UE packet ID is included for the UE 115. Alternately, the NDI may be repurposed to indicate whether soft combining may be performed. For example, setting the NDI corresponding to a UE 115 to 1 may indicate that a UE packet ID for the UE 115 is not included and/or that soft combining should not be performed for the data from UE 115.

The soft combining module 808 may also receive, via a second link different from the first link, a second data block associated with a second UE packet ID. In some aspects, the second data block may include a second plurality of data sub-blocks, and the second UE packet ID may be associated with the first UE 115 and with a second data sub-block of the second plurality of data sub-blocks. For example, the second data block may be a combination TB, and the second link may originate from a relay.

The soft combining module 808 may also perform soft combining between a first data sub-block of the plurality of data sub-blocks and the second data block to decode information data based on the first UE packet ID being the same as the second UE packet ID. For example, the second data block may be a retransmission of the first data block in a response to a NACK. The soft combining module 808 may perform soft combining between a first data sub-block of the plurality of data sub-blocks and the second data block to decode information data based on the first UE packet ID being the same as the second UE packet ID. For example, the second data block may be a retransmission of the first data block in a response to a NACK. The soft combining module 808 may identify the second data block as being a retransmission of the first data block based on the UE packet IDs being equal between the first data block and the second data block. While the UE packet IDs associated with the first and data blocks may be the same, the HARQ process IDs may be different.

In some instances, the combination TB generation module 809 may generate a plurality of data blocks. Each data block of the plurality of data blocks may be associated with one UE packet ID of a plurality of UE packet IDs. Each UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs may correspond to a UE 115 from among a plurality of UEs 115 and a HARQ process from among a plurality of HARQ processes at the corresponding UE 115. A first UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs corresponds to a first UE 115 of the plurality of UEs 115. In some aspects, some or all of the data blocks in the plurality of data blocks may be different. For example, the combination TB generation module 809 may receive data blocks from a different device (e.g., a wireless communication device 900) on the first link than on the second link.

The combination TB generation module 809 may also encode each data block of the plurality of data blocks into a plurality of encoded data blocks. In some aspects, each data block may be encoded separately, using a different MCSs. The encoded data blocks may be combined into a combination TB as illustrated in FIGs. 4, 6B, and 7B.

The combination TB generation module 809 may also transmit group information including the plurality of UE packet IDs and a combination data block (e.g., the combined TB) including the plurality of encoded data blocks (which may also be referred to as sub-blocks or sub-TBs) . The group information may include the plurality of UE packet IDs. The group information may also include a HARQ process (indicated, for example, by a HARQ process ID) from among the plurality of HARQ processes at the corresponding UE 115.

In some aspects, the group information may be transmitted in the combination data block (e.g., in the combination TB) . The group information may also include a redundancy version (RV) , new data indicator (NDI) , and the HARQ process ID of a relay the data is being transmitted through. In some aspects, as part of transmitting the group information and the combination data block, the combination TB generation module 809 may transmit a communication signal that includes the group information, the combination data block, and a HARQ process ID. The HARQ process ID may associated with a wireless communication device 900 (e.g., a wireless communication device 900 acting as a relay) .

In some aspects, a fixed number of bits of the group information may include the group information corresponding to each UE 115. The group information may include an indication of whether the combination data block includes information data from a particular UE 115. The indication may include a bit in the group information for each UE 115 indicating whether the data from the UE 115 is included in the combination data block. For example, the group information may indicate whether the combination data block includes information data from the first UE 115. If so, the indication bit may be set to 1. When no data from the first UE 115 is included, the information bit may be set to 1.

In some aspects, the group information further includes an indication of whether the group information includes a UE packet ID associated with the first UE 115. For example, it may be unnecessary to include the UE packet IDs of UEs 115 which do not support soft combining. In this situation, a bit may be added to the sub-header for each UE 115 for which data is included in the combination data block indicating whether a UE packet ID is included for the UE 115. Alternately, the NDI may be repurposed to indicate whether soft combining may be performed. For example, setting the NDI corresponding to a UE 115 to 1 may indicate that a UE packet ID for the UE 115 is not included and/or that soft combining should not be performed for the data from UE 115.

In some aspects, as part of transmitting the group information and the combination data block, the combination TB generation module 809 may transmit, via PDCCH, DCI including the first UE packet ID. The DCI may include a HARQ process ID field indicating the first UE packet ID. Alternately, the combination TB generation module 809 may transmit the DCI piggybacked on PDSCH. In some aspects, the DCI may include a number of bits (e.g., 4 bits for up to 16 HARQ processes) for each UE 115 for which data is included in the combination data block, indicating the UE packet ID. Alternately, the four DCI bits used to indicate the HARQ process ID may be repurposed to indicate the UE packet ID, since transmissions to multiple UEs 115 through the same relay may share the same HARQ process ID (e.g., the HARQ process ID of the relay) . An additional sub-header may be added to the DCI to indicate the HARQ process ID of the relay.

As shown, the transceiver 810 may include the modem subsystem 812 and the RF unit 814. The transceiver 810 can be configured to communicate bi-directionally with other devices, such as the UEs 115 and/or wireless communication devices 900 and/or another core network element. The modem subsystem 812 may be configured to modulate and/or encode data according to a MCS, e.g., a LDPC coding scheme, a turbo coding scheme, a convolutional coding scheme, a digital beamforming scheme, etc. The RF unit 814 may be configured to process (e.g., perform analog to digital conversion or digital to analog conversion, etc. ) modulated/encoded data (e.g., combination TBs, group information, DCI, etc. ) from the modem subsystem 812 (on outbound transmissions) or of transmissions originating from another source such as a UE 115 and/or UE 800. The RF unit 814 may be further configured to perform analog beamforming in conjunction with the digital beamforming. Although shown as integrated together in transceiver 810, the modem subsystem 812 and/or the RF unit 814 may be separate devices that are coupled together at the BS 800 to enable the BS 800 to communicate with other devices.

The RF unit 814 may provide the modulated and/or processed data, e.g. data packets (or, more generally, data messages that may contain one or more data packets and other information) , to the antennas 816 for transmission to one or more other devices. The antennas 816 may further receive data messages transmitted from other devices and provide the received data messages for processing and/or demodulation at the transceiver 810. The transceiver 810 may provide the demodulated and decoded data (e.g., combination TBs, group information, DCI, etc. ) to the soft combining module 808 and/or the combination TB generation module 809 for processing. The antennas 816 may include multiple antennas of similar or different designs in order to sustain multiple transmission links.

In an example, the transceiver 810 is configured to communicate with one or more components of the BS 800 to receive, via a first link, group information and a first data block including a plurality of data sub-blocks, wherein the group information includes a plurality of UE packet IDs, wherein each UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs corresponds to a UE 115 from among a plurality of UEs 115 and a HARQ process from among a plurality of HARQ processes at the corresponding UE 115, wherein each of the plurality of data sub-blocks is associated with a UE 115 packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs, and wherein a first UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs corresponds to a first UE 115 of the plurality of UEs 115. The transceiver 810 is further configured to receive, via a second link different from the first link, a second data block associated with a second UE packet ID. The processor 802 is coupled to the transceiver 810 and configured to perform (e.g., in combination with the soft combining module 808) soft combining between a first data sub-block of the plurality of data sub-blocks and the second data block to decode information data based on the first UE packet ID being the same as the second UE packet ID.

In another example, the transceiver 810 is configured to communicate with one or more components of the BS 800 to receive via at least a first link and a second link, a plurality of data blocks, wherein each data block of the plurality of data blocks is associated with one UE packet ID of a plurality of UE packet IDs, wherein each UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs corresponds to a UE 115 from among a plurality of UEs 115 and a HARQ process from among a plurality of HARQ processes at the corresponding UE 115, and wherein a first UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs corresponds to a first UE 115 of the plurality of UEs 115. The processor 802 is configured to encode each data block of the plurality of data blocks into a plurality of encoded data blocks. The transceiver 810 is further configured to transmit group information including the plurality of UE packet IDs and a combination data block including the plurality of encoded data blocks.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an exemplary wireless communication device 900 according to some aspects of the present disclosure. The wireless communication device 900 may be a UE 115 or an anchor node as discussed in FIGS. 1-5, 6A-6B, 7A-7B, and 10-11. As shown, the UE 900 may include a processor 902, a memory 904, a soft combining module 908, a combination TB generation module 909, a transceiver 910 including a modem subsystem 912 and a radio frequency (RF) unit 914, and one or more antennas 916. These elements may be coupled with one another. The term “coupled” may refer to directly or indirectly coupled or connected to one or more intervening elements. For instance, these elements may be in direct or indirect communication with each other, for example via one or more buses.

The processor 902 may include a central processing unit (CPU) , a digital signal processor (DSP) , an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) , a controller, a field programmable gate array (FPGA) device, another hardware device, a firmware device, or any combination thereof configured to perform the operations described herein. The processor 902 may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

The memory 904 may include a cache memory (e.g., a cache memory of the processor 902) , random access memory (RAM) , magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM) , read-only memory (ROM) , programmable read-only memory (PROM) , erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM) , electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM) , flash memory, solid state memory device, hard disk drives, other forms of volatile and non-volatile memory, or a combination of different types of memory. In an aspect, the memory 904 includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The memory 904 may store, or have recorded thereon, instructions 906. The instructions 906 may include instructions that, when executed by the processor 902, cause the processor 902 to perform the operations described herein with reference to a UE 115 or an anchor in connection with aspects of the present disclosure, for example, aspects of FIGs. 1-5, 6A-6B, 7A-7B, and 10-11. Instructions 906 may also be referred to as code, which may be interpreted broadly to include any type of computer-readable statement (s) as discussed above with respect to FIG. 8.

The soft combining module 908 may be implemented via hardware, software, or combinations thereof. For example, the soft combining module 908 may be implemented as a processor, circuit, and/or instructions 906 stored in the memory 904 and executed by the processor 902. In some aspects, the soft combining module 908 can be integrated within the modem subsystem 912. For example, the soft combining module 908 can be implemented by a combination of software components (e.g., executed by a DSP or a general processor) and hardware components (e.g., logic gates and circuitry) within the modem subsystem 912.

The combination TB generation module 909 may be implemented via hardware, software, or combinations thereof. For example, the combination TB generation module 909 may be implemented as a processor, circuit, and/or instructions 806 stored in the memory 904 and executed by the processor 902. In some examples, the combination TB generation module 909 can be integrated within the modem subsystem 912. For example, the soft combining module 908 can be implemented by a combination of software components (e.g., executed by a DSP or a general processor) and hardware components (e.g., logic gates and circuitry) within the modem subsystem 812.

The soft combining module 908 and/or the combination TB generation module 909 may communicate with one or more components of wireless communication device 900 to implement various aspects of the present disclosure, for example, aspects of FIGS. 1-5, 6A-6B, 7A-7B, and 10-11. In some aspects, the soft combining module 908 and the TB generation module 909 may be part of the same component. In other aspects, the soft combining module 908 and the TB generation module 909 may be separate components.

For instance, the soft combining module 908 may receive, via a first link, group information and a first data block (e.g., a combination TB) including a plurality of data sub-blocks (e.g., sub-TBs) . The group information may include a plurality of UE packet IDs, where each UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs corresponds to a UE 115 from among a plurality of UEs. The group information may also include a HARQ process (indicated, for example, by a HARQ process ID) from among a plurality of HARQ processes at the corresponding UE 115. Each UE packet ID may identify both a UE and a specific HARQ process at the UE. Each of the plurality of data sub-blocks may be associated with a UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs. A first UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs may correspond to a first UE 115 of the plurality of UEs.

In some aspects, the group information may be included in the first data block (e.g., in the combination TB) . The group information may also include a UE ID (which may be, for example, the C-RNTI of the UE) , redundancy version (RV) , new data indicator (NDI) , and the HARQ process ID of a relay the data is being transmitted through. In some aspects, the soft combining module 908 may receive the group information and the first data block by receiving a communication signal, from a relay via the first link, that includes the group information, the first data block, and a HARQ process ID associated with the relay.

In some aspects, a fixed number of bits of the group information may include the group information corresponding to each UE 115. The group information may include an indication of whether the first data block includes information data from a particular UE 115. The indication may include a bit in the group information for each UE 115 indicating whether the data from the UE 115 is included in the first data block. For example, the group information may indicate whether the first data block includes information data from the first UE 115. If so, the indication bit may be set to 1. When no data from the first UE 115 is included, the indication bit may be set to 1.

In some aspects, the soft combining module 908 may receive the group information and the first data block by receiving, via PDCCH, DCI including the first UE packet ID. Receiving the DCI may include receiving the DCI including a HARQ process ID field indicating the first UE packet ID. Alternately, the soft combining module 908 may receive the DCI piggybacked on PDSCH. The DCI may include a HARQ process ID field indicating the first UE packet ID. In some aspects, the DCI may include a number of bits (e.g., 4 bits for up to 16 HARQ processes) for each UE 115 for which data is included in the first data block, indicating the UE packet ID. Alternately, the four DCI bits used to indicate the HARQ process ID may be repurposed to indicate the UE packet ID, since transmissions to multiple UEs 115 through the same relay may share the same HARQ process ID (e.g., the HARQ process ID of the relay) . An additional sub-header may be added to the DCI to indicate the HARQ process ID of the relay.

The soft combining module 908 may also receive, via a second link different from the first link, a second data block associated with a second UE packet ID. In some aspects, the first and second links may be upstream links. In some other aspects, the first and second link may be downstream links. In some aspects, the second data block may include a second plurality of data sub-blocks, and the second UE packet ID may be associated with the first UE 115 and with a second data sub-block of the second plurality of data sub-blocks. For example, the second data block may be a combination TB, and the second link may originate from a relay.

The soft combining module 908 may also perform soft combining between a first data sub-block of the plurality of data sub-blocks and the second data block to decode information data based on the first UE packet ID being the same as the second UE packet ID. For example, the second data block may be a retransmission of the first data block in a response to a NACK. The soft combining module 908 may perform soft combining between a first data sub-block of the plurality of data sub-blocks and the second data block to decode information data based on the first UE packet ID being the same as the second UE packet ID. For example, the second data block may be a retransmission of the first data block in a response to a NACK. The soft combining module 908 may identify the second data block as being a retransmission of the first data block based on the UE packet IDs being equal between the first data block and the second data block. While the UE packet IDs associated with the first and data blocks may be the same, the HARQ process IDs may be different.

In some instances, the combination TB generation module 909 may receive, via at least a first link and a second link, a plurality of data blocks. In some aspects, the first and second links may be upstream links. In some other aspects, the first and second link may be downstream links. Each data block of the plurality of data blocks may be associated with one UE packet ID of a plurality of UE packet IDs. Each UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs may correspond to a UE 115 from among a plurality of UEs 115 and a HARQ process from among a plurality of HARQ processes at the corresponding UE 115. A first UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs corresponds to a first UE 115 of the plurality of UEs 115. In some aspects, some or all of the data blocks in the plurality of data blocks may be different. For example, the combination TB generation module 909 may receive data blocks from a different device (e.g., a wireless communication device 900) on the first link than on the second link.

The combination TB generation module 909 may also encode each data block of the plurality of data blocks into a plurality of encoded data blocks. In some aspects, each data block may be encoded separately, using a different MCSs. The encoded data blocks may be combined into a combination TB as illustrated in FIGs. 4, 6B, and 7B.

The combination TB generation module 909 may also transmit group information including the plurality of UE packet IDs and a combination data block (e.g., the combined TB) including the plurality of encoded data blocks (which may also be referred to as sub-blocks or sub-TBs) . The group information may include the plurality of UE packet IDs. The group information may also include a HARQ process (indicated, for example, by a HARQ process ID) from among the plurality of HARQ processes at the corresponding UE 115.

In some aspects, the group information may be transmitted in the combination data block (e.g., in the combination TB) . The group information may also include a redundancy version (RV) , new data indicator (NDI) , and the HARQ process ID of a relay the data is being transmitted through. In some aspects, as part of transmitting the group information and the combination data block, the combination TB generation module 909 may transmit a communication signal that includes the group information, the combination data block, and a HARQ process ID. The HARQ process ID may associated with a wireless communication device 900 (e.g., a wireless communication device 900 acting as a relay) .

In some aspects, a fixed number of bits of the group information may include the group information corresponding to each UE 115. The group information may include an indication of whether the combination data block includes information data from a particular UE 115. The indication may include a bit in the group information for each UE 115 indicating whether the data from the UE 115 is included in the combination data block. For example, the group information may indicate whether the combination data block includes information data from the first UE 115. If so, the indication bit may be set to 1. When no data from the first UE 115 is included, the information bit may be set to 0.

In some aspects, as part of transmitting the group information and the combination data block, the combination TB generation module 909 may transmit, via PDCCH, DCI including the first UE packet ID, for example, when communicating in a downstream direction. The DCI may include a HARQ process ID field indicating the first UE packet ID. Alternately, the combination TB generation module 909 may transmit the DCI piggybacked on PDSCH. In some aspects, the DCI may include a number of bits (e.g., 4 bits for up to 16 HARQ processes) for each UE 115 for which data is included in the combination data block, indicating the UE packet ID. Alternately, the four DCI bits used to indicate the HARQ process ID may be repurposed to indicate the UE packet ID, since transmissions to multiple UEs 115 through the same relay may share the same HARQ process ID (e.g., the HARQ process ID of the relay) . An additional sub-header may be added to the DCI to indicate the HARQ process ID of the relay.

As shown, the transceiver 910 may include the modem subsystem 912 and the RF unit 914. The transceiver 910 can be configured to communicate bi-directionally with other devices, such as the

BSs

105 and 700. The modem subsystem 912 may be configured to modulate and/or encode the data from the memory 904 and/or the soft combining module 908 according to a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) , e.g., a low-density parity check (LDPC) coding scheme, a turbo coding scheme, a convolutional coding scheme, a digital beamforming scheme, etc. The RF unit 914 may be configured to process (e.g., perform analog to digital conversion or digital to analog conversion, etc. ) modulated/encoded data (e.g., combination TBs, group information, DCI, etc. ) from the modem subsystem 912 (on outbound transmissions) or of transmissions originating from another source such as a UE 115, a BS 105, or an anchor. The RF unit 914 may be further configured to perform analog beamforming in conjunction with the digital beamforming. Although shown as integrated together in transceiver 910, the modem subsystem 912 and the RF unit 914 may be separate devices that are coupled together at the UE 115 to enable the UE 115 to communicate with other devices.

The RF unit 914 may provide the modulated and/or processed data, e.g. data packets (or, more generally, data messages that may contain one or more data packets and other information) , to the antennas 916 for transmission to one or more other devices. The antennas 916 may further receive data messages transmitted from other devices. The antennas 916 may provide the received data messages for processing and/or demodulation at the transceiver 910. The transceiver 910 may provide the demodulated and decoded data (e.g., combination TBs, group information, DCI, etc. ) to the soft combining module 908 and/or the combination TB generation module 909 for processing. The antennas 916 may include multiple antennas of similar or different designs in order to sustain multiple transmission links.

In an example, the transceiver 910 is configured to communicate with one or more components of the wireless communication device 900 to receive, via a first link, group information and a first data block including a plurality of data sub-blocks, wherein the group information includes a plurality of UE packet IDs, wherein each UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs corresponds to a UE 115 from among a plurality of UEs 115 and a HARQ process from among a plurality of HARQ processes at the corresponding UE 115, wherein each of the plurality of data sub-blocks is associated with a UE 115 packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs, and wherein a first UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs corresponds to a first UE 115 of the plurality of UEs 115. The transceiver 910 is further configured to receive, via a second link different from the first link, a second data block associated with a second UE packet ID. The processor 902 is coupled to the transceiver 910 and configured to perform (e.g., in combination with the soft combining module 908) soft combining between a first data sub-block of the plurality of data sub-blocks and the second data block to decode information data based on the first UE packet ID being the same as the second UE packet ID.

In another example, the transceiver 910 is configured to communicate with one or more components of the wireless communication device 900 to receive via at least a first link and a second link, a plurality of data blocks, wherein each data block of the plurality of data blocks is associated with one UE packet ID of a plurality of UE packet IDs, wherein each UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs corresponds to a UE 115 from among a plurality of UEs 115 and a HARQ process from among a plurality of HARQ processes at the corresponding UE 115, and wherein a first UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs corresponds to a first UE 115 of the plurality of UEs 115. The processor 902 is configured to encode each data block of the plurality of data blocks into a plurality of encoded data blocks. The transceiver 910 is further configured to transmit group information including the plurality of UE packet IDs and a combination data block including the plurality of encoded data blocks.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrating a communication method 1000 according to some aspects of the present disclosure. Aspects of the method 1000 can be executed by a computing device (e.g., a processor, processing circuit, and/or other suitable component) of a wireless communication device or other suitable means for performing the blocks. For example, the wireless communication device may be a BS 105 or BS 800, and may utilize one or more components, such as the processor 802, the memory 804, the soft combining module 808, the combination TB generation module 809, the transceiver 810, the modem 812, the RF unit 814, and the one or more antennas 816, to execute the blocks of method 1000. Alternately, the wireless communication device may be a wireless communication device 900, which may include a UE 115 or an anchor node. The wireless communication device 900 may utilize one or more components, such as the processor 902, the memory 904, the soft combining module 908, the combination TB generation module 909, the transceiver 910, the modem 912, the RF unit 914, and the one or more antennas 916, to execute the blocks of method 1000. The method 1000 may employ similar mechanisms as described in FIGS. 2-9. As illustrated, the method 1000 includes a number of enumerated blocks, but aspects of the method 1000 may include additional blocks before, after, and in between the enumerated blocks. In some aspects, one or more of the enumerated blocks may be omitted or performed in a different order.

At block 1005, the BS 800 or wireless communication device 900 receives, via a first link, group information and a first data block (e.g., a combination TB) including a plurality of data sub-blocks (e.g., sub-TBs) . The group information may include a plurality of UE packet IDs, where each UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs corresponds to a UE 115 from among a plurality of UEs 115. The group information may also include a HARQ process (indicated, for example, by a HARQ process ID) from among a plurality of HARQ processes at the corresponding UE 115. Each UE packet ID may identify both a UE 115 and a specific HARQ process at the UE 115. Each of the plurality of data sub-blocks may be associated with a UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs. A first UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs may correspond to a first UE 115 of the plurality of UEs 115.

In some aspects, the group information may be included in the first data block (e.g., in the combination TB) . The group information may also include a UE ID (which may be, for example, the C-RNTI of the UE 115) , redundancy version (RV) , new data indicator (NDI) , and the HARQ process ID of a relay the data is being transmitted through. In some aspects, receiving the group information and the first data block may include receiving a communication signal, from a relay via the first link, that includes the group information, the first data block, and a HARQ process ID associated with the relay.

In some aspects, receiving the group information and the first data block further may include receiving, via PDCCH, DCI including the first UE packet ID. Receiving the DCI may include receiving the DCI including a HARQ process ID field indicating the first UE packet ID. Alternately, the DCI may be received piggybacked on PDSCH. The DCI may include a HARQ process ID field indicating the first UE packet ID. In some aspects, the DCI may include a number of bits (e.g., 4 bits for up to 16 HARQ processes) for each UE 115 for which data is included in the first data block, indicating the UE packet ID. Alternately, the four DCI bits used to indicate the HARQ process ID may be repurposed to indicate the UE packet ID, since transmissions to multiple UEs 115 through the same relay may share the same HARQ process ID (e.g., the HARQ process ID of the relay) . An additional sub-header may be added to the DCI to indicate the HARQ process ID of the relay.

In some aspects, the BS 800 may utilize one or more components, such the processor 802, the memory 804, the soft combining module 808, the combination TB generation module 809, the transceiver 810, the modem 812, the RF unit 814, and the one or more antennas 816, to perform the operations at block 1005. Alternately, the wireless communication device 900 may utilize one or more components, such the processor 902, the memory 904, the soft combining module 908, the combination TB generation module 909, the transceiver 910, the modem 912, the RF unit 914, and the one or more antennas 916, to perform the operations at block 1005.

At block 1010, the BS 800 or wireless communication device 900 receives, via a second link different from the first link, a second data block associated with a second UE packet ID. In some aspects, the second data block may include a second plurality of data sub-blocks, and the second UE packet ID may be associated with the first UE 115 and with a second data sub-block of the second plurality of data sub-blocks. For example, the second data block may be a combination TB, and the second link may originate from a relay. In some aspects, the BS 800 may utilize one or more components, such the processor 802, the memory 804, the soft combining module 808, the combination TB generation module 809, the transceiver 810, the modem 812, the RF unit 814, and the one or more antennas 816, to perform the operations at block 1010. Alternately, the wireless communication device 900 may utilize one or more components, such the processor 902, the memory 904, the soft combining module 908, the combination TB generation module 909, the transceiver 910, the modem 912, the RF unit 914, and the one or more antennas 916, to perform the operations at block 1010

At block 1015, the BS 800 or wireless communication device 900 performs soft combining between a first data sub-block of the plurality of data sub-blocks and the second data block to decode information data based on the first UE packet ID being the same as the second UE packet ID.For example, the second data block may be a retransmission of the first data block in a response to a NACK. The BS 105 or wireless communication device may identify the second data block as being a retransmission of the first data block based on the UE packet IDs being equal between the first data block and the second data block. While the UE packet IDs associated with the first and second data blocks may be the same, the HARQ process IDs may be different. In some aspects, the BS 800 may utilize one or more components, such the processor 802, the memory 804, the soft combining module 808, the combination TB generation module 809, the transceiver 810, the modem 812, the RF unit 814, and the one or more antennas 816, to perform the operations at block 1015. Alternately, the wireless communication device 900 may utilize one or more components, such the processor 902, the memory 904, the soft combining module 908, the combination TB generation module 909, the transceiver 910, the modem 912, the RF unit 914, and the one or more antennas 916, to perform the operations at block 1015.

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram illustrating a communication method 1100 according to some aspects of the present disclosure. Aspects of the method 1100 can be executed by a computing device (e.g., a processor, processing circuit, and/or other suitable component) of a wireless communication device or other suitable means for performing the blocks. For example, the wireless communication device may be a wireless communication device 900, which may include a UE 115 or an anchor node. The wireless communication device 900 may utilize one or more components, such as the processor 902, the memory 904, the soft combining module 908, the combination TB generation module 909, the transceiver 910, the modem 912, the RF unit 914, and the one or more antennas 916, to execute the blocks of method 1100. The method 1100 may employ similar mechanisms as described in FIGS. 2-10. As illustrated, the method 1100 includes a number of enumerated blocks, but aspects of the method 1100 may include additional blocks before, after, and in between the enumerated blocks. In some aspects, one or more of the enumerated blocks may be omitted or performed in a different order.

At block 1105, the wireless communication device 900 may receive, via at least a first link and a second link, a plurality of data blocks. Each data block of the plurality of data blocks may be associated with one UE packet ID of a plurality of UE packet IDs. Each UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs may correspond to a UE 115 from among a plurality of UEs 115 and a HARQ process from among a plurality of HARQ processes at the corresponding UE 115. A first UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs corresponds to a first UE 115 of the plurality of UEs 115. In some aspects, some or all of the data blocks in the plurality of data blocks may be different. For example, the wireless communication device 900 may receive data blocks from a different device (e.g., a different wireless communication device 900) on the first link than on the second link. In some aspects, the wireless communication device 900 may utilize one or more components, such the processor 902, the memory 904, the soft combining module 908, the combination TB generation module 909, the transceiver 910, the modem 912, the RF unit 914, and the one or more antennas 916, to perform the operations at block 1105.

At block 1110, the wireless communication device 900 may encode each data block of the plurality of data blocks into a plurality of encoded data blocks. In some aspects, each data block may be encoded separately, using a different MCSs. The encoded data blocks may be combined into a combination TB as illustrated in FIGs. 4, 6B, and 7B. In some aspects, the wireless communication device 900 may utilize one or more components, such the processor 902, the memory 904, the soft combining module 908, the combination TB generation module 909, the transceiver 910, the modem 912, the RF unit 914, and the one or more antennas 916, to perform the operations at block 1110.

At block 1115, the wireless communication device 900 may transmit group information including the plurality of UE packet IDs and a combination data block (e.g., the combined TB) including the plurality of encoded data blocks (which may also be referred to as sub-blocks or sub-TBs) . The group information may include the plurality of UE packet IDs. The group information may also include a HARQ process (indicated, for example, by a HARQ process ID) from among the plurality of HARQ processes at the corresponding UE 115.

In some aspects, the group information may be transmitted in a data block of the combination data block (e.g., in a sub-TB of the combination TB) . The group information may also include a redundancy version (RV) , new data indicator (NDI) , and the HARQ process ID of a relay the data is being transmitted through. In some aspects, transmitting the group information and the combination data block may include transmitting a communication signal that includes the group information, the combination data block, and a HARQ process ID. The HARQ process ID may associated with a wireless communication device 900 (e.g., a wireless communication device 900 acting as a relay) , which in some aspects may be the same wireless communication device 900 transmitting the group information and the combination data block.

In some aspects, transmitting the group information and the combination data block may include transmitting, via PDCCH, DCI including the first UE packet ID. Transmitting the DCI may include transmitting the DCI including a HARQ process ID field indicating the first UE packet ID. Alternately, the DCI may be transmitting piggybacked on PDSCH. In some aspects, the DCI may include a number of bits (e.g., 4 bits for up to 16 HARQ processes) for each UE 115 for which data is included in the combination data block, indicating the UE packet ID. Alternately, the four DCI bits used to indicate the HARQ process ID may be repurposed to indicate the UE packet ID, since transmissions to multiple UEs 115 through the same relay may share the same HARQ process ID (e.g., the HARQ process ID of the relay) . An additional sub-header may be added to the DCI to indicate the HARQ process ID of the relay. In some aspects, the wireless communication device 900 may utilize one or more components, such the processor 902, the memory 904, the soft combining module 908, the combination TB generation module 909, the transceiver 910, the modem 912, the RF unit 914, and the one or more antennas 916, to perform the operations at block 1115. In some aspects, a BS 800 may use similar mechanisms to those of method 1100 for performing DL transmissions over multiple links. Rather than receiving the plurality of data blocks at block 1105, the BS 800 may instead generate a plurality of data blocks intended for a plurality of UEs 115.

Further aspects of the present disclosure include the following:

1. A method of wireless communication performed by a wireless communication device, the method comprising:

receiving, via a first link, group information and a first data block including a plurality of data sub-blocks, wherein the group information includes a plurality of user equipment (UE) packet IDs, wherein each UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs corresponds to a UE from among a plurality of UEs and a hybrid automatic request repeat (HARQ) process from among a plurality of HARQ processes at the corresponding UE, wherein each of the plurality of data sub-blocks is associated with a UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs, and wherein a first UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs corresponds to a first UE of the plurality of UEs;

receiving, via a second link different from the first link, a second data block associated with a second UE packet ID; and

performing soft combining between a first data sub-block of the plurality of data sub-blocks and the second data block to decode information data based on the first UE packet ID being the same as the second UE packet ID.

2. The method of aspect 1, wherein the second data block comprises a second plurality of data sub-blocks, and the second UE packet ID is associated with the first UE and a second data sub-block of the second plurality of data sub-blocks.

3. The method of aspects 1-2, wherein the first data block further includes the group information.

4. The method of aspects 1-2, wherein the group information further includes an indication of whether the first data block includes information data associated with the first UE.

5. The method of aspect 1-2 and 4, wherein the group information further includes an indication of whether the group information includes a UE packet ID associated with the first UE.

6. The method of aspect 1-2 and 4-5, wherein the group information further includes an indication of a length associated with the group information.

7. The method of aspects 1-2, wherein the receiving the group information and the first data block further comprises:

receiving, from a relay via the first link, a communication signal including the group information, the first data block, and a HARQ process ID associated with the relay.

8. The method of aspects 1-2, wherein the receiving the group information and the first data block further comprises:

receiving, via a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) , downlink control information (DCI) including the first UE packet ID.

9. The method of aspect 8, wherein the receiving the DCI comprises:

receiving the DCI including a HARQ process ID field indicating the first UE packet ID.

10. A method of wireless communication performed by a wireless communication device, the method comprising:

receiving, via at least a first link and a second link, a plurality of data blocks, wherein each data block of the plurality of data blocks is associated with one UE packet ID of a plurality of UE packet IDs, wherein each user equipment (UE) packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs corresponds to a UE from among a plurality of UEs and a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process from among a plurality of HARQ processes at the corresponding UE, and wherein a first UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs corresponds to a first UE of the plurality of UEs;

encoding each data block of the plurality of data blocks into a plurality of encoded data blocks;

transmitting group information including the plurality of UE packet IDs and a combination data block including the plurality of encoded data blocks.

11. The method of aspect 10, wherein the transmitting the group information and the combination data block comprises:

transmitting, in a first data block of the combination data block, the group information.

12. The method of aspects 10-11, wherein the group information further includes an indication of whether the combination data block includes information data associated with the first UE.

13. The method of aspects 10-11, wherein the group information further includes an indication of whether the group information includes a UE packet ID associated with the first UE.

14. The method of aspects 10-11 and 13, wherein the group information further includes an indication of a length associated with the group information.

15. The method of aspects 10-11, wherein transmitting the group information and the combination data block comprises:

transmitting a communication signal including the group information, the combination data block, and a HARQ process ID associated with the wireless communication device.

16. The method of aspect 10, wherein the transmitting the group information and the combination data block further comprises:

transmitting, via a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) , downlink control information (DCI) including the first UE packet ID.

17. The method of aspect 16, wherein the DCI includes a HARQ process ID field indicating the first UE packet ID.

Information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

The various illustrative blocks and modules described in connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented or performed with a general-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration) .

The functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, software executed by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software executed by a processor, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Other examples and implementations are within the scope of the disclosure and appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software, functions described above can be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, or combinations of any of these. Features implementing functions may also be physically located at various positions, including being distributed such that portions of functions are implemented at different physical locations. Also, as used herein, including in the claims, “or” as used in a list of items (for example, a list of items prefaced by a phrase such as “at least one of” or “one or more of” ) indicates an inclusive list such that, for example, a list of [at least one of A, B, or C] means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C) .

As those of some skill in this art will by now appreciate and depending on the particular application at hand, many modifications, substitutions and variations can be made in and to the materials, apparatus, configurations and methods of use of the devices of the present disclosure without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. In light of this, the scope of the present disclosure should not be limited to that of the particular aspects illustrated and described herein, as they are merely by way of some examples thereof, but rather, should be fully commensurate with that of the claims appended hereafter and their functional equivalents.

Claims

A method of wireless communication performed by a wireless communication device, the method comprising:

receiving, via a first link, group information and a first data block including a plurality of data sub-blocks, wherein the group information includes a plurality of user equipment (UE) packet IDs, wherein each UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs corresponds to a UE from among a plurality of UEs and a hybrid automatic request repeat (HARQ) process from among a plurality of HARQ processes at the corresponding UE, wherein each of the plurality of data sub-blocks is associated with a UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs, and wherein a first UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs corresponds to a first UE of the plurality of UEs;

receiving, via a second link different from the first link, a second data block associated with a second UE packet ID; and

performing soft combining between a first data sub-block of the plurality of data sub-blocks and the second data block to decode information data based on the first UE packet ID being the same as the second UE packet ID.
The method of claim 1, wherein the second data block comprises a second plurality of data sub-blocks, and the second UE packet ID is associated with the first UE and a second data sub-block of the second plurality of data sub-blocks.
The method of claim 1, wherein the first data block further includes the group information.
The method of claim 1, wherein the group information further includes an indication of whether the first data block includes information data associated with the first UE.
The method of claim 1, wherein the group information further includes an indication of whether the group information includes a UE packet ID associated with the first UE.
The method of claim 1, wherein the group information further includes an indication of a length associated with the group information.
The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving the group information and the first data block further comprises:

receiving, from a relay via the first link, a communication signal including the group information, the first data block, and a HARQ process ID associated with the relay.
The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving the group information and the first data block further comprises:

receiving, via a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) , downlink control information (DCI) including the first UE packet ID.
The method of claim 8, wherein the receiving the DCI comprises:

receiving the DCI including a HARQ process ID field indicating the first UE packet ID.
A method of wireless communication performed by a wireless communication device, the method comprising:

receiving, via at least a first link and a second link, a plurality of data blocks, wherein each data block of the plurality of data blocks is associated with one UE packet ID of a plurality of UE packet IDs, wherein each user equipment (UE) packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs corresponds to a UE from among a plurality of UEs and a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process from among a plurality of HARQ processes at the corresponding UE, and wherein a first UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs corresponds to a first UE of the plurality of UEs;

encoding each data block of the plurality of data blocks into a plurality of encoded data blocks;

transmitting group information including the plurality of UE packet IDs and a combination data block including the plurality of encoded data blocks.
The method of claim 10, wherein the transmitting the group information and the combination data block comprises:

transmitting, in a first data block of the combination data block, the group information.
The method of claim 10, wherein the group information further includes an indication of whether the combination data block includes information data associated with the first UE.
The method of claim 10, wherein the group information further includes an indication of whether the group information includes a UE packet ID associated with the first UE.
The method of claim 10, wherein the group information further includes an indication of a length associated with the group information.
The method of claim 10, wherein transmitting the group information and the combination data block comprises:

transmitting a communication signal including the group information, the combination data block, and a HARQ process ID associated with the wireless communication device.
The method of claim 10, wherein the transmitting the group information and the combination data block further comprises:

transmitting, via a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) , downlink control information (DCI) including the first UE packet ID.
The method of claim 16, wherein the DCI includes a HARQ process ID field indicating the first UE packet ID.
A wireless communication device, comprising:

a transceiver configured to:

receive, via a first link, group information and a first data block including a plurality of data sub-blocks, wherein the group information includes a plurality of user equipment (UE) packet IDs, wherein each UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs corresponds to a UE from among a plurality of UEs and a hybrid automatic request repeat (HARQ) process from among a plurality of HARQ processes at the corresponding UE, wherein each of the plurality of data sub-blocks is associated with a UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs, and wherein a first UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs corresponds to a first UE of the plurality of UEs;

receive, via a second link different from the first link, a second data block associated with a second UE packet ID; and

a processor configured to:

perform soft combining between a first data sub-block of the plurality of data sub-blocks and the second data block to decode information data based on the first UE packet ID being the same as the second UE packet ID.
The wireless communication device of claim 18, wherein the second data block comprises a second plurality of data sub-blocks, and the second UE packet ID is associated with the first UE and a second data sub-block of the second plurality of data sub-blocks, and wherein the processor configured to perform the soft combining is further configured to:

perform the soft combining between the first data sub-block and the second data sub-block based on the first UE packet ID being the same as the second UE packet ID.
The wireless communication device of claim 19, wherein the first data block further includes the group information.
The wireless communication device of claim 18, wherein the group information further includes an indication of whether the first data block includes information data associated with the first UE.
The wireless communication device of claim 18, wherein the group information further includes an indication of whether the group information includes a UE packet ID associated with the first UE.
The wireless communication device of claim 18, wherein the group information further includes an indication of a length associated with the group information.
The wireless communication device of claim 18, wherein the transceiver configured to receive the group information and the first data block further is further configured to:

receive, from a relay via the first link, a communication signal including the group information, the first data block, and a HARQ process ID associated with the relay.
The wireless communication device of claim 18, wherein the transceiver configured to receive the group information and the first data block is further configured to:

receive, via a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) , downlink control information (DCI) including the first UE packet ID.
The wireless communication device of claim 25, wherein the DCI includes a HARQ process ID field indicating the first UE packet ID.
A wireless communication device, comprising:

a transceiver configured to:

receive, via at least a first link and a second link, a plurality of data blocks, wherein each data block of the plurality of data blocks is associated with one UE packet ID of a plurality of UE packet IDs, wherein each UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs corresponds to a UE from among a plurality of UEs and a HARQ process from among a plurality of HARQ processes at the corresponding UE, and wherein a first UE packet ID of the plurality of UE packet IDs corresponds to a first UE of the plurality of UEs; and a processor configured to:

encode each data block of the plurality of data blocks into a plurality of encoded data blocks, wherein the transceiver is further configured to:

transmit group information including the plurality of UE packet IDs and a combination data block including the plurality of encoded data blocks.
The wireless communication device of claim 27, wherein the transceiver configured to transmit the group information and the combination data block is further configured to:

transmit, in a first data block of the combination data block, the group information.
The wireless communication device of claim 27, wherein the group information further includes an indication of whether the combination data block includes information data associated with the first UE.
The wireless communication device of claim 27, wherein the group information further includes an indication of whether the group information includes a UE packet ID associated with the first UE.