Fine granularity ACK/NACK feedback for 5G communication system

1 . A method comprising:

determining a total number of acknowledgment bits allocated to at least one transmit block, the at least one transmit block comprising a plurality of code blocks;

determining a number of code block groups allocated to at least one transmit block based on the total number of acknowledgment bits allocated to the at least one transmit block and the number of the plurality of code blocks, wherein each code block group is associated with one acknowledgment bit, and wherein the number of code block groups corresponds to the number of acknowledgment bits allocated to the transmit block;

allocating each of the plurality of code blocks to a respective code block group, wherein m−r code block groups comprise L number of code blocks and r code block groups have L+1 code blocks, wherein m is the number of code block groups, L is the floor to the quotient of the number of the plurality of code blocks and the number of code block groups, and r is the remainder; and

causing transmission of the acknowledgment bit associated with each respective code block group based on a determined acknowledgement result for the respective code block group.

2 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein determining the number of acknowledgment bits allocated to the at least one transmit block comprises:

determining the number of acknowledgement bits allocated to a feedback instance, the feedback instance comprising at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process including the at least one transmit block; and

allocating the acknowledgement bits to the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process based on transmit block size.

3 . A method according to claim 2 , wherein, if the feedback instance includes a plurality of hybrid automatic repeat request processes or the at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process includes a plurality of transmit blocks, allocating the acknowledgment bits to the hybrid automatic repeat request processes or transmit blocks, respectively, based on transmit block size comprises:

determining a transmit block size ratio between the hybrid automatic repeat request processes or between the transmit blocks; and

allocating the acknowledgement bits based on an acknowledgement bit ratio closest to the transmit block ratio.

4 . A method according to claim 2 , comprising receiving first information from a base station, said first information comprising an indication of the number of acknowledgment bits allocated to the feedback instance.

5 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein determining the number of acknowledgment bits allocated to the at least one transmit block comprises:

determining the number of acknowledgement bits allocated to a hybrid automatic repeat request process, the hybrid automatic repeat request process including the at least one transmit block; and

allocating the acknowledgement bits to the at least one transmit block based on transmit block size.

6 . A method according to claim 5 , comprising determining the transmit block size based on transmission parameters.

7 . A method according to claim 6 , wherein the transmission parameters comprise at least one of modulation coding scheme and physical resource block number.

8 . A method according to claim 1 , comprising receiving switching information from the base station, the switching information comprising an indication to switch from a first feedback scheme to a second feedback scheme.

9 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein the number of code blocks in each group is equal.

10 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein if the transmitted acknowledgement bit is a negative acknowledgement;

receiving a retransmission of the code blocks of the code block group.

11 . A method comprising:

receiving an acknowledgment bit from a user equipment for at least one code block group of at least one transmit block, the at least one transmit block comprising a plurality of code blocks, wherein each of the plurality of code blocks is allocated to a respective code block group based on a total number of acknowledgment bits allocated to the at least one transmit block and the number of the plurality of code blocks, wherein each code block group is associated with one acknowledgment bit, and wherein the number of code block groups corresponds to the number of acknowledgment bits allocated to the transmit block,

wherein m−r code block groups comprise L number of code blocks and r code block groups have L+1 code blocks, wherein m is the number of code block groups, L is the floor to the quotient of the number of the plurality of code blocks and the number of acknowledgement bits and r is the remainder.

12 . A method according to claim 11 , comprising providing first information to the user equipment, said first information comprising an indication of the number of acknowledgment bits allocated to a feedback instance, the feedback instance comprising at least one hybrid automatic repeat request process including the at least one transmit block.

13 . A method according to claim 11 , comprising providing switching information to the user equipment, the switching information comprising an indication to switch from a feedback scheme to a second feedback scheme.

14 . A method according to claim 11 , wherein the number of code blocks in each group is equal.

15 . A method according to claim 11 , wherein if the received acknowledgement bit is a negative acknowledgement;

providing a retransmission of the code blocks of the code block group.

16 . A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the following:

determining a number of acknowledgment bits allocated to at least one transmit block, the at least one transmit block comprising a plurality of code blocks;

determining a number of code block groups allocated to at least one transmit block based on the number of acknowledgment bits allocated to the at least one transmit block and the number of the plurality of code blocks, wherein each code block group is associated with one acknowledgment bit, and wherein the number of code block groups corresponds to the number of acknowledgment bits allocated to the transmit block;

allocating each of the plurality of code blocks to a respective code block group, wherein m−r code block groups comprise L number of code blocks and r code block groups have L+1 code blocks, wherein m is the number of code block groups, L is the floor to the quotient of the number of the plurality of code blocks and the number of code block groups, and r is the remainder; and

causing transmission of the acknowledgment bit associated with each respective code block group based on a determined acknowledgement result for the respective code block group.

17 . An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor and at least one memory including a computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:

determine a number of acknowledgment bits allocated to at least one transmit block, the at least one transmit block comprising a plurality of code blocks;

determine a number of code block groups allocated to at least one transmit block based on the number of acknowledgment bits allocated to the at least one transmit block and the number of the plurality of code blocks, wherein each code block group is associated with one acknowledgment bit, and wherein the number of code block groups corresponds to the number of acknowledgment bits allocated to the transmit block; and

allocate each of the plurality of code blocks to a respective code block group, wherein m−r code block groups comprise L number of code blocks and r code block groups have L+1 code blocks, wherein m is the number of code block groups, L is the floor to the quotient of the number of the plurality of code blocks and the number of code block groups, and r is the remainder; and

cause transmission of the acknowledgment bit associated with each respective code block group based on a determined acknowledgement result for the respective code block group.

18 . An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor and at least one memory including a computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:

receive an acknowledgment bit from a user equipment for at least one code block group of at least one transmit block, the at least one transmit block comprising a plurality of code blocks, wherein each of the plurality of code blocks is allocated to a respective code block group based on a total number of acknowledgment bits allocated to the at least one transmit block and the number of the plurality of code blocks, wherein each code block group is associated with one acknowledgment bit, and wherein the number of code block groups corresponds to the number of acknowledgment bits allocated to the transmit block,

wherein m−r code block groups comprise L number of code blocks and r code block groups have L+1 code blocks, wherein m is the number of code block groups, L is the floor to the quotient of the number of the plurality of code blocks and the number of acknowledgement bits and r is the remainder.

19 . A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the following:

receiving an acknowledgment bit from a user equipment for at least one code block group of at least one transmit block, the at least one transmit block comprising a plurality of code blocks, wherein each of the plurality of code blocks is allocated to a respective code block group based on a total number of acknowledgment bits allocated to the at least one transmit block and the number of the plurality of code blocks, wherein each code block group is associated with one acknowledgment bit, and wherein the number of code block groups corresponds to the number of acknowledgment bits allocated to the transmit block,

wherein m−r code block groups comprise L number of code blocks and r code block groups have L+1 code blocks, wherein m is the number of code block groups, L is the floor to the quotient of the number of the plurality of code blocks, and r is the remainder.