IP Library › Granted Patent US 12712682

Granted Patent B2

US 12712682 · App. 18/714,263 · Granted Aug 18, 2026

Enhancements on HARQ feedback

Inventor: Pingping Wen (Shanghai, CN)

Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy

H04L1/1896 H04L5/0055 H04L69/22

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Quick Facts

Patent No.: US 12712682
App. No.: 18/714,263
Granted: Aug 18, 2026
Kind: B2

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Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to methods, devices, apparatuses, and computer readable medium for enhancements on HARQ feedback. The method comprises: receiving, at a first device and from a second device, first control information for scheduling a second transmission of the second device and feedback information associated with the second transmission, and second control information for scheduling a third transmission of the first device; decoding, based on the second control information, the second transmission from the second device; generating, based on the decoding result, a first transmission comprising the feedback information and the third transmission comprising at least a duplication of the feedback information; transmitting, to the second device and based on the first control information, the first transmission; and transmitting, to the second device and based on the second control information, the third transmission. By providing the duplication of HARQ feedback, the reliability of HARQ feedback is enhanced, which in turn improves the efficiency of DL data transmissions and reduces frequency resources as well as the power consumption.

Claims (53)

1 . A first device, comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program codes;

the at least one memory and the computer program codes are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the first device at least to:

receive, from a second device, first control information for scheduling a second transmission of the second device and feedback information associated with the second transmission, and second control information for scheduling a third transmission of the first device;

decode, based on the first control information, the second transmission from the second device;

generate, based on the decoding result, a first transmission comprising the feedback information;

transmit, to the second device and based on the first control information, the first transmission;

upon transmitting the first transmission, initiate at least one duplication timer associated with the duplication of the feedback information, wherein a first HARQ process and a second HARQ process are configured for the first device, and wherein the at least one duplication timer comprises a first duplication timer associated with the first HARQ process, and a second duplication timer associated with the second HARQ process, and wherein the first HARQ process precedes the second HARQ process;

in accordance with a determination that none of the first duplication timer and the second duplication timer expires and based on the decoding result, generate the third transmission comprising the duplication of the first HARQ feedback and the duplication of the second HARQ feedback, wherein the duplication of the first HARQ feedback is contained in a first reserved bit in a MAC protocol data unit, PDU, header of the third transmission, and the duplication of the second HARQ feedback is contained in a second reserved bit in the MAC PDU header of the third transmission, and the order of the first reserved bit and the second reserved bit in the MAC PDU header are preconfigured at the first device and the second device; and

transmit, to the second device and based on the second control information, the third transmission.

2 . The first device of claim 1 , wherein a duration of the duplication timer is configured by the second device or preconfigured at the first device and the second device.

3 . The first device of claim 2 , wherein the feedback information comprises HARQ-ACK/NACK feedback of the second transmission.

4 . The first device of claim 3 , wherein the at least one memory and the computer program codes are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the first device to generate the first transmission and the third transmission by:

in accordance with a determination that the decoding of the second transmission is unsuccessful, generating the first transmission comprising HARQ-NACK feedback and the third transmission comprising the duplication of the HARQ-NACK feedback.

5 . The first device of claim 3 , wherein the at least one memory and the computer program codes are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the first device to generate the first transmission and the third transmission by:

in accordance with a determination that the decoding of the second transmission is successful, generating the first transmission comprising HARQ-ACK feedback and the second transmission comprising the duplication of the HARQ-ACK feedback.

6 . The first device of claim 5 , wherein the first transmission is transmitted based on PUSCH format 2, and the third transmission is transmitted based on PUSCH format 1.

7 . The first device of claim 6 , wherein the first device and the second device communicate via a non-terrestrial network.

8 . The first device of claim 7 , wherein the first device comprises a user equipment and the second device comprises a network device.

9 . A system comprising:

a user equipment comprising:

a processor; and

a non-transitory computer-readable medium that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to perform the following operations:

receive, from a network device, first control information for scheduling a second transmission of the network device and feedback information associated with the second transmission, and second control information for scheduling a third transmission of the user equipment;

decode, based on the first control information, the second transmission from the network device;

generate, based on the decoding result, a first transmission comprising the feedback information;

transmit, to the network device and based on the first control information, the first transmission;

upon transmitting the first transmission, initiate at least one duplication timer associated with the duplication of the feedback information, wherein a first HARQ process and a second HARQ process are configured for the user equipment device, and wherein the at least one duplication timer comprises a first duplication timer associated with the first HARQ process, and a second duplication timer associated with the second HARQ process, and wherein the first HARQ process precedes the second HARQ process;

transmit, to the network device and based on the second control information, the third transmission.

10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein a duration of the duplication timer is configured by the network device or preconfigured at the user equipment and the network device.

11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the feedback information comprises HARQ-ACK/NACK feedback of the second transmission.

12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the processor to generate the first transmission and the third transmission by:

13 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the processor to generate the first transmission and the third transmission by:

14 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the first transmission is transmitted based on PUSCH format 2, and the third transmission is transmitted based on PUSCH format 1.

15 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the user equipment and the network device communicate via a non-terrestrial network.

16 . A method comprising:

receiving, by a user equipment from a network device, first control information for scheduling a second transmission of the network device and feedback information associated with the second transmission, and second control information for scheduling a third transmission of the user equipment;

decoding, by the user equipment based on the first control information, the second transmission from the network device;

generating, by the user equipment based on the decoding result, a first transmission comprising the feedback information;

transmitting, by the user equipment to the network device and based on the first control information, the first transmission;

upon transmitting the first transmission, initiating, by the user equipment, at least one duplication timer associated with the duplication of the feedback information, wherein a first HARQ process and a second HARQ process are configured for the user equipment device, and wherein the at least one duplication timer comprises a first duplication timer associated with the first HARQ process, and a second duplication timer associated with the second HARQ process, and wherein the first HARQ process precedes the second HARQ process;

in accordance with a determination that none of the first duplication timer and the second duplication timer expires and based on the decoding result, generating, by the user equipment, the third transmission comprising the duplication of the first HARQ feedback and the duplication of the second HARQ feedback, wherein the duplication of the first HARQ feedback is contained in a first reserved bit in a MAC protocol data unit, PDU, header of the third transmission, and the duplication of the second HARQ feedback is contained in a second reserved bit in the MAC PDU header of the third transmission, and the order of the first reserved bit and the second reserved bit in the MAC PDU header are preconfigured at the user equipment device and the network device; and

transmitting, by the user equipment, to the network device and based on the second control information, the third transmission.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein a duration of the duplication timer is configured by the network device or preconfigured at the user equipment and the network device.

18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the feedback information comprises HARQ-ACK/NACK feedback of the second transmission.

19 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising generating the first transmission and the third transmission by:

20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the first transmission is transmitted based on PUSCH format 2, and the third transmission is transmitted based on PUSCH format 1, and wherein the user equipment and the network device communicate via a non-terrestrial network.