Methods and network nodes for scheduling transmission

1. A method in a radio network node for scheduling a transmission between the radio network node and a user equipment, the method comprising:

determining a transport block size scaling factor;

determining a time spreading factor based on the transport block size scaling factor, wherein the time spreading factor indicates a number of consecutive transmission time intervals over which the transmission is to be transmitted;

determining a scheduling grant for the transmission, based on the transport block size scaling factor and the time spreading factor; and

sending the transport block size scaling factor and the scheduling grant to the user equipment, whereby the scheduling grant schedules the transmission.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the transport block size scaling factor is based on one or more of:

an amount of data to be scheduled,

a variation of channel quality of one or more upcoming transmission timing intervals onto which the transmission is to be scheduled, and

a delay sensitivity of data to be scheduled.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the scheduling grant includes the transport block size scaling factor.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises sending a configuration message to the user equipment, the configuration message comprising the transport block size scaling factor.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

encoding the transmission while using the transport block size scaling factor; and

sending the transmission to the user equipment.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving the transmission; and

decoding the transmission while using the transport block size scaling factor.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising sending HARQ information indicative of whether the decoding was successful or a failure.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising obtaining a threshold for indicating a number of modulated symbols, wherein:

the time spreading factor is determined such that the number of modulated symbols exceeds the threshold;

the scheduling grant for the transmission is valid for the number of transmission timing intervals indicated by the time spreading factor; and

the decoding is performed when the number of received modulated symbols exceeds the threshold.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising obtaining a threshold for indicating a number of modulated symbols, wherein:

the time spreading factor is determined such that the number of modulated symbols exceeds the threshold; and

the scheduling grant for the transmission is valid for the number of transmission timing intervals indicated by the time spreading factor.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the scheduling grant comprises a redundancy version indicator, and wherein the method further comprises mapping an extended redundancy version to the redundancy version indicator based on a transmission timing interval to which the scheduling grant relates.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the method further comprises:

receiving a further transmission in a further transmission timing interval; and

determining a second extended redundancy version indicator based on the further transmission timing interval.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the method further comprises:

determining a second extended redundancy version indicator based on a further transmission timing interval for a further transmission; and

sending the further transmission according to the determined second extended redundancy version indicator.

13. A method in a user equipment for receiving a scheduling grant for a transmission between the user equipment and a radio network node, the method comprising:

receiving a transport block size scaling factor;

determining a time spreading factor based on the received transport block size scaling factor, wherein the time spreading factor indicates a number of consecutive transmission time intervals over which the transmission is transmitted; and

receiving a scheduling grant from the radio network node.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the transport block size scaling factor is included in the scheduling grant.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the method further comprises receiving a configuration message from the radio network node, wherein the configuration message comprises the transport block size scaling factor.

16. The method of claim 13 , the method further comprising:

receiving the transmission; and

decoding the transmission while using the transport block size scaling factor.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising sending HARQ information indicative of whether the decoding was successful or a failure.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising obtaining a threshold for indicating a number of modulated symbols, wherein:

the time spreading factor is determined such that the number of modulated symbols exceeds the threshold;

the scheduling grant for the transmission is valid for the number of transmission timing intervals indicated by the time spreading factor; and

decoding is performed when the number of received modulated symbols exceeds the threshold.

19. The method of claim 13 , wherein the scheduling grant comprises a redundancy version indicator, and wherein the method further comprises extracting an extended redundancy version from the redundancy version indicator based on a transmission timing interval to which the scheduling grant relates.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the method further comprises:

determining a second extended redundancy version indicator based on a further transmission timing interval; and

sending a further transmission in the further transmission timing interval according to the second extended redundancy version indicator.

21. The method of claim 19 , wherein the method further comprises:

receiving a further transmission according to a second extended redundancy version indicator in a further transmission timing interval; and

determining the second extended redundancy version indicator based on the further transmission timing interval.

22. The method of claim 13 , the method further comprising:

encoding the transmission while using the transport block size scaling factor; and

sending the transmission.

23. The method of claim 13 , further comprising obtaining a threshold for indicating a number of modulated symbols, wherein:

the time spreading factor is determined such that the number of modulated symbols exceeds the threshold; and

the scheduling grant for the transmission is valid for the number of transmission timing intervals indicated by the time spreading factor.

24. A radio network node configured to schedule transmission between the radio network node and a user equipment, the radio network node comprising:

a processing circuit configured to

determine a transport block size scaling factor,

determine a time spreading factor based on the transport block size scaling factor, wherein the time spreading factor indicates a number of consecutive transmission time intervals over which the transmission is to be transmitted, and

determine a scheduling grant for the transmission based on the transport block size scaling factor; and

a transmitter configured to send the transport block size scaling factor and the scheduling grant to the user equipment, whereby the scheduling grant schedules the transmission.

25. A user equipment configured to receive a scheduling grant for a transmission between the user equipment and a radio network node, the user equipment comprising a receiver configured to:

receive a transport block size scaling factor;

determine a time spreading factor based on the received transport block size scaling factor, wherein the time spreading factor indicates a number of consecutive transmission time intervals over which the transmission is transmitted; and

receive a scheduling grant from the radio network node.