IP Library › Granted Patent US 10,554,539

Granted Patent B2

US 10,554,539 · App. 15/659,576 · Granted Feb 4, 2020

Communicating control information for independent links

Inventors: Tao Luo (San Diego, CA); Juan Montojo (San Diego, CA); Tamer Kadous (San Diego, CA); Junyi Li (Chester, NJ); Xiaoxia Zhang (San Diego, CA); Jing Sun (San Diego, CA); Taesang Yoo (San Diego, CA); Siddhartha Mallik (San Diego, CA)

Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated

H04L45/16 H03M13/09 H04B7/0626 H04B7/0691 H04B7/216 H04B17/24 H04B17/318 H04L5/0094 H04L12/185 H04L41/0668 H04W24/08 H04W52/146 H04W52/16 H04W52/241 H04W52/243 H04W52/346 H04W52/386 H04W52/42 H04W52/50 H04W52/54 H04W52/56 H04W72/044 H04W72/0406 H04W72/0413 H04W72/0493 H04W72/08 H04W72/1252 H04W72/1278 H04W72/1284 H04W76/22 H04L1/1854 H04L5/003 H04L5/0053 H04L12/1827 H04L2001/0093 H04W24/02 H04W24/04 H04W48/08 H04W72/12 H04W76/19 H04W92/20

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Quick Facts

Patent No.: US 10,554,539
App. No.: 15/659,576
Granted: Feb 4, 2020
Kind: B2

External Links

USPTO Patent Center↗ Full Patent PDF↗

Abstract

Various aspects of the disclosure relate to communicating control information for independent links. For example, control information for one link may be sent via at least one other link. In some aspects, the independent links may involve a first device (e.g., a user equipment) communicating via different independent links with different devices (e.g., transmit receive points (TRPs) or sets of TRPs). In some scenarios, one link may carry control information for multiple links. For example, one link may indicate the existence of or traffic on at least one other link. As another example, one link may transmit feedback for multiple links. In some scenarios, each link may be provisioned (e.g., as a primary link or a secondary link) to carry specific types of control information for one or more links.

Claims (148)

1. A method of wireless communication by a user equipment, comprising:

communicating data via a first beamformed communication link;

communicating control information for a second beamformed communication link via a control channel of the first beamformed communication link; and

communicating other data via the second beamformed communication link;

wherein:

the communication via the first beamformed communication link uses a first radio frequency (RF) chain of the user equipment; and

the communication via the second beamformed communication link uses a second RF chain of the user equipment.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the control information comprises an indication that the second beamformed communication link exists.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the control information comprises an indication that the second beamformed communication link is active.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the control information comprises hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback for the second beamformed communication link.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining, based on at least one indication, whether to communicate control information for a group of independent links via the control channel of the first beamformed communication link.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the control channel comprises a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

communicating first transport blocks via the first beamformed communication link,

wherein the first transport blocks are processed independently of second transport blocks communicated via the second beamformed communication link.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein error processing of the first transport blocks is independent of error processing of the second transport blocks.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein cyclic redundancy check (CRC) processing of the first transport blocks is independent of CRC processing of the second transport blocks.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein:

the communication of the first transport blocks is via a first beam; and

the communication of the second transport blocks is via a second beam.

11. A method of wireless communication by a user equipment, comprising:

communicating data via a first beamformed communication link;

communicating control information for a second beamformed communication link via a control channel of the first beamformed communication link; and

communicating other data via the second beamformed communication link;

wherein:

the communication via the first beamformed communication link uses a first antenna sub-array of the user equipment; and

the communication via the second beamformed communication link uses a second antenna sub-array of the user equipment.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein:

the control information comprises an indication that the second beamformed communication link exists.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein:

the control information comprises an indication that the second beamformed communication link is active.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein:

the control information comprises hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback for the second beamformed communication link.

15. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

determining, based on at least one indication, whether to communicate control information for a group of independent links via the control channel of the first beamformed communication link.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein the control channel comprises a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

17. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

communicating first transport blocks via the first beamformed communication link,

wherein the first transport blocks are processed independently of second transport blocks communicated via the second beamformed communication link.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein error processing of the first transport blocks is independent of error processing of the second transport blocks.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein cyclic redundancy check (CRC) processing of the first transport blocks is independent of CRC processing of the second transport blocks.

20. The method of claim 17 , wherein:

the communication of the first transport blocks is via a first beam; and

the communication of the second transport blocks is via a second beam.

21. A user equipment, comprising:

a memory; and

a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor and the memory are configured to:

communicate data via a first beamformed communication link;

communicate control information for a second beamformed communication link via a control channel of the first beamformed communication link; and

communicate other data via the second beamformed communication link;

wherein:

the communication via the first beamformed communication link uses a first radio frequency (RF) chain of the user equipment; and

the communication via the second beamformed communication link uses a second RF chain of the user equipment.

22. The user equipment of claim 21 , wherein:

the control information comprises an indication that the second beamformed communication link exists.

23. The user equipment of claim 21 , wherein:

the control information comprises an indication that the second beamformed communication link is active.

24. The user equipment of claim 21 , wherein the processor and the memory are further configured to:

determine, based on at least one indication, whether to communicate control information for a group of independent links via the control channel of the first beamformed communication link.

25. The user equipment of claim 21 , wherein:

the control information comprises hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback for the second beamformed communication link.

26. The user equipment of claim 21 , wherein the control channel comprises a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

27. The user equipment of claim 21 , wherein the processor and the memory are further configured to:

communicate first transport blocks via the first beamformed communication link,

wherein the first transport blocks are processed independently of second transport blocks communicated via the second beamformed communication link.

28. An user equipment for communication, comprising:

means for communicating data via a first beamformed communication link;

means for communicating control information for a second beamformed communication link via a control channel of the first beamformed communication link; and

means for communicating other data via the second beamformed communication link;

wherein:

the communication via the first beamformed communication link uses a first radio frequency (RF) chain of the user equipment; and

the communication via the second beamformed communication link uses a second RF chain of the user equipment.

29. The user equipment of claim 28 , further comprising:

means for determining, based on at least one indication, whether to communicate control information for a group of independent links via the control channel of the first beamformed communication link.

30. The user equipment of claim 28 , wherein:

the control information comprises an indication that the second beamformed communication link exists.

31. The user equipment of claim 28 , wherein:

the control information comprises an indication that the second beamformed communication link is active.

32. The user equipment of claim 28 , wherein:

the control information comprises hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback for the second beamformed communication link.

33. The user equipment of claim 28 , wherein the control channel comprises a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

34. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable code for a user equipment, including code to:

communicate data via a first beamformed communication link;

communicate control information for a second beamformed communication link via a control channel of the first beamformed communication link; and

communicate other data via the second beamformed communication link;

wherein:

the communication via the first beamformed communication link uses a first radio frequency (RF) chain of the user equipment; and

the communication via the second beamformed communication link uses a second RF chain of the user equipment.

35. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 34 , wherein:

the control information comprises an indication that the second beamformed communication link exists.

36. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 34 , wherein:

the control information comprises an indication that the second beamformed communication link is active.

37. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 34 , wherein:

the control information comprises hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback for the second beamformed communication link.

38. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 34 , wherein the control channel comprises a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

39. A user equipment, comprising:

a memory; and

a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor and the memory are configured to:

communicate data via a first beamformed communication link;

communicate control information for a second beamformed communication link via a control channel of the first beamformed communication link; and

communicate other data via the second beamformed communication link;

wherein:

the communication via the first beamformed communication link uses a first antenna sub-array of the user equipment; and

the communication via the second beamformed communication link uses a second antenna sub-array of the user equipment.

40. The user equipment of claim 39 , wherein:

the control information comprises an indication that the second beamformed communication link exists.

41. The user equipment of claim 39 , wherein:

the control information comprises an indication that the second beamformed communication link is active.

42. The user equipment of claim 39 , wherein the processor and the memory are further configured to:

determine, based on at least one indication, whether to communicate control information for a group of independent links via the control channel of the first beamformed communication link.

43. The user equipment of claim 39 , wherein:

the control information comprises hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback for the second beamformed communication link.

44. The user equipment of claim 39 , wherein the control channel comprises a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

45. The user equipment of claim 39 , wherein the processor and the memory are further configured to:

communicate first transport blocks via the first beamformed communication link,

wherein the first transport blocks are processed independently of second transport blocks communicated via the second beamformed communication link.

46. An user equipment for communication, comprising:

means for communicating data via a first beamformed communication link;

means for communicating control information for a second beamformed communication link via a control channel of the first beamformed communication link; and

means for communicating other data via the second beamformed communication link;

wherein:

the communication via the first beamformed communication link uses a first antenna sub-array of the user equipment; and

the communication via the second beamformed communication link uses a second antenna sub-array of the user equipment.

47. The user equipment of claim 46 , further comprising:

48. The user equipment of claim 46 , wherein:

the control information comprises an indication that the second beamformed communication link is active.

49. The user equipment of claim 46 , wherein:

the control information comprises hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback for the second beamformed communication link.

50. The user equipment of claim 46 , wherein the control channel comprises a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

51. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable code for a user equipment, including code to:

communicate data via a first beamformed communication link;

communicate control information for a second beamformed communication link via a control channel of the first beamformed communication link; and

communicate other data via the second beamformed communication link;

wherein:

the communication via the first beamformed communication link uses a first antenna sub-array of the user equipment; and

the communication via the second beamformed communication link uses a second antenna sub-array of the user equipment.

52. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 51 , wherein:

the control information comprises an indication that the second beamformed communication link exists.

53. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 51 , wherein:

the control information comprises an indication that the second beamformed communication link is active.

54. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 51 , wherein:

the control information comprises hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback for the second beamformed communication link.

55. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 51 , wherein the control channel comprises a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

Assignments (1)

ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 16, 2017

From: LUO, TAO; MONTOJO, JUAN; KADOUS, TAMER; LI, JUNYI; ZHANG, XIAOXIA; SUN, JING; YOO, TAESANG; MALLIK, SIDDHARTHA

To: QUALCOMM INCORPORATED

Reel/Frame 043311/0201 →

Continuity (3)

Provisional Application 62447534 · Jan 18, 2017

Provisional Application 62378137 · Aug 22, 2016

Related Publication 20180054811A1 · Feb 22, 2018

Cited By (6)

US 12,232,219 US 12,237,994 US 12,407,394 US 12,537,757 US 12,621,190 US 12,683,895