IP Library Granted Patent US 11,664,940
Granted Patent B2
US 11,664,940 · App. 16/465,225 · Granted May 30, 2023

Managing link quality and using partial subframes in wireless telecommunication networks

Inventors: Jeongho Jeon (San Jose, CA); Huaning Niu (San Jose, CA); Wenting Chang (Beijing, CN); Jinyu Zhang (Beijing, CN); Dae Won Lee (Portland, OR); Alexei Davydov (Nizhny Novgorod, RU); Kyeongin Jeong (Portland, OR); Candy Yiu (Portland, OR)
Assignee: Apple Inc.
H04L1/201H04L5/0007H04L5/0048H04L5/0053H04L27/2656H04W24/08H04W56/0045H04W72/0413
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,664,940
App. No.
16/465,225
Granted
May 30, 2023
Kind
B2
Abstract

A user equipment (UE) may assess a radio link quality of a plurality of frames for communication, via the interface to the RF circuitry, with a radio access network (RAN) node. When the radio link quality of a frame, of the plurality of frames, is below an out-of-sync (OOS) threshold, the UE may indicate that the frame is OOS. When the radio link quality of a frame, of the plurality of frames, is above an in-sync (IS) threshold that the frame is IS. Additionally, or alternatively, the UE may process information, received from the RAN node indicating a partial subframe, of a subframe, to be used to transmit uplink control information (UCI) to the RAN node. The UE ma also perform UCI mapping for using of the partial subframe to transmit UCI via a physical uplink control channel (PUSCH), and proceed by using the partial subframe to communicate the UCI to the RAN node.

Claims (25)

1. An apparatus of a User Equipment (UE), comprising:

an interface to radio frequency (RF) circuitry; and

one or more processors that are controlled to:

process instructions, received from a radio access network (RAN) node via the interface to the RF circuitry, to enter a first mode of operation, wherein the UE in the first mode of operation does not engage in listen before talk (LBT) procedures, and one or more partial subframes are used to communicate with the RAN node,

process an indication, received from the RAN node via the interface to the RF circuitry after the instructions are processed, indicating a partial subframe, of a subframe, to be used to transmit uplink control information (UCI) to the RAN node,

wherein while the UE is in the first mode of operation, the one or more processors refrain from performing physical uplink shard channel (PUSCH) transmissions that will be interrupted by the indication of the partial subframe to be used to transmit the UCI to the RAN node,

process additional instructions, received from the RAN node, that trigger the UE to perform UCI multiplexing when the partial subframe has sufficient capacity to transmit the UCI, and

perform UCI mapping for use of the partial subframe to transmit the UCI via a PUSCH transmission,

wherein a slot duration of 11 to 13 symbols used for the PUSCH transmission corresponds to a transport block size (TBS) scaling factor of ⅞.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further controlled to:

implement multiplexing to transmit the UCI via the partial subframe, wherein the partial subframe is not a largest partial subframe of the subframe.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the subframe comprises a first slot and a second slot, and the second slot of the subframe is assumed to be part of the partial subframe.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the partial subframe includes an ending position at a 4th symbol of the subframe.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the partial subframe includes a starting position at 25 microseconds (25 μs) after a start of an 8th symbol of the subframe.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the starting position includes at least a portion of an 9th symbol of the subframe.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the partial subframe includes a starting position at 25 μs plus a timing advance (TA) after a start of an 8th symbol of the subframe.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein one slot used for the PUSCH transmission corresponds to a transport block size (TBS) scaling factor of 0.5.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a slot duration of 8 to 10 symbols used for the PUSCH transmission corresponds to a transport block size (TBS) scaling factor of ⅝.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the PUSCH transmission that ends at a 4th symbol corresponds to a transport block size (TBS) scaling factor of ⅛.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein after the instructions are processed and before the indication is processed, the one or more processors are controlled to:

process second instructions, received from the RAN node via the interface to the RF circuitry, to enter a second mode of operation that is discrete from the first mode of operation, wherein the UE in the second mode of operation does engage in the LBT procedures.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein in the second mode of operation the one or more processors are controlled to perform a LBT procedure that is interrupted by the indication of the partial subframe.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein in the second mode of operation the UE employs full subframes to communicate with the RAN node until the indication to use the partial subframe.

14. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein in the first mode of operation the one or more processors are prevented from performing a LBT procedure.

15. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors refrain from performing the PUSCH transmissions comprising the LBT procedures.

Assignments (3)
CONFIRMATORY ASSIGNMENT Recorded Mar 30, 2023
From: INTEL CORP.
To: APPLE INC.
Reel/Frame 063190/0660 →
CONFIRMATORY ASSIGNMENT Recorded Aug 11, 2020
From: INTEL IP CORPORATION
To: INTEL CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 053455/0489 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 25, 2020
From: INTEL CORPORATION
To: APPLE INC.
Reel/Frame 053065/0627 →