Methods, apparatus and systems for determining a size of a feedback signal in a wireless communication

1. A method performed by a wireless communication device, the method comprising:

receiving first downlink control information having a first format and second downlink control information having a second format from a wireless communication node;

receiving a plurality of transport blocks from the wireless communication node, wherein each of the plurality of transport blocks is scheduled by one of the first downlink control information and the second downlink control information; and

transmitting a plurality of feedback signals to the wireless communication node, where each of the plurality of feedback signals has the same size and corresponds to a respective one of the plurality of transport blocks, wherein:

a feedback signal corresponding to a transport block scheduled by the first downlink control information having the first format is at a level of transport block, and

a feedback signal corresponding to a transport block scheduled by the second downlink control information having the second format is at a level of code block group.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of feedback signals are multiplexed using the same transmission resource.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the first format indicates fallback mode downlink control information;

and

the second format indicates non-fallback mode downlink control information.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

each transport block scheduled by the second downlink control information includes a same configured number of code block groups; and

a feedback signal corresponding to each transport block scheduled by the first downlink control information includes feedback bits whose quantity is the same as the configured number of code block groups.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein:

one of the feedback bits indicates one of the following:

an acknowledgement of the transport block according to the wireless communication device detects and correctly decodes the transport block,

a negative acknowledgement of the transport block according to the wireless communication device detects but does not correctly decode the transport block, or

a negative acknowledgement of the transport block according to the wireless communication device misses detection of the transport block; and

the remaining feedback bits have a predetermined pattern.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

transport blocks carried by a same carrier have a same number of code block groups.

7. The method of claim 4 , wherein:

a first bit of the feedback signal indicates a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) for the transport block; and

each of the remaining feedback bits of the feedback signal is a copy of the first bit.

8. A method performed by a wireless communication node, the method comprising:

transmitting first downlink control information having a first format and second downlink control information having a second format to a wireless communication device;

transmitting a plurality of transport blocks to the wireless communication device, wherein each of the plurality of transport blocks is scheduled by one of the first downlink control information and the second downlink control information; and

receiving a plurality of feedback signals from the wireless communication device, where each of the plurality of feedback signals has the same size and corresponds to a respective one of the plurality of transport blocks, wherein:

a feedback signal corresponding to a transport block scheduled by the first downlink control information having the first format is at a level of transport block, and

a feedback signal corresponding to a transport block scheduled by the second downlink control information having the second format is at a level of code block group.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the plurality of feedback signals are multiplexed by the wireless communication device using the same transmission resource.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein:

the first format indicates fallback mode downlink control information;

the second format indicates non-fallback mode downlink control information.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein:

each transport block scheduled by the second downlink control information includes a same configured number of code block groups; and

a feedback signal corresponding to each transport block scheduled by the first downlink control information includes feedback bits whose quantity is the same as the configured number of code block groups.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein:

one of the feedback bits indicates one of the following:

an acknowledgement of the transport block according to the wireless communication device detects and correctly decodes the transport block,

a negative acknowledgement of the transport block according to the wireless communication device detects but does not correctly decode the transport block, or

a negative acknowledgement of the transport block according to the wireless communication device misses detection of the transport block; and

the remaining feedback bits have a predetermined pattern.

13. The method of claim 8 , wherein:

transport blocks carried by a same carrier have a same number of code block groups.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein:

a first bit of the feedback signal indicates a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) for the transport block; and

each of the remaining feedback bits of the feedback signal is a copy of the first bit.

15. A first communication apparatus comprising a processor, a memory, and a wireless interface, wherein the memory stores instructions that, when executed, causes the processor to:

receive first downlink control information having a first format and second downlink control information having a second format from a second communication apparatus;

receive a plurality of transport blocks from the second communication apparatus, wherein each of the plurality of transport blocks is scheduled by one of the first downlink control information and the second downlink control information; and

transmit a plurality of feedback signals to the second communication apparatus, where each of the plurality of feedback signals has the same size and corresponds to a respective one of the plurality of transport blocks, wherein:

a feedback signal corresponding to a transport block scheduled by the first downlink control information having the first format is at a level of transport block, and

a feedback signal corresponding to a transport block scheduled by the second downlink control information having the second format is at a level of code block group.

16. A first communication apparatus comprising a processor, a memory, and a wireless interface, wherein the memory stores instructions that, when executed, causes the processor to:

transmit first downlink control information having a first format and second downlink control information having a second format to a second communication apparatus;

transmit a plurality of transport blocks to the second communication apparatus, wherein each of the plurality of transport blocks is scheduled by one of the first downlink control information and the second downlink control information; and

receive a plurality of feedback signals from the second communication apparatus, where each of the plurality of feedback signals has the same size and corresponds to a respective one of the plurality of transport blocks, wherein:

a feedback signal corresponding to a transport block scheduled by the first downlink control information having the first format is at a level of transport block, and

a feedback signal corresponding to a transport block scheduled by the second downlink control information having the second format is at a level of code block group.