Methods, apparatuses, and systems for providing transfer block indication in uplink grant-free transmissions

1. A User Equipment (UE) device for providing transport block indications in uplink (UL) grant-free transmissions, the device comprising:

a memory having computer readable instructions stored thereon; and

at least one processor configured to execute the computer readable instructions to,

transmit a first transport block (TB) to a base station (BS) during a first transmission time interval (TTI) using a grant-free UL transmission,

receive a UL grant from the BS in a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) region during a time window,

determine a target of the UL grant, the target including at least one of the first TB, a second TB, or a previously transmitted TB, based on the UL grant; and

transmit the target of the UL grant to the BS,

analyze a transport block size (TBS) of the UL grant and a TBS of the transmitted first TB, and

in response to the TBS of the UL grant being the same or being a next higher TBS value as the TBS of the transmitted first TB, retransmit the first TB to the BS based on the UL grant.

2. The UE device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to,

in response to the TBS of the UL grant not being the same and not being a next higher TBS value as the TBS of the transmitted first TB,

transmit the second TB to the BS based on the UL grant.

3. The UE device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

autonomously select a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process ID for the grant-free UL transmission; and

determine a number of bits associated with a new data indicator (NDI) included in the UL grant; and

in response to the determined number of NDI bits being 2,

perform at least one of,

stopping transmission of the first TB using the grant-free UL transmission and determining whether to transmit a new TB based on a value of a different bit field included in the UL grant, the UL grant including the HARQ process ID that is selected by UE,

retransmitting the first TB to the BS based on the UL grant,

continuing transmission of the first TB using the grant-free UL transmission and retransmitting a previous TB scheduled for transmission prior to the first TB to the BS based on the UL grant, the UL grant including grant-based UL transmission scheduling information using a HARQ process ID selected by the BS, and

continuing transmission of the first TB using the grant-free UL transmission and transmitting the second TB to the BS based on the UL grant.

4. The UE device of claim 3 , wherein in response to the determined number of NDI bits being 1, the at least one processor is further configured to,

determine the PDCCH region associated with the UL grant; and

based on the determined PDCCH region and a value of the NDI bit, perform at least one of,

stopping transmission of the first TB using the grant-free UL transmission and determining whether to transmit a new TB based on a value of a different bit field included in the UL grant, the UL grant including the HARQ process ID that is selected by the UE,

retransmitting the first TB to the BS based on the UL grant,

retransmitting the previous TB to the BS based on the UL grant, and

transmitting the second TB to the BS based on the UL grant.

5. The UE device of claim 1 , wherein in response to results of the determination indicate that the second TB is to be transmitted, the at least one processor is configured to transmit the second TB to the BS based on the UL grant as an ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) data packet or an enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) data packet.

6. The UE device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to,

in response to the UL grant being received in a predefined or a configured timing after the first TTI of transmitting the first TB,

retransmit the first TB to the BS based on the UL grant; or

transmit the second TB to the BS based on the UL grant.

7. A base station (BS) device for providing transfer block indications in uplink (UL) grant-free transmissions, the BS device comprising:

a memory having computer readable instructions stored thereon; and

at least one processor configured to execute the computer readable instructions to,

receive a first transport block (TB) from a User Equipment (UE) during a first transmission time interval (TTI) using a grant-free UL transmission,

determine whether to provide a UL transmission grant to the UE,

transmit a UL grant to the UE in a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) region during a time window, the UL grant indicating results of the determination of the UL transmission grant status,

receive at least one of the first TB, a second TB, or a previously transmitted TB from the UE based on the UL transmission grant status,

determine a transport block size (TBS) of the UL grant based on a TBS of the received first TB and results of the determination of the UL transmission grant status, and

in response to the determined TBS of the UL grant being the same or being a next higher TBS value as the TBS of the transmitted first TB, receive a retransmission of the first TB from the UE based on the transmitted UL grant.

8. The BS device of claim 7 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to,

in response to the determined TBS of the UL grant not being the same and not being next higher TBS value as the TBS of the received first TB,

receive the second TB from the UE based on the transmitted UL grant.

9. The BS device of claim 7 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to,

select a hybrid automatic repeat query (HARQ) process ID;

set a bit length associated with a new data indicator (NDI);

set a value for the NDI bits, the value of the NDI bits causing the UE to perform at least one of,

stop transmission of the first TB using the grant-free UL transmission,

retransmit the first TB to the BS based on the transmitted UL grant,

continue transmission of the first TB using the grant-free UL transmission and retransmit a previous TB scheduled for transmission prior to the first TB to the BS based on the transmitted UL grant, the transmitted UL grant including grant-based UL transmission scheduling information using the selected HARQ process ID, and

continue transmission of the first TB using the grant-free UL transmission and transmit the second TB to the BS based on the transmitted UL grant; and

transmit the UL grant to the UE, the UL grant including the NDI bits and the selected HARQ process ID.

10. The BS device of claim 9 , wherein in response to the set number of NDI bits being 1, the at least one processor is further configured to,

select the PDCCH region associated with the UL grant; and

set a value for the NDI bit, the set value of the NDI bit and the selected PDCCH region causing the UE to perform at least one of,

stop transmission of the first TB using the grant-free UL transmission and determine whether to transmit a new TB based on a value of a different bit field included in the UL grant, the UL grant including the HARQ process ID selected by the UE,

retransmit the first TB to the BS based on the transmitted UL grant,

retransmit the previous TB to the BS based on the transmitted UL grant, and

transmit the second TB to the BS based on the transmitted UL grant.

11. The BS device of claim 7 , wherein the second TB is transmitted from the UE as an ultra-reliable low-latency communication URLLC data packet or an enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) data packet.

12. A method for providing transfer block indications in uplink (UL) grant-free transmissions, the method comprising:

transmitting a first transport block (TB) to a base station (BS) during a first time transmission interval (TTI) using a grant-free UL transmission;

receiving a UL grant from the BS in a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) region during a time window, the UL grant indicating whether the BS grants UL transmission;

determining a target of the UL grant, the target including at least one of the first TB, a second TB, or a previously transmitted TB based on the UL grant; and

transmitting the target of the UL grant to the BS;

analyzing a transport block size (TBS) of the UL grant and a TBS of the transmitted first TB; and

in response to the TBS of the UL grant being the same or being a next higher TBS value as the TBS of the transmitted first TB, retransmitting the first TB to the BS based on the UL grant.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein in response to the TBS of the UL grant not being the same and not being a next higher TBS value as the TBS of the transmitted first TB, the method further comprises:

transmitting the second TB to the BS based on the UL grant.

14. The method claim 12 , further comprising:

autonomously selecting a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process ID for the grant-free UL transmission; and

determining a number of bits associated with a new data indicator (NDI) included in the UL grant, and

in response to the determined number of NDI bits being 2,

performing at least one of,

stopping transmission of the first TB using the grant-free UL transmission and determining whether to transmit a new TB based on a value of a different bit field included in the UL grant, the UL grant including the HARQ process ID that is selected by UE,

retransmitting the first TB to the BS based on the UL grant,

continuing transmission of the first TB using the grant-free UL transmission and retransmitting a previous TB scheduled for transmission prior to the first TB to the BS based on the UL grant, the UL grant including grant-based UL transmission scheduling information using a HARQ process ID selected by the BS, and

continuing transmission of the first TB using the grant-free UL transmission and transmitting the second TB to the BS based on the UL grant.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein in response to the determined number of NDI bits being 1, the method further comprises:

determining the PDCCH region associated with the UL grant; and

based on the determined PDCCH region and a value of the NDI bit, performing at least one of,

stopping transmission of the first TB using the grant-free UL transmission and determining whether to transmit a new TB based on a value of a different bit field included in the UL grant, the UL grant including the HARQ process ID that is selected by the UE,

retransmitting the first TB to the BS based on the UL grant,

retransmitting the previous TB to the BS based on the UL grant, and

transmitting the second TB to the BS based on the UL grant.

16. A User Equipment (UE) device for providing transport block indications in uplink (UL) grant-free transmissions, the device comprising:

a memory having computer readable instructions stored thereon; and

at least one processor configured to execute the computer readable instructions to,

transmit a first transport block (TB) to a base station (BS) during a first transmission time interval (TTI) using a grant-free UL transmission,

receive a UL grant from the BS in a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) region during a time window,

determine a target of the UL grant, the target including at least one of the first TB, a second TB, or a previously transmitted TB, based on the UL grant;

transmit the target of the UL grant to the BS;

analyze a transport block size (TBS) of the UL grant and a TBS of the transmitted first TB; and

in response to the TBS of the UL grant being not the same and not being a next higher TBS value as the TBS of the transmitted first TB,

transmit the second TB to the BS based on the UL grant.