Variable-length transmission schemes

1. A method of wireless communications, comprising:

receiving, at a user equipment (UE), a grant from a base station on a control channel, the grant including content indicating a mini-slot having a start symbol and a duration assigned to the UE;

interpreting the grant based on a current configuration of a data channel to determine the mini-slot; wherein interpreting the grant includes:

determining a location of the grant within the control channel;

determining a type of mini-slot based on the location; and

determining assignment of resources based on the type of mini-slot and the content; and

communicating with the base station during the mini-slot indicated by the grant.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein interpreting the grant includes decoding the content to obtain a start symbol and the duration based on the current configuration of the data channel.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the content includes a first number of bits encoding the start symbol and a second number of bits encoding the duration as a number of symbols.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein interpreting the grant includes determining mini-slots available for communication based on the current configuration, wherein the content includes an index of an available mini-slot.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the grant is applicable to a plurality of mini-slots assigned to the UE and the content includes a bit mask indicating the assigned mini-slots.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising selecting the current configuration from a plurality of pre-configuration patterns using an index in the received pre-configuration information.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein interpreting the grant includes

determining a demodulation reference signal pattern to be used with the grant based on the location of the grant.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving pre-configuration information indicating the current configuration.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the pre-configuration information includes information about a demodulation reference signal pattern to be used with the grant.

10. A user equipment (UE) for wireless communications, comprising:

a memory configured to store instructions; and

a processor coupled with the memory, the processor configured to execute the instructions to:

receive, at the UE, a grant from a base station on a control channel, the grant including content indicating a mini-slot having a start symbol and a duration assigned to the UE;

interpret the grant based on a current configuration of a data channel to determine the mini-slot; wherein the instructions to interpret the grant are further configured to:

determine a location of the grant within the control channel;

determine a type of mini-slot based on the location; and

determine assignment of resources based on the type of mini-slot and the content; and

communicate with the base station during the mini-slot indicated by the grant.

11. The UE of claim 10 , wherein the instructions to interpret the grant are further configured to decode the content to obtain a start symbol and the duration based on the current configuration of the data channel.

12. The UE of claim 11 , wherein the content includes a first number of bits encoding the start symbol and a second number of bits encoding the duration as a number of symbols.

13. The UE of claim 10 , wherein the instructions to interpret the grant are further configured to determine mini-slots available for communication based on the current configuration, wherein the content includes an index of an available mini-slot.

14. The UE of claim 10 , wherein the grant is applicable to a plurality of mini-slots assigned to the UE and the content includes a bit mask indicating the assigned mini-slots.

15. The UE of claim 10 , further comprising instructions to select the current configuration from a plurality of pre-configuration patterns using an index in the received pre-configuration information.

16. The UE of claim 10 , wherein the instructions to interpret the grant are further configured to

determine a demodulation reference signal pattern to be used with the grant based on the location of the grant.

17. The UE of claim 10 , further comprising receiving pre-configuration information indicating the current configuration.

18. The UE of claim 17 , wherein the pre-configuration information includes information about a demodulation reference signal pattern to be used with the grant.

19. A user equipment (UE) for wireless communications, comprising:

means for receiving, at the UE, a grant from a base station on a control channel, the grant including content indicating a mini-slot having a start symbol and a duration assigned to the UE;

means for interpreting the grant based on a current configuration of a data channel to determine the mini-slot wherein the means for interpreting the grant further comprise:

means for determining a location of the grant within the control channel;

means for determining a type of mini-slot based on the location; and

means for determining assignment of resources based on the type of mini-slot and the content; and

means for communicating with the base station during the mini-slot indicated by the grant.

20. The UE of claim 19 , wherein the means for interpreting the grant are configured to decode the content to obtain a start symbol and the duration based on the current configuration of the data channel.

21. The UE of claim 20 , wherein the content includes a first number of bits encoding the start symbol and a second number of bits encoding the duration as a number of symbols.

22. The UE of claim 19 , wherein the means for interpreting the grant further determine mini-slots available for communication based on the current configuration, wherein the content includes an index of an available mini-slot.

23. The UE of claim 19 , wherein the grant is applicable to a plurality of mini-slots assigned to the UE and the content includes a bit mask indicating the assigned mini-slots.

24. The UE of claim 19 , further comprising means for selecting the current configuration from a plurality of pre-configuration patterns using an index in the received pre-configuration information.

25. The UE of claim 19 , further comprising means for receiving pre-configuration information indicating the current configuration.

26. The UE of claim 25 , wherein the pre-configuration information includes information about a demodulation reference signal pattern to be used with the grant.

27. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer code executable by a processor for wireless communications, comprising code for:

receiving, at a user equipment (UE), a grant from a base station on a control channel, the grant including content indicating a mini-slot having a start symbol and a duration assigned to the UE;

interpreting the grant based on a current configuration of a data channel to determine the mini-slot; wherein the interpreting the grant further comprises code for:

determining a location of the grant within the control channel;

determining a type of mini-slot based on the location; and

determining assignment of resources based on the type of mini-slot and the content; and

communicating with the base station during the mini-slot indicated by the grant.