Methods, apparatus and systems for determining a transport block size in a wireless communication

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

receiving control information from a wireless communication node, wherein the control information includes a plurality of transmission parameters related to transport blocks to be transmitted between the wireless communication device and the wireless communication node;

calculating a transport block size (TBS) for the transport blocks based on the plurality of transmission parameters;

determining a final TBS for the transport blocks by selecting a TBS that is closest to the calculated TBS among a set of quantized TBSs denoted by {TBS i , i=1, 2, . . . N} wherein N is a positive integer greater than 2, a quantization step size of the set of quantized TBSs increases with increasing TBS values, and the final TBS is not smaller than the calculated TBS; and

using the final TBS for transmissions between the wireless communication device and the wireless communication node.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein each element of the set of quantized TBSs satisfy TBS i mod 8=0.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein each element of the set of quantized TBSs satisfy

TBS

i

⁢

mod

⁢

⌈

TBS

i

+

TB_CRC

3

⁢

8

⁢

4

⁢

0

-

2

⁢

4

⌉

=

0

;

where TB_CRC equals a number of transport block cyclic redundancy check (CRC) bits, and where ┌X┐ means rounding up X to a next nearest integer.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein each element of the set of quantized TBSs is less than or equal to 8424.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein each element of the set of quantized TBSs satisfies the following conditions:

when TBS i is less than or equal to a threshold K threshold , (TBS LTE −TBS NR )/TBS NR <0.2; and

when TBS i is greater than the threshold K threshold , (TBS LTE −TBS NR )/TBS NR <0.05,

wherein K min <K threshold <K max }, K min is an integer between 10 and 100, K max is an integer greater than 10000, TBS LTE is a TBS set defined for a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, TBS NR is a TBS set defined for a New Radio (NR) system.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein K threshold =1000.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of transmission parameters comprises:

a modulation order configured for transmission of the transport blocks;

a code rate configured for transmission of the transport blocks; and

a quantity of physical resource blocks configured for transmission of the transport blocks.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein calculating the TBS comprises:

calculating an intermediate TBS for the transport blocks based on the plurality of transmission parameters;

determining a correction factor based on: the quantity of physical resource blocks, the modulation order and the code rate; and

modifying the intermediate TBS based on the correction factor to generate the calculated TBS.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein calculating the intermediate TBS comprises:

calculating a multiplication product of: the modulation order, the code rate, a total quantity of resource elements for transmission of the transport blocks, and a quantity of layers configured for transmission of the transport blocks; and

using the multiplication product as the intermediate TBS.

10. A wireless communication device comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores instructions that, when executed, causes the processor to perform the method of claim 1 .

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

generating a plurality of transmission parameters related to transport blocks;

transmitting control information that comprises the plurality of transmission parameters to a wireless communication device;

calculating a transport block size (TBS) for the transport blocks based on the plurality of transmission parameters;

determining a final TBS for the transport blocks by selecting a TBS that is closest to the calculated TBS among a set of quantized TBSs denoted by {TBS i , i=1, 2, . . . N} wherein N is a positive integer greater than 2, a quantization step size of the set of quantized TBSs increases with increasing TBS values, and the final TBS is not smaller than the calculated TBS; and

communicating with a wireless communication device using the transport blocks based on the final TBS.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein each element of the set of quantized TBSs satisfy TBS i mod 8=0.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein each element of the set of quantized TBSs satisfy

TBS

i

⁢

mod

⁢

⌈

TBS

i

+

TB_CRC

3

⁢

8

⁢

4

⁢

0

-

2

⁢

4

⌉

=

0

;

where TB_CRC equals a number of transport block cyclic redundancy check (CRC) bits, and where ┌X┐ means rounding up X to a next nearest integer.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein each element of the set of quantized TBSs is less than or equal to 8424.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein each element of the set of quantized TBSs satisfies the following conditions:

when TBS i is less than or equal to a threshold K threshold , (TBS LTE −TBS NR )/TBS NR <0.2; and

when TBS i is greater than the threshold K threshold , (TBS LTE −TBS NR )/TBS NR <0.05,

wherein K min <K threshold <K max }, K min is an integer between 10 and 100, K max is an integer greater than 10000, TBS LTE is a TBS set defined for a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, TBS NR is a TBS set defined for a New Radio (NR) system.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein K threshold =1000.

17. The method of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of transmission parameters comprises:

a modulation order configured for transmission of the transport blocks;

a code rate configured for transmission of the transport blocks; and

a quantity of physical resource blocks configured for transmission of the transport blocks.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein calculating the TBS comprises:

calculating an intermediate TBS for the transport blocks based on the plurality of transmission parameters;

determining a correction factor based on: the quantity of physical resource blocks, the modulation order and the code rate; and

modifying the intermediate TBS based on the correction factor to generate the calculated TBS.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein calculating the intermediate TBS comprises:

calculating a multiplication product of: the modulation order, the code rate, a total quantity of resource elements for transmission of the transport blocks, and a quantity of layers configured for transmission of the transport blocks; and

using the multiplication product as the intermediate TBS.

20. A wireless communication node comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores instructions that, when executed, causes the processor to perform the method of claim 11 .