Method for performing a HARQ operation in a carrier aggregation with at least one SCell operating in an unlicensed spectrum and a device therefor

• US 10,205,563 B2
• Filed: 03/31/2016
• Issued: 02/12/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/09/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Lee, Sunyoung, Yi, Seungjune
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Nimesh
• Application Number:
  US15/559,802
• Publication Number:
  US 20180069665A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,048 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1812 Hybrid protocols; Hybrid automatic repeat request [HARQ]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1864 ARQ related signaling H04L1/1607 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/14 Spectrum sharing arrangements between different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices

Abstract

The present invention relates to a wireless communication system. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and a device for performing a HARQ process in a carrier aggregation, the method comprising: configuring with a plurality of cells, wherein each of the plurality of cells belongs to one of a first cell group and a second cell group; receiving two sets of maximum number of Hybrid-ARQ (HARQ) transmission, wherein a first set is related to a first cell group and a second set is related to a second cell group; applying the first set to a HARQ process if the HARQ process is assigned to the first cell group; and applying the second set to the HARQ process if the HARQ process is assigned to the second cell group.

Claims

1. A method for a User Equipment (UE) operating in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:

configuring with a plurality of cells, each of the plurality of cells belonging to a first cell group or a second cell group;

receiving two sets of a maximum number of Hybrid-ARQ (HARQ) transmissions, a first set related to a first cell group and a second set related to a second cell group;

applying the first set to a HARQ process if the HARQ process is assigned to the first cell group; and

applying the second set to the HARQ process if the HARQ process is assigned to the second cell group,

wherein a maximum number of HARQ transmissions for the second set is larger than a maximum number of HARQ transmissions for the first set if all cells in the first cell group operate in a licensed spectrum and all cells in the second cell group operate in an unlicensed spectrum.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising receiving an indication of whether one of the plurality of cells belongs to the first cell group or the second cell group.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein:

the first set includes a first maxHARQ-Tx and a first maxHARQ-Msg3Tx; and

the second set includes a second maxHARQ-Tx and a second maxHARQ-Msg3Tx.

4. The method according to claim 3, further comprising:

setting the first maxHARQ-Tx as a maximum number of HARQ transmissions for all transmissions using the HARQ process except for transmission of a medium access control (MAC) PDU stored in a buffer if the HARQ process is assigned to the first cell group; and

setting the second maxHARQ-Tx as the maximum number of HARQ transmissions for all transmissions using the HARQ process except for transmission of the MAC PDU stored in the buffer if the HARQ process is assigned to the second cell group.

5. The method according to claim 3, further comprising:

setting the first maxHARQ-Msg3Tx as a maximum number of HARQ transmissions for transmission of a medium access control (MAC) PDU stored in a buffer if the HARQ process is assigned to the first cell group; and

setting the first maxHARQ-Msg3Tx as the maximum number of HARQ transmissions for transmission of the MAC PDU stored in the buffer if the HARQ process is assigned to the second cell group.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the maximum number of HARQ transmissions for each of the first set and second set is 0 to infinity.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the HARQ process is assigned to either the first cell group or the second cell group.

8. A User Equipment (UE) operating in a wireless communication system, the UE comprising:

a Radio Frequency (RF) module configured to transmit and receive signals; and

a processor configured to;

configure with a plurality of cells, each of the plurality of cells belonging to a first cell group or a second cell group;

control the RF unit to receive two sets of maximum number of Hybrid-ARQ (HARQ) transmissions, a first set related to a first cell group and a second set related to a second cell group;

apply the first set to a HARQ process if the HARQ process is assigned to the first cell group; and

apply the second set to the HARQ process if the HARQ process is assigned to the second cell group,

wherein a maximum number of HARQ transmissions for the second set is larger than a maximum number of HARQ transmissions for the first set if all cells in the first cell group operate in a licensed spectrum and all cells in the second cell group operate in an unlicensed spectrum.

9. The UE according to claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to control the RF unit to receive an indication indicating whether a cell of the plurality of cells belongs to the first cell group or the second cell group.

10. The UE according to claim 8, wherein:

the first set includes a first maxHARQ-Tx and a first maxHARQ-Msg3Tx; and

the second set includes a second maxHARQ-Tx and a second maxHARQ-Msg3Tx.

11. The UE according to claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured to:

set the first maxHARQ-Tx as a maximum number of HARQ transmissions for all transmissions using the HARQ process except for transmission of a medium access control (MAC) PDU stored in a buffer if the HARQ process is assigned to the first cell group; and

set the second maxHARQ-Tx as the maximum number of HARQ transmissions for all transmissions using the HARQ process except for transmission of the MAC PDU stored in the buffer if the HARQ process is assigned to the second cell group.

12. The UE according to claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured to:

set the first maxHARQ-Msg3Tx as a maximum number of HARQ transmissions for transmission of a medium access control (MAC) PDU stored in a buffer if the HARQ process is assigned to the first cell group; and

set the first maxHARQ-Msg3Tx as the maximum number of HARQ transmissions for transmission of the MAC PDU stored in the buffer if the HARQ process is assigned to the second cell group.

13. The UE according to claim 8, wherein the maximum number of HARQ transmissions for each of the first and second set is 0 to infinity.

14. The UE according to claim 8, wherein the HARQ process is assigned to either the first cell group or the second cell group.