Unified frame structure

• US 10,644,859 B2
• Filed: 07/12/2018
• Issued: 05/05/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Jiang, Jing, Ang, Peter Pui Lok, Soriaga, Joseph Binamira, Mukkavilli, Krishna Kiran, Ji, Tingfang, Azarian Yazdi, Kambiz, Bhushan, Naga, Smee, John Edward
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Jae Y
• Assistant Examiner(s): Guadalupe Cruz, Aixa A
• Application Number:
  US16/033,861
• Publication Number:
  US 20180323943A1
• Time in Patent Office: 663 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/2602 Signal structure
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0007 the frequencies being orthogonal, e.g. OFDM(A), DMT
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0044 allocation of payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0053 Allocation of signaling, i.e. of overhead other than pilot signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0092 Indication of how the channel is divided
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A unified frame structure design includes multiple structures to support multiple access requirements. In some aspects, traffic communicated according to one structure may puncture traffic communicated according to another structure. In some aspects, an indication of the puncturing may be communicated. In some aspects, communication based on the unified frame structure may use a code block-level acknowledgement. In some aspects, different access requirements may relate to different access terminal categories and/or different applications. In some aspects, different access terminal categories may relate to different performance requirements of different access terminals. In some aspects, the disclosed unified frame structure design could support, for example, and without limitation, at least one of: a low latency mode, a low overhead mode, a low power mode (e.g., for micro-sleep and/or dynamic bandwidth switching), an access terminal with narrowband capability operating in wideband, or ultra-low-latency and nominal multiplexing.

Claims

1. An apparatus for communication, comprising:

a communication interface; and

a processing circuit coupled to the communication interface and configured to;

identify a first structure for scheduling first traffic within a unified frame structure,

identify a second structure for scheduling second traffic within the unified frame structure, wherein the second structure schedules at least a portion of the second traffic to puncture at least a portion of the first traffic, wherein the first structure and the second structure are different in at least one of;

transmission time intervals (TTIs), frequency bands, or control structures, and

send, via the communication interface, the first traffic and the second traffic according to the first structure and the second structure within the unified frame structure.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second traffic comprises ultra-low latency traffic.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the first traffic comprises low overhead traffic or nominal traffic.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second structure schedules the second traffic over all bandwidth of a particular transmission time interval.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

generate an indication of the puncture; and

send the indication via the communication interface.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the indication identifies at least one transmission time interval that has been overwritten.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

receive, via the communication interface, a code block-level acknowledgement associated with the first traffic; and

retransmit, via the communication interface, a code block of the first traffic as a result of receiving the code block-level acknowledgement.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control structures comprise:

at least one time division multiplexing control channel structure, at least one frequency division multiplexing control channel structure, or any combination thereof.

9. A method of communication for an apparatus, comprising:

identifying a first structure for scheduling first traffic within a unified frame structure;

identifying a second structure for scheduling second traffic within the unified frame structure, wherein the second structure schedules at least a portion of the second traffic to puncture at least a portion of the first traffic, wherein the first structure and the second structure are different in at least one of;

transmission time intervals (TTIs), frequency bands, or control structures; and

sending the first traffic and the second traffic according to the first structure and the second structure within the unified frame structure.

10. An apparatus for communication, comprising:

means for identifying a first structure for scheduling first traffic within a unified frame structure;

means for identifying a second structure for scheduling second traffic within the unified frame structure, wherein the second structure schedules at least a portion of the second traffic to puncture at least a portion of the first traffic, wherein the first structure and the second structure are different in at least one of;

transmission time intervals (TTIs), frequency bands, or control structures; and

means for sending the first traffic and the second traffic according to the first structure and the second structure within the unified frame structure.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable code, including code to:

identify a first structure for scheduling first traffic within a unified frame structure;

identify a second structure for scheduling second traffic within the unified frame structure, wherein the second structure schedules at least a portion of the second traffic to puncture at least a portion of the first traffic, wherein the first structure and the second structure are different in at least one of;

transmission time intervals (TTIs), frequency bands, or control structures; and

send the first traffic and the second traffic according to the first structure and the second structure within the unified frame structure.

12. An apparatus for communication, comprising:

a communication interface; and

a processing circuit coupled to the communication interface and configured to;

receive, via the communication interface, first traffic scheduled according to a first structure within a unified frame structure,

determine whether the first traffic was punctured by second traffic scheduled according to a second structure within the unified frame structure, wherein the first structure and the second structure are different in at least one of;

transmission time intervals (TTIs), frequency bands, or control structures, and

decode the first traffic based on the determination of whether the first traffic was punctured.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the second traffic comprises ultra-low latency traffic.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the first traffic comprises low overhead traffic or nominal traffic.

15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the second structure specifies that the second traffic is scheduled over all bandwidth of a particular transmission time interval.

16. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein:

the determination of whether the first traffic was punctured comprises receiving, via the communication interface, an indication of the puncture; and

the decoding comprises electing to not process at least one transmission time interval that was punctured.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the indication identifies the at least one transmission time interval.

18. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

determine whether a code block of the first traffic is in error; and

send, via the communication interface, a code block-level acknowledgement as a result of the determination.

19. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the control structures comprise:

at least one time division multiplexing control channel structure, at least one frequency division multiplexing control channel structure, or any combination thereof.

20. A method of communication for an apparatus, comprising:

receiving first traffic scheduled according to a first structure within a unified frame structure;

determining whether the first traffic was punctured by second traffic scheduled according to a second structure within the unified frame structure, wherein the first structure and the second structure are different in at least one of;

transmission time intervals (TTIs), frequency bands, or control structures; and

decoding the first traffic based on the determination of whether the first traffic was punctured.

21. An apparatus for communication, comprising:

means for receiving first traffic scheduled according to a first structure within a unified frame structure;

means for determining whether the first traffic was punctured by second traffic scheduled according to a second structure within the unified frame structure, wherein the first structure and the second structure are different in at least one of;

transmission time intervals (TTIs), frequency bands, or control structures; and

means for decoding the first traffic based on the determination of whether the first traffic was punctured.

22. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable code, including code to:

receive first traffic scheduled according to a first structure within a unified frame structure;

determine whether the first traffic was punctured by second traffic scheduled according to a second structure within the unified frame structure, wherein the first structure and the second structure are different in at least one of;

transmission time intervals (TTIs), frequency bands, or control structures; and

decode the first traffic based on the determination of whether the first traffic was punctured.

23. An apparatus for communication, comprising:

a communication interface; and

a processing circuit coupled to the communication interface and configured to;

identify a first structure for scheduling first traffic within a unified frame structure,

send, via the communication interface, the first traffic according to the first structure within the unified frame structure, and

receive, via the communication interface, a code block-level acknowledgement associated with the first traffic.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein:

the code block-level acknowledgement indicates that a code block of the first traffic was received in error; and

the processing circuit is further configured to retransmit the code block via the communication interface as a result of receiving the code block-level acknowledgement.

25. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

identify a second structure for scheduling second traffic within the unified frame structure, wherein the second structure schedules at least a portion of the second traffic to puncture at least a portion of the first traffic; and

send, via the communication interface, the second traffic according to the second structure within the unified frame structure.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein:

the first traffic comprises low overhead traffic or nominal traffic; and

the second traffic comprises ultra-low latency traffic.

27. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the code block-level acknowledgement is received from an access terminal configured for co-existence with an access terminal configured to receive the second traffic.

28. A method of communication for an apparatus, comprising:

identifying a first structure for scheduling first traffic within a unified frame structure;

sending the first traffic according to the first structure within the unified frame structure; and

receiving a code block-level acknowledgement associated with the first traffic.

29. An apparatus for communication, comprising:

means for identifying a first structure for scheduling first traffic within a unified frame structure;

means for sending the first traffic according to the first structure within the unified frame structure; and

means for receiving a code block-level acknowledgement associated with the first traffic.

30. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable code, including code to:

identify a first structure for scheduling first traffic within a unified frame structure;

send the first traffic according to the first structure within the unified frame structure; and

receive a code block-level acknowledgement associated with the first traffic.

31. An apparatus for communication, comprising:

a communication interface; and

a processing circuit coupled to the communication interface and configured to;

identify a first structure for scheduling first traffic within a unified frame structure,

receive, via the communication interface, the first traffic according to the first structure within the unified frame structure,

determine whether a block of the first traffic was received in error, and

send, via the communication interface, a code block-level acknowledgement that indicates whether the block of the first traffic was received in error.

32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the determination of whether the block of the first traffic was received in error comprises:

determining that the first traffic was punctured by second traffic scheduled according to a second structure within the unified frame structure.

33. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein:

the first traffic comprises low overhead traffic or nominal traffic; and

the second traffic comprises ultra-low latency traffic.

34. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the apparatus is configured for co-existence with an access terminal configured to receive the second traffic.

35. A method of communication for an apparatus, comprising:

identifying a first structure for scheduling first traffic within a unified frame structure;

receiving the first traffic according to the first structure within the unified frame structure;

determining whether a block of the first traffic was received in error; and

sending a code block-level acknowledgement that indicates whether the block of the first traffic was received in error.

36. An apparatus for communication, comprising:

means for identifying a first structure for scheduling first traffic within a unified frame structure;

means for receiving the first traffic according to the first structure within the unified frame structure;

means for determining whether a block of the first traffic was received in error; and

means for sending a code block-level acknowledgement that indicates whether the block of the first traffic was received in error.

37. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable code, including code to:

identify a first structure for scheduling first traffic within a unified frame structure;

receive the first traffic according to the first structure within the unified frame structure;

determine whether a block of the first traffic was received in error; and

send a code block-level acknowledgement that indicates whether the block of the first traffic was received in error.