Message 2 of a two-step random access procedure and coexistence with four-step random access procedure

• US 11,140,720 B2
• Filed: 10/23/2019
• Issued: 10/05/2021
• Est. Priority Date: 10/24/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Fakoorian, Seyed Ali Akbar, Zhang, Xiaoxia, Sun, Jing, Damnjanovic, Aleksandar, Yerramalli, Srinivas, Ozturk, Ozcan
• Primary Examiner(s): Jangbahadur, Lakeram
• Application Number:
  US16/661,609
• Publication Number:
  US 20200137803A1
• Time in Patent Office: 713 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1812 Hybrid protocols; Hybrid automatic repeat request [HARQ]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1819 with retransmission of additional or different redundancy
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1854 Scheduling and prioritising arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1896 ARQ related signaling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0053 Allocation of signaling, i.e. of overhead other than pilot signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0055 Physical resource allocation for ACK/NACK for physical mapping arrangements in ARQ protocols H04L1/1861
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0094 Indication of how sub-channels of the path are allocated
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 56/0045 compensating for timing error by altering transmission time
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/23 in the downlink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards a terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/30 Resource management for broadcast services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/006 in the downlink, i.e. towards the terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/0833 Random access procedures, e.g. with 4-step access
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/0891 for synchronized access
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/11 Allocation or use of connection identifiers

Abstract

Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications are described. The method includes identifying that the user equipment (UE) is to use a two-step random access channel (RACH) procedure that includes a first message (e.g., uplink request message) and a second message (e.g., downlink response). The methods include sending, as a first message of the two-step RACH procedure, the uplink request message to a base station, receiving, from the base station, a physical downlink control channel comprising an indication of resources of a broadcast or multicast physical downlink shared channel on which the downlink response is to be received, and receiving the downlink response from the base station on the broadcast or multicast physical downlink shared channel. The physical downlink shared channel may be configured to provide downlink responses for one or multiple UEs.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising:

identifying that the UE is to use a two-step random access channel (RACH) procedure, the two-step RACH procedure including an uplink request message and a downlink response intended for the UE;

sending, as a first message of the two-step RACH procedure, the uplink request message to a base station;

determining a group random access radio network temporary identifier;

receiving, from the base station, a physical downlink control channel comprising an indication of resources of a broadcast or multicast physical downlink shared channel on which the downlink response is to be received;

decoding the physical downlink control channel based at least in part on the group random access radio network temporary identifier;

decoding the broadcast or multicast physical downlink shared channel in accordance with the indication received on the physical downlink control channel;

receiving the downlink response from the base station on the broadcast or multicast physical downlink shared channel, the downlink response being a second message of the two-step RACH procedure including downlink responses for multiple UEs multiplexed at a media access control layer, wherein the downlink response intended for the UE is one of the multiplexed downlink responses, and

identifying an uplink grant in the downlink response intended for the UE, the uplink grant indicating resources for transmission by the UE of a confirmation message that confirms the UE received the downlink response intended for the UE on the broadcast or multicast physical downlink shared channel;

refraining from transmitting hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback with respect to decoding the physical downlink control channel or decoding the broadcast or multicast physical downlink shared channel; and

transmitting the confirmation message based at least in part on the uplink grant.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the physical downlink control channel includes one or more of a new data indicator, a redundancy version identifier, an acknowledgement resource indicator, or a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process identifier.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, based at least in part on the refraining from transmitting HARQ feedback, a retransmission of the downlink response intended for the UE.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the retransmission includes each of the downlink responses included in the broadcast or multicast physical downlink shared channel.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the retransmission includes fewer downlink responses than those included in the broadcast or multicast physical downlink shared channel.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the physical downlink control channel uses a larger transport block scaling than would be used if HARQ feedback were to be transmitted.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the physical downlink control channel lacks one or more of a HARQ process identifier, a new data indicator, or a redundancy version identifier.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the downlink response intended for the UE includes one or more of a random access preamble index, a cell radio network temporary identifier, or a UE identifier.

9. A method for wireless communication at a base station:

receiving an uplink request message from a user equipment (UE);

identifying that the uplink request message is a first message of a two-step random access channel (RACH) procedure;

sending a physical downlink control channel comprising an indication of resources of a broadcast or multicast physical downlink shared channel on which a downlink response to the uplink request message intended for the UE is to be received, the downlink response being a second message of the two-step RACH procedure, the physical downlink shared channel being configured to provide a plurality of downlink responses to a corresponding plurality of UEs that includes the UE;

scrambling a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of the physical downlink control channel by a group random access radio network temporary identifier;

sending the plurality of downlink responses multiplexed at a media access control (MAC) layer, including the downlink response intended for the UE, to the plurality of UEs via the broadcast or multicast physical downlink shared channel,

wherein the downlink response intended for the UE comprises an uplink grant, the uplink grant indicating resources for transmission by the UE of a confirmation message that confirms the UE received the downlink response intended for the UE; and

confirming whether the UE receives the second message based at least in part on detecting a transmission on the resources indicated by the uplink grant.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

including in each of the plurality of downlink responses at least one of a random access preamble index (RAPID), a timing advance (TA), a cell radio network temporary identifier, a UE identifier, or any combination thereof.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

including in the broadcast or multicast physical downlink shared channel an acknowledgement/negative acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) resource indicator (ARI) for each of the plurality of downlink responses to indicate separate ACK/NACK feedback resources for each RAPID.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

sending via the broadcast or multicast physical downlink shared channel a retransmission of at least some of the plurality of downlink responses.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

sending the retransmission after failing to receive an ACK from any of the plurality of UEs within a given time period.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the retransmission includes each of the plurality of downlink responses included in the transmission of the broadcast or multicast physical downlink shared channel.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the retransmission includes fewer downlink responses than were included in the transmission of the broadcast or multicast physical downlink shared channel.

16. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

clearing a new data indicator (NDI); and

including in the retransmission of the plurality of downlink responses at least one of the downlink response intended for the UE from the plurality of downlink responses, at least one modified message sent previously in the transmission of the plurality of downlink responses, or at least one new message transmitted for the first time in the retransmission, or any combination thereof.

17. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

refraining from including in the physical downlink control channel at least one of a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process identifier, a new data indicator (NDI), a redundancy version identifier (RVID), or any combination thereof; and

using a space created by the refraining for transport block (TB) scaling.

18. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

including in the physical downlink control channel at least one of a new data indicator (NDI), or a redundancy version identifier (RVID) for retransmission support.

19. An apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising:

a processor,

memory coupled with the processor; and

instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to;

identify that the UE is to use a two-step random access channel (RACH) procedure, the two-step RACH procedure including an uplink request message and a downlink response;

send, as a first message of the two-step RACH procedure, the uplink request message to a base station;

determine a group random access radio network temporary identifier;

receive, from the base station, a physical downlink control channel comprising an indication of resources of a broadcast or multicast physical downlink shared channel on which the downlink response is to be received;

decode the physical downlink control channel based at least in part on the group random access radio network temporary identifier;

decode the broadcast or multicast physical downlink shared channel in accordance with the indication received on the physical downlink control channel;

receive the downlink response from the base station on the broadcast or multicast physical downlink shared channel, the downlink response being a second message of the two-step RACH procedure including downlink responses for multiple UEs multiplexed at a media access control layer, wherein the downlink response intended for the UE is one of the multiplexed downlink responses;

identify an uplink grant in the downlink response intended for the UE, the uplink grant indicating resources for transmission by the UE of a confirmation message that confirms the UE received the downlink response intended for the UE on the broadcast or multicast physical downlink shared channel;

refrain from transmitting hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback with respect to decoding the physical downlink control channel or decoding the broadcast or multicast physical downlink shared channel; and

transmit the confirmation message based at least in part on the uplink grant.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the physical downlink control channel includes one or more of a new data indicator, a redundancy version identifier, an acknowledgement resource indicator, or a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process identifier.

21. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:

refrain from transmitting a negative acknowledgement (NACK) when decoding the broadcast or multicast physical downlink shared channel is unsuccessful or the downlink response intended for the UE is corrupted or unreadable.

22. An apparatus for wireless communication at a base station, comprising:

a processor,

memory coupled with the processor; and

instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to;

receive an uplink request message from a user equipment (UE);

identify that the uplink request message is a first message of a two-step random access channel (RACH) procedure;

send a physical downlink control channel comprising an indication of resources of a broadcast or multicast physical downlink shared channel on which a downlink response to the uplink request message intended for the UE is to be received, the downlink response being a second message of the two-step RACH procedure, the physical downlink shared channel being configured to provide a plurality of downlink responses to a corresponding plurality of UEs that includes the UE;

scramble a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of the physical downlink control channel by a group random access radio network temporary identifier;

send the plurality of downlink responses multiplexed at a media access control (MAC) layer, including the downlink response intended for the UE, to the plurality of UEs via the broadcast or multicast physical downlink shared channel,

wherein the downlink response intended for the UE comprises an uplink grant, the uplink grant indicating resources for transmission by the UE of a confirmation message that confirms the UE received the downlink response intended for the UE; and

confirm whether the UE receives the second message based at least in part on detecting a transmission on the resources indicated by the uplink grant.

23. An apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising:

means for identifying that the UE is to use a two-step random access channel (RACH) procedure, the two-step RACH procedure including an uplink request message and a downlink response;

means for sending, as a first message of the two-step RACH procedure, the uplink request message to a base station;

means for determining a group random access radio network temporary identifier;

means for receiving, from the base station, a physical downlink control channel comprising an indication of resources of a broadcast or multicast physical downlink shared channel on which the downlink response is to be received;

means for decoding the physical downlink control channel based at least in part on the group random access radio network temporary identifier;

means for decoding the broadcast or multicast physical downlink shared channel in accordance with the indication received on the physical downlink control channel;

means for receiving the downlink response from the base station on the broadcast or multicast physical downlink shared channel, the downlink response being a second message of the two-step RACH procedure including downlink responses for multiple UEs multiplexed at a media access control layer, wherein the downlink response intended for the UE is one of the multiplexed downlink responses;

means for identifying an uplink grant in the downlink response intended for the UE, the uplink grant indicating resources for transmission by the UE of a confirmation message that confirms the UE received the downlink response intended for the UE on the broadcast or multicast physical downlink shared channel;

means for refraining from transmitting hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback with respect to decoding the physical downlink control channel or decoding the broadcast or multicast physical downlink shared channel; and

means for transmitting the confirmation message based at least in part on the uplink grant.

24. An apparatus for wireless communication at a base station, comprising:

means for receiving an uplink request message from a user equipment (UE);

means for identifying that the uplink request message is a first message of a two-step random access channel (RACH) procedure;

means for sending a physical downlink control channel comprising an indication of resources of a broadcast or multicast physical downlink shared channel on which a downlink response to the uplink request message intended for the UE is to be received, the downlink response being a second message of the two-step RACH procedure, the physical downlink shared channel being configured to provide a plurality of downlink responses to a corresponding plurality of UEs that includes the UE;

means for scrambling a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of the physical downlink control channel by a group random access radio network temporary identifier;

means for sending the plurality of downlink responses multiplexed at a media access control (MAC) layer, including the downlink response intended for the UE, to the plurality of UEs via the broadcast or multicast physical downlink shared channel,

wherein the downlink response intended for the UE comprises an uplink grant, the uplink grant indicating resources for transmission by the UE of a confirmation message that confirms the UE received the downlink response intended for the UE; and

means for confirming whether the UE receives the second message based at least in part on detecting a transmission on the resources indicated by the uplink grant.

25. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to:

identify that the UE is to use a two-step random access channel (RACH) procedure, the two-step RACH procedure including an uplink request message and a downlink response;

send, as a first message of the two-step RACH procedure, the uplink request message to a base station;

determine a group random access radio network temporary identifier;

receive, from the base station, a physical downlink control channel comprising an indication of resources of a broadcast or multicast physical downlink shared channel on which the downlink response is to be received;

decode the physical downlink control channel based at least in part on the group random access radio network temporary identifier;

decode the broadcast or multicast physical downlink shared channel in accordance with the indication received on the physical downlink control channel;

receive the downlink response from the base station on the broadcast or multicast physical downlink shared channel, the downlink response being a second message of the two-step RACH procedure including downlink responses for multiple UEs multiplexed at a media access control layer (MAC), wherein the downlink response intended for the UE is one of the multiplexed downlink responses, and

identify an uplink grant in the downlink response intended for the UE, the uplink grant indicating resources for transmission by the UE of a confirmation message that confirms the UE received the downlink response intended for the UE on the broadcast or multicast physical downlink shared channel;

refrain from transmitting hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback with respect to decoding the physical downlink control channel or decoding the broadcast or multicast physical downlink shared channel; and

transmit the confirmation message based at least in part on the uplink grant.

26. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication at a base station, the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to:

receive an uplink request message from a user equipment (UE);

identify that the uplink request message is a first message of a two-step random access channel (RACH) procedure;

send a physical downlink control channel comprising an indication of resources of a broadcast or multicast physical downlink shared channel on which a downlink response to the uplink request message intended for the UE is to be received, the downlink response being a second message of the two-step RACH procedure, the physical downlink shared channel being configured to provide a plurality of downlink responses to a corresponding plurality of UEs that includes the UE;

scramble a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of the physical downlink control channel by a group random access radio network temporary identifier;

send the plurality of downlink responses multiplexed at a media access control (MAC) layer, including the downlink response intended for the UE, to the plurality of UEs via the broadcast or multicast physical downlink shared channel,

wherein the downlink response intended for the UE comprises an uplink grant, the uplink grant indicating resources for transmission by the UE of a confirmation message that confirms the UE received the downlink response intended for the UE; and

confirm whether the UE receives the second message based at least in part on detecting a transmission on the resources indicated by the uplink grant.