WO2020098915A1

WO2020098915A1 - Control channel combining for telecommunication systems

Info

Publication number: WO2020098915A1
Application number: PCT/EP2018/081035
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jens Steiner; Klaus Ingemann Pedersen; Troels Emil Kolding; Guillermo POCOVI
Original assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy
Priority date: 2018-11-13
Filing date: 2018-11-13
Publication date: 2020-05-22

Abstract

An apparatus, said apparatus comprising means for: receiving at least two scheduling control messages over two or more transmission time intervals, wherein at least one of the at least two scheduling control messages is received from the further apparatus in response to an absence of a feedback transmission, the absence of the feedback transmission based on an earlier and undecoded received scheduling control message of the at least two scheduling control messages; receiving a data message or a copy of the data message over the two or more transmission time intervals, wherein each of the at least two scheduling control messages is associated with the received data message or the copy of the data message; attempting to decode scheduling control information for decoding the data message or copy of the data message from the at least two scheduling control messages received; attempting to decode the received data message or a copy of the data message, or a combination of the received data message and at least one copy of the data message based on the decoding of the scheduling control information; and generating an acknowledgement in response to a successfully decoded received data message or a copy of the data message, or a combination of the received data messages and at least one copy of the data message.

Description

Title

CONTROL CHANNEL COMBINING FOR TELECOMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

Field

The present application relates to a method, apparatus, system and computer program for control channel combining for telecommunication systems and in particular but not exclusively for control channel combining for telecommunication systems in New Radio (NR).

Background

A communication system can be seen as a facility that enables communication sessions between two or more entities such as user terminals, base stations and/or other nodes by providing carriers between the various entities involved in the communications path. A communication system can be provided for example by means of a communication network and one or more compatible communication devices. The communication sessions may comprise, for example, communication of data for carrying communications such as voice, video, electronic mail (email), text message, multimedia and/or content data and so on. Non limiting examples of services provided comprise two-way or multi-way calls, data communication or multimedia services and access to a data network system, such as the Internet.

In a wireless communication system at least a part of a communication session between at least two stations occurs over a wireless link. Examples of wireless systems comprise public land mobile networks (PLMN), satellite based communication systems and different wireless local networks, for example wireless local area networks (WLAN). The wireless systems can typically be divided into cells, and are therefore often referred to as cellular systems.

A user can access the communication system by means of an appropriate communication device or terminal. A communication device of a user may be referred to as user equipment (UE) or user device. A communication device is provided with an appropriate signal receiving and transmitting apparatus for enabling communications, for example enabling access to a communication network or communications directly with other users. The communication device may access a carrier provided by a station, for example a base station of a cell, and transmit and/or receive communications on the carrier.

The communication system and associated devices typically operate in accordance with a given standard or specification which sets out what the various entities associated with the system are permitted to do and how that should be achieved. Communication protocols and/or parameters which shall be used for the connection are also typically defined. One example of a communications system is UTRAN (3G radio). Other examples of communication systems are the long-term evolution (LTE) of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) radio-access technology and so-called 5G or New Radio (NR) networks. NR is being standardized by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).

Summary

In a first aspect there is provided an apparatus, said apparatus comprising means for: receiving at least two scheduling control messages over two or more transmission time intervals, wherein at least one of the at least two scheduling control messages is received from the further apparatus in response to an absence of a feedback transmission, the absence of the feedback transmission based on an earlier and undecoded received scheduling control message of the at least two scheduling control messages; receiving a data message or a copy of the data message over the two or more transmission time intervals, wherein each of the at least two scheduling control messages is associated with the received data message or the copy of the data message; attempting to decode scheduling control information for decoding the data message or copy of the data message from the at least two scheduling control messages received; attempting to decode the received data message or a copy of the data message, or a combination of the received data message and at least one copy of the data message based on the decoding of the scheduling control information; and generating an acknowledgement in response to a successfully decoded received data message or a copy of the data message, or a combination of the received data messages and at least one copy of the data message.

The means for attempting to decode scheduling control information for decoding the data message or copy of the data message from the at least two scheduling control messages received may be further for: combining at least a respective portion of the at least two scheduling control messages; and decoding the combined respective portions of the at least two scheduling control messages such that the scheduling control information can be determined and the associated data message decoded.

The means for attempting to decode the received data message or a copy of the data message, or a combination of the received data message and at least one copy of the data message based on the decoding of the scheduling control information may be further for decoding and combining at least a respective portion of the received data message and at least one copy of the data message based on the scheduling control information.

The means for receiving at least two scheduling control messages over two or more transmission time intervals, wherein at least one of the at least two scheduling control messages is received from the further apparatus in response to an absence of a feedback transmission, the absence of the feedback transmission based on an earlier and undecoded received scheduling control message of the at least two scheduling control messages may be further for: receiving a first instance of a first scheduling control message from a further apparatus; storing the first instance of a first scheduling control message; and receiving a subsequent instance of the first scheduling control message from the further apparatus, the subsequent instance of the first scheduling control message being transmitted by the further apparatus based on a determination of the absence of feedback transmission associated with the first instance of the first scheduling control message.

The means for receiving a subsequent instance of the first scheduling control message from the further apparatus, the subsequent instance of the first scheduling control message being transmitted by the further apparatus based on a determination of the absence of the feedback transmission associated with the first instance of the first scheduling control message may be further for: determining when to receive the subsequent instance of the first scheduling control message from the further apparatus based on the first instance of the first scheduling control message; determining which physical resources to use to receive the subsequent instance of the first scheduling control message from the further apparatus based on the first instance of the first scheduling control message.

The means for receiving at least two scheduling control messages over two or more transmission time intervals, at least one of the at least two scheduling control messages is received from the further apparatus in response to an absence of a feedback transmission, the absence of the feedback transmission based on an earlier and undecoded received scheduling control message of the at least two scheduling control messages may be further for determining an instance number of the first instance based on at least one of: signalling separate from the at least two scheduling control messages; signalling within the first of the at least two scheduling control messages; and mapping from information within the first of the at least two scheduling control messages.

According to a second aspect there is provided an apparatus, said apparatus comprising means for: controlling a transmission of a first instance of a scheduling control message to a further apparatus, wherein the first instance of the scheduling control message is associated with a data message; controlling a transmission of a first instance of the data message associated with the first instance of the scheduling control message; determining an absence of feedback associated with a successful decoding of the first instance of the data message at the further apparatus; controlling a transmission of at least one further instance of at least a portion of the scheduling control message over one or more later transmission time intervals to the further apparatus such that the further apparatus is able to combine respective portions of the first and the at least one further instance of the scheduling control messages in order to decode the combined respective portions of the first and at least one further instance of the scheduling control messages such that the scheduling control information can be determined and the associated data message decoded.

Controlling the transmission of at least one further instance of at least the portion of the scheduling control message over one or more later transmission time intervals to the further apparatus may be further for: determining when to transmit the at least one further instance; determining which physical resources to use to transmit the at least one further instance.

The means may be further for controlling a signalling of an instance number of the first instance based on at least one of: signalling separate from the at least two scheduling control messages the instance number; signalling within the first of the at least two scheduling control messages the instance number.

According to a third aspect there is provided a method comprising: receiving at least two scheduling control messages over two or more transmission time intervals, wherein at least one of the at least two scheduling control messages is received in response to an absence of a feedback transmission, the absence of the feedback transmission based on an earlier and undecoded received scheduling control message of the at least two scheduling control messages; receiving a data message or a copy of the data message over the two or more transmission time intervals, wherein each of the at least two scheduling control messages is associated with the received data message or the copy of the data message; attempting to decode scheduling control information for decoding the data message or copy of the data message from the at least two scheduling control messages received; attempting to decode the received data message or a copy of the data message, or a combination of the received data message and at least one copy of the data message based on the decoding of the scheduling control information; and generating an acknowledgement in response to a successfully decoded received data message or a copy of the data message, or a combination of the received data messages and at least one copy of the data message.

Attempting to decode scheduling control information for decoding the data message or copy of the data message from the at least two scheduling control messages received may further comprise: combining at least a respective portion of the at least two scheduling control messages; and decoding the combined respective portions of the at least two scheduling control messages such that the scheduling control information can be determined and the associated data message decoded.

Attempting to decode the received data message or a copy of the data message, or a combination of the received data message and at least one copy of the data message based on the decoding of the scheduling control information may further comprise decoding and combining at least a respective portion of the received data message and at least one copy of the data message based on the scheduling control information.

Receiving at least two scheduling control messages over two or more transmission time intervals, wherein at least one of the at least two scheduling control messages is received in response to an absence of a feedback transmission, the absence of the feedback transmission based on an earlier and undecoded received scheduling control message of the at least two scheduling control messages may further comprise: receiving a first instance of a first scheduling control message from an apparatus; storing the first instance of a first scheduling control message; and receiving a subsequent instance of the first scheduling control message from the apparatus, the subsequent instance of the first scheduling control message being transmitted by the apparatus based on a determination of the absence of the feedback transmission associated with the first instance of the first scheduling control message received by the apparatus.

Receiving a subsequent instance of the first scheduling control message from the further apparatus, the subsequent instance of the first scheduling control message being transmitted by the apparatus based on a determination of an absence of feedback associated with the first instance of the first scheduling control message received by the apparatus may further comprise: determining when to receive the subsequent instance of the first scheduling control message from the apparatus based on the first instance of the first scheduling control message; determining which physical resources to use to receive the subsequent instance of the first scheduling control message from the apparatus based on the first instance of the first scheduling control message.

Receiving at least two scheduling control messages over two or more transmission time intervals, wherein at least one of the at least two scheduling control messages is received in response to an absence of feedback transmitted in response to a undecoded received scheduling control message may further comprise determining an instance number of the first instance based on at least one of: signalling separate from the at least two scheduling control messages; signalling within the first of the at least two scheduling control messages; and mapping from information within the first of the at least two scheduling control messages.

According to a fourth aspect there is provided a method comprising: controlling a transmission of a first instance of a scheduling control message to an apparatus, wherein the first instance of the scheduling control message is associated with a data message; controlling a transmission of a first instance of the data message associated with the first instance of the scheduling control message; determining an absence of feedback associated with a successful decoding of the first instance of the data message at the apparatus; controlling a transmission of at least one further instance of at least a portion of the scheduling control message over one or more later transmission time intervals to the apparatus such that the apparatus is able to combine respective portions of the first and the at least one further instance of the scheduling control messages in order to decode the combined respective portions of the first and at least one further instance of the scheduling control messages such that the scheduling control information can be determined and the associated data message decoded.

Controlling the transmission of at least one further instance of at least the portion of the scheduling control message over one or more later transmission time intervals to the apparatus may further comprise: determining when to transmit the at least one further instance; determining which physical resources to use to transmit the at least one further instance.

The method may further comprise signalling of an instance number of the first instance based on at least one of: signalling separate from the at least two scheduling control messages the instance number; signalling within the first of the at least two scheduling control messages the instance number.

According to a fifth aspect there is provided an apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including a computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: receive at least two scheduling control messages over two or more transmission time intervals, wherein at least one of the at least two scheduling control messages is received from the further apparatus in response to an absence of a feedback transmission, the absence of the feedback transmission based on an earlier and undecoded received scheduling control message of the at least two scheduling control messages; receive a data message or a copy of the data message over the two or more transmission time intervals, wherein each of the at least two scheduling control messages is associated with the received data message or the copy of the data message; attempt to decode scheduling control information for decoding the data message or copy of the data message from the at least two scheduling control messages received; attempt to decode the received data message or a copy of the data message, or a combination of the received data message and at least one copy of the data message based on the decoding of the scheduling control information; and generate an acknowledgement in response to a successfully decoded received data message or a copy of the data message, or a combination of the received data messages and at least one copy of the data message.

The apparatus caused to attempt to decode scheduling control information for decoding the data message or copy of the data message from the at least two scheduling control messages received may further be caused to: combine at least a respective portion of the at least two scheduling control messages; and decode the combined respective portions of the at least two scheduling control messages such that the scheduling control information can be determined and the associated data message decoded.

The apparatus caused to attempt to decode the received data message or a copy of the data message, or a combination of the received data message and at least one copy of the data message based on the decoding of the scheduling control information may further be caused to decode and combine at least a respective portion of the received data message and at least one copy of the data message based on the scheduling control information.

The apparatus caused to receive at least two scheduling control messages over two or more transmission time intervals, wherein at least one of the at least two scheduling control messages is received from the further apparatus in response to an absence of a feedback transmission, the absence of the feedback transmission based on an earlier and undecoded received scheduling control message of the at least two scheduling control messages may further be caused to: receive a first instance of a first scheduling control message from a further apparatus; store the first instance of a first scheduling control message; and receive a subsequent instance of the first scheduling control message from the further apparatus, the subsequent instance of the first scheduling control message being transmitted by the further apparatus based on a determination of the absence of the feedback transmission associated with the first instance of the first scheduling control message.

The apparatus caused to receive a subsequent instance of the first scheduling control message from the further apparatus, the subsequent instance of the first scheduling control message being transmitted by the further apparatus based on a determination of the absence of the feedback transmission associated with the first instance of the first scheduling control message received by the further apparatus may further be caused to: determine when to receive the subsequent instance of the first scheduling control message from the further apparatus based on the first instance of the first scheduling control message; determine which physical resources to use to receive the subsequent instance of the first scheduling control message from the further apparatus based on the first instance of the first scheduling control message.

The apparatus caused to receive at least two scheduling control messages over two or more transmission time intervals, wherein at least one of the at least two scheduling control messages is received from the further apparatus in response to an absence of a feedback transmission, the absence of the feedback transmission based on an earlier and undecoded received scheduling control message of the at least two scheduling control messages may further be caused to determine an instance number of the first instance based on at least one of: signalling separate from the at least two scheduling control messages; signalling within the first of the at least two scheduling control messages; and mapping from information within the first of the at least two scheduling control messages. According to a sixth aspect there is provided an apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including a computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: control a transmission of a first instance of a scheduling control message to a further apparatus, wherein the first instance of the scheduling control message is associated with a data message; control a transmission of a first instance of the data message associated with the first instance of the scheduling control message; determine an absence of feedback associated with a successful decoding of the first instance of the data message at the further apparatus; control a transmission of at least one further instance of at least a portion of the scheduling control message over one or more later transmission time intervals to the further apparatus such that the further apparatus is able to combine respective portions of the first and the at least one further instance of the scheduling control messages in order to decode the combined respective portions of the first and at least one further instance of the scheduling control messages such that the scheduling control information can be determined and the associated data message decoded.

The apparatus caused to control the transmission of at least one further instance of at least the portion of the scheduling control message over two or more transmission time intervals to the further apparatus may further be caused to: determine when to transmit the at least one further instance; determine which physical resources to use to transmit the at least one further instance.

The apparatus may be further caused to control a signalling of an instance number of the first instance based on at least one of: signalling separate from the at least two scheduling control messages the instance number; signalling within the first of the at least two scheduling control messages the instance number.

According to a seventh aspect there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the following: receiving at least two scheduling control messages over two or more transmission time intervals, wherein at least one of the at least two scheduling control messages is received from the further apparatus in response to an absence of a feedback transmission, the absence of the feedback transmission based on an earlier and undecoded received scheduling control message of the at least two scheduling control messages; receiving a data message or a copy of the data message over the two or more transmission time intervals, wherein each of the at least two scheduling control messages is associated with the received data message or the copy of the data message; attempting to decode scheduling control information for decoding the data message or copy of the data message from the at least two scheduling control messages received; attempting to decode the received data message or a copy of the data message, or a combination of the received data message and at least one copy of the data message based on the decoding of the scheduling control information; and generating an acknowledgement in response to a successfully decoded received data message or a copy of the data message, or a combination of the received data messages and at least one copy of the data message.

According to an eighth aspect there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the following: controlling a transmission of a first instance of a scheduling control message to a further apparatus, wherein the first instance of the scheduling control message is associated with a data message; controlling a transmission of a first instance of the data message associated with the first instance of the scheduling control message; determining an absence of feedback associated with a successful decoding of the first instance of the data message at the further apparatus; controlling a transmission of at least one further instance of at least a portion of the scheduling control message over one or more later transmission time intervals to the further apparatus such that the further apparatus is able to combine respective portions of the first and the at least one further instance of the scheduling control messages in order to decode the combined respective portions of the first and at least one further instance of the scheduling control messages such that the scheduling control information can be determined and the associated data message decoded.

According to a ninth aspect there is provided an apparatus comprising: receiving circuitry configured to receive at least two scheduling control messages over two or more transmission time intervals, wherein at least one of the at least two scheduling control messages is received from the further apparatus in response to an absence of a feedback transmission, the absence of the feedback transmission based on an earlier and undecoded received scheduling control message of the at least two scheduling control messages; the receiving circuitry further configured to receive a data message or a copy of the data message over the two or more transmission time intervals, wherein each of the at least two scheduling control messages is associated with the received data message or the copy of the data message; decoding circuitry configured to attempt to decode scheduling control information for decoding the data message or copy of the data message from the at least two scheduling control messages received; attempting to decode the received data message or a copy of the data message, or a combination of the received data message and at least one copy of the data message based on the decoding of the scheduling control information; and generating an acknowledgement in response to a successfully decoded received data message or a copy of the data message, or a combination of the received data messages and at least one copy of the data message.

According to a tenth aspect there is provided an apparatus comprising: controlling circuitry configured to control a transmission of a first instance of a scheduling control message to a further apparatus, wherein the first instance of the scheduling control message is associated with a data message; the controlling circuitry further configured to control a transmission of a first instance of the data message associated with the first instance of the scheduling control message; determining circuitry configured to determine an absence of feedback associated with a successful decoding of the first instance of the data message at the further apparatus; the controlling circuitry further configured to control a transmission of at least one further instance of at least a portion of the scheduling control message over one or more later transmission time intervals to the further apparatus such that the further apparatus is able to combine respective portions of the first and the at least one further instance of the scheduling control messages in order to decode the combined respective portions of the first and at least one further instance of the scheduling control messages such that the scheduling control information can be determined and the associated data message decoded.

According to an eleventh aspect there is provided an apparatus comprising: means for receiving at least two scheduling control messages over two or more transmission time intervals, wherein at least one of the at least two scheduling control messages is received from the further apparatus in response to an absence of a feedback transmission, the absence of the feedback transmission based on an earlier and undecoded received scheduling control message of the at least two scheduling control messages; means for receiving a data message or a copy of the data message over the two or more transmission time intervals, wherein each of the at least two scheduling control messages is associated with the received data message or the copy of the data message; means for attempting to decode scheduling control information for decoding the data message or copy of the data message from the at least two scheduling control messages received; means for attempting to decode the received data message or a copy of the data message, or a combination of the received data message and at least one copy of the data message based on the decoding of the scheduling control information; and means for generating an acknowledgement in response to a successfully decoded received data message or a copy of the data message, or a combination of the received data messages and at least one copy of the data message.

According to a twelfth aspect there is provided an apparatus comprising: means for controlling a transmission of a first instance of a scheduling control message to a further apparatus, wherein the first instance of the scheduling control message is associated with a data message; means for controlling a transmission of a first instance of the data message associated with the first instance of the scheduling control message; means for determining an absence of feedback associated with a successful decoding of the first instance of the data message at the further apparatus; means for controlling a transmission of at least one further instance of at least a portion of the scheduling control message over one or more later transmission time intervals to the further apparatus such that the further apparatus is able to combine respective portions of the first and the at least one further instance of the scheduling control messages in order to decode the combined respective portions of the first and at least one further instance of the scheduling control messages such that the scheduling control information can be determined and the associated data message decoded.

According to a thirteenth aspect there is provided a computer program comprising instructions [or a computer readable medium comprising program instructions] for causing an apparatus to perform at least the following: receiving at least two scheduling control messages over two or more transmission time intervals, wherein at least one of the at least two scheduling control messages is received from the further apparatus in response to an absence of a feedback transmission, the absence of the feedback transmission based on an earlier and undecoded received scheduling control message of the at least two scheduling control messages; receiving a data message or a copy of the data message over the two or more transmission time intervals, wherein each of the at least two scheduling control messages is associated with the received data message or the copy of the data message; attempting to decode scheduling control information for decoding the data message or copy of the data message from the at least two scheduling control messages received; attempting to decode the received data message or a copy of the data message, or a combination of the received data message and at least one copy of the data message based on the decoding of the scheduling control information; and generating an acknowledgement in response to a successfully decoded received data message or a copy of the data message, or a combination of the received data messages and at least one copy of the data message.

According to a fourteenth aspect there is provided a computer program comprising instructions [or a computer readable medium comprising program instructions] for causing an apparatus to perform at least the following: controlling a transmission of a first instance of a scheduling control message to a further apparatus, wherein the first instance of the scheduling control message is associated with a data message; controlling a transmission of a first instance of the data message associated with the first instance of the scheduling control message; determining an absence of feedback associated with a successful decoding of the first instance of the data message at the further apparatus; controlling a transmission of at least one further instance of at least a portion of the scheduling control message over one or more later transmission time intervals to the further apparatus such that the further apparatus is able to combine respective portions of the first and the at least one further instance of the scheduling control messages in order to decode the combined respective portions of the first and at least one further instance of the scheduling control messages such that the scheduling control information can be determined and the associated data message decoded.

According to a fifteenth aspect there is provided a computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the following: receiving at least two scheduling control messages over two or more transmission time intervals, wherein at least one of the at least two scheduling control messages is received from the further apparatus in response to an absence of a feedback transmission, the absence of the feedback transmission based on an earlier and undecoded received scheduling control message of the at least two scheduling control messages; receiving a data message or a copy of the data message over the two or more transmission time intervals, wherein each of the at least two scheduling control messages is associated with the received data message or the copy of the data message; attempting to decode scheduling control information for decoding the data message or copy of the data message from the at least two scheduling control messages received; attempting to decode the received data message or a copy of the data message, or a combination of the received data message and at least one copy of the data message based on the decoding of the scheduling control information; and generating an acknowledgement in response to a successfully decoded received data message or a copy of the data message, or a combination of the received data messages and at least one copy of the data message.

According to a sixteenth aspect there is provided a computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the following: controlling a transmission of a first instance of a scheduling control message to a further apparatus, wherein the first instance of the scheduling control message is associated with a data message; controlling a transmission of a first instance of the data message associated with the first instance of the scheduling control message; determining an absence of feedback associated with a successful decoding of the first instance of the data message at the further apparatus; controlling a transmission of at least one further instance of at least a portion of the scheduling control message over one or more later transmission time intervals to the further apparatus such that the further apparatus is able to combine respective portions of the first and the at least one further instance of the scheduling control messages in order to decode the combined respective portions of the first and at least one further instance of the scheduling control messages such that the scheduling control information can be determined and the associated data message decoded.

The scheduling control message may be a scheduling grant control message.

An apparatus comprising means for performing the actions of the method as described above.

An apparatus configured to perform the actions of the method as described above.

A computer program comprising program instructions for causing a computer to perform the method as described above.

A computer program product stored on a medium may cause an apparatus to perform the method as described herein. An electronic device may comprise apparatus as described herein.

A chipset may comprise apparatus as described herein.

In the above, many different embodiments have been described. It should be appreciated that further embodiments may be provided by the combination of any two or more of the embodiments described above.

Description of Figures

Embodiments will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying Figures in which:

Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of an example embodiment communication system comprising a plurality of communication devices, including base stations and mobile communication devices;

Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram of an example embodiment mobile communication device;

Figure 3 shows a schematic diagram of an example embodiment control apparatus;

Figure 4 shows a flowchart of a first method according to some embodiments;

Figure 5 shows a flowchart of a second method according to some additional embodiments; and

Figure 6 shows a flowchart of a third method according to some further embodiments. Detailed description

Before explaining in detail the examples, certain general principles of a wireless communication system and mobile communication devices are briefly explained with reference to Figures 1 to 3 to assist in understanding the technology underlying the described example embodiments.

In an example embodiment wireless communication system 100, such as that shown in Figure 1 , mobile communication devices or user equipment (UE) 102, 104, 105 are provided wireless access via at least one base station or similar wireless transmitting and/or receiving node or point. Base stations are typically controlled by at least one appropriate controller apparatus, so as to enable operation thereof and management of mobile communication devices in communication with the base stations. The controller apparatus may be located in a radio access network (e.g. wireless communication system 100) or in a core network (CN) (not shown) and may be implemented as one central apparatus or its functionality may be distributed over several apparatuses. The controller apparatus may be part of the base station and/or provided by a separate entity such as a Radio Network Controller. In Figure 1 control apparatus 108 and 109 are shown to control the respective macro level base stations 106 and 107. The control apparatus of a base station can be interconnected with other control entities. The control apparatus is typically provided with memory capacity and at least one data processor. The control apparatus and functions may be distributed between a plurality of control units. In some systems, the control apparatus may additionally or alternatively be provided in a radio network controller.

In Figure 1 base stations 106 and 107 are shown as connected to a wider communications network 1 13 via gateway 1 12. A further gateway function may be provided to connect to another network.

The smaller base stations 1 16, 1 18 and 120 may also be connected to the network 1 13, for example by a separate gateway function and/or via the controllers of the macro level stations. The base stations 1 16, 1 18 and 120 may be pico or femto level base stations or the like. In the example embodiment shown in Figure 1 , stations 1 16 and 1 18 are connected via a gateway 1 1 1 whilst station 120 connects via the controller apparatus 108. In some embodiments, the smaller stations may not be provided. Smaller base stations 1 16, 1 18 and 120 may be part of a second network, for example WLAN and may be WLAN APs.

The communication devices 102, 104, 105 may access the communication system based on various access techniques, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), or wideband CDMA (WCDMA). Other non-limiting examples comprise time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA) and various schemes thereof such as the interleaved frequency division multiple access (IFDMA), single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) and orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), space division multiple access (SDMA) and so on.

An example of wireless communication systems are architectures standardized by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). A latest 3GPP based development is often referred to as the long term evolution (LTE) of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) radio-access technology. The various development stages of the 3GPP specifications are referred to as releases. More recent developments of the LTE are often referred to as LTE Advanced (LTE-A). The LTE (LTE-A) employs a radio mobile architecture known as the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) and a core network known as the Evolved Packet Core (EPC). Base stations of such systems are known as evolved or enhanced Node Bs (eNBs) and provide E-UTRAN features such as user plane Packet Data Convergence/Radio Link Control/Medium Access Control/Physical layer protocol (PDCP/RLC/MAC/PHY) and control plane Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol terminations towards the communication devices. Other examples of radio access system comprise those provided by base stations of systems that are based on technologies such as wireless local area network (WLAN) and/or WiMax (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access). A base station can provide coverage for an entire cell or similar radio service area. Core network elements include Mobility Management Entity (MME), Serving Gateway (S-GW) and Packet Gateway (P-GW).

An example of a suitable communications system is the 5G or NR concept. Network architecture in NR may be similar to that of LTE-advanced. Base stations of NR systems may be known as next generation Node Bs (gNBs). Changes to the network architecture may depend on the need to support various radio technologies and finer QoS support, and some on-demand requirements for e.g. QoS levels to support QoE of user point of view. Also network aware services and applications, and service and application aware networks may bring changes to the architecture. Those are related to Information Centric Network (ICN) and User-Centric Content Delivery Network (UC-CDN) approaches. NR may use multiple input - multiple output (MIMO) antennas, many more base stations or nodes than the LTE (a so- called small cell concept), including macro sites operating in co-operation with smaller stations and perhaps also employing a variety of radio technologies for better coverage and enhanced data rates.

Future networks may utilise network functions virtualization (NFV) which is a network architecture concept that proposes virtualizing network node functions into“building blocks” or entities that may be operationally connected or linked together to provide services. A virtualized network function (VNF) may comprise one or more virtual machines running computer program codes using standard or general type servers instead of customized hardware. Cloud computing or data storage may also be utilized. In radio communications this may mean node operations to be carried out, at least partly, in a server, host or node operationally coupled to a remote radio head. It is also possible that node operations will be distributed among a plurality of servers, nodes or hosts. It should also be understood that the distribution of labour between core network operations and base station operations may differ from that of the LTE or even be non-existent.

An example 5G core network (CN) comprises functional entities. The CN is connected to a UE via the radio access network (RAN). An UPF (User Plane Function) whose role is called PSA (PDU Session Anchor) may be responsible for forwarding frames back and forth between the DN (data network) and the tunnels established over the 5G towards the UE(s) exchanging traffic with the DN.

The UPF is controlled by an SMF (Session Management Function) that receives policies from a PCF (Policy Control Function). The CN may also include an AMF (Access & Mobility Function).

A possible mobile communication device will now be described in more detail with reference to Figure 2 showing a schematic, partially sectioned view of a communication device 200. Such a communication device is often referred to as user equipment (UE) or terminal. An appropriate mobile communication device may be provided by any device capable of sending and receiving radio signals. Non-limiting examples comprise a mobile station (MS) or mobile device such as a mobile phone or what is known as a’smart phone’, a computer provided with a wireless interface card or other wireless interface facility (e.g., USB dongle), personal data assistant (PDA) or a tablet provided with wireless communication capabilities, or any combinations of these or the like. A mobile communication device may provide, for example, communication of data for carrying communications such as voice, electronic mail (email), text message, multimedia and so on. Users may thus be offered and provided numerous services via their communication devices. Non-limiting examples of these services comprise two-way or multi-way calls, data communication or multimedia services or simply an access to a data communications network system, such as the Internet. Users may also be provided broadcast or multicast data. Non-limiting examples of the content comprise downloads, television and radio programs, videos, advertisements, various alerts and other information.

A mobile device is typically provided with at least one data processing entity 201 , at least one memory 202 and other possible components 203 for use in software and hardware aided execution of tasks it is designed to perform, including control of access to and communications with access systems and other communication devices. The data processing, storage and other relevant control apparatus can be provided on an appropriate circuit board and/or in chipsets. This feature is denoted by reference 204. The user may control the operation of the mobile device by means of a suitable user interface such as key pad 205, voice commands, touch sensitive screen or pad, combinations thereof or the like. A display 208, a speaker and a microphone can be also provided. Furthermore, a mobile communication device may comprise appropriate connectors (either wired or wireless) to other devices and/or for connecting external accessories, for example hands-free equipment, thereto.

The mobile device 200 may receive signals over an air or radio interface 207 via appropriate apparatus for receiving and may transmit signals via appropriate apparatus for transmitting radio signals. In Figure 2 transceiver apparatus is designated schematically by block 206. The transceiver apparatus 206 may be provided for example by means of a radio part and associated antenna arrangement. The antenna arrangement may be arranged internally or externally to the mobile device.

Figure 3 shows an example embodiment of a control apparatus for a communication system, for example to be coupled to and/or for controlling a station of an access system, such as a RAN node, e.g. a base station, eNB or gNB, a relay node or a core network node such as an MME or S-GW or P-GW, or a core network function such as AMF/SMF, or a server or host. The method may be implanted in a single control apparatus or across more than one control apparatus. The control apparatus may be integrated with or external to a node or module of a core network or RAN. In some embodiments, base stations comprise a separate control apparatus unit or module. In other embodiments, the control apparatus can be another network element such as a radio network controller or a spectrum controller. In some embodiments, each base station may have such a control apparatus as well as a control apparatus being provided in a radio network controller. The control apparatus 300 can be arranged to provide control on communications in the service area of the system. The control apparatus 300 comprises at least one memory 301 , at least one data processing unit 302, 303 and an input/output interface 304. Via the interface the control apparatus can be coupled to a receiver and a transmitter of the base station. The receiver and/or the transmitter may be implemented as a radio front end or a remote radio head.

The concept as discussed in the following embodiments is with respect to the signalling of control information. Control information is typically tens of bits, compared to thousands of bits for the data per allocation entity (for example with respect to Mobile Broad Band (MBB) traffic). In other words the provision of control information requires only modest control channel overhead. It is, however, not meaningful to calculate the overhead just based on the number of data bits for control, divided by the total data bits for control and data for a single transmission.

Typically (for example in MBB) Outer Loop Link Adaptation (OLLA) settings in LTE may have an error rate target of 1 % for the downlink control information (DCI), but 10% or higher for the 1 st transmission (Tx 0) of data, since the data is subject to Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) combining at retransmissions. This difference in error rate target makes a significant difference in the number of Resource Elements (REs) needed per data bit, or conversely, spectral efficiency (SE).

Furthermore for Machine Type of Communication (MTC), and ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC), control overhead is relatively high because of the typically small payload size. For example a typical packet size for a motion control application is 64 bytes.

An example URLLC target may be packet delivery within a delay budget of 1 ms, with less than 10 ⁵ error probability. For future URLLC applications, for example, Time Sensitive Networking and factory automation applications currently being discussed, the allowed error rate may even be lower than 10 ⁶-1 O ⁹. An error rate target of 10 ⁵ or less requires a significant number of REs per data bit. The‘error floor’ phenomenon may make this worse. Therefore, a configuration is strongly preferred which allows for at least 1 retransmission within the delay budget.

Assuming error-free control, a single transmission BLock Error Rate (BLER) target in the order of 10 ² may be sufficient. The retransmission data is attempted to be decoded alone, as well as soft combined with the former transmission, increasing the chances of success, such that the combined error probability of the two transmissions is not simply (1 O ²)² = 10⁴, but may be as low as 10 ⁵ due to the HARQ data channel combining gain (e.g. 3dB) and diversity gain (positive at the low SINR tail of the distribution, which is most important). In practical example embodiments, the downlink control information (DCI) is also subject to errors. This means that in some cases an initial data transmission (TxO) may be unknown to the receiver due to DCI decoding failure, and in that event success depends on successful decoding of the retransmission’s DCI and data, with no combining gain to help.

The following example embodiments are described with respect to downlink control information (DCI). However in some other example embodiments the concepts introduced herein may be applied to uplink control information or Device-to-Device (D2D) communication as well.

Further although the following example embodiments discuss communications that have high reliability requirements and need to be scheduled using DCI, the term DCI may be interpreted in the broader sense, covering all aspects of the physical downlink control channel in any variant (PDCCH, EPDCCH, etc.).

The combined error probability of a scheduled message may be defined by both control information and the actual data transmitted on the air interface. While combining gains provide sufficient reliability for data, such gains are not readily available for control channel traffic such as DCI. In tight control loop applications for automation, there is usually no time to recover when the network discovers that the DCI was not read by a UE involved in said control loop.

Furthermore combining techniques as used for data channels have not been generally considered to be suitable for control information combination for the following reasons:

Firstly the UE does not know when the gNB is going to transmit a DCI (PDCCH) intended for it. The UE is therefore configured to typically perform several blind decoding attempts aiming at receiving DCI for the UE.

Secondly when DCI is not decoded successfully, the UE furthermore does not know there is a data transmission associated with the DCI.

Thirdly the DCI content may be different between transmission attempts (for example the DCI may differ between Tx N and Tx N+1 ). This difference may be due to different Resource Blocks (RBs) allocated, different Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) used, and Redundancy Version (RV) change of the corresponding data transmission.

Hence the flexibility of changing DCI content between transmission attempts comes with the disadvantage that is it is not possible to perform (soft) combining of DCIs between transmission attempts, and thus means no SINR boost for DCI, and the need for lower BLER targets for DCI, and thus low spectral efficiency for DCI.

With small data packets, and challenging ultra-low error rate targets on the control channel, the control overhead may be large, which calls for additional optimizations.

The DCI informs the UE where the data is, and how it is encoded. When DCI is lost in a transmission, not only does the transmission fail, but DATA soft bits are not kept for later combining. To avoid reliability problems with DCI, it has been discussed to eliminate control information using DCI and exchange any control information via higher layer mechanisms. For example for periodic motion control data, it is possible to use Semi-Persistent Scheduling (SPS) where the resource allocation is agreed beforehand and in a semi-static manner via acknowledged RRC signalling. Thus, UE already knows when data comes and fixed number of retransmissions margins can be made. However this approach has a high fixed overhead and only suitable for certain type of traffic. Furthermore this produces a system which is limited in ways to deal with system dynamics, such as fading and temporary interference. Pre programmed scheduling also takes into account any worst case scenario, e.g. using a low MCS, or many repetitions, which for most use cases is too extreme to facilitate efficient use of the shared medium. Control Information may be reduced in other ways, when reducing the flexibility to change certain things on a per-scheduling basis.

Another proposal is the implementation of a link adaptation for control information as well as for data. When expecting feedback after a transmission, but no feedback was detected, a natural adaptation to that (which could indicate link deterioration) may be to increase the amount of resources used for the DCI, for example doubling the amount of resources used for the DCI on that link. That is an aggregation level increase. This method is efficient within its dynamic range and can be configured very conservatively for a UE although at the expense of the consumption of additional physical resources. For example each transmission needs to operate with a very high overhead in terms of resources for DCI and that effectively limits the number of users supported by the system (or data capacity or both). While dynamic link adaptation is feasible it is not expected to be very efficient for applications that have no margin for error and where the outer loop algorithm cannot (and should not) seek tight optimization boundaries. For many of these applications, the system must run for months and years without errors. Furthermore, there may not be resources available at retransmission time to increase control channel resource usage, and increase data channel resource use (having no combining with the past transmission), and schedule also other UEs.

Furthermore it has been proposed to implement Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) combining. In LTE (where the Master Information Block (MIB) among other cell information is broadcasted) the PBCH allows soft-combining. PBCH transmissions take place on subframe 0 over 4 consecutive 10 ms frames. Each subframe is self-decodable, but also allows soft- combining to facilitate the decoding for UEs located in the cell edge.

It has been proposed to allow the DCI to be omittable. In this proposal if CTx N+1 (control transmission number N+1 ) is predictable from CTx N (control transmission number N), and CTx N is known, then CTx N+1 can be omitted. Additionally by using HARQ NACK feedback as an indication that the DCI was decoded correctly, the transmitter may retransmit the data part alone when the DCI does not need to change. This was allowed by before New Radio specifications in the uplink, denoted non- adaptive and synchronous HARQ, and it may also be possible with semi-persistent scheduling.

Semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) is semi-statically configured by higher layers as to where (in time and frequency) to expect transmissions. It can be combined with discontinuous reception (DRX), such that a UE can save power, by powering down some of its modules between the SPS instances. A benefit of SPS is that less information needs to be carried over the DCI, when a UE is scheduled. However SPS methods produce a less flexible system. In systems where there may be an alignment delay, then the delay before alignment to the next configured SPS opportunity may cause problems especially for low latency communication.

Using a Subframe Number to determine a redundancy version index is a proposed method where Bandwidth reduced Low complexity/Coverage Enhancement UEs (BL/CE UEs), also known as LTE-M1 UEs, may determine the Redundancy Version Index with the help of the Subframe Number, as specified in 3GPP TS 36.213.

Bandwidth reduced Low complexity/Coverage Enhancement UEs (BL/CE UEs), also known as LTE-M1 UEs, may further be configured to receive DCI repetitions, as specified in 3GPP TS 36.213. The physical downlink control channel of such UEs is named MPDCCH.

The concept as summarised above is the provision of effective methods allowing soft combining of DCI information (or other suitable control information) that follows along each transmission and retransmission of a message. In some embodiments a suitable UE may be configured to combine a current signal with earlier stored variants of a signal to recover both DCI and data information, in other words extending HARQ mechanisms to the control channel (e.g. PDCCH). Furthermore in some embodiments the method provides means for reducing the complexity at the UE side for such a solution as well as a procedure for agreeing the necessary information between network and UE so that different DCI variants (for example those of Tx N and Tx N+1 , but not limited to consecutive transmissions) can be effectively combined.

A summary of the proposed method is explained in the following table in terms of transmitter (gNB, base station) and receiver (UE) operations.

In some embodiments, the transmitter is configured to always reuse the DCI on retransmissions. In such a manner the UE receiving the DCI transmissions and re transmissions may always employ DCI combining.

In such embodiments the maximum number of DCI retransmissions, CN_max, is configured to equal the maximum number of DATA retransmissions, N_max.

In some embodiments a smaller (non-negative integer) CN_max value may be also employed.

In some embodiments where the transmitter (for example the gNB or base station) always schedules a new DCI on retransmissions, then the system is the same as the current methods corresponding to CN_max = 0.

In some embodiments it may be indicated inside the DCI and/or by higher layer signalling information as to what to expect on retransmissions. For example in some embodiments the CN_max may be indicated, for example by one or more bits.

For example in some embodiments a signal indication bit inside the DCI (and/or by a higher layer signalling indicator) is configured to indicate which of two different CN_max values are to be used, for example CN_max = 0 and CN_max = 1 :

CN_max: TxO Tx1 Tx2 Tx3 Tx4

0 DCI^a DCI^b DCF DCI^d DCI^e ... (a new DCI each transmission)

1 DCI^a DCI^a DCI^b DCI^b DCI^C ...(a single repeat) In some embodiments where the CN_max value is indicated inside the DCI, the CN_max may also change during the sequence of retransmissions.

With respect to Figures 4 to 6 are shown example embodiments. In these example embodiments it is shown a DCI message preceding and separate from an associated DATA message. However in some example embodiments the DCI message may at least partially overlap in time with the associated DATA message.

With respect to Figure 4 is shown an example embodiment. Figure 4 shows the Base station 401 , which may be a gNB, or any suitable access point and a user equipment 403 potentially within the range of the base station 401.

The example embodiment shown in Figure 4 furthermore shows a base station generating first DCI message DCI^a as shown in step 41 1. The superscript ^a denotes the content of the message, which are the details about the transformation of data bits (DATA) to the physical layer which will be needed at the UE to reconstruct the DATA from the samples the UE measures. The DCI message itself uses a transformation to the physical layer which is one of a few commonly known resource blocks to the BS and UE (and which is defined as the search space).

The first DCI message, DCI^a, is transmitted and received at the UE as shown in Figure 4 by step 412.

However the UE does not or fails to decode the DCI message, DCI^a, and obtain the DCI information but the samples are kept as shown in Figure 4 by step 413.

The first data message, DATA_TXO ³, is generated by the BS as shown in Figure 4 by step 414. The superscript ^a denotes that the DCI^a message comprises information needed regarding the reconstruction process for the data message comprising a similar superscript, DATAT_XO ³.

The BS then transmits the first data DATA message, DATAT_XO³, which is received at the UE as shown in Figure 4 by step 415.

The UE, without the associated DCI message, DCI³, cannot decode the first data message, DATAT_XO³, as shown in Figure 4 by step 416. In some embodiments the first data message, DATAT_XO³ samples are kept.

The BS may then be configured to determine that there was no received HARQ feedback from the UE as shown in Figure 4 by step 417.

This determination may then lead the BS to generate a further copy of the first DCI message DCI³ as shown in step 421.

The copy of the first DCI message, DCI³, is transmitted and received at the UE as shown in Figure 4 by step 422. However in this instance the copy of the first DCI message, DCI^a, is able to be decoded by combining the samples of the copy and the original first DCI message, DCI^a, as shown in Figure 4 by step 423.

In the example embodiments presented herein data channel transmissions of the same DATA as TxO, Tx1 , ... and control channel transmissions of the same DCI as CTxO, CTx1 , ..., and so on, where 0 is used for a first transmission or first instance and higher numbers (1 , 2, ...) for retransmissions or further instances or copies of the same content.

As discussed above the maximum number of retransmissions of DATA is Nmax, and the maximum number of retransmissions of DCI is CNmax.

In this example and the other example embodiments herein a value of CNmax >0 is required. That is the DCI may not change on DATA retransmissions and thus CTx(CN+1 ) and CTx(CN) can be closely related and therefore combinable.

For the CTx instances to be combined the UE has to be configured to know when in the past CTx(CN) was transmitted. The implementation of a synchronous HARQ method generates a fixed delay between CTx(CN) and CTx(CN+1 ).

Additionally the UE also needs to know where (in what physical resources) the CTx(CN) was transmitted. In some embodiments physical resources used may be limited to defined options in order to reduce the search space of the UE.

In some example embodiments CTx(CN) and CTx(CN+1 ) are identical copies in order to be combinable. In some further embodiments the DCI message is split into (two) parts, signaled separately. In such embodiments at least one of these parts is identical from instance to instance and at least one of the parts may change from instance to instance. The identical parts may be combined but the changable parts not combined.

In some example embodiments where CNmax>1 the identical part for two instances may differ between pairings of instances. For example a first pairing of a first and second instance may have an identical first part and combine only the respective first parts and second pairing of a first and third instance may have an identical second part and only combine the respective second parts.

In some example embodiments only DCIs which should be combinable need to operate in such a pre-planned manner, fixed from the time of the first transmission (CTxO) of that DCI. In other words semi-persistent scheduling in some example embodiments is defined by the first transmission of that DCI, not by higher layer signaling.

In some embodiments knowing the transmission number CN of same DCI in CTx (after DCI decoding at least) has two benefits:

Firstly it allows a scheme where the redundancy version (RV) is derived from the transmission number (CN). This is similar to how the RV is derived from the transmission number N in of the same data Tx N for Bandwidth reduced/Low complexity/Coverage Enhancement (BL/CE) UEs.

Secondly it allows the UE to know which data transmissions use the same DCI, which is useful for DATA combining after DCI combining.

In some embodiments the determination of the transmission number (CN) of the same DCI (CTx CN) can be implemented by any suitable means. For some example embodiments it may be determined by separate signaling of the information.

In some example embodiments the transmission number may be determined by DCI contained signaling. For example the DCI indicating where in time CTx 0 is found to sufficient resolution and periodicity. In such example embodiments the transmission numbers (CNs) of later CTx CN may follow from synchronous HARQ operation.

The transmission number may furthermore be determined based on implicit mapping from DCI coded bits to physical resources. This may be achieved by any suitable means for example: different interleaving, different mapping to OFDM symbols (l-Q constellation points) or different frequency sub-band.

In some embodiments the transmission number may be determined based on distinguishable or predefined starting times. Though this may require the implementation of extra delay for alignment purposes.

A result of the determination based on a predefined distinguishability may be a larger search space, and thus require additional processing (for example the need to implement a parallelizable determination algorithm).

The second instance of the data message, DATAT_XI³, is generated by the BS as shown in Figure 4 by step 424.

The BS then transmits the second instance of the data message, DATAT_XI³, which is received at the UE as shown in Figure 4 by step 425.

The UE may then, as it has received the associated DCI information from DCI³, successfully decode the second instance of the data message, DATAT_XI³. This may be done alone or in combination where possible with the stored samples of the first instance of the data message as shown in Figure 4 by step 426.

Having decoded the data the UE can in some example embodiments generate a suitable acknowledge message, ACK, as shown in Figure 4 by step 427.

The acknowledge message, ACK may then in some example embodiments be transmitted to the BS as shown in Figure 4 by step 428.

In these embodiments the scheduling of the messages, the potential future retransmissions, are already planned. The scheduling in some example embodiments is implemented in a synchronous HARQ and SPS manner. In such example embodiments at least one retransmission is planned, which will be effectuated if an ACK message is not received before. In some example embodiments a content of the DCI indicates this employed plan.

Thus, for example, as shown in Figure 4 the used 431 signals may be the first DCI message, DCI^a, at time 441 , the copy of the first DCI message at time 451 , the first instance of the data message, DATAT_XI³ at time 443 and the second instance of the data message, DATAT_X-I³, at time 453.

In some example embodiments this scheduling plan does not prevent that other retransmissions are initiated using other resources, potentially asynchronously, before or after execution of the first plan has completed.

This, for example, is shown in the example embodiment in Figure 5.

The example embodiment in Figure 5 shows a base station (BS) 401 generating a first DCI message, DCI³, as shown in step 51 1. As with the example embodiment shown in Figure

4 the superscript indicates a DCI message which is associated with a DATA message with the same superscript.

The first DCI message, DCI³, is transmitted and received at the UE as shown in Figure

5 by step 512.

However UE does not or fails to decode the DCI message, DCI³, and obtain the DCI information but the samples are kept as shown in Figure 5 by step 513.

The first data message, DATAT_XO³, (the DATA message associated with the earlier received but not decoded DCI message and furthermore the DATA message which requires the DCI message in order to be correctly decoded) is generated by the BS as shown in Figure 5 by step 514.

The BS then transmits the first data DATA message, DATAT_XO³, which is received at the UE as shown in Figure 5 by step 515.

The U E does not or fails to decode the first data message, DATAT_XO³, as it has been unable to decode (information from) the associated DCI message as shown in Figure 5 by step 516. In some embodiments the first data message, DATAT_XO³ samples are kept.

The BS may then be configured to determine that there was no received HARQ feedback from the UE as shown in Figure 5 by step 517.

This determination may then lead the BS being configured to generate a further copy of the first DCI message DCI³ as shown in Figure 5 by step 521.

The copy of the first DCI message, DCI³, is transmitted and received at the UE as shown in Figure 5 by step 522.

However in this instance the copy of the first DCI message, DCI³, is able to be decoded by combining the samples of the copy and the original first DCI message, DCI³, as shown in Figure 5 by step 523. The second instance of the data message, DATAT_XI³, is generated by the BS as shown in Figure 5 by step 524.

The BS then transmits the second instance of the data message, DATAT_XI³, which is received at the UE as shown in Figure 5 by step 525.

The UE may then be configured to decode the second instance of the data message, DATAT_X-I³. This may be done alone or in combination where possible with the stored samples of the first instance of the data message as shown in Figure 5 by step 526.

The BS may furthermore generate a different, DCI message DCI^b as shown in Figure 5 by step 527. The superscript ^b denotes that the DCI^b message comprises information needed regarding the reconstruction process for the data message comprising a similar superscript, for example DATAi_xo^b.

The different DCI message, DCI^b, is transmitted and received at the UE as shown in Figure 5 by step 528.

Since the second transmission period (Tx2) uses a new DCI, an asynchronous HARQ operation is ok as shown in Figure 5 by step 529.

The data message DATAi_x2^b associated with the DCI message, DCI^b, is generated by the BS as shown in Figure 5 by step 530.

The BS then transmits the second data message, DATAi_x2^b, which is received at the UE as shown in Figure 5 by step 531 .

In some embodiments an extra retransmission is made where resources are available as shown in Figure 5 by step 532.

Having decoded the first data message the UE can in some embodiments generate a suitable acknowledge message, ACK, (which may be a combination of the first and second HARQ feedbacks) as shown in Figure 5 by step 533.

The acknowledge message, ACK may then in some embodiments be transmitted to the BS as shown in Figure 5 by step 534.

Thus for example as shown in Figure 5 the used time 541 for the first DCI/Data signal messages may comprise the first DCI message, DCI³, at time 551 , the copy of the first DCI message at time 561 , the first instance of the data message, DATAT_XO³ at time 553 and the second instance of the data message, DATAT_XI³, at time 563. The different DCI/data messages can then be scheduled at times 571 and 573 respectively.

In some embodiments where the HARQ feedback is practically error-free, then the transmitter, the BS, is able to determine whether a DCI message was successfully decoded or not (from NACK or NIL, respectively).

In some embodiments the BS may be configured, based on the knowledge that the DCI was not decoded, to adjust a DCI aggregation level in a defined or determined manner. In some embodiments the increased search space which would result from the adjustment in the DCI aggregation level and any associated control channel blocking may cause the BS to selectively adjust the DCI aggregation level to attempt to prevent these effects from occurring (for example not adjusting the DCI aggregation level where control channel blocking occurs).

In some embodiments the transmitter (BS) may be configured to, when the BS determines that a DCI message was successfully decoded, send future DATA retransmission(s) where the same DCI was to be used, excluding the DCI (in other words operating in an DCI-less mode).

In some embodiments the space made available by the DCI-less operation may be used for other purposes, for example for incremental redundancy for the DATA messages.

In some embodiments when HARQ feedback is not error-free additional control may be implemented to account for potential HARQ feedback errors.

For example a sent NACK may be interpreted at the transmitter (BS) as a NIL, then the UE can be configured to receive the DCI as a retransmitted message. In some embodiments the UE cannot know for sure, say, that the space is used for incremental redundancy.

Furthermore in some embodiments where a NIL may be interpreted as NACK, a DCI- less retransmission may be not decodable for that reason.

With respect to Figure 6 a further example embodiment is shown which is able to handle potential HARQ feedback errors (including false-ACK) by sending retransmissions without waiting for HARQ feedback. In such embodiments feedback may still be present, or completely absent.

In such example embodiments either it is known a priori which of the transmissions is TxO, or samples are stored in a ring buffer such that the virtual start of the buffer is moving.

The example embodiment in Figure 6 shows a base station generating first DCI message DCI^a as shown in step 61 1.

The first DCI message, DCI^a, is transmitted and received at the UE as shown in Figure 6 by step 612. As before the superscript ^a denotes that the DCI^a message comprises information needed regarding the reconstruction process for the data message comprising a similar superscript, for example DATAT_XO³.

However UE does not or fails to decode the DCI message, DCI^a, and obtain the DCI information but the samples are kept as shown in Figure 6 by step 613.

The first data message, DATAT_XO ³, is generated by the BS as shown in Figure 6 by step

614.

The BS then transmits the first data DATA message, DATAT_XO³, which is received at the UE as shown in Figure 6 by step 615. The UE may then fail to decode the first data message, DATAT_XO ³, but keep the samples as shown in Figure 6 by step 616 as it has been unable to decode (information from) the associated DCI message.

The BS may then be configured to generate an additional copy (or copies) of the first DCI message DCI^a as shown in Figure 6 by step 617 and also step 623.

The additional copy (or copies) of the first DCI message, DCI^a, is transmitted and received at the UE as shown in Figure 6 by step 618 and also step 624.

However potentially also the copy (or copies) of the first DCI message, DCI^a, is not decoded or fails to decode but the samples are kept as shown in Figure 6 by step 619.

Also a number of copies of the first data message, for example DATAi_xi ^aand DATAi_x2^a, are generated by the BS as shown in Figure 6 by step 620 and also step 626.

The BS then transmits the number of copies of the first data DATA message, such as DATAi_xi ^a and DATAi_x2^a, which are received at the UE as shown in Figure 6 by step 621 and also step 627.

The UE may then be configured to keep the samples of the DATA it is unable to decode (due to not being able to decode the associated DCU message) as shown in Figure 6 by step 622.

The second copy of the first DCI message, DCI^a, is decoded (either alone or combined) as shown in Figure 6 by step 625.

The UE may then be configured to decode a specific instance of the data message, for example DATAi_x2^a. This may be done alone or in combination where possible with the stored samples of the former copy or copies of the data message as shown in Figure 6 by step 628.

Having decoded the data message the UE can in some embodiments generate a suitable acknowledge message, ACK, as shown in Figure 6 by step 629.

The acknowledge message, ACK may then in some embodiments be transmitted to the BS as shown in Figure 6 by step 630.

Thus, for example, as shown in Figure 6 the used time 631 for the first DCI/Data signal messages may comprise the first DCI message, DCI^a, at time 641 , the first copy of the first DCI message at time 651 , the second copy of the first DCI message at time 661 , where each instance of the DCI message is accompanied by an instance of the data, for example, the first instance of the data message, DATAT_XO³ at time 643 following the first DCI message at time 641 , the first copy (second instance) of the data message, DATAT_XI³ at time 653 following the first copy of the DCI message at time 651 and the second copy (third instance) of the data message, DATAT_X2³ at time 663 following the second copy of the DCI message at time 661. The method may be implemented in a user equipment as described with reference to Figure 2 or a base station/control apparatus as described with reference to Figure 3.

It should be understood that the apparatuses may comprise or be coupled to other units or modules etc., such as radio parts or radio heads, used in or for transmission and/or reception. Although the apparatuses have been described as one entity, different modules and memory may be implemented in one or more physical or logical entities.

It is noted that whilst embodiments have been described in relation to NB loT and eMTC, similar principles can be applied in relation to other networks and communication systems where asynchronous communication is desirable. Therefore, although certain embodiments were described above by way of example with reference to certain example architectures for wireless networks, technologies and standards, embodiments may be applied to any other suitable forms of communication systems than those illustrated and described herein.

It is also noted herein that while the above describes example embodiments, there are several variations and modifications which may be made to the disclosed solution without departing from the scope of the present invention.

In general, the various embodiments may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects of the invention may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device, although the invention is not limited thereto. While various aspects of the invention may be illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other pictorial representation, it is well understood that these blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

The embodiments of this invention may be implemented by computer software executable by a data processor of the mobile device, such as in the processor entity, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. Computer software or program, also called program product, including software routines, applets and/or macros, may be stored in any apparatus-readable data storage medium and they comprise program instructions to perform particular tasks. A computer program product may comprise one or more computer- executable components which, when the program is run, are configured to carry out embodiments. The one or more computer-executable components may be at least one software code or portions of it.

Further in this regard it should be noted that any blocks of the logic flow as in the Figures may represent program steps, or interconnected logic circuits, blocks and functions, or a combination of program steps and logic circuits, blocks and functions. The software may be stored on such physical media as memory chips, or memory blocks implemented within the processor, magnetic media such as hard disk or floppy disks, and optical media such as for example DVD and the data variants thereof, CD. The physical media is a non-transitory media.

The memory may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory. The data processors may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment, and may comprise one or more of general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), FPGA, gate level circuits and processors based on multi core processor architecture, as non-limiting examples.

Embodiments of the inventions may be practiced in various components such as integrated circuit modules. The design of integrated circuits is by and large a highly automated process. Complex and powerful software tools are available for converting a logic level design into a semiconductor circuit design ready to be etched and formed on a semiconductor substrate.

The foregoing description has provided by way of non-limiting examples a full and informative description of the exemplary embodiment of this invention. However, various modifications and adaptations may become apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts in view of the foregoing description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the appended claims. However, all such and similar modifications of the teachings of this invention will still fall within the scope of this invention as defined in the appended claims. Indeed, there is a further embodiment comprising a combination of one or more embodiments with any of the other embodiments previously discussed.

Claims

1 . An apparatus, said apparatus comprising means for:

Receiving, from a further apparatus, at least two scheduling control messages over two or more transmission time intervals, wherein at least one of the at least two scheduling control messages is received from the further apparatus in response to an absence of a feedback transmission, the absence of the feedback transmission based on an earlier and undecoded received scheduling control message of the at least two scheduling control messages;

receiving a data message or a copy of the data message over the two or more transmission time intervals, wherein each of the at least two scheduling control messages is associated with the received data message or the copy of the data message;

attempting to decode scheduling control information for decoding the data message or copy of the data message from the at least two scheduling control messages received;

attempting to decode the received data message or a copy of the data message, or a combination of the received data message and at least one copy of the data message based on the decoding of the scheduling control information; and

generating an acknowledgement in response to a successfully decoded received data message or a copy of the data message, or a combination of the received data messages and at least one copy of the data message.

2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the means for attempting to decode scheduling control information for decoding the data message or copy of the data message from the at least two scheduling control messages received is further for:

combining at least a respective portion of the at least two scheduling control messages; and

decoding the combined respective portions of the at least two scheduling control messages such that the scheduling control information can be determined and the associated data message decoded.

3. The apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 and 2, wherein the means for attempting to decode the received data message or a copy of the data message, or a combination of the received data message and at least one copy of the data message based on the decoding of the scheduling control information is further for decoding and combining at least a respective portion of the received data message and at least one copy of the data message based on the scheduling control information.

4. The apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the means for receiving at least two scheduling control messages over two or more transmission time intervals, wherein at least one of the at least two scheduling control messages is received from the further apparatus in response to an absence of a feedback transmission, the absence of the feedback transmission based on an earlier and undecoded received scheduling control message of the at least two scheduling control messages is further for:

receiving a first instance of a first scheduling control message from the further apparatus;

storing the first instance of a first scheduling control message; and

receiving a subsequent instance of the first scheduling control message from the further apparatus, the subsequent instance of the first scheduling control message being transmitted by the further apparatus based on a determination of the absence of the feedback transmission associated with the first instance of the first scheduling control message.

5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein the means for receiving a subsequent instance of the first scheduling control message from the further apparatus, the subsequent instance of the first scheduling control message being transmitted by the further apparatus based on a determination of the absence of the feedback transmission associated with the first instance of the first scheduling control message is further for:

determining when to receive the subsequent instance of the first scheduling control message from the further apparatus based on the first instance of the first scheduling control message;

determining which physical resources to use to receive the subsequent instance of the first scheduling control message from the further apparatus based on the first instance of the first scheduling control message.

6. The apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein the means for receiving at least two scheduling control messages over two or more transmission time intervals, wherein at least one of the at least two scheduling control messages is received in response to an absence of a feedback transmission, the absence of the feedback transmission based on an earlier and undecoded received scheduling control message of the at least two scheduling control messages is further for determining an instance number of the first instance based on at least one of:

signalling separate from the at least two scheduling control messages;

signalling within the first of the at least two scheduling control messages; and mapping from information within the first of the at least two scheduling control messages.

7. An apparatus, said apparatus comprising means for:

controlling a transmission of a first instance of a scheduling control message to a further apparatus, wherein the first instance of the scheduling control message is associated with a data message;

controlling a transmission of a first instance of the data message associated with the first instance of the scheduling control message;

determining an absence of feedback associated with a successful decoding of the first instance of the data message at the further apparatus;

controlling a transmission of at least one further instance of at least a portion of the scheduling control message over one or more later transmission time intervals to the further apparatus such that the further apparatus is able to combine respective portions of the first and the at least one further instance of the scheduling control messages in order to decode the combined respective portions of the first and at least one further instance of the scheduling control messages such that the scheduling control information can be determined and the associated data message decoded.

8. The apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein controlling the transmission of at least one further instance of at least the portion of the scheduling control message over one or more later transmission time intervals to the further apparatus is further for:

determining when to transmit the at least one further instance;

determining which physical resources to use to transmit the at least one further instance.

9. The apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein the means are further for controlling a signalling of an instance number of the first instance based on at least one of:

signalling separate from the at least two scheduling control messages the instance number;

signalling within the first of the at least two scheduling control messages the instance number.

10. A method comprising:

Receiving at least two scheduling control messages over two or more transmission time intervals, wherein at least one of the at least two scheduling control messages is received in response to an absence of a feedback transmission, the absence of the feedback transmission based on an earlier and undecoded received scheduling control message of the at least two scheduling control messages; receiving a data message or a copy of the data message over the two or more transmission time intervals, wherein each of the at least two scheduling control messages is associated with the received data message or the copy of the data message;

1 1 . The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein attempting to decode scheduling control information for decoding the data message or copy of the data message from the at least two scheduling control messages received further comprises:

12. The method as claimed in any of claims 10 and 1 1 , wherein attempting to decode the received data message or a copy of the data message, or a combination of the received data message and at least one copy of the data message based on the decoding of the scheduling control information further comprises decoding and combining at least a respective portion of the received data message and at least one copy of the data message based on the scheduling control information.

13. The method as claimed in any of claims 10 to 12, wherein receiving at least two scheduling control messages over two or more transmission time intervals, wherein at least one of the at least two scheduling control messages is received from the further apparatus in response to an absence of a feedback transmission, the absence of the feedback transmission based on an earlier and undecoded received scheduling control message of the at least two scheduling control messages further comprises:

receiving a first instance of a first scheduling control message from an apparatus; storing the first instance of a first scheduling control message; and receiving a subsequent instance of the first scheduling control message from the apparatus, the subsequent instance of the first scheduling control message being transmitted by the apparatus based on a determination of the absence of the feedback transmission associated with the first instance of the first scheduling control message received by the apparatus.

14. A method comprising:

controlling a transmission of a first instance of a scheduling control message to an apparatus, wherein the first instance of the scheduling control message is associated with a data message;

determining an absence of feedback associated with a successful decoding of the first instance of the data message at the apparatus;

controlling a transmission of at least one further instance of at least a portion of the scheduling control message over one or more later transmission time intervals to the apparatus such that the apparatus is able to combine respective portions of the first and the at least one further instance of the scheduling control messages in order to decode the combined respective portions of the first and at least one further instance of the scheduling control messages such that the scheduling control information can be determined and the associated data message decoded.

15. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein controlling the transmission of at least one further instance of at least the portion of the scheduling control message over one or more later transmission time intervals to the apparatus further comprises:

determining when to transmit the at least one further instance;