WO2022267064A1

WO2022267064A1 - Latency reduction in semi-static channel access

Info

Publication number: WO2022267064A1
Application number: PCT/CN2021/102555
Authority: WO
Inventors: Roberto Maldonado; Ping-Heng Kuo; Zexian Li; Tao Tao
Original assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy; Nokia Technologies Oy
Current assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy; Nokia Technologies Oy
Priority date: 2021-06-25
Filing date: 2021-06-25
Publication date: 2022-12-29
Anticipated expiration: 2023-12-25
Also published as: CN117561689A

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to devices, methods, apparatuses and computer readable storage media of latency reduction in a semi-static channel access. The method comprises starting a timer associated a transmission from the first device to a second device at a time point when the transmission on a configured grant occasion is initiated; determining whether a signal transmitted from the second device to the first device is to be detected within a target time interval associated with a fixed frame period, FFP, of the second device before the timer expires; and in accordance with a determination that the signal is to be absent within the target time interval before the timer expires, terminating the timer. In this way, the CGRT and the CG timer handling can be optimized to improve packet latency and reliability and the unnecessary wating for the UE to initiate the autonomous retransmission or a new transmission can be avoided.

Description

LATENCY REDUCTION IN SEMI-STATIC CHANNEL ACCESS

FIELD

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of telecommunication and in particular to devices, methods, apparatuses and computer readable storage media of latency reduction in a semi-static channel access.

BACKGROUND

Semi-static channel access design and Uplink Configured Grant (UL CG) transmissions are the topics to be discussed for the uplink enhancements for Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communications (URLLC) operated in unlicensed controlled environment.

In semi-static channel access, an initiating device follows a periodic structure, which may be referred to as a Fixed Frame Period (FFP) . In general, each FFP may consist of a Channel Occupancy Time (COT) and an idle period.

SUMMARY

In general, example embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution of latency reduction in a semi-static channel access.

In a first aspect, there is provided a first device. The first device comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program codes; the at least one memory and the computer program codes are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the first device at least to start a timer associated a transmission from the first device to a second device at a time point when the transmission on a configured grant occasion is initiated; determine whether a signal transmitted from the second device to the first device is to be detected within a target time interval associated with a fixed frame period, FFP, of the second device before the timer expires; and in accordance with a determination that the signal is to be absent within the target time interval before the timer expires, terminate the timer.

In a second aspect, there is provided a method. The method comprises starting a timer associated a transmission from the first device to a second device at a time point when the transmission on a configured grant occasion is initiated; determining whether a signal transmitted from the second device to the first device is to be detected within a target time interval associated with a fixed frame period, FFP, of the second device before the timer expires; and in accordance with a determination that the signal is to be absent within the target time interval before the timer expires, terminating the timer.

In a third aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising means for starting a timer associated a transmission from the first device to a second device at a time point when the transmission on a configured grant occasion is initiated; means for determining whether a signal transmitted from the second device to the first device is to be detected within a target time interval associated with a fixed frame period, FFP, of the second device before the timer expires; and means for in accordance with a determination that the signal is to be absent within the target time interval before the timer expires, terminating the timer.

In a fourth aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium having a computer program stored thereon which, when executed by at least one processor of a device, causes the device to carry out the method according to the second aspect.

Other features and advantages of the embodiments of the present disclosure will also be apparent from the following description of specific embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of embodiments of the disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the disclosure are presented in the sense of examples and their advantages are explained in greater detail below, with reference to the accompanying drawings, where

FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;

FIG. 2 shows a time diagram for a scenario where the semi-static channel access is combined with the uplink CG transmissions according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 shows a signaling chart illustrating a process of latency reduction in a semi-static channel access according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 shows a time diagram of a process of latency reduction in a semi-static channel access according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of an example method of latency reduction in a semi-static channel access according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 shows a simplified block diagram of a device that is suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 7 shows a block diagram of an example computer readable medium in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar element.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Principle of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some example embodiments. It is to be understood that these embodiments are described only for the purpose of illustration and help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitation as to the scope of the disclosure. The disclosure described herein can be implemented in various manners other than the ones described below.

In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skills in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

References in the present disclosure to “one embodiment, ” “an embodiment, ” “an example embodiment, ” and the like indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but it is not necessary that every embodiment includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an example embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

It shall be understood that although the terms “first” and “second” etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish functionalities of various elements. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a” , “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” , “comprising” , “has” , “having” , “includes” and/or “including” , when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and/or components etc., but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and/or combinations thereof.

As used in this application, the term “circuitry” may refer to one or more or all of the following:

(a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and/or digital circuitry) and

(b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as (as applicable) :

(i) a combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuit (s) with software/firmware and

(ii) any portions of hardware processor (s) with software (including digital signal processor (s) ) , software, and memory (ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and

(c) hardware circuit (s) and or processor (s) , such as a microprocessor (s) or a portion of a microprocessor (s) , that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation.

This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. The term circuitry also covers, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

As used herein, the term “communication network” refers to a network following any suitable communication standards, such as fifth generation (5G) systems, Long Term Evolution (LTE) , LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) , Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) , High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) , Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) and so on. Furthermore, the communications between a terminal device and a network device in the communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation communication protocols, including, but not limited to, the first generation (1G) , the second generation (2G) , 2.5G, 2.75G, the third generation (3G) , the fourth generation (4G) , 4.5G, the future fifth generation (5G) new radio (NR) communication protocols, and/or any other protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied in various communication systems. Given the rapid development in communications, there will of course also be future type communication technologies and systems with which the present disclosure may be embodied. It should not be seen as limiting the scope of the present disclosure to only the aforementioned system.

As used herein, the term “network device” refers to a node in a communication network via which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. The network device may refer to a base station (BS) or an access point (AP) , for example, a node B (NodeB or NB) , an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB) , a NR Next Generation NodeB (gNB) , a Remote Radio Unit (RRU) , a radio header (RH) , a remote radio head (RRH) , a relay, a low power node such as a femto, a pico, and so forth, depending on the applied terminology and technology. A RAN split architecture comprises a gNB-CU (Centralized unit, hosting RRC, SDAP and PDCP) controlling a plurality of gNB-DUs (Distributed unit, hosting RLC, MAC and PHY) . A relay node may correspond to DU part of the IAB node.

The term “terminal device” refers to any end device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example rather than limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE) , a subscriber station (SS) , a portable subscriber station, a mobile station (MS) , or an access terminal (AT) . The terminal device may include, but not limited to, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, a tablet, a wearable terminal device, a personal digital assistant (PDA) , portable computers, desktop computer, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback appliances, vehicle-mounted wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE) , laptop-mounted equipment (LME) , USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer-premises equipment (CPE) , an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD) , a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery) , an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot and/or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and/or an automated processing chain contexts) , a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and/or industrial wireless networks, and the like. The terminal device may also correspond to Mobile Termination (MT) part of the integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node (a.k.a. a relay node) . In the following description, the terms “terminal device” , “communication device” , “terminal” , “user equipment” and “UE” may be used interchangeably.

Although functionalities described herein can be performed, in various example embodiments, in a fixed and/or a wireless network node, in other example embodiments, functionalities may be implemented in a user equipment apparatus (such as a cell phone or tablet computer or laptop computer or desktop computer or mobile IoT device or fixed IoT device) . This user equipment apparatus can, for example, be furnished with corresponding capabilities as described in connection with the fixed and/or the wireless network node (s) , as appropriate. The user equipment apparatus may be the user equipment and/or or a control device, such as a chipset or processor, configured to control the user equipment when installed therein. Examples of such functionalities include the bootstrapping server function and/or the home subscriber server, which may be implemented in the user equipment apparatus by providing the user equipment apparatus with software configured to cause the user equipment apparatus to perform from the point of view of these functions/nodes.

FIG. 1 shows an example communication network 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication network 100 may comprise a terminal device 110 (hereinafter may also be referred to as a UE 110 or a first device 110) . The communication network 100 may further comprise a network device 120 (hereinafter may also be referred to as a gNB 120 or a second device 120) . The network device 120 can manage a cell 102. The terminal device 110 and the network device 120 can communicate with each other in the coverage of the cell 102.

It is to be understood that the number of network devices and terminal devices shown in FIG. 1 is given for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitations. The communication network 100 may include any suitable number of network devices and terminal devices. In addition, the communication network may include direct device-to-device communication or sidelink based communication.

As described above, in semi-static channel access, an initiating device follows a periodic structure, which may be referred to the FFP. In general, each FFP may consist of a Channel Occupancy Time (COT) and an idle period. During the idle period, the initiating device can perform a Listen Before Talk (LBT) procedure and be mandated to remain silent. Within the COT, the initiating device can perform the transmission if the LBT is successful during the idle period. It has been agreed that both gNB and UE may act as the initiating device.

For an initiating device to use the COT, transmissions can only be started at the end of the idle period. If transmissions do not start there, there is no possibility for the initiating device to transmit until the idle period.

Furthermore, one of the mechanisms introduced in CG for NR-U operation is the autonomous retransmissions. Upon a Transport Block (TB) transmission over a Configured Grant-Physical Uplink Share Channel (CG-PUSCH) occasion, the UE can start a Configured Grant Retransmission Timer (CGRT) . If the UE does not receive the Downlink Feedback indication (DFI) from the gNB indicating the Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) process status before the expiration of the CGRT, the UE can autonomously retransmit the TB on a different CG-PUSCH occasion. This procedure may continue until a (Configured Grant) CG timer, which is different from the CGRT, is also expired so that the TB is flushed away from the HARQ buffer.

In a scenario where the semi-static channel access is combined with the uplink CG transmissions in unlicensed spectrum, the UE may unnecessarily wait for the trigger of the autonomous retransmission under certain conditions. FIG. 2 shows a time diagram for a scenario where the semi-static channel access is combined with the uplink CG transmissions according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 2, in an idle period 211 before the FFP 210 of the UE, the UE may perform a LBT procedure. If the LBT is successful, a COT 212 can be acquired by the UE for an uplink transmission. At the beginning of the COT 212, the UE can perform the initial transmission of the TB on certain CG resources while starting the CGRT. Then the gNB may process the CG-PUSCH and prepare the HARQ feedback or DFI for the transmission of TB from the UE.

In a case where the gNB may act as an initiating device, due to semi-static channel access regulations, the gNB may wait until its next FFP 220 to transmit the DFI. At an idle period before the next FFP 220, the gNB attempts to access the channel by performing a LBT procedure. However, the channel access may be blocked by the LBT failure. After certain processing time, the UE may detect that there is no gNB transmission at the beginning of the next FFP 220. Given the CGRT expiry time, the UE may be aware of the absence of the DFI before the CGRT expiration at this time point. However, the UE may still wait the expiration of CGRT and perform the autonomous retransmission 202 after the expiration of CGRT.

As shown in FIG. 2, time interval 240 between the time points when the UE determines the absence of the DFI before the CGRT expiration and when the autonomous retransmission is initiated may be unnecessary since the UE is already aware of the need of performing the autonomous retransmission when the UE detects that no DFI can be received before the CGRT expiration.

This additional waiting time is tolerable for applications without stringent latency requirements. However, for URLLC applications, this additional waiting time can be very critical and it may determine whether or not a packet can be successfully delivered within the latency target defined in the agreed QoS. Therefore, it is expected that the unnecessary wating for the autonomous retransmission can be avoided.

The present disclosure provides solutions of latency reduction in a semi-static channel access. In this solution, the UE may start a timer associated with an uplink transmission at a time point when the uplink transmission on a configured grant occasion is initiated. The UE may determine whether a downlink signal within a target time interval associated with the FFP of the gNB is to be detected before the timer expires. If the UE determines that the downlink signal is to be absent before the timer expires, the UE may terminate the timer.

In this way, the CGRT and the CG timer handling can be optimized to improve packet latency and reliability and the unnecessary wating for the UE to initiate the autonomous retransmission or a new transmission can be avoided.

Principle and implementations of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to FIG. 3, which shows schematic process of latency reduction. For the purpose of discussion, the process 300 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. The process 300 may involve the UE 110 and the gNB 120 as illustrated in FIG. 1.

As mentioned above, the UE 110 may initiate 305 a TB transmission on a CG-PUSCH occasion. When the TB transmission is initiated, the UE 110 may start the CGRT for an autonomous retransmission.

After receiving the TB, the gNB 120 may process the TB and generate a DFI for the transmission from the UE 110. In a subsequent FFP of the gNB 120, the gNB 120 may perform a LBT process to acquire a COT for transmitting the DFI to the UE 110. Once the LBT is successful, the gNB 120 may be allowed to transmit the DFI to the UE 110. However, if the LBT is unsuccessful and the COT is not acquired by the gNB 120. The transmission of the DFI may be blocked. The gNB 120 may wait for the next FFP to perform a further LBT attempt.

After transmitting the TB, the UE 110 may monitor 315 whether a downlink signal is transmitted from the gNB 120 within a time interval in a FFP of the gNB 120 after the transmission from the UE 110 is initiated.

If the downlink signal fails to be monitored with the time interval in the FFP of the gNB 120, the UE 110 may determine whether the downlink signal is to be detected with a FFP before the CGRT expires.

In some example embodiments, the UE 110 may detect the downlink signal at the beginning of the first FFP after the transmission from the UE 110 is initiated. If the downlink signal is absent, the UE 110 may determine whether the expiration of CGRT occurs before a second FFP subsequent to the first FFP.

If the UE 110 determines that the expiration of CGRT occurs before a second FFP subsequent to the first FFP, the UE 110 can be aware of the absence of the downlink signal. The UE 110 may terminate 320 the CGRT while initiating the retransmission.

In some example embodiments, the UE 110 may obtain configuration information related to enablement of a termination of CGRT upon an absence of the downlink signal and terminate the CGRT based on the configuration information.

If the UE 110 determines that the expiration of CGRT occurs after a second FFP subsequent to the first FFP, the UE 110 may detect the downlink signal at the beginning of the second FFP.

In some example embodiments, if the downlink signal is detected at the beginning of the first FFP after the transmission from the UE 110 is initiated, the UE 110 may waiting for the DFI from the gNB 120 or perform the autonomous retransmission after the CGRT is expires.

Although the process 300 of FIG. 3 is described with an example of CGRT, it is to be understood that the process 300 and the proposed solution of the present disclosure may also be suitable for the CG timer, for example, for terminating the CG timer earlier.

In some example embodiments, the UE 110 may initiate a TB transmission on a CG-PUSCH occasion. When the TB transmission is initiated, the UE 110 may start the CG timer.

After transmitting the TB, the UE 110 may monitor whether a downlink signal is transmitted from the gNB 120 within a time interval in a FFP of the gNB 120 after the transmission from the UE 110 is initiated.

If the downlink signal fails to be monitored with the time interval in the FFP of the gNB 120, the UE 110 may determine whether the downlink signal is to be detected with a FFP before the CG timer expires.

For example, the UE 110 may detect the downlink signal at the beginning of the first FFP after the transmission from the UE 110 is initiated. If the downlink signal is absent, the UE 110 may determine whether the expiration of CG timer occurs before a second FFP subsequent to the first FFP.

If the UE 110 determines that the expiration of CG timer occurs before a second FFP subsequent to the first FFP, the UE 110 can be aware of the absence of the downlink signal. The UE 110 may terminate 320 the CG timer while flushing the TB associated with the HARQ process away from the buffer.

FIG. 4 shows a time diagram of a process of latency reduction in a semi-static channel access according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. With reference to FIG. 4, the solution of latency reduction in the present disclosure can be further described in detail.

As shown FIG. 4, in an idle period 411 before the FFP 410 of the UE 110, the UE 110 may perform a LBT procedure. If the LBT is successful, a COT 412 can be acquired by the UE 110 for an uplink transmission. At the beginning of the COT 412, the UE 110 can perform the initial transmission of the TB on certain CG resources while starting the CGRT. The gNB 120 may process the CG-PUSCH and prepare the DFI for the transmission of TB.

Then the gNB 120 may wait until its next FFP 420 to transmit the DFI. During the idle period 421 before the next FFP 420, the LBT procedure performed by the gNB 120 may be unsuccessful and the transmission of the DFI from the gNB 120 may be blocked by LBT failure.

At the beginning of the FFP 420, which is the first FFP of the gNB 120 after the uplink transmission from the UE 110 is initiated, the UE 110 may detect whether a downlink signal is transmitted from the gNB 120. If the UE 110 detect that there is no downlink signal transmitted from the gNB 120, the UE 110 may determine whether the expiration of the CGRT occurs before the beginning of the next FFP of the gNB 120. If the UE 110 determines that the expiration of the CGRT occurs before the beginning of the next FFP, the UE 110 may terminate the CGRT while initiating the retransmission.

For example, if the UE 110 determines that the no downlink signal is received at the time point T1 and the CGRT will expire at the time point T2, which is earlier than the beginning of the next FFP. The UE 110 may terminate the CGRT at the time point while initiating the retransmission, rather than waiting for the expiration of the CGRT. Therefore, the latency 440 between the T1 and T2 due to the combination of the semi-static channel access and the uplink CG transmissions in unlicensed spectrum can be avoided.

Multiple values have been specified for FFP periodicity, CG periodicity and CGRT values, respectively. The values can be listed in the table as below.

Table 1: FFP periodicity, CG periodicity and CGRT values supported in the 3GPP specifications

In the scenario where the semi-static channel access is combined with the CG uplink transmission, when the CG periodicity is less than gNB FFP periodicity, the value of the CGRT may be allowed to be set to a shorter value. However, it is impractical to configured the UE with a shorter CGRT. For example, if the CGRT is set to 1x the CG periodicity, the gNB might not acquire the COT because there is no idle period during the CGRT. Therefore, the proposed solution of the present disclosure is benefit for the scenario where the semi-static channel access is combined with the CG uplink transmission.

Correspondingly, the example described with reference to Fig. 4 can also be suitable for the CG timer.

Some MAC specifications can be impacted based on the proposed solution of the present disclosure. An example of the related specification can be listed as below. It is to be understood that the change of the specification may not be limited to this example.

Table 2: An example of the related specification impacted by the proposed solution of the present disclosure

In this way, the CGRT and CG timer handling can be optimized to improve packet latency and reliability and the unnecessary wating for the UE to initiate the autonomous retransmission or a new transmission can be avoided.

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of an example method 500 of latency reduction in a semi-static channel access according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 500 can be implemented at the first device 110 as shown in FIG. 1. For the purpose of discussion, the method 500 will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

At 510, the first device starts a timer associated a transmission from the first device to a second device at a time point when the transmissionn a configured grant occasion is initiated.

In some example embodiments, the timer comprises at least one of a CGRT or a CG timer.

At 520, the first device determines whether a signal transmitted from the second device to the first device is to be detected within a target time interval associated with a fixed frame period, FFP, of the second device before the timer expires.

In some example embodiments, the first device may determine whether the signal is detected at a beginning of a first FFP of the second device after the transmission is initiated. If the first device determines that the signal fails to be detected, the first device determines whether an expiration of the timer occurs before a second FFP of the second device subsequent to the first FFP. If the first device determines that the expiration of the timer occurs before the second FFP, the first device determines that the signal is to be absent within the target time interval.

At 530, if the first device determines that the signal is to be absent within the target time interval before the timer expires, the first device terminates the timer

In some example embodiments, the first device may receive configuration information related to enablement of a termination of timer upon an absence of the signal and terminate the timer based on the configuration information.

In some example embodiments, if the first device determines that the signal is to be detected within the target time interval before the timer expires, the first device may perform at least one of receiving feedback information from the second device, or initiating the retransmission after the timer expires.

In some example embodiments, if the timer comprises a CGRT, the first device may terminate the CGRT while initiating a retransmission on a subsequent configured grant occasion.

In some example embodiments, if the timer comprises a CG timer, the first device may terminate the CG timer while flushing data to be transmitted in the transmission away from a buffer associated with the transmission.

In some example embodiments, the first device comprises a terminal device and the second device comprises a terminal device.

In some example embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing the method 500 (for example, implemented at the UE 110) may comprise means for performing the respective steps of the method 500. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises means for starting a timer associated a transmission from the first device to a second device at a time point when the transmission on a configured grant occasion is initiated; means for determining whether a signal transmitted from the second device to the first device is to be detected within a target time interval associated with a fixed frame period, FFP, of the second device before the timer expires; and means for in accordance with a determination that the signal is to be absent within the target time interval before the timer expires, terminating the timer.

FIG. 6 is a simplified block diagram of a device 600 that is suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 600 may be provided to implement the communication device, for example the UE 110 as shown in FIG. 1. As shown, the device 600 includes one or more processors 610, one or more memories 620 coupled to the processor 610, and one or more communication modules 660 coupled to the processor 610.

The communication module 660 is for bidirectional communications. The communication module 660 has one or more communication interfaces to facilitate communication with one or more other modules or devices. The communication interfaces may represent any interface that is necessary for communication with other network elements. In some example embodiments, the communication module 660 may include at least one antenna.

The processor 610 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network and may include one or more of the following: general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on multicore processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The device 600 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is slaved in time to a clock which synchronizes the main processor.

The memory 620 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of the non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a Read Only Memory (ROM) 624, an electrically programmable read only memory (EPROM) , a flash memory, a hard disk, a compact disc (CD) , a digital video disk (DVD) , and other magnetic storage and/or optical storage. Examples of the volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a random access memory (RAM) 622 and other volatile memories that will not last in the power-down duration.

Acomputer program 630 includes computer executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 610. The program 630 may be stored in the ROM 624. The processor 610 may perform any suitable actions and processing by loading the program 630 into the RAM 622.

The embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by means of the program 630 so that the device 600 may perform any process of the disclosure as discussed with reference to FIGs. 3 to 5. The embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

In some embodiments, the program 630 may be tangibly contained in a computer readable medium which may be included in the device 600 (such as in the memory 620) or other storage devices that are accessible by the device 600. The device 600 may load the program 630 from the computer readable medium to the RAM 622 for execution. The computer readable medium may include any types of tangible non-volatile storage, such as ROM, EPROM, a flash memory, a hard disk, CD, DVD, and the like. FIG. 7 shows an example of the computer readable medium 700 in form of CD or DVD. The computer readable medium has the program 630 stored thereon.

Generally, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects 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. While various aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other pictorial representations, it is to be understood that the block, device, system, technique or method 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 present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, being executed in a device on a target real or virtual processor, to carry out the methods 500 as described above with reference to FIG. 5. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, or the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

Program code for carrying out methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes may be provided to a processor or controller of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing device, such that the program codes, when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions/operations specified in the flowcharts and/or block diagrams to be implemented. The program code may execute entirely on a machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

In the context of the present disclosure, the computer program codes or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable the device, device or processor to perform various processes and operations as described above. Examples of the carrier include a signal, computer readable medium, and the like.

The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable medium may include but not limited to an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, device, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the computer readable storage medium would include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM) , a read-only memory (ROM) , an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory) , an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) , an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

Further, while operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Likewise, while several specific implementation details are contained in the above discussions, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination.

Although the present disclosure has been described in languages specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the present disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

A first device comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program codes;

the at least one memory and the computer program codes are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the first device at least to:

start a timer associated a transmission from the first device to a second device at a time point when the transmission on a configured grant occasion is initiated;

determine whether a signal transmitted from the second device to the first device is to be detected within a target time interval associated with a fixed frame period, FFP, of the second device before the timer expires; and

in accordance with a determination that the signal is to be absent within the target time interval before the timer expires, terminate the timer.
The first device of Claim 1, wherein the timer comprises at least one of the following:

a configured grant retransmission timer, CGRT, or

a configured grant, CG, timer.
The first device of Claim 1, wherein the first device is caused to determine whether the signal is to be detected by:

determining whether the signal is detected at a beginning of a first FFP of the second device after the transmission is initiated;

in accordance with a determination that the signal fails to be detected, determining whether an expiration of the timer occurs before a second FFP of the second device subsequent to the first FFP; and

in accordance with a determination that the expiration of the timer occurs before the second FFP, determining that the signal is to be absent within the target time interval.
The first device of Claim 1, wherein the first device is caused to terminate the timer by:

receiving configuration information related to enablement of a termination of the timer upon an absence of the signal; and

terminating the timer based on the configuration information.
The first device of Claim 1, wherein the timer comprises a configured grant retransmission timer, CGRT, and wherein the first device is caused to terminate the timer by:

terminating the CGRT while initiating a retransmission on a subsequent configured grant occasion.
The first device of Claim 1, wherein the timer comprises a configured grant, CG, timer, and wherein the first device is caused to terminate the timer by:

terminating the CG timer while flushing data to be transmitted in the transmission away from a buffer associated with the transmission.
The first device of Claim 1, wherein the first device comprises a terminal device and the second device comprises a network device.
A method comprising:

starting a timer associated a transmission from the first device to a second device at a time point when the transmission on a configured grant occasion is initiated;

determining whether a signal transmitted from the second device to the first device is to be detected within a target time interval associated with a fixed frame period, FFP, of the second device before the timer expires; and

in accordance with a determination that the signal is to be absent within the target time interval before the timer expires, terminating the timer.
The method of Claim 8, wherein the timer comprises at least one of the following:

a configured grant retransmission timer, CGRT, or

a configured grant, CG, timer..
The method of Claim 8, wherein determining whether the signal is to be detected comprises:

determining whether the signal is detected at a beginning of a first FFP of the second device after the transmission is initiated;

in accordance with a determination that the signal fails to be detected, determining whether an expiration of the timer occurs before a second FFP of the second device subsequent to the first FFP; and

in accordance with a determination that the expiration of the timer occurs before the second FFP, determining that the signal is to be absent within the target time interval.
The method of Claim 8, wherein terminating the CGRT comprises:

receiving configuration information related to enablement of a termination of the timer upon an absence of the signal; and

terminating the timer based on the configuration information.
The method of Claim 8, wherein the timer comprises a configured grant retransmission timer, CGRT, and wherein terminating the timer comprises:

terminating the CGRT while initiating a retransmission on a subsequent configured grant occasion.
The method of Claim 8, wherein the timer comprises a configured grant, CG, timer, and wherein terminating the timer comprises:

terminating the CG timer while flushing data to be transmitted in the transmission away from a buffer associated with the transmission.
The method of Claim 8, wherein the first device comprises a terminal device and the second device comprises a network device.
An apparatus comprising:

means for starting a timer associated a transmission from the first device to a second device at a time point when the transmission on a configured grant occasion is initiated;

means for determining whether a signal transmitted from the second device to the first device is to be detected within a target time interval associated with a fixed frame period, FFP, of the second device before the timer expires; and

means for in accordance with a determination that the signal is to be absent within the target time interval before the timer expires, terminating the timer.
A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method of any of claims 1-7.