IP Verse

Method And Apparatus For Transmitting And Receiving Downlink Pre-Emption Indication Data In Next Generation Wireless Network

Patent No. US10897720 (titled "Method And Apparatus For Transmitting And Receiving Downlink Pre-Emption Indication Data In Next Generation Wireless Network") was filed by Kt Corp on Nov 15, 2017.

What is this patent about?

’720 is related to the field of wireless communication, specifically addressing the problem of efficiently multiplexing different types of data traffic in next-generation (5G) radio access networks. The background involves the need to support diverse services like enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), massive Machine-Type Communication (mMTC), and Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communication (URLLC), each with distinct requirements for data rates, latency, and coverage. Prior solutions lacked the flexibility to dynamically adapt to the varying demands of these services, leading to inefficient resource utilization.

The underlying idea behind ’720 is to enable dynamic preemption of downlink resources allocated to eMBB or mMTC traffic in order to accommodate urgent URLLC traffic. This is achieved by configuring user equipment (UE) to monitor for downlink preemption indication information , which signals whether a resource has been reallocated. The key insight is that not all UEs need to monitor for preemption; for example, URLLC UEs, which are unlikely to have their resources preempted, can be spared the overhead of monitoring.

The claims of ’720 focus on a method for a UE to receive downlink preemption indication information. The UE receives monitoring configuration information from a base station, which includes an indication of whether the UE should monitor for preemption. If monitoring is enabled, the UE actively looks for downlink control information (DCI) indicating preemption events. Critically, the DCI is received *after* the resource that has been preempted, indicating a post-notification scheme.

In practice, the base station configures the monitoring behavior of UEs based on their service type (eMBB, mMTC, or URLLC) and potentially other factors like the allocated time-domain scheduling interval. The base station then transmits the monitoring configuration information to the UEs via RRC signaling. When URLLC traffic requires immediate transmission, the base station preempts resources allocated to eMBB or mMTC UEs and signals this preemption using group-common DCI, which the affected UEs are configured to monitor.

’720 differentiates itself from prior approaches by introducing a flexible mechanism for configuring preemption monitoring. This allows the network to reduce overhead by only requiring UEs that are likely to be affected by preemption to actively monitor for it. The use of group-common DCI for preemption indication allows for efficient signaling to multiple UEs simultaneously. Furthermore, the post-notification scheme, where the preemption indication is sent after the preempted resource, simplifies the UE's monitoring process, as it doesn't need to continuously monitor during data reception.

How does this patent fit in bigger picture?

Technical landscape at the time

In the mid-2010s when ’720 was filed, wireless communication systems commonly relied on LTE/LTE-Advanced, but next-generation 5G radio access technology (NR) was under discussion. At a time when systems commonly relied on specific frame structures, channel coding, and modulation schemes, the need for flexible frame structures to support diverse usage scenarios like eMBB, mMTC, and URLLC was becoming increasingly important. The efficient multiplexing of data traffic between these services, each with different requirements for data rates and latency, was a non-trivial problem.

Novelty and Inventive Step

The examiner approved the application because the prior art failed to teach monitoring downlink preemption indication information based on a monitoring configuration, where the downlink preemption indication is indicated through group-common downlink control information (DCI), and this group-common DCI is received through a resource after the preempted resource indicated by the downlink preemption indication information. This was considered in conjunction with all disclosed functions or structures performing corresponding functions in claims 1, 7, and 13.

Claims

This patent contains 9 claims, with claims 1, 4, and 7 being independent. The independent claims focus on methods for a user equipment and a base station to handle downlink preemption indication information, and a user equipment configured to receive such information. The dependent claims generally elaborate on the configuration and content of the monitoring information.

Key Claim Terms New

Definitions of key terms used in the patent claims.

Term (Source)Support for SpecificationInterpretation
Dl preemption indication information
(Claim 1, Claim 4, Claim 7)		“In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, methods are provided for supporting effective multiplexing for data traffic between services in a network configured to provide the eMBB service, the mMTC service and the URLLC service together.”Information indicating that a downlink transmission has been preempted or interrupted.
Group-common dl control information (dci)
(Claim 1, Claim 4, Claim 7)		“The base station performs DL transmission to UEs. The base station may transmit a physical DL control channel for transmitting i) DL control information, such as scheduling required to receive a DL data channel that is a primary physical channel for unicast transmission, and ii) scheduling approval information for transmission through an UL data channel.”Downlink control information that is common to a group of user equipments.
Monitoring configuration information
(Claim 1, Claim 4, Claim 7)		“The method includes: receiving monitoring configuration information on the downlink preemption indication information from a base station; and monitoring the downlink preemption indication information based on the monitoring configuration information. The monitoring configuration information includes information on whether to monitor the downlink preemption indication information.”Information that configures whether the UE should monitor for downlink preemption indication information.
Preempted resource
(Claim 1, Claim 4, Claim 7)		“In particular, in the NR, the longer the time-domain resource allocation, the more efficient, some services such as the eMBB and the mMTC are in view of cell throughput and coverage. On the contrary, in case of the URLLC, the shorter the time-domain resource allocation, the more efficient some services are due to a latency issue. Accordingly, it is necessary to effectively support multiplexing for data traffic between services in a network configured to provide the eMBB service, the mMTC service and the URLLC service together.”A resource that has been interrupted by a preemption.

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US10897720

KT CORP
Application Number
US16349347
Filing Date
Nov 15, 2017
Status
Granted
Expiry Date
Nov 15, 2037
External Links
Slate, USPTO, Google Patents