Feedback bit reservation for uplink control piggybacking

A method for wireless communications, comprising:

• identifying a set of resources reserved for feedback information within a transmission time interval (TTI);
• receiving, from a user equipment (UE), a pattern of bits via the set of resources reserved for feedback information, wherein the pattern of bits comprises a sequence of bits that is different from an acknowledgement (ACK) sequence, a negative ACK (NACK) sequence, or a combination thereof;
• and
• detecting discontinuous transmission (DTX) for the UE based at least in part on the pattern of bits.

An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising:

• a processor;
• memory in electronic communication with the processor;
• and
• instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
• identify a set of resources reserved for hybrid automatic repeat request feedback information within a transmission time interval (TTI);
• map a number of hybrid automatic repeat request feedback bits for transmission to a base station to the set of resources reserved for hybrid automatic repeat request feedback information;
• determine a set of unused resources of the set of resources reserved for hybrid automatic repeat request feedback information based at least in part on the number of hybrid automatic repeat request feedback bits;
• map a number of bits to the set of unused resources, wherein the number of bits comprises a set of digital zeros;
• and
• transmit, to the base station via a data channel, the mapped number of hybrid automatic repeat request feedback bits and the mapped number of bits comprising the set of digital zeros via the set of resources reserved for hybrid automatic repeat request feedback information.

An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising:

• a processor;
• memory in electronic communication with the processor;
• and
• instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
• identify a set of resources reserved for feedback information within a transmission time interval (TTI);
• receive, from a user equipment (UE), a pattern of bits via the set of resources reserved for feedback information, wherein the pattern of bits comprises a sequence of bits that is different from an acknowledgement (ACK) sequence, a negative ACK (NACK) sequence, or a combination thereof;
• and
• detect discontinuous transmission (DTX) for the UE based at least in part on the pattern of bits.