# US 11,910,391 B2 · Methods and apparatus for an uplink control channel in NOMA asynchronous transmissions > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,910,391 B2 - Document ID: US11910391B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/265,170 - Filed: 2019-08-06 - Published: 2021-09-30 - Granted: 2024-02-20 - Earliest claimed: 2018-08-10 - Assignees: Google Inc. - Applicants: Google LLC - Inventors: Kao-Peng Chou - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11910391B2 ## CPC - H04W 72/21: in the uplink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards the network - H04W 74/08: Non-scheduled access, e.g. ALOHA (hybrid access H04W74/02) - H04L 5/0037: {Inter-user or inter-terminal allocation} - H04L 5/0044: {Allocation of payload; Allocation of data channels, e.g. PDSCH or PUSCH} - H04L 5/0048: {Allocation of pilot signals, i.e. of signals known to the receiver (allocation of control signalling H04L5/0053; use of control signalling H04L5/0091)} - H04L 5/0053: {Allocation of signalling, i.e. of overhead other than pilot signals} - H04L 5/0094: {Indication of how sub-channels of the path are allocated} - H04W 8/22: Processing or transfer of terminal data, e.g. status or physical capabilities - H04W 72/044: based on the type of the allocated resource - H04W 74/006: {in the downlink, i.e. towards the terminal} - H04W 74/0833: Random access procedures, e.g. with 4-step access - H04W 76/00: Connection management - H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72) - H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M) ## Abstract Techniques for implementing an uplink control channel in Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) asynchronous transmissions are disclosed. The techniques described herein provide an additional control channel in NOMA transmissions for a user equipment (UE) (102) to indicate certain information to a base station (106) to enable the base station (106) to detect and decode the data transmitted by the UE (102). For example, uplink control information (UCI) is transmitted (406) via an uplink control channel in connection with a group user equipment identifier (group UE-ID) to enable the base station (106) to detect and decode the UCI. After decoding (506) the UCI based on the group UE-ID, the base station (106) obtains information usable to distinguish (508) the UE (102), such as a UE-specific ID, as well as to detect (510) and decode (512) a data transmission from the UE (102) on an uplink data channel. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method for communicating with a base station by a user equipment, the method comprising: receiving a non-orthogonal multiple access configuration message from the base station, the non-orthogonal multiple access configuration message including a plurality of multiple access signatures and available time-frequency resources for uplink transmissions; deriving a group user equipment identifier (a group UE-ID) from at least a user equipment-specific identifier (a UE-specific ID) assigned to the user equipment, the group UE-ID corresponding to a group of user equipments that includes the user equipment; while operating in a radio resource control inactive (RRC inactive) state or a radio resource control idle (RRC idle) state, selecting, for at least a first uplink transmission, a multiple access signature from the plurality of multiple access signatures; transmitting, using an uplink control channel, uplink control information in the first uplink transmission using a first time-frequency resource of the available time-frequency resources and the selected multiple access signature; and transmitting, using an uplink data channel, uplink data in a second uplink transmission using a second time-frequency resource of the available time-frequency resources and at least based on the uplink control information. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the deriving the group UE-ID comprises: selecting a subset or segment of the UE-specific ID as the group UE-ID. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the uplink control information further comprises: scrambling the uplink control information using the group UE-ID; and transmitting the scrambled uplink control information in the first uplink transmission. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The method as recited in claim 3, wherein scrambling the uplink control information using the group UE-ID further comprises: generating a sequence based on the group UE-ID; and scrambling the uplink control information with the generated sequence. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: selecting, by the user equipment, one or more link adaptive parameters for transmitting the uplink data; and indicating the one or more link adaptive parameters in the uplink control information. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The method of claim 5, wherein transmitting the uplink data in the second uplink transmission further comprises: transmitting the second uplink transmission using the link adaptive parameters. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising: including, in the uplink control information, at least one of: the UE-specific ID assigned to the user equipment; a modulation and coding scheme parameter; a rate matching parameter; a power control parameter; a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process identifier; or a transport size. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising: transmitting, on the uplink control channel and as part of the first uplink transmission, a random access preamble sequence or demodulation reference signal associated with the group UE-ID. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The method as recited in claim 8, further comprising: generating the random access preamble sequence by joining two random access preamble sequences into a single preamble, wherein one of the two random access preamble sequences has a one-to-one mapping with the group UE-ID. ### Claim 10 A method for managing communications with user equipments by a base station over a wireless link, the method comprising: establishing a group user equipment-identifier (a group UE-ID) for a subset of user equipments included in a plurality of user equipments by deriving the group UE-ID from at least a user equipment-specific identifier (a UE-specific ID) assigned to a user equipment included in the plurality of user equipments; transmitting a non-orthogonal multiple access configuration message to the plurality of user equipments using the wireless link, the non-orthogonal multiple access configuration message including a plurality of multiple access signatures and available time-frequency resources for uplink transmissions from the plurality of user equipments; detecting a non-orthogonal multiple access uplink transmission in a first time-frequency resource of the available time-frequency resources and based on the group UE-ID, the non-orthogonal multiple access uplink transmission including a multiple access signature from the plurality of multiple access signatures and uplink control information; and receiving a non-orthogonal multiple access uplink data transmission, from the user equipment, in a second time-frequency resource of the available time-frequency resources based at least on the uplink control information. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The method as recited in claim 10, wherein the deriving the group UE-ID comprises: selecting a subset or segment of the UE-specific ID as the group UE-ID. ### Claim 12 (depends on 10) The method as recited in claim 10, further comprising: descrambling the uplink control information using the group UE-ID. ### Claim 13 (depends on 10) The method as recited in claim 10, further comprising assigning the group UE-ID to a subset of the plurality of user equipments. ### Claim 14 (depends on 10) The method as recited in claim 10, further comprising: obtaining, from the uplink control information, at least one of: the UE-specific ID assigned to the user equipment; a modulation and coding scheme parameter; a rate matching parameter; a power control parameter; a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process identifier; or a transport size. ### Claim 15 (depends on 10) The method as recited in claim 10, wherein detecting the non-orthogonal multiple access uplink transmission in the first time-frequency resource and based on the group UE-ID further comprises: detecting a preamble or demodulation reference signal, transmitted by the user equipment, associated with the group UE-ID; and using the preamble or demodulation reference signal to locate the uplink control information. ### Claim 16 A user equipment comprising: a processor; and a memory system storing processor-executable instructions that, responsive to execution by the processor, direct the user equipment to perform operations comprising: receiving a non-orthogonal multiple access configuration message from a base station, the non-orthogonal multiple access configuration message including a plurality of multiple access signatures and available time-frequency resources for uplink transmissions; deriving a group user equipment identifier (a group UE-ID) from at least a user equipment-specific identifier (a UE-specific ID) assigned to the user equipment, the group UE-ID corresponding to a group of user equipments that includes the user equipment; while operating in a radio resource control inactive (RRC inactive) state or a radio resource control idle (RRC idle) state, selecting, for at least a first uplink transmission, a multiple access signature from the plurality of multiple access signatures; transmitting, using an uplink control channel, uplink control information in the first uplink transmission using a first time-frequency resource of the available time-frequency resources and the selected multiple access signature; and transmitting, using an uplink data channel, uplink data in a second uplink transmission using a second time-frequency resource of the available time-frequency resources and at least based on the uplink control information. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The user equipment as recited in claim 16, wherein the memory system stores additional processor-executable instructions that, responsive to execution by the processor, direct the user equipment to perform further operations comprising: scrambling the uplink control information using the group UE-ID; and transmitting the scrambled uplink control information in the first uplink transmission. ### Claim 18 (depends on 16) The user equipment as recited in claim 16, wherein the memory system stores additional processor-executable instructions that, responsive to execution by the processor, direct the user equipment to perform operations comprising: deriving the group UE-ID by selecting a subset or segment of the UE-specific ID as the group UE-ID. ### Claim 19 (depends on 16) The user equipment as recited in claim 16, wherein the memory system stores additional processor-executable instructions that, responsive to execution by the processor, direct the user equipment to perform operations comprising: selecting, by the user equipment, one or more link adaptive parameters for transmitting the uplink data; and indicating the one or more link adaptive parameters in the uplink control information. ### Claim 20 (depends on 16) The user equipment as recited in claim 16, wherein the memory system stores additional processor-executable instructions that, responsive to execution by the processor, direct the user equipment to perform operations comprising: transmitting, on the uplink control channel and as part of the first uplink transmission, a random access preamble sequence or demodulation reference signal associated with the group UE-ID.