# US 12,192,149 B2 · Methods and apparatus for providing soft and blind combining for PUSCH acknowledgement (ACK) processing > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,192,149 B2 - Document ID: US12192149B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 18/386,562 - Filed: 2023-11-02 - Published: 2024-02-22 - Granted: 2025-01-07 - Earliest claimed: 2015-12-14 - Assignees: Marvell Asia Pte Ltd - Applicants: Marvell Asia Pte, Ltd. - Inventors: Sabih Guzelgoz; Hong Jik Kim; Tejas Maheshbhai Bhatt; Fariba Heidari - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12192149B2 ## CPC - H04L 5/0055: {Physical resource allocation for ACK/NACK (for physical mapping arrangements in ARQ protocols H04L1/1861)} - H04L 1/0026: {Transmission of channel quality indication} - H04L 1/0035: {evaluation of received explicit signalling} - H04L 1/1664: {the supervisory signal being transmitted together with payload signals; piggybacking} - H04L 5/0057: {Physical resource allocation for CQI} - H04L 25/067: {providing soft decisions, i.e. decisions together with an estimate of reliability (H04L25/068 and H04L25/069 take precedence; sequence estimation techniques H04L25/03178)} - H04W 72/121: for groups of terminals or users - H04W 72/1268: of uplink data flows - H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M) - H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72) ## Abstract Methods and apparatus for providing soft and blind combining for PUSCH acknowledgement (ACK) processing. In an exemplary embodiment, a method includes soft-combining acknowledgement (ACK) bits received from a UE that are contained in a received sub-frame of symbols. The ACK bits are soft-combined using a plurality of scrambling sequences to generate a plurality of hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit streams. The method also includes receiving a parameter that identifies a selected scrambling sequence to be used. The method also includes decoding a selected hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream to generate a decoded ACK value, wherein the selected hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream is selected from the plurality of hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit streams based on the parameter. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An apparatus of networking system providing network communication containing acknowledgement (“ACK”) bits, comprising: a user equipment (“UE”) configured to send an uplink transmission containing ACK information via a wireless communication network; a base station coupled to the UE and operable to receive the uplink transmission; and a receiver coupled to the base station and configured to include an ACK hypothesis generator (“AHG”) configured to select a correct ACK bit stream from a plurality of soft-combined ACK information in response to a calculated network parameter. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an uplink frond end (“ULFE”) of the receiver coupled to the UE and configured to receive the uplink transmission containing the ACK information. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the UE sends data via the uplink transmission via a physical uplink shared channel (“PUSCH”). ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the AHG is operable to process scrambling sequences and a network parameter. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the AHG is configured to generate a plurality of possible ACK scrambling sequences via soft-combining independent from identifying value of network parameter. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the AHG further includes a decoder configured to generate an ACK value decoded via one hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream from the possible ACK scrambling sequences in response to the network parameter. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, wherein AHG further includes a soft-combiner configured to soft-combine the ACK bits using a plurality of scrambling sequences to generate a plurality of hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit streams. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the soft-combiner combines at least a portion of the ACK bits before a parameter is determined. ### Claim 9 (depends on 6) The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the decoder decodes one hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream based on the network parameter. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the decoder outputs the one hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream as the decoded ACK value, if the one hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream represents a 1-bit ACK. ### Claim 11 (depends on 9) The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the decoder decodes the one hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream according to an algorithm, if the one hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream represents a 2-bit ACK. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the algorithm includes an equation expressed as (O2ACK=(O0ACK+O1ACK)mod 2). ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a memory for storing a plurality of hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit streams in accordance with the plurality of possible ACK scrambling sequences. ### Claim 14 A method for determining acknowledgement (“ACK”) bits, comprising: receiving an uplink transmission containing ACK information via a physical uplink shared channel (“PUSCH”) from a user equipment (“UE”); obtaining an I parameter from upper layer computer indicating a correct scrambling sequence; determining a correct hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream based on the I parameter; and generating a decoded ACK value based on the correct hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, further comprising recovering subframes of symbols containing ACK log-likelihood ratio (“LLR”) bits from the uplink transmission. ### Claim 16 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, further comprising descrambling and soft-combining of the ACK log-likelihood ratio (“LLR”) bits to generate a hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream for each possible scrambling sequence. ### Claim 17 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, further comprising storing the hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream in a local memory. ### Claim 18 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, further comprising processing scrambling sequences and a network parameter, the processing scrambling sequences including soft-combining possible ACK scrambling sequences independent from identifying value of the network parameter. ### Claim 19 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, further comprising generating an ACK value decoded via one hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream from the possible ACK scrambling sequences in response to the network parameter. ### Claim 20 An apparatus for determining acknowledgement (“ACK”) bits, comprising: means for receiving an uplink transmission containing ACK information via a physical uplink shared channel (“PUSCH”) from a user equipment (“UE”); means for obtaining an I parameter from upper layer computer indicating a correct scrambling sequence; means for determining a correct hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream based on the I parameter; and means for generating a decoded ACK value based on the correct hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream. ### Claim 21 (depends on 20) The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising means for recovering subframes of symbols containing ACK log-likelihood ratio (“LLR”) bits from the uplink transmission. ### Claim 22 (depends on 20) The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising means for descrambling and soft-combining of the ACK log-likelihood ratio (“LLR”) bits to generate a hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream for each possible scrambling sequence. ### Claim 23 (depends on 20) The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising means for storing the hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream in a local memory. ### Claim 24 (depends on 20) The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising means for processing scrambling sequences and a network parameter, the processing scrambling sequences including means for soft-combining possible ACK scrambling sequences independent from identifying value of the network parameter. ### Claim 25 (depends on 20) The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising means for generating an ACK value decoded via one hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream from the possible ACK scrambling sequences in response to the network parameter. ### Claim 26 A method for providing acknowledgement (“ACK”) bits, comprising: receiving an uplink transmission containing ACK information via a physical uplink shared channel (“PUSCH”); soft-combining possible ACK scrambling sequences independent from identifying value of a network parameter; and storing ACK bit streams representing the possible ACK scrambling sequences in a memory. ### Claim 27 (depends on 26) The method of claim 26, further comprising generating an ACK value decoded via one hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream from the possible ACK scrambling sequences in response to the network parameter. ### Claim 28 (depends on 26) The method of claim 26, wherein soft-combining includes generating a plurality of hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit streams via a plurality of scrambling sequences. ### Claim 29 (depends on 26) The method of claim 26, wherein at least a portion of the soft-combining is performed before the network parameter is determined. ### Claim 30 (depends on 26) The method of claim 26, wherein generating an ACK value includes selecting one of the possible ACK scrambling sequences as a hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream in response to the network parameter. ### Claim 31 (depends on 26) The method of claim 26, wherein the generating an ACK value includes outputting the one hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream as the decoded ACK value, if the one hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream represents a 1-bit ACK. ### Claim 32 (depends on 26) The method of claim 26, wherein the generating an ACK value includes decoding the one hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream according to an algorithm, if the one hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream represents a 2-bit ACK. ### Claim 33 An apparatus for providing acknowledgement (“ACK”) bits, comprising: means for receiving an uplink transmission containing ACK information via a physical uplink shared channel (“PUSCH”); means for soft-combining possible ACK scrambling sequences independent from identifying value of a network parameter; and means for storing ACK bit streams representing the possible ACK scrambling sequences in a memory. ### Claim 34 (depends on 33) The apparatus of claim 33, further comprising means for generating an ACK value decoded via one hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit stream from the possible ACK scrambling sequences in response to the network parameter. ### Claim 35 (depends on 33) The apparatus of claim 33, wherein means for soft-combining includes means for generating a plurality of hypothetical soft-combined ACK bit streams via a plurality of scrambling sequences.