# US 12,604,324 B2 · Base station, terminal and communication method > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,604,324 B2 - Document ID: US12604324B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 18/922,065 - Filed: 2024-10-21 - Published: 2025-02-06 - Granted: 2026-04-14 - Earliest claimed: 2015-11-06 - Assignees: Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America - Applicants: Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America - Inventors: Ayako Horiuchi; Hidetoshi Suzuki - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12604324B2 ## CPC - H04W 72/23: in the downlink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards a terminal - H04L 1/16: in which the return channel carries supervisory signals, e.g. repetition request signals - H04L 5/0055: {Physical resource allocation for ACK/NACK (for physical mapping arrangements in ARQ protocols H04L1/1861)} - H04W 72/04: Wireless resource allocation - H04W 72/12: Wireless traffic scheduling - H04W 88/08: Access point devices - Y02D 30/70: in wireless communication networks - 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) - Y02D: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES [ICT], I.E. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES AIMING AT THE REDUCTION OF THEIR OWN ENERGY USE ## Abstract A signal assignment unit (105) assigns a downlink control signal including resource assignment information of a PDSCH to a downlink resource. A specification unit (108) specifies a PUCCH resource using an offset value set to either a first PRB set or a second PRB set when the downlink control signal is disposed to spread over the first PRB set and the second PRB set. A signal separation unit (109) separates an ACK/NACK signal included in the specified PUCCH resource from a received signal from a terminal to which the downlink control signal has been transmitted. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A communication apparatus comprising: a transmitter which, in operation, transmits downlink control information (DCI) mapped to one or more Physical Resource Block (PRB) sets among a plurality of PRB sets; and a receiver which, in operation, receives an ACK/NACK signal mapped to a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) resource, the ACK/NACK signal being generated based on a detection result of data indicated by the DCI, wherein the plurality of PRB sets include a first PRB set having a first plurality of ECCEs and a second PRB set having a second plurality of ECCEs different from the first plurality of ECCEs, for the first PRB set, an index to the PUCCH resource is determined based on a first ECCE index in which the DCI is mapped and which is offset by a higher layer signaling, and determined without adding a PRB value to the first ECCE index, and for the second PRB set, an index to the PUCCH resource is determined based on a sum between (1) the PRB value and (2) a second ECCE index in which the DCI is mapped and which is offset by the higher layer signaling. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the PRB value is determined based on a total number of ECCEs in the first plurality of ECCEs included in the first PRB set. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, for the first PRB set or the second PRB set, the index to the PUCCH resource is determined based on a repetition level offset which is common for a same repetition level, the repetition level offset being indicated by the higher layer signaling. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the DCI is mapped to the one or more PRB sets by prioritizing a frequency direction over a time direction. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, for the second PRB set, the index to the PUCCH resource is determined for distributed assignment based on: and the PRB value, and wherein, for the second PRB set, the index to the PUCCH resource is determined for localized assignment based on: and the PRB value. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, for the second PRB set, the index to the PUCCH resource is determined by assuming the second ECCE index is 0 when the DCI is received on multiple PRB sets. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the PRB value is selected from multiple values. ### Claim 8 A communication method comprising: transmitting downlink control information (DCI) mapped to one or more Physical Resource Block (PRB) sets among a plurality of PRB sets; and receiving an ACK/NACK signal mapped to a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) resource, the ACK/NACK signal being generated based on a detection result of data indicated by the DCI, wherein the plurality of PRB sets include a first PRB set having a first plurality of ECCEs and a second PRB set having a second plurality of ECCEs different from the first plurality of ECCEs, for the first PRB set, an index to the PUCCH resource is determined based on a first ECCE index in which the DCI is mapped and which is offset by a higher layer signaling, and determined without adding a PRB value to the first ECCE index, and for the second PRB set, an index to the PUCCH resource is determined based on a sum between (1) the PRB value and (2) a second ECCE index in which the DCI is mapped and which is offset by the higher layer signaling. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The communication method according to claim 8, wherein the PRB value is determined based on a total number of ECCEs in the first plurality of ECCEs included in the first PRB set. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The communication method according to claim 8, wherein, for the first PRB set or the second PRB set, the index to the PUCCH resource is determined based on a repetition level offset which is common for a same repetition level, the repetition level offset being indicated by the higher layer signaling. ### Claim 11 (depends on 8) The communication method according to claim 8, wherein the DCI is mapped to the one or more PRB sets by prioritizing a frequency direction over a time direction. ### Claim 12 (depends on 8) The communication method according to claim 8, wherein, for the second PRB set, the index to the PUCCH resource is determined for distributed assignment based on: and the PRB value, and wherein, for the second PRB set, the index to the PUCCH resource is determined for localized assignment based on: and the PRB value. ### Claim 13 (depends on 8) The communication method according to claim 8, wherein, for the second PRB set, the index to the PUCCH resource is determined by assuming the second ECCE index is 0 when the DCI is received on multiple PRB sets. ### Claim 14 (depends on 8) The communication method according to claim 8, wherein the PRB value is selected from multiple values.