# US 2018/0323943 A1 · Unified frame structure

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- Number: US 2018/0323943 A1
- Document ID: US20180323943A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 16/033,861
- Filed: 2018-07-12
- Published: 2018-11-08
- Earliest claimed: 2014-10-31
- Assignees: QUALCOMM Incorporated
- Applicants: QUALCOMM Incorporated
- Inventors: Jing JIANG; Peter Pui Lok ANG; Joseph Binamira SORIAGA; Krishna Kiran MUKKAVILLI; Tingfang JI; Kambiz AZARIAN YAZDI; Naga BHUSHAN; John Edward SMEE
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20180323943A1

## CPC

- H04L 5/0007: {the frequencies being orthogonal, e.g. OFDM(A) or DMT}
- H04L 5/0092: {Indication of how the channel is divided}
- H04L 27/2602: {Signal structure}
- H04L 5/0044: {Allocation of payload; Allocation of data channels, e.g. PDSCH or PUSCH}
- H04L 5/0053: {Allocation of signalling, i.e. of overhead other than pilot signals}
- Y02D 30/70: in wireless communication networks
- 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 unified frame structure design includes multiple structures to support multiple access requirements. In some aspects, traffic communicated according to one structure may puncture traffic communicated according to another structure. In some aspects, an indication of the puncturing may be communicated. In some aspects, communication based on the unified frame structure may use a code block-level acknowledgement. In some aspects, different access requirements may relate to different access terminal categories and/or different applications. In some aspects, different access terminal categories may relate to different performance requirements of different access terminals. In some aspects, the disclosed unified frame structure design could support, for example, and without limitation, at least one of: a low latency mode, a low overhead mode, a low power mode (e.g., for micro-sleep and/or dynamic bandwidth switching), an access terminal with narrowband capability operating in wideband, or ultra-low-latency and nominal multiplexing.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An apparatus for communication, comprising:
a communication interface; and
a processing circuit coupled to the communication interface and configured to:
identify a first structure for scheduling first traffic within a unified frame structure,
identify a second structure for scheduling second traffic within the unified frame structure, wherein the second structure schedules at least a portion of the second traffic to puncture at least a portion of the first traffic, and
send, via the communication interface, the first traffic and the second traffic according to the first structure and the second structure within the unified frame structure.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second traffic comprises ultra-low latency traffic.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the first traffic comprises low overhead traffic or nominal traffic.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second structure schedules the second traffic over all bandwidth of a particular transmission time interval.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:
generate an indication of the puncture; and
send the indication via the communication interface.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the indication identifies at least one transmission time interval that has been overwritten.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:
receive, via the communication interface, a code block-level acknowledgement associated with the first traffic; and
retransmit, via the communication interface, a code block of the first traffic as a result of receiving the code block-level acknowledgement.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first structure and the second structure comprise at least one of: different transmission time intervals (TTIs), different frequency bands, or different control structures.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the different control structures comprise: at least one time division multiplexing control channel structure, at least one frequency division multiplexing control channel structure, or any combination thereof.

### Claim 10

A method of communication for an apparatus, comprising:
identifying a first structure for scheduling first traffic within a unified frame structure;
identifying a second structure for scheduling second traffic within the unified frame structure, wherein the second structure schedules at least a portion of the second traffic to puncture at least a portion of the first traffic; and
sending the first traffic and the second traffic according to the first structure and the second structure within the unified frame structure.

### Claim 11

An apparatus for communication, comprising:
means for identifying a first structure for scheduling first traffic within a unified frame structure;
means for identifying a second structure for scheduling second traffic within the unified frame structure, wherein the second structure schedules at least a portion of the second traffic to puncture at least a portion of the first traffic; and
means for sending the first traffic and the second traffic according to the first structure and the second structure within the unified frame structure.

### Claim 12

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable code, including code to: identify a first structure for scheduling first traffic within a unified frame structure;
identify a second structure for scheduling second traffic within the unified frame structure, wherein the second structure schedules at least a portion of the second traffic to puncture at least a portion of the first traffic; and
send the first traffic and the second traffic according to the first structure and the second structure within the unified frame structure.

### Claim 13

An apparatus for communication, comprising:
a communication interface; and
a processing circuit coupled to the communication interface and configured to:
receive, via the communication interface, first traffic scheduled according to a first structure within a unified frame structure,
determine whether the first traffic was punctured by second traffic scheduled according to a second structure within the unified frame structure, and
decode the first traffic based on the determination of whether the first traffic was punctured.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the second traffic comprises ultra-low latency traffic.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the first traffic comprises low overhead traffic or nominal traffic.

### Claim 16 (depends on 13)

The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the second structure specifies that the second traffic is scheduled over all bandwidth of a particular transmission time interval.

### Claim 17 (depends on 13)

The apparatus of claim 13, wherein:
the determination of whether the first traffic was punctured comprises receiving, via the communication interface, an indication of the puncture; and
the decoding comprises electing to not process at least one transmission time interval that was punctured.

### Claim 18 (depends on 17)

The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the indication identifies the at least one transmission time interval.

### Claim 19 (depends on 13)

The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:
determine whether a code block of the first traffic is in error; and
send, via the communication interface, a code block-level acknowledgement as a result of the determination.

### Claim 20 (depends on 13)

The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the first structure and the second structure comprise at least one of: different transmission time intervals (TTIs), different frequency bands, or different control structures.

### Claim 21 (depends on 20)

The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the different control structures comprise: at least one time division multiplexing control channel structure, at least one frequency division multiplexing control channel structure, or any combination thereof.

### Claim 22

A method of communication for an apparatus, comprising:
receiving first traffic scheduled according to a first structure within a unified frame structure;
determining whether the first traffic was punctured by second traffic scheduled according to a second structure within the unified frame structure; and
decoding the first traffic based on the determination of whether the first traffic was punctured.

### Claim 23

An apparatus for communication, comprising:
means for receiving first traffic scheduled according to a first structure within a unified frame structure;
means for determining whether the first traffic was punctured by second traffic scheduled according to a second structure within the unified frame structure; and
means for decoding the first traffic based on the determination of whether the first traffic was punctured.

### Claim 24

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable code, including code to:
receive first traffic scheduled according to a first structure within a unified frame structure;
determine whether the first traffic was punctured by second traffic scheduled according to a second structure within the unified frame structure; and
decode the first traffic based on the determination of whether the first traffic was punctured.

### Claim 25

An apparatus for communication, comprising:
a communication interface; and
a processing circuit coupled to the communication interface and configured to:
identify a first structure for scheduling first traffic within a unified frame structure,
send, via the communication interface, the first traffic according to the first structure within the unified frame structure, and
receive, via the communication interface, a code block-level acknowledgement associated with the first traffic.

### Claim 26 (depends on 25)

The apparatus of claim 25, wherein:
the code block-level acknowledgement indicates that a code block of the first traffic was received in error; and
the processing circuit is further configured to retransmit the code block via the communication interface as a result of receiving the code block-level acknowledgement.

### Claim 27 (depends on 25)

The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:
identify a second structure for scheduling second traffic within the unified frame structure, wherein the second structure schedules at least a portion of the second traffic to puncture at least a portion of the first traffic; and
send, via the communication interface, the second traffic according to the second structure within the unified frame structure.

### Claim 28 (depends on 27)

The apparatus of claim 27, wherein:
the first traffic comprises low overhead traffic or nominal traffic; and
the second traffic comprises ultra-low latency traffic.

### Claim 29 (depends on 27)

The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the code block-level acknowledgement is received from an access terminal configured for co-existence with an access terminal configured to receive the second traffic.

### Claim 30

A method of communication for an apparatus, comprising:
identifying a first structure for scheduling first traffic within a unified frame structure;
sending the first traffic according to the first structure within the unified frame structure; and
receiving a code block-level acknowledgement associated with the first traffic.

### Claim 31

An apparatus for communication, comprising:
means for identifying a first structure for scheduling first traffic within a unified frame structure;
means for sending the first traffic according to the first structure within the unified frame structure; and
means for receiving a code block-level acknowledgement associated with the first traffic.

### Claim 32

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable code, including code to:
identify a first structure for scheduling first traffic within a unified frame structure;
send the first traffic according to the first structure within the unified frame structure; and
receive a code block-level acknowledgement associated with the first traffic.

### Claim 33

An apparatus for communication, comprising:
a communication interface; and
a processing circuit coupled to the communication interface and configured to:
identify a first structure for scheduling first traffic within a unified frame structure,
receive, via the communication interface, the first traffic according to the first structure within the unified frame structure,
determine whether a block of the first traffic was received in error, and
send, via the communication interface, a code block-level acknowledgement that indicates whether the block of the first traffic was received in error.

### Claim 34 (depends on 33)

The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the determination of whether the block of the first traffic was received in error comprises:
determining that the first traffic was punctured by second traffic scheduled according to a second structure within the unified frame structure.

### Claim 35 (depends on 34)

The apparatus of claim 34, wherein:
the first traffic comprises low overhead traffic or nominal traffic; and
the second traffic comprises ultra-low latency traffic.

### Claim 36 (depends on 35)

The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the apparatus is configured for co-existence with an access terminal configured to receive the second traffic.

### Claim 37

A method of communication for an apparatus, comprising:
identifying a first structure for scheduling first traffic within a unified frame structure;
receiving the first traffic according to the first structure within the unified frame structure;
determining whether a block of the first traffic was received in error; and
sending a code block-level acknowledgement that indicates whether the block of the first traffic was received in error.

### Claim 38

An apparatus for communication, comprising:
means for identifying a first structure for scheduling first traffic within a unified frame structure;
means for receiving the first traffic according to the first structure within the unified frame structure;
means for determining whether a block of the first traffic was received in error; and
means for sending a code block-level acknowledgement that indicates whether the block of the first traffic was received in error.

### Claim 39

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable code, including code to:
identify a first structure for scheduling first traffic within a unified frame structure;
receive the first traffic according to the first structure within the unified frame structure;
determine whether a block of the first traffic was received in error; and
send a code block-level acknowledgement that indicates whether the block of the first traffic was received in error.