# US 2020/0288448 A1 · Decoding downlink control channels for 5g wireless communication systems > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2020/0288448 A1 - Document ID: US20200288448A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 16/881,064 - Filed: 2020-05-22 - Published: 2020-09-10 - Earliest claimed: 2017-08-10 - Assignees: AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. - Applicants: AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. - Inventors: SaiRamesh Nammi - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20200288448A1 ## CPC - H04W 72/23: in the downlink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards a terminal - H04B 7/063: {Parameters other than those covered in groups H04B7/0623 - H04B7/0634, e.g. channel matrix rank or transmit mode selection} - H04L 1/0038: {Blind format detection (for detection of modulation format H04L27/0012)} - H04L 1/0061: {Error detection codes} - H04L 1/0072: {Error control for data other than payload data, e.g. control data} - H04L 5/0053: {Allocation of signalling, i.e. of overhead other than pilot signals} - H04W 72/12: Wireless traffic scheduling - H04W 72/20: Control channels or signalling for resource management - H04W 76/27: Transitions between radio resource control [RRC] states - H04W 88/02: Terminal devices - H04W 88/08: Access point devices - H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72) - H04B: TRANSMISSION - H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M) ## Abstract Improved downlink control information decoding is disclosed herein. Downlink control information, can be in different formats depending on the rank of transmission from the network to the user equipment device. For instance, if the transmission rank is between 1 and 4, the transmission will be a single codeword transmission, while a rank of 5-8 can have two codewords. The downlink control information can have a different format, or structure depending on the number of codewords. The user equipment device can predict whether a single codeword transmission or a multicode codeword transmission is more likely, and attempt to decode the downlink control information using the corresponding format. If the first pass is unsuccessful, the user equipment device can make a second pass decoding based on the alternate format of downlink control information. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A receiver device, comprising: a processor; and a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising: based on contextual information comprising a location of the receiver device relative to network equipment, predicting a number of codewords that a next data channel transmission comprises, wherein the predicting comprises determining a probability that the number of codewords is one based on a result of determining whether the location of the receiver device relative to the network equipment is outside of a defined range; and decoding a downlink control transmission comprising control channel information that facilitates scheduling the next data channel transmission based on the number of codewords. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The receiver device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise: in response to successfully decoding the downlink control transmission based on the number of codewords, decoding a data channel based on the control channel information. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The receiver device of claim 1, wherein the number of codewords is a first number of codewords, and wherein the operations further comprise: in response to unsuccessfully performing the decoding the downlink control transmission based on the first number of codewords, decoding the downlink control transmission based on a second number of codewords different than the first number of codewords. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The receiver device of claim 1, wherein the network equipment is first network equipment, and wherein the defined range is determined based on at least one of a transmission power of the first network equipment or an interference from second network equipment. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The receiver device of claim 1, wherein the contextual information further comprises a rank indicator reported by the receiver device. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The receiver device of claim 1, wherein the contextual information further comprises a historical number of codewords in a previous data channel transmission prior to the next data channel transmission. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The receiver device of claim 1, wherein the contextual information further comprises a network indication of a maximum number of layers. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The receiver device of claim 1, wherein the number of codewords is one and a number of layers associated with the data channel transmission is at most four. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The receiver device of claim 1, wherein the number of codewords is two and a number of layers associated with the next data channel transmission is at least five. ### Claim 10 A method, comprising: predicting, by a receiver device comprising a processor, a number of codewords comprised in an upcoming data channel transmission based on contextual information comprising a first location of the receiver device relative to network equipment, wherein the predicting comprises determining a probability that the number of codewords is one based on an outcome of determining whether the first location of the receiver device relative to a second location of the network equipment is outside of a defined distance, and wherein the predicting results in a predicted number of codewords; and decoding, by the receiver device, a downlink control transmission comprising control channel information that facilitates scheduling the upcoming data channel transmission based on the predicted number of codewords. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, further comprising: in response to successfully decoding the downlink control transmission based on the predicted number of codewords, decoding a data channel based on the control channel information. ### Claim 12 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, wherein the predicted number of codewords is a first number of codewords, and wherein the operations further comprise: in response to unsuccessfully performing the decoding the downlink control transmission based on the first number of codewords, decoding the downlink control transmission based on a second number of codewords different than the first number of codewords. ### Claim 13 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, wherein the defined distance is determined based on a transmission power of the network equipment. ### Claim 14 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, wherein the contextual information further comprises a rank indicator reported by the receiver device. ### Claim 15 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, wherein the contextual information further comprises a historical number of codewords in a previous data channel transmission prior to the upcoming data channel transmission. ### Claim 16 A non-transitory machine-readable medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor of a receiver device, facilitate performance of operations, comprising: predicting a number of codewords that a data channel transmission to be scheduled comprises based on contextual information comprising a location of the receiver device relative to network equipment, wherein the predicting comprises determining a probability that a number of codewords is one based on a result of determining whether the location of the receiver device relative to the network equipment is outside of a defined range; and decoding a downlink control transmission comprising control channel information that facilitates scheduling the data channel transmission based on the number of codewords. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise: in response to the decoding the downlink control transmission based on the number of codewords being successful, decoding a data channel based on the control channel information. ### Claim 18 (depends on 16) The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the number of codewords is a first number of codewords, and wherein the operations further comprise: in response to the decoding the downlink control transmission based on the first number of codewords being unsuccessful, decoding the downlink control transmission based on a second number of codewords different than the first number of codewords. ### Claim 19 (depends on 16) The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the defined range is determined based on an interference from other network equipment. ### Claim 20 (depends on 16) The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the contextual information further comprises a rank indicator reported by the receiver device.