Persistent indication of acknowledgement resources

A method of transmitting control information to a communication network, the method being implemented in a user equipment, UE, and comprising:

• configuring the UE with at least two collections of uplink (UL) resources to be used for transmitting control information to the communication network;
• receiving an assignment of radio resources to be used for receiving a downlink (DL) transmission from a base station of the communication network;
• receiving an acknowledgement resource indication (ARI) indicating one of the configured collections of UL resources to be used for transmitting control information associated with the DL transmission;
• and
• transmitting the control information to the base station on at least a subset of the indicated collection of UL resources, wherein the control information comprises acknowledgement information associated with the DL transmission,
• wherein the indicated collection of UL resources comprises a plurality of selectable UL resource sets, the plurality of selectable UL resource sets including a first UL resource set for use in a first acknowledgement feedback mode of the communication network and a second UL resource set for use in a second acknowledgement feedback mode of the communication network, and wherein the control information is transmitted on the one of the UL resource sets which corresponds to the current acknowledgement feedback mode of the communication network, and
• wherein, in the indicated collection of UL resources, the first UL resource set comprises UL resources in addition to those of the second UL resource set.

A base station for operating in a communication network, the base station comprising a radio interface and processing circuitry, the processing circuitry being configured to:

• obtain a configuration of at least two collections of uplink (UL) resources to be used for receiving control information from user equipments (UEs) in coverage of the communication network;
• assign radio resources to be used for transmitting a downlink (DL) transmission to a UE;
• transmit an acknowledgement resource indication (ARI) to the UE, the ARI indicating one of the configured collections of UL resources to be used for receiving control information associated with the DL transmission;
• and
• receive the control information from the UE on at least a subset of the indicated collection of UL resources, wherein the control information comprises acknowledgement information associated with the DL transmission,
• wherein the indicated collection of UL resources comprises a plurality of selectable UL resource sets, the plurality of selectable UL resource sets including a first UL resource set for use in a first acknowledgement feedback mode of the communication network and a second UL resource set for use in a second acknowledgement feedback mode of the communication network, and wherein the control information is received on the one of the UL resource sets which corresponds to the current acknowledgement feedback mode of the communication network,
• wherein in the indicated collection of UL resources, the first UL resource set comprises UL resources in addition to those of the second UL resource set.

A method of receiving control information at a base station of a communication network, the method comprising:

• obtaining a configuration of at least two collections of uplink (UL) resources to be used for receiving control information from user equipments (UEs), in coverage of the communication network;
• assigning radio resources to be used for transmitting a downlink (DL) transmission to a UE;
• transmitting an acknowledgement resource indication (ARI) to the UE, the ARI indicating one of the configured collections of UL resources to be used for receiving control information associated with the DL transmission;
• and
• receiving the control information from the UE on at least a subset of the indicated collection of UL resources, wherein the control information comprises acknowledgement information associated with the DL transmission,
• wherein the indicated collection of UL resources comprises a plurality of selectable UL resource sets, the plurality of selectable UL resource sets including a first UL resource set for use in a first acknowledgement feedback mode of the communication network and a second UL resource set for use in a second acknowledgement feedback mode of the communication network, and wherein the control information is received on the one of the UL resource sets which corresponds to the current acknowledgement feedback mode of the communication network, and
• wherein in the indicated collection of UL resources, the first UL resource set comprises UL resources in addition to those of the second UL resource set.