# US 9,520,967 B2 · Carrier aggregation acknowledgement bits > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 9,520,967 B2 - Document ID: US9520967B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 14/990,585 - Filed: 2016-01-07 - Published: 2016-04-28 - Granted: 2016-12-13 - Earliest claimed: 2012-08-03 - Assignees: BlackBerry Limited - Applicants: BlackBerry Limited - Inventors: Yiping Wang; Robert Mark Harrison; Jun Li - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US9520967B2 ## CPC - H04L 1/1607: Details of the supervisory signal - H04L 1/1614: {using bitmaps} - H04L 5/001: {the frequencies being arranged in component carriers} - H04W 28/12: using signalling between network elements - H04W 72/0446: Resources in time domain, e.g. slots or frames - H04W 72/20: Control channels or signalling for resource management - 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 Systems, methods, and user equipment can involve transmitting Acknowledgement/Negative Acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) bits for carrier aggregation between a first cell and a second cell in a User Equipment (UE). With the UE, for a sub-frame, a first number of ACK/NACK bits for the first cell can be compared with a second number of ACK/NACK bits for the second cell. If a first number of ACK/NACK bits for the first cell is less than a second number of ACK/NACK bits for the second cell, an ACK/NACK bit position from the first cell can be used to transmit an ACK/NACK bit for the second cell. In some implementations, one or more DTX bits can be used to set the number of ACK/NACK bits in the first cell equal to the number of ACK/NACK bits in the second cell. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method for transmitting Acknowledgement/Negative Acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) bits for carrier aggregation between a first cell and a second cell by a User Equipment (UE), the method comprising: reordering ACK/NACK bit positions of at least one of an ACK/NACK bit position for the first cell or an ACK/NACK bit position of the second cell, wherein the reordering comprises: transmitting a last ACK/NACK bit for the second cell using a bit position of one of a last ACK/NACK bit or a next to last ACK/NACK bit for the first cell, the last ACK/NACK bit for the first cell corresponds to a sub-frame on the first cell that is transmitted last to the UE, and the next to last ACK/NACK bit for the first cell corresponds to a sub-frame that is transmitted immediately prior to the sub-frame on the first cell that is transmitted last to the UE. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining that sub-frames that correspond to the ACK/NACK bits for the first cell are of a different configuration than sub-frames that correspond to the ACK/NACK bits for the second cell. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the ACK/NACK bit position for the first or the second cell is described in a table, the table associating combinations of ACK/NACK bits to ACK/NACK signals transmitted by the UE. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining that a first number of ACK/NACK bits for the first cell is zero; and indicating with an ACK/NACK Resource Indicator (ARI) a number of resources, the number of resources being equal to a second number of ACK/NACK bits for the second cell. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the first cell is a primary cell and the second cell is a secondary cell. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the second cell is a primary cell and the first cell is a secondary cell. ### Claim 7 A device for transmitting Acknowledgement/Negative Acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) bits for carrier aggregation between a first cell and a second cell by a User Equipment (UE), the device comprising: a memory; and at least one hardware processor communicatively coupled with the memory and configured to: reorder ACK/NACK bit positions of at least one of an ACK/NACK bit position for the first cell or an ACK/NACK bit position of the second cell, wherein the reordering comprises: transmitting a last ACK/NACK bit for the second cell using a bit position of one of a last ACK/NACK bit or a next to last ACK/NACK bit for the first cell, the last ACK/NACK bit for the first cell corresponds to a sub-frame on the first cell that is transmitted last to the UE, and the next to last ACK/NACK bit for the first cell corresponds to a sub-frame that is transmitted immediately prior to the sub-frame on the first cell that is transmitted last to the UE. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The device of claim 7, further comprising: determining that sub-frames that correspond to the ACK/NACK bits for the first cell are of a different configuration than sub-frames that correspond to the ACK/NACK bits for the second cell. ### Claim 9 (depends on 7) The device of claim 7, wherein the ACK/NACK bit position for the first or the second cell is described in a table, the table associating combinations of ACK/NACK bits to ACK/NACK signals transmitted by the UE. ### Claim 10 (depends on 7) The device of claim 7, wherein the at least one hardware processor is further configured to: determine that a first number of ACK/NACK bits for the first cell is zero; and indicate with an ACK/NACK Resource Indicator (ARI) a number of resources, the number of resources being equal to a second number of ACK/NACK bits for the second cell. ### Claim 11 (depends on 7) The device of claim 7, wherein the first cell is a primary cell and the second cell is a secondary cell. ### Claim 12 (depends on 7) The device of claim 7, wherein the second cell is a primary cell and the first cell is a secondary cell. ### Claim 13 A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that are operable when executed by data processing apparatus to perform operations for transmitting Acknowledgement/Negative Acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) bits for carrier aggregation between a first cell and a second cell by a User Equipment (UE), the operations comprising: reordering ACK/NACK bit positions of at least one of an ACK/NACK bit position for the first cell or an ACK/NACK bit position of the second cell, wherein the reordering comprises: transmitting a last ACK/NACK bit for the second cell using a bit position of one of a last ACK/NACK bit or a next to last ACK/NACK bit for the first cell, the last ACK/NACK bit for the first cell corresponds to a sub-frame on the first cell that is transmitted last to the UE, and the next to last ACK/NACK bit for the first cell corresponds to a sub-frame that is transmitted immediately prior to the sub-frame on the first cell that is transmitted last to the UE. ### Claim 14 (depends on 12) The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the operations further comprise: determining that sub-frames that correspond to the ACK/NACK bits for the first cell are of a different configuration than sub-frames that correspond to the ACK/NACK bits for the second cell. ### Claim 15 (depends on 12) The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the ACK/NACK bit position for the first or the second cell is described in a table, the table associating combinations of ACK/NACK bits to ACK/NACK signals transmitted by the UE. ### Claim 16 (depends on 12) The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the operations further comprise: determining that a first number of ACK/NACK bits for the first cell is zero; and indicating with an ACK/NACK Resource Indicator (ARI) a number of resources, the number of resources being equal to a second number of ACK/NACK bits for the second cell. ### Claim 17 (depends on 12) The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the first cell is a primary cell and the second cell is a secondary cell. ### Claim 18 (depends on 12) The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the second cell is a primary cell and the first cell is a secondary cell.