Methods, a wireless device, a radio network node for managing a control block

An eTFI-aware wireless device configured to manage a modified control block for carrying control information for the wireless device, wherein the wireless device is servable by a radio network node, wherein a Temporary Flow Identifier, TFI, and an extended Temporary Flow Identifier, eTFI, are assignable to the wireless device by the radio network node, wherein the eTFI-aware wireless device comprises:

• a processing circuit;
• and
• a non-transitory memory that stores computer readable program code;
• wherein when the processing circuit executes the computer readable program code, the eTFI-aware wireless device is caused to:
• receive the modified control block from the radio network node, wherein the modified control block comprises a control block that the radio network node has FIRE-encoded and introduced one or more errors to prevent legacy wireless devices from successfully decoding the modified control block, wherein the radio network node introduces the one or more errors by performing a first bit-wise modulo two addition between the FIRE-encoded control block and a combination of the eTFI and a pre-determined bit pattern;
• perform a second bit-wise modulo two addition between the modified control block and the combination of the eTFI and the pre-determined bit pattern to obtain the FIRE-encoded control block and correct the one or more errors introduced by the radio network node;
• and
• decode the corrected FIRE-encoded control block using FIRE-decoding to obtain the control information, wherein the eTFI-aware wireless device is an intended recipient of the control information when a TFI filed of the control information matches the TFI assigned to the eTFI-aware wireless device.