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ApplePatent applicationNetworks & wirelessInterest 2/10

Apple patents method for devices to report unused data slots

This filing describes a way for a device to tell a network which of its pre-assigned data transmission slots it is not using. The device creates a simple list of these empty slots and sends it to the network so the system can manage the connection more efficiently.

Why it mattersIt is a technical improvement for managing data traffic that could help reduce congestion on wireless networks.

In the filing’s own words

Embodiments herein include a user equipment (UE) that receives, from a network node, a first configure grant (CG) configuration comprising multiple transmission occasions. The UE may generate an unused transmission occasion uplink control information (UTO-UCI) comprising a bitmap indicating one or more unused transmission occasions for a time period. The bitmap may have a bit size that is based on a duration of the time period and a timing reference or a starting transmission occasion corresponding to a beginning of the time period. The UE may send the UTO-UCI via a CG physical uplink channel (PUSCH) to the network node to indicate to the network node which of the transmission occasions are unused by the UE for the first CG configuration.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A method for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: receiving, from a network node, a first configure grant (CG) configuration comprising multiple transmission occasions; generating an unused transmission occasion uplink control information (UTO-UCI), the UTO-UCI comprising a bitmap indicating one or more unused transmission occasions, wherein the UTO-UCI is generated by: determining a number of bits for the bitmap of the UTO-UCI by: determining a number of transmission occasions that occur during a time period based on a duration of the time period and a timing reference or a starting transmission occasion corresponding to a beginning of the time period; and setting the bits of the bitmap to indicate the one or more unused transmission occasions; and transmitting the UTO-UCI, via a CG physical uplink channel (PUSCH), to the network node to indicate to the network node which of the transmission occasions are unused by the UE for the first CG configuration.

Facts

Company
Apple (APPLE INC.)
Official title
UTO SIGNALING FOR XR DESIGN
Publication number
US20260270989A1
Application number
19167617
Filed
May 11, 2023
Published
Sep 10, 2026
Inventors
7
Claims
21

Classified under

H04W 72/1268 Electricity & electronicsH04W 72/21 Electricity & electronics
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.