Method and apparatus for antenna port indication

Abstract

Logic may generate or detect communications including downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling demodulation reference signals (DM-RS). The DCI may include an antenna port field including an index value for identifying a set of one or more ports in a first code division modulation (CDM) group of the DM-RS. The DM-RS is used to include up to three CDM groups in up to two codewords in up to two symbols. The first CDM group may include a signal of the DM-RS for the first port multiplexed with the signal of the DM-RS for the second port based on a new frequency division orthogonal cover code (FD-OCC). The signal sub-length of the second port is orthogonal to the signal of the first port, where the first CDM group is compatible with demultiplexing via legacy FD-OCC. And logic may cause transmission of the DCI or demodulate and decode the DCI.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority under 35 USC §119 to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 422,971, filed on November 5, 2022, entitled “DM-RS ANTENNA PORT INDICATION FOR SU AND MU-MIMO WITH ENHANCED DM-RS CAPACITY,” the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] Embodiments herein relate to wireless communications, and more particularly, to antenna port indication for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communications. Background Art

[0004] The rapid growth of wireless communication technology and the growing demand for high-quality and efficient data transmission have led to the development of advanced communication systems. One aspect of communication in cellular systems (e.g., fifth generation (5G) cellular systems) involves spatial layers, which are one of the different streams generated by spatial multiplexing. A layer can be described as a mapping of symbols to transmit antenna ports. Each layer is identified by a precoding vector of a size equal to the number of transmit antenna ports and can be associated with a radiation pattern. The rank of the transmission is the number of layers transmitted.

[0005] A reference signal (RS) is transmitted from an antenna port (or ports) at a base station. This can be either a single physical transmit antenna or a combined transmit port of multiple physical antenna elements. In either case, the signal transmitted from each antenna port is not designed to be further deconstructed by a user equipment (UE) receiver. The RS corresponding to a given antenna port defines the antenna port from the UE's perspective and enables the UE to derive a channel estimate for all data transmitted on that antenna port, whether it represents a single radio channel from one physical antenna or a composite channel from multiple physical antenna elements that together form the antenna port. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006] Figure 1 An embodiment of a system including base stations, user equipment, and cloud-based computing services and data services interconnected via a communication network is depicted;

[0007] Figure 2 A network (eg, Figure 1 Another embodiment of the network in;

[0008] Figure 3 Another embodiment of a network according to various embodiments is shown;

[0009] Figure 4A An embodiment of a legacy CDM group for DM-RS Type 1 is shown;

[0010] Figure 4B An embodiment of a legacy CDM group for DM-RS Type 2 is shown;

[0011] Figure 4C An embodiment of a port configuration table for legacy ports of DM-RS Type 1 and DM-RS Type 2 is shown;

[0012] Figure 4D An embodiment of two optional new FD-OCC encodings for new ports in the preamble symbols of DM-RS Type 1 and DM-RS Type 2 is shown;

[0013] Figure 4E An embodiment of a new port configuration for DM-RS Type 1 ports for PUSCH and PDSCH is shown;

[0014] Figure 4F Another embodiment of a new port configuration for DM-RS Type 2 ports for PUSCH and PDSCH is shown;

[0015] Figure 4G An embodiment of a DM-RS configuration table is shown;

[0016] Figure 4H Another embodiment of a DM-RS configuration table is shown;

[0017] Fig. 4I Another embodiment of a DM-RS configuration table is shown;

[0018] Figure 4J1-4J2 Another embodiment of a DM-RS configuration table is shown;

[0019] Figure 5 is a base station and a user equipment (UE) (e.g. Figure 1 -An embodiment of a simplified block diagram of a base station or RAN, a UE and a communication network) shown in -4;

[0020] Figure 6 Describes an embodiment for a base station (e.g., in conjunction with Figure 1-5 Flowchart of the embodiment described);

[0021] Figure 7 Describes an embodiment for a user device (e.g., in conjunction with Figure 1-5 Flowchart of the embodiment described);

[0022] Figure 8Embodiments of protocol entities that may be implemented in a wireless communication device are described;

[0023] Fig. 9 1 and 2. The method of transmitting data from a PHY device to a MAC entity (e.g., Figure 5 The processor in Figure 5 , Fig.13 and Fig.14 Embodiments of the format of a PHY data unit (PDU) encoded and decoded by baseband circuits in a wireless communication network;

[0024] Figures 10A-10B Depicts a communication circuit (e.g., Figure 5 Embodiments of the components and modules shown in the user equipment and the base station shown in FIG.

[0025] Fig.11 Depicted are embodiments of the storage media described herein;

[0026] Fig.12 illustrates the architecture of a system of networks according to some embodiments;

[0027] Fig.13 An apparatus according to some embodiments (eg, Figure 1-12 Example components of a base station and a UE) shown in FIG.

[0028] Fig.14 Baseband circuitry (eg, in combination with Figure 1-13 Example interfaces for baseband circuitry shown and / or discussed above); and

[0029] Fig.15 An embodiment of a block diagram of components for performing the described functions is depicted. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] The following is a detailed description of the embodiments depicted in the accompanying drawings. The detailed description encompasses all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the appended claims.

[0031] To support operation, a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) is used for channel estimation purposes and has a unified structure for both uplink and downlink with a cyclic prefix orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (CPOFDM) waveform. Embodiments relate to pre-pending (at the beginning of the data channel) DMRS port mapping, additional DM-RS (if configured), and related signaling aspects including downlink control information (DCI). The DCI may schedule DM-RS for uplink (UL) or downlink (DL) and may include an antenna port field for signaling the DM-RS configuration.

[0032] The demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) is a user-specific reference signal that can be used for channel estimation for physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) data demodulation and physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) data demodulation. There are at least two different DM-RS configurations, including DM-RS Type 1 and DM-RS Type 2. Each DM-RS configuration can have the flexibility of using a leading 1-symbol DM-RS, a leading 2-symbol DM-RS, and one or more additional DM-RSs (if configured).

[0033] The preamble reference signal is assigned to the first data symbol adjacent to a signaling segment (a signaling segment consisting of, for example, two symbols) of a transmission time interval (TTI) (if 1-symbol DM-RS is used), and to the first two data symbols adjacent to the signaling segment (if 2-symbol DM-RS is used). The UE may be configured by higher layers with a DM-RS pattern or configuration from either a preamble DM-RS Type 1 configuration or a preamble DM-RS Type 2 configuration for DL ​​and / or UL. The base station may send a DCI to signal the DM-RS on a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), may schedule the DM-RS, and may dynamically switch between a single-symbol DM-RS configuration and a dual-symbol DM-RS configuration for DL ​​and / or UL. In many embodiments, the antenna port field of the DCI may include an index value to identify the number of CDM groups, without data for identifying the port, and may instead include data for the UE, one or more DMRS ports associated with the UE for channel estimation, and the number of preamble symbols.

[0034] For legacy user equipment (e.g., user equipment based on 3GPP 38.211, 38.212, and 38.213), the first pre-DM-RS configuration corresponding to configuration Type 1 may have 2 code division multiplexing (CDM) port groups (where each group occupies 6 orthogonal frequency resource elements (REs) within a physical resource block (PRB) on a single OFDM symbol) and may support up to eight orthogonal ports (e.g., Figure 4A As shown), for single-user multiple-input multiple-output (SU-MIMO) or multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO). Type 1 single-symbol legacy DM-RS can support a maximum of 4 legacy orthogonal DMRS ports, where 2 legacy DM-RS ports are multiplexed in each CDM group using frequency domain orthogonal cover codes (FD-OCC).

[0035] If two-symbol legacy DM-RS is used, such as Figure 4AAs shown, the two combs and two cyclic shifts can be further combined with two time division orthogonal cover codes (TD-OCC) (especially Walsh-Hadamard TD-OCC ({1, 1} and {1, -1})), and up to eight orthogonal ports can be supported. However, in the case of two-symbol legacy DMRS, it should also be possible to schedule up to 4 ports without using both {1, 1} and {1, -1}.

[0036] The second pre-DM-RS configuration corresponding to configuration Type 2 can have 3 legacy CDM port groups (where each group occupies 4 orthogonal REs within a PRB on a single OFDM symbol) and supports up to twelve legacy orthogonal ports for SU-MIMO or MU-MIMO. Specifically, two (Walsh-Hadamard) frequency division orthogonal cover codes (FD-OCCs) applied across adjacent REs (resource elements) in the frequency domain respectively produce six component sets. Adjacent RE pairs are grouped into three CDM groups. Therefore, the six component sets are derived from two FD-OCCs (both {1, 1} and {1, -1}) applied to three legacy CDM groups respectively. In the case of one-symbol DMRS, the resulting six corresponding component sets can be assigned to up to six orthogonal ports (with port pairs in each CDM group). In the case of two-symbol DMRS, these six component sets can be further combined with two TD-OCCs to obtain the ability to support up to twelve orthogonal ports (4 ports in each CDM group).

[0037] In the pre-DM-RS, Comb, cyclic shift, FD-OCC, CDM and TD-OCC constitute resource components for reference signals. These resource components are combined according to the first or second pre-DM-RS configuration, and the resulting component sets are respectively assigned to orthogonal ports.

[0038] From the perspective of the user equipment (UE), the DMRS ports multiplexed by frequency domain code division multiplexing (FDM) are quasi co-located. When the number of DMRS ports allocated to the UE is equal to or less than N, the number of pre-DM-RS symbols can be 1 or 2, for configuration 1, N is 4, and for configuration 2, N is 6.

[0039] Embodiments herein provide new multiplexing techniques (e.g., two new length 4FD-OCCs) to increase the capacity of both Type 1 and Type 2 DM-RS. In such embodiments, Type 1 DM-RS can support 8 ports for a single symbol and 16 ports for a two-symbol case, where ports are sometimes referred to herein as new ports (or Rel-18 ports) or ports with a new port configuration (or Rel-18 port configuration) herein. In addition, Type 2 DM-RS can support 12 ports for a single symbol and 24 ports for a two-symbol case. New orthogonal cover codes and frequency domain multiplexing techniques are provided to enhance the multiplexing capacity of DM-RS.

[0040] By implementing new multiplexing techniques to increase the capacity of both Type 1 and Type 2 DM-RS, it is expected that restrictions on port pairing will be set to support legacy UEs. Legacy UEs can be based on Rel-15 of 3GPP 38.211, 38.212, and 38.213, including a length-2 Hadamard matrix to demultiplex the coded signals from the ports of the DM-RS for channel estimation and receiving data. The new multiplexing techniques are expected to be incorporated into Rel-18 of 3GPP 38.211, 38.212, and 38.213.

[0041] Many embodiments may restrict the port pairings for CDM groups to sub-length orthogonal port pairs for backward compatibility with legacy UEs. Figure 4G-4J2 The DM-RS configuration table shown includes pairings for ports encoded with the new multiplexing technique. Some of the port pairings in the table advantageously include port pairings of new ports with legacy ports for legacy UE compatibility. Note that Figure 4G-4J2 Some or all of the DM-RS configurations in the shown DM-RS configuration table may be stored in the memory of the base station and UE (or at least the applicable portion of the DM-RS configuration table) for use in determining, generating, decoding, demodulating, etc., UL or DL ​​DM-RS.

[0042] In some embodiments, for example, for DM-RS port multiplexing for DM-RS Type 1, for MU-MIMO PDSCH reception, a UE with Rel-15 DM-RS port 0 or 1 in CDM group 0 can be paired with any UE with Rel-18 DM-RS port 1 or 0, respectively, because the FD-OCC code length in Rel-18 DM-RS ports 0, 1 is orthogonal to the FD-OCC code in Rel-15 DMRS ports 0, 1. Similarly, any UE with Rel-15 DM-RS port 4 or 5 can be co-scheduled with any UE with Rel-18 port 5 or 4 in CDM group 0. In CDM group 1, any UE with Rel-15 ports 0, 1, 4, and 5 can be paired with UEs in Rel-18 ports 1, 0, 5, and 4, respectively. In many embodiments, Rel-18 DM-RS ports 8-15 may not be paired with any Rel-15 DM-RS port.

[0043] In some embodiments, for example, for DM-RS port multiplexing for DM-RS Type 2, for MU-MIMO PDSCH reception, Rel-15 DMRS ports 0, 1, 6, and 7 in CDM group 0 may be paired with Rel-18 DMRS ports 1, 0, 7, and 6, respectively. Rel-15 DMRS ports 2, 3, 8, and 9 in CDM group 1 may be paired with Rel-18 DMRS ports 3, 2, 9, and 8, respectively, and Rel-15 DMRS ports 4, 5, 10, and 11 may be paired with Rel-18 DM-RS ports 5, 4, 11, and 10, respectively. In many embodiments, Rel-18 DM-RS ports 12-23 may not be paired with any Rel-15 DM-RS ports.

[0044] In some embodiments, if ( Figure 4D If the option 1-1 Walsh matrix shown in FIG. 1 is used as the FD-OCC for MU-MIMO PUSCH transmission, there is no restriction on port pairing between Rel-15 and Rel-18 UEs. In other embodiments, the same port pairing restriction applies to DM-RS in PUSCH transmission as discussed herein for PDSCH reception.

[0045] As discussed further herein, some embodiments may increase the size (number of bits) or resources allocated to the antenna port field of the DCI for different DM-RS configurations to accommodate Figure 4G-4J2 In some embodiments, the resources allocated to the antenna port field may depend on the specific DM-RS configuration.

[0046] Various embodiments may be designed to address different technical issues associated with: lack of support for new multiplexing coding and new port configurations for DM-RS; lack of port pairing for new ports and legacy ports for CDM groups; lack of new multiplexing coding FD-OCC for new port configurations; lack of sufficient signaling for additional port pairings for new port configurations; etc.

[0047] Different technical problems (e.g., the technical problems discussed above) can be solved by one or more different embodiments. An embodiment can solve one or more of these problems associated with support for new multiplexing coding and new port configurations for DM-RS. For example, some embodiments that solve the problems associated with support for new multiplexing coding and new port configurations for DM-RS can do so by one or more of the following different technical means: For example, determining or generating a communication including downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS), the DCI including an antenna port field, the antenna port field including an index value to identify a set of one or more ports in a first code division modulation (CDM) group of the DM-RS, the DM-RS including up to three CDM groups in up to two codewords in up to two symbols, the first CDM group including a signal of a first port using DM-RS multiplexed with a signal of a second port using DM-RS based on a new frequency division orthogonal cover code (FD-OCC), the signal sublength of the second port being orthogonal to the signal of the first port, wherein the first CDM group is multiplexed with a signal of a DM-RS using DM-RS via a legacy FD-OCC. C is compatible with demultiplexing; determining or detecting, via an interface, communication including downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS), the DCI including an antenna port field, the antenna port field including an index value to identify a set of one or more ports in a first code division modulation (CDM) group of the DM-RS, the DM-RS including up to three CDM groups in up to two codewords in up to two symbols, the first CDM group including a signal of a first port using DM-RS multiplexed with a signal of a second port using DM-RS based on a new frequency division orthogonal cover code (FD-OCC), the signal sub-length of the second port being orthogonal to the signal of the first port, wherein the first CDM group is compatible with demultiplexing via a legacy FD-OCC; causing transmission of DCI and / or DM-RS; receiving, demodulating and decoding the DCI and / or DM-RS; etc.

[0048] Several embodiments include systems with multiple processor cores (e.g., central servers, access points and / or stations (STAs) (e.g., modems, routers, switches, servers, workstations, netbooks, mobile devices (laptops, smartphones, tablets, etc.), sensors, meters, controls, instruments, monitors, home or office appliances, Internet of Things (IoT) equipment (watches, glasses, headphones, cameras, etc.), etc.). Some embodiments may provide, for example, indoor and / or outdoor "smart" grid and sensor services. In various embodiments, these devices are related to specific applications (e.g., healthcare, home, commercial office and retail, security and industrial automation and monitoring applications, and vehicle applications (cars, self-driving vehicles, aircraft, drones, etc.), etc.).

[0049] The technology disclosed herein may involve transmitting data through one or more wireless connections using one or more wireless mobile broadband technologies. For example, various embodiments may involve transmitting through one or more wireless connections according to one or more Third Generation Partnership Projects (3GPP), 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE), 3GPP LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), 4G LTE, 5G New Air (NR) and / or 6G technologies and / or standards (including their revisions, successors and variants). Various embodiments may additionally or alternatively involve transmitting according to one or more Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) / Enhanced Data Rate for GSM Evolution (EDGE), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) / High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA) and / or GSM and General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Systems (GSM / GPRS) technologies and / or standards (including their revisions, successors and variants).

[0050] Examples of wireless mobile broadband technologies and / or standards may also include, but are not limited to, any of the following: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16 wireless broadband standards (e.g., IEEE 802.16m and / or 802.16p), International Mobile Telecommunications Advanced (IMT-ADV), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) and / or WiMAX II, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) 2000 (e.g., CDMA2000 1xRTT, CDMA2000 EV-DO, CDMA EV-DV, etc.), High Performance Wireless Metropolitan Area Network (HIPERMAN), Wireless Broadband (WiBro), High Speed ​​Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), High Speed ​​Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) Packet Access (HSOPA), High Speed ​​Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) technologies and / or standards (including their amendments, successors and variations).

[0051] Some embodiments may additionally perform wireless communications according to other wireless communication technologies and / or standards. Examples of other wireless communication technologies and / or standards that may be used in various embodiments may include, but are not limited to, other IEEE wireless communication standards (e.g., IEEE 802.11-5220, IEEE 802.11ax-5221, IEEE 802.11ay-5221, IEEE 802.11ba-5221, and / or other specifications and standards (e.g., specifications developed by the Wi-Fi Alliance (WFA) Neighbor Aware Networking (NAN) Task Group, Machine Type Communication (MTC) standards (e.g., 3GPP Technical Report (TR) 23.887, 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 22.368, 3GPP TS 23.682, 3GPP TS 36.133, 3GPP TS 36.306, 3GPP TS 36.321, 3GPP TS 331, 3GPP TS 38.133, 3GPP TS 38.306, 3GPP TS 38.321, 38.214 and / or the standards embodied in 3GPP TS 38.331)) and / or Near Field Communication (NFC) standards (e.g., standards developed by the NFC Forum) (including any amendments, successors and / or variations of any of the foregoing standards)). Embodiments are not limited to these examples.

[0052] Figure 1 A communication network 100 is shown for determining, generating, or detecting DCI with an antenna port field having a DM-RS configuration (eg, Figure 4G-4J2 ) is an index value of the DM-RS configuration shown in . The communication network 100 is an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) network, which includes a main base station 101, a secondary base station 102, a cloud-based service 103, a first user equipment UE-1, a second user equipment UE-2 and a third user equipment UE-3. In a 3GPP system based on an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) downlink, radio resources are divided into subframes in the time domain, and each subframe consists of two time slots. Each OFDMA symbol is further composed of several OFDMA subcarriers in the frequency domain (which depends on the system (or carrier) bandwidth). The basic unit of the resource grid is called a resource element (RE), and RE spans OFDMA subcarriers on one OFDMA symbol. A resource block (RB) includes a group of REs, wherein each RB may include, for example, 12 consecutive subcarriers in one time slot.

[0053] Several physical downlink channels and reference signals use a set of resource elements that carry information from higher layers of the code. For downlink channels, the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) is the main data-bearing downlink channel, while the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) can carry downlink control information (DCI). The control information may include scheduling decisions, information related to reference signal information, rules for forming corresponding transport blocks (TBs) to be carried by the PDSCH, and power control commands. The UE can use the cell-specific reference signal (CRS) for demodulation of control / data channels in non-precoded or codebook-based precoded transmission mode, radio link monitoring, and measurement of channel state information (CSI) feedback. The UE can use the UE-specific reference signal (DM-RS) for demodulation of control / data channels in non-codebook-based precoded transmission mode.

[0054] The communication network 100 may include a cell (e.g., a micro cell or a macro cell), and the base station 101 may provide wireless services to UEs within the cell. The base station 102 may provide wireless services to UEs within another cell adjacent to or overlapping the cell. In other embodiments, the communication network 100 may include a macro cell, and the base station 102 may operate a smaller cell (e.g., a micro cell or a pico cell) within the macro cell. Other examples of small cells may include, but are not limited to, a micro cell, a femto cell, or another type of smaller cell.

[0055] In various embodiments, base station 101 and base station 102 may communicate via backhaul. In some embodiments, backhaul may include wired backhaul. In various other embodiments, backhaul may include wireless backhaul. In some embodiments, backhaul may include an Xn interface or an F1 interface, which are interfaces defined between two RAN nodes or base stations (e.g., backhaul between base station 101 and base station 102). If the architecture of communication network 100 is a central unit / distributed unit (CU / DU) architecture, the Xn interface is an interface for gNB, and the F1 interface is an interface for gNB-distributed unit (DU). For example, in some embodiments, base station 101 may include a CU, and base station 102 may include a DU. In other embodiments, base stations 101 and 102 may both include eNBs or gNBs.

[0056] Base stations 101 and 102 may transmit protocol data units (PDUs) via backhaul. As an example, for the Xn interface, base station 101 may send or share control plane PDUs via the Xn-C interface, and may send or share data PDUs via the Xn-U interface. For the F1 interface, base station 101 may send or share control plane PDUs via the F1-C interface, and may send or share data PDUs via the F1-U interface. Note that the discussion herein about signal transmission, sharing, reception, or transmission via the Xn interface may refer to signal transmission, sharing, reception, or transmission via the Xn-C interface, the Xn-U interface, or a combination thereof. Similarly, the discussion herein about signal transmission, sharing, reception, or transmission via the F1 interface may refer to signal transmission, sharing, reception, or transmission via the F1-C interface, the F1-U interface, or a combination thereof.

[0057] In some embodiments, base stations 101 and 102 may include port logic circuitry to determine, generate, and cause transmission of a DCI with an antenna port field having an index value for indicating a DM-RS configuration. For example, the port logic circuitry of base stations 101 and 102 may dynamically determine the DM-RS configuration and communicate the DM-RS configuration in the DCI before causing the DM-RS to be sent or received from one or more UEs.

[0058] Figure 2 A network 100B (eg, Figure 1 100B) is an embodiment of the network 100 shown in FIG. The network 100B may operate in a manner consistent with 3GPP technical specifications for LTE or 5G / NR systems and O-RAN specifications (e.g., O-RAN "Near-Real-time RAN Intelligent Controller, E2 Service Model (E2SM), RANControl"). However, the example embodiments are not limited thereto, and the described embodiments may be applied to other networks (e.g., future 3GPP systems, etc.) that benefit from the principles described herein.

[0059] The network 100B may include a UE 102B, which may include any mobile or non-mobile computing device designed to communicate with the RAN 104 via an over-the-air connection. The UE 102B may be communicatively coupled to the RAN 104 via a Uu interface. The UE 102B may include, but is not limited to, a smartphone, a tablet computer, a wearable computer device, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, an in-vehicle infotainment system, an in-vehicle entertainment device, an instrument cluster, a head-mounted display device, an onboard diagnostic device, a dashboard mobile device, a mobile data terminal, an electronic engine management system, an electronic / engine control unit, an electronic / engine control module, an embedded system, a sensor, a microcontroller, a control module, an engine management system, a networked appliance, a machine type communication device, an M2M or D2D device, an IoT device, etc.

[0060] In some embodiments, the network 100B may include multiple UEs directly coupled to each other via a side link interface. The UE may be an M2M / D2D device that communicates using a physical side link channel (e.g., but not limited to, PSBCH, PSDCH, PSSCH, PSCCH, PSFCH, etc.).

[0061] In some embodiments, UE 102B may additionally communicate with AP 106 via an over-the-air connection. AP 106 may manage a WLAN connection, which may be used to offload some / all network traffic from RAN 104. The connection between UE 102B and AP 106 may conform to any IEEE 802.11 protocol, wherein AP 106 may be a Wireless Fidelity Router. In some embodiments, the UE 102B, the RAN 104, and the AP 106 may utilize cellular-WLAN aggregation (eg, LWA / LWIP). Cellular-WLAN aggregation may involve the UE 102B being configured by the RAN 104 to utilize both cellular radio resources and WLAN resources.

[0062] The RAN 104 may include one or more access nodes (e.g., AN 108). The AN 108 may terminate the air interface protocol for the UE 102B by providing access layer protocols including RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC, and L1 protocols. In this way, the AN 108 may implement data / voice connectivity between the CN 120 and the UE 102B. In some embodiments, the AN 108 may be implemented in a discrete device or as one or more software entities running on a server computer as part of, for example, a virtual network (which may be referred to as a CRAN or a virtual baseband unit pool). The AN 108 may be referred to as a BS, gNB, RAN node, eNB, ng-eNB, NodeB, RSU, TRxP, TRP, etc. The AN 108 may be a macro cell base station or a low power base station used to provide a femto cell, a micro cell, or other similar cells with a smaller coverage area, a smaller user capacity, or a higher bandwidth than a macro cell.

[0063] In an embodiment where the RAN 104 includes multiple ANs, they may be coupled to each other via an X2 interface (if the RAN 104 is an LTE RAN) or an Xn interface (if the RAN 104 is a 5G RAN). The X2 / Xn interfaces (which may be separated into control / user plane interfaces in some embodiments) may allow the ANs to transfer information related to handover, data / context transfer, mobility, load management, interference coordination, etc.

[0064] The ANs of the RAN 104 may each manage one or more cells, cell groups, component carriers, etc. to provide an air interface for network access to the UE 102B. The UE 102B may be simultaneously connected to multiple cells provided by the same or different ANs of the RAN 104. For example, the UE 102B and the RAN 104 may use carrier aggregation to allow the UE 102B to connect to multiple component carriers (each corresponding to a Pcell or an Scell). In a dual-connectivity scenario, the first AN may be a primary node providing an MCG, and the second AN may be a secondary node providing an SCG. The first / second AN may be any combination of eNBs, gNBs, ng-eNBs, etc.

[0065] The RAN 104 may provide an air interface over a licensed spectrum or an unlicensed spectrum. To operate in an unlicensed spectrum, a node may use LAA, eLAA, and / or feLAA mechanisms based on CA technology with PCells / Scell. Before accessing the unlicensed spectrum, a node may perform a medium / carrier sensing operation based on, for example, a listen-before-talk (LBT) protocol.

[0066] In the V2X scenario, the UE 102B or AN 108 may be or may act as an RSU, which may refer to any traffic infrastructure entity used for V2X communication. The RSU may be implemented in or by a suitable AN or a stationary (or relatively stationary) UE. An RSU implemented in or by: for a UE, it may be referred to as a "UE type RSU"; for an eNB, it may be referred to as an "eNB type RSU"; for a gNB, it may be referred to as a "gNB type RSU"; etc. In one example, the RSU is a computing device coupled to a radio frequency circuit located on the roadside that provides connection support to passing vehicle UEs. The RSU may also include internal data storage circuits for storing intersection map geometry, traffic statistics, media, and applications / software to sense and control ongoing vehicle and pedestrian traffic. The RSU can provide extremely low latency communications required for high-speed events (e.g., collision avoidance, traffic warnings, etc.). Additionally or alternatively, the RSU may provide other cellular / WLAN communication services. The components of the RSU may be housed in a weatherproof enclosure suitable for outdoor installation and may include a network interface controller for providing a wired connection (e.g., Ethernet) to a traffic signal controller or backhaul network.

[0067] In some embodiments, the RAN 104 may be an LTE RAN 110 with an eNB (e.g., eNB 112). The LTE RAN 110 may provide an LTE air interface with the following characteristics: SCS of 15 kHz; CP-OFDM waveform for DL ​​and SC-FDMA waveform for UL; turbo codes for data and TBCC for control; etc. The LTE air interface may rely on: CSI-RS for CSI acquisition and beam management; PDSCH / PDCCH DMRS for PDSCH / PDCCH demodulation; and CRS for cell search and initial acquisition, channel quality measurement, and channel estimation for coherent demodulation / detection at the UE. The LTE air interface may operate on a sub-6 GHz frequency band.

[0068] In some embodiments, the RAN 104 may be a NG-RAN 114 having gNBs (e.g., gNB 116) or ng-eNBs (e.g., ng-eNB 118). The gNB 116 may connect to a 5G-enabled UE using a 5GNR interface. The gNB 116 may connect to the 5G core via an NG interface, which may include an N2 interface or an N3 interface. The ng-eNB 118 may also connect to the 5G core via an NG interface, but may connect to the UE via an LTE air interface. The gNB 116 and ng-eNB 118 may connect to each other via an Xn interface.

[0069] In some embodiments, the NG interface can be divided into two parts: an NG user plane (NG-U) interface, which carries service data between the nodes of the NG-RAN 114 and the UPF 148 (e.g., the N3 interface); and an NG control plane (NG-C) interface, which is a signaling interface between the nodes of the NG-RAN 114 and the AMF 144 (e.g., the N2 interface).

[0070] NG-RAN 114 may provide a 5G-NR air interface with the following features: variable SCS; CP-OFDM for DL, CP-OFDM and DFT-s-OFDM for UL; polarization codes, repetition codes, simplex codes and Reed-Muller codes for control, and LDPC for data. Similar to the LTE air interface, the 5G-NR air interface may rely on CSI-RS, PDSCH / PDCCH DMRS. The 5G-NR air interface may not use CRS, but may use: PBCH DMRS for PBCH demodulation; PTRS for phase tracking of PDSCH; and tracking reference signals for time tracking. The 5G-NR air interface may operate on a FR1 band including a sub-6 GHz band or a FR2 band including a band from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz. The 5G-NR air interface may include an SSB, which is an area of ​​a downlink resource grid including PSS / SSS / PBCH.

[0071] In some embodiments, the 5G-NR air interface may utilize BWP for various purposes. For example, BWP may be used for dynamic adaptation of SCS. For example, UE 102B may be configured with multiple BWPs, each of which is configured with a different SCS. When a BWP change is indicated to UE 102B, the SCS of the transmission also changes. Another use case example of BWP is related to power saving. Specifically, UE 102B may be configured with multiple BWPs with different amounts of frequency resources (e.g., PRBs) to support data transmission under different traffic load scenarios. A BWP containing a smaller number of PRBs may be used for data transmission with a small traffic load while allowing power saving at UE 102B and in some cases at gNB 116. A BWP containing a larger number of PRBs may be used in scenarios with higher traffic loads.

[0072] The RAN 104 is communicatively coupled with the CN 120, which includes network elements for providing various functions to support data and telecommunication services to customers / subscribers (e.g., users of the UE 102B). The components of the CN 120 may be implemented in one physical node, or in separate physical nodes. In some embodiments, NFV may be utilized to virtualize any or all functions provided by the network elements of the CN 120 onto physical computing / storage resources in servers, switches, etc. A logical instantiation of the CN 120 may be referred to as a network slice, and a logical instantiation of a portion of the CN 120 may be referred to as a network sub-slice.

[0073] In some embodiments, CN 120 may be LTE CN 122, which may also be referred to as EPC. LTE CN 122 may include MME 124, SGW 126, SGSN 128, HSS 130, PGW 132, and PCRF 134, which are coupled to each other via interfaces (or "reference points"), as shown. The functions of the elements of LTE CN 122 may be briefly described as follows.

[0074] The MME 124 may implement mobility management functions to track the current location of the UE 102B to facilitate paging, bearer activation / deactivation, handover, gateway selection, authentication, etc.

[0075] The SGW 126 may terminate the S1 interface towards the RAN and route data packets between the RAN and the LTE CN 122. The SGW 126 may be a local mobility anchor for handovers between RAN nodes and may also provide anchoring for inter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful interception, charging, and some policy enforcement.

[0076] SGSN 128 can track the location of UE 102B and perform security functions and access control. In addition, SGSN 128 can perform EPC inter-node signaling for mobility between different RAT networks; PDN and S-GW selection specified by MME 124; MME selection for handover; etc. The S3 reference point between MME 124 and SGSN 128 can implement user and bearer information exchange for 3GPP indirect access mobility in idle / active state.

[0077] HSS 130 may include a database for network users (including subscription related information) to support network entities in handling communication sessions. HSS 130 may provide support for routing / roaming, authentication, authorization, naming / addressing resolution, location dependency, etc. The S6a reference point between HSS 130 and MME 124 may enable the transfer of subscription and authentication data for authenticating / authorizing users to access LTE CN 120.

[0078] The PGW 132 may terminate the SGi interface towards a data network (DN) 136, which may include an application / content server 138. The PGW 132 may route data packets between the LTE CN 122 and the data network 136. The PGW 132 may be coupled to the SGW 126 via an S5 reference point to facilitate user plane tunneling and tunnel management. The PGW 132 may also include a node (e.g., PCEF) for policy enforcement and charging data collection. In addition, the SGi reference point between the PGW 132 and the data network 136 may be an operator-external public, private PDN, or an operator-internal packet data network (e.g., for provisioning IMS services). The PGW 132 may be coupled to the PCRF 134 via a Gx reference point.

[0079] PCRF 134 is the policy and charging control element of LTE CN 122. PCRF 134 may be communicatively coupled to application / content server 138 to determine appropriate QoS and charging parameters for service flows. PCRF 132 may provision association rules (via the Gx reference point) into the PCEF with appropriate TFT and QCI.

[0080] In some embodiments, CN 120 may be 5GC 140. 5GC 140 may include AUSF 142, AMF 144, SMF 146, UPF 148, NSSF 150, NEF 152, NRF 154, PCF 156, UDM 158, and AF 160, which are coupled to each other through interfaces (or "reference points"), as shown. The functions of the elements of 5GC 140 may be briefly described as follows.

[0081] AUSF 142 may store data for authentication of UE 102B and handle authentication related functions. AUSF 142 may facilitate a common authentication framework for various access types. In addition to communicating with other elements of 5GC 140 via reference points as shown, AUSF 142 may also expose interfaces based on Nausf services.

[0082] AMF 144 can allow other functions of 5GC 140 to communicate with UE 102B and RAN 104 and subscribe to notifications about mobility events for UE 102B. AMF 144 can be responsible for registration management (e.g., for registering UE 102B), connection management, reachability management, mobility management, and legal interception of AMF-related events, as well as access authentication and authorization. AMF 144 can provide transmission for SM messages between UE 102B and SMF 146 and act as a transparent agent for routing SM messages. AMF 144 can also provide transmission for SMS messages between UE 102B and SMSF. AMF 144 can interact with AUSF 142 and UE 102B to perform various security anchoring and context management functions. In addition, the AMF 144 can be a termination point for the RAN CP interface, which can include or be the N2 reference point between the RAN 104 and the AMF 144; and the AMF 144 can be a termination point for NAS (N1) signaling and perform NAS encryption and integrity protection. The AMF 144 can also support NAS signaling with the UE 102B through the N3 IWF interface.

[0083] SMF 146 may be responsible for SM (e.g., session establishment, tunnel management between UPF 148 and AN 108); UE IP address allocation and management (including optional authorization); selection and control of UP functions; configuring traffic steering at UPF 148 to route traffic to the correct destination; terminating interfaces toward policy control functions; controlling a portion of policy enforcement, billing, and QoS; lawful interception (for SM events and interfaces to LI systems); terminating the SM portion of NAS messages; downlink data notification; initiating AN-specific SM information sent to AN 108 over N2 via AMF 144; and determining the SSC mode for a session. SM may refer to management of a PDU session, and a PDU session or "session" may refer to a PDU connection service that provides or enables the exchange of PDUs between UE 102B and data network 136.

[0084] The UPF 148 may serve as an anchor point for intra-RAT and inter-RAT mobility, an external PDU session point for interconnection to the data network 136, and a branch point for supporting multi-homed PDU sessions. The UPF 148 may also perform packet routing and forwarding, perform packet inspection, enforce the user plane portion of policy rules, lawful interception of packets (UP collection), perform service usage reporting, perform QoS processing for the user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL / DL rate enforcement), perform uplink service validation (e.g., SDF to QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in uplink and downlink, and perform downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering. The UPF 148 may include an uplink classifier to support routing of service flows to the data network.

[0085] The NSSF 150 may select a set of network slice instances to serve the UE 102B. If necessary, the NSSF 150 may also determine the mapping of allowed NSSAIs and subscribed S-NSSAIs. The NSSF 150 may also determine a set of AMFs or a list of candidate AMFs to be used to serve the UE 102B based on appropriate configuration and possibly by querying the NRF 154. The selection of a set of network slice instances for the UE 102B may be triggered by the AMF 144 to which the UE 102B is registered by interacting with the NSSF 150, which may result in a change of the AMF. The NSSF 150 may interact with the AMF 144 via the N22 reference point; and may communicate with another NSSF in the visited network via the N31 reference point (not shown). In addition, the NSSF 150 may expose an interface based on the Nnssf service.

[0086] NEF 152 can securely open services and capabilities provided by 3GPP network functions for third parties, internal opening / reopening, AF (e.g., AF 160), edge computing or fog computing systems, etc. In these embodiments, NEF 152 can authenticate, authorize or restrict AF. NEF 152 can also convert information exchanged with AF 160 and information exchanged with internal network functions. For example, NEF 152 can convert between AF service identifiers and internal 5GC information. NEF 152 can also receive information from other NFs based on the capabilities opened by other NFs. The information can be stored at NEF 152 as structured data, or stored at a data storage NF using a standardized interface. The stored information can then be reopened by NEF 152 to other NFs and AFs, or used for other purposes (e.g., analysis). In addition, NEF 152 can display interfaces based on Nnef services.

[0087] NRF 154 may support service discovery functionality, receive NF discovery requests from NF instances, and provide information of discovered NF instances to NF instances. NRF 154 also maintains information of available NF instances and the services they support. As used herein, the terms "instantiate", "instantiation", etc. may refer to the creation of an instance, and "instance" may refer to the specific occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during the execution of a program code. In addition, NRF 154 may expose an interface based on Nnrf services.

[0088] PCF 156 can provide policy rules to control plane functions to implement them, and can also support a unified policy framework to govern network behavior. PCF 156 can also implement a front end to access subscription information related to policy decisions in the UDR of UDM 158. In addition to communicating with functions through reference points as shown, PCF 156 also exposes an interface based on Npcf services.

[0089] UDM 158 can process subscription-related information to support the processing of communication sessions by network entities, and can store subscription data of UE 102B. For example, subscription data can be transferred via the N8 reference point between UDM 158 and AMF 144. UDM 158 can include two parts: application front end and UDR. UDR can store subscription data and policy data for UDM 158 and PCF 156, and / or structured data for openness and application data for NEF 152 (including PFD for application detection, application request information for multiple UE 102B). UDR can expose Nudr service-based interfaces to allow UDM 158, PCF 156 and NEF 152 to access a specific set of stored data, as well as read, update (e.g., add, modify), delete and subscribe to notifications of changes in relevant data in UDR. UDM may include UDM-FE, which is responsible for processing credentials, location management, subscription management, etc. Several different front ends can serve the same user in different transactions. The UDM-FE accesses subscription information stored in the UDR and performs authentication credential processing, user identity processing, access authorization, registration / mobility management, and subscription management. In addition to communicating with other NFs through reference points as shown, the UDM 158 can also expose Nudm service-based interfaces.

[0090] AF 160 may provide application influence on traffic routing, provide access to NEF, and interact with the policy framework for policy control.

[0091] In some embodiments, 5GC 140 can implement edge computing by selecting an operator / third-party service to be geographically close to the point where UE 102B attaches to the network. This can reduce latency and load on the network. In order to provide edge computing implementation, 5GC 140 can select UPF 148 close to UE 102B and perform service guidance from UPF 148 to data network 136 via N6 interface. This can be based on UE subscription data, UE location and information provided by AF 160. In this way, AF 160 can affect UPF (re)selection and service routing. Based on operator deployment, when AF 160 is considered a trusted entity, the network operator can allow AF 160 to interact directly with relevant NFs. In addition, AF 160 can expose an interface based on Naf services.

[0092] The data network 136 may represent various network operator services, Internet access, or third-party services that may be provided by one or more servers, including, for example, an application / content server 138 .

[0093] In some embodiments, the RAN 104 or one or more ANs 108 may include DCI port logic circuitry for defining, determining, and generating an antenna port field including an index value for indicating a DM-RS configuration. In many embodiments, the UE 102B may also include port logic circuitry for defining, determining, detecting, and receiving a DCI, and receiving a DM-RS from the RAN 104 in a downlink on the PDSCH or generating a DM-RS in an uplink on the PUSCH based on one or more DM-RS configurations stored in a memory of the UE 102B associated with the index value provided in the antenna port of the DCI. For example, the UE 102B may locate an index value in a set of index values ​​associated with a DM-RS configuration stored in the memory to identify or determine the DM-RS configuration for the DM-RS.

[0094] In many embodiments, the DM-RS configuration stored in the memory of the UE and the RAN 104 may include a port combination for multiplexing new ports that is backward compatible with legacy UEs, so that the legacy UEs can advantageously decode and demultiplex the port combination. Figure 4G-4J2 Backward compatible port combinations are shown in Tables 430-447 in .

[0095] Backward compatible port combinations may include pairing legacy (Rel-15) DM-RS port 0 or 1 in CDM group 0 with Rel-18 DM-RS port 1 or 0, respectively, for DM-RS Type 1, because the FD-OCC code sub-length in ports 0, 1 of Rel-18 DM-RS is orthogonal to the FD-OCC code in ports 0, 1 of Rel-15 DMRS. Similarly, backward compatible port combinations may include pairing Rel-15 DM-RS port 4 or 5 with Rel-18 port 5 or 4 in CDM group 0 for DM-RS Type 1, and pairing Rel-15 ports 0, 1, 4, and 5 with Rel-18 ports 1, 0, 5, and 4, respectively, in CDM group 1.

[0096] In some embodiments, backward compatible port combinations may include pairing legacy (Rel-15) DMRS ports 0, 1, 6, 7 in CDM group 0 with Rel-18 DMRS ports 1, 0, 7, and 6, respectively, for DM-RS Type 2, because the FD-OCC code sub-lengths in ports 0, 1, 6, and 7 of Rel-18 DM-RS are orthogonal to the FD-OCC codes in ports 1, 0, 7, and 6 of Rel-15 DMRS. Similarly, backward compatible port combinations may include pairing Rel-15 DM-RS ports 2, 3, 8, 9 with Rel-18 ports 3, 2, 9, 8 in CDM group 1, and pairing Rel-15 ports 4, 5, 10, and 11 with Rel-18 ports 5, 4, 11, and 10, respectively, for DM-RS Type 2.

[0097] For uplink MU-MIMO PUSCH transmissions, port combinations may be unrestricted in some embodiments and may have the same restrictions in other embodiments.

[0098] Figure 3 A network 3000 (eg, Figure 1) is an embodiment of the communication network 100 shown in . Network 3000 can operate in a manner that complies with 3GPP technical specifications or technical reports for 6G systems. In some embodiments, network 3000 can operate simultaneously with network 100B. For example, in some embodiments, network 3000 can share one or more frequency or bandwidth resources with network 100B. As a specific example, UE (e.g., UE 3002) can be configured to operate in both network 3000 and network 100B. This configuration can be based on the UE including a circuit configured to communicate with the frequency and bandwidth resources of both networks 100B and 3000. Typically, several elements of network 3000 can share one or more characteristics with elements of network 100B. For the sake of brevity and clarity, these elements may not be repeated in describing network 3000.

[0099] The network 3000 may include a UE 3002, which may include any mobile or non-mobile computing device designed to communicate with the RAN 3008 via a wireless connection. The UE 3002 may be similar to, for example, the UE 102B. The UE 3002 may be, but is not limited to, a smartphone, a tablet computer, a wearable computer device, a desktop computer, a notebook computer, an in-vehicle infotainment system, an in-vehicle entertainment device, a dashboard, a head-up display device, an in-vehicle diagnostic device, a dashboard mobile device, a mobile data terminal, an electronic engine management system, an electronic / engine control unit, an electronic / engine control module, an embedded system, a sensor, a microcontroller, a control module, an engine management system, a networked appliance, a machine type communication device, an M2M or D2D device, an IoT device, etc.

[0100] Although in Figure 3 Although not specifically shown in FIG. 3 , in some embodiments, the network 3000 may include multiple UEs directly coupled to each other via a side link interface. The UE may be an M2M / D2D device that communicates using a physical side link channel (e.g., but not limited to, PSBCH, PSDCH, PSSCH, PSCCH, PSFCH, etc.). Similarly, although in Figure 3 3002 may communicate with the AP (e.g., Figure 2 AP 106) described herein is communicatively coupled. Figure 3 Although not specifically shown, in some embodiments, the RAN 3008 may include one or more ANs (e.g., Figure 2 RAN 3008 and / or AN of RAN 3008 may be referred to as a base station (BS), RAN node, or by other terms or names.

[0101] UE 3002 and RAN 3008 may be configured to communicate via an air interface that may be referred to as a sixth generation (6G) air interface. The 6G air interface may include one or more features (e.g., communication in terahertz (THz) or sub-THz bandwidth, or joint communication and listening). As used herein, the term "joint communication and listening" may refer to a system that allows wireless communication and radar-based listening via various types of multiplexing. As used herein, THz or sub-THz bandwidth may refer to communications in a frequency range of 80 GHz and above. This frequency range may be additionally or alternatively referred to as a "millimeter wave" or "mmWave" frequency range.

[0102] The RAN 3008 may allow communication between the UE 3002 and the 6G core network (CN) 3010. Specifically, the RAN 3008 may facilitate the transmission and reception of data between the UE 3002 and the 6G CN 3010. The 6G CN 3010 may include various functions (e.g., NSSF 150, NEF 152, NRF 154, PCF 156, UDM 158, AF 160, SMF 146, and AUSF 142). The 6GCN 3010 may also include UPF 148 and DN 136, such as Figure 3 shown.

[0103] Additionally, the RAN 3008 may include various additional functions in addition to or in place of the functions of a legacy cellular network (e.g., a 4G or 5G network). Two such functions may include a compute control function (Comp CF) 3024 and a compute service function (Comp SF) 3036. The Comp CF 3024 and the Comp SF 3036 may be parts or functions of a compute service plane. The CompCF 3024 may be a control plane function that provides functions such as management of the Comp SF 3036, computing task context generation and management (e.g., create, read, modify, delete), interacting with the underlying computing infrastructure for computing resource management, and the like. The Comp SF 3036 may be a user plane function that acts as a gateway to interface computing service users (e.g., UE 3002) and computing nodes behind the Comp SF instance. Some functions of the Comp SF 3036 may include: parsing computing service data received from users to compute tasks that can be performed by computing nodes; maintaining a service mesh entry gateway or service API gateway; service and billing policy enforcement; performance monitoring and telemetry collection, and the like. In some embodiments, a Comp SF 3036 instance may act as a user plane gateway for a cluster of compute nodes. A Comp CF 3024 instance may control one or more CompSF 3036 instances.

[0104] Two other such functions may include a communication control function (Comm CF) 3028 and a communication service function (Comm SF) 3038, which may be part of the communication service plane. Comm CF 3028 may be a control plane function for managing Comm SF 3038, communication session creation / configuration / release, and managing communication session contexts. Comm SF 3038 may be a user plane function for data transmission. Comm CF 3028 and Comm SF 3038 may be viewed as related to Figure 2 The upgrade of SMF 146 and UPF 148 described in the 5G system in . The upgrade provided by Comm CF 3028 and Comm SF 3038 can realize service-aware transmission. For legacy (e.g., 4G or 5G) data transmission, SMF 146 and UPF 148 can still be used.

[0105] Two other such functions may include a data control function (Data CF) 3022 and a data service function (Data SF) 3032, which may be part of a data service plane. The Data CF 3022 may be a control plane function and provide functions such as Data SF 3032 management, data service creation / configuration / release, data service context management, etc. The Data SF 3032 may be a user plane function and act as a gateway between data service users (e.g., UE 3002 and various functions of 6G CN 3010) and data service endpoints behind the gateway. Specific functions may include: parsing data service user data and forwarding to corresponding data service endpoints, generating billing data, and reporting data service status.

[0106] Another such function may be a service orchestration and linking function (SOCF) 3020, which may discover, orchestrate, and link communication / computing / data services provided by functions in the network. Upon receiving a service request from a user, SOCF 3020 may interact with one or more of Comp CF 3024, Comm CF 3028, and Data CF 3022 to identify Comp SF 3036, Comm SF 3038, and Data SF 3032 instances, configure service resources, and generate a service chain, which may contain multiple Comp SF 3036, Comm SF 3038, and Data SF 3032 instances and their associated computing endpoints. Workload processing and data movement may then be performed within the generated service chain. SOCF 3020 may also be responsible for maintaining, updating, and releasing the created service chain.

[0107] Another such function may be a service registration function (SRF) 3014, which may act as a registry for system services provided in the user plane, such as services provided by service endpoints behind the Comp SF 3036 and Data SF 3032 gateways and services provided by the UE 3002. The SRF 3014 may be viewed as a peer to the NRF 154, which may act as a registry for network functions.

[0108] Other such functions may include the evolved service communication proxy (eSCP) and the service infrastructure control function (SICF) 3026, which can provide service communication infrastructure for control plane services and user plane services. The eSCP may be related to the service communication proxy (SCP) of 5G, where the user plane service communication proxy capability is added. Therefore, the eSCP is represented as two parts: eCSP-C 3012 and eSCP-U 3034, for control plane service communication proxy and user plane service communication proxy, respectively. The SICF 3026 can control and configure the eCSP instance in terms of service business routing policies, access rules, load balancing configuration, performance monitoring.

[0109] Another such function is AMF 3044. AMF 3044 may be similar to 344, but with additional functionality. Specifically, AMF 3044 may include potential functional re-splitting (e.g., moving message forwarding functionality from AMF 3044 to RAN 3008).

[0110] Another such function is the Service Orchestration Exposure Function (SOEF) 3018. The SOEF may be configured to expose service orchestration and link services to external users (eg, applications).

[0111] The UE 3002 may include an additional function called a compute client service function (comp CSF) 3004. The CompCSF 3004 may have both control plane functions and user plane functions, and may interact with corresponding network-side functions (e.g., SOCF 3020, Comp CF 3024, Comp SF 3036, Data CF 3022, and / or Data SF 3032) for service discovery, request / response, computing task workload exchange, etc. The Comp CSF 3004 may also work with the network-side functions to decide whether computing tasks should be run on elements of the UE 3002, RAN 3008, and / or 6G CN 3010.

[0112] UE 3002 and / or Comp CSF 3004 may include a service mesh proxy 3006. The service mesh proxy 3006 may act as a proxy for service-to-service communications in the user plane. The capabilities of the service mesh proxy 3006 may include one or more of addressing, security, load balancing, etc.

[0113] Figure 4A An embodiment 400 of a legacy CDM group for DM-RS Type 1 with a single symbol (denoted as symbol 0) for encoding of a legacy port, and alternatively, with a double symbol (denoted as symbol 0 and symbol 1) for encoding of a legacy port is shown. For single-symbol DMRS Type 1, a first group of two legacy ports are encoded with FD-OCC (Hadamard matrix) on every other resource element (RE) of symbol 0 (e.g., odd (or even) indexed REs), and a second group of two legacy ports are encoded on every other resource element (RE) of symbol 0 (e.g., even (or odd) indexed REs), as shown. Figure 4C As shown in Table 410.

[0114] For the single symbol case, Type 1 DMRS uses a comb-2 structure with 2 CDM groups and a length-2FD-OCC for each pair of alternating REs in each CDM group. The length-2OCC is given by the columns of the length-2 Hadamard matrix:

[0115]

[0116] For the case of two-symbol DM-RS, the same length -2 OCC is used across two time-domain symbols to multiplex 2 additional ports in each CDM group, so that a total of 8 ports are supported. The following table shows the time-domain OCC w t (l′) and frequency domain OCC w f Mapping of (k') to supported DM-RS ports. Note that the legacy ports are encoded on a single codeword. Figure 4E and Figure 4F The new DM-RS ports described in Tables 425 and 430 of may be encoded in a similar manner across up to two codewords to double the number of ports in DM-RS Type 1 and DM-RS Type 2 for single or double symbol preamble of the DM-RS.

[0117] Figure 4B An embodiment 405 of DM-RS Type 2 for legacy CDM groups with a single symbol (denoted as symbol 0) for encoding of legacy ports and, alternatively, with double symbols (denoted as symbol 0 and symbol 1) for encoding of legacy ports is shown. Figure 4BAs shown, Type 2 DMRS uses a comb-3 structure with 3 CDM groups and length-2 FD-OCC coding for each pair of adjacent REs in each CDM group. The FD-OCC is given by the columns of the same length-2 Hadamard matrix as the legacy DM-RS Type 1. And as Figure 4C As shown in Table 415, time domain multiplexing similar to the legacy two-symbol DM-RS Type 1 case is used.

[0118] Figure 4C An embodiment of Table 410 and Table 415 is shown. Table 410 and Table 415 respectively show the port configuration for the legacy port for DM-RS Type 1 and DM-RS Type 2. The port configuration for the legacy port can be the port configuration for Rel-15 of 3GPP TS 38.211, 38.212 and 38.213. The port configuration for the legacy port for the preamble symbol of the legacy DM-RS Type 1 in Table 410 includes 8 ports with indexes numbered from 1000 to 1007. Each port index is associated with a CDM group, an increment, and a code from a length-2 Hadamard matrix. As Figure 4A As shown, the CDM groups and increments indicate relative sets of frequency resources used to encode a port (or an encoded signal sent via a port).

[0119] Similarly, the port configuration for legacy ports for the preamble symbol of legacy DM-RS Type 2 in Table 415 includes 12 ports with indices numbered from 1000 to 1011. Each port index is associated with a CDM group, an increment, and a code from a length-2 Hadamard matrix. Figure 4B As shown, the CDM groups and increments indicate relative sets of frequency resources used to encode a port (or an encoded signal sent via a port).

[0120] Figure 4D An embodiment of a table 420 including two optional new FD-OCC encodings for ports in the preamble symbols of DM-RS Type 1 and DM-RS Type 2 is shown. The two optional new FD-OCC encodings include an option (Opt.) 1-1 Walsh matrix and an Opt. 1-2 cyclic shift matrix based on cyclic shifts 0, π, π / 2, and 3π / 2. The FD-OCC index is Figure 4E and Figure 4F The FD-OCC index in the new port configuration shown is related.

[0121] Figure 4EAn embodiment of Table 425 of a DM-RS Type 1 port for PUSCH with a new port configuration is shown. Based on the new FD-OCC and TD-OCC encodings for signals sent via the new ports in Rel-18 of 3GPP TS 38.211, 38.212, and 38.213, new port configurations are required for the added ports. Table 425 includes 16 ports numbered 0-15. Each port in Table 425 identifies a CDM group index, an FD-OCC index, and a TD-OCC index. The CDM group index may identify a CDM group that includes the port. The FD-OCC index includes a value that is an index to the FD-OCC encoding for the port, which is in Figure 4D The TD-OCC index is the index of the TD-OCC code for the port. Note that the TD-OCC code can encode the time division coding between the first leading symbol and the second leading symbol of one or two codewords of the DM-RS. Also note that the DMRS port index for PDSCH is given by Figure 4E Table 425 and Figure 4F The value of p+1000 in Table 430 is determined.

[0122] Figure 4F Another embodiment of a table 430 for a new port configuration for a DM-RS Type 2 port for a PUSCH is shown. Based on the new FD-OCC and TD-OCC encodings for signals sent via the new ports in Rel-18 of 3GPP TS 38.211, 38.212, and 38.213, new port configurations may be needed for the added ports. Table 430 includes 24 ports numbered 0-23. Each port in Table 430 identifies a CDM group index, an FD-OCC index, and a TD-OCC index. The CDM group index may identify a CDM group that includes the port. The FD-OCC index includes a value that is an index to the FD-OCC encoding for the port, which is in Figure 4D 1-1Walsh matrix or in the Opt. 1-2 cyclic shift matrix. The TD-OCC index is the index of the TD-OCC code for the port. Note that the TD-OCC code can encode the time division coding between the first leading symbol and the second leading symbol of one or two codewords of the DM-RS. Also note that the DMRS port index for PDSCH is given by Figure 4E Table 425 and Figure 4F The value of p+1000 in Table 430 is determined.

[0123] Figure 4GAn embodiment of a DM-RS configuration table 430 is shown. Table 430 shows entries to be added to the table of 3GPP TS 38.312Rel-15: Table 7.3.1.2.2-1 / Table 7.3.1.2.2-1A. Table 7.3.1.2.2-1 includes a one-codeword entry, and Table 7.3.1.2.2-1A includes a two-codeword entry. Note that new entries 0-18 describing a one-codeword DM-RS configuration for dmrs-Type=1 and maxLength=1 may be added or appended to Table 7.3.1.2.2-1. Note that when combined with Table 7.3.1.2.2-1, the order of the new entries and / or the index values ​​associated with the new entries may change.

[0124] Similarly, new entries 0-3 describing a two-codeword DM-RS configuration for dmrs-Type=1 and maxLength=1 may be added or appended to Table 7.3.1.2.2-1A. Note that when combined with Table 7.3.1.2.2-1A, the order of the new entries and / or the index values ​​associated with the new entries may change.

[0125] In some embodiments, the actual index value assigned to the entry may be the value + 12 for Table 7.3.1.2.2-1 and the value + 13 for Table 7.3.1.2.2-1A. Additionally, in some embodiments, the index value 18 may be used only for Table 7.3.1.2.2-1A. The antenna port indication field in the DCI for these tables may be increased by 1 bit, from 4 bits to 5 bits, and it is assumed that unused values ​​are reserved for future use.

[0126] Figure 4H Another embodiment of a DM-RS configuration table 435 is shown. Table 435 shows entries to be added to the table of 3GPP TS38.312Rel-15: Table 7.3.1.2.2-2 / Table 7.3.1.2.2-2A. Table 7.3.1.2.2-2 includes a one-codeword entry, and Table 7.3.1.2.2-2A includes two-codeword entries. Note that new entries 0-44 describing a one-codeword DM-RS configuration for dmrs-Type=1 and maxLength=1 may be added or appended to Table 7.3.1.2.2-1. Note that when combined with Table 7.3.1.2.2-2, the order of the new entries and / or the index values ​​associated with the new entries may change.

[0127] Similarly, new entries 0-14 describing two-codeword DM-RS configurations for dmrs-Type=1 and maxLength=2 may be added or appended to Table 7.3.1.2.2-2A. Note that when combined with Table 7.3.1.2.2-2A, the order of the new entries and / or the index values ​​associated with the new entries may change.

[0128] In some embodiments, the antenna port field for DMRS Type 1 with maxLength=2 is increased by N bits, for a total of N+5 bits, where N=1 or 2. In an alternative embodiment, the value of N may be configured to the UE by an RRC layer code, and the values ​​supported in Table 435 when N=1 may be a subset of the values ​​supported when N=2. It is assumed that unused values ​​are reserved for future use.

[0129] Fig. 4I Another embodiment of a DM-RS configuration table 440 is shown. Table 435 shows entries to be added to the table of 3GPP TS38.312Rel-15: Table 7.3.1.2.2-3 / Table 7.3.1.2.2-3A. Table 7.3.1.2.2-3 includes a one-codeword entry, and Table 7.3.1.2.2-3A includes two-codeword entries. Note that new entries 0-36 describing a one-codeword DM-RS configuration for dmrs-Type=2 and maxLength=1 may be added or appended to Table 7.3.1.2.2-3. Note that when combined with Table 7.3.1.2.2-3, the order of the new entries and / or the index values ​​associated with the new entries may change.

[0130] Similarly, new entries 0-7 describing a two-codeword DM-RS configuration for dmrs-Type=2 and maxLength=1 may be added or appended to Table 7.3.1.2.2-3A. Note that when combined with Table 7.3.1.2.2-3A, the order of the new entries and / or the index values ​​associated with the new entries may change.

[0131] In some embodiments, the antenna port field for DMRS Type 2 with maxLength=1 is increased by N bits, for a total of N+5 bits, where N=1 or 2. In an alternative embodiment, the value of N may be configured to the UE by an RRC layer code, and the values ​​supported in Table 440 when N=1 may be a subset of the values ​​supported when N=2. It is assumed that unused values ​​are reserved for future use.

[0132] Figure 4J1-Figure 4J2 Another embodiment of the DM-RS configuration table 445 is shown. Figure 4J2 Table 447 shown is Figure 4J1447 is a continuation of Table 445 in 3GPP TS 38.312Rel-15. Tables 445 and 447 show entries to be added to the tables: Table 7.3.1.2.2-4 / Table 7.3.1.2.2-4A of 3GPP TS 38.312Rel-15. Table 7.3.1.2.2-4 includes one-codeword entries, and Table 7.3.1.2.2-4A includes two-codeword entries. Note that new entries 0-78 describing one-codeword DM-RS configurations for dmrs-Type=2 and maxLength=2 may be added or appended to Table 7.3.1.2.2-4. Note that when combined with Table 7.3.1.2.2-4, the order of the new entries and / or the index values ​​associated with the new entries may change.

[0133] Similarly, new entries 0-37 describing a two-codeword DM-RS configuration for dmrs-Type=2 and maxLength=2 may be added or appended to Table 7.3.1.2.2-4A. Note that when combined with Table 7.3.1.2.2-4A, the order of the new entries and / or the index values ​​associated with the new entries may change.

[0134] In some embodiments, the antenna port field for DMRS Type 2 with maxLength=2 is increased by N bits, for a total of N+6 bits, where N=1. In an alternative embodiment, the value of N∈[1,2] may be configured to the UE by the RRC layer code, and the values ​​supported in the table when N=1 may be a subset of the values ​​supported when N=2. It is assumed that unused values ​​are reserved for future use.

[0135] Figure 5 A base station 501 and a user equipment (UE) 511 (eg, Figure 1 - An embodiment of a simplified block diagram 500 of a base station or RAN, UE, and communication network shown in FIG. 4 . For base station 510, antenna 546 transmits and receives radio signals. RF circuit 544 coupled to antenna 546 as a physical layer of base station 510 receives RF signals from antenna 546 and performs operations on the signals (e.g., amplifies the signals, and splits the signals into quadrature-phase signals and in-phase signals). Receiver circuit 590 can convert the signals into digital baseband signals or uplink data, and transmit the signals to the baseband circuit 514 via interface 525 (e.g., Fig.14The RF interface 1416 shown (e.g., an interface for network communication with the UE, an interface for network communication with a core cellular network (e.g., 5G core), an interface for network communication with other base stations, or an interface for other related network communication) transmits the digital in-phase signal and the quadrature-phase signal to the processor 520 (also referred to as a processing circuit or baseband processing circuit) of the baseband circuit 514. In other embodiments, the analog-to-digital converter of the processor 520 can convert the in-phase signal and the quadrature-phase signal into a digital baseband signal.

[0136] The transmitter circuit 592 may convert a digital baseband signal or downlink data received from the processor 520 into an analog signal. The RF circuit 544 processes and amplifies the analog signal, converts the analog signal into an RF signal, and transmits the amplified analog RF signal to the antenna 546.

[0137] Processor 520 decodes and processes digital baseband signals or uplink data and calls different functional modules to perform features in base station 510. Memory 522 stores program instructions or code and data 524 to control the operation of base station 510. Host circuit 512 can execute code (e.g., RRC layer code) from code and data 524 to implement RRC layer functions and codes. Note that the code executed above the medium access control (MAC) layer and the physical layer (PHY) is often referred to as high-layer code.

[0138] A similar configuration exists in UE 560, where antenna 596 transmits and receives RF signals. RF circuit 594 coupled to antenna 596 receives RF signals from antenna 596, amplifies the RF signals, and processes the signals to generate analog in-phase signals and quadrature-phase signals. Receiver circuit 590 processes the analog in-phase signals and quadrature-phase signals via an analog-to-digital converter and converts them into digital baseband signals or downlink data, and transmits the signals to the baseband circuit 564 via an interface 575 (e.g., Fig.14 The RF interface 1416 (e.g., an interface for network communication with other UEs, an interface for network communication with a base station, or an interface for other related network communication) transmits the in-phase signal and the quadrature-phase signal to the processor 570 of the baseband circuit 564. In other embodiments, the processor 570 may include an analog-to-digital converter to convert the analog in-phase signal and the quadrature-phase signal into digital in-phase signal and quadrature-phase signal.

[0139] The transmitter circuit 592 may convert a digital baseband signal or downlink data received from the processor 570 into an analog signal. The RF circuit 594 processes and amplifies the analog signal, converts the analog signal into an RF signal, and transmits the amplified analog RF signal to the antenna 596.

[0140] RF circuit 594 shows multiple RF chains. Although RF circuit 594 shows five RF chains, each UE may have a different number of RF chains, and each RF chain in the diagram may represent multiple time domain receive (RX) chains and transmit (TX) chains. RX chain and TX chain include circuits that can operate or modify time domain signals sent through the time domain chain (e.g., circuits for inserting guard intervals in the TX chain and circuits for removing guard intervals in the RX chain). For example, RF circuit 594 may include transmitter circuits and receiver circuits, which are often referred to as transceiver circuits. Transmitter circuits may prepare digital data from processor 570 for transmission through antenna 596. In preparation for transmission, the transmitter may encode the data, modulate the encoded data, and form the modulated encoded data into orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) and / or orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) symbols. Thereafter, the transmitter may convert the symbols from the frequency domain to the time domain for input into the TX chain. The TX chain may include chains of subcarriers per bandwidth of the RF chain, and may operate on time domain signals in the TX chain to prepare them for transmission on the component subcarriers of the RF chain. For wide bandwidth communications, more than one RF chain may simultaneously process symbols representing data from the baseband processor.

[0141] The processor 570 decodes and processes the digital baseband signal or downlink data and calls different functional modules to execute features in the UE 560. The memory 572 stores program instructions or codes and data 574 to control the operation of the UE 560. The processor 570 may also execute medium access control (MAC) layer codes in the codes and data 574 for the UE 560. For example, the MAC layer code may be executed on the processor 570 to send UL communications to the base station 510 via one or more RF chains of the physical layer (PHY). The PHY is the RF circuit 594 and associated logic (e.g., some or all functional modules).

[0142] The host circuit 562 may execute code (e.g., RRC layer code) to implement RRC layer functions and codes. In some embodiments, the RRC layer code may be a high-layer code that provides DM-RS configuration information to the port logic circuit 535 of the base station 510 and the port logic circuit 580 of the UE 560, respectively. The DM-RS configuration information provided by the high layer may include parameters such as dmrs-Type, maxLength, and the number of codewords. In some embodiments, the number of codewords is provided in the DCI by the port logic circuit 535 of the base station 510 before the transmission of the DM-RS.

[0143] Base station 510 and UE 560 may include several functional modules and circuits to perform some embodiments. Different functional modules may include circuits or circuit systems that can be configured and implemented by code, hardware or any combination thereof. Each functional module that can implement a function as a code and a processing circuit or a circuit configured to perform a function may also be referred to as a functional block. For example, processor 520 (e.g., via execution program code 524) is a circuit for configuring and implementing a functional module to allow base station 510 to schedule (via scheduler 526), ​​encode or decode (via codec 528), modulate or demodulate (via modulator 530), and send data to UE 560 or receive data from UE 560 via RF circuit 544 and antenna 546.

[0144] The processor 570 (e.g., via program code in the execution code and data 574) can be a circuit for configuring and implementing functional modules to allow the UE 560 to receive or transmit, demodulate or modulate (via the demodulator 578), and decode or encode data (via the codec 576) accordingly via the RF circuit 594 and the antenna 596.

[0145] The base station 510 may also include a functional module, a port logic circuit 535. The port logic circuit 535 of the base station 510 may cause the processor 520 and / or the host circuit 512 to perform actions to generate a communication including downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS). The DCI may include an antenna port field, which includes a field for Figure 4G-4J2 The table shown in FIG. 1 identifies an index value of a set of one or more ports in a first code division modulation (CDM) group of a DM-RS. In many embodiments, the memory 522 and / or the memory of the host circuit 512 can store and maintain the index value from Figure 4G-4J2 The information in the table shown is used to associate the index value in the antenna port field with the configuration of the DM-RS, so that the port logic circuit 535 can generate a DM-RS with the identified configuration in a downlink transmission on the PDSCH to one or more UEs (e.g., UE 560), or locate the DM-RS configuration associated with the index value for demodulation, decoding, and parsing of the DM-RS in an uplink transmission from the UE (e.g., UE 560) on the PUSCH.

[0146] UE 560 may also include a functional module, port logic circuit 580. Port logic circuit 580 of UE 560 may cause processor 570 and / or host circuit 562 to perform actions to determine or detect a communication including a DCI for scheduling DM-RS. DCI may include an antenna port field, which includes an antenna port field for Figure 4G-4J2The table shown in FIG. 1 identifies an index value of a set of one or more ports in the first CDM group of the DM-RS. In many embodiments, the memory 572 and / or the memory of the host circuit 562 can store and maintain the index value from Figure 4G-4J2 The information in the table shown is used to associate the index value in the antenna port field with the configuration of the DM-RS, so that the port logic circuit 580 can locate the DM-RS configuration associated with the index value for demodulating, decoding and parsing the DM-RS, or for generating a DM-RS with the identified configuration in an uplink transmission on the PUSCH to a base station (e.g., base station 510).

[0147] Figure 6 Describes an embodiment for a base station (e.g., in conjunction with Figure 1-Figure 5 6000 of an embodiment described herein. Flowchart 6000 begins with: a port logic circuit of a base station (e.g., a gNB) of a cellular network generating a communication including downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS), the DCI including an antenna port field, the antenna port field including an index value for identifying a set of one or more ports in a first code division modulation (CDM) group of the DM-RS (element 6005). The DM-RS may include up to three CDM groups in up to two codewords in up to two symbols to include up to 24 ports. The first CDM group may include a signal of a first port DM-RS multiplexed with a signal of a second port DM-RS based on a new length 4 frequency division orthogonal cover code (FD-OCC). The signal of the second port may be sub-length orthogonal to the signal of the first port so that the first CDM group is compatible with demultiplexing via a legacy FD-OCC.

[0148] In many embodiments, changes since Rel-15 of DM-RS increase the number of ports that can be transmitted in the DM-RS from up to 4 ports for DM-RS Type 1 to up to 8 ports by increasing the number of codewords from one to up to two codewords, and by changing the FD-OCC from a length-2 FD-OCC to a length-4 FD-OCC to accommodate multiplexing of additional ports. In Rel-15, the FD-OCC includes a length-2 Hadamard matrix. The new FD-OCC has at least two optional codes, including: (1) a Walsh matrix; and (2) a cyclic shift matrix with cyclic shifts of 0, π, π / 2, and 3π / 2. In general, new port encodings based on one or both of the new FD-OCCs are typically incompatible with legacy user equipment. However, based on the similarity between the matrices of the new length-4 FD-OCC and the length-2 Hadamard matrix, there is ( Figure 4G-4J2The index values ​​can be different from those in the figure because Figure 4G-4J2 Shows new entries that may be appended to a similar table from Rel-15.

[0149] For DM-RS Type 1 and DM-RS Type 2 ( Figure 4G-4J2 A new table (shown) is stored in the memory of the base station and the UE to facilitate pairing of a limited number of ports for backward compatible Rel-15 UEs. Each entry in the table indicates one or more ports used for channel estimation of the UE as well as the number of enabled codewords and the number of CDM groups without data. For DM-RS Type 1 and DM-RS Type 2 with a maximum length of 1, there is only one preamble symbol, so for DM-RS Type 1 and DM-RS Type 2 with a maximum length of 1, the new table does not need to include an indication of the number of preamble symbols. For DM-RS Type 1 and DM-RS Type 2 with a maximum length of 2, the new table includes the number of preamble symbols associated with the index value so that the base station can dynamically determine whether to use one preamble symbol or two preamble symbols. Note that the preamble symbols are encoded with TD-OCC and FD-OCC to double the number of ports that can be encoded per codeword.

[0150] After generating the DCI, the port logic circuitry of the base station may cause transmission of the DCI on the PDCCH to one or more UEs (element 6010). In some embodiments, the DCI schedules DM-RS for transmission by the base station to the one or more UEs, and after sending the DCI, the port logic circuitry of the base station may send the DM-RS with a configuration indicated by an index value in the antenna port field of the DCI. In such an embodiment, the port logic circuitry of the base station may send the DM-RS on the PDSCH to the one or more UEs as a single-user (SU) MIMO transmission or a multi-user (MU) MIMO transmission.

[0151] In some embodiments, the new FD-OCC includes an Opt. 1-1 Walsh matrix or an Opt. 1-2 cyclic shift matrix with cyclic shifts of 0, π, π / 2, and 3π / 2, such as Figure 4D As shown, the legacy FD-OCC includes a length-2 Hadamard matrix. In some embodiments, the legacy user equipment may demultiplex the CDM group with the length-2 Hadamard matrix to determine the signal of the first port, the signal of the second port, or both in the DM-RS based on the index value in the antenna port field of the DCI. For example, if the antenna port field of the DCI indicates such as Figure 4GIf the UE receives an index value such as 0 in the DMRS-Type=1, maxLength=1, and a configuration indicating that one codeword is enabled from a higher layer (e.g., an RRC layer), the UE can determine that the number of DMRS CDM groups without data is 1, and the DMRS port with the channel estimation signal is port 8 (e.g., Figure 4G As shown). Since the two ports are multiplexed together in the CDM group, in addition to performing channel estimation using the signal from port 8, the UE can also buffer and decode information received in the signal multiplexed with the channel estimation signal in port 8. Note that Figure 4D-4J2 The index values ​​in the table shown may be different in the adopted versions of Rel-18 of TS 38.211, 38.212 and 38.213, and the port combinations may be incorporated in a different order, and the port combinations shown in the table will be the same.

[0152] Figure 7 Describes an embodiment for a UE (eg, in conjunction with Figure 1-Figure 6 7000 of an embodiment described herein. Flowchart 7000 begins when a port logic circuit of a UE of a cellular network determines or detects, via an interface, a communication including a DCI for scheduling a DM-RS, the DCI including an antenna port field including an index value for identifying a set of one or more ports in a first CDM group of the DM-RS (element 7005). The DM-RS may be Type 1 with up to two codewords and up to two CDM groups in up to 2 symbols to include up to 16 ports, or may be Type 2 with up to three CDM groups in up to two codewords in up to two symbols to include up to 24 ports. The first CDM group may include a signal of a DM-RS for a first port multiplexed with a signal of a DM-RS for a second port based on a new FD-OCC. The signal of the second port may be sub-length orthogonal to the signal of the first port, and the first CDM group may be compatible with demultiplexing via a legacy FD-OCC.

[0153] After detecting the DCI, the port logic circuitry of the UE may decode, parse, and interpret the DCI to determine the index value in the antenna port field (element 7010). With the index value, the port logic circuitry of the UE may determine, find, or look up the configuration of the DM-RS in a memory. For example, the port logic circuitry of the UE may access and / or include one or more tables or lists that associate the index value from the antenna port field of the DCI with the configuration of the DM-RS, including the DMRS port, the number of CDM groups, and (for DM-RS maxLength=2) the number of preamble symbols.

[0154] In some embodiments, for ( Figure 4DFor the new FD-OCC options 1-1 or 1-2 shown in FIG. 1 , for DM-RS Type 1 and MU-MIMO PDSCH reception, the port logic of a UE with Rel-15 DM-RS port 0 or 1 in CDM group 0 can be paired with any UE with Rel-18 DM-RS port 1 or 0, respectively, because the new FD-OCC codes in Rel-18 DM-RS ports 0, 1 are sub-length orthogonal to the FD-OCC codes in Rel-15 DMRS ports 1, 0, respectively. Similarly, a UE with Rel-15 DM-RS port 4 or 5 can be co-scheduled with any UE with Rel-18 port 5 or 4 in CDM group 0. In CDM group 1, any UE with Rel-15 ports 0, 1, 4, 5 can be paired with UEs in Rel-18 ports 1, 0, 5, 4, respectively. In addition, Rel-18 DM-RS ports 8-15 cannot be paired with any Rel-15 DM-RS port.

[0155] In some embodiments, for (e.g. Figure 4D For the new FD-OCC option 1-1 or 1-2 shown in FIG2 , for DM-RS Type 1 and MU-MIMO PDSCH reception, the port logic of the UE with Rel-15 DMRS ports 0, 1, 6, and 7 in CDM group 0 can be paired with Rel-18 DM-RS ports 1, 0, 7, and 6, respectively. Similarly, Rel-15 DMRS ports 2, 3, 8, and 9 in CDM group 1 can be paired with Rel-18 DMRS ports 3, 2, 9, and 8, respectively, and Rel-15 DMRS ports 4, 5, 10, and 11 can be paired with Rel-18 DM-RS ports 5, 4, 11, and 10, respectively. In addition, Rel-18 DMRS ports 12-23 may not be paired with any Rel-15 DM-RS ports.

[0156] In some embodiments, for (e.g. Figure 4D For the new FD-OCC option 1-1 shown in FIG. 1 , for MU-MIMO PUSCH transmission, there may be no restriction on the port pairing between Rel-15 and Rel-18 UEs. Figure 4D For the new FD-OCC option 1-1 shown in FIG. 1 , for MU-MIMO PUSCH transmission, the same restrictions as those for PDSCH reception port pairing may be imposed on port pairing.

[0157] Figure 8An embodiment of a protocol entity 8000 that may be implemented in a wireless communication device discussed in conjunction with other figures herein according to some aspects is depicted, the wireless communication device including one or more of a user equipment (UE) 8060, a base station (which may be referred to as an evolved NodeB (eNB) or a new radio, next generation NodeB (gNB) 8080), or a network function (which may be referred to as a mobility management entity (MME) or an access and mobility management function (AMF) 8094). In further embodiments, the NodeB may include an xNodeB for the sixth generation or a later NodeB.

[0158] In some aspects, the gNB 8080 can be implemented as one or more of dedicated physical devices (e.g., a macro cell, a femto cell, or other suitable device), or in alternative aspects, the gNB 8080 can be implemented as one or more software entities running on a server computer as part of a virtual network (referred to as a cloud radio access network (CRAN)).

[0159] According to some aspects, one or more protocol entities that may be implemented in one or more of the UE 8060, the gNB 8080, and the AMF 8094 may be described as implementing all or part of a protocol stack, in which the layers are considered to be ordered from lowest to highest in the order of physical layer (PHY), medium access control (MAC), radio link control (RLC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), radio resource control (RRC), and non-access layer (NAS). According to some aspects, one or more protocol entities that may be implemented in one or more of the UE 8060, the gNB 8080, and the AMF 8094 may communicate with corresponding peer protocol entities that may be implemented on another device, and they perform such communication using the services of the corresponding lower layer protocol entities.

[0160] According to some aspects, the UE PHY layer 8072 and the peer entity gNB PHY layer 8090 may communicate using signals sent and received via a wireless medium. According to some aspects, the UE MAC layer 8070 and the peer entity gNB MAC layer 8088 may communicate using services provided by the UE PHY layer 8072 and the gNB PHY layer 8090, respectively. According to some aspects, the UE RLC layer 8068 and the peer entity gNB RLC layer 8086 may communicate using services provided by the UE MAC layer 8070 and the gNB MAC layer 8088, respectively. According to some aspects, the UE PDCP layer 8066 and the peer entity gNB PDCP layer 8084 may communicate using services provided by the UE RLC layer 8068 and the gNB RLC layer 8086, respectively. According to some aspects, the UE RRC layer 8064 and the gNB RRC layer 8082 may communicate using services provided by the UE PDCP layer 8066 and the gNB PDCP layer 8084, respectively. In accordance with some aspects, the UE NAS 8062 and the AMF NAS 8092 may communicate using services provided by the UE RRC layer 8064 and the gNB RRC layer 8082, respectively.

[0161] The PHY layers 8072 and 8090 may send or receive information used by the MAC layers 8070 and 8088 over one or more air interfaces. The PHY layers 8072 and 8090 may also perform link adaptation or adaptive modulation and coding (AMC), power control, cell search (e.g., for initial synchronization and handover purposes), and other measurements used by higher layers (e.g., RRC layers 8064 and 8082). The PHY layers 8072 and 8090 may further perform error detection on transport channels, forward error correction (FEC) encoding / decoding of transport channels, modulation / demodulation of physical channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping to physical channels, and multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna processing.

[0162] The MAC layers 8070 and 8088 can perform mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplex MAC service data units (SDUs) from one or more logical channels into transport blocks (TBs) to be transmitted to PHY via transport channels, demultiplex MAC SDUs from transport blocks (TBs) transmitted from PHY via transport channels to one or more logical channels, multiplex MAC SDUs into TBs, reporting of scheduling information, error correction through hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), and logical channel priority sorting.

[0163] The RLC layers 8068 and 8086 can operate in multiple operating modes, including: transparent mode (TM), unacknowledged mode (UM), and acknowledged mode (AM). The RLC layers 8068 and 8086 can perform transmission of upper layer protocol data units (PDUs), error correction through automatic repeat request (ARQ) (for AM data transmission), and concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs (for UM and AM data transmission). The RLC layers 8068 and 8086 can also perform re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs (for AM data transmission), reordering of RLC data PDUs (for UM and AM data transmission), detection of duplicate data (for UM and AM data transmission), discarding RLC SDUs (for UM and AM data transmission), detecting protocol errors (for AM data transmission), and performing RLC re-establishment.

[0164] The PDCP layers 8066 and 8084 can perform header compression and decompression of Internet Protocol (IP) data, maintain PDCP sequence numbers (SN), perform in-sequence delivery of upper layer PDUs when re-establishing the lower layer, eliminate duplication of lower layer SDUs for radio bearers mapped on RLC AM when re-establishing the lower layer, encrypt and decrypt control plane data, perform integrity protection and integrity verification of control plane data, control timer-based data discard, and perform security operations (e.g., encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification, etc.).

[0165] The main services and functions of the RRC layers 8064 and 8082 may include broadcasting of system information (e.g., included in a master information block (MIB) or a system information block (SIB) related to a non-access stratum (NAS)), broadcasting of system information related to an access stratum (AS), paging, establishment, maintenance, and release of an RRC connection between a UE and an E-UTRAN (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), establishment, configuration, maintenance, and release of point-to-point radio bearers, security functions including key management, inter-radio access technology (RAT) mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting. The MIB and SIB may include one or more information elements (IEs), each of which may include a separate data field or data structure.

[0166] UE 8060 and RAN node, gNB 8080 can exchange control plane data via a protocol stack using a Uu interface (e.g., LTE-Uu interface), which protocol stack includes PHY layers 8072 and 8090, MAC layers 8070 and 8088, RLC layers 8068 and 8086, PDCP layers 8066 and 8084, and RRC layers 8064 and 8082.

[0167] The non-access stratum (NAS) protocol 8092 constitutes the highest layer of the control plane between the UE 8060 and the AMF 8005. The NAS protocol 8092 supports the mobility and session management procedures of the UE 8060 to establish and maintain an IP connection between the UE 8060 and the packet data network (PDN) gateway (P-GW).

[0168] Fig. 9 An embodiment of the format of a PHY data unit (PDU) is shown, which may be transmitted by a PHY device via one or more antennas and encoded and decoded by a MAC entity (e.g., in conjunction with Figure 5 The processors 520 and 570 discussed herein, in combination with Fig.13 and 14 In some embodiments, a higher layer frame (e.g., a frame including an RRC layer information element) may be sent from a base station to a UE as one or more MAC service data units (MSDUs) in a payload of one or more PDUs in one or more subframes of a radio frame, or vice versa.

[0169] According to some aspects, the MAC PDU 9000 may be composed of a MAC header 9005 and a MAC payload 9010, the MAC payload being composed of zero or more MAC control elements 9030, zero or more MAC service data unit (SDU) parts 9035, and zero or one padding part 9040. According to some aspects, the MAC header 8105 may be composed of one or more MAC subheaders, each of which may correspond to a MAC payload part and appear in a corresponding order. According to some aspects, each of the zero or more MAC control elements 9030 included in the MAC payload 9010 may correspond to a fixed length subheader 9015 included in the MAC header 9005. According to some aspects, each of the zero or more MAC SDU parts 9035 included in the MAC payload 9010 may correspond to a variable length subheader 9020 included in the MAC header 8105. According to some aspects, the padding part 9040 included in the MAC payload 9010 may correspond to the padding subheader 9025 included in the MAC header 9005.

[0170] Fig. 10A The communication circuit 1000 (eg, in combination with Figure 5 The communication circuit 1000 may be grouped according to function. The components shown in the communication circuit 1000 are shown here for illustrative purposes and may include Fig. 10A Other components not shown.

[0171] The communication circuit 1000 may include a protocol processing circuit 1005, which may implement one or more of medium access control (MAC), radio link control (RLC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), radio resource control (RRC), and non-access stratum (NAS) functions. The protocol processing circuit 1005 may include one or more processing cores (not shown) for executing instructions and one or more memory structures (not shown) for storing program (code) and data information.

[0172] The communication circuit 1000 may also include a digital baseband circuit 1010, which may implement physical layer (PHY) functions, including hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) functions, scrambling and / or descrambling, encoding and / or decoding, layer mapping and demapping, modulation symbol mapping, received symbol and / or bit metric determination, multi-antenna port precoding and / or decoding (which may include one or more of space-time, space-frequency or space coding), reference signal generation and / or detection, preamble sequence generation and / or decoding, synchronization sequence generation and / or detection, control channel signal blind decoding, and other related functions.

[0173] The communication circuit 1000 may further include a transmitting circuit 1015 , a receiving circuit 1020 and / or an antenna array circuit 1030 .

[0174] The communication circuit 1000 may also include a radio frequency (RF) circuit 1025 (eg, Figure 5 In one aspect of the embodiment, the RF circuit 1025 may include multiple parallel RF chains for one or more of the transmit function or the receive function, each RF chain connected to one or more antennas in the antenna array 1030.

[0175] In one aspect of the present disclosure, the protocol processing circuit 1005 may include one or more instances of a control circuit (not shown) to provide control functionality for one or more of the digital baseband circuit 1010 , the transmit circuit 1015 , the receive circuit 1020 , and / or the RF circuit 1025 .

[0176] Fig. 10B It shows that according to some aspects Fig. 10A The RF circuit 1025 (for example, in combination with Figure 5 RF circuitry 1025 may include one or more instances of radio chain circuitry 1072, which in some aspects may include one or more filters, power amplifiers, low noise amplifiers, programmable phase shifters, and power supplies (not shown).

[0177] The radio frequency circuit 1025 may include a power combining and distribution circuit 1074. In some aspects, the power combining and distribution circuit 1074 may operate bidirectionally, so that the same physical circuit may be configured to operate a bit power divider when the device is transmitting and a bit power combiner when the device is receiving. In some aspects, the power combining and distribution circuit 1074 may include one or more fully or partially separated circuits to perform power distribution when the device is transmitting and power combining when the device is receiving. In some aspects, the power combining and distribution circuit 1074 may include a passive circuit including one or more bidirectional power dividers / combiners arranged in a tree shape. In some aspects, the power combining and distribution circuit 1074 may include an active circuit including an amplifier circuit.

[0178] In some aspects, the RF circuit 1025 can be connected to the radio link interface 1076 or the combined radio link interface 1078 via one or more radio link interfaces 1076 or the combined radio link interface 1078. Fig. 10A The transmit circuit 1015 and the receive circuit 1020 in the combined radio link interface 1078 can form a wide or very wide bandwidth.

[0179] In some aspects, the one or more radio link interfaces 1076 may provide one or more interfaces to one or more receive signals or transmit signals, each associated with a single antenna structure that may include one or more antennas.

[0180] In some aspects, the combined radio link interface 1078 may provide a single interface for one or more receive signals or transmit signals, each signal being associated with a set of antenna structures including one or more antennas.

[0181] Fig.11 An example of a storage medium 1100 for storing code and data is shown, and the code and data are used to perform the Figure 1-10 and 12-15 described in one or more processors and / or processing circuits. Storage medium 1100 may include an article of manufacture. In some examples, storage medium 1100 may include any non-transitory computer-readable medium or machine-readable medium, such as optical, magnetic or semiconductor storage. Storage medium 1100 may store different types of computer-executable instructions, such as instructions for implementing the logic flows and / or techniques described herein. Examples of computer-readable or machine-readable storage media may include any tangible media capable of storing electronic data, including volatile or non-volatile memory, removable or non-removable memory, erasable or non-erasable memory, writable or rewritable memory, etc. Examples of computer-executable instructions may include any suitable type of code, such as source code, compiled code, interpreted code, executable code, static code, dynamic code, object-oriented code, visual code, etc.

[0182] Fig.12 1 shows an architecture of a system 1200 of a network according to some embodiments. The system 1200 is shown as including a user equipment (UE) 1201 and a UE 1202 (e.g., in conjunction with Figure 1-11 UEs discussed herein). UEs 1201 and 1202 are illustrated as smartphones (e.g., handheld touch screen mobile computing devices that can connect to one or more cellular networks), but may include any mobile or non-mobile computing devices, such as personal data assistants (PDAs), pagers, notebook computers, desktop computers, wireless handsets, or any computing device that includes a wireless communication interface.

[0183] In some embodiments, any of UEs 1201 and 1202 may include an Internet of Things (IoT) UE, and the IoT UE may include a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applications that utilize short-lived UE connections. The IoT UE may utilize technologies such as machine-to-machine (M2M) or machine-type communication (MTC) to exchange data with an MTC server or device via a public land mobile network (PLMN), proximity service (ProSe) or device-to-device (D2D) communication, a sensor network, or an IoT network. The M2M or MTC data exchange may be a machine-initiated data exchange. The IoT network describes interconnected IoT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure) with short-lived connections. The IoT UE may execute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate connectivity to the IoT network.

[0184] UEs 1201 and 1202 may be connected (eg, communicatively coupled) to a radio access network (RAN) - in this embodiment, an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) 1210 (eg, Figure 1-11 UE 1201 and 1202 utilize connections 1203 and 1204, respectively, each connection including a physical communication interface or layer (discussed in further detail below); in this example, connections 1203 and 1204 are shown as air interfaces for achieving communication coupling, and may conform to cellular communication protocols, such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) protocols, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) network protocols, Push-to-Talk (PTT) protocols, Cellular PTT (POC) protocols, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) protocols, 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) protocols, fifth generation (5G) protocols, new radio (NR) protocols, etc.

[0185] In this embodiment, UE 1201 and 1202 may also directly exchange communication data via ProSe interface 1205. ProSe interface 1205 may alternatively be referred to as a sidelink interface, which includes one or more logical channels, including but not limited to a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH), a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), a physical sidelink discovery channel (PSDCH), and a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH).

[0186] UE 1202 is shown as being configured to access access point (AP) 1206 via connection 1207. Connection 1207 may include a local wireless connection, such as a connection compliant with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, wherein AP 1206 would include Wi-Fi. router. In this example, AP 1206 is shown as being connected to the Internet, but not to the core network of the wireless system (described in further detail below). E-UTRAN 1210 may include one or more access nodes that implement connections 1203 and 1204. These access nodes (ANs) may be referred to as base stations (BSs), NodeBs, evolved NodeBs (eNBs), next generation NodeBs (gNBs), RAN nodes, etc., and may include ground stations (e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stations that provide coverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). E-UTRAN 1210 may include one or more RAN nodes (e.g., macro RAN nodes 1211) for providing macro cells, and one or more RAN nodes (e.g., low power (LP) RAN nodes 1212) for providing femto cells or pico cells (e.g., cells with smaller coverage areas, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth than macro cells).

[0187] Either of the RAN nodes 1211 and 1212 may terminate the air interface protocol and may be the first point of contact for the UEs 1201 and 1202. In some embodiments, either of the RAN nodes 1211 and 1212 may implement various logical functions for the E-UTRAN 1210, including but not limited to radio network controller (RNC) functions such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management, and data packet scheduling and mobility management.

[0188] According to some embodiments, UEs 1201 and 1202 may be configured to communicate with each other or with any one of RAN nodes 1211 and 1212 using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) communication signals on a multi-carrier communication channel according to various communication techniques, such as but not limited to orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) communication techniques (e.g., for downlink communications) or single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) communication techniques (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communications), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. OFDM signals may include multiple orthogonal subcarriers.

[0189] In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid may be used for downlink transmissions from any of the RAN nodes 1211 and 1212 to the UEs 1201 and 1202, while uplink transmissions may utilize similar techniques. The grid may be a time-frequency grid, referred to as a resource grid or a time-frequency resource grid, which is the physical resource for the downlink in each time slot. This time-frequency plane representation is a common practice for OFDM systems, which makes radio resource allocation intuitive. Each column and row of the resource grid corresponds to an OFDM symbol and an OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration of the resource grid in the time domain corresponds to a time slot in a radio frame. The smallest time-frequency unit in the resource grid is called a resource element. Each resource grid includes a plurality of resource blocks, which describe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements. Each resource block contains a set of resource elements; in the frequency domain, this may represent the minimum number of resources that can currently be allocated. There are several different physical downlink (DL) channels transmitted using such resource blocks.

[0190] The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) may carry user data and higher layer signaling to the UEs 1201 and 1202. The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) may carry information about the transport format and resource allocation associated with the PDSCH channel, etc. It may also inform the UEs 1201 and 1202 of the transport format, resource allocation, and HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request) information associated with the uplink shared channel. Typically, downlink scheduling (assigning control and shared channel resource blocks to the UEs 102 within the cell) may be performed at either of the RAN nodes 1211 and 1212 based on channel quality information fed back from either of the UEs 1201 and 1202. Downlink resource assignment information may be sent on the PDCCH for (e.g., assigned to) each of the UEs 1201 and 1202.

[0191] PDCCH can use control channel elements (CCE) to transmit control information. Before being mapped to resource elements, PDCCH complex symbols can first be organized into quadruplets, and then the quadruplets can be arranged using a sub-block interleaver for rate matching. Each PDCCH can be sent using one or more of these CCEs, where each CCE can correspond to nine groups of four physical resource elements called resource element groups (REGs). Four orthogonal phase shift keying (QPSK) symbols can be mapped to each REG. Depending on the size of the downlink control information (DCI) and the channel conditions, one or more CCEs can be used to send PDCCH. There may be four or more different PDCCH formats (e.g., aggregation levels, L=1, 2, 4, or 8) with different numbers of CCEs defined in LTE.

[0192] Some embodiments may use a resource allocation concept that is an extension of the above concept for control channel information. For example, some embodiments may utilize an enhanced physical downlink control channel (EPDCCH) that uses PDSCH resources for control information transmission. One or more enhanced control channel elements (ECCEs) may be used to send EPDCCH. Similar to the above, each ECCE may correspond to nine groups of four physical resource elements referred to as enhanced resource element groups (EREGs). In some cases, ECCEs may have other numbers of EREGs.

[0193] RAN nodes 1211 and 1212 may communicate with each other and / or with other access nodes in E-UTRAN 1210 and / or in another RAN via an X2 interface, which is a signaling interface for transferring data packets between ANs. Some other suitable interface for directly transferring data packets between ANs may be used.

[0194] The E-UTRAN 1210 is shown as being communicatively coupled to a core network, in this embodiment, to an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network 1220, via an S1 interface 1213. In this embodiment, the S1 interface 1213 is divided into two parts: an S1-U interface 1214, which carries traffic data between the RAN nodes 1211 and 1212 and a Serving Gateway (S-GW) 1222; and an S1-Mobility Management Entity (MME) interface 1215, which is a signaling interface between the RAN nodes 1211 and 1212 and the MME 1221.

[0195] In this embodiment, the EPC network 1220 includes an MME 1221, an S-GW 1222, a packet data network (PDN) gateway (P-GW) 1223, and a home subscriber server (HSS) 1224. The MME 1221 may be similar in function to the control plane of a legacy serving general packet radio service (GPRS) support node (SGSN). The MME 1221 may manage mobility aspects in access, such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. The HSS 1224 may include a database for network users (including subscription-related information) to support the processing of communication sessions by network entities. The EPC network 1220 may include one or several HSSs 1224, depending on the number of mobile users, the capacity of the devices, the organization of the network, etc. For example, the HSS 1224 may provide support for routing / roaming, authentication, authorization, naming / addressing resolution, location dependency, etc.

[0196] The S-GW 1222 may terminate the S1 interface 1213 to the E-UTRAN 1210 and route data packets between the E-UTRAN 1210 and the EPC network 1220. In addition, the S-GW 1222 may be a local mobility anchor for inter-RAN node handovers and may also provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful interception, charging, and some policy enforcement.

[0197] The P-GW 1223 may terminate the SGi interface to the PDN. The P-GW 1223 may route data packets between the EPC network 1220 and an external network (e.g., a network including an application server 1230 (alternatively referred to as an application function (AF))) via an Internet Protocol (IP) interface 1225. Typically, the application server 1230 may be an element that provides applications using IP bearer resources to the core network (e.g., UMTS packet service (PS) domain, LTE PS data service, etc.). In this embodiment, the P-GW 1223 is shown as being communicatively coupled to the application server 1230 via the IP interface 1225. The application server 1230 may also be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, social networking services, etc.) for the UEs 1201 and 1202 via the EPC network 1220.

[0198] The P-GW 1223 may also be a node for policy enforcement and charging data collection. The Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCRF) 1226 is a policy and charging control element of the EPC network 1220. In a non-roaming scenario, there may be a single PCRF associated with the UE's Internet Protocol Connection Access Network (IP-CAN) session in the Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN). In a roaming scenario where the service is out of local, there may be two PCRFs associated with the UE's IP-CAN session: the Home PCRF (H-PCRF) in the HPLMN and the Visited PCRF (V-PCRF) in the Visited Public Land Mobile Internet (VPLMN). The PCRF 1226 may be communicatively coupled to the application server 1230 via the P-GW 1223. The application server 1230 may signal the PCRF 1226 to indicate a new service flow and select appropriate quality of service (QoS) and charging parameters. The PCRF 1226 may distribute the rules to the Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) (not shown) with the appropriate Traffic Flow Template (TFT) and QoS Class Identifier (QCI), which enables the QoS and charging specified by the Application Server 1230 to begin.

[0199] Fig.13 An apparatus 1300 (eg, in combination with Figure 1-12Example components of the base station and UE discussed above). In some embodiments, the device 1300 may include application circuitry 1302, baseband circuitry 1304, radio frequency (RF) circuitry 1306, front end module (FEM) circuitry 1308, one or more antennas 1310, and power management circuitry (PMC) 1312, which are coupled together at least as shown. The components of the device 1300 shown may be included in a UE or a RAN node (e.g., a base station or gNB). In some embodiments, the device 1300 may include fewer elements (e.g., the RAN node may not utilize application circuitry 1302, but instead include a processor / controller to process IP data received from the EPC). In some embodiments, the device 1300 may include additional elements, such as memory / storage, a display, a camera, a sensor, or an input / output (I / O) interface. In other embodiments, the components described below may be included in more than one device (e.g., for a cloud-RAN (C-RAN) implementation, the circuitry may be separately included in more than one device).

[0200] The application circuit 1302 may include one or more application processors. For example, the application circuit 1302 may include circuits such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processor may include any combination of general-purpose processors and special-purpose processors (e.g., graphics processors, application processors, etc.). The processor may be coupled to memory / storage, or may include them, and may be configured to: execute instructions stored in memory / storage to enable various applications or operating systems to run on the device 1300. In some embodiments, the processor of the application circuit 1302 may process IP data packets received from the EPC.

[0201] The baseband circuit 1304 may include circuits such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The baseband circuit 1304 may include one or more baseband processors or control logic to process baseband signals received from the receive signal path of the RF circuit 1306 and generate baseband signals for the transmit signal path of the RF circuit 1306. The baseband circuit 1304 may interface with the application circuit 1302 to generate and process baseband signals and control the operation of the RF circuit 1306. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuit 1304 may include a third generation (3G) baseband processor 1304A, a fourth generation (4G) baseband processor 1304B, a fifth generation (5G) baseband processor 1304C, or other baseband processors 1304D for other existing generations, generations under development, or generations to be developed in the future (e.g., second generation (2G), sixth generation (6G), etc.). In many embodiments, the fourth generation (4G) baseband processor 1304B may include the capability to generate and process baseband signals for LTE radios, and the fifth generation (5G) baseband processor 1304C may include the capability to generate and process baseband signals for NR.

[0202] The baseband circuitry 1304 (e.g., one or more of the baseband processors 1304A-D) may handle various radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuitry 1306. In other embodiments, some or all of the functions of the baseband processors 1304A-D may be included in a module stored in the memory 1304G and executed via the central processing unit (CPU) 1304E. The radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation / demodulation, encoding / decoding, radio frequency offset, etc.

[0203] In some embodiments, the modulation / demodulation circuitry of the baseband circuitry 1304 may include fast Fourier transform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping / demapping functionality. In some embodiments, the encoding / decoding circuitry of the baseband circuitry 1304 may include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, or low-density parity check (LDPC) encoder / decoder functionality. The embodiments of the modulation / demodulation and encoder / decoder functionality are not limited to these examples, and may include other suitable functionality in other embodiments.

[0204] In some embodiments, the baseband circuit 1304 may include one or more audio digital signal processors (DSPs) 1304F. The audio DSP 1304F may include elements for compression / decompression and echo cancellation, and may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments. In some embodiments, the components of the baseband circuit may be appropriately combined in a single chip, a single chipset, or arranged on the same circuit board. In some embodiments, some or all of the constituent components of the baseband circuit 1304 and the application circuit 1302 may be implemented together, for example, on a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the baseband circuit 1304 may provide communications compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuit 1304 may support communications with an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN) or other wireless metropolitan area networks (WMANs), wireless local area networks (WLANs), and wireless personal area networks (WPANs). An embodiment in which the baseband circuit 1304 is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as a multimode baseband circuit.

[0205] RF circuit 1306 may use modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium to achieve communication with a wireless network. In various embodiments, RF circuit 1306 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate communication with a wireless network. RF circuit 1306 may include a receive signal path, which may include circuits for down-converting RF signals received from FEM circuit 1308 and providing baseband signals to baseband circuit 1304. RF circuit 1306 may also include a transmit signal path, which may include circuits for up-converting baseband signals provided by baseband circuit 1304 and providing RF output signals to FEM circuit 1308 for transmission.

[0206] In some embodiments, the receive signal path of the RF circuit 1306 may include a mixer circuit 1306a, an amplifier circuit 1306b, and a filter circuit 1306c. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of the RF circuit 1306 may include a filter circuit 1306c and a mixer circuit 1306a. The RF circuit 1306 may also include a synthesizer circuit 1306d for synthesizing frequencies or component carriers for use by the mixer circuit 1306a of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1306a of the receive signal path may down-convert the RF signal received from the FEM circuit 1308 based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuit 1306d. The amplifier circuit 1306b may amplify the down-converted signal, and the filter circuit 1306c may be a low pass filter (LPF) or a band pass filter (BPF) to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signal to generate an output baseband signal. The output baseband signal may be provided to the baseband circuit 1304 for further processing.

[0207] In some embodiments, the output baseband signal may be a zero frequency baseband signal, but this is not a requirement.In some embodiments, mixer circuit 1306a of the receive signal path may include a passive mixer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0208] In some embodiments, mixer circuit 1306a of the transmit signal path may be configured to up-convert an input baseband signal based on a synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuit 1306d to generate an RF output signal for FEM circuit 1308. The baseband signal may be provided by baseband circuit 1304 and may be filtered by filter circuit 1306c.

[0209] In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1306a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 1306a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature down-conversion and up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1306a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 1306a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1306a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 1306a of the transmit signal path may be arranged for direct down-conversion and direct up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1306a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 1306a of the transmit signal path may be configured for superheterodyne operation.

[0210] In some embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be analog baseband signals, but the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternative embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be digital baseband signals. In these alternative embodiments, the RF circuit 1306 may include an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuit, and the baseband circuit 1304 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RF circuit 1306.

[0211] In some dual-mode embodiments, separate radio IC circuits may be provided to process signals for each spectrum, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0212] In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 1306d may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional-N / N+1 synthesizer, but the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect, as other types of frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuit 1306d may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer including a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider.

[0213] The synthesizer circuit 1306d may synthesize an output frequency based on the frequency input and the divider control input for use by the mixer circuit 1306a of the RF circuit 1306. In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuit 1306d may be a digital N / N+1 synthesizer.

[0214] In some embodiments, the frequency input may be the output of a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), but this is not a requirement. Depending on the desired output frequency, the divider control input may be the output of an application processor of baseband circuit 1304 or application circuit 1302. Some embodiments may determine the divider control input (e.g., N) from a lookup table based on the channel indicated by application circuit 1302.

[0215] The synthesizer circuit 1306d of the RF circuit 1306 may include a frequency divider, a delay locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer, and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the frequency divider may be a dual-mode frequency divider (DMD), and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide the input signal by N or N+1 (e.g., based on a carry output) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, the DLL may include a set of cascaded tunable delay elements, a phase detector, a charge pump, and a D-type flip-flop. In these embodiments, the delay element may decompose the VCO cycle into Nd equal phase groups, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

[0216] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuit 1306d can generate a carrier frequency (or component carrier) as an output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency can be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and used in conjunction with the orthogonal generator and divider circuit to generate multiple signals with multiple different phases at the carrier frequency. In some embodiments, the output frequency can be a local oscillator (LO) frequency (fLO). In some embodiments, the RF circuit 1306 can include an IQ / polar converter.

[0217] FEM circuitry 1308 may include a receive signal path that may include circuitry for operating on RF signals received from one or more antennas 1310, amplifying the received signals, and providing an amplified version of the received signals to RF circuitry 1306 for further processing. FEM circuitry 1308 may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry configured to amplify signals provided by RF circuitry 1306 for transmission for transmission by one or more of the one or more antennas 1310. In various embodiments, amplification by either the transmit receive signal path or the receive signal path may be accomplished only in RF circuitry 1306, only in FEM circuitry 1308, or in both RF circuitry 1306 and FEM circuitry 1308.

[0218] In some embodiments, the FEM circuit 1308 may include a TX / RX switch to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuit may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuit may include a low noise amplifier (LNA) to amplify the received RF signal and provide the amplified received RF signal as an output (e.g., to the RF circuit 1306). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuit 1308 may include a power amplifier (PA) for amplifying the input RF signal (e.g., provided by the RF circuit 1306), and one or more filters for generating an RF signal for subsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more antennas in the one or more antennas 1310).

[0219] In the present embodiment, radio refers to the combination of RF circuit 1306 and FEM circuit 1308. Radio refers to the portion of the circuit that generates and transmits or receives, and processes radio signals. RF circuit 1306 includes a transmitter for generating a time domain radio signal using data from a baseband signal and applying the radio signal to subcarriers of a carrier frequency that forms a channel bandwidth. The PA in FEM circuit 1308 amplifies the tones used for transmission and amplifies the tones received from one or more antennas 1310 via an LNA to increase the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for interpretation. In wireless communications, FEM circuit 1308 may also search for detectable patterns that appear as wireless communications. Thereafter, the receiver in RF circuit 1306 receives the received tones via one or more functional modules (e.g., Figure 5 The functional modules shown in the base station 510 and the user equipment 560 in FIG. 5A ) convert the time domain radio signal into a baseband signal.

[0220] In some embodiments, PMC 1312 can manage the power provided to baseband circuit 1304. Specifically, PMC 1312 can control power selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-DC conversion. When device 1300 is capable of being powered by a battery, for example, when the device is included in a UE, PMC 1312 can often be included. PMC 1312 can improve power conversion efficiency while providing a desired implementation size and heat dissipation characteristics.

[0221] Although Fig.13 PMC 1312 is shown coupled only to baseband circuit 1304, however in other embodiments, PMC 1312 may be additionally or alternatively coupled to other components (such as, but not limited to, application circuit 1302, RF circuit 1306, or FEM circuit 1308) and perform similar power management operations for the other components.

[0222] In some embodiments, the PMC 1312 may control or otherwise be part of various power saving mechanisms of the device 1300. For example, if the device 1300 is in the RRC_Connected state (wherein it is still connected to the RAN node because it expects to receive traffic soon), it may enter a state known as discontinuous reception mode (DRX) after a period of inactivity. During this state, the device 1300 may be powered down for brief intervals, thereby saving power.

[0223] If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time, the device 1300 may transition to the RRC Idle state, in which it is disconnected from the network and does not perform operations such as channel quality feedback, handover, etc. The device 1300 enters a very low power state, and it performs paging (in which it wakes up periodically again to listen to the network, and then powers down again). The device 1300 cannot receive data in this state, and in order to receive data, it must transition back to the RRC Connected state.

[0224] An additional power saving mode may allow a device to be unavailable to the network for longer periods than the paging interval (ranging from a few seconds to a few hours). During this time, the device is completely unreachable to the network and may be completely powered off. Any data sent during this time will incur a significant delay, assuming that the delay is acceptable.

[0225] The processor of the application circuit 1302 and the processor of the baseband circuit 1304 can be used to execute elements of one or more instances of the protocol stack. For example, the processor of the baseband circuit 1304 can be used alone or in combination to perform layer 3, layer 2, or layer 1 functions, and the processor of the application circuit 1302 can utilize data received from these layers (e.g., packet data) and further perform layer 4 functions (e.g., transmission communication protocol (TCP) and user datagram protocol (UDP) layers). As mentioned herein, layer 3 may include a radio resource control (RRC) layer, which is further described in detail below. As mentioned herein, layer 2 may include a medium access control (MAC) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, which are further described in detail below. As mentioned herein, layer 1 may include a physical (PHY) layer of a UE / RAN node, which is further described in detail below.

[0226] Fig.14 Baseband circuitry (eg, in combination with Figure 1-13 As described above, Fig.13 The baseband circuit 1304 may include processors 1304A-1304E and a memory 1304G used by the processors. Each of the processors 1304A-1304E may include a memory interface 1404A-1404E, respectively, to send data to / receive data from the memory 1304G.

[0227] The baseband circuit 1304 may also include one or more interfaces to communicatively couple to other circuits / devices, such as a memory interface 1412 (e.g., an interface for sending data to / receiving data from a memory external to the baseband circuit 1304), an application circuit interface 1414 (e.g., an interface for sending data to / from a memory external to the baseband circuit 1304), Fig.131416 (eg, an interface for transmitting / receiving data from / to the application circuit 1302) and an RF circuit interface 1416 (eg, Figure 5 The interfaces 525 and 575 for communication or network communication shown in FIG. Fig.13 other interfaces for sending / receiving data from the RF circuit 1306), a wireless hardware connection interface 1418 (e.g., for sending data to a near field communication (NFC) component, Components (e.g., low power ), components and other communication components to send data / receive data from it), and a power management interface 1420 (e.g., an interface for sending power or control signals to / receiving power or control signals from PMC 1312).

[0228] Fig.15 The present invention is to illustrate that according to some example embodiments, instructions can be read from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (eg, a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and executed in conjunction with the present invention. Figure 1-14 A block diagram of components of any one or more of the methods discussed. Specifically, Fig.15 A diagrammatic representation of hardware resources 1500 is shown, including one or more processors (or processor cores) 1510, one or more memory / storage devices 1520, and one or more communication resources 1530, each of which may be communicatively coupled via a bus 1540. For embodiments utilizing node virtualization (e.g., NFV), a hypervisor 1502 may be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices / sub-slices to utilize the hardware resources 1500.

[0229] Processor 1510 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a digital signal processor (DSP) (e.g., a baseband processor), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor, or any suitable combination thereof) may include, for example, processor 1512 and processor 1514.

[0230] The memory / storage device 1520 may include main memory, disk storage, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory / storage device 1520 may include, but is not limited to, any type of volatile or non-volatile memory, such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid-state storage, etc.

[0231] The communication resources 1530 may include an interconnect or network interface component or other suitable device to communicate with one or more peripheral devices 1504 or one or more databases 1506 via the network 1508. For example, the communication resources 1530 may include a wired communication component (e.g., for coupling via a universal serial bus (USB)), a cellular communication component, an NFC component, Components (e.g., low power ), components and other communication components.

[0232] The instructions 1550 may include software, programs, applications, applet, apps, or other executable code for causing at least any one of the processors 1510 to perform any one or more of the methods discussed herein. The instructions 1550 may reside in whole or in part in at least one of the processor 1510 (e.g., within a cache memory of the processor), the memory / storage device 1520, or any suitable combination thereof. In addition, any portion of the instructions 1550 may be transmitted to the hardware resources 1500 from any combination of the peripheral device 1504 or the database 1506. Therefore, the memory of the processor 1510, the memory / storage device 1520, the peripheral device 1504, and the database 1506 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.

[0233] In an embodiment, Fig.12 , 13 , 14 and / or 15 may be configured to perform one or more processes, techniques or methods as described herein or portions thereof. In an embodiment, Fig.12 , 13 One or more elements of 14 and / or 15 may be configured to perform one or more processes, techniques or methods, or portions thereof, as described in the following examples.

[0234] As used herein, the term "circuitry" may refer to, be a part of, or include an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) and / or memory (shared, dedicated, or group) that executes one or more software or firmware programs, combinational logic circuits, and / or other suitable hardware components that provide the described functionality.

[0235] Various examples can be implemented using hardware elements, software elements or a combination of the two. In some examples, hardware elements may include devices, components, processors, microprocessors, circuits, circuit elements (e.g., transistors, resistors, capacitors, inductors, etc.), integrated circuits, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), storage units, logic gates, registers, semiconductor devices, chips, microchips, chipsets, etc. In some examples, software elements may include software components, programs, applications, computer programs, applications, system programs, machine programs, operating system software, middleware, firmware, software modules, routines, subroutines, functions, methods, processes, software interfaces, application program interfaces (APIs), instruction sets, computing codes, computer codes, code segments, computer code segments, words, values, symbols or any combination thereof. Determining whether an example is implemented using hardware elements and / or software elements can be implemented according to the expectations of a given implementation, depending on any number of factors, such as the expected computing rate, power level, heat resistance, processing cycle budget, input data rate, output data rate, memory resources, data bus speed and other design or performance constraints.

[0236] Some examples may be described using the expression "in one example" or "example" and its derivatives. These terms mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the example is included in at least one example. The appearance of the phrase "in one example" in different places in the specification does not necessarily refer to the same example.

[0237] Some examples may be described using the expressions "coupled" and "connected" and their derivatives. These terms are not necessarily synonymous with each other. For example, descriptions using the terms "connected" and / or "coupled" may indicate that two or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact with each other. However, the term "coupled" may also mean that two or more elements are not in direct contact with each other, but still cooperate or interact with each other.

[0238] In addition, in the foregoing detailed description, it can be seen that various features are combined in a single example for the purpose of making the present disclosure flow smoothly. This method of disclosure should not be interpreted as reflecting the following intention: the examples claimed for protection require more features than those expressly recited in each claim. On the contrary, as reflected in the appended claims, the subject matter of the invention lies in less than all the features of a single disclosed example. Therefore, the appended claims are hereby incorporated into the detailed description, wherein each claim itself serves as a separate example. In the appended claims, the terms "including" and "wherein" are used as the plain English equivalents of the corresponding terms "comprising" and "wherein", respectively. In addition, the terms "first", "second", "third", etc. are used only as labels and are not intended to impose numerical requirements on their objects.

[0239] Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and / or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

[0240] The data processing system suitable for storing and / or executing program code will include at least one processor directly or indirectly coupled to the memory element by the system bus. The memory element may include the local memory, mass storage and cache memory (it provides temporary storage of at least some program codes to reduce the number of times that code must be obtained from mass storage during execution) used during the actual execution of the program code. The term "code" covers a wide range of software components and structures, including applications, drivers, processes, routines, methods, modules, firmware, microcodes and subroutines. Therefore, the term "code" can be used to refer to any instruction set for performing one or more operations of expectation when executed by a processing system.

[0241] The processing circuits, logic circuits, devices, and interfaces described herein may perform functions implemented in hardware or functions implemented in code executed on one or more processors. A processing circuit or logic circuit refers to hardware or hardware and code that implements one or more logical functions. A circuit system is hardware and may refer to one or more circuits. Each circuit may perform a specific function. The circuits in the circuit system may include discrete electronic components, integrated circuits, chip packages, chipsets, memories, etc. interconnected with one or more conductors. An integrated circuit includes a circuit created on a substrate such as a silicon wafer and may include components. And an integrated circuit, processor package, chip package, and chipset may include one or more processors.

[0242] The processor may receive signals such as instructions and / or data at an input and process the signals to generate at least one output. When executing code, the code changes the physical state and characteristics of the transistors that make up the processor pipeline. The physical state of the transistors is converted into logical bits 1 and 0 stored in registers within the processor. The processor may transfer the physical state of the transistors to registers and transfer the physical state of the transistors to another storage medium.

[0243] A processor may include circuits or circuit systems for performing one or more sub-functions implemented to perform the overall function of the "processor". Note that a "processor" may include one or more processors, and each processor may include one or more processor cores that process code and / or data independently or interdependently. Each processor core is also a "processor" and is distinguishable from a processor only for the purpose of describing the physical arrangement or architecture of a processor having multiple processor cores on one or more dies and / or in one or more chip packages. A processor core may include a general-purpose processing core, or may include a processor core configured to perform a specific task, depending on the design of the processor. A processor core may be a processor having one or more processor cores. As described and required herein, when discussing functions performed by a processor, processing circuit, etc.; a processor, processing circuit, etc. may include one or more processors, each having one or more processor cores, and any one or more processors and / or processor cores may be located on one or more dies, located in one or more chip packages, and may perform some or all of the processing required for the execution of the function.

[0244] An example of a processor is a state machine or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) comprising at least one input and at least one output. The state machine can manipulate at least one input to generate at least one output by performing a predetermined series of serial and / or parallel manipulations or transformations on the at least one input.

[0245] Some advantageous effects of the embodiments

[0246] Although not an exhaustive list, several embodiments have one or more potential advantageous effects. These enhancements advantageously support port pairing of ports with sub-length orthogonal signals within different pre-DMRS configurations while allowing reasonable signaling overhead. These enhancements advantageously support an increase in the number of available ports for DM-RS by twice the number of Release 15 (Rel-15) of 3GPP TS 38.211, 38.212, and 38.213. These enhancements advantageously support DM-RS including up to three CDM groups in up to two codewords in up to two symbols to include up to 24 ports. These enhancements advantageously support DM-RS Type 1 with up to two CDM groups in up to two codewords in up to two symbols. These enhancements advantageously support DM-RS Type 2 with up to three CDM groups in up to two codewords in up to two symbols. These enhancements advantageously support DM-RS Type 1 with up to 16 ports. These enhancements advantageously support DM-RS Type 2 with up to 24 ports. These enhancements advantageously support an antenna port field in DCI with 1 or 2 additional bits to support an increase in the number of port configurations over the antenna port field in Rel-15.

[0247] Examples of further embodiments

[0248] The following examples refer to further embodiments. Details in the examples may be used anywhere in one or more embodiments.

[0249] Example 1 is an apparatus for a base station supporting channel estimation, comprising: an interface for communication; a processing circuit coupled to the interface for performing operations to: generate a communication including downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS), the DCI including an antenna port field, the antenna port field including an index value for identifying a set of one or more ports in a first code division modulation (CDM) group of the DM-RS, the DM-RS including up to three CDM groups in up to two codewords in up to two symbols, the first CDM group including a signal of a first port DM-RS multiplexed with a signal of a second port DM-RS based on a new frequency division orthogonal cover code (FD-OCC), the signal of the second port being orthogonal in sub-length to the signal of the first port, wherein the first CDM group is compatible with demultiplexing via a legacy FD-OCC; and cause transmission of the DCI via the interface. In Example 2, the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit comprises: a processor; and a memory coupled to the processor, the apparatus further comprising: a radio frequency circuit coupled to the processing circuit; and one or more antennas coupled to the radio frequency circuit. In Example 3, the apparatus of claim 2, wherein the memory includes a set of index values, the set of index values ​​including the index value, wherein the set of index values ​​is associated with a port pairing compatible with demultiplexing via the legacy FD-OCC. In Example 4, the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the new FD-OCC includes a Walsh matrix or a cyclic shift matrix with cyclic shifts of 0, π, π / 2, and 3π / 2, and the legacy FD-OCC includes a length-2 Hadamard matrix. In Example 5, the apparatus of claim 4, a legacy user equipment demultiplexes the CDM group with the length-2 Hadamard matrix to determine a signal of the first port, a signal of the second port, or both in the DM-RS based on the index value in the antenna port field of the DCI. In Example 6, the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the DM-RS comprises DM-RS Type 1 or DM-RS Type 2, the DM-RS being defined in an information element from a higher layer, wherein the maximum number of up to two symbols is defined by the higher layer, and if the maximum number of symbols is set to 2, the actual number of DM-RS symbols is dynamically selected via an index value in the antenna port field of the DCI. In Example 7, the apparatus of claim 1, the operation further being to cause transmission of the DM-RS to a legacy user equipment.In Example 8, the apparatus of any one of claims 1-7, wherein the selection of the first port and the second port is based on a restricted combination of ports for backward compatibility in downlink transmission of the DM-RS, wherein the restricted combination of ports is not applicable to uplink transmission of the DM-RS.

[0250] Example 9 is a machine-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor of a base station, cause the processor to perform operations for: generating a communication including downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS), the DCI including an antenna port field, the antenna port field including an index value for identifying a set of one or more ports in a first code division modulation (CDM) group of the DM-RS, the DM-RS including up to three CDM groups in up to two codewords in up to two symbols, the first CDM group including a signal of a first port DM-RS multiplexed with a signal of a second port DM-RS based on a new frequency division orthogonal cover code (FD-OCC), the signal sub-length of the second port being orthogonal to the signal of the first port, wherein the first CDM group is compatible with demultiplexing via a legacy FD-OCC; and causing transmission of the DCI via an interface. In Example 10, the machine-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the operation is further for: storing in a memory a set of index values, the set of index values ​​including the index value, wherein the set of index values ​​is associated with a port pairing compatible with demultiplexing via the legacy FD-OCC. In Example 11, the machine-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the new FD-OCC includes a Walsh matrix or a cyclic shift matrix with cyclic shifts of 0, π, π / 2, and 3π / 2, and the legacy FD-OCC includes a length-2 Hadamard matrix. In Example 12, the machine-readable medium of claim 11, a legacy user equipment demultiplexes the CDM group with the length-2 Hadamard matrix to determine a signal of the first port, a signal of the second port, or both in the DM-RS based on the index value in the antenna port field of the DCI. In Example 13, the machine-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the DM-RS comprises DM-RS Type 1 or DM-RS Type 2, the DM-RS being defined in an information element from a higher layer, wherein the maximum number of up to two symbols is defined by the higher layer, and if the maximum number of symbols is set to 2, the actual number of DM-RS symbols is dynamically selected via an index value in the antenna port field of the DCI. In Example 14, the machine-readable medium of any one of claims 9-13, wherein the operation is further for: causing transmission of the DM-RS to a legacy user equipment, wherein the selection of the first port and the second port is based on a restricted combination of ports for backward compatibility in downlink transmission of the DM-RS, wherein the restricted combination of ports is not applicable to uplink transmission of the DM-RS.

[0251] Example 15 is an apparatus for a user equipment supporting channel estimation, comprising: an interface for network communication; a processing circuit coupled to the interface for performing operations to: detect, via the interface, communications including downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS), the DCI including an antenna port field, the antenna port field including an index value for identifying a set of one or more ports in a first code division modulation (CDM) group of the DM-RS, the DM-RS including up to three CDM groups in up to two codewords in up to two symbols, the first CDM group including a signal of a first port DM-RS multiplexed with a signal of a second port DM-RS based on a new frequency division orthogonal cover code (FD-OCC), the signal sub-length of the second port being orthogonal to the signal of the first port, wherein the first CDM group is compatible with demultiplexing via a legacy FD-OCC; and decode the DCI. In Example 16, the apparatus of claim 15, wherein the processing circuit comprises: a processor: and a memory coupled to the processor, the apparatus further comprising: a radio frequency circuit coupled to the processing circuit; and one or more antennas coupled to the radio frequency circuit. In Example 17, the apparatus of claim 16, wherein the memory comprises a set of index values, the set of index values ​​comprising the index value, wherein the set of index values ​​is associated with a port pairing compatible with demultiplexing via the legacy FD-OCC. In Example 18, the apparatus of claim 15, wherein the new FD-OCC comprises a Walsh matrix or a cyclic shift matrix with cyclic shifts of 0, π, π / 2, and 3π / 2, and the legacy FD-OCC comprises a length-2 Hadamard matrix. In Example 19, the apparatus of claim 18, the operation is further for: demultiplexing the CDM group of the DM-RS received from the base station with the length-2 Hadamard matrix to determine the signal of the first port, the signal of the second port, or both in the DM-RS based on the index value in the antenna port field of the DCI. In Example 20, the apparatus of any one of claims 15-19, wherein the DM-RS includes DM-RS Type 1 or DM-RS Type 2, the DM-RS is defined in an information element from a higher layer, wherein the maximum number of up to two symbols is defined by the higher layer, and if the maximum number of symbols is set to 2, the actual number of DM-RS symbols is dynamically selected via an index value in the antenna port field of the DCI, wherein the selection of the first port and the second port is based on a restricted combination of ports for backward compatibility in downlink transmission of the DM-RS, wherein the restricted combination of ports is not applicable to uplink transmission of the DM-RS.

[0252] Example 21 is a method comprising any of the actions described in any of Examples 1-20.

[0253] Example 22 is an apparatus comprising components for use in any of the methods of Example 21.

[0254] Example 23 is a system including components for use in any of the methods of Example 21 (eg, the system described in Example 2 and the system described in Example 16).

[0255] Example 24 is a machine-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations including any of the methods of Example 21.

Claims

1. An apparatus for a base station for supporting channel estimation, comprising: Interface, used for communication; A processing circuit, coupled to the interface, is configured to perform operations to: generating a communication including downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS), the DCI including an antenna port field, the antenna port field including an index value to identify a set of one or more ports in a first code division modulation (CDM) group of the DM-RS, the DM-RS including up to three CDM groups in up to two codewords in up to two symbols, the first CDM group including a signal of a first port DM-RS multiplexed with a signal of a second port DM-RS based on a new frequency division orthogonal cover code (FD-OCC), the signal of the second port being sub-length orthogonal to the signal of the first port, wherein the first CDM group is compatible with demultiplexing via a legacy FD-OCC; and The DCI is caused to be transmitted via the interface.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein: The processing circuit includes: a processor; and a memory, coupled to the processor, The apparatus also includes: a radio frequency circuit coupled to the processing circuit; and one or more antennas coupled to the radio frequency circuit.

3. The device as claimed in claim 2, wherein: The memory includes a set of index values, the set of index values ​​including the index value, The set of index values ​​is associated with port pairings that are compatible with demultiplexing via the legacy FD-OCC.

4. The device according to claim 1, wherein: The new FD-OCC includes a Walsh matrix or a cyclic shift matrix with cyclic shifts of 0, π, π / 2, and 3π / 2, and the legacy FD-OCC includes a length-2 Hadamard matrix.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the legacy user equipment demultiplexes the CDM group with the length-2 Hadamard matrix to determine a signal of the first port, a signal of the second port, or both in the DM-RS based on an index value in the antenna port field of the DCI.

6. The device according to claim 1, wherein: The DM-RS includes DM-RS Type 1 or DM-RS Type 2, and the DM-RS is defined in an information element from a higher layer. Wherein the maximum number of up to two symbols is defined by the higher layer, and if the maximum number of symbols is set to 2, the actual number of DM-RS symbols is dynamically selected via an index value in the antenna port field of the DCI.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, the operations further configured to cause transmission of the DM-RS to a legacy user equipment.

8. The device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein: The selection of the first port and the second port is based on a restricted combination of ports for backward compatibility in downlink transmission of the DM-RS, wherein the restricted combination of ports is not applicable to uplink transmission of the DM-RS.

9. A machine-readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a processor of a base station, cause the processor to perform operations for: Generate a communication including downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS), the DCI including an antenna port field, the antenna port field including an index value for identifying a set of one or more ports in a first code division modulation (CDM) group of the DM-RS, the DM-RS including up to three CDM groups in up to two codewords in up to two symbols, the first CDM group including a signal of a first port DM-RS multiplexed with a signal of a second port DM-RS based on a new frequency division orthogonal cover code (FD-OCC), the signal of the second port being orthogonal in sublength to the signal of the first port, wherein The first CDM group is compatible with demultiplexing via a legacy FD-OCC; and causing transmission of the DCI via an interface.

10. The machine-readable medium of claim 9, wherein: The operations are also used to: storing an index value set in a memory, the index value set comprising the index value, The set of index values ​​is associated with port pairings that are compatible with demultiplexing via the legacy FD-OCC.

11. The machine-readable medium of claim 9, wherein: The new FD-OCC includes a Walsh matrix or a cyclic shift matrix with cyclic shifts of 0, π, π / 2, and 3π / 2, and the legacy FD-OCC includes a length-2 Hadamard matrix.

12. The machine-readable medium of claim 11, wherein a legacy user equipment demultiplexes the CDM group with the length-2 Hadamard matrix to determine a signal of the first port, a signal of the second port, or both in the DM-RS based on an index value in the antenna port field of the DCI.

13. The machine-readable medium of claim 9, wherein: The DM-RS includes DM-RS Type 1 or DM-RS Type 2, and the DM-RS is defined in an information element from a higher layer. Wherein the maximum number of up to two symbols is defined by the higher layer, and if the maximum number of symbols is set to 2, the actual number of DM-RS symbols is dynamically selected via an index value in the antenna port field of the DCI.

14. The machine-readable medium of any one of claims 9-13, wherein the operations are further configured to: causing transmission of the DM-RS to a legacy user equipment, in, The selection of the first port and the second port is based on a restricted combination of ports for backward compatibility in downlink transmission of the DM-RS, wherein the restricted combination of ports is not applicable to uplink transmission of the DM-RS.

15. An apparatus for a user equipment for supporting channel estimation, comprising: Interface, used for network communication; A processing circuit, coupled to the interface, is configured to perform operations to: detecting, via the interface, a communication including downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS), the DCI including an antenna port field, the antenna port field including an index value for identifying a set of one or more ports in a first code division modulation (CDM) group of the DM-RS, the DM-RS including up to three CDM groups in up to two codewords in up to two symbols, the first CDM group including a signal of a first port DM-RS multiplexed with a signal of a second port DM-RS based on a new frequency division orthogonal cover code (FD-OCC), the signal of the second port being sub-length orthogonal to the signal of the first port, wherein the first CDM group is compatible with demultiplexing via a legacy FD-OCC; and The DCI is decoded.

16. The device of claim 15, wherein: The processing circuit includes: a processor; and a memory, coupled to the processor, The apparatus also includes: a radio frequency circuit coupled to the processing circuit; and one or more antennas coupled to the radio frequency circuit.

17. The device of claim 16, wherein: The memory includes a set of index values, the set of index values ​​including the index value, The set of index values ​​is associated with port pairings that are compatible with demultiplexing via the legacy FD-OCC.

18. The device of claim 15, wherein: The new FD-OCC includes a Walsh matrix or a cyclic shift matrix with cyclic shifts of 0, π, π / 2, and 3π / 2, and the legacy FD-OCC includes a length-2 Hadamard matrix.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the operation is further configured to: The CDM group of the DM-RS received from the base station is demultiplexed with the length-2 Hadamard matrix to determine the signal of the first port, the signal of the second port, or both in the DM-RS based on the index value in the antenna port field of the DCI.

20. The device according to any one of claims 15 to 19, wherein: The DM-RS includes DM-RS Type 1 or DM-RS Type 2, and the DM-RS is defined in an information element from a higher layer. wherein the maximum number of up to two symbols is defined by the higher layer, and if the maximum number of symbols is set to 2, the actual number of DM-RS symbols is dynamically selected via an index value in the antenna port field of the DCI, The selection of the first port and the second port is based on a restricted combination of ports for backward compatibility in downlink transmission of the DM-RS, wherein the restricted combination of ports is not applicable to uplink transmission of the DM-RS.

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