Apparatus and method for srs transmission with antenna switching

Abstract

The present disclosure provides apparatuses and methods for SRS transmission with antenna switching. The present disclosure provides an apparatus comprising a processor circuit. The processor circuit is configured to encode a first parameter for reporting a first number (x) of transmit (Tx) antennas and a second number (y) of receive (Rx) antennas of a UE to an AN, decode a second parameter received from the AN in response to the first parameter to obtain a configuration of a third number (a) of SRS resources for antenna switching, and cause the third number (a) of SRS resources to be transmitted to the AN, where x e {1, 2, 4} and y e {6, 8}. Other embodiments can also be disclosed and claimed.

Description

[0001] Priority Statement

[0002] This application is based on and claims priority to international applications filed on February 5, 2020, with serial number PCT / CN2020 / 074310 and February 6, 2020, with serial number PCT / CN2020 / 074442, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] Embodiments of this disclosure generally relate to the field of wireless communication, and more specifically, to apparatus and methods for SRS transmission with antenna switching. Background Technology

[0004] In the 5G New Radio (NR) Release 15 (Rel-15) specification, User Equipment (UE) can be configured with one or more Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) resource sets. Different types of SRS resource sets can be supported. SRS transmissions for antenna switching are studied to probe all antennas of the UE. Summary of the Invention

[0005] One aspect of this disclosure provides an apparatus comprising: a radio frequency (RF) interface; and processor circuitry coupled to the RF interface, wherein the processor circuitry is configured to: encode a first parameter for transmission via the RF interface to an access node (AN), the first parameter being configured to report a first number (x) of transmit (Tx) antennas and a second number (y) of receive (Rx) antennas of a user equipment (UE); in response to the first parameter, decode a second parameter received from the AN via the RF interface to obtain a configuration of a third number (a) of sounding reference signal (SRS) resources for antenna switching; and cause the third number (a) of SRS resources to be transmitted via the RF interface to the AN, wherein x ∈ {1, 2, 4} and y ∈ {6, 8}.

[0006] One aspect of this disclosure provides an apparatus comprising: a radio frequency (RF) interface; and processor circuitry coupled to the RF interface, wherein the processor circuitry is configured to: encode a first parameter for transmission via the RF interface to an access node (AN), the first parameter indicating one or more transmit (Tx)-antenna-receive (Rx)-antenna architectures supported by a user equipment (UE); in response to the first parameter, decode a second parameter received from the AN via the RF interface, wherein the second parameter indicates a target Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture for a sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission determined from the one or more Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architectures; and encode the SRS transmission for transmission via the RF interface to the AN based on the target Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture.

[0007] One aspect of this disclosure provides an apparatus comprising: a radio frequency (RF) interface; and processor circuitry coupled to the RF interface, wherein the processor circuitry is configured to: encode a user equipment (UE) capability message for transmission to an access node (AN) via the RF interface, wherein the UE capability message includes a first parameter and a second parameter, the first parameter indicating a first number (x) of transmit (Tx) antennas and a second number (y) of receive (Rx) antennas of the UE, and the second parameter indicating a Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture of the first number (x) of Tx antennas and the second number (y) of Rx antennas; in response to the UE capability message, decode an indication received from the AN via the RF interface to obtain a configuration of a third number (u) of sounding reference signal (SRS) resources for antenna switching; and cause the third number (u) of SRS resources to be transmitted to the AN via the RF interface. Attached Figure Description

[0008] In the accompanying drawings, embodiments of the present disclosure will be illustrated by way of example rather than limitation, wherein like reference numerals refer to similar elements.

[0009] Figure 1 A communication system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0010] Figure 2 An example of a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message used for configuring a Detection Reference Signal (SRS) resource set is shown.

[0011] Figure 3 An example of SRS transmission with 1T2R for antenna switching is shown.

[0012] Figure 4An example of SRS transmission with 1T4R for antenna switching is shown.

[0013] Figure 5 A flowchart is shown of a method for transmitting SRS transmissions for antenna switching according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0014] Figure 6 A flowchart is shown of a method for transmitting SRS transmissions for antenna switching according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0015] Figure 7 An example of an SRS transmission with 1T8R for antenna switching according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0016] Figure 8 An example of an SRS transmission with 2T8R for antenna switching according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0017] Figure 9 An example of an SRS transmission with 2T8R for antenna switching according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0018] Figure 10 An example of an SRS transmission with 4T8R for antenna switching according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0019] Figure 11 An example of an SRS transmission with 4T8R for antenna switching according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0020] Figure 12 An example of an SRS transmission with 1T6R for antenna switching according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0021] Figure 13 An example of an SRS transmission with 2T6R for antenna switching according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0022] Figure 14 An example of an SRS transmission with 2T6R for antenna switching according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0023] Figure 15 An example of an SRS transmission with 4T6R for antenna switching according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0024] Figure 16 An example of an SRS transmission with 4T6R for antenna switching according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0025] Figure 17A flowchart is shown of a method for notifying SRS transmission configuration for antenna switching according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0026] Figure 18 A flowchart is shown of a method for notifying SRS transmission configuration for antenna switching according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0027] Figure 19 Examples of different antenna architectures for 2T6R according to some embodiments of this disclosure are shown.

[0028] Figure 20 Examples of indications for an antenna architecture for 2T4R according to some embodiments of this disclosure are shown.

[0029] Figure 21 An example of SRS transmission for antenna switching with 2T4R3S is shown according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0030] Figure 22 An example of SRS transmission for antenna switching with 2T4R3S is shown according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0031] Figure 23 Examples of equivalent combinations of different antenna architectures for 2T4R are shown according to some embodiments of this disclosure.

[0032] Figure 24 Examples of equivalent combinations of different antenna architectures for 2T6R according to some embodiments of this disclosure are shown.

[0033] Figure 25 A flowchart is shown illustrating a method for notifying SRS transmissions for antenna switching based on a UE-based antenna architecture, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0034] Figure 26 A flowchart is shown illustrating a method for notifying SRS transmissions for antenna switching based on a UE-based antenna architecture, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0035] Figure 27 Example components of a device according to some embodiments of this disclosure are shown.

[0036] Figure 28 Examples of infrastructure devices according to some embodiments of this disclosure are shown.

[0037] Figure 29 This is a block diagram illustrating components capable of reading instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium and performing any one or more methods discussed herein, according to some example embodiments. Detailed Implementation

[0038] Various aspects of the illustrative embodiments will be described using terminology commonly employed by those skilled in the art to convey the essence of this disclosure to others skilled in the art. However, it will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that many alternative embodiments can be practiced using portions of the described aspects. Specific figures, materials, and configurations are set forth for illustrative purposes to provide a thorough understanding of the illustrative embodiments. However, it will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that alternative embodiments can be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known features may be omitted or simplified to avoid obscuring the illustrative embodiments.

[0039] Furthermore, the various operations will be described as multiple discrete operations in a manner most conducive to understanding the illustrative embodiments; however, the order of description should not be construed as implying that these operations must depend on the order. In particular, these operations do not need to be performed in the order presented.

[0040] The phrases “in an embodiment,” “in one embodiment,” and “in some embodiments” are used repeatedly throughout this document. These phrases do not typically refer to the same embodiment; however, they may refer to the same embodiment. Unless the context otherwise specifies, the terms “comprising,” “having,” and “including” are synonyms. The phrases “A or B” and “A / B” mean “(A), (B), or (A and B).”

[0041] Figure 1 A communication system 100 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is illustrated. The communication system 100 is shown as including a user equipment (UE) 101. The UE 101 may be a smartphone (e.g., a handheld touchscreen mobile computing device that can connect to one or more cellular networks). However, it may also include any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as a personal data assistant (PDA), tablet computer, pager, laptop computer, desktop computer, wireless handheld device, or any computing device including a wireless communication interface.

[0042] In some embodiments, UE 101 may include an Internet of Things (IoT) UE, which may include a network access layer designed to utilize low-power IoT applications with short-lived UE connectivity. The IoT UE may utilize technologies such as machine-to-machine (M2M), machine-type communication (MTC), enhanced MTC (eMTC), and narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) to exchange data with IoT servers or devices via public terrestrial mobile networks (PLMNs), proximity-based services (ProSe), device-to-device (D2D) communication, sensor networks, or IoT networks. M2M or MTC data exchange may be machine-initiated. The IoT network describes the interconnection of IoT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure) with short-lived connectivity. The IoT UE may execute background applications (e.g., maintaining active messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate connectivity within the IoT network.

[0043] UE 101 can be configured to connect (e.g., communicatively coupled) to a radio access network (RAN) 110, which may be, for example, an evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN), a next-generation RAN (NG RAN), or some other type of RAN. UE 101 can operate in accordance with cellular communication protocols, such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) protocol, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) network protocol, Push-to-Talk (PTT) protocol, Cellular PTT (POC) protocol, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) protocol, 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) protocol, 5G protocol, New Radio (NR) protocol, etc.

[0044] RAN 110 may include one or more access nodes (ANs). These ANs may be referred to as base stations (BS), NodeBs, evolved NodeBs (eNBs), next-generation NodeBs (gNBs), etc., and may include ground stations (e.g., ground access points) or satellite stations providing coverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). Figure 1 As shown, for example, RAN 110 includes AN 111 and AN 112.

[0045] UE 101 can achieve communication coupling with RAN 110 by utilizing connection 103 with AN 111, such as Figure 1 As shown. Connection 103 can be implemented using one or more beams (not shown). A beam can indicate a spatial domain transmit and / or receive filter or a spatial relation; therefore, the terms “beam,” “spatial domain transmit and / or receive filter,” and “spatial relation” are interchangeable herein.

[0046] AN 111 and AN 112 can communicate with each other via X2 interface 113. AN 111 and AN 112 can be macro ANs, which can provide a larger coverage area. Alternatively, they can be femtocell ANs or picocell ANs, which can provide a smaller coverage area, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth compared to macro ANs. For example, one or both of AN 111 and AN 112 can be low-power (LP) ANs. In one embodiment, AN 111 and AN 112 can be ANs of the same type. In another embodiment, they are ANs of different types.

[0047] AN 111 can terminate the air interface protocol and can be the first point of contact for UE 101. In some embodiments, AN 111 and 112 can implement various logical functions of RAN 110, 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.

[0048] According to some embodiments, UE 101 can be configured to communicate with AN 111 or other UEs via a multi-carrier communication channel using Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) communication signals, based on various communication technologies such as, but not limited to, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) communication technology (e.g., for downlink communication) or Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) communication technology (e.g., for uplink and proximity-based service (ProSe) or sidelink communication), but the scope of the embodiments is not limited thereto. OFDM signals may include multiple orthogonal subcarriers.

[0049] In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid can be used for downlink transmission from AN 111 to UE 101, while uplink transmission can use a similar technique. The grid can be a time-frequency grid, referred to as a resource grid or time-frequency resource grid, which represents the physical resources in the downlink for each time slot. This time-frequency plane representation is common practice in OFDM systems, making 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 represented as a resource element. Each resource grid comprises multiple resource blocks, which describe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements. Each resource block comprises a set of resource elements. In the frequency domain, this can represent the minimum amount of resources that can currently be allocated. Several different physical downlink channels exist that are transmitted using such resource blocks.

[0050] Downlink channels can include the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) and the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH).

[0051] The PDSCH can carry user data and higher-layer signaling to UE 101. The PDCCH can carry information about the transmission format and resource allocation related to the PDSCH channel. It can also inform UE 101 about the transmission format, resource allocation, and Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) information related to the uplink shared channel. Typically, downlink scheduling (allocating control and shared channel resource blocks to UE 101 within the cell) can be performed at AN 111 based on channel quality information fed back from UE 101. Downlink resource allocation information for (e.g., allocated to) UE 101 can be transmitted on the PDCCH.

[0052] PDCCH can use Control Channel Elements (CCEs) to transmit control information. Before mapping to resource elements, PDCCH complex-valued symbols are first organized into quadruplets, which are then permuted using a sub-block interleaver for rate matching. Each PDCCH can be transmitted using one or more of these CCEs, where each CCE can correspond to nine groups of physical resource elements (called a resource element group (REG)), each group consisting of four physical resource elements. Four Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) symbols can be mapped to each REG. The number of CCEs used to transmit PDCCH depends on the size of the downlink control information (DCI) and channel conditions. In LTE, there may be four or more different PDCCH formats with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation levels, L = 1, 2, 4, or 8).

[0053] Some embodiments may use the concept of resource allocation for control channel information, which is an extension of the concepts described above. For example, some embodiments may use an Enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel (EPDCCH) that uses PDSCH resources for control information transmission. The EPDCCH may be transmitted using one or more Enhanced Control Channel Elements (ECCEs). Similar to the above, each ECCE may correspond to nine sets of physical resource elements (referred to as an Enhanced Resource Element Group (EREG)), with each group comprising four physical resource elements. In some cases, an ECCE may have a different number of EREGs.

[0054] The uplink channel may include the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) and the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH). The PUSCH can carry user data and control information to one or more ANs, and the PUCCH can carry control information to one or more ANs.

[0055] RAN 110 is shown communicatively coupled to core network (CN) 120 via S1 interface 114. In some embodiments, CN 120 may be an evolved packet core (EPC) network, a NextGen packet core (NPC) network, or other types of CN. In one embodiment, S1 interface 114 is divided into two parts: S1-Mobility Management Entity (MME) interface 115, which is the signaling interface between AN 111 and 112 and MME 121; and S1-U interface 116, which carries service data between AN 111 and 112 and Serving Gateway (S-GW) 122.

[0056] In one embodiment, CN 120 may include MME 121, S-GW 122, Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (P-GW) 123, and Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 124. MME 121 may functionally resemble the control plane of a legacy General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Support Node (SGSN). MME 121 may manage mobility aspects of access, such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. HSS 124 may include a database for network users, including subscription-related information to support network entities in handling communication sessions. CN 120 may include one or more HSS 124s, depending on the number of mobile subscribers, device capacity, network organization, etc. For example, HSS 124 may provide support for routing / roaming, authentication, authorization, naming / addressing resolution, location dependencies, etc.

[0057] S-GW 122 can terminate S1 interface 114 toward RAN 110 and route data packets between RAN 110 and CN 120. Furthermore, S-GW 122 can serve as a local mobility anchor point for inter-AN handovers and can also provide anchoring for inter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful interception, charging, and some policy enforcement.

[0058] P-GW 123 can terminate the SGi interface toward the PDN. P-GW 123 can route data packets between CN 120 and external networks, such as a network including an application server (AS) 130 (or application function (AF)). Typically, application server 130 can be an element that provides applications that use IP bearer resources with the core network (e.g., UMTS Packet Service (PS) domain, LTE PS data service, etc.). In one embodiment, P-GW 123 is communicatively coupled to application server 130 via an IP communication interface. Application server 130 can also be configured to support one or more communication services of UE 101 (e.g., Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, social networking services, etc.) via CN 120.

[0059] P-GW 123 can also be responsible for policy enforcement and charging data collection. The Policy and Charging Rule Function (PCRF) 126 is the policy and charging control element of CN 120. In non-roaming scenarios, a single PCRF may exist in the Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) associated with the UE's Internet Protocol Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) session. In roaming scenarios with local traffic bursts, two PCRFs may exist associated with the UE's IP-CAN session: the Home PCRF (H-PCRF) within the HPLMMN and the Access PCRF (V-PCRF) in the Access Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN). PCRF 126 can be communicatively coupled to application server 130 via P-GW 123. Application server 130 can signal PCRF 126 to indicate new service flows and select appropriate Quality of Service (QoS) and charging parameters. PCRF 126 can provide the rule to the Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) (not shown) using an appropriate Service Flow Template (TFT) and QoS Class Identifier (QCI), which begins with the QoS and charging specified by the application server 130.

[0060] Figure 1 The number of devices and / or networks shown is for illustrative purposes only. In reality, there may be additional devices and / or networks, fewer devices and / or networks, different devices and / or networks, or [other types of networks]. Figure 1 The devices and / or networks shown are compared to devices and / or networks with different configurations. Optionally or additionally, one or more devices of system 100 may perform one or more functions described as being performed by other one or more devices of system 100. Furthermore, although Figure 1The diagram shows "direct" connections, but these connections should be interpreted as logical communication paths. Furthermore, in practice, one or more intermediate devices (e.g., routers, gateways, modems, switches, hubs, etc.) may be present.

[0061] In the 5G New Radio (NR) Release 15 specification, a UE can be configured with one or more Sound Reference Signal (SRS) resource sets. Each SRS resource set can contain one or more SRS resources. Figure 2 An example of a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message used for configuring a Detection Reference Signal (SRS) resource set is shown.

[0062] Version 15 supports different types of SRS resource sets. SRS resource sets are configured with a "usage" parameter, which can be set to "beamManagement", "codebook", "nonCodebook", or "antennaSwitching". SRS resource sets configured with "beamManagement" can be used for uplink beam indication and beam acquisition using SRS. SRS resource sets configured with "codebook" and "nonCodebook" can be used to determine UL precoding, determined either explicitly by the Transport Precoding Matrix Index (TPMI) or implicitly by the SRS Resource Index (SRI), respectively. Finally, SRS resource sets configured with "antennaSwitching" can be used to acquire downlink (DL) Channel State Information (CSI) in the UE by utilizing the reciprocity of channels in a TDD system through SRS measurements. For SRS transmissions, the time-domain behavior can be periodic, semi-permanent, or aperiodic.

[0063] When performing DL CSI measurements, it is beneficial to probe all antennas of the UE. However, due to differences in the DL and UL capabilities of the UE, the UE may have fewer transmit (Tx) chains than receive (Rx) chains. In this case, it is not possible to probe on all antennas simultaneously. To obtain complete DL CSI information, antenna switching is introduced so that the UE can be configured to probe from different antennas in a TDM manner based on an asymmetric UE Tx / Rx architecture (e.g., 1T2R, 1T4R, and 2T4R). In this paper, xTyR refers to x Tx antennas and y Rx antennas.

[0064] In versions 15 and 16, the following xTyR architectures are supported for antenna switching: x = {1, 2, 4}, y = {1, 2, 4}, and x <= y.

[0065] For 1T2R, up to two SRS resource sets can be configured using different resourceType values; for example, one resource set can be periodic and the other aperiodic. The periodic SRS resource set can be used to acquire regular CSI information, while the aperiodic SRS resource set can be triggered to acquire new CSI information. Two SRS resources can be transmitted in different symbols within the same time slot. Each SRS resource can include a single SRS port, and the SRS port of each SRS resource can be associated with a different UE antenna port.

[0066] For 2T4R, up to two SRS resource sets can be configured using different resourceType values. Two SRS resources can be transmitted in different symbols within the same time slot. Each SRS resource in a given set can include two SRS ports, and the SRS port pair of each SRS resource is associated with a different UE antenna port group (e.g., different UE antenna port pairs).

[0067] For 1T4R, zero or one SRS resource set can be configured as "periodic" or "semi-permanent". Four SRS resources are transmitted in different symbols within the same time slot. Each SRS resource may include a single SRS port, and the SRS port of each SRS resource can be associated with a different UE antenna port.

[0068] For 1T4R, it can also be configured with zero or two SRS resource sets, which are configured as "aperiodic". A total of four SRS resources are transmitted in different symbols across two different time slots. The SRS port of each SRS resource in the two SRS resource sets is associated with a different UE antenna port. Both SRS resource sets can be configured with two SRS resources each, or one SRS resource set can be configured with one SRS resource and the other SRS resource set can be configured with three SRS resources.

[0069] For antenna switching, the UE can be configured with a protection period (GP) for antenna switching, during which the UE does not send any other signals.

[0070] Figure 3 An example of SRS transmission with 1T2R for antenna switching is shown. Figure 4 An example of SRS transmission with 1T4R for antenna switching is shown. Note that in version 15, only the last 6 OFDM symbols within a time slot could be used for SRS transmission. Starting with version 16, all 14 OFDM symbols within a time slot can be used for SRS transmission.

[0071] In version 17, the number of antennas used for antenna switching will be expanded, for example, x = {1, 2, 4} and y = {6, 8}. In this case, it is necessary to define the operations used for antenna switching, as well as the number of corresponding SRS resource sets and the number of SRS resources in each SRS resource set.

[0072] Considering that a larger number of probe antennas requires more resources in the UL timeslot, the UE can use a fallback mode to be able to operate with a subset of antennas. For example, a UE with 1T8R can also operate in 1T2R mode, 1T4R mode, 1T6R mode, etc.

[0073] Figure 5 A flowchart of a method 500 for transmitting SRS transmissions for antenna switching according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. Method 500 may include steps 510, 520, and 530. Method 500 can be described from the perspective of the UE.

[0074] In 510, the first parameter can be encoded to be sent to the AN to report the first number (x) of the UE's Tx antennas and the second number (y) of the Rx antennas, where x∈{1,2,4} and y∈{6,8}.

[0075] At 520, in response to the first parameter, the second parameter received from the AN can be decoded to obtain the configuration of a third number (a) of SRS resources for antenna switching.

[0076] At 530, the third number (a) of SRS resources can be sent to AN.

[0077] In some embodiments, In other words, a equals the floor of (y / x).

[0078] In some embodiments, the UE may be configured with a fourth number (b) SRS ports, where b = x.

[0079] In some embodiments, for 1T6R, 1T8R, 2T6R, 2T8R or 4T8R, each of the third number (a) of SRS resources may include a fourth number (b) of SRS ports.

[0080] In some embodiments, for 4T6R, a=2, one of the two SRS resources may include 4 SRS ports, and the other of the two SRS resources may include 2 of the 4 SRS ports.

[0081] In some embodiments, a fourth number (b) of SRS ports are associated with a group of UE antenna ports including a fifth number (c) of UE antenna ports, and c = b.

[0082] In some embodiments, the UE may be configured with a sixth number (d) UE antenna ports, where d = y.

[0083] In some embodiments, a third number (a) of SRS resources are divided into a seventh number (e) of SRS resource sets, and each SRS resource set in the seventh number (e) of SRS resource sets can be transmitted in a different time slot. In some embodiments, for 1T6R, e∈{1,2,3}; for 1T8R, e∈{2,4}; for 2T6R, e∈{1,2,3}; for 2T8R, e∈{1,2,4}; for 4T6R, e∈{1,2}; for 4T8R, e∈{1,2}.

[0084] Figure 6 A flowchart of a method 600 for transmitting SRS transmissions for antenna switching according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. Method 600 may include steps 610, 620, and 630. Method 600 can be described from the perspective of an AN.

[0085] In 610, the first parameter received from the UE can be decoded to obtain the first number (x) of the UE's Tx antennas and the second number (y) of the Rx antennas, where x∈{1,2,4} and y∈{6,8}.

[0086] At 620, in response to the first parameter, the second parameter may be encoded for transmission to the UE to indicate the configuration of a third number (a) of SRS resources for antenna switching.

[0087] At 630, the third number (a) of SRS resources received from the UE can be decoded.

[0088] In some embodiments, as described above

[0089] Method 600 can be understood in conjunction with embodiments of method 500 and other embodiments of this disclosure.

[0090] Methods 500 and 600 are described based on x∈{1,2,4} and y∈{6,8}. However, x and y can be any other integers satisfying x≤y, and this disclosure is not limited in this respect.

[0091] The following section will detail the SRS operation for antenna switching with xTyR.

[0092] 1.1T8R:

[0093] In some embodiments, for 1T8R, the UE is configured with eight SRS resources, one SRS port #0, and eight UE antenna ports #0-#7. Each SRS resource includes SRS port #0, and for that SRS resource, SRS port #0 is associated with one of the eight UE antenna ports #0-#7.

[0094] In some embodiments, for 1T8R, zero or one SRS resource set can be configured as "periodic" or "semi-permanent". Eight SRS resources are transmitted in different symbols within the same time slot. Each SRS resource includes a single SRS port, and the SRS port of each SRS resource is associated with a different UE antenna port.

[0095] In some embodiments, for 1T8R, the UE may also be configured with zero or two SRS resource sets, which are configured as "aperiodic". A total of eight SRS resources are transmitted in different symbols across at most two different time slots. The SRS port of each SRS resource in the two SRS resource sets is associated with a different UE antenna port. The two SRS resource sets may each be configured with four SRS resources; or one SRS resource set may be configured with three SRS resources and the other with five SRS resources; or one SRS resource set may be configured with two SRS resources and the other with six SRS resources; or one SRS resource set may be configured with one SRS resource and the other with seven SRS resources.

[0096] Figure 7 Examples of SRS transmissions with 1T8R for antenna switching according to some embodiments of this disclosure are shown. Figure 7 As shown, two SRS resource sets are configured, each containing four SRS resources. Each SRS resource from the same SRS resource set can be transmitted in different symbols within the same time slot.

[0097] In some embodiments, for 1T8R, the UE can be configured with zero or four SRS resource sets, which are configured to be "aperiodic". A total of eight SRS resources are transmitted in different symbols across up to four different time slots. The SRS port of each SRS resource in the four SRS resource sets is associated with a different UE antenna port. In one example, each of the four SRS resource sets can be configured with two SRS resources.

[0098] For certain subcarrier spacings (SCS), more than one OFDM symbol is required as a guard period; for example, a 120 kHz SCS requires two symbols. In this case, for 1T8R, two SRS resource sets can be configured each with four SRS resources, or one SRS resource set can be configured with three SRS resources while the other SRS resource set is configured with five SRS resources.

[0099] 2.2T8R:

[0100] In some embodiments, for 2T8R, the UE is configured with four SRS resources, two SRS ports #0 and #1, and eight UE antenna ports #0-#7. Each SRS resource includes SRS ports #0 and #1, and for that SRS resource, SRS ports #0 and #1 are associated with one of the eight UE antenna ports #0-#7 (e.g., two UE antenna ports).

[0101] In some embodiments, for 2T8R, up to two SRS resource sets can be configured using different resourceType values; for example, one SRS resource set is configured as "periodic" while the other is configured as "aperiodic". Four SRS resources can be transmitted in the same time slot or in different symbols of different time slots. Each SRS resource in a given set includes two SRS ports, and the SRS port pair of each SRS resource is associated with a different UE antenna port pair.

[0102] Figure 8 Examples of SRS transmissions with 2T8R for antenna switching according to some embodiments of this disclosure are shown. Figure 8 As shown, an SRS resource set is configured, which includes four SRS resources. Each SRS resource can be transmitted in different symbols within the same time slot.

[0103] In some embodiments, for 2T8R, the UE can be configured with zero or two SRS resource sets, which are configured to be "aperiodic". A total of four SRS resources are transmitted in different symbols in two different time slots. Each SRS resource in the resource set includes two SRS ports, and the SRS port pairs of each SRS resource in all SRS resource sets are associated with different UE antenna port groups. The two SRS resource sets can each be configured with two SRS resources; or one SRS resource set can be configured with one SRS resource and the other SRS resource set can be configured with three SRS resources.

[0104] Figure 9 Examples of SRS transmissions with 2T8R for antenna switching according to some embodiments of this disclosure are shown. Figure 9 As shown, two SRS resource sets are configured, each containing two SRS resources. Each SRS resource can be transmitted in a different symbol.

[0105] 3.4T8R:

[0106] In some embodiments, for 4T8R, the UE is configured with two SRS resources, four SRS ports #0-#3, and eight UE antenna ports #0-#7. Each SRS resource includes SRS ports #0-#3, and for that SRS resource, the SRS ports #0-#3 are associated with one of the eight UE antenna ports #0-#7 (e.g., four UE antenna ports).

[0107] In some embodiments, for 4T8R, up to two SRS resource sets can be configured with different resourceType values; for example, one SRS resource set is configured as "periodic" and the other as "aperiodic". Two SRS resources can be transmitted in the same time slot or in different symbols of different time slots. Each SRS resource in a given set includes four SRS ports, and the four SRS ports of each SRS resource are associated with different UE antenna port groups that include four UE antenna ports.

[0108] Figure 10 An example of an SRS transmission with 4T8R for antenna switching according to some embodiments of this disclosure is shown. Figure 10 As shown, an SRS resource set is configured, which includes two SRS resources. Each SRS resource can be transmitted in different symbols within the same time slot.

[0109] In some embodiments, for 4T8R, the UE can be configured with zero or two SRS resource sets, which are configured as "aperiodic". A total of two SRS resources are transmitted in different symbols of two different time slots.

[0110] Figure 11 An example of an SRS transmission with 4T8R for antenna switching according to some embodiments of this disclosure is shown. Figure 11 As shown, two SRS resource sets are configured, each containing one SRS resource. Each SRS resource can be transmitted in different symbols of two different time slots.

[0111] 4.1T6R:

[0112] In some embodiments, for 1T6R, the UE is configured with six SRS resources, one SRS port #0, and six UE antenna ports #0-#5. Each SRS resource includes SRS port #0, and for that SRS resource, SRS port #0 is associated with one of the six UE antenna ports #0-#5.

[0113] In some embodiments, for 1T6R, zero or one SRS resource set can be configured as "periodic" or "semi-permanent". Six SRS resources are transmitted in different symbols within the same time slot. Each SRS resource includes a single SRS port, and the SRS port of each SRS resource is associated with a different UE antenna port.

[0114] In some embodiments, for 1T6R, the UE may also be configured with zero or two SRS resource sets, which are configured as "aperiodic". A total of six SRS resources are transmitted in different symbols in two different time slots. The SRS port of each SRS resource in the two SRS resource sets is associated with a different UE antenna port. The two SRS resource sets may each be configured with three SRS resources; or one SRS resource set may be configured with two SRS resources and the other with four SRS resources; or one SRS resource set may be configured with one SRS resource and the other with five SRS resources.

[0115] Figure 12 Examples of SRS transmissions with 1T6R for antenna switching according to some embodiments of this disclosure are shown. Figure 12 As shown, two SRS resource sets are configured, each containing three SRS resources. Each SRS resource can be transmitted in different symbols of two different time slots.

[0116] In some embodiments, for 1T6R, the UE can be configured with zero or three SRS resource sets, which are configured to be "aperiodic". A total of six SRS resources are transmitted in different symbols across three different time slots. The SRS port of each SRS resource in the three SRS resource sets is associated with a different UE antenna port. In one example, each of the three SRS resource sets can be configured with two SRS resources.

[0117] In some embodiments, for 1T6R, if only one OFDM symbol is needed as a guard period for certain subcarrier intervals, the UE can be configured with zero or one aperiodic SRS resource set. This SRS resource set comprises six SRS resources, and the six SRS resources are transmitted in different symbols within the same time slot. The SRS port of each SRS resource in this SRS resource set is associated with a different UE antenna port.

[0118] 5.2T6R:

[0119] In some embodiments, for 2T6R, the UE is configured with three SRS resources, two SRS ports #0 and #1, and six UE antenna ports #0-#5. Each SRS resource includes SRS ports #0 and #1, and for that SRS resource, SRS ports #0 and #1 are associated with one of the six UE antenna ports #0-#5 (e.g., two UE antenna ports).

[0120] In some embodiments, for 2T6R, up to two SRS resource sets can be configured with different resourceType values; for example, one SRS resource set is configured as "periodic" and the other as "aperiodic". Three SRS resources can be transmitted in the same time slot or in different symbols of two different time slots. Each SRS resource in a given set includes two SRS ports, and the SRS port pair of each SRS resource is associated with a different UE antenna port pair.

[0121] Figure 13 Examples of SRS transmissions with 2T6R for antenna switching according to some embodiments of this disclosure are shown. Figure 13 As shown, an SRS resource set is configured, which includes three SRS resources. Each SRS resource can be transmitted in different symbols within the same time slot.

[0122] In some embodiments, for 2T6R, the UE can be configured with zero or two SRS resource sets, which are configured as "aperiodic". A total of three SRS resources are transmitted in different symbols in two different time slots. Each SRS resource in the resource set includes two SRS ports, and the SRS port pair of each SRS resource in all SRS resource sets is associated with a different UE antenna port pair. One SRS resource set is configured with one SRS resource, and another SRS resource set is configured with two SRS resources.

[0123] Figure 14 Examples of SRS transmissions with 2T6R for antenna switching according to some embodiments of this disclosure are shown. Figure 14 As shown, two SRS resource sets are configured. One SRS resource set is configured with one SRS resource, and the other SRS resource set is configured with two SRS resources.

[0124] 6.4T6R:

[0125] In some embodiments, for 4T6R, the UE is configured with two SRS resources, four SRS ports #0-#3, and six UE antenna ports #0-#5. One SRS resource includes SRS ports #0-#3, which are associated with one of the six UE antenna ports #0-#5 (e.g., four UE antenna ports #0-#3), and the other SRS resource includes SRS ports #0-#1, which are associated with one of the six UE antenna ports #0-#5 (e.g., two UE antenna ports #4-#5).

[0126] In some embodiments, for 4T6R, up to two SRS resource sets can be configured with different resourceType values; for example, one SRS resource set is configured as "periodic" and the other as "aperiodic". Two SRS resources can be transmitted in the same time slot or in different symbols of two different time slots. One SRS resource includes four SRS ports, and the other SRS resource includes two SRS ports. The SRS port group of each SRS resource is associated with a different UE antenna port group.

[0127] Figure 15 Examples of SRS transmissions with 4T6R for antenna switching according to some embodiments of this disclosure are shown. Figure 15 As shown, an SRS resource set is configured. The SRS resource set consists of two SRS resources, which are transmitted in different symbols within the same time slot.

[0128] In some embodiments, for 4T6R, the UE can be configured with zero or two SRS resource sets, which are configured as "aperiodic". A total of two SRS resources are transmitted in different symbols in two different time slots. One resource set contains four SRS ports, and the other resource set contains two SRS ports. The SRS ports of each SRS resource in all SRS resource sets are associated with a different UE antenna port group. Each of the two SRS resource sets can be configured with one SRS resource.

[0129] Figure 16 Examples of SRS transmissions with 4T6R for antenna switching according to some embodiments of this disclosure are shown. Figure 16 As shown, two SRS resource sets are configured. Each SRS resource set includes one SRS resource. The two SRS resources are transmitted in two symbols in two different time slots.

[0130] Table 1 below shows some examples of SRS transmission configurations for antenna switching. In some embodiments, this configuration may be applicable to an aperiodic SRS configuration. In some embodiments, this configuration may be applicable to one or more other SRS configurations.

[0131] Table 1 SRS transmission configuration for antenna switching

[0132]

[0133]

[0134] The above embodiments only describe some examples of xTyR architecture. However, the concepts described in this disclosure can be applied to other xTyR scenarios. This disclosure is not limited in this respect.

[0135] The following section describes a solution for configuring SRS transmissions for antenna switching.

[0136] In some embodiments, for SRS transmissions used for antenna switching, the UE can indicate its xTyR capabilities. For example, for a UE with eight Rx antennas, the UE can report that it can support multiple xTyR options, such as 1T1R, 1T2R, 1T4R, 1T6R, and 1T8R. When an AN (e.g., a gNB) configures one or more SRS resource sets for antenna switching, the AN can indicate which xTyR is actually configured via higher-layer signaling (RRC or Medium Access Control (MAC) - Control Element (CE)). For example, if the parameter “usage” is set to “antennaSwitching”, the AN can configure another parameter “xTyR” in the RRC parameter “SRS-ResourceSet” to indicate the xTyR mode actually configured for the configured SRS resource set.

[0137] In some embodiments, if the UE reports that it can support multiple xTyR modes, the AN can configure one or more SRS resource sets for each of the multiple modes supported by the UE via RRC. The actual triggered xTyR mode for antenna switching can be indicated by MAC-CE or DCI. For example, depending on one of the supported xTyR configurations, an SRS trigger field (e.g., "SRS Request") can be associated with one or more SRS resource sets. For example, SRS resource sets A and B can be associated with trigger field 01, SRS resource sets C and D can be associated with trigger field 10, and so on. When the UE receives a DCI with the corresponding SRS trigger field, the UE can initiate the associated SRS transmission. The same SRS resource set can be associated with more than one SRS Request field. In this case, each SRS trigger field can correspond to a supported xTyR configuration.

[0138] In some embodiments, if a UE with x1Ty1R reports support for x2Ty2R, where x2 <= x1 and y2 <= y1, then when the AN configures x2Ty2R operation, the UE may not know which UE antenna ports need to be probed. For example, a UE supporting 1T8R can report support for both 1T8R and 1T4R. When the AN configures 1T8R operation, the UE knows that all eight UE antenna ports need to be probed. However, when the AN configures 1T4R operation, the UE does not know which ports need to be probed, for example, whether antenna ports #0-#3 or antenna ports #4-#7 need to be probed. Therefore, UE antenna port groups can be defined. The UE can report the number of supported UE antenna port groups. When the AN configures one or more SRS resource sets for antenna switching, the AN can indicate which UE antenna port group needs to be probed. Alternatively, SRS port groups can be defined. The UE can associate SRS port groups with UE antenna port groups, and the mapping can be based on the UE implementation. The UE can report the number of supported SRS port groups. When the AN configures one or more SRS resource sets for antenna switching, the AN can indicate which SRS port group needs to be probed. The UE antenna port group to be probed can then be determined accordingly.

[0139] In some embodiments, for antenna handover with xTyR, if multiple aperiodic SRS resource sets are configured for the UE, those SRS resource sets can be associated with the same SRS resource trigger state. This allows a single DCI to trigger multiple aperiodic SRS resource sets for antenna handover, thereby reducing overhead.

[0140] In some embodiments, SRS protection periods can be disabled by configuration. In this case, SRS resources can be transmitted in adjacent OFDM symbols without interruption. To configure the appropriate mode, the UE can report the corresponding capability to support SRS handover without protection symbols.

[0141] Figure 17 A flowchart of a method 1700 for notifying SRS transmission configurations for antenna switching, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, is shown. Method 1700 may include steps 1710, 1720, and 1730. Method 1700 can be described from the perspective of the UE.

[0142] In 1710, the first parameter can be encoded for transmission to the AN to indicate one or more Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna structures supported by the UE.

[0143] At 1720, in response to the first parameter, the second parameter received from the AN can be decoded. The second parameter can be used to indicate the target Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture for SRS transmission determined from one or more Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architectures.

[0144] In 1730, SRS transmissions can be encoded to be sent to the AN based on the target Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna structure.

[0145] In some embodiments, the second parameter may be received via higher-layer signaling and may also indicate one or more SRS resource sets configured for the SRS transmission. In some embodiments, the higher-layer signaling may include RRC signaling or MAC-CE.

[0146] In some embodiments, RRC signaling can be decoded to obtain the configuration of the SRS resource set for each Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna in one or more Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architectures. The second parameter can be received via MAC-CE or DCI.

[0147] In some embodiments, a target Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture may correspond to fewer UE antenna port groups compared to one or more Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architectures. In this case, in one example, a third parameter may be encoded and transmitted to the AN to indicate one or more UE antenna port groups supported by the UE; in response to the third parameter, a fourth parameter received from the AN may be decoded to obtain the target UE antenna port group determined from the one or more UE antenna port groups; and the target UE antenna port group may be probed. In another example, a fifth parameter may be encoded and transmitted to the AN to indicate one or more SRS port groups supported by the UE; in response to the fifth parameter, a sixth parameter received from the AN may be decoded to obtain the target SRS port group determined from the one or more SRS port groups; and the UE antenna port group associated with the target SRS port group may be probed.

[0148] Figure 18 A flowchart of a method 1800 for notifying SRS transmission configuration for antenna switching, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, is shown. Method 1800 may include steps 1810, 1820, and 1830. Method 1800 can be described from the perspective of AN.

[0149] In 1810, the first parameter received from the UE can be decoded to obtain one or more Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architectures supported by the UE.

[0150] At 1820, in response to the first parameter, the second parameter can be encoded to be transmitted to the UE to indicate the target Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture for SRS transmission determined from one or more Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architectures.

[0151] In 1830, based on the target Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture, the SRS transmission received from the UE can be decoded.

[0152] In some embodiments, a second parameter may be sent via higher-layer signaling, and the second parameter may also indicate one or more SRS resource sets configured for the SRS transport. In some embodiments, the higher-layer signaling includes RRC signaling or MAC-CE.

[0153] In some embodiments, RRC signaling may be encoded to indicate the configuration of the SRS resource set for each Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture in one or more Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architectures. The second parameter may be transmitted via MAC-CE or DCI.

[0154] The embodiments of method 1800 can be understood in conjunction with the embodiments of method 1700 and other embodiments of this disclosure, and will not be described in detail again.

[0155] Through the above embodiments, SRS transmissions for antenna switching can be extended in terms of antenna architecture (e.g., xTyR). The configuration of SRS resource sets and SRS resources to achieve more flexible antenna architectures has been described. Additionally, the signaling for configuring SRS transmissions for antenna switching has been described. Solutions for different antenna architectures of the UE will be considered below.

[0156] If the UE has more than one Tx antenna (x>=2), there may be different implementations of antenna switching at the UE. In particular, some of the transmission paths (one or more) may not have switching capability.

[0157] Figure 19 Examples of different antenna architectures for 2T6R according to some embodiments of this disclosure are shown. Figure 19 As shown in (a), one Tx antenna is associated with one Rx antenna, and another Tx antenna is associated with five Rx antennas. Figure 19 As shown in (b), each Tx antenna is associated with three Rx antennas, meaning antenna switching can be more flexible. Therefore, for the SRS configuration of antenna switching, different UE implementations used for antenna switching need to be considered.

[0158] In some embodiments, for SRS antenna switching, another dimension can be introduced if the UE is configured with "xTyR". For example, the UE can be configured with "xTyRzS", where "zS" represents the number (z) of antenna paths that can be flexibly switched between antennas. For example, having Figure 19 The UE with antenna architecture (a) can be classified as "2T6R5S" and has Figure 19 (b) The antenna architecture of the UE can be classified as "2T6R3S". Alternatively, "zS" can mean the number (z) of antenna paths that cannot be flexibly switched between antennas. For example, UEs with Figure 19 The UE with antenna architecture (a) can be classified as "2T6R1S" and has Figure 19 (b) The antenna architecture of the UE can be classified as "2T6R0S". Implementations are not limited in this respect. The purpose of introducing "zS" is to ensure that the AN correctly understands the UE's antenna architecture. The UE can report "xTyRzS" as part of its UE capability report.

[0159] In some embodiments, different UE architectures may be considered for SRS configurations with antenna switching, particularly non-periodic SRS configurations.

[0160] Figure 20 Examples of indications for a 2T4R antenna architecture according to some embodiments of this disclosure are shown. For example, for Figure 20(a) For example, in a 2T4R3S configuration, the UE can be configured with two aperiodic SRS resource sets, one containing one SRS resource and the other containing three SRS resources. Each SRS resource includes one SRS port. The two SRS resource sets can be configured to have the same or different slot offsets, allowing the two SRS resource sets to be transmitted in the same or different slots. If the two SRS resource sets are configured with the same slot offset, the SRS resources in the two sets can be transmitted on different OFDM symbols within the same slot. Alternatively, the SRS resources between the two sets can overlap in one or more OFDM symbols. In some embodiments, a guard period can be configured.

[0161] Figure 21 and Figure 22 Each of the examples illustrates an instance of SRS transmission for antenna switching with 2T4R3S, according to some embodiments of this disclosure. This can be combined with... Figure 20 (a) to understand Figure 21 and Figure 22 The antenna architecture described in [the document].

[0162] like Figure 21 and Figure 22 As shown, two SRS resource sets are configured. One SRS resource set contains three SRS resources, and the other SRS resource set contains one SRS resource. Figure 21 In the example, two SRS resource sets are sent in two different time slots; while Figure 22 In the example, two SRS resource sets are sent in the same time slot.

[0163] In some embodiments, for SRS antenna switching with “xTyR”, where x = {1, 2, 4}, y = {1, 2, 4, 6, 8}, and x <= y, if the UE has two or more antennas (x >= 2), then depending on the different UE architecture, the UE's antenna architecture can be regarded as “xTyR”. i Ty i The combination of "R".

[0164] Figure 23 Examples of equivalent combinations of different antenna architectures for 2T4R are shown according to some embodiments of this disclosure. Figure 23 As shown in (a), the 2T4R UE antenna architecture can be regarded as a combination of 1T1R and 1T3R. Figure 23 As shown in (b), the UE antenna architecture of 2T4R can be regarded as a combination of 1T2R and 1T2R.

[0165] Figure 24Examples of equivalent combinations of different antenna architectures for 2T6R according to some embodiments of this disclosure are shown. Figure 24 As shown in (a), the UE antenna architecture of 2T6R can be regarded as a combination of 1T1R and 1T5R. Figure 24 As shown in (b), the UE antenna architecture of 2T6R can be regarded as a combination of 1T2R and 1T4R. Figure 24 As shown in (c), the UE antenna architecture of 2T6R can be regarded as a combination of 1T3R and 1T3R.

[0166] In some embodiments, in addition to xTyR, the UE may also report equivalent combinations in the UE capability report, enabling the AN to know how to configure the corresponding SRS for antenna switching. For example, for Figure 23 In the 2T4R UE antenna architecture in (a), the UE can report "2T4R" and / or "1T1R+1T3R".

[0167] In some embodiments, different UE antenna architectures may be considered for aperiodic SRS configurations used for antenna switching. Table 1 provides a summary of aperiodic SRS configurations.

[0168] Table 2. Aperiodic SRS Configuration for Antenna Switching

[0169]

[0170] In some embodiments, "zS" can represent the number of antenna switches. In these embodiments, the number of SRS resources allocated across all configured SRS resource sets can be equal to z. For example, Figure 20 (a) and Figure 20 The antenna switching architecture in (b) can be represented as 2T4R3S and 2T4R2S, respectively. A total of 3 SRS or 2 SRS resources can be configured for the UE, respectively. Guard symbols can be used between SRS resources or different time slots to ensure the timing of antenna switching without causing OFDM symbol distortion.

[0171] In some embodiments, one or more protection symbols can be configured. In particular, if the UE supports antenna switching capability without protection symbols, SRS transmissions corresponding to different SRS resources can be performed continuously without OFDM symbol gaps.

[0172] Figure 25 A flowchart of a method 2500 for notifying SRS transmissions for antenna switching based on a UE-based antenna architecture, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, is shown. Method 2500 may include steps 2510, 2520, and 2530. Method 2500 can be described from the perspective of the UE.

[0173] In 2510, the UE capability message can be encoded for transmission to the AN. The UE capability message may include: a first parameter indicating a first number (x) of the UE's Tx antennas and a second number (y) of the UE's Rx antennas; and a second parameter indicating a Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture of the first number (x) of Tx antennas and the second number (y) of Rx antennas.

[0174] At 2520, in response to the UE capability message, the indication received from the AN can be decoded to obtain the configuration of a third number (u) SRS resources for antenna switching.

[0175] At 2530, a third number (u) of SRS resources can be sent to the AN.

[0176] In some embodiments, x∈{2,4}, y∈{4,6,8}, where x<y.

[0177] In some embodiments, the second parameter may be used to indicate a combination of a fourth number (k) of Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures to indicate the Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture. Each Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architecture in the fourth number (k) of Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures may include x i One Tx antenna and y i There are Rx antennas, where i ∈ {1, ..., k}, and where and

[0178] In some embodiments, the second parameter may include a fifth number (z) of antenna paths that can be flexibly switched between antennas to implicitly indicate a combination of a fourth number (k) of Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures.

[0179] In some embodiments, the second parameter may include each pair of x i and y i This explicitly indicates the combination of the fourth number (k) Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures.

[0180] In some embodiments, a third number (u) of SRS resources may be divided into k SRS resource sets, and each SRS resource set in the k SRS resource sets may be configured for a different Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architecture in a fourth number (k) of Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures.

[0181] In some embodiments, each of the fourth number (k) Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures can be configured with u i One SRS resource, of which And among them

[0182] In some embodiments, the third number (u) SRS resources can be divided into a sixth number (m) SRS resource sets. Each SRS resource set in the sixth number (m) SRS resource sets can be transmitted on a different time slot; or each SRS resource set in the sixth number (m) SRS resource sets can be transmitted on the same time slot.

[0183] Figure 26 A flowchart of a method 2600 for notifying SRS transmissions for antenna switching based on a UE-based antenna architecture, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, is shown. Method 2600 may include steps 2610, 2620, and 2630. Method 2600 can be described from the perspective of an antenna controller (AN).

[0184] At 2610, the UE capability message received from the UE can be decoded. The UE capability message may include: a first parameter indicating a first number (x) of Tx antennas and a second number (y) of Rx antennas of the UE; and a second parameter indicating a Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture of the first number (x) of Tx antennas and the second number (y) of Rx antennas.

[0185] At 2620, in response to the UE capability message, an indication is provided that can be encoded to be transmitted to the UE to indicate the configuration of a third number (u) SRS resources for antenna switching.

[0186] At 2630, the third number (u) SRS resources received from the UE can be decoded.

[0187] The embodiments of method 2600 can be understood in conjunction with the embodiments of method 2500 and the embodiments described in this disclosure, and will not be repeated here.

[0188] The above embodiments have considered different UE antenna architectures. SRS transmissions for antenna switching can be configured and communicated based on the specific antenna architecture of the UE.

[0189] Figure 27Example components of a device 2700 according to some embodiments are shown. In some embodiments, device 2700 may include at least application circuitry 2702, baseband circuitry 2704, radio frequency (RF) circuitry 2706, front-end module (FEM) circuitry 2708, one or more antennas 2710, and power management circuitry (PMC) 2712 coupled together as shown. Components of the illustrated device 2700 may be included in a UE or AN. In some embodiments, device 2700 may include fewer components (e.g., the AN may not use application circuitry 2702, but instead include a processor / controller to process IP data received from the EPC). In some embodiments, device 2700 may include additional components such as memory / storage devices, displays, cameras, sensors, or input / output (I / O) interfaces. 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).

[0190] Application circuitry 2702 may include one or more application processors. For example, application circuitry 2702 may include circuitry, such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processor(s) 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 or may include a memory / storage device and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory / storage device to enable various applications and / or operating systems to run on device 2700. In some embodiments, the processor of application circuitry 2702 may process IP packets received from the EPC.

[0191] Baseband circuit 2704 may include circuitry, such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. Baseband circuit 2704 may include one or more baseband processors or control logic to process baseband signals received from the receive signal path of RF circuit 2706 and generate baseband signals for the transmit signal path of RF circuit 2706. Baseband processing circuitry 2704 may interface with application circuitry 2702 to generate and process baseband signals and control the operation of RF circuit 2706. For example, in some embodiments, baseband circuitry 2704 may include a third-generation (3G) baseband processor 2704A, a fourth-generation (4G) baseband processor 2704B, a fifth-generation (5G) baseband processor 2704C, or one or more other baseband processors 2704D for other existing generations, generations under development, or future generations (e.g., sixth generation (6G), etc.). The baseband circuitry 2704 (e.g., one or more of the baseband processors 2704A-D) can handle various radio control functions that support communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuitry 2706. In other embodiments, some or all of the functions of the baseband processors 2704A-D may be included in modules stored in the memory 2704G and these functions may be executed via the central processing unit (CPU) 2704E. Radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation / demodulation, encoding / decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, the modulation / demodulation circuitry of the baseband circuitry 2704 may include Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), precoding, and / or constellation mapping / demapping functions. In some embodiments, the encoding / decoding circuitry of the baseband circuitry 2704 may include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, and / or low-density parity-check (LDPC) encoder / decoder functions. Embodiments of the modulation / demodulation and encoder / decoder functions are not limited to these examples, and other suitable functions may be included in other embodiments.

[0192] In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 2704 may include one or more audio digital signal processors (DSPs) 2704F. The audio DSP(s) 2704F may include elements for compression / decompression and echo cancellation, and in other embodiments may include other suitable processing elements. In some embodiments, components of the baseband circuitry may be suitably combined in a single chip, a single chipset, or arranged on the same circuit board. In some embodiments, some or all of the components of the baseband circuitry 2704 and the application circuitry 2702 may be implemented together, for example, on a system-on-a-chip (SoC).

[0193] In some embodiments, baseband circuitry 2704 can provide communications compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, baseband circuitry 2704 can support communications with the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (EUTRAN) or other Wireless Metropolitan Area Networks (WMAN), Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN), or Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPAN). Embodiments in which baseband circuitry 2704 is configured to support radio communications with more than one radio protocol may be referred to as multimode baseband circuitry.

[0194] RF circuit 2706 supports communication with wireless networks using modulated electromagnetic radiation via non-solid-state media. In various embodiments, RF circuit 2706 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc., to facilitate communication with the wireless network. RF circuit 2706 may include a receive signal path that includes circuitry for down-converting the RF signal received from FEM circuit 2708 and providing a baseband signal to baseband circuit 2704. RF circuit 2706 may also include a transmit signal path that includes circuitry for up-converting the baseband signal provided by baseband circuit 2704 and providing an RF output signal to FEM circuit 2708 for transmission.

[0195] In some embodiments, the receive signal path of the RF circuit 2706 may include a mixer circuit 2706a, an amplifier circuit 2706b, and a filter circuit 2706c. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of the RF circuit 2706 may include a filter circuit 2706c and a mixer circuit 2706a. The RF circuit 2706 may also include a synthesizer circuit 2706d for synthesizing frequencies used by the mixer circuit 2706a in both the receive and transmit signal paths. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 2706a in the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert the RF signal received from the FEM circuit 2708 based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuit 2706d. The amplifier circuit 2706b may be configured to amplify the down-converted signal, and the filter circuit 2706c may be a low-pass filter (LPF) or a band-pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signal to generate an output baseband signal. The output baseband signal can be provided to the baseband circuit 2704 for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signal may be a zero-frequency baseband signal, but this is not required. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 2706a receiving the signal path may include a passive mixer, but the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0196] In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 2706a of the transmit signal path can be configured to up-convert the input baseband signal based on the synthesis frequency provided by the synthesizer circuit 2706d to generate an RF output signal for the FEM circuit 2708. The baseband signal can be provided by the baseband circuit 2704 and can be filtered by the filter circuit 2706c.

[0197] In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 2706a for the receiving signal path and the mixer circuit 2706a for the transmitting signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature downconversion and / or upconversion, respectively.

[0198] In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 2706a for the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 2706a for the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image suppression (e.g., Hartley image suppression). In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 2706a for the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 2706a for the transmit signal path may be arranged for direct downconversion and / or direct upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 2706a for the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 2706a for the transmit signal path may be configured for superheterodyne operation.

[0199] 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 2706 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry, and the baseband circuit 2704 may include a digital baseband interface for communicating with the RF circuit 2706.

[0200] In some dual-mode embodiments, separate radio IC circuitry may be provided to process signals for each spectrum, but the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0201] In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 2706d may be a fractional N-type synthesizer or a fractional N / N+1-type 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 2706d may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer including a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider.

[0202] The synthesizer circuit 2706d can be configured to synthesize an output frequency for use by the mixer circuit 2706a of the RF circuit 2706 based on the frequency input and the divider control input. In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuit 2706d can be a fractional N / N+1 type synthesizer.

[0203] In some embodiments, the frequency input may be provided by a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), but this is not required. The divider control input may be provided by the baseband circuit 2704 or the application processor 2702 according to the desired output frequency. In some embodiments, the divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a lookup table based on the channel indicated by the application processor 2702.

[0204] The synthesizer circuit 2706d of the RF circuit 2706 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 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 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 elements may be configured to decompose the VCO period into at most 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 period.

[0205] In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 2706d may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as an output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and frequency divider circuitry to generate multiple signals having multiple phases different from each other at the carrier frequency. In some embodiments, the output frequency may be the LO frequency (fLO). In some embodiments, RF circuitry 2706 may include an IQ / polarity converter.

[0206] FEM circuit 2708 may include a receive signal path, which may include circuitry configured to operate RF signals received from one or more antennas 2710, amplify the received signals, and provide an amplified version of the received signals to RF circuit 2706 for further processing. FEM circuit 2708 may also include a transmit signal path, which may include circuitry configured to amplify signals provided by RF circuit 2706 for transmission by one or more of the one or more antennas 2710. In various embodiments, amplification via the transmit or receive signal path may be performed only in RF circuit 2706, only in FEM 2708, or in both RF circuit 2706 and FEM 2708.

[0207] In some embodiments, FEM circuit 2708 may include a TX / RX switch to switch between transmit 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 RF circuit 2706). The transmit signal path of FEM circuit 2708 may include a power amplifier (PA) for amplifying (e.g., provided by RF circuit 2706) the input RF signal and one or more filters for generating RF signals for subsequent transmission (e.g., via one or more antennas in one or more antennas 2710).

[0208] In some embodiments, the PMC 2712 can manage the power supplied to the baseband circuitry 2704. Specifically, the PMC 2712 can control power selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-DC conversion. The PMC 2712 is typically included when the device 2700 is capable of being battery powered, for example, when the device is included in a UE. The PMC 2712 can improve power conversion efficiency while providing the desired implementation size and thermal characteristics.

[0209] Although Figure 27 The diagram shows that the PMC 2712 is coupled only to the baseband circuit 2704. However, in other embodiments, the PMC 2712 may additionally or alternatively be coupled to other components and perform similar power management operations on other components, such as, but not limited to, the application circuit 2702, the RF circuit 2706, or the FEM 2708.

[0210] In some embodiments, the PMC 2712 can control various power-saving mechanisms of the device 2700, or otherwise become part of various power-saving mechanisms of the device 2700. For example, if the device 2700 is in the RRC_Connected state, in which it remains connected to the RAN node when it anticipates receiving traffic soon, it may enter a state called Discontinuous Receive Mode (DRX) after a period of inactivity. During this state, the device 2700 can power down for short intervals to save power.

[0211] If there is no data service activity during the extended period, device 2700 can transition to the RRC_Idle state. In this state, device 2700 disconnects from the network and does not perform operations such as channel quality feedback or handover. Device 2700 enters a very low-power state and performs paging, during which it periodically wakes up again to listen to the network and then powers off again. Device 2700 can not receive data in this state; to receive data, it can transition back to the RRC_Connected state.

[0212] An additional power-saving mode allows the device to be unavailable to the network for periods longer than the paging interval (ranging from seconds to hours). During this time, the device has no network access whatsoever and may lose power completely. Any data sent during this period will incur significant latency, assuming the latency is acceptable.

[0213] The processors of application circuit 2702 and baseband circuit 2704 can be used to execute elements of one or more instances of the protocol stack. For example, the processor of baseband circuit 2704 (alone or in combination) can be used to execute layer 3, layer 2, or layer 1 functions, while the processor of application circuit 2704 can utilize data received from these layers (e.g., packet data) and further execute layer 4 functions (e.g., Transport Communication Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP) layers). As mentioned herein, layer 3 may include the RRC layer. As mentioned herein, layer 2 may include the Media Access Control (MAC) layer, the Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer. As mentioned herein, layer 1 may include the physical (PHY) layer of the UE / RAN node.

[0214] Figure 28Examples of infrastructure device 2800 according to various embodiments are shown. Infrastructure device 2800 (or “system 2800”) may be implemented as a client, server, etc., such as the clients and servers previously shown and described. In other examples, system 2800 may be implemented in or by a client, one or more application servers 130 and / or any other element / device discussed herein. System 2800 may include one or more of the following: application circuitry 2805, baseband circuitry 2810, one or more radio front-end modules 2815, memory 2820, power management integrated circuitry (PMIC) 2825, power tee circuitry 2830, network controller 2835, network interface connector 2840, satellite positioning circuitry 2845, and user interface 2850. In some embodiments, device 2800 may include additional elements such as memory / storage devices, displays, cameras, sensors, or input / output (I / O) interface elements. In other embodiments, the components described below may be included in more than one device (e.g., in some implementations, the circuitry may be separately included in more than one device).

[0215] For the purposes of this document, the term "circuit" can refer to, be part of, or include hardware components configured to provide the described functions, such as: electronic circuitry, logic circuitry, processors (shared, dedicated, or grouped) and / or memories (shared, dedicated, or grouped), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable devices (FPDs) (e.g., field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), complex PLDs (CPLDs), high-capacity PLDs (HCPLDs), structured ASICs, or system-on-chips (SoCs)), digital signal processors (DSPs), and the like. In some embodiments, the circuit may execute one or more software or firmware programs to provide at least some of the described functions. Furthermore, the term "circuit" can also refer to a combination of one or more hardware elements (or circuitry used in an electrical or electronic system) and program code for performing the functions of that program code. In these embodiments, the combination of hardware components and program code can be referred to as a specific type of circuit.

[0216] The terms “application circuit” and / or “baseband circuit” may be considered synonymous with “processor circuit” and may be referred to as “processor circuit”. For the purposes of this document, the term “processor circuit” may refer to, be part of, or include circuits capable of sequentially and automatically performing a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations; and recording, storing, and / or transmitting digital data. The term “processor circuit” may refer to one or more application processors, one or more baseband processors, a physical central processing unit (CPU), a single-core processor, a dual-core processor, a triple-core processor, a quad-core processor, and / or any other device capable of executing or otherwise operating computer-executable instructions such as program code, software modules, and / or functional processes.

[0217] Application circuitry 2805 may include one or more central processing unit (CPU) cores and one or more of the following: cache memory, low dropout (LDO) regulator, interrupt controller, serial interface such as SPI, I2C, or a universal programmable serial interface module, real time clock (RTC), timer-counter including interval and watchdog timers, general purpose input / output (I / O), memory card controller such as Secure Digital (SD) / MultiMediaCard (MMC), Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface, Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI) interface, and Joint Test Access Group (JTAG) test access port. As an example, application circuitry 2805 may include one or more Intel... or Processor; Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Processor, Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) or Processor; etc. In some embodiments, system 2800 may not utilize application circuitry 2805, but may instead include, for example, a dedicated processor / controller to process IP data received from EPC or 5GC.

[0218] Additionally or alternatively, application circuitry 2805 may include, but is not limited to, circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more field-programmable devices (FPDs), such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs); programmable logic devices (PLDs), such as complex PLDs (CPLDs), high-capacity PLDs (HCPLDs); ASICs, such as structured ASICs; programmable SoCs (PSoCs); and so on. In this embodiment, the circuitry of application circuitry 2805 may include logic blocks or logic architectures, including other interconnected resources, which may be programmed to perform various functions, such as the processes, methods, functions, etc., of the various embodiments discussed herein. In this embodiment, the circuitry of application circuitry 2805 may include storage units (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, static memory (e.g., static random access memory (SRAM), antifuse, etc.) for storing logic blocks, logic architectures, data, etc. in a lookup table (LUT), etc.), etc.

[0219] The baseband circuit 2810 may be implemented, for example, as a soldered substrate including one or more integrated circuits, a single-package integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board, or a multi-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits. Although not shown, the baseband circuit 2810 may include one or more digital baseband systems that may be coupled to the CPU subsystem, audio subsystem, and interface subsystem via interconnect subsystems. The digital baseband subsystems may also be coupled to the digital baseband interface and mixed-signal baseband subsystem via additional interconnect subsystems. Each interconnect subsystem may include a bus system, point-to-point connection, network-on-chip (NOC) architecture, and / or some other suitable bus or interconnect technology, such as those discussed herein. The audio subsystem may include digital signal processing circuitry, buffer memory, program memory, voice processing accelerator circuitry, data converter circuitry such as analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converter circuitry, analog circuitry including one or more amplifiers and filters, and / or other similar components. In one aspect of this disclosure, the baseband circuit 2810 may include protocol processing circuitry having one or more instances of control circuitry (not shown) to provide control functions for the digital baseband circuitry and / or radio frequency circuitry (e.g., radio front-end module 2815).

[0220] User interface circuitry 2850 may include one or more user interfaces designed to enable user interaction with system 2800 or peripheral component interfaces designed to enable interaction with peripheral components of system 2800. User interfaces may include, but are not limited to, one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), one or more indicators (e.g., light-emitting diodes, LEDs), a physical keyboard or keypad, a mouse, a touchpad, a touchscreen, a speaker or other audio emitting device, a microphone, a printer, a scanner, headphones, a display screen or display device, etc. Peripheral component interfaces may include, but are not limited to, non-volatile memory ports, universal serial bus (USB) ports, audio jacks, power supply interfaces, etc.

[0221] The radio front-end module (RFEM) 2815 may include a millimeter-wave RFEM and one or more submillimeter-wave radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs). In some implementations, the one or more submillimeter-wave RFICs may be physically separated from the millimeter-wave RFEM. The RFIC may include connections to one or more antennas or antenna arrays, and the RFEM may be connected to multiple antennas. In alternative implementations, both millimeter-wave and submillimeter-wave radio functions may be implemented in the same physical radio front-end module 2815. The RFEM 2815 may contain both millimeter-wave and submillimeter-wave antennas.

[0222] The memory circuitry 2820 may include one or more of the following: volatile memory, including dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and / or synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM); and nonvolatile memory (NVM), including high-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly known as flash memory), phase-change random access memory (PRAM), magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), etc., and may contain information from… and A three-dimensional (3D) XPOINT memory. The memory circuit 2820 can be implemented as one or more of a solder-in packaged integrated circuit, a socket-type memory module, and an insertable memory card.

[0223] The PMIC 2825 may include a voltage regulator, surge protector, power alarm detection circuitry, and one or more backup power sources such as batteries or capacitors. The power alarm detection circuitry can detect one or more of a power outage (undervoltage) and a power surge (overvoltage) condition. The power tee circuit 2830 can provide power drawn from the network cable to supply both power and data connectivity to the infrastructure equipment 2800 via a single cable.

[0224] Network controller circuitry 2835 can provide connectivity to a network using standard network interface protocols such as Ethernet, GRE-tunneled Ethernet, Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) based Ethernet, or some other suitable protocol. Network connectivity can be provided to / from infrastructure device 2800 via a physical connection via network interface connector 2840, which can be electrical (typically referred to as a "copper interconnect"), optical, or wireless. Network controller circuitry 2835 may include one or more dedicated processors and / or FPGAs to communicate using one or more of the aforementioned protocols. In some implementations, network controller circuitry 2835 may include multiple controllers to provide connectivity to other networks using the same or different protocols.

[0225] Positioning circuit 2845 may include circuitry for receiving and decoding signals transmitted by one or more navigation satellite constellations of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS). Examples of navigation satellite constellations (or GNSS) may include the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS), Russia's Global Navigation System (GLONASS), the European Union's Galileo system, China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, regional navigation systems, or GNSS augmentation systems (e.g., Navigation with Indian Constellation (NAVIC), Japan's Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), France's Doppler Orbitography and Radio-positioning Integrated by Satellite (DORIS), etc.). Positioning circuit 2845 may include various hardware components (e.g., hardware devices such as switches, filters, amplifiers, antenna elements, etc., to facilitate communication over-the-air (OTA) communication) to communicate with components of the positioning network (e.g., navigation satellite constellation nodes).

[0226] A node or satellite of one or more navigation satellite constellations (“GNSS nodes”) can provide positioning services by continuously transmitting or broadcasting GNSS signals along the line of sight. These GNSS signals can be used by a GNSS receiver (e.g., positioning circuitry 2845 and / or positioning circuitry implemented by a client, etc.) to determine its GNSS position. The GNSS signals may include pseudo-random codes (e.g., a sequence of ones and zeros) known to the GNSS receiver and a message including the time of transmission (ToT) of the code epoch (e.g., a defined point in the pseudo-random code sequence) and the GNSS node position at the ToT. The GNSS receiver can monitor / measure GNSS signals transmitted / broadcast by multiple GNSS nodes (e.g., four or more satellites) and solve various equations to determine the corresponding GNSS position (e.g., spatial coordinates). The GNSS receiver also implements a clock that is typically not as stable and accurate as the atomic clocks of the GNSS nodes, and the GNSS receiver can use the measured GNSS signals to determine the deviation of the GNSS receiver from real time (e.g., the deviation of the GNSS receiver clock from the GNSS node time). In some embodiments, the positioning circuit 2845 may include a micro-technology for positioning, navigation, and timing (Micro-PNT) IC that uses a master timing clock to perform position tracking / estimation without GNSS assistance.

[0227] A GNSS receiver measures the time of arrival (ToA) of GNSS signals from multiple GNSS nodes based on its own clock. The GNSS receiver determines the time of flight (ToF) value for each received GNSS signal based on the ToA and ToT, and then determines the three-dimensional (3D) position and clock offset based on the ToF. The 3D position can then be converted into latitude, longitude, and altitude. Positioning circuitry 2845 provides data to application circuitry 2805, which may include one or more of position or time data. Application circuitry 2805 can use the time data to synchronize its operation with other devices.

[0228] Figure 28The components shown can communicate with each other using interface circuitry. For the purposes of this document, the term "interface circuitry" can refer to, be part of, or include circuitry that enables the exchange of information between two or more components or devices. The term "interface circuitry" can refer to one or more hardware interfaces, such as a bus, input / output (I / O) interface, peripheral component interface, network interface card, etc. Any suitable bus technology can be used in various implementations, including any number of technologies such as industry standard architecture (ISA), extended ISA (EISA), peripheral component interconnect (PCI), peripheral component interconnect extended (PCIx), PCI express (PCIe), or any number of other technologies. The bus can be, for example, a proprietary bus used in a SoC-based system. Other bus systems can be included, such as I2C interfaces, SPI interfaces, point-to-point interfaces, and power buses, etc.

[0229] Figure 29 This is a block diagram illustrating components capable of reading instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and performing any one or more methods discussed herein, according to some example embodiments. Specifically, Figure 29 A schematic representation of hardware resource 2900 is shown, which includes one or more processors (or processor cores) 2910, one or more memory / storage devices 2920, and one or more communication resources 2930, each of which can be communicatively coupled via bus 2940. For embodiments utilizing node virtualization (e.g., NFV), a hypervisor 2902 can be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices / subslices to utilize hardware resource 2900.

[0230] Processor 2910 (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) such as 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 2912 and processor 2914.

[0231] The memory / storage device 2920 may include main memory, disk storage, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory / storage device 2920 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 devices, etc.

[0232] Communication resource 2930 may include interconnect or network interface components or other suitable devices for communicating with one or more peripheral devices 2904 or one or more databases 2906 via network 2908. For example, communication resource 2930 may include wired communication components (e.g., for coupling via Universal Serial Bus (USB)), cellular communication components, NFC components, Bluetooth components (e.g., Bluetooth Low Energy), Wi-Fi components, and other communication components.

[0233] Instruction 2950 may include software, programs, applications, applets, or other executable code for causing at least any processor 2910 to perform any one or more of the methods discussed herein. Instruction 2950 may reside wholly or partially within processor 2910 (e.g., within the processor's buffer memory), memory / storage device 2920, or any suitable combination thereof. Furthermore, any portion of instruction 2950 may be transferred to hardware resource 2900 from any combination of peripheral device 2904 or database 2906. Therefore, the memories of processor 2910, memory / storage device 2920, peripheral device 2904, and database 2906 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.

[0234] The following paragraphs describe examples of various embodiments.

[0235] Example 1 includes an apparatus comprising: a radio frequency (RF) interface; and processor circuitry coupled to the RF interface, wherein the processor circuitry is configured to: encode a first parameter for transmission via the RF interface to an access node (AN), the first parameter being for reporting a first number (x) of transmit (Tx) antennas and a second number (y) of receive (Rx) antennas of a user equipment (UE); in response to the first parameter, decode a second parameter received from the AN via the RF interface to obtain a configuration of a third number (a) of sounding reference signal (SRS) resources for antenna switching; and cause the third number (a) of SRS resources to be transmitted via the RF interface to the AN, wherein x ∈ {1, 2, 4} and y ∈ {6, 8}.

[0236] Example 2 includes the apparatus described in Example 1, wherein,

[0237] Example 3 includes the apparatus described in Example 1, wherein the UE is configured with a fourth number (b) SRS ports, and wherein b = x.

[0238] Example 4 includes the apparatus described in Example 3, wherein x = 1 and y = 6, x = 1 and y = 8, x = 2 and y = 6, x = 2 and y = 8, or x = 4 and y = 8, and wherein each of the third number (a) SRS resources includes the fourth number (b) SRS ports.

[0239] Example 5 includes the apparatus described in Example 3, wherein x = 4, y = 6, a = 2, and wherein one of the two SRS resources includes 4 SRS ports, and the other of the two SRS resources includes 2 of the 4 SRS ports.

[0240] Example 6 includes the apparatus described in Example 3, wherein the fourth number (b) of SRS ports are associated with a UE antenna port group, the UE antenna port group including a fifth number (c) of UE antenna ports, and wherein c = b.

[0241] Example 7 includes the apparatus described in Example 1, wherein the UE is configured with a sixth number (d) UE antenna ports, and wherein d = y.

[0242] Example 8 includes the apparatus described in Example 1, wherein the third number (a) SRS resources are divided into a seventh number (e) SRS resource sets, and wherein the processor circuitry is further configured to: cause each SRS resource set in the seventh number (e) SRS resource sets to be transmitted in a different time slot.

[0243] Example 9 includes the apparatus described in Example 8, wherein: when x = 1 and y = 6, e ∈ {1, 2, 3}; when x = 1 and y = 8, e ∈ {2, 4}; when x = 2 and y = 6, e ∈ {1, 2, 3}; when x = 2 and y = 8, e ∈ {1, 2, 4}; when x = 4 and y = 6, e ∈ {1, 2}; or when x = 4 and y = 8, e ∈ {1, 2}.

[0244] Example 10 includes an apparatus comprising: a radio frequency (RF) interface; and processor circuitry coupled to the RF interface, wherein the processor circuitry is configured to: encode a first parameter for transmission via the RF interface to an access node (AN), the first parameter indicating one or more transmit (Tx)-antenna-receive (Rx)-antenna architectures supported by a user equipment (UE); in response to the first parameter, decode a second parameter received from the AN via the RF interface, wherein the second parameter indicates a target Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture for a sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission determined from the one or more Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architectures; and encode the SRS transmission for transmission via the RF interface to the AN based on the target Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture.

[0245] Example 11 includes the apparatus described in Example 10, wherein the second parameter is received via higher-layer signaling, and the second parameter is also used to indicate one or more SRS resource sets configured for the SRS transmission.

[0246] Example 12 includes the apparatus described in Example 11, wherein the higher-level signaling includes Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling or Medium Access Control (MAC) - Control Element (CE).

[0247] Example 13 includes the apparatus described in Example 10, wherein the processor circuitry is further configured to: decode Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling to obtain a configuration of the SRS resource set for each of the one or more Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architectures, wherein the second parameter is received via Medium Access Control (MAC)-Control Element (CE) or Downlink Control Information (DCI).

[0248] Example 14 includes the apparatus of Example 10, wherein the target Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture corresponds to fewer UE antenna port groups compared to one or more Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architectures, and wherein the processor circuitry is further configured to: encode a third parameter for transmission to the AN via the RF interface, the third parameter indicating one or more UE antenna port groups supported by the UE; decode a fourth parameter received from the AN via the RF interface in response to the third parameter to obtain a target UE antenna port group determined from the one or more UE antenna port groups; and probe the target UE antenna port group.

[0249] Example 15 includes the apparatus of Example 10, wherein the target Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture corresponds to fewer UE antenna port groups compared to one or more Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architectures, and wherein the processor circuitry is further configured to: encode a fifth parameter for transmission to the AN via the RF interface, the fifth parameter indicating one or more SRS port groups supported by the UE; decode a sixth parameter received from the AN via the RF interface in response to the fifth parameter to obtain a target SRS port group determined from the one or more SRS port groups; and probe the UE antenna port group associated with the target SRS port group.

[0250] Example 16 includes an apparatus comprising: a radio frequency (RF) interface; and processor circuitry coupled to the RF interface, wherein the processor circuitry is configured to: encode a user equipment (UE) capability message for transmission to an access node (AN) via the RF interface, wherein the UE capability message includes a first parameter and a second parameter, the first parameter indicating a first number (x) of transmit (Tx) antennas and a second number (y) of receive (Rx) antennas of the UE, and the second parameter indicating a Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture of the first number (x) of Tx antennas and the second number (y) of Rx antennas; in response to the UE capability message, decode an indication received from the AN via the RF interface to obtain a configuration of a third number (u) of sounding reference signal (SRS) resources for antenna switching; and cause the third number (u) of SRS resources to be transmitted to the AN via the RF interface.

[0251] Example 17 includes the apparatus described in Example 16, where x∈{2,4}, y∈{4,6,8}, and where x<y.

[0252] Example 18 includes the apparatus of Example 17, wherein the second parameter is used to indicate a combination of a fourth number (k) of Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures to indicate the Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture, wherein each of the fourth number (k) of Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures includes x i One Tx antenna and y i There are Rx antennas, where i ∈ {1, ..., k}, and where and

[0253] Example 19 includes the apparatus described in Example 18, wherein the second parameter includes a fifth number (z) of antenna paths that can be flexibly switched between antennas to implicitly indicate the combination of the fourth number (k) of Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures.

[0254] Example 20 includes the apparatus described in Example 18, wherein the second parameter includes each pair of x i and y i This explicitly indicates the combination of the fourth number (k) Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures.

[0255] Example 21 includes the apparatus described in Example 18, wherein the third number (u) SRS resources are divided into k SRS resource sets, and each SRS resource set in the k SRS resource sets is configured for a different Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architecture in the fourth number (k) Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures.

[0256] Example 22 includes the apparatus described in Example 18, wherein each of the fourth number (k) Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures is configured with u i One SRS resource, of which And among them

[0257] Example 23 includes the apparatus described in Example 16, wherein the third number (u) SRS resources are divided into a sixth number (m) SRS resource sets, and the processor circuitry is further configured to: cause each SRS resource set in the sixth number (m) SRS resource sets to be transmitted in a different time slot; or cause each SRS resource set in the sixth number (m) SRS resource sets to be transmitted in the same time slot.

[0258] Example 24 includes the apparatus described in Example 16, wherein the AN includes a next-generation NodeB (gNB).

[0259] Example 25 includes an apparatus comprising: a radio frequency (RF) interface; and processor circuitry coupled to the RF interface, wherein the processor circuitry is configured to: decode a first parameter received from a user equipment (UE) via the RF interface to obtain a first number (x) of transmit (Tx) antennas and a second number (y) of receive (Rx) antennas of the UE; encode the second parameter in response to the first parameter for transmission to the UE via the RF interface, the second parameter indicating the configuration of a third number (a) of sounding reference signal (SRS) resources for antenna switching; and decode the third number (a) of SRS resources received from the UE via the RF interface, wherein x ∈ {1, 2, 4} and y ∈ {6, 8}.

[0260] Example 26 includes the apparatus described in Example 25, wherein,

[0261] Example 27 includes an apparatus comprising: a radio frequency (RF) interface; and processor circuitry coupled to the RF interface, wherein the processor circuitry is configured to: decode a first parameter received from a user equipment (UE) via the RF interface to obtain one or more transmit (Tx)-antenna-receive (Rx)-antenna architectures supported by the UE; encode a second parameter in response to the first parameter for transmission to the UE via the RF interface, the second parameter indicating a target Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture for detecting reference signal (SRS) transmission determined from the one or more Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architectures; and decode the SRS transmission received from the UE via the RF interface based on the target Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture.

[0262] Example 28 includes the apparatus described in Example 27, wherein the processor circuitry is further configured to send the second parameter via higher-layer signaling, wherein the second parameter is further configured to indicate one or more SRS resource sets configured for the SRS transmission.

[0263] Example 29 includes the apparatus described in Example 28, wherein the higher-level signaling includes Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling or Media Access Control (MAC) - Control Element (CE).

[0264] Example 30 includes the apparatus described in Example 27, wherein the processor circuitry is further configured to: encode Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling to indicate the configuration of the SRS resource set for each of the one or more Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architectures; and cause the second parameter to be transmitted via Medium Access Control (MAC)-Control Element (CE) or Downlink Control Information (DCI).

[0265] Example 31 includes the apparatus of Example 27, wherein the target Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture corresponds to fewer UE antenna port groups compared to one or more Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architectures, and wherein the processor circuitry is further configured to: decode a third parameter received from the UE via the RF interface to obtain one or more UE antenna port groups supported by the UE; and, in response to the third parameter, encode a fourth parameter to transmit to the UE via the RF interface, the fourth parameter indicating a target UE antenna port group determined from the one or more UE antenna port groups.

[0266] Example 32 includes the apparatus of Example 27, wherein the target Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture corresponds to fewer UE antenna port groups compared to one or more Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architectures, and wherein the processor circuitry is further configured to: decode a fifth parameter received from the UE via the RF interface to obtain one or more SRS port groups supported by the UE; and, in response to the fifth parameter, encode a sixth parameter to transmit to the UE via the RF interface, the sixth parameter indicating a target SRS port group determined from the one or more SRS port groups for the UE to probe the UE antenna port group associated with the target SRS port group.

[0267] Example 33 includes an apparatus comprising: a radio frequency (RF) interface; and processor circuitry coupled to the RF interface, wherein the processor circuitry is configured to: decode a UE capability message received from a user equipment (UE) via the RF interface, wherein the UE capability message includes a first parameter and a second parameter, the first parameter indicating a first number (x) of transmit (Tx) antennas and a second number (y) of receive (Rx) antennas of the UE, the second parameter indicating a Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture of the first number (x) of Tx antennas and the second number (y) of Rx antennas; in response to the UE capability message, encode an indication for transmission to the UE via the RF interface, the indication indicating the configuration of a third number (u) of sounding reference signal (SRS) resources for antenna switching; and decode the third number (u) of SRS resources received from the UE via the RF interface.

[0268] Example 34 includes the apparatus described in Example 33, where x∈{2,4}, y∈{4,6,8}, and where x<y.

[0269] Example 35 includes the apparatus of Example 34, wherein the second parameter is used to indicate a combination of a fourth number (k) of Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures to indicate the Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture, wherein each of the fourth number (k) of Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures includes x i One Tx antenna and y i There are Rx antennas, where i ∈ {1, ..., k}, and where and

[0270] Example 36 includes the apparatus described in Example 35, wherein the second parameter includes a fifth number (z) of antenna paths that can be flexibly switched between antennas to implicitly indicate the combination of the fourth number (k) of Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures.

[0271] Example 37 includes the apparatus described in Example 35, wherein the second parameter includes each pair of x i and y i This explicitly indicates the combination of the fourth number (k) Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures.

[0272] Example 38 includes the apparatus described in Example 35, wherein the third number (u) SRS resources are divided into k SRS resource sets, and each SRS resource set in the k SRS resource sets is configured for a different Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architecture in the fourth number (k) Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures.

[0273] Example 39 includes the apparatus described in Example 35, wherein each of the fourth number (k) Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures is configured with u i One SRS resource, of which And among them

[0274] Example 40 includes the apparatus described in Example 33, wherein the third number (u) SRS resources are divided into a sixth number (m) SRS resource sets, and the processor circuitry is further configured to: decode each SRS resource set in the sixth number (m) SRS resource sets on a different time slot; or decode each SRS resource set in the sixth number (m) SRS resource sets on the same time slot.

[0275] Example 41 includes a method comprising: encoding a first parameter for transmission to an access node (AN), the first parameter being used to report a first number (x) of transmit (Tx) antennas and a second number (y) of receive (Rx) antennas of a user equipment (UE); decoding a second parameter received from the AN in response to the first parameter to obtain a configuration of a third number (a) of sounding reference signal (SRS) resources for antenna switching; and transmitting the third number (a) of SRS resources to the AN, wherein x ∈ {1, 2, 4} and y ∈ {6, 8}.

[0276] Example 42 includes the method described in Example 41, wherein,

[0277] Example 43 includes the method described in Example 41, wherein the UE is configured with a fourth number (b) SRS ports, and wherein b = x.

[0278] Example 44 includes the method described in Example 43, wherein x = 1 and y = 6, x = 1 and y = 8, x = 2 and y = 6, x = 2 and y = 8, or x = 4 and y = 8, and wherein each of the third number (a) SRS resources includes the fourth number (b) SRS ports.

[0279] Example 45 includes the method described in Example 43, wherein x = 4, y = 6, a = 2, and wherein one of the two SRS resources includes 4 SRS ports, and the other SRS resource includes 2 of the 4 SRS ports.

[0280] Example 46 includes the method described in Example 43, wherein the fourth number (b) SRS ports are associated with a UE antenna port group, the UE antenna port group including a fifth number (c) UE antenna ports, and wherein c = b.

[0281] Example 47 includes the method described in Example 41, wherein the UE is configured with a sixth number (d) UE antenna ports, and wherein d = y.

[0282] Example 48 includes the method of Example 41, wherein the third number (a) SRS resources are divided into a seventh number (e) SRS resource sets, and wherein the method further includes: transmitting each SRS resource set in the seventh number (e) SRS resource sets in a different time slot.

[0283] Example 49 includes the method described in Example 48, wherein: when x = 1 and y = 6, e ∈ {1, 2, 3}; when x = 1 and y = 8, e ∈ {2, 4}; when x = 2 and y = 6, e ∈ {1, 2, 3}; when x = 2 and y = 8, e ∈ {1, 2, 4}; when x = 4 and y = 6, e ∈ {1, 2}; or when x = 4 and y = 8, e ∈ {1, 2}.

[0284] Example 50 includes a method comprising: encoding a first parameter for transmission to an access node (AN), the first parameter indicating one or more transmit (Tx)-antenna-receive (Rx)-antenna architectures supported by a user equipment (UE); decoding a second parameter received from the AN in response to the first parameter, wherein the second parameter indicates a target Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture for a sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission determined from the one or more Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architectures; and encoding the SRS transmission for transmission to the AN based on the target Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture.

[0285] Example 51 includes the method of Example 50, wherein the second parameter is received via higher-layer signaling, and the second parameter is further used to indicate one or more SRS resource sets configured for the SRS transmission.

[0286] Example 52 includes the method described in Example 51, wherein the higher-level signaling includes Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling or Medium Access Control (MAC) - Control Element (CE).

[0287] Example 53 includes the method of Example 50, further comprising: decoding Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling to obtain a configuration of the SRS resource set for each of the one or more Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architectures, wherein the second parameter is received via Medium Access Control (MAC)-Control Element (CE) or Downlink Control Information (DCI).

[0288] Example 54 includes the method of Example 50, wherein the target Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture corresponds to fewer UE antenna port groups compared to one or more Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architectures, and wherein the method further includes: encoding a third parameter for transmission to the AN, the third parameter indicating one or more UE antenna port groups supported by the UE; decoding a fourth parameter received from the AN in response to the third parameter to obtain a target UE antenna port group determined from the one or more UE antenna port groups; and probing the target UE antenna port group.

[0289] Example 55 includes the method of Example 50, wherein the target Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture corresponds to fewer UE antenna port groups compared to one or more Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architectures, and wherein the method further includes: encoding a fifth parameter for transmission to the AN, the fifth parameter indicating one or more SRS port groups supported by the UE; decoding a sixth parameter received from the AN in response to the fifth parameter to obtain a target SRS port group determined from the one or more SRS port groups; and probing the UE antenna port group associated with the target SRS port group.

[0290] Example 56 includes a method comprising: encoding a User Equipment (UE) capability message for transmission to an Access Node (AN), wherein the UE capability message includes a first parameter and a second parameter, the first parameter indicating a first number (x) of transmit (Tx) antennas and a second number (y) of receive (Rx) antennas of the UE, and the second parameter indicating a Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture of the first number (x) of Tx antennas and the second number (y) of Rx antennas; decoding an indication received from the AN in response to the UE capability message to obtain a configuration of a third number (u) of sounding reference signal (SRS) resources for antenna switching; and transmitting the third number (u) of SRS resources to the AN.

[0291] Example 57 includes the method described in Example 56, where x∈{2,4}, y∈{4,6,8}, and where x<y.

[0292] Example 58 includes the method described in Example 57, wherein the second parameter is used to indicate a combination of a fourth number (k) of Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures to indicate the Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture, wherein each of the fourth number (k) of Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures includes x i One Tx antenna and y i There are Rx antennas, where i ∈ {1, ..., k}, and where and

[0293] Example 59 includes the method described in Example 58, wherein the second parameter includes a fifth number (z) of antenna paths that can be flexibly switched between antennas to implicitly indicate the combination of the fourth number (k) of Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures.

[0294] Example 60 includes the method described in Example 58, wherein the second parameter includes each pair of x i and y i This explicitly indicates the combination of the fourth number (k) Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures.

[0295] Example 61 includes the method described in Example 58, wherein the third number (u) SRS resources are divided into k SRS resource sets, and each SRS resource set in the k SRS resource sets is configured for a different Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architecture in the fourth number (k) Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures.

[0296] Example 62 includes the method described in Example 58, wherein each of the fourth number (k) Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures is configured with u i One SRS resource, of which And among them

[0297] Example 63 includes the method of Example 56, wherein the third number (u) SRS resources are divided into a sixth number (m) SRS resource sets, and the method further includes: transmitting each SRS resource set in the sixth number (m) SRS resource sets on a different time slot; or transmitting each SRS resource set in the sixth number (m) SRS resource sets on the same time slot.

[0298] Example 64 includes the method described in Example 56, wherein the AN includes a next-generation NodeB (gNB).

[0299] Example 65 includes a method comprising: decoding a first parameter received from a user equipment (UE) to obtain a first number (x) of transmit (Tx) antennas and a second number (y) of receive (Rx) antennas of the UE; encoding the second parameter in response to the first parameter to transmit to the UE, the second parameter indicating the configuration of a third number (a) of sounding reference signal (SRS) resources for antenna switching; and decoding the third number (a) of SRS resources received from the UE, wherein x ∈ {1, 2, 4} and y ∈ {6, 8}.

[0300] Example 66 includes the method described in Example 65, wherein,

[0301] Example 67 includes a method comprising: decoding a first parameter received from a user equipment (UE) to obtain one or more transmit (Tx)-antenna-receive (Rx)-antenna architectures supported by the UE; encoding a second parameter in response to the first parameter to transmit to the UE, the second parameter indicating a target Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture determined from the one or more Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architectures for a sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission; and decoding the SRS transmission received from the UE based on the target Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture.

[0302] Example 68 includes the method of Example 67, further comprising: sending the second parameter via higher-layer signaling, wherein the second parameter is also used to indicate one or more SRS resource sets configured for the SRS transport.

[0303] Example 69 includes the method described in Example 68, wherein the higher-level signaling includes Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling or Media Access Control (MAC) - Control Element (CE).

[0304] Example 70 includes the method of Example 67, further comprising: encoding Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling to indicate the configuration of an SRS resource set for each of the one or more Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architectures; and transmitting the second parameter via Medium Access Control (MAC)-Control Element (CE) or Downlink Control Information (DCI).

[0305] Example 71 includes the method of Example 67, wherein the target Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture corresponds to fewer UE antenna port groups compared to one or more Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architectures, and wherein the method further includes: decoding a third parameter received from the UE to obtain one or more UE antenna port groups supported by the UE; and encoding a fourth parameter in response to the third parameter to send to the UE, the fourth parameter indicating a target UE antenna port group determined from the one or more UE antenna port groups.

[0306] Example 72 includes the method of Example 67, wherein the target Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture corresponds to fewer UE antenna port groups compared to one or more Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architectures, and wherein the method further includes: decoding a fifth parameter received from the UE to obtain one or more SRS port groups supported by the UE; and encoding a sixth parameter in response to the fifth parameter to transmit to the UE, the sixth parameter indicating a target SRS port group determined from the one or more SRS port groups for the UE to probe the UE antenna port group associated with the target SRS port group.

[0307] Example 73 includes a method comprising: decoding a UE capability message received from a user equipment (UE), wherein the UE capability message includes a first parameter and a second parameter, the first parameter indicating a first number (x) of transmit (Tx) antennas and a second number (y) of receive (Rx) antennas of the UE, the second parameter indicating a Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture of the first number (x) of Tx antennas and the second number (y) of Rx antennas; encoding an indication for transmission to the UE in response to the UE capability message, the indication indicating the configuration of a third number (u) of sounding reference signal (SRS) resources for antenna switching; and decoding the third number (u) of SRS resources received from the UE.

[0308] Example 74 includes the method described in Example 73, where x∈{2,4}, y∈{4,6,8}, and where x<y.

[0309] Example 75 includes the method described in Example 74, wherein the second parameter is used to indicate a combination of a fourth number (k) of Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures to indicate the Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture, wherein each of the fourth number (k) of Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures includes x i One Tx antenna and y i There are Rx antennas, where i ∈ {1, ..., k}, and where and

[0310] Example 76 includes the method described in Example 75, wherein the second parameter includes a fifth number (z) of antenna paths that can be flexibly switched between antennas to implicitly indicate the combination of the fourth number (k) of Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures.

[0311] Example 77 includes the method described in Example 75, wherein the second parameter includes each pair of x i and y i This explicitly indicates the combination of the fourth number (k) Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures.

[0312] Example 78 includes the method described in Example 75, wherein the third number (u) SRS resources are divided into k SRS resource sets, and each SRS resource set in the k SRS resource sets is configured for a different Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architecture in the fourth number (k) Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures.

[0313] Example 79 includes the method described in Example 75, wherein each of the fourth number (k) Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures is configured with u i One SRS resource, of which And among them

[0314] Example 80 includes the method of Example 73, wherein the third number (u) SRS resources are divided into a sixth number (m) SRS resource sets, and the method further includes: decoding each SRS resource set in the sixth number (m) SRS resource sets on a different time slot; or decoding each SRS resource set in the sixth number (m) SRS resource sets on the same time slot.

[0315] Example 81 includes an apparatus comprising: a component for encoding a first parameter for transmission to an access node (AN), the first parameter being for reporting a first number (x) of transmit (Tx) antennas and a second number (y) of receive (Rx) antennas of a user equipment (UE); a component for decoding a second parameter received from the AN in response to the first parameter to obtain a configuration of a third number (a) of sounding reference signal (SRS) resources for antenna switching; and a component for transmitting the third number (a) of SRS resources to the AN, wherein x ∈ {1, 2, 4} and y ∈ {6, 8}.

[0316] Example 82 includes the apparatus described in Example 81, wherein,

[0317] Example 83 includes the apparatus described in Example 81, wherein the UE is configured with a fourth number (b) SRS ports, and wherein b = x.

[0318] Example 84 includes the apparatus described in Example 83, wherein x = 1 and y = 6, x = 1 and y = 8, x = 2 and y = 6, x = 2 and y = 8, or x = 4 and y = 8, and wherein each of the third number (a) of SRS resources includes the fourth number (b) of SRS ports.

[0319] Example 85 includes the apparatus described in Example 83, wherein x = 4, y = 6, a = 2, and wherein one of the two SRS resources includes 4 SRS ports, and the other of the two SRS resources includes 2 of the 4 SRS ports.

[0320] Example 86 includes the apparatus described in Example 83, wherein the fourth number (b) of SRS ports are associated with a UE antenna port group, the UE antenna port group including a fifth number (c) of UE antenna ports, and wherein c = b.

[0321] Example 87 includes the apparatus described in Example 81, wherein the UE is configured with a sixth number (d) UE antenna ports, and wherein d = y.

[0322] Example 88 includes the apparatus of Example 81, wherein the third number (a) SRS resources are divided into a seventh number (e) SRS resource sets, and wherein the apparatus further includes a component for transmitting each SRS resource set in the seventh number (e) SRS resource sets in a different time slot.

[0323] Example 89 includes the apparatus described in Example 88, wherein: when x = 1 and y = 6, e ∈ {1, 2, 3}; when x = 1 and y = 8, e ∈ {2, 4}; when x = 2 and y = 6, e ∈ {1, 2, 3}; when x = 2 and y = 8, e ∈ {1, 2, 4}; when x = 4 and y = 6, e ∈ {1, 2}; or when x = 4 and y = 8, e ∈ {1, 2}.

[0324] Example 90 includes an apparatus comprising: components for encoding a first parameter for transmission to an access node (AN), the first parameter indicating one or more transmit (Tx)-antenna-receive (Rx)-antenna architectures supported by a user equipment (UE); components for decoding a second parameter received from the AN in response to the first parameter, wherein the second parameter indicates a target Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture for sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission determined from the one or more Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architectures; and components for encoding the SRS transmission for transmission to the AN based on the target Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture.

[0325] Example 91 includes the apparatus of Example 90, wherein the second parameter is received via higher-layer signaling, and the second parameter is further used to indicate one or more SRS resource sets configured for the SRS transmission.

[0326] Example 92 includes the apparatus described in Example 91, wherein the higher-level signaling includes Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling or Medium Access Control (MAC) - Control Element (CE).

[0327] Example 93 includes the apparatus of Example 90, further comprising: a component for decoding Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling to obtain a configuration of the SRS resource set for each of the one or more Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architectures, wherein the second parameter is received via Medium Access Control (MAC)-Control Element (CE) or Downlink Control Information (DCI).

[0328] Example 94 includes the apparatus of Example 90, wherein the target Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture corresponds to fewer UE antenna port groups compared to one or more Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architectures, and wherein the apparatus further includes: components for encoding a third parameter for transmission to the AN, the third parameter indicating one or more UE antenna port groups supported by the UE; components for decoding a fourth parameter received from the AN in response to the third parameter to obtain a target UE antenna port group determined from the one or more UE antenna port groups; and components for probing the target UE antenna port group.

[0329] Example 95 includes the apparatus of Example 90, wherein the target Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture corresponds to fewer UE antenna port groups compared to one or more Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architectures, and wherein the apparatus further includes: components for encoding a fifth parameter for transmission to the AN, the fifth parameter indicating one or more SRS port groups supported by the UE; components for decoding a sixth parameter received from the AN in response to the fifth parameter to obtain a target SRS port group determined from the one or more SRS port groups; and components for probing the UE antenna port group associated with the target SRS port group.

[0330] Example 96 includes an apparatus comprising: components for encoding a user equipment (UE) capability message for transmission to an access node (AN), wherein the UE capability message includes a first parameter and a second parameter, the first parameter indicating a first number (x) of transmit (Tx) antennas and a second number (y) of receive (Rx) antennas of the UE, and the second parameter indicating a Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture of the first number (x) of Tx antennas and the second number (y) of Rx antennas; components for decoding an indication received from the AN in response to the UE capability message to obtain a configuration of a third number (u) of sounding reference signal (SRS) resources for antenna switching; and components for transmitting the third number (u) of SRS resources to the AN.

[0331] Example 97 includes the apparatus described in Example 96, where x∈{2,4}, y∈{4,6,8}, and where x<y.

[0332] Example 98 includes the apparatus of Example 97, wherein the second parameter is used to indicate a combination of a fourth number (k) of Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures to indicate the Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture, wherein each of the fourth number (k) of Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures includes x i One Tx antenna and y i There are Rx antennas, where i ∈ {1, ..., k}, and where and

[0333] Example 99 includes the apparatus described in Example 98, wherein the second parameter includes a fifth number (z) of antenna paths that can be flexibly switched between antennas to implicitly indicate the combination of the fourth number (k) of Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures.

[0334] Example 100 includes the apparatus described in Example 98, wherein the second parameter includes each pair of x i and y i This explicitly indicates the combination of the fourth number (k) Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures.

[0335] Example 101 includes the apparatus described in Example 98, wherein the third number (u) SRS resources are divided into k SRS resource sets, and each SRS resource set in the k SRS resource sets is configured for a different Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architecture in the fourth number (k) Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures.

[0336] Example 102 includes the apparatus described in Example 98, wherein each of the fourth number (k) Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures is configured with u i One SRS resource, of which And among them

[0337] Example 103 includes the apparatus of Example 96, wherein the third number (u) SRS resources are divided into a sixth number (m) SRS resource sets, and the apparatus further includes: a component for transmitting each SRS resource set in the sixth number (m) SRS resource sets on a different time slot; or a component for transmitting each SRS resource set in the sixth number (m) SRS resource sets on the same time slot.

[0338] Example 104 includes the apparatus described in Example 96, wherein the AN includes a next-generation NodeB (gNB).

[0339] Example 105 includes an apparatus comprising: a component for decoding a first parameter received from a user equipment (UE) to obtain a first number (x) of transmit (Tx) antennas and a second number (y) of receive (Rx) antennas of the UE; a component for encoding a second parameter in response to the first parameter to transmit to the UE, the second parameter indicating the configuration of a third number (a) of sounding reference signal (SRS) resources for antenna switching; and a component for decoding the third number (a) of SRS resources received from the UE, wherein x ∈ {1, 2, 4} and y ∈ {6, 8}.

[0340] Example 106 includes the apparatus described in Example 105, wherein,

[0341] Example 107 includes an apparatus comprising: components for decoding a first parameter received from a user equipment (UE) to obtain one or more transmit (Tx)-antenna-receive (Rx)-antenna architectures supported by the UE; components for encoding a second parameter in response to the first parameter to transmit to the UE, the second parameter indicating a target Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture for detecting reference signal (SRS) transmissions determined from the one or more Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architectures; and components for decoding the SRS transmissions received from the UE based on the target Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture.

[0342] Example 108 includes the apparatus described in Example 107, and further includes: a component for transmitting the second parameter via higher-layer signaling, wherein the second parameter is also used to indicate one or more SRS resource sets configured for the SRS transmission.

[0343] Example 109 includes the apparatus described in Example 108, wherein the higher-level signaling includes Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling or Medium Access Control (MAC) - Control Element (CE).

[0344] Example 110 includes the apparatus of Example 107, further comprising: components for encoding Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling to indicate the configuration of the SRS resource set for each of the one or more Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architectures; and components for transmitting the second parameter via Medium Access Control (MAC)-Control Element (CE) or Downlink Control Information (DCI).

[0345] Example 111 includes the apparatus of Example 107, wherein the target Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture corresponds to fewer UE antenna port groups compared to one or more Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architectures, and wherein the apparatus further includes: a component for decoding a third parameter received from the UE to obtain one or more UE antenna port groups supported by the UE; and a component for encoding a fourth parameter in response to the third parameter for transmission to the UE, the fourth parameter indicating a target UE antenna port group determined from the one or more UE antenna port groups.

[0346] Example 112 includes the apparatus of Example 107, wherein the target Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture corresponds to fewer UE antenna port groups compared to one or more Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architectures, and wherein the apparatus further includes: a component for decoding a fifth parameter received from the UE to obtain one or more SRS port groups supported by the UE; and a component for encoding a sixth parameter in response to the fifth parameter for transmission to the UE, the sixth parameter indicating a target SRS port group determined from the one or more SRS port groups for the UE to probe the UE antenna port group associated with the target SRS port group.

[0347] Example 113 includes an apparatus comprising: components for decoding a UE capability message received from a user equipment (UE), wherein the UE capability message includes a first parameter and a second parameter, the first parameter indicating a first number (x) of transmit (Tx) antennas and a second number (y) of receive (Rx) antennas of the UE, the second parameter indicating a Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture of the first number (x) of Tx antennas and the second number (y) of Rx antennas; components for encoding an indication for transmission to the UE in response to the UE capability message, the indication indicating the configuration of a third number (u) of sounding reference signal (SRS) resources for antenna switching; and components for decoding the third number (u) of SRS resources received from the UE.

[0348] Example 114 includes the apparatus described in Example 113, where x∈{2,4}, y∈{4,6,8}, and where x<y.

[0349] Example 115 includes the apparatus described in Example 114, wherein the second parameter is used to indicate a combination of a fourth number (k) of Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures to indicate the Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture, wherein each of the fourth number (k) of Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures includes x i One Tx antenna and y i There are Rx antennas, where i ∈ {1, ..., k}, and where and

[0350] Example 116 includes the apparatus described in Example 115, wherein the second parameter includes a fifth number (z) of antenna paths that can be flexibly switched between antennas to implicitly indicate the combination of the fourth number (k) of Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures.

[0351] Example 117 includes the apparatus described in Example 115, wherein the second parameter includes each pair of x i and y i This explicitly indicates the combination of the fourth number (k) Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures.

[0352] Example 118 includes the apparatus described in Example 115, wherein the third number (u) SRS resources are divided into k SRS resource sets, and each SRS resource set in the k SRS resource sets is configured for a different Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architecture in the fourth number (k) Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures.

[0353] Example 119 includes the apparatus described in Example 115, wherein each of the fourth number (k) Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures is configured with u i One SRS resource, of which And among them

[0354] Example 120 includes the apparatus of Example 113, wherein the third number (u) SRS resources are divided into a sixth number (m) SRS resource sets, and the apparatus further includes: a component for decoding each SRS resource set in the sixth number (m) SRS resource sets on a different time slot; or a component for decoding each SRS resource set in the sixth number (m) SRS resource sets on the same time slot.

[0355] Example 121 includes a computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by processor circuitry, cause the processor circuitry to perform a method as described in any one of Examples 41 to 64.

[0356] Example 122 includes a computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by processor circuitry, cause the processor circuitry to perform a method as described in any one of Examples 65 to 80.

[0357] Example 123 includes a method performed by a user equipment (UE) as described and shown in the specification.

[0358] Example 124 includes a user equipment (UE) as described and shown in the specification.

[0359] Example 125 includes a method performed by an access node (AN) as described and shown in the specification.

[0360] Example 126 includes an access node (AN) as described and shown in the specification.

[0361] While certain embodiments have been illustrated and described herein for purposes of description, various alternative and / or equivalent embodiments or implementations devised to achieve the same purpose may replace the illustrated and described embodiments without departing from the scope of this disclosure. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the embodiments discussed herein. Therefore, it is readily understood that the embodiments described herein are limited only by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A device for communication, comprising: RF interface; and The processor circuit is coupled to the RF interface. The processor circuit is used for: The first parameter is encoded to be transmitted to the access node AN via the RF interface. The first parameter is used to report the first number x of the user equipment UE's transmit Tx antennas and the second number y of the receive Rx antennas. Decoding the second parameter received from the AN via the RF interface to obtain the configuration of a third number of a sounding reference signal (SRS) resources for antenna switching, wherein the second parameter is the AN's response to the first parameter; and This enables the third number of a SRS resources to be sent to the AN via the RF interface. Where x = 4, y = 6, and 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, The UE is configured with a fourth number of b SRS ports, where b = x.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein, One of the two SRS resources includes four SRS ports, and the other SRS resource includes two of the four SRS ports.

4. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein, The fourth number of b SRS ports are associated with a UE antenna port group, which includes a fifth number of c UE antenna ports, where c = b.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, The UE is configured with a sixth number of d UE antenna ports, where d = y.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, The third number of a SRS resources is divided into a seventh number of e SRS resource sets, and wherein the processor circuit is further configured to: This ensures that each of the e SRS resource sets in the seventh number of SRS resource sets is transmitted in a different time slot.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein: e∈{1，2}。 8. A device for communication, comprising: RF interface; and The processor circuit is coupled to the RF interface. The processor circuit is used for: The user equipment (UE) capability message is encoded and sent to the access node (AN) via the RF interface. The UE capability message includes a first parameter and a second parameter. The first parameter indicates a first number x of the UE's transmitting Tx antennas and a second number y of the UE's receiving Rx antennas. The second parameter indicates the Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture of the first number x Tx antennas and the second number y Rx antennas. Decoding the indication received from the AN via the RF interface to obtain the configuration of a third number u Sounding Reference Signals (SRS) resources for antenna switching, the indication being the AN's response to the UE capability message; and This enables the third number u SRS resources to be sent to the AN via the RF interface. Wherein, the second parameter is used to indicate a combination of a fourth number of k Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures to indicate the Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna architecture, wherein each of the fourth number of k Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures includes x i One Tx antenna and y i There are Rx antennas, where i ∈ {1, ..., k}, and where and 9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein x∈{2,4}, y∈{4,6,8}, and wherein x<y.

10. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein, The second parameter includes a fifth number z of antenna paths that can be flexibly switched between antennas, implicitly indicating the combination of the fourth number k Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures.

11. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein, The second parameter includes each pair of x i and y i This explicitly indicates the combination of the fourth number k Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures.

12. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein, The third number u SRS resources are divided into k SRS resource sets, and each SRS resource set in the k SRS resource sets is configured for a different Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architecture in the fourth number k Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures.

13. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein, Each of the fourth number k Tx-antenna-Rx-antenna sub-architectures is configured with u i One SRS resource, of which And among them 14. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein, The third number u SRS resources are divided into a sixth number m SRS resource set, and the processor circuit is further configured to: This causes each of the m SRS resource sets in the sixth number of SRS resource sets to be transmitted in a different time slot; or This ensures that each of the m SRS resource sets in the sixth number is transmitted in the same time slot.

15. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein, The AN includes gNB.

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