Narrowband reference signal configuration for non-anchor carriers

Abstract

The described technology relates to methods, systems, devices and apparatuses that support narrowband reference signal (NRS) configuration for non-anchor carriers. In summary, the described technology provides for increasing the length of the NRS scrambling sequence for non-anchor carriers. For example, the NRS scrambling sequence initialization equation can be a function of the system frame number. The base station can send a non-anchor carrier configuration to a user equipment (UE), which indicates that the NRS scrambling sequence is extended relative to other NRS scrambling sequences. For example, the non-anchor carrier configuration can indicate the scrambling sequence initialization for the NRS. In some examples, the length of the NRS scrambling sequence is increased by extending the number of possible initializations. The base station and the UE can communicate based on the extended length of the NRS scrambling sequence for the non-anchor carrier of the NRS.

Description

[0001] Cross-references

[0002] This patent application claims priority to U.S. Patent Application No. 17 / 035,647, filed by RICO ALVARINO et al. on September 28, 2020, and entitled “NARROWBAND REFERENCE SIGNAL CONFIGURATION FOR NON-ANCHOR CARRIERS,” and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 916,082, filed by RICO ALVARINO et al. on October 16, 2019, and entitled “NARROWBAND REFERENCE SIGNAL CONFIGURATION FOR NON-ANCHOR CARRIERS,” each of which is assigned to the assignee of this application. Technical Field

[0003] The following relates generally to wireless communications, and more particularly, to narrowband reference signal configuration for a non-anchor carrier. Background Art

[0004] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcasting, etc. These systems may be able to support communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of such multiple access systems include fourth generation (4G) systems (e.g., long term evolution (LTE) systems, improved LTE (LTE-A) systems, or LTE-A Pro systems) and fifth generation (5G) systems (which may be referred to as new radio (NR) systems). These systems may employ techniques such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), or discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-S-OFDM). A wireless multiple access communication system may include one or more base stations or one or more network access nodes, each base station or network access node simultaneously supporting communication for multiple communication devices (which may be further referred to as user equipment (UE)).

[0005] A base station may use one or more cells to communicate with a wireless device (eg, UE). In some cases, a UE may receive narrowband reference signals (NRS) from multiple cells that conflict. Such conflicts may result in performance degradation of the wireless communication system. Summary of the invention

[0006] The described technology relates to improved methods, systems, devices and apparatuses for supporting narrowband reference signal configuration for non-anchor carriers. In summary, the described technology provides increasing the length of an NRS scrambling sequence for a non-anchor carrier (e.g., from one radio frame to several radio frames). For example, the NRS scrambling sequence initialization equation may be a function of a system frame number. A base station may send a non-anchor carrier configuration to a UE, indicating that the NRS scrambling sequence is extended relative to other NRS scrambling sequences (e.g., an NRS scrambling sequence associated with an anchor carrier). For example, the non-anchor carrier configuration may indicate scrambling sequence initialization for NRS. In some examples, the length of the NRS scrambling sequence is increased by extending the number of possible initializations. The non-anchor carrier configuration may be enabled by a UE capability message or a network configuration. For example, a UE may send an indication of UE capabilities to a base station, and the base station may configure the UE in a non-anchor carrier. The base station and the UE may communicate based on the extended length of the NRS scrambling sequence for a non-anchor carrier of the NRS.

[0007] A method of wireless communication at a UE is described. The method may include: identifying a first narrowband reference signal associated with an anchor carrier, wherein scrambling of the first narrowband reference signal is based on a first scrambling initialization; receiving a carrier configuration for a non-anchor carrier associated with a second narrowband reference signal, wherein the carrier configuration for the non-anchor carrier indicates whether scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal is based on the first scrambling initialization or a second scrambling initialization different from the first scrambling initialization; and communicating with a base station on the non-anchor carrier based on the second narrowband reference signal.

[0008] An apparatus for wireless communication at a UE is described. The apparatus may include a processor, a memory coupled to the processor, and instructions stored in the memory. The instructions may be executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to perform the following operations: identify a first narrowband reference signal associated with an anchor carrier, wherein scrambling of the first narrowband reference signal is based on a first scrambling initialization; receive a carrier configuration for a non-anchor carrier associated with a second narrowband reference signal, wherein the carrier configuration for the non-anchor carrier indicates whether scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal is based on the first scrambling initialization or a second scrambling initialization different from the first scrambling initialization; and communicate with a base station on the non-anchor carrier based on the second narrowband reference signal.

[0009] Another apparatus for wireless communication at a UE is described. The apparatus may include means for: identifying a first narrowband reference signal associated with an anchor carrier, wherein scrambling of the first narrowband reference signal is based on a first scrambling initialization; receiving a carrier configuration for a non-anchor carrier associated with a second narrowband reference signal, wherein the carrier configuration for the non-anchor carrier indicates whether scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal is based on the first scrambling initialization or a second scrambling initialization different from the first scrambling initialization; and communicating with a base station on the non-anchor carrier based on the second narrowband reference signal.

[0010] A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication at a UE is described. The code may include instructions executable by a processor to: identify a first narrowband reference signal associated with an anchor carrier, wherein scrambling of the first narrowband reference signal is based on a first scrambling initialization; receive a carrier configuration for a non-anchor carrier associated with a second narrowband reference signal, wherein the carrier configuration for the non-anchor carrier indicates whether scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal is based on the first scrambling initialization or a second scrambling initialization different from the first scrambling initialization; and communicate with a base station on the non-anchor carrier based on the second narrowband reference signal.

[0011] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for performing the following: sending a capability message indicating an ability to support the scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal based on the second scrambling initialization, wherein receiving the carrier configuration for the non-anchor carrier may be based on the capability message.

[0012] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for performing the following: receiving an indication associated with a set of non-anchor carriers for paging, wherein the indication associated with the set of non-anchor carriers for paging is used to indicate that a subset of the set of non-anchor carriers for paging can be scrambled based on the second scrambling initialization.

[0013] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for performing the following: selecting a non-anchor carrier for paging from the set of non-anchor carriers for paging based on UE capabilities, a scrambling initialization type of the non-anchor carrier for paging, an identifier of the UE, or a combination thereof.

[0014] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for performing the following: receiving an indication associated with a set of non-anchor carriers for random access, wherein the indication associated with the set of non-anchor carriers for random access is used to indicate that a subset of the set of non-anchor carriers for random access can be scrambled based on the second scrambling initialization.

[0015] Some examples of the methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, means, or instructions for selecting a non-anchor carrier for random access from the set of non-anchor carriers for random access based on UE capabilities.

[0016] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for performing the following: receiving a system information message, wherein the system information message indicates a scrambling initialization type for a narrowband reference signal for a carrier associated with a multicast control channel.

[0017] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for performing the following: receiving an indication associated with the multicast control channel, wherein the indication associated with the multicast control channel is used to indicate a scrambling initialization type for a narrowband reference signal of a non-anchor carrier associated with a multicast service channel.

[0018] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the non-anchor carrier comprises an aggregation of two physical resource blocks, wherein the carrier configuration for the non-anchor carrier indicates scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal by configuring the non-anchor carrier as an aggregation of two physical resource blocks.

[0019] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, a first physical resource block of the non-anchor carrier can be associated with a narrowband reference signal having a scrambled initialization based on the first scrambling, and a second physical resource block of the non-anchor carrier can be associated with a narrowband reference signal having a scrambled initialization based on the second scrambling.

[0020] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the first physical resource block and the second physical resource block of the non-anchor carrier may be associated with a narrowband reference signal having scrambling initialized based on the second scrambling.

[0021] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the second scrambling initialization may be initialized once per symbol and mapped to the narrowband reference signal on two physical resource blocks.

[0022] In some examples of the methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the second scrambling initialization may be initialized separately for each physical resource block based on a carrier identifier and mapped separately for each physical resource block.

[0023] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for performing the following: receiving the second narrowband reference signal, wherein scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal may be initialized based on the second scrambling.

[0024] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the second scrambling initialization may be based on a system frame number.

[0025] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the first scrambling initialization may be associated with a first period and the second scrambling initialization may be associated with a second period, where the second period may be greater than the first period.

[0026] A method of wireless communication at a base station is described. The method may include: identifying a first narrowband reference signal associated with an anchor carrier, wherein scrambling of the first narrowband reference signal is based on a first scrambling initialization; sending a carrier configuration for a non-anchor carrier associated with a second narrowband reference signal, wherein the carrier configuration for the non-anchor carrier indicates whether scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal is based on the first scrambling initialization or a second scrambling initialization different from the first scrambling initialization; and communicating with a UE on the non-anchor carrier based on the second narrowband reference signal.

[0027] An apparatus for wireless communication at a base station is described. The apparatus may include a processor, a memory coupled to the processor, and instructions stored in the memory. The instructions may be executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to perform the following operations: identify a first narrowband reference signal associated with an anchor carrier, wherein scrambling of the first narrowband reference signal is based on a first scrambling initialization; send a carrier configuration for a non-anchor carrier associated with a second narrowband reference signal, wherein the carrier configuration for the non-anchor carrier indicates whether scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal is based on the first scrambling initialization or a second scrambling initialization different from the first scrambling initialization; and communicate with a UE on the non-anchor carrier based on the second narrowband reference signal.

[0028] Another apparatus for wireless communication at a base station is described. The apparatus may include means for: identifying a first narrowband reference signal associated with an anchor carrier, wherein scrambling of the first narrowband reference signal is based on a first scrambling initialization; sending a carrier configuration for a non-anchor carrier associated with a second narrowband reference signal, wherein the carrier configuration for the non-anchor carrier indicates whether scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal is based on the first scrambling initialization or a second scrambling initialization different from the first scrambling initialization; and communicating with a UE on the non-anchor carrier based on the second narrowband reference signal.

[0029] A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication at a base station is described. The code may include instructions executable by a processor to: identify a first narrowband reference signal associated with an anchor carrier, wherein scrambling of the first narrowband reference signal is based on a first scrambling initialization; send a carrier configuration for a non-anchor carrier associated with a second narrowband reference signal, wherein the carrier configuration for the non-anchor carrier indicates whether scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal is based on the first scrambling initialization or a second scrambling initialization different from the first scrambling initialization; and communicate with a UE on the non-anchor carrier based on the second narrowband reference signal.

[0030] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for performing the following: receiving a capability message indicating an ability to support the scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal based on the second scrambling initialization, wherein sending the carrier configuration for the non-anchor carrier may be based on the capability message.

[0031] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for performing the following: broadcasting an indication associated with a set of non-anchor carriers for paging, wherein the indication associated with the set of non-anchor carriers for paging is used to indicate that a subset of the set of non-anchor carriers for paging can be scrambled based on the second scrambling initialization.

[0032] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for performing the following: broadcasting an indication associated with a set of non-anchor carriers for random access, wherein the indication associated with the set of non-anchor carriers for random access is used to indicate that a subset of the set of non-anchor carriers for random access can be scrambled based on the second scrambling initialization.

[0033] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for performing the following: broadcasting a system information message, wherein the system information message indicates a scrambling initialization type for a narrowband reference signal for a carrier associated with a multicast control channel.

[0034] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for performing the following: sending an indication associated with the multicast control channel, wherein the indication associated with the multicast control channel is used to indicate a scrambling initialization type for a narrowband reference signal of a non-anchor carrier associated with a multicast service channel.

[0035] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the non-anchor carrier comprises an aggregation of two physical resource blocks, wherein the carrier configuration for the non-anchor carrier indicates scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal by configuring the non-anchor carrier as an aggregation of two physical resource blocks.

[0036] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, a first physical resource block of the non-anchor carrier can be associated with a narrowband reference signal having a scrambled initialization based on the first scrambling, and a second physical resource block of the non-anchor carrier can be associated with a narrowband reference signal having a scrambled initialization based on the second scrambling.

[0037] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the first physical resource block and the second physical resource block of the non-anchor carrier may be associated with a narrowband reference signal having scrambling initialized based on the second scrambling.

[0038] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the second scrambling initialization may be initialized once per symbol and mapped to the narrowband reference signal on two physical resource blocks.

[0039] In some examples of the methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the second scrambling initialization may be initialized separately for each physical resource block based on a carrier identifier and mapped individually for each physical resource block.

[0040] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, units, or instructions for performing the following: sending the second narrowband reference signal, wherein scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal may be initialized based on the second scrambling.

[0041] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the second scrambling initialization may be based on a system frame number.

[0042] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the first scrambling initialization may be associated with a first period and the second scrambling initialization may be associated with a second period, where the second period may be greater than the first period. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0043] Figure 1

[0013] An example of a system for wireless communication supporting narrowband reference signal configuration for a non-anchor carrier in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0044] Figure 2 An example of a wireless communication system supporting narrowband reference signal configuration for a non-anchor carrier in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0045] Figure 3 An example of a process flow supporting narrowband reference signal configuration for a non-anchor carrier in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0046] Figure 4 and 5 A diagram illustrating a device supporting narrowband reference signal configuration for a non-anchor carrier in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0047] Figure 6 A diagram of a communications manager supporting narrowband reference signal configuration for a non-anchor carrier is shown in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0048] Figure 7A diagram of a system including devices supporting narrowband reference signal configuration for a non-anchor carrier is shown in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0049] Figure 8 and 9 A diagram illustrating a device supporting narrowband reference signal configuration for a non-anchor carrier in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0050] Fig.10 A diagram of a communications manager supporting narrowband reference signal configuration for a non-anchor carrier is shown in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0051] Fig.11 A diagram of a system including devices supporting narrowband reference signal configuration for a non-anchor carrier is shown in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0052] Figures 12 to 17 A flow chart illustrating a method of supporting narrowband reference signal configuration for a non-anchor carrier in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0053] The base station can communicate with a user equipment (UE) (e.g., an Internet of Things (IoT) device) using one or more cells. IoT devices can operate on a narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) communication network to allow connection quality between a large number of IoT devices. The base station can send a cell-specific reference signal called a narrowband reference signal (NRS). NRS is a broadcast signal (e.g., all UEs of a given base station NB-IOT carrier can listen to the same NRS) and can provide a phase reference for demodulation of a downlink channel. The UE can receive a first NRS on a cell and a second NRS on a different cell. Due to the limited number of resource elements (REs) allocated for NRS (e.g., 4-8 REs are allocated for NRS per subframe), NRSs from different cells may conflict and cause interference to the UE. The scrambling sequence for NRS can be initialized at the beginning of each orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol and has a period of 10ms (e.g., repeated for each radio frame). The first and second NRSs received by the UE can be related, and the scrambling sequence can be repeated with the same period. In such a case, since the second NRS has the same period as the first NRS, the UE may not be able to filter out the interference or noise caused by the second NRS. Therefore, at least due to the length of the NRS scrambling sequence (e.g., repeated every radio frame), the UE may not be able to adequately remove the interference.

[0054] When a UE connects with a base station on a carrier, it can receive synchronization and system information. The carrier used for initial connection establishment between a UE and a base station may be referred to as an anchor carrier, and additional carriers configured by the base station may be referred to as non-anchor carriers.

[0055] In some examples, the length of the NRS scrambling sequence may be increased or extended from being repeated every radio frame (e.g., 10ms) to being repeated after several radio frames. Since the NRS is a broadcast signal, changes to the sequence initialization of the NRS may affect any UE receiving the NRS. Therefore, in order to maintain backward compatibility with UEs that do not support non-anchor carriers with extended NRS scrambling technology, the network may not configure such UEs with non-anchor carrier configurations with extended NRS scrambling technology, but the network may configure such UEs with non-anchor carrier configurations with traditional NRS scrambling technology. In some cases, the extended NRS scrambling technology is only applicable to non-anchor carriers. In such a case, UEs that do not support non-anchor carriers may not be affected by the extended NRS scrambling technology. However, compatible UEs (e.g., UEs that do support non-anchor carrier configurations with adjusted NRS scrambling technology) can be assigned, and compatible UEs benefit from non-anchor carriers with extended NRS scrambling sequences.

[0056] The base station may send a non-anchor carrier configuration to the UE indicating an extended scrambling sequence initialization for the NRS. The number of possible initializations may be extended by adjusting the initialization NRS scrambling sequence as a function of the system frame number. For example, the system frame number may be included to extend the scrambling sequence initialization from a period of 10 ms to 80 ms. The extended scrambling sequence may be enabled by UE capabilities and network configuration. The base station may configure the UE in a non-anchor carrier (e.g., paging, random access, or single cell point-to-multipoint (SC-PTM) reception) configuration that indicates whether the UE will use a traditional scrambling sequence or an extended scrambling sequence.

[0057] Certain aspects of the subject matter described herein may be implemented to achieve one or more advantages. The described techniques may support improvements in increasing the length of NRS sequences for non-anchor carriers, reducing signaling overhead, and improving reliability, among other advantages. Thus, the supported techniques may include improved network operation, and in some examples, may improve network efficiency, among other benefits.

[0058] Various aspects of the present disclosure are first described in the context of a wireless communication system that supports narrowband reference signal configuration for non-anchor carriers. Various aspects of the present disclosure are further illustrated by apparatus diagrams, system diagrams, and flow diagrams related to narrowband reference signal configuration for non-anchor carriers, and various aspects of the present disclosure are described with reference to these diagrams.

[0059] Figure 1An example of a wireless communication system 100 supporting narrowband reference signal configuration for a non-anchor carrier in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The wireless communication system 100 may include one or more base stations 105, one or more UEs 115, and a core network 130. In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 may be a long term evolution (LTE) network, an advanced LTE (LTE-A) network, an LTE-A Pro network, or a new radio (NR) network. In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 may support enhanced broadband communications, ultra-reliable (e.g., mission-critical) communications, low-latency communications, or communications with low-cost and low-complexity devices, or any combination thereof.

[0060] Base stations 105 may be dispersed throughout a geographic area to form wireless communication system 100, and may be devices of different forms or capabilities. Base stations 105 and UEs 115 may communicate wirelessly via one or more communication links 125. Each base station 105 may provide a coverage area 110 over which UEs 115 and base stations 105 may establish one or more communication links 125. Coverage area 110 may be an example of a geographic area over which base stations 105 and UEs 115 may support transmission of signals in accordance with one or more radio access technologies.

[0061] The UEs 115 may be dispersed throughout the coverage area 110 of the wireless communication system 100, and each UE 115 may be stationary, or mobile, or both at different times. The UEs 115 may be devices of different forms or with different capabilities. Figure 1 Some example UEs 115 are shown in FIG. 1. The UEs 115 described herein may be able to communicate with various types of devices, such as other UEs 115, base stations 105, or network devices (e.g., core network nodes, relay devices, integrated access and backhaul (IAB) nodes, or other network devices), such as Figure 1 shown.

[0062] The base stations 105 may communicate with the core network 130, or communicate with each other, or perform both operations. For example, the base stations 105 may interface with the core network 130 via one or more backhaul links 120 (e.g., via S1, N2, N3 or other interfaces). The base stations 105 may communicate with each other directly (e.g., directly between the base stations 105) on the backhaul links 120 (e.g., via X2, Xn or other interfaces), or communicate with each other indirectly (e.g., via the core network 130), or perform both operations. In some examples, the backhaul links 120 may be or include one or more wireless links.

[0063] One or more of the base stations 105 described herein may include or may be referred to by those skilled in the art as a base station transceiver, a wireless base station, an access point, a wireless transceiver, a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNB), a next generation Node B, or a Gigabit Node B (any of which may be referred to as a gNB), a Home Node B, a Home Evolved Node B, or some other appropriate terminology.

[0064] UE 115 may include or may be referred to as a mobile device, a wireless device, a remote device, a handheld device, or a subscriber device, or some other appropriate terminology, where a "device" may also be referred to as a unit, a station, a terminal, or a client, among other examples. UE 115 may also include or may be referred to as a personal electronic device, such as a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, or a personal computer. In some examples, UE 115 may include or be referred to as a wireless local loop (WLL) station, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, an Internet of Everything (IoE) device, or a machine type communication (MTC) device, among other examples, which may be implemented in various items such as appliances, or vehicles, meters, and among other examples.

[0065] The UE 115 described herein may be able to communicate with various types of devices, such as other UEs 115, which may sometimes act as relays, as well as base stations 105 and network devices, including macro eNBs or gNBs, small cell eNBs or gNBs, or relay base stations, as well as other examples, such as Figure 1 shown.

[0066] The UE 115 and the base station 105 may communicate wirelessly with each other via one or more communication links 125 on one or more carriers. The term "carrier" may refer to a set of radio frequency spectrum resources having a defined physical layer structure for supporting the communication link 125. For example, a carrier for the communication link 125 may include a portion of a radio frequency spectrum band (e.g., a bandwidth portion (BWP)) that operates according to one or more physical layer channels for a given radio access technology (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR). Each physical layer channel may carry acquisition signaling (e.g., synchronization signals, system information), control signaling to coordinate operations for the carrier, user data, or other signaling. The wireless communication system 100 may support communication with the UE 115 using carrier aggregation or multi-carrier operation. Depending on the carrier aggregation configuration, the UE 115 may be configured with multiple downlink component carriers and one or more uplink component carriers. Carrier aggregation may be used with both frequency division duplex (FDD) component carriers and time division duplex (TDD) component carriers.

[0067] In some examples (e.g., in a carrier aggregation configuration), the carrier may also have acquisition signaling or control signaling to coordinate operations with respect to other carriers. A carrier may be associated with a frequency channel (e.g., an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number (EARFCN)) and may be placed according to a channel grid to be discovered by a UE 115. A carrier may operate in a standalone mode, where a UE 115 performs initial acquisition and connection via a carrier, or a carrier may operate in a non-standalone mode, where a different carrier (e.g., of the same or different radio access technology) is used to anchor the connection.

[0068] The communication link 125 shown in the wireless communication system 100 may include an uplink transmission from the UE 115 to the base station 105, or a downlink transmission from the base station 105 to the UE 115. A carrier may carry downlink or uplink communications (e.g., in FDD mode) or may be configured to carry both downlink and uplink communications (e.g., in TDD mode).

[0069] A carrier may be associated with a particular bandwidth of a radio frequency spectrum, and in some examples, the carrier bandwidth may be referred to as a "system bandwidth" of the carrier or wireless communication system 100. For example, the carrier bandwidth may be one of a plurality of determined bandwidths of a carrier for a particular radio access technology (e.g., 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 40, or 80 megahertz (MHz)). The devices of the wireless communication system 100 (e.g., base station 105, UE 115, or both) may have a hardware configuration that supports communication on a particular carrier bandwidth, or may be configurable to support communication on one of a set of carrier bandwidths. In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 may include a base station 105 and / or UE 115 that supports simultaneous communication via carriers associated with a plurality of carrier bandwidths. In some examples, each served UE 115 may be configured to operate on a portion (e.g., subband, BWP) or all of a carrier bandwidth.

[0070] The signal waveform transmitted on the carrier may be composed of multiple subcarriers (e.g., using multicarrier modulation (MCM) techniques such as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) or discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM)). In a system employing MCM techniques, a resource element may include a symbol period (e.g., the duration of a modulation symbol) and a subcarrier, where the symbol period and the subcarrier spacing are inversely related. The number of bits carried by each resource element may depend on the modulation scheme (e.g., the order of the modulation scheme, the coding rate of the modulation scheme, or both). Therefore, the more resource elements received by UE 115 and the higher the order of the modulation scheme, the higher the data rate for UE 115 can be. Wireless communication resources may refer to a combination of radio frequency spectrum resources, time resources, and spatial resources (e.g., spatial layers or beams), and the use of multiple spatial layers may further increase the data rate or data integrity used for communication with UE 115.

[0071] One or more numerologies for a carrier may be supported, where the numerologies may include subcarrier spacing (Δf) and cyclic prefixes. A carrier may be divided into one or more BWPs with the same or different numerologies. In some examples, a UE 115 may be configured with multiple BWPs. In some examples, a single BWP for a carrier may be active at a given time, and communications for a UE 115 may be limited to the one or more active BWPs.

[0072] The basic time unit (which may be referred to as T s =1 / (Δf max ·N f ) seconds sampling period, where Δf max It can represent the maximum supported subcarrier spacing, and N f The time intervals for the base station 105 or the UE 115 may be expressed as multiples of a maximum supported discrete Fourier transform (DFT) size). The time intervals of the communication resources may be organized according to radio frames each having a specified duration (e.g., 10 milliseconds (ms)). Each radio frame may be identified by a system frame number (SFN) (e.g., ranging from 0 to 1023).

[0073] Each frame may include multiple consecutively numbered subframes or time slots, and each subframe or time slot may have the same duration. In some examples, the frame may be divided (e.g., in the time domain) into subframes, and each subframe may be further divided into multiple time slots. Alternatively, each frame may include a variable number of time slots, and the number of time slots may depend on the subcarrier spacing. Each time slot may include multiple symbol periods (e.g., depending on the length of the cyclic prefix added in front of each symbol period). In some wireless communication systems 100, the time slots may be further divided into multiple micro-time slots containing one or more symbols. Excluding the cyclic prefix, each symbol period may contain one or more (e.g., N f The duration of a symbol period may depend on the subcarrier spacing or the frequency band of operation.

[0074] A subframe, slot, mini-slot, or symbol may be the smallest scheduling unit (e.g., in the time domain) of the wireless communication system 100 and may be referred to as a transmission time interval (TTI). In some examples, the TTI duration (e.g., the number of symbol periods in a TTI) may be variable. Additionally or alternatively, the smallest scheduling unit of the wireless communication system 100 may be dynamically selected (e.g., in a burst of a shortened TTI (sTTI)).

[0075] Physical channels may be multiplexed on a carrier according to various techniques. For example, one or more of a time division multiplexing (TDM) technique, a frequency division multiplexing (FDM) technique, or a hybrid TDM-FDM technique may be used to multiplex physical control channels and physical data channels on a downlink carrier. A control region (e.g., a control resource set (CORESET)) for a physical control channel may be defined by a plurality of symbol periods and may extend across a system bandwidth or a subset of a system bandwidth of a carrier. One or more control regions (e.g., CORESETs) may be configured for a group of UEs 115. For example, one or more of UEs 115 may monitor or search a control region for control information according to one or more search space sets, and each search space set may include one or more control channel candidates at one or more aggregation levels arranged in a cascaded manner. The aggregation level for a control channel candidate may refer to the number of control channel resources (e.g., control channel elements (CCEs)) associated with coding information for a control information format having a given payload size. The search space sets may include a common search space set configured for transmitting control information to multiple UEs 115 and a UE-specific search space set for transmitting control information to a specific UE 115 .

[0076] Each base station 105 can provide communication coverage via one or more cells (e.g., macro cells, small cells, hot spots or other types of cells, or any combination thereof). The term "cell" can refer to a logical communication entity used to communicate with the base station 105 (e.g., on a carrier), and can be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCID), a virtual cell identifier (VCID) or other identifier) ​​for distinguishing adjacent cells. In some examples, a cell can also refer to a geographic coverage area 110 or a portion of a geographic coverage area 110 (e.g., a sector) on which a logical communication entity operates. Depending on various factors (such as the capabilities of the base station 105), the range of such a cell can range from a smaller area (e.g., a structure, a subset of a structure) to a larger area. For example, a cell can be or include a building, a subset of a building, or an external space between or overlapping the geographic coverage area 110, as well as other examples.

[0077] A macro cell typically covers a relatively large geographic area (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and may allow unrestricted access by a UE 115 with a service subscription to a network provider that supports the macro cell. A small cell may be associated with a lower power base station 105 than a macro cell, and the small cell may operate in the same or different (e.g., licensed, unlicensed) frequency band as the macro cell. A small cell may provide unrestricted access to a UE 115 with a service subscription to a network provider, or may provide restricted access to a UE 115 associated with a small cell (e.g., a UE 115 in a closed subscriber group (CSG), a UE 115 associated with a user in a residence or office). A base station 105 may support one or more cells, and may support the use of one or more component carriers to communicate on one or more cells.

[0078] In some examples, a carrier may support multiple cells, and different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., MTC, narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB)) that may provide access to different types of devices.

[0079] In some examples, the base stations 105 may be mobile and, therefore, provide communication coverage for mobile geographic coverage areas 110. In some examples, different geographic coverage areas 110 associated with different technologies may overlap, but the different geographic coverage areas 110 may be supported by the same base station 105. In other examples, overlapping geographic coverage areas 110 associated with different technologies may be supported by different base stations 105. The wireless communication system 100 may include, for example, a heterogeneous network in which different types of base stations 105 provide coverage for respective geographic coverage areas 110 using the same or different radio access technologies.

[0080] The wireless communication system 100 may support synchronous operation or asynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, the base stations 105 may have similar frame timing, and transmissions from different base stations 105 may be approximately aligned in time. For asynchronous operation, the base stations 105 may have different frame timing, and in some examples, transmissions from different base stations 105 may not be aligned in time. The techniques described herein may be used for synchronous operation or asynchronous operation.

[0081] Some UEs 115 (e.g., MTC or IoT devices) may be low-cost or low-complexity devices and may provide automated communication between machines (e.g., via machine-to-machine (M2M) communication). M2M communication or MTC may refer to data communication technology that allows devices to communicate with each other or base station 105 without human intervention. In some examples, M2M communication or MTC may include communications from devices that integrate sensors or meters to measure or capture information and relay such information to a central server or application that utilizes the information or presents the information to a person interacting with the application. Some UEs 115 may be designed to collect information or implement automated behavior of machines or other devices. Examples of applications for MTC devices include smart metering, inventory monitoring, water level monitoring, equipment monitoring, healthcare monitoring, wildlife monitoring, climate and geological event monitoring, fleet management and tracking, remote security sensing, physical access control, and transaction-based business billing.

[0082] Some UEs 115 may be configured to employ a reduced power consumption operating mode, such as half-duplex communication (e.g., a mode that supports unidirectional communication via transmission or reception rather than simultaneous transmission and reception). In some examples, half-duplex communication may be performed at a reduced peak rate. Other power conservation techniques for UE 115 include entering a power conservation sleep mode when not engaged in active communications, operating over a limited bandwidth (e.g., in accordance with narrowband communications), or a combination of these techniques. For example, some UEs 115 may be configured to operate using a narrowband protocol type associated with a defined portion or range (e.g., a set of subcarriers or resource blocks (RBs)) within a carrier, within a guard band of a carrier, or outside a carrier.

[0083] The wireless communication system 100 can be configured to support ultra-reliable communication or low-latency communication, or various combinations thereof. For example, the wireless communication system 100 can be configured to support ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) or mission-critical communication. UE115 can be designed to support ultra-reliable, low-latency or critical functions (e.g., mission-critical functions). Ultra-reliable communication can include private communication or group communication, and can be supported by one or more mission-critical services (such as mission-critical push-to-talk (MCPTT), mission-critical video (MCVideo), or mission-critical data (MCData). Support for mission-critical functions can include prioritization of services, and mission-critical services can be used for public safety or general commercial applications. The terms ultra-reliable, low-latency, mission-critical, and ultra-reliable low-latency can be used interchangeably in this article.

[0084] In some examples, UE 115 may also be able to communicate directly with other UE 115 on D2D communication link 135 (e.g., using peer-to-peer (P2P) or device-to-device (D2D) protocols). One or more UE 115 utilizing D2D communication may be within the geographic coverage area 110 of base station 105. Other UE 115 in such a group may be outside the geographic coverage area 110 of base station 105, or otherwise unable to receive transmissions from base station 105. In some examples, groups of UE 115 communicating via D2D communication may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, wherein each UE 115 transmits to each other UE 115 in the group. In some examples, base station 105 facilitates scheduling of resources for D2D communication. In other cases, D2D communication is performed between UE 115 without involving base station 105.

[0085] In some systems, the D2D communication link 135 can be an example of a communication channel (such as a sidelink communication channel) between vehicles (e.g., UE 115). In some examples, vehicles can communicate using vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, or some combination of these items. Vehicles can send information related to traffic conditions, signal scheduling, weather, safety, emergency situations, or any other information related to the V2X system in signaling. In some examples, vehicles in a V2X system can communicate with roadside infrastructure (such as roadside units), or communicate with a network via one or more network nodes (e.g., base station 105) using vehicle-to-network (V2N) communication, or both.

[0086] The core network 130 may provide user authentication, access authorization, tracking, Internet Protocol (IP) connection, and other access, routing or mobility functions. The core network 130 may be an evolved packet core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC), which may include at least one control plane entity (e.g., a mobility management entity (MME), an access and mobility management function (AMF)) for managing access and mobility and at least one user plane entity (e.g., a serving gateway (S-GW), a packet data network (PDN) gateway (P-GW), or a user plane function (UPF)) for routing packets to an external network or interconnecting to an external network. The control plane entity may manage non-access stratum (NAS) functions, such as mobility, authentication, and bearer management for UE 115 served by a base station 105 associated with the core network 130. User IP packets may be transmitted through a user plane entity, which may provide IP address allocation and other functions. The user plane entity may be connected to an operator IP service 150. The operator IP service 150 may include access to the Internet, an intranet, an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), or a packet-switched streaming service.

[0087] Some of the network devices (e.g., base stations 105) may include subcomponents such as access network entities 140, which may be examples of access node controllers (ANCs). Each access network entity 140 may communicate with the UE 115 through one or more other access network transport entities 145, which may be referred to as radio heads, smart radio heads, or transmit / receive points (TRPs). Each access network transport entity 145 may include one or more antenna panels. In some configurations, the various functions of each access network entity 140 or base station 105 may be distributed across various network devices (e.g., radio heads and ANCs) or merged into a single network device (e.g., base station 105).

[0088] The wireless communication system 100 may operate using one or more frequency bands, typically in the range of 300 megahertz (MHz) to 300 gigahertz (GHz). Typically, the region from 300 MHz to 3 GHz is referred to as the ultra-high frequency (UHF) region or decimeter band because the wavelengths range from approximately one decimeter to one meter in length. UHF waves may be blocked or redirected by buildings and environmental features, but the waves may be sufficient to penetrate structures for macro cells to provide service to UEs 115 located indoors. Transmissions using UHF waves may be associated with smaller antennas and shorter distances (e.g., less than 100 kilometers) compared to transmissions using smaller frequencies and longer waves in the high frequency (HF) or very high frequency (VHF) portions of the spectrum below 300 MHz.

[0089] The wireless communication system 100 may also operate in a super high frequency (SHF) region using a frequency band from 3 GHz to 30 GHz (also referred to as a centimeter band) or in an extremely high frequency (EHF) region of the spectrum (e.g., from 30 GHz to 300 GHz) (also referred to as a millimeter band). In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 may support millimeter wave (mmW) communications between UE 115 and base station 105, and the EHF antennas of the corresponding devices may be even smaller and more closely spaced than UHF antennas. In some examples, this may facilitate the use of antenna arrays within the device. However, the propagation of EHF transmissions may suffer from even greater atmospheric attenuation and shorter distances than SHF or UHF transmissions. The technology disclosed herein may be employed across transmissions using one or more different frequency regions, and the designated use of frequency bands across these frequency regions may differ according to the country or administrative body.

[0090] The wireless communication system 100 can utilize both licensed and unlicensed radio frequency spectrum bands. For example, the wireless communication system 100 can employ license assisted access (LAA), LTE unlicensed (LTE-U) wireless access technology, or NR technology in an unlicensed band (such as the 5 GHz industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) band). When operating in an unlicensed radio frequency spectrum band, devices (such as base stations 105 and UEs 115) can employ carrier sensing for conflict detection and avoidance. In some examples, operations in unlicensed bands can be based on a carrier aggregation configuration in combination with component carriers operating in a licensed band (e.g., LAA). Operations in unlicensed spectrum can include downlink transmissions, uplink transmissions, P2P transmissions, or D2D transmissions, as well as other examples.

[0091] The base station 105 or UE 115 may be equipped with multiple antennas, which may be used to employ techniques such as transmit diversity, receive diversity, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communications, or beamforming. The antennas of the base station 105 or UE 115 may be located within one or more antenna arrays or antenna panels (which may support MIMO operations or transmit or receive beamforming). For example, one or more base station antennas or antenna arrays may be co-located at an antenna assembly, such as an antenna tower. In some examples, the antennas or antenna arrays associated with the base station 105 may be located at different geographical locations. The base station 105 may have an antenna array having multiple rows and columns of antenna ports that the base station 105 may use to support beamforming for communications with the UE 115. Similarly, the UE 115 may have one or more antenna arrays that may support various MIMO or beamforming operations. Additionally or alternatively, the antenna panel may support radio frequency beamforming for signals sent via the antenna ports.

[0092] The base station 105 or UE 115 can use MIMO communication to take advantage of multipath signal propagation and increase spectral efficiency by sending or receiving multiple signals via different spatial layers. Such a technology may be referred to as spatial multiplexing. For example, a transmitting device may send multiple signals via different antennas or different combinations of antennas. Similarly, a receiving device may receive multiple signals via different antennas or different combinations of antennas. Each of the multiple signals may be referred to as a separate spatial stream and may carry bits associated with the same data stream (e.g., the same codeword) or different data streams (e.g., different codewords). Different spatial layers may be associated with different antenna ports for channel measurement and reporting. MIMO technology includes single-user MIMO (SU-MIMO) (where multiple spatial layers are sent to the same receiving device) and multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) (where multiple spatial layers are sent to multiple devices).

[0093] Beamforming (which may also be referred to as spatial filtering, directional transmission, or directional reception) is a signal processing technique that can be used at a transmitting device or a receiving device (e.g., a base station 105 or a UE 115) to form or direct an antenna beam (e.g., a transmit beam, a receive beam) along a spatial path between the transmitting device and the receiving device. Beamforming can be achieved by combining signals transmitted via antenna elements of an antenna array so that some signals propagating at a specific orientation relative to the antenna array experience constructive interference, while other signals experience destructive interference. Adjustments to signals transmitted via antenna elements may include the transmitting device or the receiving device applying an amplitude offset, a phase offset, or both to signals carried via antenna elements associated with the device. Adjustments associated with each of the antenna elements may be defined by a set of beamforming weights associated with a specific orientation (e.g., relative to the antenna array of the transmitting device or the receiving device, or relative to some other orientation).

[0094] As part of the beamforming operation, the base station 105 or the UE 115 may use beam scanning techniques. For example, the base station 105 may use multiple antennas or antenna arrays (e.g., antenna panels) to perform beamforming operations for directional communications with the UE 115. The base station 105 may send some signals (e.g., synchronization signals, reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals) multiple times in different directions. For example, the base station 105 may send signals based on different sets of beamforming weights associated with different transmission directions. Transmissions in different beam directions may be used (e.g., by a transmitting device (such as the base station 105) or a receiving device (such as the UE 115)) to identify a beam direction for later transmission or reception by the base station 105.

[0095] Base station 105 may transmit some signals (e.g., data signals associated with a particular receiving device (e.g., UE 115)) in a single beam direction (e.g., a direction associated with the receiving device). In some examples, the beam direction associated with transmission along the single beam direction may be determined based on signals transmitted in one or more beam directions. For example, UE 115 may receive one or more of the signals transmitted by base station 105 in different directions and may report to base station 105 an indication of the signal received by UE 115 having the highest signal quality or otherwise acceptable signal quality.

[0096] In some examples, transmissions by a device (e.g., by a base station 105 or a UE 115) may be performed using multiple beam directions, and the device may generate a combined beam for transmission (e.g., from the base station 105 to the UE 115) using a combination of digital precoding or radio frequency beamforming. The UE 115 may report feedback indicating precoding weights for one or more beam directions, and the feedback may correspond to a configured number of beams across the system bandwidth or one or more subbands. The base station 105 may send reference signals (e.g., cell-specific reference signals (CRS), channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS)) that may be precoded or not precoded. The UE 115 may provide feedback for beam selection, which may be a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) or codebook-based feedback (e.g., a multi-panel type codebook, a linear combination type codebook, a port selection type codebook). Although these techniques are described with reference to signals sent by base station 105 in one or more directions, UE 115 may employ similar techniques to send signals multiple times in different directions (e.g., to determine a beam direction for subsequent transmission or reception by UE 115) or to send signals in a single direction (e.g., to send data to a receiving device).

[0097] When receiving various signals (such as synchronization signals, reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals) from the base station 105, the receiving device (e.g., UE 115) can try multiple reception configurations (e.g., directional listening). For example, the receiving device can try multiple reception directions by receiving via different antenna subarrays, by processing the received signals according to different antenna subarrays, by receiving according to different reception beamforming weight sets applied to the signals received at multiple antenna elements of the antenna array (e.g., different directional listening weight sets), or by processing the received signals according to different reception beamforming weight sets applied to the signals received at multiple antenna elements of the antenna array (any of the above operations may be referred to as "listening" according to different reception configurations or reception directions). In some examples, the receiving device can use a single reception configuration to receive along a single beam direction (e.g., when receiving a data signal). A single receive configuration may be aligned on a beam direction determined based on listening according to different receive configuration directions (e.g., a beam direction determined to have the highest signal strength, the highest signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), or otherwise acceptable signal quality based on listening according to multiple beam directions).

[0098] The wireless communication system 100 may be a packet-based network operated according to a layered protocol stack. In the user plane, the communication at the bearer or packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer may be IP-based. The radio link control (RLC) layer may perform packet segmentation and reassembly for transmission on a logical channel. The medium access control (MAC) layer may perform priority handling and multiplexing of logical channels to transport channels. The MAC layer may also support retransmission at the MAC layer using error detection techniques, error correction techniques, or both to improve link efficiency. In the control plane, the radio resource control (RRC) protocol layer may provide the establishment, configuration, and maintenance of an RRC connection (which supports radio bearers for user plane data) between the UE 115 and the base station 105 or the core network 130. At the physical layer, transport channels may be mapped to physical channels.

[0099] UE 115 and base station 105 can support retransmission of data to increase the possibility that the data is successfully received. Hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback is a technology for increasing the possibility that data is correctly received on communication link 125. HARQ can include a combination of error detection (e.g., using cyclic redundancy check (CRC)), forward error correction (FEC) and retransmission (e.g., automatic repeat request (ARQ)). HARQ can improve the throughput at the MAC layer under poor wireless conditions (e.g., low signal and noise conditions). In some examples, the device can support the same time slot HARQ feedback, wherein the device can provide HARQ feedback for data received in the previous symbol in the time slot in a specific time slot. In other cases, the device can provide HARQ feedback in subsequent time slots or according to some other time interval.

[0100] The length of the NRS scrambling sequence for a non-anchor carrier may be increased (e.g., from one radio frame to several radio frames). For example, the NRS scrambling sequence initialization equation may be a function of the system frame number. The base station may send a non-anchor carrier configuration to the UE indicating that the NRS scrambling sequence is extended relative to other NRS scrambling sequences (e.g., an NRS scrambling sequence associated with an anchor carrier). For example, the non-anchor carrier configuration may indicate a scrambling sequence initialization for the NRS. In some examples, the length of the NRS scrambling sequence is increased by extending the number of possible initializations. The base station and the UE may communicate based on the extended length of the NRS scrambling sequence for the non-anchor carrier of the NRS.

[0101] Figure 2An example of a wireless communication system 200 that supports narrowband reference signal configuration for a non-anchor carrier according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. In some examples, the wireless communication system 200 can implement aspects of the wireless communication system 100. The wireless communication system 200 can include a base station 105-a and a UE 115-a, which can be respectively described herein with reference to Figure 1 1 and 10. An example of a corresponding base station 105 and UE 115 is described. In some cases, the UE 115-a and the base station 105-a can communicate on resources of the communication link 205 (e.g., an anchor or non-anchor carrier, channel, beam, physical random access channel (PRACH), etc.) and the communication link 210 (e.g., a non-anchor carrier).

[0102] Base station 105-a can provide network coverage for geographic area 110-a. UE 115-a can identify a first NRS on a cell and a second NRS on a different cell (not shown). Due to the limited number of REs allocated for NRS (e.g., 4-8 REs are allocated for NRS per subframe), NRSs from different cells may conflict and cause interference to UE 115-a. In some systems, the scrambling sequence for NRS can be initialized at the beginning of each OFDM symbol and have a period of 10ms (e.g., the length of one radio frame). For example, the initialization of the NRS scrambling sequence can be represented by the following equation:

[0103]

[0104] Among them, n′ s represents the slot index within the radio frame, ranging from 0 to 19, l represents the OFDM symbol number within the slot, ranging from 0 to 6 for normal cyclic prefix (NCP), and from 0 to 5 for extended CP (ECP), N CP represents a cyclic prefix, and In some cases, N CP =1, since only NCP is supported in NB-IOT. This NRS scrambling sequence initialization may be an example of a conventional sequence initialization, and as discussed in more detail herein, may be contrasted with an extended or enhanced NRS scrambling sequence initialization.

[0105] In some examples, the first and second NRSs identified by UE 115-a may be related, and the scrambling sequence may be repeated with the same period. Since the second NRS has the same period as the first NRS and is related to the first NRS, UE 115-a may not be able to filter out the interference or noise caused by the second NRS. UE 115-a may try to filter out the interference, but since the scrambling sequence is reinitialized at each radio frame (e.g., 10 milliseconds), UE 115-a may repeatedly experience the same interference. Therefore, since the length of the NRS scrambling sequence is one radio frame, the interference causes performance degradation and may not be completely removed.

[0106] In some examples, interference can be removed or reduced by extending the length of the NRS scrambling sequence from one radio frame to several radio frames. In this way, initialization of the NRS scrambling sequence can occur with an extended period of several radio frames instead of every radio frame (e.g., compared to the sequence initialization described with reference to Equation 1). The length of the NRS scrambling sequence can be extended by adjusting the NRS scrambling sequence initialization as a function of the system frame number. An example of NRS scrambling sequence initialization as a function of the system frame number is represented by the following equation:

[0107]

[0108] where n′ f represents the system frame number modified by a factor. For example, to modify the scrambling sequence length by a factor of 8 (e.g., n′) using the three least significant bits (LBS) of the radio frame number f =n f mod8), the interference will be rejected 6dB more compared to the unmodified equation (e.g., equation 1) used for scrambling sequence initialization.

[0109] In some cases, Equation 2 can be modified by removing or reducing unnecessary parameters (for example, in some NB-IOT cases). Reducing unnecessary parameters can expand the number of LSBs that can be used to indicate the system frame number. For example, the NCP bit can be removed from Equation 1 and can be used instead to expand the number of LSBs of the system frame number, because some systems (for example, NB-IOT) may only support NCP. In addition, the symbol numbering of the NRS carrier can be statically configured for certain time slots (for example, time slots {5,6}), so 1 bit can be used instead of 3 bits to encode the time slot position of the NRS. Therefore, 5 LSBs of the system frame number can be used, as expressed in the following equation:

[0110]

[0111] In some examples, the NRS scrambling technique for some UEs (e.g., legacy UEs) may not be adjustable for backward compatibility. Therefore, in order to maintain backward compatibility with UEs that do not support non-anchor carriers with extended NRS scrambling techniques, the network may not configure such UEs (e.g., legacy UEs) with non-anchor carriers with extended NRS scrambling techniques, but the network may configure such UEs with non-anchor carriers with traditional NRS scrambling techniques. The NRS scrambling sequence length may be adjusted (e.g., enhanced or modified, as described in Equations 2 and 3) on the non-anchor carrier. In some cases, the extended NRS scrambling technique is only applicable to non-anchor carriers. In such a case, UEs that do not support non-anchor carriers may not be affected by the extended NRS scrambling technique. Compatible UEs (e.g., UE 115-a) may be assigned, and the compatible UEs benefit from the non-anchor carrier with the extended NRS scrambling sequence.

[0112] The UE 115-a may send a capability message 220 to the base station 105-a to indicate that the UE 115-a is capable of supporting NRS with extended scrambling sequence initialization 230. The UE 115-a may receive a carrier configuration from the base station 105-a indicating whether the non-anchor carrier has an NRS 225 initialized with an extended scrambling sequence 230 or an NRS 215 initialized with a legacy scrambling sequence 235. The UE 115-a and the base station 105-a may communicate based on the NRS 215 or the NRS 225.

[0113] The UE 115-a may send a capability message 220 in a paging radio carrier (e.g., stored at a mobility management entity (MME)). The base station 105-a may broadcast a set of paging carriers, where a subset of the paging carriers may use an extended scrambling sequence. The UE 115-a may receive and select a paging carrier based on the UE 115-a capabilities (e.g., the ability to support legacy or extended scrambling sequences), the paging radio carrier set, the scrambling initialization type of the non-anchor carrier used for paging, the UE's ID, or a combination thereof.

[0114] The base station 105-a may broadcast a set of non-anchor carriers for random access to the UE 115-a, wherein a subset of the carriers may use an extended scrambling sequence. The UE 115-a may select a carrier from the set of carriers based on the UE 115-a capabilities. Additionally or alternatively, the base station 105-a may broadcast a system information message (e.g., a system information block (SIB)) to the UE 115-a indicating a traditional scrambling sequence initialization 235 type or an extended scrambling sequence initialization 230 type for an NRS of a carrier associated with a multicast control channel (MCCH) or a multicast traffic channel (MTCH). The system information message may be an SC-PTM reception.

[0115] In some examples, base station 105-a can support NB-IOT with a wider bandwidth through a NB-IOT carrier (e.g., a non-anchor carrier) with a wider bandwidth or by aggregating multiple contiguous NB-IOT carriers. In some cases, the non-anchor carrier may have a wider bandwidth than the anchor carrier. UE 115-a can determine whether the wider bandwidth non-anchor carrier implements a traditional scrambling sequence initialization type or an extended scrambling sequence initialization type based on the carrier bandwidth or carrier configuration.

[0116] In other cases, the non-anchor carrier includes an aggregation of multiple contiguous NB-IOT carriers (e.g., two physical resource blocks (PRBs)). UE 115-a may be configured with a carrier having two PRBs, which may indicate to UE 115-a that an extended NRS scrambling sequence is implemented. In some cases, one PRB follows the legacy scrambling sequence initialization 235 (e.g., for legacy UEs) and the other PRB follows the extended scrambling sequence initialization 230.

[0117] In other cases, both PRBs follow the extended scrambling sequence initialization 230. The base station 105-a may generate a length four sequence having four symbols and map to four NRSs across two PRBs. For example, the extended scrambling sequence may be initialized once for each of the four symbols and mapped to four NRSs across two PRBs.

[0118] Additionally or alternatively, the base station 105-a may generate two sequences of length two (resulting in a total of 4 symbols), and the extended scrambling sequence may be initialized separately for each PRB. For example, the extended scrambling sequence may be initialized and mapped to a first PRB having two symbols. The extended scrambling sequence may be initialized again and mapped to a second PRB having the remaining two symbols. The extended scrambling sequence may be initialized separately for each PRB based on the carrier ID (e.g., {0,1} for two PRBs) and mapped separately for each PRB. For example, when the carrier ID is {0}, the scrambling sequence may be initialized for the first PRB, and when the carrier ID is {1}, the scrambling sequence may be initialized for the second PRB. The initialization of the NRS scrambling sequence with carrier ID may be represented by the following equation:

[0119]

[0120] Figure 3 An example of a process flow 300 is shown to support narrowband reference signal configuration for a non-anchor carrier in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. In some examples, the process flow 300 can implement aspects of the wireless communication system 100.

[0121] In some examples, process flow 300 may implement aspects of wireless communication systems 100 and 200. For example, process flow 300 includes UE 115-b and base station 105-b, each of which may be referenced. Figure 1 and 2 Examples of corresponding devices described. Process flow 300 may illustrate receiving a carrier configuration for a non-anchor carrier and communicating on the non-anchor carrier.

[0122] At 305, UE 115-b may receive a system information message (e.g., a SIB, a MIB, or some combination of system information messages) from base station 115-b. In some cases, the system information message indicates a scrambling initialization type for NRSs of carriers associated with a multicast control channel. Additionally or alternatively, UE 115-b may receive an indication associated with a multicast control channel from base station 105-b indicating a scrambling initialization type for NRSs of non-anchor carriers associated with a multicast traffic channel.

[0123] At 310, UE 115-b may send a capability message to base station 105-b indicating an ability to support scrambling of a second NRS based on the second scrambling initialization. Figure 2 As described, the second scrambling initialization may be an example of an extended or enhanced scrambling initialization. In some cases, UE 115-a may receive a carrier configuration for a non-anchor carrier based on a capability message.

[0124] At 315, UE 115-b may identify a first NRS associated with an anchor carrier, wherein scrambling of the first NRS is based on a first scrambling initialization (e.g., a legacy scrambling sequence initialization). At 320, base station 105-b may identify a first NRS associated with an anchor carrier, wherein scrambling of the first NRS is based on the first scrambling initialization.

[0125] At 325, UE 115-b may receive a carrier configuration for a non-anchor carrier associated with a second NRS from base station 105-b, wherein the carrier configuration for the non-anchor carrier indicates whether scrambling of the second NRS is based on the first scrambling initialization or a second scrambling initialization (e.g., an extended scrambling sequence initialization) that is different from the first scrambling initialization. The second scrambling initialization may be based on a system frame number and associated with a period greater than that associated with the first scrambling initialization. In some examples, UE 115-b may receive a second NRS from base station 105-b, wherein scrambling of the second NRS is based on the second scrambling initialization.

[0126] In some examples, the non-anchor carrier may include an aggregation of two physical resource blocks, wherein the carrier configuration for the non-anchor carrier indicates scrambling of the second NRS by configuring the non-anchor carrier as an aggregation of two physical resource blocks. The two physical resource blocks may include a first physical resource block and a second physical resource block of the non-anchor carrier. The first physical resource block may be associated with an NRS having a scrambling initialization based on the first scrambling, and the second physical resource block of the non-anchor carrier may be associated with an NRS having a scrambling initialization based on the second scrambling. In some examples, the first physical resource block and the second physical resource block of the non-anchor carrier may be associated with an NRS having a scrambling initialization based on the second scrambling.

[0127] In some cases, the second scrambling initialization may be initialized once per symbol and mapped to NRSs on two physical resource blocks. In other cases, the second scrambling initialization may be initialized separately for each physical resource block based on a carrier ID and mapped separately for each physical resource block.

[0128] At 330, UE 115-b may receive an indication associated with a set of non-anchor carriers for paging or random access from base station 105-b, wherein the indication associated with the set of non-anchor carriers for paging or random access is used to indicate that a subset of the set of non-anchor carriers for paging or random access is scrambled based on a second scrambling initialization. UE 115-b may select a non-anchor carrier for paging from the set of non-anchor carriers for paging based on UE capabilities, a scrambling initialization type of the non-anchor carrier for paging, an ID of UE 115-b, or a combination thereof. UE 115-b may select a non-anchor carrier for random access from the set of non-anchor carriers for random access based on UE capabilities.

[0129] At 335, the UE 115-b may communicate with the base station 105-b on the non-anchor carrier based on the second NRS.

[0130] Figure 4 A diagram 400 of a device 405 supporting narrowband reference signal configuration for a non-anchor carrier in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 405 may be an example of aspects of a UE 115 as described herein. The device 405 may include a receiver 410, a communication manager 415, and a transmitter 420. The device 405 may also include a processor. Each of these components may communicate with each other (e.g., via one or more buses).

[0131] The receiver 410 may receive information such as packets, user data, or control information associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, and information related to narrowband reference signal configuration for non-anchor carriers, etc.). The information may be communicated to other components of the device 405. The receiver 410 may be a reference Figure 7 Examples of various aspects of transceiver 720 are described. Receiver 410 may utilize a single antenna or a group of antennas.

[0132] The communication manager 415 may perform the following operations: identifying a first narrowband reference signal associated with an anchor carrier, wherein scrambling of the first narrowband reference signal is based on a first scrambling initialization; receiving a carrier configuration for a non-anchor carrier associated with a second narrowband reference signal, wherein the carrier configuration for the non-anchor carrier indicates whether scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal is based on the first scrambling initialization or a second scrambling initialization different from the first scrambling initialization; and communicating with a base station on the non-anchor carrier based on the second narrowband reference signal. The communication manager 415 may be an example of aspects of the communication manager 710 described herein.

[0133] The communication manager 415 or its subcomponents may be implemented in hardware, in code (e.g., software or firmware) executed by a processor, or any combination thereof. If implemented in code executed by a processor, the functions of the communication manager 415 or its subcomponents may be performed by a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described in the present disclosure.

[0134] The communication manager 415 or its subcomponents may be physically located at various locations, including being distributed so that portions of the functions are implemented by one or more physical components at different physical locations. In some examples, according to various aspects of the present disclosure, the communication manager 415 or its subcomponents may be separate and distinct components. In some examples, according to various aspects of the present disclosure, the communication manager 415 or its subcomponents may be combined with one or more other hardware components (including, but not limited to, input / output (I / O) components, a transceiver, a network server, another computing device, one or more other components described in the present disclosure, or a combination thereof).

[0135] The transmitter 420 can transmit signals generated by other components of the device 405. In some examples, the transmitter 420 can be co-located with the receiver 410 in a transceiver module. For example, the transmitter 420 can be a reference Figure 7Examples of aspects of transceiver 720 are described. Transmitter 420 may utilize a single antenna or a group of antennas.

[0136] In some examples, the communication manager 415 can be implemented as an integrated circuit or chipset for a mobile device modem, and the receiver 410 and the transmitter 420 can be implemented as analog components (e.g., amplifiers, filters, antennas) coupled to the mobile device modem to enable wireless transmission and reception on one or more frequency bands.

[0137] The communication manager 415 as described herein may be implemented to achieve one or more potential advantages. One implementation may allow the device 405 to receive a carrier configuration for a non-anchor carrier associated with an NRS (which indicates an extended scrambling sequence initialization) and communicate with a base station on the non-anchor carrier. The increased length of the scrambling sequence for the NRS may improve reliability and reduce latency during feedback transmission.

[0138] Based on the techniques for increasing the length of the NRS scrambling sequence as described herein, the processor of the UE 115 (e.g., controlling the receiver 410, the transmitter 420, or the like) Figure 7 The described transceiver 720) can improve reliability and reduce signaling overhead in communications between the UE 115 and the base station 105 because multiple NRSs may not conflict.

[0139] Figure 5 A diagram 500 of a device 505 supporting narrowband reference signal configuration for a non-anchor carrier in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 505 may be an example of aspects of the device 405 or UE 115 as described herein. The device 505 may include a receiver 510, a communication manager 515, and a transmitter 535. The device 505 may also include a processor. Each of these components may communicate with each other (e.g., via one or more buses).

[0140] The receiver 510 may receive information such as packets, user data, or control information associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, and information related to narrowband reference signal configuration for non-anchor carriers, etc.). The information may be communicated to other components of the device 505. The receiver 510 may be a reference Figure 7 Examples of various aspects of the transceiver 720 are described. The receiver 510 may utilize a single antenna or a group of antennas.

[0141] Communications manager 515 may be an example of aspects of communications manager 415 as described herein. Communications manager 515 may include NRS component 520, carrier configuration component 525, and non-anchor carrier communications component 530. Communications manager 515 may be an example of aspects of communications manager 710 as described herein.

[0142] The NRS component 520 can identify a first narrowband reference signal associated with an anchor carrier, wherein scrambling of the first narrowband reference signal is initialized based on the first scrambling.

[0143] The carrier configuration component 525 can receive a carrier configuration for a non-anchor carrier associated with a second narrowband reference signal, wherein the carrier configuration for the non-anchor carrier indicates whether scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal is based on a first scrambling initialization or a second scrambling initialization different from the first scrambling initialization.

[0144] Non-anchor carrier communicating component 530 can communicate with a base station over the non-anchor carrier based on the second narrowband reference signal.

[0145] The transmitter 535 can transmit signals generated by other components of the device 505. In some examples, the transmitter 535 can be co-located with the receiver 510 in a transceiver module. For example, the transmitter 535 can be a reference Figure 7 Examples of various aspects of the transceiver 720 are described. The transmitter 535 may utilize a single antenna or a group of antennas.

[0146] In some examples, the communication manager 515 can be implemented as an integrated circuit or chipset for a mobile device modem, and the receiver 510 and transmitter 535 can be implemented as analog components (e.g., amplifiers, filters, antennas) coupled to the mobile device modem to enable wireless transmission and reception on one or more frequency bands.

[0147] The communication manager 515 as described herein may be implemented to achieve one or more potential advantages. One implementation may allow the device 505 to receive a carrier configuration for a non-anchor carrier associated with an NRS (which indicates an extended scrambling sequence initialization) and communicate with a base station on the non-anchor carrier. The increased length of the scrambling sequence for the NRS may improve reliability and reduce latency during feedback transmission.

[0148] Based on the techniques for increasing the length of the NRS scrambling sequence as described herein, the processor of the UE 115 (e.g., controlling the receiver 510, the transmitter 535, or as described in reference to Figure 7 The described transceiver 720) can improve reliability and reduce signaling overhead in communications between the UE 115 and the base station 105 because multiple NRSs may not conflict.

[0149] Figure 6 A block diagram 600 of a communication manager 605 supporting narrowband reference signal configuration for a non-anchor carrier in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The communication manager 605 can be an example of aspects of the communication manager 415, the communication manager 515, or the communication manager 710 described herein. The communication manager 605 can include an NRS component 610, a carrier configuration component 615, a non-anchor carrier communication component 620, a capability message component 625, and a system information component 630. Each of these modules can communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., via one or more buses).

[0150] The NRS component 610 can identify a first narrowband reference signal associated with an anchor carrier, wherein scrambling of the first narrowband reference signal is initialized based on the first scrambling.

[0151] The carrier configuration component 615 can receive a carrier configuration for a non-anchor carrier associated with a second narrowband reference signal, wherein the carrier configuration for the non-anchor carrier indicates whether scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal is based on a first scrambling initialization or a second scrambling initialization different from the first scrambling initialization.

[0152] In some examples, carrier configuration component 615 can receive an indication associated with a set of non-anchor carriers for paging, wherein the indication associated with the set of non-anchor carriers for paging indicates that a subset of the set of non-anchor carriers for paging is scrambled based on a second scrambling initialization. In some cases, carrier configuration component 615 can select a non-anchor carrier for paging from the set of non-anchor carriers for paging based on UE capabilities, a scrambling initialization type of the non-anchor carrier for paging, an identifier of the UE, or a combination thereof.

[0153] In some examples, carrier configuration component 615 can receive an indication associated with a set of non-anchor carriers for random access, wherein the indication associated with the set of non-anchor carriers for random access indicates that a subset of the set of non-anchor carriers for random access is scrambled based on the second scrambling initialization. In some cases, carrier configuration component 615 can select a non-anchor carrier for random access from the set of non-anchor carriers for random access based on UE capabilities.

[0154] In some examples, carrier configuration component 615 can receive a second narrowband reference signal, wherein scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal is initialized based on the second scrambling.

[0155] In some cases, the non-anchor carrier includes an aggregation of two physical resource blocks, wherein the carrier configuration for the non-anchor carrier indicates scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal by configuring the non-anchor carrier as an aggregation of two physical resource blocks. In some examples, a first physical resource block of the non-anchor carrier is associated with a narrowband reference signal having scrambled based on the first scrambling initialization. In some examples, a second physical resource block of the non-anchor carrier is associated with a narrowband reference signal having scrambled based on the second scrambling initialization.

[0156] In some cases, the first physical resource block and the second physical resource block of the non-anchor carrier are associated with a narrowband reference signal having scrambling based on the second scrambling initialization.

[0157] In some cases, the second scrambling initialization is initialized once per symbol and mapped to a narrowband reference signal on two physical resource blocks. In some examples, the second scrambling initialization is initialized for each physical resource block based on a carrier identifier and is mapped for each physical resource block separately. In some cases, the second scrambling initialization is based on a system frame number. In some examples, the first scrambling initialization is associated with a first period and the second scrambling initialization is associated with a second period, wherein the second period is greater than the first period.

[0158] Non-anchor carrier communicating component 620 can communicate with a base station over the non-anchor carrier based on the second narrowband reference signal.

[0159] The capability message component 625 can send a capability message indicating a capability to support scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal based on the second scrambling initialization, wherein receiving the carrier configuration for the non-anchor carrier is based on the capability message.

[0160] System information component 630 can receive a system information message indicating a scrambling initialization type for a narrowband reference signal for a carrier associated with a multicast control channel.

[0161] In some examples, system information component 630 can receive an indication associated with a multicast control channel, wherein the indication associated with the multicast control channel is used to indicate a scrambling initialization type for a narrowband reference signal of a non-anchor carrier associated with a multicast traffic channel.

[0162] Figure 7A diagram of a system 700 including a device 705 supporting narrowband reference signal configuration for a non-anchor carrier in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 705 may be an example of or include a component of a device 405, a device 505, or a UE 115 as described herein. The device 705 may include components for two-way voice and data communications, including components for sending and receiving communications, including a communication manager 710, an I / O controller 715, a transceiver 720, an antenna 725, a memory 730, and a processor 740. These components may be in electronic communication via one or more buses (e.g., a bus 745).

[0163] The communication manager 710 can perform the following operations: identify a first narrowband reference signal associated with an anchor carrier, wherein scrambling of the first narrowband reference signal is based on a first scrambling initialization; receive a carrier configuration for a non-anchor carrier associated with a second narrowband reference signal, wherein the carrier configuration for the non-anchor carrier indicates whether scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal is based on the first scrambling initialization or a second scrambling initialization different from the first scrambling initialization; and communicate with a base station on the non-anchor carrier based on the second narrowband reference signal.

[0164] I / O controller 715 can manage input and output signals for device 705. I / O controller 715 can also manage peripheral devices that are not integrated into device 705. In some cases, I / O controller 715 can represent a physical connection or port to an external peripheral device. In some cases, I / O controller 715 can utilize a computer such as a The I / O controller 715 may be a computer program product or a processor. The computer program product may be a computer program product or a processor. The computer program product may be a computer program product or a processor. The computer program product may be a computer program product or a processor. The computer program product may be a computer program product or a processor. The computer program product may be a computer program product or a processor. The computer program product may be a computer program product or a processor. The computer program product may be a computer program product or a processor.

[0165] The transceiver 720 may communicate bidirectionally via one or more antennas, wired or wireless links as described above. For example, the transceiver 720 may represent a wireless transceiver and may communicate bidirectionally with another wireless transceiver. The transceiver 720 may also include a modem for modulating packets and providing the modulated packets to an antenna for transmission, and demodulating packets received from an antenna.

[0166] In some cases, a wireless device may include a single antenna 725. However, in some cases, the device may have more than one antenna 725, which may be capable of concurrently sending or receiving multiple wireless transmissions.

[0167] The memory 730 may include RAM and ROM. The memory 730 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code 735, which includes instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to perform various functions described herein. In some cases, the memory 730 may also include BIOS, etc., which may control basic hardware or software operations, such as interaction with peripheral components or devices.

[0168] The processor 740 may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., a general purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, a microcontroller, an ASIC, an FPGA, a programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic component, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof). In some cases, the processor 740 may be configured to operate a memory array using a memory controller. In other cases, the memory controller may be integrated into the processor 740. The processor 740 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., the memory 730) to cause the device 705 to perform various functions (e.g., functions or tasks that support narrowband reference signal configuration for non-anchor carriers).

[0169] The code 735 may include instructions for implementing various aspects of the present disclosure, including instructions for supporting wireless communications. The code 735 may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium (e.g., system memory or other types of memory). In some cases, the code 735 may not be directly executable by the processor 740, but may cause a computer (e.g., when compiled and executed) to perform the functions described herein.

[0170] Figure 8 A diagram 800 of a device 805 supporting narrowband reference signal configuration for a non-anchor carrier in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 805 may be an example of aspects of a base station 105 as described herein. The device 805 may include a receiver 810, a communication manager 815, and a transmitter 820. The device 805 may also include a processor. Each of these components may be in communication with each other (e.g., via one or more buses).

[0171] The receiver 810 may receive information such as packets, user data, or control information associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, and information related to narrowband reference signal configuration for non-anchor carriers, etc.). The information may be communicated to other components of the device 805. The receiver 810 may be a reference Fig.11Examples of various aspects of the transceiver 1120 are described. The receiver 810 may utilize a single antenna or a group of antennas.

[0172] The communication manager 815 may perform the following operations: identifying a first narrowband reference signal associated with an anchor carrier, wherein scrambling of the first narrowband reference signal is based on the first scrambling initialization; sending a carrier configuration for a non-anchor carrier associated with a second narrowband reference signal, wherein the carrier configuration for the non-anchor carrier indicates whether scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal is based on the first scrambling initialization or a second scrambling initialization different from the first scrambling initialization; and communicating with the UE on the non-anchor carrier based on the second narrowband reference signal. The communication manager 815 may be an example of aspects of the communication manager 1110 described herein.

[0173] The communication manager 815 or its subcomponents may be implemented in hardware, code executed by a processor (e.g., software or firmware), or any combination thereof. If implemented in code executed by a processor, the functions of the communication manager 815 or its subcomponents may be performed by a general purpose processor, DSP, ASIC, FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described in the present disclosure.

[0174] The communication manager 815 or its subcomponents may be physically located at various locations, including being distributed so that portions of the functions are implemented by one or more physical components at different physical locations. In some examples, according to various aspects of the present disclosure, the communication manager 815 or its subcomponents may be separate and distinct components. In some examples, according to various aspects of the present disclosure, the communication manager 815 or its subcomponents may be combined with one or more other hardware components (including, but not limited to, input / output (I / O) components, transceivers, network servers, another computing device, one or more other components described in the present disclosure, or combinations thereof).

[0175] The transmitter 820 can transmit signals generated by other components of the device 805. In some examples, the transmitter 820 can be co-located with the receiver 810 in a transceiver module. For example, the transmitter 820 can be a reference Fig.11 Examples of various aspects of the transceiver 1120 are described. The transmitter 820 may utilize a single antenna or a group of antennas.

[0176] Fig. 9A diagram 900 of a device 905 supporting narrowband reference signal configuration for a non-anchor carrier in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 905 may be an example of aspects of the device 805 or base station 105 as described herein. The device 905 may include a receiver 910, a communication manager 915, and a transmitter 930. The device 905 may also include a processor. Each of these components may communicate with each other (e.g., via one or more buses).

[0177] The receiver 910 may receive information such as packets, user data, or control information associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, and information related to narrowband reference signal configuration for non-anchor carriers, etc.). The information may be communicated to other components of the device 905. The receiver 910 may be a reference Fig.11 Examples of various aspects of the transceiver 1120 are described. The receiver 910 may utilize a single antenna or a group of antennas.

[0178] Communications manager 915 may be an example of aspects of communications manager 815 as described herein. Communications manager 915 may include NRS component 920, carrier configuration component 925, and non-anchor carrier communications component 930. Communications manager 915 may be an example of aspects of communications manager 1110 as described herein.

[0179] The NRS component 920 can identify a first narrowband reference signal associated with an anchor carrier, wherein scrambling of the first narrowband reference signal is initialized based on the first scrambling.

[0180] The carrier configuration component 925 can send a carrier configuration for a non-anchor carrier associated with the second narrowband reference signal, wherein the carrier configuration for the non-anchor carrier indicates whether scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal is based on a first scrambling initialization or a second scrambling initialization different from the first scrambling initialization.

[0181] Non-anchor carrier communicating component 930 can communicate with the UE on the non-anchor carrier based on the second narrowband reference signal.

[0182] The transmitter 930 can transmit signals generated by other components of the device 905. In some examples, the transmitter 930 can be co-located with the receiver 910 in a transceiver module. For example, the transmitter 930 can be a reference Fig.11 Examples of various aspects of the transceiver 1120 are described. The transmitter 930 may utilize a single antenna or a group of antennas.

[0183] Fig.10Diagram 1000 of a communication manager 1005 supporting narrowband reference signal configuration for a non-anchor carrier in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The communication manager 1005 can be an example of aspects of the communication manager 815, the communication manager 915, or the communication manager 1110 described herein. The communication manager 1005 can include an NRS component 1010, a carrier configuration component 1015, a non-anchor carrier communication component 1020, a capability message component 1025, and a system information component 1030. Each of these modules can communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., via one or more buses).

[0184] The NRS component 1010 can identify a first narrowband reference signal associated with an anchor carrier, wherein scrambling of the first narrowband reference signal is initialized based on the first scrambling.

[0185] The carrier configuration component 1015 can send a carrier configuration for a non-anchor carrier associated with a second narrowband reference signal, wherein the carrier configuration for the non-anchor carrier indicates whether scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal is based on a first scrambling initialization or a second scrambling initialization different from the first scrambling initialization.

[0186] In some examples, carrier configuration component 1015 can broadcast an indication associated with the set of non-anchor carriers for paging, wherein the indication associated with the set of non-anchor carriers for paging is used to indicate that a subset of the set of non-anchor carriers for paging is scrambled based on the second scrambling initialization.

[0187] In some examples, the carrier configuration component 1015 can broadcast an indication associated with the set of non-anchor carriers for random access, wherein the indication associated with the set of non-anchor carriers for random access is used to indicate that a subset of the set of non-anchor carriers for random access is scrambled based on the second scrambling initialization.

[0188] In some examples, carrier configuration component 1015 can send a second narrowband reference signal, wherein scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal is based on the second scrambling initialization.

[0189] In some cases, the non-anchor carrier includes an aggregation of two physical resource blocks, and wherein the carrier configuration for the non-anchor carrier indicates scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal by configuring the non-anchor carrier as an aggregation of two physical resource blocks. In some cases, a first physical resource block of the non-anchor carrier is associated with a narrowband reference signal with scrambling initialized based on the first scrambling. In some cases, a second physical resource block of the non-anchor carrier is associated with a narrowband reference signal with scrambling initialized based on the second scrambling.

[0190] In some cases, the first physical resource block and the second physical resource block of the non-anchor carrier are associated with a narrowband reference signal having scrambling based on the second scrambling initialization.

[0191] In some cases, the second scrambling initialization is initialized once per symbol and mapped to a narrowband reference signal on two physical resource blocks. In some examples, the second scrambling initialization is initialized for each physical resource block based on a carrier identifier and is mapped for each physical resource block separately. In some cases, the second scrambling initialization is based on a system frame number. In some cases, the first scrambling initialization is associated with a first period and the second scrambling initialization is associated with a second period, wherein the second period is greater than the first period.

[0192] Non-anchor carrier communicating component 1020 can communicate with the UE on the non-anchor carrier based on the second narrowband reference signal.

[0193] The capability message component 1025 can receive a capability message indicating a capability to support scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal based on the second scrambling initialization, wherein sending the carrier configuration for the non-anchor carrier is based on the capability message.

[0194] The system information component 1030 can broadcast a system information message, wherein the system information message indicates a scrambling initialization type for a narrowband reference signal for a carrier associated with a multicast control channel.

[0195] In some examples, system information component 1030 can send an indication associated with a multicast control channel, wherein the indication associated with the multicast control channel is used to indicate a scrambling initialization type for a narrowband reference signal of a non-anchor carrier associated with a multicast traffic channel.

[0196] Fig.11 A diagram of a system 1100 including a device 1105 supporting narrowband reference signal configuration for a non-anchor carrier in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 1105 may be an example of or include a component of a device 805, a device 905, or a base station 105 as described herein. The device 1105 may include components for two-way voice and data communications, including components for sending and receiving communications, including a communications manager 1110, a network communications manager 1115, a transceiver 1120, an antenna 1125, a memory 1130, a processor 1140, and an inter-station communications manager 1145. These components may be in electronic communication via one or more buses (e.g., a bus 1150).

[0197] The communication manager 1110 can perform the following operations: identify a first narrowband reference signal associated with an anchor carrier, wherein scrambling of the first narrowband reference signal is based on a first scrambling initialization; send a carrier configuration for a non-anchor carrier associated with a second narrowband reference signal, wherein the carrier configuration for the non-anchor carrier indicates whether scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal is based on the first scrambling initialization or a second scrambling initialization different from the first scrambling initialization; and communicate with the UE on the non-anchor carrier based on the second narrowband reference signal.

[0198] The network communications manager 1115 may manage communications with the core network (eg, via one or more wired backhaul links). For example, the network communications manager 1115 may manage the transmission of data communications for client devices (eg, one or more UEs 115).

[0199] The transceiver 1120 may communicate bidirectionally via one or more antennas, wired or wireless links as described above. For example, the transceiver 1120 may represent a wireless transceiver and may communicate bidirectionally with another wireless transceiver. The transceiver 1120 may also include a modem for modulating packets and providing the modulated packets to an antenna for transmission, and demodulating packets received from an antenna.

[0200] In some cases, a wireless device may include a single antenna 1125. However, in some cases, the device may have more than one antenna 1125, which may be capable of concurrently sending or receiving multiple wireless transmissions.

[0201] The memory 1130 may include RAM, ROM, or a combination thereof. The memory 1130 may store computer readable code 1135, which includes instructions that, when executed by a processor (e.g., processor 1140), cause the device to perform various functions described herein. In some cases, the memory 1130 may also include BIOS, etc., which may control basic hardware or software operations, such as interaction with peripheral components or devices.

[0202] The processor 1140 may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., a general purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, a microcontroller, an ASIC, an FPGA, a programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic component, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof). In some cases, the processor 1140 may be configured to operate a memory array using a memory controller. In some cases, the memory controller may be integrated into the processor 1140. The processor 1140 may be configured to execute computer readable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., memory 1130) to cause the device 1105 to perform various functions (e.g., functions or tasks that support narrowband reference signal configuration for non-anchor carriers).

[0203] The inter-site communication manager 1145 can manage communications with other base stations 105 and can include a controller or scheduler for controlling communications with UE 115 in cooperation with other base stations 105. For example, the inter-site communication manager 1145 can coordinate the scheduling of transmissions to UE 115 to implement various interference mitigation techniques such as beamforming or joint transmission. In some examples, the inter-site communication manager 1145 can provide an X2 interface within an LTE / LTE-A wireless communication network technology to provide communications between base stations 105.

[0204] The code 1135 may include instructions for implementing various aspects of the present disclosure, including instructions for supporting wireless communications. The code 1135 may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium (e.g., system memory or other types of memory). In some cases, the code 1135 may not be directly executable by the processor 1140, but may cause a computer (e.g., when compiled and executed) to perform the functions described herein.

[0205] Fig.12 A flow chart illustrating a method 1200 for supporting narrowband reference signal configuration for a non-anchor carrier according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The operations of the method 1200 may be implemented by a UE 115 or a component thereof as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1200 may be implemented by a UE 115 or a component thereof as described herein. Figures 4 to 7 In some examples, the UE may execute an instruction set to control the functional elements of the UE to perform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively, the UE may use dedicated hardware to perform various aspects of the functions described below.

[0206] At 1205, the UE may identify a first narrowband reference signal associated with an anchor carrier, wherein scrambling of the first narrowband reference signal is initialized based on the first scrambling. The operations of 1205 may be performed according to methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1205 may be performed as described with reference to Figures 4 to 7Describes the NRS components to perform.

[0207] At 1210, the UE may receive a carrier configuration for a non-anchor carrier associated with a second narrowband reference signal, wherein the carrier configuration for the non-anchor carrier indicates whether scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal is based on a first scrambling initialization or a second scrambling initialization different from the first scrambling initialization. The operations of 1210 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1210 may be performed as described with reference to Figures 4 to 7 The carrier configuration components described are executed.

[0208] At 1215, the UE may communicate with the base station on the non-anchor carrier based on the second narrowband reference signal. The operations of 1215 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1215 may be performed as described with reference to Figures 4 to 7 The described non-anchor carrier communication components are performed.

[0209] Fig.13 A flow chart illustrating a method 1300 for supporting narrowband reference signal configuration for a non-anchor carrier according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The operations of the method 1300 may be implemented by a UE 115 or a component thereof as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1300 may be implemented by a UE 115 or a component thereof as described herein. Figures 4 to 7 In some examples, the UE may execute an instruction set to control the functional elements of the UE to perform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively, the UE may use dedicated hardware to perform various aspects of the functions described below.

[0210] At 1305, the UE may send a capability message indicating a capability to support scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal based on the second scrambling initialization, wherein receiving the carrier configuration for the non-anchor carrier is based on the capability message. The operations of 1305 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1305 may be performed as described with reference to Figures 4 to 7 Describes the capabilities a message component can perform.

[0211] At 1310, the UE may identify a first narrowband reference signal associated with an anchor carrier, wherein scrambling of the first narrowband reference signal is initialized based on the first scrambling. The operations of 1310 may be performed according to methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1310 may be performed as described with reference to Figures 4 to 7 Describes the NRS components to perform.

[0212] At 1315, the UE may receive a carrier configuration for a non-anchor carrier associated with a second narrowband reference signal, wherein the carrier configuration for the non-anchor carrier indicates whether scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal is based on a first scrambling initialization or a second scrambling initialization different from the first scrambling initialization. The operations of 1315 may be performed according to methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1315 may be performed as described with reference to Figures 4 to 7 The carrier configuration components described are executed.

[0213] At 1320, the UE may communicate with the base station on the non-anchor carrier based on the second narrowband reference signal. The operations of 1320 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1320 may be performed as described with reference to Figures 4 to 7 The described non-anchor carrier communication components are performed.

[0214] Fig.14 A flow chart illustrating a method 1400 for supporting narrowband reference signal configuration for a non-anchor carrier according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The operations of the method 1400 may be implemented by a UE 115 or a component thereof as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1400 may be implemented by a UE 115 or a component thereof as described herein. Figures 4 to 7 In some examples, the UE may execute an instruction set to control the functional elements of the UE to perform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively, the UE may use dedicated hardware to perform various aspects of the functions described below.

[0215] At 1405, the UE may identify a first narrowband reference signal associated with an anchor carrier, wherein scrambling of the first narrowband reference signal is initialized based on the first scrambling. The operations of 1405 may be performed according to methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1405 may be performed as described with reference to Figures 4 to 7 Describes the NRS components to perform.

[0216] At 1410, the UE may receive a carrier configuration for a non-anchor carrier associated with a second narrowband reference signal, wherein the carrier configuration for the non-anchor carrier indicates whether scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal is based on a first scrambling initialization or a second scrambling initialization different from the first scrambling initialization. The operations of 1410 may be performed according to methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1410 may be performed as described with reference to Figures 4 to 7 The carrier configuration components described are executed.

[0217] At 1415, the UE may receive an indication associated with a set of non-anchor carriers for paging, wherein the indication associated with the set of non-anchor carriers for paging is used to indicate that a subset of the set of non-anchor carriers for paging is scrambled based on a second scrambling initialization. The operations of 1415 may be performed according to methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1415 may be performed as described with reference to Figures 4 to 7 The carrier configuration components described are executed.

[0218] At 1420, the UE may communicate with the base station on the non-anchor carrier based on the second narrowband reference signal. The operations of 1420 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1420 may be performed as described with reference to Figures 4 to 7 The described non-anchor carrier communication components are performed.

[0219] Fig.15 A flow chart illustrating a method 1500 for supporting narrowband reference signal configuration for a non-anchor carrier according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The operations of the method 1500 may be implemented by a UE 115 or a component thereof as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1500 may be implemented by a UE 115 or a component thereof as described herein. Figures 4 to 7 In some examples, the UE may execute an instruction set to control the functional elements of the UE to perform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively, the UE may use dedicated hardware to perform various aspects of the functions described below.

[0220] At 1505, the UE may identify a first narrowband reference signal associated with an anchor carrier, wherein scrambling of the first narrowband reference signal is initialized based on the first scrambling. The operations of 1505 may be performed according to methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1505 may be performed as described with reference to Figures 4 to 7 Describes the NRS components to perform.

[0221] At 1510, the UE may receive a carrier configuration for a non-anchor carrier associated with a second narrowband reference signal, wherein the carrier configuration for the non-anchor carrier indicates whether scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal is based on a first scrambling initialization or a second scrambling initialization different from the first scrambling initialization. The operations of 1510 may be performed according to methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1510 may be performed as described with reference to Figures 4 to 7 The carrier configuration components described are executed.

[0222] At 1515, the UE may receive an indication associated with a set of non-anchor carriers for random access, wherein the indication associated with the set of non-anchor carriers for random access indicates that a subset of the set of non-anchor carriers for random access is scrambled based on the second scrambling initialization. The operations of 1515 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1515 may be performed as described with reference to Figures 4 to 7 The carrier configuration components described are executed.

[0223] At 1520, the UE may communicate with the base station on the non-anchor carrier based on the second narrowband reference signal. The operations of 1520 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1520 may be as described with reference to Figures 4 to 7 The described non-anchor carrier communication components are performed.

[0224] Fig.16 A flow chart illustrating a method 1600 for supporting narrowband reference signal configuration for a non-anchor carrier according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The operations of the method 1600 may be implemented by a UE 115 or a component thereof as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1600 may be implemented by a UE 115 or a component thereof as described herein. Figures 4 to 7 In some examples, the UE may execute an instruction set to control the functional elements of the UE to perform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively, the UE may use dedicated hardware to perform various aspects of the functions described below.

[0225] At 1605, the UE may identify a first narrowband reference signal associated with an anchor carrier, wherein scrambling of the first narrowband reference signal is initialized based on the first scrambling. The operations of 1605 may be performed according to methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1605 may be performed as described with reference to Figures 4 to 7 Describes the NRS components to perform.

[0226] At 1610, the UE may receive a carrier configuration for a non-anchor carrier associated with a second narrowband reference signal, wherein the carrier configuration for the non-anchor carrier indicates whether scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal is based on a first scrambling initialization or a second scrambling initialization different from the first scrambling initialization. The operations of 1610 may be performed according to methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1610 may be performed as described with reference to Figures 4 to 7 The carrier configuration components described are executed.

[0227] At 1615, the UE may receive a system information message, wherein the system information message indicates a scrambling initialization type for a narrowband reference signal of a carrier associated with a multicast control channel. The operations of 1615 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1615 may be performed as described with reference to Figures 4 to 7 Describes the system information component to perform.

[0228] At 1620, the UE may communicate with the base station on the non-anchor carrier based on the second narrowband reference signal. The operations of 1620 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1620 may be performed as described with reference to Figures 4 to 7 The described non-anchor carrier communication components are performed.

[0229] Fig.17 A flow chart illustrating a method 1700 for supporting narrowband reference signal configuration for a non-anchor carrier according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The operations of the method 1700 may be implemented by a base station 105 or components thereof as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1700 may be implemented by a base station 105 or components thereof as described herein. Figures 8 to 11 In some examples, the base station may execute an instruction set to control functional elements of the base station to perform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively, the base station may use dedicated hardware to perform various aspects of the functions described below.

[0230] At 1705, the base station may identify a first narrowband reference signal associated with an anchor carrier, wherein scrambling of the first narrowband reference signal is initialized based on the first scrambling. The operations of 1705 may be performed according to methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1705 may be performed as described with reference to Figures 8 to 11 Describes the NRS components to perform.

[0231] At 1710, the base station may send a carrier configuration for a non-anchor carrier associated with a second narrowband reference signal, wherein the carrier configuration for the non-anchor carrier indicates whether scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal is based on a first scrambling initialization or a second scrambling initialization different from the first scrambling initialization. The operations of 1710 may be performed according to methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1710 may be performed as described with reference to Figures 8 to 11 The carrier configuration components described are executed.

[0232] At 1715, the base station may communicate with the UE on the non-anchor carrier based on the second narrowband reference signal. The operations of 1715 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1715 may be performed as described with reference to Figures 8 to 11 The described non-anchor carrier communication components are performed.

[0233] It should be noted that the methods described herein describe possible implementations, and that the operations and steps may be rearranged or otherwise modified, and other implementations are possible. Furthermore, aspects from two or more of the methods may be combined.

[0234] Although aspects of LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR systems may be described for purposes of example, and LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR terminology may be used in much of the description, the techniques described herein are applicable beyond LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR networks. For example, the described techniques may be applicable to various other wireless communication systems, such as Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM, and other systems and wireless technologies not explicitly mentioned herein.

[0235] The information and signals described herein may be represented using any of a variety of different techniques and methods. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips mentioned throughout the description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0236] The various illustrative blocks and components described in conjunction with the disclosure herein may be implemented or executed using a general purpose processor, DSP, ASIC, CPU, FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in an alternative, the processor may be any processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, a combination of one or more microprocessors and a DSP core, or any other such configuration).

[0237] The functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, software executed by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software executed by a processor, the functions may be stored on or sent through a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or codes. Other examples and implementations are within the scope of the present disclosure and the appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software, the functions described herein may be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hard wiring, or a combination of any of these items. Features that implement the functions may also be physically located at various locations, including being distributed so that parts of the functions are implemented at different physical locations.

[0238] Computer readable medium includes both non-transitory computer storage medium and communication medium, and communication medium includes any medium that promotes computer program to be transmitted from one place to another place.Non-transitory storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by general-purpose computer or special-purpose computer.By way of example and not limitation, non-transitory computer readable medium can include random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory, compact disc (CD) ROM or other optical disc storage, disk storage or other magnetic storage device, or can be used for carrying or storing desired program code unit and any other non-transitory medium that can be accessed by general-purpose or special-purpose computer or general-purpose or special-purpose processor in the form of instruction or data structure.In addition, any connection is appropriately referred to as computer readable medium.For example, if software is to be sent from website, server or other remote source using coaxial cable, optical fiber cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL) or wireless technology such as infrared, radio and microwave, then coaxial cable, optical fiber cable, twisted pair, DSL or wireless technology such as infrared, radio and microwave are included in the definition of computer readable medium. As used herein, disk and disc include CD, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc, wherein disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0239] As used herein (including in the claims), the term "and / or", when used in a list of two or more items, means that any one of the listed items may be taken alone, or any combination of two or more of the listed items may be taken. For example, if a composition is described as comprising components A, B, and / or C, the composition may comprise: only A; only B; only C; a combination of A and B; a combination of A and C; a combination of B and C; or a combination of A, B, and C. In addition, as used herein (including in the claims), "or" as used in a list of items (e.g., a list of items ending with a phrase such as "at least one of" or "one or more of") indicates a disjunctive list, such that, for example, a list of at least one of A, B, or C means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C). In addition, as used herein, the phrase "based on" should not be interpreted as a reference to a closed set of conditions. For example, an example step described as "based on condition A" may be based at least in part on both condition A and condition B without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In other words, as used herein, the phrase "based on" should be interpreted in the same manner that the phrase "based, at least in part, on" should be interpreted.

[0240] In the accompanying drawings, similar components or features may have the same reference numeral. In addition, various components of the same type may be distinguished by following the reference numeral with a dash and a second reference numeral, the second reference numeral being used to distinguish between similar components. If only the first reference numeral is used in the specification, the description applies to any of the similar components having the same first reference numeral, without regard to the second reference numeral or other subsequent reference numerals.

[0241] The descriptions set forth herein in conjunction with the accompanying drawings describe example configurations, and do not represent all examples that may be implemented or within the scope of the claims. The term "example" as used herein means "used as an example, instance, or illustration," rather than "preferred" or "advantageous over other examples." For the purpose of providing an understanding of the described techniques, the detailed description includes specific details. However, these techniques may be practiced without these specific details. In some cases, well-known structures and devices are shown in the form of diagrams to avoid obscuring the concepts of the described examples.

[0242] The description herein is provided to enable those skilled in the art to implement or use the present disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications to the present disclosure will be apparent, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure is not limited to the examples and designs described herein, but is given the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: identifying a first narrowband reference signal associated with an anchor carrier, wherein scrambling of the first narrowband reference signal is based at least in part on the first scrambling initialization; sending a capability message indicating a capability to support scrambling of a second narrowband reference signal based at least in part on a second scrambling initialization different from the first scrambling initialization; receiving, based at least in part on the capability message, a carrier configuration for a non-anchor carrier associated with the second narrowband reference signal, wherein the carrier configuration for the non-anchor carrier indicates whether the scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal is initialized based at least in part on the first scrambling or the second scrambling; and Communicating with a network node on the non-anchor carrier is performed based at least in part on the second narrowband reference signal.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: An indication associated with a set of non-anchor carriers for paging is received, wherein the indication associated with the set of non-anchor carriers for paging indicates that a subset of the set of non-anchor carriers for paging is scrambled based at least in part on the second scrambling initialization.

3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising: The non-anchor carrier for paging is selected from the set of non-anchor carriers for paging based at least in part on UE capabilities, a scrambling initialization type of the non-anchor carrier for paging, an identifier of the UE, or a combination thereof.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: An indication associated with a set of non-anchor carriers for random access is received, wherein the indication associated with the set of non-anchor carriers for random access indicates that a subset of the set of non-anchor carriers for random access is scrambled based at least in part on the second scrambling initialization.

5. The method according to claim 4, further comprising: A non-anchor carrier for random access is selected from the set of non-anchor carriers for random access based at least in part on UE capabilities.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: A system information message is received, wherein the system information message indicates a scrambling initialization type for a narrowband reference signal of a carrier associated with a multicast control channel.

7. The method according to claim 6, further comprising: An indication associated with the multicast control channel is received, wherein the indication associated with the multicast control channel is used to indicate a scrambling initialization type for a narrowband reference signal of a non-anchor carrier associated with a multicast traffic channel.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The non-anchor carrier comprises an aggregation of two physical resource blocks, and wherein the carrier configuration for the non-anchor carrier indicates the scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal by configuring the non-anchor carrier as an aggregation of two physical resource blocks.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein: A first physical resource block of the non-anchor carrier is associated with a narrowband reference signal having a scrambling initialized based at least in part on the first scrambling; and A second physical resource block of the non-anchor carrier is associated with a narrowband reference signal having a scrambling initialized based at least in part on the second scrambling.

10. The method according to claim 8, wherein: The first physical resource block and the second physical resource block of the non-anchor carrier are associated with a narrowband reference signal having a scrambling initialized based at least in part on the second scrambling.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein: The second scrambling initializes the narrowband reference signal which is initialized once per symbol and mapped to two physical resource blocks.

12. The method according to claim 10, wherein: The second scrambling initialization is initialized separately for each physical resource block based at least in part on a carrier identifier and is mapped separately for each physical resource block.

13. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: The second narrowband reference signal is received, wherein scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal is initialized based at least in part on the second scrambling.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The second scrambling initialization is based at least in part on a system frame number.

15. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The first scrambling initialization is associated with a first period, and the second scrambling initialization is associated with a second period, wherein the second period is greater than the first period.

16. A method for wireless communication at a network node, comprising: identifying a first narrowband reference signal associated with an anchor carrier, wherein scrambling of the first narrowband reference signal is based at least in part on the first scrambling initialization; receiving a capability message indicating a capability to support scrambling of a second narrowband reference signal based at least in part on a second scrambling initialization different from the first scrambling initialization; transmitting, based at least in part on the capability message, a carrier configuration for a non-anchor carrier associated with the second narrowband reference signal, wherein the carrier configuration for the non-anchor carrier indicates whether the scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal is initialized based at least in part on the first scrambling or the second scrambling; and Communicating with a user equipment (UE) on the non-anchor carrier is performed based at least in part on the second narrowband reference signal.

17. The method according to claim 16, further comprising: An indication associated with a set of non-anchor carriers for paging is broadcasted, wherein the indication associated with the set of non-anchor carriers for paging indicates that a subset of the set of non-anchor carriers for paging is scrambled based at least in part on the second scrambling initialization.

18. The method according to claim 16, further comprising: An indication associated with a set of non-anchor carriers for random access is broadcasted, wherein the indication associated with the set of non-anchor carriers for random access indicates that a subset of the set of non-anchor carriers for random access is scrambled based at least in part on the second scrambling initialization.

19. The method according to claim 16, further comprising: A system information message is broadcast, wherein the system information message indicates a scrambling initialization type for a narrowband reference signal of a carrier associated with a multicast control channel.

20. The method according to claim 19, further comprising: An indication associated with the multicast control channel is transmitted, wherein the indication associated with the multicast control channel is used to indicate a scrambling initialization type for a narrowband reference signal of a non-anchor carrier associated with a multicast service channel.

21. The method according to claim 16, wherein: The non-anchor carrier comprises an aggregation of two physical resource blocks, and wherein the carrier configuration for the non-anchor carrier indicates the scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal by configuring the non-anchor carrier as an aggregation of two physical resource blocks.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein: A first physical resource block of the non-anchor carrier is associated with a narrowband reference signal having a scrambling initialized based at least in part on the first scrambling; and A second physical resource block of the non-anchor carrier is associated with a narrowband reference signal having a scrambling initialized based at least in part on the second scrambling.

23. The method according to claim 21, wherein: The first physical resource block and the second physical resource block of the non-anchor carrier are associated with a narrowband reference signal having a scrambling initialized based at least in part on the second scrambling.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein: The second scrambling initializes the narrowband reference signal which is initialized once per symbol and mapped to two physical resource blocks.

25. The method according to claim 23, wherein: The second scrambling initialization is initialized separately for each physical resource block based at least in part on a carrier identifier and is mapped separately for each physical resource block.

26. The method of claim 16, further comprising: The second narrowband reference signal is transmitted, wherein scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal is initialized based at least in part on the second scrambling.

27. An apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: processor, a memory coupled to the processor; as well as Instructions, which are stored in the memory and can be executed by the processor to cause the device to perform the following operations: identifying a first narrowband reference signal associated with an anchor carrier, wherein scrambling of the first narrowband reference signal is based at least in part on the first scrambling initialization; sending a capability message indicating a capability to support scrambling of a second narrowband reference signal based at least in part on a second scrambling initialization different from the first scrambling initialization; receiving, based at least in part on the capability message, a carrier configuration for a non-anchor carrier associated with the second narrowband reference signal, wherein the carrier configuration for the non-anchor carrier indicates whether the scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal is initialized based at least in part on the first scrambling or the second scrambling; and Communicating with a network node on the non-anchor carrier is performed based at least in part on the second narrowband reference signal.

28. An apparatus for wireless communication at a network node, comprising: processor, a memory coupled to the processor; as well as Instructions, which are stored in the memory and can be executed by the processor to cause the device to perform the following operations: identifying a first narrowband reference signal associated with an anchor carrier, wherein scrambling of the first narrowband reference signal is based at least in part on the first scrambling initialization; receiving a capability message indicating a capability to support scrambling of a second narrowband reference signal based at least in part on a second scrambling initialization different from the first scrambling initialization; transmitting, based at least in part on the capability message, a carrier configuration for a non-anchor carrier associated with the second narrowband reference signal, wherein the carrier configuration for the non-anchor carrier indicates whether the scrambling of the second narrowband reference signal is initialized based at least in part on the first scrambling or the second scrambling; and Communicating with a user equipment (UE) on the non-anchor carrier is performed based at least in part on the second narrowband reference signal.

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