Method, device and system for user equipment to autonomously trigger a sounding reference signal

Abstract

This document describes methods, devices, systems, and means for user equipment to autonomously trigger a sounding reference signal. A user equipment maintains (905) a connection to a first base station. In an embodiment, the user equipment generates (925) a link quality parameter for each broadcast signal in a set of broadcast signals received from a set of base stations, and selects (930) one or more base stations to be included in an active coordination set (ACS). The user equipment then identifies (935) a sounding reference signal (SRS) air interface resource corresponding to the selection, and requests that the selected base station be included in the ACS by autonomously transmitting (940) an uplink SRS to the first base station using the identified SRS air interface resource. In an embodiment, the user equipment communicates (965) over a wireless network using the active coordination set formed using the selected one or more base stations.

Description

Background Art

[0001] The evolution of wireless communications to fifth-generation (5G) and sixth-generation (6G) standards and technologies provides higher data rates and greater capacity with improved reliability and lower latency, which enhances mobile broadband services. 5G and 6G technologies also enable new service categories for in-vehicle, fixed wireless broadband and the Internet of Things (IoT).

[0002] To improve the data rate, throughput, and reliability of user equipment, 5G and 6G systems support various forms of wireless connectivity using multiple radio links between base stations and user equipment. Technologies such as dual connectivity or coordinated multi-point communication, often coupled with beamforming signals, can improve the operating performance (e.g., data rate, throughput, reliability) of wireless networks, especially when the received signal strength decreases for user equipment near the cell edge.

[0003] While these forms of coordinated communications contribute to the performance of the communication exchange (e.g., improved data rate, improved throughput, improved reliability), dynamically changing operating environments can mitigate these improvements. To illustrate, consider a scenario in which a first base station and a second base station establish coordinated multi-point communications with a user equipment (UE). Over time, the UE may move out of range of the first base station and / or the second base station to a location with reduced coordinated multi-point communication efficiency.

[0004] In some cases, a device that selects a combination of devices to participate in coordinated multi-point communication lacks sufficient information to select an optimal combination of devices. For example, a first base station may select a second base station instead of a third base station and a better base station to participate in coordinated multi-point communication because the first base station lacks sufficient information indicating that a signal transmitted by the second base station will reach a target user device with a weaker signal strength than a signal from the third base station. Therefore, many factors such as a dynamic operating environment and a lack of information can lead to reduced performance (e.g., reduced data rate, reduced data throughput, reduced reliability) of coordinated multi-point communication with user equipment. Summary of the invention

[0005] This summary is provided to introduce a simplified concept of user equipment autonomously triggering a sounding reference signal. The simplified concept is further described below in the detailed description. This summary is neither intended to identify essential features of the claimed subject matter nor to be used to determine the scope of the claimed subject matter.

[0006] In various aspects, a user equipment (UE) maintains a connection to a first base station. In an embodiment, the UE generates a link quality parameter for each broadcast signal in a set of broadcast signals received from a set of base stations, and selects one or more base stations to be included in an active coordination set (ACS), which can be used to implement a user-centric cell-free (UCNC) type network architecture. The UE then identifies a sounding reference signal (SRS) air interface resource corresponding to the selection, and requests the selected base station to be included in the ACS by autonomously transmitting an uplink SRS to the first base station using the identified SRS air interface resource. In an embodiment, the UE communicates over a wireless network using the ACS formed using the selected one or more base stations.

[0007] In various aspects, a base station allocates a sounding reference signal (SRS) air interface resource to a user equipment (UE) for autonomous transmission of an uplink SRS, and transmits an indication of the allocated SRS air interface resource to the UE. The base station monitors the transmission of the uplink SRS by monitoring the SRS air interface resource. In an embodiment, the base station uses a first SRS air interface resource in the SRS air interface resource to receive the uplink SRS, and identifies the selection of one or more base stations included in an active coordination set (ACS) that the UE requests based on the first SRS air interface resource. The base station then forms the ACS by negotiating with each base station in the selection, and in response to forming the ACS, jointly communicates with the UE using the ACS over a wireless network. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] Aspects of autonomous triggering of a sounding reference signal by a user equipment are described with reference to the following figures. The same numbers are used throughout the figures to refer to similar features and components:

[0009] Figure 1 An example wireless network system is shown in which various aspects of user equipment autonomous triggering of sounding reference signals can be implemented.

[0010] Figure 2 An example device diagram is shown that enables various aspects of user equipment autonomously triggering a sounding reference signal.

[0011] Figure 3 The air interface resources extending between the user equipment and the base station are shown, and various aspects of the user equipment autonomously triggering the sounding reference signal technology can be implemented by utilizing the air interface resources.

[0012] Figure 4 An example environment is shown in which various aspects of user equipment autonomous triggering of sounding reference signals can be implemented.

[0013] Figure 5An example environment is shown in which various aspects of user equipment autonomous triggering of sounding reference signals can be implemented.

[0014] Figure 6 An example environment is shown in which various aspects of user equipment autonomous triggering of sounding reference signals can be implemented.

[0015] Figure 7 An example environment is shown in which various aspects of user equipment autonomous triggering of sounding reference signals can be implemented.

[0016] Figure 8 An example environment is shown in which various aspects of user equipment autonomous triggering of sounding reference signals can be implemented.

[0017] Fig.9A and Fig. 9B Examples of signaling and control transactions between devices according to aspects of user equipment autonomous triggering of sounding reference signal techniques are shown.

[0018] Fig.10 An example method employing user equipment autonomous triggering of a sounding reference signal according to aspects of the techniques described herein is shown.

[0019] Fig.11 An example method employing user equipment autonomous triggering of a sounding reference signal according to aspects of the techniques described herein is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] The evolution of wireless communication systems to fifth generation (5G) new radio (5G NR) and sixth generation (6G) technologies provides users with higher data rates. By adopting technologies such as coordinated multi-point (CoMP) on beamforming wireless connections, higher data rates can be provided at the edge of 5G and 6G cells. Conventional technologies such as neighbor relation tables can be used to describe neighbor cells that may be service cells of potential base stations included in CoMP communications. However, due to the dynamically changing operating environment, the received signal performance at the UE can be affected by other factors that are not included in the neighbor relation table, such as signal interference from other devices, obstacles, etc. Therefore, the dynamically changing transmission environment can make it more difficult to select a base station that optimizes the operating performance of CoMP.

[0021] Various UEs evaluate the transmission environment by generating link quality metrics and / or parameters about received signals. These metrics not only provide an indication of how good the UE receives the signal, but also enable the UE to autonomously initiate and request modifications to the transmission environment, such as modifications to resolve errors identified by link quality parameters and / or modifications to improve the transmission environment. For example, by generating and analyzing link quality parameters, the UE quickly identifies when the current location has a poor transmission environment that negatively affects signal quality, such as an urban canyon (e.g., a building), a location with bad weather (e.g., fog), or a location with interfering objects (e.g., trees, nearby electronic devices, other wireless technologies, grid transformers). In an embodiment of UE autonomous triggering SRS, the UE initiates a request to change the device communicating with the UE by autonomously transmitting an uplink SRS that implicitly indicates a change (e.g., a base station selection for an ACS). In other words, the UE determines when a configuration change is requested (e.g., a participating device) and initiates a request for the change by transmitting an uplink SRS. This allows the UE to quickly transmit a request by reducing or eliminating communication delays associated with waiting for commands and / or instructions from a base station. This also enables the base station to more quickly apply configuration changes (eg, configure the ACS) that result in improved data rates, data throughput, and reliability.

[0022] In various aspects, a user equipment (UE) maintains a connection to a first base station. In an embodiment, the UE generates a link quality parameter for each broadcast signal in a set of broadcast signals received from a set of base stations, and selects one or more base stations to be included in an active coordination set (ACS). The UE then identifies a sounding reference signal (SRS) air interface resource corresponding to the selection, and requests the selected base station to be included in the ACS by autonomously transmitting an uplink SRS to the first base station using the identified SRS air interface resource. In an embodiment, the UE communicates over a wireless network using the active coordination set formed using the selected one or more base stations.

[0023] In various aspects, a base station allocates a sounding reference signal (SRS) air interface resource to a user equipment (UE) for autonomous transmission of an uplink SRS, and transmits an indication of the allocated SRS air interface resource to the UE. The base station monitors the transmission of the uplink SRS by monitoring the SRS air interface resource. In an embodiment, the base station uses a first SRS air interface resource in the SRS air interface resource to receive the uplink SRS, and identifies the selection of one or more base stations included in an active coordination set (ACS) that the UE requests based on the first SRS air interface resource. The base station then forms the ACS by negotiating with each base station in the selection, and in response to forming the ACS, jointly communicates with the UE using the ACS over a wireless network.

[0024] In various aspects, an active coordination set (ACS) is a user equipment-specific set of base stations (e.g., 5G and / or 6G base stations) determined by a user equipment to be available for wireless communication. More particularly, a base station in an ACS can be used for joint transmission and / or reception between a user equipment and one or more base stations in the ACS (which may be otherwise referred to as joint communication or coordinated multipoint (CoMP)). Joint communication includes communication between a user equipment and multiple base stations, or communication between a user equipment and multiple sectors of a single base station. Joint communication includes communication in a single radio frequency band or communication in multiple radio frequency bands. In various embodiments, an ACS may be a component of a user-centric cell-free (UCNC) network architecture or a component used to implement a user-centric cell-free (UCNC) network architecture.

[0025] In an embodiment, the master base station coordinates the joint transmission and / or reception of the UE. The master base station uses the ACS to schedule air interface resources for the group of base stations communicating with the user equipment. By using this joint scheduling for communication with the UE, scheduling efficiency is improved and inter-cell interference (ICI) in the wireless network is reduced.

[0026] As channel conditions change for the user equipment, the user equipment can add or remove base stations from the ACS while communicating with base stations in the ACS that provide available link quality. Based on these changes to the ACS, the master base station can add or remove base stations from joint communications with the user equipment without performing a handover that interrupts data communications with the user equipment. By using the ACS for communication management, the master base station can select the optimal route for data communications with the UE and maintain the highest data throughput for the user equipment without interruptions caused by handovers.

[0027] Although the features and concepts of the described systems and methods for autonomously triggering sounding reference signals by user equipment can be implemented in any number of different environments, systems, devices, and / or in various configurations, aspects of autonomously triggering sounding reference signals by user equipment are described in the context of the following example devices, systems, and configurations.

[0028] Example Environment

[0029] Figure 1An example environment 100 is shown in which various aspects of user equipment autonomous triggering of sounding reference signals can be implemented. The example environment 100 includes a user equipment 110 (UE 110) communicating with one or more base stations 120 (shown as base stations 121 and 122) via one or more wireless communication links 130 (wireless links 130) shown as wireless links 131 and 132. Although shown as a smartphone, the user equipment 110 can be implemented as any suitable computing or electronic device, such as a mobile communication device, a modem, a cellular phone, a gaming device, a navigation device, a media device, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a tablet computer, a smart appliance, or a vehicle-based communication system. The base station 120 (e.g., an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network node B, an E-UTRAN node B, an evolved node B, an eNodeB, an eNB, a next generation node B, a gNodeB, a gNB, a 6G node B, etc.) can be implemented in a macro cell, a micro cell, a small cell, a pico cell, etc., or any combination thereof.

[0030] The base station 120 communicates with the user equipment 110 via wireless links 131 and 132, which can be implemented as any suitable type of wireless links. The wireless links 131 and 132 can include downlinks of control plane information and user plane data transmitted from the base station 120 to the user equipment 110, uplinks of other control plane information and / or user plane data transmitted from the user equipment 110 to the base station 120, or both. The wireless link 130 may include one or more wireless links or bearers implemented using any suitable communication protocol or standard such as the Third Generation Partnership Project Long Term Evolution (3GPP LTE), the Fifth Generation New Radio (5G NR), 6G, etc., or a combination of communication protocols or standards. Multiple wireless links 130 can be aggregated in carrier aggregation to provide higher data rates for the user equipment 110. Multiple wireless links 130 from multiple base stations 120 can be configured for coordinated multi-point (CoMP) communication with the user equipment 110. Additionally, the plurality of wireless links 130 may be configured for single radio access technology (RAT) (Single RAT) dual connectivity (Single RAT-DC) or Multi-RAT dual connectivity (MR-DC).

[0031] The base stations 120 are collectively a radio access network 140 (RAN, Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network, E-UTRAN, 5G NR RAN, or NR RAN). The base stations 121 and 122 in the RAN 140 are connected to a core network 150 such as a fifth generation core (5GC) or a 6G core network. The base stations 121 and 122 are connected to the core network 150 at 102 and 104, respectively, via an NG2 interface (or a similar 6G interface) for control plane signaling and via an NG3 interface (or a similar 6G interface) for user plane data communication. In addition to the connection to the core network, the base stations 120 can communicate with each other via an Xn Application Protocol (XnAP) at 112 to exchange user plane and control plane data. The user equipment 110 can also be connected to a public network such as the Internet 160 via the core network 150 to interact with a remote service 170.

[0032] Example Device

[0033] Figure 2 An example device diagram 200 shows a user equipment 110 and a base station 120. The user equipment 110 and the base station 120 may include for clarity Figure 2 1. The user equipment 110 includes an antenna 202 for communicating with the base station 120 in the RAN 140, a radio frequency front end 204 (RF front end 204), an LTE transceiver 206, a 5G NR transceiver 208, and a 6G transceiver 210. The RF front end 204 of the user equipment 110 can couple or connect the LTE transceiver 206, the 5G NR transceiver 208, and the 6G transceiver 210 to the antenna 202 to facilitate various types of wireless communications. The antenna 202 of the user equipment 110 may include an array of multiple antennas configured similarly or differently to each other. The antenna 202 and the RF front end 204 can be tuned and / or tunable to one or more frequency bands defined by the 3GPP LTE, 5G NR, and 6G communication standards and implemented by the LTE transceiver 206, the 5G NR transceiver 208, and / or the 6G transceiver 210. Additionally, antenna 202, RF front end 204, LTE transceiver 206, 5G NR transceiver 208, and / or 6G transceiver 210 may be configured to support beamforming for transmission and reception of communications with base station 120. By way of example and not limitation, antenna 202 and RF front end 204 may be implemented to operate in sub-gigahertz (GHz) frequency bands (e.g., below 1 GHz), sub-6 GHz frequency bands (e.g., below 6 GHz), and / or frequency bands above 6 GHz as defined by 3GPP LTE, 5G NR, and 6G communication standards.

[0034] The user equipment 110 also includes a processor 212 and a computer readable storage medium 214 (CRM 214). The processor 212 can be a single-core processor or a multi-core processor composed of a variety of materials such as silicon, polysilicon, high-K dielectrics, copper, etc. The computer-readable storage medium described herein does not include propagation signals. The CRM 214 can include any suitable memory or storage device, such as a random access memory (RAM), static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), non-volatile RAM (NVRAM), read-only memory (ROM), or flash memory that can be used to store device data 216 of the user equipment 110. The device data 216 includes user data, multimedia data, beamforming codebooks, applications, and / or operating systems of the user equipment 110 that can be executed by the processor 212 to implement user plane communications, control plane signaling, and user interaction with the user equipment 110.

[0035] In some implementations, the CRM 214 may also include an active coordination set (ACS) manager 218. The ACS manager 218 may communicate with the antenna 202, the RF front end 204, the LTE transceiver 206, the 5G NR transceiver 208, and / or the 6G transceiver 210 to monitor the quality of the wireless communication link 130. Based on the monitoring, the ACS manager 218 may determine to add or remove a base station 120 from the ACS and / or trigger the transmission of an uplink ACS sounding reference signal.

[0036] In some embodiments, the ACS manager 218 includes an uplink sounding reference signal manager (uplink SRS manager) 220 that triggers autonomous transmission of a sounding reference signal (SRS) (e.g., without receiving a request for transmission). Sometimes, the uplink SRS manager 220 identifies SRS air interface resources corresponding to a selection or combination of base stations 120 to be added to an existing ACS by updating and / or modifying, or to be used to form and / or establish a new ACS. The SRS air interface resources can include any combination of resources and / or transmission characteristics, such as air interface resources (e.g., frequency carriers, frequency bands, time slots, cyclic shift configurations, transmission and / or timing modes, modulation and / or coding schemes). The uplink SRS manager 220 indicates a selection by autonomously triggering (e.g., without a transmission timing indication from a base station) the transmission of an uplink SRS using the SRS resources.

[0037] Figure 2The device diagram of the base station 120 shown in includes a single network node (e.g., gNode B). The functions of the base station 120 can be distributed across multiple network nodes or devices and can be distributed in any manner suitable for performing the functions described herein. The base station 120 includes an antenna 252 for communicating with the UE 110, a radio frequency front end 254 (RF front end 254), one or more LTE transceivers 256, one or more 5G NR transceivers 258, and / or one or more 6G transceivers 260. The RF front end 254 of the base station 120 is capable of coupling or connecting the LTE transceiver 256, the 5G NR transceiver 258, and / or the 6G transceiver 260 to the antenna 252 to facilitate various types of wireless communications. The antenna 252 of the base station 120 may include an array of multiple antennas configured similarly or differently to each other. The antenna 252 and the RF front end 254 can be tuned and / or tunable to one or more frequency bands defined by 3GPP LTE, 5G NR, and 6G communication standards and implemented by the LTE transceiver 256, one or more 5G NR transceivers 258, and / or one or more 6G transceivers 260. In addition, the antenna 252, the RF front end 254, the LTE transceiver 256, the one or more 5G NR transceivers 258, and / or the one or more 6G transceivers 260 can be configured to support beamforming, such as massive MIMO, for transmission and reception of communications with the UE 110.

[0038] The base station 120 also includes a processor 262 and a computer readable storage medium 264 (CRM 264). The processor 262 may be a single core processor or a multi-core processor composed of a variety of materials such as silicon, polysilicon, high-K dielectrics, copper, etc. The CRM 264 may include any suitable memory or storage device, such as a random access memory (RAM), static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), non-volatile RAM (NVRAM), read-only memory (ROM), or flash memory that may be used to store device data 266 of the base station 120. The device data 266 includes network scheduling data, radio resource management data, beamforming codebooks, applications, and / or an operating system of the base station 120 that may be executed by the processor 262 to enable communication with the user equipment 110.

[0039] The CRM 264 also includes a joint communication scheduler 268. Alternatively or additionally, the joint communication scheduler 268 may be implemented in whole or in part as hardware logic or circuitry that is integrated or separate from other components of the base station 120. In at least some aspects, the joint communication scheduler 268 configures the LTE transceiver 256, the 5G NR transceiver 258, and the 6G transceiver 260 for communication with the user equipment 110, and with a core network such as the core network 150, and routes user plane data and / or control plane information for joint communication. In addition, when the base station 120 acts as a master base station for the base station 120 in the ACS, the joint communication scheduler 268 may allocate air interface resources and schedule communications for the UE 110 and the base station 120 in the ACS.

[0040] The base station 120 includes an inter-base station interface 270, such as an Xn and / or X2 interface, which is configured in conjunction with the communication scheduler 268 to exchange user plane and control plane data between other base stations 120 to manage the communication of the base station 120 with the user equipment 110. The base station 120 includes a core network interface 272, which is configured in conjunction with the communication scheduler 268 to exchange user plane data and control plane information with core network functions and / or entities.

[0041] Figure 3 The air interface resources extending between the user equipment and the base station are shown, and the air interface resources can be used to realize the various aspects of the user equipment autonomous triggering of the sounding reference signal. The air interface resources 302 can be divided into resource units 304, each resource unit occupies some intersections of the spectrum and the elapsed time. A part of the air interface resources 302 is graphically shown in a grid or matrix with multiple resource blocks 310, and the multiple resource blocks 310 include example resource blocks 311, 312, 313, 314. The example of the resource unit 304 therefore includes at least one resource block 310. As shown in the figure, time is depicted as a horizontal axis along the horizontal dimension, and frequency is depicted as a vertical axis along the vertical dimension. As defined by a given communication protocol or standard, the air interface resources 302 can span any suitable specified frequency range, and / or can be divided into intervals of any specified duration. For example, the increment of time can correspond to milliseconds (mSec). For example, the increment of frequency can correspond to megahertz (MHz).

[0042] Typically in the example operation, the base station 120 allocates portions of the air interface resources 302 (e.g., resource elements 304) for uplink and downlink communications. Each resource block 310 of the network access resources can be allocated to support corresponding wireless communication links 130 of multiple user devices 110. In the lower left corner of the grid, as defined by a given communication protocol, the resource block 311 can span a specified frequency range 306 and include multiple subcarriers or frequency subbands. The resource block 311 can include any suitable number of subcarriers (e.g., 12), each subcarrier corresponding to a corresponding portion (e.g., 15 kHz) of the specified frequency range 306 (e.g., 180 kHz). As defined by a given communication protocol, the resource block 311 can also span a specified time interval 308 or time slot (e.g., lasting approximately half a millisecond or 7 orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols). The time interval 308 includes subintervals, each of which can correspond to a symbol such as an OFDM symbol. As Figure 3 As shown, each resource block 310 may include a plurality of resource elements 320 (REs) corresponding to or defined by sub-intervals (or symbols) of sub-carriers of the frequency range 306 and sub-intervals (or symbols) of the time interval 308. Alternatively, a given resource element 320 may span more than one frequency sub-carrier or symbol. Thus, a resource unit 304 may include at least one resource block 310, at least one resource element 320, and the like.

[0043] In an example embodiment, a plurality of user devices 110 (one of which is shown) communicate with a base station 120 (one of which is shown) via access provided by a portion of the air interface resources 302. Figure 2 The joint communication scheduler 268 (shown in FIG. 1 ) may determine a respective data rate, information type, or amount of information (e.g., control plane information and / or user plane data) to be transmitted (e.g., transmitted) by the user equipment 110. For example, the joint communication scheduler 268 may determine that each user equipment 110 will transmit at a different respective data rate or transmit a different respective amount of information. The joint communication scheduler 268 then allocates one or more resource blocks 310 to each user equipment 110 based on the determined data rate or amount of information.

[0044] In addition, or in an alternative to block-level resource grants, the joint communication scheduler 268 can allocate resource units at the element level. Thus, the joint communication scheduler 268 can allocate one or more resource elements 320 or individual subcarriers to different user equipment 110. By doing so, one resource block 310 can be allocated to facilitate network access for multiple user equipment 110. Thus, the joint communication scheduler 268 can allocate one or up to all subcarriers or resource elements 320 of a resource block 310 to one user equipment 110 or divide across multiple user equipment 110 at various granularities, thereby achieving higher network utilization or improved spectrum efficiency.

[0045] The joint communication scheduler 268 can thus allocate the air interface resources 302 by resource units 304, resource blocks 310, frequency carriers, time intervals, resource elements 320, frequency subcarriers, time subintervals, symbols, spreading codes, some combination thereof, etc. Based on the respective allocations of the resource units 304, the joint communication scheduler 268 can transmit respective messages to the plurality of user equipments 110 indicating the respective allocations of the resource units 304 to each user equipment 110. Each message can enable the respective user equipment 110 to queue information or configure the LTE transceiver 206, the 5G NR transceiver 208, and / or the 6G transceiver 210 to communicate via the allocated resource units 304 of the air interface resources 302.

[0046] User equipment autonomously triggers the detection of reference signals

[0047] In various aspects, a UE generates one or more link quality parameters of broadcast signals received from multiple base stations. The UE then selects base stations to be included in an ACS by analyzing the link quality parameters. For example, the UE analyzes the link quality parameters to identify base stations with higher received signal strength at the UE relative to other base stations. In various embodiments, the selection of the base station can be used to form a new ACS or modify an existing ACS. The UE then indicates the selection by autonomously transmitting a sounding reference signal (SRS) on a sounding reference signal resource (SRS resource) corresponding to the selection.

[0048] Figure 4 An example environment in which aspects of autonomous triggering of a sounding reference signal by a user equipment can be implemented is shown. Environment 400 corresponds to an example environment at a first point in time, and environment 402 corresponds to an example environment at an arbitrary second point in time later. Therefore, environment 400 and environment 402 collectively illustrate aspects of autonomous triggering of a sounding reference signal by a user equipment in an example environment.

[0049] In environment 400, UE 110 is communicating with a Figure 1140 of the wireless network. In other words, UE 110 maintains a single wireless connection to a single base station (e.g., base station 122). Alternatively or additionally, UE 110 communicates with an ACS including base station 122, such as reference 140. Figure 5 and / or Figure 4 As described in the environment 402 of FIG. For example, the base station 122 acts as a master base station in the ACS specific to the UE 110, and the connection maintained between the base station 122 and the UE 110 corresponds to the connection with the ACS.

[0050] In environment 400, UE 110 and base station 122 exchange information with each other via link 404. In various embodiments, link 404 is Figure 1 As an example, UE 110 uses link 404 to transmit an uplink SRS. As another example, base station 122 sends autonomous sounding reference signal (autonomous SRS) parameters, such as SRS air interface resource allocation information, SRS air interface resource mapping, thresholds, transmission port assignments for SRS transmission, etc., to UE 110 via link 404, as shown in FIG. Figures 6 to 8 As yet another example, UE 110 and base station 122 exchange any combination of control plane information and / or user plane data.

[0051] Environment 400 also includes base station 121, base station 123, and base station 124. Each base station transmits a corresponding signal, respectively labeled broadcast signal 406, broadcast signal 408, and broadcast signal 410. For example, a base station transmits a downlink sounding reference signal or broadcast channel (BCH) that UE 110 uses to identify the presence of the base station.

[0052] To illustrate, in one or more embodiments, UE 110 measures and / or generates a link quality parameter, such as a reference signal received power (RSRP) metric, a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) metric, or a reference signal received quality (RSRQ), for each respective broadcast signal. UE 110 then receives the received signal from the UE 110 by: Figure 2 The uplink SRS manager 220 analyzes link quality parameters and / or metrics to identify the selection of base stations to be included in the ACS. Figure 6 , UE 110 compares each corresponding link quality parameter, such as RSRP metric, to a threshold. If the corresponding link quality metric meets or exceeds the threshold, the UE selects the corresponding base station as a candidate to be included in the ACS. The threshold can be static or dynamic. As an example, the dynamic value can reflect 80% of the current link quality parameter of the strongest base station currently in the ACS.

[0053] After identifying the selection of the base station and determining to initiate the change request, UE 110 autonomously transmits an uplink SRS using SRS air interface resources that reflect the combination of base stations (e.g., a combination of base stations having corresponding link quality metrics above a threshold). Figure 6 As described, the base station allocates SRS air interface resources to the UE for uplink SRS transmission and forwards an indication of the allocation to the UE. In an embodiment, the base station allocates SRS air interface resources without providing the UE with a specified transmission time indicating when the UE should transmit the uplink SRS. In other words, instead of the base station indicating when the UE should use the SRS air interface resources to transmit the uplink SRS, the UE 110 makes a determination about when to transmit the uplink SRS, such as in response to recognizing that the transmission environment has degraded and / or recognizing a change that can improve the transmission environment.

[0054] For illustration, UE 110 determines to autonomously transmit an uplink SRS based on determining that a single connection with base station 122 has degraded below an acceptable threshold (e.g., below a static threshold). Therefore, UE 110 autonomously transmits an uplink SRS that does not indicate base station 122. As another example, and with reference to Figure 5 , the UE determines to autonomously transmit the uplink SRS based on identifying that a base station not currently included in the ACS has a link quality parameter with better performance (e.g., higher than a dynamic threshold) relative to another base station included in the ACS when communicating over the wireless network using the ACS. Thus, the UE 110 does not receive a command to transmit the uplink SRS from the base station, but autonomously transmits the uplink SRS based on the analysis performed at the UE.

[0055] In an embodiment, to transmit an uplink SRS, the uplink SRS manager 220 identifies SRS air interface resources corresponding to a selection of a previously determined set of base stations. In response to identifying the SRS air interface resources, the uplink SRS manager 220 initiates transmission of the uplink SRS using the identified SRS air interface resources. The correlation between the SRS air interface resources and the combination of base stations can be determined in any suitable manner. In at least one embodiment, the base station 122 sends a message to the UE 110, the message including an allocation of SRS air interface resources and / or a mapping to the combination of base stations, as described in reference to Figure 6 As described.

[0056] In an embodiment, the base station monitors the SRS air interface resources assigned to the UE. This allows the base station to identify when the UE autonomously transmits the uplink SRS to the base station. For illustration, since the UE autonomously transmits the uplink SRS without receiving a command (e.g., an SRS transmission command) from the base station, the base station needs to avoid missing the reception of the uplink SRS, because the transmission time and / or window are unknown to the base station. In order to avoid missing reception, the base station continuously and / or periodically monitors the allocated SRS air interface resources to identify when the transmission using the resource occurs. As an example, the base station allocates a specific frequency carrier and / or time slot to the UE for uplink SRS transmission based on the allocation of the SRS air interface resources performed by the base station. In response to notifying the UE of these allocations, the base station continuously and / or periodically monitors the frequency carrier and / or time slot to identify when the air interface resources are in use (e.g., when the UE transmits the uplink SRS). For example, the base station configures the receiver to receive a signal on a specific frequency carrier assigned as an SRS air interface resource, and monitors the power on the frequency carrier. Alternatively or additionally, the base station monitors the frequency carrier at a particular time slot. When the base station detects that the frequency carrier and / or time slot is in use (e.g., the base station senses energy on the carrier), the base station identifies the transmission of the uplink SRS, and the SRS air interface resources used for the transmission. Therefore, in an embodiment, the base station successfully receives the uplink SRS transmission by monitoring the known SRS air interface resources allocated to the UE and identifying when the SRS air interface resources are in use.

[0057] In response to receiving the uplink SRS, such as via link 404, base station 122 identifies the selection of a base station requested by the UE based on the SRS air interface resources used to receive the uplink SRS. Figure 6 As described, the mapping assigns each SRS air interface resource to a corresponding combination of base stations, and the base stations access the mapping to identify the combination of base stations using the SRS air interface resources for receiving uplink SRS.

[0058] Continuing with environment 402, base station 122 forms an active coordination set 412 (ACS 412) and jointly communicates with UE 110 using link 414, where link 414 generally represents signals for joint communication, such as a first downlink signal from base station 122, a second downlink signal from base station 123, and a third downlink signal from base station 124. For example, each base station transmits exactly the same information to the UE using exactly the same signaling (e.g., same time, same frequency, same coding, but potentially different spatial beams) on the corresponding downlink signals to perform joint communication. Alternatively or additionally, link 414 represents a single uplink signal from UE 110 to all base stations included in ACS 412 to provide signal-level joint reception by the base stations. In some embodiments, link 414 includes multiple uplink signals, such as a first uplink signal to base station 122, a second uplink signal to base station 123, and a third uplink signal to base station 124.

[0059] ACS 412 includes base station 122, base station 123 and base station 124, wherein base station 122 acts as a master base station for coordinating joint communications with other base stations 123, 134 in the ACS. ACS 412 omits base station 121 based on input from UE 110 through SRS air interface resources for transmitting uplink SRS. For illustration, in an embodiment in which a master base station (e.g., base station 122) forms a new ACS, base station 122 excludes base station 121 from the coordination process. Alternatively or additionally, in other embodiments, the master base station modifies the existing ACS by removing base station 121 (when relevant) from the existing ACS. Therefore, ACS 412 corresponds to the selection of the base station indicated by UE 110. In various embodiments, ACS 412 can be a component of the UCNC network architecture or a component used to implement the UCNC network architecture.

[0060] In an embodiment, and in response to determining the selection of a base station from the SRS resources, base station 122 coordinates the formation (or modification) of ACS 412 by negotiating with the selected base station. As an example, base station 122 uses Figure 1 The Xn and / or X2 interface 112 exchanges ACS configuration messages with the base station 123 and the base station 124, such as sending a command to each base station instructing the base station to join the ACS412, receiving an acknowledgment from the base station confirming the command, sending UE 110 identification information to the base station, sending transmission parameters (e.g., supported frequency bands, timing information, modulation schemes) to the base station, sending UE capabilities to the base station, etc.

[0061] Figure 5An example environment 500 is shown in which aspects of user equipment autonomous triggering of a sounding reference signal can be implemented, and in which the UE 110 measures the link quality of candidate base stations 120 to determine which base stations 120 to include in an ACS. This can include modifying an existing ACS and / or initiating the formation of an ACS. The embodiments described with reference to environment 500 can be used with reference to Figures 1 to 4 Any other combination of aspects described.

[0062] In example environment 500, UE 110 is moving through a radio access network (RAN) including multiple base stations 120, shown as base stations 121-127. These base stations may utilize different technologies (e.g., LTE, 5G NR, 6G) at various frequencies (e.g., sub-gigahertz, sub-6 GHz, and above 6 GHz bands and sub-bands).

[0063] As the user equipment 110 follows the path 502 through the RAN 140, the user equipment 110 measures the link quality of the base stations currently in the ACS and / or the candidate base stations evaluated by the UE 110, such as by referring to Figure 4 The described periodic measurement of the broadcast signal. In an embodiment, the UE 110 autonomously triggers the transmission of the uplink SRS to initiate the modification of an existing ACS and / or to initiate the formation of a new ACS.

[0064] To illustrate, consider a scenario where a UE participates in joint communications associated with an ACS. At location 504 on path 502, UE 110 communicates over a wireless network using ACS 506 including base stations 121, 122, and 123. For example, similar to Figure 4 As described in environment 402 of FIG. 4 , UE 110 receives a joint transmission (CoMP) signal from base stations 121, 122, and 123. Alternatively or additionally, UE 110 transmits an uplink signal that each base station in ACS 506 receives and jointly processes using joint reception. Thus, at location 504, UE 110 communicates using an ACS, where multiple receiving devices collectively process communications to and / or from UE 110. In some embodiments, ACS 506 may be a component of a UCNC network architecture or a component used to implement a UCNC network architecture.

[0065] As part of these communications, a primary base station, such as base station 122, transmits autonomous SRS parameters to UE 110 that are used to autonomously trigger transmission of uplink SRS. For example, UE 110 receives the autonomous SRS parameters from the primary base station, such as reference 122. Figure 6 The allocation of SRS air interface resources and base station combination mapping described in reference Figure 7 The threshold values ​​described and / or as referenced Figure 8Described antenna port mapping.

[0066] As UE 110 continues to move, at position 508, UE 110 autonomously triggers the transmission of an uplink SRS to request the selection of base stations to be included in the UE-specific ACS at this time and this position. In some embodiments, UE 110 bases the selection of base stations on the observed broadcast signals and / or the analysis of link quality parameters. For example, UE 110 measures the received signal strength of the broadcast signals (e.g., downlink SRS) received from each base station, and determines the selection of the base station by selecting a base station with a received signal strength at or above a threshold. At position 508, UE 110 selects a combination of base stations including base stations 123, 124, and 125 and omitting base stations 121 and 122. UE 110 then transmits an uplink SRS indicating the selection (e.g., base station 123, base station 124, and base station 125) using SRS air interface resources. For example, UE 110 transmits an uplink SRS to a primary base station (eg, base station 122 ) coordinating ACS 506 using the SRS resources identified in the autonomous SRS parameters received at location 504 .

[0067] In response to receiving the uplink SRS transmitted at location 508, various embodiments form an ACS 510 including base station 123, base station 124, and base station 125 forming ACS 510. For example, a master base station (e.g., base station 122) of a current ACS (e.g., ACS 506) receives the uplink SRS, identifies the selection of a base station indicated by UE 110, and coordinates modification of the current ACS to form a new ACS (e.g., ACS 510). In various embodiments, the formation of a new ACS (e.g., ACS 510) corresponds to the modification of the current ACS, as long as the current ACS and the new ACS are specific to UE 110 and have differences from each other, such as a change in participating base stations. For illustration, the modification corresponds to removing one or more base stations (e.g., base stations 121 and 122) from the ACS specific to UE 110 at location (and time) 504 and / or corresponds to adding one or more base stations (e.g., base stations 124 and 125) to the ACS specific to UE 110 at location (and time) 508.

[0068] In some embodiments, modifying the UE-specific ACS includes changing the primary base station for coordinating joint communications with the ACS. Consider, for example, a scenario in which base station 122 serves as the current primary base station for ACS 506. When modifying ACS 506 to form ACS 510, base station 122 selects a base station, such as base station 123, to serve as the new primary base station for forming ACS 510 based on location information, signal strength information, supported core networks, etc. In an embodiment, base station 122 requests and / or instructs base station 123 to serve as the new primary base station, such as by Figure 1 The Xn and / or X2 interfaces 112 exchange commands, acknowledgments, configuration information, etc.

[0069] Sometimes, the current master base station and / or the new master base station collectively coordinate modifications to the ACS. For example, before instructing base station 123 to act as the new master base station, the current master base station (e.g., base station 122) removes base stations (e.g., base station 121) and / or adds new base stations (e.g., base stations 124 and 125) to the ACS specific to UE 110, such as by sending corresponding commands to the base stations. As another example, the current master base station indicates to the new master base station which base station(s) to remove and which base station(s) to add to the ACS, and the new master base station manages modifications to what base stations are included and excluded from the ACS. In yet another example, the current master base station removes base stations from the ACS, and the new master base station adds base stations to the ACS. As further described, in various embodiments, modifications to the ACS can be performed using Figure 1 The coordination modification is coordinated by messaging between base stations over the Xn and / or X2 interfaces 112. The coordination modification sometimes includes information exchange, such as exchanging UE capabilities associated with UE 110, exchanging UE identification information, sending commands to join or leave an ACS, receiving an acknowledgment, exchanging configuration information, etc.

[0070] When modifying ACS 506 to form ACS 510, various embodiments transmit new autonomous SRS parameters to UE 110. For example, similar to what is described at location 504, base station 123 acts as a new master base station for ACS 510, determines (and allocates) SRS air interface resources to UE 110, identifies a combination of base stations, maps the combination of base stations to SRS air interface resources, etc.

[0071] Continuing along path 502, UE 110 autonomously triggers transmission of a second uplink SRS at location 512 based on the broadcast signal observed at location 512. This results in the formation of ACS 514, which modifies ACS 510 by removing base stations 123 and 124 from the ACS and adding base station 127 to the ACS, similar to what was described with respect to ACS 506 and ACS 510. In some embodiments, the formation of ACS 514 includes designating a new primary base station (e.g., base station 125) for the UE-specific ACS (e.g., ACS 514).

[0072] Example autonomous SRS parameters for UE autonomously triggered SRS

[0073] Figure 6 An example environment in which aspects of autonomous triggering of a sounding reference signal by a user equipment can be implemented is shown. Environment 600 corresponds to an example environment at a first point in time, and environment 602 corresponds to an example environment at an arbitrary second point in time later. Therefore, environment 600 and environment 602 collectively illustrate aspects of autonomous triggering of a sounding reference signal by a user equipment in an example environment.

[0074] Environments 600 and 602 include Figure 1 In environment 600, UE 110 maintains a connection with base station 122. In some embodiments, UE 110 maintains a single wireless connection to base station 122, as described with reference to environment 400. Alternatively or additionally, UE 110 communicates using an ACS that includes a connection to base station 122, such as described with reference to environment 400. Figure 5 and / or Figure 4 The environment described in 402.

[0075] In environment 600, base station 122 allocates SRS air interface resources for uplink SRS transmissions from UE 110. As an example, and with reference to Figure 3310 of resource block 310, base station 122 designates or allocates resource 604 of resource block 310 to SRS resource 1, designates or allocates resource 606 of resource block 310 to SRS resource 2, and designates or allocates resource 608 of resource block 310 to SRS resource 3. The resources allocated for each SRS air interface resource can correspond to any combination of transmission resources, such as frequency carriers, frequency bands, time slots, cyclic shift configurations, modulation and / or coding schemes, transmission and / or timing modes, etc. that make each allocated SRS air interface resource different from each other. In various embodiments, base station 122 determines what resources to allocate based on communications exchanged with UE 110. For example, the base station selects a UE-specific SRS air interface resource by analyzing uplink communications received from UE 110 and determining an estimated location of the UE, such as by the angle of arrival of a signal received from the UE, the received signal strength of a signal received from the UE, the direction of movement of the UE, the speed of the UE, etc. Alternatively or additionally, base station 122 analyzes information about neighboring base stations, such as location information or supported core networks. In some embodiments, the base station determines an estimated location of the UE and accesses and analyzes a history indicating signal measurements or metrics reported by the same or other UEs regarding base stations within a predetermined distance of the estimated location.

[0076] The base station 122 then allocates the SRS resource blocks 310 based on any combination of information (e.g., UE characteristics, neighboring base stations, signal metrics) to optimize and / or improve transmissions (e.g., data rate, throughput, reliability, signal strength) from the UE 110. In one or more embodiments, the base station 122 determines a combination of base stations for forming an ACS that produces desired operating performance. As an example, the base station 122 analyzes information indicating the direction in which the UE is moving, the cell coverage edge that the UE is approaching (exiting or entering), and the base stations associated with the cell coverage edge. Based on this information, the base station 122 identifies a combination of base stations that the UE may request in a UE-specific ACS, such as a first combination that excludes base stations (e.g., base station 121) for a first scenario in which the UE may exit the coverage of the corresponding cell, a second combination that includes base stations (e.g., base station 123) for a second scenario in which the UE may enter the coverage of the corresponding cell, and the like.

[0077] In various embodiments, base station 122 maps the combination of base stations to corresponding SRS air interface resources, as shown by mapping 610. For example, referring to Figure 4, base station 122 maps SRS resource 1 to a first base station combination (e.g., base station 121, base station 122, and base station 123), maps SRS resource 2 to a second base station combination (e.g., base station 122, base station 123, and base station 124), and maps SRS resource 3 to a third base station combination (e.g., base station 123 and base station 124).

[0078] In some implementations, base station 122 generates map 610 by obtaining information about UE 110. As an example, base station 122 obtains an estimated location of UE 110 and identifies a set of base stations within a predefined distance to the UE, such as by querying the base stations for location information via an Xn and / or X2 interface, and / or by accessing a location stored in a database. Figure 2 The base station location information in the CRM 264.

[0079] In some implementations, base station 122 generates mapping 610 based on input from a UE. For example, UE 110 reports signal measurements or metrics about neighboring base stations to base station 122, and base station 122 determines a combination of base stations based on the information reported by UE 110.

[0080] As yet another example, base station 122 queries a server to identify a combination of base stations, such as a core network server and / or an ACS server storing multiple ACS configurations (e.g., multiple combinations of base stations). To illustrate, in querying the server, the base station submits the estimated location of UE 110 to identify a combination of base stations within a predefined distance of the estimated location and / or accesses a historical report of signal measurement results as further described.

[0081] In response to identifying the combinations of base stations, base station 122 allocates respective SRS air interface resources for each combination of base stations.Alternatively or additionally, base station 122 generates a mapping that assigns respective SRS air interface resources to respective combinations of base stations.

[0082] In response to allocating the SRS air interface resources and / or mapping, the base station sends a message 612 to the UE 110, wherein the message indicates the allocated SRS air interface resources. Alternatively or additionally, the base station indicates that the mapping assigns the corresponding SRS air interface resources (or a combination of SRS air interface resources) to the corresponding combination of base stations. As an example, the base station 122 sends a radio resource control (RRC) message indicating the allocated SRS air interface resources and / or mapping, such as an RRC connection establishment message or an RRC connection reconfiguration message.

[0083] In environment 602, UE 110 autonomously triggers the transmission of uplink SRS. Figure 4 and Figure 5, UE 110 generates link quality parameters, analyzes the link quality parameters, and determines that base station 123 and base station 124 meet one or more conditions for forming (or modifying) an ACS specific to UE 110. Uplink SRS manager 220, for example, determines that base station 123 and base station 124 each have an RSRP metric above a predetermined threshold. Therefore, UE 110 autonomously transmits uplink SRS 614 using SRS air interface resources (e.g., SRS resource 3) corresponding to the combination of base station 123 and base station 124. Resources 608 of resource block 310 generally represent SRS resource allocations and can include any type of air interface resources (e.g., frequency, time, transmission mode, cyclic shift configuration, transmission and / or timing mode, modulation and / or coding scheme) as further described.

[0084] Figure 7 An example environment in which aspects of user equipment autonomously triggering sounding reference signals can be implemented is shown. Environment 700 corresponds to an example environment at a first point in time, and environment 702 corresponds to an example environment at an arbitrary second point in time later. Therefore, environment 700 and environment 702 collectively illustrate aspects of user equipment autonomously triggering sounding reference signals in an example environment, and can be implemented with reference signals. Figures 1 to 6 Any other combination of aspects described.

[0085] Environment 700 includes Figure 1 In environment 700, UE 110 maintains a connection with base station 122. In some embodiments, UE 110 maintains a single wireless connection to base station 122, as described with reference to environment 400. Alternatively or additionally, UE 110 communicates using an ACS that includes a connection to base station 122, such as described with reference to environment 400. Figure 5 and / or Figure 4 The environment described in 402.

[0086] In environment 700, base station 122 sends an indication 704 to UE 110, where the indication includes a threshold 706. For example, base station 122 sends an RRC message including the threshold, such as Figure 6 Thus, the threshold value can sometimes be included in a message including an indication of the SRS resource allocation and / or mapping 610. Alternatively or additionally, the base station 122 sends the threshold value using separate messages and / or signaling mechanisms than those used to send the SRS resource allocation and / or mapping 610.

[0087] Continuing with environment 702, UE 110 receives a Figure 4708. UE 110 generates a link quality parameter, represented as metric 708, based on the broadcast signals 406, 408, and 410 of base station 121. For example, UE 110 generates a corresponding RSRP metric (e.g., RSRP 1, RSRP 2, RSRP 3) for the corresponding broadcast signals from each corresponding base station (e.g., base station 121, base station 123, and base station 124). UE 110 then performs an analysis 710 on metric 708 based on threshold 706, wherein UE 110 compares each link quality parameter (e.g., RSRP metric) to the threshold. Based on the analysis, UE 110 determines a selection 712 of a base station having a corresponding link quality parameter that exceeds the threshold. For illustration, the RSRP metric (e.g., RSRP 1) of base station 121 is below threshold 706, while the RSRP metric (e.g., RSRP 2) of base station 123 and the RSRP metric (e.g., RSRP 3) of base station 124 meet or exceed the threshold. Based on the analysis, UE 110 selects base station 123 and base station 124, as indicated by selection 712, to add (or modify) an ACS specific to UE 110. In an embodiment, UE 110 indicates selection 712 by autonomously transmitting an uplink SRS to base station 122 using SRS air interface resources corresponding to the selections (e.g., base station 123 and base station 124), such as reference 712. Figure 6 As described.

[0088] In some embodiments, the UE 110 determines the transmission power of the uplink SRS based on the analysis 710. Consider an example in which both the RSRP 2 and RSRP 3 metrics exceed the threshold 706, but RSRP 2 has a smaller value than RSRP 3. In an embodiment, the UE 110 selects the transmission power of the uplink SRS based on the weakest RSRP value in the RSRP value set (e.g., the selected base station set) so as to transmit the signal that arrives at the base station with the weakest RSRP value. As another example, the UE generates an average link quality power (e.g., average RSRP) from a set of link quality parameters from multiple base stations, such as by generating a geometric mean, an arithmetic mean, etc. This includes averaging only a subset of link quality parameters (e.g., only link quality parameters that meet the threshold), or averaging all detected link quality parameters (e.g., including link quality parameters that fail to meet the threshold). The UE then uses the average link quality power to determine the SRS power level. As yet another example, the UE selects a specific target base station, such as based on a link quality parameter specific to the target base station, the location of the target base station and / or an expected future location of the UE, and determines an SRS power level using the link quality parameter specific to the target base station.

[0089] Figure 8An example environment in which aspects of user equipment autonomously triggering sounding reference signals can be implemented is shown. Environment 800 corresponds to an example environment at a first point in time, and environment 802 corresponds to an example environment at an arbitrary second point in time later. Therefore, environment 800 and environment 802 collectively illustrate aspects of user equipment autonomously triggering sounding reference signals in an example environment, and can be used with reference signals. Figures 1 to 7 Any other combination of the described aspects.

[0090] Environment 800 includes Figure 1 In environment 800, UE 110 maintains a connection with base station 122. In some embodiments, UE 110 maintains a single wireless connection to base station 122, as described with reference to environment 400. Alternatively or additionally, UE 110 communicates using an ACS that includes a connection to base station 122, such as described with reference to environment 400. Figure 5 and / or Figure 4 The environment described in 402.

[0091] Similar to Figure 6 In the environment 600 of FIG. 60 , the base station 122 determines and allocates SRS air interface resources (e.g., SRS resource 1, SRS resource 2, SRS resource 3) for uplink SRS transmissions by the UE 110. In some embodiments, the base station 122 includes a mapping that assigns each SRS air interface resource to one or more antenna ports of the UE 110, as indicated by the mapping 804. For example, the mapping 804 assigns the use of SRS air resource 1 to transmit uplink SRS transmissions of antenna ports 1 and 3, the use of SRS resource 2 to transmit uplink SRS transmissions of antenna ports 2 and 3, and the use of SRS resource 3 to transmit uplink SRS transmissions of antenna port 3. Thus, the base station 122 maps the SRS air interface resources to a single transmission antenna port and / or multiple transmission antenna ports.

[0092] In some embodiments, the base station 122 generates an antenna port mapping based on information about the UE. For example, the base station 122 receives a UE capability information element (IE) from the UE 110 indicating the number of transmit antenna ports and / or the relative position of each antenna port. Similar to the SRS resource allocation, the base station 122 then generates a transmit antenna port mapping specific to the UE 110. The antenna port mapping included in the mapping 804 can be in addition to or in lieu of a mapping that assigns SRS air interface resources to a combination of base stations. Thus, the mapping 610 and / or mappings can include SRS resource assignments to transmit antenna ports, base station combinations, or both.

[0093] In environment 800, base station 122 transmits Figure 6By mapping the SRS air interface resources to specific transmission antenna ports of UE 110 and by receiving corresponding uplink SRS transmissions from the corresponding transmission antenna ports, base station 122 receives information about the corresponding transmission environment.

[0094] To illustrate, consider an example in which UE 110 and base station 122 communicate using time division duplex (TDD). In some aspects, TDD uses time slots that share a common frequency band to separate downlink transmissions and uplink transmissions. In an embodiment, base station 122 evaluates the operating performance of UE 110 corresponding to the frequency band by measuring (e.g., RSSI or RSRP) signals received from the UE. For example, in response to receiving and analyzing multiple downlink SRSs, such as reference Figure 4 UE 110 selects a combination of base stations for forming or modifying an ACS. UE 110 then determines to autonomously transmit an SRS uplink signal indicating the combination of base stations and additionally determines that the combination is mapped to SRS resource 2, such as based on information included in mapping 610. Based on mapping 804 and / or Figure 6 Map 610 ( Figure 8 802 ), UE 110 transmits uplink SRS 806 on a first antenna port 808 and uplink SRS 810 on a second antenna port 812, where each uplink SRS uses resource 606, as shown in environment 802. Base station 122 receives each uplink SRS and generates a link quality parameter that indicates an operating performance associated with the frequency band of the corresponding uplink SRS and the specific transmission port used by UE 110 to transmit the uplink SRS. The base station then uses this information to adjust how future downlink communications corresponding to the same frequency band are transmitted (e.g., multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmissions) and / or receive antennas (assuming reciprocity of receive antennas and transmit antennas) to improve how UE 110 receives future downlink communications.

[0095] Signaling and Control Transaction Diagram

[0096] Fig.9A and Fig. 9B An example control transaction diagram 900 between various network entities such as a UE, a first base station, and / or a plurality of other base stations according to various aspects of autonomous triggering of a sounding reference signal by a user equipment is shown. For example, the signaling and control transaction diagram 900 may be composed of Figure 1 The base station 120 and the UE 110 are executed by the example of Figures 1 to 8 Those described.

[0097] At 905, UE 110 and primary base station 122 establish and maintain connectivity with each other. As an example, and similar to reference Figure 4 As described in the environment 400 of FIG. 4 , UE 110 maintains a single wireless connection to base station 122, as described with reference to environment 400. Alternatively or additionally, UE 110 communicates using an ACS that includes a connection to base station 122, such as described with reference to FIG. Figure 5 and / or Figure 4 The environment described in 402.

[0098] At 910, the base station 122 transmits autonomous SRS parameters to the UE 110. For example, the base station 122 transmits any combination of SRS resource allocation, SRS resource mapping to base station combinations, SRS resource mapping to antenna ports, and thresholds, as described in reference to FIG. Figures 6 to 8 In an embodiment, the base station transmits the autonomous SRS parameters using an RRC message such as an RRC configuration message or an RRC reconfiguration message. Sometimes, the base station 122 determines the autonomous SRS parameters based on characteristics about the UE 110, such as based on the direction in which the UE 110 is moving, such as reference Figure 6 Just as described.

[0099] In various embodiments, the base station 122 determines a combination of base stations that the UE may use to form an ACS that produces the desired operating performance, such as based on UE location information, neighboring base station information, historical reports with signal measurements or metrics about neighboring base stations reported by the same or other UEs, etc. In determining the combination of base stations, the base station can determine a combination that includes base stations currently participating in the UE-specific ACS and / or base stations currently omitted from the UE-specific ACS. In various embodiments, the base station 122 determines a threshold value indicating an acceptable performance level of a link quality metric, such as an acceptable received signal strength. This can include determining a threshold value (e.g., a UE-specific threshold value) based on UE capabilities. Subsequently, the UE 110 uses the threshold value to measure the performance of the base stations and selects a base station for the ACS based on the measured performance.

[0100] In response to transmitting the autonomous SRS parameters, the base station 122 monitors the SRS air interface resources for one or more uplink SRS transmissions from the UE at 915. For illustration, the base station monitors the autonomous SRS parameters (e.g., frequency carrier, frequency band, time slot, cyclic shift configuration, transmission and / or timing mode, modulation and / or coding scheme) transmitted at 910 to identify when the UE 110 has autonomously transmitted the uplink SRS. Since the UE 110 autonomously transmits the uplink SRS (e.g., without receiving a command from the base station indicating when the UE transmits the uplink SRS in time), the base station 122 continuously and / or periodically monitors various air interface resources for the uplink SRS. This can include monitoring the uplink SRS in parallel with other operations.

[0101] At 920, one or more base stations transmit broadcast signals within a detectable range of UE 110. In other words, UE 110 receives at least one of the broadcast signals transmitted at 920, such as Figure 4 The broadcast signal 406, the broadcast signal 408 and the broadcast signal 410. In various embodiments, the broadcast signal is a downlink sounding reference signal (SRS).

[0102] At 925, UE 110 generates one or more link quality parameters of the broadcast signal. UE 110 generates, for example, an RSRP metric, an RSSI metric, or an RSRQ metric. In response to generating the link quality parameters, UE 110 selects one or more base stations to be included in the ACS at 930. For illustration, UE 110 compares the corresponding RSRP metric with the threshold value received at 910, and selects base stations having corresponding RSRP metrics above the threshold value to be included in the ACS. Alternatively or additionally, UE 110 determines to remove base stations having corresponding RSRP metrics below the threshold value from the current ACS specific to the UE.

[0103] At 935, UE 110 identifies SRS air interface resources for autonomous transmission of uplink SRS based on the selection of the base station determined at 930. For example, UE 110 analyzes a mapping that assigns corresponding SRS air interface resources to a specific combination of base stations, as shown in reference to Figure 6 Further described.

[0104] continue Fig. 9B , and in response to identifying the SRS resource, at 940, UE 110 autonomously transmits an uplink SRS using the identified SRS air interface resource. Alternatively or additionally as part of 940, UE 110 transmits the uplink SRS using a specific transmit antenna port, as described in reference Figure 8In some embodiments, UE 110 transmits a plurality of uplink SRSs, wherein UE 110 transmits a corresponding uplink SRS on a corresponding transmission antenna port.

[0105] As part of autonomously transmitting the SRS to the base station, the UE 110 configures the uplink SRS based on the measurement results and / or metrics generated at 925. For example, in a scenario where the UE generates a corresponding RSRP metric for each broadcast signal at 925, the UE 110 analyzes each corresponding RSRP metric to identify the weakest RSRP metric among the verified RSRP metrics (e.g., above a threshold). The UE 110 then configures the transmission power of the uplink SRS to reach the base station based on the weakest RSRP metric. Alternatively or additionally, the UE generates an average power level using the link quality parameters of each broadcast signal in the broadcast signal set, such as by averaging a subset of link quality parameters or averaging all link quality parameters, and determines the SRS power level based on the average power level. In order to select a link quality parameter subset, the UE compares the link quality parameter (e.g., the link quality parameter generated from each broadcast signal in the broadcast signal set) with a threshold, and adds each link quality parameter that meets the threshold to the link quality parameter subset. In some embodiments, the UE selects a specific target base station, such as based on a link quality parameter specific to the target base station, the location of the target base station and / or an expected future location of the UE, and determines the SRS power level using the link quality parameter specific to the target base station.

[0106] At 945, the base station 122 receives the uplink SRS. For example, because the base station 122 monitors various air interface resources for the uplink SRS as described at 915, the base station identifies when the UE 110 autonomously transmits the uplink SRS and successfully receives the uplink SRS. In addition, upon receiving the uplink SRS, the base station 122 identifies the SRS air interface resources used by the UE 110 to transmit the uplink SRS. In response to receiving the uplink SRS and identifying the SRS air interface resources used by the UE to transmit the uplink SRS, the base station 122 identifies the selection of the base station requested by the UE at 950. For example, similar to reference 1 Figure 5 As described, base station 122 accesses a mapping of identified SRS air interface resources to a particular combination of base stations.

[0107] At 955, base station 122 forms an ACS with the base station's selection. In at least one example, the base station forms and / or creates an ACS specific to UE 110, as described in reference to Figure 4As another example, the base station forms an ACS by modifying an existing ACS, such as by removing a base station and / or adding a base station to the ACS based on a selection of a base station identified by the UE, as described in reference Figure 5 As described. When forming the ACS, at 960, the base station 122 negotiates with each base station in the selection of base stations. For illustration, the base station 122 forwards the UE capabilities to each base station in the selection of base stations, instructs each base station in the selection to join the ACS, receives an approval, etc. Thus, in an embodiment, the base station 122 acts as a master base station that coordinates the formation and / or modification of the ACS based on input from the UE selecting base stations to be included in the ACS.

[0108] At 965, the UE 110 and the base station communicate using an ACS specific to the UE 110. For example, the UE transmits a signal that is received by each base station in the ACS and processed jointly by the ACS to improve reception of the signal transmitted by the UE. As another example, the UE transmits a corresponding uplink signal to each base station in the ACS. Alternatively or additionally, each base station in the ACS transmits a corresponding broadcast signal to the UE 110 for joint reception by the UE 110. In various embodiments, the base station 122 schedules resources for joint communication with the UE 110 through one or more of the base stations 120 in the ACS. In an embodiment, the base station 122 transmits resource scheduling between the main base station 121 and the additional base station 120 via the Xn interface 112 to achieve joint communication with the UE 110.

[0109] UE autonomous triggering of uplink SRS allows the UE to determine the optimal choice of base station for ACS, and initiates the formation and / or change of ACS by quickly transmitting the optimal choice to the main base station, as further described. In an embodiment, the UE determines the optimal choice by analyzing the link quality parameters that characterize the performance of the base station. Because the UE determines when to transmit the uplink SRS, rather than using the transmission time specified by the base station, the base station monitors the SRS air interface resources allocated to the UE to identify autonomous (and UE-initiated) uplink SRS transmissions. This allows the main base station to quickly receive uplink SRS transmissions (and indications of the selected base station) and quickly adjust the base stations included in the ACS. For illustration, the use of UE autonomous and / or UE-initiated uplink SRS transmissions reduces and / or eliminates the timing delay associated with the UE waiting for commands from the base station and / or the delay associated with synchronizing the uplink SRS transmission to the transmission time specified by the base station.

[0110] To further illustrate, consider a mobile UE, such as Figure 5As described, it uses uplink SRS transmission to quickly transmit changes at a specific time point and / or location based on information about how the UE receives signals from each base station. Since the UE is moving, the transmission environment may change rapidly when the UE moves into an urban canyon or a location with interfering objects. By quickly identifying the change by the UE and transmitting the change via uplink SRS, the base station can respond to the request quickly relative to conventional techniques (e.g., base station-specified transmission times, multiple communication exchanges). This improves data rates, data throughput, and reliability more quickly than conventional techniques.

[0111] Example Method

[0112] Example methods 1000 and 1100 refer to one or more aspects of user equipment autonomously triggering a sounding reference signal. Fig.10 and Fig.11 To describe. The order in which the method blocks are described is not intended to be interpreted as a limitation, and any number of the described method blocks can be skipped or combined in any order to implement a method or an alternative method. Generally, any component, module, method, and operation described herein can be implemented using software, firmware, hardware (e.g., fixed logic circuits), manual processing, or any combination thereof. Some operations of the example methods can be described in the general context of executable instructions stored on a computer-readable storage memory, which is local and / or remote to a computer processing system, and implementation methods can include software applications, programs, functions, etc. Alternatively or additionally, any function described herein can be performed at least in part by one or more hardware logic components, such as, but not limited to, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an application specific standard product (ASSP), a system on a chip (SoC), a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), etc.

[0113] Fig.10 An example method 1000 of a user equipment autonomously triggering a sounding reference signal is shown. In an embodiment, the user equipment performs operations included in the method 1000, such as referring to Figures 1 to 9B UE 110 is described.

[0114] At 1005, the UE establishes and maintains a connection to a first base station. For example, a UE (e.g., UE 110) maintains a connection to a first base station (e.g., base station 122) in a wireless network, such as Fig.9A In some embodiments, UE 110 maintains a single wireless connection to base station 122, as described with reference to environment 400. Alternatively or additionally, UE 110 communicates using an ACS that includes a connection to base station 122, such as described with reference to environment 400. Figure 5 and / or Figure 4 The environment described in 402.

[0115] Sometimes, UE 110 receives an indication of an allocation of sounding reference signal air interface resources (SRS air interface resources) from base station 122 while maintaining a connection. For example, as described at 910 of Figure 9, the UE receives from the base station autonomous SRS parameters, such as an allocation of SRS air interface resources and / or an indication of a mapping that assigns each corresponding SRS air interface resource in the allocation to a corresponding combination of base stations in a base station set. The SRS air interface resources can include any suitable combination of transmission parameters and / or transmission characteristics, such as a specific bandwidth portion; a time slot; a timing symbol; a transmission and / or timing pattern, or a cyclic shift configuration. Alternatively or additionally, the UE receives from the base station 122 an indication of one or more transmission antenna ports and / or a mapping of transmission antenna ports to an SRS air interface, such as a reference Figure 8 In an embodiment, the UE 110 receives an indication of autonomous SRS parameters (e.g., allocation of SRS air interface, mapping, transmission antenna ports, thresholds) in an RRC (Radio Resource Control) message, such as an RRC Connection Setup (Radio Resource Control Connection Setup) message or an RRC Connection Reconfiguration (Radio Resource Control Connection Reconfiguration) message.

[0116] At 1010, the UE generates a link quality parameter for each broadcast signal in a set of broadcast signals received from a set of base stations. For example, a UE (e.g., UE 110) generates a link quality parameter for a set of broadcast signals (e.g., broadcast signal 406, broadcast signal 408, broadcast signal 410), wherein each broadcast signal in the set of broadcast signals is received from a corresponding base station in the set of base stations (e.g., base station 121, base station 123, base station 124), such as Fig.9A 925 of . The base station set can include multiple base stations or a single base station. In one or more embodiments, UE 110 generates a reference signal received power metric (RSRP metric) for each broadcast signal in the broadcast signal set.

[0117] Using the link quality parameters generated at 1010, at 1015, the UE selects one or more base stations from the set of base stations for inclusion in the ACS. For example, the UE (e.g., UE 110) selects one or more base stations from the set of base stations (e.g., base station 121, base station 123, base station 124) for inclusion in the ACS based on the link quality parameters (e.g., selecting 712). In one or more embodiments, Fig.9A As described at 910 and 930 of the present invention, UE 110 receives a threshold value from a base station and generates a threshold value from each broadcast signal such as generated at 1010 and referenced. Fig.9AThe link quality parameter of the RSRP metric described at 925 of FIG. 1 is compared with the threshold. The UE 110 then adds each base station having a corresponding link quality parameter (e.g., RSRP metric) above the threshold to the selection, such as Figure 6 shown.

[0118] At 1020, the UE identifies the selected SRS air interface resources mapped to one or more base stations. The UE (eg, UE 110) identifies the SRS air interface resources based on, for example, a mapping received from base station 122, such as Fig.9A As described in 910 and 935.

[0119] At 1025, the UE requests inclusion of the selected one or more base stations by autonomously transmitting an uplink SRS to the first base station using the identified SRS air interface resource. For example, a UE (e.g., UE 110) requests inclusion of the selected one or more base stations (e.g., selection 712) by autonomously transmitting an uplink SRS (e.g., SRS 614) to a base station (e.g., base station 122), such as Fig. 9B 940 of . In other words, the UE determines when to initiate transmission of the uplink SRS, such as in response to the UE identifying a base station with a stronger received signal power than the current base station included in the ACS, rather than transmitting the uplink SRS in response to receiving a command from the base station to transmit the uplink SRS at a specified transmission time. In some embodiments, the UE 110 determines the SRS power level based on the link quality parameters generated at 1010. For example, the UE 110 identifies the weakest power metric value from the link quality parameters (e.g., RSRP metric). The UE 110 then determines the SRS power level based on the weakest power metric value, such as by increasing the SRS power level to reach the base station with a weaker signal.

[0120] Alternatively or additionally, the UE generates an average power level using the link quality parameters of each broadcast signal in the broadcast signal set, such as by averaging a subset of link quality parameters or averaging all link quality parameters, and determines the SRS power level based on the average power level. To select a subset of link quality parameters, the UE compares the link quality parameters (e.g., link quality parameters generated from each broadcast signal in the broadcast signal set) with a threshold and adds each link quality parameter that meets the threshold to the subset of link quality parameters. In some embodiments, the UE selects a specific target base station, such as based on a link quality parameter specific to the target base station, the location of the target base station, and / or an expected future location of the UE, and determines an SRS power level using the link quality parameter specific to the target base station.

[0121] In one or more embodiments, UE 110 uses a specific transmit antenna port to transmit the uplink SRS, such as Figure 8 For example, UE 110 receives a second mapping from a base station that assigns transmission antenna ports to allocated sounding reference signal resources. UE 110 then identifies a specific transmission antenna port from the second mapping based on the SRS air interface resource identified at 1020 .

[0122] At 1030, the UE communicates over the wireless network using the ACS. For illustration, a UE (e.g., UE 110) uses Fig. 9B 965 of 965 (e.g., ACS 412, ACS 506, ACS 510, ACS 514) for communication. In one or more embodiments, UE 110 transmits an uplink signal received by each base station in the ACS. Alternatively or additionally, UE 110 receives multiple signals from the ACS (e.g., corresponding broadcast signals from each base station in the ACS). Sometimes, UE 110 transmits multiple uplink signals (e.g., transmitting corresponding uplink signals to each base station in the ACS).

[0123] Fig.11 An example method 1100 of a user equipment autonomously triggering a sounding reference signal is shown. In an embodiment, a base station performs operations included in the method 1100, such as referring to Figures 1 to 9B A base station 122 is depicted.

[0124] At 1105, the base station maintains a connection to the UE via the wireless network. For example, a base station (e.g., base station 122) maintains a connection to a UE (e.g., UE 110) via the wireless network, such as Fig.9A In some embodiments, the base station maintains a single wireless connection to the UE 110, as described with reference to the environment 400. Alternatively or additionally, the base station 122 communicates with the UE 110 as part of an ACS (e.g., ACS 412, ACS 506, ACS 510, ACS 514).

[0125] In some embodiments, while maintaining a connection to the UE, the base station 122 allocates SRS air interface resources to the UE for autonomous transmission of uplink SRS. For example, in some implementations, the base station allocates UE-specific SRS air interface resources based on an estimated location of the UE, where the estimated location can be obtained by analyzing the communication (e.g., identifying the signal strength of the signal as the angle of arrival of the signal from the UE). Alternatively or additionally, the base station sends an indication of the allocated SRS air interface resources, such as by transmitting autonomous SRS parameters, such as Fig.9A 910 and Figure 5 As described. For illustration, the base station 122 sends an indication of the allocation in an RRC message, such as an RRC connection establishment message or an RRC connection reconfiguration message. When allocating SRS air interface resources, the base station 122 allocates and / or assigns any combination of air interface resources and / or transmission characteristics as SRS air interface resources, such as any combination of specific bandwidth portions, time slots, timing symbols, transmission and / or timing modes, cyclic shift configurations, or modulation and / or coding schemes.

[0126] Sometimes, base station 122 sends a mapping to UE 110 that assigns each corresponding SRS air interface resource in the allocation to a corresponding combination of base stations in the base station set. The base station determines the combination of base stations in any suitable manner, such as by using the estimated UE location to access a history of signal measurements indicating neighboring base stations, by querying the base stations for location information, etc. Alternatively or additionally, base station 122 sends a second mapping to UE 110 that maps antenna ports to sounding reference signal resources in the allocation, such as reference Figure 8 In one or more embodiments, base station 122 sends a threshold to UE 110 indicating an acceptable performance level (eg, an acceptable RSRP level).

[0127] At 1110, the base station monitors the transmission of the uplink SRS by monitoring the SRS air interface resources allocated to the UE for autonomous transmission of the uplink SRS. Fig.9A 915 and Fig. 9B As described at 945 of FIG. 9 , a base station (e.g., base station 122) monitors SRS air interface resources allocated and indicated to the UE at 910 of FIG. 9 , wherein the SRS air interface resources are UE-specific (e.g., allocated specifically to the UE) and are used for autonomous transmission of uplink SRS without the base station indicating a designated transmission time for the uplink SRS to the UE.

[0128] At 1115, the base station receives an uplink SRS from the UE using a first SRS air interface resource in the SRS air interface resources. The base station (eg, base station 122) receives an uplink SRS from a UE (eg, UE 110), for example. Fig. 9B In some embodiments, the base station receives the uplink SRS by monitoring the SRS air interface resources as described at 1110 and identifying when the first SRS air interface resource is in use.

[0129] At 1120, the base station identifies the selection of one or more base stations included in the ACS that the UE requests based on the first SRS resource. Fig. 9BAs described at 950, a base station (eg, base station 122) identifies a selection of a base station requested by a UE (eg, UE 110) for forming and / or modifying an ACS, such as by accessing a mapping (eg, mapping 610).

[0130] At 1125, the base station forms an ACS by negotiating with each base station in the selection requested by the UE. In one or more embodiments, a base station (e.g., base station 122) forms a new ACS specific to UE 110, such as Fig. 9B 955 and / or Figure 4 Alternatively or additionally, a base station (e.g., base station 122) modifies an existing ACS, such as reference Figure 5 In some implementations, the ACS may be a component of the UCNC network architecture or a component used to implement the UCNC network architecture. Afterwards, at 1130, the base station, as part of the ACS, jointly communicates with the UE through a wireless network.

[0131] Various aspects of the disclosure are summarized in the following numbered examples.

[0132] Example 1: A method for autonomously triggering the transmission of an uplink sounding reference signal SRS, performed by a user equipment UE, wherein the SRS indicates to a first base station a selection of a base station to be included in an active coordination set ACS specific to the UE, the method comprising: generating a link quality parameter for each broadcast signal in a broadcast signal set received from a base station set; selecting one or more base stations from the base station set to be included in the ACS based on the link quality parameter of each broadcast signal in the broadcast signal set; identifying SRS air interface resources mapped to the selected one or more base stations; requesting the selected one or more base stations to be included in the ACS by autonomously transmitting the uplink SRS to the first base station using the identified SRS air interface resources; and communicating over a wireless network using the ACS formed using the selected one or more base stations.

[0133] Example 2: The method as described in Example 1, wherein generating the link quality parameter includes: generating a reference signal received power (RSRP) metric for each broadcast signal in the broadcast signal set.

[0134] Example 3: The method as described in Example 1 or Example 2 further includes: determining an SRS power level of the uplink SRS based on the link quality parameter.

[0135] Example 4: A method as described in Example 3, wherein determining the SRS power level includes: identifying a weakest power metric by analyzing the link quality parameter of each broadcast signal in the broadcast signal set; and determining the SRS power level based on the weakest power metric.

[0136] Example 5: A method as described in Example 3, wherein determining the SRS power level includes: generating an average power level using the link quality parameter of each broadcast signal in the broadcast signal set; and determining the SRS power level based on the average power level.

[0137] Example 6: A method as described in Example 5, wherein generating the average power level includes: selecting a link quality parameter subset by: comparing the link quality parameter of each broadcast signal in the broadcast signal set with a threshold, and if the link quality parameter meets the threshold, adding the link quality parameter to the link quality parameter subset; and using the link quality parameter subset to generate the average power level.

[0138] Example 7: A method as described in any one of Examples 1 to 6, wherein selecting one or more base stations includes: receiving a threshold from the first base station; comparing the link quality parameter of each broadcast signal in the broadcast signal set with the threshold; and adding each base station in the base station set having a corresponding link quality parameter higher than the threshold to the selected one or more base stations.

[0139] Example 8: A method as described in any of the preceding examples, wherein the identified SRS air interface resource corresponds to at least one of: a specific bandwidth portion; a time slot; a transmission mode; a timing symbol; a cyclic shift configuration; or a modulation or coding scheme.

[0140] Example 9: The method as described in any of the preceding examples further comprises: receiving an indication of allocation of SRS air interface resources from the first base station.

[0141] Example 10: The method of Example 9 further comprises: receiving, from the first base station, a mapping that assigns each respective SRS air interface resource in the allocation to a respective combination of base stations in the set of base stations.

[0142] Example 11: A method as described in Example 9 or Example 10, wherein receiving the indication of the allocation includes: receiving the indication in a radio resource control, RRC, message.

[0143] Example 12: The method as described in Example 11, wherein the RRC message includes: an RRC connection establishment message; or an RRC connection reconfiguration message.

[0144] Example 13: The method as described in any one of Examples 9 to 12 further includes: receiving a second mapping from the first base station that maps the SRS air interface resources to the antenna port of the UE, and wherein transmitting the uplink SRS further includes: identifying the antenna port from the second mapping based on the identified SRS air interface resources; and transmitting the uplink SRS using the antenna port.

[0145] Example 14: A method performed by a base station for forming an active coordination set ACS specific to a user equipment UE based on an uplink sounding reference signal SRS from the UE, the method comprising: monitoring the transmission of the uplink SRS by monitoring the SRS air interface resources allocated to the UE for autonomous transmission of the uplink SRS; receiving the uplink SRS from the UE through a wireless network and using a first SRS air interface resource among the SRS air interface resources; identifying the selection of one or more base stations included in the ACS requested by the UE based on the first SRS air interface resource; forming the ACS by negotiating with each base station in the selection; and jointly communicating with the UE through the wireless network as part of the ACS.

[0146] Example 15: The method as described in Example 14 further includes: allocating the SRS air interface resources to the UE; and transmitting an indication of the SRS air interface resources to the UE.

[0147] Example 16: The method of Example 15, wherein transmitting the indication of the SRS air interface resources further comprises sending the indication in a radio resource control (RRC) message.

[0148] Example 17: The method as described in Example 16, wherein the RRC message includes: an RRC connection establishment message; or an RRC connection reconfiguration message.

[0149] Example 18: A method as described in any one of Examples 14 to 17, wherein each of the SRS air interface resources includes at least one of the following: a specific bandwidth portion; a time slot; a transmission mode; a timing symbol; a cyclic shift configuration; or a modulation or coding scheme.

[0150] Example 19: The method as described in any one of Examples 14 to 18 further includes: selecting the SRS air interface resources based on the estimated location of the UE.

[0151] Example 20: A method as described in Example 19, wherein selecting the SRS air interface resource further includes: selecting a UE-specific SRS air interface resource based on at least one of the following: an arrival angle of a received signal from the UE; or a signal strength of the received signal.

[0152] Example 21: The method as described in any one of Examples 14 to 20 further includes: sending a mapping that assigns each corresponding SRS air interface resource in the SRS air interface resources to a corresponding combination of base stations in a base station set before receiving the uplink SRS.

[0153] Example 22: The method as described in any one of Examples 14 to 21 further includes: sending a second mapping to the UE that assigns corresponding UE antenna ports to corresponding SRS air interface resources in the SRS air interface resources before receiving the uplink SRS.

[0154] Example 23: The method as described in any one of Examples 14 to 22 further includes: sending a threshold indicating an acceptable performance level to the UE.

[0155] Example 24: A method for autonomously triggering the transmission of an uplink sounding reference signal SRS, performed by a user equipment UE, wherein the SRS indicates to a first base station a selection of a base station to be included in an active coordination set ACS specific to the UE, the method comprising: generating a link quality parameter for each broadcast signal in a broadcast signal set received from a base station set; selecting one or more base stations from the base station set to be included in the ACS based on the link quality parameter of each broadcast signal in the broadcast signal set; identifying SRS air interface resources mapped to the selected one or more base stations; requesting the selected one or more base stations to be included in the ACS by autonomously transmitting the uplink SRS to the first base station using the identified SRS air interface resources; and communicating over a wireless network using the ACS formed using the selected one or more base stations.

[0156] Example 25: The method as described in Example 24 further includes: determining an SRS power level of the uplink SRS based on the link quality parameter.

[0157] Example 26: A method as described in Example 25, wherein determining the SRS power level includes: identifying a weakest power metric value by analyzing the link quality parameters of each broadcast signal in the broadcast signal set, and determining the SRS power level based on the weakest power metric value; or generating an average power level using the link quality parameters of each broadcast signal in the broadcast signal set, and determining the SRS power level based on the average power level.

[0158] Example 27: A method as described in Example 26, wherein generating the average power level includes: selecting a link quality parameter subset by: comparing the link quality parameter of each broadcast signal in the broadcast signal set with a threshold; and if the link quality parameter meets the threshold, adding the link quality parameter to the link quality parameter subset; and using the link quality parameter subset to generate the average power level.

[0159] Example 28: A method as described in any one of Examples 24 to 27, wherein selecting one or more base stations includes: receiving a threshold from the first base station; comparing the link quality parameter of each broadcast signal in the broadcast signal set with the threshold; and adding each base station in the base station set having a corresponding link quality parameter higher than the threshold to the selected one or more base stations.

[0160] Example 29: The method as described in any one of Examples 24 to 28 further includes: receiving an indication of allocation of SRS air interface resources from the first base station.

[0161] Example 30: The method of Example 29, further comprising: receiving, from the first base station, a first mapping that assigns each respective SRS air interface resource in the allocation to a respective combination of base stations in the set of base stations.

[0162] Example 31: The method as described in Example 29 or Example 30 further includes: receiving a second mapping from the first base station that maps the SRS air interface resources to the antenna port of the UE, and wherein transmitting the uplink SRS further includes: identifying the antenna port from the second mapping based on the identified SRS air interface resources; and transmitting the uplink SRS using the antenna port.

[0163] Example 32: A method performed by a base station for forming an active coordination set (ACS) specific to a user equipment (UE) based on an uplink sounding reference signal (SRS) from the UE, the method comprising: monitoring the transmission of the uplink SRS by monitoring the SRS air interface resources allocated to the UE for autonomous transmission of the uplink SRS; receiving the uplink SRS from the UE through a wireless network and using a first SRS air interface resource among the SRS air interface resources; identifying, based on the first SRS air interface resource, the selection of one or more base stations included in the ACS requested by the UE; forming the ACS by negotiating with each base station in the selection; and jointly communicating with the UE through the wireless network as part of the ACS.

[0164] Example 33: The method as described in Example 32 further includes: allocating the SRS air interface resources to the UE; and transmitting an indication of the SRS air interface resources to the UE.

[0165] Example 34: The method as described in Example 32 or Example 33 further includes: selecting the SRS air interface resource based on the estimated position of the UE.

[0166] Example 35: A method as described in Example 34, wherein selecting the SRS air interface resource further includes: selecting a UE-specific SRS air interface resource based on at least one of the following: an arrival angle of a received signal from the UE; or a signal strength of the received signal.

[0167] Example 36: The method as described in any one of Examples 32 to 35 further includes: sending a mapping that assigns each corresponding SRS air interface resource in the SRS air interface resources to a corresponding combination of base stations in the base station set before receiving the uplink SRS.

[0168] Example 37: The method as described in any one of Examples 32 to 36 further includes: sending a second mapping to the UE that assigns corresponding UE antenna ports to corresponding SRS air interface resources in the SRS air interface resources before receiving the uplink SRS.

[0169] Example 38: A user equipment device comprising: at least one wireless transceiver; a processor; and a computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions, the instructions being used to instruct the user equipment device to use the at least one wireless transceiver to perform the method described in any one of Examples 1 to 13 and 24 to 31 in response to being executed by the processor.

[0170] Example 39: A base station device comprising: at least one wireless transceiver; a base station interface; a processor; and a computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions, the instructions being used to instruct the base station device to use the at least one wireless transceiver to perform the method described in any one of Examples 14 to 23 and 32 to 37 in response to being executed by the processor.

[0171] Example 40: A computer readable medium comprising instructions that, in response to being executed by a processor, cause the method of any one of Examples 1 to 37 to be performed.

[0172] Although aspects of autonomous triggering of a sounding reference signal by a user equipment have been described in language specific to features and / or methods, the subject matter of the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or methods described. Rather, specific features and methods are disclosed as example implementations of autonomous triggering of a sounding reference signal by a user equipment, and other equivalent features and methods are intended to be within the scope of the appended claims. In addition, various different aspects are described, and it should be understood that each described aspect can be implemented independently or in combination with one or more other described aspects.

Claims

1. A method for autonomously triggering the transmission of an uplink sounding reference signal (SRS) performed by a user equipment (UE), the uplink SRS indicating to a first base station a set of selected base stations included in an active coordination set (ACS) specific to the UE, the method include: generating a link quality parameter for each broadcast signal in the set of broadcast signals received from the set of base stations; selecting one or more base stations from the set of base stations for inclusion in the ACS based on the link quality parameter of each broadcast signal in the set of broadcast signals; identifying SRS air interface resources mapped to the selected one or more base stations; requesting the selected one or more base stations to be included in the ACS by autonomously transmitting the uplink SRS to the first base station using the identified SRS air interface resources; as well as The ACS formed using the selected one or more base stations is used to communicate over a wireless network.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: include: An SRS power level of the uplink SRS is determined based on the link quality parameter.

3. The method according to claim 2, in, Determining the SRS power level includes: identifying a weakest power metric value by analyzing the link quality parameter of each broadcast signal in the broadcast signal set, and determining the SRS power level based on the weakest power metric value; or An average power level is generated using the link quality parameter for each broadcast signal in the set of broadcast signals, and the SRS power level is determined based on the average power level.

4. The method according to claim 3, in, Generating the average power level comprises: To select a subset of link quality parameters, do the following: comparing the link quality parameter of each broadcast signal in the set of broadcast signals to a threshold; and If the link quality parameter satisfies the threshold, adding the link quality parameter to the link quality parameter subset; and An average power level is generated using the subset of link quality parameters.

5. The method according to claim 1, in, Selecting one or more base stations includes: receiving a threshold value from the first base station; comparing the link quality parameter of each broadcast signal in the set of broadcast signals to the threshold; and Each base station in the set of base stations having a corresponding link quality parameter above the threshold is added to the selected one or more base stations.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising: include: An indication of an allocation of SRS air interface resources is received from the first base station.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising: include: A first mapping is received from the first base station assigning each respective SRS air interface resource in the allocation to a respective combination of base stations in the set of base stations.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising: include: receiving from the first base station a second mapping that maps the SRS air interface resources to antenna ports of the UE, and Wherein, transmitting the uplink SRS further comprises: identifying an antenna port from the second mapping based on the identified SRS air interface resource; and The uplink SRS is transmitted using the antenna port.

9. A method performed by a base station for forming an active coordination set (ACS) specific to a user equipment (UE) based on an uplink sounding reference signal (SRS) from the UE, the method include: monitoring the transmission of the uplink SRS by monitoring a plurality of SRS air interface resources allocated to the UE for autonomous transmission of the uplink SRS; receiving the uplink SRS from the UE via a wireless network and using a first SRS air interface resource of the plurality of SRS air interface resources; identifying, based on the first SRS air interface resource, a set of base stations that the UE requests to be included in the ACS; forming the ACS by negotiating with each base station in the set of base stations; as well as and communicating jointly with the UE via the wireless network as part of the ACS.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising: include: allocating the plurality of SRS air interface resources to the UE; as well as An indication of the plurality of SRS air interface resources is transmitted to the UE.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising: include: The plurality of SRS air interface resources are selected based on an estimated location of the UE.

12. The method according to claim 11, in, Selecting the plurality of SRS air interface resources further comprises: The UE-specific SRS air interface resource is selected based on at least one of the following: the angle of arrival of a received signal from the UE; and The signal strength of the received signal.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising: include: A mapping assigning each respective one of the plurality of SRS air interface resources to a respective combination of base stations in the set of base stations is sent prior to receiving the uplink SRS.

14. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 13, further comprising: include: A second mapping assigning a corresponding UE antenna port to a corresponding SRS air interface resource of the plurality of SRS air interface resources is sent to the UE prior to receiving the uplink SRS.

15. A device, include: at least one wireless transceiver; processor; as well as A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions which, in response to being executed by the processor, are operable to instruct the apparatus to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 14 using the at least one wireless transceiver.

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