Enhancement of Aperiodic SRS Trigger Mechanism

Abstract

A method for a user equipment (UE) is provided. The UE obtains first configuration information from a network device. The first configuration information indicates a first resource set for an aperiodic sounding reference signal (AP-SRS). The first resource set for the AP-SRS includes a first time slot offset list. The UE decodes second configuration information from the network device. The second configuration information indicates a reference time slot and a first time slot offset in the first time slot offset list. The UE generates an AP-SRS for transmission to the network device based on the reference time slot and the first time slot offset.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application generally relates to wireless communication systems, and more particularly, to enhanced aperiodic (Sounding Reference Signal) SRS triggering mechanisms. Background Art

[0002] Wireless mobile communication technologies use various standards and protocols to transfer data between a base station and wireless mobile devices. Wireless communication system standards and protocols can include the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE); the 5th Generation (5G) 3GPP New Radio (NR) standard; the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16 standard, which is commonly referred to by industry organizations as Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX); and the IEEE 802.11 standard for wireless local area networks (WLAN), which is commonly referred to by industry organizations as Wi-Fi. In the 3GPP radio access network (RAN) of an LTE system, a base station can include RAN nodes such as evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN) Node B (also commonly referred to as evolved Node B, enhanced Node B, eNode B, or eNB) and / or a radio network controller (RNC) in the E-UTRAN, which communicates with a wireless communication device known as a user equipment (UE). In a 5th Generation (5G) wireless RAN, the RAN nodes can include 5G nodes, New Radio (NR) nodes, or gNode B (gNB), which communicate with a wireless communication device (also known as a user equipment (UE). Summary of the Invention

[0003] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method for a user equipment (UE), including: obtaining first configuration information from a network device, where the first configuration information indicates a first resource set for an aperiodic sounding reference signal (AP-SRS), and where the first resource set for the AP-SRS includes a first time slot offset list; decoding second configuration information from the network device, where the second configuration information indicates a reference time slot and a first time slot offset in the first time slot offset list; and generating the AP-SRS for transmission to the network device based on the reference time slot and the first time slot offset.

[0004] According to aspects of the present disclosure, a method for a network device is provided, including: generating first configuration information for transmission to a user equipment (UE), where the first configuration information indicates a first resource set for an aperiodic sounding reference signal (AP-SRS), and where the first resource set for the AP-SRS includes a first time slot offset list; generating second configuration information for transmission to the UE, where the second configuration information indicates a reference time slot and a first time slot offset in the first time slot offset list; and obtaining the AP-SRS from the UE, where the AP-SRS is transmitted based on the reference time slot and the first time slot offset.

[0005] According to aspects of the present disclosure, an apparatus for a user equipment (UE) is provided, including one or more processors configured to perform the steps of the method according to the present disclosure.

[0006] According to aspects of the present disclosure, an apparatus for a network device is provided, including one or more processors configured to perform the steps of the method according to the present disclosure.

[0007] According to aspects of the present disclosure, a computer-readable medium is provided, having a computer program stored thereon, the computer program causing an apparatus to perform the steps of the method according to the present disclosure when executed by one or more processors.

[0008] According to aspects of the present disclosure, an apparatus for a communication device is provided, including modules for performing the steps of the method according to the present disclosure.

[0009] According to aspects of the present disclosure, a computer program product is provided, including a computer program that causes an apparatus to perform the steps of the method according to the present disclosure when executed by one or more processors. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] The features and advantages of the present disclosure will be apparent from the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings that illustrate, by way of example, the features of the present disclosure.

[0011] Figure 1 is a block diagram of a system including a base station and a user equipment (UE) according to some embodiments.

[0012] Figure 2 shows a flowchart of an exemplary method for a user equipment according to some embodiments.

[0013] Figure 3A shows a diagram of an exemplary media access control control element (MAC-CE) activation according to some embodiments.

[0014] Figure 3BShows an exemplary bitmap for MAC-CE activation according to some embodiments.

[0015] Figure 3C Shows another exemplary bitmap for MAC-CE activation according to some embodiments.

[0016] Figure 4 Shows a flowchart of an exemplary method for a network device according to some embodiments.

[0017] Figure 5 Shows a flowchart of an exemplary step for AP-SRS configuration according to some embodiments.

[0018] Figure 6 Shows a flowchart of an exemplary step for AP-SRS configuration according to some embodiments.

[0019] Figure 7 Shows an exemplary block diagram of a device for a UE according to some embodiments.

[0020] Figure 8 Shows an exemplary block diagram of a device for a network device according to some embodiments.

[0021] Figure 9 Shows exemplary components of a device according to some embodiments.

[0022] Figure 10 Shows an exemplary interface of a baseband circuit according to some embodiments.

[0023] Figure 11 Shows components according to some embodiments.

[0024] Figure 12 Shows the architecture of a wireless network according to some embodiments. Detailed Description

[0025] In the present disclosure, a "base station" may include RAN nodes such as evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN) NodeB (also commonly referred to as evolved NodeB, enhanced NodeB, eNodeB or eNB) and / or radio network controller (RNC), and / or 5G node, new radio (NR) node or gNodeB (gNB), which communicates with a wireless communication device also referred to as a user equipment (UE). Although some examples may be described with reference to any one of E-UTRAN NodeB, eNB, RNC and / or gNB, such devices may be replaced by any type of base station.

[0026] In wireless communication, the channel quality is not as stable as in wired communication. To obtain the channel quality, the base station may request the UE to transmit sounding reference signals (SRS) to the base station.

[0027] It should be noted that SRS involves uplink (UL) transmission. If the time slot offset for transmitting SRS is predetermined, the time slot for transmitting SRS is also predetermined and thus fixed. However, in a TDD system, UL time slots are restricted. When the time slot for transmitting SRS is fixed, if it is unavailable (e.g., if the time slot conflicts with a DL symbol), the UE may skip the transmission of SRS.

[0028] Figure 1 A wireless network 100 is shown according to some embodiments. The wireless network 100 includes a UE 101 and a base station 150 connected via an air interface 190.

[0029] The UE 101 and any other UE in the system can be, for example, a laptop computer, a smart phone, a tablet computer, a printer, a machine type device (such as a smart meter or a dedicated device for healthcare monitoring), remote security surveillance, an intelligent transportation system, or any other wireless device with or without a user interface. In the base station service area provided by the base station 150, the base station 150 provides network connectivity to the UE 101 with a wider network (not shown) via the air interface 190. In some embodiments, such a wider network can be a wide area network operated by a cellular network provider, or it can be the Internet. Each base station service area associated with the base station 150 is supported by an antenna integrated with the base station 150. The service area is divided into multiple sectors associated with certain antennas. Such sectors can be physically associated with fixed antennas, or can be assigned to a physical area with a tunable antenna or antenna settings that can be adjusted during a beamforming process for directing signals to a specific sector. For example, one embodiment of the base station 150 includes three sectors each covering a 120-degree area, where the antenna arrays are directed towards each sector to provide 360-degree coverage around the base station 150.

[0030] UE 101 includes control circuit 105 coupled to transmit circuit 110 and receive circuit 115. Transmit circuit 110 and receive circuit 115 may each be coupled to one or more antennas. Control circuit 105 may be adapted to perform operations associated with MTC. In some embodiments, control circuit 105 of UE 101 may perform calculations or may initiate measurements associated with air interface 190 to determine the channel quality of an available connection to base station 150. These calculations may be performed in conjunction with control circuit 155 of base station 150. Transmit circuit 110 and receive circuit 115 may be adapted to transmit and receive data, respectively. Control circuit 105 may be adapted or configured to perform various operations, such as UE-related operations described elsewhere in this disclosure. Transmit circuit 110 may transmit multiple multiplexed uplink physical channels. The multiple uplink physical channels may be multiplexed according to time division multiplexing (TDM) or frequency division multiplexing (FDM). Transmit circuit 110 may be configured to receive block data from control circuit 105 for transmission across air interface 190. Similarly, receive circuit 115 may receive multiple multiplexed downlink physical channels from air interface 190 and relay the physical channels to control circuit 105. The uplink physical channels and the downlink physical channels may be multiplexed according to TDM or FDM. Transmit circuit 110 and receive circuit 115 may transmit and receive both control data and content data (e.g., messages, images, videos, etc.) structured within data blocks carried by the physical channels.

[0031] Figure 1 Base station 150 according to various embodiments is also shown. Base station 150 circuitry may include control circuit 155 coupled to transmit circuit 160 and receive circuit 165. Transmit circuit 160 and receive circuit 165 may each be coupled to one or more antennas that may be used to effect communication via air interface 190.

[0032] Control circuit 155 may be adapted to perform operations associated with MTC. Transmit circuit 160 and receive circuit 165 may be adapted to transmit and receive data, respectively, within a narrow system bandwidth that is narrower than a standard bandwidth structured for human-to-human communication. In some embodiments, for example, the transmit bandwidth may be set to or near 1.4 MHz. In other embodiments, other bandwidths may be used. Control circuit 155 may perform various operations, such as base-station-related operations described elsewhere in this disclosure.

[0033] Within the narrow system bandwidth, transmit circuit 160 may transmit multiple multiplexed downlink physical channels. The multiple downlink physical channels may be multiplexed according to TDM or FDM. Transmit circuit 160 may transmit the multiple multiplexed downlink physical channels in a downlink superframe included in multiple downlink subframes.

[0034] Within a narrow system bandwidth, the receiving circuit 165 may receive multiple multiplexed uplink physical channels. The multiple uplink physical channels may be multiplexed according to TDM or FDM. The receiving circuit 165 may receive the multiple multiplexed uplink physical channels in an uplink superframe included in multiple uplink subframes.

[0035] As further described below, the control circuits 105 and 155 may be involved in measuring the channel quality of the air interface 190. The channel quality may be based on, for example, physical obstacles between the UE 101 and the base station 150, electromagnetic signal interference from other sources, reflection or indirect paths between the UE 101 and the base station 150, or other such signal noise sources. Based on the channel quality, data blocks may be scheduled for multiple retransmissions such that the transmitting circuit 110 may transmit multiple copies of the same data multiple times, and the receiving circuit 115 may receive multiple copies of the same data multiple times.

[0036] The UE and base station described in the following embodiments may be implemented by Figure 1 the UE 101 and base station 150 described in

[0037] Figure 2 A flowchart of an exemplary method for a user equipment according to some embodiments is shown. Figure 2 The method 200 shown may be implemented by Figure 1 the UE 101 described in

[0038] In some embodiments, the method 200 for a UE may include the following steps: S202, obtaining first configuration information from a network device, where the first configuration information indicates a first resource set for an aperiodic sounding reference signal (AP-SRS), and where the first resource set for the AP-SRS includes a first time slot offset list; S204, decoding second configuration information from the network device, where the second configuration information indicates a reference time slot and a first time slot offset in the first time slot offset list; and S206, generating an AP-SRS for transmission to the network device based on the reference time slot and the first time slot offset.

[0039] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, instead of a single time slot offset, a first time slot offset list including a plurality of time slot offsets may be configured by a network device or predefined in the specification through first configuration information. By using second configuration information decoded by a UE, a first time slot offset may be selected from the first time slot offset list such that the first time slot offset is selectable rather than fixed. In this way, the transmission of AP-SRS of the UE is more flexible. Since multiple selections of time slot offsets in the time slot offset list are provided, even if some time slots for transmitting AP-SRS are unavailable (for example, if the time slot for transmitting AP-SRS conflicts with a DL symbol), time slot offsets in the first time slot offset list corresponding to other available time slots may be considered, and thus the UE will not skip the transmission of AP-SRS, thereby improving the flexibility of the transmission of AP-SRS.

[0040] In the following, each step of method 200 will be described in detail.

[0041] At step S202, the UE obtains first configuration information from a network device, where the first configuration information indicates a first resource set for an aperiodic sounding reference signal (AP-SRS), and where the first resource set for the AP-SRS includes a first time slot offset list.

[0042] According to some embodiments, the sounding reference signal (SRS) may include the following three types: (1) periodic SRS, (2) semi-persistent SRS, and (3) aperiodic SRS (AP-SRS).

[0043] The periodic SRS indicates that the SRS is transmitted from the UE to the base station periodically. For example, the periodic SRS may be transmitted from the UE to the base station every N milliseconds (ms), where N may be any positive number.

[0044] The semi-persistent SRS indicates that the SRS is transmitted from the UE to the base station periodically, but the activation of the transmission of the SRS may be controlled. For example, the semi-persistent SRS may be transmitted from the UE to the base station every N milliseconds, where N may be any positive number, but the activation of the transmission may be configured by the network device.

[0045] The aperiodic SRS (AP-SRS) indicates that the SRS is transmitted from the UE to the base station aperiodically. Compared with the periodic SRS and the semi-persistent SRS, the latency of the AP SRS is shorter. In addition, since the AP-SRS is not transmitted periodically, the AP SRS is more flexible compared with the periodic SRS and the semi-persistent SRS.

[0046] According to some embodiments, AP-SRS requires resources for transmitting AP-SRS. In some embodiments, a first resource set for AP-SRS can be configured by a network device through first configuration information. It should be noted that although the first resource set for AP-SPR is described herein for clarity purposes, the present disclosure is not intended to limit the expression "resource set for AP-SRS" to only one resource set for AP-SRS. In fact, according to the present disclosure, one or more resource sets for AP-SRS can be configured by the network device through the first configuration information.

[0047] According to some embodiments, the first configuration information may include radio resource control (RRC) signaling, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. According to some embodiments, the first configuration information can be any other information, message, or signaling suitable for configuring the first resource set for AP-SRS.

[0048] According to some embodiments, the first resource set for AP-SRS may contain the resources required for transmitting AP-SRS. In some embodiments, the slot offset of AP-SRS can be configured in the first resource set for AP-SRS.

[0049] According to some embodiments, the slot offset can participate in determining the time (i.e., slot) for transmitting AP-SRS. The slot offset is the offset of a slot from a reference slot. For example, if the reference slot is the Xth slot and the slot offset is Y, then the slot for the UE to transmit AP-SRS can be determined based on the reference slot the Xth slot and the slot offset Y, where X and Y are positive integers. The determination of the reference slot will be described together with step S204 below.

[0050] In the related art, one slot offset can be configured in the resource set for AP-SRS. An exemplary method for configuring one slot offset (highlighted) is shown below.

[0051]

[0052] It should be noted that AP-SRS involves uplink (UL) transmission. Since in the related art, only one slot offset for transmitting AP-SRS is configured in the resource set for AP-SRS, the slot for transmitting SRS is fixed relative to the reference slot. However, in a TDD system, UL slots are restricted. When the slot for transmitting AP-SRS is fixed, if it is unavailable (e.g., if the slot for transmitting AP-SRS conflicts with a DL symbol), the UE will skip the transmission of AP-SRS.

[0053] According to some embodiments, a first slot offset list may be configured in a first resource set for AP-SRS. It should be noted that although the first slot offset list is described for clarity purposes, the present disclosure is not intended to limit the expression "slot offset list" to a single slot offset list. In fact, according to the present disclosure, one or more slot offset lists may be configured by a network device through first configuration information.

[0054] According to some embodiments, the first slot offset list may include multiple entries. Each entry in the first slot offset list may indicate a slot offset. For example, the first slot offset list may include 3 (or any integer number) of entries {slot offset 0, slot offset 1, slot offset 2}. It should be noted that slot offset i represents the i-th entry in the first slot offset list, but it does not mean that the value of slot offset i is equal to i. According to some examples, the value of slot offset i in the first slot offset list may be configured by a network device through first configuration information.

[0055] According to some embodiments, the size of the first slot offset list may be configured. It should be noted that the size of the first slot offset list represents the number of entries included in the first slot offset list. The number of entries included in the first slot offset list may be any positive integer. For example, if the first slot offset list includes 3 entries, then the size of the first slot offset list is 3. As another example, if the first slot offset list includes 64 entries, then the size of the first slot offset list is 64.

[0056] In some embodiments, the maximum size of the first slot offset list may be predetermined. For example, the maximum size of the first slot offset list may be determined by a parameter maxNrofAperodicSRS-SlotOffsets. An exemplary configuration of the first slot offset list is shown below.

[0057]

[0058] In the case where the SRS to be transmitted is AP-SRS, the configuration of the first slot offset list may be added to the first resource set for AP-SRS. An exemplary addition of the first slot offset list to the first resource set for AP-SRS is shown below.

[0059]

[0060] At step S204, the UE decodes second configuration information from the network device, where the second configuration information indicates a reference slot and a first slot offset in the first slot offset list.

[0061] According to some embodiments, the second configuration information may include downlink control information (DCI), but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. According to some embodiments, the second configuration information may be any other information, message, or signaling suitable for triggering AP-SRS.

[0062] According to some embodiments, the reference time slot is the time slot when the UE receives the second configuration information. In some embodiments, the UE may determine the reference time slot by decoding the second configuration information.

[0063] According to some embodiments, the second configuration information indicates the first time slot offset in the first time slot offset list. In other words, the network device may select the first time slot offset from the first time slot offset list and apply the selected first time slot offset to determine the transmission of AP-SRS. For example, the first time slot offset list may include 3 entries {time slot offset 0, time slot offset 1, time slot offset 2}, where time slot offset 0 may be 1, time slot offset 1 may be 4, and time slot offset 2 may be 8, and the first time slot offset may be selected from time slot offset 0, time slot offset 1, and time slot offset 2. If the first time slot offset is selected as time slot offset 0, the first time slot offset is equal to 1. If the first time slot offset is selected as time slot offset 1, the first time slot offset is equal to 4. If the first time slot offset is selected as time slot offset 2, the first time slot offset is equal to 8.

[0064] According to some embodiments, the UE determines the first time slot offset in the first time slot offset list by decoding the second configuration information. In some embodiments, when the second configuration information is DCI, the time slot offset field indicating the first time slot offset may be included in the DCI. By decoding the DCI including the time slot offset field, the UE may determine the first time slot offset in the first time slot offset list. In other embodiments, when the second configuration information is not DCI, the time slot offset field indicating the first time slot offset may also be included in the second configuration information.

[0065] At step S206, the UE generates AP-SRS for transmission to the network device based on the reference time slot and the first time slot offset.

[0066] According to some embodiments, the time slot for transmitting AP-SRS from the UE to the network device may be determined based on the reference time slot and the first time slot offset. As discussed above, if the reference time slot is the Xth time slot and the time slot offset is Y, the time slot for the UE to transmit AP-SRS may be determined based on the reference time slot the Xth time slot and the first time slot offset Y, where X and Y are positive integers.

[0067] In some embodiments, the time slot for transmitting AP-SRS from the UE to the network device may be determined by adding a first time slot offset to a reference time slot, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In other words, if the reference time slot is the Xth time slot and the first time slot offset is Y, the time slot for transmitting AP-SRS is the (X + Y)th time slot, where X and Y are positive integers. For example, if the reference time slot is time slot 11 and the first time slot offset is 1, the time slot for transmitting AP-SRS is time slot 12 (= 11 + 1). As another example, if the reference time slot is time slot 11 and the first time slot offset is 8, the time slot for transmitting AP-SRS is time slot 19 (= 11 + 8). As can be seen, the time slot for transmitting AP-SRS is determined based on the selection of the first time slot offset.

[0068] According to some embodiments, a first resource set for AP-SRS may be included in the AP-SRS for transmission to the network device.

[0069] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, through first configuration information, a first time slot offset list including a plurality of time slot offsets rather than a single time slot offset may be configured by the network device. By using second configuration information decoded by the UE, the first time slot offset may be selected from the first time slot offset list, such that the first time slot offset is selectable rather than fixed. In this way, the transmission of the UE's AP-SRS is more flexible. Since multiple selections of the time slot offset in the time slot offset list are provided, even if some time slots for transmitting AP-SRS are unavailable (e.g., if the time slot for transmitting AP-SRS conflicts with a DL symbol), the time slot offset in the first time slot offset list corresponding to other available time slots may be considered, and thus the UE will not skip the transmission of AP-SRS, thereby improving the flexibility of the transmission of AP-SRS.

[0070] As discussed above, in the related art, a single time slot offset (hereinafter referred to as the remaining time slot offset) rather than a time slot offset list may have been included in the first resource set for AP-SRS. In this case, the first resource set for AP-SRS may include both the first time slot offset list and the remaining time slot offset.

[0071] According to some embodiments, the first time slot offset list and the remaining time slot offset may be configured simultaneously.

[0072] According to some embodiments, the first resource set for AP-SRS may further include a remaining time slot offset, and wherein generating the AP-SRS for transmission to the network device based on the reference time slot and the first time slot offset may include: generating the AP-SRS for transmission to the network device based on the reference time slot, the remaining time slot offset, and the first time slot offset.

[0073] In some embodiments, generating the AP-SRS for transmission to a network device based on a reference time slot, a remaining time slot offset, and a first time slot offset may include: determining a first time slot by adding the remaining time slot offset to the reference time slot; determining a second time slot by adding the first time slot offset to the first time slot; and generating the AP-SRS for transmission to the network device at the second time slot.

[0074] For example, if the reference time slot is the Xth time slot, the remaining time slot offset is Z, and the first time slot offset is Y, then the first time slot is the (X + Z)th time slot and the second time slot is the (X + Y + Z)th time slot, where X, Y, and Z are positive integers. In this example, the time slot for transmitting the AP-SRS is the second time slot, i.e., the (X + Y + Z)th time slot. For example, if the reference time slot is time slot 11, the remaining time slot offset is 1, and the first time slot offset is 1, then the first time slot is time slot 12 (= 11 + 1), and the second time slot and the time slot for transmitting the AP-SRS are time slot 13 (= 11 + 1 + 1). As another example, if the reference time slot is time slot 11, the remaining time slot offset is 1, and the first time slot offset is 8, then the first time slot is also time slot 12 (= 11 + 1), and the second time slot and the time slot for transmitting the AP-SRS are time slot 20 (= 11 + 1 + 8).

[0075] According to some embodiments, the first time slot may include any time slot or only include any available time slot, and the second time slot may include any time slot or only include any available time slot.

[0076] It should be noted that any time slot may include any available time slot and any unavailable time slot. An "available time slot" is a time slot that satisfies the time domain position of UL or flexible symbols for all SRS resources (e.g., resources for AP-SRS) in a resource set (e.g., a resource set for AP-SRS), and its UE capability satisfies the minimum timing requirement between the triggering PDCCH and all SRS resources (e.g., resources for AP-SRS) in the resource set (e.g., a resource set for AP-SRS).

[0077] In some examples, the remaining time slot offset is determined such that the first time slot includes any time slot, and the first time slot offset is determined such that the second time slot includes any available time slot.

[0078] Taking time slots 12, 13, 19, and 20 as examples (in this example, only time slots 12, 13, 19, and 20 are considered), assume that time slots 12 and 20 are available time slots, while time slots 13 and 19 are unavailable time slots. If the reference time slot is time slot 11, then since the remaining time slot offset is determined such that the first time slot includes any time slot (including any available time slot and any unavailable time slot), the first time slot can be any one of time slots 12, 13, 19, and 20, and thus the remaining time slot offset can be any one of 1 (= 12 - 11), 2 (= 13 - 11), 8 (= 19 - 11), and 9 (= 20 - 11). In this case, further assume that the remaining time slot offset is 1 (which means the first time slot is time slot 12). Since the first time slot offset is determined such that the second time slot includes any available time slot (excluding any unavailable time slot), the second time slot can be time slot 20, but cannot be time slots 13 and 19, and thus the first time slot offset can be 8 (= 20 - 12), but cannot be 1 (= 13 - 12) or 7 (= 19 - 12).

[0079] In other examples, the remaining time slot offset is determined such that the first time slot includes any available time slot, and the first time slot offset is determined such that the second time slot includes any available time slot.

[0080] Again taking time slots 12, 13, 19, and 20 as examples (in this example, only time slots 12, 13, 19, and 20 are considered), assume that time slots 12 and 20 are available time slots, while time slots 13 and 19 are unavailable time slots. If the reference time slot is time slot 11, since the remaining time slot offset is determined such that the first time slot includes any available time slot (excluding any unavailable time slot), the first time slot can be 12 or 20 but cannot be 13 or 19, and thus the remaining time slot offset can be 1 (= 12 - 11) or 9 (= 20 - 11) but cannot be 2 (= 13 - 11) or 8 (= 19 - 11). In this case, further assume that the remaining time slot offset is 1 (which means the first time slot is time slot 12). Since the first time slot offset is determined such that the second time slot includes any available time slot (excluding any unavailable time slot), the second time slot can be time slot 20, but cannot be time slots 13 and 19, and thus the first time slot offset can be 8 (= 20 - 12), but cannot be 1 (= 13 - 12) or 7 (= 19 - 12).

[0081] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the first time slot offset list and the remaining time slot offset can be configured simultaneously, and the first time slot offset can also be selected from the first time slot offset list, thereby improving the flexibility of AP - SRS transmission and avoiding any conflicts caused by configuring two types of time slot offsets at the same time.

[0082] In other embodiments, generating the AP-SRS for transmission to the network device based on a reference time slot, a remaining time slot offset, and a first time slot offset may further include: determining a first time slot by adding the first time slot offset to the reference time slot; determining a second time slot by adding the remaining time slot offset to the first time slot; and generating the AP-SRS for transmission to the network device at the second time slot.

[0083] According to some embodiments, the first time slot offset list and the remaining time slot offset cannot be configured simultaneously.

[0084] In some embodiments, the first time slot offset list is configured and the remaining time slot offset is not configured. In this case, the time slot for transmitting the AP-SRS may be determined based on the reference time slot and the first time slot offset selected from the first time slot offset list. For example, the time slot for transmitting the AP-SRS may be determined by adding the first time slot offset selected from the first time slot offset list to the reference time slot.

[0085] In some embodiments, the first time slot offset list is not configured and the remaining time slot offset is configured. In this case, the time slot for transmitting the AP-SRS may be determined based on the reference time slot and the remaining time slot offset. For example, the time slot for transmitting the AP-SRS may be determined by adding the remaining time slot offset to the reference time slot.

[0086] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, only one of the first time slot offset list and the remaining time slot offset may be configured, thereby avoiding any conflicts caused by configuring two types of time slot offsets.

[0087] According to some embodiments, multiple trigger states for the AP-SRS may be introduced for determining the AP-SRS. For example, there may be a total of four trigger states, such as trigger state 0, trigger state 1, trigger state 2, and trigger state 3, where trigger state 0 refers to not triggering the transmission of the AP-SRS, and trigger states 1, 2, and 3 refer to triggering the transmission of the AP-SRS.

[0088] As discussed above, one or more resource sets for the AP-SRS may be configured by the first configuration information. According to some embodiments, the first resource set for the AP-SRS may indicate the relationship between the first resource set for the AP-SRS and one of the multiple trigger states for the AP-SRS. In some embodiments, there are three resource sets for the AP-SRS, where resource set 1 for the AP-SRS indicates that resource set 1 for the AP-SRS is associated with trigger state 1, resource set 2 for the AP-SRS indicates that resource set 2 for the AP-SRS is associated with trigger state 2, and resource set 3 for the AP-SRS indicates that resource set 3 for the AP-SRS is associated with trigger state 3.

[0089] According to some embodiments, the second configuration information may indicate a triggering state among a plurality of triggering states. For example, if the second configuration information indicates that the triggering state is triggering state 0, then AP-SRS will not be transmitted. If the second configuration information indicates that the triggering state is triggering state 1, then resource set 1 for AP-SRS associated with triggering state 1 may be triggered and transmitted to the network device. If the second configuration information indicates that the triggering state is triggering state 2, then resource set 2 for AP-SRS associated with triggering state 2 may be triggered and transmitted to the network device. If the second configuration information indicates that the triggering state is triggering state 3, then resource set 3 for AP-SRS associated with triggering state 3 may be triggered and transmitted to the network device.

[0090] In some embodiments, when the second configuration information is DCI, the DCI may include a triggering state field for AP-SRS. The triggering state field for AP-SRS may occupy 2 bits and indicate four cases: 00, 01, 10, and 11. If the triggering state field for AP-SRS indicates "00", then the transmission of AP-SRS will not be triggered and will not be transmitted to the network device. If the triggering state field for AP-SRS indicates "01", then it may refer to triggering state 1 associated with resource set 1 for AP-SRS. If the triggering state field for AP-SRS indicates "10", then it may refer to triggering state 2 associated with resource set 2 for AP-SRS. If the triggering state field for AP-SRS indicates "11", then it may refer to triggering state 3 associated with resource set 3 for AP-SRS.

[0091] According to some embodiments, one triggering state for AP-SRS may be mapped to more than one resource set for AP-SRS.

[0092] According to some embodiments, the first configuration information may further indicate a second resource set for AP-SRS, and wherein the second resource set for AP-SRS includes a second time slot offset list, and wherein the first configuration information further indicates that the first resource set for AP-SRS and the second resource set for AP-SRS are mapped to the same triggering state for AP-SRS. According to some embodiments, the first resource set for AP-SRS and the second resource set for AP-SRS may be triggered for transmission to the network device according to the same triggering state for AP-SRS.

[0093] For example, the first resource set for AP-SRS can be Resource Set 1 for AP-SRS and can indicate that Resource Set 1 for AP-SRS is associated with Trigger State 1, while the second resource set for AP-SRS can be Resource Set 2 for AP-SRS and can indicate that Resource Set 2 for AP-SRS is also associated with Trigger State 1.

[0094] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, by mapping multiple resource sets for AP-SRS to a single trigger state for AP-SRS, the multiple resource sets for AP-SRS can be simultaneously triggered by only one second configuration information and then can be transmitted to a network device, thereby improving the efficiency of triggering the transmission of AP-SRS.

[0095] According to some embodiments, the number of time slot offsets in the time slot offset list for each resource set for AP-SRS can be the same. In some embodiments, the number of time slot offsets in the first time slot offset list can be the same as the number of time slot offsets in the second time slot offset list.

[0096] For example, Time Slot Offset List 1 for Resource Set 1 for AP-SRS can include 8 time slot offset entries, and Time Slot Offset List 2 for Resource Set 2 for AP-SRS can also include 8 time slot offset entries. In this example, if the second configuration information indicates time slot offset 2, then based on time slot offset 2 in Time Slot Offset List 1, the time slot for transmitting Resource Set 1 is determined, and based on time slot offset 2 in Time Slot Offset List 2, the time slot for transmitting Resource Set 2 is determined. It should be emphasized again here that time slot offset 2 in Time Slot Offset List 1 means the second entry of Time Slot Offset List 1 (rather than time slot offset = 2), and the time slot offset for Resource Set 1 for AP-SRS is determined based on the value of the second entry of Time Slot Offset List 1 (i.e., time slot offset 2). For example, if the reference time slot is time slot 11, time slot offset 2 in Time Slot Offset List 1 is 4, and time slot offset 2 in Time Slot Offset List 2 is 8, then by only one second configuration information, Resource Set 1 for AP-SRS can be transmitted to the network device at time slot 15 (= 11 + 4), and Resource Set 2 for AP-SRS can be transmitted to the network device at time slot 19 (= 11 + 8).

[0097] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, since one second configuration information can only indicate one entry from the time slot offset list by further equally configuring the size (i.e., the number of entries) of the time slot offset lists for different resource sets for AP-SRS, it is ensured that the time slot offset can be selected from each time slot offset list for different resource sets for AP-SRS.

[0098] According to some embodiments, the number of time slot offsets in the time slot offset list for each resource set of AP-SRS may be different. In some embodiments, the number of time slot offsets in the first time slot offset list is different from the number of time slot offsets in the second time slot offset list.

[0099] In some embodiments, the time slot offset list 1 for resource set 1 of AP-SRS may include M time slot offset entries, and the time slot offset list 2 for resource set 2 of AP-SRS may further include N time slot offset entries, where M and N are positive integers and M < N.

[0100] As discussed above, one piece of second configuration information may indicate only one entry from the time slot offset list. Considering that the time slot offset field in the second configuration information is binary, the minimum size of the time slot offset field in the second configuration information required to indicate any entry in the time slot offset list 1 for resource set 1 of AP-SRS is and the minimum size of the time slot offset field in the second configuration information required to indicate any entry in the time slot offset list 2 for resource set 2 of AP-SRS is

[0101] In some embodiments, if the actual size of the time slot offset field in the second configuration information is equal to then the network device will not trigger any entry in the time slot offset list 2 with an index number greater than M.

[0102] In some embodiments, if the actual size of the time slot offset field in the second configuration information is equal to and the second configuration information indicates an entry with an index number greater than M, there may be two options. As one option, resource set 1 for AP-SRS is not triggered. As another option, resource set 1 for AP-SRS is triggered, but the time slot offset selected from the time slot offset list 1 is fixed. For example, the time slot offset selected from the time slot offset list 1 may be fixed to time slot offset M (i.e., the last entry in the time slot offset list 1). In other examples, the time slot offset selected from the time slot offset list 1 may be fixed to any time slot offset i, where i is a positive integer and i < M.

[0103] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, through the above configuration, even if the number of time slot offsets in the time slot offset list for each resource set of AP-SRS is different, these resource sets for AP-SRS can be triggered or not triggered accordingly without causing any conflicts.

[0104] According to some embodiments, a resource set for AP-SRS can be mapped to multiple trigger states for AP-SRS. In some embodiments, the first configuration information may further indicate that the first resource set for AP-SRS is mapped to multiple trigger states for AP-SRS. In other words, each of the multiple trigger states indicated by the second configuration information can trigger the first resource set for AP-SRS.

[0105] In some embodiments, the first time slot offset list may be associated with multiple trigger states for AP-SRS. For example, resource set 1 for AP-SRS may include a single time slot offset list 1, and the single time slot offset list 1 can be mapped to multiple trigger states for AP-SRS (such as trigger state 1, trigger state 2, and trigger state 3).

[0106] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, only one time slot offset list needs to be configured for multiple trigger states, thereby improving the efficiency of time slot offset configuration.

[0107] In some embodiments, the first resource set for AP-SRS may include multiple time slot offset lists, and each of the multiple time slot offset lists corresponds one-to-one to one of the multiple trigger states for AP-SRS. For example, resource set 1 for AP-SRS may include time slot offset list 1, time slot offset list 2, and time slot offset list 3, where time slot offset list 1 corresponds to trigger state 1, time slot offset list 2 corresponds to trigger state 2, and time slot offset list 3 corresponds to trigger state 3.

[0108] According to some embodiments, the method of the UE may further include: step S203 (exemplarily shown as 603 in Figure 6 ), obtaining third configuration information from the network device, where the third configuration information activates a subset of the first time slot offset list, and where the second configuration information indicates the first time slot offset from the subset of the first time slot offset list.

[0109] According to some embodiments, the third configuration information may include medium access control control element (MAC-CE) information, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. According to some embodiments, the third configuration information may be any other information, message, or signaling suitable for configuring the first resource set for AP-SRS.

[0110] According to some embodiments, the UE may receive the third configuration information from the network device after receiving the first configuration information but before receiving and decoding the second configuration information.

[0111] Hereinafter, an exemplary method is described with reference to Figure 3A description.

[0112] Figure 3A FIG. shows an exemplary Medium Access Control Control Element (MAC-CE) activation according to some embodiments.

[0113] In Figure 3A , RRC signaling is schematically shown on the left as an example of first configuration information, MAC-CE is schematically shown in the middle as an example of third configuration information, and DCI is schematically shown on the right as an example of second configuration information.

[0114] In Figure 3A , it can be seen that the resource set for AP-SRS in the RRC signaling includes a list of slot offsets, where the list of slot offsets further includes N slot offsets {slot offset 0, slot offset 1, …, slot offset N−1}, and where N is a positive integer. As discussed above, the MAC-CE can activate M of the N slot offsets in the list of slot offsets, where M and N are positive integers and M < N. In other words, the M slot offsets activated by the MAC-CE are a subset of the N slot offsets configured by the RRC signaling. Then, the DCI can indicate one of the slot offset subsets (including the M slot offsets activated by the MAC-CE) as the first slot offset for the transmission of the AP-SRS.

[0115] As can be seen, in the absence of the MAC-CE, the DCI directly indicates 1 of the N slot offsets in one step, and in the case where the MAC-CE activates M of the N slot offsets, the indication of 1 of the N slot offsets can be divided into two steps. The MAC-CE acts as a “buffer”. By means of the MAC-CE, the size of the slot offset field in the DCI can be reduced.

[0116] For example, assuming M = 8 and N = 64, if there is a MAC-CE acting as a “buffer”, the size of the slot offset field in the DCI is 3 (= log2[8]) bits, otherwise, if there is no MAC-CE acting as a “buffer”, the size of the slot offset field in the DCI is 6 (= log2

[64] ) bits. In this example, 3 bits can be reduced for the DCI. It should be noted that the total size of the DCI is typically about 60 bits, and thus saving 3 bits of the slot offset field can greatly reduce the overhead and improve the capacity of the DCI, since the DCI can have more space for storing other fields.

[0117] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, through the third configuration information, on the one hand, the size required for the time slot offset field in the second configuration information (e.g., DCI) can be reduced, thereby reducing overhead and improving the capacity of the second configuration information, because the second configuration information can have more space for storing other fields, and on the other hand, the second configuration information can still indicate one time slot offset from the time slot offset list, thereby improving the flexibility of AP-SRS transmission.

[0118] The subset of the first time slot offset list (e.g., M out of N time slot offsets) can be activated in the following two ways.

[0119] According to some embodiments, with reference to Figure 3B , the subset of the first time slot offset list can be activated for each resource set for AP-SRS. Figure 3B FIG. shows an exemplary bitmap of MAC-CE activation of a time slot offset list according to some embodiments.

[0120] As Figure 3B shown, "R" represents a reserved bit and occupies 1 bit. "BWP ID" indicates the bandwidth part (BWP) and occupies 2 bits. "Service cell ID" indicates the serving cell and occupies 5 bits. "SUL" occupies 1 bit and represents supplementary uplink, which is used to indicate whether it is SUL (supplementary uplink) or NUL (normal uplink). "AP SRS resource set ID" indicates the resource set for AP-SRS and occupies 4 bits. "Ti (i = 0, 1,..., N - 1)" represents the bitmap of the entries in the time slot offset list indicated in the first configuration information (e.g., RRC signaling). For example, T0 represents time slot offset 0, T1 represents time slot offset 1, and TN - 1 represents time slot offset N - 1, where if the value of Ti in the bitmap is 0, it means that time slot offset i is not activated, and if the value of Ti in the bitmap is 1, it means that time slot offset i is activated.

[0121] According to some embodiments, multiple resource sets for AP-SRS can be indicated in the same MAC-CE.

[0122] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, according to the Figure 3B bitmap shown, the MAC-CE can activate a subset (e.g., including M time slot offsets) of the time slot offset list (e.g., including N time slot offsets) for each resource set for AP-SRS.

[0123] According to some embodiments, with reference to Figure 3C , the subset of the first time slot offset list can be activated for each trigger state for AP-SRS. Figure 3CShows another exemplary bitmap for MAC-CE activation of a slot offset list according to some embodiments.

[0124] As Figure 3C shown, "R" represents a reserved bit and occupies 1 bit. "BWP ID" indicates a bandwidth part (BWP) and occupies 2 bits. "Serving cell ID" indicates a serving cell and occupies 5 bits. "SUL" occupies 1 bit and represents supplementary uplink, which is used to indicate whether it is SUL (supplementary uplink) or NUL (normal uplink). "AP-SRS trigger status" indicates the trigger status for AP-SRS and occupies 2 bits. It should be noted that if the second configuration information is DCI, there are four trigger states for AP-SRS, and 2 bits are sufficient to represent the four trigger states. "Ti (i = 0, 1,..., N-1)" represents the bitmap of the entries in the slot offset list indicated in the first configuration information (e.g., RRC signaling). For example, T0 represents slot offset 0, T1 represents slot offset 1, and TN-1 represents slot offset N-1, where if the value of Ti in the bitmap is 0, it means that slot offset i is not activated, and if the value of Ti in the bitmap is 1, it means that slot offset i is activated.

[0125] According to some embodiments, multiple trigger states of AP-SRS can be indicated in the same MAC-CE. In some embodiments, all resource sets for AP-SRS associated with the same trigger state can be activated in the same bitmap.

[0126] For example, compared with Figure 3B the bitmap shown, Figure 3C the bits (e.g., 2 bits) occupied by "AP-SRS trigger status" in

[0127] are less than the bits (e.g., 4 bits) occupied by "AP SRS resource set ID". In this example, several bits (e.g., 2 bits) can be saved for including more slot offset entries. Figure 3C According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, according to Figure 3C the bitmap shown, the MAC-CE can activate a subset (e.g., including M slot offsets) of the slot offset list (e.g., including N slot offsets) for each trigger state of AP-SRS, and compared with

[0128] Figure 4 Shows a flowchart of an exemplary method for a network device according to some embodiments. Figure 4 The method 400 shown can be implemented by Figure 1 the base station 150 described in

[0129] In some embodiments, method 400 for a network device may include the following steps: S402, generating first configuration information for transmission to a user equipment (UE), wherein the first configuration information indicates a first resource set for an aperiodic sounding reference signal (AP-SRS), and wherein the first resource set for the AP-SRS includes a first list of slot offsets; S404, generating second configuration information for transmission to the UE, wherein the second configuration information indicates a reference slot and a first slot offset in the first list of slot offsets; and S406, obtaining the AP-SRS from the UE, wherein the AP-SRS is transmitted based on the reference slot and the first slot offset.

[0130] Hereinafter, each step of method 400 will be described. It should be noted that for clarity, those elements, expressions, features, etc. and their corresponding descriptions (regarding the UE) that have been described are omitted herein. Figure 2 described.

[0131] At step S402, the network device generates first configuration information for transmission to a user equipment (UE), wherein the first configuration information indicates a first resource set for an aperiodic sounding reference signal (AP-SRS), and wherein the first resource set for the AP-SRS includes a first list of slot offsets.

[0132] According to some embodiments, the first configuration information may include radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[0133] At step S404, the network device generates second configuration information for transmission to the UE, wherein the second configuration information indicates a reference slot and a first slot offset in the first list of slot offsets.

[0134] According to some embodiments, the second configuration information may include downlink control information (DCI).

[0135] At step S406, the network device obtains the AP-SRS from the UE, wherein the AP-SRS is transmitted based on the reference slot and the first slot offset.

[0136] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, instead of a single slot offset, a first slot offset list including a plurality of slot offsets may be configured by a network device through first configuration information. By using second configuration information decoded by a UE, a first slot offset may be selected from the first slot offset list such that the first slot offset is selectable rather than fixed. In this way, the transmission of AP-SRS of the UE is more flexible. Since multiple selections of slot offsets in the slot offset list are provided, even if some slots for transmitting AP-SRS are unavailable (for example, if the slot for transmitting AP-SRS conflicts with a DL symbol), the slot offsets in the first slot offset list corresponding to other available slots may be considered, and thus the UE will not skip the transmission of AP-SRS, thereby improving the flexibility of the transmission of AP-SRS.

[0137] According to some embodiments, a method of a network device may include: step S403 (exemplarily shown as 603 in Figure 6 ), generating third configuration information, where the third configuration information activates a subset of the first slot offset list, and where the second configuration information indicates a first slot offset from the subset of the first slot offset list.

[0138] According to some embodiments, the third configuration information may include media access control control element (MAC-CE) information.

[0139] It should be noted that, for clarity, those elements, expressions, features, etc. and their corresponding descriptions (regarding the UE) that have been referred to Figure 3A , Figure 3B , Figure 3C are omitted herein.

[0140] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, on the one hand, through the third configuration information, the size required for the slot offset field in the second configuration information (for example, DCI) may be reduced, thereby reducing overhead and improving the capacity of the second configuration information, because the second configuration information may have more space for storing other fields, and on the other hand, the second configuration information may still indicate one slot offset from the slot offset list, thereby improving the flexibility of the transmission of AP-SRS.

[0141] Figure 5 A flowchart showing exemplary steps for AP-SRS configuration according to some embodiments is shown.

[0142] In Figure 5 , steps of a method for a UE and a method for a network device during triggering of AP-SRS by RRC signaling and DCI are shown.

[0143] At step 502, the network device may transmit RRC signaling to the UE, where the RRC signaling indicates one or more resource sets for AP-SRS, and where the one or more resource sets for AP-SRS include one or more slot offset lists. Step 502 may be implemented according to the description of reference step S202 and / or step S402.

[0144] At step 504, the network device may transmit DCI to the UE. At step 505, the UE may decode the DCI to obtain a reference slot and a slot offset selected from one or more slot offset lists received via the RRC signaling. Steps 504 and 505 may be implemented according to the description of reference step S204 and / or step S404.

[0145] At step 506, the UE may transmit AP-SRS to the network device, where the slot for transmitting AP-SRS is determined based on the reference slot and the slot offset selected from one or more slot offset lists. Step 506 may be implemented according to the description of reference step S206 and / or step S406.

[0146] Figure 6 A flowchart showing exemplary steps for AP-SRS configuration according to some embodiments is presented.

[0147] In Figure 6 it shows the steps of the method for the UE and the method for the network device during triggering of AP-SRS via RRC signaling, MAC-CE, and DCI.

[0148] At step 602, the network device may transmit RRC signaling to the UE, where the RRC signaling indicates one or more resource sets for AP-SRS, and where the one or more resource sets for AP-SRS include one or more slot offset lists. Step 602 may be implemented according to the description of reference step S202 and / or step S402.

[0149] At step 603, the network device may transmit MAC-CE to the UE, where the MAC-CE activates a subset of slot offsets selected from one or more slot offset lists. Step 603 may be implemented according to the description of reference step S203 and / or step S403.

[0150] At step 604, the network device may transmit DCI to the UE. At step 605, the UE may decode the DCI to obtain a reference slot and a slot offset in the subset of slot offsets activated by the MAC-CE. Steps 604 and 605 may be implemented according to the description of reference step S204 and / or step S404.

[0151] At step 606, the UE may transmit an AP-SRS to the network device, where the time slot for transmitting the AP-SRS is determined based on a reference time slot and a time slot offset selected from an activated subset of time slot offsets, and the activated subset of time slot offsets is further selected from one or more time slot offset lists. Step 606 may be implemented according to the descriptions of reference step S206 and / or step S406.

[0152] Figure 7 An exemplary block diagram of a device for a UE according to some embodiments is shown. Figure 7 The illustrated device 700 may be used to implement method 200 as described in connection with Figure 2 the illustrated method 200.

[0153] As Figure 7 shown, device 700 includes an obtaining unit 710, a decoding unit 720, and a generating unit 730.

[0154] The obtaining unit 710 may be configured to obtain first configuration information from the network device, where the first configuration information indicates a first resource set for an aperiodic sounding reference signal (AP-SRS), and where the first resource set for the AP-SRS includes a first time slot offset list.

[0155] The decoding unit 720 may be configured to decode second configuration information from the network device, where the second configuration information indicates a reference time slot and a first time slot offset in the first time slot offset list.

[0156] The generating unit 730 may be configured to generate an AP-SRS for transmission to the network device based on the reference time slot and the first time slot offset.

[0157] According to an embodiment of the present application, through the first configuration information, a first time slot offset list including a plurality of time slot offsets instead of a single time slot offset may be configured by the network. By using the second configuration information decoded by the UE, the first time slot offset may be selected from the first time slot offset list such that the first time slot offset is not predetermined and fixed. In this way, the transmission of the UE's AP-SRS is more flexible. Since multiple selections of time slot offsets in the time slot offset list are provided, even if some time slots for transmitting the AP-SRS are unavailable (e.g., if the time slot for transmitting the AP-SRS conflicts with a DL symbol), the UE may have other options and will not skip the transmission of the AP-SRS, thereby improving the flexibility of the AP-SRS transmission.

[0158] Figure 8 An exemplary block diagram of a device for a network device according to some embodiments is shown. Figure 8 The illustrated device 800 may be used to implement method 400 as described in connection with Figure 4 the illustrated method 400.

[0159] As Figure 8 shown, apparatus 800 includes a generating unit 810, a generating unit 820, and an obtaining unit 830.

[0160] The generating unit 810 may be configured to generate first configuration information for transmission to a user equipment (UE), where the first configuration information indicates a first resource set for an aperiodic sounding reference signal (AP-SRS), and where the first resource set for the AP-SRS includes a first time slot offset list.

[0161] The generating unit 820 may be configured to generate second configuration information for transmission to the UE, where the second configuration information indicates a reference time slot and a first time slot offset in the first time slot offset list.

[0162] The obtaining unit 830 may be configured to obtain the AP-SRS from the UE, where the AP-SRS is transmitted based on the reference time slot and the first time slot offset.

[0163] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, through the first configuration information, the network may configure a first time slot offset list including multiple time slot offsets instead of a single time slot offset. By the second configuration information decoded by the UE, the network may select a first time slot offset from the first time slot offset list such that the first time slot offset is not predetermined and fixed. In this way, the transmission of the AP-SRS of the UE is more flexible. Since multiple selections of the time slot offset in the time slot offset list are provided, even if some time slots for transmitting the AP-SRS are unavailable (e.g., if the time slot for transmitting the AP-SRS conflicts with a DL symbol), the UE may have other options and will not skip the transmission of the AP-SRS, thereby improving the flexibility of the transmission of the AP-SRS.

[0164] Figure 9Shows example components of a device 900 according to some embodiments. In some embodiments, the device 900 may include at least application circuitry 902, baseband circuitry 904, radio frequency (RF) circuitry (shown as RF circuitry 920), front-end module (FEM) circuitry (shown as FEM circuitry 930), one or more antennas 932, and power management circuitry (PMC) (shown as PMC 934) coupled together as shown. The illustrated components of the device 900 may be included in a UE or a RAN node. In some embodiments, the device 900 may include fewer elements (e.g., a RAN node may not utilize the application circuitry 902 but instead include a processor / controller to process IP data received from the EPC). In some embodiments, the device 900 may include additional elements such as, for example, a memory / storage device, a display, a camera, a sensor, or an input / output (I / O) interface. In other embodiments, the components described below may be included in more than one device (e.g., the circuitry may be separately included in more than one device for a cloud-RAN (C-RAN) implementation).

[0165] The application circuitry 902 may include one or more application processors. For example, the application circuitry 902 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processors may include any combination of general-purpose processors and dedicated processors (e.g., a graphics processor, an application processor, etc.). These processors may be coupled to a memory / storage device or may include a memory / storage device and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory / storage device to enable various application programs or operating systems to run on the device 900. In some embodiments, the processors of the application circuitry 902 may process IP data packets received from the EPC.

[0166] The baseband circuit 904 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The baseband circuit 904 may include one or more baseband processors or control logic components to process baseband signals received from the receive signal path of the RF circuit 920 and generate baseband signals for the transmit signal path of the RF circuit 920. The baseband circuit 904 may interact with the application circuit 902 to generate and process baseband signals and control the operation of the RF circuit 920. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuit 904 may include a third-generation (3G) baseband processor (3G baseband processor 906), a fourth-generation (4G) baseband processor (4G baseband processor 908), a fifth-generation (5G) baseband processor (5G baseband processor 910), or other baseband processors 912 of other existing generations, generations under development, or generations to be developed in the future (e.g., second-generation (2G), sixth-generation (6G), etc.). The baseband circuit 904 (e.g., one or more of the baseband processors) may process various radio control functions for implementing communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuit 920. In other embodiments, some or all of the functions of the illustrated baseband processors may be included in modules stored in the memory 918 and executed via the central processing unit (CPU 914). The radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation / demodulation, encoding / decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, the modulation / demodulation circuitry of the baseband circuit 904 may include fast Fourier transform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping / demapping functions. In some embodiments, the encoding / decoding circuitry of the baseband circuit 904 may include convolutional, tail-biting convolutional, turbo, Viterbi, or low-density parity-check (LDPC) encoder / decoder functions. Embodiments of the modulation / demodulation and encoder / decoder functions are not limited to these examples and may include other suitable functions in other embodiments.

[0167] In some embodiments, the baseband circuit 904 may include a digital signal processor (DSP), such as one or more audio DSPs 916. The one or more audio DSPs 916 may include elements for compression / decompression and echo cancellation and may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments. In some embodiments, the components of the baseband circuit may be appropriately combined on a single chip, a single chipset, or disposed on the same circuit board. In some embodiments, some or all of the constituent components of the baseband circuit 904 and the application circuit 902 may be implemented together, such as on a system-on-chip (SOC).

[0168] In some embodiments, baseband circuitry 904 may provide communication compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, baseband circuitry 904 may support communication with an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) or other wireless metropolitan area network (WMAN), wireless local area network (WLAN), or wireless personal area network (WPAN). Embodiments in which baseband circuitry 904 is configured to support radio communication for more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry.

[0169] RF circuitry 920 may communicate with a wireless network using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, RF circuitry 920 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate communication with the wireless network. RF circuitry 920 may include a receive signal path that may include circuitry for downconverting an RF signal received from FEM circuitry 930 and providing a baseband signal to baseband circuitry 904. RF circuitry 920 may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry for upconverting a baseband signal provided by baseband circuitry 904 and providing an RF output signal for transmission to FEM circuitry 930.

[0170] In some embodiments, the receive signal path of RF circuitry 920 may include mixer circuitry 922, amplifier circuitry 924, and filter circuitry 926. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of RF circuitry 920 may include filter circuitry 926 and mixer circuitry 922. RF circuitry 920 may also include synthesizer circuitry 928 for synthesizing frequencies for use by mixer circuitry 922 of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 922 of the receive signal path may be configured to downconvert an RF signal received from FEM circuitry 930 based on a synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry 928. Amplifier circuitry 924 may be configured to amplify the downconverted signal, and filter circuitry 926 may be a low-pass filter (LPF) or a band-pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the downconverted signal to generate an output baseband signal. The output baseband signal may be provided to baseband circuitry 904 for further processing. In some embodiments, although not required, the output baseband signal may be a zero-frequency baseband signal. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 922 of the receive signal path may include a passive mixer, but the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this regard.

[0171] In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 922 of the transmit signal path may be configured to upconvert an input baseband signal based on a synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry 928 to generate an RF output signal for FEM circuitry 930. The baseband signal may be provided by baseband circuitry 904 and may be filtered by filter circuitry 926.

[0172] In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 922 of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 922 of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature downconversion and upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 922 of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 922 of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 922 of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 922 may be arranged for direct downconversion and direct upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 922 of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 922 of the transmit signal path may be configured for superheterodyne operation.

[0173] In some embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this regard. In some alternative embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be digital baseband signals. In these alternative embodiments, the RF circuit 920 may include an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuit, and the baseband circuit 904 may include a digital baseband interface for communicating with the RF circuit 920.

[0174] In some dual-mode embodiments, a separate radio IC circuit may be provided to process signals of each spectrum, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this regard.

[0175] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuit 928 may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional-N / N+1 synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this regard since other types of frequency synthesizers may also be suitable. For example, the synthesizer circuit 928 may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer including a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider.

[0176] The synthesizer circuit 928 may be configured to synthesize an output frequency based on a frequency input and a frequency divider control input for use by the mixer circuit 922 of the RF circuit 920. In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuit 928 may be a fractional-N / N+1 synthesizer.

[0177] In some embodiments, the frequency input may be provided by a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), although this is not required. The frequency divider control input may be provided by the baseband circuit 904 or the application circuit 902 (such as an application processor) according to the desired output frequency. In some embodiments, the frequency divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a look-up table based on the channel indicated by the application circuit 902.

[0178] The synthesizer circuit 928 of the RF circuit 920 may include a frequency divider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer, and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the frequency divider may be a dual-mode frequency divider (DMD), and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide an input signal by N or N+1 (e.g., based on a carry) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, the DLL may include a cascaded, tunable, delay element, a phase detector, a charge pump, and a set of D-type flip-flops. In these embodiments, the delay element may be configured to divide the VCO period into Nd equal phase bins, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO period.

[0179] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuit 928 may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency), and may be used with a quadrature generator and a frequency divider circuit to generate multiple signals having multiple different phases relative to each other at the carrier frequency. In some embodiments, the output frequency may be the LO frequency (fLO). In some embodiments, the RF circuit 920 may include an IQ / polarity converter.

[0180] The FEM circuit 930 may include a receive signal path that may include circuitry configured to operate on an RF signal received from one or more antennas 932, amplify the received signal, and provide an amplified version of the received signal to the RF circuit 920 for further processing. The FEM circuit 930 may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry configured to amplify a transmit signal provided by the RF circuit 920 for transmission by one or more of the one or more antennas 932. In various embodiments, amplification through the transmit or receive signal path may be accomplished only in the RF circuit 920, only in the FEM circuit 930, or in both the RF circuit 920 and the FEM circuit 930.

[0181] In some embodiments, the FEM circuit 930 may include a TX / RX switch to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operations. The FEM circuit 930 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuit 930 may include an LNA to amplify the received RF signal and provide the amplified received RF signal as an output (e.g., to the RF circuit 920). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuit 930 may include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify the input RF signal (e.g., provided by the RF circuit 920), and one or more filters to generate an RF signal for subsequent transmission (e.g., via one or more of the one or more antennas 932).

[0182] In some embodiments, the PMC 934 may manage the power provided to the baseband circuit 904. Specifically, the PMC 934 may control power selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-DC conversion. When the device 900 is capable of being powered by a battery, e.g., when the device 900 is included in an EGE, the PMC 934 is typically included. The PMC 934 may improve power conversion efficiency while providing the desired implementation size and thermal characteristics.

[0183] Figure 9 The PMC 934 is shown coupled only to the baseband circuit 904. However, in other embodiments, the PMC 934 may additionally or alternatively be coupled to other components (such as but not limited to the application circuit 902, the RF circuit 920, or the FEM circuit 930) and perform similar power management operations for these components.

[0184] In some embodiments, the PMC 934 may control or otherwise be part of various power saving mechanisms of the device 900. For example, if the device 900 is in the RRC connected state and in this state the device is still connected to the RAN node because the device expects to receive communication soon, then the device may enter a state called discontinuous reception mode (DRX) after an inactive period. During this state, the device 900 may power down for short intervals, thus saving power.

[0185] If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period, the device 900 may transition to the RRC idle state, where the device is disconnected from the network and does not perform operations such as channel quality feedback, handover, etc. The device 900 enters a very low power state and performs paging, where the device wakes up periodically again to listen for the network and then powers down again. The device 900 cannot receive data in this state, and in order to receive data, the device must transition back to the RRC connected state.

[0186] An additional power-saving mode can cause the device to be unable to use the network for a time period exceeding the paging interval (ranging from a few seconds to several hours). During this period, the device is completely unable to connect to the network and can be powered off completely. Any data sent during this period will incur a significant delay, and it is assumed that the delay is acceptable.

[0187] The processor of the application circuit 902 and the processor of the baseband circuit 904 can be used to execute elements of one or more instances of the protocol stack. For example, the processor of the baseband circuit 904 can be used, either individually or in combination, to execute layer 3, layer 2, or layer 1 functions, while the processor of the application circuit 902 can utilize the data received from these layers (e.g., packet data) and further execute layer 4 functions (e.g., the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP) layers). As mentioned herein, layer 3 can include the Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer, which will be described in further detail below. As mentioned herein, layer 2 can include the Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, the Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, which will be described in further detail below. As mentioned herein, layer 1 can include the Physical (PHY) layer of the UE / RAN node, which will be described in further detail below.

[0188] Figure 10 An exemplary interface 1000 of the baseband circuit according to some embodiments is shown. As discussed above, Figure 9 the baseband circuit 904 can include a 3G baseband processor 906, a 4G baseband processor 908, a 5G baseband processor 910, other baseband processors 912, a CPU 914, and a memory 918 used by the processor. As shown, each of these processors can include a corresponding memory interface 1002 to send data to / receive data from the memory 918.

[0189] The baseband circuit 904 can also include one or more interfaces to communicatively couple to other circuits / devices, such as the memory interface 1004 (e.g., an interface for sending / receiving data to / from a memory external to the baseband circuit 904), the application circuit interface 1006 (e.g., an interface for sending / receiving data to / from Figure 9 the application circuit 902), the RF circuit interface 1008 (e.g., an interface for sending / receiving data to / from Figure 9 the RF circuit 920), the wireless hardware connection interface 1010 (e.g., for sending / receiving data to / from near field communication (NFC) components, components (e.g., low power), interfaces for sending / receiving data to / from other components and other communication components), and a power management interface 1012 (e.g., an interface for sending / receiving power or control signals to / from the PMC 934).

[0190] Figure 11 is a block diagram showing a component 1100 that can read instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and can execute any one or more of the methods discussed herein. Specifically, Figure 11 shows a graphical representation of hardware resources 1102 including one or more processors 1112 (or processor cores), one or more memory / storage devices 1118, and one or more communication resources 1120, each of which can be communicatively coupled via a bus 1122. For embodiments in which node virtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor 1104 can be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices / sub-slices to utilize the hardware resources 1102.

[0191] The processor 1112 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a digital signal processor (DSP) (such as a baseband processor), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor, or any suitable combination thereof) can include, for example, processors 1114 and 1116.

[0192] The memory / storage device 1118 can include a main memory, a disk memory, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory / storage device 1118 can include, but is not limited to, any type of volatile or non-volatile memory, such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid state storage devices, etc.

[0193] The communication resource 1120 can include an interconnect or network interface component or other suitable device to communicate with one or more peripheral devices 1106 or one or more databases 1108 via a network 1110. For example, the communication resource 1120 can include a wired communication component (e.g., for coupling via a universal serial bus (USB)), a cellular communication component, an NFC component, components (e.g., low power consumption), components and other communication components.

[0194] Instruction 1124 may include software, a program, an application, an applet, an application, or other executable code for causing at least any one of processors 1112 to execute any one or more of the method sets discussed herein. Instruction 1124 may reside, in whole or in part, in at least one of processors 1112 (e.g., within a cache memory of the processor), memory / storage device 1118, or any suitable combination thereof. Additionally, any part of Instruction 1124 may be transferred from any combination of peripheral devices 1106 or database 1108 to hardware resources 1102. Accordingly, the memory of processor 1112, memory / storage device 1118, peripheral devices 1106, and database 1108 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.

[0195] For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components shown in one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to perform one or more of the operations, techniques, processes, and / or methods described in the example section below. For example, the baseband circuitry described above in connection with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the examples below. As another example, the circuitry associated with the UE, base station, network element, etc. described above in connection with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the examples shown in the example section below.

[0196] Figure 12 The architecture of a system 1200 of a network is shown in accordance with some embodiments. System 1200 includes one or more user equipments (UEs), shown in this example as UE 1202 and UE 1204. UE 1202 and UE 1204 are shown as smart phones (e.g., handheld touchscreen mobile computing devices capable of connecting to one or more cellular networks), but it may also include any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as a personal data assistant (PDA), pager, laptop computer, desktop computer, wireless handheld terminal, or any computing device including a wireless communication interface.

[0197] In some embodiments, either UE 1202 or UE 1204 may include an Internet of Things (IoT) UE, which may include a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applications that utilize short-term UE connections. The IoT UE may utilize technologies such as machine-to-machine (M2M) or machine type communication (MTC) to exchange data with an MTC server or device via a public land mobile network (PLMN), proximity-based services (ProSe), or device-to-device (D2D) communication, a sensor network, or an IoT network. The M2M or MTC data exchange may be machine-initiated data exchange. The IoT network describes interconnected IoT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure) with short-lived connections. The IoT UE may execute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate connections to the IoT network.

[0198] UE 1202 and UE 1204 may be configured to connect (e.g., communicatively couple) to a radio access network (RAN), shown as RAN 1206. The RAN 1206 may be, for example, an evolved universal mobile telecommunications system (ETMTS) terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN), a next-generation RAN (NG RAN), or some other type of RAN. UE 1202 and UE 1204 respectively utilize connections 1208 and 1210, where each connection includes a physical communication interface or layer (discussed further below in detail); in this example, connections 1208 and 1210 are shown as air interfaces to enable communicative coupling and may be consistent with cellular communication protocols such as the global system for mobile communications (GSM) protocol, code division multiple access (CDMA) network protocol, push-to-talk (PTT) protocol, cellular PTT protocol (POC), universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) protocol, 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) long-term evolution (LTE) protocol, fifth-generation (5G) protocol, new radio (NR) protocol, etc.

[0199] In this embodiment, UE 1202 and UE 1204 may also directly exchange communication data via the ProSe interface 1212. The ProSe interface 1212 may alternatively be referred to as a side-link interface that includes one or more logical channels, including but not limited to a physical side-link control channel (PSCCH), a physical side-link shared channel (PSSCH), a physical side-link discovery channel (PSDCH), and a physical side-link broadcast channel (PSBCH).

[0200] UE 1204 is shown configured to access an access point (AP), shown as AP 1214, via connection 1216. Connection 1216 can include a local wireless connection, such as a connection consistent with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, where AP 1214 will include a Wi-Fi ( ) router. In this example, AP 1214 can be connected to the Internet without being connected to the core network of the wireless system (described in further detail below).

[0201] RAN 1206 can include one or more access nodes enabling connections 1208 and 1210. These access nodes (ANs) can be referred to as base stations (BSs), NodeBs, evolved NodeBs (eNBs), next-generation NodeBs (gNBs), RAN nodes, etc., and can include terrestrial stations (e.g., land access points) or satellite stations that provide coverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). RAN 1206 can include one or more RAN nodes for providing macrocells, such as macro RAN node 1218, and one or more RAN nodes for providing femtocells or picocells (e.g., cells with a smaller coverage area, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth compared to a macrocell), such as low-power (LP) RAN nodes (such as LP RAN node 1220).

[0202] Either the macro RAN node 1218 or the LP RAN node 1220 can terminate the air interface protocol and can be the first point of contact for UEs 1202 and 1204. In some embodiments, either the macro RAN node 1218 or the LP RAN node 1220 can fulfill various logical functions of RAN 1206, including but not limited to, functions of a radio network controller (RNC), such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management, data packet scheduling, and mobility management.

[0203] According to some embodiments, UEs 1202 and 1204 can be configured to communicate with each other or with either the macro RAN node 1218 or the LP RAN node 1220 over a multi-carrier communication channel using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) communication signals according to various communication technologies, such as but not limited to orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) communication technology (e.g., for downlink communication) or single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) communication technology (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communication), but the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this regard. The OFDM signal can include a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers.

[0204] In some embodiments, the downlink resource grid can be used for downlink transmissions from either the RAN node 1218 and the LP RAN node 1220 to the UEs 1202 and 1204, and uplink transmissions can utilize similar techniques. The grid can be a time-frequency grid, referred to as a resource grid or a time-frequency resource grid, which is the physical resources in the downlink in each time slot. For OFDM systems, such time-frequency plane representations are common practice, which makes wireless resource allocation intuitive. Each column and each row of the resource grid corresponds to an OFDM symbol and an OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration of the resource grid in the time domain corresponds to one time slot in the radio frame. The smallest time-frequency unit in the resource grid is denoted as a resource element. Each resource grid includes a plurality of resource blocks, which describe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements. Each resource block includes a set of resource elements. In the frequency domain, this can represent the smallest amount of resources that can be currently allocated. Such resource blocks are used to transmit several different physical downlink channels.

[0205] The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) can convey user data and higher layer signaling to the UEs 1202 and 1204. The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) can carry information such as the transmission format and resource allocation related to the PDSCH channel. It can also inform the UEs 1202 and 1204 of the transmission format, resource allocation, and H-ARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest) information related to the uplink shared channel. Generally, downlink scheduling (allocating control and shared channel resource blocks to the UE 1204 within the cell) can be performed at either the macro RAN node 1218 or the LP RAN node 1220 based on the channel quality information fed back from either of the UEs 1202 and 1204. The downlink resource allocation information can be sent on the PDCCH for each of the UEs 1202 and 1204 (e.g., allocated to).

[0206] The PDCCH can use control channel elements (CCEs) to transmit control information. Before being mapped to resource elements, the PDCCH complex-valued symbols can first be organized into quadruples, and then a sub-block interleaver can be used to permute them for rate matching. One or more of these CCEs can be used to transmit each PDCCH, where each CCE can correspond to a set of four physical resource elements out of nine, called a resource element group (REG). Four quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) symbols can be mapped to each REG. Depending on the size of the downlink control information (DCI) and the channel conditions, one or more CCEs can be used to transmit the PDCCH. There can be four or more different PDCCH formats in LTE with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation levels, L = 1, 2, 4, or 8).

[0207] Some embodiments may use the concept of resource allocation for controlling channel information, which is an extension of the above concept. For example, some embodiments may utilize the enhanced physical downlink control channel (EPDCCH) that uses PDSCH resources for control information transmission. One or more enhanced control channel elements (ECCEs) may be used to transmit the EPDCCH. Similar to the above, each ECCE may correspond to four physical resource element sets of nine, which are referred to as enhanced resource element groups (EREGs). In some cases, an ECCE may have other numbers of EREGs.

[0208] RAN 1206 is communicatively coupled to a core network (CN) (shown as CN 1228) via an S1 interface 1222. In an embodiment, CN 1228 may be an evolved packet core (EPC) network, a next-generation packet core (NPC) network, or some other type of CN. In this embodiment, the S1 interface 1222 is divided into two parts: an S1-U interface 1224 that carries traffic data between the macro RAN node 1218 and the LP RAN node 1220 and a serving gateway (S-GW) (shown as S-GW 1132); and an S1 mobility management entity (MME) interface (shown as the S1-MME interface 1226), which is a signaling interface between the macro RAN node 1218 and the LP RAN node 1220 and the MME 1230.

[0209] In this embodiment, CN 1228 includes an MME 1230, an S-GW 1232, a packet data network (PDN) gateway (P-GW) (shown as P-GW 1234), and a home subscriber server (HSS) (shown as HSS 1236). The MME 1230 may functionally be similar to the control plane of a traditional serving general packet radio service (GPRS) support node (SGSN). The MME 1230 may manage mobility aspects related to access, such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. The HSS 1236 may include a database for network users, which includes subscription-related information for supporting network entity processing of communication sessions. Depending on the number of mobile subscribers, the capacity of the equipment, the organization of the network, etc., CN 1228 may include one or more HSSs 1236. For example, the HSS 1236 may provide support for routing / roaming, authentication, authorization, name / address resolution, location dependence, etc.

[0210] The S-GW 1232 can terminate the S1 interface 1222 towards the RAN 1206 and route data packets between the RAN 1206 and the CN 1228. Additionally, the S-GW 1232 can be a local mobility anchor for inter-RAN node handovers and can also provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities can include lawful interception, charging, and enforcement of certain policies.

[0211] The P-GW 1234 can terminate the SGi interface towards the PDN. The P-GW 1234 can route data packets between the CN 1228 (e.g., EPC network) and an external network such as a network including an application server 1242 (alternatively referred to as an application function (AF)) via an Internet Protocol (IP) interface (shown as the IP communication interface 1238). Generally, the application server 1242 can be an element that provides an application that uses IP bearer resources in conjunction with the core network (e.g., the ETMTS packet service (PS) domain, LTE PS data service, etc.). In this embodiment, the P-GW 1234 is shown communicatively coupled to the application server 1242 via the IP communication interface 1238. The application server 1242 can also be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., Internet Protocol voice (VoIP) sessions, Push-to-Talk (PTT) sessions, group communication sessions, social network services, etc.) for the UEs 1202 and 1204 via the CN 1228.

[0212] The P-GW 1234 can also be a node for policy enforcement and charging data collection. The Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) (shown as the PCRF 1240) is the policy and charging control element of the CN 1228. In a non-roaming scenario, there may be a single PCRF in the Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) associated with an IP-CAN session of the ETE. In a roaming scenario with local traffic breakout, there may be two PCRFs associated with the UE's IP-CAN session: a home PCRF (H-PCRF) within the HPLMN and a visited PCRF (V-PCRF) within the Visited Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN). The PCRF 1240 can be communicatively coupled to the application server 1242 via the P-GW 1234. The application server 1242 can signal the PCRF 1240 to indicate a new service flow and select appropriate Quality of Service (QoS) and charging parameters. The PCRF 1240 can provide the rules as a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) (not shown) with an appropriate Traffic Flow Template (TFT) and QoS Class Identifier (QCI) that starts the QoS and charging specified by the application server 1242.

[0213] Additional Embodiments

[0214] For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components shown in one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to perform one or more of the operations, techniques, processes, and / or methods described in the example section below. For example, the baseband circuitry described above in connection with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the examples set forth below. As another example, circuitry associated with a UE, base station, network element, etc. described above in connection with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the examples shown in the example section below.

[0215] The following embodiments relate to additional embodiments.

[0216] Embodiment 1 is a method for a user equipment (UE), comprising: obtaining first configuration information from a network device, wherein the first configuration information indicates a first resource set for an aperiodic sounding reference signal (AP-SRS), and wherein the first resource set for the AP-SRS includes a first time slot offset list; decoding second configuration information from the network device, wherein the second configuration information indicates a reference time slot and a first time slot offset in the first time slot offset list; and generating the AP-SRS for transmission to the network device based on the reference time slot and the first time slot offset.

[0217] Embodiment 2 is the method according to Embodiment 1, wherein the first resource set for the AP-SRS further includes remaining time slot offsets, and wherein generating the AP-SRS for transmission to the network device based on the reference time slot and the first time slot offset includes: generating the AP-SRS for transmission to the network device based on the reference time slot, the remaining time slot offsets, and the first time slot offset.

[0218] Embodiment 3 is the method according to Embodiment 2, wherein generating the AP-SRS for transmission to the network device based on the reference time slot, the remaining time slot offsets, and the first time slot offset includes: determining a first time slot by adding the remaining time slot offset to the reference time slot; determining a second time slot by adding the first time slot offset to the first time slot; and generating the AP-SRS for transmission to the network device in the second time slot.

[0219] Embodiment 4 is the method according to Embodiment 3, wherein the remaining time slot offset is determined such that the first time slot includes any time slot, and the first time slot offset is determined such that the second time slot includes any available time slot.

[0220] Embodiment 5 is the method according to Embodiment 3, wherein the remaining time slot offset is determined such that the first time slot includes any available time slots, and the first time slot offset is determined such that the second time slot includes any available time slots.

[0221] Embodiment 6 is the method according to Embodiment 1, wherein the first configuration information further indicates a second resource set for the AP-SRS, and wherein the second resource set for the AP-SRS includes a second time slot offset list, and wherein the first configuration information further indicates that the first resource set for the AP-SRS and the second resource set for the AP-SRS are mapped to the same triggering state for the AP-SRS.

[0222] Embodiment 7 is the method according to Embodiment 6, wherein the first resource set for the AP-SRS and the second resource set for the AP-SRS are triggered for transmission to the network device according to the same triggering state for the AP-SRS.

[0223] Embodiment 8 is the method according to Embodiment 6, wherein the number of time slot offsets in the first time slot offset list is the same as the number of time slot offsets in the second time slot offset list.

[0224] Embodiment 9 is the method according to Embodiment 6, wherein the number of time slot offsets in the first time slot offset list is different from the number of time slot offsets in the second time slot offset list.

[0225] Embodiment 10 is the method according to Embodiment 1, wherein the first configuration information further indicates that the first resource set for the AP-SRS is mapped to multiple triggering states for the AP-SRS.

[0226] Embodiment 11 is the method according to Embodiment 10, wherein the first time slot offset list is associated with the multiple triggering states for the AP-SRS.

[0227] Embodiment 12 is the method according to Embodiment 10, wherein the first resource set for the AP-SRS includes multiple time slot offset lists, and wherein each time slot offset list in the multiple time slot offset lists corresponds one-to-one to one of the multiple triggering states for the AP-SRS.

[0228] Embodiment 13 is the method according to Embodiment 1, wherein the first configuration information includes radio resource control (RRC) signaling, and the second configuration information includes downlink control information (DCI).

[0229] Embodiment 14 is the method according to any one of Embodiments 1 to 13, further comprising: obtaining third configuration information from the network device, wherein the third configuration information activates a subset of the first time slot offset list, and wherein the second configuration information indicates the first time slot offset from the subset of the first time slot offset list.

[0230] Embodiment 15 is the method according to Embodiment 14, wherein the subset of the first time slot offset list is activated for each resource set for AP-SRS.

[0231] Embodiment 16 is the method according to Embodiment 14, wherein the subset of the first time slot offset list is activated for each trigger state for the AP-SRS.

[0232] Embodiment 17 is the method according to Embodiment 14, wherein the third configuration information includes media access control control element (MAC-CE) information.

[0233] Embodiment 18 is a method for a network device, comprising: generating first configuration information for transmission to a user equipment (UE), wherein the first configuration information indicates a first resource set for an aperiodic sounding reference signal (AP-SRS), and wherein the first resource set for the AP-SRS includes a first time slot offset list; generating second configuration information for transmission to the UE, wherein the second configuration information indicates a reference time slot and a first time slot offset in the first time slot offset list; and obtaining the AP-SRS from the UE, wherein the AP-SRS is transmitted based on the reference time slot and the first time slot offset.

[0234] Embodiment 19 is the method according to Embodiment 18, wherein the first configuration information includes radio resource control (RRC) signaling, and the second configuration information includes downlink control information (DCI).

[0235] Embodiment 20 is the method according to Embodiment 18 or 19, further comprising: generating third configuration information, wherein the third configuration information activates a subset of the first time slot offset list, and wherein the second configuration information indicates the first time slot offset from the subset of the first time slot offset list.

[0236] Embodiment 21 is the method according to Embodiment 20, wherein the third configuration information includes media access control control element (MAC-CE) information.

[0237] Embodiment 22 is a device for a user equipment (UE), the device comprising: one or more processors configured to perform the steps of the method according to any one of Embodiments 1 to 17.

[0238] Embodiment 23 is an apparatus for a network device, the apparatus comprising: one or more processors configured to perform the steps of the method according to any one of Embodiments 18 to 21.

[0239] Embodiment 24 is a computer-readable medium having a computer program stored thereon, the computer program, when executed by one or more processors, causing the apparatus to perform the steps of the method according to any one of Embodiments 1 to 21.

[0240] Embodiment 25 is an apparatus for a communication device, comprising modules for performing the steps of the method according to any one of Embodiments 1 to 21.

[0241] Embodiment 26 is a computer program product comprising a computer program which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the apparatus to perform the steps of the method according to any one of Embodiments 1 to 21.

[0242] Unless otherwise explicitly stated, any one of the above embodiments may be combined with any other embodiment (or combination of embodiments). The foregoing description of one or more specific embodiments provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the embodiments to the precise forms disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings, or may be acquired from practice of various embodiments.

[0243] It should be recognized that the systems described herein include descriptions of specific embodiments. These embodiments may be combined into a single system, partially incorporated into other systems, divided into multiple systems, or otherwise partitioned or combined. Additionally, it is contemplated that the parameters / attributes / aspects, etc. of one embodiment may be used in another embodiment. For clarity, these parameters / attributes / aspects, etc. are described in only one or more embodiments, and it should be recognized that unless specifically stated herein, these parameters / attributes / aspects, etc. may be combined with or substituted for the parameters / attributes, etc. of another embodiment.

[0244] It is well known that the use of personally identifiable information should follow privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of inadvertent or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly explained to users.

[0245] Although the foregoing has been described in considerable detail for purposes of clarity, it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications may be made without departing from the principles of the invention. It should be noted that there are many alternative ways of implementing both the processes and apparatus described herein. Accordingly, the embodiments of the invention are to be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive, and the specification is not to be limited to the details given herein but may be modified within the scope and equivalents of the appended claims.

Claims

1. One or more computer-readable media having instructions that, when executed, cause a user equipment (UE) to perform the following operations: Obtain first configuration information from a network device, wherein the first configuration information indicates a first resource set for an aperiodic sounding reference signal (AP-SRS), and wherein the first resource set for the AP-SRS includes a first slot offset list; Receive second configuration information from the network device; Determine a reference slot and a first slot offset in the first slot offset list based on receiving the second configuration information; and Generate the AP-SRS for transmission to the network device based on the reference slot and the first slot offset, wherein the first configuration information further indicates a second resource set for the AP-SRS, the second resource set for the AP-SRS includes a second slot offset list, and the first configuration information further indicates that the first resource set for the AP-SRS and the second resource set for the AP-SRS are mapped to the same trigger state for the AP-SRS.

2. The one or more computer-readable media according to claim 1, wherein the first resource set for the AP-SRS further includes a remaining slot offset, and for generating the AP-SRS for transmission to the network device, the UE is further configured to: Generate the AP-SRS for transmission to the network device based on the reference slot, the remaining slot offset, and the first slot offset.

3. The one or more computer-readable media according to claim 2, wherein for generating the AP-SRS for transmission to the network device, the UE is further configured to: Determine a first slot by adding the remaining slot offset to the reference slot; Determine a second slot by adding the first slot offset to the first slot; and Generate the AP-SRS for transmission to the network device at the second slot.

4. The one or more computer-readable media according to claim 3, wherein the remaining slot offset is determined such that the first slot includes any slot, and the first slot offset is determined such that the second slot includes any available slot.

5. The one or more computer-readable media according to claim 3, wherein the remaining slot offset is determined such that the first slot includes any available slot, and the first slot offset is determined such that the second slot includes any available slot.

6. The one or more computer-readable media according to claim 1, wherein the first resource set for the AP-SRS and the second resource set for the AP-SRS are triggered for transmission to the network device according to the same trigger state for the AP-SRS.

7. The one or more computer-readable media according to claim 1, wherein the number of time slot offsets in the first time slot offset list is equal to the number of time slot offsets in the second time slot offset list.

8. The one or more computer-readable media according to claim 1, wherein the number of time slot offsets (N) in the first time slot offset list is greater than the number of time slot offsets (M) in the second time slot offset list, and the field of the second configuration information for indicating the first time slot offset has ceil{log_2(N)} bits.

9. The one or more computer-readable media according to claim 1, wherein the first configuration information further indicates that the first resource set for the AP-SRS is mapped to a plurality of trigger states for the AP-SRS.

10. The one or more computer-readable media according to claim 9, wherein the first time slot offset list is associated with the plurality of trigger states for the AP-SRS.

11. The one or more computer-readable media according to claim 9, wherein the first resource set for the AP-SRS includes a plurality of time slot offset lists, and each time slot offset list in the plurality of time slot offset lists has a one-to-one correspondence with one of the plurality of trigger states for the AP-SRS.

12. The one or more computer-readable media according to claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the UE to receive the first configuration information via radio resource control (RRC) signaling and receive the second configuration information via downlink control information (DCI).

13. The one or more computer-readable media according to claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the UE to: obtain third configuration information from the network device for activating a subset of the first time slot offset list, and wherein the second configuration information indicates the first time slot offset from the subset of the first time slot offset list.

14. The one or more computer-readable media according to claim 13, wherein the subset of the first time slot offset list is activated for each resource set for the AP-SRS or for each trigger state for the AP-SRS.

15. The one or more computer-readable media according to claim 13, wherein the third configuration information includes media access control control element (MAC-CE) information.

16. A method for a network device, the method comprising: generating first configuration information for transmission to a user equipment (UE), wherein the first configuration information indicates a first resource set for an aperiodic sounding reference signal (AP-SRS), and wherein the first resource set for the AP-SRS includes a first time slot offset list; generating second configuration information for transmission to the UE, wherein the second configuration information indicates a reference time slot and a first time slot offset in the first time slot offset list; and Obtain the AP-SRS from the UE, wherein the AP-SRS is transmitted based on the reference time slot and the first time slot offset. Wherein the first configuration information further indicates a second resource set for the AP-SRS, the second resource set for the AP-SRS includes a second time slot offset list, and the first configuration information further indicates that the first resource set for the AP-SRS and the second resource set for the AP-SRS are mapped to the same trigger state for the AP-SRS.

17. The method according to claim 16, further comprising: Transmitting the first configuration information using radio resource control (RRC) signaling; And Transmitting the second configuration information using downlink control information (DCI).

18. The method according to claim 16, further comprising: Generating third configuration information, wherein the third configuration information is used to activate a subset of the first time slot offset list, and Wherein the second configuration information indicates the first time slot offset from the subset of the first time slot offset list.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein the third configuration information includes medium access control control element (MAC-CE) information.

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