Control message with symbol mask

Abstract

Aspects relate to a control message including at least one symbol mask to be applied to a set of symbols of a time slot. In some examples, the control message can also include at least one resource element mask to be applied to at least one resource element of the time slot. In some aspects, information can be communicated during the time slot in accordance with the at least one symbol mask.

Description

[0001] Cross-references to related applications

[0002] This patent application claims priority and benefit to pending Indian Provisional Patent Application No. 202041029663, filed on July 13, 2020, entitled “CONTROL MESSAGE WITH SYMBOLMASK”, which has been assigned to the assignee of this application and is hereby expressly incorporated by reference as fully set forth below and for all applicable purposes. Technical Field

[0003] The techniques discussed below generally relate to wireless communication systems, and more particularly to control messages that include at least one symbol mask.

[0004] introduction

[0005] Next-generation wireless communication systems (e.g., 5GS) may include a 5G core network and a 5G radio access network (RAN), such as a new radio (NR)-RAN. NR-RAN supports communication via one or more cells. For example, a wireless communication device (such as a user equipment (UE)) may access the first cell of another wireless communication device (such as a first base station (e.g., gNB)) and / or access the second cell of a second base station.

[0006] A base station can schedule access to a cell to support access for multiple UEs. For example, a base station can allocate different resources (e.g., time-domain and frequency-domain resources) for different UEs operating within its cell. Therefore, a UE can transmit data to the base station via one or more of these allocated resources. Additionally, a UE can receive data transmitted by the base station via one or more of these allocated resources.

[0007] A brief overview of some examples

[0008] The following provides an overview of one or more aspects of this disclosure to provide a basic understanding of these aspects. This overview is not an exhaustive summary of all conceived features of this disclosure, nor is it intended to identify key or defining elements of all aspects of this disclosure, nor to define the scope of any or all aspects of this disclosure. Its sole purpose is to provide some concepts of one or more aspects of this disclosure in one form as a prelude to the more detailed description that follows.

[0009] In some examples, a method for communicating at a scheduling entity is disclosed. The method may include: transmitting an indication of a time slot to a radio unit; and transmitting a control message to the radio unit, the control message including at least one symbol mask for at least one symbol of the time slot and at least one resource element mask for at least one resource element of the time slot.

[0010] In some examples, a scheduling entity may include a transceiver, a memory, and a processor coupled to the transceiver and the memory. The processor and the memory may be configured to: transmit an indication of a time slot to a radio unit via the transceiver; and transmit a control message to the radio unit via the transceiver, the control message including at least one symbol mask for at least one symbol of the time slot and at least one resource element mask for at least one resource element of the time slot.

[0011] In some examples, a scheduling entity may include: means for transmitting an indication of a time slot to a radio unit; and means for transmitting a control message to the radio unit, the control message including at least one symbol mask for at least one symbol of the time slot and at least one resource element mask for at least one resource element of the time slot.

[0012] In some examples, an article of art for use by a scheduling entity includes a non-transient computer-readable medium storing instructions executable by one or more processors of the scheduling entity to transmit an indication of a time slot to a radio unit; and to transmit a control message to the radio unit, the control message including at least one symbol mask for at least one symbol of the time slot and at least one resource element mask for at least one resource element of the time slot.

[0013] In some examples, a method for communicating at a radio unit is disclosed. The method may include: receiving a control message including at least one symbol mask for at least one symbol of a time slot and at least one resource element mask for at least one resource element of the time slot; and conveying information during the time slot. In some aspects, the information may be conveyed based on the at least one symbol mask.

[0014] In some examples, a radio unit may include a transceiver, a memory, and a processor coupled to the transceiver and the memory. The processor and the memory may be configured to receive control messages via the transceiver. The control messages include at least one symbol mask for at least one symbol of a time slot and at least one resource element mask for at least one resource element of the time slot. The processor and the memory may also be configured to transmit information via the transceiver during a time slot. In some aspects, the information may be transmitted based on the at least one symbol mask.

[0015] In some examples, a radio unit may include: means for receiving a control message including at least one symbol mask for at least one symbol of a time slot and at least one resource element mask for at least one resource element of the time slot; and means for conveying information during the time slot. In some aspects, the information may be conveyed based on the at least one symbol mask.

[0016] In some examples, an article of manufacture for use by a radio unit includes a non-transient computer-readable medium storing instructions executable by one or more processors of the radio unit to receive control messages including at least one symbol mask for at least one symbol of a time slot and at least one resource element mask for at least one resource element of the time slot; and to convey information during the time slot. In some aspects, the information can be conveyed based on the at least one symbol mask.

[0017] These and other aspects of this disclosure will become more fully understood upon reading the following detailed description. Other aspects, features, and examples of this disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art after reading the following description of specific exemplary aspects of this disclosure in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Although features of this disclosure may be discussed below with respect to certain examples and drawings, all examples of this disclosure may include one or more of the advantageous features discussed herein. In other words, although one or more examples may be discussed having certain advantageous features, one or more such features may also be used according to the various examples of this disclosure discussed herein. Similarly, although exemplary aspects may be discussed below as examples of devices, systems, or methods, it should be understood that such exemplary aspects can be implemented in various devices, systems, and methods. Brief description of the attached diagram

[0019] Figure 1 It is a schematic explanation based on some aspects of wireless communication systems.

[0020] Figure 2 It is a conceptual explanation based on examples of radio access networks from various aspects.

[0021] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the organization of radio resources in an air interface utilizing Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) from several aspects.

[0022] Figure 4 This is a block diagram illustrating an example of an Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) based on some aspects.

[0023] Figure 5 This is a diagram illustrating another example of ORAN based on some aspects.

[0024] Figure 6 This is a diagram illustrating an example of outbound communication between a distributed unit and a radio unit, based on several aspects.

[0025] Figure 7 This is a diagram illustrating the first example of time slots based on some aspects.

[0026] Figure 8 This is a diagram illustrating a first example of a control plane message, including symbol masks, based on several aspects.

[0027] Figure 9 This is a diagram illustrating a second example of time slots based on some aspects.

[0028] Figure 10 This is a diagram illustrating a second example of a control plane message, including symbol masks, based on several aspects.

[0029] Figure 11 This is a diagram illustrating the third example of time slots based on some aspects.

[0030] Figure 12 This is a diagram illustrating a third example of a control plane message, including symbol masks, based on several aspects.

[0031] Figure 13 This is a diagram illustrating the fourth example of time slots based on some aspects.

[0032] Figure 14 This is a diagram illustrating the fourth example of a control plane message, which includes symbol masks, based on several aspects.

[0033] Figure 15 This is a diagram illustrating the fifth example of time slots based on some aspects.

[0034] Figure 16 This is a diagram illustrating the fifth example of a control plane message, which includes symbol masks, based on several aspects.

[0035] Figure 17 This is a diagram illustrating the sixth example of time slots based on some aspects.

[0036] Figure 18 This is a diagram illustrating the sixth example of a control plane message, including symbol masks, based on several aspects.

[0037] Figure 19 This is a diagram illustrating the seventh example of a control plane message, including symbol masks, based on several aspects.

[0038] Figure 20 This is a diagram illustrating a first example of a segment extension type for discontinuous frequency domain allocation, based on several aspects.

[0039] Figure 21 This is a diagram illustrating a second example of a segment extension type for discontinuous frequency domain allocation, based on several aspects.

[0040] Figure 22 This is a signaling diagram illustrating examples of control plane signaling based on certain aspects.

[0041] Figure 23 This is a block diagram illustrating an example of the hardware implementation of a radio unit in a processing system based on some aspects.

[0042] Figure 24 This is a flowchart illustrating an example method for receiving control messages, including symbol masks, based on several aspects.

[0043] Figure 25 This is a flowchart illustrating an example method for conveying symbol masks based on several aspects.

[0044] Figure 26 This is a flowchart of another example method for conveying symbol masks based on some aspects.

[0045] Figure 27 This is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation of a scheduling entity (e.g., a distributed unit) of a processing system based on some aspects.

[0046] Figure 28 This is a flowchart illustrating an example method for transmitting control messages, including symbol masks, based on several aspects.

[0047] Figure 29 This is a flowchart of another example method for conveying symbol masks based on some aspects.

[0048] Figure 30 This is a flowchart of another example method for conveying symbol masks based on some aspects.

[0049] Detailed description

[0050] The detailed description that follows, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, is intended as a description of various configurations and is not intended to represent only the configurations in which the concepts described herein can be practiced. This detailed description includes specific details to provide a thorough understanding of the various concepts. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these concepts can be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form to avoid obscuring such concepts.

[0051] While aspects and examples are described herein by way of illustration of a few examples, those skilled in the art will understand that additional implementations and use cases may arise in many different arrangements and scenarios. The innovations described herein can be implemented across many different platform types, devices, systems, shapes, sizes, and package arrangements. For example, aspects and / or uses may arise via integrated chip examples and other devices based on non-modular components (e.g., end-user devices, vehicles, communication devices, computing devices, industrial equipment, retail / shopping devices, medical devices, AI-enabled devices, etc.). While some examples may or may not be specific to a particular use case or application, broad applicability of the described innovations can emerge. The scope of implementations can range from chip-level or modular components to non-modular, non-chip-level implementations, and further to aggregated, distributed, or original equipment manufacturer (OEM) devices or systems incorporating one or more aspects of the described innovations. In some practical contexts, devices incorporating the described aspects and features may also necessarily include additional components and features for implementing and practicing the claimed and described examples. For example, the transmission and reception of wireless signals requires several components for analog and digital purposes (e.g., hardware components including antennas, radio frequency (RF) chains, power amplifiers, modulators, buffers, processors, interleavers, adders / summers, etc.). The innovations described herein are intended to be implemented in a wide variety of devices, chip-level components, systems, distributed arrangements, end-user devices, etc., of various sizes, shapes, and configurations.

[0052] In some aspects, this disclosure relates to control messages (which may also be referred to as control plane messages) that include at least one symbol mask. For example, control plane messages between a distributed unit (DU) and a radio unit (RU) of an ORAN may include a symbol mask for identifying symbols in a time slot (which may be referred to herein as a time slot) allocated to a user.

[0053] In some examples, the symbol mask indicates modulation parameters (e.g., modulation compression parameters) to be applied to the set of symbols to a time slot. For instance, a first symbol mask for a control plane message might specify a first modulation scaler value for a first set of symbols (e.g., indicating a modulation scaler for 64QAM), and a second symbol mask for a control plane message might specify a second modulation scaler value for a second set of symbols (e.g., indicating a modulation scaler for Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) modulation). In some respects, using such symbol masks can reduce the overhead associated with control plane messages.

[0054] In some examples, a symbol mask indicates symbol allocation within a contiguous (e.g., coherent) set of resource blocks in a time slot. For instance, a first symbol mask for a control plane message might specify symbols for a first allocation (e.g., for user data signals), and a second symbol mask for a control plane message might specify symbols for a second allocation (e.g., for reference signals). In some respects, using such symbol masks can reduce the overhead associated with control plane messages.

[0055] The various concepts presented throughout this disclosure can be implemented across a wide range of telecommunications systems, network architectures, and communication standards. Now refer to... Figure 1 Various aspects of this disclosure are explained with reference to a wireless communication system 100, as illustrative examples and not limitation. The wireless communication system 100 includes three interaction domains: a core network 102, a radio access network (RAN) 104, and a user equipment (UE) 106. The wireless communication system 100 enables the UE 106 to perform data communication with an external data network 110 (such as, but not limited to, the Internet).

[0056] RAN 104 can implement any suitable one or more wireless communication technologies to provide radio access to UE 106. As an example, RAN 104 can operate according to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) New Radio (NR) specification (commonly referred to as 5G). As another example, RAN 104 can operate under a hybrid of 5G NR and the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (eUTRAN) standard (commonly referred to as Long Term Evolution (LTE)). 3GPP refers to this hybrid RAN as Next Generation RAN, or NG-RAN. In yet another example, RAN 104 can operate according to both LTE and 5G NR standards. Of course, many other examples can be utilized within the scope of this disclosure.

[0057] As explained, RAN 104 includes multiple base stations 108. Broadly speaking, a base station is a network element in a radio access network responsible for radio transmissions to and from a UE in one or more cells. In different technologies, standards, or contexts, a base station may be referred to by those skilled in the art as a base transceiver station (BTS), radio base station, radio transceiver, transceiver function, basic service set (BSS), extended service set (ESS), access point (AP), B-node (NB), evolved B-node (eNB), next-generation B-node (gNB), transmit-receive point (TRP), or some other suitable term. In some examples, a base station may include two or more coexisting or non-coexisting TRPs. Each TRP may communicate on the same or different carrier frequencies within the same or different frequency bands. In an example where RAN 104 operates according to both LTE and 5G NR standards, one of the base stations 108 may be an LTE base station, while another may be a 5G NR base station.

[0058] Radio access network 104 is further described as supporting wireless communication for multiple mobile devices. A mobile device may be referred to as User Equipment (UE) 106 in the 3GPP standard, but may also be referred to by those skilled in the art as a mobile station (MS), subscriber station, mobile unit, subscriber unit, radio unit, remote unit, mobile device, radio device, wireless communication device, remote device, mobile subscriber station, access terminal (AT), mobile terminal, radio terminal, remote terminal, handheld device, terminal, user agent, mobile client, client, or any other suitable term. UE 106 may be a means of providing access to network services to users. In an example where RAN 104 operates according to both LTE and 5G NR standards, UE 106 may be an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network - New Radio Dual Connectivity (EN-DC) UE capable of simultaneously connecting to LTE base stations and NR base stations to receive data packets from both LTE and NR base stations.

[0059] In this document, a mobile device does not necessarily need to be mobile and may be stationary. The term mobile device or mobile equipment refers to a wide variety of devices and technologies. A UE may include several hardware structural components that are sized, shaped, and arranged to facilitate communication; such components may include antennas, antenna arrays, RF chains, amplifiers, one or more processors, etc., electrically coupled to each other. For example, some non-limiting examples of mobile devices include mobile devices, cellular phones, smartphones, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones, laptops, personal computers (PCs), laptops, netbooks, smartbooks, tablets, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and a wide variety of embedded systems, such as those corresponding to the Internet of Things (IoT).

[0060] Additionally, mobile devices can be automobiles or other transportation vehicles, remote sensors or actuators, robots or robotic equipment, satellite radios, Global Positioning System (GPS) devices, object tracking devices, drones, multi-rotor aircraft, quadcopters, remote control devices, consumer and / or wearable devices (such as glasses), wearable cameras, virtual reality devices, smartwatches, health or fitness trackers, digital audio players (e.g., MP3 players), cameras, game consoles, etc. Additionally, mobile devices can be digital home or smart home devices, such as home audio, video and / or multimedia equipment, appliances, vending machines, smart lighting equipment, home security systems, smart meters, etc. Additionally, mobile devices can be smart energy devices, security devices, solar panels or solar arrays, municipal infrastructure equipment controlling electricity, lighting, water, etc. (e.g., smart grids), industrial automation and enterprise equipment, logistics controllers, agricultural equipment, etc. Furthermore, mobile devices can provide connected healthcare or telemedicine support, i.e., remote health care. Remote healthcare devices may include remote healthcare monitoring devices and remote healthcare supervision devices, whose communications may be given priority or preferential access over other types of information, for example, in the form of priority access for critical service data transmission and / or relevant QoS for critical service data transmission.

[0061] Wireless communication between RAN 104 and UE 106 can be described as utilizing an air interface. Transmissions over the air interface from a base station (e.g., base station 108) to one or more UEs (e.g., UE 106) can be referred to as downlink (DL) transmissions. In some examples, the term downlink can refer to point-to-multipoint transmissions originating at the base station (e.g., base station 108). Another way to describe this point-to-multipoint transmission scheme is to use the term broadcast channel multiplexing. Transmissions from a UE (e.g., UE 106) to a base station (e.g., base station 108) can be referred to as uplink (UL) transmissions. In some examples, the term uplink can refer to point-to-point transmissions originating at the UE (e.g., UE 106).

[0062] In some examples, access to the air interface can be scheduled, where a scheduling entity (e.g., base station 108) allocates resources for communication among some or all of the equipment and devices within its service area or cell. Within this disclosure, as further discussed below, the scheduling entity may be responsible for scheduling, assigning, reconfiguring, and releasing resources for one or more scheduled entities (e.g., UEs). That is, for scheduled communication, multiple UEs 106 (which may be scheduled entities) may utilize resources allocated by the scheduling entity 108.

[0063] Base station 108 is not the only entity that can be used as a scheduling entity. That is, in some examples, a UE can be used as a scheduling entity to schedule resources for one or more scheduled entities (e.g., one or more other UEs). For example, a UE can communicate with other UEs in a peer-to-peer or device-to-device manner and / or in a relay configuration.

[0064] like Figure 1 As explained, scheduling entity 108 may broadcast downlink traffic 112 to one or more scheduled entities 106. Broadly speaking, scheduling entity 108 is a node or device responsible for scheduling traffic (including downlink traffic 112 and, in some examples, uplink traffic 116 and / or uplink control information 118 from one or more scheduled entities 106 to scheduling entity 108) in a wireless communication network. On the other hand, scheduled entity 106 is a node or device that receives downlink control information 114 (including, but not limited to, scheduling information (e.g., permission), synchronization or timing information), or other control information) from another entity in the wireless communication network (such as scheduling entity 108).

[0065] Additionally, uplink and / or downlink control information and / or traffic information may be temporally divided into frames, subframes, time slots, and / or symbols. As used herein, a symbol may refer to a time unit in which one resource element (RE) is carried per subcarrier in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform. In some examples, a time slot may carry 7 or 14 OFDM symbols. A subframe may refer to a duration of 1 millisecond (ms). Multiple subframes or time slots may be grouped together to form a single frame or radio frame. Within this disclosure, a frame may refer to a predetermined duration (e.g., 10 ms) for wireless transmission, wherein each frame comprises, for example, 10 subframes, each 1 ms in length. Of course, these definitions are not required, and any suitable scheme may be used to organize the waveform, and various time divisions of the waveform may have any suitable duration.

[0066] Generally, base station 108 may include a backhaul interface for communicating with backhaul 120 of a wireless communication system. Backhaul 120 provides a link between base station 108 and core network 102. Furthermore, in some examples, the backhaul network provides interconnection between the respective base stations 108. Any suitable transport network can be used to employ various types of backhaul interfaces, such as direct physical connections, virtual networks, etc.

[0067] Core network 102 may be part of wireless communication system 100 and may be independent of the radio access technology used in RAN 104. In some examples, core network 102 may be configured according to 5G standards (e.g., 5GC). In other examples, core network 102 may be configured according to 4G evolved packet core (EPC), or any other suitable standard or configuration.

[0068] Now refer to Figure 2 The illustrative explanation of the radio access network (RAN) 200 is provided by way of example and not limitation. In some examples, the radio access network 200 may be associated with the RAN described above and in Figure 1 The RAN 104 in the Chinese explanation is the same.

[0069] The geographical area covered by the radio access network 200 can be divided into cellular areas (cells), which can be uniquely identified by the user equipment (UE) based on an identifier broadcast from an access point or base station. Figure 2 Cells 202, 204, 206, and 208 are described, each of which may include one or more sectors (not shown). A sector is a sub-area of ​​a cell. All sectors within a cell are served by the same base station. Radio links within a sector may be identified by a single logical identifier belonging to that sector. In a cell divided into sectors, multiple sectors within the cell may be formed by an antenna array, where each antenna is responsible for communication with UEs within a portion of the cell.

[0070] It can be deployed using various base stations. For example, in Figure 2 In the illustration, two base stations 210 and 212 are shown in cells 202 and 204; and a third base station 214 is shown as a remote radio head (RRH) 216 controlling cell 206. That is, the base stations may have integrated antennas, or they may be connected to the antenna or RRH via a feed cable. In the illustrated example, cells 202, 204, and 206 may be referred to as macrocells because base stations 210, 212, and 214 support cells with large sizes. Furthermore, base station 218 is shown in cell 208, which may overlap with one or more macrocells. In this example, cell 208 may be referred to as a small cell (e.g., microcell, picocell, femtocell, home base station, home B-node, home evolved B-node, etc.) because base station 218 supports cells with relatively small sizes. Cell size settings can be determined based on system design and component constraints.

[0071] To understand, radio access network 200 may include any number of radio base stations and cells. Furthermore, relay nodes may be deployed to extend the size or coverage area of ​​a given cell. Base stations 210, 212, 214, and 218 provide radio access points to the core network for any number of mobile devices. In some examples, base stations 210, 212, 214, and / or 218 may be connected to the network described above and in… Figure 1 The base station / scheduling entity 108 described in the Chinese explanation is the same.

[0072] Figure 2 This further includes an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) 220, which may be a drone or a quadcopter. The UAV 220 can be configured to function as a base station, or more specifically as a mobile base station. That is, in some examples, the cell may not be stationary, and the geographical area of ​​the cell may move depending on the location of the mobile base station (such as the UAV 220).

[0073] Within the radio access network 200, a cellular cell may include UEs capable of communicating with one or more sectors of each cellular cell. Furthermore, each base station 210, 212, 214, and 218 may be configured to provide access to the core network 102 for all UEs within the respective cellular cell (see [link to core network 102]). Figure 1 Access points. For example, UEs 222 and 224 may communicate with base station 210; UEs 226 and 228 may communicate with base station 212; UEs 230 and 232 may communicate with base station 214 via RRH 216; and UE 234 may communicate with base station 218. In some examples, UEs 222, 224, 226, 228, 230, 232, 234, 236, 238, 240 and / or 242 may communicate with the access points described above and in... Figure 1 The UE / scheduled entity 106 described in the text is the same. In some examples, UAV 220 (e.g., a quadcopter) can be a mobile network node and can be configured to act as a UE. For example, UAV 220 can operate within cell 202 by communicating with base station 210.

[0074] In a further aspect of the radio access network 200, sidelink signals can be used between UEs without relying on scheduling or control information from the base station. Sidelink communication can be used in, for example, device-to-device (D2D) networks, peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) networks, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) networks, and / or other suitable sidelink networks. For example, two or more UEs (e.g., UEs 238, 240, and 242) can communicate with each other using sidelink signal 237 without relaying the communication through a base station. In some examples, UEs 238, 240, and 242 can each act as a scheduling entity or transmitting sidelink device and / or a scheduled entity or receiving sidelink device to schedule resources and communicate sidelink signal 237 therebetween without relying on scheduling or control information from the base station. In other examples, two or more UEs (e.g., UEs 226 and 228) within the coverage area of ​​a base station (e.g., base station 212) may also communicate sidelink signal 227 on a direct link (sidelink) without needing to communicate through base station 212. In this example, base station 212 may allocate resources to UEs 226 and 228 for sidelink communication.

[0075] In the radio access network 200, the ability of a UE to communicate independently of its location while on the move is referred to as mobility. The various physical channels between the UE and the radio access network are generally defined within the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF, not explained). Figure 1 The AMF is established, maintained, and released under the control of the core network 102 (part of the core network). The AMF may include the Security Context Management Function (SCMF) for managing the security contexts of both the control plane and user plane functionalities, and the Security Anchor Function (SEAF) for performing authentication.

[0076] Radio access network 200 can utilize DL-based mobility or UL-based mobility to achieve mobility and handover (i.e., the UE's connection is transferred from one radio channel to another). In a network configured for DL-based mobility, during a call with a scheduling entity, or at any other time, the UE can monitor various parameters of the signal from its serving cell and various parameters of neighboring cells. Depending on the quality of these parameters, the UE can maintain communication with one or more neighboring cells. During this time, if the UE moves from one cell to another, or if the signal quality from a neighboring cell exceeds the signal quality from the serving cell for a given amount of time, the UE can perform a handover or handover from the serving cell to a neighboring (target) cell. For example, UE 224 (described as a vehicle, but any suitable form of UE can be used) can move from a geographic area corresponding to its serving cell 202 to a geographic area corresponding to a neighboring cell 206. When the signal strength or quality from neighboring cell 206 exceeds the signal strength or quality of serving cell 202 for a given amount of time, UE 224 may transmit a report message indicating this condition to its serving base station 210. In response, UE 224 may receive a handover command, and the UE may undergo a handover to cell 206.

[0077] In a network configured for UL-based mobility, UL reference signals from each UE can be used by the network to select a serving cell for each UE. In some examples, base stations 210, 212, and 214 / 216 can broadcast unified synchronization signals (e.g., unified primary synchronization signal (PSS), unified secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and unified physical broadcast channel (PBCH)). UEs 222, 224, 226, 228, 230, and 232 can receive unified synchronization signals, derive carrier frequencies and time slot timings from these synchronization signals, and transmit uplink pilot or reference signals in response to the derived timings. The uplink pilot signal transmitted by a UE (e.g., UE 224) can be received concurrently by two or more cells (e.g., base stations 210 and 214 / 216) within the radio access network 200. Each of these cells can measure the strength of the pilot signal, and the radio access network (e.g., one or more of base stations 210 and 214 / 216 and / or a central node within the core network) can determine the serving cell for UE 224. As UE 224 moves within the radio access network 200, the network can continue to monitor the uplink pilot signal transmitted by UE 224. When the signal strength or quality of the pilot signal measured by a neighboring cell exceeds the signal strength or quality measured by the serving cell, the radio access network 200 can, with or without notification to UE 224, switch UE 224 from the serving cell to that neighboring cell.

[0078] Although the synchronization signal transmitted by base stations 210, 212, and 214 / 216 can be uniform, it may not identify a specific cell, but rather a zoning that includes multiple cells operating on the same frequency and / or having the same timing. Using zoning in 5G networks or other next-generation communication networks enables uplink-based mobility frameworks and improves the efficiency of both the UE and the network because the number of mobility messages that need to be exchanged between the UE and the network can be reduced.

[0079] In various implementations, the air interface in the radio access network 200 may utilize licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or shared spectrum. Licensed spectrum typically provides exclusive use of a portion of the spectrum by a mobile network operator purchasing a license from a government regulatory agency. Unlicensed spectrum provides shared use of a portion of the spectrum without a government-granted license. While some technical rules generally still need to be followed to access unlicensed spectrum, access can be obtained by any operator or device. Shared spectrum may fall between licensed and unlicensed spectrum, where technical rules or restrictions may be required to access the spectrum, but the spectrum may still be shared by multiple operators and / or multiple radio access technologies (RATs). For example, a licensee of a portion of licensed spectrum may provide licensed shared access (LSA) to share that spectrum with other parties, for example, by utilizing conditions determined by the appropriate licensee.

[0080] The air interface in the radio access network 200 can utilize one or more multiplexing and multiple access algorithms to enable simultaneous communication between various devices. For example, the 5G NR specification utilizes Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) with a cyclic prefix (CP) to provide multiple access for UL transmissions from UEs 222 and 224 to base station 210, and to provide multiplexing for DL ​​transmissions from base station 210 to one or more UEs 222 and 224. Additionally, for UL transmissions, the 5G NR specification provides support for Discrete Fourier Transform Extended OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) with CP (also known as Single-Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA)). However, within the scope of this disclosure, multiplexing and multiple access are not limited to the above schemes and can be provided using Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Sparse Code Multiple Access (SCMA), Resource Extended Multiple Access (RSMA), or other suitable multiple access schemes. In addition, multiplexing of DL transmission from base station 210 to UEs 222 and 224 can be provided using time division multiplexing (TDM), code division multiplexing (CDM), frequency division multiplexing (FDM), orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), sparse code multiplexing (SCM), or other suitable multiplexing schemes.

[0081] The air interface in the radio access network 200 can further utilize one or more duplex algorithms. Duplex refers to a point-to-point communication link where both endpoints can communicate with each other in both directions. Full-duplex (FD) means that both endpoints can communicate with each other simultaneously. Half-duplex means that only one endpoint can send information to the other endpoint at a time. Half-duplex simulation is typically implemented for wireless links using Time Division Duplex (TDD). In TDD, transmissions in different directions on a given channel are separated using time division multiplexing. That is, at some times, the channel is dedicated to transmissions in one direction, and at other times, the channel is dedicated to transmissions in the other direction, where the direction can change very rapidly, for example, several times per time slot. In wireless links, full-duplex channels generally rely on physical isolation between the transmitter and receiver, and appropriate interference cancellation techniques. Full-duplex simulation is typically implemented for wireless links using Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) or Space Division Duplex (SDD). In FDD, transmissions in different directions operate at different carrier frequencies. In SDD, transmissions in different directions on a given channel are separated from each other using spatial division multiplexing (SDM). In other examples, full-duplex communication can be implemented in unpaired spectrum (e.g., within a single carrier bandwidth), where transmissions in different directions occur in different subbands of the carrier bandwidth. This type of full-duplex communication can be called subband full-duplex (SBFD), also known as flexible duplex.

[0082] Various aspects of this disclosure will be described with reference to OFDM waveforms, examples of which are shown in Figure 3 The following is an illustrative explanation. Those skilled in the art will understand that various aspects of this disclosure can be applied to SC-FDMA waveforms in substantially the same manner as described below. That is, while some examples of this disclosure may focus on OFDM links for clarity, it should be understood that the same principles can also be applied to SC-FDMA waveforms.

[0083] Now refer to Figure 3 The diagram illustrates an expanded view of example subframe 302, showing the OFDM resource grid. However, as those skilled in the art will readily appreciate, the physical (PHY) layer transport architecture for any particular application can vary from the example described herein depending on any number of factors. Here, time is in the horizontal direction in units of OFDM symbols; while frequency is in the vertical direction in units of the carrier's subcarriers.

[0084] Resource grid 304 can be used to schematically represent time-frequency resources for a given antenna port. That is, in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) implementation with multiple antenna ports available, there can be a corresponding number of resource grids 304 available for communication. Resource grid 304 is divided into multiple resource elements (REs) 306. An RE (which is 1 subcarrier × 1 symbol) is the smallest discrete part of the time-frequency grid and contains a single complex value representing data from a physical channel or signal. Depending on the modulation used in a particular implementation, each RE may represent one or more information bits. In some examples, an RE block may be referred to as a physical resource block (PRB) or more simply as a resource block (RB) 308, which contains any suitable number of coherent subcarriers in the frequency domain. In one example, an RB may include 12 subcarriers, the number of which is independent of the parameter design used. In some examples, depending on the parameter design, an RB may include any suitable number of coherent OFDM symbols in the time domain. Within this disclosure, it is assumed that a single RB (such as RB 308) corresponds exactly to a single communication direction (transmission or reception for a given device).

[0085] A set of contiguous or discontinuous resource blocks may be referred to herein as a resource block group (RBG), subband, or bandwidth portion (BWP). A set of subbands or BWPs can span the entire bandwidth. Scheduling of downlink, uplink, or sidelink transmissions for a scheduled entity (e.g., a UE) typically involves scheduling one or more REs 306 within one or more subbands or bandwidth portions (BWPs). Thus, the UE generally utilizes only a subset of the resource grid 304. In some examples, an RB may be the smallest unit of resource that can be allocated to the UE. Therefore, the more RBs scheduled for the UE and the higher the modulation scheme selected for the air interface, the higher the UE's data rate. RBs can be scheduled by a scheduling entity (such as a base station (e.g., gNB, eNB, etc.)) or can be self-scheduled by the UE implementing D2D sidelink communication.

[0086] In this explanation, RB 308 is shown to occupy less than the entire bandwidth of subframe 302, where some subcarriers above and below RB 308 are explained. In a given implementation, subframe 302 may have bandwidth corresponding to any number of one or more RB 308s. Furthermore, in this explanation, RB 308 is shown to occupy less than the entire duration of subframe 302, but this is merely one possible example.

[0087] Each 1ms subframe 302 may include one or more adjacent time slots. As an illustrative example, in... Figure 3In the example shown, a subframe 302 includes four time slots 310. In some examples, time slots may be defined based on a specified number of OFDM symbols with a given cyclic prefix (CP) length. For example, with a nominal CP, a time slot may include 7 or 14 OFDM symbols. Additional examples may include mini time slots (sometimes referred to as shortened transmission time intervals (TTIs)) with shorter durations (e.g., one to three OFDM symbols). In some cases, these mini time slots or shortened transmission time intervals (TTIs) may occupy resources scheduled for ongoing time slot transmissions for the same or different UEs. Any number of resource blocks may be utilized within a subframe or time slot.

[0088] An expanded view of time slot 310 illustrates time slot 310 including control region 312 and data region 314. Generally, control region 312 may carry control channels, while data region 314 may carry data channels. Of course, a time slot may contain all DL, all UL, or at least one DL portion and at least one UL portion. Figure 3 The structure described herein is merely an example, and different time slot structures can be used, and one or more can be included for each of the control and data regions.

[0089] Although not in Figure 3 The explanation is as follows: Each RE 306 within RB 308 can be scheduled to carry one or more physical channels, including control channels, shared channels, data channels, etc. Other REs 306 within RB 308 can also carry pilot or reference signals. These pilot or reference signals can be used by the receiver equipment to perform channel estimation for the corresponding channels, which enables coherent demodulation / detection of the control and / or data channels within RB 308.

[0090] In some examples, time slot 310 can be used for broadcast, multicast, groupcast, or unicast communications. For example, broadcast, multicast, or groupcast communications can refer to point-to-multipoint transmissions from one device (e.g., a base station, UE, or other similar device) to other devices. Here, broadcast communications are delivered to all devices, while multicast or groupcast communications are delivered to multiple target receiving devices. Unicast communications can refer to point-to-point transmissions from one device to a single other device.

[0091] In an example of cellular communication over a cellular carrier via the Uu interface, for DL ​​transmission, a scheduling entity (e.g., a base station) may allocate one or more REs 306 (e.g., within control area 312) to carry DL control information to one or more scheduled entities (e.g., UEs), including one or more DL control channels (such as the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH)). The PDCCH carries downlink control information (DCI), including but not limited to power control commands for DL ​​and UL transmissions (e.g., one or more open-loop power control parameters and / or one or more closed-loop power control parameters), scheduling information, grants, and / or RE assignments. The PDCCH may further carry Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) feedback transmissions, such as acknowledgment (ACK) or negative acknowledgment (NACK). HARQ is a technique well known to those skilled in the art, where, for accuracy, any suitable integrity verification mechanism (such as a checksum or cyclic redundancy check (CRC)) may be used to verify the integrity of packet transmissions at the receiving side. If the integrity of the transmission is acknowledged, an ACK may be transmitted, and if it is not acknowledged, a NACK may be transmitted. In response to NACK, the transmitting device can send a HARQ retransmission, which enables catch-up retransmission, incremental redundancy, and so on.

[0092] The base station may further allocate one or more REs 306 (e.g., in control area 312 or data area 314) to carry other DL signals, such as demodulation reference signals (DMRS); phase tracking reference signals (PT-RS); channel state information (CSI) reference signals (CSI-RS); and synchronization signal blocks (SSBs). SSBs may be broadcast at regular intervals based on periodicity (e.g., 5, 10, 20, 30, 80, or 130 milliseconds). SSBs include the primary synchronization signal (PSS), secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and physical broadcast control channel (PBCH). The UE may utilize the PSS and SSS to achieve radio frame, subframe, time slot, and symbol synchronization in the time domain, identify the center of the channel (system) bandwidth in the frequency domain, and identify the physical cell identity (PCI) of the cell.

[0093] The PBCH in the SSB may further include: a Master Information Block (MIB), which includes various system information and parameters for decoding the System Information Block (SIB). The SIB may be, for example, System Information Type 1 (SIB1), which may include various additional (residual) system information. Together, the MIB and SIB1 provide the minimum system information (SI) for initial access. Examples of system information transmitted in the MIB may include, but are not limited to: subcarrier spacing (e.g., default downlink parameter design), system frame number, configuration of the PDCCH control resource set (CORESET) (e.g., PDCCH CORESET0), cell prohibition indicator, cell reselection indicator, raster offset, and search space for SIB1. Examples of residual minimum system information (RMSI) transmitted in SIB1 may include, but are not limited to, random access search space, paging search space, downlink configuration information, and uplink configuration information. The base station may also transmit other system information (OSI).

[0094] In UL transmissions, the scheduled entity (e.g., the UE) may use one or more RE 306s to carry UL control information (UCI) to the scheduling entity. This UL control information includes one or more UL control channels, such as the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH). The UCI may include various packet types and categories, including pilots, reference signals, and information configured to enable or assist in decoding uplink data transmissions. Examples of uplink reference signals may include probe reference signals (SRS) and uplink DMRS. In some examples, the UCI may include a scheduling request (SR), i.e., a request for the scheduling entity to schedule uplink transmissions. Here, in response to the SR transmitted on the UCI, the scheduling entity may transmit downlink control information (DCI), which can schedule resources for uplink packet transmissions. The UCI may also include HARQ feedback, channel state feedback (CSF) (such as CSI reports), or any other suitable UCI.

[0095] In addition to control information, one or more REs 306 (e.g., within data area 314) may also be allocated for data traffic. Such data traffic may be carried on one or more traffic channels, such as the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) for DL ​​transmissions, or the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) for UL transmissions. In some examples, one or more REs 306 within data area 314 may be configured to carry other signals, such as one or more SIBs and DMRS.

[0096] In an example of sidelink communication on a sidelink carrier via the Proximity Service (ProSe) PC5 interface, the control area 312 of time slot 310 may include a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), which includes sidelink control information (SCI) transmitted by an initiating (transmitting) sidelink device (e.g., a Tx V2X device or other Tx UE) to a set of one or more other receiving sidelink devices (e.g., an Rx V2X device or another Rx UE). The data area 314 of time slot 310 may include a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), which includes sidelink data traffic transmitted by the initiating (transmitting) sidelink device within resources reserved on the sidelink carrier by the transmitting sidelink device via the SCI. Other information may be further transmitted on the respective REs 306 within time slot 310. For example, HARQ feedback information may be transmitted from the receiving sidelink device to the transmitting sidelink device in the Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel (PSFCH) within time slot 310. In addition, one or more reference signals, such as sidelink SSB, sidelink CSI-RS, sidelink SRS and / or sidelink positioning reference signal (PRS), can be transmitted in time slot 310.

[0097] These physical channels are typically multiplexed and mapped to transport channels for processing by the Media Access Control (MAC) layer. The transport channel carries blocks of information, called transport blocks (TBs). The transport block size (TBS) (which may correspond to the number of information bits) can be a controlled parameter based on the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) and the number of redundancies (RBs) in a given transmission.

[0098] The above reference Figure 1-3 The channels or carriers described herein are not necessarily all channels or carriers available between the scheduling entity and the scheduled entity, and those skilled in the art will recognize that other channels or carriers, such as other traffic, control, and feedback channels, may be available in addition to those described.

[0099] In some examples, as discussed above, the Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) architecture can be based on 3GPP technologies (e.g., 5G and / or LTE). ORAN can employ open interfaces, enabling vendors and operators to introduce their own services or custom networks to meet their unique needs. For example, ORAN can employ virtualized network elements, white-box (e.g., open architecture) hardware, and standardized interfaces that support network intelligence and open interfaces. In some aspects, ORAN can be self-driving and capable of leveraging novel learning-based technologies to automate the operation of network functions.

[0100] In some examples, ORAN can employ a distributed and flexible baseband architecture, where the functionality of network nodes (e.g., incorporating modem functionality) can be split between one or more control units and one or more distributed units (which may also be referred to as data units). For example, a network node may include multiple control units, each supporting multiple distributed units. Each distributed unit may, in turn, support one or more radio units. The control units, distributed units, and radio units provide different communication protocol layer functionalities and other related functionalities.

[0101] For example, Figure 4 This is a block diagram illustrating examples of several components of ORAN 400 according to some aspects. In practice, ORAN 400 will also include other components. Network node 402 communicates with core network 404 via backhaul link 406 and with at least one radio unit 410 via at least one outbound link 412. Network node 402 includes at least one control unit 414 and at least one distributed unit 416 communicating via at least one midrange link 418. Each radio unit 410 communicates with at least one UE 420 via RF signaling. In some implementations, distributed unit 416 may correspond to... Figure 5 , 6 And any of the DUs shown in either 22. In some implementations, radio unit 410 may correspond to... Figure 5 , 6 And any of the RUs shown in either 22.

[0102] In some examples, the control unit is a logical node for the Main Memory Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer, Serving Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) layer, and other control functions. The control unit may also terminate at the interfaces of network nodes (e.g., nodes in the core network). Figure 4 (E1 interface, E2 interface, etc. not shown). Additionally, the F1 interface ( Figure 4 (Not shown) can provide mechanisms for interconnecting control units (e.g., PDCP layer and higher layers) and distributed units (e.g., Radio Link Control (RLC) layer and lower layers). In some aspects, the F1 interface can provide control plane and user plane functions (e.g., interface management, system information management, UE context management, RRC message passing, etc.). For example, the F1 interface can support F1-C on the control plane and F1-U on the user plane. F1AP is an application protocol for F1, which in some examples defines signaling procedures for F1.

[0103] In some examples, the distributed unit is a logical node that hosts the RLC layer, Media Access Control (MAC) layer, and high physical (PHY) layer based on Lower Layer Functional Separation (LLS). In some aspects, the distributed unit can control the operation of at least one radio unit. The distributed unit can also terminate interfaces to control units and / or other network nodes (e.g., F1, E2, etc.). In some examples, the high PHY layer includes portions of the PHY processing, such as Forward Error Correction 1 (FEC 1) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation, and demodulation.

[0104] In some examples, the radio unit is a logical node that stores the low-PHY layer and radio frequency (RF) processing based on lower-layer functional decomposition. In some examples, the radio unit may resemble a 3GPP Transmitter Receiver Point (TRP) or Remote Radio Head (RRH) while also including a low-PHY layer. In some examples, the low-PHY layer includes various parts of PHY processing, such as Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), Inverse FFT (iFFT), digital beamforming, and Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) extraction and filtering. The radio unit may also include a radio chain for communicating with one or more UEs.

[0105] Figure 5 This is a diagram illustrating examples of the distributed nature of ORAN 500 based on some aspects. ORAN 500 can be similar to... Figure 2 The radio access network 200 shown can be divided into several cells (e.g., cell 522) because the ORAN 500 can be served by corresponding network nodes (e.g., control units, distributed units, and radio units). These network nodes can constitute access points, base stations (BS), eNBs, gNBs, or other nodes that utilize radio spectrum (e.g., radio frequency (RF) spectrum) and / or other communication links to support access for one or more UEs located within the cell.

[0106] exist Figure 5 In the example, control unit (CU) 502 communicates with core network 504 via a backhaul link and with first distributed unit (DU) 506 and second distributed unit 508 via corresponding midhaul links. First distributed unit 506 communicates with first radio unit (RU) 510 and second radio unit 512 via corresponding outhaul links. Second distributed unit 508 communicates with third radio unit 514 via an outhaul link. First radio unit 510 communicates with at least one UE 516 via at least one RF access link. Second radio unit 512 communicates with at least one UE 518 via at least one RF access link. Third radio unit 514 communicates with at least one UE 520 via at least one RF access link. In some implementations, distributed units 506 and 508 may correspond to... Figure 4 , 6 And any of the DUs shown in either 22. In some implementations, radio units 510, 512, and 514 may correspond to... Figure 4 , 6 And any of the RUs shown in either 22.

[0107] Figure 6 This is a diagram illustrating an example of a base station (e.g., eNB or gNB) 602 including a distributed unit (DU) 604 and a radio unit (RU) 606 (which may or may not coexist). The DU and RU exchange control plane and user plane information over the outbound link via an LLS control / user (LLS-CUS) interface. The LLS-CU may include an LLS-C interface and an LLS-U interface that provide the control plane (C-plane) and user plane (U-plane), respectively. In some examples, the control plane refers to real-time control between the DU and the radio unit. In some aspects, this can be the opposite of a management plane (M-plane) that provides non-real-time management operations. The DU and RU exchange management information over the outbound link via an LLS management (LLS-M) interface.

[0108] Base station 602 may include an RRC protocol layer 608 and a PDCP-C protocol layer 610 for control plane signaling, and an SDAP protocol layer 612 and a PDCP-U protocol layer 614 for user plane signaling. In some examples, this functionality may be available in one or more control units ( Figure 6 Implemented in (not shown in the image).

[0109] The distributed unit 604 includes the RLC protocol layer 616, the MAC protocol layer 618, and higher-level physical layer functionality (PHY-high 620). The CUS plane protocol layer 622 transmits control plane and user plane information via the LLS-CUS interface. The M plane protocol layer 624 transmits management plane information via the LLS-M interface. In some implementations, the distributed unit 604 may correspond to... Figure 4 , 5 And any of the DUs shown in either 22.

[0110] Radio unit 606 includes a CUS plane protocol layer 626 that communicates control plane and user plane information via an LLS-CUS interface, and an M plane protocol layer 628 that communicates management plane information via an LLS-M interface. Radio unit 606 also includes lower-layer physical layer functionality (PHY-low 630) and at least one RF chain 632 (e.g., each RF chain includes RF transmitter circuitry and RF receiver circuitry). In some implementations, radio unit 606 may correspond to... Figure 4 , 5And any of the RUs shown in either 22.

[0111] In some examples, control plane messages transmitted between distributed unit 604 and radio unit 606 can be defined based on different segment types. For example, segment type 1 can be used for most downlink and uplink radio channels. Along with segment type 1, other segment extension commands (e.g., in addition to those in the segment header) can be used to convey additional segment-specific parameters. For example, in some scenarios, one or more of extension types 4 (ExtType 4), 5 (ExtType 5), or 6 (ExtType 6) can be used. In some examples, any number of segment extensions can be included within a data segment. This dynamic approach is better suited to future changes to outbound specifications compared to schemes involving redefining segment headers or creating new segment types to accommodate future changes.

[0112] As discussed above, the network can schedule resources for UL and / or DL ​​communication between the network and the UE. For example, the network can schedule time slots for the UE, where each time slot includes several symbols (e.g., 14 symbols) and several resource elements (e.g., 12 REs). In some examples, a time slot can be subdivided into time slot segments, where different time slot segments can carry different types of information (e.g., PDSCH and DMRS). In some examples, different modulation schemes can be used to modulate these different types of information. In the ORAN, scheduling information indicating the time slot scheduling can be transmitted from the network to the UE via the control plane between the distributed element and the radio element. For example, an extension type can be defined to carry information specifying how resources are allocated within the time slot. In some examples, this information can indicate the time slot segments mentioned above.

[0113] For time-domain allocation, ORAN segment type header fields (such as startSymbolId, symbol transition indicator (symInc), and number of symbols (numSymbol)) can be defined to indicate the time-domain resources allocated in the time slot. For frequency-domain allocation, ORAN segment type header fields (such as startPrbc, number of PRBs (numPrbc), and RE mask (reMask)) can be defined to indicate the frequency-domain resources allocated in the time slot.

[0114] In some examples, ORAN can support modulation compression to reduce control plane overhead. In some aspects, modulation compression may involve representing constellation points as identically overlapping I and Q values, such that different constellation sizes can be represented by parameters (e.g., words) with a single width. Here, the constellation can be shifted, so that the two's complement I and Q values ​​can represent any given constellation point.

[0115] In some examples, ORAN can define Modulation Compression Parameter Information Elements (IEs) that can be associated with the extension types discussed above. For example, Extension Type 4 (ExtType 4) and Extension Type 5 (ExtType 5) can be used to convey modulation compression parameters or modulation compression additional scaling parameters, respectively. Extension Type 4 IE may include a constellation shift flag (csf) indicating whether the constellation should be shifted. Extension Type 4 IE may also include a modulation compression scaler parameter value (modCompScaler), which specifies the scaling factor to be applied to unshifted constellation points during decompression. Extension Type 5 IE may include a csf and one or more modulation compression power scaling RE masks (mcScaleReMask), which define RE masks used to indicate the location of REs with the same scaling and modulation type within the PRB. Extension Type 5 IE may also include a scaling value for modulation compression (mcScaleOffset), which specifies the scaling factor to be applied to unshifted constellation points during decompression.

[0116] When using modulation compression, different symbols or REs modulated using different modulation schemes can be transmitted in different time slot segments. For example, a first symbol modulated using 64 quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) can be associated with a first time slot segment (e.g., segment 0), a second symbol modulated using QPSK can be associated with a second time slot segment (e.g., segment 1), and so on.

[0117] Furthermore, different control plane messages can be used for discontinuous time domain allocation within time slots (regardless of the compression technique used).

[0118] For example, a first control plane message can be used to signal a first time domain allocation, a second control plane message can be used to signal a second time domain allocation that is not contiguous with the first time domain allocation, and so on.

[0119] When using modulation compression, the number of symbol segments can depend on the specific modulation scheme and symbol allocation specified for different channels within a given PRB allocated to the user's time slot. For example, Figure 7 An example of time slot 700 including 14 symbols (e.g., symbol 0 702) and 12 resource elements (e.g., RE 11 704) is explained. Here, for labeling purposes, the symbol width has been modified (it will have the same duration). In this example, PDSCH 712 and DMRS 714 are scheduled for the allocation of one PRB during time slot 700. Allocation with multiple PRBs is also possible.

[0120] In this example, the symbols are divided into different segments, with each segment assigned a segment identifier (e.g., segment ID 6 706). Here, some segments (i.e., segments 0, 2, 4, and 6) apply the same modulation to all REs. As a non-limiting example, 64QAM can be used for all REs assigned to the PDSCH. Conversely, in other segments (i.e., segments 1, 3, and 5), different modulation schemes can be applied to different REs for a given symbol. As a non-limiting example, QPSK can be used for REs assigned to symbol 3 of the DMRS (e.g., RE 0 708), while 64QAM can be used for REs assigned to symbol 3 of the PDSCH (e.g., RE 1 710). Other types of modulation schemes and other types of information channels can be used in other examples.

[0121] for Figure 7 The PDSCH allocation with DMRS symbols shown can be used by the distributed unit to generate control plane messages to instruct the radio unit on the allocation, thereby reducing control plane overhead. For example, in ORAN, information elements defined as Extended Type 4 (ExtType 4) IE or Extended Type 5 (ExtType 5) IE can be used to specify parameters for modulation compression, as discussed above.

[0122] Figure 8 The commentary addressed the issue of Figure 7 This example uses ExtType 4 control plane (C-plane) message 802. In this example, control plane message 802 includes 10 segments. It features time slot segments with mixed modulation ( Figure 7 Time slot segments 1, 3, and 5 in the control plane message 802 each require two lines (e.g., two control plane message segments) to specify the two modulation types used for those time slot segments. Additionally, the parameter symInc is used to indicate each transition to the next symbol. For example, the first line of control plane message 802 includes an indication that the line applies to... Figure 7 The segment ID of segment 0 is 0, the symInc value is 0 indicating no symbol conversion, the numSymbols parameter indicating the number of three symbols included in the segment, the reMask [111111111111111] indicating that the scaler value of this line is applied to all REs in these three symbols, and the scaler value (e.g., modulation compression scaler) indicating that 64QAM (e.g., for PDSCH) will be used for the indicated REs in these three symbols. As another example, the second line of control plane message 802 includes an indication that the line is applied to Figure 7The segment ID of segment 1 is 1, the symInc value of the symbol conversion is 1, the numSymbols parameter indicates the number of symbols included in the segment (numSymbols), the RE mask [101010101010] indicating the scaler value of the line applied to the even REs (e.g., RE 0, 2, 4, etc.) of the symbol, and the scaler value (e.g., modulation compression scaler) indicating the QPSK (e.g., for DMRS) to be used for the indicated REs of the symbol. As a further example, the third line of control plane message 802 includes an indication that the line is applied to Figure 7 The segment ID of segment 1 is 1, the symInc value is 0 indicating no symbol conversion, the numSymbols parameter indicates the number of symbols (numSymbols) that the segment includes, the RE mask (reMask) [010101010101] indicating the scaler value of the line applied to the odd REs (e.g., RE 1, 3, 5, etc.) of the symbol, and the scaler value (e.g., modulation compression scaler) indicating the indicated REs that 64QAM (e.g., for PDSCH) will be used for the symbol. Other lines of control plane message 802 can be decrypted in a similar manner.

[0123] In some aspects, this disclosure relates to using symbol masks to reduce the overhead of control plane messages. For example, by using symbol masks, the number of segments in control plane message 802 can be reduced. For example, as... Figure 8 As shown in control plane message 804, the number of segments in control plane message 802 can be reduced to three segments. Additionally, control plane message 804 does not include the symInc parameter or the numSymbols parameter. Therefore, in some examples, this reduction in the number of segments and the elimination of the symInc and numSymbols parameters can reduce the overhead of a given UE by 144,000 bytes per second compared to a regular contiguous allocation with symInc (e.g., control plane message 802), or by 24,000 bytes per second compared to a regular discontinuous allocation with extType 6.

[0124] The first line of control plane message 804 is associated with a first segment (segment ID 0) and includes a first symbol mask with the value [11101110111011], which indicates that symbols 0-2, 4-6, 8-9, 12, and 13 use a 64QAM scaler (e.g., for PDSCH) indicated by the first scaler value in this line. Additionally, the first RE mask (reMask) in this line has the value [111111111111], which indicates that the 64QAM scaler will be applied to all REs for each symbol indicated by the first symbol mask.

[0125] The second line of control plane message 804 is associated with the second segment (segment ID 1) and includes a second symbol mask with the value [00010001000100], which indicates that at least some of the REs of symbols 3, 7, and 11 use the QPSK scaler (e.g., for DMRS) indicated by the second scaler value in that line. Additionally, the second RE mask (reMask) in that line has the value [101010101010], which indicates that the QPSK scaler will only be applied to the even-numbered REs (REs 0, 2, 4, etc.) for each symbol indicated by the second symbol mask.

[0126] The third line of control plane message 804 is associated with the second segment (segment ID 1) and includes a third symbol mask with the value [00010001000100], which indicates that at least some of the REs of symbols 3, 7, and 11 use a 64QAM scaler (e.g., for PDSCH) indicated by the third scaler value in that line. Additionally, the third RE mask (reMask) in that line has the value [010101010101], which indicates that the 64QAM scaler will only be applied to the odd-numbered REs (RE 1, 3, 5, etc.) for each symbol indicated by the third symbol mask.

[0127] The following are some additional examples of reducing the number of control plane messages and / or the number of lines in control plane messages (e.g., control plane message segments). Other examples may be used in other scenarios.

[0128] Figure 9 An example of a time slot 900 is described, comprising 14 symbols (e.g., symbol 0 902) and 12 resource elements (e.g., RE 11 904) for scheduling the PDSCH 912, DMRS 914, and Phase Tracking Reference Signal (PTRS) 916 during the allocation of a PRB. Allocations with multiple PRBs are also possible.

[0129] Similar to Figure 7In this example, the symbols of time slot 900 are divided into different segments, each assigned a segment identifier 906 (segment IDs 0-13). Segments 1, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 apply the same modulation (e.g., 64QAM for PDSCH) to all REs. Segments 0, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13 apply different modulation schemes to different REs for a given symbol. In this example, QPSK is used for the RE of symbol 3 assigned to DMRS (e.g., RE 0 908), while 64QAM is used for the RE of symbol 3 assigned to PDSCH (e.g., RE 1 910). Additionally, QPSK modulation is defined for PTRS in RE2 of symbols 0, 2, 5, 9, and 13. Other types of modulation schemes and other types of information channels can be used in other examples.

[0130] Figure 10 The commentary addressed the issue of Figure 9 This example uses ExtType 4 control plane message 1002. In this example, control plane message 1002 comprises 22 segments. Segments with mixed modulation (segments 0, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13) each require two lines (e.g., control plane message segments) in control plane message 1002. The first line of control plane message 1002 includes an indication that the line is applied to... Figure 9 The segment ID of segment 0 is 0, the symInc value is 0 indicating no symbol conversion, the number of symbols (numSymbols) indicating that the segment includes one symbol, and the RE mask (reMask) indicating that the scaler value of this line is applied to all REs in this symbol except RE 2 [110111111111], where the scaler value (e.g., a modulation compression scaler) indicates that 64QAM (e.g., for PDSCH) will be used for the indicated REs of this symbol. The second line of control plane message 1002 includes an indication that the line is applied to Figure 9 The segment ID of segment 0 is 0, the symInc value is 0 indicating no symbol conversion, the number of symbols (numSymbols) parameter indicating that the segment includes one symbol, and the RE mask (reMask) [0010000000000] indicating that the scaler value of this line is applied to the RE 2 of this symbol, wherein the scaler value (e.g., a modulation compression scaler) indicates that QPSK (e.g., for PTRS) will be used for the indicated RE of this symbol. The third line of control plane message 1002 includes an indication that the line is applied to Figure 9The segment ID1 of segment 1, the symInc value 1 indicating symbol transformation, the numSymbols parameter indicating the number of symbols included in the segment, and the reMask [111111111111] indicating that the scaler value of the line applies to all REs of the symbol, wherein the scaler value (e.g., a modulation compression scaler) indicates that 64QAM (e.g., for PDSCH) will be used for the indicated RE of the symbol. Other lines of control plane message 1002 can be decrypted in a similar manner.

[0131] By using symbol masks as discussed herein, the number of segments in control plane message 1002 can be reduced (e.g., to...). Figure 10 (The five segments shown in Control Plane Message 1004). In some examples, this reduction in the number of segments can be used to reduce the overhead of a given UE by 368,000 bytes per second compared to a regular contiguous allocation with symInc (e.g., Control Plane Message 1002), or by 40,000 bytes per second compared to a regular discontinuous allocation with extType6.

[0132] In the first line of control plane message 1004, a first symbol mask with the value [01001010101010] indicates that symbols 1, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 (associated with segment ID 0) use a 64QAM scaler (e.g., for PDSCH). Additionally, a RE mask (reMask) with the value [1111111111111] indicates that the 64QAM scaler will be applied to all REs of the indicated symbols.

[0133] In the second line of control plane message 1004, a second symbol mask with the value [00010001000100] indicates that at least some REs (associated with segment ID 1) of symbols 3, 7, and 11 use a 64QAM scaler (e.g., for PDSCH). Additionally, a RE mask (reMask) with the value [010101010101] indicates that the 64QAM scaler will be applied to all odd REs of the indicated symbol.

[0134] In the third line of control plane message 1004, a third symbol mask with the value [00010001000100] indicates that at least some REs (associated with segment ID 1) of symbols 3, 7, and 11 use a QPSK scaler (e.g., for DMRS). Additionally, a RE mask (reMask) with the value [101010101010] indicates that the QPSK scaler will be applied to all even REs of the indicated symbol.

[0135] In the fourth line of control plane message 1004, a fourth symbol mask with the value [10100100010001] indicates that at least some REs (associated with segment ID 2) of symbols 0, 2, 5, 9, and 13 use a 64QAM scaler (e.g., for PDSCH). Additionally, a RE mask (reMask) with the value [110111111111] indicates that the 64QAM scaler will be applied to all REs in the indicated symbols except for RE2.

[0136] In the fifth line of control plane message 1004, a fifth symbol mask with the value [10100100010001] indicates that at least some REs (associated with segment ID 2) of symbols 0, 2, 5, 9, and 13 use a QPSK scaler (e.g., for PTRS). Additionally, a RE mask (reMask) with the value [001000000000] indicates that the QPSK scaler will only be applied to RE 2 of the indicated symbols.

[0137] Figure 11 An example of time slot 1100 is described, comprising 14 symbols (e.g., symbol 0 102) and 12 resource elements (e.g., RE11 1104) for scheduling PDSCH 1112, DMRS 1114, PTRS 1116, and CSI-RS 1118 during time slot 1100 for allocation of a PRB. Allocation with multiple PRBs is also possible.

[0138] The symbols are divided into different segments, with each segment assigned a segment identifier (e.g., segment IDs 0-13). Segments 1, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 apply the same modulation (e.g., 64QAM for PDSCH) to all REs. In contrast, segments 0, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13 apply different modulation schemes to different REs for a given symbol. As a non-limiting example, QPSK can be used for REs of symbol 3 assigned to DMRS (e.g., RE 0 1108), while 64QAM can be used for REs of symbol 3 assigned to PDSCH (e.g., RE 1 1110). Additionally, QPSK modulation is defined for PTRS in REs 2 of symbols 0, 2, 5, 9, and 13. Furthermore, QPSK modulation is defined for CSI-RS in REs 0, 4, and 8 of symbol 13. Other types of modulation schemes and other types of information channels can be used in other examples.

[0139] Figure 12 The commentary addressed the issue of Figure 11 The example uses ExtType 4 control plane message 1202. In this example, control plane message 1202 consists of 23 sections. Similar to... Figure 10The first line of control plane message 1202 includes an indication that the line is applied to Figure 11 The segment ID of segment 0 is 0, the symInc value is 0 indicating no symbol conversion, the numSymbols parameter indicates the number of symbols included in the segment, and the reMask [110111111111] indicates the scaler value applied to all REs in the symbol except RE 2, where the scaler value (e.g., a modulation compression scaler) indicates that 64QAM (e.g., for PDSCH) will be used for the indicated REs of the symbol. Similar to Figure 10 The second line of control plane message 1202 includes an instruction that the line is applied to Figure 11 The segment ID of segment 0 is 0, the symInc value is 0 indicating no symbol conversion, the numSymbols parameter indicates the number of symbols included in the segment, and the RE mask (reMask) [001000000000] indicates that the scaler value of the line is applied to the RE 2 of the symbol, where the scaler value (e.g., a modulation compression scaler) indicates that QPSK (e.g., for PTRS) will be used for the indicated RE of the symbol. Similar to Figure 10 The third line of control plane message 1202 includes an instruction that this line applies to Figure 11 The segment ID of segment 1 is 1, the symInc value indicating symbol transformation is 1, the number of symbols (numSymbols) indicating that the segment includes one symbol, and the RE mask (reMask) indicating that the scaler value of the line applies to all REs of the symbol [111111111111], where the scaler value (e.g., modulation compression scaler) indicates that 64QAM (e.g., for PDSCH) will be used for the indicated RE of the symbol. Figure 12 In the example, the last line of control plane message 1202 includes an instruction that the line applies to Figure 11 The segment ID 13 of segment 13, the symInc value 0 indicating no symbol conversion, the numSymbols parameter indicating the number of symbols included in the segment, and the reMask [100010001000] indicating the scaler value applied to the RE of the symbol, where the scaler value (e.g., a modulation compression scaler) indicates the indicated RE that QPSK (e.g., for CSI-RS) will be used for the symbol. Other lines of control plane message 1202 can be decrypted in a similar manner.

[0140] By using symbol masks as discussed herein, the number of segments in control plane message 1202 can be reduced (e.g., to...). Figure 12(The seven segments shown in Control Plane Message 1204). In some examples, this reduction in the number of segments can be used to reduce the overhead of a given UE by 328,000 bytes per second compared to a regular contiguous allocation with symInc (e.g., Control Plane Message 1202), or by 56,000 bytes per second compared to a regular discontinuous allocation with extType6 (e.g., Control Plane Message 1202).

[0141] In the first line of control plane message 1204, a first symbol mask with the value [01001010101010] indicates that symbols 1, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 (associated with segment ID 0) use a 64QAM scaler (e.g., for PDSCH). Additionally, a RE mask (reMask) with the value [111111111111] indicates that the 64QAM scaler will be applied to all REs of the indicated symbols.

[0142] In the second line of control plane message 1204, a second symbol mask with the value [00010001000100] indicates that at least some REs (associated with segment ID 1) of symbols 3, 7, and 11 use a 64QAM scaler (e.g., for PDSCH). Additionally, a RE mask (reMask) with the value [010101010101] indicates that the 64QAM scaler will be applied to all odd REs of the indicated symbol.

[0143] In the third line of control plane message 1204, a third symbol mask with the value [00010001000100] indicates that at least some REs (associated with segment ID 1) of symbols 3, 7, and 11 use a QPSK scaler (e.g., for DMRS). Additionally, a RE mask (reMask) with the value [101010101010] indicates that the QPSK scaler will be applied to all even REs of the indicated symbol.

[0144] In the fourth line of control plane message 1204, a fourth symbol mask with the value [10100100010000] indicates that at least some REs (associated with segment ID 2) of symbols 0, 2, 5, and 9 use a 64QAM scaler (e.g., for PDSCH). Additionally, a RE mask (reMask) with the value [110111111111] indicates that the 64QAM scaler will be applied to all REs in the indicated symbols except for RE2.

[0145] In the fifth line of control plane message 1204, a fifth symbol mask with the value [10100100010001] indicates that at least some REs (associated with segment ID 2) of symbols 0, 2, 5, 9, and 13 use a QPSK scaler (e.g., for PTRS). Additionally, a RE mask (reMask) with the value [001000000000] indicates that the QPSK scaler will only be applied to RE 2 of the indicated symbols.

[0146] In the sixth line of control plane message 1204, a sixth symbol mask with the value [00000000000001] indicates that at least some REs (associated with segment ID 3) of symbol 13 use a 64QAM scaler (e.g., for PDSCH). Additionally, a RE mask (reMask) with the value [010101110111] indicates that the 64QAM scaler will be applied to REs 1, 3, 5-7, and 9-11 of the indicated symbol.

[0147] In line 7 of control plane message 1204, a seventh symbol mask with the value [000000000000001] indicates that at least some REs (associated with segment ID 3) of symbol 13 use a QPSK scaler (e.g., for CSI-RS). Additionally, a RE mask (reMask) with the value [100010001000] indicates that the QPSK scaler will be applied to REs 0, 4, and 8 of the indicated symbol.

[0148] In scenarios where modulation compression is not used, symbol masks can also be used to reduce the number of C-plane messages and / or C-plane message segments. Several examples are provided below.

[0149] Figure 13 An example of time slot 1300 is described, comprising 14 symbols (e.g., symbol 0 1302) and 12 resource elements (e.g., RE 11 1304) used for scheduling CSI-RS during time slot 1300 for allocation of a PRB. Allocation with multiple PRBs is also possible. In this example, CSI-RS 1306 is allocated in REs 0, 4, and 8 of symbols 11 and 13. In some examples, this CSI-RS allocation may be associated with a specific type of modulation. Other types of information channels may be used in other examples.

[0150] Figure 14 The commentary addressed the issue of Figure 13 This is an example of control plane message 1402. In this scenario, multiple control plane messages can be used because... Figure 13 The symbol allocation is discontinuous. The first control plane message (C plane 1) includes indications that the message is applied to... Figure 13 Segment 0 (for example, in) Figure 13 The second control plane message (C plane 2) defines a segment ID 0 (only a single segment is defined), a start symbol identifier (StartSymbolID) indicating the allocation of the message starting from symbol 11, a symbol number (numSymbols) parameter indicating that the allocation is for a single symbol, a symInc value of 0 indicating no symbol conversion, and a RE mask (reMask) [100010001000] indicating the allocation of CSI-RS in REs 0, 4, and 8 of the symbol. Figure 13 The segment ID of segment 0 is 0, the start symbol identifier (StartSymbolID) indicating the allocation of the message starting from symbol 13, the symbol number (numSymbols) parameter indicating that the allocation is for a symbol, the symInc value of 0 indicating no symbol conversion, and the RE mask (reMask) [100010001000] indicating the allocation of CSI-RS in RE 0, 4 and 8 of the symbol.

[0151] By using symbol masks as discussed herein, the number of control plane messages 1402 can be reduced (e.g., to...). Figure 14 (A message shown in Control Plane Message 1404). In some examples, this reduction in the number of control plane messages can be used to reduce the overhead of a given UE by 112,000 bytes per second compared to a regular contiguous allocation with symInc (e.g., Control Plane Message 1402), or by 8,000 bytes per second compared to a regular discontinuous allocation with extType6.

[0152] Control plane message 1404 includes a first symbol mask with the value [00000000000101], which indicates that CSI-RS allocation is applied to symbols 11 and 13 (associated with segment ID 0). Additionally, a RE mask (reMask) with the value [100010001000] indicates that CSI-RS is allocated in REs 0, 4, and 8 of these symbols.

[0153] Figure 15An example of time slot 1500 is described, comprising 14 symbols (e.g., symbols 0 and 1502) and 12 resource elements (e.g., REs 11 and 1504) used for discontinuous scheduling of PDSCH 1506, DMRS 1508, and PDCCH 1510 during the allocation of a PRB. Allocations with multiple PRBs are also possible. In this example, PDCCH is allocated across all REs for symbols 0 and 1. Additionally, PDCCH is allocated across all REs for symbols 3-5. In some examples, each of these allocations may be associated with a specific type of modulation (e.g., 64QAM is used for PDSCH and QPSK for DMRS). Other types of information channels may be used in other examples.

[0154] Figure 16 The commentary addressed the issue of Figure 15 This is an example of control plane message 1602. In this scenario, multiple control plane messages can be used because... Figure 15 The symbol allocation is discontinuous. The first control plane message (C plane 1) includes indications that the message is applied to... Figure 15 Segment 0 (for example, in) Figure 15 The second control plane message (C plane 2) defines a segment ID of 0 (only a single segment is defined), a start symbol identifier (StartSymbolID) indicating that the allocation for this message starts from symbol 0, a symbol number (numSymbols) parameter indicating that the allocation is for two symbols, a symInc value of 0 indicating no symbol conversion, and a RE mask (reMask) indicating that the PDCCH is allocated in all REs of the indicated symbols (i.e., symbols 0 and 1) [111111111111]. Figure 15 The segment ID of segment 0 is 0, the start symbol identifier (StartSymbolID) indicating that the allocation for this message begins with symbol 3, the number of symbols (numSymbols) parameter indicating that the allocation is for three symbols, the symInc value of 0 indicating no symbol conversion, and the RE mask (reMask) indicating the allocation of PDSCH in all REs of the indicated symbols (i.e., symbols 3-5) [111111111111]. Since modulation compression is not used in this example, DMRS and PDSCH REs will not be distinguished by different scaler values. Therefore, a single RE mask can be used to identify two channels.

[0155] By using symbol masks as discussed herein, the number of control plane messages 1602 can be reduced (e.g., to...). Figure 16(A message shown in Control Plane Message 1604). In some examples, this reduction in the number of control plane messages can be used to reduce the overhead of a given UE by 88,000 bytes per second compared to a regular contiguous allocation with symInc (e.g., Control Plane Message 1602), or by 16,000 bytes per second compared to a regular discontinuous allocation with extType6.

[0156] The first line of control plane message 1604 includes a first symbol mask with the value [11000000000000], which indicates that the PDCCH allocation applies to symbols 0 and 1 (associated with segment ID 0). Additionally, a RE mask (reMask) with the value [111111111111] indicates that the PDCCH is allocated to all REs for these symbols.

[0157] The second line of control plane message 1604 includes a second symbol mask with the value [00011100000000], which indicates that the PDCCH allocation applies to symbols 3-5 (associated with segment ID 1). Additionally, a RE mask (reMask) with the value [111111111111] indicates that the PDCCH is allocated to all REs for these symbols.

[0158] Figure 17 An example of time slot 1700 is described, comprising 14 symbols (e.g., symbol 0 1702) and 12 resource elements (e.g., RE 11 1704) used for uplink scheduling of PUSCH 1706, DMRS 1708, and PUCCH 1710 during the allocation of a PRB. Allocations with multiple PRBs are also possible. In this example, PUSCH is allocated across all REs of symbols 0-9. Additionally, PUCCH is allocated across all REs of symbol 12. In some examples, each of these allocations may be associated with a specific type of modulation (e.g., 64QAM is used for PUSCH). Other types of information channels may be used in other examples.

[0159] Figure 18 The commentary addressed the issue of Figure 17 This is an example of control plane message 1802. In this scenario, multiple control plane messages can be used because... Figure 17 The symbol allocation is discontinuous. The first control plane message (C plane 1) includes indications that the message is applied to... Figure 17 Segment 0 (for example, in) Figure 17The code defines only a single segment ID (0), a start symbol identifier (StartSymbolID) indicating that the allocation for this message begins with symbol 0, a symbol number (numSymbols) parameter indicating that the allocation is for ten symbols, a symInc value of 0 indicating no symbol conversion, and a RE mask (reMask) indicating that the PUSCH is allocated in all REs of the indicated symbol (i.e., symbol 0-9) [111111111111]. Since modulation compression is not used in this example, DMRS and PUSCH REs will not be distinguished by different scaler values. Therefore, a single RE mask can be used to identify two channels. The second control plane message (C plane 2) includes an indication that the message is applied to Figure 17 The segment ID 0 of segment 0, the start symbol identifier (StartSymbolID) indicating the allocation of the message starting from symbol 12, the symbol number (numSymbols) parameter indicating that the allocation is for a symbol, the symInc value 0 indicating no symbol conversion, and the RE mask (reMask) indicating that PUCCH is allocated in all REs of the indicated symbol (i.e., symbol 12) [111111111111].

[0160] By using symbol masks as discussed herein, the number of control plane messages 1802 can be reduced (e.g., to...). Figure 18 (A message shown in Control Plane Message 1804). In some examples, this reduction in the number of control plane messages can be used to reduce the overhead of a given UE by 88,000 bytes per second compared to a regular contiguous allocation with symInc (e.g., Control Plane Message 1802), or by 16,000 bytes per second compared to a regular discontinuous allocation with extType6.

[0161] The first line of control plane message 1804 includes a first symbol mask with the value [11111111110000], which indicates that PUSCH allocation applies to symbols 0-9 (associated with segment ID 0). Additionally, a RE mask (reMask) with the value [111111111111] indicates that PUSCH is allocated to all REs for these symbols.

[0162] The second line of control plane message 1804 includes a second symbol mask with the value [000000000000010], which indicates that the PUCCH allocation applies to symbol 12 (associated with segment ID 1). Additionally, a RE mask (reMask) with the value [111111111111] indicates that the PUCCH is allocated to all REs of that symbol.

[0163] As mentioned above, ORAN can support both contiguous (e.g., coherent) and non-contiguous (e.g., non-coherent) assignments.

[0164] In some ORAN implementations, Resource Allocation Type 0 (e.g., RAT-0) for non-contiguous allocations is supported via Extended Type 6 (ExtType 6). RAT-0 is an allocation based on Resource Block Groups (RBGs), where multiple RBs are grouped into an RBG, and the distributed unit signals to the radio unit whether the RBG is being used for data allocation (by enabling or disabling appropriate bits).

[0165] The parameters RBG size (rbgSize) and RBG mask (rbgMask) can be used to represent RAT-0 allocations in extension type 6. In this case, parameters such as the start symbol identifier (startSymbolId), symInc, and number of symbols (numSymbol) may not be used to identify symbols in the time slot. Instead, a 14-bit field symbol mask can be used, where each bit of the symbol mask indicates whether the corresponding symbol is enabled.

[0166] In some ORAN implementations, resource allocation type 1 (e.g., RAT-1) can be used for contiguous allocations. However, this RAT-1 allocation does not use extended type 6.

[0167] In some aspects, this disclosure relates to the use of new extension types to convey symbol masks for PRBs (e.g., RAT-1 contiguous allocation). Such extension types can be used in conjunction with any other applicable extension types (e.g., extType 4 or extType 5 when using modulation compression). In some examples, when using this new extension type, the radio unit can omit the startSymbolid, symInc, and numSymbol from the segment header, and instead use a symbol mask to identify the time-domain allocation.

[0168] Figure 19 The two control plane messages (C-plane 1 and C-plane 2) 1902, used for PDCCH allocation in code elements 0 and 1 and PDSCH allocation in code elements 3, 4, and 5, are explained. Here, the following is used... Figure 19 The conventional technique shown, based on startSymbolId, symInc, and numSymbol, requires two C-plane messages when there is a 1-symbol gap between each allocation, since symInc cannot be used here (to combine C-plane messages).

[0169] However, by using symbol masks, the above control plane messages can be combined into a single message, such as... Figure 19The control plane message 1904 is shown. In the first line of control plane message 1904, a first symbol mask with the value [11000000000000] specifies the allocation of symbols 0 and 1. In the second line of control plane message 1904, a second symbol mask with the value [00011100000000] specifies the allocation of symbols 3, 4, and 5.

[0170] Different extension types can be used in different examples to convey symbol allocation for consecutive allocation.

[0171] In some examples, extended type 6 information element 2000 can be used to convey symbol allocation for consecutive assignments, such as... Figure 20 As shown. Here, symbol mask 2002 and symbol mask 2004 can convey (e.g., Figure 19 (Control plane message 1904) symbol mask information.

[0172] In some examples, a new extended type (e.g., extended type XX, where XX can be any suitable number) information element 2100 can be used to convey the symbol allocation for consecutive allocations, such as Figure 21 As shown. Here, symbol mask 2102 and symbol mask 2104 can convey (e.g., Figure 19 The control plane message 1904 contains symbol mask information. In this case, since the rbgSize and rbgMask parameters may be redundant for consecutive PRB allocations, a new segment type that does not include these redundant fields can be used to reduce outbound bandwidth overhead.

[0173] In some examples, Figure 21 The reserved parameter 2106 can be the phase tracking reference signal frequency density (ptrsFreqDensity) parameter. In some examples, the ptrsFreqDensity parameter can be used when PTRS with different frequency densities are assigned. Typically, extType-6 does not cover this scenario. In some examples, the following values ​​can be defined for the two-bit ptrsFreqDensity parameter: ptrsFreqDensity = 00 (no PTRS used), ptrsFreqDensity = 01 (frequency density = 2 PRBs, e.g., PTRS occurs once every two PRBs), ptrsFreqDensity = 10 (frequency density = 4 PRBs, e.g., PTRS occurs once every four PRBs), and ptrsFreqDensity = 11 (reserved).

[0174] In some examples, information element 2100 can be used to support different PTRS frequency densities within a single segment, which is not supported by extType-6 and the resource block indicator. In extType-6, only 28 bits exist. Therefore, even if 1 bit is mapped to 4 RBs, extType 6 will only handle a limited number of RBs (e.g., up to 112 RBs, or up to 273 RBs in 5G). Furthermore, the resource block indicator only supports alternative RB allocation scenarios for a single PTRS density (e.g., frequency density = 2 PRBs). Frequency density = 4 PRBs is not supported. In contrast, information element 2100 can be used to directly communicate different PTRS densities.

[0175] In view of the above, this disclosure relates in some aspects to new extended types for modulation compression (e.g., combinations of ExtType 4 or ExtType 5 fields along with symbol masks). In some aspects, this technique can improve (e.g., reduce) the overhead of control plane messages by reducing the number of lines (segments) in the message. For example, an order-of-magnitude reduction in overhead (in terms of the number of lines) can be achieved.

[0176] Additionally, this disclosure relates in some aspects to reducing the overhead of control plane messages for sequential PRB allocation in uncompressed scenarios. In some aspects, this technique can improve (e.g., reduce) overhead by reducing the number of control plane messages. For example, an order-of-magnitude reduction in overhead (in terms of the number of control plane messages) can be achieved. This reduction in the number of control plane messages can also reduce associated processing overhead.

[0177] Also in view of the above, this disclosure relates in some respects to the use of new extended types (e.g., such as...) Figure 21 (As shown) to reduce the overhead of control plane messages used for consecutive PRB allocations. Using this technique, the overhead associated with the rbgMask and rbgSize parameters can be avoided. Therefore, in addition to the reduction in the number of control plane messages discussed above, an additional four bytes can be saved.

[0178] The aforementioned techniques can be optional and vary depending on the implementation. Therefore, they can be used with segment extensions already implemented in ORAN and / or future segment extensions.

[0179] Figure 22 This is signaling diagram 2200 illustrating an example of control plane signaling in a wireless communication system including distributed unit (DU) 2202, radio unit (RU) 2204, and UE 2206. In some examples, distributed unit 2202 may correspond to... Figure 4-6 And any of the DUs shown in 23, or corresponding to Figure 1 , 2Any of the base stations or scheduling entities shown in 1, 4, 5, 6, and 27. In some examples, radio unit 2204 may correspond to... Figure 4-6 And any of the RUs shown in 23, or corresponding to Figure 1 , 2 The scheduled entity, base station, or scheduling entity shown in any of 4, 5, 6, and 27. In some examples, UE 2206 may correspond to... Figure 1 , 2 The UE or any of the scheduled entities shown in any of 4, 5, and 23.

[0180] exist Figure 22 In 2208, distributed unit 2202 (e.g., via a wireless transceiver or a wired transceiver) transmits scheduling information to radio unit 2204. For example, distributed unit 2202 may transmit instructions regarding resource allocation for radio unit 2204 to transmit information to and / or receive information from UE 2206.

[0181] At 2210, the distributed unit 2202 (e.g., via a wireless transceiver or a wired transceiver) transmits information elements including a symbol mask to the radio unit 2204. For example, the distributed unit 2202 may transmit... Figure 8 , 10 Any one of the control plane messages 804, 1004, 1204, 1404, 1604, 1804, or 1904 shown in 12, 14, 16, 18, and 19. Figure 20 and 21 Either of the information elements 2000 or 2100 shown.

[0182] At 2212, radio unit 2204 identifies resources that will be used for one or more channels (e.g., PDSCH, PDCCH, DMRS, CSI-RS, PTRS, PUSCH, PUCCH, etc.) for communication to / from UE 2206. For example, radio unit 2204 can determine, based on the information elements received at 2210, that certain REs in certain symbols will be used for PDSCH, DMRS, etc., as described above. Figure 7-21 The subject of discussion.

[0183] In optional 2214, radio unit 2204 can determine the modulation scheme to be used for the channels(s) identified in 2212. For example, radio unit 2204 can determine the modulation compression scaler value specified for one or more REs of the symbol based on the information elements received in 2210, as combined above. Figure 7-21 The subject of discussion.

[0184] At 2216, radio unit 2204 sends a DCI to UE 2206, which indicates the resources identified at 2212 and, if applicable, the modulation information determined at 2214. Radio unit 2204 then communicates with UE 2206 via these resources at 2218.

[0185] Figure 23 This is a block diagram illustrating an example of the hardware implementation of the radio unit 2300 using the processing system 2314. The radio unit 2300 can be configured to communicate wirelessly with the UE, such as... Figure 1-22 This is discussed in any one or more of the following. In some examples, the radio unit may be equivalently referred to as a radio device, TRP, scheduled entity, network node, scheduling entity, base station, or otherwise. In some implementations, radio unit 2300 may correspond to... Figure 4-6 And any of the RUs shown in 22, or corresponding to Figure 1 , 2 The scheduled entity, base station (e.g., eNB and / or gNB) or scheduling entity shown in any of 4, 5 and 6.

[0186] According to various aspects of this disclosure, elements, any part of elements, or any combination of elements may be implemented using processing system 2314. Processing system 2314 may include one or more processors 2304. Examples of processors 2304 include microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), state machines, gated logic, discrete hardware circuits, and other suitable hardware configured to perform the various functionalities described throughout this disclosure. In various examples, radio unit 2300 may be configured to perform any or more of the functions described herein. That is, processor 2304, as utilized in radio unit 2300, may be used to implement any or more of the processes and procedures described herein.

[0187] In this example, processing system 2314 can be implemented using a bus architecture generally represented by bus 2302. Depending on the specific application and overall design constraints of processing system 2314, bus 2302 may include any number of interconnect buses and bridges. Bus 2302 communicatively couples together various circuits including one or more processors (generally represented by processor 2304), memory 2305, and computer-readable media (generally represented by computer-readable media 2306). Bus 2302 may also link various other circuits, such as timing sources, peripheral devices, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and therefore will not be described further. Bus interface 2308 provides an interface between bus 2302 and transceiver 2310, and an interface between bus 2302 and interface 2330. Transceiver 2310 provides a communication interface or device for communicating with various other devices over a wireless transmission medium. Interface 2330 provides a communication interface or means for communicating with various other devices and equipment (e.g., other devices housed within the same device as the radio unit or other external devices) over an internal bus or external transmission medium (such as an Ethernet cable). Depending on the characteristics of the device, interface 2330 may include a user interface. Of course, such a user interface is optional and may be omitted in some examples.

[0188] Processor 2304 is responsible for managing bus 2302 and general processing, including the execution of software stored on computer-readable medium 2306. When executed by processor 2304, the software causes processing system 2314 to perform various functions described below for any particular device. Computer-readable medium 2306 and memory 2305 may also be used to store data manipulated by processor 2304 during software execution. For example, memory 2305 may store mask information 2315 (e.g., symbol mask, etc.) used by processor 2304 in cooperation with transceiver 2310 for the C-plane operations described herein.

[0189] One or more processors 2304 in the processing system can execute software. Software should be broadly interpreted as instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subroutines, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executables, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc., whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or other terms. Software may reside on a computer-readable medium 2306.

[0190] Computer-readable medium 2306 may be a non-transient computer-readable medium. As examples, non-transient computer-readable media include magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disks, floppy disks, magnetic tapes), optical disks (e.g., compact discs (CDs) or digital multi-purpose discs (DVDs)), smart cards, flash memory devices (e.g., cards, sticks, or key-type drives), random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), registers, removable disks, and any other suitable medium for storing software and / or instructions accessible and readable by a computer. Computer-readable medium 2306 may reside in processing system 2314, be external to processing system 2314, or be distributed across multiple entities including processing system 2314. Computer-readable medium 2306 may be implemented in a computer program product. As an example, a computer program product may include a computer-readable medium in encapsulation material. Those skilled in the art will recognize how the functionality described throughout this disclosure is best implemented depending on the specific application and the overall design constraints imposed on the system as a whole.

[0191] Radio unit 2300 can be configured to perform any one or more of the operations described herein (e.g., in combination with the above). Figure 1-22 The description and the following in combination Figure 24-26 (As described). In some aspects of this disclosure, such as the processor 2304 utilized in the radio unit 2300, circuitry may be configured for various functions.

[0192] Processor 2304 may include communication and processing circuitry 2341. Communication and processing circuitry 2341 may include one or more hardware components providing a physical structure for performing various processes related to wireless communication (e.g., signal reception and / or signal transmission) as described herein. Communication and processing circuitry 2341 may further include one or more hardware components providing a physical structure for performing various processes related to signal processing (e.g., processing received signals and / or processing signals for transmission) as described herein. In some examples, communication and processing circuitry 2341 may include two or more transmit / receive chains, each configured to process signals of different RAT (or RAN) types. Communication and processing circuitry 2341 may be further configured to execute communication and processing software 2351 included on computer-readable medium 2306 to implement one or more functions described herein.

[0193] The communication and processing circuitry system 2341 may be further configured to communicate with the distributed unit via a first link (e.g., a backhaul link) and with a collection of one or more child nodes (e.g., UEs) via a corresponding second link (e.g., an access link). In some examples, the communication and processing circuitry system 2341 may be further configured to communicate with the child nodes via an outbound link.

[0194] In some implementations of communication involving the reception of information, communication and processing circuitry system 2341 may obtain information from components of radio unit 2300 (e.g., from transceiver 2310 that receives information via radio frequency signaling or some other type of signaling suitable for the applicable communication medium), process (e.g., decode) the information, and output the processed information. For example, communication and processing circuitry system 2341 may output information to another component of processor 2304, to memory 2305, or to bus interface 2308. In some examples, communication and processing circuitry system 2341 may receive one or more of signals, messages, other information, or any combination thereof. In some examples, communication and processing circuitry system 2341 may receive information via one or more channels. In some examples, communication and processing circuitry system 2341 may include the functionality of means for receiving. In some examples, communication and processing circuitry system 2341 may include the functionality of means for decoding.

[0195] In some implementations where communication involves sending (e.g., transmitting) information, the communication and processing circuitry system 2341 may obtain information from (e.g., from another component of processor 2304, memory 2305, or bus interface 2308), process (e.g., encode) that information, and output the processed information. For example, the communication and processing circuitry system 2341 may output information to transceiver 2310 (e.g., to transmit information via radio frequency signaling or some other type of signaling suitable for the applicable communication medium). In some examples, the communication and processing circuitry system 2341 may send one or more of signals, messages, other information, or any combination thereof. In some examples, the communication and processing circuitry system 2341 may send information via one or more channels. In some examples, the communication and processing circuitry system 2341 may include the functionality of means for sending (e.g., means for transmitting). In some examples, the communication and processing circuitry system 2341 may include the functionality of means for encoding.

[0196] Processor 2304 may include control plane processing circuitry 2342 configured to perform control plane processing-related operations as discussed herein (e.g., receiving control plane messages and obtaining symbol masks from control plane messages). Control plane processing circuitry 2342 may be configured to execute control plane processing software 2352 included on computer-readable medium 2306 to implement one or more of the functions described herein.

[0197] The control plane processing circuitry system 2342 may include functionality for receiving control messages. For example, the control plane processing circuitry system 2342 may be configured to receive control plane messages from a distributed unit via an outbound link (e.g., Figure 8 Control plane message 804 shown in the image.

[0198] The control plane processing circuitry system 2342 may include the functionality of means for obtaining at least one symbol mask. For example, the control plane processing circuitry system 2342 may be configured to parse extended type information elements carried by control plane messages to extract the symbol mask.

[0199] Processor 2304 may include resource management circuitry 2343 configured to perform resource management-related operations (e.g., via time-slot communication) as discussed herein. Resource management circuitry 2343 may be configured to execute resource management software 2353 included on computer-readable medium 2306 to implement one or more of the functions described herein.

[0200] Resource management circuitry system 2343 may include functionality for transmitting information during time slots. For example, resource management circuitry system 2343 may be configured to transmit information to or receive information from a UE via a time slot, wherein the information is modulated (or demodulated) according to modulation and compression parameters carried by a symbol mask.

[0201] Figure 24 This is a flowchart illustrating an example communication method 2400 according to some aspects of this disclosure. As described below, some or all of the described features may be omitted in a particular implementation within the scope of this disclosure, and some described features may not be required for implementing all examples. In some examples, the communication method 2400 may be... Figure 23 The communication method 2400 is performed by the radio unit 2300 described herein. In some examples, the communication method 2400 may be performed by any suitable device or apparatus for performing the functions or algorithms described below.

[0202] In box 2402, the radio unit can receive a control message including at least one symbol mask for at least one symbol of a time slot and at least one resource element mask for at least one resource element of the time slot. For example, the above combined Figure 23The control plane processing circuitry 2342 shown and described, together with the communication and processing circuitry 2341 and the transceiver 2310, can provide means for receiving control messages, the control messages including at least one symbol mask for at least one symbol of a time slot and at least one resource element mask for at least one resource element of the time slot.

[0203] In box 2404, the radio unit can transmit information during this time slot, wherein the information is transmitted according to the at least one symbol mask. For example, the above combination Figure 23 The control plane processing circuitry 2342, shown and described, together with the communication and processing circuitry 2341 and transceiver 2310, can provide means for conveying information during the time slot, wherein the information is conveyed according to the at least one symbol mask. In some examples, the information may include downlink transmissions to a user. In some examples, the information may include uplink transmissions from a user.

[0204] In some examples, the at least one symbol mask indicates at least one modulation compression parameter for at least one symbol in a time slot. In some examples, a radio unit may use the at least one modulation compression parameter to modulate information.

[0205] In some examples, the at least one symbol mask may include a first symbol mask specifying a first modulation scaler value for a first set of symbols, and a second symbol mask specifying a second modulation scaler value different from the first modulation scaler value for a second set of symbols, wherein the first symbol set is different from the second symbol set. In some examples, the control message may include a first segment identifier for the first symbol set and a second segment identifier for the second symbol set, wherein the first segment identifier is different from the second segment identifier. In some examples, the at least one symbol mask may include a third symbol mask specifying the first modulation scaler value for the second symbol set.

[0206] In some examples, the control message may include a first resource element mask, a second resource element mask, and a third resource element mask. The first resource element mask specifies multiple resource elements in a first symbol set to which a first modulation scaler value will be applied. The second resource element mask specifies a subset of the first resource elements in a second symbol set to which a second modulation scaler value will be applied. The third resource element mask specifies a subset of the second resource elements in a second symbol set to which the first modulation scaler value will be applied, wherein the first resource element subset is different from the second resource element subset. In some examples, the second and third resource element masks are mutually exclusive. In some examples, the first modulation scaler value is used for a QAM scheme of a first quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) order, and the second modulation scaler value is used for a QAM scheme of a second QAM order different from the first QAM order. In some examples, the first modulation scaler value is used for a QAM scheme of a first quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) order, where the first QAM order is any QAM order, and the second modulation scaler value is used for a phase shift keying (PSK) modulation QAM scheme of a second QAM order, where the second QAM order is any QAM order other than the first QAM order.

[0207] In some examples, the control message may be an Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) control plane message, and the ORAN control plane message may include an application layer segment extension containing at least one modulation compression parameter. In some examples, the application layer segment extension may include an extension type having a symbol mask parameter and extension type 4 information elements, extension type 5 information elements, or a phase tracking reference signal frequency density parameter.

[0208] In some examples, the at least one symbol mask indicates symbol allocation within a set of consecutive resource blocks in a time slot. In some examples, the symbol allocation identifies the symbols allocated to the user in that time slot.

[0209] In some examples, the at least one symbol mask may include a first symbol mask specifying a first set of symbols for a first allocation of symbols and a second symbol mask specifying a second set of symbols for a second allocation of symbols, wherein the first set of symbols and the second set of symbols are mutually exclusive. In some examples, the first set of symbols and the second set of symbols are non-contiguous. In some examples, the control message may include a first segment identifier for the first set of symbols and a second segment identifier for the second set of symbols, wherein the first segment identifier is equal to the second segment identifier.

[0210] In some examples, the control message may be an Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) control plane message, and the ORAN control plane message may include an application layer segment extension for resource allocation containing the at least one symbol mask. In some examples, the application layer segment extension does not include resource block size parameters and resource block group masks. In some examples, the application layer segment extension may include extension type 6 information elements. In some examples, the application layer segment extension may include phase tracking reference signal frequency density parameters. In some examples, the application layer segment extension may include resource block size parameters and resource block group masks.

[0211] Figure 25 This is a flowchart illustrating an example communication method 2500 according to some aspects of this disclosure. In some examples, one or more aspects of the communication method 2500 may be... Figure 24 The communication method 2400 is used in combination (e.g., as part of it and / or as a supplement to it). As described below, some or all of the described features may be omitted in a particular implementation within the scope of this disclosure, and some described features may not be required for implementation of all examples. In some examples, the communication method 2500 may be provided by Figure 23 The communication method 2500 is performed by the radio unit 2300 described herein. In some examples, the communication method 2500 may be performed by any suitable device or apparatus for performing the functions or algorithms described below.

[0212] In box 2502, the radio unit can receive control messages from the network node. For example, the above combined Figure 23 The control plane processing circuitry system 2342 shown and described, together with the communication and processing circuitry system 2341 and the transceiver 2310, can provide means for receiving control messages from network nodes.

[0213] In some examples, the control message may include an Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) control plane message. In some examples, the ORAN control plane message may include an application layer segment extension containing the at least one modulation and compression parameter.

[0214] In box 2504, the radio unit can obtain at least one symbol mask from the control message, wherein the at least one symbol mask can indicate at least one modulation compression parameter for at least one symbol of a time slot. For example, the above combined Figure 23 The control plane processing circuitry system 2342 shown and described may provide means for obtaining at least one symbol mask from the control message.

[0215] In box 2506, the radio unit may transmit information during this time slot, wherein transmitting information during this time slot may include modulating the information using at least one modulation compression parameter. In some examples, transmitting information during this time slot may include transmitting downlink information to a user or receiving uplink information from a user. For example, the above combined Figure 23 The resource management circuit system 2343 shown and described, together with the communication and processing circuit system 2341 and the transceiver 2310, can provide means for transmitting information during the time slot.

[0216] In some examples, the at least one symbol mask may include a first symbol mask (e.g., in the first row) that specifies a first modulation scaler value (e.g., a 64QAM scaler) for a first set of symbols (e.g., 0-2, 4-6, etc.) of the at least one symbol. In some examples, the at least one symbol mask may include a second symbol mask (e.g., in the second row) that specifies a second modulation scaler value (e.g., a QPSK scaler) that is different from the first modulation scaler value for a second set of symbols (e.g., 3, 7, etc.) of the at least one symbol, wherein the first symbol set is different from the second symbol set.

[0217] In some examples, the control message may further include a first segment identifier for a first set of symbols and a second segment identifier for a second set of symbols, wherein the first segment identifier is different from the second segment identifier.

[0218] In some examples, the at least one symbol mask may include a third symbol mask (e.g., in the third row) specifying a first modulation scaler value for the second symbol set. In some examples, the control message may further include a first resource element mask (e.g., reMask in row 1), a second resource element mask (e.g., reMask in row 2), and a third resource element mask (e.g., reMask in row 3), wherein the first resource element mask specifies multiple resource elements in the first symbol set to which the first modulation scaler value will be applied (e.g., RE 0-11), the second resource element mask specifies a subset of first resource elements in the second symbol set to which the second modulation scaler value will be applied (e.g., RE 0, 2, 4, etc.), and the third resource element mask specifies a subset of second resource elements in the second symbol set to which the first modulation scaler value will be applied (e.g., RE 1, 3, 5, etc.), wherein the first resource element subset is different from the second resource element subset. In some examples, the second and third resource element masks are mutually exclusive.

[0219] In some examples, the first modulation scaler value is used for a Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) scheme, while the second modulation scaler value is used for a Phase Shift Keying (PSK) modulation scheme. In some examples, the first modulation scaler value is used for a QAM scheme with a first QAM order, where the first QAM order is any QAM order (e.g., 1, 2, 3, or 4, etc.). In some examples, the second modulation scaler value is used for a PSK modulation QAM scheme with a second QAM order, where the second QAM order is any QAM order other than the first QAM order (e.g., if the first QAM order is 2, the second QAM order could be 1, 3, 4, or 5, etc.).

[0220] Figure 26 This is a flowchart illustrating an example communication method 2600 according to some aspects of this disclosure. In some examples, one or more aspects of the communication method 2600 may be... Figure 24 The communication method 2400 is used in combination (e.g., as part of it and / or as a supplement to it). As described below, some or all of the described features may be omitted in a particular implementation within the scope of this disclosure, and some described features may not be required for implementation of all examples. In some examples, the communication method 2600 may be... Figure 23 The communication method 2600 is performed by the radio unit 2300 described herein. In some examples, the communication method 2600 may be performed by any suitable device or apparatus for performing the functions or algorithms described below.

[0221] In box 2602, the radio unit can receive control messages from the network node (e.g., ...). Figure 19 The control plane message 1904 shown is an example. For instance, the above is combined with... Figure 23 The control surface processing circuitry system 2342 shown and described, together with the communication and processing circuitry system 2341 and the transceiver 2310, can provide means for receiving control messages.

[0222] In box 2604, the radio unit can obtain at least one symbol mask from the control message, wherein the at least one symbol mask can indicate symbol allocation within a set of consecutive resource blocks of a time slot. In some examples, the symbol allocation identifies the symbols allocated to the user in that time slot. For example, the above combined Figure 23 The control plane processing circuitry system 2342 shown and described may provide means for obtaining at least one symbol mask from the control message.

[0223] In box 2606, the radio unit can allocate information to be transmitted during the time slot based on the symbol. In some examples, transmitting information during the time slot may include transmitting downlink information to a user or receiving uplink information from a user. For example, the above combined Figure 23The resource management circuit system 2343 shown and described, together with the communication and processing circuit system 2341 and the transceiver 2310, can provide means for transmitting information during the time slot according to the symbol allocation.

[0224] In some examples, the at least one symbol mask may include a first symbol mask specifying a first set of symbols for a first assignment (e.g., in the first row). In some examples, the at least one symbol mask may include a second symbol mask specifying a second set of symbols for a second assignment (e.g., in the second row), wherein the first and second symbol sets are mutually exclusive. In some examples, the first and second symbol sets are non-contiguous.

[0225] In some examples, the control message may further include a first segment identifier for a first symbol set. In some examples, the control message may further include a second segment identifier for a second symbol set, wherein the first segment identifier is equal to the second segment identifier.

[0226] In some examples, the control message may include an Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) control plane message. In some examples, the ORAN control plane message may include an application layer segment extension for resource allocation (e.g., a new ExtType or ExtType=6) containing the at least one symbol mask. In some examples, the application layer segment extension does not include a resource block size parameter (e.g., rbgSize) and a resource block group mask (e.g., rbgMask). In some examples, the application layer segment extension may include an ExtType 6 information element.

[0227] In one configuration, radio unit 2300 includes: means for receiving a control message, the control message including at least one symbol mask for at least one symbol of a time slot and at least one resource element mask for at least one resource element of the time slot; and means for conveying information during the time slot, wherein the information is conveyed according to the at least one symbol mask. In one aspect, the aforementioned means may be... Figure 23 The processor 2304 shown is configured to perform the functions described in the aforementioned apparatus (e.g., as discussed above). Alternatively, the aforementioned apparatus may be a circuit or any device configured to perform the functions described in the aforementioned apparatus.

[0228] Of course, in the above examples, the circuitry included in processor 2304 is provided merely as an example, and other means for performing the described functions may be included within various aspects of this disclosure, including but not limited to instructions stored in computer-readable medium 2306, or... Figure 1 , 2Described in one or more of , 4-6, 22 and 23 and using, for example, this article regarding Figure 24-26 Any other suitable device or apparatus for the described method and / or algorithm.

[0229] Figure 27 This is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example hardware implementation of the scheduling entity 2700 using the processing system 2714. In some examples, the scheduling entity 2700 may be equivalently referred to as a distributed device, network node, network device, base station, or otherwise. In some implementations, the scheduling entity 2700 may correspond to... Figure 4-6 And any of the DUs shown in 22, or corresponding to Figure 1 , 2 The base station (e.g., eNB and / or gNB) or any of the scheduling entities shown in any of 4, 5 and 6.

[0230] According to various aspects of this disclosure, an element, or any part thereof, or any combination thereof, may be implemented using the processing system 2714. The processing system 2714 may include one or more processors 2704. The processing system 2714 may be compatible with... Figure 23 The processing system 2314 described herein is substantially the same, including a bus interface 2708, a bus 2702, a memory 2705, a processor 2704, and a computer-readable medium 2706. For example, the memory 2705 may store masking information 2715 (e.g., symbol masks, etc.) used by the processor 2704 in cooperation with the transceiver 2610 for the C-plane operations described herein. Furthermore, the scheduling entity 2700 may include an interface 2730 (e.g., a network interface) that provides means for communicating with at least one other device within the core network and with at least one radio access network.

[0231] The scheduling entity 2700 can be configured to perform any one or more of the operations described herein (e.g., as combined above). Figure 1-22 The description and the following in combination Figures 28-30 (As described). In some aspects of this disclosure, such as the processor 2704 utilized in scheduling entity 2700, circuitry may be configured for various functions.

[0232] Processor 2704 can be configured to generate, schedule, and modify resource assignments or grants to time-frequency resources (e.g., a set of one or more resource elements). For example, processor 2704 can schedule time-frequency resources within multiple time-division duplex (TDD) and / or frequency-division duplex (FDD) subframes, time slots, and / or mini-time slots to carry user data traffic and / or control information to and / or from multiple UEs. Processor 2704 can be configured to schedule resources for downlink signaling transmission. Processor 2704 can be further configured to schedule resources for uplink signaling transmission.

[0233] Processor 2704 may include communication and processing circuitry 2741. Communication and processing circuitry 2741 may include one or more hardware components providing a physical structure for performing various processes related to communication (e.g., signal reception and / or signal transmission) as described herein. Communication and processing circuitry 2741 may further include one or more hardware components providing a physical structure for performing various processes related to signal processing (e.g., processing received signals and / or processing signals for transmission) as described herein. Communication and processing circuitry 2741 may be further configured to execute communication and processing software 2751 included on computer-readable medium 2706 to implement one or more functions described herein.

[0234] In the example where the scheduling entity 2700 is a distributed unit, the communication and processing circuitry system 2741 can be configured to communicate with the radio unit via an outbound link. In some implementations, the communication and processing circuitry system 2741 can be configured to communicate with the parent node via one or more mid-range and / or backbound links.

[0235] In some implementations where communication involves receiving information, communication and processing circuitry system 2741 may obtain information from components of scheduling entity 2700 (e.g., from transceiver 2710 that receives information via radio frequency signaling or some other type of signaling suitable for the applicable communication medium), process (e.g., decode) the information, and output the processed information. For example, communication and processing circuitry system 2741 may output information to another component of processor 2704, to memory 2705, or to bus interface 2708. In some examples, communication and processing circuitry system 2741 may receive one or more of signals, messages, other information, or any combination thereof. In some examples, communication and processing circuitry system 2741 may receive information via one or more channels. In some examples, communication and processing circuitry system 2741 may include the functionality of means for receiving.

[0236] In some implementations where communication involves sending (e.g., transmitting) information, communication and processing circuitry system 2741 may obtain information from (e.g., from another component of processor 2704, memory 2705, or bus interface 2708), process (e.g., encode) that information, and output the processed information. For example, communication and processing circuitry system 2741 may output information to transceiver 2710 (e.g., to transmit information via radio frequency signaling or some other type of signaling suitable for the applicable communication medium). In some examples, communication and processing circuitry system 2741 may send one or more of signals, messages, other information, or any combination thereof. In some examples, communication and processing circuitry system 2741 may send information via one or more channels. In some examples, communication and processing circuitry system 2741 may include the functionality of means for sending (e.g., means for transmitting).

[0237] Processor 2704 may include scheduling circuitry 2742 configured to perform scheduling-related operations as discussed herein (e.g., communicating time slot scheduling to users). Scheduling circuitry 2742 may be configured to execute scheduling software 2752 included on computer-readable medium 2706 to implement one or more of the functions described herein.

[0238] The scheduling circuit system 2742 may include the functionality of means for generating control messages. For example, the scheduling circuit system 2742 may be configured to specify which symbols and REs in a time slot will carry one type of information (e.g., PDSCH) and which symbols and REs in a time slot will carry another type of information (e.g., DMRS), wherein the time slot may be allocated for uplink transmission from the UE or downlink transmission to the UE.

[0239] The scheduling circuit system 2742 may include functionality for transmitting indications of scheduling time slots. For example, the scheduling circuit system 2742 may be configured to transmit control plane messages including scheduling information to radio units.

[0240] Processor 2704 may include control plane processing circuitry 2743 configured to perform control plane processing related operations as discussed herein (e.g., generating a symbol mask and transmitting a control plane message including the symbol mask to a radio unit). Control plane processing circuitry 2743 may be configured to execute control plane processing software 2753 included on computer-readable medium 2706 to implement one or more of the functions described herein.

[0241] The control plane processing circuitry system 2743 may include functionality for generating control messages. For example, the control plane processing circuitry system 2743 may be configured to generate control plane messages having extended type information elements including symbol masks (e.g., Figure 8 Control plane message 804 shown in the image.

[0242] The control plane processing circuitry system 2743 may include functionality for transmitting control messages. For example, the control plane processing circuitry system 2743 may be configured to transmit control plane messages to a radio unit via a forward link.

[0243] Figure 28 This is a flowchart illustrating an example communication method 2800 according to some aspects of this disclosure. As described below, some or all of the described features may be omitted in a particular implementation within the scope of this disclosure, and some described features may not be required for implementing all examples. In some examples, the communication method 2800 may be... Figure 27 The scheduling entity 2700 described herein shall execute this. In some examples, the communication method 2800 may be executed by any suitable device or apparatus for performing the functions or algorithms described below.

[0244] In box 2802, the scheduling entity can transmit instructions for time slots to the radio unit. For example, the above combined Figure 27 The scheduling circuit system 2742 shown and described, together with the communication and processing circuit system 2741 and the transceiver 2710, can provide means for transmitting instructions on time slots to the radio unit.

[0245] In box 2804, the scheduling entity can transmit a control message to the radio unit, the control message including at least one symbol mask for at least one symbol of the time slot and at least one resource element mask for at least one resource element of the time slot. For example, the above combined Figure 27 The scheduling circuit system 2742 shown and described, together with the communication and processing circuit system 2741 and the transceiver 2710, can provide means for transmitting control messages to the radio unit, the control messages including at least one symbol mask for at least one symbol of the time slot and at least one resource element mask for at least one resource element of the time slot.

[0246] In some examples, the at least one symbol mask indicates at least one modulation compression parameter for at least one symbol of a time slot.

[0247] In some examples, the at least one symbol mask may include a first symbol mask specifying a first modulation scaler value for a first set of symbols, and a second symbol mask specifying a second modulation scaler value different from the first modulation scaler value for a second set of symbols, wherein the first symbol set is different from the second symbol set. In some examples, the control message may include a first segment identifier for the first symbol set and a second segment identifier for the second symbol set, wherein the first segment identifier is different from the second segment identifier. In some examples, the at least one symbol mask may include a third symbol mask specifying the first modulation scaler value for the second symbol set.

[0248] In some examples, the control message may include a first resource element mask, a second resource element mask, and a third resource element mask. The first resource element mask specifies multiple resource elements in a first symbol set to which a first modulation scaler value will be applied. The second resource element mask specifies a subset of the first resource elements in a second symbol set to which a second modulation scaler value will be applied. The third resource element mask specifies a subset of the second resource elements in a second symbol set to which the first modulation scaler value will be applied, wherein the first resource element subset is different from the second resource element subset. In some examples, the second and third resource element masks are mutually exclusive. In some examples, the first modulation scaler value is used for a QAM scheme of a first quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) order, where the first QAM order is any QAM order, and the second modulation scaler value is used for a phase shift keying (PSK) modulation QAM scheme of a second QAM order, where the second QAM order is any QAM order other than the first QAM order.

[0249] In some examples, the control message may be an Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) control plane message, and the ORAN control plane message may include an application layer segment extension containing at least one modulation compression parameter. In some examples, the application layer segment extension may include an extension type having a symbol mask parameter and extension type 4 information elements, extension type 5 information elements, or a phase tracking reference signal frequency density parameter.

[0250] In some examples, the at least one symbol mask indicates symbol allocation within a set of consecutive resource blocks in a time slot. In some examples, the symbol allocation identifies the symbols allocated to the user in that time slot.

[0251] In some examples, the at least one symbol mask may include a first symbol mask specifying a first set of symbols for a first allocation of symbols and a second symbol mask specifying a second set of symbols for a second allocation of symbols, wherein the first set of symbols and the second set of symbols are mutually exclusive. In some examples, the first set of symbols and the second set of symbols are non-contiguous. In some examples, the control message may include a first segment identifier for the first set of symbols and a second segment identifier for the second set of symbols, wherein the first segment identifier is equal to the second segment identifier.

[0252] In some examples, the control message may be an Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) control plane message, and the ORAN control plane message may include an application layer segment extension for resource allocation containing the at least one symbol mask. In some examples, the application layer segment extension does not include resource block size parameters and resource block group masks. In some examples, the application layer segment extension may include extension type 6 information elements. In some examples, the application layer segment extension may include phase tracking reference signal frequency density parameters. In some examples, the application layer segment extension may include resource block size parameters and resource block group masks.

[0253] Figure 29 This is a flowchart illustrating an example communication method 2900 according to some aspects of this disclosure. In some examples, one or more aspects of the communication method 2900 may be... Figure 28 The communication method 2800 is used in combination (e.g., as part of it and / or as a supplement to it). As described below, some or all of the described features may be omitted in a particular implementation within the scope of this disclosure, and some described features may not be required for implementation of all examples. In some examples, the communication method 2900 may be... Figure 27 The scheduling entity 2700 described herein shall execute this. In some examples, the communication method 2900 may be executed by any suitable device or apparatus for performing the functions or algorithms described below.

[0254] In box 2902, the scheduling entity can schedule time slots for users. For example, the above combined Figure 27 The scheduling circuit system 2742 shown and described can provide means for scheduling time slots for users.

[0255] In box 2904, the scheduling entity can generate a control message, wherein the control message may include at least one symbol mask indicating at least one modulation and compression parameter for at least one symbol of the time slot. For example, the above combined Figure 27 The control surface processing circuit system 2743 shown and described can provide means for generating control messages.

[0256] In some examples, the control message may include an Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) control plane message. In some examples, the ORAN control plane message may include an application layer segment extension containing the at least one modulation compression parameter. In some examples, the application layer segment extension may include an extension type having a symbol mask parameter and an ExtType 4 information element or an ExtType 5 information element.

[0257] In box 2906, the scheduling entity can transmit this control message to the radio unit. For example, the above combined Figure 27 The control surface processing circuitry 2743 shown and described, together with the communication and processing circuitry 2741 and the transceiver 2710, can provide means for transmitting the control message to the radio unit.

[0258] In some examples, the at least one symbol mask may include a first symbol mask that specifies a first modulation scaler value for a first set of symbols of the at least one symbol. In some examples, the at least one symbol mask may include a second symbol mask that specifies a second modulation scaler value that is different from the first modulation scaler value for a second set of symbols of the at least one symbol, wherein the first symbol set is different from the second symbol set.

[0259] In some examples, the control message may further include a first segment identifier for a first symbol set. In some examples, the control message may further include a second segment identifier for a second symbol set, wherein the first segment identifier is different from the second segment identifier.

[0260] In some examples, the at least one symbol mask may include a third symbol mask specifying a first modulation scaler value for the second symbol set. In some examples, the control message may further include a first resource element mask specifying multiple resource elements in the first symbol set to which the first modulation scaler value is to be applied. In some examples, the control message may further include a second resource element mask specifying a subset of first resource elements in the second symbol set to which the second modulation scaler value is to be applied. In some examples, the control message may further include a third resource element mask specifying a subset of second resource elements in the second symbol set to which the first modulation scaler value is to be applied, wherein the first resource element subset is different from the second resource element subset. In some examples, the second and third resource element masks are mutually exclusive.

[0261] In some examples, the first modulation scaler value is used for quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) schemes. In some examples, the second modulation scaler value is used for phase shift keying (PSK) modulation schemes.

[0262] Figure 30 This is a flowchart illustrating an example communication method 3000 according to some aspects of this disclosure. In some examples, one or more aspects of the communication method 3000 may be... Figure 28 The communication method 2800 is used in combination (e.g., as part of it and / or as a supplement to it). As described below, some or all of the described features may be omitted in a particular implementation within the scope of this disclosure, and some described features may not be required for implementation of all examples. In some examples, the communication method 3000 may be... Figure 27 The scheduling entity 2700 described herein shall execute this. In some examples, the communication method 3000 may be executed by any suitable device or apparatus for performing the functions or algorithms described below.

[0263] In box 3002, the scheduling entity can schedule time slots for users. For example, the above combined Figure 27 The scheduling circuit system 2742 shown and described can provide means for scheduling time slots for users.

[0264] In box 3004, the scheduling entity can generate a control message, which may include at least one symbol mask indicating symbol allocation within a set of contiguous resource blocks in the time slot. In some examples, the symbol allocation identifies symbols allocated to users in the time slot. For example, the above combined... Figure 27 The control surface processing circuit system 2743 shown and described can provide means for generating control messages.

[0265] In box 3006, the scheduling entity can transmit this control message to the radio unit. For example, the above combined Figure 27 The control surface processing circuitry 2743 shown and described, together with the communication and processing circuitry 2741 and the transceiver 2710, can provide means for transmitting the control message to the radio unit.

[0266] In some examples, the at least one symbol mask may include a first symbol mask specifying a first set of symbols for a first assignment. In some examples, the at least one symbol mask may include a second symbol mask specifying a second set of symbols for a second assignment, wherein the first set of symbols and the second set of symbols are mutually exclusive. In some examples, the first set of symbols and the second set of symbols are non-contiguous.

[0267] In some examples, the control message may further include a first segment identifier for a first symbol set. In some examples, the control message may further include a second segment identifier for a second symbol set, wherein the first segment identifier is equal to the second segment identifier.

[0268] In some examples, the control message may include an Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) control plane message. In some examples, the ORAN control plane message may include an application layer segment extension for resource allocation containing the at least one symbol mask. In some examples, the application layer segment extension does not include resource block size parameters and a resource block group mask. In some examples, the application layer segment extension may include ExtType 6 information elements. In some examples, the application layer segment extension may include resource block size parameters and a resource block group mask.

[0269] In one configuration, scheduling entity 2700 includes: means for transmitting an indication of a time slot to a radio unit; and means for transmitting a control message to the radio unit, the control message including at least one symbol mask for at least one symbol of the time slot and at least one resource element mask for at least one resource element of the time slot. In one aspect, the aforementioned means may be... Figure 27 The processor 2704 shown is configured to perform the functions described in the aforementioned device (e.g., as discussed above). On the other hand, the aforementioned device may be a circuit or any equipment configured to perform the functions described in the aforementioned device.

[0270] Of course, in the above examples, the circuitry included in processor 2704 is provided merely as an example, and other means for performing the described functions may be included within various aspects of this disclosure, including but not limited to instructions stored in computer-readable medium 2706, or... Figure 1 , 2 Described in one or more of , 4-6, 22 and 27 and using, for example, this article regarding Figures 28-30 Any other suitable device or apparatus for the described method and / or algorithm.

[0271] In some examples, a method of communication at a network node may include: scheduling time slots for a user; generating a control message; and transmitting the control message to a radio unit. The control message may include at least one symbol mask indicating at least one modulation and compression parameter for at least one symbol for the time slot.

[0272] In some examples, a network node may include a transceiver, a memory, and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory. The processor and the memory may be configured to: schedule time slots for users; generate control messages; and transmit the control messages to a radio unit via the transceiver. The control message may include at least one symbol mask indicating at least one modulation and compression parameter for at least one symbol of the time slot.

[0273] In some examples, a network node may include: means for scheduling time slots for users; means for generating control messages; and means for transmitting the control messages to radio units. The control message may include at least one symbol mask indicating at least one modulation and compression parameter for at least one symbol of the time slot.

[0274] In some examples, an article of art for use by a network node includes a non-transient computer-readable medium storing instructions executable by one or more processors of the network node to schedule time slots for a user; generate control messages; and transmit the control messages to a radio unit. The control messages may include at least one symbol mask indicating at least one modulation and compression parameter for at least one symbol of the time slot.

[0275] In some examples, a method of communication at a radio unit may include: receiving a control message from a network node; and obtaining at least one symbol mask from the control message. The at least one symbol mask may indicate at least one modulation compression parameter for at least one symbol in a time slot. The method may also include conveying information during the time slot, wherein conveying the information during the time slot may include modulating the information using the at least one modulation compression parameter.

[0276] In some examples, a radio unit may include a transceiver, a memory, and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory. The processor and the memory may be configured to receive control messages from a network node and obtain at least one symbol mask from the control messages. The at least one symbol mask may indicate at least one modulation and compression parameter for at least one symbol in a time slot. The processor and the memory may also be configured to transmit information via the transceiver during the time slot, wherein transmitting information during the time slot may include modulating the information using the at least one modulation and compression parameter.

[0277] In some examples, a radio unit may include: means for receiving control messages from a network node; and means for obtaining at least one symbol mask from the control messages. The at least one symbol mask may indicate at least one modulation and compression parameter for at least one symbol in a time slot. The wireless communication device may also include means for transmitting information during the time slot, wherein transmitting the information during the time slot may include modulating the information using the at least one modulation and compression parameter.

[0278] In some examples, an article of manufacture for use by a radio unit includes a non-transient computer-readable medium storing instructions executable by one or more processors of the radio unit to receive control messages from a network node and obtain at least one symbol mask from the control messages. The at least one symbol mask may indicate at least one modulation and compression parameter for at least one symbol in a time slot. The computer-readable medium may also store instructions executable by one or more processors of a wireless communication device to perform the following operations: conveying information during the time slot, wherein conveying information during the time slot may include modulating the information using the at least one modulation and compression parameter.

[0279] In some examples, a method of communication at a network node may include: scheduling time slots for a user; generating a control message; and transmitting the control message to a radio unit. The control message may include at least one symbol mask indicating symbol allocation within a set of consecutive resource blocks of the time slot.

[0280] In some examples, a network node may include a transceiver, a memory, and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory. The processor and the memory may be configured to: schedule time slots for users; generate control messages; and transmit the control messages to radio units via the transceiver. The control messages may include at least one symbol mask indicating symbol allocation within a set of consecutive resource blocks of the time slot.

[0281] In some examples, a network node may include: means for scheduling time slots for users; means for generating control messages; and means for transmitting the control messages to radio units. The control message may include at least one symbol mask indicating symbol allocation within a set of consecutive resource blocks of the time slot.

[0282] In some examples, an article of art for use by a network node includes a non-transient computer-readable medium storing instructions executable by one or more processors of the network node to schedule time slots for a user; generate control messages; and transmit the control messages to a radio unit. The control messages may include at least one symbol mask indicating symbol allocation within a set of consecutive resource blocks of the time slot.

[0283] In some examples, a method of communication at a radio unit may include: receiving a control message from a network node; and obtaining at least one symbol mask from the control message. The at least one symbol mask may indicate symbol allocation within a contiguous set of resource blocks in a time slot. The method may also include conveying information based on the symbol allocation during the time slot.

[0284] In some examples, a radio unit may include a transceiver, a memory, and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory. The processor and the memory may be configured to receive control messages from a network node and obtain at least one symbol mask from the control messages. The at least one symbol mask may indicate symbol allocation within a set of consecutive resource blocks in a time slot. The processor and the memory may also be configured to transmit information via the transceiver during that time slot according to the symbol allocation.

[0285] In some examples, a radio unit may include: means for receiving control messages from a network node; and means for obtaining at least one symbol mask from the control messages. The at least one symbol mask may indicate symbol allocation within a set of consecutive resource blocks in a time slot. The radio unit may also include means for conveying information during the time slot according to the symbol allocation.

[0286] In some examples, an article of manufacture for use by a radio unit includes a non-transient computer-readable medium storing instructions executable by one or more processors of the radio unit to receive control messages from a network node and obtain at least one symbol mask from the control messages. The at least one symbol mask may indicate symbol allocation within a set of consecutive resource blocks in a time slot. The computer-readable medium may also store instructions executable by one or more processors of the user equipment to convey information during the time slot according to the symbol allocation.

[0287] Figure 24-26 The methods shown in 28-30 may include additional aspects, such as any single aspect or any combination of aspects described below and / or in conjunction with one or more other processes described elsewhere herein. An overview of several aspects of this disclosure is provided below:

[0288] Aspect 1: A method for communicating at a scheduling entity, the method comprising: transmitting an indication of a time slot to a radio unit; and transmitting a control message to the radio unit, the control message including at least one symbol mask for at least one symbol of the time slot and at least one resource element mask for at least one resource element of the time slot.

[0289] Aspect 2: The method of aspect 1, wherein the at least one symbol mask indicates at least one modulation compression parameter for at least one symbol of the time slot.

[0290] Aspect 3: The method of aspect 2, wherein the at least one symbol mask comprises: a first symbol mask specifying a first modulation scaler value for a first symbol set of the at least one symbol; and a second symbol mask specifying a second modulation scaler value different from the first modulation scaler value for a second symbol set of the at least one symbol, wherein the first symbol set is different from the second symbol set.

[0291] Aspect 4: The method of aspect 3, wherein the control message further includes: a first segment identifier for a first symbol set; and a second segment identifier for a second symbol set, wherein the first segment identifier is different from the second segment identifier.

[0292] Aspect 5: The method of any of Aspects 3 to 4, wherein: the at least one symbol mask includes a third symbol mask that specifies a first modulation scaler value for the second symbol set.

[0293] Aspect 6: The method of Aspect 5, wherein the control message further includes: a first resource element mask specifying a plurality of resource elements in a first symbol set to which a first modulation scaler value will be applied; a second resource element mask specifying a subset of first resource elements in a second symbol set to which a second modulation scaler value will be applied; and a third resource element mask specifying a subset of second resource elements in a second symbol set to which the first modulation scaler value will be applied, wherein the first resource element subset is different from the second resource element subset.

[0294] Aspect 7: The method of aspect 6, wherein the second resource element mask and the third resource element mask are mutually exclusive.

[0295] Aspect 8: The method of any of Aspects 3 to 7, wherein: a first modulation scaler value is used for a QAM scheme of a first quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) order, wherein the first QAM order is any QAM order; and a second modulation scaler value is used for a phase shift keying (PSK) modulation QAM scheme of a second QAM order, wherein the second QAM order is any QAM order other than the first QAM order.

[0296] Aspect 9: The method of any of Aspects 2 to 8, wherein: the control message includes an Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) control plane message; and the ORAN control plane message includes an application layer segment extension containing at least one modulation and compression parameter.

[0297] Aspect 10: The method of aspect 9, wherein the application layer segment extension includes an extension type having the following: symbol mask parameters; and extension type 4 information elements, extension type 5 information elements, or phase tracking reference signal frequency density parameters.

[0298] Aspect 11: The method of any of Aspects 1 to 10, wherein the at least one symbol mask indicates symbol allocation within a set of consecutive resource blocks in the time slot.

[0299] Aspect 12: The method of aspect 11, wherein the at least one symbol mask comprises: a first symbol mask specifying a first set of symbols for a first allocation of the symbol; and a second symbol mask specifying a second set of symbols for a second allocation of the symbol, wherein the first set of symbols and the second set of symbols are mutually exclusive.

[0300] Aspect 13: The method of aspect 12, wherein the first symbol set and the second symbol set are non-contiguous.

[0301] Aspect 14: The method of any of Aspects 12 to 13, wherein the control message further includes: a first segment identifier for a first symbol set; and a second segment identifier for a second symbol set, wherein the first segment identifier is equal to the second segment identifier.

[0302] Aspect 15: The method of any of Aspects 11 to 14, wherein the symbol allocation identifies the symbol allocated to the user in the time slot.

[0303] Aspect 16: The method of any of Aspects 11 to 15, wherein: the control message includes an Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) control plane message; and the ORAN control plane message includes an application layer segment extension for resource allocation containing the at least one symbol mask.

[0304] Aspect 17: The method of aspect 16, wherein the application layer segment extension includes a phase tracking reference signal frequency density parameter.

[0305] Aspect 19: A method for communicating at a radio unit, the method comprising: receiving a control message including at least one symbol mask for at least one symbol of a time slot and at least one resource element mask for at least one resource element of the time slot; and conveying information during the time slot, wherein the information is conveyed according to the at least one symbol mask.

[0306] Aspect 20: The method of aspect 19, wherein the at least one symbol mask indicates at least one modulation compression parameter for at least one symbol of the time slot.

[0307] Aspect 21: The method of aspect 20, wherein the at least one symbol mask comprises: a first symbol mask specifying a first modulation scaler value for a first symbol set of the at least one symbol; and a second symbol mask specifying a second modulation scaler value different from the first modulation scaler value for a second symbol set of the at least one symbol, wherein the first symbol set is different from the second symbol set.

[0308] Aspect 22: The method of aspect 21, wherein the control message further includes: a first segment identifier for a first symbol set; and a second segment identifier for a second symbol set, wherein the first segment identifier is different from the second segment identifier.

[0309] Aspect 23: The method of any of Aspects 21 to 22, wherein: the at least one symbol mask includes a third symbol mask that specifies a first modulation scaler value for the second symbol set.

[0310] Aspect 24: The method of any of Aspects 21 to 23, wherein: a first modulation scaler value is used for a QAM scheme of a first quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) order, and a second modulation scaler value is used for a QAM scheme of a second QAM order different from the first QAM order.

[0311] Aspect 25: The method of any of Aspects 20 to 24 further includes: modulating the information using at least one modulation compression parameter.

[0312] Aspect 26: The method of aspect 19, wherein the at least one symbol mask indicates symbol allocation within a set of consecutive resource blocks in the time slot.

[0313] Aspect 27: The method of aspect 26, wherein the at least one symbol mask comprises: a first symbol mask specifying a first set of symbols for a first allocation of the symbol; and a second symbol mask specifying a second set of symbols for a second allocation of the symbol, wherein the first set of symbols and the second set of symbols are mutually exclusive.

[0314] Aspect 28: The method of any of Aspects 19 to 27, wherein: the control message includes an Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) control plane message; the ORAN control plane message includes an application layer segment extension for resource allocation containing the at least one symbol mask; and the application layer segment extension includes a phase tracking reference signal frequency density parameter.

[0315] Aspect 29: The method of any of Aspects 19 to 28, wherein the information includes: downlink transmissions to the user; or uplink transmissions from the user.

[0316] Aspect 30: A scheduling entity comprising: a transceiver configured to communicate with a radio access network; a memory; and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the processor and the memory are configured to perform any of aspects 1 to 17.

[0317] Aspect 31: A device configured for wireless communication, comprising at least one means for performing any of aspects 1 to 17.

[0318] Aspect 32: A non-transient computer-readable medium storing computer-executable code, the computer-executable code including code for causing a device to perform any of Aspects 1 to 17.

[0319] Aspect 33: A radio unit comprising: a transceiver; a memory; and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the processor and the memory are configured to perform any of aspects 19 to 29.

[0320] Aspect 34: A device configured for wireless communication, comprising at least one means for performing any of aspects 19 to 29.

[0321] Aspect 35: A non-transient computer-readable medium storing computer-executable code, the computer-executable code including code for causing a device to perform any of Aspects 19 to 29.

[0322] Several aspects of wireless communication networks have been illustrated with reference to examples. As will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, the various aspects described herein can be extended to other telecommunications systems, network architectures, and communication standards.

[0323] As examples, various aspects can be implemented within other systems defined by 3GPP, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), Evolved Packet System (EPS), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), and / or Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). These aspects can also be extended to systems defined by 3GPP2, such as CDMA2000 and / or Evolved Data Optimized (EV-DO). Other examples can be implemented within systems employing IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Ultra Wideband (UWB), Bluetooth, and / or other suitable systems. The actual telecommunications standards, network architecture, and / or communication standards employed will depend on the specific application and the overall design constraints imposed on the system.

[0324] Within this disclosure, the term "exemplary" is used to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any implementation or aspect described herein as "exemplary" need not be construed as superior to or better than other aspects of this disclosure. Similarly, the term "aspect" does not require that all aspects of this disclosure include the features, advantages, or modes of operation discussed. The term "coupling" is used herein to refer to direct or indirect coupling between two objects. For example, if object A physically contacts object B, and object B contacts object C, then objects A and C can still be considered coupled to each other—even if they are not in direct physical contact. For example, a first object can be coupled to a second object, even if the first object never directly contacts the second object. The terms "circuit" and "circuit system" are used broadly and are intended to include both hardware implementations of electronic devices and conductors, and software implementations of information and instructions, which, when connected and configured, enable the performance of the functions described in this disclosure, without limitation on the type of electronic circuit, and which, when executed by a processor, enable the performance of the functions described in this disclosure.

[0325] Figures 1 to 30 One or more of the components, steps, features, and / or functions described herein may be rearranged and / or combined into a single component, step, feature, or function, or may be implemented in several components, steps, or functions. Additional elements, components, steps, and / or functions may also be added without departing from the novel features disclosed herein. Figure 1 , 2 The apparatus, device, and / or component described in any or more of 4–6, 22, 23, or 27 may be configured to perform one or more of the methods, features, or steps described herein. The novel algorithms described herein may also be efficiently implemented in software and / or embedded in hardware.

[0326] It should be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of the steps in the disclosed methods is an explanation of the exemplary process. Based on design preferences, it will be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of the steps in these methods can be rearranged. The appended method claims present the elements of the various steps in an exemplary order and are not intended to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented, unless specifically stated herein.

[0327] The preceding description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will readily be understood by those skilled in the art, and the universal principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects. Therefore, the claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but are to be granted the full scope consistent with the language of the claims, wherein references to the singular form of an element are not intended to mean “one and only one”—unless specifically stated otherwise—but are intended to mean “one or more.” Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term “some / a” refers to one or more. The phrase “at least one of” referring to a list of items refers to any combination of these items, including a single member. As an example, “at least one of a, b, or c” is intended to cover: a; b; c; a and b; a and c; b and c; and a, b, and c. All structural and functional equivalents of the aspects described throughout this disclosure that are currently or hereafter known to a person skilled in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be covered by the claims. Furthermore, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be donated to the public, whether or not such disclosure is expressly stated in the claims.

Claims

1. A network entity, comprising: One or more memories, wherein the one or more memories store processor-executable code; as well as One or more processors, the one or more processors being configured to execute processor-executable code and cause the network entity to: Transmit instructions for time slots to the radio unit; as well as A control message is transmitted to the radio unit, the control message including at least one symbol mask for at least one symbol of the time slot, wherein the at least one symbol mask includes: A first symbol mask that specifies a first modulation scaler value for a first symbol set of the at least one symbol; as well as A second symbol mask is assigned to the second symbol set of the at least one symbol, which is a second modulation scaler value that is different from the first modulation scaler value, wherein the first symbol set is different from the second symbol set.

2. The network entity of claim 1, wherein the at least one symbol mask indicates at least one modulation and compression parameter for the at least one symbol of the time slot.

3. The network entity as claimed in claim 2, wherein the control message further comprises: The first segment identifier of the first code set; as well as The second segment identifier for the second code set, wherein the first segment identifier is different from the second segment identifier.

4. The network entity as described in claim 1, wherein: The at least one symbol mask includes a third symbol mask that specifies the first modulation scaler value for the second symbol set.

5. The network entity of claim 4, wherein the control message further comprises: A first resource element mask, which specifies multiple resource elements in the first symbol set to which the first modulation scaler value is to be applied; A second resource element mask, which specifies the first subset of resource elements to which the second modulation scaler value in the second symbol set is to be applied; as well as A third resource element mask, wherein the third resource element mask specifies a second subset of resource elements to which the first modulation scaler value in the second symbol set is to be applied, wherein the first subset of resource elements is different from the second subset of resource elements.

6. The network entity as claimed in claim 5, wherein the second resource element mask and the third resource element mask are mutually exclusive.

7. The network entity as claimed in claim 1, wherein: The first modulation scaler value is used for a QAM scheme with a first quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) order, wherein the first QAM order is any QAM order; and The second modulation scaler value is used for a phase shift keying (PSK) modulation QAM scheme of a second QAM order, wherein the second QAM order is any QAM order other than the first QAM order.

8. The network entity as described in claim 2, wherein: The control messages include Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) control plane messages; and The ORAN control plane message includes an application layer segment extension containing at least one modulation and compression parameter.

9. The network entity of claim 8, wherein the application layer segment extension includes an extension type having the following: Symbol mask parameters; and Extended type 4 information element, extended type 5 information element, or phase tracking reference signal frequency density parameter.

10. The network entity of claim 1, wherein the at least one symbol mask indicates symbol allocation within a set of consecutive resource blocks of the time slot.

11. The network entity of claim 10, wherein the at least one symbol mask comprises: The first symbol mask that specifies the first symbol set for the first allocation of the symbol; as well as A second symbol mask that specifies a second symbol set for the second allocation of the symbol, wherein the first symbol set and the second symbol set are mutually exclusive.

12. The network entity of claim 11, wherein the first symbol set and the second symbol set are non-contiguous.

13. The network entity of claim 11, wherein the control message further comprises: The first segment identifier of the first code set; as well as For the second segment identifier of the second code set, wherein the first segment identifier is equal to the second segment identifier.

14. The network entity of claim 10, wherein the symbol allocation identifies the symbols allocated to the user in the time slot.

15. The network entity as claimed in claim 10, wherein: The control messages include Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) control plane messages; and The ORAN control plane message includes an application layer segment extension for resource allocation containing the at least one symbol mask.

16. The network entity of claim 15, wherein the application layer segment extension includes a phase tracking reference signal frequency density parameter.

17. A method for communicating at a network entity, the method comprising: Transmit instructions for time slots to the radio unit; as well as A control message is transmitted to the radio unit, the control message including at least one symbol mask for at least one symbol of the time slot, wherein the at least one symbol mask includes: A first symbol mask that specifies a first modulation scaler value for a first symbol set of the at least one symbol; as well as A second symbol mask is assigned to the second symbol set of the at least one symbol, which is a second modulation scaler value that is different from the first modulation scaler value, wherein the first symbol set is different from the second symbol set.

18. A radio unit comprising: One or more memories, wherein the one or more memories store processor-executable code; as well as One or more processors, wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute processor executable code and cause the radio unit to: Receive a control message, the control message including at least one symbol mask for at least one symbol of a time slot, the at least one symbol mask including: A first symbol mask that specifies a first modulation scaler value for a first symbol set of the at least one symbol; and A second symbol mask is assigned to the second symbol set of the at least one symbol as a second modulation scaler value that is different from the first modulation scaler value, wherein the first symbol set is different from the second symbol set; and Information is conveyed during the time slot, wherein the information is conveyed according to the at least one symbol mask.

19. The radio unit of claim 18, wherein the at least one symbol mask indicates at least one modulation compression parameter for the at least one symbol of the time slot.

20. The radio unit of claim 19, wherein the control message further comprises: The first segment identifier of the first code set; as well as The second segment identifier for the second code set, wherein the first segment identifier is different from the second segment identifier.

21. The radio unit of claim 19, wherein The at least one symbol mask includes a third symbol mask that specifies the first modulation scaler value for the second symbol set.

22. The radio unit as claimed in claim 19, wherein: The first modulation scaler value is used for a QAM scheme of the first quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) order; and The second modulation scaler value is used for a QAM scheme with a second QAM order that is different from the first QAM order.

23. The radio unit of claim 18, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to execute processor-executable code and cause the radio unit to: The information is modulated using the at least one modulation and compression parameter.

24. The radio unit of claim 18, wherein the at least one symbol mask indicates symbol allocation within a set of consecutive resource blocks of the time slot.

25. The radio unit of claim 24, wherein the at least one symbol mask comprises: The first symbol mask that specifies the first symbol set for the first allocation of the symbol; as well as A second symbol mask that specifies a second symbol set for the second allocation of the symbol, wherein the first symbol set and the second symbol set are mutually exclusive.

26. The radio unit as claimed in claim 18, wherein: The control messages include Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) control plane messages; The ORAN control plane message includes an application layer segment extension for resource allocation containing the at least one symbol mask; and The application layer segment extension includes the phase tracking reference signal frequency density parameter.

27. The radio unit of claim 18, wherein the information includes: Downlink transmission to the user; or Uplink transmission from the user.

28. A method for communicating at a radio unit, the method comprising: Receive a control message, the control message including at least one symbol mask for at least one symbol of a time slot, the at least one symbol mask including: A first symbol mask that specifies a first modulation scaler value for a first symbol set of the at least one symbol; and A second symbol mask is assigned to the second symbol set of the at least one symbol as a second modulation scaler value that is different from the first modulation scaler value, wherein the first symbol set is different from the second symbol set; and Information is conveyed during the time slot, wherein the information is conveyed according to the at least one symbol mask.

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