Multi-device synchronization and data transmission

Abstract

This disclosure relates to "Multi-Device Synchronization and Data Transmission." A first user equipment (UE) exchanges, over a side channel, at least a portion of data to be transmitted to a communication network with a second UE. The UEs then transmit the data to the network with increased transmit power by using transmit antennas of both the first UE and the second UE, rather than just those of the first UE. In some cases, the second UE can transmit a change to the data sent by the first UE to perform transmit diversity and improve signal-to-noise ratio. To avoid unintended beamforming of the transmissions, the network can mix signals received at the same time period but at different subcarriers (e.g., with the same symbol), or mix signals received at different time periods but at the same subcarrier. The network can inform the UEs of phase correction values based on the signals, and the UEs can use the phase correction values to adjust.

Description

[0001] Cross-references to related applications

[0002] This application claims U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 247,476, filed September 23, 2021, entitled “MULTI-DEVICE SYNCHRONIZATION AND DATA TRANMISSION,” the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Background Technology

[0003] This disclosure relates in general to wireless communication, and more specifically to increasing transmit power and / or data throughput in wireless communication devices.

[0004] A common challenge for user equipment (e.g., wireless communication devices) is the limitation of transmit power, which prevents the user equipment from sending data to a receiver (e.g., network equipment such as a base station or satellite). These limitations may include the limited capacity of the power source (e.g., a battery) and regulatory constraints on transmit power. Large distances between the device and the receiver can exacerbate this problem, resulting in significant path loss for the transmitted signal.

[0005] Another common problem faced by user equipment is insufficient data throughput. While allocating more time and / or frequency to wireless communications can help alleviate this problem, doing so requires valuable network resources. Furthermore, although spatial multiplexing techniques can be used to transmit and receive multiple concurrent signals, this requires adding more antennas—to both the transmitters of the user equipment and the receivers of the network devices—which can be impossible or expensive to implement. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The following outlines some of the embodiments disclosed herein. It should be understood that these aspects are presented merely to provide the reader with a concise overview of these particular embodiments, and are not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. In fact, this disclosure may cover many aspects not set forth below.

[0007] In one embodiment, the user equipment includes: a transmitter; a receiver; and processing circuitry communicatively coupled to the transmitter and the receiver. The processing circuitry uses the transmitter and receiver to exchange data to be transmitted to a communication hub with other user equipment. The processing circuitry also uses the transmitter to send an indication that data is ready for transmission to the communication hub. The processing circuitry uses the receiver to further receive data authorized for transmission from the communication hub and uses the transmitter to send the data to the communication hub.

[0008] In another embodiment, the communication hub includes: a transmitter; a receiver; and signal processing circuitry having a mixer, a low-pass filter, and a phase detector. The communication hub also includes processing circuitry communicatively coupled to the transmitter and the receiver. The processing circuitry receives a first signal from a first user equipment and a second signal from a second user equipment via the receiver. The processing circuitry sends the first and second signals to the signal processing circuitry and receives from the signal processing circuitry an indication of the phase difference between the first and second signals. The processing circuitry further causes the first user equipment, the second user equipment, or both to adjust the phase based on the phase difference.

[0009] In another embodiment, a method for wireless communication includes: receiving a first signal having a first power level from a first user equipment at a communication hub; receiving a second signal having a second power level from a second user equipment at a communication hub; and transmitting a phase-adjusted signal to at least one of the first and second user equipments based on a phase difference between the first and second signals. The method further includes: receiving data from the first and second user equipments at a third power level higher than or equal to the first power level, the second power level, or both, based on the phase-adjusted signal.

[0010] Various modifications to the above-described features may exist with respect to various aspects of the invention. Other features may also be incorporated into these aspects. These modifications and additional features may exist individually or in any combination. For example, various features discussed below relating to one or more illustrated embodiments may be incorporated individually or in any combination into any of the above aspects of the invention. The brief summary presented above is intended only to familiarize the reader with specific aspects and context of the embodiments disclosed herein and does not limit the claimed subject matter. Attached Figure Description

[0011] Various aspects of this disclosure can be better understood by reading the following detailed description and referring to the accompanying drawings, wherein similar figures refer to similar parts.

[0012] Figure 1 It is a block diagram of user equipment (e.g., electronic devices) according to an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0013] Figure 2 It is based on the implementation scheme of this disclosure. Figure 1 Functional diagram of user equipment (“UE”);

[0014] Figure 3 It is based on the implementation scheme of this disclosure. Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the UE's transmitter;

[0015] Figure 4This is a schematic diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the communication system having a wireless communication network supported by a communication hub and including... Figure 1 UE

[0016] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of a communication system with multiple UEs according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein the multiple UEs send signals to a receiver (e.g., a communication hub);

[0017] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of a communication system with multiple UEs according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein the multiple UEs will Figure 5 The changes in the signal shown are sent to the receiver to perform transmit diversity;

[0018] Figure 7 According to the embodiments of this disclosure, multiple UEs can send data to... Figure 4 The flowchart of the network approach, in which the UE plays a primary and secondary role;

[0019] Figure 8 According to the embodiments of this disclosure, multiple UEs can send data to... Figure 4 The flowchart of the network approach, in which the UE plays an equal role;

[0020] Figure 9 This is a diagram illustrating operations that can be performed by multiple UEs using a side channel or side link according to an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0021] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of a communication system with two UEs according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, which transmit signals to (e.g., Figure 4 A wireless network communication hub has a receiver with two receiving antennas;

[0022] Figure 11 This is a schematic diagram of a communication system with four UEs according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein the four UEs transmit signals to four receiving antennas (e.g., using four transmit antennas). Figure 4 The receiver of a wireless network communication hub;

[0023] Figure 12 It is a set of drawings of RS structures for receiving demodulation reference signal (DMRS) carrying symbols in the same time period and at different subcarriers according to the embodiments of this disclosure;

[0024] Figure 13 This is a schematic diagram of the signal processing chain of a receiver in a communication hub of a network according to an embodiment of this disclosure, wherein the receiver operates at different subcarriers within the same time period (e.g., using...). Figure 12The RS structure receives (e.g., DMRS signals with the same DMRS carry symbols);

[0025] Figure 14 According to the embodiments of this disclosure, the first UE and / or the second UE are based on the same time period and at different subcarriers (e.g., using...). Figure 12 A flowchart of a method for aligning the phases of DMRS signals (e.g., those with the same DMRS carry symbols) received by an RS structure.

[0026] Figure 15 It is a set of drawings of RS structures for receiving demodulation reference signal (DMRS) carrying symbols in the same time period and at different subcarriers according to the embodiments of this disclosure;

[0027] Figure 16 This is a schematic diagram of the signal processing chain of a receiver in a communication hub of a network according to an embodiment of this disclosure, the receiver at different time periods and on the same subcarrier (e.g., using...). Figure 15 The RS structure receives (e.g., DMRS signals with the same DMRS carry symbols); and

[0028] Figure 17 According to the embodiments of this disclosure, the first UE and / or the second UE are based on different time periods and on the same subcarrier (e.g., using...). Figure 15 A flowchart of a method for aligning the phases of DMRS signals received (e.g., signals with the same DMRS carrier symbols) with each other. Detailed Implementation

[0029] One or more specific implementations will be described below. To provide a brief description of these implementations, not all characteristics of the actual implementations are described in this specification. It should be understood that in the development of any such actual implementation, as in any engineering or design project, decisions must be made specific to many implementations to achieve the developer's specific objectives, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints that may vary from one implementation to another. Furthermore, it should be understood that such development work can be complex and time-consuming, but will still be routine work of design, fabrication, and manufacturing for those skilled in the art who benefit from this disclosure.

[0030] When describing elements of various embodiments of this disclosure, the articles “an” and “the” are intended to refer to one or more of the elements present. The terms “comprising,” “including,” and “having” are intended to be included and to indicate the presence of additional elements besides those listed. Additionally, it should be understood that reference to “an embodiment” or “an embodiment” of this disclosure is not intended to be construed as excluding the existence of additional embodiments also incorporating the cited features. Furthermore, specific features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in one or more embodiments in any suitable manner. The use of the terms “generally,” “approximately,” “about,” “close to,” and / or “substantially” should be understood to mean including close to the target (e.g., design, value, quantity), such as within limits of any suitable or conceivable error (e.g., within 0.1% of the target, within 1% of the target, within 5% of the target, within 10% of the target, within 25% of the target, etc.). Furthermore, it should be understood that any exact values, figures, measurements, etc. provided herein are intended to be approximate values ​​(e.g., within suitable or intended error limits).

[0031] One of the main challenges of user equipment (e.g., wireless communication devices) is the limitation of transmit power. These limitations can be due to the limited capacity of the power source (e.g., battery) and / or regulatory constraints on transmit power. Furthermore, due to the large distances between the user equipment (“UE”) and communication hubs (such as base stations, high-altitude base stations, satellites, ground stations, access points, etc.), the transmitted signal can experience significant path loss. In the case of inter-UE communication, the receiving UE may not have high antenna gain (e.g., compared to a communication hub). In some cases, implementing multiple receive antennas, higher transmit power, and / or signal retransmission (e.g., and combining signals at the receiver) can improve the quality of the received signal. However, these improvements may still be insufficient to meet certain reception quality standards.

[0032] Because a UE can have multiple transmit antennas, transmitting radio frequency (RF) signals on multiple antennas distributes the UE's total transmit power across those antennas. That is, if a UE has N transmit antennas and transmits signals concurrently on N transmit antennas, the transmit power of each signal on each transmit antenna is the UE's total transmit power divided by N. Therefore, to increase the UE's transmit power, the number of transmit antennas used for transmitting signals can be reduced and concentrated to a number less than the total number of transmit antennas on the UE. For example, if a UE has four transmit antennas, the UE can transmit signals through only one of these transmit antennas and use the UE's full transmit power on that single antenna. Furthermore, to increase throughput, the UE can send data destined for a communication hub to another UE (or more UEs), which can also use a reduced number of antennas to transmit data. In this way, by using multiple UEs, the transmit power of data can be increased while maintaining good throughput.

[0033] However, transmitting data only once on a reduced number of antennas in this way makes the RF signal susceptible to errors and lacks transmit redundancy. Therefore, other UEs can be used to perform transmit diversity to improve the signal-to-noise ratio in the signal by varying the transmitted signal. The signal and the variations can then be combined at the receiver to ensure good signal quality. Specifically, the first UE and the second UE can switch between waiting on, for example, a side channel (e.g., device-to-device or peer-to-peer channel such as a Wi-Fi channel, ultra-wideband (UWB) channel), The first and second symbols (e.g., data) are transmitted (e.g., to a communication hub in a network) over a channel, such as a near-field communication (NFC) channel. In some embodiments, one UE may act as a primary UE and another UE may act as a secondary UE, wherein the primary UE confirms that these symbols have been correctly exchanged (e.g., using the network). In other or alternative embodiments, the UEs may have the same role, such that both UEs can confirm that these symbols have been correctly exchanged (e.g., using the network).

[0034] The UE can then use Space-Time Orthogonal Block (STOB) coding to send the first and second symbols to the network (e.g., 4G or LTE). (Network, 5G, or new radio networks, etc.). For example, at a first time point, a first UE may transmit a first symbol to the network (e.g., using one antenna at the first UE's full transmit power), and a second UE may concurrently transmit a second symbol to the network (e.g., using one antenna at the second UE's full transmit power). The network may receive the first and second symbols as a single signal. At a second (e.g., subsequent) time point, the first UE may then transmit a variation of the first symbol (e.g., the negative complex conjugate of the second symbol) to the network (e.g., using one antenna at the first UE's full transmit power), and the second UE may concurrently transmit a variation of the second symbol (e.g., the complex conjugate of the first symbol) to the network (e.g., using one antenna at the first UE's full transmit power). The network may receive the variation of the first and second symbols as a single signal. The network may then use STOB decoding to extract the first and second symbols from the received signal. In this way, the UE can transmit symbols using a higher transmit power (e.g., at the full power of the respective UE) while ensuring good signal quality.

[0035] Another common problem faced by UEs is insufficient data throughput. While allocating more time and / or frequency to wireless communication can help alleviate this problem, doing so requires valuable network resources. Furthermore, although spatial multiplexing techniques can be used to transmit and receive multiple concurrent signals, this requires adding more antennas—to both the UE's transmitter and the network device's receiver—which can be impossible or expensive to implement. That is, hardware resources can be particularly constrained by the UE due to its limited size, power, and capabilities. For example, the number of transmit antennas is limited to a single UE, and increasing that number increases design complexity and cost.

[0036] Therefore, the first UE and the second UE can exchange a certain number of symbols (e.g., data) between the UEs, the number corresponding to up to the number of transmit antennas. Each UE can then transmit symbols, each symbol being transmitted by the UE's corresponding antenna. For example, if each UE has two transmit antennas, four symbols can be exchanged between the UEs, and the UE can concurrently transmit each symbol using its corresponding transmit antenna (e.g., one symbol per transmit antenna). In this way, the second UE can increase data throughput (e.g., double the data throughput in the previous example) compared to using only the first UE's transmit antennas. Advantageously, one UE can use the network registration parameters of the other UE, so that only one UE needs to register with the network. That is, from the network's perspective, only one UE is coupled, even though both UEs transmit symbols to the network. The network can use any suitable technique to extract symbols, including maximum likelihood (ML), zero-forcing (ZF), minimum mean square error (MMSE), continuous interference cancellation (SIC), ordered SIC (OSIC), etc.

[0037] In some cases, concurrent transmissions from different UEs can lead to unintended beamforming due to timing misalignment. This can result in unwanted signal cancellation at the communication hub. To avoid this problem, the network can align the phase of the received signals. To detect and correct phase differences, a reference signal (RS) structure is used to allocate resource elements to UEs alternately. RSs use the same symbol time, but these RSs are separated by frequency. Therefore, the network can receive only one RS on each subcarrier. In some implementations, the network can mix signals received in the same time period but on different subcarriers (e.g., with the same demodulation reference signal (DMRS) carrying symbols). In another or alternative implementation, the network can mix signals received in different time periods but on the same subcarrier (e.g., with the same DMRS carrying symbols). After detecting a phase difference, the network can notify N-1 of the N transmitting UEs of the phase correction value, and the N-1 UEs can shift the phase of their output signals based on this phase correction value.

[0038] While the disclosed implementations mention communication between the UE and a communication hub or network, it should be understood that these implementations can also be applied to communication between the UE and other electronic devices, such as other UEs.

[0039] Figure 1 This is a block diagram of a user equipment (“UE”) 10 (e.g., an electronic device) according to an embodiment of this disclosure. Among other things, the UE 10 may include one or more processors 12 (collectively referred to herein as a single processor, which may be implemented in any suitable form of processing circuitry), memory 14, non-volatile storage device 16, display 18, input structure 22, input / output (I / O) interface 24, network interface 26, and power supply 29. Figure 1 The various functional blocks shown may include hardware elements (including circuitry), software elements (including machine-executable instructions), or combinations of hardware and software elements (which may be referred to as logic). Processor 12, memory 14, non-volatile storage device 16, display 18, input structure 22, input / output (I / O) interface 24, network interface 26, and / or power supply 29 may each be directly or indirectly communicatively coupled to each other (e.g., via or through another component, communication bus, network) to transmit and / or receive data between them. It should be noted that... Figure 1 This is merely an example of a specific implementation and is intended to illustrate the types of components that can exist in UE 10.

[0040] By way of example, UE 10 may include any suitable computing device, including desktop or laptop computers (e.g., those available from Apple Inc. in Cupertino, California). Pro, MacBook mini or Mac (in the form of) portable or handheld electronic devices such as wireless electronic devices or smartphones (e.g., those available from Apple Inc. in Cupertino, California). (in the form of a model), tablet computers (e.g., those available from Apple Inc. in Cupertino, California). (in the form of a model), wearable electronic devices (e.g., those available from Apple Inc. in Cupertino, California). (in the form of) or other similar equipment. It should be noted that Figure 1 The processor 12 and other related items herein may be generally referred to as "data processing circuitry". This data processing circuitry may be embodied wholly or partially in software, hardware, or both. Furthermore, the processor 12 and... Figure 1 Other related items may be a single, independent processing module, or may be incorporated, wholly or partially, into any of the other elements within UE 10. Processor 12 may be implemented using a combination of a general-purpose microprocessor, microcontroller, digital signal processor (DSP), field-programmable gate array (FPGA), programmable logic device (PLD), controller, state machine, gated logic, discrete hardware components, dedicated hardware finite state machine, or any other suitable entity capable of performing computation or other manipulations of information. Processor 12 may include one or more application processors, one or more baseband processors, or both, and performs the various functions described herein.

[0041] exist Figure 1 In UE 10, processor 12 may be operatively coupled to memory 14 and non-volatile storage device 16 to execute various algorithms. Such programs or instructions executed by processor 12 may be stored in any suitable article of writing comprising one or more tangible computer-readable media. The tangible computer-readable media may include memory 14 and / or non-volatile storage device 16, individually or jointly, to store instructions or routines. Memory 14 and non-volatile storage device 16 may include any suitable article of writing for storing data and executable instructions, such as random access memory, read-only memory, rewritable flash memory, hard disk drive, and optical disk. Furthermore, programs (e.g., operating systems) encoded on such computer program products may also include instructions executable by processor 12 to enable UE 10 to provide various functionalities.

[0042] In some embodiments, display 18 may facilitate a user's viewing of images generated on UE 10. In some embodiments, display 18 may include a touchscreen that facilitates user interaction with the user interface of UE 10. Furthermore, it should be understood that in some embodiments, display 18 may include one or more liquid crystal displays (LCDs), light-emitting diode (LED) displays, organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays, active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) displays, or some combination of these and / or other display technologies.

[0043] Input structure 22 of UE 10 allows a user to interact with UE 10 (e.g., press a button to increase or decrease the volume level). Like network interface 26, I / O interface 24 allows UE 10 to interact with various other electronic devices. In some embodiments, I / O interface 24 may include I / O ports for hardwired connections for charging and / or content manipulation using standard connectors and protocols such as the Lightning connector supplied by Apple Inc. of Cupertino, California, Universal Serial Bus (USB), or other similar connectors and protocols. Network interface 26 may include one or more interfaces, for example, for personal area networks (PANs) such as Ultra Wideband (UWB) or... Network; Local Area Network (LAN) or Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) such as a protocol using one of the IEEE 802.11x series protocols (e.g., Networks; and / or wide area networks (WANs) such as any standards related to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including, for example, third-generation (3G) cellular networks, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), fourth-generation (4G) cellular networks, Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks. Cellular networks, Long Term Evolution License Assisted Access (LTE-LAA) cellular networks, fifth-generation (5G) cellular networks and / or new radio (NR) cellular networks, satellite networks, etc. Specifically, network interface 26 may include, for example, one or more interfaces for using the version 15 cellular communication standard of the 5G specification, which includes millimeter wave (mmWave) frequency ranges (e.g., 24.25-300 GHz), and / or any other version of the cellular communication standard (e.g., version 16, version 17, any future version) that defines and / or implements frequency ranges for wireless communication. Network interface 26 of UE 10 may allow communication via the aforementioned networks (e.g., 5G, Wi-Fi, LTE-LAA, etc.).

[0044] Network interface 26 may also include one or more interfaces for, for example, a broadband fixed wireless access network (e.g., Mobile broadband wireless network (mobile) Asynchronous digital subscriber lines (e.g., ADSL, VDSL), digital video terrestrial broadcasting (DVB-) Network and its extension DVB handheld (DVB- Networks, ultra-wideband (UWB) networks, AC power lines, etc. The power supply 29 of UE 10 may include any suitable power source, such as a rechargeable lithium polymer (Li-poly) battery and / or an AC power converter.

[0045] Figure 2 It is based on the implementation scheme of this disclosure. Figure 1 The functional diagram of UE 10 is shown. As shown, processor 12, memory 14, transceiver 30, transmitter 52, receiver 54 and / or antenna 55 (shown as 55A-55N, collectively referred to as antenna 55) may be directly or indirectly communicatively coupled to each other (e.g., through or via another component, communication bus, network) to transmit and / or receive data between each other.

[0046] UE 10 may include transmitter 52 and / or receiver 54, which respectively enable the UE 10 to transmit and receive data with external devices via, for example, a network (e.g., including a base station) or a direct connection. As shown, transmitter 52 and receiver 54 may be combined into transceiver 30. UE 10 may also have one or more antennas 55A-55N electrically coupled to transceiver 30. Antennas 55A-55N may be configured in omnidirectional or directional configurations, single-beam, dual-beam, or multi-beam arrangements, etc. Each antenna 55 may be associated with one or more beams and various configurations. In some embodiments, multiple antennas in antennas 55A-55N of an antenna group or module may be communicatively coupled to a respective transceiver 30 and each transmit radio frequency signals that can be advantageously and / or destructively combined to form a beam. UE 10 may include multiple transmitters, multiple receivers, multiple transceivers, and / or multiple antennas suitable for various communication standards. In some implementations, transmitter 52 and receiver 54 may transmit and receive information via other wired or wired systems or devices.

[0047] As shown in the figure, various components of UE 10 can be coupled together via bus system 56. Bus system 56 may include, for example, a data bus, as well as power buses, control signal buses, and status signal buses in addition to the data bus. Components of UE 10 can be coupled together or use some other mechanism to accept or provide input to each other.

[0048] Figure 3This is a schematic diagram of a transmitter 52 (e.g., a transmitting circuit) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown, the transmitter 52 may receive outgoing data 60, in the form of a digital signal, to be transmitted via one or more antennas 55. A digital-to-analog converter (DAC) 62 of the transmitter 52 may convert the digital signal into an analog signal, and a modulator 64 may combine the converted analog signal with a carrier signal to generate radio waves. A power amplifier (PA) 66 receives the modulated signal from the modulator 64. The power amplifier 66 amplifies the modulated signal to a suitable level to drive the signal to be transmitted via one or more antennas 55. A filter 68 (e.g., filter circuitry and / or software) of the transmitter 52 may then remove unwanted noise from the amplified signal to generate transmitted data 70 to be transmitted via one or more antennas 55. The filter 68 may include any suitable filter or a filter for removing unwanted noise from the amplified signal, such as a bandpass filter, bandstop filter, low-pass filter, high-pass filter, and / or decimation filter. Additionally, transmitter 52 may include any suitable additional components not shown, or may exclude some of the components shown, such that transmitter 52 can transmit outgoing data 60 via one or more antennas 55. For example, transmitter 52 may include a mixer and / or a digital up-converter. As another example, transmitter 52 may not include filter 68 if the power amplifier 66 outputs an amplified signal in or approximately in the desired frequency range (making filtering of the amplified signal potentially unnecessary).

[0049] Use multiple UEs to increase transmit power

[0050] As previously mentioned, one of the main challenges of wireless communication is the limitation on the transmit power of UE 10. These limitations may be due to the limited capacity of power supply 29 (e.g., battery) and / or regulatory constraints on transmit power. Furthermore, due to the large distance between UE 10 and communication hubs (such as base stations, high-altitude base stations, satellites, ground stations, access points (e.g., those generating wireless local area networks (WLANs)), the transmitted signal may experience significant path loss. In the case of inter-UE communication, the receiving UE 10 may not have a high antenna gain (e.g., compared to a communication hub). In some cases, implementing multiple receive antennas, higher transmit power, and / or signal retransmission (e.g., and combining signals at the receiver) can improve the quality of the received signal. However, these improvements may still be insufficient to meet certain reception quality standards.

[0051] Because UE 10 may have multiple transmit antennas 55, transmitting radio frequency (RF) signals on multiple antennas 55 will distribute the total transmit power of UE 10 across these antennas 55. That is, if UE 10 has N transmit antennas 55 and transmits signals concurrently on N transmit antennas 55, the transmit power of each signal on each transmit antenna 55 is the total transmit power of UE 10 divided by N. Therefore, to increase the transmit power of UE 10, the number of transmit antennas 55 used for transmitting signals can be reduced and concentrated to less than the total number of transmit antennas 55 of UE 10. For example, if UE 10 has four transmit antennas 55, UE 10 can transmit signals through only one of these transmit antennas 55 and use the full transmit power of the UE on that single antenna 55. Furthermore, to increase throughput, UE 10 can send data to be transmitted to a communication hub to another UE (or more UEs), which can also use a reduced number of antennas to transmit data.

[0052] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of a communication system 72 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, which has a wireless communication network 74 supported by a communication hub 76 and includes... Figure 1 The communication hub 76 may include a base station, a high-altitude base station, a satellite, a ground station, etc. For example, the communication hub 76 may include an evolved Node B (eNodeB) base station that provides 4G / LTE coverage to the UE 10 via a wireless communication network 74. In some implementations, the communication hub 76 may include a next-generation Node B (gNodeB or gNB) base station and may provide 5G / New Radio (NR) coverage to the UE 10 via the wireless communication network 74. As another example, the communication hub 76 may include satellites and / or ground stations that provide satellite network coverage to the UE 10 via the wireless communication network 74. As yet another example, the communication hub 76 may include an access point that generates a wireless local area network (WLAN). Each of the UE 10 and the communication hub 76 may include Figure 1 and Figure 2 The electronic device 10 shown includes at least some of its components, including one or more processors 12, memory 14, storage device 16, transmitter 52, receiver 54, and... Figure 3 The associated circuit shown.

[0053] Figure 5This is a schematic diagram of a communication system 78 having multiple UEs 10A, 10B according to an embodiment of this disclosure, which transmit signals to a receiver 80 (e.g., a communication hub 76 of network 74). The receiver 80 may be part of a base station, high-altitude base station, satellite, ground station, etc., which may be part of the communication network 74 (such as 4G or LTE). It is part of networks, 5G or new radio networks, terrestrial communication networks, satellite networks, non-terrestrial communication networks, etc.

[0054] The first UE 10A may be designed to transmit data to the receiver 80. Prior to transmission, the first UE 10A may establish a side channel or side link 82 with the second UE 10B. In some embodiments, both the first UE 10A and the second UE 10B may include smartphones, or one of these UEs may include a smartphone while the other may include a smartwatch (e.g., with a wireless modem). As discussed in further detail below, the side link 82 may have any suitable communication protocol that enables UEs 10A and 10B (collectively, 10) to exchange data, such as device-to-device communication protocols, peer-to-peer communication protocols, Wi-Fi communication protocols, ultra-wideband (UWB) communication protocols, etc. Communication protocols, near field communication (NFC) communication protocols, etc. In some implementations, a first UE 10A may send a first signal containing a first portion of data to a receiver 80 (e.g., using a single antenna 55A), while a second UE 10B may send a second signal containing a second portion of data to a receiver 80 (e.g., using a single antenna 55B). Specifically, UE 10 may use space-time orthogonal block (STOB) encoding to send a first symbol x1 and a second symbol x2 to a receiver 80.

[0055] For example, the first UE 10 and the second UE 10 may (e.g., at a first time) exchange the first and second symbols (e.g., x1 and x2) of data to be transmitted on the side link 82 (e.g., to the receiver 80). Symbols x1 and x2 may be data that the first UE 10A intends to transmit to the receiver 80, the second UE 10B intends to transmit to the receiver 80, or both. The first UE 10A may then (e.g., at a second time) use antenna 55A to transmit the first symbol x1 to the receiver 80, while the second UE 10B may use antenna 55B to concurrently transmit the second symbol x2 to the receiver 80. Therefore, the first UE 10A can use its full transmit power to transmit the first symbol x1, and the second UE 10B can use its full transmit power to transmit the second symbol x2, instead of, for example, the first UE 10A allocating its transmit power to transmit the first symbol x1 and the second symbol x2, thus increasing the transmit power used to transmit both symbols (e.g., possibly doubling or more). In this way, by using multiple UEs, the data transmission power can be increased while maintaining good throughput. In addition, UE 10 transmits different symbols x1 and x2 concurrently (e.g., simultaneously) and / or on overlapping (e.g., the same) frequencies (or channels), thereby avoiding increased network resource complexity.

[0056] The receiver 80 of the communication hub 76 can receive two RF signals transmitted by the UE 10 as a single received signal at the receiving antenna 84, and use Formula 1 to recover the original symbols x1 and x2 from the received signals:

[0057] y j =∑ i H ij x i +n j (Formula 1)

[0058] Where y j The extracted symbol, H, is received at receiving antenna j. ij Let n be the channel matrix from transmitting antenna i to receiving antenna j, and n be the channel matrix from transmitting antenna i to receiving antenna j. j It is the noise at the receiving antenna j.

[0059] However, transmitting a signal with data only once on a reduced number of antennas 55 in this way makes the signal susceptible to errors and lacks transmit redundancy. Therefore, the second UE 10B can be used to perform transmit diversity to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of the signal by varying the transmitted signal. The signal and the variations can then be combined at the receiver 80 to ensure good signal quality.

[0060] Figure 6This is a schematic diagram of a communication system with UEs 10A and 10B according to an embodiment of this disclosure, which UEs will Figure 5 The signal changes shown are sent to receiver 80 to perform transmit diversity. One way to maintain a high transmit power level and improve the receiver signal-to-noise ratio is to have UE 10 cooperate in transmitting the same data changes. A scheme similar to Space-Time Orthogonal Block (STOB) codes can be used. UE i can transmit the symbol at row i and column j of the STOB codeword at time index j. For example, in the number of UE 10 transmitting (N) Tx When ) equals 2, the corresponding STOB codeword could be:

[0061]

[0062] That is, at the first time (e.g., t=1 corresponding to the first launch time index), such as Figure 5 As shown, the first UE 10A transmits the first symbol x1, and the second UE 10B (e.g., concurrently) transmits the second symbol x2. At the second time (e.g., t=2 corresponding to the second transmission time index), as... Figure 6 As shown, the first UE 10A transmits a change in the second symbol x2, and the second UE 10B (e.g., concurrently) transmits a change in the first symbol x1. The change in the second symbol x2 transmitted by the first UE 10A may include the negative complex conjugate of the second symbol (e.g., ), and the variation of the first symbol x1 transmitted by the second UE 10B may include the positive and negative conjugates of the first symbol (e.g., However, in some cases, this can be the opposite.

[0063] Network 74 can recover the first symbol x1 by using Equation 3 for estimation:

[0064]

[0065] in This is an estimation of the first symbol x1. Similarly, network 74 can recover the second symbol x2 by using Equation 4 for estimation:

[0066]

[0067] This transmit diversity can improve communication quality by reducing the bit error rate, which in some cases leads to an increase in transmit power of approximately 3 dB. Although Figure 5 and Figure 6The diagram shows two UEs 10 transmitting two symbols at two times via two transmit antennas 55. However, it should be noted that N symbols can be transmitted by N transmit signals from N transmit antennas 55 (from less than or equal to N UEs 10), and N variations of the N symbols can be transmitted by N transmit signals from N transmit antennas 55 to perform transmit diversity.

[0068] UE 10 and network 74 can coordinate to exchange symbols. In some implementations, one UE (e.g., 10A) may act as the primary UE and another UE (e.g., 10B) may act as the secondary UE, wherein the primary UE 10A confirms that the symbols have been correctly exchanged (e.g., using network 74). Figure 7 This is a flowchart of a method 90 for UE 10 to transmit data to network 74 according to an embodiment of this disclosure, wherein UE 10 acts in both a primary and secondary role. Method 90 can be executed by any suitable device (e.g., a controller) that controls components (such as one or more processors 12) of UE 10, network 74, and / or communication hub 76. In some embodiments, method 90 can be implemented by using one or more processors 12 to execute instructions stored in a tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium such as memory 14 or storage device 16. For example, method 90 can be executed at least in part by one or more software components (such as the operating system of UE 10, software applications, etc.), network 74, and / or communication hub 76. Although method 90 is described using steps in a specific order, it should be understood that this disclosure contemplates that the described steps may be performed in a different order than shown, and that some described steps may be skipped or not performed at all.

[0069] In procedure block 92, a first UE (e.g., "UE 1" 10A) initiates an inter-UE data exchange with a second UE (e.g., "UE 2" 10B). Specifically, the first UE 10A, the second UE 10B, or both may have data to transmit to network 74. The UEs may then exchange at least a portion of the data via a side channel or side link 82 (e.g., a portion to be transmitted by the first UE 10A may be transmitted by the second UE 10B, and / or a portion to be transmitted by the second UE 10B may be transmitted by the first UE 10A), as discussed in further detail below. In this example, since the first UE 10A plays a primary role and the second UE 10B plays a secondary role, the first UE 10A may initiate an inter-UE data exchange with the second UE 10B (e.g., by sending an instruction to initiate a data exchange to the second UE 10B). In procedure block 94, the data is then exchanged between the UEs 10.

[0070] Because the first UE 10A is the primary UE, in procedure block 96, the first UE sends an indication that data is ready to be transmitted (by both UEs) to network 74. In response to receiving this indication, network 74 (e.g., via communication hub 76) sends an indication in procedure block 98 authorizing the exchange of data with UE 10 back to the primary UE (e.g., the first UE 10A). In response to receiving authorization, in procedure block 100, the first UE 10A may send an indication to the second UE 10B that authorization has been received from network 74. The authorization may be dynamic or semi-static and includes a UE index, allowing the demodulation reference signal (DMRS) mode used to synchronize UE 10 to be adjusted accordingly. In procedure block 102, UE 10 transmits data to network 74. Specifically, UE 10 may use a scheme similar to STOB codes as shown in Equation 2 to transmit symbols, and network 74 may use STOB decoding as shown in Equations 3 and 4 to extract the symbols. Data and / or symbols may include, for example, voice call data and / or messaging data (e.g., email data, short message service (SMS) data, etc.).

[0071] In another or alternative implementation, UE 10 may have the same or equivalent role (e.g., neither primary nor secondary) such that both UE 10 can confirm that the symbols have been correctly exchanged (e.g., using network 74). Figure 8 This is a flowchart of a method 110 for UE 10 to transmit data to network 74 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein UE 10 plays an equal role. Method 110 can be executed by any suitable device (e.g., a controller) that controls components (such as one or more processors 12) of UE 10, network 74, and / or communication hub 76. In some embodiments, method 110 can be implemented by using one or more processors 12 to execute instructions stored in a tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium such as memory 14 or storage device 16. For example, method 110 can be executed at least in part by one or more software components (such as the operating system of UE 10, software applications, etc.), network 74, and / or communication hub 76. Although method 110 is described using steps in a specific order, it should be understood that the steps described herein are contemplated to be performed in a different order than shown, and that some described steps may be skipped or not performed at all.

[0072] In procedure block 94, similar to Figure 7In method 90, UE 10 exchanges data to be transmitted to network 74. Either UE 10 may initiate this data exchange with another UE 10. In procedure block 112, both UE 10s send an indication that data is ready for transmission to network 74. Specifically, a first UE 10A may indicate that a first portion of the data UE 10 intends to transmit to network 74 is ready, and a second UE 10B may indicate that a second portion of the data UE 10 intends to transmit to network 74 is ready. In response to receiving the indication, and in procedure block 114, network 74 authorizes the exchange of data with UE 10 by sending the indication to each of the UE 10s. The authorization may be dynamic or semi-static and includes a UE index, allowing the DMRS mode used to synchronize the UE 10s to be adjusted accordingly. In response to receiving the authorization, in procedure block 102, UE 10 transmits the data to network 74. The data and / or symbols may include, for example, voice call data and / or messaging data (e.g., email data, SMS data, etc.). Specifically, UE 10 can use a scheme similar to STOB codes as shown in Equation 2 to transmit symbols, and network 74 can use STOB decoding to extract symbols as shown in Equations 3 and 4. Although Figure 7 and Figure 8 Two UEs 10 are shown coordinating to send data to network 74, but it should be understood that any suitable number of UEs (e.g., two or more, four or more, eight or more, etc.) can coordinate to send data to network 74.

[0073] Figure 9 This diagram illustrates the operations that can be performed by UE 10 using a side channel or side link 82, as described above, according to an embodiment of this disclosure. The side link 82 can be implemented over a relatively short distance between two UEs 10 (e.g., within 1 meter (m), 2m, 3m, 5m, 10m, 25m, 50m, 100m, etc.). Therefore, near-ideal channel conditions can exist on the side link 82 (e.g., negligible to no delay or latency, large bandwidth, etc.). The two UEs 10 can be synchronized (e.g., using similar timing or clock conditions). For example, distributed processing can be implemented (e.g., one UE (e.g., 10A) can handle at least some tasks of another UE (e.g., 10B)). The side link 82 can be implemented via any suitable device-to-device or peer-to-peer communication protocol such as Wi-Fi, Ultra Wideband (UWB), etc. This can be achieved through near field communication (NFC) and other methods.

[0074] As shown in the figure, a first UE (e.g., 10A) may include two antennas (e.g., 55A, 55C), and a second UE (e.g., 10B) may include two antennas (e.g., 55B, 55D), but each UE 10 may include any suitable number of antennas (e.g., one or more antennas). Using side link 82, one UE (e.g., 10A) may send a service request 120 to another UE (e.g., 10B) to, for example, send data to network 74. In such a case, UE 10A sending the service request 120 may be the primary UE, and UE 10B receiving the service request 120 may be the secondary UE. Thus, the secondary UE may assist the primary UE in performing the primary UE's activities, such as sending and / or receiving data to and / or from network 74. Additionally, UE 10 may exchange the capabilities 122 of these UEs (e.g., supported frequency bands, antenna information, etc.) and set appropriate configurations 124 (e.g., operating parameters, such as frequencies for transmitting and / or receiving on antennas, timing, and clock signals) for use. UE 10 can synchronize RF transmission and / or reception by setting appropriate configuration 124 (e.g., timing and / or clock signals) and / or exchanging application programming interface (API) information 128 (e.g., date, time, frequency, etc.). UE 10 can then cooperate to transmit data to network 74. Advantageously, both UE 10s can operate on network 74 (or provider) to which the first UE 10A is subscribed, even if the second UE 10B is subscribed to a different network 74 or does not have a subscriber identity module or subscriber identification module (SIM) card. This is because the first UE 10A is the primary UE 10A, which can establish a connection with network 74, and the second UE 10B can be accompanied by or use the same credentials as the first UE 10A (these credentials can be sent from the first UE 10A to the second UE 10B on side link 82).

[0075] Use multiple UEs to increase transmit throughput

[0076] Another problem typically faced by UE 10 is insufficient data throughput. While allocating more time and / or frequency to wireless communication can help alleviate this problem, doing so requires valuable network resources. Furthermore, while spatial multiplexing techniques can be used to transmit and receive multiple concurrent signals, this requires both the transmitter 52 of UE 10 and the receiver 80 of network device 74—adding more antennas, which may be impossible or expensive to implement. That is, hardware resources can be particularly constrained by the UE due to its limited size, power, and capabilities. For example, the number of transmit antennas 55 is limited to a single UE 10, and increasing that number increases design complexity and cost.

[0077] Therefore, the first UE and the second UE (e.g., 10A, 10B) can exchange a certain number of symbols (e.g., data) between UE 10, which corresponds to the number of transmit antennas 55. In addition, network 74 can receive data via any suitable number (e.g., multiple) receive antennas 84. Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of a communication system 140 having multiple UEs 10A, 10B according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. These multiple UEs transmit signals to a receiver 80 having two transmit antennas 55A, 55B, which is located at a receiver 80 having two receive antennas 84A, 84B (e.g., a communication hub 76 of network 74). See reference... Figure 5 , Figure 6 and Figure 9 As explained, the first UE 10A (and / or the second UE 10B) may be intended to transmit data (e.g., at least a first symbol x1 and a second symbol x2, which may be represented as transmit symbol vectors s1 and s2) to the receiver 80 of the communication hub 76 of the network 74. Before transmission, the first UE 10A may establish a side channel or side link 82 with the second UE 10B. The first UE 10A may then transmit a first portion of the data (e.g., at least symbol x2) to the second UE 10B and is intended to transmit a second portion of the data (e.g., at least symbol x1) to the receiver 80 of the communication hub 76 of the network 74, while the second UE 10B transmits at least the first portion of the data (e.g., concurrently) to the receiver 80 of the communication hub 76 of the network 74.

[0078] For example, such as Figure 10 As shown, two UEs 10 can establish a side link 82, and the first UE 10A can transmit the second symbol x2 to the second UE 10B via the side link 82. Then, the first UE 10A can transmit data that can be transmitted from the first transmit antenna 55A through a channel matrix H. 11 The RF channel is received at the first receiving antenna 84A of the receiver 80 of the communication hub 76 of network 74, and through a channel matrix H 12 The RF channel receives the first symbol x1 (e.g., as a transmit symbol vector s1) at the second receive antenna 84B of receiver 80. Similarly, the second UE 10B can transmit from the second transmit antenna 55B via a channel matrix H. 21 The RF channel is received at the first receiving antenna 84A and through a channel matrix H 22The RF channel receives the second symbol x2 (e.g., as a transmit symbol vector s2) at the second receiving antenna 84B. Thus, UE 10 concurrently (e.g., simultaneously) and / or transmits different symbols x1 and x2 (e.g., as transmit symbol vectors s1 and s2) on overlapping (e.g., the same) frequencies (or channels), thereby avoiding increased network resource complexity. Therefore, the first UE 10A effectively utilizes the transmit antenna 55B of the second UE 10B.

[0079] Using a matrix expression (e.g., the general relation shown in Equation 1), network 74 can extract symbols into received symbol vectors r1 and r2, which correspond to s1 and s2 respectively, using the following relation:

[0080]

[0081] Among them, r j The extracted symbol, H, is received at receiving antenna j. ij S is the channel matrix from transmitting antenna i to receiving antenna j. i The symbol is transmitted at transmitting antenna i, and n j n1 is the noise at the receiving antenna j. Furthermore, n1 is the noise at the first receiving antenna 84A, and n2 is the noise at the second receiving antenna 84B. Specifically, network 74 can use any suitable detection processing technique to extract symbols x1 and x2, such as maximum likelihood (ML), zero-forcing (ZF), minimum mean square error (MMSE), continuous interference cancellation (SIC), ordered SIC (OSIC), etc.

[0082] For example, when using the ZF technique based on linear equalization for spatial multiplexing to extract symbols, network 74 can estimate the transmitted symbol vector s as:

[0083] y zf =G×r(Formula 6)

[0084] Where y zf G is the result of ZF equalization (e.g., before quantization), G is the equalization matrix given by the pseudo-inverse of the channel matrix H, and r is the receive vector at receiver 80 of network 74. r can be defined using a more generalized version of Equation 1 and can be expressed as:

[0085] r = H × s + n (Formula 7)

[0086] Where n is the noise received at the receiving antenna 84. Furthermore, G can be represented as follows:

[0087] G=(H H ×H) -1 ×HH (Formula 8)

[0088] For example, when using MMSE decoding for spatial multiplexing to extract symbols, network 74 can estimate the transmitted symbol vector s as:

[0089] y MMSE =G×r(Formula 9)

[0090] Where y MMSE As a result of MMSE equalization (e.g., before quantization), r can be represented by Equation 7 above, and G minimizes the following mean square error:

[0091] E{‖G×rs‖×2}(Formula 10)

[0092] Therefore, G can be represented as follows:

[0093] G=(H H ×H+σ 2 ×I) -1 ×H H (Formula 11)

[0094] In some implementations, two UE 10s can be used. Figure 7 Method 90 is used to send symbols to network 74, wherein the first UE 10A acts as the primary UE and the second UE 10B acts as the secondary UE. In another or alternative implementation, both UEs 10 can use Figure 8 Method 110 is used to send symbols to network 74, where UE 10 plays an equal role.

[0095] As stated above, it should be understood that any appropriate number of UEs 10 and any number of transmit antennas 55 can be used to transmit data to network 74. Figure 11 This is a schematic diagram of a communication system 150 with multiple UEs 10A, 10B according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. These multiple UEs transmit signals to a receiver 80 (e.g., a communication hub 76 of network 74) with four transmit antennas 55A, 55B, 55C, 55D and four receive antennas 84A, 84B, 84C, 84D. Using a matrix expression (e.g., the general relation shown in Formula 1), network 74 can extract (transmitted as transmit symbol vectors s1, s2, s3, s4) transmit symbols x1, x2, x3, x4 as receive symbol vectors r1, r2, r3, r4 using the following relation:

[0096]

[0097] Among them, r j The extracted symbol, H, is received at receiving antenna j. ijS is the channel matrix from transmitting antenna i to receiving antenna j. i The symbol is transmitted at transmitting antenna i, and n j It is the noise at the receiving antenna j.

[0098] In this way, the second UE 10B can increase data throughput (e.g., doubling the data throughput when only the first UE 10A is used). Furthermore, using the four transmit antennas 55A, 55B, 55C, and 55D of both UEs 10A and 10B, instead of the four transmit antennas of a single UE (e.g., 10A), to transmit data to network 74 allows the aggregated transmit power of the two UEs 10 to be split across the four transmit antennas, rather than the aggregated transmit power of a single UE 10, thereby increasing the transmit power of the data to network 74 (e.g., doubling that transmit power), thus improving overall transmission reliability and reducing the bit error rate. For example, the gain for using two UEs 10A and 10B to transmit symbols s1, s2, s3, s4 through four transmit antennas 55A, 55B, 55C, and 55D can be approximately 6 dB compared to using a single UE 10A. Advantageously, one UE (e.g., 10B) can use the network registration parameters of another UE (e.g., 10A), such that only one UE (e.g., 10A) needs to register with the network (e.g., 74). That is, from the perspective of network 74, only one UE 10A is coupled, even though both UEs 10A and 10B transmit symbols to network 74. In practice, only one UE (e.g., 10A) is within the coverage area of ​​base station 76 and communicates with network 74 supported by base station 76, while the other UE (e.g., 10B) is outside the coverage area, even though both UEs 10A and 10B transmit symbols to network 74.

[0099] Use a reference signal for synchronization.

[0100] In some cases, concurrent transmissions from multiple UEs 10 can lead to unintended beamforming due to timing misalignment. This can cause undesirable signal cancellation at the communication hub 76. To avoid this problem, network 74 can facilitate phase alignment of the transmitted signals from the UEs. To detect and correct phase differences, network 74 can implement a reference signal (RS) structure 160 for alternating resource element allocation to UEs 10, such as... Figure 12As shown. RS can use the same symbol time or duration, separated by frequency. Therefore, network 74 can receive one RS on each subcarrier 162 (where each block in the grid represents a subcarrier). As shown, block 164 represents a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) transmitted by a first UE (e.g., 10A), block 166 represents a DMRS transmitted by a second UE (e.g., 10B), block 168 represents a time period with data transmission (e.g., transmitted by at least one of UEs 10A and 10B), and block 169 represents a time period without data transmission (e.g., transmitted by at least one of UEs 10A and 10B).

[0101] like Figure 12 As shown, network 74 can receive signals (e.g., with the same DMRS carry symbols) at different subcarriers 162 within the same time period, or mix these signals. A set of diagrams in RS structure 160 each has a horizontal axis representing time (assigned as time periods) and a vertical axis representing frequency (assigned as subcarriers 162). As shown, first UE 10A can transmit a first signal x1(t) on a first subcarrier 172 (e.g., carrying DMRS symbols for the purpose of aligning the phases of first UE 10A and second UE 10B), and second UE 10B can transmit a second signal x2(t) on a second subcarrier 174 within the same time period (e.g., at approximately the same time) (e.g., carrying the same DMRS symbols). Therefore, network 74 can receive the first signal x1(t) from first UE 10A and the second signal x2(t) from second UE 10B within the same time period (e.g., at approximately the same time) to align the phases of first UE 10A and second UE 10B.

[0102] Figure 13 This is a schematic diagram of the signal processing chain 180 of the receiver 80 of the communication hub 76 of the network 74 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, which operates at different subcarriers 162 within the same time period (e.g., using...). Figure 12The RS structure 160 receives DMRS signals (e.g., signals with the same DMRS carry symbols). The signal processing chain 180 may include a mixer 182 that can combine two input signals or multiply the two input signals to generate an output signal. As shown, mixer 182 may receive a first signal x1(t) and a second signal x2(t) (e.g., both carrying the same DMRS carry symbols) and multiply the two signals together to output signal x3(t). The signal processing chain 180 may also include a first low-pass filter (LPF1) 184 that allows desired (e.g., low-frequency) components of the input signal (e.g., x3(t)) to pass through and filters unwanted (e.g., high-frequency) components from the input signal to generate a filtered output signal x4(t). The signal processing chain 180 may also include a phase detector 186 that detects the phase of the input signal (e.g., x4(t)) and generates a phase signal x5(t) representing that phase. The signal processing chain 180 may also include a second low-pass filter (LPF2) 188, which allows desired (e.g., low-frequency) components of the input signal (e.g., x5(t)) to pass through and filters unwanted (e.g., high-frequency) components from the input signal to generate a filtered output signal x6(t).

[0103] Figure 14 According to the embodiments of this disclosure, the first UE (e.g., 10A) and / or the second UE (e.g., 10B) are based on the same time period and at different subcarriers (e.g., using...). Figure 12 The DMRS signals received by the RS structure 160 (e.g., those with the same DMRS carry symbols) are phase-aligned with each other (e.g., using...). Figure 13 A flowchart of method 190 (signal processing chain 180). Method 190 can be executed by any suitable device (e.g., a controller) that controls components of network 74 (such as communication hub 76 and / or processor 12 of network 74). In some embodiments, method 190 can be implemented by using processor 12 to execute instructions stored in a tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium such as memory 14 or storage device 16 of network 74. For example, method 190 can be executed at least in part by one or more software components (such as operating system of network 74, one or more software applications of network 74, etc.). Although method 190 is described using steps in a specific order, it should be understood that the steps described herein are contemplated to be performed in a different order than shown, and that some described steps may be skipped or not performed at all.

[0104] In process block 192, network 74 receives a first DMRS x1(t) from a first UE (e.g., 10A) on a first subcarrier during the same time period (e.g., at approximately the same time) and a second DMRS x2(t) from a second UE (e.g., 10B) on a second subcarrier during the same time period (e.g., at approximately the same time). For example, the first DMRS can be represented by Equation 13:

[0105] x 1(t) =cos(ω1t+φ1)+n1(t) (Formula 13)

[0106] Where ω1 represents the angular frequency of the first DMRS, φ1 represents the phase of the first DMRS, and n1 represents the noise of the first DMRS. Similarly, the second DMRS can be represented by Equation 14:

[0107] x 2(t) =cos(ω2t+φ2)+n2(t) (Formula 14)

[0108] Where ω2 represents the angular frequency of the second DMRS, φ2 represents the phase of the second DMRS, and n2 represents the noise of the second DMRS.

[0109] In process block 194, network 74 then combines the first DMRS x1(t) and the second DMRS x2(t) (e.g., by multiplying them together using mixer 182) to generate a product x3(t). Specifically, network 74 can input the first DMRS x1(t) and the second DMRS x2(t) into mixer 182, which multiplies the two signals together to generate a combined signal x3(t), which can be represented by Equation 15:

[0110] x 3(t) =cos((ω1+ω2)t+φ1+φ2)+cos((ω1-ω2)t+φ1-φ2)+n3(t)

[0111] (Formula 15)

[0112] In process block 196, network 74 filters the combined signal x3(t) for unwanted (e.g., high-frequency) components. Specifically, network 74 allows x3(t) to pass through a first low-pass filter 184 to allow the desired (e.g., low-frequency) components to pass, and filters the unwanted components, resulting in a filtered signal x4(t), as represented by Equation 16:

[0113] x 4(t) =cos((ω1-ω2)t+φ1-φ2)+n4(t)(Formula 16)

[0114] In process block 198, network 74 determines the phase signal of the filtered signal x4(t). That is, network 74 allows x4(t) to pass through phase detector 186 to generate a phase signal x5(t), as shown in Equation 17:

[0115] x 5(t) =(ω1-ω2)t+φ1-φ2+n5(t)(Formula 17)

[0116] In process block 200, network 74 filters unwanted (e.g., high-frequency) components from the phase signal x4(t). Specifically, network 74 can pass x5(t) through a second low-pass filter 188 to filter out unwanted (e.g., high-frequency) components from the phase signal, resulting in a filtered signal x6(t), as represented by Equation 18:

[0117] x 6(t) =φ1-φ2+n6(t) (Formula 18)

[0118] Thus, network 74 determines the phase difference (e.g., x6(t)) between the first DMRS x1(t) and the second DMRS x2(t), and can send an indication of the phase difference (e.g., in the form of a correction signal) to the first UE 10A and / or the second UE 10B to cause any one or both UEs of UE 10 to adjust the phase of these UEs based on the phase difference (e.g., 1–φ2) as shown in process block 202. UE 10 can then proceed as follows: Figures 5 to 11 The data may be transmitted using any suitable method discussed above. Data may include, for example, voice call data and / or messaging data (e.g., email data, SMS data, etc.). Specifically, each UE 10 may transmit data without excessively distributing its transmit power among an excessive number of transmit antennas 55. Therefore, the transmit power of each UE 10 transmitting its data may be higher than or equal to the transmit power of each UE 10 used to transmit its DMRS signal (which may, in the best case, use transmit power that has not been distributed among the corresponding transmitter antennas 55 of these UEs). In this way, UE 10 can avoid unintended beamforming due to timing misalignment of transmission.

[0119] Figures 15 to 17 It shows Figures 12 to 14 The alternative or additional implementation shown includes a network 74 receiving a first DMRS x1(t) from a first UE (e.g., 10A) on a subcarrier at a first time, and receiving a second DMRS x2(t) from a second UE (e.g., 10B) on the same subcarrier at a second time. Figure 15This is a set of diagrams of an RS structure 210 that receives demodulation reference signal (DMRS) carrying symbols at different subcarriers 162 within the same time period, according to an embodiment of this disclosure. Each set of diagrams of RS structure 210 has a horizontal axis representing time (assigned as time periods) and a vertical axis representing frequency (assigned as subcarriers 162). As shown, a first UE 10A may transmit a first signal x1(t) on subcarrier 162 during a first time period 212 (e.g., carrying DMRS symbols for the purpose of aligning the phases of the first UE 10A and the second UE 10B), and a second UE 10B may transmit a second signal x2(t) on the same subcarrier 162 during a second time period 214 (e.g., carrying the same DMRS symbols). Therefore, network 74 can receive a first signal x1(t) from the first UE 10A and a second signal x2(t) from the second UE 10B on the same subcarrier 162 and at different time periods (e.g., 212, 214) to align the phases of the first UE 10A and the second UE 10B.

[0120] Figure 16 This is a schematic diagram of the signal processing chain 220 of the receiver 80 of the communication hub 76 of the network 74 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the receiver processing signals at different time periods (e.g., 212, 214) and at the same subcarrier 162 (e.g., using...). Figure 15The RS structure 210 receives DMRS signals (e.g., signals with the same DMRS carry symbols). The signal processing chain 220 may include a mixer 182 that combines or multiplies two input signals to generate an output signal. As shown, mixer 182 may receive a first signal x1(t) and a second signal x2(t) (e.g., both carrying the same DMRS carry symbols) and multiply the two signals together to output signal x3(t). The signal processing chain 220 may also include a first low-pass filter (LPF1) 184 that allows desired (e.g., low-frequency) components of the input signal (e.g., x3(t)) to pass through and filters unwanted (e.g., high-frequency) components from the input signal to generate a filtered output signal x4(t). The signal processing chain 220 may also include a phase detector 186 that detects the phase of the input signal (e.g., x4(t)) and generates a phase signal x5(t) representing that phase. The signal processing chain 220 may optionally include a second low-pass filter (LPF2) 188, which allows desired (e.g., low-frequency) components of the input signal (e.g., x5(t)) to pass through and filters unwanted (e.g., high-frequency) components from the input signal to generate a filtered output signal x6(t). That is, since the same subcarrier 162 is used to transmit the same DMRS carrier symbols from UE 10, the angular frequency ω may be the same between the first DMRS x1(t) and the second DMRS x2(t). Therefore, the second low-pass filter 188 can be omitted because it is not necessary to determine the phase difference (e.g., φ1–φ2) (but it may be optionally included to reduce noise). Advantageously, Figures 15 to 17 The illustrated implementation reduces the complexity and / or power usage of the receiver 80 of the communication hub 76 of network 74 by removing the use of a low-pass filter to determine the phase difference. However, because the DMRS signals x1(t) and x2(t) are not received simultaneously, when implementing this implementation, the... Figures 12 to 14 Compared to the implementation scheme shown, there may be additional delays.

[0121] Figure 17 According to the embodiments of this disclosure, the first UE (e.g., 10A) and / or the second UE (e.g., 10B) are caused to operate based on different time periods and at the same subcarrier (e.g., using...). Figure 15 The DMRS signals received by the RS structure 210 (e.g., those with the same DMRS carry symbols) are phase-aligned with each other (e.g., using...). Figure 16A flowchart of method 230 (signal processing chain 220). Method 230 can be executed by any suitable device (e.g., a controller) that controls components of network 74 (such as communication hub 76 and / or processor 12 of network 74). In some embodiments, method 230 can be implemented by using processor 12 to execute instructions stored in a tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium such as memory 14 or storage device 16 of network 74. For example, method 230 can be executed at least in part by one or more software components (such as operating system of network 74, one or more software applications of network 74, etc.). Although method 230 is described using steps in a specific order, it should be understood that the steps described herein are contemplated to be performed in a different order than shown, and that some described steps may be skipped or not performed at all.

[0122] In process block 232, network 74 receives a first DMRS x1(t) from a first UE (e.g., 10A) on subcarrier 162 at a first time (e.g., 212). In process block 234, network 74 receives a second DMRS x2(t) from a second UE (e.g., 10B) on the same subcarrier 162 at a second different time period (e.g., 214). For example, the first DMRS can be represented by Equation 19:

[0123] x 1(t) =cos(ωt+φ1)+n1(t) (Formula 19)

[0124] The second DMRS can be represented by formula 20:

[0125] x 2(t) =cos(ωt+φ2)+n2(t) (Formula 20)

[0126] In process block 236, network 74 then combines the first DMRS x1(t) and the second DMRS x2(t) (e.g., by multiplying them together using mixer 182) to generate a product x3(t). Specifically, network 74 can input the first DMRS x1(t) and the second DMRS x2(t) into mixer 182, which multiplies the two signals together to generate a combined signal x3(t), which can be represented by equation 21:

[0127] x 3(t) =cos(2ωt+φ1+φ2)+cos(φ1-φ2)+n3(t)(Formula 21)

[0128] In process block 238, network 74 filters the combined signal x3(t) for unwanted (e.g., high-frequency) components. Specifically, network 74 allows x3(t) to pass through a first low-pass filter 184 to allow the desired (e.g., low-frequency) components to pass, and filters the unwanted components, resulting in a filtered signal x4(t), as represented by Equation 22:

[0129] x 4(t) =cos(φ1-φ2)+n4(t) (Formula 22)

[0130] In process block 240, network 74 determines the phase signal of the filtered signal x4(t). That is, network 74 allows x4(t) to pass through phase detector 186 to generate a phase signal x5(t), as shown in Equation 23:

[0131] x 5(t) =φ1-φ2+n5(t) (Formula 23)

[0132] As previously mentioned, the signal processing chain 180 may optionally include a second low-pass filter (LPF2) 188 to reduce noise in the signal x5(t). Therefore, network 74 can pass x5(t) through the second low-pass filter 188. In this way, network 74 determines the phase difference (e.g., x5(t)) between the first DMRS x1(t) and the second DMRS x2(t), and can send an indication of the phase difference (e.g., in the form of a correction signal) to the first UE 10A and / or the second UE 10B to cause any one or both UEs of UE 10 to adjust the phase of these UEs based on the phase difference (e.g., φ1–φ2), as shown in process block 242. UE 10 can then proceed as follows... Figures 5 to 11 The data is transmitted using any suitable method discussed above, thereby avoiding unintended beamforming due to timing misalignment of the transmission, while reducing the complexity and / or power usage of the receiver 80 of the communication hub 76 of network 74 by eliminating the use of a second low-pass filter 188 to determine the phase difference. The data may include, for example, voice call data and / or messaging data (e.g., email data, SMS data, etc.).

[0133] The specific embodiments described above have been illustrated by way of example, and it should be understood that various modifications and alternatives are permissible. It should also be understood that the claims are not intended to limit us to the specific forms disclosed, but rather to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the substance and scope of this disclosure.

[0134] The techniques described herein and protected by the claims are referenced and applied to specific examples of physical and practical nature, which significantly improve the technical field and are therefore not abstract, intangible, or purely theoretical. Furthermore, if any claim appended to the end of this specification contains one or more elements designated as "means for [performing] [function]..." or "steps for [performing] [function]...", those elements shall be interpreted in accordance with 35U.SC112(f). However, for any claim containing elements designated in any other manner, those elements shall not be interpreted in accordance with 35U.SC112(f).

[0135] As is widely recognized, the use of personally identifiable information should comply with privacy policies and practices that are generally accepted to meet or exceed industry or governmental requirements for protecting user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly explained to users.

Claims

1. A user equipment comprising: Transmitter; Receiver; and A processing circuit, communicatively coupled to the transmitter and the receiver, is configured to: It exchanges data to be transmitted to the communication hub with other user equipment on the side channel; After exchanging data with the other user equipment on the side channel, the transmitter is used on the first channel to send an indication that the data is ready to be sent to the communication hub. The receiver is used on the first channel to receive data from the communication hub that can be transmitted. On the side channel, an additional instruction is sent to the additional user equipment to indicate receipt of the permission from the communication hub, wherein the additional instruction is configured to cause the additional user equipment to send the data to the communication hub on the second channel; and The transmitter is used on the first channel to send the data to the communication hub.

2. The user equipment of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to initiate the exchange of data with the other user equipment on the side channel.

3. The user equipment of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to transmit the data to the communication hub on the first channel by transmitting a first portion of the data to the communication hub using the transmitter at a first time and transmitting the negative complex conjugate of a second portion of the data to the communication hub on the first channel at a second time.

4. The user equipment of claim 3, wherein the additional user equipment is configured to transmit the second portion of the data to the communication hub on the second channel at the first time, and to transmit the complex conjugate of the first portion of the data to the communication hub on the second channel at the second time.

5. The user equipment of claim 1, wherein the communication hub is configured to extract the data using space-time orthogonal block decoding.

6. The user equipment of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to transmit the data to the communication hub by transmitting a first portion of the data to the communication hub using the transmitter on the first channel, and the additional user equipment is configured to transmit a second portion of the data to the communication hub.

7. The user equipment of claim 1, wherein the communication hub is configured to extract the data using maximum likelihood technique, zero-forcing technique, minimum mean square error technique, continuous interference cancellation technique, ordered continuous interference cancellation technique, or any combination thereof.

8. The user equipment of claim 1, wherein the license includes one or more indexes for the user equipment, and wherein the processing circuitry is configured to adjust the demodulation reference signal mode based on the one or more indexes to synchronize the user equipment and the additional user equipment.

9. A method for communication, comprising: Exchange data to be transmitted to the communication hub with user equipment on the side link; After exchanging data with the user equipment on the side link, a transmitter is used on the first channel to send an indication that the data is ready to be sent to the communication hub. A receiver is used on the first channel to receive data from the communication hub that can be transmitted. On the side link, an additional instruction is sent to the user equipment to indicate receipt of the permission from the communication hub, wherein the additional instruction is configured to cause the user equipment to send the data to the communication hub on the second channel; and The transmitter is used on the first channel to send the data to the communication hub.

10. The method of claim 9, comprising initiating the exchange of the data with the user equipment.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising initiating the exchange of data with the user equipment via the side link.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein transmitting the data to the communication hub using the transmitter on the first channel comprises: At a first time, a first portion of the data is sent to the communication hub, and at a second time, the negative complex conjugate of a second portion of the data is sent to the communication hub.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein transmitting the data to the communication hub using the transmitter on the first channel comprises: The data is sent to the communication hub by sending a first portion of the data, while the user equipment is configured to send a second portion of the data to the communication hub.

14. One or more non-transitory tangible computer-readable media storing instructions that cause processing circuitry to execute: Exchange data to be transmitted to the communication hub with user equipment on the side link; After exchanging data with the user equipment on the side link, an instruction for permission to exchange the data is received; On the side link, an additional instruction is sent to the user equipment to indicate receipt of the permission from the communication hub, wherein the additional instruction causes the user equipment to send the data to the communication hub without using the side link; and The data is sent to the communication hub without using the side link.

15. One or more non-transitory tangible computer-readable media according to claim 14, wherein the instructions cause processing circuitry to initiate the exchange of the data with the user equipment on the side link.

16. One or more non-transitory tangible computer-readable media of claim 15, wherein the sidelink comprises a device-to-device or peer-to-peer communication protocol.

17. One or more non-transitory tangible computer-readable media according to claim 14, wherein the instruction for the permission to exchange the data is received from the user equipment on the side link.

18. One or more non-transitory tangible computer-readable media according to claim 14, wherein the instruction for the permission to exchange the data is received from the user equipment on the side link.

19. One or more non-transitory tangible computer-readable media according to claim 14, wherein the user equipment is configured to indicate that the data is ready to be transmitted.

20. One or more non-transitory tangible computer-readable media according to claim 14, wherein the communication hub includes a base station, a high-altitude base station, a satellite, a ground station, and an access point.

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