Multi-Input Multi-Output Uplink Communication Method and Apparatus

Abstract

In one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multi-input multi-output uplink communication method, computer-readable medium, and apparatus. The apparatus may be a UE. The UE determines that the base station is configured to communicate with the UE on a reference frequency band. The UE transmits N t1 RF signals at N r1 antennas on a first frequency band. N t1 is a positive integer. The UE transmits N t2 RF signals at N r2 antennas on a second frequency band. N t2 is a positive integer. The N r1 RF signals and the N r2 RF signals carry L-layer data generated at the UE and to be received at the base station. L is a positive integer and greater than each of N t1 and N t2 .

Description

[0001] Cross-reference

[0002] This invention claims the following priority: U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 253,572, filed on October 8, 2021, entitled "UPLINK FRAMEWORK FOR DISTRIBUTED MIMO", and U.S. Patent Application No. 17 / 944,278, filed on September 14, 2022. The above-mentioned U.S. patent applications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. Technical Field

[0003] This invention generally relates to communication systems, and more particularly, to techniques for forming a distributed Multiple-Input and Multiple-Output (MIMO) transmitter / receiver. Background Art

[0004] The statements in this section merely provide background information related to this invention and do not constitute prior art.

[0005] Wireless communication systems can be widely deployed to provide various telecommunication services, such as telephony, video, data, messaging, and broadcasting. A typical wireless communication system may employ multiple-access techniques that can support communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources. Examples of such multiple-access techniques include Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) systems, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) systems, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) systems, Single-Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) systems, and Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA) systems.

[0006] These multiple access technologies have been applied in various telecommunications standards to provide a common protocol that enables different wireless devices to communicate at the municipal, national, regional, or even global levels. An example telecommunications standard is the fifth-generation (5G) New Radio (NR). 5G NR is part of the continuous mobile broadband evolution released by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and can meet new requirements related to latency, reliability, security, scalability (e.g., related to the Internet of Things (IoT)), and other requirements. Some aspects of 5G NR can be based on the fourth-generation (4G) Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard. 5G NR technology still requires further improvement. These improvements can also be applied to other multiple access technologies and the telecommunications standards that employ these technologies. Summary of the Invention

[0007] The following presents a simplified overview of one or more aspects to provide a basic understanding of these aspects. This overview is not an extensive overview of all expected aspects and is neither intended to identify key or important elements of all aspects nor to depict the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description presented later.

[0008] In one aspect of the present invention, a method, computer-readable medium, and apparatus are provided. The apparatus may be a user equipment (UE). The UE determines that a base station is configured to communicate with the UE on a reference frequency band. The UE transmits N t1 RF signals at N r1 antennas on a first frequency band. N t1 is a positive integer. The UE transmits N t2 RF signals at N r2 antennas on a second frequency band. N t2 is a positive integer. The N r1 RF signals and the N r2 RF signals carry L-layer data generated at the UE and to be received at the base station. L is a positive integer and greater than each of N t1 and N t2 .

[0009] In another aspect of the present invention, a method, computer-readable medium, and apparatus are provided. The apparatus may be a wireless device. The wireless device receives N r RF signals at N r1RF signals. N r1 is a positive integer. The wireless device converts N r1 RF signals on a first frequency band into N r2 RF signals on a second frequency band. The wireless device transmits N t RF signals at M r2 antennas on the second frequency band.

[0010] The uplink framework for distributed MIMO proposed by the present invention can improve MIMO gain.

[0011] To achieve the foregoing and related purposes, one or more aspects include the features fully described hereinafter and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and the drawings illustrate certain exemplary features of one or more aspects. However, these features are only a few of the various ways in which the principles of the various aspects can be employed, and this description is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communication system and an access network.

[0013] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating communication between a base station and a UE in an access network.

[0014] Figure 3 illustrates an example logical structure of a distributed access network.

[0015] Figure 4 illustrates an example physical structure of a distributed access network.

[0016] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a downlink (DL)-centric subframe.

[0017] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an uplink (UL)-centric subframe.

[0018] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating distributed MIMO transmission.

[0019] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a first technique of uplink distributed high-order MIMO transmission according to a non-coherent method.

[0020] Figure 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating a second technique of uplink distributed high-order MIMO transmission according to a non-coherent method.

[0021] Figure 10It is a schematic diagram illustrating a technique of uplink distributed high-order MIMO transmission according to a coherent method.

[0022] Figure 11 It is a flowchart illustrating a method (process) of transmitting multi-layer uplink data.

[0023] Figure 12 It is a flowchart illustrating a method (process) of amplify-and-forward multi-layer uplink data.

[0024] Figure 13 It is a schematic diagram describing an example of a hardware implementation of a device using a processing system.

[0025] Figure 14 It is another schematic diagram describing an example of a hardware implementation of a device using a processing system. Detailed Implementation Modes

[0026] The implementation modes described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings are intended as descriptions of various configurations and are not intended to represent the only configurations in which the concepts described in the present invention can be implemented. These implementation modes include specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of the various concepts. However, those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains can implement these concepts without these specific details. In some instances, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form to avoid obscuring such concepts.

[0027] Several aspects of a telecommunication system will now be presented with reference to various devices and methods. These devices and methods will be described in the following implementation modes and are shown in the accompanying drawings by means of various blocks, components, circuits, processes, algorithms, etc. (collectively referred to as "elements" hereinafter). These elements can be implemented using electronic hardware, computer software, or any combination thereof. Whether these elements are implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0028] By way of example, an element, or any portion of an element, or any combination of elements can be implemented as a "processing system" that includes one or more processors. Examples of processors include microprocessors, microcontrollers, graphics processing units (GPUs), central processing units (CPUs), application processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processors, systems on a chip (SoCs), baseband processors, 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 functions of all aspects of the present invention. One or more processors in the processing system can execute software. Software should be construed broadly as instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software components, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable files, execution threads, programs, functions, etc., whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise.

[0029] Thus, in one or more example embodiments, the described functions can be implemented in hardware, software, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions can be stored on a computer-readable medium or encoded as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media include computer storage media. Storage media can be any available medium accessible by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, computer-readable media can include random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage, other magnetic storage devices, and combinations of the aforementioned types of computer-readable media, or any other medium that can be used to store computer-executable code in the form of computer-accessible instructions or data structures.

[0030] Figure 1FIG. 0 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communication system and an access network 100. The wireless communication system (which may also be referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) includes a base station 102, a UE 104, an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) 160, and another core network 190 (e.g., a 5G Core (5GC)). The base station 102 includes a macro cell (a high-power cellular base station) and / or a small cell (a low-power cellular base station). The macro cell includes a base station. The small cell includes a femtocell, a picocell, and a microcell.

[0031] The base stations 102 configured for 4G LTE (collectively referred to as an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN)) are connected to the EPC 160 via a backhaul link 132 (e.g., an S1 interface). The base stations 102 configured for 5G NR (collectively referred to as a Next Generation Radio Access Network (NG-RAN)) are connected to the core network 190 via a backhaul link 184. Among other functions, the base station 102 may also perform one or more of the following functions: user data transfer, wireless channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection establishment and release, load balancing, distribution of non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, radio access network (RAN) sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and device tracking, radio access network information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and warning message transfer. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., via the EPC 160 or the core network 190) via a backhaul link 134 (e.g., an X2 interface). The backhaul link 134 may be wired or wireless.

[0032] Base station 102 may communicate wirelessly with UE 104. Each of base stations 102 may provide communication coverage for a corresponding geographical coverage area 110. There may be overlapping geographical coverage areas 110. For example, small cell 102' may have a coverage area 110' that overlaps with the coverage areas 110 of one or more macro base stations 102. A network that includes both small cells and macro cells may be referred to as a heterogeneous network. The heterogeneous network may also include a home evolved node B (HeNB), where the HeNB may provide services to a restricted group called a closed subscriber group (CSG). The communication link 120 between base station 102 and UE 104 may include an UL (also referred to as a reverse link) transmission from UE 104 to base station 102 and / or a DL (also referred to as a forward link) transmission from base station 102 to UE 104. The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna technology, which includes spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link may be carried out via one or more carriers. Base station 102 / UE 104 may use a spectrum with a bandwidth of up to Y megahertz (e.g., 5, 10, 15, 20, 100 megahertz) per carrier, where the spectrum is allocated in carrier aggregation up to Yx megahertz (x component carriers) for transmission in each direction. These carriers may or may not be adjacent to each other. The allocation of carriers for DL and UL may be asymmetric (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated for DL than for UL). The component carriers may include a primary component carrier and one or more secondary component carriers. The primary component carrier may be referred to as a primary cell (PCell), and the secondary component carriers may be referred to as secondary cells (SCells).

[0033] Some UEs 104 may communicate with each other using device-to-device (D2D) communication links 158. The D2D communication links 158 may use DL / UL WWAN spectrum. The D2D communication links 158 may use one or more sidelink channels, such as physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH), physical sidelink discovery channel (PSDCH), physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), and physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH). D2D communication may be through various wireless D2D communication systems, such as, FlashLinQ, WiMedia, Bluetooth, ZigBee, Wi-Fi based on the IEEE 802.11 standard, LTE, or NR, etc.

[0034] The wireless communication system further includes a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) access point (AP) 150 that communicates with a Wi-Fi station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154 in the 5 gigahertz unlicensed spectrum. When communicating in the unlicensed spectrum, the STA 152 / AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) before communicating to determine if the channel is available.

[0035] The small cell 102’ may operate in licensed and / or unlicensed spectrum. When operating in the unlicensed spectrum, the small cell 102’ may adopt NR and use the same 5 gigahertz unlicensed spectrum used by the Wi-Fi AP 150. The small cell 102’ adopting NR in the unlicensed spectrum may improve the coverage of the access network and / or increase the capacity of the access network.

[0036] Base station 102, whether it is a small cell 102' or a large cell (e.g., a macro base station), may include an eNB, a gNodeB (gNB), or other types of base stations. Some base stations, such as gNB (or gNodeB) 180, may operate at millimeter wave (mmW) frequencies and / or near mmW frequencies to communicate with UE 104. When gNB 180 operates at mmW or near mmW frequencies, gNB 180 may be referred to as an mmW base station. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is a part of the radio frequency (RF) in the electromagnetic wave spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 gigahertz to 300 gigahertz and a wavelength between 1 millimeter and 10 millimeters. The radio waves in this frequency band may be referred to as millimeter waves. Near mmW may extend down to 3 gigahertz frequency with a wavelength of 100 millimeters. The super high frequency (SHF) band ranges from 3 gigahertz to 30 gigahertz and is also referred to as centimeter waves. Communications using the mmW / near mmW RF band have extremely high path loss and a short range. Beamforming 184 may be used between base station 180 and UE 104 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range.

[0037] Base station 180 may transmit beamformed signals to UE 104 in one or more transmission directions 108a. UE 104 may receive beamformed signals from base station 180 in one or more reception directions 108b. UE 104 may also transmit beamformed signals to base station 180 in one or more transmission directions. Base station 180 may receive beamformed signals from UE 104 in one or more reception directions. Base station 180 / UE 104 may perform beam training to determine the optimal reception and transmission directions for each of base station 180 / UE 104. The transmission and reception directions of base station 180 may be the same or different. The transmission and reception directions of UE 104 may be the same or different.

[0038] The EPC 160 includes a Mobility Management Entity (MME) 162, other MMEs 164, a Serving Gateway 166, a MBMS Gateway (GW) 168, a Broadcast Multicast Service Center (BM-SC) 170, and a Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway 172. The MME 162 can communicate with a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 174. The MME 162 is a control node that processes signaling between the UE 104 and the EPC 160. Generally speaking, the MME 162 provides bearer and connection management. All User Internet Protocol (IP) packets are passed through the Serving Gateway 166, which itself is connected to the PDN Gateway 172. The PDN Gateway 172 provides UE IP address allocation and other functions. The PDN Gateway 172 and the BM-SC 170 are connected to the PDN 176. The PDN 176 can include the Internet, an internal network, an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), a Packet Switched Streaming Service (PSS), and / or other IP services. The BM-SC 170 can provide functions for MBMS user service provisioning and delivery. The BM-SC 170 can serve as an entry point for content provider MBMS transmissions, can be used for authorization and initiating MBMS bearer services in a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), and can be used for scheduling MBMS transmissions. The MBMS GW 168 can be used to allocate MBMS traffic to base stations 102 belonging to a Multicast Broadcast Single Frequency Network (MBSFN) area for a particular broadcast service, and is responsible for session management (start / stop) and collecting evolved MBMS (eMBMS)-related charging information.

[0039] The core network 190 includes an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 192, other AMFs 193, a location management function (LMF) 198, a Session Management Function (SMF) 194, and a User Plane Function (UPF) 195. The AMF 192 can communicate with a Unified Data Management (UDM) 196. The AMF 192 is a control node that processes signaling between the UE 104 and the core network 190. Typically, the SMF 194 provides QoS flow and session management. All user Internet protocol (IP) datagrams are transmitted through the UPF 195. The UPF 195 provides UE IP address allocation and other functions. The UPF 195 is connected to an IP service 197. The IP service 197 can include the Internet, an internal network, an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), a PS flow service, and / or other IP services.

[0040] A base station may also be referred to as a gNB, Node B, evolved Node-B (eNB), AP, base transceiver station, radio base station, radio transceiver, transceiver function, basic service set (BSS), extended service set (ESS), or other suitable terms. The base station 102 provides an access point to the EPC 160 for the UE 104. Examples of the UE 104 include mobile phones, smart phones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, laptop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), satellite radios, global positioning systems, multimedia devices, video devices, digital audio players (e.g., MP3 players), cameras, gaming consoles, tablet computers, intelligent devices, wearable devices, automobiles, electricity meters, air pumps, ovens, or any other devices with similar functions. Some UEs 104 may also be referred to as IoT devices (e.g., parking timers, air pumps, ovens, automobiles, etc.). The UE 104 may also be referred to as a station, mobile station, user station, mobile unit, user unit, wireless unit, remote unit, mobile device, wireless device, wireless communication device, remote device, mobile user station, access terminal, mobile terminal, wireless terminal, remote terminal, cell phone, user agent, mobile client, client, or other suitable terms.

[0041] Although the present invention may relate to 5G NR, the present invention may be applicable to other similar fields, such as LTE, LTE-A, CDMA, Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), or other wireless / radio access technologies.

[0042] Figure 2It is a block diagram of the communication between the base station 210 and the UE 250 in the access network. In the DL, IP packets from the EPC 160 can be provided to the controller / processor 275. The controller / processor 275 implements Layer 3 and Layer 2 functions. Layer 3 includes the radio resource control (RRC) layer, and Layer 2 includes the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, the radio link control (RLC) layer, and the medium access control (MAC) layer. The controller / processor 275 provides RRC layer functions, PDCP layer functions, RLC layer functions, and MAC layer functions, where the RRC layer functions are associated with system information (e.g., master information block (MIB), system information block (SIB)) broadcasting, RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-radio access technology (RAT) mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; where the PDCP layer functions are associated with header compression / decompression, security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; where the RLC layer functions are associated with the transfer of upper layer packet data units (PDUs), error correction via automatic repeat request (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and re-ordering of RLC data PDUs; where the MAC layer functions are associated with the mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs into transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of TBs into MAC SDUs, scheduling information reporting, error correction via hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0043] The transmit (TX) processor 216 and the receive (RX) processor 270 implement the layer 1 functions associated with various signal processing functions. The layer 1 (including the physical (PHY) layer) may include error detection on the transport channel, forward error correction (FEC) encoding / decoding of the transport channel, interleaving, rate matching, mapping on the physical channel, modulation / demodulation of the physical channel, and MIMO antenna processing. The TX processor 216 processes the mapping to the signal constellation based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase-shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK), M-phase-shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The encoded and modulated symbols may then be divided into parallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., pilot) in the time domain and / or frequency domain, and then combined using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to generate a physical channel carrying a stream of time domain OFDM symbols. The OFDM stream is precoded in space to generate multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from the channel estimator 274 may be used to determine the encoding and modulation schemes, as well as for spatial processing. The channel estimates may be derived from reference signals transmitted by the UE 250 and / or channel state feedback. Each spatial stream may then be provided to a different antenna 220 via a separate transceiver 218 (the transceiver 218 includes RX and TX). Each transceiver 218 may modulate an RF carrier using its respective spatial stream for transmission.

[0044] At the UE 250, each transceiver 254 (the transceiver 254 includes RX and TX) receives signals via its respective antenna 252. Each transceiver 254 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides this information to the RX processor 256. The TX processor 268 and the RX processor 256 implement layer 1 functions associated with various signal processing functions. The RX processor 256 may perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial streams to be sent to the UE 250. If there are multiple spatial streams to be sent to the UE 250, the RX processor 256 combines the multiple spatial streams into a single OFDM symbol stream. Then the RX processor 256 uses the fast Fourier transform (FFT) to transform the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain. The frequency domain signal includes a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols and reference signals on each subcarrier are recovered and demodulated by determining the signal constellation most likely sent by the base station 210. These soft decisions may be based on the channel estimates calculated by the channel estimator 258. The soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals originally sent by the base station 210 on the physical channel. The data and control signals are then provided to the controller / processor 259 that implements layer 3 and layer 2 functions.

[0045] The controller / processor 259 may be associated with a memory 260 that stores program code and data. The memory 260 may be referred to as a computer-readable medium. In the UL, the controller / processor 259 provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the EPC 160. The controller / processor 259 is also responsible for error detection using the acknowledgement (ACK) and / or negative acknowledgement (NACK) protocols to support HARQ operations.

[0046] Similar to the functional description of DL transmission via base station 210, controller / processor 259 provides RRC layer functions, PDCP layer functions, RLC layer functions, and MAC layer functions. Among them, the RRC layer functions are associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) acquisition, RRC connection, and measurement reporting; the PDCP layer functions are associated with header compression / decompression and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); the RLC layer functions are associated with the transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correction via ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; the MAC layer functions are associated with the mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs into TBs, demultiplexing of TBs into MAC SDUs, scheduling information reporting, error correction via HARQ, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0047] The channel estimates derived by channel estimator 258 can be used by TX processor 268 to select appropriate coding and modulation schemes and facilitate spatial processing, where the channel estimates are derived from reference signals or feedback sent by base station 210. The spatial streams generated by TX processor 268 can be provided to different antennas 252 via separate transceivers 254. Each transceiver 254 can use the corresponding spatial stream to modulate the RF carrier for transmission. Base station 210 processes UL transmission in a similar manner to the receiver function description at UE 250. Each transceiver 218 receives signals via the corresponding antenna 220. Each transceiver 218 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides this information to RX processor 270.

[0048] Controller / processor 275 can be associated with a memory 276 that stores program code and data. Memory 276 can be referred to as a computer-readable medium. In the UL, controller / processor 275 provides demultiplexing between transmission and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from UE 250. The IP packets from controller / processor 275 can be provided to EPC 160. Controller / processor 275 is also responsible for error detection using the ACK and / or NACK protocols to support HARQ operations.

[0049] NR refers to a radio configured to operate according to a new air interface (e.g., in addition to an OFDMA-based air interface) or a fixed transport layer (e.g., other than IP). NR can use OFDM with cyclic prefix (CP) in both UL and DL, and includes support for half-duplex operation using Time Division Duplexing (TDD). NR can include enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) services for wide bandwidths (e.g., over 80 megahertz), millimeter wave (mmW) for high carrier frequencies (e.g., 60 gigahertz), massive machine type communication (mMTC) for non-backward compatible machine type communication (MTC) technologies, and / or mission-critical for Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services.

[0050] Single component carriers with a bandwidth of 100 megahertz can be supported. In one example, an NR resource block (RB) can span 12 subcarriers with a subcarrier bandwidth of 60 kilohertz and a duration of 0.125 milliseconds, or a subcarrier bandwidth of 15 kilohertz and a duration of 0.5 milliseconds. Each radio frame can include 20 or 80 subframes (or NR time slots) with a length of 10 milliseconds. Each subframe can indicate the link direction for data transmission (i.e., DL or UL), and the link direction of each subframe can be dynamically switched. Each subframe can include DL / UL data as well as DL / UL control data. The UL and DL subframes of NR are described in detail in the following Figure 5 and Figure 6 below.

[0051] The NR RAN may include a central unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU). The NR base station (BS) (e.g., gNB, 5G Node B, Node B, transmission reception point (TRP), AP) may correspond to one or more BSs. The NR cell may be configured as an access cell (ACell) or a data only cell (DCell). For example, the RAN (e.g., CU or DU) may configure the cell. The DCell may be a cell for carrier aggregation or dual connectivity and is not used for initial access, cell selection / reselection, or handover. In some cases, the DCell does not transmit a synchronization signal (SS). In some cases, the DCell transmits the SS. The NR BS may send a DL signal indicating the cell type to the UE. Based on this cell type indication, the UE may communicate with the NR BS. For example, the UE may determine the NR BS based on the indicated cell type for consideration for cell selection, access, handover, and / or measurement.

[0052] Figure 3 An example logical structure of a distributed RAN 300 in accordance with aspects of the present invention is illustrated. The 5G access node 306 includes an access node controller (ANC) 302. The ANC may be the CU of the distributed RAN 300. The backhaul interface to the next generation core network (NG-CN) 304 may terminate at the ANC. The backhaul interface to an adjacent next generation access node (NG-AN) may terminate at the ANC. The ANC includes one or more TRPs 308 (also referred to as BS, NR BS, Node B, 5G NB, AP, or some other term). As described above, the TRP may be used interchangeably with “cell”.

[0053] The TRP 308 may be a DU. The TRP may be connected to one ANC (ANC 302) or more than one ANC (not shown). For example, for RAN sharing, radio as a service (RaaS), and service-specific ANC deployments, the TRP may be connected to more than one ANC. The TRP includes one or more antenna ports. The TRP may be configured to serve UE traffic independently (e.g., dynamic selection) or jointly (e.g., joint transmission).

[0054] The local structure of the distributed RAN 300 can be used to describe the fronthaul definition. A structure that supports fronthaul solutions across different deployment types can be defined. For example, the structure can be based on the transmitting network performance (e.g., bandwidth, latency, and / or jitter). The structure can share features and / or components with LTE. According to various aspects, the NG-AN 310 can support dual connectivity with NR. The NG-AN can share a common fronthaul for LTE and NR.

[0055] The structure can enable cooperation between the TRPs 308. For example, cooperation can be preconfigured within the TRP and / or across the TRPs via the ANC 302. According to various aspects, an interface between the TRPs may not be required / absent.

[0056] According to various aspects, a dynamic configuration of separated logical functions can exist within the distributed RAN 300 structure. The PDCP, RLC, and MAC protocols can be adaptively placed in the ANC or the TRP.

[0057] Figure 4 An example physical structure of a distributed RAN 400 according to an aspect of the present invention is illustrated. A centralized core network unit (C-CU) 402 can undertake core network functions. The C-CU can be centrally deployed. The C-CU function can be offloaded (e.g., offloaded to advanced wireless service (AWS)) to handle peak capacity. A centralized RAN unit (C-RU) 404 can undertake one or more ANC functions. Optionally, the C-RU can undertake core network functions locally. The C-RU can be distributedly deployed. The C-RU can be closer to the network edge. The DU 406 can undertake one or more TRPs. The DU can be located at the network edge with RF capabilities.

[0058] Figure 5 FIG. 500 is a diagram showing an example of a DL-centric subframe. The DL-centric subframe includes a control portion 502. The control portion 502 can be present in the initial or start portion of the DL-centric subframe. The control portion 502 includes various scheduling information and / or control information corresponding to the respective portions of the DL-centric subframe. In some configurations, the control portion 502 can be a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), as Figure 5As shown. The DL - centered sub - frame further includes a DL data portion 504. The DL data portion 504 is sometimes referred to as the payload of the DL - centered sub - frame. The DL data portion 504 includes communication resources for communicating from a scheduling entity (e.g., a UE or a BS) to a subordinate entity (e.g., a UE). In some configurations, the DL data portion 504 may be a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).

[0059] The DL - centered sub - frame further includes a common UL portion 506. The common UL portion 506 is sometimes referred to as a UL burst, a common UL burst, and / or various other suitable terms. The common UL portion 506 includes feedback information corresponding to various other parts of the DL - centered sub - frame. For example, the common UL portion 506 includes feedback information corresponding to the control portion 502. Non - limiting examples of the feedback information include ACK signals, NACK signals, HARQ indicators, and / or various other suitable types of information. The common UL portion 506 includes additional or optional information, such as information related to a random access channel (RACH) procedure, a scheduling request (SR), and various other suitable types of information.

[0060] As Figure 5 shown, the end of the DL data portion 504 can be temporally separated from the start of the common UL portion 506. This temporal separation is sometimes referred to as a gap, a guard period, a guard interval, and / or other suitable terms. This separation provides time for the handover from DL communication (e.g., the receiving operation of a subordinate entity (e.g., a UE)) to UL communication (e.g., the transmitting operation of a subordinate entity (e.g., a UE)). Those skilled in the art will understand that the above are only examples of DL - centered sub - frames, and there may be alternative structures with similar characteristics without departing from the aspects described herein.

[0061] Figure 6 FIG. 600 is a diagram showing an example of a UL - centered sub - frame. The UL - centered sub - frame includes a control portion 602. The control portion 602 may be present in the initial or start portion of the UL - centered sub - frame. Figure 6 The control portion 602 of Figure 5The control section 502 described above is similar. The UL-centered subframe further includes a UL data section 604. The UL data section 604 may sometimes be referred to as the payload of the UL-centered subframe. The UL section may refer to communication resources for communicating from a lower-level entity (e.g., a UE) to a scheduling entity (e.g., a UE or a BS). In some configurations, the control section 602 may be a PDCCH.

[0062] As Figure 6 shown, the end of the control section 602 may be temporally separated from the start of the common UL data section 604. This temporal separation may sometimes be referred to as a gap, a guard period, a guard interval, and / or other suitable terms. This separation provides time for the handover from DL communication (e.g., the receiving operation of the scheduling entity) to UL communication (e.g., the transmitting operation of the scheduling entity). The UL-centered subframe further includes a common UL section 606. Figure 6 The common UL section 606 may be similar to the common UL section 606 referred to Figure 6 above. The common UL section 606 may additionally or alternatively include information on channel quality indicator (CQI), information on SRS, and various other suitable types of information. Those skilled in the art will understand that the above are only examples of DL-centered subframes, and there may be alternative structures with similar features without departing from the aspects described herein.

[0063] In some cases, two or more lower-level entities (e.g., UEs) may communicate with each other using sidelink signals. Practical applications of such sidelink communication include public safety, proximity services, UE-to-network relay, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, Internet of Everything (IoE) communication, IoT communication, mission-critical mesh, and / or various other suitable applications. Generally speaking, a sidelink signal may refer to a signal for communicating from one lower-level entity (such as UE 1) to another lower-level entity (such as UE 2) without relaying the communication through a scheduling entity (such as a UE or a BS), even though a scheduling entity may be used for scheduling and / or control purposes. In some examples, sidelink signals may communicate using licensed spectrum (different from wireless local area networks that typically use unlicensed spectrum).

[0064] In an uplink SU-MIMO scenario including a base station and a mobile terminal (MT), if the base station has N r antennas and the MT has N tantennas, and the signals transmitted between them have L layers, the maximum number of layers is restricted such that:

[0065] 1L ≤ min(N t , N r ).

[0066] Generally, the number of base station antennas N r is much larger than the number of MT antennas N t . Therefore, in a traditional configuration, the base station cannot achieve the maximum MIMO gain using N r antennas. The present invention provides an uplink distributed SU-MIMO framework to improve the MIMO gain. The term "mobile terminal" is used herein to refer to any type of wireless device, including fixed wireless devices such as customer premise equipment (CPE).

[0067] Figure 7 FIG. 700 is a schematic diagram illustrating distributed MIMO transmission. The present invention illustrates that multiple distributed low-rank MTs or wireless devices can form a high-rank MIMO transmitter / receiver. The base station 802 and the master MT 704 communicate with each other via one or more slave MTs 706, 708... 710. The slave MTs are also referred to as repeaters and can be wireless devices such as mobile phones, fixed CPEs, and wireless routers. In this example, there are K slave MTs (K is an integer, K ≥ 1). The master MT 704 and the K slave MTs 706, 708... 710 are connected together to form a high-rank MIMO transmitter / receiver network to expand the channel order.

[0068] As described below, the repeater receives an RF signal on a first frequency band, shifts the RF carrier of the RF signal to a second frequency band, and then transmits the shifted RF signal on the second frequency band. Each frequency band is an interval in the frequency domain. Specifically, the repeater can be a frequency conversion repeater. The repeater can also be a time delay repeater that receives an RF signal and then retransmits the received RF signal after a certain time delay. In addition, the repeater can receive an RF signal in a first time-frequency resource, convert the received RF signal to a second time-frequency resource, and then transmit the converted RF signal. Specifically, the first time-frequency resource can be orthogonal to the second time-frequency resource.

[0069] The present invention uses (f, t) to represent a time-frequency resource: (f, t)1 represents the time-frequency resource used by the base station for transmitting and receiving RF signals. (f, t) 2, represents the resource used by a specific repeater MT k (k is an integer, 1 ≤ k ≤ K) for receiving RF signals. Therefore, (f, t)2,1 Indicates the resources for the primary MT 704 (i.e., MT0) to send RF signals to the repeater 806 (i.e., MT1); (f,t) 2,2 Indicates the resources for the primary MT 704 to send signals to the repeater 808 (i.e., MT2), and so on. In some configurations, (f,t)1, (f,t) 2, , (f,t) 2, … and (f,t) 2, are orthogonal. Specifically, they do not overlap in the frequency domain. In some configurations, (f,t)1 can be the same as one of the (f,t) 2, (k ∈ 1,…K), while the rest are orthogonal to each other. Additionally, (f,t)1 and (f,t) 2, (1 ≤ k ≤ K) can be non-overlapping component carriers, non-overlapping bandwidth parts (BWP), non-overlapping frequency bands, or non-overlapping sets within the same component carrier.

[0070] In one example, the primary MT 704 has 4 physical antennas (i.e., physical antennas 1 to 4), and can have 4 data layers to be sent (i.e., layers 1 to 4). Additionally, each data layer corresponds to an antenna port. In the first configuration, the primary MT704 maps a specific layer to a specific physical antenna. For example, the data of layer 1 is transmitted through physical antenna 1, the data of layer 2 is transmitted through physical antenna 2, and so on. This is called the non-coherent mode. In the second configuration, at the primary MT 704, at least one specific layer is mapped to at least two physical antennas, and at least one physical antenna is not mapped to at least one of the 4 data layers. For example, the data of layer 1 is transmitted through physical antenna 1 and physical antenna 2, the data of layer 2 is transmitted through physical antenna 3 and physical antenna 4, and so on. This is called the partial coherence mode. In the third configuration, each data layer is mapped to all physical antennas. This is called the full coherence mode.

[0071] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram 800 illustrating a first technique of uplink distributed high-order MIMO transmission according to the non-coherent method. In this example, the base station 802 has 8 antennas, and the UE804 has 4 physical antennas. The repeater 806 is placed between the base station 802 and the UE 804. The UE 804 can send signals from 4 physical antennas simultaneously on two different time-frequency resources (e.g., (f,t)1 and (f,t) 2,1 ). In this example, the same 4 transmitting physical antennas are shared on (f,t)1 and (f,t) 2,1 to reduce the chip area cost of the UE 804. In other examples, the first set of physical antennas 810 and the second set of physical antennas 812 are (f,t)1 and (f,t)2,1 on different physical antennas and not shared physical antennas.

[0072] UE 804 can generate eight-layer baseband data signals x1, x2, …, x8, which can be represented by a vector:

[0073]

[0074] UE 804 can divide the symbol x 8×1 into two groups x (1) 4×1 and x (2) 4×1 ,

[0075]

[0076] each group having four layers. In addition, the four physical antennas transmitting on (f, t)1 can be regarded as the first group of physical antennas 810, and the four same physical antennas transmitting on (f, t) 2,1 can be regarded as the second group of physical antennas 812. That is, the first group of physical antennas 810 and the second group of physical antennas 812 transmit signals on different frequency resources. The first group of physical antennas 810 and the second group of physical antennas 812 can be shared, or they are two groups of different physical antennas. In this example, the base station 802 transmits and receives signals on (f, t)1. The repeater 806 receives signals on (f, t) 2,1 and converts the signals (e.g., frequency shift) and retransmits the signals on (f, t)1.

[0077] In addition, UE 804 maps the baseband data signal x (1) 4×1 to the first group of physical antennas 810 to generate four superimposed baseband signals s1, s2, …, s4 (i.e., S (1) 4×1 ), which can be expressed as: S (1) 4×1 = P ′(1) 4×4 ·x (1) 4×1 . UE 804 maps the baseband data signal x (2) 4×1 to the second group of physical antennas 812 to generate four superimposed baseband signals s5, s6, …, s8 (i.e., S (2) 4×1 ), which can be expressed as: S (2) 4×1 = P ′(2) 4×4 ·x 92) 4×1 .

[0078] In addition, UE 804 mixes S (1) 4×1 with the RF carrier on (f,t)1 and transmits the resulting RF signal at the first set of physical antennas 810 to the base station 802. The base station 802 receives the RF signal at eight physical antennas via channel 820 (which can be denoted as H1). The base station 802 removes the RF carrier from the received RF signal and obtains the baseband signal:

[0079]

[0080] UE 804 mixes S (1) 4×1 with the RF carrier on (f,t) 2,1 and transmits the resulting RF signal at the second set of physical antennas 812 to the repeater 806.

[0081] The base station 802 receives the RF signal from the UE 804 at its four physical antennas via channel 822 (which can be denoted as H2). At the repeater 806, the received baseband signal can be denoted as

[0082]

[0083] if extracted from the RF signal received at the physical antennas of the repeater 806. The repeater 806 can amplify and forward the received RF signal. The effect of amplification and forwarding on the baseband signal can be denoted as G s4×4 . In addition, the repeater 806 shifts or converts the time - frequency of the RF carrier from (f,t) 2,1 to (f,t)1. The effect of the frequency shift on the baseband can be denoted as T. The repeater 806 further transmits the RF signal on (f,t) 2, at the four antennas of the repeater. Thus, the RF signal transmitted by the repeater 806 carries the baseband signal

[0084]

[0085] In this example, the eight antennas of the base station 802 receive the RF signal transmitted by the repeater via channel 824 (which can be denoted as ) on the time - frequency resource (f,t)1. The base station 802 obtains the baseband signal from the RF signal transmitted by the repeater 806 on the time - frequency resource (f,t)1:

[0086]

[0087] The time - frequency resource (f,t)1 and the time - frequency resource (f,t) 2,1 are non - overlapping, and from (f,t)1 to (f,t) 2,1The mapping is predefined or can be signaled by the base station 802 or the UE 804 to the repeater 806.

[0088] The base station 802 obtains a baseband signal on the time-frequency resource (f,t)1, expressed as:

[0089]

[0090] Matrix

[0091] has a rank of 8. And

[0092]

[0093] Therefore, based on the equation r 8×1 = Q 8×8 ·x 8×1 , the base station 802 can determine the 8-layer baseband data signals x1, x2, …, x8. In this example, the base station is configured to communicate with the UE 804 and receive data on a reference time-frequency resource that is the same as (f,t)1 but does not include (f,t) 2,1 .

[0094] Figure 9 is a schematic diagram 900 illustrating a second technique for uplink distributed high-order MIMO transmission according to the non-coherent method. Compared with Figure 8 the example of, in this example, in addition to the repeater 806, another repeater 808 is placed between the base station 802 and the UE 804. Similar to Figure 8 described above, the UE 804 also divides the symbol x 8×1 into two groups: x (1) 4×1 and x (2) 4×1 . The UE 804 can be considered to operate the first set of physical antennas 810 and the second set of physical antennas 812. In this example, the first set of physical antennas 810 is configured to communicate with the repeater 808, and the second set of physical antennas 812 is configured to communicate with the repeater 808. The first set of physical antennas 810 and the second set of physical antennas 812 can be shared, or they are two different sets of physical antennas.

[0095] The UE 804 maps the baseband data signal x (1) 4×1 to the first set of physical antennas 810, and maps the baseband data signal x (2) 4×1 to the second set of physical antennas 812. Therefore, the UE 804 generates S (1) 4×1 = P ′(1) 4×4 ·x (1)4×1 , S (2) 4×1 = P ′(2) 4×4 ·x (2) 4×1 .

[0096] The four antennas of the repeater 806 receive RF signals transmitted from the second set of physical antennas 812 via the channel 922 (which can be denoted as ) in the time-frequency resource (f, t) 2,1 . At the repeater 806, if extracted from the RF signals received at the antennas of the repeater 806, the baseband signal can be denoted as H 24×4 ·P ′(2) 4×4 ·x (2) 4×1 . The repeater 806 can amplify and forward the received RF signals. The impact of amplification and forwarding on the baseband signal can be denoted as In addition, the repeater 806 shifts or converts the resource of the forwarded signal from (f, t) 2,1 to (f, t)1. The impact of the frequency shift on the baseband can be denoted as T2. The repeater 806 transmits RF signals at the four antennas in the time-frequency resource (f, t)1. Therefore, the RF signals transmitted by the repeater 806 carry the baseband signal

[0097]

[0098] In addition, the eight antennas of the base station 802 receive the RF signals transmitted by the repeater 806 via the channel 924 (which can be denoted as ) in the time-frequency resource (f, t)1. The base station 802 obtains the baseband signal from the RF signals transmitted in the time-frequency resource (f, t)1

[0099]

[0100] In this example, the repeater 808 has four antennas. The repeater 808 receives the RF signals transmitted from the first set of physical antennas 810 via the channel 910 (which can be denoted as ) in the time-frequency resource (f, t) 2,2 . At the repeater 808, if extracted from the RF signals received at the antennas of the repeater 808, the baseband signal can be denoted as The repeater 808 can amplify and forward the received RF signals. The impact of amplification and forwarding on the baseband signal can be denoted as In addition, the repeater 808 shifts the time-frequency of the forwarded signal from (f, t) 2,2The movement is (f, t)1. The impact of time-frequency movement on the baseband can be expressed as T1. The repeater 808 transmits RF signals on 4 antennas at the time-frequency resource (f, t)1. Therefore, the RF signals transmitted by the repeater 808 carry the baseband signals

[0101]

[0102] In addition, 8 antennas of the base station 802 receive the RF signals transmitted by the repeater through the channel 912 (which can be expressed as ) at the time-frequency resource (f, t)1. The base station 802 obtains the baseband signals from the RF signals at the time-frequency resource (f, t)1

[0103]

[0104] The time-frequency resource (f, t) 2,2 and the time-frequency resource (f, t) 2,1 are non-overlapping in the frequency domain and orthogonal to each other. In addition, at least one of (f, t) 2,2 and (f, t) 2,1 does not overlap with or is orthogonal to (f, t)1. The mapping from (f, t) 2,1 to (f, t)1 is predefined or can be signaled by the base station 802 or the UE 804 to the repeaters 806 and 808.

[0105] The base station 802 obtains and the combined signal of:

[0106]

[0107] The matrix

[0108] has a rank of 8. Therefore, based on the equation r 8×1 = Q 8×8 ·x 8×1 , the base station 802 can determine 8-layer baseband data signals x1, x2, …, x8. In this example, the base station is configured to communicate with the UE 804 and receive data at a reference time-frequency resource (f, t)1 different from (f, t) 2,1 or (f, t) 2,2 .

[0109] In this non-coherent method, the data layers transmitted by the primary MT are divided into K groups. The primary MT is at the time-frequency resource (f, t) 2,k (k is an integer, and (f, t) 2,kand on the upper transmission layer group k. The transmission between any two groups is non-coherent. The transmission within the group can be non-coherent, partially coherent, or fully coherent. The layers within the group can be mapped to a codeword. The layers in different groups are not mapped to the same codeword.

[0110] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram 1000 illustrating the technology of uplink distributed high-order MIMO transmission according to the coherent method. In this example, similar to the above description Figure 8 UE 804 can be considered to operate the first set of physical antennas 810 and the second set of physical antennas 812. The first set of physical antennas 810 is configured to communicate with the repeater 808, and the second set of physical antennas 812 is configured to communicate with the repeater 808. The first set of physical antennas 810 and the second set of physical antennas 812 can be shared, or they are two different sets of physical antennas.

[0111] UE 804 maps the baseband data signal x 8×1 to the first set of physical antennas 810 to generate 4 superimposed baseband signals s′1, s′2, …, s′4 (i.e., ), which can be expressed as: UE 804 also maps x 8×1 to the second set of physical antennas 812 to generate baseband signals s′5, s′6, …, s′8 (i.e., ), which can be expressed as:

[0112] In addition, UE 804 mixes with the RF carrier on the time-frequency resource (f, t) 2,2 and sends the RF signal obtained at the first set of physical antennas 810 to the repeater 808. UE 804 mixes with the RF carrier on the time-frequency resource (f, t) 2,1 and sends the RF signal obtained at the second set of physical antennas 812 to the repeater 806.

[0113] The repeater 806 receives the RF signal sent from the second set of physical antennas 812 on the time-frequency resource (f, t) through the channel 1022 (which can be expressed as 2,1 ). At the repeater 806, the baseband signal can be expressed as Similar to the above description Figure 9 The repeater 806 moves the time-frequency of the forwarded signal from (f, t) 2,1 to (f, t)1. The RF signal sent by the repeater 806 to the base station 802 carries the baseband signal

[0114]

[0115] The repeater 808 receives, via channel 1010 (which may be denoted as ), an RF signal transmitted from the first set of physical antennas 810 on the time-frequency resource (f,t) 2,2 . At the repeater 808, the baseband signal may be denoted as Similar to that described above Figure 9 , the repeater 808 shifts the time-frequency of the forwarded signal from (f,t) 2,2 to (f,t)1. The RF signal transmitted by the repeater 808 to the base station 802 carries the baseband signal

[0116]

[0117] In addition, eight antennas of the base station 802 receive, on the time-frequency resource (f,t)1, an RF signal transmitted by the repeater 808 via channel 1012 (which may be denoted as ). The base station 802 obtains the baseband signal from the RF signal transmitted on the time-frequency resource (f,t)1

[0118]

[0119] The base station 802 also receives, on the time-frequency resource (f,t)1, an RF signal transmitted by the repeater 806 via channel 1024 (which may be denoted as ). The base station 802 obtains the baseband signal from the RF signal on the time-frequency resource (f,t)1

[0120]

[0121] The time-frequency resource (f,t) 2,2 and the time-frequency resource (f,t) 2,1 are non-overlapping in the frequency domain and orthogonal to each other. In addition, at least one of (f,t) 2,2 and (f,t) 2,1 is non-overlapping with or orthogonal to (f,t)1. The mapping from (f,t) 2,1 to (f,t)1 is predefined or may be signaled by the base station 802 or the UE 804.

[0122] The base station 802 obtains and the combined signal of:

[0123]

[0124] The matrix

[0125] has a rank of 8. Thus, based on the equation r 8×1= Q 8×8 ·x 8×1 , the base station 802 can determine 8 - layer baseband data signals x1, x2, …, x8.

[0126] In this coherent method, from the perspective of the primary MT, each layer of data is jointly transmitted by all physical antenna groups on all time - frequency resources (e.g., (f, t) 2,1 , (f, t) 2,2 , …(f, t) 2,K ) used by the primary MT.

[0127] Figure 11 FIG. 1100 is a flowchart that illustrates a method (procedure) for transmitting multi - layer uplink data. The method can be performed by a UE (e.g., UE 804). In operation 1102, the UE determines that the base station is configured to communicate with the UE and receive data on a reference time - frequency resource. In operation 1104, the UE transmits a first RF signal at N t1 antennas on a first time - frequency resource. N t1 is a positive integer. In operation 1106, the UE transmits a second RF signal at N t2 antennas on a second time - frequency resource. N t2 is a positive integer. The first RF signal and the second RF signal carry L - layer data generated at the UE and to be received at the base station, where L is a positive integer and greater than each of N t1 and N t2 .

[0128] In some configurations, the N t1 antennas and the N t2 antennas share at least one same antenna. In some configurations, the reference time - frequency resource is different from at least one of the first time - frequency resource and the second time - frequency resource. In some configurations, the reference time - frequency resource is the first time - frequency resource or the second time - frequency resource, but is not composed of the first time - frequency and the second time - frequency resources. In some configurations, the first time - frequency resource and the second time - frequency resource do not overlap with each other. In some configurations, the first time - frequency resource and the second time - frequency resource do not overlap with each other in the frequency domain, but overlap with each other in the time domain. In some configurations, the first time - frequency resource and the second time - frequency resource are in two non - overlapping frequency bands, in two non - overlapping component carriers, or two non - overlapping sets of resource blocks in a component carrier. In some configurations, at least one layer of the L - layer data is carried by at least one RF signal in the first RF signal on the first time - frequency resource and at least one RF signal in the second RF signal on the second time - frequency resource.

[0129] In some configurations, the L1 layer of the L - layer data is carried by the first RF signal rather than the second RF signal. The L2 layer of the L - layer data is carried by the second RF signal rather than the first RF signal. L1 is a positive integer and is equal to or less than Nt1 L2 is a positive integer and is equal to or less than N t2 M r

[0130] Figure 12 is a flowchart 1200 that illustrates a method (process) for amplifying and forwarding multi-layer uplink data. The method may be performed by a wireless device (e.g., repeater 806). In operation 1202, the wireless device receives M r RF signals at M r antennas on a first time-frequency resource. M r is a positive integer. In operation 1304, the wireless device converts the M r RF signals on the first time-frequency resource into M t RF signals in a second time-frequency resource. In some configurations, M t is equal to M r . To convert the M r RF signals into M t RF signals, the wireless device amplifies each of the M r RF signals to generate a corresponding RF signal of the M t RF signals. In some configurations, to convert the M r RF signals into M t RF signals, the wireless device amplifies and combines one or more of the M r RF signals to generate a corresponding RF signal of the M t RF signals. In some configurations, to convert the M r RF signals into M t RF signals, the wireless device may offset the carrier frequency of the M r RF signals by a constant.

[0131] In operation 1206, the wireless device transmits the M t RF signals at M t antennas on the second time-frequency resource. In some configurations, the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource do not overlap with each other. In some configurations, the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource do not overlap with each other in the frequency domain, but overlap with each other in the time domain.

[0132] Figure 13FIG. 1300 is a schematic diagram depicting an example of a hardware implementation of an apparatus 1302 that employs a processing system 1314. The apparatus 1302 may be a UE (e.g., UE 804). The processing system 1314 may implement a bus structure, which is generally represented by bus 1324. Depending on the particular application and overall design constraints of the processing system 1314, bus 1324 includes any number of interconnected buses and bridges. Bus 1324 links together various circuits including one or more processors and / or hardware components, which are represented by one or more processors 1304, a receiving component 1364, a transmitting component 1370, a time-frequency transmission control component 1376, a multi-layer data processing component 1378, and a computer-readable medium / memory 1306. Bus 1324 may also link various other circuits, such as a timing source, external devices, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, etc.

[0133] The processing system 1314 may be coupled to a transceiver 1310, where the transceiver 1310 may be one or more of transceivers 254. The transceiver 1310 may be coupled to one or more antennas 1220, where the antennas 1220 may be communication antennas 252.

[0134] The transceiver 1310 provides a means for communicating with various other devices via a transmission medium. The transceiver 1310 receives signals from one or more antennas 1220, extracts information from the received signals, and provides the extracted information to the processing system 1314 (specifically, the receiving component 1364). Additionally, the transceiver 1310 receives information from the processing system 1314 (specifically, the transmitting component 1370) and generates signals based on the received information to be applied to one or more antennas 1220.

[0135] The processing system 1314 includes one or more processors 1304 coupled to a computer-readable medium / memory 1206. The one or more processors 1304 are responsible for overall processing, including executing software stored on the computer-readable medium / memory 1306. When the software is executed by the one or more processors 1304, it causes the processing system 1314 to perform the various functions of any of the above specific apparatuses. The computer-readable medium / memory 1306 can also be used to store data that is operated on when the software is executed by the one or more processors 1304. The processing system 1314 further includes at least one of a receiving component 1364, a transmitting component 1370, a time-frequency transmission control component 1376, and a multi-layer data processing component 1378. The above components can be software components that run in the one or more processors 1304, are stored / permanently stored in the computer-readable medium / memory 1206, one or more hardware components coupled to the one or more processors 1304, or a combination of the above components. The processing system 1314 can be a component of the UE 250 and includes at least one of a memory 260 and / or a TX processor 268, an RX processor 256, and a controller / processor 259.

[0136] In one configuration, a device 1302 for wireless communication includes means for performing Figures 11-12 each of the operations. The above means can be the above one or more components of the processing system 1314 of the device 1302, configured to perform the functions described by the above means.

[0137] As described above, the processing system 1314 includes a TX processor 268, an RX processor 256, and a controller / processor 259. Similarly, in one configuration, the above means can be the TX processor 268, the RX processor 256, and the controller / processor 259, configured to perform the functions described by the above means.

[0138] Figure 14FIG. 1400 is a schematic diagram depicting an example of a hardware implementation of apparatus 1402 that employs processing system 1414. Apparatus 1402 may be a wireless device (e.g., repeater 806). Processing system 1414 may implement a bus structure, generally represented by bus 1424. Depending on the particular application and overall design constraints of processing system 1414, bus 1424 includes any number of interconnected buses and bridges. Bus 1424 links together various circuits including one or more processors and / or hardware components, represented by one or more processors 1404, receive component 1464, transmit component 1470, amplify and forward component 1476, frequency shift component 1478, and computer readable medium / memory 1406. Bus 1424 may also link various other circuits such as a timing source, external devices, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, etc.

[0139] Processing system 1414 may be coupled to transceiver 1410, where transceiver 1410 may be one or more of transceivers 254. Transceiver 1410 may be coupled to one or more antennas 1320, where antenna 1420 may be communication antenna 252.

[0140] Transceiver 1410 provides a means for communicating with various other devices via a transmission medium. Transceiver 1410 receives signals from one or more antennas 1420, extracts information from the received signals, and provides the extracted information to processing system 1414 (specifically, receive component 1464). Additionally, transceiver 1410 receives information from processing system 1414 (specifically, transmit component 1470) and generates signals based on the received information to apply to one or more antennas 1420.

[0141] The processing system 1414 includes one or more processors 1404 coupled to a computer-readable medium / memory 1406. The one or more processors 1404 are responsible for overall processing, including executing software stored on the computer-readable medium / memory 1406. When the software is executed by the one or more processors 1404, it causes the processing system 1414 to perform the various functions of any of the above-described specific apparatuses. The computer-readable medium / memory 1406 can also be used to store data that is operated on when the software is executed by the one or more processors 1404. The processing system 1414 further includes at least one of a receiving component 1464, a transmitting component 1470, an amplifying and forwarding component 1476, and a frequency shifting component 1478. The above components can be software components that run in the one or more processors 1404 and are permanently stored / stored in the computer-readable medium / memory 1406, one or more hardware components coupled to the one or more processors 1404, or a combination of the above components. The processing system 1414 can be a component of the UE 250 and includes at least one of a memory 260 and / or a TX processor 268, an RX processor 256, and a controller / processor 259.

[0142] In one configuration, an apparatus 1402 for wireless communication includes means for performing Figures 11-12 each of the operations. The above means can be the above one or more components of the processing system 1414 of the apparatus 1402, configured to perform the functions described by the above means.

[0143] As described above, the processing system 1314 includes a TX processor 268, an RX processor 256, and a controller / processor 259. Similarly, in one configuration, the above means can be the TX processor 268, the RX processor 256, and the controller / processor 259, configured to perform the functions described by the above means.

[0144] It should be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of the steps in the disclosed process / flowchart is an illustration of an exemplary method. It should be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of the steps in the process / flowchart can be rearranged based on design preferences. In addition, some steps can be further combined or omitted. The appended method claims the elements presented by the various steps in an exemplary order, but this does not mean that the present invention is limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented.

[0145] The foregoing description is provided to enable a person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. For those skilled in the art, various modifications to these aspects will be apparent, and the general principles defined herein can be applied to other aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but rather to the full scope consistent with the language of the claims, where the reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean "one and only one" but rather "one or more" unless specifically stated otherwise. The term "exemplary" as used herein means "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any aspect described as "exemplary" is not necessarily more preferred or advantageous than other aspects. Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term "some" means one or more. Combinations such as "at least one of A, B, or C," "one or more of A, B, or C," "at least one of A, B, and C," "one or more of A, B, and C," and "any combination of A, B, C, or thereof" include any combination of A, B, and / or C and can include multiple A's, multiple B's, or multiple C's. Specifically, combinations such as "at least one of A, B, or C," "one or more of A, B, or C," "at least one of A, B, and C," "one or more of A, B, and C," and "any combination of A, B, C, or thereof" can be A only, B only, C only, A and B, A and C, B and C, or A and B and C, where any such combination can include one or more members of A, B, or C. All structural and functional equivalents of the elements of the various aspects described herein that are known or later become known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Moreover, the disclosure herein is not intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether or not it is recited in the claims. The words "module," "mechanism," "component," "device," etc. are not intended to be substitutes for the term "means." Thus, an element should not be construed as a functional limitation unless the phrase "means for" is used to expressly state the element in a claim.

Claims

1. A multi-input multi-output uplink communication method for a user equipment, comprising: Determining that a base station is configured to communicate with the user equipment and receive data on a reference time-frequency resource; Transmit a first radio frequency signal at N t1 antennas on a first time-frequency resource, where N t1 is a positive integer; And Transmit a second radio frequency signal at N t2 antennas on a second time-frequency resource, where N t2 is a positive integer, and the first radio frequency signal and the second radio frequency signal carry L-layer data generated by the user equipment and to be received at the base station, where L is a positive integer and greater than each of N t1 and N t2 .

2. The multi-input multi-output uplink communication method according to claim 1, wherein The N t1 antennas and the N t2 antennas share at least one identical antenna.

3. The multi-input multi-output uplink communication method according to claim 1, characterized in that The reference time-frequency resource is one of the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource, or neither the first time-frequency resource nor the second time-frequency resource.

4. The multi-input multi-output uplink communication method according to claim 1, characterized in that The first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource do not overlap with each other.

5. The multi-input multi-output uplink communication method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource do not overlap with each other in the frequency domain, but overlap with each other in the time domain.

6. The multi-input multi-output uplink communication method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource are in two non-overlapping frequency bands, in two non-overlapping component carriers, in two non-overlapping bandwidth parts, or in two sets of resource blocks that do not overlap in a component carrier.

7. The multi-input multi-output uplink communication method according to claim 1, characterized in that At least one layer of the L-layer data is carried by at least one radio frequency signal in the first radio frequency signal on the first time-frequency resource and at least one radio frequency signal in the second radio frequency signal on the second time-frequency resource.

8. The multi-input multi-output uplink communication method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The L1 layer of the L-layer data is carried by the first radio frequency signal rather than the second radio frequency signal, and the L2 layer of the L-layer data is carried by the second radio frequency signal rather than the first radio frequency signal, where L1 is a positive integer and is equal to or less than N t1 , and L2 is a positive integer and is equal to or less than N t2 .

9. A multi-input multi-output uplink communication method for a wireless device, comprising: Receive a first radio frequency signal at M r antennas on a first time-frequency resource, where M r is a positive integer; Converting the first radio frequency signal on the first time-frequency resource into a second radio frequency signal on the second time-frequency resource; And Transmit the second radio frequency signal at M t antennas on the second time-frequency resource.

10. The multi-input multi-output uplink communication method according to claim 9, wherein M t equal to M r , converting the first radio frequency signal into the second radio frequency signal includes: Amplifying each radio frequency signal in the first radio frequency signal to generate a corresponding radio frequency signal of the second radio frequency signal.

11. The multi-input multi-output uplink communication method according to claim 9, characterized in that, Converting the first radio frequency signal into the second radio frequency signal includes: Amplifying and combining one or more radio frequency signals in the first radio frequency signal to generate a corresponding radio frequency signal of the second radio frequency signal.

12. The multi-input multi-output uplink communication method according to claim 9, characterized in that, The first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource do not overlap with each other.

13. The multi-input multi-output uplink communication method according to claim 9, characterized in that, The first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource do not overlap with each other in the frequency domain, but overlap with each other in the time domain.

14. The multi-input multi-output uplink communication method according to claim 9, characterized in that, Converting the first radio frequency signal into the second radio frequency signal includes offsetting the carrier frequency of the first radio frequency signal by a constant.

15. An apparatus for multi-input multi-output uplink communication, the apparatus being a user equipment, comprising: A memory; And At least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to: Determine that a base station is configured to communicate with the user equipment on a reference time-frequency resource; Transmit a first radio frequency signal at N antennae on a first time-frequency resource, where N t1 is a positive integer; t1 ​ And Transmit a second radio frequency signal at N t2 antennae on a second time-frequency resource, where N t2 is a positive integer, and the first radio frequency signal and the second radio frequency signal carry L-layer data generated by the user equipment and to be received at the base station, where L is a positive integer and greater than each of N t1 and N t2 .

16. The device according to claim 15, characterized in that, The N t1 antennas and the N t2 antennas share at least one identical antenna.

17. The device according to claim 15, wherein The reference time-frequency resource is different from at least one of the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource.

18. The device according to claim 15, wherein, The first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource are in two non-overlapping frequency bands, in two non-overlapping component carriers, in two non-overlapping bandwidth parts, or in two sets of resource blocks that do not overlap in a component carrier.

19. The device according to claim 15, characterized in that, At least one layer of the L-layer data is carried by at least one radio frequency signal in the first radio frequency signal on the first time-frequency resource and at least one radio frequency signal in the second radio frequency signal on the second time-frequency resource.

20. The device according to claim 15, wherein The L1 layer of the L-layer data is carried by the first radio frequency signal rather than the second radio frequency signal, and the L2 layer of the L-layer data is carried by the second radio frequency signal rather than the first radio frequency signal, where L1 is a positive integer and equal to or less than N t1 , and L2 is a positive integer and equal to or less than N t2 .

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