Reference signal design for idle and inactive mode user equipment

Abstract

Aspects of the disclosure relate to wireless communications, and more particularly, to reference signal (RS) design to allow tracking loop updates and paging of a UE using various RSs. An example method includes identifying a reference signal (RS) monitoring occasion for a user equipment (UE) in an idle or inactive mode and transmitting a reference signal to the UE in the identified RS monitoring occasion, the RS monitoring occasion being associated with a RS for tracking purposes and a RS to indicate that the UE is to wake up to handle additional signaling.

Description

[0001] Cross-references to related applications

[0002] This application claims priority to U.S. non-provisional application No. 17 / 400,547, filed August 12, 2021, entitled “Reference Signal Design for Idle and Inactive Mode User Equipments,” which claims the benefit and priority of U.S. provisional patent application S / N. 63 / 074,942, filed September 4, 2020, entitled “Reference Signal Design for Idle and Inactive Mode User Equipments,” both of which are hereby assigned to the assignee of this application and are hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference as fully set forth below and for all applicable purposes. Technical Field

[0003] Various aspects of this disclosure relate to wireless communications, and more particularly to the design of reference signals for user equipment (UE) in idle and inactive modes. Background Technology

[0004] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide a variety of telecommunications services such as telephone, video, data, messaging, and broadcasting. These wireless communication systems can employ multiple access technologies that enable communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, etc.). Examples of such multiple access systems include 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE-A Advanced systems, 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, to name just a few.

[0005] These multiple access technologies have been adopted in various telecommunications standards to provide a common protocol enabling different wireless devices to communicate at the city, country, region, and even global levels. New radios (e.g., 5G NR) are examples of emerging telecommunications standards. NR is an enhancement set of the LTE mobile standard issued by 3GPP. NR is designed to better support mobile broadband Internet access by using OFDMA with a cyclic prefix (CP) on both the downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) to improve spectrum efficiency, reduce costs, improve service, utilize new spectrum, and better integrate with other open standards. To this end, NR supports beamforming, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology, and carrier aggregation.

[0006] However, with the continued growth in demand for mobile broadband access, there is a need for further improvements to NR and LTE technologies. Preferably, these improvements should be applicable to other multiple access technologies and telecommunications standards that employ these technologies.

[0007] Overview

[0008] The systems, methods, and apparatuses disclosed herein each have several innovative aspects, and their desired properties are not solely attributable to any single aspect.

[0009] One innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a method for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE). This method generally includes determining a reference signal (RS) monitoring timing; and, when the UE is in an idle or inactive mode, monitoring the RS monitoring timing to find RSs for tracking purposes and RSs for instructing the UE to wake up to process additional signaling.

[0010] One innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a method for wireless communication by a network entity. This method generally includes identifying a reference signal (RS) monitoring opportunity for a user equipment (UE) in an idle or inactive mode; and transmitting a reference signal to the UE during the identified RS monitoring opportunity, the RS monitoring opportunity being associated with an RS for tracking purposes and an RS for instructing the UE to wake up to process additional signaling.

[0011] Various aspects of this disclosure provide apparatus, devices, processors, and computer-readable media for performing the methods described herein.

[0012] To achieve the foregoing and related objectives, these one or more aspects include the features fully described below and specifically pointed out in the claims. The following description and drawings set forth some of the illustrative features of these one or more aspects in detail. However, these features only indicate a few of the various ways in which the principles of these aspects can be employed. Brief description of the attached diagram

[0014] Details of one or more implementations of the subject matter described in this disclosure are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the following description. However, the drawings illustrate only some typical aspects of this disclosure and are therefore not intended to limit its scope. Other features, aspects, and advantages will become apparent from the description, drawings, and claims.

[0015] Figure 1 An example wireless communication network in which some aspects of this disclosure can be implemented is shown.

[0016] Figure 2 A block diagram illustrating an example base station (BS) and an example user equipment (UE) according to some aspects of this disclosure is shown.

[0017] Figure 3A An example of a frame format used in telecommunications systems was explained.

[0018] Figure 3B It explains how different beams can be used to transmit different synchronization signal blocks (SSBs).

[0019] Figure 4 Examples of reference signal time-frequency resource usage for tracking purposes and for instructing the UE to wake up to process additional signaling are explained.

[0020] Figure 5 Example operations for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE) according to some aspects of this disclosure are explained.

[0021] Figure 6 Example operations for wireless communication by a network entity, based on some aspects of this disclosure, are explained.

[0022] Figure 7 An example timeline of the transmission of reference signals (RS) for tracking purposes and for instructing a UE to wake up to process additional signaling, according to some aspects of this disclosure, is explained, wherein each RS is transmitted in a separate resource.

[0023] Figure 8 An example timeline of the transmission of reference signals (RS) for tracking purposes and for instructing a UE to wake up to process additional signaling, according to some aspects of this disclosure, is explained, wherein each RS is transmitted in potentially overlapping resources.

[0024] Figure 9 An example timeline of the transmission of reference signals (RS) for tracking purposes and for instructing a UE to wake up to process additional signaling, according to some aspects of this disclosure, is explained, wherein each RS is identical.

[0025] Figure 10The description of various aspects of this disclosure includes communication devices that may include various components configured to perform operations for the various techniques disclosed herein.

[0026] Figure 11 The description of various aspects of this disclosure includes communication devices that may include various components configured to perform operations for the various techniques disclosed herein.

[0027] To facilitate understanding, the same reference numerals are used wherever possible to designate common elements shared by all figures. Elements disclosed in one aspect are conceived to be usefully applied in other aspects without specific citation.

[0028] Detailed description

[0029] Various aspects of this disclosure relate to wireless communications, and more particularly to reference signal designs for user equipment (UE) in idle or inactive modes, which allow the UE to update tracking parameters and be paged in idle or inactive modes.

[0030] The following description provides examples of reference signal designs for a UE in idle or inactive mode, allowing the UE to update tracking parameters and be paged when in idle or inactive mode, and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or examples set forth in the claims. Changes may be made to the function and arrangement of the elements discussed without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Various procedures or components may be appropriately omitted, substituted, or added. For example, the described methods may be performed in a different order than described, and various steps may be added, omitted, or combined. Moreover, features described with reference to some examples may be combined in others. For example, any number of aspects set forth herein may be used to implement an apparatus or practice. Furthermore, the scope of this disclosure is intended to cover such apparatuses or methods practiced using additional structures, functionalities, or structures and functionalities that complement or supplement the various aspects of this disclosure set forth herein. It should be understood that any aspect of this disclosure disclosed herein may be implemented by one or more elements of the claims.

[0031] Generally, any number of wireless networks can be deployed in a given geographical area. Each wireless network can support a specific Radio Access Technology (RAT) and can operate on one or more frequencies. A RAT may also be referred to as a radio technology, air interface, etc. A frequency may also be referred to as a carrier, subcarrier, frequency channel, frequency modulation, subband, etc. Each frequency can support a single RAT in a given geographical area to avoid interference between wireless networks using different RATs. In some cases, 5G NR RAT networks can be deployed.

[0032] Figure 1An example wireless communication network 100 in which various aspects of this disclosure can be implemented is described. For example, such as Figure 1 As shown, UE 120a may include a reference signal configuration module 122, which can be configured to perform (or cause UE 120a to perform). Figure 5 Operation 500. Similarly, BS 110a may include functions that can be configured to perform (or cause BS 110a to perform). Figure 6 The reference signal configuration module 112 for operation 600.

[0033] NR access (e.g., 5G NR) can support a variety of wireless communication services, such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) targeting wide bandwidth (e.g., 80 MHz or higher), millimeter wave (mmWave) targeting high carrier frequencies (e.g., 25 GHz or higher), massive machine-type communication (mMTC) targeting non-backward-compatible MTC technologies, or mission-critical services targeting ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC). These services may include latency and reliability requirements. These services may also have different transmission time intervals (TTIs) to meet corresponding quality of service (QoS) requirements. Furthermore, these services can coexist in the same time-domain resources (e.g., time slots or subframes) or frequency-domain resources (e.g., component carriers).

[0034] like Figure 1 As explained herein, the wireless communication network 100 may include several base stations (BSs) 110a-z (each individually referred to herein as BS 110 or collectively as BS 110) and other network entities. BS 110 may provide communication coverage for a specific geographic area (sometimes referred to as a “cell”), which may be stationary or mobile depending on the location of the mobile BS 110. In some examples, BS 110 may interconnect with each other or with one or more other BSs or network nodes (not shown) in the wireless communication network 100 using any suitable transport network through various types of backhaul interfaces (e.g., direct physical connection, wireless connection, virtual network, etc.). Figure 1In the example shown, BS 110a, 110b, and 110c can be macro BSs for macro cells 102a, 102b, and 102c, respectively. BS 110x can be a pico BS for pico cell 102x. BS 110y and 110z can be femto BSs for femto cells 102y and 102z, respectively. A BS can support one or more cells. BS 110 communicates with user equipment (UE) 120a-y (each individually referred to herein as UE 120 or collectively as UE 120) in the wireless communication network 100. UE 120 (e.g., 120x, 120y, etc.) can be distributed throughout the wireless communication network 100, and each UE 120 can be stationary or mobile.

[0035] The wireless communication network 100 may also include a relay station (e.g., relay station 110r) (also referred to as a relay, etc.) that receives data or other information transmissions from an upstream station (e.g., BS 110a or UE 120r) and sends data or other information transmissions to a downstream station (e.g., UE 120 or BS 110), or relays transmissions between each UE 120 to facilitate communication between the devices.

[0036] Network controller 130 may be coupled to a group of BS 110 and provide coordination and control over these BS 110. Network controller 130 may communicate with BS 110 via backhaul. BS 110 may also communicate with each other, for example, via wireless or wired backhaul (e.g., directly or indirectly).

[0037] Figure 2 A block diagram illustrating an example base station (BS) and an example user equipment (UE) according to some aspects of this disclosure is shown.

[0038] At BS 110, transmit processor 220 can receive data from data source 212 and control information from controller / processor 240. This control information can be used for the Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), Physical Control Format Indicator Channel (PCFICH), Physical Hybrid ARQ Indicator Channel (PHICH), Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), Group Shared PDCCH (GC PDCCH), etc. This data can be used for the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), etc. Processor 220 can process (e.g., encode and map symbols) the data and control information to obtain data symbols and control symbols respectively. Transmit processor 220 can also generate reference symbols (such as for the Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS), Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS), and Cell-Specific Reference Signal (CRS)). Transmit (TX) Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) processor 230 can perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on ​​data symbols, control symbols, or reference symbols where applicable, and can provide the output symbol stream to modulators (MODs) 232a-232t. Each modulator 232 can process its respective output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator can further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and up-convert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. The downlink signals from modulators 232a-232t can be transmitted via antennas 234a-234t, respectively.

[0039] In UE 120, antennas 252a-252r can receive downlink signals from BS 110 and provide the received signals to demodulators (DEMODs) 254a-254r in the transceiver. Each demodulator 254 can condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) the corresponding received signal to obtain an input sample. Each demodulator can further process the input sample (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain received symbols. MIMO detector 256 can obtain the received symbols from all demodulators 254a-254r, perform MIMO detection on these received symbols where applicable, and provide detected symbols. Receiver processor 258 can process (e.g., demodulate, deinterleave, and decode) these detected symbols, provide the decoded data to UE 120 to data sink 260, and provide the decoded control information to controller / processor 280.

[0040] On the uplink, at UE 120, transmit processor 264 can receive and process data from data source 262 (e.g., for the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH)) and control information from controller / processor 280 (e.g., for the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH)). Transmit processor 264 can also generate reference symbols for reference signals (e.g., probe reference signals (SRS)). Symbols from transmit processor 264 can be pre-encoded by TX MIMO processor 266 where applicable, further processed by demodulators 254a-254r in the transceiver (e.g., for SC-FDM, etc.), and transmitted to BS 110. At BS 110, uplink signals from UE 120 can be received by antenna 234, processed by modulator 232, detected by MIMO detector 236 where applicable, and further processed by receive processor 238 to obtain decoded data and control information transmitted by UE 120. The receiver processor 238 can provide decoded data to the data trap 239 and decoded control information to the controller / processor 240.

[0041] Memory 242 and 282 can store data and program code for use by BS 110 and UE 120, respectively. Scheduler 244 can schedule UE for data transmission on the downlink or uplink.

[0042] The controller / processor 280 or other processors and modules at UE 120 can execute or direct the execution of processes used in the techniques described herein. Figure 2 As shown, the controller / processor 280 of UE 120 has the ability to be configured to execute (or cause UE 120 to execute). Figure 5 The reference signal configuration module 122 for operation 500. Similarly, BS 120a may include a reference signal configuration module 122 that can be configured to perform (or cause BS 110a to perform). Figure 6 The reference signal configuration module 112 for operation 600.

[0043] Figure 3A This is a diagram illustrating an example of frame format 300 for NR. The transmission timeline for each of the downlink and uplink can be divided into units of radio frames. Each radio frame may have a predetermined duration (e.g., 10 ms) and may be divided into 10 subframes with indices 0 to 9, each subframe being 1 ms long. Each subframe may include a variable number of time slots, depending on the subcarrier spacing. Each time slot may include a variable number of symbol periods (e.g., 7 or 14 symbols), depending on the subcarrier spacing. An index may be assigned to the symbol periods in each time slot. A mini-time slot (which may be referred to as a sub-time slot structure) refers to a transmission time interval with a duration smaller than a time slot (e.g., 2, 3, or 4 symbols).

[0044] Each symbol in a time slot can indicate the link direction used for data transmission (e.g., DL, UL, or flexible), and the link direction used for each subframe can be dynamically switched. The link direction can be based on the time slot format. Each time slot can include DL / UL data and DL / UL control information.

[0045] In NR, a synchronization signal (SS) block is transmitted. The SS block consists of the PSS, SSS, and two symbols, PBCH. The SS block can be transmitted at fixed time slot positions (such as...). Figure 3A The symbols 0-3 shown are transmitted. PSS and SSS can be used by the UE for cell search and acquisition. PSS provides half-frame timing, and SS provides CP length and frame timing. PSS and SSS provide cell identity. PBCH carries basic system information such as downlink system bandwidth, timing information within the radio frame, SS burst set periodicity, system frame number, etc. SS blocks can be organized into SS bursts to support beam sweeping. Further system information (such as Residual Minimum System Information (RMSI), System Information Block (SIB), and Other System Information (OSI)) can be transmitted in certain subframes on the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH). SS blocks can be transmitted up to 64 times, for example, up to 64 different beam directions for mmW. Up to 64 transmissions of SS blocks are called SS burst sets. SS blocks in an SS burst set are transmitted in the same frequency region, while SS blocks in different SS burst sets can be transmitted at different frequency locations.

[0046] like Figure 3B As shown, SS blocks can be organized into SS burst sets to support beam sweeping. As illustrated, each SSB within a burst set can use a different beam for transmission, which helps the UE quickly acquire both transmit (Tx) and receive (Rx) beams (especially for mmW applications). The Physical Cell Identity (PCI) can still be decoded from the SSB's PSS and SSS.

[0047] A control resource set (CORESET) for a system (such as NR and LTE systems) may include one or more sets of control resources (e.g., time and frequency resources) configured within the system bandwidth for transmitting PDCCH. Within each CORESET, one or more search spaces (e.g., shared search space (CSS), UE-specific search space (USS), etc.) may be defined for a given UE. According to various aspects of this disclosure, a CORESET is a time-frequency domain resource set defined in units of resource element groups (REGs). Each REG may include a fixed number (e.g., twelve) frequency modulations in a symbol period (e.g., a symbol period of a time slot), where one frequency modulation in a symbol period is referred to as a resource element (RE). A fixed number of REGs may be included in control channel elements (CCEs). A set of CCEs may be used to transmit a new radio PDCCH (NR-PDCCH), where different numbers of CCEs in the set are used to transmit NR-PDCCH using different aggregation levels. Multiple CCE sets can be defined as a search space for the UE, and thus the B node or other base station can transmit the NR-PDCCH to the UE by transmitting the NR-PDCCH in the set of decoded candidate CCEs defined in the search space for the UE, and the UE can receive the NR-PDCCH by searching in the search space for the UE and decoding the NR-PDCCH transmitted by the B node.

[0048] In NR, a Wake-up Signal (WUS) is defined, which is monitored by the UE outside of its active time. The WUS can be detected using relatively simple receiver components, allowing the UE to remain in a reduced power state. The WUS indicates whether the UE should (more fully) wake up for PDCCH monitoring.

[0049] Example reference signal design for updating user equipment (UE) in idle and inactive modes of tracking and paging.

[0050] Various aspects of this disclosure relate to wireless communications, and more particularly to a reference signal (RS) design for a UE in idle or inactive mode, which allows the UE to update tracking parameters and be paged in idle or inactive mode. As will be described in more detail below, RS monitoring timing can be configured periodically and / or non-periodically so that the UE in idle or inactive mode can perform tracking updates and / or receive paging from network entities.

[0051] In idle and inactive modes, UEs typically use information carried in the Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) for time-frequency tracking loop and automatic gain control updates. The SSB position can be fixed within a subframe and can have a fixed periodicity. However, because the SSB position is usually fixed, and because the SSB may not be synchronized with the UE's paging timing (PO), the UE can perform additional wake-up operations outside its PO to receive and decode the SSB. Therefore, the UE can maintain a light sleep mode between the SSB and PO, which allows it to use more power than when the UE is in deep sleep mode, because the sleep cycle duration used in light sleep mode is shorter than that used in deep sleep mode.

[0052] Flexible reference signals, such as Tracking Reference Signals (TRS) or other special types of CSI-RS, can be used to track loop updates. By using these flexible RSs to track loop updates, the number of times the UE wakes up outside of the Point of Attachment (PO) can be reduced. Additionally, other reference signals can be used as Wake-up Signals (WUS) or Paging Advance Indicators (PEI) to indicate to the UE whether it will be paged in the next paging opportunity (i.e., whether a paging message is waiting for the UE in the next paging opportunity). PEI can also be referred to as Paging Indicator Signals (PIS). These other reference signals can allow idle or inactive UEs to process paging messages similarly to how a UE processes paging messages when in a connected state, where the connected mode WUS indicates whether a connected mode UE is entering the next discontinuous reception instance.

[0053] Figure 4 Examples of reference time-frequency resource usage are explained for transmitting reference signals used by the UE for tracking purposes and for instructing the UE to wake up to process example signaling.

[0054] Examples 400 and 410 illustrate examples where reference signal 402 is used for tracking loop and / or automatic gain control (AGC) updates. Closer alignment of RS 402 with paging timing can allow the UE to wake up at a lower frequency than in SSB-based tracking loop and / or AGC updates, and avoid spending time in non-deep (e.g., light) sleep states.

[0055] As illustrated, Example 400 depicts a scenario where various RS 402a-402d (e.g., Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), etc.) do not overlap with the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) or a channel that can carry a paging message for the UE. In this case, the UE can periodically wake up to measure RS 402 for tracking loop and AGC updates, and can receive signaling instructing the UE to wake up to receive paging message 404. As explained, paging message 404 may include paging DCI or paging PDSCH.

[0056] In Example 410, RS 402 may overlap with paging message 404. In this case, the RSs overlapping with paging message 404 (e.g., RS 402g and 402h) may be time-division multiplexed or frequency-division multiplexed with paging message 404 (e.g., carried on PDSCH). If RS 402 follows a signal indicating that paging message 404 is waiting for the UE, offline processing of PDSCH (e.g., buffered intermediate orthogonal samples based on PDSCH) may be supported.

[0057] Examples 420 and 430 illustrate examples where RS 402 is used as WUS or PEI. In this scenario, RS 402 instructs the UE whether to wake up to decode paging message 404 (e.g., downlink control information (DCI) message or other paging information carried on PDSCH) before the paging timing. WUS and PEI detection can be performed by the front-end module without decoding WUS or PEI. For example, the front-end can detect received energy exceeding a threshold amount during the period when RS 402 is received as WUS or PEI. If no RS 402 is received as WUS or PEI, the UE does not need to activate one or more baseband processors to process the received signal. Example 420 illustrates an example where RS is transmitted regardless of whether the UE is paged. Example 430 illustrates an example where RS is transmitted when the UE is paged.

[0058] When the supplementary RS is used for UE tracking loop and / or automatic gain control, the periodic transmission of the supplementary RS allows the UE to update its tracking area and / or adjust gain parameters for subsequent communication with network entities. However, when the supplementary RS is also used as WUS or PEI, the supplementary RS may not be transmitted periodically because each individual UE served by the base station may be paged infrequently (e.g., once every few minutes). Because the UE may not be paged frequently, the UE may not be able to rely on the RS acting as WUS or PEI for tracking loop and / or automatic gain control updates.

[0059] Figure 5 Example operations 500, which can be performed by a user equipment (UE) according to certain aspects of this disclosure, for tracking loop and / or automatic gain updates based on reference signals (RS) received from a network entity and for waking up to receive paging messages, are described.

[0060] As explained, operation 500 can begin at block 502, where the UE determines the timing of reference signal (RS) monitoring. In some aspects, when determining the timing of RS monitoring, the UE can receive information from a network entity identifying when the UE wants to monitor the RS. This information may include information identifying the periodicity and / or frequency resources corresponding to the RS transmitted by the network entity, information identifying the type of RS to which the identified periodicity applies (e.g., whether the RS is used as WUS or PEI), etc. For example, the information received from the network entity may indicate a first indication of the time and / or frequency resources of the RS used for tracking loop and automatic gain control updates, and a second indication of the time and / or frequency resources of the RS used as WUS or PEI.

[0061] In box 504, when the UE is in idle or inactive mode, it monitors RS monitoring timing to identify RSs for tracking purposes and RSs to indicate when the UE should wake up to process additional signaling. Typically, the UE can monitor time and / or frequency resources identified in signaling received from network entities to identify RSs used as WUS or PEI to determine when the UE should wake up to process paging messages from network entities. As discussed, because RSs used as WUS or PEI may be transmitted when a paging message is pending for the UE but not when no paging message is pending for the UE, the UE can monitor these RSs by determining if the received energy on the time / frequency resources on which these RSs are scheduled to be transmitted exceeds a threshold indicating signal transmission (e.g., received power exceeds a defined noise floor). If the UE determines that the RS used as WUS or PEI has been transmitted, the UE can wake up at the next paging time to process the paging message from the network entity; otherwise, the UE can remain in low-power mode at the next paging time, because if no RS used as WUS or PEI has been received, there may be no paging message pending for the UE.

[0062] Figure 6 Example operation 600, which can be performed by a network entity (e.g., a base station, gNodeB, etc.) according to certain aspects of this disclosure, is described, for transmitting RS for tracking loop and / or automatic gain updates to the UE based on reference signals received from the network entity, and configuring the UE to wake up to receive paging messages.

[0063] As explained, operation 600 may begin at box 602, where a network entity identifies reference signal (RS) monitoring opportunities for user equipment (UE) in idle or inactive mode. For example, RS monitoring opportunities may be identified as a first set of RS monitoring opportunities associated with RS used for tracking purposes and a second set of RS monitoring opportunities associated with RS used as WUS or PEI. The identified monitoring opportunities may identify, for example, the time / frequency resources on which RS is to be transmitted. For RS used as WUS or PEI, transmitting RS during the identified monitoring opportunities may indicate that a paging message is pending for the UE, while skipping the transmission of RS during the identified monitoring opportunities may indicate that no paging message is pending for the UE.

[0064] In box 604, the network entity transmits an RS to the UE during an identified RS monitoring time. The RS monitoring time can be associated with an RS for tracking purposes and an RS for instructing the UE to wake up to process additional signaling. As discussed, the network entity can transmit an RS for tracking purposes according to a first configuration (e.g., periodically, on defined time / frequency resources), and can transmit an RS used as WUS or PEI when a paging message is pending for the UE.

[0065] Figure 7 Example 700 illustrates the timing of RS monitoring, where individual RSs are used for tracking purposes (e.g., tracking loop and / or automatic gain control updates) and for instructing the UE to wake up to process additional signaling (e.g., as WUS or PEI). In Example 700, network entities may provide RS 702 for instructing the UE to wake up to process additional signaling and RS 706 for tracking purposes in different time resources (e.g., different symbols) and / or different frequency resources (e.g., different sets of resource elements). In some aspects, when RS 706 for tracking purposes and RS 702 for instructing the UE to wake up to process additional signaling occupy different time resources, the RSs may use different or the same sequences. If RS 706 for tracking purposes and RS 702 for instructing the UE to wake up to process additional signaling occupy different frequency resources in the same symbol, different sequences can be used for the RSs, which can avoid false detection of tracking RS or WUS / PEI signals due to power leakage to unused subcarriers.

[0066] In some aspects, RS 706 for tracking purposes can be sparsely transmitted by network entities. RS 706 for tracking purposes can be transmitted once every N paging cycles. Simultaneously, RS 702, indicating that the UE will wake up to process additional signaling, can be transmitted from the network entity to the UE when the UE is paged. In some aspects, RS 702 indicating that the UE will wake up to process additional signaling can also be used for tracking loop updates and / or automatic gain control updates. When the UE detects RS 702 indicating that the UE will wake up to process additional signaling, the UE can process the next paging opportunity by decoding the paging physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) 704 and the paging message. For example, decoding can be performed based on cyclic redundancy check scrambled by the paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI).

[0067] RS 706 for tracking purposes and RS 702 for instructing a UE to wake up to process additional signaling can be configured on a per UE group basis. RS 706 for tracking purposes and RS 702 for instructing a UE to wake up to process additional signaling can be associated with the same or different groups of UEs sharing the same paging timing.

[0068] Figure 8 Example 800 illustrates the timing of RS monitoring, where RS for tracking purposes and RS for instructing the UE to wake up to process additional signaling can be transmitted on potentially overlapping resources. In this example, different sequences can be used for RS for tracking purposes and RS for instructing the UE to wake up to process additional signaling because the UE may perform blind decoding on these reference signals. As explained, non-periodic RS for instructing the UE to wake up to process additional signaling (e.g., WUS or PEI) can be transmitted separately from RS for tracking purposes, as explained at time 810, or can overlap with periodically transmitted RS for tracking purposes (e.g., they may share the same resource elements and symbol sets), as explained at time 820. If RS for instructing the UE to wake up conflicts with RS for tracking purposes, the network entity can transmit RS for instructing the UE to wake up and does not need to transmit RS for tracking purposes because RS for instructing the UE to wake up can also be used for tracking loop updates and / or automatic gain control updates.

[0069] As discussed above, RS used for tracking purposes can be transmitted sparsely with a long periodicity of N paging cycles. Meanwhile, RS used to instruct the UE to wake up to process additional signaling can be transmitted aperiodically, such as whenever the UE is paged. When the UE detects one of these RS instructing it to wake up to process additional signaling, the UE can process the next paging opportunity by decoding the paging message on the paging PDCCH and PDSCH. Furthermore, as discussed above, two RSs can be associated with the same or different groups of UEs sharing the same paging opportunity.

[0070] Figure 9 Example 900 of RS monitoring timing is explained, where the RS used for tracking purposes and the RS used to instruct the UE to wake up to process additional signaling are the same resource signals. The same sequence can be used for both the RS used for tracking purposes and the RS used to instruct the UE to wake up to process additional signaling. Furthermore, the resources can be transmitted on the same time / frequency resources. As discussed above, RS can be transmitted sparsely in a long periodicity (e.g., N paging cycles) for tracking purposes (e.g., tracking updates and / or automatic gain control updates). Whenever the UE is paged, the network entity can transmit additional RS. These additional RS can be transmitted between different times when the network entity transmits RS for tracking purposes, as explained at time 910. Furthermore, as discussed above, RS can be used simultaneously for tracking purposes and to instruct the UE to wake up to process additional signaling, as explained at time 920.

[0071] In some respects, periodically transmitted RS for tracking purposes and additional RS for instructing the UE to wake up to process additional signaling can use the same set of resource elements at the time of RS transmission, where the RS is transmitted for tracking purposes and the UE is paged on the downlink channel. Because the UE may not be able to distinguish whether the RS has been transmitted, since the RS is paged around the time of the periodically transmitted RS, the UE can assume that it was paged when it received the periodically transmitted RS for tracking purposes.

[0072] In some respects, various techniques can be used to provide UEs in an idle or inactive state with information about RS for tracking purposes and RS for instructing the UE to wake up to handle additional signaling. In one example, the UE can pre-configure this information via information carried in a System Information Block (SIB) or pre-configured prior-defined information. In another example, the UE can configure this information via unused bits in a DCI message (e.g., unused bits in a DCI Format 1_0 message such as a paging DCI message). Unused bits can include reserved bits, short message fields (if the DCI message does not include a short message), or unused bits in one or more fields of a short message (if the DCI message includes a short message).

[0073] In some respects, as discussed above, different sequences can be used to encode (and accordingly decode) RS for tracking purposes and RS for instructing the UE to wake up to process additional signaling. Network entities can configure the UE using sequence generation information used to encode these different RS. For example, information about the candidate Tracking Reference Signal (TRS) or CSI-RS set can be included in the SIB or can be defined a priori. In some respects, network entities can signal to the UE one or a subset of the TRS or CSI-RS in the reserved bits of the DCI message and / or in the short message field of the DCI message (if the short message field is not configured).

[0074] Figure 10 The description includes operations that may be configured to perform the techniques disclosed herein (such as, Figure 5 The communication device 1000 comprises various components (e.g., corresponding to device plus functional components) of the operation described herein. The communication device 1000 includes a processing system 1002 coupled to a transceiver 1008. The transceiver 1008 is configured to transmit and receive signals (such as the various signals described herein) for the communication device 1000 via an antenna 1010. The processing system 1002 may be configured to perform processing functions for the communication device 1000, including processing signals received and / or to be transmitted by the communication device 1000.

[0075] Processing system 1002 includes processor 1004 coupled to computer-readable medium / memory 1012 via bus 1006. In some aspects, computer-readable medium / memory 1012 is configured to store instructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that, when executed by processor 1004, cause processor 1004 to perform. Figure 5The operations described herein, or other operations for tracking loops and / or automatic gain updates based on reference signals (RS) received from network entities, and for waking up to receive paging messages. In some aspects, the computer-readable medium / memory 1012 stores code 1020 for determining the timing of reference signal (RS) monitoring; and code 1022 for monitoring the timing of RS monitoring. In some aspects, the processor 1004 has circuitry configured to implement the code stored in the computer-readable medium / memory 1012. The processor 1004 includes: circuitry 1030 for determining the timing of reference signal (RS) monitoring; and circuitry 1032 for monitoring the timing of RS monitoring.

[0076] Figure 11 The description includes operations that may be configured to perform the techniques disclosed herein (such as, Figure 6 The communication device 1100 comprises various components (e.g., corresponding to device plus functional components) of the operation described herein. The communication device 1100 includes a processing system 1102 coupled to a transceiver 1108. The transceiver 1108 is configured to transmit and receive signals (such as the various signals described herein) for the communication device 1100 via an antenna 1110. The processing system 1102 may be configured to perform processing functions for the communication device 1100, including processing signals received and / or to be transmitted by the communication device 1100.

[0077] Processing system 1102 includes processor 1104 coupled to computer-readable medium / memory 1112 via bus 1106. In some aspects, computer-readable medium / memory 1112 is configured to store instructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that, when executed by processor 1104, cause processor 1104 to perform. Figure 6 The operations described herein, or other operations for transmitting a reference signal (RS) to the UE for tracking loop and / or automatic gain updates, and for configuring the UE to wake up based on a reference signal received from a network entity to receive paging messages. In some aspects, the computer-readable medium / memory 1112 stores code 1120 for identifying a reference signal (RS) monitoring event; and code 1122 for transmitting the RS during the identified RS monitoring event. In some aspects, the processor 1104 has circuitry configured to implement the code stored in the computer-readable medium / memory 1112. The processor 1104 includes: circuitry 1130 for identifying a reference signal (RS) monitoring event; and circuitry 1132 for transmitting the RS during the identified RS monitoring event.

[0078] Example Terms

[0079] Clause 1: A method for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE), comprising: determining a reference signal (RS) monitoring timing; and, when the UE is in an idle or inactive mode, monitoring the RS monitoring timing to find an RS for tracking purposes and an RS for instructing the UE to wake up to process additional signaling.

[0080] Clause 2: The method of Clause 1, wherein the RS used for tracking purposes includes the RS used by the UE for one or more of time tracking loop updates, frequency tracking loop updates or automatic gain control (AGC) updates.

[0081] Clause 3: The method of any of Clauses 1 or 2, wherein the RS for tracking purposes and the RS for instructing the UE to wake up comprise different orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols.

[0082] Clause 4: The method of Clause 3, wherein the RS used for tracking purposes and the RS used to indicate that the UE is to wake up are demodulated using the same sequence.

[0083] Clause 5: The method of Clause 3, wherein the RS used for tracking purposes and the RS used to indicate that the UE is to wake up are demodulated using different sequences.

[0084] Clause 6: The method of any one of Clauses 1 to 5, wherein the RS for tracking purposes and the RS for indicating that the UE is to wake up comprise different resource elements in a resource block on the same set of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols.

[0085] Clause 7: The method of Clause 6, wherein the RS used for tracking purposes and the RS used to indicate that the UE is to wake up are demodulated using different sequences.

[0086] Clause 8: The method of any one of Clauses 1 to 7, wherein the timing of RS monitoring for the RS used for tracking purposes and the timing of RS monitoring for the RS used to indicate that the UE is to wake up occur at different periods.

[0087] Clause 9: The method of Clause 8, wherein the RS indicating that the UE is to wake up is received when the UE is paged.

[0088] Clause 10: The method of any one of Clauses 1 to 9, wherein the detection of an RS trigger indicating that the UE is to wake up triggers the decoding of one or more of the paging physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) or paging message at a subsequent paging timing.

[0089] Clause 11: The method of any one of Clauses 1 to 10, wherein the RS used for tracking purposes and the RS used to indicate that the UE is to wake up are associated with the same group of UEs sharing the same paging timing.

[0090] Clause 12: The method of any one of Clauses 1 to 10, wherein the RS used for tracking purposes and the RS used to indicate that the UE is to wake up are associated with different groups of UEs sharing the same paging timing.

[0091] Clause 13: The method of any one of Clauses 1 to 12, wherein the RS for tracking purposes and the RS for instructing the UE to wake up are received on overlapping time-domain and frequency-domain resources.

[0092] Clause 14: The method of Clause 13, wherein the RS used for tracking purposes and the RS used to indicate that the UE is to wake up are demodulated using different sequences.

[0093] Clause 15: The method of any one of Clauses 13 or 14, wherein when there is a conflict between the resources of the RS for tracking purposes and the resources of the RS for instructing the UE to wake up, the RS for instructing the UE to wake up shall act as the RS for tracking purposes.

[0094] Clause 16: The method of any one of Clauses 1 to 15, wherein the RS for tracking purposes and the RS for instructing the UE to wake up comprise RSs that are decoded using the same sequence and transmitted to the UE in the same set of resource elements in the resource block and the same set of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols in the time slot.

[0095] Clause 17: The method of Clause 16, wherein the RS for tracking purposes is transmitted periodically, and the RS for instructing the UE to wake up is transmitted between different RSs for tracking purposes.

[0096] Clause 18: The method of any of Clauses 16 or 17 further includes: attempting to process the paging message when the RS for tracking purposes is received.

[0097] Clause 19: The method of any one of Clauses 1 to 18 further includes: receiving information in one or more of the unused bits in the System Information Block (SIB) or Downlink Control Information (DCI) information format regarding the RS for tracking purposes and the RS for instructing the UE to wake up.

[0098] Clause 20: The method of Clause 19, wherein the information includes sequence generation information for decoding the RS for tracking purposes and the RS for instructing the UE to wake up.

[0099] Clause 21: The method of any of Clauses 19 or 20, wherein the information includes one or more of the candidate tracking reference signal (TRS) or channel state information (CSI) reference signal (RS) (CSI-RS).

[0100] Clause 22: The method of Clause 21, wherein one or more of the candidate TRS or CSI-RS set is signaled in the reserved bit of the DCI message or in one or more of the short message field of the DCI message.

[0101] Clause 23: A method for wireless communication by a network entity, comprising: identifying a reference signal (RS) monitoring opportunity for a user equipment (UE) in an idle or inactive mode; and transmitting an RS to the UE in the identified RS monitoring opportunity when the UE is in an idle or inactive mode, wherein the RS monitoring opportunity is associated with an RS for tracking purposes and an RS for instructing the UE to wake up to process additional signaling.

[0102] Clause 24: The method of Clause 23, wherein the RS for tracking purposes and the RS for instructing the UE to wake up comprise one of: different orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, or different resource elements in a resource block on the same set of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols.

[0103] Clause 25: The method of any of Clauses 23 or 24, wherein the timing of RS monitoring for the RS for tracking purposes and the timing of RS monitoring for the RS for instructing the UE to wake up occur at different periods.

[0104] Clause 26: The method of any one of Clauses 23 to 25, wherein the transmission of an RS indicating that the UE is to wake up triggers at the UE the decoding of the paging physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and paging messages at a subsequent paging timing.

[0105] Clause 27: The method of any one of Clauses 23 to 26, wherein the RS for tracking purposes and the RS for instructing the UE to wake up are transmitted on overlapping time-domain and frequency-domain resources.

[0106] Clause 28: The method of any one of Clauses 23 to 27 further includes: transmitting to the UE information about the RS for tracking purposes and the RS for instructing the UE to wake up in one or more of the unused bits in the System Information Block (SIB) or Downlink Control Information (DCI) information format.

[0107] Clause 29: An apparatus comprising: a memory having instructions stored thereon; and a processor configured to execute the instructions to cause the apparatus to perform any of the operations of Clauses 1 to 28.

[0108] Clause 30: An apparatus comprising means for performing an operation as described in any one of Clauses 1 to 28.

[0109] Clause 31: A computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform any of the operations of Clauses 1 to 28.

[0110] Additional considerations

[0111] The techniques described in this document can be used in various wireless communication technologies, such as NR (e.g., 5G NR), 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-A Advanced (LTE-A), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA), Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA), and other networks. The terms "network" and "system" are often used interchangeably. CDMA networks can implement radio technologies such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) and cdma2000. UTRA includes Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) and other variants of CDMA. cdma2000 covers the IS-2000, IS-95, and IS-856 standards. TDMA networks can implement radio technologies such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). OFDMA networks can implement radio technologies such as NR (e.g., 5G RA), evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, and Flash-OFDMA. UTRA and E-UTRA are parts of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). LTE and LTE-A are UMTS versions using E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A, and GSM are described in documents from an organization called the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). cdma2000 and UMB are described in documents from an organization called the 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2). NR is an emerging wireless communication technology under development.

[0112] The techniques described herein can be used in the wireless networks and radio technologies mentioned above, as well as other wireless networks and radio technologies. For clarity, although aspects may be described herein using terms commonly associated with 3G, 4G, or 5G wireless technologies, aspects of this disclosure can be applied to communication systems based on other generations.

[0113] In 3GPP, the term "cell" can refer to the coverage area of ​​a B-node (NB) or the NB subsystem serving that coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used. In NR systems, the term "cell" and BS, next-generation B-node (gNB or gB-node), access point (AP), distributed cell (DU), carrier, or transmit / receive point (TRP) can be used interchangeably. A BS provides communication coverage for macrocells, picocells, femtocells, or other types of cells. A macrocell can cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and allows unrestricted access by UEs with a service subscription. A picocell can cover a relatively small geographic area and allows unrestricted access by UEs with a service subscription. A femtocell can cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a residential area) and allows restricted access by UEs associated with that femtocell (e.g., UEs in a closed subscriber group (CSG), UEs of users in a residential area, etc.). A BS used for macrocells may be referred to as a macro BS. A BS used for picocells may be referred to as a pico BS. A BS used in femtocells can be called a femtocell BS or a home BS.

[0114] A UE can also be referred to as a mobile station, terminal, access terminal, subscriber unit, station, customer premises equipment (CPE), cellular phone, smartphone, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless modem, wireless communication device, handheld device, laptop computer, cordless phone, wireless local loop (WLL) station, tablet computer, camera, gaming device, netbook, smartbook, ultrabook, appliance, medical device or medical equipment, biometric sensor / device, wearable device (such as smartwatch, smart clothing, smart glasses, smart wristband, smart jewelry (e.g., smart ring, smart bracelet, etc.)), entertainment device (e.g., music device, video device, satellite radio, etc.), vehicle component or sensor, smart meter / sensor, industrial manufacturing equipment, GPS device, or any other suitable device configured to communicate via wireless or wired media. Some UEs may be considered machine-type communication (MTC) devices or evolved MTC (eMTC) devices. MTC and eMTC UEs include, for example, robots, drones, remote devices, sensors, instruments, monitors, location tags, etc., which can communicate with a BS, another device (e.g., a remote device), or some other entity. Wireless nodes can provide connectivity to or to a network (e.g., a wide area network such as the Internet) or a cellular network, for example, via wired or wireless communication links. Some UEs can be considered Internet of Things (IoT) devices, which can be narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) devices.

[0115] Some wireless networks (such as LTE) utilize Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) on the downlink and Single-Carrier Frequency Division Multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. OFDM and SC-FDM divide the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, often referred to as frequency modulation, frequency slots, etc. Each subcarrier can be modulated with data. Generally, modulation symbols are transmitted in the frequency domain for OFDM and in the time domain for SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers can be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) can depend on the system bandwidth. For example, the subcarrier spacing can be 15 kHz, and the minimum resource allocation (called a "resource block" (RB)) can be 12 subcarriers (or 180 kHz). Therefore, for system bandwidths of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 MHz, the nominal Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) size can be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024, or 2048, respectively. The system bandwidth can also be divided into subbands. For example, a subband can cover 1.08 MHz (e.g., 6 RBs), and for system bandwidths of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 MHz, there can be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 subbands, respectively. In LTE, the basic transmission time interval (TTI) or packet duration is a 1 ms subframe.

[0116] NR can utilize OFDM with CP on both uplink and downlink and includes support for half-duplex operation using TDD. In NR, a subframe is still 1ms, but the basic TTI is called a slot. A subframe contains a variable number of slots (e.g., 1, 2, 4, 8, 16... slots) depending on the subcarrier spacing. NR RB is 12 coherent frequency subcarriers. NR can support a base subcarrier spacing of 15kHz and other subcarrier spacings can be defined relative to the base subcarrier spacing, such as 30kHz, 60kHz, 120kHz, 240kHz, etc. Symbol and slot lengths scale with the subcarrier spacing. The CP length also depends on the subcarrier spacing. Beamforming can be supported and beam direction can be dynamically configured. MIMO transmission with precoding can also be supported. In some examples, MIMO configurations in DL can support up to 8 transmit antennas (with up to 8 streams in multilayer DL transmission) and up to 2 streams per UE. In some examples, multi-layer transport of up to two streams per UE can be supported. Up to eight serving cells can be used to support aggregation of multiple cells.

[0117] In some examples, access to the air interface can be scheduled. A scheduling entity (e.g., a BS) allocates resources for communication among some or all devices and equipment within its service area or cell. The scheduling entity may be responsible for scheduling, assigning, reconfiguring, and releasing resources for one or more subordinate entities. That is, for scheduled communication, the subordinate entity utilizes the resources allocated by the scheduling entity. A base station is not the only entity that can be used as a scheduling entity. In some examples, a UE may act as a scheduling entity and can schedule resources for one or more subordinate entities (e.g., one or more other UEs), and other UEs may utilize the resources scheduled by that UE for wireless communication. In some examples, a UE may act as a scheduling entity in a peer-to-peer (P2P) network or in a mesh network. In the mesh network example, UEs may communicate directly with each other in addition to communicating with a scheduling entity.

[0118] As used herein, the term "determine" can encompass one or more of a wide variety of actions. For example, "determine" can include calculation, computation, processing, derivation, research, lookup (e.g., searching in a table, database, or other data structure), assumption, and the like. Furthermore, "determine" can include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g., accessing data in memory), and the like. Moreover, "determine" can include parsing, selecting, choosing, building, and the like.

[0119] As used herein, “or” is intended to be interpreted in an inclusive sense unless otherwise expressly indicated. For example, “a or b” could include only a, only b, or a combination of a and b. As used herein, the phrase “at least one of” or “one or more of” refers to any combination of those items, including a single member. For example, “at least one of a, b, or c” is intended to cover the possibilities of only a, only b, only c, a combination of a and b, a combination of a and c, a combination of b and c, and a combination of a, b, and c.

[0120] The various illustrative components, logic, logic blocks, modules, circuits, operations, and algorithmic processes described in conjunction with the implementations disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, firmware, software, or a combination of hardware, firmware, or software, including the structures disclosed in this specification and their structural equivalents. This interchangeability of hardware, firmware, and software has been generally described in terms of its functionality and is illustrated in the various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and processes described above. Whether such functionality is implemented in hardware, firmware, or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0121] Various modifications to the implementations described in this disclosure may be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other implementations without departing from the spirit or scope of this disclosure. Therefore, the claims are not intended to be limited to the implementations shown herein, but are to be granted the broadest scope consistent with this disclosure, the principles disclosed herein, and the novel features.

[0122] Furthermore, the various features described in this specification in the context of separate implementations may also be implemented in combination in a single implementation. Conversely, the various features described in the context of a single implementation may also be implemented separately or in any suitable sub-combination in multiple implementations. Thus, although features may be described above as operating in a particular combination and even initially claimed in this way, one or more features from the claimed combination may be removed from that combination in some cases, and the claimed combination may be for sub-combinations or variations thereof.

[0123] Similarly, although the operations are depicted in a specific order in the accompanying drawings, this should not be construed as requiring such operations to be performed in the specific order shown or sequentially, or requiring the execution of all explained operations to achieve the desired result. Furthermore, the drawings may schematically depict one or more example processes in the form of flowcharts or flow diagrams. However, other operations not depicted may be incorporated into the schematically explained example processes. For example, one or more additional operations may be performed before, after, simultaneously with, or between any explained operations. In some environments, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Moreover, the separation of the various system components in the implementation described above should not be construed as requiring such separation in all implementations, and it should be understood that the described program components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single software product or packaged into multiple software products.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE), comprising: Determine when to monitor the reference signal (RS); When the UE is in idle or inactive mode, monitor the timing of RS monitoring to find RS for tracking purposes and RS for instructing the UE to wake up to process additional signaling; as well as The RS used for tracking purposes and the RS used to indicate that the UE needs to wake up are demodulated, wherein the RS used for tracking purposes and the RS used to indicate that the UE needs to wake up use the same sequence.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the RS used for tracking purposes includes RS used by the UE for one or more of time tracking loop updates, frequency tracking loop updates, or automatic gain control (AGC) updates.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the RS for tracking purposes and the RS for indicating that the UE is to wake up comprise different orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the RS for tracking purposes and the RS for indicating that the UE is to wake up comprise different resource elements in a resource block on the same set of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the RS monitoring timing for the RS used for tracking purposes and the RS monitoring timing for the RS used to indicate that the UE needs to wake up occur at different periods.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the RS indicating that the UE should wake up is received when the UE is paged.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the detection of an RS trigger indicating that the UE is to wake up triggers the decoding of one or more of the paging physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) or paging message at a subsequent paging timing.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the RS for tracking purposes and the RS for instructing the UE to wake up are associated with the same group of UEs sharing the same paging timing.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the RS for tracking purposes and the RS for instructing the UE to wake up are associated with different groups of UEs sharing the same paging timing.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the RS for tracking purposes and the RS for instructing the UE to wake up are received on overlapping time-domain and frequency-domain resources.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein when there is a conflict between the resources of the RS for tracking purposes and the resources of the RS for instructing the UE to wake up, the RS for instructing the UE to wake up acts as the RS for tracking purposes.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the RS for tracking purposes and the RS for indicating that the UE should wake up comprise RSs transmitted to the UE from the same set of resource elements in the resource block and the same set of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols in the time slot.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the RS for tracking purposes is transmitted periodically, and the RS for instructing the UE to wake up is transmitted between different RSs for tracking purposes.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising: When the RS used for tracking purposes is received, an attempt is made to process the paging message.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising: Receive information about the RS for tracking purposes and the RS for instructing the UE to wake up in one or more of the unused bits in the System Information Block (SIB) or Downlink Control Information (DCI) information format.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the information includes sequence generation information for demodulating the RS for tracking purposes and the RS for indicating that the UE should wake up.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the information includes one or more of a set of candidate tracking reference signals (TRS) or channel state information (CSI) reference signals (RS) (CSI-RS).

18. The method of claim 17, wherein one or more of the candidate TRS or CSI-RS set are signaled in a reserved bit in the DCI message or in one or more of the short message field in the DCI message.

19. A method for wireless communication by a network entity, comprising: For user equipment (UE) in idle or inactive mode, identify the timing of reference signal (RS) monitoring; as well as When the UE is in idle or inactive mode, an RS is transmitted to the UE during the identified RS monitoring time, wherein the RS monitoring time is associated with an RS for tracking purposes and an RS for instructing the UE to wake up to process additional signaling. The RS used for tracking purposes and the RS used to indicate that the UE is to wake up are modulated using the same sequence.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the RS for tracking purposes and the RS for instructing the UE to wake up comprise one of the following: Different orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, or Different resource elements in a resource block on the same set of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the RS monitoring timing for RS used for tracking purposes and the RS monitoring timing for RS used to indicate that the UE should wake up occur at different periods.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein the RS transmitting the indication that the UE should wake up triggers at the UE the decoding of the paging physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and paging message at a subsequent paging timing.

23. The method of claim 19, wherein the RS for tracking purposes and the RS for instructing the UE to wake up are transmitted on overlapping time-domain and frequency-domain resources.

24. The method of claim 19, further comprising: In one or more of the unused bits in the System Information Block (SIB) or Downlink Control Information (DCI) message format, information is transmitted to the UE regarding the RS for tracking purposes and the RS for instructing the UE to wake up.

25. A user equipment (UE), comprising: At least one transceiver; At least one memory, the at least one memory comprising instructions; and At least one processor, the at least one processor being configured to execute the instructions such that the UE: Determine when to monitor the reference signal (RS); When the UE is in idle or inactive mode, monitor the timing of RS monitoring to find RS for tracking purposes and RS for instructing the UE to wake up to process additional signaling; as well as The RS used for tracking purposes and the RS used to indicate that the UE needs to wake up are demodulated, wherein the RS used for tracking purposes and the RS used to indicate that the UE needs to wake up use the same sequence.

26. The UE of claim 25, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to cause the UE to perform any of the methods of claims 2-18.

27. A network entity, comprising: At least one transceiver; At least one memory, the at least one memory comprising instructions; and At least one processor, the at least one processor being configured to execute the instructions such that the network entity: For user equipment (UE) in idle or inactive mode, identify the timing of reference signal (RS) monitoring; as well as When the UE is in idle or inactive mode, an RS is transmitted to the UE via the at least one transceiver at an identified RS monitoring time, wherein the RS monitoring time is associated with an RS for tracking purposes and an RS for instructing the UE to wake up to process additional signaling, wherein the RS for tracking purposes and the RS for instructing the UE to wake up are modulated using the same sequence.

28. The network entity of claim 27, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to cause the network entity to perform any of the methods of claims 20-24.

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