SRS coverage enhancement

Abstract

The present invention provides an apparatus, system and method for sounding reference signal (SRS) coverage enhancement. A user equipment device (UE) may receive a configuration for SRS time domain bundling from a base station, and may transmit at least one SRS transmission to the base station according to the configuration. The configuration may include an indication of one or more SRS transmission opportunities (and / or an indication of the one or more SRS transmission opportunities). The configuration may be communicated via higher layer signaling or physical layer signaling. The RRC parameter may be an SRS-ResourceSet parameter or an SRS-Resource parameter, and may include an nrofSlots parameter indicating the number of time slots, where the time slot may correspond to an SRS transmission opportunity. The MAC CE may include at least four bits indicating the number of time slots. The DCI may include at least one field indicating the number of time slots.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to wireless communications, and more particularly to an apparatus, system and method for sounding reference signal (SRS) coverage enhancement for enhanced multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) operations.

[0002] Related technical description

[0003] The use of wireless communication systems is growing rapidly. In recent years, wireless devices such as smart phones and tablet computers have become increasingly sophisticated. In addition to supporting phone calls, many mobile devices now also provide access to the Internet, email, text messaging, and navigation using the Global Positioning System (GPS), and are capable of operating sophisticated applications that utilize these functions.

[0004] Long Term Evolution (LTE) is currently the technology of choice for most wireless network operators around the world, providing mobile broadband data and high-speed Internet access to their user base. LTE was first proposed in 2004 and first standardized in 2008. Since then, as the use of wireless communication systems has grown exponentially, the demand on wireless network operators has risen to support higher capacity for a higher density of mobile broadband users. As a result, research on new radio access technologies began in 2015, and in 2017, the first version of the fifth generation new radio (5G NR) was standardized.

[0005] 5G-NR (also referred to as NR) provides higher capacity for a higher density of mobile broadband users compared to LTE, while also supporting ultra-reliable and massive machine-type communications from device to device, as well as lower latency and / or lower battery consumption. In addition, NR may allow for more flexible UE scheduling compared to current LTE. Therefore, efforts are being made to take advantage of the higher throughput possible at higher frequencies in the ongoing development of 5G-NR. Summary of the invention

[0006] Embodiments relate to wireless communications, and more particularly to apparatus, systems, and methods for sounding reference signal (SRS) coverage enhancement for enhanced multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) operations.

[0007] For example, in some embodiments, a user equipment device (UE) such as UE 106 may be configured to receive a configuration for SRS time domain bundling from a base station such as base station 102. In addition, the UE may be configured to transmit at least one SRS transmission to the base station according to the configuration for SRS time domain bundling. In other words, the UE may transmit SRS in one or more SRS transmission opportunities based on the configuration for SRS time domain bundling. The configuration may include an indication of one or more SRS transmission opportunities (and / or an indication of the one or more SRS transmission opportunities). It should be noted that the SRS transmission opportunity may correspond to a time slot for inter-slot bundling; however, the time slot may include one or more SRS transmission opportunities for intra-slot bundling and / or mixed inter-slot / intra-slot bundling. In addition, the configuration may be conveyed via higher layer signaling, such as via radio resource control (RRC) parameters and / or medium access control (MAC) control elements (CE) and / or via physical layer signaling such as downlink control information (DCI). In some embodiments, the RRC parameter may be one of an SRS-ResourceSet parameter or an SRS-Resource parameter. In addition, the RRC parameter may include an nrofSlots parameter indicating the number of time slots. In some embodiments, the MACCE may include at least four bits (and / or four or more bits) indicating the number of time slots. In addition, the DCI may include at least one field indicating the number of time slots.

[0008] As another example, in some embodiments, a base station such as base station 102 may be configured to transmit (and / or send) a configuration for SRS time domain bundling to a UE such as UE 106. In addition, the base station may be configured to receive at least one SRS transmission from the UE according to the configuration for SRS time domain bundling. In other words, the base station may receive SRS in one or more SRS transmission opportunities based on the configuration for SRS time domain bundling. The configuration may include an indication of one or more SRS transmission opportunities (and / or an indication of the one or more SRS transmission opportunities). It should be noted that the SRS transmission opportunity may correspond to a time slot for inter-slot bundling; however, the time slot may include one or more SRS transmission opportunities for intra-slot bundling and / or mixed inter-slot / intra-slot bundling. In addition, the configuration may be conveyed via higher layer signaling, such as via radio resource control (RRC) parameters and / or medium access control (MAC) control elements (CE) and / or via physical layer signaling such as downlink control information (DCI). In some embodiments, the RRC parameter may be one of an SRS-ResourceSet parameter or an SRS-Resource parameter. In addition, the RRC parameters may include an nrofSlots parameter indicating the number of time slots. In some embodiments, the MACCE may include at least four bits (and / or four or more bits) indicating the number of time slots. In addition, the DCI may include at least one field indicating the number of time slots.

[0009] The techniques described herein may be implemented in and / or used with a plurality of different types of devices, including, but not limited to, any of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), unmanned aerial controllers (UACs), UTM servers, base stations, access points, cellular telephones, tablet computers, wearable computing devices, portable media players, and a variety of other computing devices.

[0010] This disclosure is intended to provide a brief overview of some of the topics described in this document. Therefore, it should be understood that the above features are only examples and should not be construed as narrowing the scope or essence of the topics described herein in any way. Other features, aspects and advantages of the topics described herein will become apparent through the following detailed description, drawings and claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] A better understanding of the present subject matter may be obtained when the following detailed description of various embodiments is considered in conjunction with the following drawings, in which:

[0012] Figure 1A An exemplary wireless communication system is shown in accordance with some embodiments.

[0013] Figure 1B Examples of base stations (BSs) and access points in communication with user equipment (UE) devices are shown in accordance with some embodiments.

[0014] Figure 2 An exemplary block diagram of a BS according to some embodiments is shown.

[0015] Figure 3 An exemplary block diagram of a UE according to some embodiments is shown.

[0016] Figure 4 An exemplary block diagram of cellular communication circuitry according to some embodiments is shown.

[0017] Figure 5 An example of a baseband processor architecture for a UE according to some embodiments is shown.

[0018] FIG. 6A to FIG. 6C , FIG. 7A to FIG. 7C and FIG. 8A to FIG. 8C Various time domain bundling configurations for SRS coverage enhancement are shown according to some embodiments.

[0019] 9A to 9C and FIG. 10A to FIG. 10C Examples of RRC parameters for SRS time domain bundling according to some embodiments are shown.

[0020] Fig.11 An example of a MAC CE for SRS time domain bundling according to some embodiments is shown.

[0021] Fig.12 An example of UE behavior for SRS time domain bundling during loss of phase continuity according to some embodiments is shown.

[0022] Fig.13 and Fig.14 A block diagram illustrating an example of a method for SRS time domain bundling according to some embodiments is shown.

[0023] Although the features described herein are susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and described in detail herein. However, it should be understood that the drawings and detailed description thereof are not intended to limit this document to the specific forms disclosed, but on the contrary, their purpose is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives that fall within the spirit and scope of the subject matter as defined by the appended claims. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] Acronyms

[0025] Various acronyms are used throughout this disclosure. The definitions of the most prominent acronyms used that may appear throughout this disclosure are as follows:

[0026] 3GPP: Third Generation Partnership Project

[0027] UE: User Equipment

[0028] RF: Radio Frequency

[0029] BS: Base Station

[0030] DL: Downlink

[0031] UL: Uplink

[0032] LTE: Long Term Evolution

[0033] NR: New Radio

[0034] 5GS: 5G system

[0035] 5GMM: 5GS Mobility Management

[0036] 5GC / 5GCN: 5G core network

[0037] IE: Information Element

[0038] CE: Control Element

[0039] MAC: Media Access Control

[0040] SSB: Synchronous Signal Block

[0041] ●CSI-RS: Channel State Information Reference Signal

[0042] ●PDCCH: Physical Downlink Control Channel

[0043] ●PDSCH: Physical downlink shared channel

[0044] ●RRC: Radio Resource Control

[0045] RRM: Radio Resource Management

[0046] CORESET: Control resource set

[0047] ●TCI: Transmission Configuration Indicator

[0048] ●DCI: Downlink Control Indicator

[0049] the term

[0050] The following is a glossary of terms used in this disclosure:

[0051] Memory medium - any of various types of non-transitory memory devices or storage devices. The term "memory medium" is intended to include installation media, such as CD-ROM, floppy disk or tape devices; computer system memory or random access memory such as DRAM, DDR RAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, Rambus RAM, etc.; non-volatile memory such as flash memory, magnetic media, for example, hard disk drive or optical storage device; registers or other similar types of memory elements, etc. The memory medium may also include other types of non-transitory memory or a combination thereof. In addition, the memory medium may be located in the first computer system executing the program, or may be located in a different second computer system connected to the first computer system via a network such as the Internet. In the latter case, the second computer system may provide program instructions to the first computer for execution. The term "memory medium" may include two or more memory media that may reside in different locations in different computer systems connected, for example, via a network. The memory medium may store program instructions (e.g., in the form of a computer program) that may be executed by one or more processors.

[0052] Carrier Media—storage media as described above, and physical transmission media such as a bus, network, and / or other physical transmission media that transport signals such as electrical, electromagnetic, or digital signals.

[0053] Programmable hardware element - includes various hardware devices that include multiple programmable function blocks connected via programmable interconnects. Examples include FPGA (field programmable gate array), PLD (programmable logic device), FPOA (field programmable object array), and CPLD (complex PLD). Programmable function blocks can vary from fine-grained (combinational logic unit or lookup table) to coarse-grained (arithmetic logic unit or processor core). Programmable hardware elements may also be referred to as "configurable logic units".

[0054] Computer system (or computer)—any of various types of computing or processing systems, including a personal computer system (PC), a mainframe computer system, a workstation, a network appliance, an Internet appliance, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a television system, a grid computing system, or other devices or combinations of devices. In general, the term "computer system" can be broadly defined to encompass any device (or combination of devices) having at least one processor that executes instructions from a memory medium.

[0055] User Equipment (UE) (or "UE device") - any of various types of computer system devices that are mobile or portable and perform wireless communications. Examples of UE devices include mobile phones or smart phones (e.g., iPhone TM , based on AndroidTM phones), portable gaming devices (e.g., Nintendo DS TM , PlayStation Portable TM 、Gameboy Advance TM , iPhone TM ), laptops, wearable devices (e.g., smart watches, smart glasses), PDAs, portable Internet devices, music players, data storage devices, other handheld devices, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) (e.g., drones), UAV controllers (UACs), etc. In general, the term "UE" or "UE device" may be broadly defined to cover any electronic, computing, and / or telecommunication device (or combination of devices) that is easily transportable by a user and capable of wireless communication.

[0056] Base Station—The term “base station” has the full breadth of its ordinary meaning and includes at least a wireless communication station that is installed at a fixed location and used to communicate as part of a wireless telephone system or radio system.

[0057] Processing element (or processor) - refers to various elements or combinations of elements that are capable of performing functions in a device such as user equipment or cellular network equipment. Processing elements may include, for example, processors and associated memory, portions or circuits of individual processor cores, entire processor cores, processor arrays, circuits such as ASICs (application specific integrated circuits), programmable hardware elements such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and any of the above various combinations.

[0058] Channel - a medium used to transmit information from a sender (transmitter) to a receiver. It should be noted that since the characteristics of the term "channel" may vary according to different wireless protocols, the term "channel" used in the present invention may be considered to be used in a manner that conforms to the standards of the type of device to which the term is used. In some standards, the channel width may be variable (e.g., depending on device capabilities, frequency band conditions, etc.). For example, LTE may support scalable channel bandwidths of 1.4MHz to 20MHz. In contrast, a WLAN channel may be 22MHz wide, while a Bluetooth channel may be 1Mhz wide. Other protocols and standards may include different definitions of channels. In addition, some standards may define and use multiple types of channels, such as different channels for uplink or downlink and / or different channels for different purposes such as data, control information, etc.

[0059] Frequency band—The term “frequency band” has the full breadth of its ordinary meaning and includes at least a segment of the spectrum (eg, radio frequency spectrum) in which channels are used or set aside for the same purpose.

[0060] Wi-Fi—The term "Wi-Fi" (or WiFi) has the full scope of its usual meaning and includes at least wireless communication networks or RATs that are served by wireless LAN (WLAN) access points and provide connectivity to the Internet through these access points. Most modern Wi-Fi networks (or WLAN networks) are based on the IEEE 802.11 standard and are marketed under the name "Wi-Fi". Wi-Fi (WLAN) networks are distinct from cellular networks.

[0061] 3GPP access—refers to access (e.g., radio access technology) specified by the 3GPP standards. These accesses include, but are not limited to, GSM / GPRS, LTE, LTE-A, and / or 5G NR. In general, 3GPP access refers to various types of cellular access technologies.

[0062] Non-3GPP access - refers to any access (e.g., radio access technology) not specified by the 3GPP standards. These accesses include, but are not limited to, WiMAX, CDMA2000, Wi-Fi, WLAN, and / or fixed networks. Non-3GPP accesses can be divided into two categories, "trusted" and "untrusted": trusted non-3GPP accesses can interact directly with the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) and / or 5G Core (5GC), while untrusted non-3GPP interoperates with the EPC / 5GC via network entities (such as Evolved Packet Data Gateways and / or 5G NR Gateways). In general, non-3GPP access refers to various types of non-cellular access technologies.

[0063] Automatic—refers to an action or operation being performed by a computer system (e.g., software executed by a computer system) or a device (e.g., a circuit, a programmable hardware element, an ASIC, etc.) without the action or operation being directly specified or performed by a user input. Thus, the term "automatically" is in contrast to an operation being manually performed or specified by a user, where the user provides input to directly perform the operation. An automatic process may be initiated by input provided by a user, but subsequent actions performed "automatically" are not specified by the user, i.e., are not performed "manually," where the user specifies each action to be performed. For example, a user filling out an electronic form by selecting each field and providing input specifying information (e.g., by typing in information, selecting checkboxes, radio selections, etc.) is manually filling out the form, even though the computer system must update the form in response to the user action. The form may be automatically filled out by a computer system, where the computer system (e.g., software executed on the computer system) analyzes the fields of the form and fills out the form without any user input specifying the answers to the fields. As indicated above, a user may invoke automatic filling out of a form, but not participate in the actual filling out of the form (e.g., the user does not manually specify the answers to the fields but rather they are automatically completed). This specification provides various examples of operations that are automatically performed in response to actions taken by a user.

[0064] Approximately - refers to a value that is close to a correct or exact value. For example, approximately can refer to a value that is within 1% to 10% of an exact (or desired) value. However, it should be noted that the actual threshold value (or tolerance) may depend on the application. For example, in some embodiments, "approximately" may mean within 0.1% of some specified or desired value, while in various other embodiments, the threshold value may be, for example, 2%, 3%, 5%, etc., depending on the expectations or requirements of a particular application.

[0065] Concurrency - refers to parallel execution or implementation, where tasks, processes, or programs are executed in an at least partially overlapping manner. For example, concurrency can be achieved using "strong" or strict parallelism, where tasks are executed (at least partially) in parallel on respective computing elements, or using "weak parallelism", where tasks are executed in an interleaved manner (e.g., by time multiplexing of execution threads).

[0066] Various components may be described as being "configured to" perform one or more tasks. In such environments, "configured to" is a broad statement that generally means "having a structure" that performs one or more tasks during operation. Thus, even when the component is not currently performing the task, the component can be configured to perform the task (e.g., a set of electrical conductors can be configured to electrically connect a module to another module even when the two modules are not connected). In some contexts, "configured to" can be a broad statement that generally means "having a structure" that performs one or more tasks during operation. Thus, even when the component is not currently turned on, the component can be configured to perform the task. Typically, the circuitry that forms the structure corresponding to "configured to" may include hardware circuitry.

[0067] For ease of description, various components may be described as performing one or more tasks. Such descriptions should be interpreted as including the phrase "configured to". The description of a component being configured to perform one or more tasks is expressly intended not to invoke 35 U.S.C. §112(f) interpretation of that component.

[0068] Figure 1A and Figure 1B :Communication System

[0069] Figure 1A A simplified exemplary wireless communication system according to some embodiments is shown. Note that Figure 1A The system is merely one example of a possible system, and features of the present disclosure may be implemented in any of a variety of systems, as desired.

[0070] As shown, the exemplary wireless communication system includes a base station 102A, which communicates with one or more user equipment 106A, user equipment 106B to user equipment 106N, etc. through a transmission medium. Each user equipment may be referred to as a "user equipment" (UE) in this article. Therefore, user equipment 106 is referred to as UE or UE device.

[0071] The base station (BS) 102A may be a base transceiver station (BTS) or a cell site ("cellular base station") and may include hardware that enables wireless communications with the UEs 106A through 106N.

[0072] The communication area (or coverage area) of a base station may be referred to as a "cell". The base station 102A and the UE 106 may be configured to communicate over a transmission medium using any of a variety of radio access technologies (RATs), which are also referred to as wireless communication technologies or telecommunication standards, such as GSM, UMTS (associated with, for example, WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interfaces), LTE, Advanced LTE (LTE-A), 5G New Radio (5G NR), HSPA, 3GPP2CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), and the like. Note that if the base station 102A is implemented in the context of LTE, it may alternatively be referred to as an "eNodeB" or "eNB". Note that if the base station 102A is implemented in the context of 5G NR, it may alternatively be referred to as a "gNodeB" or "gNB".

[0073] As shown, base station 102A may also be configured to communicate with network 100 (e.g., a core network of a cellular service provider, a telecommunications network such as a public switched telephone network (PSTN), and / or the Internet, among other possibilities). Thus, base station 102A may facilitate communications between user devices and / or between user devices and network 100. In particular, cellular base station 102A may provide UE 106 with various communication capabilities, such as voice, SMS, and / or data services.

[0074] Base station 102A and other similar base stations (such as base stations 102B...102N) operating according to the same or different cellular communication standards can therefore be provided as a network of cells that can provide continuous or nearly continuous overlapping service to UE 106A-N and similar devices over a geographic area via one or more cellular communication standards.

[0075] Thus, while base station 102A may serve as a "serving cell" for UEs 106A-N as shown in FIG. 1 , each UE 106 may also be able to receive signals from (and possibly be within communication range of) one or more other cells (which may be provided by base stations 102B-N and / or any other base stations), which may be referred to as "neighboring cells." Such cells may also be able to facilitate communications between user devices and / or between user devices and network 100. Such cells may include "macro" cells, "micro" cells, "pico" cells, and / or cells of any various other granularity that provide service area sizes. For example, base stations 102A to 102B shown in FIG. 1 may be macro cells, while base station 102N may be a micro cell. Other configurations are also possible.

[0076] In some embodiments, base station 102A may be a next generation base station, such as a 5G New Radio (5G NR) base station or "gNB". In some embodiments, the gNB may be connected to a legacy evolved packet core (EPC) network and / or to an NR core (NRC) network. In addition, a gNB cell may include one or more transition and reception points (TRPs). In addition, a UE capable of operating in accordance with 5G NR may be connected to one or more TRPs within one or more gNBs.

[0077] It should be noted that the UE 106 is capable of communicating using multiple wireless communication standards. For example, in addition to at least one cellular communication protocol (e.g., GSM, UMTS (associated with, for example, WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interface), LTE, LTE-A, 5G NR, HSPA, 3GPP2CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), etc.), the UE 106 can be configured to communicate using wireless networking (e.g., Wi-Fi) and / or peer-to-peer wireless communication protocols (e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi peer-to-peer, etc.). If desired, the UE 106 can also or alternatively be configured to communicate using one or more global navigation satellite systems (GNSS, such as GPS or GLONASS), one or more mobile television broadcast standards (e.g., ATSC-M / H or DVB-H), and / or any other wireless communication protocols. Other combinations of wireless communication standards (including more than two wireless communication standards) are also possible.

[0078] Figure 1B A user equipment 106 (e.g., one of device 106A through device 106N) is shown in communication with a base station 102 and an access point 112 according to some embodiments. The UE 106 may be a device having cellular communication capabilities and non-cellular communication capabilities (e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, etc.), such as a mobile phone, a handheld device, a computer or tablet computer, or virtually any type of wireless device.

[0079] UE 106 may include a processor configured to execute program instructions stored in a memory. UE 106 may perform any of the method embodiments described herein by executing such stored instructions. Alternatively or in addition, UE 106 may include a programmable hardware element, such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA) configured to perform any of the method embodiments described herein or any portion of any of the method embodiments described herein.

[0080] UE 106 may include one or more antennas for communicating using one or more wireless communication protocols or technologies. In some embodiments, UE 106 may be configured to communicate using, for example, CDMA2000 (1xRTT / 1xEV-DO / HRPD / eHRPD), LTE / Advanced LTE, or 5G NR using a single shared radio component and / or GSM, LTE, Advanced LTE, or 5G Nr using a single shared radio component. The shared radio may be coupled to a single antenna, or may be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., for MIMO) for performing wireless communications. Typically, the radio component may include any combination of a baseband processor, an analog radio frequency (RF) signal processing circuit (e.g., including filters, mixers, oscillators, amplifiers, etc.), or a digital processing circuit (e.g., for digital modulation and other digital processing). Similarly, the radio component may use the aforementioned hardware to implement one or more receive chains and transmit chains. For example, UE 106 may share one or more parts of a receive chain and / or transmit chain between multiple wireless communication technologies such as those discussed above.

[0081] In some embodiments, UE 106 may include a separate transmit chain and / or receive chain (e.g., including separate antennas and other radio components) for each wireless communication protocol configured to communicate with it. As another possibility, UE 106 may include one or more radio components shared between multiple wireless communication protocols, and one or more radio components used uniquely by a single wireless communication protocol. For example, UE 106 may include a shared radio component for communicating using either LTE or 5GNR (or LTE or 1xRTT, or LTE or GSM), and a separate radio component for communicating using each of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Other configurations are also possible.

[0082] Figure 2 :Block diagram of base station

[0083] Figure 2 An exemplary block diagram of a base station 102 according to some embodiments is shown. Note that Figure 2 The base station of is only one example of a possible base station. As shown, the base station 102 may include a processor 204 that may execute program instructions for the base station 102. The processor 204 may also be coupled to a memory management unit (MMU) 240 or other circuit or device, which may be configured to receive addresses from the processor 204 and convert those addresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory 260 and read-only memory (ROM) 250).

[0084] The base station 102 may include at least one network port 270. The network port 270 may be configured to couple to a telephone network and provide access to multiple devices (such as the UE device 106) as described above in FIG. Figure 2 Access to the telephone network described in.

[0085] The network port 270 (or an additional network port) may also or alternatively be configured to couple to a cellular network, such as a core network of a cellular service provider. The core network may provide mobility-related services and / or other services to multiple devices, such as the UE device 106. In some cases, the network port 270 may be coupled to a telephone network via the core network, and / or the core network may provide a telephone network (e.g., in other UE devices served by the cellular service provider).

[0086] In some embodiments, base station 102 may be a next generation base station, e.g., a 5G New Radio (5G NR) base station, or "gNB". In such embodiments, base station 102 may be connected to a legacy Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network and / or to an NR Core (NRC) network. Furthermore, base station 102 may be considered a 5G NR cell and may include one or more transition and reception points (TRPs). Furthermore, a UE capable of operating in accordance with 5G NR may be connected to one or more TRPs within one or more gNBs.

[0087] The base station 102 may include at least one antenna 234 and possibly multiple antennas. The at least one antenna 234 may be configured to operate as a wireless transceiver and may be further configured to communicate with the UE device 106 via the radio component 230. The antenna 234 communicates with the radio component 230 via a communication chain 232. The communication chain 232 may be a receive chain, a transmit chain, or both. The radio component 230 may be configured to communicate via various wireless communication standards, including but not limited to 5G NR, LTE, LTE-A, GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, Wi-Fi, etc.

[0088] The base station 102 may be configured to perform wireless communications using multiple wireless communication standards. In some cases, the base station 102 may include multiple radio components that enable the base station 102 to communicate according to multiple wireless communication technologies. For example, as one possibility, the base station 102 may include an LTE radio component for performing communications according to LTE and a 5G NR radio component for performing communications according to 5G NR. In this case, the base station 102 may be able to operate as both an LTE base station and a 5G NR base station. As another possibility, the base station 102 may include a multimode radio component that can perform communications according to any one of a plurality of wireless communication technologies (e.g., 5G NR and Wi-Fi, LTE and Wi-Fi, LTE and UMTS, LTE and CDMA2000, UMTS and GSM, etc.).

[0089] As further described later herein, BS 102 may include hardware and software components for implementing or supporting specific implementations of the features described herein. The processor 204 of base station 102 may be configured to implement or support implementation of part or all of the methods described herein, for example, by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively, processor 204 may be configured as a programmable hardware element such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array), or as an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) or a combination thereof. Alternatively (or in addition), in combination with one or more of the other components 230, 232, 234, 240, 250, 260, 270, the processor 204 of BS 102 may be configured to implement or support implementation of part or all of the features described herein.

[0090] Furthermore, as described herein, processor 204 may be comprised of one or more processing elements. In other words, one or more processing elements may be included in processor 204. Thus, processor 204 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of processor 204. Furthermore, each integrated circuit may include circuits (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of one or more processors 204.

[0091] Additionally, as described herein, radio 230 may be comprised of one or more processing elements. In other words, one or more processing elements may be included in radio 230. Thus, radio 230 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of radio 230. Furthermore, each integrated circuit may include circuits (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of radio 230.

[0092] Figure 3 :UE block diagram

[0093] Figure 3 An exemplary simplified block diagram of a communication device 106 according to some embodiments is shown. Note that Figure 3 The block diagram of the communication device is only an example of a possible communication device. According to the embodiment, the communication device 106 can be a user equipment (UE) device, a mobile device or a mobile station, a wireless device or a wireless station, a desktop computer or a computing device, a mobile computing device (e.g., a laptop computer, a notebook or a portable computing device), a tablet computer, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), a UAV controller (UAC) and / or a combination of devices and other devices. As shown in the figure, the communication device 106 may include a group of components 300 configured to perform core functions. For example, the group of components may be implemented as a system on a chip (SOC), which may include parts for various purposes. Alternatively, the group of components 300 may be implemented as a separate component or a group of components for various purposes. This group of components 300 may be (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) coupled to various other circuits of the communication device 106.

[0094] For example, the communication device 106 may include various types of memory (e.g., including NAND flash memory 310), input / output interfaces such as a connector I / F 320 (e.g., for connecting to a computer system; a docking station; a charging station; an input device such as a microphone, a camera, a keyboard; an output device such as a speaker; etc.), a display 360 that may be integrated with the communication device 106 or external to the communication device 106, and cellular communication circuits 330 such as for 5G NR, LTE, GSM, etc., and short-range to medium-range wireless communication circuits 329 (e.g., Bluetooth TM In some embodiments, the communication device 106 may include wired communication circuitry (not shown), such as, for example, a network interface card for Ethernet.

[0095] Cellular communication circuitry 330 may be (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) coupled to one or more antennas, such as antennas 335 and 336 as shown. Short-range to medium-range wireless communication circuitry 329 may also be (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) coupled to one or more antennas, such as antennas 337 and 338 as shown. Alternatively, short-range to medium-range wireless communication circuitry 329 may be (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) coupled to antennas 335 and 336 in addition to or in lieu of being (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) coupled to antennas 337 and 338. Short-range to medium-range wireless communication circuitry 329 and / or cellular communication circuitry 330 may include multiple receive chains and / or multiple transmit chains for receiving and / or transmitting multiple spatial streams, such as in a multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) configuration.

[0096] In some embodiments, as further described below, the cellular communication circuit 330 may include dedicated receive chains (including and / or coupled to (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) dedicated processors and / or radio components) for multiple RATs (e.g., a first receive chain for LTE and a second receive chain for 5G-NR). In addition, in some embodiments, the cellular communication circuit 330 may include a single transmit chain that can switch between radio components dedicated to specific RATs. For example, a first radio component may be dedicated to a first RAT, such as LTE, and may communicate with a dedicated receive chain and a transmit chain shared with an additional radio component, such as a second radio component that may be dedicated to a second RAT (e.g., 5G NR) and may communicate with the dedicated receive chain and the shared transmit chain.

[0097] The communication device 106 may also include and / or be configured for use with one or more user interface elements. The user interface elements may include various elements such as a display 360 (which may be a touch screen display), a keyboard (which may be a separate keyboard or may be implemented as part of a touch screen display), a mouse, a microphone and / or speakers, one or more cameras, one or more buttons, and / or any of a variety of other elements capable of providing information to a user and / or receiving or interpreting user input.

[0098] The communication device 106 may also include one or more smart cards 345 with SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) functionality, such as one or more UICC cards (one or more Universal Integrated Circuit Cards) 345. Note that the term "SIM" or "SIM entity" is intended to include any of various types of SIM implementations or SIM functionality, such as one or more UICC cards 345, one or more eUICCs, one or more eSIMs, removable or embedded, etc. In some embodiments, the UE 106 may include at least two SIMs. Each SIM may execute one or more SIM applications and / or implement SIM functionality in other ways. Thus, each SIM may be a single smart card that may be embedded, for example, soldered to a circuit board in the UE 106, or each SIM 345 may be implemented as a removable smart card. Thus, the SIM may be one or more removable smart cards (such as a UICC card, sometimes referred to as a "SIM card"), and / or the SIM 345 may be one or more embedded cards (such as an embedded UICC (eUICC), sometimes referred to as an "eSIM" or "eSIM card"). In some embodiments (such as when the SIM includes an eUICC), one or more of the SIMs may implement embedded SIM (eSIM) functionality; in such embodiments, a single SIM in the SIM may execute multiple SIM applications. Each SIM may include components such as a processor and / or a memory; instructions for performing SIM / eSIM functionality may be stored in the memory and executed by the processor. In some embodiments, the UE 106 may include a combination of removable smart cards and fixed / non-removable smart cards (such as one or more eUICC cards that implement eSIM functionality) as needed. For example, the UE 106 may include two embedded SIMs, two removable SIMs, or a combination of one embedded SIM and one removable SIM. Various other SIM configurations are also contemplated.

[0099] As described above, in some embodiments, UE 106 may include two or more SIMs. Including two or more SIMs in UE 106 may allow UE 106 to support two different phone numbers, and may allow UE 106 to communicate on corresponding two or more corresponding networks. For example, a first SIM may support a first RAT such as LTE, and a second SIM 345 may support a second RAT such as 5G NR. Of course, other implementations and RATs are also possible. In some embodiments, when UE 106 includes two SIMs, UE 106 may support a dual card dual communication (DSDA) function. The DSDA function may allow UE 106 to be connected to two networks (and use two different RATs) at the same time, or allow two connections supported by two different SIMs using the same or different RATs to be maintained on the same or different networks at the same time. The DSDA function may also allow UE 106 to receive voice calls or data traffic on any phone number at the same time. In some embodiments, voice calls may be packet switched communications. In other words, voice calls may be received using voice over LTE (VoLTE) technology and / or voice over NR (VoNR) technology. In some embodiments, the UE 106 may support dual SIM dual standby (DSDS) functionality. The DSDS functionality may allow either of the two SIMs in the UE 106 to standby for a voice call and / or data connection. In DSDS, when a call / data is established on one SIM, the other SIM is no longer active. In some embodiments, the DSDx functionality (DSDA or DSDS functionality) may be implemented using a single SIM (e.g., eUICC) that executes multiple SIM applications for different carriers and / or RATs.

[0100] As shown, the SOC 300 may include a processor 302 that may execute program instructions for the communication device 106 and a display circuit 304 that may perform graphics processing and provide display signals to a display 360. The one or more processors 302 may also be coupled to a memory management unit (MMU) 340 (which may be configured to receive addresses from the one or more processors 302 and convert those addresses to locations in a memory (e.g., memory 306, read-only memory (ROM) 350, NAND flash memory 310)) and / or to other circuits or devices (such as display circuit 304, short-range to medium-range wireless communication circuit 329, cellular communication circuit 330, connector I / F 320, and / or display 360). The MMU 340 may be configured to perform memory protection and page table translation or setup. In some embodiments, the MMU 340 may be included as part of the processor 302.

[0101] As described above, the communication device 106 may be configured to communicate using wireless and / or wired communication circuitry. The communication device 106 may be configured to perform methods for sounding reference signal (SRS) coverage enhancement for enhanced multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) operations, as further described herein.

[0102] As described herein, the communication device 106 may include hardware and software components for implementing the above-described features of the communication device 106 to send a scheduling profile for power saving to the network. The processor 302 of the communication device 106 may be configured to implement some or all of the features described herein, for example, by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively (or in addition), the processor 302 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit). Alternatively (or in addition), in combination with one or more of the other components 300, 304, 306, 310, 320, 329, 330, 340, 345, 350, 360, the processor 302 of the communication device 106 may be configured to implement some or all of the features described herein.

[0103] In addition, as described in the present invention, processor 302 may include one or more processing elements. Therefore, processor 302 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of processor 302. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuits (e.g., first circuits, second circuits, etc.) configured to perform the functions of one or more processors 302.

[0104] Further, as described herein, the cellular communication circuit 330 and the short-range to medium-range wireless communication circuit 329 may each include one or more processing elements. In other words, one or more processing elements may be included in the cellular communication circuit 330, and similarly, one or more processing elements may be included in the short-range to medium-range wireless communication circuit 329. Thus, the cellular communication circuit 330 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of the cellular communication circuit 330. Furthermore, each integrated circuit may include a circuit (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of the cellular communication circuit 330. Similarly, the short-range to medium-range wireless communication circuit 329 may include one or more ICs configured to perform the functions of the short-range to medium-range wireless communication circuit 329. Furthermore, each integrated circuit may include a circuit (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of the short-range to medium-range wireless communication circuit 329.

[0105] Figure 4 : Block diagram of a cellular communication circuit

[0106] Figure 4 An exemplary simplified block diagram of a cellular communication circuit according to some embodiments is shown. Note that Figure 4 The block diagram of the cellular communication circuit of is only one example of possible cellular communication circuits. According to an embodiment, the cellular communication circuit 430 (which can be an example of the cellular communication circuit 330) can be included in a communication device such as the communication device 106 described above. As described above, the communication device 106 can be a user equipment (UE) device, a mobile device or mobile station, a wireless device or wireless station, a desktop computer or computing device, a mobile computing device (e.g., a laptop, notebook, or portable computing device), a tablet computer, and / or a combination of devices, among other devices.

[0107] Cellular communication circuitry 430 may be (eg, communicatively; directly or indirectly) coupled to one or more antennas, such as ( Figure 4 In some embodiments, the cellular communication circuit 430 may include dedicated receive chains (including and / or coupled to (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) dedicated processors and / or radio components) for multiple RATs (e.g., a first receive chain for LTE and a second receive chain for 5G-NR). For example, Figure 4 As shown, cellular communication circuitry 430 may include modem 410 and modem 420. Modem 410 may be configured for communication according to a first RAT (e.g., such as LTE or LTE-A), and modem 420 may be configured for communication according to a second RAT (e.g., such as 5G NR).

[0108] As shown, the modem 410 may include one or more processors 412 and a memory 416 in communication with the processor 412. The modem 410 may communicate with a radio frequency (RF) front end 480. The RF front end 480 may include circuits for transmitting and receiving radio signals. For example, the RF front end 480 may include a receiving circuit (RX) 482 and a transmitting circuit (TX) 484. In some embodiments, the receiving circuit 482 may communicate with a downlink (DL) front end 450, which may include circuits for receiving radio signals via an antenna 435a.

[0109] Similarly, the modem 420 may include one or more processors 422 and a memory 426 in communication with the processor 422. The modem 420 may communicate with the RF front end 490. The RF front end 490 may include circuits for transmitting and receiving radio signals. For example, the RF front end 490 may include a receiving circuit 492 and a transmitting circuit 494. In some embodiments, the receiving circuit 492 may communicate with the DL front end 460, which may include circuits for receiving radio signals via the antenna 435b.

[0110] In some embodiments, the switch 470 may couple the transmission circuit 494 to the uplink (UL) front end 472. In addition, the switch 470 may couple the transmission circuit 494 to the UL front end 472. The UL front end 472 may include circuitry for transmitting radio signals via the antenna 436. Thus, when the cellular communication circuit 430 receives an instruction to transmit according to a first RAT (e.g., via a transmission chain including the transmission circuit 484 and the UL front end 472) supported by the modem 410, the switch 470 may be switched to a first state that allows the modem 410 to transmit signals according to the first RAT (e.g., via a transmission chain including the transmission circuit 484 and the UL front end 472). Similarly, when the cellular communication circuit 430 receives an instruction to transmit according to a second RAT (e.g., via a transmission chain including the transmission circuit 494 and the UL front end 472) supported by the modem 420, the switch 470 may be switched to a second state that allows the modem 420 to transmit signals according to the second RAT (e.g., via a transmission chain including the transmission circuit 494 and the UL front end 472).

[0111] In some embodiments, the cellular communication circuit 430 may be configured to perform a method of sounding reference signal (SRS) coverage enhancement for enhanced multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) operation, as further described herein.

[0112] As described herein, the modem 410 may include hardware and software components for implementing the above-described features or for time division multiplexing UL data for NSANR operation and various other techniques described herein. The processor 412 may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein, for example, by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively (or in addition), the processor 412 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or as an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit). Alternatively (or in addition), in combination with one or more of the other components 430, 432, 434, 450, 470, 472, 435, and 436, the processor 412 may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein.

[0113] In addition, as described herein, processor 412 may include one or more processing elements. Thus, processor 412 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of processor 412. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuits (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of processor 412.

[0114] As described herein, the modem 420 may include hardware and software components for implementing the above-described features for communicating a scheduling profile for power saving to a network, as well as various other techniques described herein. The processor 422 may be configured to implement some or all of the features described herein, for example, by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively (or in addition), the processor 422 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or as an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit). Alternatively (or in addition), in combination with one or more of the other components 440, 442, 444, 450, 470, 472, 435, and 436, the processor 422 may be configured to implement some or all of the features described herein.

[0115] In addition, as described herein, processor 422 may include one or more processing elements. Thus, processor 422 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of processor 422. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuits (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of processor 422.

[0116] Figure 5 :Block diagram of baseband processor

[0117] Figure 5 An example of a baseband processor architecture for a UE (eg, such as UE 106) is shown in accordance with some embodiments. Figure 5The baseband processor architecture 500 described in the figure may be implemented on one or more radio components (e.g., the radio components 329, 330 and / or 430 described above) or modems (e.g., modems 410 and / or 420) as described above. As shown, the non-access layer (NAS) 510 may include a 5G NAS 520 and a traditional NAS 550. The traditional NAS 550 may include a communication connection with a traditional access layer (AS) 570. The 5G NAS 520 may include a communication connection with both the 5G AS 540 and the non-3GPP AS 530 and the Wi-Fi AS 532. The 5G NAS 520 may include functional entities associated with the two access layers. Therefore, the 5G NAS 520 may include multiple 5G MM entities 526 and 528 and 5G session management (SM) entities 522 and 524. The legacy NAS 550 may include functional entities such as a short message service (SMS) entity 552, an evolved packet system (EPS) session management (ESM) entity 554, a session management (SM) entity 556, an EPS mobility management (EMM) entity 558, and a mobility management (MM) / GPRS mobility management (GMM) entity 560. In addition, the legacy AS 570 may include functional entities such as an LTE AS 572, a UMTS AS 574, and / or a GSM / GPRS AS 576.

[0118] Thus, the baseband processor architecture 500 allows for a common 5G-NAS for both 5G cellular and non-cellular (e.g., non-3GPP access). Note that, as shown, the 5G MM can maintain a separate connection management and registration management state machine for each connection. In addition, a device (e.g., UE 106) can register to a single PLMN (e.g., 5GCN) using both 5G cellular access and non-cellular access. In addition, a device can be in a connected state in one access and in an idle state in another access, or vice versa. Finally, there may be common 5G-MM procedures (e.g., registration, deregistration, identification, authentication, etc.) for both accesses.

[0119] It should be noted that in various embodiments, one or more of the above-mentioned functional entities of the 5G NAS and / or 5G AS may be configured to perform methods such as sounding reference signal (SRS) coverage enhancement for enhanced multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) operations, for example, as further described herein.

[0120] SRS coverage enhancement

[0121] In current cellular communication systems, a user equipment device (UE) may periodically transmit a sounding reference signal (SRS) to a base station on an uplink channel. The base station may use the SRS signal to evaluate the uplink channel quality between the UE and the base station. More specifically, a base station typically allocates only a portion of the total system bandwidth to a specific UE at any given time, so the base station may use the received SRS signal to determine which portion of the total system bandwidth has the best relative uplink channel quality, for example, for communication with the specific UE. In other words, the base station may use the SRS signals received from each UE to allocate the "best" frequency region to each of these UEs based on the uplink channel quality determined from the SRS signal.

[0122] In addition, in current cellular communication systems, the UE may be configured to transmit an SRS signal at a predefined interval (e.g., according to a set period). However, the base station may also issue a specific non-periodic request to the UE to transmit an SRS signal. The base station's request for non-periodic SRS may take the form of an SRS trigger transmitted from the base station to the UE. The base station may decide to send a non-periodic SRS trigger to the UE based on the detection of degradation of uplink channel quality and for other reasons.

[0123] In the current implementation, the base station may perform aperiodic SRS (AP-SRS) triggering in various DCI formats including uplink (UL) DCI formats 0_1 and 0_2, downlink (DL) DCI formats 1_1 and 1_2, and DCI format 2_3.

[0124] In addition, in current implementations, such as 3GPP Release 15, the sounding reference signal (SRS) can only be transmitted in the last six symbols of each slot. In 3GPP Release 16, SRS can be transmitted in any symbol used for fifth generation (5G) new radio (NR) positioning and NR in unlicensed spectrum (NR-U) or NR positioning. In addition, SRS can be repeated for up to four symbols. In addition, simple repetition of SRS without any cover code is supported.

[0125] In addition, in the current implementation of 5G NR, there are two types of reference signals (demodulation reference signal (DMRS) and SRS) that the UE can transmit to the base station (e.g., in the uplink) to indicate information about channel quality. In addition, the base station can make various decisions associated with resource allocation for uplink transmission, link adaptation, and decoding of data transmitted from the UE based on these reference signals. In particular, the SRS is a UL reference signal that provides information about the combined effects of multipath fading, scattering, Doppler, and power loss of signals transmitted from the UE. Therefore, the base station can use the SRS to estimate the channel quality and manage additional resource scheduling, beam management, and power control of the signal based on the SRS. Therefore, the SRS can provide the base station with information about the channel over the full bandwidth, and based on this information, the base station can make determinations for resource allocation, such as, for example, determining which bandwidth has better channel quality compared to other bandwidth regions.

[0126] The embodiments described herein provide systems, methods and mechanisms for SRS coverage enhancement. For example, in some embodiments, the UE may implement and / or use time domain bundling to improve SRS coverage. The UE may, for example, repeat SRS transmission multiple times in multiple time slots (inter-time slot bundling, which may be continuous or non-continuous), in one time slot (intra-time slot bundling) and / or a combination thereof. The base station may perform averaging across multiple SRS transmissions, for example, to improve the reliability of SRS-based channel quality measurements. In some embodiments, the number of SRS transmissions to be bundled (and / or the number of time slots in which the SRS is repeated) may be configured via signaling between the UE and the base station. For example, the signaling between the UE and the base station may be higher layer signaling, and the number of SRS transmissions to be bundled (and / or the number of time slots in which the SRS is repeated) may be indicated via radio resource control (RRC) signaling and / or via a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE). As another example, the signaling between the UE and the base station may be physical layer signaling, and the number of SRS transmissions to be bundled (and / or the number of time slots in which the SRS is repeated) may be indicated via downlink control information (DCI). In some embodiments, the SRS transmission may be in a time slot that may be a consecutive time slot and / or a continuous time slot. In other words, the UE may transmit the SRS in a consecutive time slot that does not exceed the number of SRS transmissions configured to be bundled by the base station. In some embodiments, the SRS transmission may be in a time slot that may be a non-consecutive time slot and / or a non-continuous time slot. In other words, the UE may transmit the SRS in a non-consecutive time slot that does not exceed the number of SRS transmissions configured to be bundled by the base station. For example, the UE may be configured by the base station to transmit a bundled SRS in every second time slot (e.g., skip one time slot between SRS transmissions), every third time slot (e.g., skip two time slots between SRS transmissions), every fourth time slot (e.g., skip three time slots between SRS transmissions), and the like. In some embodiments, the SRS transmission may be within a time slot. In other words, the UE may transmit SRS multiple times within a timeslot not exceeding the number of transmissions configured to be bundled by the base station. Note that intra-slot bundling of SRS transmissions may occur within a single timeslot and / or across multiple timeslots that may be contiguous and / or non-contiguous.

[0127] For example, FIG. 6A to FIG. 6C , FIG. 7A to FIG. 7C and FIG. 8A to FIG. 8C Various time domain bundling configurations for SRS coverage enhancement according to some embodiments are shown. As an example, in some embodiments, for example, Fig. 6AAs shown in , a base station (e.g., base station 102) may configure a UE (e.g., UE 106) to transmit SRS 610a-c in time slots n, n+1, and n+2 via higher layer signaling and / or physical layer signaling as further described herein. In other words, the base station may configure the UE to bundle SRS transmissions across three time slots. For another example, in some embodiments, for example, Figure 6B As shown in , a base station (e.g., base station 102) may configure a UE (e.g., UE 106) to transmit SRS 620a-d in time slots n, n+1, n+2, and n+3 via higher layer signaling and / or physical layer signaling as further described herein. In other words, the base station may configure the UE to bundle SRS transmissions across four time slots. For another example, in some embodiments, for example, Figure 6C As shown in , a base station (e.g., base station 102) may configure a UE (e.g., UE 106) to transmit SRS 630a-e in time slots n, n+1, n+2, n+3, and n+4 via higher layer signaling and / or physical layer signaling as further described herein. In other words, the base station may configure the UE to bundle SRS transmissions across five time slots. Note that in some embodiments, the number of SRS transmissions and / or the number of time slots configured for bundled SRS transmissions may depend on network conditions, such as channel quality, network traffic, UE mobility, etc.

[0128] For example, in some embodiments, for example, Fig. 7A As shown in , a base station (e.g., base station 102) may configure a UE (e.g., UE 106) to transmit SRS 710a-c in time slots n, n+2, and n+4 via higher layer signaling and / or physical layer signaling as further described herein. In other words, the base station may configure the UE to bundle SRS transmissions across alternating time slots (e.g., every other time slot and / or every other time slot). As another example, in some embodiments, for example, Figure 7B As shown in , a base station (e.g., base station 102) may configure a UE (e.g., UE 106) to transmit SRS 720a-b in time slots n and n+3 via higher layer signaling and / or physical layer signaling as further described herein. In other words, the base station may configure the UE to bundle SRS transmissions across every third time slot. For another example, in some embodiments, for example, Figure 7CAs shown in , a base station (e.g., base station 102) may configure a UE (e.g., UE 106) to transmit SRS 730a-b in time slots n+1 and n+5 via higher layer signaling and / or physical layer signaling as further described herein. In other words, the base station may configure the UE to bundle SRS transmissions across every fourth time slot. Note that in some embodiments, the number of SRS transmissions and / or the number of time slots configured for bundled SRS transmissions may depend on network conditions, such as channel quality, network traffic, UE mobility, etc.

[0129] As another example, in some embodiments, for example, Fig. 8A As shown in , a base station (e.g., base station 102) may configure a UE (e.g., UE 106) to transmit SRS 810a-d in time slot n via higher layer signaling and / or physical layer signaling as further described herein. In other words, the base station may configure the UE to bundle SRS transmissions in a single time slot (e.g., intra-slot bundling). As another example, in some embodiments, for example, Figure 8B As shown in , a base station (e.g., base station 102) may configure a UE (e.g., UE 106) to transmit SRS 820a-b in time slot n and SRS 820c-d in time slot n+1 via higher layer signaling and / or physical layer signaling as further described herein. In other words, the base station may configure the UE to bundle intra-slot and inter-slot SRS transmissions across consecutive time slots. For another example, in some embodiments, for example, Figure 8C As shown in , a base station (e.g., base station 102) may configure a UE (e.g., UE 106) to transmit SRS 830a-b in time slot n and SRS 830c-d in time slot n+2 via higher layer signaling and / or physical layer signaling as further described herein. In other words, the base station may configure the UE to bundle intra-slot and inter-slot SRS transmissions across non-contiguous time slots. Note that in some embodiments, the number of SRS transmissions and / or the number of time slots configured for bundled SRS transmissions may depend on network conditions, such as channel quality, network traffic, UE mobility, and the like.

[0130] As described above, in some embodiments, a base station such as base station 102 and a UE such as UE 106 may exchange higher layer signaling for configuring SRS time domain bundling. For example, in some embodiments, the base station may communicate higher layer signaling for configuring SRS time domain bundling via radio resource control (RRC) parameters (e.g., such as Fig. 9A , Fig. 9B and Fig. 9C The SRS-ResourceSet parameters shown in and / or Fig. 10A , Fig. 10B and Fig. 10C The SRS-Resource parameter shown in ) is used to configure the UE to perform SRS time domain bundling.

[0131] like Fig. 9A As shown in , the SRS-ResourceSet parameter may include a parameter indicating the number of time slots in which the SRS to be bundled is transmitted. For example, the parameter may be an nrofSlots parameter that may have enumerated values ​​[n2, n4, n8] and / or [n12, n16, n32] and other values. The nrofSlots parameter may indicate the number of time slots in which the SRS transmission is repeated and / or the number of SRS transmissions to be bundled. Fig. 9B As shown in , the SRS-ResourceSet parameter may include one or more parameters indicating the number of transmissions per time slot for transmitting time-domain bundled SRS. For example, the one or more parameters may include an SRSRepetitionSymbolOffset parameter and an nrofSRSRepetitionPerSlot parameter. The SRSRepetitionSymbolOffset parameter may indicate the number of symbols between SRS transmissions bundled within a time slot (e.g., for SRS bundling within a time slot). In addition, the nrofSRSReptitionPerSlot parameter may indicate the number of SRS transmissions per time slot. Fig. 9C As shown in , the SRS-ResourceSet parameter may include one or more parameters indicating the number of transmissions per time slot and the number of time slots for repeated SRS transmissions. For example, the one or more parameters may include an SRSRepetitionSymbolOffset parameter and an nrofSRSRepetitionPerSlot parameter and nrofSRSRepetitionSlots. The SRSRepetitionSymbolOffset parameter may indicate the number of symbols between SRS transmissions bundled within a time slot (e.g., for SRS bundling within a time slot). In addition, the nrofSRSReptitionPerSlot parameter may indicate the number of SRS transmissions per time slot. In addition, the nrofSRSRepetitionSlots parameter may indicate the number of time slots for SRS transmissions bundled within a repeated time slot as indicated by the SRSRepetitionSymbolOffset parameter and the nrofSRSRepetitionPerSlot parameter.

[0132] like Fig. 10AAs shown in , the SRS-Resource parameter may include a parameter indicating the number of time slots in which the SRS to be bundled is transmitted. For example, the parameter may be an nrofSlots parameter that may have enumerated values ​​[n2, n4, n8] and / or [n12, n16, n32] and other values. The nrofSlots parameter may indicate the number of time slots in which the SRS transmission is repeated and / or the number of SRS transmissions to be bundled. Fig. 10B As shown in , the SRS-Resource parameter may include one or more parameters indicating the number of transmissions per time slot for transmitting time-domain bundled SRS. For example, the one or more parameters may include an SRSRepetitionSymbolOffset parameter and an nrofSRSRepetitionPerSlot parameter. The SRSRepetitionSymbolOffset parameter may indicate the number of symbols between SRS transmissions bundled within a time slot (e.g., for SRS bundling within a time slot). In addition, the nrofSRSReptitionPerSlot parameter may indicate the number of SRS transmissions per time slot. Fig. 10C As shown in , the SRS-Resource parameter may include one or more parameters indicating the number of transmissions per time slot and the number of time slots for repeated SRS transmissions. For example, the one or more parameters may include an SRSRepetitionSymbolOffset parameter and an nrofSRSRepetitionPerSlot parameter and nrofSRSRepetitionSlots. The SRSRepetitionSymbolOffset parameter may indicate the number of symbols between SRS transmissions bundled within a time slot (e.g., for SRS bundling within a time slot). In addition, the nrofSRSReptitionPerSlot parameter may indicate the number of SRS transmissions per time slot. In addition, the nrofSRSRepetitionSlots parameter may indicate the number of time slots for SRS transmissions bundled within a repeated time slot as indicated by the SRSRepetitionSymbolOffset parameter and the nrofSRSRepetitionPerSlot parameter.

[0133] As another example, in some embodiments, the base station may communicate with the user via a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) (e.g., such as Fig.11) to configure the UE for SRS time domain bundling. As shown in the figure, such a MAC CE may include a cell ID parameter of an SRS resource set, a BWP ID parameter of an SRS resource set, a SUL parameter, an SRS resource set ID parameter, a number of time slots parameter and / or one or more reserved bits (R). In some embodiments, the cell ID parameter of the SRS resource set may indicate a cell identifier (ID) containing the SRS resource set. In some embodiments, the cell ID parameter of the SRS resource set may include 5 bits. In some embodiments, the BWP ID of the SRS resource set may indicate a bandwidth part (BWP) ID containing the SRS resource set. In some embodiments, the BWP ID of the SRS resource set may include 2 bits. In some embodiments, the SUL parameter may indicate whether it is a normal uplink (UL) or a supplementary UL. In some embodiments, the SUL parameter may include 1 bit. In some embodiments, the SRS resource set ID parameter may indicate an SRS resource set. In some embodiments, the SRS resource set ID parameter may include 4 bits. In some embodiments, the number of time slots parameter may indicate the bundling level configuration (e.g., the number of aggregated time slots) for each SRS resource in the indicated SRS resource set. In some embodiments, the bundling level configuration for each SRS resource may be indicated according to the order of the SRS resources within the SRS resource set. In some embodiments, the number of time slots parameter may include four bits per SRS resource, and the total number of bits for the number of time slots may depend on the number of SRS resources configured in the corresponding SRS resource set subject to octet alignment. It should be noted that in some embodiments, such a MAC CE may be extended to include parameters associated with intra-time slot bundling. For example, the MAC CE may include parameters indicating the number of transmissions per time slot and the number of time slots for repeated SRS transmissions, as well as parameters indicating the symbol interval for intra-time slot transmissions.

[0134] As another example, in some embodiments, the base station may configure the UE for SRS time domain bundling via downlink control information (DCI). For example, for inter-slot SRS time domain bundling, the current DCI format may be modified to include a field indicating the number of time slots used for SRS repetitions, for example, such as an SRS inter-slot repetition number field. At least in some embodiments, the field indicating the number of time slots used for SRS supplementation may have a range from 2 to 32 or greater values. As another example, for intra-slot SRS time domain bundling, the current DCI format may be modified to include a field indicating the number of SRS repetitions within a time slot (e.g., such as an SRS intra-slot repetition number field) and / or a field indicating the number of symbols between SRS repetitions (e.g., such as an SRS intra-slot repetition number field). For another example, for hybrid inter-slot / intra-slot SRS time domain bundling, the current DCI format may be modified to include a field indicating the number of time slots for SRS repetitions (e.g., such as an SRS inter-slot repetition number field), a field indicating the number of SRS repetitions within a time slot (e.g., such as an SRS intra-slot repetition number field), and / or a field indicating the number of symbols between SRS repetitions such as (e.g., an SRS intra-slot repetition symbol offset field).

[0135] In addition, the embodiments described herein may define UE and / or base station behavior when one or more SRS transmission opportunities become invalid during the time domain bundling of SRS transmissions. For example, in some embodiments, a UE such as UE 106 may skip and / or omit SRS transmission opportunities. In some embodiments, a UE such as UE 106 may, for example, indicate to a base station such as base station 102 which SRS transmission opportunities are omitted and / or skipped. In some embodiments, a base station such as base station 102 may infer which SRS transmission opportunities may have been omitted and / or skipped based on downlink transmission opportunities to UEs such as UE 106 that may occur during SRS transmission opportunities. For another example, in some embodiments, a UE such as UE 106 may delay and / or extend the SRS transmission opportunity to the next one or more valid time slots. Note that in some embodiments, an SRS transmission opportunity may become invalid due to the following reasons:

[0136] (i) The dynamic slot format indication (SFI) or DCI format 2_0 configuring the downlink symbol conflicts with the SRS;

[0137] (ii) a dynamic grant scheduling dynamic channel state indicator (CSI) reference signal (RS) or physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) reception conflicts with the SRS; and / or

[0138] (iii) Collision with semi-statically configured downlink (DL) symbols.

[0139] In addition, the embodiments described herein may define UE and / or base station behavior when the UE loses phase continuity during time domain bundling of SRS transmissions. For example, in some embodiments, when power control results in different total transmit powers in each time slot, a UE such as UE 106 may, for example, indicate to a base station such as base station 102 whether the UE is able to handle SRS time domain bundling phase continuity caused by the change in total transmit power. In some embodiments, such capabilities may be indicated for intra-band frequencies, intra-component carrier (CC) frequencies, and / or for certain inter-band frequencies. For another example, in some embodiments, when a UE such as UE 106 loses phase continuity when the duplex direction changes between two SRS transmission opportunities, the UE may, for example, indicate to a base station such as base station 102 whether the UE is able to handle SRS time domain bundling phase continuity caused by the change in duplex direction. In some embodiments, when a UE such as UE 106 is unable to handle and / or adapt to phase continuity for time domain bundling of SRS transmissions, the UE may discard and / or omit SRS transmissions. For example, as Fig.12 As shown, when a UE such as UE 106 is configured for SRS time domain bundling of SRS transmissions 1220a-d in corresponding time slots n, n+1, n+2 and n+3, the UE may discard SRS transmissions 1220c-d when it is unable to handle phase continuity changes due to DL reception opportunity 1222.

[0140] Fig.13 A block diagram of an example of a method for SRS time domain bundling according to some embodiments is shown. Among other devices, Fig.13 The method shown in can also be used together with any one of the system, method or device shown in the figure. In various embodiments, some of the method elements shown can be performed concurrently in an order different from the order shown, or can be omitted. Additional method elements can also be performed as required. As shown in the figure, the method can be operated as follows.

[0141] At 1302, a UE such as UE 106 may receive a configuration for SRS time domain bundling from a base station such as base station 102. In some embodiments, the configuration may include the number of SRS transmission opportunities. In other words, the configuration may indicate one or more SRS transmission opportunities (and / or include an indication of the one or more SRS transmission opportunities). In some embodiments, the SRS transmission opportunity may correspond to a time slot in the time domain, for example, for inter-slot time domain bundling. In some embodiments, a time slot may include one or more SRS transmission opportunities, for example, for intra-slot time domain bundling and / or for mixed inter-slot / intra-slot time domain bundling. In some embodiments, the configuration may be communicated via higher layer signaling and / or physical layer signaling (e.g., received by the UE / transmitted by the base station).

[0142] In some embodiments, the configuration may be indicated via a radio resource control (RRC) parameter. In some embodiments, the RRC parameter may be one of an SRS-ResourceSet parameter or an SRS-Resource parameter. In some embodiments, the RRC parameter may include an nrofSlots parameter indicating the number of time slots, where the SRS transmission opportunity corresponds to the time slot. In some embodiments, the RRC parameter may include an SRSRepetitionSymbolOffset indicating the number of symbols between SRS transmissions bundled within a time slot (e.g., for intra-slot SRS bundling) and an nrofSRSReptitionPerSlot parameter indicating the number of SRS transmissions per time slot. In some embodiments, the RRC parameters may include an SRSRepetitionSymbolOffset parameter, an nrofSRSRepetitionPerSlot parameter, and nrofSRSRepetitionSlots. The SRSRepetitionSymbolOffset parameter may indicate the number of symbols between SRS transmissions bundled within a time slot (e.g., for intra-slot SRS bundling). Additionally, the nrofSRSReptitionPerSlot parameter may indicate the number of SRS transmissions per time slot. Additionally, the nrofSRSRepetitionSlots parameter may indicate the number of time slots of SRS transmissions bundled within a repetition time slot as indicated by the SRSRepetitionSymbolOffset parameter and the nrofSRSRepetitionPerSlot parameter.

[0143] In some embodiments, the configuration may be indicated via a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE). In some embodiments, the MAC CE may include at least four bits (and / or four or more bits) indicating the number of time slots. In some embodiments, the MAC CE may include five bits indicating a cell identifier (ID) containing an SRS resource set, two bits indicating a bandwidth part (BWP) ID containing an SRS resource set, one bit indicating whether it is a normal uplink or a supplementary uplink, and / or any one of the four bits indicating an SRS resource set, any combination and / or all. In some embodiments, the MAC CE may also include one or more reserved bits. In some embodiments, the configuration may indicate that the time slots used for the SRS transmission opportunity are contiguous. In some embodiments, the configuration may indicate that the time slots used for the SRS transmission opportunity are non-contiguous.

[0144] In some embodiments, the configuration may be indicated via DCI. In some embodiments, the DCI (and / or DCI format) may include one or more fields indicating the number of repetitions between time slots, the number of repetitions within a time slot, and / or the number of symbols between repetitions within a time slot. In other words, the DCI (and / or DCI format) may include at least one field indicating the number of time slots, where the SRS transmission opportunity corresponds to the time slot. In some embodiments, one or more fields may include, for example, an SRS inter-slot repetition number field indicating the number of time slots for SRS repetitions, an SRS intra-slot repetition number field indicating the number of SRS repetitions within a time slot, and / or an SRS intra-slot repetition symbol offset field indicating the number of symbols between SRS repetitions.

[0145] At 1304, the UE may transmit at least one SRS transmission to the base station according to the configuration for SRS time domain bundling. In other words, the UE may transmit the SRS in one or more SRS transmission opportunities based on the configuration for SRS time domain bundling. For example, the UE may transmit the SRS in one or more time slots (consecutive and / or non-consecutive) based on the configuration.

[0146] In some embodiments, the UE may determine that the SRS transmission opportunity is invalid (e.g., invalid). In such embodiments, the UE may skip and / or omit SRS transmissions associated with invalid SRS transmission opportunities. In some embodiments, the UE may indicate the skipped SRS transmission opportunity to the base station. In addition, in some embodiments, the UE may transmit the SRS transmission skipped in the next available time slot to the base station. In some embodiments, skipping SRS transmission may include omitting SRS transmission. In some embodiments, the UE may determine that the SRS transmission opportunity is invalid based at least in part on determining that the dynamic slot format indication (SFI) or DCI format 2_0 of the downlink (DL) symbol is configured conflicts with the SRS transmission; the dynamic grant of scheduling dynamic channel state indicator (CSI) reference signal (RS) or physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) reception conflicts with the SRS transmission; and / or the SRS transmission will conflict with the semi-statically configured DL symbol.

[0147] In some embodiments, the UE may determine the phase discontinuity between consecutive SRS transmissions. In such embodiments, the UE may indicate to the base station whether the UE is capable of correcting and / or compensating for the phase discontinuity. In some embodiments, the indication may be based on an intra-band frequency, an intra-component carrier frequency, and / or an inter-band frequency. In some embodiments, the UE may determine that the SRS transmission opportunity is invalid based on the phase discontinuity. In such embodiments, the UE may skip the SRS transmission associated with the invalid SRS transmission opportunity. In some embodiments, the phase discontinuity may be due to power control resulting in different total transmit powers in consecutive time slots and / or due to a change in duplex direction between consecutive SRS transmission opportunities.

[0148] Fig.14 A block diagram of an example of a method for SRS time domain bundling according to some embodiments is shown. Among other devices, Fig.14 The method shown in can also be used together with any one of the system, method or device shown in the figure. In various embodiments, some of the method elements shown can be performed concurrently in an order different from the order shown, or can be omitted. Additional method elements can also be performed as required. As shown in the figure, the method can be operated as follows.

[0149] At 1402, a base station such as base station 102 may transmit (and / or send) a configuration for SRS time domain bundling to a UE such as UE 106. In some embodiments, the configuration may include the number of SRS transmission opportunities. In other words, the configuration may indicate one or more SRS transmission opportunities (and / or include an indication of the one or more SRS transmission opportunities). In some embodiments, the SRS transmission opportunity may correspond to a time slot in the time domain, for example, for inter-slot time domain bundling. In some embodiments, a time slot may include one or more SRS transmission opportunities, for example, for intra-slot time domain bundling and / or for mixed inter-slot / intra-slot time domain bundling. In some embodiments, the configuration may be communicated via higher layer signaling and / or physical layer signaling (e.g., received by the UE / transmitted by the base station).

[0150] In some embodiments, the configuration may be indicated via a radio resource control (RRC) parameter. In some embodiments, the RRC parameter may be one of an SRS-ResourceSet parameter or an SRS-Resource parameter. In some embodiments, the RRC parameter may include an nrofSlots parameter indicating the number of time slots, where the SRS transmission opportunity corresponds to the time slot. In some embodiments, the RRC parameter may include an SRSRepetitionSymbolOffset indicating the number of symbols between SRS transmissions bundled within a time slot (e.g., for intra-slot SRS bundling) and an nrofSRSReptitionPerSlot parameter indicating the number of SRS transmissions per time slot. In some embodiments, the RRC parameters may include an SRSRepetitionSymbolOffset parameter, an nrofSRSRepetitionPerSlot parameter, and nrofSRSRepetitionSlots. The SRSRepetitionSymbolOffset parameter may indicate the number of symbols between SRS transmissions bundled within a time slot (e.g., for intra-slot SRS bundling). Additionally, the nrofSRSReptitionPerSlot parameter may indicate the number of SRS transmissions per time slot. Additionally, the nrofSRSRepetitionSlots parameter may indicate the number of time slots of SRS transmissions bundled within a repetition time slot as indicated by the SRSRepetitionSymbolOffset parameter and the nrofSRSRepetitionPerSlot parameter.

[0151] In some embodiments, the configuration may be indicated via a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE). In some embodiments, the MAC CE may include at least four bits (and / or four or more bits) indicating the number of time slots. In some embodiments, the MAC CE may include five bits indicating a cell identifier (ID) containing an SRS resource set, two bits indicating a bandwidth part (BWP) ID containing an SRS resource set, one bit indicating whether it is a normal uplink or a supplementary uplink, and / or any one of the four bits indicating an SRS resource set, any combination and / or all. In some embodiments, the MAC CE may also include one or more reserved bits. In some embodiments, the configuration may indicate that the time slots used for the SRS transmission opportunity are contiguous. In some embodiments, the configuration may indicate that the time slots used for the SRS transmission opportunity are non-contiguous.

[0152] In some embodiments, the configuration may be indicated via DCI. In some embodiments, the DCI (and / or DCI format) may include one or more fields indicating the number of repetitions between time slots, the number of repetitions within a time slot, and / or the number of symbols between repetitions within a time slot. In other words, the DCI (and / or DCI format) may include at least one field indicating the number of time slots, where the SRS transmission opportunity corresponds to the time slot. In some embodiments, one or more fields may include, for example, an SRS inter-slot repetition number field indicating the number of time slots for SRS repetitions, an SRS intra-slot repetition number field indicating the number of SRS repetitions within a time slot, and / or an SRS intra-slot repetition symbol offset field indicating the number of symbols between SRS repetitions.

[0153] At 1404, the base station may receive at least one SRS transmission from the UE according to the configuration for SRS time domain bundling. In other words, the base station may receive the SRS in one or more SRS transmission opportunities based on the configuration for SRS time domain bundling. For example, the base station may receive the SRS in one or more time slots (consecutive and / or non-consecutive) based on the configuration. In some embodiments, the base station may add a base station that may average one or more SRS transmissions to enhance the estimation of the channel conditions between the base station and the UE. In other words, the base station may perform averaging across one or more SRS transmissions to improve the reliability of SRS-based channel quality measurements.

[0154] In some embodiments, the UE may determine that the SRS transmission opportunity is invalid (e.g., invalid). In such embodiments, the UE may skip and / or omit SRS transmissions associated with invalid SRS transmission opportunities. In some embodiments, the UE may indicate the skipped SRS transmission opportunity to the base station. In addition, in some embodiments, the base station may receive an SRS transmission that is skipped in the next available time slot from the UE. In some embodiments, skipping SRS transmission may include omitting SRS transmission. In some embodiments, the SRS transmission opportunity may be skipped based at least in part on the following: a dynamic slot format indication (SFI) or DCI format 2_0 configuring a downlink (DL) symbol conflicts with an SRS transmission; a dynamic grant for scheduling a dynamic channel state indicator (CSI) reference signal (RS) or a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) received conflicts with an SRS transmission; and / or an SRS transmission conflicts with a semi-statically configured DL symbol.

[0155] It is understood that the use of personally identifiable information should be subject to privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized to meet or exceed industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of the authorized use should be clearly stated to users.

[0156] The embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in any of a variety of forms. For example, some embodiments may be implemented as computer-implemented methods, computer-readable storage media, or computer systems. Other embodiments may be implemented using one or more custom-designed hardware devices such as ASICs. Other embodiments may be implemented using one or more programmable hardware elements such as FPGAs.

[0157] In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may be configured such that it stores program instructions and / or data, wherein if executed by a computer system, the program instructions cause the computer system to perform a method, such as any one of the method embodiments described herein, or any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or any subset of any of the method embodiments described herein or any combination of such subsets.

[0158] In some embodiments, a device (e.g., UE 106) may be configured to include a processor (or a group of processors) and a memory medium, wherein the memory medium stores program instructions, wherein the processor is configured to read and execute the program instructions from the memory medium, wherein the program instructions are executable to implement any of the various method implementations described herein (or any combination of the method implementations described herein, or any subset of any of the method implementations described herein, or any combination of such subsets). The device may be implemented in any of various forms.

[0159] By interpreting each message / signal X received by a user equipment (UE) in the downlink as a message / signal X transmitted by the base station, and interpreting each message / signal Y transmitted by the UE in the uplink as a message / signal Y received by the base station, any of the methods for operating a UE described herein may become the basis for the corresponding method for operating a base station.

[0160] Although the above embodiments have been described in considerable detail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to encompass all such variations and modifications.

Claims

1. A user equipment, comprising: at least one antenna; a radio operably coupled to the at least one antenna; and a processor operatively coupled to the radio; The processor is configured to cause the user equipment to: receiving a configuration for sounding reference signal (SRS) time domain bundling from a base station, wherein the configuration indicates one or more SRS transmission opportunities and includes an indication of a number of time slots, wherein the SRS transmission opportunities correspond to time slots; and According to the configuration for SRS time domain bundling, at least one SRS transmission is transmitted during a corresponding SRS transmission opportunity.

2. The user equipment according to claim 1, Wherein the configuration is received from the base station via higher layer signaling, wherein the higher layer signaling comprises at least one of a radio resource control (RRC) parameter or a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE).

3. The user equipment according to claim 1, Wherein the configuration is indicated via a radio resource control (RRC) parameter, and wherein the RRC parameter is one of an SRS-ResourceSet parameter or an SRS-Resource parameter.

4. The user equipment according to claim 3, The RRC parameters include an nrofSlots parameter indicating the number of time slots.

5. The user equipment according to claim 1, Wherein the configuration is indicated via a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE), and wherein the MAC CE comprises at least four bits indicating a number of time slots.

6. The user equipment according to claim 5, The MAC CE includes one or more of the following: Five bits indicating the cell identifier (ID) containing the SRS resource set; Two bits indicating the bandwidth part (BWP) ID containing the SRS resource set; A bit indicating whether it is a normal uplink or a supplemental uplink; or Four bits indicating the SRS resource set.

7. The user equipment according to claim 1, The one or more SRS transmission opportunities include two or more SRS transmission opportunities.

8. The user equipment according to claim 1, The processor is further configured to cause the user equipment to: determining phase discontinuity between consecutive SRS transmission opportunities; and Indicating to the base station whether the user equipment is capable of correcting the phase discontinuity, wherein the indication is based on an intra-band frequency, an intra-component carrier frequency, or an inter-band frequency.

9. The user equipment according to claim 8, The processor is further configured to cause the user equipment to: determining that the SRS transmission opportunity is invalid based on the phase discontinuity; and SRS transmissions associated with the invalid SRS transmission opportunities are skipped.

10. The user equipment according to claim 8, The phase discontinuity is caused by power control resulting in different total transmit powers in consecutive time slots or by a duplex direction change between consecutive SRS transmission opportunities.

11. The user equipment according to claim 1, The processor is further configured to cause the user equipment to: determining that the SRS transmission opportunity is invalid; and SRS transmissions associated with the invalid SRS transmission opportunities are skipped.

12. The user equipment according to claim 11, The processor is further configured to cause the user equipment to: The SRS transmission is skipped during transmission in the next available time slot.

13. The user equipment according to claim 12, in, In order to determine that the SRS transmission opportunity is invalid, the processor is further configured to cause the user equipment to determine that: a dynamic slot format indication (SFI) or DCI format 2_0 configuring a downlink (DL) symbol conflicts with an SRS transmission; a dynamic grant scheduling a dynamic channel state indicator (CSI) reference signal (RS) or physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) reception conflicts with an SRS transmission; or an SRS transmission will conflict with a semi-statically configured DL symbol.

14. The user equipment according to claim 1, The configuration is indicated via physical layer signaling.

15. The user equipment according to claim 14, The physical layer signaling includes downlink control information (DCI).

16. The user equipment according to claim 15, Wherein the DCI comprises at least one field indicating the number of time slots.

17. A base station, comprising: Multiple antennas; a radio operably coupled to the plurality of antennas; and a processor operatively coupled to the radio; The processor is configured to enable the base station to: transmitting a configuration for SRS time domain bundling to a user equipment, wherein the configuration includes an indication of one or more SRS transmission opportunities and includes an indication of a number of time slots, wherein the SRS transmission opportunities correspond to time slots, and wherein the configuration is transmitted via at least one of a radio resource control (RRC) parameter, a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), or downlink control information (DCI); and According to the configuration for SRS time-domain bundling, at least one SRS transmission is received during a corresponding SRS transmission opportunity.

18. The base station according to claim 17, The RRC parameter is one of an SRS-ResourceSet parameter or an SRS-Resource parameter.

19. The base station according to claim 17, The RRC parameters include an nrofSlots parameter indicating the number of time slots.

20. The base station according to claim 17, The MAC CE includes at least four bits indicating the number of time slots.

21. The base station according to claim 20, The MAC CE includes two or more of the following: Five bits indicating the cell identifier (ID) containing the SRS resource set; Two bits indicating the bandwidth part (BWP) ID containing the SRS resource set; A bit indicating whether it is a normal uplink or a supplemental uplink; or Four bits indicating the SRS resource set.

22. The base station according to claim 17, Wherein the DCI comprises at least one field indicating the number of time slots.

23. A baseband processor of a user equipment in a wireless communication system, the baseband processor being configured to: receiving a configuration for sounding reference signal (SRS) time domain bundling from a base station, wherein the configuration indicates one or more SRS transmission opportunities and includes an indication of a number of time slots, wherein the SRS transmission opportunities correspond to time slots, and wherein the configuration is received via higher layer signaling or physical layer signaling; and Instructions are generated to transmit at least one SRS transmission during a corresponding SRS transmission opportunity according to the configuration for SRS time-domain bundling.

24. The baseband processor according to claim 23, Wherein the higher layer signaling comprises at least one of a radio resource control (RRC) parameter or a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE).

25. The baseband processor according to claim 23, Wherein the configuration is indicated via a radio resource control (RRC) parameter, and wherein the RRC parameter is one of an SRS-ResourceSet parameter or an SRS-Resource parameter.

26. The baseband processor according to claim 25, The RRC parameters include an nrofSlots parameter indicating the number of time slots.

27. The baseband processor according to claim 26, Wherein the configuration is indicated via a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE), and wherein the MAC CE comprises at least four bits indicating a number of time slots.

28. The baseband processor according to claim 27, The MAC CE includes one or more of the following: Five bits indicating the cell identifier (ID) containing the SRS resource set; Two bits indicating the bandwidth part (BWP) ID containing the SRS resource set; A bit indicating whether it is a normal uplink or a supplemental uplink; or Four bits indicating the SRS resource set.

29. The baseband processor according to claim 23, The one or more SRS transmission opportunities in the SRS transmission opportunities include two or more SRS transmission opportunities.

30. The baseband processor of claim 23, wherein the baseband processor is further configured to: determining phase discontinuity between consecutive SRS transmission opportunities; and Indicating to the base station whether the user equipment is capable of correcting the phase discontinuity, wherein the indication is based on an intra-band frequency, an intra-component carrier frequency, or an inter-band frequency.

31. The baseband processor of claim 30, wherein the baseband processor is further configured to: determining that the SRS transmission opportunity is invalid based on the phase discontinuity; and SRS transmissions associated with the invalid SRS transmission opportunities are skipped.

32. The baseband processor according to claim 31, The phase discontinuity is caused by power control resulting in different total transmit powers in consecutive time slots or by a duplex direction change between consecutive SRS transmission opportunities.

33. The baseband processor of claim 23, wherein the baseband processor is further configured to: determining that the SRS transmission opportunity is invalid; and SRS transmissions associated with the invalid SRS transmission opportunities are skipped.

34. The baseband processor of claim 33, wherein the baseband processor is further configured to: Instructions are generated to transmit the skipped SRS transmission in a next available time slot.

35. The baseband processor according to claim 34, in, In order to determine that the SRS transmission timing is invalid, the baseband processor is further configured to determine: a dynamic slot format indication (SFI) or DCI format 2_0 configuring a downlink (DL) symbol conflicts with an SRS transmission; a dynamic grant scheduling a dynamic channel state indicator (CSI) reference signal (RS) or physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) reception conflicts with an SRS transmission; or an SRS transmission will conflict with a semi-statically configured DL symbol.

36. The baseband processor according to claim 23, The physical layer signaling includes downlink control information (DCI).

37. The baseband processor according to claim 36, Wherein the DCI comprises at least one field indicating the number of time slots.

Images