Baseband Processor and User Equipment

Abstract

A user equipment (UE) receives a reference signal during a discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle to perform frequency and timing tracking or automatic gain control (AGC). The UE performs the following operations: when the user equipment (UE) is in a first operating state, receives configuration information corresponding to a reference signal to be transmitted to the UE; when the UE is in the first operating state, receives the reference signal from a cell of a network; performs one of frequency and timing tracking or automatic gain control (AGC) using the reference signal; and receives a signal from the cell during a time window of an active mode in which the UE is scheduled to utilize a data exchange process.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates generally to wireless communications, and more particularly to tracking reference signal enhancement for new air interface. Background Art

[0002] A user equipment (UE) can establish a connection with at least one of a plurality of different networks or network types. While connected, the UE can be configured to utilize a power-saving operating mode that includes a set of active processing periods and a set of available sleep periods. The scheduled active processing periods may be referred to as an on-duration. During the on-duration, the UE is configured to perform operations that enable the UE to receive data that may be transmitted to the UE. When an on-duration is not scheduled, the UE has the opportunity to enter a sleep mode and save power.

[0003] Due to any of a number of different reasons, when a UE wakes up and enters an active mode of processing, there may be frequency and / or timing errors. From the UE's perspective, this may have a negative impact on the subsequent processing of control information and / or data. In some networks, to avoid frequency and / or timing errors at the UE, a downlink reference signal may be provided by the currently camped cell. For example, the UE may receive a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS) configured for time and / or frequency tracking. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Some example embodiments relate to a baseband processor configured to perform operations including: receiving configuration information corresponding to a reference signal to be transmitted to a user equipment (UE) when the UE is in a first operational state; receiving the reference signal from a cell of a network when the UE is in the first operational state; performing one of frequency and timing tracking or automatic gain control (AGC) using the reference signal; and receiving a signal from the cell during a time window of an active mode in which the UE is scheduled to utilize a data exchange process.

[0005] Other exemplary embodiments relate to a user equipment (UE) comprising: a transceiver configured to communicate with a network; and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform operations. The operations include: receiving configuration information corresponding to a reference signal to be transmitted to the user equipment (UE); receiving the reference signal from a cell of the network; performing one of frequency and timing tracking or automatic gain control (AGC) using the reference signal; and receiving a signal from the cell, wherein receiving the signal comprises decoding the signal based on the frequency and timing tracking. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006] Figure 1 Exemplary network arrangements are shown according to various exemplary embodiments.

[0007] Figure 2 An exemplary user equipment (UE) is shown in accordance with various exemplary embodiments.

[0008] Figure 3A An example of a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS) spanning multiple time slots is shown.

[0009] Figure 3B An example of a TRS configured within a single time slot is shown.

[0010] Figure 4 Methods for TRS monitoring according to various exemplary embodiments are shown.

[0011] Figure 5 A timeline of periodic TRS configuration is shown according to various exemplary embodiments.

[0012] Figure 6 A timeline including an example of a trigger offset between a TRS and an on-duration is shown, according to various exemplary embodiments.

[0013] Figure 7 A timeline illustrating an example of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) scheduling DCI including triggering both aperiodic TRS and PDSCH reception according to various exemplary embodiments.

[0014] Figure 8 Examples of joint demodulation reference signal (DMRS) TRS designs according to various exemplary embodiments are shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0015] The exemplary embodiments may be further understood with reference to the following description and associated drawings, wherein like elements have the same reference numerals.Exemplary embodiments are directed to implementing various enhancements related to Tracking Reference Signal (TRS) transmission and reception.

[0016] The exemplary embodiments are described with respect to a UE. However, the use of a UE is for illustrative purposes only. The exemplary embodiments can be utilized with any electronic component that can establish a connection with a network and is configured with hardware, software, and / or firmware for exchanging information and data with the network. Therefore, the term UE as used herein is intended to represent any electronic component.

[0017] In addition, exemplary embodiments are described with respect to a UE utilizing a power-saving operating mode with respect to data exchange processing. To provide an example, when the UE is in an RRC connected state, the UE may be configured with connected discontinuous reception (C-DRX). To provide another example, when the UE is in an RRC idle state, the UE may be configured with a discontinuous reception cycle (DRX). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that these cycles refer to power-saving mechanisms including an active mode utilizing data exchange processing and an inactive sleep mode.

[0018] The UE may use an active mode of processing at defined intervals to perform scheduled operations, such as performing measurements related to network conditions, transmissions (e.g., requests, measurement reports, uplink data, etc.), and receptions (e.g., control channel information, reference signals, synchronization signals, downlink data, etc.). The time period during which the UE may be scheduled to receive control channel information may be referred to as an on-duration. The on-duration relates to a duration during which the UE may perform operations that enable the UE to receive data that may be transmitted to the UE, such as, but not limited to, control channel information, uplink grants, downlink grants, reference signals, synchronization signals, payload data, etc. During a C-DRX cycle or a DRX cycle, when an on-duration is not scheduled, the UE may have the opportunity to utilize an inactive sleep mode and save power.

[0019] A C-DRX cycle or DRX cycle may have a predetermined duration N, such as 100 milliseconds (ms), 50 ms, 40 ms, 20 ms, etc. For example, at time 0, there may be an on-duration during which an active mode of processing is used. Subsequently, at the end of the on-duration, the UE has the opportunity to utilize an inactive sleep mode. Then at time N, there may be another on-duration. Subsequently, the sleep mode is used until time 2N. This process continues for the duration of the cycle. Reference to an inactive sleep mode does not necessarily mean that the UE's processor, transmitter, and receiver are put to sleep, hibernate, or deactivate. For example, the processor (e.g., baseband and / or application) may continue to execute other applications or processes. Sleep mode involves saving power by interrupting continuous processing functions related to operations that enable the UE to receive data that can be transmitted to the UE and transmit data to the network. References to the terms C-DRX cycle and DRX cycle are for illustrative purposes, and different networks may refer to similar concepts by different names. Furthermore, reference to these cycles configured in ms units is for illustration purposes only, and exemplary embodiments may utilize C-DRX cycles or DRX cycles based on subframes or any other suitable time unit.

[0020] Due to any of a number of different reasons, when a UE wakes up and enters active mode for data exchange processing, the UE may experience frequency and / or timing errors. This may have a negative impact on the subsequent processing of control information and / or data. In some networks, to avoid frequency and / or timing errors at the UE, a downlink reference signal may be provided by the currently camped cell. For example, the UE may receive a tracking reference signal (TRS) configured for time and / or frequency tracking.

[0021] Throughout this specification, the term "TRS" may refer to a downlink reference signal configured to be used by a UE for time and / or frequency tracking. To provide an example, a UE may camp on a cell of a network. The network may indicate to the UE that a TRS (e.g., one or more TRS symbols in one or more time slots) will be transmitted to the UE during a specific time window and / or in response to specific conditions. The UE may monitor the TRS based on an indication received from the network and then use the TRS to obtain frequency and / or timing estimates. This may provide performance benefits with respect to processing subsequent control information (e.g., downlink control information (DCI), etc.) and / or data (e.g., physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH)) from the cell. However, reference to the term TRS and the above examples are provided for illustrative purposes only. The exemplary embodiments may be applied to any type of downlink reference signal that may be used by a UE for timing and frequency tracking, automatic gain control (AGC), or any other similar type of operation.

[0022] Various exemplary embodiments have been described with respect to a cell transmitting one or more TRSs to a UE prior to the on-duration of a C-DRX cycle or a DRX cycle. However, the exemplary embodiments are not limited to these types of power saving mechanisms. The exemplary embodiments are directed to implementing various enhancements related to TRS transmission and reception, regardless of the type of power saving mode operation utilized. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that these enhancements may be utilized in conjunction with any currently implemented power saving mode for data exchange processing, any future implementation of a power saving mode for data exchange processing, or any power saving mode independent of the data exchange processing.

[0023] In a first aspect, exemplary embodiments relate to implementing TRS for idle mode (or inactive mode). In a second aspect, exemplary embodiments relate to implementing downlink control information (DCI) triggering for TRS reception. Specific examples of these exemplary embodiments are described in detail below.

[0024] Figure 1A network arrangement 100 according to various exemplary embodiments is shown. The network arrangement 100 includes a UE 110. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the UE 110 may be any type of electronic component configured to communicate via a network, such as a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a smartphone, a phablet, an embedded device, a wearable device, a Cat-M device, a Cat-M1 device, an MTC device, an eMTC device, other types of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and the like. A practical network arrangement may include any number of UEs used by any number of users. Therefore, the example of a single UE 110 is provided for illustrative purposes only.

[0025] UE 110 can be configured to communicate directly with one or more networks. In the example of network arrangement 100, UE 110 can wirelessly communicate with a 5G New Radio (NR) radio access network (5G NR RAN) 120 and a wireless local access network (WLAN) 122. UE 110 can also communicate with other types of networks (e.g., 5G cloud RAN, next generation RAN (NG-RAN), LTE RAN, traditional RAN, etc.). UE 110 can also communicate with a network via a wired connection. Thus, UE 110 can include a 5G NR chipset for communicating with 5G NR RAN 120 and an ISM chipset for communicating with WLAN 122.

[0026] The 5G NR RAN 120 may be part of a cellular network that may be deployed by a network operator (e.g., Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, etc.). The 5G NR RAN 120 may include, for example, a cell or base station (Node B, eNodeB, HeNB, eNBS, gNB, gNodeB, macrocell base station, microcell base station, small cell base station, femtocell base station, etc.) configured to send and receive communication traffic from a UE equipped with an appropriate cellular chipset. The WLAN 122 may include any type of wireless local area network (WiFi, hotspot, IEEE 802.11x network, etc.).

[0027] UE 110 may connect to 5G NR RAN 120 via cell 120A. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that any relevant procedures may be performed for UE 110 to connect to 5G NR RAN 120. For example, as described above, 5G NR RAN 120 may be associated with a specific network operator, with which UE 110 and / or its user has protocol and credential information (e.g., stored on a SIM card). Upon detecting the presence of 5G NR RAN 120, UE 110 may transmit corresponding credential information to associate with 5G NR RAN 120. More specifically, UE 110 may associate with a specific cell (e.g., cell 120A of 5G NR RAN 120). As described above, the use of 5G NR RAN 120 is for illustrative purposes, and any type of network may be used. For example, UE 110 may also connect to an LTE-RAN (not shown) or a legacy RAN (not shown).

[0028] Cell 120A may be equipped with one or more communication interfaces. For example, cell 120A may be equipped with a communication interface configured to communicate with a UE via unlicensed spectrum. In addition, cell 120A may be equipped with various processing components configured to perform various operations, such as, but not limited to, receiving signals from the UE and other network components, processing the received signals, and generating signals for transmission. For example, cell 120A may be equipped with one or more processors. The processors may include one or more baseband processors and / or one or more application processors. These processors may be configured to execute software and / or firmware. In another example, the cell may be equipped with an integrated circuit with or without firmware. For example, the integrated circuit may include input circuits for receiving signals, processing circuits for processing these signals, and output circuits for outputting the generated signals and information to other components (e.g., communication interfaces, transceivers, etc.). The functionality described herein for cell 120A may be implemented in any of these or other configurations of cells for a network known in the art.

[0029] In addition to networks 120 and 122, network arrangement 100 also includes a cellular core network 130. Cellular core network 130 can be considered an interconnected collection of components that manage the operation and traffic of a cellular network. Network arrangement 100 also includes the Internet 140, an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) 150, and a network services backbone 160. Cellular core network 130 also manages traffic flowing between the cellular network and the Internet 140. IMS 150 can generally be described as an architecture for delivering multimedia services to UE 110 using IP protocols. IMS 150 can communicate with cellular core network 130 and the Internet 140 to provide multimedia services to UE 110. Network services backbone 160 communicates directly or indirectly with the Internet 140 and cellular core network 130. Network services backbone 160 can generally be described as a set of components (e.g., servers, network storage arrangements, etc.) that implement a set of services that can be used to extend the functionality of UE 110 to communicate with various networks.

[0030] Figure 2 An exemplary UE 110 is shown according to various exemplary embodiments. Figure 1 10. The UE 110 may represent any electronic device and may include a processor 205, a memory arrangement 210, a display device 215, an input / output (I / O) device 220, a transceiver 225, and other components 230. The other components 230 may include, for example, an audio input device, an audio output device, a battery providing a limited power source, a data acquisition device, a port for electrically connecting the UE 110 to other electronic devices, sensors for detecting conditions of the UE 110, and the like.

[0031] Processor 205 may be configured to execute multiple engines of UE 110. For example, the engines may include a TRS engine 235. TRS engine 235 may be configured to implement various example techniques related to monitoring and receiving TRS.

[0032] The engine described above as an application (e.g., a program) executed by the processor 205 is merely exemplary. The functionality associated with the engine may also be represented as a separate, integrated component of the UE 110, or may be a modular component coupled to the UE 110, such as an integrated circuit with or without firmware. For example, an integrated circuit may include input circuitry for receiving signals and processing circuitry for processing signals and other information. The engine may also be embodied as one application or multiple independent applications. In addition, in some UEs, the functionality described for the processor 205 is shared between two or more processors, such as a baseband processor and an application processor. The exemplary embodiments may be implemented in any of these or other configurations of the UE.

[0033] The memory 210 may be a hardware component configured to store data related to operations performed by the UE 110. The display device 215 may be a hardware component configured to display data to a user, and the I / O device 220 may be a hardware component that enables user input. The display device 215 and the I / O device 220 may be separate components or may be integrated together (such as a touch screen). The transceiver 225 may be a hardware component configured to establish a connection with the 5G NR-RAN 120 and the WLAN 122. Thus, the transceiver 225 may operate on a variety of different frequencies or channels (e.g., a set of continuous frequencies).

[0034] As described above, the exemplary embodiments relate to TRS transmission and reception. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that TRS can represent multiple TRS symbols carried in one or more time slots. There are many different combinations of symbols and time slots that can be used for TRS. Figure 3A and Figure 3B Each provides an example of a TRS configuration. However, any reference to a TRS configured with a specific number of symbols or a specific number of time slots is provided for illustrative purposes only. The exemplary embodiments are not limited to any specific TRS configuration and can be applied to a TRS or similar downlink reference signal configured with any suitable combination of symbols and time slots.

[0035] Figure 3A An example of a TRS spanning multiple time slots is shown. In this example, a first time slot 310 includes two TRS symbols 312, 314 with three symbols between them. The TRS also includes a second adjacent time slot 320, which also includes two TRS symbols 322, 324 with three symbols between them.

[0036] Figure 3B An example of a TRS configured within a single time slot is shown. In this example, the time slot 350 is configured to include four TRS symbols 352-358, with two or three symbols between each of the TRS symbols 352-358. Although Figure 3B Not shown, but in some TRS configurations, there may be three symbols between the first TRS symbol and the third TRS symbol in the same slot. Figure 3A compared to, Figure 3BThe TRS configuration shown in FIG provides more TRS symbols in the same time slot. This TRS configuration can provide power saving benefits to UE 110 because there are fewer time slots and symbols for UE 110 to process. As mentioned above, the exemplary embodiments are not limited to TRS or any particular TRS configuration. The exemplary embodiments can be applied to any suitable downlink reference signal configured with any suitable combination of symbols and time slots.

[0037] As described above, exemplary embodiments may refer to a C-DRX cycle or a DRX cycle. During operation, the network may transmit a TRS prior to the on-duration that is configured for frequency and / or tracking by the UE 110. Frequency and / or timing tracking may provide performance benefits with respect to receiving control information and / or data during the subsequent on-duration. However, reference to these types of cycles is for illustrative purposes only. The exemplary enhancements described herein are not limited to use in conjunction with power saving modes of operation and may be used for transmission and reception of TRS (or any other similar reference signal) in any type of scenario.

[0038] When operating on a network cell (e.g., cell 120A), UE 110 may be configured to be in one of a number of different radio resource control (RRC) operating states (e.g., RRC connected state, RRC idle state, RRC inactive state, etc.). As described above, the type of power saving mechanism utilized by UE 110 may depend on the RRC state. For example, when UE 110 is in the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state, UE 110 may be configured with a DRX cycle. When UE 110 is in the RRC connected state, UE 110 may be configured with a C-DRX cycle.

[0039] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that when UE 110 is in the RRC connected state, UE 110 and the network may be configured to exchange information and / or data. The exchange of information and / or data may allow UE 110 to perform functionality available via the network connection. Furthermore, those skilled in the art will appreciate that when UE 110 is in the RRC idle state, UE 110 is typically not exchanging data with the network, and within the network, radio resources are not being allocated to UE 110. However, when UE 110 is in the RRC idle state, UE 110 may monitor information and / or data transmitted by the network (e.g., TRS, wake-up signal (WUS), paging, etc.).

[0040] Another operating state can be characterized as an RRC inactive state. In the RRC inactive state, UE 110 suspends the RRC connection while minimizing signaling and power consumption. Similar to the RRC idle state, when UE 110 is in the RRC inactive state, UE 110 is generally not exchanging data with the network. When UE 110 is in the RRC inactive state, UE 110 can still monitor information and / or data (e.g., TRS, WUS, paging, etc.) transmitted by the network. However, any reference to the RRC connected state, RRC idle state, and RRC inactive state is provided solely for illustrative purposes, and the exemplary embodiments are applicable to any suitable operating state of UE 110.

[0041] When UE 110 is camped on a cell in the RRC Idle state or the RRC Inactive state, UE 110 may not be able to exchange data with the network. To exchange data with the network, UE 110 may transition from the RRC Idle state to the RRC Connected state. For example, while in the RRC Idle state or the RRC Inactive state, UE 110 may listen to information such as, but not limited to, the following: the Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS) and the Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS), the Master Information Block (MIB), broadcast messages, the System Information Block (SIB), the TRS, the WUS, paging messages, etc. In response, UE 110 may issue a request to the network indicating that UE 110 wishes to transition to the RRC Connected state. A successful transition from the RRC Idle state or the RRC Inactive state to the RRC Connected state may include exchanging messages between UE 110 and a cell of the network. In the RRC Connected state, a network environment may be established between cell 120A and UE 110. As a result, radio resources may be allocated to UE 110, and UE 110 may be able to exchange data with the network.

[0042] As described above, in a first aspect, exemplary embodiments relate to implementing a TRS for an RRC idle state or an inactive state. The examples provided below will be described with respect to the RRC idle state, however, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the exemplary concepts described herein for the RRC idle mode may also be applied to the RRC inactive mode.

[0043] Figure 4 A method 400 for TRS monitoring according to various exemplary embodiments is shown. Figure 1 The network arrangement 100 and Figure 2 The method 400 is described with reference to the UE 110. As will be described in more detail below, the method 400 involves the UE 110 monitoring TRS in the RRC idle state.

[0044] At 405 , UE 110 camps on a cell of the network. For example, UE 110 may camp on cell 120A of 5G NR-RAN 120 .

[0045] At 410, UE 110 receives TRS configuration information. The TRS configuration information may indicate to UE 110 that a TRS may be configured for UE 110 in an RRC idle state and / or an RRC inactive state. As described above, the exemplary embodiments are not limited to TRS. Thus, the TRS configuration information as described herein may represent information corresponding to any type of downlink reference signal that may be used for timing and frequency tracking, AGC, or any other similar type of operation.

[0046] In some embodiments, the TRS configuration information may be received in a system information block (SIB) transmitted by the currently camped cell. Thus, based on the previously received SIB, the UE 110 may anticipate that one or more TRSs will be transmitted to the UE 110 after the UE 110 enters the RRC idle state and / or the RRC inactive state.

[0047] In other embodiments, the TRS configuration information may be received in an RRC message. To provide an example, UE 110 may be connected to a cell and operate in an RRC connected state. During operation, UE 110 may receive an RRC connection release message to transition from the RRC connected state to the RRC idle state. The RRC connection release message may be configured to include TRS configuration information indicating that one or more TRSs will be transmitted to UE 110 after UE 110 enters the RRC idle mode in response to the RRC connection release message. The above examples are provided for illustrative purposes only, and the exemplary embodiments are applicable to TRS configuration information provided in any appropriate type of RRC signal (e.g., an RRC reconfiguration message, an RRC state transmission, etc.).

[0048] Various different types of TRS configurations may be implemented. In one example, a periodic TRS configuration may be implemented. The periodic TRS configuration may include characteristics such as, but not limited to, TRS periodicity and TRS slot offset. Thus, UE 110 may assume that the TRS is transmitted by the network based on the TRS periodicity and TRS slot offset.

[0049] In some embodiments, a periodic TRS configuration may allow for additional power saving techniques to be incorporated into the DRX cycle. For example, there may be one or more on-durations of a DRX cycle during which the UE 110 does not have to perform any operations (e.g., receive DCI, receive information, perform transmissions, etc.). Active mode utilizing data exchange processing during this type of on-duration would be an inefficient use of the UE 110 power supply. In some networks, the UE 110 may skip the on-durations of the DRX cycle during which it does not have to perform any operations. Instead, the UE 110 may continue to save power by remaining in an inactive sleep mode during the scheduled on-durations.

[0050] The UE 110 may determine whether to wake up or remain asleep during the on-duration based on a wake-up signal (WUS). The WUS may be sent by the network at a predetermined time before the next on-duration. The UE may monitor the WUS and, if a WUS is received, the UE may wake up during the next on-duration, and, if a WUS is not received, the UE may remain in an inactive sleep mode with respect to data exchange processing.

[0051] If a dynamic or selective on-duration power saving technique similar to that in the examples provided above is implemented, the periodic TRS configuration may include a TRS validity window. The TRS validity window may represent a time window before the on-duration during which the UE 110 will monitor for TRS. If the UE 110 will remain in an inactive mode of data exchange processing during the on-duration, the UE 110 may not monitor for TRS. However, if the UE 110 is to wake up during a particular on-duration, the UE 110 may assume that TRS will be transmitted by the network during the TRS validity window. Similar to the corresponding on-duration, the UE 110 may decide whether to monitor for TRS based on the receipt of a WUS and / or any other appropriate indication that an active mode of data exchange processing is to be utilized during the on-duration.

[0052] Figure 5 A timeline 500 of a periodic TRS configuration according to various exemplary embodiments is shown. The timeline 500 includes a first on-Duration 505, a second on-Duration 510, and five TRSs 520-528 scheduled according to a TRS periodicity and a TRS slot offset.

[0053] In this example, UE 110 is not scheduled to perform any operations during the first on-Duration 505. Therefore, UE 110 may not utilize the active mode of data exchange processing during the on-Duration 505. However, in response to the WUS (not shown), UE 110 knows that operations (e.g., reception of downlink information and / or data) are scheduled for the second on-Duration 510. Therefore, UE 110 may utilize the active mode of data exchange processing during the on-Duration 510. In addition, because UE 110 is aware of the operations scheduled in the on-Duration 510, UE 110 may assume that the TRS will be transmitted by the network during the TRS validity window 530.

[0054] All five TRSs 520-528 are scheduled for UE 110. However, if the network knows that the next on-duration will not be utilized by UE 110, the network may omit transmission of the scheduled TRSs. Thus, in this example, TRSs 520, 522, 524, 528 may not actually be transmitted. From the perspective of UE 110, in this example, the active mode of data exchange processing may be utilized only during at least a portion of TRS validity window 530 and at least a portion of on-duration 520. Since no other operations are scheduled for UE 110 during timeline 500, the remaining time may be spent by UE 110 in an inactive sleep mode.

[0055] Returning to method 400, another type of TRS configuration may be an aperiodic TRS. In this type of TRS configuration, a trigger offset may be implemented relative to the TRS and the next on-duration. Figure 6 A timeline 600 is shown that includes an example of a trigger offset between a TRS and an onDuration. Timeline 600 includes a TRS 605, a trigger offset 610, and an onDuration 615. Trigger offset 610 may refer to an offset defined in time units, number of time slots, or in any other suitable manner.

[0056] To provide an example of an aperiodic TRS, initially, UE 110 may receive TRS configuration information via an SIB, group paging DCI, or any other appropriate signal. The TRS configuration information may indicate to UE 110 that an aperiodic TRS will be implemented for the RRC idle state and / or the RRC inactive state. Additionally, the TRS configuration information may include an indication of a trigger offset. Thus, UE 110 may determine when the network is expected to transmit TRS 605 based on the scheduled on-duration 615 and the trigger offset 610.

[0057] Similar to the example provided above with respect to periodic TRS, in some embodiments, UE 110 may be aware of aperiodic TRS transmissions based on receiving a WUS or any other suitable type of indication. Thus, in response to the WUS, UE 110 may utilize an active mode of data exchange processing i) during a time instance determined based on the trigger offset and ii) during a subsequent on-duration.

[0058] Returning to method 400, another type of TRS configuration may be a semi-persistent TRS. A semi-persistent TRS configuration is similar to a periodic TRS configuration (e.g., trigger offset, etc.). However, a semi-persistent TRS may be activated or deactivated via a SIB, a group paging DCI, a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) addressed to UE 110 or a group of UEs, or any other appropriate type of signal. In some embodiments, the TRS configuration information and the activation trigger for the semi-persistent TRS may be transmitted in the same signal. In other embodiments, the TRS configuration information may be transmitted to UE 110 in a first message, and the activation trigger for the semi-persistent TRS may be sent in a different second message.

[0059] At 415, UE 110 receives a TRS. For example, based on the TRS configuration information, UE 110 may monitor for periodic TRS, aperiodic TRS, or semi-persistent TRS. At 420, UE 110 may perform frequency and timing tracking based on the received TRS. At 425, UE 110 may decode downlink control information and / or data received during the OnDuration following the TRS. UE 110 may incorporate frequency and timing tracking into the decoding / reception of downlink control information and / or data received during the OnDuration. Method 400 then ends.

[0060] In a second aspect, exemplary embodiments relate to implementing DCI triggering for TRS reception. For example, a TRS trigger field can be introduced for DCI. The TRS trigger field can be incorporated into existing types of DCI formats (e.g., format 1_0, format 1_1, format 1_2), or a new format of DCI format can be implemented.

[0061] A DCI trigger may be used to trigger an aperiodic TRS. For RRC connected mode UEs, the slot offset may be configured via one or more messages from the network. For example, the UE 110 may initially receive a list of (N) slot offsets associated with the DCI and TRS that may be used by the network. In some embodiments, the UE 110 may also receive a list of (M) slot offsets activated by a MAC CE out of the (N) slot offsets. The UE 110 may then receive a DCI trigger and select one of the (M) or (N) offsets to receive a subsequent TRS.

[0062] For idle mode UEs, in some embodiments, the slot offset may be hard-coded in the 3GPP specifications. Thus, both the network and the UE 110 know which predetermined slot offset to implement. In other embodiments, the slot offset may be configured by a SIB. In further embodiments, the slot offset may be configured by a DCI (e.g., fallback DCI, non-fallback DCI, etc.) that includes an indication of the slot offset as an additional field of the DCI.

[0063] In some embodiments, paging DCI can be enhanced to trigger TRS. From the network's perspective, this may require configuring two different paging occasions (POs). The first PO can be configured for paging DCI that does not include TRS triggering. The first PO is configured for legacy devices that may not support this feature. Therefore, legacy UEs can only monitor the legacy PO. The second PO can also be configured for paging DCI that includes TRS triggering. In one example, a UE 110 that supports paging DCI that includes TRS triggering can monitor both the first PO and the second PO configured by the network. In a second example, the UE 110 may only be required to monitor the second PO for paging DCI that includes TRS triggering.

[0064] Additionally, the PDSCH scheduling DCI may be configured to trigger both aperiodic TRS and PDSCH reception. Figure 7 A timeline 700 is shown including an example of a PDSCH scheduling DCI that triggers both aperiodic TRS and PDSCH reception. The timeline 700 includes a DCI 705, a TRS 710, and a PDSCH 715.

[0065] The TRS 710 and PDSCH 715 are transmitted separately by the network. This may provide power saving benefits to the UE 110 because it allows the UE 110 to perform sequential operations without having to buffer multiple samples.

[0066] In some embodiments, UE 110 may indicate a first minimum offset 720 and a second minimum offset 725 to the network. These offsets may be transmitted to the network as part of capability information, RRC signaling, NAS signaling, or any other appropriate signaling exchange. The first minimum offset 720 may represent an offset between the DCI and the TRS that allows UE 110 to complete processing the DCI and prepare for TRS reception (e.g., beam switching timing, DCI decoding time, simulated beam switching time, etc.). The second minimum offset 725 may represent an offset between the TRS and the scheduled PDSCH that allows UE 110 to complete performing timing and frequency tracking before processing the PDSCH. In other embodiments, the first offset 720 and the second offset 725 may be hard-coded in the 3GPP specification.

[0067] As mentioned above, exemplary embodiments are not limited to TRS. For example, in some embodiments, a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) may be used for both timing / frequency tracking and channel estimation. Figure 8 An example of a joint DMRS TRS design is shown. Figure 8 The DCI 805, the first DMRS 810, the second DMRS 812, and the PDSCH 815 are included. In this example, unlike the conventional design where the DMRS is part of the PDSCH, the DMRSs 810 and 812 are moved before the PDSCH 815. Therefore, in this example, the DCI 805 can be used to trigger the reception of the DMRSs 810 and 812 and the PDSCH 815.

[0068] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the exemplary embodiments described above may be implemented with any suitable software configuration or hardware configuration or combination thereof. Exemplary hardware platforms for implementing the exemplary embodiments may include, for example, Intel x86-based platforms with compatible operating systems, Windows OS, Mac platforms and MAC OS, mobile devices with operating systems such as iOS, Android, etc. The exemplary embodiments of the above methods may be embodied as a program comprising lines of code stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, which, when compiled, may be executed on a processor or microprocessor.

[0069] Although this patent application describes various combinations of various embodiments, each with different features, those skilled in the art will understand that any feature of one embodiment may be combined with features of other embodiments in any manner not publicly denied, or with features that are not functionally or logically inconsistent with the operation or described function of the device of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0070] 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 authorized use should be clearly stated to users.

[0071] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made to the present disclosure without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure is intended to cover modifications and variations of the present disclosure provided that these modifications and variations are within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A baseband processor, the baseband processor being configured to perform operations comprising: receiving, when user equipment (UE) is in a first operating state, configuration information corresponding to a reference signal to be transmitted to the UE; When the UE is in the first operating state, receiving the reference signal from a cell of a network; performing one of frequency and timing tracking or automatic gain control (AGC) using the reference signal; as well as receiving a signal from the cell during a time window of an active mode in which the UE is scheduled to utilize a data exchange process, The operations further include: Downlink control information (DCI) is received before receiving the reference signal, wherein the DCI is configured to trigger both tracking reference signal (TRS) reception and physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) reception, and wherein the DCI is separated from the TRS by a first offset, the first offset being configured based on a DCI decoding time, and the TRS is separated from the PDSCH by a second offset, the second offset being configured based on a duration required for the UE to perform the time and frequency tracking.

2. The baseband processor of claim 1 , wherein the reference signal comprises a tracking reference signal (TRS), the first operating state comprises a radio resource control (RRC) idle state or an RRC inactive state, and the time window in which the UE is scheduled to utilize an active mode for data exchange processing is an on-duration of a discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle.

3. The baseband processor according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the configuration information is received in a system information block (SIB).

4. The baseband processor according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the configuration information is received in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) Connection Release message. 5 . The baseband processor of claim 1 , wherein the reference signal is configured for periodic transmission by the cell when the UE is in the first operating state.

6. The baseband processor according to claim 1 or 5, wherein the time window in which the UE is scheduled to utilize the active mode of data exchange processing includes an on-duration of a discontinuous reception cycle (DRX), and the first operating state includes a radio resource control (RRC) idle state or an RRC inactive state, and wherein the operation further comprises: A validity time window is configured that occurs before the on-Duration, wherein when the UE is in the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state, the UE monitors the reference signal only during the validity time window.

7. The baseband processor according to claim 1, wherein the time window during which the UE is scheduled to utilize the active mode of the data exchange process includes an on-duration of a discontinuous reception cycle (DRX), and The reference signal is configured for aperiodic transmission by the cell when the UE is in the first operating state, wherein the aperiodic transmission is based on a triggering offset relative to the reference signal and the on-duration.

8. The baseband processor of claim 1, wherein the reference signal is configured for semi-persistent transmission by the cell when the UE is in the first operating state.

9. The baseband processor of claim 1, wherein the reference signal is a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS) including more than two Tracking Reference Signal (TRS) symbols in a single time slot.

10. A user equipment (UE), comprising: a transceiver configured to communicate with a network; and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform operations including: receiving configuration information corresponding to a reference signal to be transmitted to the UE; receiving the reference signal from a cell of the network; performing one of frequency and timing tracking or automatic gain control (AGC) using the reference signal; receiving downlink control information (DCI) before receiving the reference signal, wherein the DCI is configured to trigger both tracking reference signal (TRS) reception and physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) reception, and wherein the DCI is separated from the TRS by a first offset, the first offset being configured based on a DCI decoding time, and the TRS is separated from the PDSCH by a second offset, the second offset being configured based on a duration required for the UE to perform the time and frequency tracking; and A signal is received from the cell, wherein receiving the signal comprises decoding the signal based on the frequency and timing tracking. 11 . The UE according to claim 10 , wherein the reference signal comprises a tracking reference signal (TRS), and the TRS comprises more than two TRS symbols in a single time slot. 12 . The UE according to claim 10 , wherein the reference signal is a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) not included in physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) data.

13. The UE according to claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise: receiving a list of time slot offsets relative to downlink control information (DCI) and the reference signal, wherein the list of time slot offsets is received in a radio resource control (RRC) message; as well as When the UE operates in an RRC connected state, the DCI is received before the reference signal is received, wherein the DCI and the reference signal are separated by one of the slot offsets included in the list of slot offsets.

14. The UE according to claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise: When the UE operates in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state, downlink control information (DCI) is received before the reference signal is received, wherein the DCI and the reference signal are separated by a slot offset.

15. The UE according to claim 14, wherein the slot offset is one of: a predetermined value; indicated in a system information block (SIB); or indicated in a field of the DCI.

16. The UE of claim 10, wherein the reference signal comprises a tracking reference signal (TRS), and the operations further comprise: Monitoring downlink control information DCI configured to trigger paging of the TRS. 17 . The UE according to claim 10 , wherein the reference signal comprises a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), and the TRS is configured to be periodically transmitted by the cell when the UE is in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) idle state or an RRC inactive state. 18 . The UE according to claim 10 , wherein the reference signal comprises a tracking reference signal (TRS), and the TRS is configured for aperiodic transmission by the cell when the UE is in a radio resource control (RRC) idle state or an RRC inactive state.

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