Transmission and decoding of synchronization signal data blocks

Abstract

Some example embodiments may relate to punctured transmission of synchronization signal data blocks (SSBs), and some example embodiments may relate to decoding of punctured SSB data. For example, a method is disclosed, the method comprising providing data for transmission on a data channel of a synchronization signal block of a transmission frame; a first portion of data and a second portion of data are identified, wherein the second portion of data duplicates at least a portion of the first portion of data. Data may be allocated to resource elements of a data channel according to a predetermined allocation scheme, where at least a portion of a first portion of the data is allocated to resource elements other than a predetermined set and at least a portion of a second portion of the data is allocated to resource elements of the predetermined set. At least a portion of the predetermined set of one or more resource elements may be punctured. After puncturing, a portion of the data may be transmitted on the data channel using available resource elements.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present description relates generally to the field of wireless communications. More specifically, some example embodiments may relate to punctured transmission of synchronization signal block (SSB) data, and some example embodiments may relate to decoding of punctured SSB data. Background Art

[0002] A wireless communication network may send a synchronization signal block to enable initial access to the network. In addition to synchronization signals, a synchronization signal block (SSB) may also carry data channels, such as, for example, a physical broadcast channel (PBCH). In some applications, it may be desirable to operate a wireless communication system at a narrow bandwidth (e.g., a narrower bandwidth than the bandwidth for which the SSB was originally designed). Summary of the invention

[0003] The scope of protection sought by various embodiments of the present invention is defined by the independent claims. Embodiments and features described in this specification that do not belong to the scope of the independent claims (if any) are to be construed as examples that help understand the various embodiments of the present invention.

[0004] According to a first aspect, a device is described, which includes components for performing the following: providing data for transmission on a data channel of a synchronization signal block of a transmission frame; identifying a first part of the data and a second part of the data, wherein the second part of the data repeats at least a part of the first part of the data; identifying a predetermined set of one or more resource elements of the data channel; allocating the data to resource elements of the data channel according to a predetermined allocation scheme, wherein at least a part of the first part of the data is allocated to resource elements outside the predetermined set and at least a part of the second part of the data is allocated to resource elements of the predetermined set; truncating at least a part of one or more resource elements of the predetermined set; and after the truncating, sending a part of the data on the data channel using the resource elements available for the synchronization signal block.

[0005] The predetermined set of one or more resource elements may be at at least one edge of the synchronization signal block.

[0006] The predetermined set of one or more resource elements may include two groups of resource elements located at opposite edges of the synchronization block.Each of the two groups of resource elements may include four or fewer resource blocks per symbol.

[0007] The data channel may include a physical broadcast channel (PBCH). The predetermined set of one or more resource elements of the PBCH may include two groups of resource elements corresponding to symbol numbers 1, 2, and 3.

[0008] The predetermined set of one or more resource elements may not overlap in frequency with resource elements allocated to the synchronization signal(s).

[0009] The data may include an ordered bit sequence, and allocating a first portion of the data according to a predetermined allocation scheme may include: identifying one or more first sections of the ordered bit sequence that are located within the first portion of the data and are to be mapped to a predetermined set of resource elements; identifying a corresponding number of second sections of the ordered bit sequence that correspond to the second portion of the data and are mapped to resource elements outside the predetermined set; and moving the ordered bits of the identified one or more first sections to replace the ordered bits of the corresponding second sections.

[0010] The apparatus may also include means for moving the replaced ordered bits of the corresponding second section to replace the identified ordered bits of the one or more first sections as part of the move operation.

[0011] The shifting of the ordered bits of the identified one or more first sections may be performed by determining an offset based at least in part on a bit length N of the first portion of the data sequence; and adding the offset to the bit position of the bits within each identified first section.

[0012] The bit sequence may be received from a rate matching buffer after a channel encoder.

[0013] The data may include an ordered bit sequence, and allocating a first portion of the data may include mapping a symbol sequence generated based on modulating the provided data to resource elements of a data channel, first in ascending order of time index and secondly in ascending order of frequency index, starting from a frequency index offset corresponding to a frequency index outside a predetermined set.

[0014] The frequency index offset may correspond to a first frequency index outside of a predetermined set.

[0015] The punctured one or more resource elements may not be sent.

[0016] The apparatus may be configured to perform at least puncturing in response to detecting that a narrowband mode of operation is required.

[0017] The apparatus may be a base station of a radio access network, or alternatively a user equipment or the like.

[0018] According to a second aspect, a device is described, which is used to: receive a synchronization signal block of a transmission frame from a transmitting device, wherein the synchronization signal block includes a data channel; extract data from resource elements of the data channel, wherein the extraction of data from the resource elements is based on exchanging at least a part of a predetermined allocation scheme performed by the transmitting device; and decode the data.

[0019] The data channels may include a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH).

[0020] The predetermined allocation scheme may include allocating a first portion of the data to resource elements outside a predetermined set of resource elements, which will be fully or partially truncated, and allocating at least a second portion of the data that repeats at least a portion of the first portion of the data to resource elements of the predetermined set of resource elements that will be fully or partially truncated.

[0021] The extraction of data from the resource elements may be based on swapping at least a first portion of the data to an allocation of resource elements outside of a predetermined set of resource elements and swapping at least a second portion of the data to an allocation of resource elements of a predetermined set of resource elements.

[0022] The predetermined allocation scheme may be a standardized allocation scheme, or may be determined based on receiving an indication from the transmitting device of a predetermined set of resource elements to be fully or partially punctured.

[0023] The apparatus may also include means for performing the following: determining that the transmitting apparatus has or may have applied a predetermined allocation scheme, wherein the extraction operation is performed in response to the determination. The determination may be based on one or more of the following: synchronization raster points in the received synchronization signal block indicate that truncation has been performed according to the predetermined allocation scheme; and a frequency band for the received synchronization signal block may indicate narrowband operation.

[0024] The apparatus may include a user equipment (UE), or alternatively a base station or the like.

[0025] According to a third aspect, a method is described, the method comprising: providing data for transmission on a data channel of a synchronization signal block of a transmission frame; identifying a first part of the data and a second part of the data, wherein the second part of the data repeats at least a part of the first part of the data; identifying a predetermined set of one or more resource elements of the data channel; allocating the data to resource elements of the data channel according to a predetermined allocation scheme, wherein at least a part of the first part of the data is allocated to resource elements outside the predetermined set and at least a part of the second part of the data is allocated to resource elements of the predetermined set; truncating at least a part of one or more resource elements of the predetermined set; and after truncating, sending a part of the data on the data channel using resource elements available for the synchronization signal block.

[0026] The predetermined set of one or more resource elements may be at at least one edge of the synchronization signal block.

[0027] The predetermined set of one or more resource elements may include two groups of resource elements located at opposite edges of the synchronization block.Each of the two groups of resource elements may include four or fewer resource blocks per symbol.

[0028] The data channel may include a physical broadcast channel (PBCH). The predetermined set of one or more resource elements of the PBCH may include two groups of resource elements corresponding to symbol numbers 1, 2, and 3.

[0029] The predetermined set of one or more resource elements may not overlap in frequency with resource elements allocated to the synchronization signal(s).

[0030] The data may include an ordered bit sequence, and allocating a first portion of the data according to a predetermined allocation scheme may include: identifying one or more first sections of the ordered bit sequence that are located within the first portion of the data and are to be mapped to a predetermined set of resource elements; identifying a corresponding number of second sections of the ordered bit sequence that correspond to the second portion of the data and are mapped to resource elements outside the predetermined set; and moving the ordered bits of the identified one or more first sections to replace the ordered bits of the corresponding second sections.

[0031] The method may further include moving the replaced ordered bits of the corresponding second section as part of the move operation to replace the identified ordered bits of the one or more first sections.

[0032] The shifting of the ordered bits of the identified one or more first sections may be performed by determining an offset based at least in part on a bit length N of the first portion of the data sequence; and adding the offset to the bit position of the bits within each identified first section.

[0033] The bit sequence may be received from a rate matching buffer after the channel encoder.

[0034] The data may include an ordered bit sequence, and allocating a first portion of the data may include mapping a symbol sequence generated based on modulating the provided data to resource elements of a data channel, first in ascending order of time index and secondly in ascending order of frequency index, starting from a frequency index offset corresponding to a frequency index outside a predetermined set.

[0035] The frequency index offset may correspond to a first frequency index outside of a predetermined set.

[0036] The punctured one or more resource elements may not be sent.

[0037] The method may include performing at least puncturing in response to detecting that a narrowband mode of operation is required.

[0038] The method may be performed by or at a base station of a radio access network or alternatively by a user equipment or the like.

[0039] According to a fourth aspect, a method is described, the method comprising: receiving a synchronization signal block of a transmission frame from a transmitting device, wherein the synchronization signal block comprises a data channel; extracting data from resource elements of the data channel, wherein the extraction of data from the resource elements is based on exchanging at least a portion of a predetermined allocation scheme performed by the transmitting device; and decoding the data.

[0040] The data channels may include a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH).

[0041] The predetermined allocation scheme may include allocating a first portion of the data to resource elements outside a predetermined set of resource elements, which will be fully or partially truncated, and allocating at least a second portion of the data that repeats at least a portion of the first portion of the data to resource elements of the predetermined set of resource elements that will be fully or partially truncated.

[0042] The extraction of data from the resource elements may be based on swapping at least a first portion of the data to an allocation of resource elements outside of a predetermined set of resource elements and swapping at least a second portion of the data to an allocation of resource elements of a predetermined set of resource elements.

[0043] The predetermined allocation scheme may be a standardized allocation scheme, or may be determined based on receiving an indication from the transmitting device of a predetermined set of resource elements to be fully or partially punctured.

[0044] The method may also include: determining that the transmitting device has or may have applied a predetermined allocation scheme, wherein the extraction operation is performed in response to the determination. The determination may be based on one or more of the following: synchronization raster points in the received synchronization signal block indicate that truncation has been performed according to the predetermined allocation scheme; and the frequency band used for the received synchronization signal block may indicate narrowband operation.

[0045] The method may be performed by or at a user equipment (UE) or alternatively a base station or the like.

[0046] According to a fifth aspect, a computer program product is provided, which includes an instruction set, which when executed on an apparatus is configured to cause the apparatus to perform the following method: providing data for transmission on a data channel of a synchronization signal block of a transmission frame; identifying a first part of the data and a second part of the data, wherein the second part of the data repeats at least a part of the first part of the data; identifying a predetermined set of one or more resource elements of the data channel; allocating the data to resource elements of the data channel according to a predetermined allocation scheme, wherein at least a part of the first part of the data is allocated to resource elements outside the predetermined set and at least a part of the second part of the data is allocated to resource elements of the predetermined set; truncating at least a part of one or more resource elements of the predetermined set; and after truncating, sending a part of the data on the data channel using resource elements that can be used for the synchronization signal block.

[0047] According to a sixth aspect, a computer program product is provided, which includes an instruction set, which, when executed on an apparatus, is configured to cause the apparatus to perform the following method: receiving a synchronization signal block of a transmission frame from a transmitting apparatus, wherein the synchronization signal block includes a data channel; extracting data from resource elements of the data channel, wherein the extraction of data from the resource elements is based on exchanging at least a portion of a predetermined allocation scheme performed by the transmitting apparatus; and decoding the data.

[0048] According to the seventh aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium is provided, which includes program instructions stored thereon, and the program instructions are used to execute a method, which includes: providing data for transmission on a data channel of a synchronization signal block of a transmission frame; identifying a first part of the data and a second part of the data, wherein the second part of the data repeats at least a part of the first part of the data; identifying a predetermined set of one or more resource elements of the data channel; allocating the data to resource elements of the data channel according to a predetermined allocation scheme, wherein at least a part of the first part of the data is allocated to resource elements outside the predetermined set and at least a part of the second part of the data is allocated to resource elements of the predetermined set; truncating at least a part of one or more resource elements of the predetermined set; and after truncating, sending a part of the data on the data channel using resource elements that can be used for the synchronization signal block.

[0049] According to an eighth aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium is provided, the non-transitory computer-readable medium including program instructions stored thereon, the program instructions being used to execute a method comprising: receiving a synchronization signal block of a transmission frame from a transmitting device, wherein the synchronization signal block comprises a data channel; extracting data from resource elements of the data channel, wherein the extraction of data from the resource elements is based on exchanging at least a portion of a predetermined allocation scheme performed by the transmitting device; and decoding the data.

[0050] According to the ninth aspect, a device is provided, which includes: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code, which, when executed by the at least one processor, enables the device to: provide data for transmission on a data channel of a synchronization signal block of a transmission frame; identify a first part of the data and a second part of the data, wherein the second part of the data repeats at least a part of the first part of the data; identify a predetermined set of one or more resource elements of the data channel; allocate the data to resource elements of the data channel according to a predetermined allocation scheme, wherein at least a part of the first part of the data is allocated to resource elements outside the predetermined set and at least a part of the second part of the data is allocated to resource elements of the predetermined set; truncate at least a part of one or more resource elements of the predetermined set; and after truncation, send a part of the data on the data channel using resource elements that can be used for the synchronization signal block.

[0051] According to the tenth aspect, a device is provided, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory comprising computer program code, which, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the device to: receive a synchronization signal block of a transmission frame from a sending device, wherein the synchronization signal block comprises a data channel; extract data from resource elements of the data channel, wherein the extraction of data from the resource elements is based on exchanging at least a portion of a predetermined allocation scheme performed by the sending device; and decode the data. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0052] Example embodiments will now be described by way of non-limiting examples with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0053] Figure 1 illustrates an example of a communication network according to an example embodiment;

[0054] Figure 2 An example of a synchronization signal block (SSB) is illustrated;

[0055] Figure 3 illustrates an example of an apparatus configured to practice one or more example embodiments;

[0056] Figure 4 An example of a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) transmission process is illustrated;

[0057] Figure 5 FIG. 1 illustrates a system including a predetermined set of resource blocks according to an example embodiment. Figure 2 Part of SSB;

[0058] Figure 6 FIG. 1 illustrates a system including different predetermined resource block sets according to an example embodiment. Figure 2Part of SSB;

[0059] Figure 7 is a flow chart of processing operations of a transmitter according to an example embodiment;

[0060] Figure 8 FIG. 1 illustrates a method for indicating an interleaving allocation scheme according to an example embodiment. Figure 2 Part of SSB;

[0061] Fig. 9 FIG. 1 illustrates a method for indicating a mapping allocation scheme according to an example embodiment. Figure 2 part of the SSB; and

[0062] Fig.10 is a flow chart of processing operations of a receiver according to an example embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0063] Reference will now be made in detail to example embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The detailed description provided below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings is intended as a description of this example and is not intended to represent the only form in which this example can be constructed or utilized. This description sets forth the functions of the example and the sequence of steps for constructing and operating the example. However, the same or equivalent functions and sequences may be implemented by different examples.

[0064] Example embodiments of the present disclosure may generally relate to the fields of wireless communications and wireless communication networks.

[0065] Example embodiments of the present disclosure may relate to transmission and reception of narrowband communication signals, for example, in a cellular communication network such as specified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).

[0066] A suitable example system for applying the example embodiments is narrowband 3GPP 5G New Radio (NB NR), which may be used, for example, to support future railway communication needs, smart grid operators, and / or public safety applications. For example, the example embodiments may be applied to a 3GPP work item whose work item description (WID) is drafted for supporting NR with dedicated spectrum less than 5 MHz. Therefore, narrowband NR (NBNR) may also be referred to as "NR supporting dedicated spectrum less than 5 MHz".

[0067] For example, Europe's so-called Future Railway Mobile Communications System (FRMCS) may use NR with 2×5.6MHz frequency domain duplex (FDD) channels, e.g., 874.4-880MHz and 919.4-925MHz. Soft migration from the earlier system GSM-R (Global System for Mobile Communications - Railways) requires parallel operation of GSM-R and NR, which may last for about ten years (e.g., from 2025 to 2035). Given the design of GSM-R, about 3.6MHz may be available for NR, depending on the number of parallel GSM-R channels. Simultaneous deployment of NR and GSM-R may include the following: adjacent channel deployment, in which GSM-R and NR signals are allocated non-overlapping adjacent frequency bands; coverage deployment with compact GSM-R channel layout, in which GSM-R and NR signals partially overlap in frequency and in which GSM-R signals are allocated within a relatively narrow bandwidth; coverage deployment with GSM-R channels distributed over NR's 4 or 5 MHz core frequency band; and coverage deployment with GSM-R channels distributed over the entire ER-GSM band.

[0068] However, adjacent channel deployments and overlay deployments with compact GSM-R channel layouts may be preferred because they can more easily implement the NR scheduler and there is only one boundary between NR and GSM-R, providing a simpler and more predictable coexistence. In addition to railway scenarios, NB NR can also be applied to, for example, smart grid applications, such as public safety applications with 2×3MHz FDD channels in the 900MHz frequency range in the United States, or in Band 29 for PPDR (Public Protection and Disaster Relief) in Europe. Additional application scenarios may include machine type communications, smartphone communications with special bandwidth scenarios, etc.

[0069] For various reasons, such as, for example, coexistence with earlier communication systems, it may be desirable to transmit a signal with a narrower bandwidth than was anticipated when the signal was designed. One motivation behind this is to minimize changes to existing implementations rather than redesigning the signal structure. One way to reduce the bandwidth of a signal is to cut off a portion of the spectrum of the signal. For example, in the case of an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) based system, this can be achieved by puncturing (e.g., not sending or not removing before transmission) subcarriers, which may be subcarriers at one or more edges of an OFDM symbol.

[0070] However, puncturing a signal will result in information loss, and thus signal decoding at a receiver may be more difficult, or even impossible, so methods for mitigating the effects of puncturing are considered in this application.

[0071] Figure 1An example of a communication network according to an example embodiment is illustrated. The communication network 100 may include at least one base station 120 and at least one device. The device may also be referred to as a user node, user device, client node, or user equipment (UE). The UE 110 may communicate with the base station 120 via (multiple) wireless radio channels. Similarly, the train 112 or its subsystem may communicate with the base station 120. The communication between the UE 110 (or train 112) and the base station 120 may be bidirectional. Therefore, any of these network nodes may be configured to operate as a transmitter and / or receiver. Although some example embodiments have been described using the UE 110 as an example, it should be understood that similar operations may be performed at various types of devices, such as, for example, a smartphone, a train equipped with an NR device, a car equipped with an NR device, a subsystem of a smart grid, and the like.

[0072] The base station 120 may be configured to communicate with a network function or network device of the core network to provide communication services to the UE 110. The base stations may also be referred to as radio access network nodes, and they may be part of a radio access network (RAN) between the core network and the UE 110. The communication network 100 may be configured, for example, according to or based on the NR specification. Thus, the base station 120 may include a fifth generation base station (gNB). However, it should be understood that the example embodiments presented herein are not limited to devices configured to operate under the example network, and the example embodiments may be applied to other types of devices, such as devices configured to operate in any current or future wireless or wired communication network or a combination thereof (e.g., other types of cellular networks, short-range wireless networks, broadcast or multicast networks, etc.). The functions of the base station 120 may be distributed between a central unit (CU) (e.g., a gNB-CU) and one or more distributed units (DU) (e.g., a gNB-DU). Radio access network elements such as gNBs, gNB-CUs, or gNB-DUs may generally be referred to as network nodes or network devices. Although depicted as a single device, a network node may not be a standalone device, but rather a distributed computing system coupled to a remote radio head, for example. For example, a cloud radio access network (cRAN) may be applied to split control of wireless functions to optimize performance and cost.

[0073] Figure 2An example of a synchronization signal block (SSB) according to an example embodiment is illustrated. The SSB may include a symbol, such as an OFDM symbol, including (multiple) synchronization signals (SS) whose goal is to perform synchronization (e.g., time, frequency and / or frame synchronization) at a receiver (e.g., UE 110). The SSB may include at least one synchronization signal. The SSB may also carry a data channel. For example, a portion of the available subcarriers of an OFDM symbol may be configured to carry a data channel. Such a data channel may include any suitable data, such as physical layer signaling information. The physical layer may be configured to process operations described in a physical layer specification similar to an open system interconnection (OSI) model or a specific standard. An OFDM symbol may include multiple subcarriers. The modulated subcarriers of an OFDM symbol may be referred to as a resource element (RE). A resource block (RB) may include a subcarrier block, such as a block of twelve consecutive subcarriers or resource elements. An RB may also be referred to as a physical resource block (PRB). A synchronization signal block may include a synchronization signal and a physical broadcast channel (SS / PBCH) block.

[0074] exist Figure 2 In the example of , the SSB includes a primary synchronization signal (PSS) and a secondary synchronization signal (SSS). The PSS and SSS may include subcarriers modulated with corresponding symbol sequences. The SSB may also include RBs allocated for a physical layer broadcast channel (PBCH). The SSB may include a downlink demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) for the PBCH, and PBCH payload data, such as a master information block (MIB). The MIB may include signaling data indicating system information related to, for example, frequency position (e.g., SSB frequency domain allocation associated with a common resource block (CRB) grid) and timing of the SSB (e.g., half-frame timing and frame timing). The signaling information may be included in, for example, higher layer payload data (e.g., MIB), as part of the physical layer bits in the transport block payload, or included in the DM-RS. The PSS and SSS implement downlink frame synchronization and may notify the UE 110 about a physical cell identifier (ID). Downlink transmissions may be organized in frames of 10 ms. Based on the reception of the PSS and SSS, the UE 110 can obtain information about the transmission slot timing within the 5 ms half-frame. The UE 110 can then determine the resource elements for receiving the downlink modulation reference signal (DM-RS) and data for the PBCH payload (eg, MIB).

[0075] The PSS may occupy a subcarrier set of the first OFDM symbol, 127 subcarriers in this example. The PSS subcarriers may be located in the middle of the SSB block in the frequency direction. The second OFDM symbol may include a subcarrier set allocated for the PBCH channel. The second OFDM symbol may also include a DM-RS for the PBCH, a set of 240 subcarriers (20 RBs) in this example. The subcarrier set may include a continuous set of subcarriers. The subcarrier set may partially overlap with the PSS subcarrier set in the frequency domain. Typically, a set may include one or more members of the set.

[0076] The third OFDM symbol may include an SSS. The SSS may occupy a set of subcarriers of the third OFDM symbol, such as the same subcarriers as the PSS in the first OFDM symbol. At the edge of the third OFDM symbol, or generally, on one or both sides of the SSS, there may be (multiple) sets of subcarriers (e.g., 48 subcarriers / 4 RBs) allocated for the PBCH. The third OFDM symbol may also include a DM-RS for the PBCH. Between the two PBCH blocks of the second OFDM symbol, there may be a set of 144 subcarriers (12 RBs), including 127 subcarriers of the SSS. Between the SSS and (multiple) PBCH blocks, there may be (multiple) sets of unoccupied subcarriers, in this example 17 subcarriers. The fourth OFDM symbol may include a set of subcarriers allocated for the PBCH. Similar to the second OFDM symbol, the fourth OFDM symbol may also include a DM-RS for the PBCH. The first OFDM symbol, the second OFDM symbol, the third OFDM symbol, and the fourth OFDM symbol may be the first OFDM symbol, the second OFDM symbol, the third OFDM symbol, and the fourth OFDM symbol in the transmission order. However, they may be indexed in any suitable manner, for example, from 0 to 3 accordingly. At a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz, the PSS and SSS may occupy 2.16 MHz in the middle of the frequency band. The PBCH blocks of the second OFDM symbol and the fourth OFDM symbol may occupy a 3.6 MHz frequency band. Each PBCH block of the third OFDM symbol may occupy a 0.72 MHz frequency band.

[0077] although Figure 2 , but it will be appreciated that the format of the SSB may vary in different implementations. For example, the number and order of symbols may vary. Thus, the example embodiments described herein may be applied to various types of synchronization signal blocks that include both (multiple) synchronization signals and one or more data channels. In general, an SSB may include symbols, each of which may include resource elements. Figure 2 As shown, at least one of the symbols may include a synchronization signal on a subset of resource elements, for example in the middle of the frequency band.

[0078] The symbol may also include resource elements of a data channel (e.g., PBCH). In an example embodiment, the SSB may include a first OFDM symbol that may include a first synchronization signal (e.g., PSS) on a subset of subcarriers of the SSB. The SSB may also include a second OFDM symbol that may include REs of a data channel (e.g., PBCH) at a subcarrier, i.e., not just a subset of subcarriers occupied by the first synchronization signal in the first OFDM symbol. The SSB may also include a third OFDM symbol that may include a second synchronization signal (e.g., SSS) on a subset of subcarriers. The subset of subcarriers may be the same subset as the subset occupied by the first synchronization signal in the first OFDM symbol. The third OFDM symbol may also include REs of the data channel at the edge (s) of its subcarriers (e.g., on both sides of the second synchronization signal). The SSB may also include a fourth OFDM symbol that includes REs of the data channel at its subcarriers. However, the SSB may be embodied in various formats, for example, including any two or more of the first to fourth OFDM symbols, wherein at least one of the OFDM symbols carries a synchronization signal.

[0079] Figure 3 An example embodiment of an apparatus 300 , such as a base station 120 or a UE 110 , is illustrated.

[0080] The apparatus 300 may include at least one processor 302. For example, the at least one processor 302 may include one or more of various processing devices or processor circuitry, such as, for example, a coprocessor, a microprocessor, a controller, a digital signal processor (DSP), processing circuitry with or without an accompanying DSP, or various other processing devices including integrated circuits, such as, for example, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a microcontroller unit (MCU), a hardware (HW) accelerator, a dedicated computer chip, etc.

[0081] The apparatus 300 may also include at least one memory 304. The at least one memory 304 may be configured to store, for example, computer program code, such as operating system software and application software. The at least one memory 304 may include one or more volatile memory devices, one or more non-volatile memory devices, and / or a combination thereof. For example, the at least one memory 304 may be embodied as a magnetic storage device (such as a hard disk drive, a floppy disk, a magnetic tape, etc.), an optical magnetic storage device, or a semiconductor memory (such as a mask ROM, a PROM 15 (programmable ROM), an EPROM (erasable PROM), a flash ROM, a RAM (random access memory), etc.).

[0082] The apparatus 300 may also include a communication interface 308 configured to enable the apparatus 300 to send information to other devices and / or receive information from other devices. In one example, the apparatus 300 may use the communication interface 308 to send and / or receive signals, control messages, and the like. The communication interface may be configured to provide at least one wireless radio connection, such as, for example, a 3GPP mobile broadband connection (e.g., 3G, 4G, 5G, 6G). However, the communication interface 308 may be configured to provide one or more other types of connections, such as a wireless local area network (WLAN) connection, such as, for example, a connection standardized by the IEEE 802.11 series or the Wi-Fi Alliance; a short-range wireless network connection, such as, for example, Bluetooth, NFC (near field communication), or an RFID connection; a wired connection, such as, for example, a local area network (LAN) connection, a universal serial bus (USB) connection, or an optical network connection, or a wired Internet connection. The communication interface 308 may include or be configured to be coupled to a circuit system for performing the necessary functions for sending and / or receiving signals, such as an RF circuit system, a modulation circuit system, a demodulation circuit system, an encoder circuit system, and / or a decoder circuit system. The communication interface 308 may include or be configured to be coupled to at least one antenna to send and / or receive radio frequency signals. One or more of the various types of connections may also be implemented as a separate communication interface that may be coupled or configured to be coupled to one or more of the multiple antennas.

[0083] The apparatus 300 may also include a user interface (not shown) including an input device and / or an output device. The input device may take various forms, such as a keyboard, a touch screen, or one or more embedded control buttons. The output device may include, for example, a display, a speaker, a vibration motor, etc. The user input on the user interface may be configured to enable data transmission and / or reception via the communication interface 310.

[0084] When the apparatus 300 is configured to implement a certain function, a certain component and / or some components of the apparatus 300 (such as, for example, at least one processor 302 and / or at least one memory 304) may be configured to implement the function. In addition, when the at least one processor 302 is configured to implement a certain function, the function may be implemented using, for example, a program code 306 included in the at least one memory 304. In addition, a computer program product, a non-transitory computer-readable medium, or a machine-readable medium including (program) instructions may be configured to cause the apparatus 300 to perform when executed. The functions described herein may be performed at least in part by one or more computer program product components (such as software components).

[0085] Figure 4An example of a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) transmission process is shown in FIG. Figure 4 As shown, the PBCH transmission process may have nine different operations. However, in some embodiments, all operations may not exist. The PBCH transmission process may receive a set of bits corresponding to a transport block. As input, A is the size of the payload data of the upper transport layer. The input data may include, for example, 24 bits of BCH (Broadcast Channel) data.

[0086] The PBCH transmission process may be performed by the base station 120. However, any device configured as a transmitter may generally perform a similar process.

[0087] will outline Figure 4 Each of the operations shown.

[0088] At operation 401, base station 120 may generate a PBCH payload based on input data. Base station 120 may obtain data for transmission on a PBCH of an SSB of a transmission frame. Although example embodiments have been described with reference to a PBCH, it should be understood that example embodiments may be applied to any type of data channel carried within a synchronization signal block. Examples of PBCH payload generation may include appending additional timing associated with bits to generate PBCH payload bits.

[0089] At operation 402, the supplemented sequence may be Scramble to generate a scrambled bit sequence

[0090] At operation 403, the base station 120 may append a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) code to the scrambled bit sequence. This results in the bit sequence b0, b1, b2, b3, ... b B-1 , this bit sequence can be used as the input bit sequence c0, c1, c2, c3, ... C B-1 is provided to the channel encoder.

[0091] At operation 404, the base station 120 may use any suitable channel coding method to encode the input bit sequences C0, C1, C2, C3, ... B-1 Channel coding may include applying forward error correction (FEC) coding. The channel encoder may add redundant information to the bit sequence, and this may be used to perform error correction at the UE 110. Channel coding may also include an interleaving operation, but this may not be applicable to the PBCH. Channel coding may be implemented by a polar coordinate encoder. After the channel coding operation 404, the output bits may be d0, d1, d2, d3, ... d N-1, where N is the number of output bits, which may be equal to 512, for example, which may be written into a circular buffer according to, for example, 3GPP TS 38.212.

[0092] At operation 405, the base station 120 may perform rate matching. Rate matching may generally include adjusting the amount of bits according to the available transmission resources (PRB / subcarrier). The output bit sequence after the rate matching operation 405 may be composed of f0, f1, f2, f3, ... f E-1 The length of the rate matching output sequence can be E=864. When E≥N, as mentioned here for the values ​​of N and E of PBCH, it should be noted that for f0, f1, f2, f3, ... f E-1 ≥N there will be bit repetition.

[0093] Figure 5 Graphically indicates when mapped to Figure 1 The bits are repeated during the PBCH RB of the SSB. In this case, each RB includes twelve subcarriers or resource elements per OFDM symbol. For ease of reference, Figure 5 , the SSB is shown rotated 90°.

[0094] Bit sequence f0, f1, f2, f3, ... f E-1 The first portion of is shown with a first shading, and the second repeated portion of the bit sequence is shown with a second shading. It is noteworthy that the repeated bits associated with the third OFDM symbol are allocated to frequency resources that are almost the same as the corresponding bits of the original bit sequence associated with the first OFDM symbol, except for a small offset.

[0095] The output of rate matching operation 405 can be used as the input sequence b(0), b(1), ..., b(M bit -1) is provided to the second scrambling operation 406, where M bit is the number of bits sent on the PBCH.

[0096] At operation 406, the base station 120 may perform a second scrambling operation. Since the second scrambling 406 is located after the channel coding 404, the second scrambling may involve scrambling the channel coded data, which may include the redundancy added by the channel coding. In contrast, the first scrambling 402 may involve scrambling the data before the channel coding. The bit sequence b(0), b(1), ..., b(M bit -1) can be scrambled to obtain a scrambled bit block

[0097] At operation 407, the base station 120 may modulate the binary sequence This may include mapping groups of bits of the binary sequence to complex-valued modulation symbols, such as quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) symbols. Thus, the modulation may result in a complex sequence d PBCH (0),d PBCH (1), ..., d PBCH (M symb -1).

[0098] At operation 408, the base station 120 may perform resource element (RE) mapping. The RE mapping may include mapping the output data (modulation symbols) of the modulation operation 407 to REs of the PBCH channel.

[0099] At operation 409, the base station 120 may puncture the PBCH channel.

[0100] Puncturing the PBCH channel may include, for example, puncturing (not transmitting) a group of REs (subcarriers) at one edge or both edges of the SSB. The punctured REs may include REs allocated for PBCH data. PBCH data that has been allocated to REs available after puncturing may be transmitted, while PBCH data that has been allocated to REs that are punctured may not be transmitted. Thus, a portion of the PBCH data acquired for transmission may be transmitted at PBCH REs available after puncturing.

[0101] While puncturing can be considered as a solution for reducing SSB bandwidth (in this case, PBCH bandwidth) and is a relatively simple operation to perform, it may have an impact on performance.

[0102] In this regard, again refer to Figure 5 , indicating a possible puncturing pattern, which includes four RBs above the first dotted line 502 and four RBs below the second dotted line 504 for each OFDM symbol from the first OFDM symbol to the third OFDM symbol. Therefore, this puncturing pattern can be called "symmetric", but this is not necessary; asymmetric puncturing patterns and / or different numbers of RBs and / or "to be punctured" resource elements can be used as alternatives. Through simulation, it can be seen that the effect of puncturing according to this puncturing pattern cannot be ignored; the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) may be reduced by about 6dB.

[0103] In view of the bit repetition described above, it can be seen that more than 50% of the bits of the first part of the encoded bit sequence are punctured, while more than 40% of the bits are repeated. This is not optimal and may explain the performance impact described above.

[0104] Example embodiments seek to avoid or at least mitigate the above-described performance impacts while reducing SSB bandwidth, for example by using a predetermined allocation scheme to allocate the first portion of the data to be transmitted (e.g., Figure 5At least a portion of the first part of the encoded bit sequence shown in the figure is allocated to resource elements that will not be truncated, and at least a portion of the second part of the data (i.e., the repeated bits of the encoded bit sequence) is allocated to at least a portion of the resource elements that will be truncated.

[0105] and Figure 5 similar, Figure 6 Graphically indicates Figure 1 Bit repetition of PBCH RB / resource element of SSB. Bit sequence f0, f1, f2, f3, ... f E-1 The first part of the bit sequence is shown with a first shading, and the second repeating part of the bit sequence is shown with a second shading. Figure 5 602 and 604. For each OFDM symbol in the first OFDM symbol to the third OFDM symbol, this includes three RBs above the first dotted line 602 and three RBs below the second dotted line 604. In other words, there are six RBs per OFDM symbol. Therefore, this puncturing pattern is also "symmetrical", but this is not necessary; asymmetric puncturing patterns and / or different numbers of "to be punctured" resource elements can be used as alternatives. A specific puncturing pattern can provide a particularly efficient and possibly optimal puncturing pattern for the transmission of PBCH because it allows the transmission of all bits of the PBCH codeword.

[0106] It can be seen that the five "sections" 610, 612, 614, 616, 608 of the bit sequence will be punctured according to this particular puncturing pattern, and therefore by allocating at least some or all of the bits to non-punctured resource elements, the performance impact can be mitigated while also achieving the desired low bandwidth operation.

[0107] Figure 7 700 is a flowchart illustrating a processing operation according to some example embodiments, which is generally indicated by the reference numeral 700. The processing operation 700 may be performed in hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof. The processing operation 700 may be performed at a transmitter, such as by Figure 1 The base station 120 shown may be performed, or may be performed by virtually any device or system that transmits data over a data channel.

[0108] A first operation 701 may include providing data for transmission on a data channel of an SSB of a transmission frame.

[0109] The second operation 702 may include identifying a first portion of data and a second portion of data, wherein the second portion of data repeats at least a portion of the first portion of data.

[0110] The third operation 703 may include identifying a predetermined set of one or more resource elements for a data channel.

[0111] The fourth operation 704 may include allocating data to resource elements of a data channel according to a predetermined allocation scheme, wherein at least a portion of the first portion of the data is allocated to resource elements outside a predetermined set and at least a portion of the second portion of the data is allocated to resource elements of a predetermined set.

[0112] The fifth operation 705 may include puncturing at least a portion of one or more resource elements of the predetermined set. In other words, all (multiple) resource elements of the predetermined set may be punctured, although in other cases only a subset may be punctured.

[0113] A sixth operation 706 may include sending a portion of the data on the data channel using resource elements available for the SSB after puncturing.

[0114] Data may comprise an ordered sequence of bits.

[0115] Example embodiments may also provide an apparatus comprising means for performing the processing operation 700. The means may include at least one processor and at least one memory directly connected or coupled to the at least one processor. The at least one memory may include computer program code that, when executed by the at least one processor, may perform the processing operation 700 and any preferred features thereof described below.

[0116] As described above, the predetermined set of one or more resource elements may be at at least one edge of the SSB, although this is not necessarily the case. The predetermined set of one or more resource elements may include two groups of resource elements located at opposite edges of the SSB. The two groups may be symmetrical or asymmetrical. Each of the two groups of resource elements may be included in four or fewer RBs per symbol. The data channel may include a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) as described above. The predetermined set of one or more resource elements of the PBCH may include two groups of resource elements corresponding to symbol numbers 1, 2, and 3, which may be symmetrical or asymmetrical. The predetermined set of one or more resource elements may not overlap in frequency with the resource elements allocated to (one or more) synchronization signals.

[0117] At least a fifth puncturing operation 705 may be performed in response to detecting that a narrowband mode of operation is required.

[0118] According to an example embodiment, the fourth operation 704 may include allocating data to resource elements according to a so-called "interleaved" allocation scheme.

[0119] The interleaving allocation scheme can be found in the above reference Figure 4The described rate matching operation 405 is performed thereafter and may be performed at the bit level, ie by acting on an ordered sequence of bits from the rate matcher, although explained herein in terms of the resource elements to which the bits are ultimately mapped.

[0120] For example, an interleaving allocation scheme that may form at least a portion of the fourth operation 405 may include identifying one or more first sections of an ordered sequence of bits that are within a first portion of the data and are to be mapped to a predetermined set of resource elements. A corresponding number of second sections of an ordered sequence of bits that correspond to a second portion of the data and are mapped to resource elements outside the predetermined set may be identified. The ordered bits of the identified one or more first sections may then replace the ordered bits of the corresponding second sections. This may involve swapping the ordered bits of the first section with the ordered bits of the corresponding second section.

[0121] Figure 8 A specific interlace allocation scheme according to some example embodiments is graphically illustrated.

[0122] Figure 8 by Figure 6 SSB is the starting point, wherein the five first sections 610, 612, 614, 616, 618 of the ordered bit sequence are based on the Figure 6 The specific puncturing pattern mentioned will be punctured. The resource elements of three RBs above the dotted line 602 and three RBs below the dotted line 604 represent a predetermined resource element set of the puncturing pattern, respectively.

[0123] According to the example interleaving allocation scheme, the first to fifth 610, 612, 614, 616, 618 ordered bits of the first section can be exchanged with the first to fifth 810, 812, 814, 816, 818 ordered bits of the second section, as shown by the dashed arrows. It should be noted that the first to fifth 810, 812, 814, 816, 818 of the second section are all outside the predetermined resource element set of the puncturing pattern.

[0124] Obviously, by performing the fifth operation 705, the repeated bits in the second part of the data will be punctured, while the original bits in the first part of the data will not be punctured and can be sent in the sixth operation 706. This has advantages in terms of the total number of original bits sent, and information loss can be avoided or at least minimized.

[0125] Different interleaving allocation schemes may be used and refer to Figure 8 The described scenario is one such example.

[0126] The interleaving allocation scheme may be pre-stored at the sending entity (eg, Figure 1The use of the interleaved allocation scheme is applicable to any spectrum allocation and puncturing scheme, and in this particular example, symmetric puncturing is allowed to be used to transmit all PBCH codeword bits, and each PBCH edge is equal to or less than three RBs, corresponding to six punctured RBs per OFDM symbol.

[0127] The following are the references for executing the above Figure 8 Example pseudocode for the interleaving allocation scheme described.

[0128]

[0129] Where: j is the time bit index, k is the coding bit index, N is the number of output bits (512 for PBCH), 54 is the number of bits in the first section 610; 306 is the number of bits in the 17 RBs until the beginning of the second section 602; 414 is the number of bits in the 23 RBs (across two ODFM symbols) until the end of the third section 614, 450 is the number of bits in the 25 RBs (across two ODFM symbols) until the beginning of the fourth section 616; 64 is the starting offset expressed in bits, indicating where the allocation starts in the third ODFM symbol outside the predetermined set.

[0130] The offset may be based at least in part on the value of N plus an additional offset that may allocate bits to the first subcarrier on the fourth RB of the third OFDM symbol containing the PBCH, or to a bit position corresponding to the lowest frequency index outside of a predetermined set on the third OFDM symbol containing the PBCH. This may correspond to a value of 64. In this particular example, the additional offset of 64 maps the data to the first subcarrier on the fifth RB of the third OFDM symbol containing the PBCH.

[0131] According to another example embodiment, the fourth operation 704 may comprise allocating data to resource elements according to a so-called "mapped" allocation scheme.

[0132] The mapping allocation scheme can be found in the reference above Figure 4 The described modulation operation is performed after 407. The mapping allocation scheme can be performed at the modulation symbol level.

[0133] In this case, reference Fig. 9 , example embodiments may map modulated symbols to resource elements in the following order: first time index l (indicated by arrow 901), then frequency index k (indicated by arrow 903), offset k from a frequency index corresponding to a frequency index outside the predetermined set offset Start, for example, above the second dashed line 604 .

[0134] In some example embodiments, the starting frequency index may correspond to the lowest resource element outside of a predetermined set containing the PBCH in the frequency domain, for example using an offset subcarrier that is incremented until it reaches the maximum subcarrier of the PBCH. The mapping may then continue from the lowest subcarrier of the PBCH in a modulo manner. The value of the offset subcarrier may be determined based on a predetermined puncturing pattern.

[0135] In the context of PBCH of 5G networks, Section 7.4.3.1.3 of TS 38.211 (5G, NR, Physical Channels and Modulation) may be modified to include wording as in the last paragraph below or similar wording for the case where puncturing is used. The earlier paragraphs are relevant to the current text in the specification.

[0136] "The UE shall assume that the sequence of complex-valued symbols constituting the physical broadcast channel is PBCH (0),……,d PBCH (M symb-1 ) by factor β PBCH Scaled to comply with the PBCH power allocation specified in [5, TS 38.213] and from d PBCH (0) starts to be mapped sequentially to resource elements (k, l) that meet all of the following criteria: p，μ :

[0137] - They are not used for PBCH demodulation reference signals

[0138] As shown in Table 7.4.3.1-1, to the resource elements (k, l) not reserved for PBCH DM-RS p，μ The mapping should be in ascending order of index k first and then index l, where k and l represent the frequency and time indices within one SS / PBCH block respectively.

[0139] If PBCH is truncated, the resource elements not reserved for PBCH DM-RS ((k+k offset )mod240,l) p，μ The mapping shall be in ascending order of first index l and then index k, where k and l represent the frequency and time index within one SS / PBCH block respectively, as shown in Table 7.4.3.1-1, k offset That equals 36. ”

[0140] In this case, k offset=3×12=36 may be predetermined, or as described above, may be determined as the lowest subcarrier of the PBCH outside of a predetermined set, or may be determined as the smallest non-punctured subcarrier of the PBCH. Note that in 38.211, index k traverses all subcarriers of the PBCH, including subcarriers reserved for DMRS, which are skipped. Thus, the PBCH QPSK symbol is mapped to 9 resource elements out of every 12 resource elements of the RB.

[0141] Fig.10 1 is a flow chart illustrating a processing operation according to some example embodiments, which is generally indicated by the reference numeral 1000. The processing operation 1000 may be performed in hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof. The processing operation 1000 may be performed at a receiver, such as by Figure 1 UE 110 is shown to perform, or in fact is performed by, a data channel from, for example, Figure 1 The base station 120 or the like shown may be implemented by any device or system that receives data.

[0142] The first operation 1001 may include receiving an SSB of a transmission frame from a transmitting device, wherein the SSB includes a data channel.

[0143] The second operation 1002 may include extracting data from resource elements of a data channel, wherein the extracting of data from the resource elements is based on exchanging at least a portion of a predetermined allocation scheme performed by a transmitting device.

[0144] The third operation 1003 may include decoding the data (ie, the extracted data).

[0145] Some example embodiments may also provide an apparatus comprising means for performing the processing operation 1000. The means may include at least one processor and at least one memory directly connected or coupled to the at least one processor. The at least one memory may include computer program code that, when executed by the at least one processor, may perform the processing operation 1000 and any preferred features thereof described below.

[0146] The predetermined allocation scheme may be any of the above-mentioned allocation schemes, such as an interleaved or mapped allocation scheme.

[0147] For example, using the above-mentioned interleaved allocation scheme, the extraction of data from the resource elements can be based on at least exchanging the allocation of at least a portion of the first part of the data to resource elements outside the predetermined set of resource elements, and the allocation of at least a portion of the second part of the data to resource elements of the predetermined set of resource elements.

[0148] Some example embodiments may include providing a method for transmitting a signal based on a transmission from a transmitting device (e.g., Figure 1The operation of the predetermined allocation scheme is determined by receiving an indication of the predetermined set of resource elements at the base station 110 in the receiver. Alternatively, the predetermined allocation scheme may be standardized, for example, the predetermined set of resource elements and / or how to exchange the allocation scheme at the receiver may be part of a documented standard specification known to the receiver, and so all the receiver needs to do is detect that the predetermined allocation scheme has been applied, possibly on a per-transmission basis, and if so, apply the exchange. In this case, no additional signaling is required at the transmitter.

[0149] Some example embodiments may include an operation of determining that a predetermined allocation scheme has been or may have been applied by a transmitting device, and wherein an extraction operation 1002 may be performed in response to the determination. In other words, the processing operation may involve first determining whether truncation has been or may have been performed. In this case, the determination may be based on the synchronization raster points in the received SSB indicating that truncation has been performed according to the predetermined allocation scheme, and / or the frequency band used for the received synchronization signal block may indicate narrowband operation. For example, if it is known that the frequency band in question only supports a 3 MHz bandwidth, and / or is sometimes used to support a 3 MHz bandwidth, this may trigger the above-described processing operation 1000.

[0150] Thus, example embodiments provide a method for achieving narrowband operation using puncturing while avoiding or minimizing data loss.

[0151] Unless otherwise stated or clear from the context, saying two entities are different means that they perform different functions. This does not necessarily mean that they are based on different hardware. That is, each entity described in this specification can be based on different hardware, or some or all entities can be based on the same hardware. This does not necessarily mean that they are based on different software. That is, each entity described in this specification can be based on different software, or some or all entities can be based on the same software. Each entity described in this specification can be implemented in the cloud.

[0152] As non-limiting examples, implementation of any of the above blocks, devices, systems, techniques, or methods includes implementation as hardware, software, firmware, dedicated circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controllers, or other computing devices, or some combination thereof. Some embodiments may be implemented in the cloud.

[0153] It should be understood that the above is what is presently considered to be the preferred embodiment. However, it should be noted that the description of the preferred embodiment is given by way of example only and that various modifications may be made without departing from the scope defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising means for performing the following: providing data for transmission on a data channel of a synchronization signal block of a transmission frame; identifying a first portion of the data and a second portion of the data, wherein the second portion of the data repeats at least a portion of the first portion of the data; identifying a predetermined set of one or more resource elements of the data channel; allocating the data to resource elements of the data channel according to a predetermined allocation scheme, wherein at least a portion of the first portion of the data is allocated to resource elements outside the predetermined set and at least a portion of the second portion of the data is allocated to resource elements of the predetermined set; puncturing at least a portion of the one or more resource elements of the predetermined set; as well as After the puncturing, a portion of the data is sent on the data channel using resource elements available for the synchronization signal block.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the predetermined set of one or more resource elements is at at least one edge of the synchronization signal block.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the predetermined set of one or more resource elements comprises: Two groups of resource elements are located at opposite edges of the synchronization block.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein each of the two groups of resource elements comprises: Four or fewer resource blocks per symbol.

5. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the data channel comprises a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH).

6. The apparatus of claim 5 when dependent on claim 3 or claim 4, wherein the predetermined set of one or more resource elements of the physical broadcast channel comprises: Two groups of resource elements corresponding to symbol numbers 1, 2 and 3.

7. An apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the predetermined set of one or more resource elements does not overlap in frequency with resource elements allocated to synchronization signal(s).

8. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the data comprises an ordered sequence of bits, and wherein allocating the first portion of the data according to the predetermined allocation scheme comprises: identifying one or more first sections of the ordered sequence of bits that are within the first portion of the data and that are to be mapped to the predetermined set of resource elements; identifying a corresponding number of second sections of the ordered bit sequence corresponding to the second portion of the data and mapped to resource elements outside the predetermined set; as well as The identified ordered bits of the one or more first sections are moved to replace the ordered bits of the corresponding second sections.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising: As part of the move operation, the replaced ordered bits of the corresponding second section are moved to replace the ordered bits of the identified one or more first sections.

10. The apparatus of claim 8 or claim 9, wherein the shifting of the ordered bits of the identified one or more first sections is performed by: determining an offset based at least in part on the bit length N of the first portion of the data sequence; and The offset is added to the bit position of the bit within each identified first section.

11. The apparatus according to any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein the bit sequence is received from a rate matching buffer after a channel encoder.

12. The apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the data comprises an ordered sequence of bits, and wherein allocating the first portion of the data comprises: Starting from a frequency index offset corresponding to a frequency index outside the predetermined set, a sequence of symbols generated based on modulating the provided data is mapped to the resource elements of the data channel first in ascending order of time index and secondly in ascending order of frequency index.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the frequency index offset corresponds to a first frequency index outside of the predetermined set.

14. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the punctured one or more resource elements are not transmitted.

15. An apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the apparatus is configured to perform at least the puncturing in response to detecting that a narrowband mode of operation is required.

16. An apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the apparatus is a base station of a radio access network.

17. An apparatus comprising means for performing: receiving a synchronization signal block of a transmission frame from a transmitting device, wherein the synchronization signal block includes a data channel; extracting data from resource elements of the data channel, wherein the extracting of the data from the resource elements is based on exchanging at least a portion of a predetermined allocation scheme performed by the transmitting device; and The data is decoded.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the data channel comprises a physical broadcast channel.

19. The apparatus of claim 17 or claim 18, wherein the predetermined allocation scheme comprises: A first portion of the data is allocated to resource elements outside a predetermined set of resource elements, which are to be fully or partially truncated, and at least a second portion of the data, which repeats at least a portion of the first portion of the data, is allocated to resource elements of the predetermined set of resource elements, which are to be fully or partially truncated.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the extraction of the data from the resource elements is based on exchanging at least the first portion of the data for the allocation of the resource elements outside the predetermined set of resource elements, and exchanging at least the second portion of the data for the allocation of the resource elements of the predetermined set of resource elements.

21. The apparatus of claim 19 or claim 20, wherein the predetermined allocation scheme is a standardized allocation scheme, or is determined based on receiving an indication from the transmitting apparatus of the predetermined set of resource elements to be punctured in whole or in part.

22. The apparatus of any one of claims 17 to 21, further comprising means for performing the following: determining that the sending device has or may have applied the predetermined allocation scheme, wherein the extracting operation is performed in response to the determining.

23. An apparatus according to any one of claims 17 to 22, wherein the apparatus comprises user equipment.

24. A method comprising: providing data for transmission on a data channel of a synchronization signal block of a transmission frame; identifying a first portion of the data and a second portion of the data, wherein the second portion of the data repeats at least a portion of the first portion of the data; identifying a predetermined set of one or more resource elements of the data channel; allocating the data to resource elements of the data channel according to a predetermined allocation scheme, wherein at least a portion of the first portion of the data is allocated to resource elements outside the predetermined set and at least a portion of the second portion of the data is allocated to resource elements of the predetermined set; puncturing at least a portion of the one or more resource elements of the predetermined set; as well as After the puncturing, a portion of the data is sent on the data channel using resource elements available for the synchronization signal block.

25. A method comprising: receiving a synchronization signal block of a transmission frame from a transmitting device, wherein the synchronization signal block includes a data channel; extracting data from resource elements of the data channel, wherein the extracting of the data from the resource elements is based on exchanging at least a portion of a predetermined allocation scheme performed by the transmitting device; and The data is decoded.

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