Waveform management

Abstract

In accordance with an example aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an apparatus, such as a user equipment, configured to: selectively transmit information in a physical uplink shared channel direction using a first waveform or a second waveform, the second waveform having a lower peak-to-average power ratio than the first waveform; providing the first power headroom information and the second power headroom information to a network node of a cell to which the control device is attached; and selecting to continue using the first waveform on the physical uplink shared channel, or switching to using the second waveform on the physical uplink shared channel.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to management of wireless communication processes. Background Art

[0002] In some wireless communication systems, more than one signal waveform may be used for wireless communication between user equipment, UE, and access nodes (e.g., base stations). The waveform of a signal corresponds to the shape of a graph of the signal as a function of time. Examples of waveforms include sinusoidal waveforms, square waveforms, and triangular waveforms, but in communication systems, waveforms are more complex in shape due to the modulation used. The modulation used in wireless communication systems may be high order, and typically the modulation scheme is related to the characteristic waveform of the modulation scheme. Summary of the invention

[0003] According to some aspects, the subject matter of independent claims is provided. Some embodiments are defined in the dependent claims. The scope of protection sought by various embodiments of the present invention is set forth by the independent claims. The embodiments, examples and features (if any) described in this specification that do not fall within the scope of the independent claims will be interpreted as examples that can be used to understand the various embodiments of the present invention.

[0004] According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, a device is provided, comprising: at least one processing core; at least one memory comprising computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to, together with the at least one processing core, enable the device to at least: selectively use a first waveform or a second waveform to send information in a physical uplink shared channel direction, the second waveform having a lower peak-to-average power ratio than the first waveform; provide first power headroom information and second power headroom information to a network node that controls a cell to which the device is attached, the first power headroom information disclosing a power amount between a maximum allowed or achievable transmission power and a first transmission power, the power amount being currently used by the device to transmit on a physical uplink shared channel using the first waveform, the second power headroom information disclosing a power amount between a maximum allowed transmission power or a maximum achievable power using a second waveform and the second transmission power, if the device is using the second waveform, the second transmission power will be used by the device to transmit on the physical uplink shared channel; and make the following selections: continue to use the first waveform on the physical uplink shared channel, or switch to using the second waveform on the physical uplink shared channel.

[0005] According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, a device is provided, comprising at least one processing core, at least one memory comprising computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to, together with the at least one processing core, enable the device to at least: selectively receive information in a physical uplink channel direction using a first waveform or a second waveform, the second waveform having a lower peak-to-average power ratio than the first waveform; receive first power headroom information and second power headroom information from a user equipment UE attached to a cell controlled by the device, the first power headroom information disclosing a power amount between a maximum allowed or achievable transmit power and a first transmit power, the power amount being currently used by the UE to transmit on a physical uplink channel using the first waveform, the second power headroom information disclosing a power amount between a maximum allowed transmit power or a maximum achievable power using a second waveform and the second transmit power, if the UE is using the second waveform, the second transmit power will be used by the UE to transmit on the physical uplink channel; and make the following selections: continue to use the first waveform on the physical uplink channel, or switch to using the second waveform on the physical uplink channel.

[0006] According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, a method is provided, comprising: a device selectively using a first waveform or a second waveform to send information in the direction of a physical uplink shared channel, the second waveform having a lower peak-to-average power ratio than the first waveform; providing first power margin information and second power margin information to a network node of a cell to which the control device is attached, the first power margin information disclosing a power amount between a maximum allowed or achievable transmission power and a first transmission power, the power amount being currently used by the device to send on the physical uplink shared channel using the first waveform, the second power margin information disclosing a power amount between a maximum allowed transmission power or a maximum achievable power using a second waveform and the second transmission power, if the device is using the second waveform, the second transmission power will be used by the device to send on the physical uplink shared channel; and choosing to continue using the first waveform on the physical uplink shared channel, or to switch to using the second waveform on the physical uplink shared channel.

[0007] According to a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, a method is provided, comprising: receiving information in the direction of a physical uplink channel by a device selectively using a first waveform or a second waveform, the second waveform having a lower peak-to-average power ratio than the first waveform; and receiving first power headroom information and second power headroom information from a user equipment UE attached to a cell controlled by the device, the first power headroom information disclosing a power amount between a maximum allowed or achievable transmission power and a first transmission power, the power amount being currently used by the UE to transmit on a physical uplink channel using the first waveform, the second power headroom information disclosing a power amount between a maximum allowed transmission power or a maximum achievable power using a second waveform and the second transmission power, if the UE is using the second waveform, the second transmission power will be used by the UE to transmit on the physical uplink channel; and making the following selections: continuing to use the first waveform on the physical uplink channel, or switching to using the second waveform on the physical uplink channel.

[0008] According to a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, a device is provided, comprising: a component for selectively using a first waveform or a second waveform to send information in the direction of a physical uplink shared channel, the second waveform having a lower peak-to-average power ratio than the first waveform; providing first power headroom information and second power headroom information to a network node of a cell to which the control device is attached, the first power headroom information disclosing a power amount between a maximum allowed or achievable transmission power and a first transmission power, the power amount being currently used by the device to send on the physical uplink shared channel using the first waveform, the second power headroom information disclosing a power amount between a maximum allowed transmission power or a maximum achievable power using a second waveform and the second transmission power, if the device is using the second waveform, the second transmission power will be used by the device to send on the physical uplink shared channel; and making the following selections: continue to use the first waveform on the physical uplink shared channel, or switch to using the second waveform on the physical uplink shared channel.

[0009] According to the sixth aspect of the present disclosure, a device is provided, comprising: a component for selectively using a first waveform or a second waveform to receive information in the direction of a physical uplink channel, the second waveform having a lower peak-to-average power ratio than the first waveform; and receiving first power headroom information and second power headroom information from a user equipment UE attached to a cell controlled by the device, the first power headroom information disclosing a power amount between a maximum allowed or achievable transmission power and a first transmission power, the power amount being currently used by the UE to transmit on a physical uplink channel using the first waveform, the second power headroom information disclosing a power amount between a maximum allowed transmission power or a maximum achievable power using the second waveform and a second transmission power, if the UE is using the second waveform, the second transmission power will be used by the UE to transmit on the physical uplink channel; and making the following selections: continue to use the first waveform on the physical uplink channel, or switch to using the second waveform on the physical uplink channel.

[0010] According to the seventh aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable medium is provided, on which a set of computer-readable instructions are stored, and when the computer-readable instructions are executed by at least one processor, the device at least: optionally uses a first waveform or a second waveform to send information in the direction of a physical uplink shared channel, the second waveform has a lower peak-to-average power ratio than the first waveform; provides first power margin information and second power margin information to a network node of a cell to which the control device is attached, the first power margin information discloses a power amount between a maximum allowed or achievable transmission power and a first transmission power, the power amount is currently used by the device to send on the physical uplink shared channel using the first waveform, the second power margin information discloses a power amount between the maximum allowed transmission power or the maximum achievable power using the second waveform and the second transmission power, if the device is using the second waveform, the second transmission power will be used by the device to send on the physical uplink shared channel; and makes the following selections: continue to use the first waveform on the physical uplink shared channel, or switch to using the second waveform on the physical uplink shared channel.

[0011] According to the eighth aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable medium is provided, on which a set of computer-readable instructions are stored, and when the computer-readable instructions are executed by at least one processor, the device at least: optionally uses a first waveform or a second waveform to receive information in the direction of a physical uplink channel, the second waveform has a lower peak-to-average power ratio than the first waveform; and receives first power headroom information and second power headroom information from a user equipment UE attached to a cell controlled by the device, the first power headroom information discloses a power amount between a maximum allowed or achievable transmission power and a first transmission power, the power amount is currently used by the UE to send on the physical uplink channel using the first waveform, the second power headroom information discloses a power amount between the maximum allowed transmission power or the maximum achievable power using the second waveform and the second transmission power, if the UE is using the second waveform, the second transmission power will be used by the UE to send on the physical uplink channel; and makes the following selections: continue to use the first waveform on the physical uplink channel, or switch to using the second waveform on the physical uplink channel. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] Figure 1 An example system is shown in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present invention;

[0013] Figure 2 illustrates example processes according to at least some embodiments of the present invention;

[0014] Figure 3 An example apparatus capable of supporting at least some embodiments of the present invention is shown;

[0015] Figure 4 illustrates signaling in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present invention; and

[0016] Figure 5 is a flow chart of a method according to at least some embodiments of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] Disclosed herein is a method for facilitating switching between waveforms in cellular communications, wherein a user equipment UE provides auxiliary information to a base station or more generally a network node to assist in waveform switching. The auxiliary information may include a power headroom report or other power headroom information for more than one waveform to enable the base station to select the waveform to be used. The UE may switch waveforms in response to explicit or implicit instructions from the base station, or autonomously switch waveforms in accordance with the auxiliary information sent to the base station. This switching provides technical benefits in enabling communication using higher power, which improves performance in low coverage situations.

[0018] Figure 1An example system according to at least some embodiments of the present invention is shown. The system is a cellular communication system, such as a fifth generation 5G, also known as a new radio, NR, advanced 5G, 6G or long term evolution LTE system, as specified by the third generation partnership project 3GPP. For example, some implementations of the present disclosure may also be implemented in a non-cellular system such as a wireless local area network WLAN. The system includes a base station 130, for example, depending on the specific technology on which the system is based, the base station 130 may be referred to as a gNB or an eNB. The base station 130 may be distributed in that it may include one or more base station devices, for example, the base station 130 may include a centralized unit CU and one or more distributed units DU. The CU provides support for higher layers such as radio resource control RRC, while the DU handles lower layers such as radio link control RLC and media access control MAC. In some embodiments, the base station 130 is an integral device and is not distributed in nature.

[0019] The base station 130 is coupled to a core network CN 140. The CN 140 includes nodes such as a mobility management entity MME, a subscriber data repository, and a gateway, which serves the communication system as a whole and enables interworking with another network. For clarity, Figure 1 The exact names and specific functions of the core network nodes and the way in which the CN tasks are distributed among them depend on Figure 1 The technology on which the system is based in each specific implementation. CN 140 can be connected to another network via a gateway.

[0020] Base station 130 controls a cell whose cell edge is at Figure 1 Schematically shown as edge 101 in the cell. UEs 110 and 120 are arranged in the cell, wherein UE 110 is close to base station 130 and UE 120 is close to edge 101. UE 110 communicates with base station 130 via radio link 131, and UE 120 communicates with base station 130 via radio link 132. Radio links 131 and 132 may each include an uplink UL and a downlink DL for communicating to base station 130 and UEs, respectively.

[0021] Typically, a UE can move within the coverage area of ​​a cell and across the edge 101 to reach the coverage area of ​​other cells, even though some UEs may be fixed in nature in that their location does not change. Examples of such fixed UEs are communication modules of utility meters and closed-circuit cameras, while mobile UEs include smart phones, tablet computers, laptop computers, mobile phones, and connected car connection modules. Thus, depending on its movement, the same UE may be close to the cell edge 101 and away from the edge. Even for fixed UEs, the distance to the cell edge 101 may change if the network is reconfigured and the edge 101 moves.

[0022] The physical uplink control channel PUCCH in NR is an example of an uplink control channel and is used to carry uplink control information UCI (such as scheduling requests SR), and may also be used for beam failure recovery BFR, requests or link failure recovery requests, hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement HARQ-ACK and channel state information CSI. Typically, a cyclic prefix OFDM (CP-OFDM) waveform may be used with the physical uplink channel for UEs that are not coverage limited, and when better coverage is required, a discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) waveform may be used with the physical uplink channel. DFT-s-OFDM has a lower PAPR than CP-OFDM and is therefore generally more suitable for coverage limited situations, such as UEs 120 near the cell edge 101. On the other hand, CP-OFDM has a higher spectral efficiency and may be considered preferred when enhanced coverage is not required. An example of a physical uplink channel is the physical uplink shared channel PUSCH.

[0023] Dynamic switching between waveforms (such as between CP-OFDM and DFT-s-OFDM) would be beneficial because the DFT-s-OFDM waveform is beneficial for UL coverage-limited and power-limited scenarios due to its lower PAPR compared to the CP-OFDM waveform, and as noted, the UE may roam to different parts of the coverage area of ​​a cell. The UL waveform may be configured to the UE via RRC signaling, which results in a high signaling load to implement the change of waveform. Therefore, it would be beneficial to switch between waveforms using a more optimized signaling solution that results in lower signaling load and shorter latency than RRC signaling.

[0024] When adapting the transmit power of the UE, the base station may only know the maximum power reduction MPR, demand and power margin reported by the UE. The MPR defines the allowed reduction of the maximum power level of certain combinations of the modulation used and the number and position of the assigned resource blocks. For example, the power can be dynamically reduced to meet the adjacent channel power leakage requirements. Some technologies implement signal quality standards at the UE. In some cases, when scheduling is difficult from the perspective of the power amplifier at the UE, the UE is allowed to reduce its transmit power. For example, the power reduction can be 2dB. The MPR can be defined separately for different modulation schemes and waveforms. On the other hand, the power margin report PHR discloses the difference between the nominal maximum UE transmit power and the current power used for uplink transmission. In other words, the PHR discloses how much the UE can further increase its transmit power without violating its nominal maximum transmit power, which can be alternatively referred to as the maximum output power of the configuration. For example, the PHR can be used to support power-aware packet scheduling, and the PHR can be provided from the UE to the base station, for example, in the MAC control element MAC CE. The power margin can be obtained as power margin = UE maximum nominal transmission power - PUSCH power. In at least some systems, the signaled PHR may have a value between 0 and 63, representing the power headroom with a granularity of 1 decibel dB. In other words, the PHR resolution may be quite coarse in its ability to represent the headroom. In coverage-limited scenarios, a 1 dB change or even a half dB change in transmit power may make a considerable difference to the communication. The power headroom also depends on the waveform in use.

[0025] The actual power level, the transmit power indicated to the UE via power control commands, and the maximum transmit power that a particular UE implementation can provide for the current transmission are typically known only by the UE.It would therefore be beneficial to facilitate a base station to perform a more optimized waveform selection.

[0026] In the 3GPP system example, the UE transmit power on PUSCH is determined by:

[0027] The transmission power is P CMAX,f,c (i) Limit, which is defined as the maximum output power configured by the UE. CMAX,f,c Set at the limit P CMAX_L,f,c ≤P CMAX,f,c ≤P CMAX_H,f,c Within, the UE can set P in each time slot CMAX,f,c Value, where P CMAX_L,f,c =MIN{P EMAX,c ->T C,c , (P PowerClass -ΔP PowerClass )-MAX(MAX(MPRc +ΔMPR c ,A-MPR c )+ΔT IB,c +ΔT C,c +ΔT RxSRS ,P-MPR c )} and P CMAX_H,f,c =MIN{P EMAX,c ,P PowerClass -ΔP PowerClass}. The terminology is described in 3GPP technical standards TS38.101-1 / 38.101-2 / 38.101-3. Importantly, the base station does not know the P used by the UE. CMAX,f,c (i) value, the base station only knows P CMAX,f,c (i) The boundary where it is located.

[0028] The methods disclosed herein include waveform assistance signaling from the UE to the base station and, in some embodiments, waveform selection commands from the base station to the UE.

[0029] Examples of assistance information received in the base station 130 from the UEs 110, 120 include power headroom information in the form of waveform specific power headroom values, such as P values ​​for both waveforms embedded in the PHR. Cmax,c . The waveform-specific power headroom value may be specific to both the waveform and the modulation and coding scheme MCS. The waveform assistance information may be embedded in a PHR and / or a scheduling request SR sent from the UE to the base station. In addition or alternatively, a separate power headroom report PHR for multiple waveforms may be provided from the UE. As an alternative to a separate PHR, the assistance information may include multiple waveform-specific power headroom values ​​associated with more than one waveform embedded in a single power headroom report. In some embodiments, the assistance information relates to two waveforms with the same physical resource block PRB allocation and MCS. The waveform-specific power headroom value may include an indication of a power headroom value of another waveform represented by a power headroom value of the one waveform in a PHR dedicated to one waveform. In general, the power headroom information may include a PHR dedicated to a specific waveform, so that more than one such PHR may be sent by the UE to deliver power headroom information dedicated to more than one waveform, or the power headroom information may include a waveform-specific power headroom value included in a PHR dedicated to another waveform, such as a DFT-s-OFDM-specific power headroom value included in a CP-OFDM PHR.

[0030] The auxiliary information may include, for example, a single bit indicating that DFT-s-OFDM is preferred for the current PUSCH transmission. Alternatively, multiple bits may be used to indicate that DFT-s-OFDM is preferred for a predefined scenario. The auxiliary information may also cover multiple PRB ranges and / or multiple modulation schemes.

[0031] For the pi / 2BPSK scenario, the auxiliary information can cover pi / 2BPSK without power boost and / or pi / 2BPSK with power boost. The power boost can be limited to a specific preconfigured band and can involve duty cycle restrictions. For the QPSK scenario, it can cover the scenario without spectrum spreading and / or FDSS with spectrum spreading.

[0032] Figure 2 An example process according to at least some embodiments of the present invention is shown. The process is performed in a UE. In stage 210, the UE operates according to a first waveform configured, for example, using RRC signaling. In stage 220, the UE receives a configuration for another second waveform from a base station. The configuration may include a definition of radio resources to be used with the second waveform. The UE stores the configuration but has not yet put it into use, thereby continuing to operate using the first waveform. In stage 230, the UE receives a configuration for sending waveform assistance information to a base station. The configuration may include a definition of a container in which the assistance information is to be provided, and information that defines what information is to be included in the assistance information provided to the base station. Stages 220 and 230 may occur at least partially simultaneously.

[0033] The configuration for sending waveform assistance information may also include a description of at least one triggering event for triggering the sending of waveform assistance information to the base station. The triggering event may include receiving a request for assistance information in the UE, or a situation in the UE meeting at least one criterion. The triggering event may be based on a fixed timer so that the assistance information is provided at set, fixed and equal time intervals (such as every five seconds or every 30 seconds). Another example of a triggering event is that the path loss change of the radio path between the UE and the base station exceeds a first threshold, and the first threshold may be expressed in decibels, for example. Another example of a triggering event is an example in which the UE changes the applied MPR by more than the configured value. Another example is determining that the difference in power values ​​(such as transmit power, configured maximum transmit power, or power headroom) between the first waveform and the second waveform in a predefined scenario changes by more than a second threshold, which may also be expressed in decibels, for example. The transmit power may be the transmit power of a specific channel (such as PUSCH). Another alternative is a situation in which a power value (such as maximum transmit power or power headroom) exceeds a third threshold.

[0034] At stage 240, the UE determines that at least one of the triggering events occurs in the UE, and in response, at stage 250, the UE sends waveform assistance information to the base station. As described above, the assistance information may include, for example, first power headroom information and second power headroom information associated with the first waveform and the second waveform, respectively. As described above, the first power headroom information and the second power headroom information may be provided in separate RRHs or in one PRG or indeed in another message.

[0035] At stage 260, the UE switches to the second waveform in response to an instruction to that effect from the base station or autonomously based on the characteristics of the situation from which the waveform assistance information is transmitted or the waveform assistance information is derived. For example, the base station may send an instruction to change the waveform in a downlink control information DCI field, or use a specific type of DCI to explicitly or implicitly indicate a change in the waveform. Another option is to use a MAC CE to switch between different waveforms. Waveform-specific power headroom is one criterion for switching, but other criteria may also or alternatively be applied, as described above. Moreover, the number of waveforms is not limited to two, but may be three or more than three.

[0036] Next, the operation of the system is described by way of example. In the first example, an enhanced power headroom report is used as waveform auxiliary information. Typically, separate first power headroom information and second power headroom information are sent for the first waveform and the second waveform, respectively. As described above, the power headroom information specifies how much more power the UE can use without violating the nominal maximum transmit power of the UE. Due to differences in waveform characteristics, it is possible to switch to another waveform (such as a lower PAPR waveform) with a larger power headroom, and therefore the UE can use more power.

[0037] In an embodiment thereof, the UE is configured with separate power headroom reports for DFT-s-OFDM and OFDM. These can be performed via one or two MAC messages. Alternatively, the existing PHR can be used for the current waveform (i.e., the PUSCH waveform carrying the PHR). This is the first power headroom information. The PHR is enhanced to carry a waveform-specific value associated with another waveform as another power headroom information, so that the same PHR has both the first power headroom information and the second power headroom information. Relative information as a waveform-specific value (wherein the power headroom information is expressed relative to the waveform power headroom used) can provide good accuracy, thereby also solving the problem of low resolution of the PHR message for the cell edge UE. For example, this can be done with 2-4 bits. The waveform-specific value can define how many decibels the power headroom of the second waveform differs from the power headroom of the first waveform, and the waveform-specific value is expressed as an absolute value via the PHR.

[0038] In case 3 bits are used, the signaling value range may be [0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5] dB, where the numbers may be positive or negative, depending on which waveform is used as reference for the PHR. For example, and assuming that the DFT-s-OFDM waveform always provides higher transmit power compared to CP-OFDM, these values ​​may be positive if the reference waveform used for PHR calculation is CP-OFDM, and negative otherwise. Another option may be to have signaling that contains both positive and negative values. In this case, the waveform specific values ​​will be directly represented for the current waveform.

[0039] In the second example, the power headroom report is used to indicate the difference between the currently used transmit PUSCH power and the maximum achievable power in the current configuration from the UE. The difference (increment) can be determined for the first waveform and the second waveform respectively and provided to the base station. The incremental value can be provided in the same message or in a separate message, and in particular, the same or separate message can be a PHR report enhanced to include an increment. In this case, the increments for the first waveform and the second waveform are the first power headroom information and the second power headroom information, respectively. The maximum achievable power depends on the current situation and is therefore different from the nominal maximum transmit power of the UE. In particular, the maximum achievable power depends on the waveform, PRB allocation, UE implementation and modulation scheme. Therefore, it provides more accurate information than a comparison with the nominal maximum UE power, which involves how much more power will be obtained by dynamically switching to another waveform. This is because in any given configuration, it is unlikely that the UE is set to transmit exactly at the nominal maximum UE transmit power.

[0040] In a third example, implicit waveform switching activated / deactivated by the UE will be described. When the UE reports a power headroom value below or, in some embodiments, above a preconfigured threshold, implicit waveform switching is activated. For example, this can be based on a downlink control information DCI value from a base station. The threshold can be configured to the UE by the base station. Separate thresholds can be applied depending on the waveform used for the PHR. A lower threshold can be used with a PHR for CP-OFDM, and a higher threshold can be used with a PHR for DFT-s-OFDM. Implicit signaling can be combined with the above-described power headroom reporting using the nominal maximum UE transmit power or the maximum achievable power in the current configuration from the UE.

[0041] In an implicit switching indication, certain DCI parameter values ​​may indicate a switch from a CP-OFDM waveform to a DFT-s-OFDM waveform. The base station may indicate the selected waveform by scheduling a PUSCH with such a value. When such implicit switching is activated, the UE transmits with a DFT-s-OFDM waveform when the base station indicates, for example, an MCS value from a predefined or configured set of MCS values ​​and below a threshold (such as BPSK or QPSK) or a number of PRBs below a certain threshold.

[0042] In another embodiment of implicit indication, when the UL grant parameters signaled via the DCI result in a transmit power change relative to the transmit power used to determine the latest PHR that exceeds a determined transmit power change limit, a waveform change is indicated.

[0043] The determined transmit power change limit may be the reported power headroom value minus the configured threshold: Limit = Power Headroom - Threshold.Thus, when the UE reports a larger power headroom, a larger transmit power change is required before a DFT-s-OFDM waveform is selected.

[0044] For example, when the PRB allocation results in a transmit power change exceeding (power headroom value - threshold), a DFT-s-OFDM waveform may be selected:

[0045] in

[0046] is the number of RBs used in PH determination, PH is the reported power headroom, and Th is the configured threshold.

[0047] In the third example of implicit signaling, the transmit power change needs to be caused by base station scheduling so that both the base station and the UE have the same interpretation of which waveform to use. This change may be caused by PRB allocation, MCS (possibly changing the MCS offset in the transmit power control TPC), and closed loop TPC commands. Changes in the estimated path loss may be excluded. Therefore, the transmit power change calculated for implicit signaling to determine the waveform may be different from the transmit power change used in the PUSCH transmission, which includes the effect of the estimated path loss.

[0048] In a fourth example, autonomous waveform switching is activated by the UE as a response to waveform assistance information without implicit or explicit instructions from the base station to switch waveforms. Autonomous waveform switching to or from DFT-s-OFDM is performed at both the gNB and the UE when the UE reports that the power headroom value of the current waveform is below a threshold or, in some embodiments, above a threshold. The UE then expects a DCI from the base station with a field related to the newly activated waveform starting at a specific time after the report.

[0049] If the waveform assistance information is carried in a MAC packet data unit (PDU), a specific time after the report will provide the base station with an opportunity to request a retransmission of the MAC message, or to indicate a failure in waveform assistance information transmission or reception. In this way, if PHR detection at the base station fails, the UE will not switch waveforms, and ambiguity about the waveform to be used between the base station and the UE is avoided. This is in Figure 4 Shown in.

[0050] The method disclosed herein provides a way for the base station to facilitate more optimized waveform selection. For example, in the case where the RF performance limits the transmit power (the MPR difference between the two waveforms is 1.5dB for QPSK). In this scenario, the base station can receive the following PHR report:

[0051] 1) The PHR of CP-OFDM (=transmitted waveform in this example) is 1 dB.

[0052] 2) The PHR of DFT-s-OFDM is 2dB

[0053] Based on this, when scheduling PUSCH, the base station will know that DFT-s-OFDM may be a better waveform candidate, at least for similar or larger bandwidth allocations. PUSCH can be scheduled with a PRB allocation wider than the number of PRBs for the PUSCH for which the PHR is reported. On the other hand, if the base station schedules PUSCH with a similar or narrower frequency allocation, CP-OFDM may be preferred because some positive power headroom is also reported for that waveform. This decision may also be influenced by the power control commands sent by the base station after the PHR, and / or by performance differences between CP-OFDM / DFT-s-OFDM receiver implementations at the base station.

[0054] Regarding the difference between waveform specific values ​​embedded in a PHR and multiple PHRs of different waveforms, it may be noted that with embedded waveform specific values, the reported value indicates a different metric than the PHR, which allows the use of a finer resolution (such as 0.5 dB) with fewer bits due to the smaller dynamic range. The UE may report a value indicating only the difference relative to the PHR value of the current waveform, which is indicated as an absolute value. In another embodiment, the UE reports the PHR value relative to the PHR. CMAX_L,f,c The difference between the two, which represents the configured transmit power P that the UE can select CMAX,c The base station can also determine the same P CMAX_L,f,c .

[0055] In other words, the benefit of embedding waveform specific values ​​in the PHR in multiple PHRs is better accuracy due to smaller quantization size and smaller bit field size due to smaller ranges to report due to the reported values ​​and the selection of associated reference points. The smaller number of bits required for each value facilitates reporting of multiple values ​​by the UE, such as for multiple PUSCH allocations, such as actual and virtual PUSCH allocations. With multiple reported values, the base station gains a more complete understanding of the preferred waveform, thereby facilitating more efficient waveform selection.

[0056] Figure 3 An example apparatus capable of supporting at least some embodiments of the present invention is shown. Device 300 is shown, which may include, for example Figure 1 UE 110 or base station 130 in applicable parts. Device 300 includes a processor 310, which may include, for example, a single-core or multi-core processor, wherein a single-core processor includes one processing core and a multi-core processor includes more than one processing core. Processor 310 may generally include a control device. Processor 310 may include more than one processor. Processor 310 may be a control device. The processing core may include, for example, a Cortex-A8 processing core manufactured or designed by ARM Holdings or a Zen processing core designed by Advanced Micro Devices Corporation. Processor 310 may include at least one Qualcomm Snapdragon and / or Intel Atom processor. Processor 310 may include at least one application-specific integrated circuit ASIC. Processor 310 may include at least one field programmable gate array FPGA. Processor 310 may be a component for performing method steps (such as sending, providing, selecting, executing and receiving) in device 300. Processor 310 may be configured at least in part by computer instructions to perform actions.

[0057] The processor may include circuits, or be configured as one or more circuits, configured to perform the stages of the method according to the embodiments described herein. As used in this application, the term "circuitry" may refer to one or more or all of the following: (a) a hardware circuit implementation only (such as an implementation in analog and / or digital circuits only); and (b) a combination of hardware circuits and software, such as applicable to: (i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuits and software / firmware, and (ii) any portion of a hardware processor with software (including a digital signal processor, software and memory that work together to enable a device such as a mobile phone or base station to perform various functions); and (c) a hardware circuit or processor that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, such as a microprocessor or a portion of a microprocessor, but the software may not be present when not required for operation.

[0058] This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of the term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of only a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or a portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware. For example and if applicable to the particular claim element, the term circuitry also covers a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device, or a similar integrated circuit in a server, cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

[0059] Device 300 may include memory 320. Memory 320 may include random access memory and / or permanent memory. Memory 320 may include at least one RAM chip. Memory 320 may include, for example, solid-state, magnetic, optical and / or holographic memory. Memory 320 may be at least partially accessible by processor 310. Memory 320 may be at least partially included in processor 310. Memory 320 may be a device for storing information. Memory 320 may include computer instructions that processor 310 is configured to execute. When computer instructions configured to cause processor 310 to perform certain actions are stored in memory 320, and device 300 as a whole is configured to run under the guidance of processor 310 using computer instructions from memory 320, processor 310 and / or at least one of its processing cores may be considered to be configured to perform the certain actions. Memory 320 may be at least partially included in processor 310. Memory 320 may be at least partially external to device 300, but accessible by device 300.

[0060] The device 300 may include a transmitter 330. The device 300 may include a receiver 340. The transmitter 330 and the receiver 340 may be configured to transmit and receive information, respectively, according to at least one cellular or non-cellular standard. The transmitter 330 may include more than one transmitter. The receiver 340 may include more than one receiver. The transmitter 330 and / or the receiver 340 may be configured to operate according to the Global System for Mobile Communications GSM, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access WCDMA, 5G, New Radio NR, Long Term Evolution LTE, IS-95, Wireless Local Area Network WLAN, Ethernet and / or Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access WiMAX standards.

[0061] The device 300 may include a near field communication NFC transceiver 350. The NFC transceiver 350 may support at least one NFC technology, such as NFC, Bluetooth, Wibree, or similar technology.

[0062] The device 300 may include a user interface UI 360. The UI 360 may include at least one of a display, a keyboard, a touch screen, a vibrator arranged to signal a user by vibrating the device 300, a speaker, and a microphone. The user may be able to operate the device 300 via the UI 360, for example to accept an incoming phone call, place a phone call or video call, browse the Internet, manage digital files stored in the memory 320 or on a cloud accessible via the transmitter 330 and the receiver 340 or accessible via the NFC transceiver 350, and / or play games.

[0063] The device 300 may include or be arranged to accept a user identity module 370. The user identity module 370 may include, for example, a subscriber identity module SIM card that may be installed in the device 300. The user identity module 370 may include information identifying a subscription of a user of the device 300. The user identity module 370 may include encryption information that may be used to verify the identity of the user of the device 300 and / or facilitate encryption of communicated information and billing of the user of the device 300 for communications achieved via the device 300.

[0064] The processor 310 may be equipped with a transmitter arranged to output information from the processor 310 to other devices included in the device 300 via electrical leads inside the device 300. Such a transmitter may include a serial bus transmitter arranged to output information to the memory 320 for storage therein, for example, via at least one electrical lead. Instead of a serial bus, the transmitter may include a parallel bus transmitter. Likewise, the processor 310 may include a receiver arranged to receive information in the processor 310 from other devices included in the device 300 via electrical leads inside the device 300. Such a receiver may include a serial bus receiver arranged to receive information from a receiver 340, for example, via at least one electrical lead, for processing in the processor 310. Instead of a serial bus, the receiver may include a parallel bus receiver.

[0065] The device 300 may include Figure 3 Other devices not shown in the figure. For example, where the device 300 comprises a smart phone, it may include at least one digital camera. Some devices 300 may include a rear camera and a front camera, wherein the rear camera may be intended for digital photography and the front camera is used for video telephony. The device 300 may include a fingerprint sensor arranged to at least partially authenticate a user of the device 300. In some embodiments, the device 300 lacks at least one of the above devices. For example, some devices 300 may lack an NFC transceiver 350 and / or a user identity module 370.

[0066] The processor 310, the memory 320, the transmitter 330, the receiver 340, the NFC transceiver 350, the UI 360 and / or the user identity module 370 may be interconnected in a variety of different ways through electrical leads inside the device 300. For example, each of the above devices may be individually connected to a main bus inside the device 300 to allow the devices to exchange information. However, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, this is only an example, and various ways of interconnecting at least two of the aforementioned devices may be selected without departing from the scope of the present invention, depending on the embodiment.

[0067] Figure 4 1 shows signaling according to at least some embodiments of the present invention. Figure 1 The UE 110 is provided on the right side. Figure 1 of base stations 130. Time progresses from top to bottom. Figure 4 The signaling involves autonomous switching of the UE.

[0068] At stage 410, UE 110 determines, for example, power headroom information for a first waveform and a second waveform, such as CP-OFDM and DFT-s-ODFM, respectively. At stage 420, UE 110 provides the first power headroom information and the second power headroom information to base station 130. For example, these can be provided to the base station by additionally including the second power headroom information in the PHR of the currently used CP-OFDM waveform as a waveform-specific value related to the second waveform DFT-s-ODFM. The waveform-specific value describes the power headroom if DFT-s-OFDM is used instead of CP-OFDM, relative to the power headroom report value related to CP-OFDM in the CP-OFDM PHR. For example, the waveform-specific value may indicate that if the second waveform DFT-s-ODFM is used instead of CP-OFDM, an additional 1.5 dB of power can be used, and the CP-OFDM power headroom is reported as +1 dB.

[0069] Both the UE and the base station are configured to respond to such a power headroom report by switching to use DFT-s-OFDM in the PUSCH, without any separate indication from the base station. The base station determines this in stage 430 based on the report of stage 420, and the UE waits for a possible error message from the base station in stage 440, as described above. In the event that the base station fails to correctly receive the PHR of stage 420, it will not be aware that the UE plans to switch autonomously to the second waveform, and a radio link error may occur. Therefore, the UE waits (stage 440) to ensure that the base station does not report an error in decoding the PHR 420 before switching to the second waveform. In stage 450, an uplink shared channel is sent from the UE 110 using the second waveform.

[0070] Although described herein as a power headroom report using the nominal maximum UE transmit power as a reference, a similar process may be obtained in the case where the UE signals the available power of the two waveforms according to the maximum achievable power in the current configuration from the UE, as described above in conjunction with the second example. In other words, the first power headroom information and the second power headroom information may be defined with reference to the nominal maximum UE transmit power or the maximum achievable power in the current configuration. The current configuration may include, for example, parameter values ​​used in transmission of the physical uplink channel, such as PRB allocation and modulation scheme.

[0071] Figure 5 is a flow chart of a method according to at least some embodiments of the present invention. The stages of the method shown may be performed, for example, in UE 110 or in a control device configured to control its functions when installed therein.

[0072] Stage 510 includes transmitting information in the direction of a physical uplink shared channel, selectively using a first waveform or a second waveform by the device, the second waveform having a lower peak-to-average power ratio than the first waveform. Stage 520 includes providing first power headroom information and second power headroom information to a base station controlling a cell to which the device is attached, the first power headroom information disclosing an amount of power between a maximum allowed or achievable transmit power and a first transmit power, which is currently used by the device to transmit on the physical uplink shared channel using the first waveform, and the second power headroom information disclosing an amount of power between a maximum allowed transmit power or a maximum achievable power using a second waveform and a second transmit power, which, if the device is using the second waveform, will be used by the device to transmit on the physical uplink shared channel. Finally, stage 530 includes making the following selection: continuing to use the first waveform on the physical uplink shared channel, or switching to using the second waveform on the physical uplink shared channel.

[0073] It should be understood that the disclosed embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the specific structures, process steps or materials disclosed herein, but are extended to equivalents thereof that will be recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art in the relevant technical field. It should also be understood that the terms used herein are only used for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to be limiting.

[0074] Reference throughout this specification to one embodiment or embodiments means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. Thus, the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" appearing in various places throughout this specification do not necessarily all refer to the same embodiment. Where reference is made to a numerical value using terms such as, for example, about or substantially, the exact numerical value is also disclosed.

[0075] As used herein, for convenience, multiple projects, structural elements, constituent elements and / or materials can be presented in a public list. However, these lists should be interpreted as each member of the list being individually identified as a separate and unique member. Therefore, in the absence of contrary instructions, the individual members of such a list should not be interpreted as the de facto equivalents of any other member of the same list based only on their presentation in the public group. In addition, various embodiments and examples of the present invention can be mentioned together with the alternatives of its various components in this article. It should be understood that such embodiments, examples and alternatives should not be interpreted as de facto equivalents to each other, but should be considered as separate and autonomous representations of the present invention.

[0076] In addition, in one or more embodiments, the described features, structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner. In the foregoing description, many specific details, such as examples of length, width, shape, etc., are provided to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present invention. However, those skilled in the relevant art will recognize that the present invention may be practiced without one or more specific details, or using other methods, components, materials, etc. In other cases, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the present invention.

[0077] Although the foregoing examples illustrate the principles of the present invention in one or more specific applications, it is obvious to those skilled in the art that many modifications may be made in the form, use and details of the implementation without inventive effort and without departing from the principles and concepts of the present invention. Therefore, it is not intended to limit the present invention except as set forth in the claims below.

[0078] The verbs "comprise" and "include" are used in this document as open limitations that neither exclude nor require the presence of unrecited features. The features recited in the dependent claims may be freely combined with each other unless explicitly stated otherwise. Furthermore, it should be understood that the use of "a" or "an" (i.e., the singular) throughout this document does not exclude a plurality. Industrial Applicability

[0079] At least some embodiments of the present invention find industrial application in wireless cellular communications. List of acronyms ARQ Automatic Repeat Request BPSK Binary Phase Shift Keying CP-OFDM Cyclic Prefix OFDM DFT-s-OFDM Discrete Fourier Transform-Extended OFDM FDSS Frequency Domain Spectral Shaping HARQ Hybrid ARQ MPR Maximum Power Reduction OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing PAPR Peak to Average Power Ratio PH Power Headroom PHR Power Headroom Report PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel QPSK Quadrature Phase Shift Keying Technical terms: Clause 1. An apparatus comprising at least one processing core, at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to, together with the at least one processing core, cause the apparatus to at least: - optionally using a first waveform or a second waveform to transmit information in a physical uplink shared channel direction, the second waveform having a lower peak-to-average power ratio than the first waveform, - providing first power headroom information and second power headroom information to a network node controlling a cell to which the apparatus is attached, the first power headroom information disclosing an amount of power between a maximum allowed transmit power or a maximum achievable transmit power and a first transmit power, the amount of power currently used by the apparatus to transmit on the physical uplink shared channel using the first waveform, the second power headroom information disclosing an amount of power between the maximum allowed transmit power or the maximum achievable power using the second waveform and a second transmit power, the second transmit power to be used by the apparatus to transmit on the physical uplink shared channel if the apparatus is using the second waveform, and - Make the following selection: continue to use the first waveform on the physical uplink shared channel, or switch to use the second waveform on the physical uplink shared channel. Clause 2. The apparatus of clause 1, configured to provide the first power headroom information and the second power headroom information in two different power headroom reports, respectively. Clause 3. The apparatus of clause 1, configured to provide the first power headroom information and the second power headroom information in a single power headroom report. Clause 4. An apparatus as described in any of clauses 1-3, wherein the apparatus is configured to perform the selecting based at least in part on the first power headroom information and the second power headroom information without receiving explicit instructions from the base station. Clause 5. An apparatus as described in any of clauses 1-3, wherein the apparatus is configured to perform the selecting based at least in part on instructions received from the base station in response to providing the first power headroom information and the second power headroom information. Clause 6. An apparatus as described in any of clauses 1-3, wherein the apparatus is configured to perform providing the first power headroom information and the second power headroom information to the base station in response to a trigger condition being satisfied in the apparatus. Clause 7. An apparatus according to clause 6, wherein the trigger condition includes one or more of the following: a set time period has passed since the previous provision of the first power margin information and the second power margin information, the path loss between the apparatus and the base station has changed by more than a first threshold change amount, the apparatus changes the maximum power reduction value of the apparatus, or the difference in transmit power, power margin, or configured maximum transmit power between the first waveform and the second waveform changes by more than a second threshold change amount. Clause 8. An apparatus as described in any of clauses 1-7, wherein the maximum allowed transmit power is a nominal maximum allowed transmit power of the apparatus in any configuration, or a maximum allowed transmit power of the apparatus based on a user equipment power class of the apparatus. Clause 9. An apparatus as described in any of clauses 1-7, wherein the maximum achievable transmit power is the maximum achievable transmit power of the apparatus in the configuration in use when the first power headroom information and the second power headroom information are provided to the base station. Clause 10. An apparatus according to any one of clauses 1-9, wherein the apparatus is configured to provide the maximum allowed transmit power or the amount of power between the maximum achievable power using the second waveform and the second transmit power, and if the apparatus is using the second waveform, the apparatus will use the second transmit power to transmit on the physical uplink shared channel, and the power amount is expressed relative to the maximum allowed transmit power or the amount of power between the maximum achievable transmit power and the first transmit power. Clause 11. An apparatus according to any one of clauses 1-10, wherein the maximum allowed transmit power, the first transmit power and the second transmit power are determined for a configured reference transmission, the configured reference transmission may be different from the transmission on the physical uplink shared channel, and wherein the configuration of the reference transmission includes at least one of a modulation scheme and a frequency position of a resource block. Clause 12. An apparatus comprising at least one processing core, at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to, with the at least one processing core, cause the apparatus to at least: - selectively receiving information in a physical uplink channel direction using a first waveform or a second waveform, the second waveform having a lower peak-to-average power ratio than the first waveform, and - receiving, from a user equipment UE attached to a cell controlled by the apparatus, first power headroom information and second power headroom information, the first power headroom information disclosing a maximum allowed transmit power or a maximum achievable transmit power and an amount of power between a first transmit power, the amount of power currently used by the UE to transmit on the physical uplink channel using the first waveform, and the second power headroom information disclosing an amount of power between the maximum allowed transmit power or the maximum achievable power using the second waveform and a second transmit power, the second transmit power to be used by the UE to transmit on the physical uplink channel if the UE is using the second waveform, and - making a selection: continuing to use the first waveform on the physical uplink channel, or switching to use the second waveform on the physical uplink channel. Clause 13. The apparatus of any preceding clause, wherein the first waveform is a cyclic prefix orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (CP-OFDM) waveform and the second waveform is a discrete Fourier transform-spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-s-OFDM) waveform. Clause 14. A method comprising: -selectably transmitting, by the device, information in a physical uplink shared channel direction using a first waveform or a second waveform, the second waveform having a lower peak-to-average power ratio than the first waveform; - providing first power headroom information and second power headroom information to a network node controlling a cell to which the apparatus is attached, the first power headroom information disclosing an amount of power between a maximum allowed transmit power or a maximum achievable transmit power and a first transmit power, the amount of power currently used by the apparatus to transmit on the physical uplink shared channel using the first waveform, the second power headroom information disclosing an amount of power between the maximum allowed transmit power or the maximum achievable power using the second waveform and a second transmit power, the second transmit power to be used by the apparatus to transmit on the physical uplink shared channel if the apparatus is using the second waveform, and - Make the following selection: continue to use the first waveform on the physical uplink shared channel, or switch to use the second waveform on the physical uplink shared channel. Clause 15. The method of clause 14, wherein the first power headroom information and the second power headroom information are provided in two different power headroom reports, respectively. Clause 16. The method of Clause 14, wherein the first power headroom information and the second power headroom information are provided in a single power headroom report. Clause 17. The method of any of clauses 14-16, wherein the selecting is performed based at least in part on the first power headroom information and the second power headroom information without receiving explicit instructions from the base station. Clause 18. The method of any of clauses 14-16, wherein the selecting is performed based at least in part on instructions received from the base station in response to providing the first power headroom information and the second power headroom information. Clause 19. A method as described in any of clauses 14-18, wherein providing the first power headroom information and the second power headroom information to the base station is performed in response to a trigger condition being satisfied in the apparatus. Clause 20. A method comprising: - receiving information in a physical uplink channel direction selectively using, by the device, a first waveform or a second waveform, the second waveform having a lower peak-to-average power ratio than the first waveform, and - receiving, from a user equipment UE attached to a cell controlled by the apparatus, first power headroom information and second power headroom information, the first power headroom information disclosing a maximum allowed transmit power or a maximum achievable transmit power and an amount of power between a first transmit power, the amount of power currently used by the UE to transmit on the physical uplink channel using the first waveform, and the second power headroom information disclosing an amount of power between the maximum allowed transmit power or the maximum achievable power using the second waveform and a second transmit power, the second transmit power to be used by the UE to transmit on the physical uplink channel if the UE is using the second waveform, and - making a selection: continuing to use the first waveform on the physical uplink channel, or switching to use the second waveform on the physical uplink channel. Clause 21. The method of any of clauses 14-20, wherein the first waveform is a cyclic prefix orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (CP-OFDM) waveform and the second waveform is a discrete Fourier transform-spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-s-OFDM) waveform. Clause 22. An apparatus comprising means for: - optionally transmitting information in a physical uplink shared channel direction using a first waveform or a second waveform, the second waveform having a lower peak-to-average power ratio than the first waveform; - providing first power headroom information and second power headroom information to a network node controlling a cell to which the apparatus is attached, the first power headroom information disclosing an amount of power between a maximum allowed transmit power or a maximum achievable transmit power and a first transmit power, the amount of power currently used by the apparatus to transmit on the physical uplink shared channel using the first waveform, the second power headroom information disclosing an amount of power between the maximum allowed transmit power or the maximum achievable power using the second waveform and a second transmit power, the second transmit power to be used by the apparatus to transmit on the physical uplink shared channel if the apparatus is using the second waveform, and - Make the following selection: continue to use the first waveform on the physical uplink shared channel, or switch to use the second waveform on the physical uplink shared channel. Clause 23. An apparatus comprising components for: - selectively receiving information in a physical uplink channel direction using a first waveform or a second waveform, the second waveform having a lower peak-to-average power ratio than the first waveform, and - receiving, from a user equipment UE attached to a cell controlled by the apparatus, first power headroom information and second power headroom information, the first power headroom information disclosing a maximum allowed transmit power or a maximum achievable transmit power and an amount of power between a first transmit power, the amount of power currently used by the UE to transmit on the physical uplink channel using the first waveform, and the second power headroom information disclosing an amount of power between the maximum allowed transmit power or the maximum achievable power using the second waveform and a second transmit power, the second transmit power to be used by the UE to transmit on the physical uplink channel if the UE is using the second waveform, and - making a selection: continuing to use the first waveform on the physical uplink channel, or switching to use the second waveform on the physical uplink channel. Clause 24. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon a set of computer-readable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause an apparatus to at least: - optionally transmitting information in a physical uplink shared channel direction using a first waveform or a second waveform, the second waveform having a lower peak-to-average power ratio than the first waveform; - providing first power headroom information and second power headroom information to a network node controlling a cell to which the apparatus is attached, the first power headroom information disclosing an amount of power between a maximum allowed transmit power or a maximum achievable transmit power and a first transmit power, the amount of power currently used by the apparatus to transmit on the physical uplink shared channel using the first waveform, the second power headroom information disclosing an amount of power between the maximum allowed transmit power or the maximum achievable power using the second waveform and a second transmit power, the second transmit power to be used by the apparatus to transmit on the physical uplink shared channel if the apparatus is using the second waveform, and - Make the following selection: continue to use the first waveform on the physical uplink shared channel, or switch to use the second waveform on the physical uplink shared channel. Clause 25. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon a set of computer-readable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause an apparatus to at least: - selectively receiving information in a physical uplink channel direction using a first waveform or a second waveform, the second waveform having a lower peak-to-average power ratio than the first waveform, and - receiving, from a user equipment UE attached to a cell controlled by the apparatus, first power headroom information and second power headroom information, the first power headroom information disclosing a maximum allowed transmit power or a maximum achievable transmit power and an amount of power between a first transmit power, the amount of power currently used by the UE to transmit on the physical uplink channel using the first waveform, and the second power headroom information disclosing an amount of power between the maximum allowed transmit power or the maximum achievable power using the second waveform and a second transmit power, the second transmit power to be used by the UE to transmit on the physical uplink channel if the UE is using the second waveform, and - making a selection: continuing to use the first waveform on the physical uplink channel, or switching to use the second waveform on the physical uplink channel.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising at least one processing core, at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to, together with the at least one processing core, cause the apparatus to at least: - optionally using a first waveform or a second waveform to transmit information in a physical uplink shared channel direction, the second waveform having a lower peak-to-average power ratio than the first waveform, - providing first power headroom information and second power headroom information to a network node controlling a cell to which the apparatus is attached, the first power headroom information disclosing an amount of power between a maximum allowed transmit power or a maximum achievable transmit power and a first transmit power, the amount of power currently used by the apparatus to transmit on the physical uplink shared channel using the first waveform, the second power headroom information disclosing an amount of power between the maximum allowed transmit power or the maximum achievable power using the second waveform and a second transmit power, the second transmit power to be used by the apparatus to transmit on the physical uplink shared channel if the apparatus is using the second waveform, and - Make the following selection: continue to use the first waveform on the physical uplink shared channel, or switch to use the second waveform on the physical uplink shared channel. 2 . The apparatus according to claim 1 , configured to provide the first power headroom information and the second power headroom information in two different power headroom reports, respectively. 3 . The apparatus of claim 1 , configured to provide the first power headroom information and the second power headroom information in a single power headroom report.

4. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the apparatus is configured to perform the selecting based at least in part on the first power headroom information and the second power headroom information without receiving an explicit instruction from the base station.

5. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the apparatus is configured to perform the selecting based at least in part on an instruction received from the base station in response to providing the first power headroom information and the second power headroom information.

6. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the apparatus is configured to provide the first power headroom information and the second power headroom information to the base station in response to a trigger condition being satisfied in the apparatus.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the trigger condition comprises one or more of: a set time period has passed since the previous provision of the first power headroom information and the second power headroom information, a path loss between the apparatus and the base station has changed by more than a first threshold change amount, the apparatus changes a maximum power reduction value of the apparatus, or a difference in transmit power, power headroom, or configured maximum transmit power between the first waveform and the second waveform changes by more than a second threshold change amount.

8. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1-7, wherein the maximum allowed transmit power is a nominal maximum allowed transmit power of the apparatus in any configuration, or a maximum allowed transmit power of the apparatus based on a user equipment power class of the apparatus.

9. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, the maximum achievable transmit power being the maximum achievable transmit power of the apparatus in the configuration used when the first power headroom information and the second power headroom information are provided to the base station.

10. An apparatus according to any one of claims 1-9, wherein the apparatus is configured to provide the maximum allowed transmit power or the power amount between the maximum achievable power using the second waveform and the second transmit power, if the apparatus is using the second waveform, the apparatus will use the second transmit power to transmit on the physical uplink shared channel, and the power amount is expressed relative to the maximum allowed transmit power or the power amount between the maximum achievable transmit power and the first transmit power.

11. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1-10, wherein the maximum allowed transmit power, the first transmit power, and the second transmit power are determined for a configured reference transmission, the configured reference transmission may be different from the transmission on the physical uplink shared channel, and wherein the configuration of the reference transmission includes at least one of a modulation scheme and a frequency position of a resource block.

12. An apparatus comprising at least one processing core, at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to, together with the at least one processing core, cause the apparatus to at least: - selectively receiving information in a physical uplink channel direction using a first waveform or a second waveform, the second waveform having a lower peak-to-average power ratio than the first waveform, and - receiving, from a user equipment UE attached to a cell controlled by the apparatus, first power headroom information and second power headroom information, the first power headroom information disclosing a maximum allowed transmit power or a maximum achievable transmit power and an amount of power between a first transmit power, the amount of power currently used by the UE to transmit on the physical uplink channel using the first waveform, and the second power headroom information disclosing an amount of power between the maximum allowed transmit power or the maximum achievable power using the second waveform and a second transmit power, the second transmit power to be used by the UE to transmit on the physical uplink channel if the UE is using the second waveform, and - making a selection: continuing to use the first waveform on the physical uplink channel, or switching to use the second waveform on the physical uplink channel.

13. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the first waveform is a Cyclic Prefix Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (CP-OFDM) waveform and the second waveform is a Discrete Fourier Transform-Spread Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (DFT-s-OFDM) waveform.

14. A method comprising: - the device selectively uses a first waveform or a second waveform to send information in a physical uplink shared channel direction, the second waveform having a lower peak-to-average power ratio than the first waveform, - providing first power headroom information and second power headroom information to a network node controlling a cell to which the apparatus is attached, the first power headroom information disclosing an amount of power between a maximum allowed transmit power or a maximum achievable transmit power and a first transmit power, the amount of power currently used by the apparatus to transmit on the physical uplink shared channel using the first waveform, the second power headroom information disclosing an amount of power between the maximum allowed transmit power or the maximum achievable power using the second waveform and a second transmit power, the second transmit power to be used by the apparatus to transmit on the physical uplink shared channel if the apparatus is using the second waveform, and - making the following selection: continuing to use the first waveform on a physical uplink shared channel, or switching to use the second waveform on the physical uplink shared channel.

15. A method comprising: - receiving information in a physical uplink channel direction selectively using, by the device, a first waveform or a second waveform, the second waveform having a lower peak-to-average power ratio than the first waveform, and - receiving, from a user equipment UE attached to a cell controlled by the apparatus, first power headroom information and second power headroom information, the first power headroom information disclosing a maximum allowed transmit power or a maximum achievable transmit power and an amount of power between a first transmit power, the amount of power currently used by the UE to transmit on the physical uplink channel using the first waveform, and the second power headroom information disclosing an amount of power between the maximum allowed transmit power or the maximum achievable power using the second waveform and a second transmit power, the second transmit power to be used by the UE to transmit on the physical uplink channel if the UE is using the second waveform, and - making a selection: continuing to use the first waveform on the physical uplink channel, or switching to use the second waveform on the physical uplink channel.

16. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon a set of computer readable instructions which, when executed by at least one processor, cause an apparatus to at least: - optionally transmitting information in a physical uplink shared channel direction using a first waveform or a second waveform, the second waveform having a lower peak-to-average power ratio than the first waveform, - providing first power headroom information and second power headroom information to a network node controlling a cell to which the apparatus is attached, the first power headroom information disclosing an amount of power between a maximum allowed transmit power or a maximum achievable transmit power and a first transmit power, the amount of power currently used by the apparatus to transmit on the physical uplink shared channel using the first waveform, the second power headroom information disclosing an amount of power between the maximum allowed transmit power or the maximum achievable power using the second waveform and a second transmit power, the second transmit power to be used by the apparatus to transmit on the physical uplink shared channel if the apparatus is using the second waveform, and - Make the following selection: continue to use the first waveform on the physical uplink shared channel, or switch to use the second waveform on the physical uplink shared channel.

17. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon a set of computer readable instructions which, when executed by at least one processor, cause an apparatus to at least: - optionally receiving information in a physical uplink channel direction using a first waveform or a second waveform, the second waveform having a lower peak-to-average power ratio than the first waveform, and - receiving, from a user equipment UE attached to a cell controlled by the apparatus, first power headroom information and second power headroom information, the first power headroom information disclosing a maximum allowed transmit power or a maximum achievable transmit power and an amount of power between a first transmit power, the amount of power currently used by the UE to transmit on the physical uplink channel using the first waveform, and the second power headroom information disclosing an amount of power between the maximum allowed transmit power or the maximum achievable power using the second waveform and a second transmit power, the second transmit power to be used by the UE to transmit on the physical uplink channel if the UE is using the second waveform, and - making a selection: continuing to use the first waveform on the physical uplink channel, or switching to use the second waveform on the physical uplink channel.

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