Demodulation reference signal for shared radio

Abstract

Methods and apparatus are provided for demodulation reference signal configuration in a shared radio spectrum system. A method performed by a wireless device (110, 200) is provided. The wireless device (200) operates in a communication system, wherein the communication system comprises a radio spectrum shared by a plurality of radio access technologies. The method comprises: obtaining (600) a configuration of a demodulation reference signal, DMRS, wherein the DMRS comprises a pattern of common resource elements using at least two of the plurality of radio access technologies; and transmitting or receiving (630) a data transmission based on the obtained demodulation reference signal. A method performed by a network node (160) is provided. The method comprises: the network node determining (700) a configuration of a demodulation reference signal, DMRS, wherein the DMRS comprises a pattern of common resource elements using at least two of a plurality of radio access technologies; and receiving or transmitting (720) a data transmission based on the determined configuration of the demodulation reference signal.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS) in a system having a radio spectrum shared by different radio access technologies, and in particular to its configuration. Background Art

[0002] In mobile radio systems such as LTE and NR, reference signals (RS) are usually transmitted to aid radio channel knowledge, but can also be transmitted for tracking impairments induced by the local oscillator of the transceiver. The design of the reference signal will depend on its use case, and several types of reference signals are needed in mobile radio systems. The main purpose of a reference signal will usually be reflected by its name.

[0003] For example, a reference signal designed for coherent demodulation of a physical layer channel is called DM-RS, a reference signal CSI-RS designed for acquiring channel state information in a downlink, and a reference signal designed for tracking the time and frequency difference between a transmitter and a receiver is called TRS.

[0004] In LTE, on the other hand, a cell-specific reference signal (CRS) is specified, which has multiple purposes including mobility and new cell detection. Therefore, CRS can never be disabled, it must always be transmitted by the LTE cell, even if there are no served users. LTE also has the possibility of using DM-RS based demodulation of data when configured in any of transmission modes 7-10. Here, transmission modes (TM) 9 and TM 10 are of most interest because these DM-RS modes support up to eight ports to allow high spectral efficiency transmission as well as a high degree of multi-user MIMO, i.e., many co-scheduled users on the same time and frequency resources using orthogonal DM-RS.

[0005] Due to the wide range of use cases envisioned for NR and also due to other factors, each of the above reference signals is fully configurable as per the 3GPP agreement. They can occupy many different OFDM symbols within a slot of a radio frame, and can also occupy different sets of subcarriers in each OFDM symbol.

[0006] NR DMRS can be configured with 1, 2, 3 or 4 DMRS symbols in a slot (where a slot has 14 OFDM symbols). The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) can be scheduled with less than 14 symbols, in which case the DMRS are close together and eventually dropped in such cases where the PDSCH duration is too short to accommodate the configured number of DMRS symbols. An overview of NR DMRS locations in Rel.15 can be found at Figure 1This can be seen in the figure showing possible NR DMRS symbol locations within a 14-symbol slot. Both single and double symbol DMRS are supported, where double means that DMRS symbols appear in pairs using adjacent symbols.

[0007] As in Figure 1 As can be seen in Figure 1, as an example, if the PDSCH duration is 11 symbols and two additional DMRS symbols are configured, they will be placed at symbol indices 6 and 9, where the symbol index numbers run from 0 to 13. The position of the first symbol containing DMRS is in the symbol with index 2 or 3 and is given by the cell-specific system information provided by the Master Information Block (MIB).

[0008] If we observe a single time slot and a single resource block (RB), assuming a single DMRS OFDM symbol, the NR DM-RS is as follows Figure 2 as shown in .

[0009] In LTE, when 2 CRS ports are configured (denoted as LTE CRS ports 0 and 1), the CRS positions in the DL subframe are dense and occupy resource element symbols with slot indices 0, 4, 7, and 11. In the case where 4 CRS ports are configured, the CRS occupies symbols with slot indices 0, 1, 4, 7, 8, and 11. However, in the case where 4 ports are configured, the third and fourth ports (CRS ports 2 and 3) are only used when receiving PDSCH and not for mobility measurements, as these measurements are only defined on LTE ports 0 and 1. Examples of LTE CRS positions are shown in Figure 3 Shown in.

[0010] For transmission modes 9 and 10, which are the most useful for MU-MIMO in LTE, the DM-RS pattern in a physical RB (PRB) pair is as follows: Figure 4 as shown in .

[0011] It is possible to operate an NR carrier and an LTE carrier in the same frequency band, known as NR LTE coexistence. This may also be referred to as dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS). Terminals connected to the LTE carrier are not aware of the presence of potential NR transmissions when there is no ongoing LTE transmission. On the other hand, terminals connected to the NR carrier can be configured to be aware of the potential overlap with the LTE carrier. Since LTE CRS cannot be disabled, the timeslot will not be empty, even if there is no LTE traffic.

[0012] Therefore, when LTE and NR use the same subcarrier spacing (i.e., 15 kHz), NR uses at least the RRC parameter lte-CRS-ToMatchAround for the CRS location and nrofCRS-Ports for the number of CRS ports (1, 2, or 4) to provide signaling to the NR UE about the location of the CRS.

[0013] This allows coexistence of LTE and NR on the same carrier, as the NR PDSCH can be mapped around the LTE CRS.

[0014] It is observed that the NR DM-RS in symbol l1=11 collides with the LTE CRS in symbol 11 for PDSCH durations 13 and 14, so there is a rule in NR Rel.15 that says that if lte-CRS-ToMatchAround is configured to the NR UE, then l1=12 is used instead of l1=11 for these PDSCH durations. In this way, the NR DM-RS does not collide with the LTE CRS and coexistence is achieved.

[0015] In MU-MIMO scheduling, there are two possibilities from the network.

[0016] 1. Transparent MU-MIMO, in which case the transmission to user A is independent of the transmission to user B. User A is unaware of the ongoing MU-MIMO transmission to user B, and vice versa. User A's DM-RS may be interfered by the PDSCH and / or DM-RS transmitted to user B, and vice versa.

[0017] 2. Opaque MU-MIMO, in which case user A is aware of simultaneous transmissions to user B and vice versa, and also knows the antenna port (i.e., the DMRS) used for the other user. This allows the UE to coherently estimate the channel of the interfering transmission by using the DM-RS. This further allows for improved interference suppression and better performance compared to transparent MU-MIMO. Summary of the invention

[0018] In a first aspect, a method performed by a wireless device operating in a communication system is provided. The communication system includes the use of a radio spectrum shared by multiple radio access technologies. The method includes obtaining a configuration of a demodulation reference signal DMRS, wherein the DMRS occupies resource elements identified by a pattern and uses common resource elements of at least two radio access technologies of the multiple radio access technologies. For example, the DMRS may be configured for a first radio access technology and occupies the same resource elements as the DMRS configured for a second radio access technology. The method also includes transmitting or receiving data transmission based on the obtained demodulation reference signal. In some examples of this aspect, the DMRS is configured for a first radio access technology and is orthogonal or pseudo-orthogonal to the DMRS of different radio access technologies configured for the multiple radio access technologies. Different radio access technologies of the multiple radio access technologies may also be configured with a cell-specific reference signal CRS. In addition or alternatively, the DMRS may include a sequence, using the same DMRS sequence as the DMRS for another user and deriving the sequence by code domain multiplexing CDM, wherein at least part of the co-scheduled radio resource elements are used for another radio access technology of the multiple radio access technologies. In some examples, the DMRS includes a time domain orthogonal cover code OCC of length 4 to a group of 4 resource elements or a length 2 to a group of 2 resource elements. In a further example, a length 2 OCC is applied to one of the CDM groups, each of which corresponds to 2 unique antenna ports, or a length 4 OCC is applied to one of the CDM groups, each of which corresponds to 4 unique antenna ports. In some examples of this aspect, the method further includes obtaining an antenna port indication. In addition, the antenna port indication may include an indication of whether other ports within the same CDM group are scheduled. In addition or alternatively, the indication may include the number of CDM groups that do not schedule physical downlink shared channel data. In other examples of this aspect, the CDM may correspond to a length 4 OCC according to a subcarrier and / or physical resource block index. In other examples of this aspect, the obtained DMRS configuration may be a first DMRS configuration, and the method further includes obtaining a second DMRS configuration, wherein the second DMRS is configured for the following resource elements, which are unique compared to the DMRS and cell-specific reference signals configured for any one of the other radio access technologies. Additionally, the method may include receiving an indication to select between the first DMRS configuration and the second DMRS configuration.

[0019] In some examples of this aspect, the DMRS configuration may be used for uplink multi-user multiple-input multiple-output MU-MIMO.

[0020] In a second aspect, a method performed by a network node in a communication system is provided. The communication system includes the use of a radio spectrum shared by a plurality of radio access technologies. The method includes determining the configuration of a demodulation reference signal DMRS, wherein the DMRS occupies resource elements identified by a pattern, and uses common resource elements of at least two radio access technologies of the plurality of radio access technologies. For example, the DMRS may be configured for a first radio access technology and occupies the same resource elements as the DMRS configured for a second radio access technology. The method includes receiving or transmitting data transmission based on the determined configuration of the demodulation reference signal. In some examples of this aspect, the method includes configuring a wireless device using the determined configuration of the DMRS. In some examples, the DMRS is configured for a first radio access technology and is orthogonal or pseudo-orthogonal to the DMRS of different radio access technologies configured for the plurality of radio access technologies. In addition, different radio access technologies of the plurality of radio access technologies may be configured with a cell-specific reference signal CRS. In some examples of this aspect, the DMRS includes a sequence, the sequence is derived using the same DMRS sequence as the DMRS for another user and by code domain multiplexing CDM, wherein at least part of the co-scheduled radio resource elements are used for another radio access technology of the multiple radio access technologies. In addition, the DMRS may include a time domain orthogonal cover code OCC of length 4 to a group of 4 resource elements or a length 2 to a group of 2 resource elements. Further, in some examples, a length 2 OCC is applied to one of the CDM groups, wherein each CDM group corresponds to 2 unique antenna ports; and a length 4 OCC is applied to one of the CDM groups, wherein each CDM group corresponds to 4 unique antenna ports. In some examples of this aspect, the method further sends an antenna port indication to the wireless device. In addition, the antenna port indication may include an indication of whether other ports within the same CDM group are scheduled. In addition or alternatively, the indication includes the number of CDM groups that do not schedule physical downlink shared channel data. In some examples of this aspect, the CDM corresponds to a length 4 OCC according to a subcarrier and / or physical resource block index. In some examples of this aspect, the determined DMRS configuration is a first DMRS configuration, and the method further includes determining a second DMRS configuration, wherein the second DMRS is configured for resource elements that are unique from DMRS and cell-specific reference signals configured for any of the other radio access technologies. Additionally, in some examples, the method includes sending an indication to the wireless device to select between the first DMRS configuration and the second DMRS configuration. In some examples of this aspect, the DMRS configuration is for uplink multi-user multiple-input multiple-output MU-MIMO.

[0021] On the other hand, a wireless device is provided. The wireless device includes a processing circuit, a transceiver circuit, a memory, and a power supply circuit configured to supply power to the wireless device. The processing circuit is configured to obtain a configuration of a demodulation reference signal DMRS, wherein the DMRS includes a pattern of common resource elements of at least two radio access technologies using multiple radio access technologies. The processing circuit is also configured to receive or transmit data transmission based on the obtained demodulation reference signal. In some examples, the processing circuit is further configured to perform any one of the methods of the first aspect.

[0022] On the other hand, a network node is provided. The network node includes a processing circuit, a transceiver circuit, and a power supply circuit configured to supply power to the network node. The processing circuit is configured to determine a configuration of a demodulation reference signal DMRS, wherein the DMRS includes a pattern of common resource elements of at least two radio access technologies using multiple radio access technologies. The processing circuit is also configured to receive or transmit data transmission based on the determined demodulation reference signal. In some examples, the processing circuit is further configured to perform any one of the methods of the second aspect.

[0023] In another aspect, a computer program is provided, wherein the computer program comprises instructions which, when executed on a computer or a processing circuit, cause the computer or the processing circuit to perform any one of the methods of the first or second aspect.

[0024] In another aspect, a computer program product, a memory or a carrier comprises computer program instructions according to the computer program described above. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] A more complete understanding of the presented embodiments and their attendant advantages and features will be more readily appreciated by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 An example DMRS configuration is shown; Figure 2 Example DMRS and antenna port configurations are shown; Figure 3 Example LTE CRS locations are shown; Figure 4 Another example of DMRS and antenna port configuration is shown; Figure 5 Example DMRS and CRS configurations with LTE and NR coexistence are shown; Figure 6 An example DMRS configuration according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown; Figure 7 Another example DMRS configuration according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown; Figure 8 illustrates an example of resource scheduling according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; Fig. 9 is a flow chart according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; Fig.10 is a flow chart according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; Fig.11 illustrates an example of a communication system according to some embodiments; Fig.12 illustrates an example of a user device according to some embodiments; Fig.13 illustrates an example of a virtualized environment according to some embodiments; Fig.14 illustrates an example of a telecommunications network connected to a host computer via an intermediary network according to some embodiments; Fig.15 An example is shown in which a host computer communicates with a user device via a base station over a partially wireless connection according to some embodiments; Fig.16 An example of a method implemented in a communication system according to some embodiments is shown, the communication system comprising a host computer, a base station and a user equipment; Fig.17 An example of a method implemented in a communication system according to some embodiments is shown, the communication system comprising a host computer, a base station and a user equipment; Fig.18 An example of a method implemented in a communication system according to some embodiments is shown, the communication system comprising a host computer, a base station and a user equipment; Fig.19 An example of a method implemented in a communication system according to some embodiments is shown, the communication system comprising a host computer, a base station and a user equipment; Fig. 20 illustrates a UE device according to some embodiments; and Fig.21 A UE device according to some embodiments is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] In general, all terms used herein will be interpreted according to their common meanings in the relevant technical field, unless different meanings are clearly given and / or implied by the context of using it. All references to (a / an) / described elements, devices, components, parts, steps, etc. are openly interpreted as representing at least one instance of elements, devices, components, parts, steps, etc., unless otherwise clearly stated. The steps of any method disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless the steps are clearly described as being after or before another step and / or implying that the steps must be after or before another step. Any feature of any embodiment of the embodiments disclosed herein may be appropriately applied to any other embodiment. Similarly, any advantage of any embodiment of the embodiment may be applicable to any other embodiment, and vice versa. Through the following description, other purposes, features and advantages of the disclosed embodiments will be apparent.

[0027] The question is how to introduce MU-MIMO scheduling between LTE UE using TM 9 or 10 and NR UE when the LTE CRS pattern is configured to the NR UE, because the LTE DM-RS pattern conflicts with the NR DM-RS pattern in symbol l1=12.

[0028] One remedy would be to schedule a shorter length NR PDSCH, in which case the NR DM-RS appears in symbol 9, but NR then cannot utilize the entire slot and the spectrum efficiency decreases for NR, which is a problem. Figure 5 Overview of RS locations in slots for NR and LTE reference signals.

[0029] Another issue is the interference of NR PDSCH transmissions to LTE DM-RS and interference in NR DM-RS from LTE PDSCH transmissions. In addition, the benefits of opaque MU-MIMO cannot be achieved because the NR UE is not aware of the location of the co-scheduled (MU-MIMO scheduled) LTE DM-RS.

[0030] Portions of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, other embodiments are included within the scope of the subject matter disclosed herein, and the disclosed subject matter should not be construed as being limited to only the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided as examples in order to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

[0031] As used herein, a "network node" refers to a device that is capable of, configured to, arranged to, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a wireless device and / or with other network nodes or devices in a wireless network so as to enable and / or provide wireless access to the wireless device and / or perform other functions (e.g., management) in the wireless network. For example, a network node may be a satellite gateway or a satellite-based base station (e.g., a gNB). Other examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs), and NR NodeBs (gNBs)). Base stations may be classified based on the amount of coverage they provide (or in other words, their transmit power level), and may then be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node that controls a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station, such as a centralized digital unit and / or a remote radio unit (RRU), sometimes referred to as a remote radio head (RRH). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with the antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Portions of distributed radio base stations may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS). Still other examples of network nodes include multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment (such as an MSR BS), a network controller (such as a radio network controller (RNC) or a base station controller (BSC)), a base transceiver station (BTS), a transmission point, a transmission node, a multi-cell / multicast coordination entity (MCE), a core network node (such as an MSC, an MME), an O&M node, an OSS node, a SON node, a positioning node (such as an E-SMLC) and / or an MDT. As another example, a network node may be a virtual network node as described in more detail below. But more generally, a network node may represent any suitable device (or device group) that is capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to enable and / or provide a wireless device with access to a wireless network or provide a certain service to a wireless device that has accessed a wireless network.

[0032] As used herein, a "wireless device" refers to a device capable of, configured to, arranged to, and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with a network node and / or other wireless devices. Unless otherwise specified, the term "wireless device" may be used interchangeably with a user equipment (UE) herein. Wireless communication may involve the use of electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for transmitting information over the air to transmit and / or receive wireless signals. In some embodiments, the wireless device may be configured to transmit and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For example, the wireless device may be designed to transmit information to the network based on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to a request from the network. Examples of wireless devices include, but are not limited to, smartphones, mobile phones, cellular phones, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, desktop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless cameras, game consoles or devices, music storage devices, playback devices, wearable terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, tablets, laptops, laptop embedded devices (LEEs), laptop mounted equipment (LMEs), smart devices, wireless customer premises equipment (CPEs), vehicle-mounted wireless terminal devices, etc. The wireless device may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example, by implementing 3GPP standards for vehicle-to-everything (V2X), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), and sidelink communications, and in this case may be referred to as a D2D communication device. As yet another specific example, in the context of the Internet of Things (IoT), the wireless device may represent a machine or another device that performs monitoring and / or measurement and transmits the results of such monitoring and / or measurement to another wireless device and / or a network node. The wireless device in this case may be a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, which may be referred to as an MTC device in the 3GPP context. As a specific example, the wireless device may be a UE that implements the 3GPP Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) standard. Specific examples of such machines or devices are sensors, metering devices (such as power meters), industrial machinery, or household or personal appliances (such as refrigerators, televisions, etc.), personal wearables (such as watches, fitness trackers, etc.). In other cases, the wireless device may represent a vehicle or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and / or reporting operating status or other functions associated with its operation. The wireless device as described above may represent an endpoint of a wireless connection, in which case the device may be referred to as a wireless terminal. In addition, the wireless device as described above may be mobile, in which case it may be referred to as a mobile device or a mobile terminal.

[0033] The present application describes some embodiments that address at least some of the previously disclosed problems arising from coexistence scheduling between different radio access technologies and using multi-user MIMO. Two example radio access technologies (RATs) for which coexistence is desired are 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) and 3GPP New Radio (NR), but the concepts and suggested embodiments described herein are not limited to such RAT types. For example, for NR, a new DM-RS type can be configured from the network to the UE that uses the same resource elements as the LTE DM-RS for the DM-RS within a PRB.

[0034] With the proposed solution, the following MU-MIMO (i.e., co-scheduling two or more UEs on overlapping time / frequency resources) operations are supported: 1. MU-MIMO between one or more LTE UEs and one or more NR UEs configured with the new DM-RS type a. Where NR DM-RS can be configured so that the NR and LTE DM-RS antenna ports used in MU-MIMO scheduling are orthogonal or pseudo-orthogonal b. The NR bandwidth portion of the NR UE can be larger than the LTE system bandwidth.

[0035] 2. MU-MIMO between an NR UE that does not support the new DM-RS type and an NR UE configured with the new DM-RS type for enabling MU-MIMO with an LTE UE.

[0036] Some of the advantages are: elimination of interference from NR PDSCH to LTE DM-RS; elimination of interference from LTE PDSCH in NR DM-RS; NR UEs are able to obtain the benefits of opaque MU-MIMO since NR UEs are able to estimate the channel used for interfering transmissions to LTE UEs; and reduction of NR overhead.

[0037] DM-RS for PDSCH (i.e., for gNB to UE transmission) In some embodiments, the network may configure a new DM-RS pattern (referred to herein as DMRS Type 3) for NR UEs that is not available to UEs of earlier NR releases (e.g., Rel-15). This new NR DM-RS type is applicable to NR UEs configured with OFDM with 15kHz subcarrier spacing and normal cyclic prefix. Note that LTE only supports 15kHz subcarrier spacing. The new NR DM-RS pattern uses the same resource elements as the LTE DM-RS TM10 pattern.

[0038] In some embodiments, a newly defined DM-RS is assigned to NR UEs, which is orthogonal or pseudo-orthogonal to the LTE DM-RS. Orthogonality to the LTE DM-RS is obtained via code domain multiplexing (CDM) by applying a time domain orthogonal cover code (OCC) of length 4 to a group of 4 resource elements or a time domain orthogonal cover code (OCC) of length 2 to a group of 2 resource elements.

[0039] A prerequisite for using CDM is that the new NR DM-RS uses the same sequence as the sequence used for the LTE DM-RS on the co-scheduled resource elements, i.e., r(m). Co-scheduled resources may also be described as shared radio spectrum or DSS. In some examples, the co-scheduled resource elements overlap, but are not necessarily the same set of resources, i.e., the bandwidth scheduled for one co-scheduled radio access technology may be different from another radio access technology. In the case where the pseudo-orthogonality between the DM-RS antenna ports of LTE and NR is used instead, it would be sufficient for the NR DM-RS sequence and the LTE DM-RS sequence to have low cross-correlation.

[0040] Two CDM groups are defined (λ=0, 1), for each of which a length 4 OCC is applied. This implies that the new DM-RS pattern supports up to 8 orthogonal DM-RS antenna ports, i.e., 4 ports per CDM group. The new NR DM-RS mapping to resource elements is Figure 6 , where eight ports are numbered 1000 - 1007. Also shown are the port numbers of the LTE DM-RS.

[0041] In an example of DM-RS Type 3 mapping, NR uses the same bandwidth as LTE The DM-RS type 3 mapping of antenna port p to resource element is as follows: in k=5·k′+12·n PRB +1-△ p l=l'mod2+5 k′=0,1,2 l′=0,1,2,3 where n PRB is the PRB index, and where and Δ p are defined in Table 1.

[0042] Table 1. Parameters for PDSCH DM-RS configuration type 3.

[0043] It can be noted that LTE has an unused DC subcarrier in the middle of its spectrum, while NR does not. For example, a 20MHz LTE carrier uses 1201 subcarriers (100RB×12 subcarriers / RB+1DC subcarrier), while an NR carrier with 100RBs uses only 1200 subcarriers. This means that LTE and NR RBs can be aligned on one side of the LTE DC subcarrier but not on the other side, see Figure 8 Therefore, the DM-RS pattern in the NR RB below and above the LTE DC subcarrier should be different (offset by one subcarrier). This will enable alignment between the DM-RS between LTE and NR on both sides of the DC subcarrier.

[0044] Using the same sequence series between LTE DM-RS and NR Type 3 DM-RS provides additional benefits. To be able to achieve this, the following aspects are required: The same DM-RS sequence implies that the same scrambling sequence initialization function and generator as in LTE is used for the new NRDM-RS, i.e. the reference signal sequence r(m) is generated as in 36PP TS 36.211 V15.7.0: The Gold-31 pseudo-random sequence c(i) is initialized as The parameter ns is the LTE slot count. Since the NR slot is equal to the length of two LTE slots in the case of 15kHz subcarrier spacing, the NR slot count is used. The equivalent initialization can be expressed as In addition, a new DMRS scrambling seed (N_ID) specific to DMRS type 3 is introduced, for example, used to calculate the initial value of the scrambling sequence using 10 bits, so that it is aligned with the DM-RS scrambling seed used in LTE, so that exactly the same sequence for LTE DM-RS can be generated for NR DM-RS.

[0045] NR supports a scheduling bandwidth larger than LTE's 20MHz system bandwidth, so it needs to support greater than The NR DM-RS type 3 sequence has a length of , but the segments of the sequence are the same as the LTE DM-RS sequence.

[0046] In one embodiment, a new reference point of subcarrier k for NR DM-RS sequence generation is introduced to align the LTE and NR DM-RS sequences to ensure that the NR UE can use the LTE DM-RS for transmission to co-scheduled LTE UEs or NR UEs using type 3 DM-RS in order to estimate the interfering channel (opaque MU-MIMO).

[0047] Introducing this reference point into the NR DM-RS Type 3 sequence An example is shown in the following sequence in The value of m0 will depend on the LTE PRB index n PRB =The number of NR PRBs below 0.

[0048] MU-MIMO in LTE is supported only for DM-RS antenna ports associated with CDM group 0, and where PDSCH will be mapped to resource elements associated with CDM group 1, MU-MIMO between NR and LTE UEs is limited to sharing 4 orthogonal DM-RS ports in a coordinated manner. For example, if antenna port 1000 is used to schedule one NR UE, antenna ports 8, 11, 13 can be used to schedule (one or more) LTE uEs, and if antenna ports 1000, 1001 are used to schedule (one or more) NR UEs, antenna ports 11, 13 can be used to schedule (one or more) LTE UEs, and so on.

[0049] In one embodiment, an antenna port indication is created for NR DM-RS type 3 to allow scheduling of a single layer or two layers to an NR UE using a combination of antenna ports 1000 and 1001 by indicating whether other ports within CDM group 0 are used and whether the number of DM-RS CDM groups without PDSCH is equal to 1 or 2.

[0050] In another embodiment, an antenna port indication is created for NR DM-RS type 3 to allow a single layer to be scheduled to an NR UE using any of the eight antenna ports 1000-1007. Similarly, the antenna port indication allows two layers to be scheduled to an NR UE using any of the antenna port pairs {1000, 1001}, {1004, 1005}, {1002, 1003}, {1006, 1007}. Thus, this enables greater MU-MIMO capacity when only NR UEs are spatially multiplexed.

[0051] The antenna port indication of the ports from CDM group 0 is accompanied by an indication of the number of DM-RS CDM groups without PDSCH. UEs scheduled with data using antenna ports from CDM group 1 can assume that PDSCH is not mapped to resource elements associated with CDM group 0. UEs scheduled with data mapped on (one or more) antenna ports from the set {1000, 1001} or the set {1002, 1003} are accompanied by an indication as to whether the ports from the set {1004, 1005} or the set {1006, 1007} ​​are used for transmission to other users. However, UEs scheduled for 3 or 4 layer transmissions using antenna ports indicated from the sets {1000, 1001} and {1002, 1003} can assume SU-MIMO.

[0052] There are at least two advantages with opaque MU-MIMO. One advantage is that a UE that schedules a single layer transmission on antenna port 1000 or 1001 and knows that antenna ports 1004 and 1005 are not used can interpret a length 4 OCC as a length 2 OCC. This makes demodulation more robust to time-varying radio channels. Another advantage is that a UE with an advanced receiver (e.g., a successive interference cancellation SIC receiver) can more effectively cancel cross-layer interference originating from transmissions to other users.

[0053] In another embodiment, the NR DM-RS sequence is generated as in TS 38.211, resulting in pseudo-orthogonal DM-RS between NR DM-RS type 3 and LTE DM-RS. In one version of this embodiment, the length 4 OCC is applied to the CDM group as in TS 36.211, implying a dependency on the subcarrier and PRB index. In another version of this embodiment, the length 4 OCC is applied to the CDM group without a dependency on the subcarrier and PRB index.

[0054] In yet another embodiment, an NR UE configured with DM-RS type 3 can also be configured with at least one Rel-15 DM-RS type. This can enable MU-MIMO between UEs that do not support DM-RS type 3 (such as legacy NR UEs) and LTE UEs. The selection between DM-RS type 3 and another DM-RS type is made dynamically via DCI.

[0055] Figure 7, the DMRS used by NR PDSCH demodulation is shown together with the LTE CRS to which the PDSCH is not mapped (i.e., the PDSCH is rate matched around the LTE CRS). LTE NR coexistence and reference signal locations for MU-MIMO when the new NR DM-RS (type 3) is defined using the LTE DM-RS.

[0056] As mentioned at the beginning of this subsection, LTE uses the DC subcarrier, while NR does not, which results in misaligned RB boundaries on one side of the DC subcarrier, see Figure 8 When co-scheduling LTE and NR users in MU-MIMO mode, it may be beneficial to align the NR and LTE RBs, e.g. keeping empty RBs that only partially overlap with RBs used for MU-MIMO RBs. In the above description we focus on DL. However, MU-MIMO is also possible in UL, where the same UL time-frequency resources are used simultaneously by multiple users. Also, here it can be beneficial to be able to configure NR users with DM-RS that is orthogonal to the LTE DM-RS, such as the DM-RS for DFT-spread PUSCH. LTE can be configured with DM-RS, either on a comb (every other subcarrier) or on all subcarriers. The first step is to ensure that the LTE and NR DM-RS are mapped to the same resource elements. In addition, LTE always uses a UL frequency shift of 7.5kHz, which in NR can be configured and needs to be configured here.

[0057] In LTE, the UL DM-RS is based on the Zadoff-Chu root sequence and its cyclic shifts.

[0058] LTE UL DM-RS appears in symbols 3 and 10 of an LTE subframe, and NR DM-RS must therefore appear in the same symbols, i.e., symbols 3 and 10 of an NR slot.

[0059] The cyclic shift of the Zadoff-Chu sequence is given by: In LTE, and They are configured by RRC and indicated in DCI. Function n PRS (n s ) is a frequency hopping function based on a pseudo-random sequence and is defined in the LTE specification (Section 5.5.2.1.1, 36.211). NR DM-RS may be configured via RRC. Same frequency hopping function as in LTE PRS (n s) is used in NR, where n s Counts unique differences in NR half-slots. PRS (n s ) can be configured to the NR UE via RRC.

[0060] The root sequence index of Zadoff-Chu can be frequency-hopped over time (group and sequence hopping). The parameters required to configure the root index and the associated frequency hopping can be configured to the NR UE via RRC. If frequency hopping is applied, the same frequency hopping function as in LTE is also used.

[0061] Embodiments will now be further explained with the aid of the accompanying drawings.

[0062] Fig. 9Flowchart of an example embodiment of a method performed by a wireless device operating in a communication system. The communication system includes a radio spectrum shared by multiple radio access technologies, which in some examples is called coexistence. In other words, the communication system operates with or uses a radio spectrum shared by more than one radio access technology (RAT), and the communication system uses more than one RAT in the same communication system. In some examples, the multiple radio access technologies include or are limited to LTE and NR. For example, LTE-NR coexistence. In some examples, the communication system supports multi-user multiple input multiple output MIMO. The method starts at step 600, where the wireless device obtains a configuration of a demodulation reference signal DMRS. The DMRS includes a pattern of common resource elements of at least two radio access technologies using the multiple radio access technologies. In other words, the DMRS occupies resource elements identified by the pattern, and at least one of the resource elements identified by the pattern is used or occupied by another radio access type. For example, the DMRS may be configured for a first radio access technology and occupy the same resource elements as the DMRS configured for a second radio access technology. For example, the DMRS may use common resource elements of LTE and NR. The method continues at step 630, where the wireless device receives or transmits a data transmission based on the obtained demodulation reference signal. For example, the wireless device receives a PDSCH transmission on NR, while a co-existing LTE transmission within the same spectrum / subcarrier range may be scheduled. For example, the wireless device multiplexes data based on the configured DMRS. In other examples, the wireless device transmits NR transmissions on PUSCH using a spectrum / subcarrier also scheduled for LTE using a DMRS configuration. In some examples, the DMRS is configured for a first radio access technology and is orthogonal or pseudo-orthogonal to a DMRS configured for one or more radio access technologies of the multiple radio access technologies. In some examples, the DMRS includes a sequence, using the same DMRS sequence as the DMRS for another user and deriving the sequence by code domain multiplexing CDM, wherein at least a portion of the co-scheduled radio resource elements are used for another radio access technology of the multiple radio access technologies. In some examples, the DMRS includes a time domain orthogonal cover code OCC of length 4 to a group of 4 resource elements or length 2 to a group of 2 resource elements. For example, the OCC is applied to the DMRS sequence, in effect creating a new DMRS sequence. In some examples, a length 4 OCC is applied to one of the CDM groups, where each CDM group corresponds to 4 unique antenna ports. In some examples, the method further / optionally includes obtaining (610) an antenna port indication. For example, this may be indicated to the wireless device. In some examples, this may be indicated by a network node, for example, in a radio resource control message, DCI, etc.The antenna port indication may provide an indication of whether other ports within the same CDM group are scheduled. In some examples, the indication additionally or alternatively indicates the number of CDM groups for which physical downlink shared channel data transmission is not scheduled. This is because UEs scheduled with all ports within a CDM group only need to know whether ports in other CDM groups are scheduled for other users, and UEs scheduled with a subset of ports within a CDM group need to know whether ports in the same and other CDM groups are scheduled for other users. In some examples, the CDM corresponds to a length of 4 OCC according to a subcarrier and / or physical resource block index. In some examples, the obtained DMRS configuration is a first DMRS configuration, and the method further includes obtaining a second DMRS configuration, wherein the second DMRS is configured for the following resource elements, which are unique compared to the DMRS and cell-specific reference signals configured for any one of the other radio access technologies. For example, the second DMRS may be a NR Rel-15 DM-RS type. This enables MU-MIMO between an NR UE (such as a legacy NR UE) that does not support the first DMRS (e.g., DM-RS type 3) and an LTE UE. In some examples, the method may further include receiving (620) an indication to select between the first DMRS configuration and the second DMRS configuration. For example, this may be dynamically indicated to the wireless device via a DCI. In some examples, the previous embodiments are applicable to DL MU-MIMO, while in other examples, the DMRS configuration is for uplink MU-MIMO.

[0063] Fig.10is a flow chart illustrating an example embodiment of a method performed by a network node in a communication system. The communication system includes providing multi-RAT coexistence, in other words, the radio spectrum is shared by multiple radio access technologies, such as LTE-NR coexistence. The method starts at step 700, where the network node determines a configuration of a demodulation reference signal DMRS. The DMRS includes a pattern of common resource elements of at least two radio access technologies using the multiple radio access technologies. In other words, the DMRS occupies resource elements identified by the pattern, and at least one of the resource elements identified by the pattern is used or occupied by another radio access type. For example, the DMRS may be configured for a first radio access technology and occupy the same resource elements as the DMRS configured for a second radio access technology. For example, the DMRS may be configured for resource elements common to LTE and NR. The method continues at step 720, where the network node receives or transmits a data transmission based on the determined demodulation reference signal. For example, the network node receives an NR transmission on a PUSCH using a spectrum / subcarrier also scheduled for LTE. For example, the network node or base station demultiplexes the received PUSCH using the determined DMRS configuration. In other examples, the network node schedules PDSCH transmissions on NR to the wireless device using the determined DMRS configuration, while co-existing LTE transmissions within the same spectrum / subcarrier range are scheduled to other wireless devices. The method optionally includes step 710, in which the network node configures the determined DMRS for the wireless device. For example, this can be used for multi-user multiple-input multiple-output MIMO communication. In some examples, the DMRS is configured for a first radio access technology and is orthogonal or pseudo-orthogonal to the DMRS of one or more radio access technologies configured for the multiple radio access technologies. In some examples, the DMRS includes a sequence, using the same DMRS sequence as the DMRS for another user and deriving the sequence by code domain multiplexing CDM, wherein at least part of the co-scheduled radio resource elements are used for another radio access technology of the multiple radio access technologies. In some examples, the DMRS includes a time domain orthogonal cover code OCC of length 4 to a group of 4 resource elements or length 2 to a group of 2 resource elements. For example, the OCC is applied to the DMRS sequence, in effect creating a new DMRS sequence. In some examples, a length 4 OCC is applied to one of the CDM groups, where each CDM group corresponds to 4 unique antenna ports. The method may optionally include a step 730 of sending an antenna port indicator to the wireless device. In some examples, the antenna port indicator includes an indication of whether other ports within the same CDM group are scheduled to be used. In some examples, the antenna port indicator includes an indication of the number of CDM groups for which physical downlink shared channel data is not scheduled.In some examples, the CDM corresponds to a length of 4OCC according to a subcarrier and / or a physical resource block index. In some examples, the determined DMRS configuration is a first DMRS configuration, and the method further includes determining a second DMRS configuration, wherein the second DMRS is configured for the following resource elements, which are unique compared to the DMRS and cell-specific reference signals configured for any of the other radio access technologies. For example, the second DMRS can be an NR Rel-15 DM-RS type. This enables MU-MIMO between an NR UE (such as a legacy NR UE) that does not support the first DMRS (e.g., DM-RS type 3) and an LTE UE. In some examples, the method may further include sending (740) to the wireless device an indication of selecting between the first DMRS configuration and the second DMRS configuration. For example, this may be dynamically indicated to the wireless device via DCI. In some examples, the previous embodiments are applicable to DL MU-MIMO, while in other examples, the DMRS configuration is for uplink MU-MIMO.

[0064] Although the subject matter described herein can be implemented in any suitable type of system using any suitable components, the embodiments disclosed herein are further described with respect to wireless networks such as Fig.11 For simplicity, Fig.11 The wireless network of FIG. 1 only shows network 106, network nodes 160 and 160b, and wireless devices 110, 110b, and 100c. In practice, the wireless network may further include any additional elements suitable for supporting communication between wireless devices or between a wireless device and another communication device (such as a landline phone, a service provider, or any other network node or terminal device). Of the components shown, network node 160 and wireless device (wireless device) 110 are shown in additional detail. The wireless network may provide communication and other types of services to one or more wireless devices to facilitate access and / or use of services provided by or via the wireless network by the wireless device.

[0065] A wireless network may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular and / or radio network or other similar type of system. In some embodiments, a wireless network may be configured to operate in accordance with a particular standard or other type of predefined rules or procedures. Thus, particular embodiments of a wireless network may implement: communication standards such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other appropriate 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G standards; wireless local area network (WLAN) standards such as IEEE 802.11 standards; and / or any other appropriate wireless communication standards such as Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, and / or ZigBee standards.

[0066] The network 106 may include one or more backhaul networks, core networks, IP networks, public switched telephone networks (PSTN), packet data networks, optical networks, wide area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), wireless local area networks (WLANs), wired networks, wireless networks, metropolitan area networks, and other networks to enable communication between devices.

[0067] The network node 160 and the wireless device 110 include various components described in more detail below. These components work together to provide network node and / or wireless device functionality, such as providing wireless connectivity in a wireless network. In various embodiments, a wireless network may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, base stations, controllers, wireless devices, relay stations, and / or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals, whether via a wired or wireless connection.

[0068] Fig.11 In FIG. 1 , the network node 160 includes a processing circuit 170, a device readable medium 180, an interface 190, an auxiliary device 184, a power supply 186, a power circuit 187, and an antenna 162. As previously described, the network node may be connected to, for example, Figure 1 The non-terrestrial network shown in Figure 1 The network node 160 shown in the example wireless network of may represent a device including the shown combination of hardware components, but other embodiments may include network nodes with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that the network node includes any suitable combination of hardware and / or software required to perform the tasks, features, functions, and methods disclosed herein. In addition, although the components of the network node 160 are shown as a single box located within a larger box or nested within multiple boxes, in reality, the network node may include multiple different physical components that make up a single shown component (for example, the device readable medium 180 may include multiple independent hard drives and multiple RAM modules).

[0069] Similarly, the network node 160 may be composed of multiple physically independent components (e.g., NodeB components and RNC components or BTS components and BSC components, etc.), each of which may have its own corresponding components. In some cases where the network node 160 includes multiple independent components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the independent components may be shared between several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In this case, each unique NodeB and RNC pair may be considered a single independent network node in some cases. In some embodiments, the network node 160 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some embodiments may be repeated (e.g., independent device readable media 180 for different RATs), and some components may be reused (e.g., the same antenna 162 may be shared by RATs). The network node 160 may also include multiple sets of various illustrated components of different wireless technologies (such as, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, or Bluetooth wireless technologies) integrated into the network node 160. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chips or chip sets and other components within the network node 160.

[0070] The processing circuit 170 is configured to perform any determination, calculation, or similar operation (e.g., certain obtaining operations) described herein as being provided by the network node. These operations performed by the processing circuit 170 may include processing information obtained by the processing circuit 170 by, for example, converting the obtained information to other information, comparing the obtained information or the converted information to information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or the converted information, and making determinations as a result of the processing.

[0071] The processing circuitry 170 may include a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a central processing unit, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software, and / or encoded logic operable to provide network node 160 functionality, alone or in conjunction with other network node 160 components, such as device readable medium 180. For example, the processing circuitry 170 may execute instructions stored in the device readable medium 180 or in a memory within the processing circuitry 170. Such functionality may include any of the wireless features, functions, or benefits that provide the various wireless features, functions, or benefits described herein. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 170 may include a system on a chip (SOC).

[0072] In some embodiments, processing circuitry 170 may include one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 172 and baseband processing circuitry 174. In some embodiments, radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 172 and baseband processing circuitry 174 may be on separate chips (or chipsets), boards, or units (such as a radio unit and a digital unit). In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 172 and baseband processing circuitry 174 may be on the same chip or chipset, board, or unit.

[0073] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein as provided by a network node, base station, eNB, or other such network device may be performed by processing circuit 170 executing instructions stored on device-readable medium 180 or memory within processing circuit 170. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by processing circuit 170, such as in a hardwired manner, without executing instructions stored on an independent or discrete device-readable medium. In any of those embodiments, whether or not instructions stored on a device-readable storage medium are executed, processing circuit 170 can be configured to perform the functionality. For example, processing circuit 170 may be configured to determine a Doppler shift estimate for transmissions between a network node and a wireless device. The processing circuit may then be configured to transmit a frequency adjustment indication to the wireless device based on the determined Doppler shift estimate. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to separate processing circuit 170 or other components of network node 160, but are generally enjoyed by network node 160 and / or end users and wireless networks in general.

[0074] Device readable medium 180 may include any form of volatile or non-volatile computer readable memory, including, without limitation, permanent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (e.g., hard disk), removable storage media (e.g., flash drive, compact disk (CD), or digital video disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile non-transitory device readable and / or computer executable storage device that stores information, data, and / or instructions that can be used by processing circuit 170. Device readable medium 180 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including computer programs, software, applications (including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, etc.), and / or other instructions (which can be executed by processing circuit 170 and utilized by network node 160). Device readable medium 180 may be used to store any calculations performed by processing circuit 170 and / or any data received via interface 190. In some embodiments, processing circuit 170 and device readable medium 180 may be considered integrated.

[0075] The interface 190 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data between the network node 160, the network 106 and / or the wireless device 110. As shown, the interface 190 includes (one or more) ports / (one or more) terminals 194 to send and receive data to and from the network 106 through a wired connection, for example. The interface 190 also includes a radio front-end circuit 192, which can be coupled to the antenna 162 or to a portion of the antenna 162 in some embodiments. The radio front-end circuit 192 includes a filter 198 and an amplifier 196. The radio front-end circuit 192 can be connected to the antenna 162 and the processing circuit 170. The radio front-end circuit can be configured to adjust the signal transmitted between the antenna 162 and the processing circuit 170. The radio front-end circuit 192 can receive digital data, which is to be sent to other network nodes or wireless devices via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuit 192 can use a combination of filters 198 and / or amplifiers 196 to convert the digital data into a radio signal with appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters. The radio signal can then be transmitted via the antenna 162. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 162 may collect radio signals, which are then converted to digital data by radio front end circuitry 192. The digital data may be passed to processing circuitry 170. In other embodiments, the interface may include different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0076] In certain alternative embodiments, the network node 160 may not include a separate radio front end circuit 192, and the processing circuit 170 may include the radio front end circuit and may be connected to the antenna 162 without the separate radio front end circuit 192. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or part of the RF transceiver circuit 172 may be considered to be part of the interface 190. In still other embodiments, the interface 190 may include one or more ports or terminals 194, the radio front end circuit 192, and the RF transceiver circuit 172 as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the interface 190 may communicate with the baseband processing circuit 174, which is part of the digital unit (not shown).

[0077] Antenna 162 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. Antenna 162 may be coupled to radio front-end circuit 190 and may be any type of antenna capable of wirelessly transmitting and receiving data and / or signals. In some embodiments, antenna 162 may include one or more omnidirectional, sector or flat panel antennas operable to transmit / receive, for example, radio signals between 2 GHz and 66 GHz. Omnidirectional antennas may be used to transmit / receive radio signals in any direction, sector antennas may be used to transmit / receive radio signals from devices in a specific area, and flat panel antennas may be line-of-sight antennas used to transmit / receive radio signals in a relatively straight line. In some cases, the use of more than one antenna may be referred to as MIMO. In some embodiments, antenna 162 may be separated from network node 160 and may be connectable to network node 160 via an interface or port.

[0078] Antenna 162, interface 190 and / or processing circuit 170 may be configured to perform any receiving operation and / or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data and / or signal may be received from a wireless device, another network node and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, antenna 162, interface 190 and / or processing circuit 170 may be configured to perform any transmitting operation described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data and / or signal may be transmitted to a wireless device, another network node and / or any other network equipment.

[0079] The power circuit 187 may include or be coupled to a power management circuit and is configured to supply power to the components of the network node 160 for performing the functionality described herein. The power circuit 187 may receive power from the power supply 186. The power supply 186 and / or the power circuit 187 may be configured to provide power to the various components of the network node 160 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at the voltage and current levels required by each respective component). The power supply 186 may be included in the power circuit 187 and / or the network node 160 or may be external to the power circuit and / or the network node. For example, the network node 160 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., an electrical outlet) via an input circuit or interface (such as a cable), whereby the external power source supplies power to the power circuit 187. As another example, the power supply 186 may include a power source in the form of a battery or battery pack, which is connected to or integrated in the power circuit 187. If the external power source fails, the battery may provide backup power. Other types of power sources (such as photovoltaic devices) may also be used.

[0080] Alternative embodiments of network node 160 may include Fig.11, which additional components may be responsible for providing certain aspects of network node functionality, including any functionality described herein and / or any functionality required to support the subject matter described herein. For example, network node 160 may include a user interface device to allow input of information into network node 160 and output of information from network node 160. This may allow a user to perform diagnostics, maintenance, repair, and other management functions for network node 160.

[0081] As shown, the wireless device 110 includes an antenna 111, an interface 114, a processing circuit 120, a device-readable medium 130, a user interface device 132, an auxiliary device 134, a power supply 136, and a power circuit 137. The wireless device 110 may include multiple sets of one or more of the components shown for different wireless technologies supported by the wireless device 110, such as, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, WiMAX, or Bluetooth wireless technologies, to name a few. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chips or chipsets as other components within the wireless device 110.

[0082] Antenna 111 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays configured to send and / or receive wireless signals and is connected to interface 114. In some alternative embodiments, antenna 111 may be separated from wireless device 110 and may be connected to wireless device 110 via an interface or port. Antenna 111, interface 114 and / or processing circuit 120 may be configured to perform any receiving or transmitting operation described herein as being performed by a wireless device. Any information, data and / or signal may be received from a network node and / or another wireless device. In some embodiments, radio front end circuitry and / or antenna 111 may be considered an interface.

[0083] As shown, the interface 114 includes a radio front-end circuit 112 and an antenna 111. The radio front-end circuit 112 includes one or more filters 118 and an amplifier 116. The radio front-end circuit 114 is connected to the antenna 111 and the processing circuit 120, and is configured to adjust the signal transmitted between the antenna 111 and the processing circuit 120. The radio front-end circuit 112 may be coupled to the antenna 111 or may be part of the antenna 211. In some embodiments, the wireless device 110 may not include a separate radio front-end circuit 112, and the processing circuit 120 may include the radio front-end circuit and may be connected to the antenna 111. Similarly, in some embodiments, part or all of the RF transceiver circuit 122 may be considered as part of the interface 114. The radio front-end circuit 112 may receive digital data, which is to be sent to other network nodes or wireless devices via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuit 112 may use a combination of filters 118 and / or amplifiers 116 to convert the digital data into a radio signal with appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna 111. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 111 may collect radio signals, which are then converted to digital data by radio front end circuit 112. The digital data may be passed to processing circuit 120. In other embodiments, the interface may include different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0084] The processing circuitry 120 may include one or more combinations of a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a central processing unit, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software, and / or encoded logic operable to provide wireless device 110 functionality, alone or in conjunction with other wireless device 110 components, such as device readable medium 130. Such functionality may include any of the wireless features or benefits that provide the various wireless features or benefits described herein. For example, the processing circuitry 120 may execute instructions stored in the device readable medium 130 or in a memory within the processing circuitry 120 to provide the functionality disclosed herein.

[0085] As shown, the processing circuit 120 includes one or more of an RF transceiver circuit 122, a baseband processing circuit 124, and an application processing circuit 126. In other embodiments, the processing circuit may include different components and / or different combinations of components. In certain embodiments, the processing circuit 120 of the wireless device 110 may include a SOC. In some embodiments, the RF transceiver circuit 122, the baseband processing circuit 124, and the application processing circuit 126 may be on a separate chip or a chip set. In an alternative embodiment, part or all of the baseband processing circuit 124 and the application processing circuit 126 may be combined into one chip or a chip set, and the RF transceiver circuit 122 may be on a separate chip or a chip set. In still other alternative embodiments, part or all of the RF transceiver circuit 122 and the baseband processing circuit 124 may be on the same chip or a chip set, and the application processing circuit 126 may be on a separate chip or a chip set. In still other alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuit 122, baseband processing circuit 124, and application processing circuit 126 may be combined in the same chip or chip set. In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuit 122 may be part of interface 114. RF transceiver circuit 122 may condition RF signals for processing circuit 120.

[0086] In some embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein as being performed by the wireless device may be provided by the processing circuit 120 executing instructions stored on the device readable medium 130, which in some embodiments may be a computer readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processing circuit 120, such as in a hardwired manner, without executing instructions stored on an independent or discrete device readable storage medium. In any of those specific embodiments, the processing circuit 120 can be configured to perform the functionality, regardless of whether instructions stored on the device readable storage medium are executed. For example, the processing circuit 120 may be configured to obtain a frequency offset corresponding to a Doppler shift of a transmission and / or reception frequency between the wireless device and a non-terrestrial network NTN (the NTN comprising a network node and a communication satellite), wherein the network node is one of a terrestrial base station and a satellite base station or a satellite gateway. The processing circuit 120 may then be configured to apply the frequency offset to an uplink transmission to the network node. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processing circuitry 120 or other components of the wireless device 110 alone, but are enjoyed by the wireless device 110 as a whole and / or by end users and wireless networks generally.

[0087] The processing circuit 120 may be configured to perform any determination, calculation, or similar operation (e.g., certain obtaining operations) described herein as being performed by the wireless device. Such operations as performed by the processing circuit 120 may include processing information obtained by the processing circuit 120 by, for example, converting the obtained information to other information, comparing the obtained information or the converted information to information stored by the wireless device 110, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or the converted information, and making determinations as a result of the processing.

[0088] Device-readable medium 130 may be operable to store computer programs, software, applications (including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, etc.), and / or other instructions (which are executable by processing circuit 120). Device-readable medium 130 may include computer memory (e.g., random access memory (RAM) or read-only memory (ROM)), mass storage media (e.g., hard disk), removable storage media (e.g., compact disk (CD) or digital video disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable memory device (which stores information, data, and / or instructions that can be used by processing circuit 120). In some embodiments, processing circuit 120 and device-readable medium 130 may be considered integrated.

[0089] The user interface device 132 may provide a component that allows a human user to interact with the wireless device 110. This interaction may have many forms, such as visual, auditory, tactile, etc. The user interface device 132 may be operable to generate output to the user and allow the user to provide input to the wireless device 110. The type of interaction may vary depending on the type of user interface device 132 installed in the wireless device 110. For example, if the wireless device 110 is a smart phone, the interaction may be performed via a touch screen; if the wireless device 110 is a smart meter, the interaction may be performed through a screen that provides usage (e.g., the number of gallons used) or a speaker that provides an audible alarm (e.g., when smoke is detected). The user interface device 132 may include input interfaces, devices, and circuits and output interfaces, devices, and circuits. The user interface device 132 is configured to allow input of information into the wireless device 110 and is connected to the processing circuit 120 to allow the processing circuit 120 to process the input information. The user interface device 132 may include, for example, a microphone, a proximity or another sensor, a key / button, a touch display, one or more cameras, a USB port, or other input circuits. The user interface device 132 is also configured to allow output of information from the wireless device 110, and to allow the processing circuit 120 to output information from the wireless device 110. The user interface device 132 may include, for example, a speaker, a display, a vibration circuit, a USB port, a headphone interface, or other output circuits. Using one or more input and output interfaces, devices, and circuits of the user interface device 132, the wireless device 110 can communicate with an end user and / or a wireless network, and allow them to benefit from the functionality described herein.

[0090] The auxiliary device 134 is operable to provide more specific functionality that may not generally be performed by wireless devices. This may include specialized sensors for taking measurements for various purposes, interfaces for additional types of communications such as wired communications, etc. The inclusion and types of components of the auxiliary device 134 may vary depending on the embodiment and / or situation.

[0091] The power source 136 may take the form of a battery or battery pack in some embodiments. Other types of power sources may also be used, such as an external power source (e.g., an electrical outlet), a photovoltaic device, or a power battery. The wireless device 110 may further include a power circuit 137 for delivering power from the power source 136 to various components of the wireless device 110 that require power from the power source 136 to perform any functionality described or shown herein. The power circuit 137 may include a power management circuit in some embodiments. In addition or alternatively, the power circuit 137 may be operable to receive power from an external power source; in this case, the wireless device 110 may be connectable to an external power source (such as an electrical outlet) via an input circuit or interface (such as a power cable). The power circuit 137 may also be operable in some embodiments to deliver power from the external power source to the power source 136. This may be used, for example, for charging the power source 136. The power circuit 137 may perform any formatting, conversion, or other modification of the power from the power source 136 to make the power suitable for the corresponding components of the wireless device 110 to which the power is supplied.

[0092] Fig.12 An embodiment of a UE according to the various aspects described herein is shown. As used herein, a "user equipment" or "UE" may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the associated device. Instead, a UE may represent a device that is intended to be sold to or operated by a human user, but may not be, or may not initially be, associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended to be sold to or operated by an end user, but may be associated with a user or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter). UE 2200 may be any UE confirmed by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a NB-IoT UE, a Machine Type Communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE. As Fig. 9 As shown in , UE 200 is an example of a wireless device configured to communicate according to one or more communication standards promulgated by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), such as 3GPP's GSM, UMTS, LTE and / or 5G standards. As previously mentioned, the terms "wireless device" and "UE" may be used interchangeably. Accordingly, although Fig. 9 Although it is a UE, the components described herein are also applicable to a wireless device, and vice versa.

[0093] Fig.12In the embodiment, UE 200 includes: processing circuit 201, operatively coupled to input / output interface 205; radio frequency (RF) interface 209; network connection interface 211; memory 215, including random access memory (RAM) 217, read-only memory (ROM) 219 and storage medium 221 or the like; communication subsystem 231; power supply 233; and / or any other components or any combination thereof. Storage medium 221 includes operating system 223, application 225 and data 227. In other embodiments, storage medium 221 may include other similar types of information. Some UEs may utilize Fig. 9 All of the components shown may be used, or only a subset of the components may be used. The level of integration between components may vary from UE to UE. In addition, some UEs may include multiple instances of components, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0094] Fig.12 , processing circuitry 201 may be configured to process computer instructions and data. Processing circuitry 201 may be configured to implement: any sequential state machine operable to execute machine instructions stored in memory as a machine-readable computer program, such as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, FPGA, ASIC, etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more general-purpose processors such as microprocessors or digital signal processors (DSPs) storing programs together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, processing circuitry 201 may include two central processing units (CPUs). Data may be information in a form suitable for use by a computer.

[0095] In the illustrated embodiment, the input / output interface 205 may be configured to provide a communication interface to an input device, an output device, or an input and output device. The UE 200 may be configured to use an output device via the input / output interface 205. The output device may use an interface port of the same type as the input device. For example, a USB port may be used to provide input to the UE 200 and output from the UE 200. The output device may be a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, a transmitter, a smart card, another output device, or any combination thereof. The UE 200 may be configured to use an input device via the input / output interface 205 to allow a user to capture information entering the UE 200. The input device may include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, an orientation pad, an orientation pad, a scroll wheel, a smart card, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from the user. The sensor can be, for example, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, another similar sensor, or any combination thereof. For example, the input device can be an accelerometer, a magnetometer, a digital camera, a microphone, and an optical sensor.

[0096] Fig.12 In the embodiment of the present invention, the RF interface 209 can be configured to provide a communication interface to RF components (such as transmitters, receivers, and antennas). The network connection interface 211 can be configured to provide a communication interface to the network 243a. The network 243a can include a wired and / or wireless network, such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another similar network, or any combination thereof. For example, the network 243a can include a Wi-Fi network. The network connection interface 211 can be configured to include a receiver and a transmitter interface, which is used to communicate with one or more other devices through a communication network in accordance with one or more communication protocols (such as Ethernet, TCP / IP, SONET, ATM, or the like). The network connection interface 211 can implement receiver and transmitter functionality suitable for communication network links (e.g., optical, electrical, and the like). The transmitter and receiver functions can share circuit components, software, or firmware, or alternatively can be implemented separately.

[0097] RAM 217 may be configured to interface with processing circuit 201 via bus 202 to provide storage or caching of data or computer instructions during the execution of software programs (such as operating systems, applications, and device drivers). ROM 219 may be configured to provide computer instructions or data to processing circuit 201. For example, ROM 219 may be configured to store unchanged low-level system code or data for basic system functions, such as basic input and output (I / O), startup, or reception of keystrokes from a keyboard, which are stored in non-volatile memory. Storage medium 221 may be configured to include memory, such as RAM, ROM, programmable read-only memory (PROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), disk, optical disk, floppy disk, hard disk, removable cassette, or flash drive. In one example, storage medium 221 may be configured to include operating system 223, application 225 (such as a web browser application, a widget or gadget engine, or another application), and data file 227. The storage medium 221 may store any operating system or combination of operating systems from a variety of operating systems for use by the UE 200 .

[0098] The storage medium 221 may be configured to include a plurality of physical drive units, such as a redundant array of independent disks (RAID), a floppy disk drive, a flash memory, a USB flash drive, an external hard drive, a thumb drive, a pen drive, a key drive, a high-density digital versatile disk (HD-DVD) optical drive, an internal hard drive, a Blu-ray optical drive, a holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical drive, an external micro dual in-line memory module (DIMM), a synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), an external micro DIMM SDRAM, a smart card memory (such as a subscriber identity module or a removable user identity (SIM / RUIM) module, other memory, or any combination thereof. The storage medium 221 may allow the UE 200 to access computer executable instructions, applications, or the like stored on a transient or non-transitory memory medium to unload data or upload data. A product of manufacture (such as a product of manufacture utilizing a communication system) may be tangibly implemented in the storage medium 221, which may include a device-readable medium.

[0099] Fig.12In the embodiment, the processing circuit 201 may be configured to communicate with the network 243b using the communication subsystem 231. The network 243a and the network 243b may be one or more identical networks or one or more different networks. The communication subsystem 231 may be configured to include one or more transceivers for communicating with the network 243b. For example, the communication subsystem 231 may be configured to include one or more transceivers for communicating with another device (such as another wireless device, UE or base station of a radio access network (RAN)) capable of wireless communication according to one or more communication protocols (such as IEEE802.2, CDMA, WCDMA, GSM, LTE, UTRAN, WiMax or the like). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 233 and / or a receiver 235 to respectively implement the transmitter or receiver functionality (e.g., frequency allocation and the like) suitable for the RAN link. Further, the transmitter 233 and the receiver 235 of each transceiver may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively may be implemented separately.

[0100] In the illustrated embodiment, the communication functions of the communication subsystem 231 may include data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communication (such as Bluetooth, near field communication), location-based communication (such as using a global positioning system (GPS) to determine location), another similar communication function, or any combination thereof. For example, the communication subsystem 231 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, Bluetooth communication, and GPS communication. The network 243b may include a wired and / or wireless network, such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another similar network, or any combination thereof. For example, the network 243b may be a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network, and / or a near field network. The power supply 213 may be configured to provide alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) power to the components of the UE 200.

[0101] The features, benefits and / or functions described herein may be implemented in one of the components of the UE 200, or may be divided across multiple components of the UE 200. In addition, the features, benefits and / or functions described herein may be implemented in any combination of hardware, software or firmware. In one example, the communication subsystem 231 may be configured to include any of the components described herein. In addition, the processing circuit 201 may be configured to communicate with any of such components via the bus 202. In another example, any of such components may be represented by program instructions stored in a memory, which perform corresponding functions described herein when executed by the processing circuit 201. In another example, the functionality of any of such components may be divided between the processing circuit 201 and the communication subsystem 231. In another example, the non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware, while the computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0102] Fig.13 300 is a schematic block diagram showing a virtualized environment, wherein the functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In this context, virtualization means creating a virtual version of a device or apparatus, which may include virtualized hardware platforms, storage devices, and networking resources. As used herein, "virtualization" can be applied to a node (e.g., a virtualized base station or a virtualized radio access node) or to an apparatus (e.g., a UE, a wireless device, or any other type of communication device) or a component thereof, and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components (e.g., via one or more applications, components, functions, virtual machines, or containers executed on one or more physical processing nodes in one or more networks).

[0103] In some embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines implemented in one or more virtual environments 300 hosted by one or more hardware nodes of hardware nodes 330. Furthermore, in embodiments where the virtual nodes are not radio access nodes or do not require radio connectivity (e.g., core network nodes), the network nodes may be fully virtualized.

[0104] Functionality may be implemented by one or more applications 320 (which may alternatively be referred to as software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) that are operable to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein. Applications 320 run in a virtualized environment 300 that provides hardware 330 including processing circuitry 360 and memory 390. Memory 390 contains instructions 395 executable by processing circuitry 360, whereby applications 320 are operable to provide one or more of the features, benefits, and / or functionality disclosed herein.

[0105] The virtualized environment 300 includes a general or special purpose network hardware device 330, which includes a collection of one or more processors or processing circuits 360, which may be commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) processors, dedicated application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or any other type of processing circuit (including digital or analog hardware components or dedicated processors). Each hardware device may include a memory 390-1, which may be a non-persistent memory for temporarily storing instructions 395 or software executed by the processing circuit 360. Each hardware device may include one or more network interface controllers (NICs) 370 (also known as network interface cards), which include a physical network interface 380. Each hardware device may also include a non-transitory permanent machine-readable storage medium 390-2, in which the software 395 and / or instructions executable by the processing circuit 360 are stored. The software 395 may include any type of software, including software for instantiating one or more virtualization layers 350 (also known as hypervisors), software for executing the virtual machine 340, and software that allows it to perform the functions, features, and / or benefits described relative to some embodiments described herein.

[0106] The virtual machine 340 includes virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interfaces, and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 350 or hypervisor. Different embodiments of instances of the virtual device 320 may be implemented on one or more of the virtual machines 340, and the implementation may be performed in different ways.

[0107] During operation, processing circuitry 360 executes software 395 to instantiate a hypervisor or virtualization layer 350, which may sometimes be referred to as a virtual machine monitor (VMM). Virtualization layer 350 may provide a virtual operating platform that appears to virtual machines 340 as networked hardware.

[0108] like Fig.10As shown, hardware 330 may be an independent network node with common or specific components. Hardware 330 may include antenna 3225, and some functions may be implemented via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 330 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g., such as in a data center or customer premises equipment (CPE)), where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration (MANO) 3100, which also oversees the lifecycle management of application 320.

[0109] Virtualization of hardware is referred to in some contexts as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV can be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry-standard high-volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage devices, which can be located in data centers and customer premises equipment.

[0110] In the context of NFV, virtual machines 340 may be software implementations of physical machines that run programs as if they were executed on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of virtual machines 340 and the portion of hardware 330 that executes that virtual machine (if it is hardware dedicated to that virtual machine and / or hardware shared by that virtual machine and other virtual machines of virtual machines 340) form an independent virtual network element (VNE).

[0111] Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function (VNF) is responsible for handling specific network functions running in one or more virtual machines 340 on top of the hardware networking infrastructure 330 and corresponds to Fig.10 Application 320.

[0112] In some embodiments, one or more radio units 3200, each including one or more transmitters 3220 and one or more receivers 3210, may be coupled to one or more antennas 3225. The radio units 3200 may communicate directly with the hardware nodes 330 via one or more appropriate network interfaces, and may be used in conjunction with virtual components to provide radio capabilities for virtual nodes (such as radio access nodes or base stations).

[0113] In some embodiments, some signaling can be accomplished by using a control system 3230 , which may alternatively be used for communications between the hardware node 330 and the radio unit 3200 .

[0114] Reference Fig.14According to an embodiment, a communication system includes a telecommunication network 410 (such as a 3GPP type cellular network), which includes an access network 411 (such as a radio access network) and a core network 414. The access network 411 includes a plurality of base stations 412a, 412b, 412c, such as NBs, eNBs, gNBs or other types of wireless access points, each of which defines a corresponding coverage area 413a, 413b, 413c. Each base station 412a, 412b, 412c is connectable to the core network 414 via a wired or wireless connection 415. A first UE 491 located in the coverage area 413c is configured to be wirelessly connected to the corresponding base station 412c or to be paged by the base station 412c. A second UE 492 in the coverage area 413a is wirelessly connectable to the corresponding base station 412a. Although multiple UEs 491, 492 are shown in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to situations where a single UE is located in the coverage area or where a single UE is connected to the corresponding base station 412.

[0115] The telecommunications network 410 itself is connected to a host computer 430, which may be implemented in hardware and / or software of a standalone server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server, or as a processing resource in a server farm. The host computer 430 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider, or may be operated by or on behalf of a service provider. The connections 421 and 422 between the telecommunications network 410 and the host computer 430 may extend directly from the core network 414 to the host computer 430, or may be made via an optional intermediate network 420. The intermediate network 420 may be one or a combination of more than one of a public, private, or managed network; the intermediate network 420 (if any) may be a backbone network or the Internet; in particular, the intermediate network 420 may include two or more sub-networks (not shown).

[0116] Fig.14The communication system as a whole enables connectivity between the connected UEs 491, 492 and the host computer 430. The connectivity may be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection 450. The host computer 430 and the connected UEs 491, 492 are configured to communicate data and / or signaling via the OTT connection 450 using the access network 411, the core network 414, any intermediate networks 420, and other possible infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries. The OTT connection 450 may be transparent in the sense that the OTT connection 450 is not aware of the routing of uplink and downlink communications through the participating communication devices therein. For example, the base station 412 may not or need not be informed of the past routing of incoming downlink communications with data originating from the host computer 430 to be forwarded (e.g., switched) to the connected UE 491. Similarly, the base station 412 does not need to know the future routing of outgoing uplink communications originating from the UE 491 to the host computer 430.

[0117] Now refer to Fig.15 5. The example implementation of the UE, base station and host computer described in the above paragraphs according to one embodiment is described. In the communication system 500, the host computer 510 includes hardware 515, the hardware including a communication interface 516, and the communication interface is configured to establish and maintain a wired or wireless connection with the interface of different communication devices of the communication system 500. The host computer 510 further includes a processing circuit 518, which may have storage and / or processing capabilities. In particular, the processing circuit 518 may include one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays, or a combination of these devices (not shown) suitable for executing instructions. The host computer 510 further includes software 511, which is stored in the host computer 510 or accessible to the host computer 4510 and executable by the processing circuit 518. The software 511 includes a host application 512. The host application 512 may be operable to provide services to remote users (such as UE 530 connected via an OTT connection 550 terminated at the UE 530 and the host computer 510). In providing services to remote users, the host application 512 may provide user data transmitted using the OTT connection 550 .

[0118] The communication system 500 further comprises a base station 520, which is provided in the telecommunication system and comprises hardware 525 enabling it to communicate with the host computer 510 and with the UE 530. The hardware 525 may comprise: a communication interface 526 for establishing and maintaining a wired or wireless connection with the interface of different communication devices of the communication system 500; and a radio interface 527 for establishing and maintaining at least a wireless connection 570 with the UE 530, the UE 630 being located in the coverage area ( Fig.12 Communication interface 526 may be configured to facilitate connection 560 to host computer 510. Connection 560 may be direct, or it may pass through a core network ( Fig.12 520) and / or through one or more intermediate networks external to the telecommunications system. In the illustrated embodiment, the hardware 525 of the base station 520 further includes a processing circuit 528, which may include one or more programmable processors, application specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays, or a combination thereof (not shown) suitable for executing instructions. The base station 520 further has software 521, which is stored internally or accessible via an external connection.

[0119] The communication system 500 further includes the UE 530 already mentioned. Its hardware 535 may include a radio interface 537, which is configured to establish and maintain a wireless connection 570 with a base station serving the coverage area where the UE 530 is currently located. The hardware 535 of the UE 530 further includes a processing circuit 538, which may include one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays, or a combination of these devices (not shown) suitable for executing instructions. The UE 530 further includes software 531, which is stored in the UE 530 or is accessible to the UE 530 and is executable by the processing circuit 538. The software 531 includes a client application 532. The client application 532 may be operable to provide services to human or non-human users via the UE 530 through the support of the host computer 510. In the host computer 510, the execution of the host application 512 can communicate with the execution of the client application 532 via the OTT connection 550 terminated at the UE 530 and the host computer 510. When providing services to users, client application 532 may receive request data from host application 512 and provide user data in response to the request data. OTT connection 550 may communicate the request data and the user data. Client application 532 may interact with the user to generate the user data it provides.

[0120] Please note, Fig.12 The host computer 510, base station 520 and UE 530 shown can be respectively Fig.14 The host computer 430, one of the base stations 412a, 412b and 412c, and one of the UEs 491 and 492 may be similar or identical. That is, the internal workings of these entities may be similar to Fig.12 As shown in , and independently, the surrounding network topology can be Fig.14 topology.

[0121] Fig.15, an OTT connection 550 is abstractly drawn to illustrate communications between a host computer 510 and a UE 530 via a base station 520, without explicit reference to any intermediate devices and the exact routing of messages via these devices. The network infrastructure may determine the routing, which it configures to be hidden from the UE 530 or from the service provider operating the host computer 510, or from both. While the OTT connection 550 is active, the network infrastructure may further make decisions by which it dynamically changes the routing (e.g., based on load balancing considerations or reconfiguration of the network).

[0122] The wireless connection 570 between the UE 530 and the base station 520 is consistent with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout the present disclosure. One or more embodiments of the various embodiments use the OTT connection 550 to improve the performance of the OTT service provided to the UE 530, where the wireless connection 570 forms the last leg. More specifically, the teachings of these embodiments can improve service availability and reliability, and thereby provide benefits such as reduced user waiting time and better responsiveness.

[0123] For the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency, and other factors where one or more embodiments are improved, a measurement process may be provided. There may further be an optional network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 550 between the host computer 510 and the UE 530 in response to changes in the measurement results. The measurement process and / or the network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 550 may be implemented in the software 511 and hardware 515 of the host computer 510 or in the software 531 and hardware 535 of the UE 530 or in both. In an embodiment, a sensor (not shown) may be deployed in or associated with a communication device through which the OTT connection 550 passes; the sensor may participate in the measurement process by providing the values ​​of the monitored quantities exemplified above or providing the values ​​of other physical quantities from which the software 511, 531 can calculate or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguration of the OTT connection 550 may include message formats, retransmission settings, preferred routing selection, etc.; the reconfiguration need not affect the base station 520, and it may be unknown or imperceptible to the base station 520. Such processes and functionality may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, the measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling that facilitates host computer 510 measurements of throughput, propagation time, latency, and the like. The measurements may be achieved because software 511 and 531 causes messages to be transmitted, particularly null or 'dummy' messages, using OTT connection 550 while it monitors propagation time, errors, etc.

[0124] Fig.16is a flow chart showing a method implemented in a communication system according to an embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE, which can be reference Fig.14 and Fig.15 For the sake of brevity of this disclosure, this section will only include Fig.16 Reference to the accompanying drawings of . In step 1310, the host computer provides user data. In sub-step 1311 of step 1310 (the sub-step may be optional), the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step 1320, the host computer initiates a transmission to the UE carrying the user data. According to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout the present disclosure, in step 1330 (the step may be optional), the base station transmits user data to the UE, and the user data is carried in the transmission initiated by the host computer. In step 1340 (the step may also be optional), the UE executes a client application associated with the host application executed by the host computer.

[0125] Fig.17 is a flow chart showing a method implemented in a communication system according to an embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE, which can be reference Fig.14 and Fig.15 For the sake of brevity of this disclosure, this section will only include Fig.14 In step 1410 of the method, the host computer provides user data. In an optional sub-step (not shown), the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step 1420, the host computer initiates a transmission to the UE carrying the user data. According to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout the present disclosure, the transmission may be delivered via a base station. In step 1430 (which may be optional), the UE receives the user data carried in the transmission.

[0126] Fig.18 is a flow chart showing a method implemented in a communication system according to an embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE, which can be reference Fig.14 and Fig.15 For the sake of brevity of this disclosure, this section will only include Fig.15Reference to the accompanying drawings of . In step 1510 (the step may be optional), the UE receives input data provided by the host computer. In addition or alternatively, in step 1520, the UE provides user data. In sub-step 1521 of step 1520 (the sub-step may be optional), the UE provides user data by executing a client application. In sub-step 1511 of step 1510 (the sub-step may be optional), the UE executes a client application, which reacts to the received input data provided by the host computer and provides user data. In providing user data, the executed client application may further consider user input received from the user. Regardless of the specific manner of providing user data, the UE provides transmission of user data to the host computer in sub-step 1530 (the sub-step may be optional). According to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout the present disclosure, in step 1540 of the method, the host computer receives user data transmitted from the UE.

[0127] Fig.19 is a flow chart showing a method implemented in a communication system according to an embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE, which can be reference Fig.14 and Fig.15 For the sake of brevity of this disclosure, this section will only include Fig.16 In step 1610 (which may be optional), in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the base station receives user data from the UE. In step 1620 (which may be optional), the base station initiates a transmission of the received user data to the host computer. In step 1630 (which may be optional), the host computer receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the base station.

[0128] Any suitable steps, methods, features, functions or benefits disclosed herein may be performed by one or more functional units or modules of one or more virtual devices. Each virtual device may include a plurality of these functional units. These functional units may be implemented via processing circuitry, which may include one or more microprocessors or microcontrollers and may include digital signal processors (DSPs), dedicated digital logic, and other digital hardware such as these.

[0129] Fig. 20, an example virtual wireless device apparatus 1700 is shown. The wireless device 1700 includes an acquisition module 1710, the acquisition module including instructions for obtaining a configuration of a demodulation reference signal DMRS, wherein the DMRS includes a pattern of common resource elements of at least two radio access technologies using the multiple radio access technologies. The wireless device 1700 further includes a transceiver module, the transceiver module including instructions for multiplexing or demultiplexing transmission or reception based on the obtained demodulation reference signal. The wireless device 1700 may optionally include other program modules, the program modules including instructions for performing any of the methods described herein relative to a wireless device or UE.

[0130] Fig.21 , an example virtual network device 1800 is shown. The network node 1800 includes a determination module 1810, the determination module including instructions for determining a configuration of a demodulation reference signal DMRS, wherein the DMRS includes a pattern of common resource elements of at least two radio access technologies using the plurality of radio access technologies. The network node 1800 further includes a transceiver module, the transceiver module including instructions for multiplexing or demultiplexing transmissions or receptions based on the determined demodulation reference signal. The network node 1800 may optionally include other program modules, the program modules including instructions for performing any of the methods described herein relative to a network node or a base station.

[0131] The processing circuit of the device may be configured to execute program codes stored in a memory, which may include one or more types of memory, such as a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a cache memory, a flash memory device, an optical storage device, etc. The program code stored in the memory includes program instructions for executing one or more telecommunications and / or data communication protocols and instructions for executing one or more techniques described herein. In some implementations, according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, the processing circuit may be used to cause the corresponding functional unit to perform the corresponding function.

[0132] The term "unit" may have the conventional meaning in the field of electronic devices, electrical apparatuses and / or electronic devices, and may include, for example, electrical and / or electronic circuits, devices, modules, processors, memories, logical solid-state and / or discrete devices, computer programs or instructions for performing corresponding tasks, processes, calculations, output and / or display functions, etc., such as those described herein.

[0133] In some embodiments, a computer program, a computer program product, or a computer-readable storage medium includes instructions that, when executed on a computer, perform any of the embodiments disclosed herein. In a further example, the instructions are carried on a signal or a carrier, and the instructions are executable on a computer, wherein when executed, any of the embodiments disclosed herein are performed.

[0134] Further examples illustrate one or more embodiments disclosed herein: Example 1. A method performed by a wireless device operating in a communication system, wherein the communication system includes a radio spectrum shared by multiple radio access technologies, the method comprising: obtaining a configuration of a demodulation reference signal DMRS, wherein the DMRS comprises a pattern of common resource elements of at least two radio access technologies using the plurality of radio access technologies; Data transmission is transmitted or received based on the obtained demodulation reference signal.

[0135] Example 2: The method of Example 1, wherein the DMRS is configured for a first radio access technology and is orthogonal or pseudo-orthogonal to a DMRS configured for one or more radio access technologies of the plurality of radio access technologies.

[0136] Example 3: The method of Example 2, wherein the DMRS may include a sequence, the sequence being derived using the same DMRS sequence as the DMRS for another user and by code domain multiplexing CDM, wherein at least some of the co-scheduled radio resource elements are used for another radio access technology of the multiple radio access technologies.

[0137] Example 4: The method of Example 3, wherein the DMRS includes a time-domain orthogonal cover code OCC of length 4 to a group of 4 resource elements or of length 2 to a group of 2 resource elements.

[0138] Example 5: The method of Example 4, comprising one of the following: A length 2 OCC is applied to one of the CDM groups, where each CDM group corresponds to 2 unique antenna ports; and A length 4 OCC is applied to one of the CDM groups, where each CDM group corresponds to 4 unique antenna ports.

[0139] Example 6: The method of any of the above examples further comprises obtaining an antenna port indication.

[0140] Example 7: The method of Example 6, wherein the antenna port indication includes an indication of whether other ports within the same CDM group are scheduled and / or the number of CDM groups for which physical downlink shared channel data is not scheduled.

[0141] Example 8: A method according to any of the above examples, wherein the CDM corresponds to a length 4 OCC according to a subcarrier and / or physical resource block index.

[0142] Example 9: A method according to any of the above examples, wherein the obtained DMRS configuration is a first DMRS configuration, and the method further includes obtaining a second DMRS configuration, wherein the second DMRS is configured for the following resource elements, which are unique compared to the DMRS and cell-specific reference signals configured for any radio access technology of other radio access technologies.

[0143] Example 10: The method according to embodiment 9 further includes receiving an indication to select between the first DMRS configuration and the second DMRS configuration.

[0144] Example 11: A method according to any of the above examples, wherein the DMRS configuration is for uplink multi-user multiple input multiple output MU-MIMO.

[0145] Example 12: A method performed by a network node in a communication system, wherein the communication system includes a radio spectrum shared by multiple radio access technologies, the method comprising: determining a configuration of a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), wherein the DMRS comprises a pattern of common resource elements of at least two radio access technologies using the plurality of radio access technologies; A data transmission is received or transmitted based on the determined demodulation reference signal.

[0146] Example 13: The method of Example 12, further comprising: The determined DMRS is configured for the wireless device.

[0147] Example 14: The method of Example 12 or 13, wherein the DMRS is configured for a first radio access technology and is orthogonal or pseudo-orthogonal to a DMRS configured for one or more of the plurality of radio access technologies.

[0148] Example 15: A method according to any of Examples 12-14, wherein the DMRS may include a sequence obtained by code domain multiplexing (CDM) using the same DMRS sequence as the DMRS used for another user, and wherein at least a portion of the co-scheduled radio resource elements are used for another radio access technology of the multiple radio access technologies.

[0149] Example 16: The method of Example 15, wherein the DMRS comprises a time domain orthogonal cover code OCC of length 4 to a group of 4 resource elements or of length 2 to a group of 2 resource elements.

[0150] Example 17: The method of Example 16, wherein the method comprises one of the following: A length 2 OCC is applied to one of the CDM groups, where each CDM group corresponds to 2 unique antenna ports; and A length 4 OCC is applied to one of the CDM groups, where each CDM group corresponds to 4 unique antenna ports.

[0151] Example 18: The method of any of Examples 12 to 17, further comprising sending an antenna port indication to the wireless device.

[0152] Example 19: The method of Example 18, wherein the antenna port indication comprises an indication of whether other ports within the same CDM group are scheduled and / or the number of CDM groups for which physical downlink shared channel data is not scheduled.

[0153] Example 20: A method according to any one of Examples 12 to 19, wherein the CDM corresponds to a length 4 OCC according to a subcarrier and / or physical resource block index.

[0154] Example 21: A method according to any one of Examples 12 to 20, wherein the determined DMRS configuration is a first DMRS configuration, and the method further includes determining a second DMRS configuration, wherein the second DMRS is configured for the following resource elements, which are unique compared to the DMRS and cell-specific reference signals configured for any one of the other radio access technologies.

[0155] Example 22: The method of Example 21, further comprising sending an indication to the wireless device to select between the first DMRS configuration and the second DMRS configuration.

[0156] Example 23: A method according to any one of Examples 12 to 22, wherein the DMRS configuration is for uplink multi-user multiple input multiple output MU-MIMO.

[0157] Example 24: A wireless device / user equipment, comprising: a processing circuit, a transceiver circuit, a memory, and a power supply circuit configured to supply power to the wireless device, wherein the processing circuit is configured to: - obtaining a configuration of a demodulation reference signal DMRS, wherein the DMRS comprises a pattern of common resource elements of at least two radio access technologies using a plurality of radio access technologies; - Receiving or transmitting a data transmission based on the obtained demodulation reference signal.

[0158] Example 25: The wireless device of Example 24, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to perform any of the steps of Examples 1 to 11.

[0159] Example 26: A network node / base station comprising a processing circuit, a transceiver circuit, and a power supply circuit configured to supply power to the network node, the processing circuit being configured to: - determining a configuration of a demodulation reference signal DMRS, wherein the DMRS comprises a pattern of common resource elements of at least two radio access technologies using a plurality of radio access technologies; - Receiving or transmitting a data transmission based on the determined demodulation reference signal.

[0160] Example 27: The network node of Example 26, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to perform any of the steps of Examples 12 to 23.

[0161] Example 28: A communication system comprising a host computer, the host computer comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and a communication interface configured to forward user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (wireless device), The cellular network supports multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communications, wherein the communication system includes a radio spectrum shared by multiple radio access technologies.

[0162] Example 29: The communication system of Example 28, further comprising a network node.

[0163] Example 30: The communication system of Example 28 or 29, further comprising the wireless device, wherein the wireless device is configured to communicate with a base station.

[0164] Example 31: The communication system of any one of Examples 28 to 30, wherein: The processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing user data; and The wireless device includes a processing circuit configured to execute a client application associated with a host application.

[0165] Example 32: A method performed in a communication system, the communication system comprising a host computer, a non-terrestrial network comprising a communication satellite and a network node, and a user equipment (wireless device), wherein the network node is one of a terrestrial base station and a satellite base station or a satellite gateway, the method comprising: Providing user data on a host computer; and A transmission carrying user data is initiated at a host computer to the wireless device via a cellular network, the cellular network comprising the network node, wherein the network node performs any of the steps of any of Examples 12 to 23.

[0166] Example 33: The method of Example 32 further includes transmitting user data at the base station.

[0167] Example 34: The method of Example 32 or 33, wherein the user data is provided at a host computer by executing a host application, the method further comprising executing a client application associated with the host application at the wireless device.

[0168] Example 35: A user equipment (UE) configured to communicate with a base station, the UE comprising a radio interface and a processing circuit, the processing circuit configured to perform any one of Examples 1 to 11.

[0169] Example 36: A computer program comprising instructions which, when executed on a computer or a processing circuit, cause the computer or the processing circuit to perform any of the methods of Examples 1 to 11 or Examples 12 to 23.

[0170] Example 37: A computer program product, memory or carrier comprising computer program instructions according to Example 36.

Claims

1. A method performed by a wireless device (110, 200) operating in a communication system, wherein: The communication system comprises use of a radio spectrum shared by a plurality of radio access technologies, the method comprising: obtaining (600) a configuration of a demodulation reference signal DMRS, wherein the DMRS occupies resource elements identified by a pattern and uses common resource elements of at least two radio access technologies of the plurality of radio access technologies; A data transmission is transmitted or received (630) based on the obtained demodulation reference signal.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein: The DMRS is configured for a first radio access technology and is orthogonal or pseudo-orthogonal to a DMRS configured for a different radio access technology of the plurality of radio access technologies.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein: The different radio access technology of the plurality of radio access technologies is configured with a cell-specific reference signal (CRS).

4. The method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein: The DMRS includes a sequence obtained by code domain multiplexing (CDM) using the same DMRS sequence as a DMRS for another user, wherein at least a portion of the co-scheduled radio resource elements are used for another radio access technology of the plurality of radio access technologies.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein: The DMRS includes a time-domain orthogonal cover code OCC of length 4 applied to a group of 4 resource elements or an OCC of length 2 applied to a group of 2 resource elements.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein: Include one of the following: A length 2 OCC is applied to one of the CDM groups, where each CDM group corresponds to 2 unique antenna ports; and A length 4 OCC is applied to one of the CDM groups, where each CDM group corresponds to 4 unique antenna ports.

7. The method of any of the preceding claims, further comprising obtaining (610) an antenna port indication.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein: The antenna port indication includes an indication of whether to schedule other ports in the same CDM group.

9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, wherein: The indication includes the number of CDM groups without physical downlink shared channel data transmission.

10. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: The CDM corresponds to a length of 4 OCC according to a subcarrier and / or a physical resource block index.

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