User equipment and method of wireless communication performed by same

Abstract

A user equipment and a method of wireless communication performed by the same are disclosed. The user equipment (UE) comprises: one or more transceivers; one or more memories; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more transceivers and the one or more memories, wherein the one or more processors, alone or in combination, are configured to: receive a reference signal (RS) via the one or more transceivers; estimating a channel on which the RS is received based on the measurements of the non-holed subset; obtaining a measurement of the perforable subset based on the estimated channel; determining whether the perforable subset has been punctured by another physical layer signal based on the measurement of the perforable subset; and processing the RS based on a determination of whether the perforable subset has been punctured.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of the application with application number 202080056997.6, application date August 13, 2020, and invention title "Puncturing Indicator of a Portion of a Reference Signal within an Unpunctured Portion of the Reference Signal".

[0002] Cross - reference to related applications

[0003] This patent application claims priority under 35 U.S.C.§119 to Greek Patent Application No. 20190100353, filed on August 13, 2019, entitled "PUNCTURING INDICATOR OF A PORTION OF A REFERENCE SIGNAL WITHIN AN UNPUNCTURED PORTION THE REFERENCE SIGNAL", and to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 16 / 991,959, filed on August 12, 2020, entitled "PUNCTURING INDICATOR OF A PORTION OF A REFERENCE SIGNAL WITHIN AN UNPUNCTURED PORTION THE REFERENCE SIGNAL", both of which are assigned to the assignee hereof and are hereby expressly incorporated by reference in their entireties. Technical Field

[0004] Aspects described herein generally relate to wireless communication. Background Art

[0005] Wireless communication systems have evolved through many generations, including first - generation analog wireless telephone services (1G), second - generation (2G) digital wireless telephone services (including intermediate 2.5G and 2.75G networks), third - generation (3G) wireless services with high - speed data Internet capabilities, and fourth - generation (4G) services (e.g., Long - Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax). Currently, many different types of wireless communication systems are in use, including cellular and personal communication services (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include cellular analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile access (GSM), etc.

[0006] The fifth generation (5G) wireless standard, known as New Radio (NR), requires higher data transfer speeds, a greater number of connections, better coverage, and other improvements. According to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, the 5G standard is designed to provide a data rate of tens of megabits per second to each of tens of thousands of users and a data rate of 1 gigabit per second to dozens of employees on an office floor. To support large-scale sensor deployments, hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections should be supported. Therefore, compared with the current 4G standard, the spectral efficiency of 5G mobile communications should be significantly enhanced. In addition, compared with the current standard, the signaling efficiency should be enhanced and the latency should be significantly reduced. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] A simplified summary related to one or more aspects disclosed herein is given below. Accordingly, the following summary should not be considered an exhaustive summary related to all contemplated aspects, nor should it be considered to identify key or critical elements related to all contemplated aspects or to delineate the scope associated with any particular aspect. Thus, the sole purpose of the following summary is to present in a simplified form certain concepts related to one or more aspects associated with the mechanisms disclosed herein prior to the detailed description presented below.

[0008] One or more aspects may be directed to a network entity. The network entity may include a transceiver, a memory, and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory. The processor may be configured to configure a reference signal (RS) such that the RS can be punctured by another physical layer signal. The RS may include a puncturable subset and a non-puncturable subset. The puncturable subset may include one or more resources of the RS that are allowed to be punctured, while the non-puncturable subset may include one or more resources of the RS that are prohibited from being punctured. The RS may be configured such that when the RS is transmitted, the non-puncturable subset of the RS indicates whether the puncturable subset of the RS has been punctured. The processor may also be configured to provide the RS configuration to a user equipment (UE) via the transceiver. The RS configuration may indicate the resource configuration of the RS.

[0009] One or more aspects may relate to a method of wireless communication performed by a network entity. The method may include configuring a RS such that the RS can be punctured by another physical layer signal. The RS may include a puncturable subset and a non-puncturable subset. The puncturable subset may include one or more resources of the RS that are allowed to be punctured, while the non-puncturable subset may include one or more resources of the RS that are prohibited from being punctured. The RS may be configured such that when the RS is transmitted, the non-puncturable subset of the RS indicates whether the puncturable subset of the RS has been punctured. The method may further include providing a RS configuration to a UE. The RS configuration may indicate the resource configuration of the RS.

[0010] One or more aspects may also relate to a network entity. The network entity may include means for configuring a RS such that the RS can be punctured by another physical layer signal. The RS may include a puncturable subset and a non-puncturable subset. The puncturable subset may include one or more resources of the RS that are allowed to be punctured, while the non-puncturable subset may include one or more resources of the RS that are prohibited from being punctured. The RS may be configured such that when the RS is transmitted, the non-puncturable subset of the RS indicates whether the puncturable subset of the RS has been punctured. The network entity may further include means for providing a RS configuration to a UE. The RS configuration may indicate the resource configuration of the RS.

[0011] One or more aspects may further relate to a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions for a network entity. The computer-executable instructions may include one or more instructions that cause the network entity to configure a RS such that the RS can be punctured by another physical layer signal. The RS may include a puncturable subset and a non-puncturable subset. The puncturable subset may include one or more resources of the RS that are allowed to be punctured, while the non-puncturable subset may include one or more resources of the RS that are prohibited from being punctured. The RS may be configured such that when the RS is transmitted, the non-puncturable subset of the RS indicates whether the puncturable subset of the RS has been punctured. The computer-executable instructions may further include one or more instructions that cause the network entity to provide a RS configuration to a UE. The RS configuration may indicate the resource configuration of the RS.

[0012] One or more aspects may be directed to a UE. The UE may include a transceiver, a memory, and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory. The processor may be configured to receive a RS from a non-serving cell via the transceiver. The RS may include a puncturable subset and a non-puncturable subset. The puncturable subset may include one or more resources of the RS that are allowed to be punctured, while the non-puncturable subset may include one or more resources of the RS that are prohibited from being punctured. The processor may also be configured to determine, based on the non-puncturable subset, whether the puncturable subset has been punctured by another physical layer signal. The processor may also be configured to exclude the puncturable subset when processing the RS when it is determined that the puncturable subset has been punctured. The processor may also be configured to include the puncturable subset when processing the RS when it is determined that the puncturable subset has not been punctured.

[0013] One or more aspects may also be directed to a method of wireless communication performed by a UE. The method may include receiving a RS from a non-serving cell. The RS may include a puncturable subset and a non-puncturable subset. The puncturable subset may include one or more resources of the RS that are allowed to be punctured, while the non-puncturable subset may include one or more resources of the RS that are prohibited from being punctured. The method may also include determining, based on the non-puncturable subset, whether the puncturable subset has been punctured by another physical layer signal. The method may also include excluding the puncturable subset when processing the RS when it is determined that the puncturable subset has been punctured. The method may also include including the puncturable subset when processing the RS when it is determined that the puncturable subset has not been punctured.

[0014] One or more aspects may also be directed to a UE. The UE may include means for receiving a RS from a non-serving cell. The RS may include a puncturable subset and a non-puncturable subset. The puncturable subset may include one or more resources of the RS that are allowed to be punctured, while the non-puncturable subset may include one or more resources of the RS that are prohibited from being punctured. The UE may also include means for determining, based on the non-puncturable subset, whether the puncturable subset has been punctured by another physical layer signal. The UE may also include means for excluding the puncturable subset when processing the RS when it is determined that the puncturable subset has been punctured. The UE may also include means for including the puncturable subset when processing the RS when it is determined that the puncturable subset has not been punctured.

[0015] One or more aspects may also be directed to a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions for a UE. The computer-executable instructions may also include one or more instructions that cause the UE to receive a RS from a non-serving cell. The RS may include a puncturable subset and a non-puncturable subset. The puncturable subset may include one or more resources of the RS that are allowed to be punctured, while the non-puncturable subset may include one or more resources of the RS that are prohibited from being punctured. The computer-executable instructions may also include one or more instructions that cause the UE to determine whether the puncturable subset has been punctured by another physical layer signal based on the non-puncturable subset. The computer-readable instructions may also include one or more instructions that cause the UE to exclude the puncturable subset when processing the RS when it is determined that the puncturable subset has been punctured. The computer-readable instructions may also include one or more instructions that cause the UE to include the puncturable subset when processing the RS when it is determined that the puncturable subset has not been punctured.

[0016] One or more aspects may be directed to a network node. The network node may include a transceiver, a memory, and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory. The processor may be configured to transmit a RS to a UE that is not currently served by the network node via the transceiver. The RS may include a puncturable subset and a non-puncturable subset. The puncturable subset may include one or more resources of the RS that are allowed to be punctured, while the non-puncturable subset may include one or more resources of the RS that are prohibited from being punctured. The non-puncturable subset may indicate whether the puncturable subset of the RS has been punctured by another physical layer signal.

[0017] One or more aspects may be directed to a method of a network node. The method may include transmitting a RS to a UE that is not currently served by the network node. The RS may include a puncturable subset and a non-puncturable subset. The puncturable subset may include one or more resources of the RS that are allowed to be punctured, while the non-puncturable subset may include one or more resources of the RS that are prohibited from being punctured. The non-puncturable subset may indicate whether the puncturable subset of the RS has been punctured by another physical layer signal.

[0018] One or more aspects may also be directed to a network node. The network node may include means for transmitting a RS to a UE that is not currently served by the network node. The RS may include a puncturable subset and a non-puncturable subset. The puncturable subset may include one or more resources of the RS that are allowed to be punctured, while the non-puncturable subset may include one or more resources of the RS that are prohibited from being punctured. The non-puncturable subset may indicate whether the puncturable subset of the RS has been punctured by another physical layer signal.

[0019] One or more aspects may also relate to a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions for a network node. The computer-executable instructions may include one or more instructions that cause the network node to send a RS to a UE that is not currently served by the network node. The RS may include a puncturable subset and a non-puncturable subset. The puncturable subset may include one or more resources of the RS that are allowed to be punctured, while the non-puncturable subset may include one or more resources of the RS that are prohibited from being punctured. The non-puncturable subset may indicate whether the puncturable subset of the RS has been punctured by another physical layer signal.

[0020] Based on the figures and the detailed description, other objects and advantages associated with the aspects disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] The drawings are provided to assist in describing examples of one or more aspects of the present disclosure, and the drawings are provided only to illustrate these examples and not to limit these examples:

[0022] Figure 1 An exemplary wireless communication system in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0023] Figure 2A and 2B An example wireless network structure in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0024] Figures 3A to 3C is a simplified block diagram of several example aspects of components that may be employed in a wireless communication node and configured to support the communications taught herein.

[0025] Figure 4 and Figure 5 is a schematic diagram showing an example frame structure and channels within the frame structure in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0026] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration for PRS transmission for a given base station in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0027] Figures 7A to 7C An example technique for indicating that an ongoing enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) service has been punctured by a ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) service in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0028] Figure 8 A representation of an example DCI under DCI format 2_1 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0029] Figure 9 An exemplary wireless communication system in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0030] Figures 10A to 10E Shows an example configuration of a reference signal (RS) according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0031] Figure 11 Shows a flowchart of an exemplary method of a network entity according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0032] Figures 12 to 17 Shows a flowchart of an exemplary method of a UE according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0033] Figure 18 Shows a flowchart of an exemplary method of a network node according to aspects of the present disclosure. Detailed Description

[0034] Aspects described herein generally relate to wireless communication systems, and more particularly, for indicating whether a reference signal (RS) is punctured. In one aspect, a network node (e.g., a base station, a gNB, etc.) may be allowed to puncture a reference signal (such as a positioning reference signal (PRS)) to deliver high-priority data (incoming ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) data) to a user equipment (UE), even if the UE is not currently served by the network node. Specifically, the RS may be configured to include a puncturable subset and a non-puncturable subset. The puncturable subset may include one or more resources of the RS that are allowed to be punctured, while the non-puncturable subset may include one or more resources of the RS that are prohibited from being punctured. The network node may send the RS such that the non-puncturable subset indicates that the puncturable subset of the RS has been punctured. In this way, the network can quickly notify whether the RS has been punctured to carry high-priority data.

[0035] These and other aspects of the present disclosure are provided in the following description of various examples provided for illustrative purposes and the related drawings. Alternative aspects may be designed without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Additionally, well-known elements of the present disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted to avoid obscuring relevant details of the present disclosure.

[0036] The words “exemplary” and / or “example” are used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration”. Any aspect described herein as “exemplary” and / or “example” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Similarly, the term “aspects of the present disclosure” does not require that all aspects of the present disclosure include the discussed features, advantages, or operating modes.

[0037] Those skilled in the art will understand that the information and signals described below can be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and methods. For example, the data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout the following specification may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof, partly depending on the particular application, partly depending on the desired design, partly depending on the corresponding technology, etc.

[0038] In addition, many aspects are described in terms of action sequences to be performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It will be recognized that the various actions described herein can be performed by a particular circuit (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), by program instructions executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. Additionally, the action sequences described herein can be considered to be fully embodied in any form of non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored therein the corresponding set of computer instructions that, when executed, will cause or direct the relevant processors of the device to perform the functions described herein. Accordingly, the various aspects of the present disclosure can be embodied in several different forms, all of which are contemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. Additionally, for the various aspects described herein, any corresponding form of these aspects can be described herein as, for example, “logic” configured to perform the described actions.

[0039] As used herein, unless otherwise specified, the terms “user equipment” (UE) and “base station” are not intended to be specific to or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT). Generally, a UE can be any wireless communication device that a user uses to communicate through a wireless communication network (e.g., a mobile phone, a router, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a tracking device, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch, glasses, an augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headset, etc.), a vehicle (e.g., a car, a motorcycle, a bicycle, etc.), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.). The UE can be mobile or can be stationary (e.g., at certain times), and can communicate with a radio access network (RAN). As used herein, the term “UE” may be referred to interchangeably as “access terminal” or “AT”, “client device”, “wireless device”, “subscriber device”, “subscriber terminal”, “subscriber station”, “user terminal” or UT, “mobile device”, “mobile terminal”, “mobile station” or variants thereof. Generally, a UE can communicate with a core network via a RAN, and through the core network, the UE can connect to an external network such as the Internet and to other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for connecting to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible for the UE, such as through a wired access network, a wireless local area network (WLAN) network (e.g., based on IEEE 802.11, etc.), and so on.

[0040] The base station can operate according to one of several RATs for communicating with the UE, depending on the network in which it is deployed, and can alternatively be referred to as an access point (AP), network node, NodeB, evolved NodeB (eNB), next-generation eNB (ng-eNB), New Radio (NR) NodeB (also referred to as gNB or gNodeB), etc. The base station can be mainly used to support the wireless access of the UE, including supporting the data, voice, and / or signaling connections of the supported UE. In some systems, the base station can provide a pure edge node signaling function, while in other systems, the base station can provide additional control and / or network management functions. The communication link through which the UE sends signals to the base station can be referred to as the uplink (UL) channel (e.g., reverse traffic channel, reverse control channel, access channel, etc.). The communication link through which the base station sends signals to the UE can be referred to as the downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., paging channel, control channel, broadcast channel, forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term traffic channel (TCH) can refer to the uplink / reverse or downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0041] The term "base station" can refer to a single physical transmit-receive point (TRP), or can be multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be collocated. For example, in the case where the term "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP can be the antenna of the base station corresponding to the cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. In the case where the term "base station" refers to multiple collocated physical TRPs, the physical TRP can be an antenna array of the base station (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or when the base station employs beamforming). In the case where the term "base station" refers to multiple non-collocated physical TRPs, the physical TRP can be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transmission medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-collocated physical TRPs can be the serving base station that receives measurement reports from the UE and an adjacent base station to which the UE is measuring the reference RF signal (or simply referred to as the "reference signal"). Since the TRP is the point from which the base station transmits and receives wireless signals, as used herein, a reference to transmission from the base station or reception at the base station should be understood to refer to the specific TRP of that base station.

[0042] In some implementations that support UE positioning, a base station may not support the wireless access of the UE (e.g., may not support the data, voice, and / or signaling connection of the UE), but instead may send a reference signal to the UE to be measured by the UE, and / or may receive and measure the signal sent by the UE. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., when sending a signal to the UE) and / or as a position measurement unit (e.g., when receiving and measuring a signal from the UE).

[0043] An "RF signal" includes an electromagnetic wave of a given frequency that transmits information through the space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may send a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through a multipath channel, a receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal. The same RF signal transmitted on different paths between the transmitter and the receiver may be referred to as a "multipath" RF signal. As used herein, an RF signal may also be referred to as a "wireless signal" or simply as a "signal", where it is clear from the context that the term "signal" refers to a wireless signal or an RF signal.

[0044] According to various aspects, Figure 1 An exemplary wireless communication system 100 is shown. The wireless communication system 100 (which may also be referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macro cell base stations (high-power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low-power cellular base stations). In one aspect, the macro cell base stations may include eNBs and / or ng-eNBs corresponding to the LTE network of the wireless communication system 100, or gNBs where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to the NR network, or a combination of the above, and the small cell base stations may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0045] Base station 102 can jointly form a RAN and interface with a core network 170 (e.g., evolved packet core (EPC) or 5G core (5GC)) via a backhaul link 122, and be connected to one or more location servers 172 (which may be part of the core network 170 or may be external to the core network 170) through the core network 170. Among other functions, base station 102 can perform functions related to one or more of the following: transmitting user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection establishment and release, load balancing, distribution of non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and device tracking, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of warning messages. Base stations 102 can communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., via EPC / 5NGC) through a backhaul link 134, which can be wired or wireless.

[0046] Base station 102 can communicate wirelessly with UE 104. Each base station 102 can provide communication coverage for a corresponding geographical coverage area 110. In one aspect, base station 102 can support one or more cells in each coverage area 110. A "cell" is a logical communication entity used to communicate with a base station (e.g., on a certain frequency resource referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, frequency band, etc.), and can be associated with an identifier (e.g., physical cell identifier (PCI), virtual cell identifier (VCI), cell global identifier (CGI)) used to distinguish cells operating on the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells can be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or others), and different protocol types can provide access for different types of UEs. Since a cell is supported by a specific base station, depending on the context, the term "cell" can refer to one or both of the logical communication entity and the base station supporting it. Additionally, since a TRP is typically the physical transmission point of a cell, the terms "cell" and "TRP" can be used interchangeably. In some cases, the term "cell" can also refer to the geographical coverage area (e.g., sector) of a base station, as long as the carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within certain parts of the geographical coverage area 110.

[0047] Although the geographical coverage areas 110 of adjacent macro cell base stations 102 may partially overlap (e.g., in a handover area), some geographical coverage areas 110 may substantially overlap with larger geographical coverage areas 110. For example, a small cell base station 102’ may have a coverage area 110’ that substantially overlaps with the coverage areas 110 of one or more macro cell base stations 102. A network including both small cells and macro cell base stations may be referred to as a heterogeneous network. The heterogeneous network may also include a home eNB (HeNB), which may provide services to a restricted group known as a closed subscriber group (CSG).

[0048] The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include an uplink (also referred to as a reverse link) transmission from the UE 104 to the base station 102 and / or a downlink (also referred to as a forward link) transmission from the base station 102 to the UE 104. The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may be over one or more carrier frequencies. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to the downlink and the uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated for the downlink than for the uplink).

[0049] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) 150, which communicates with a WLAN station (STA) 152 in an unlicensed spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz) via a communication link 154. When communicating in an unlicensed spectrum, the WLAN STA 152 and / or the WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) or listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure before communication to determine whether the channel is available.

[0050] The small cell base station 102’ may operate in a licensed spectrum and / or an unlicensed spectrum. When operating in an unlicensed spectrum, the small cell base station 102’ may employ LTE or NR technology and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum as that used by the WLAN AP 150. The small cell base station 102’ using LTE / 5G in an unlicensed spectrum may enhance the coverage to the access network and / or increase the capacity of the access network. NR in an unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as NR-U. LTE in an unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as LTE-U, licensed-assisted access (LAA), or MulteFire.

[0051] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a millimeter wave (mmW) base station 180, which may operate at mmW frequencies and / or near mmW frequencies for communicating with the UE 182. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is a part of RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. The frequency range of EHF is from 30 GHz to 300 GHz, and the wavelength is from 1 millimeter to 10 millimeters. The radio waves in this frequency band may be referred to as millimeter waves. Near mmW may extend down to a frequency of 3 GHz and a wavelength of 100 millimeters. The super high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz and is also referred to as centimeter waves. Communication using the mmW / near mmW radio frequency bands has high path loss and relatively short distances. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 may utilize beamforming (transmission and / or reception) on the mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short distances. Additionally, it should be understood that in alternative configurations, one or more of the base stations 102 may also transmit using mmW or near mmW and beamforming. Therefore, it should be understood that the foregoing illustrations are merely examples and should not be construed as limiting the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0052] Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing an RF signal in a specific direction. Conventionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in all directions (omnidirectionally). With transmit beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., a UE) is located (relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that specific direction, thus providing a faster (in terms of data rate) and stronger RF signal for the receiving device. To change the directivity of the RF signal during transmission, the network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of one or more transmitters that broadcast the RF signal. For example, the network node may use an antenna array (referred to as a "phased array" or "antenna array") that creates an RF beam that can be "manipulated" to point in different directions without actually moving the antennas. Specifically, the RF currents from the transmitters are fed to the individual antennas in the correct phase relationship such that the radio waves from the individual antennas add together to increase the radiation in the desired direction while canceling to suppress the radiation in the unwanted directions.

[0053] Transmission beams can be quasi - collocated, meaning that they appear to have the same parameters to a receiver (e.g., UE), regardless of whether the transmission antennas of the network node itself are physically collocated. In NR, there are four types of quasi - collocation (QCL) relationships. More specifically, a given type of QCL relationship means that certain parameters of a second reference RF signal on a second beam can be derived from information about a source reference RF signal on a source beam. Thus, if the source reference RF signal is of QCL type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is of QCL type B, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is of QCL type C, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and average delay of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is of QCL type D, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the spatial reception parameters of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0054] In receive beamforming, the receiver uses receive beams to amplify the RF signals detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver can increase the gain setting in a specific direction and / or adjust the phase setting of the antenna array to amplify (e.g., increase the gain level) the RF signals received from that direction. Thus, when it is considered that the receiver is beamforming in a certain direction, this means that the beam gain in that direction is higher than the beam gain in other directions, or the beam gain in that direction is the highest among all other receive beams available to the receiver in that direction. This results in a stronger received signal strength (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal - to - interference - plus - noise ratio (SINR), etc.) of the RF signals received from that direction.

[0055] The receiving beam can be spatially related. The spatial relationship means that the parameters of the transmission beam of the second reference signal can be derived from the information on the receiving beam of the first reference signal. For example, the UE can receive one or more reference downlink reference signals (e.g., positioning reference signal (PRS), tracking reference signal (TRS), phase tracking reference signal (PTRS), cell-specific reference signal (CRS), channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), primary synchronization signal (PSS), secondary synchronization signal (SSS), synchronization signal block (SSB), etc.) from the base station using a specific receiving beam. Then, the UE can form a transmission beam for transmitting one or more uplink reference signals (e.g., uplink positioning reference signal (UL-PRS), sounding reference signal (SRS), demodulation reference signal (DMRS), PTRS, etc.) to the base station based on the parameters of the receiving beam.

[0056] Note that a "downlink" beam can be a transmission beam or a receiving beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if the base station is forming a downlink beam to transmit a reference signal to the UE, the downlink beam is a transmission beam. However, if the UE is forming a downlink beam, the downlink beam is a receiving beam for receiving the downlink reference signal. Similarly, an "uplink" beam can be a transmission beam or a receiving beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if the base station is forming an uplink beam, the uplink beam is an uplink receiving beam, and if the UE is forming an uplink beam, the uplink beam is an uplink transmission beam.

[0057] In 5G, the spectrum in which wireless nodes (e.g., base stations 102 / 180, UEs 104 / 182) operate is divided into multiple frequency ranges, FR1 (from 450 to 6000 MHz), FR2 (from 24250 to 52600 MHz), FR3 (above 52600 MHz), and FR4 (between FR1 and FR2). In a multi-carrier system such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies is referred to as the "primary carrier" or "anchor carrier" or "primary serving cell" or "PCell", while the remaining carrier frequencies are referred to as "secondary carriers" or "secondary serving cells" or "SCells". In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is the carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) used by the UE 104 / 182 and the cell in which the UE 104 / 182 performs the initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates the RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common and UE-specific control channels and can be a carrier in a licensed frequency (however, this is not always the case). The secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2), which can be configured once an RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier, and this secondary carrier can be used to provide additional radio resources. In some cases, the secondary carrier can be a carrier in an unlicensed frequency. The secondary carrier can contain only the necessary signaling information, and since the primary uplink and downlink carriers are usually UE-specific, for example, those UE-specific signals may not be present in the secondary carrier. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 in a cell can have different downlink primary carriers. The same applies to the uplink primary carriers. The network is able to change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. For example, this is done to balance the load on different carriers. Since a "serving cell" (whether it is a PCell or an SCell) corresponds to the carrier frequency / component carrier on which a certain base station communicates, the terms "cell", "serving cell", "component carrier", "carrier frequency", etc. can be used interchangeably.

[0058] For example, still referring to Figure 1 , one of the frequencies used by the macro cell base station 102 can be the anchor carrier (or "PCell"), and the other frequencies used by the macro cell base station 102 and / or the mmW base station 180 can be secondary carriers ("SCells"). The simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers enables the UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rate. For example, compared to the data rate achieved by a single 20 MHz carrier, two 20 MHz aggregated carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically result in a two-fold increase in the data rate (i.e., 40 MHz).

[0059] The wireless communication system 100 may also include one or more UEs, such as UE 190, that are indirectly connected to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as "sidelinks"). In Figure 1 the example, UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of the UEs 104 connected to one of the base stations 102 (e.g., UE 190 may indirectly obtain a cellular connection through it), and a D2D P2P link 194 with a WLAN STA 152 connected to the WLAN AP 150 (UE 190 may indirectly obtain a WLAN-based Internet connection through it). In the example, the D2D P2P links 192 and 194 may be supported by any known D2D RAT (such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth etc.).

[0060] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a UE 164 that may communicate with the macro cell base station 102 on the communication link 120 and / or with the mmW base station 180 on the mmW communication link 184. For example, the macro cell base station 102 may support a PCell and one or more SCell for the UE 164, and the mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCell for the UE 164.

[0061] According to various aspects, Figure 2A an example wireless network structure 200 is shown. For example, the 5GC 210 (also referred to as the Next Generation Core (NGC)) may be functionally regarded as a control plane function 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and a user plane function 212 (e.g., UE gateway function, access to data networks, IP routing, etc.), which cooperate to form the core network. The user plane interface (NG-U) 213 and the control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect the gNB 222 to the 5GC 210, and specifically connect to the control plane function 214 and the user plane function 212. In an additional configuration, the ng-eNB 224 may also be connected to the 5GC 210 via the NG-C 215 to the control plane function 214, and the NG-U 213 to the user plane function 212. In addition, the ng-eNB 224 may communicate directly with the gNB 222 via the backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, the new RAN 220 may have only one or more gNB 222s, while other configurations include one or more of both the ng-eNB 224 and the gNB 222. The gNB 222 or the ng-eNB 224 may communicate with the UE 204 (e.g., Figure 1communicate with any UE described therein. Another optional aspect may include a location server 230, which may communicate with the 5GC 210 to provide location assistance for the UE 204. The location server 230 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules distributed across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively may each correspond to a single server. The location server 230 may be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204, and the UE 204 may be connected to the location server 230 via the core network, the 5GC 210, and / or via the Internet (not shown). Moreover, the location server 230 may be integrated into a component of the core network, or alternatively may be external to the core network.

[0062] According to various aspects, Figure 2B illustrates another example wireless network architecture 250. For example, the 5GC 260 may be functionally regarded as including a control plane function provided by the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 264, and a user plane function provided by the User Plane Function (UPF) 262, which operate collaboratively to form the core network (i.e., the 5GC 260). The user plane interface 263 and the control plane interface 265 connect the ng-eNB 224 to the 5GC 260 respectively, and specifically connect to the UPF 262 and the AMF 264 respectively. In an additional configuration, the gNB 222 may also be connected to the 5GC 260 via the control plane interface 265 to the AMF 264 and the user plane interface 263 to the UPF 262. In addition, the ng-eNB 224 may communicate directly with the gNB 222 via the backhaul connection 223 with or without a direct connection of the gNB to the 5GC 260. In some configurations, the new RAN 220 may have only one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of both the ng-eNB 224 and the gNB 222. The gNB 222 or the ng-eNB 224 may communicate with the UE 204 (e.g., Figure 1 any UE described therein). The base stations of the new RAN 220 communicate with the AMF 264 via the N2 interface and with the UPF 262 via the N3 interface.

[0063] The functions of the AMF 264 include registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception, transmission of session management (SM) messages between the UE 204 and the session management function (SMF) 266, transparent proxy service for routing SM messages, access authentication and access authorization, transmission of short message service (SMS) messages between the UE 204 and the short message service function (SMSF) (not shown), and security anchor functionality (SEAF). The AMF 264 also interacts with the authentication server function (AUSF) (not shown) and the UE 204, and receives the intermediate key established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In the case of authentication based on a UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) subscriber identity module (USIM), the AMF 264 retrieves the security material from the AUSF. The functions of the AMF 264 also include security context management (SCM). The SCM receives the key from the SEAF for deriving the access network-specific key. The functions of the AMF 264 also include location service management for regulatory services, transmission of location service messages between the UE 204 and the location management function (LMF) 270 (which serves as the location server 230), transmission of location service messages between the new RAN 220 and the LMF 270, allocation of evolved packet system (EPS) bearer identifiers for EPS interworking, and UE 204 mobility event notification. Additionally, the AMF 264 also supports functions for non-3GPP access networks.

[0064] The functions of the UPF 262 include serving as an anchor for intra-RAT / inter-RAT mobility (if applicable), serving as an external protocol data unit (PDU) session point for interconnecting with a data network (not shown), providing packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, traffic steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usage reporting, quality of service (QoS) handling for the user plane (e.g., uplink / downlink rate enforcement, reflected QoS marking in the downlink), uplink traffic verification (service data flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping), transport-level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, and sending and forwarding one or more "end markers" to the source RAN node. The UPF 262 may also support the transmission of location service messages on the user plane between the UE 204 and a location server such as the secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform (SLP) 272.

[0065] The functions of SMF 266 include session management, UE Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, configuring traffic steering at UPF 262 to route traffic to the appropriate destination, controlling partial policy enforcement and QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface through which SMF 266 communicates with AMF 264 is called the N11 interface.

[0066] Another optional aspect may include an LMF 270 that can communicate with the 5GC 260 to provide location assistance for the UE 204. The LMF 270 can be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules distributed on multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively can each correspond to a single server. The location server 270 can be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204, which can be connected to the LMF 270 via the core network, the 5GC 260, and / or via the Internet (not shown). The SLP 272 may support functionality similar to that of the LMF 270, but whereas the LMF 270 may communicate with the AMF 264, the new RAN 220, and the UE 204 via a control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols intended to carry signaling messages rather than voice or data), the SLP 272 may communicate with the UE 204 and external clients (e.g., using protocols intended to carry voice and / or data such as the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and / or IP) via a user plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols intended to carry voice and / or data such as the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and / or IP). Figure 2B Communicate with the

[0067] In one aspect, the LMF 270 and / or SLP 272 may be integrated into a base station such as a gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224. When integrated into a gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224, the LMF 270 and / or SLP 272 may be referred to as a "location management component" or "LMC." However, as used herein, references to the LMF 270 and SLP 272 include both the case where the LMF 270 and SLP 272 are components of a core network (e.g., 5GC 260) and the case where the LMF 270 and SLP 272 are components of a base station.

[0068] Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3CSeveral exemplary components (represented by corresponding boxes) are shown that may be incorporated into UE 302 (which may correspond to any UE described herein), base station 304 (which may correspond to any base station described herein), and network entity 306 (which may correspond to or embody any network function described herein, including location server 230 and LMF 270) to support the file transfer operations described herein. It will be understood that these components may be implemented in different types of devices in different implementations (e.g., in an ASIC, in a system-on-chip (SoC), etc.). The components shown may also be incorporated into other devices in the communication system. For example, other devices in the system may include components similar to the described components to provide similar functionality. Moreover, a given device may include one or more components. For example, a device may include multiple transceiver components that enable the device to operate on multiple carriers and / or communicate via different technologies.

[0069] UE 302 and base station 304 each include a wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceiver 310 and 350, respectively, which are configured to communicate via one or more wireless communication networks (not shown) such as an NR network, an LTE network, a GSM network, and / or a similar network. WWAN transceiver 310 and WWAN transceiver 350 may be connected to one or more antennas 316 and antenna 356, respectively, for communicating with other network nodes such as other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNB, gNB), etc. via at least one specified RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.) over an interested wireless communication medium (e.g., a set of time / frequency resources in a particular spectrum). WWAN transceiver 310 and WWAN transceiver 350 may be differently configured according to the specified RAT for respectively transmitting and encoding signals 318 and signal 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.), and conversely for respectively receiving and decoding signals 318 and signal 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.). Specifically, transceiver 310 and transceiver 350 include one or more transmitters 314 and transmitter 354 for respectively transmitting and encoding signals 318 and signal 358, and one or more receivers 312 and receiver 352 for respectively receiving and decoding signals 318 and signal 358.

[0070] UE 302 and base station 304 also each include a wireless local area network (WLAN) transceiver 320 and 360, respectively, at least in some cases. WLAN transceiver 320 and WLAN transceiver 360 may be connected to one or more antennas 326 and antenna 366, respectively, for communicating via at least one specified RAT (e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, Bluetooth communicate with other network nodes such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc. The WLAN transceivers 320 and 360 can be configured differently according to the specified RAT for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.) respectively, and conversely for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.) respectively. Specifically, transceivers 320 and 360 include one or more transmitters 324 and 364 for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368 respectively, and one or more receivers 322 and 362 for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368 respectively.

[0071] The transceiver circuit including at least one transmitter and at least one receiver can include an integrated device (e.g., a transmitter circuit and a receiver circuit embodied as a single communication device) in some implementations, can include separate transmitter devices and separate receiver devices in some implementations, or can be embodied in other ways in other implementations. In one aspect, the transmitter can include or be coupled to a plurality of antennas such as an antenna array (e.g., antenna 316, antenna 326, antenna 356, antenna 366), and the plurality of antennas allow the corresponding device to perform transmission "beamforming" as described herein. Similarly, the receiver can include or be coupled to a plurality of antennas such as an antenna array (e.g., antenna 316, antenna 326, antenna 356, antenna 366), and the plurality of antennas allow the corresponding device to perform receive beamforming as described herein. In one aspect, the transmitter and the receiver can share the same plurality of antennas (e.g., antenna 316, antenna 326, antenna 356, antenna 366), such that the corresponding device can only receive or transmit at a given time, rather than receiving and transmitting both simultaneously. The wireless communication devices of UE 302 and / or base station 304 (e.g., one or both of transceivers 310 and 320 and / or transceivers 350 and 360) can also include a network listening module (NLM) for performing various measurements, etc.

[0072] The UE 302 and the base station 304 also include a satellite positioning system (SPS) receiver 330 and a receiver 370 at least in some cases. The SPS receiver 330 and the receiver 370 can be respectively connected to one or more antennas 336 and antenna 376 for receiving SPS signals 338 and signals 378 respectively, such as Global Positioning System (GPS) signals, Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, Beidou signals, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), etc. The SPS receiver 330 and the receiver 370 can respectively include any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing the SPS signals 338 and signals 378. The SPS receiver 330 and the receiver 370 request information and operations from other systems as appropriate and use measurements obtained through any appropriate SPS algorithms to perform the calculations required to determine the locations of the UE 302 and the base station 304.

[0073] The base station 304 and the network entity 306 each include at least one network interface 380 and a network interface 390 for communicating with other network entities. For example, the network interface 380 and the network interface 390 (e.g., one or more network access ports) can be configured to communicate with one or more network entities via a wired or wireless backhaul connection. In some aspects, the network interface 380 and the network interface 390 can be implemented as transceivers configured to support wired or wireless signal communication. This communication can involve, for example, sending and receiving messages, parameters, and / or other types of information.

[0074] The UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 also include other components that can be used in conjunction with the operations disclosed herein. The UE 302 includes a processor circuit implementing a processing system 332 for providing functions related to wireless communication, for example, and for providing other processing functions. The base station 304 includes a processing system 384 for providing functions related to the wireless communication disclosed herein, for example, and for providing other processing functions. The network entity 306 includes a processing system 394 for providing functions related to the wireless communication disclosed herein, for example, and for providing other processing functions. In one aspect, the processing system 332, the processing system 384, and the processing system 394 can include, for example, one or more general-purpose processors, multi-core processors, ASICs, digital signal processors, field programmable gate arrays, or other programmable logic devices or processing circuits.

[0075] The UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 include memory circuits implementing memory components 340, 386, and 396 (e.g., each including a memory device) for maintaining information (e.g., information indicating reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, etc.). In some cases, the UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 may include puncturing components 342, 388, and 398, respectively. The puncturing components 342, 388, and 398 may be part of or coupled to the processing systems 332, 384, and 394, respectively, and when executed, the hardware circuits cause the UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 to perform the functions described herein. In other aspects, the puncturing components 342, 388, and 398 may be external to the processing systems 332, 384, and 394 (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, the puncturing components 342, 388, and 398 may be memory modules stored in the memory components 340, 386, and 396, respectively (as Figures 3A - 3C shown), and when executed by the processing systems 332, 384, and 394 (or a modem processing system, another processing system, etc.), the memory modules cause the UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 to perform the functions described herein.

[0076] The UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to the processing system 332 to provide motion and / or orientation information independent of motion data derived from signals received by the WWAN transceiver 310, WLAN transceiver 320, and / or SPS receiver 330. As an example, the sensors 344 may include accelerometers (e.g., microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices), gyroscopes, geomagnetic sensors (e.g., compasses), altimeters (e.g., barometric altimeters), and / or any other type of motion detection sensor. Additionally, the sensors 344 may include multiple different types of devices and combine their outputs to provide motion information. For example, the sensors 344 may use a combination of a multi-axis accelerometer and an orientation sensor to provide the ability to calculate locations in a 2D and / or 3D coordinate system.

[0077] In addition, the UE 302 includes a user interface 346 for providing indications to the user (e.g., audible and / or visual indications) and / or for receiving user input (e.g., when the user activates a sensing device such as a keypad, touch screen, microphone, etc.). Although not shown, the base station 304 and network entity 306 may also include a user interface.

[0078] Referring in more detail to processing system 384, in the downlink, IP packets from network entity 306 can be provided to processing system 384. Processing system 384 can implement the functions of the RRC layer, Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and Medium Access Control (MAC) layer. Processing system 384 can provide RRC layer functions associated with system information (e.g., Master Information Block (MIB), System Information Blocks (SIBs)), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functions associated with header compression / decompression, security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functions associated with the transmission of upper layer packet data units (PDUs), error correction via Automatic Repeat reQuest (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and re-ordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions associated with the mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, prioritization, and logical channel prioritization.

[0079] Transmitter 354 and receiver 352 can implement Layer-1 functions associated with various signal processing functions. Layer-1, which includes the Physical (PHY) layer, can include error detection on the transport channel, forward error correction (FEC) encoding / decoding of the transport channel, interleaving, rate matching, mapping to the physical channel, modulation / demodulation of the physical channel, and MIMO antenna processing. Transmitter 354 processes the mapping to the signal constellation based on various modulation schemes (e.g., Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK), Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK), M-Phase Shift Keying (M-PSK), M-Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (M-QAM)). The encoded and modulated symbols can then be split into parallel streams. Each stream can then be mapped to Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) subcarriers, multiplexed with reference signals (e.g., pilots) in the time domain and / or frequency domain, and then combined together using the Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) to generate a physical channel carrying a time-domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol stream is spatially precoded to generate multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from the channel estimator can be used to determine the coding and modulation schemes, as well as for spatial processing. The channel estimates can be derived from reference signals transmitted by UE 302 and / or channel condition feedback. Each spatial stream can then be provided to one or more different antennas 356. Transmitter 354 can modulate the RF carrier with the corresponding spatial stream for transmission.

[0080] At the UE 302, the receiver 312 receives signals via its respective antenna 316. The receiver 312 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides this information to the processing system 332. The transmitter 314 and the receiver 312 implement Layer-1 functions associated with various signal processing functions. The receiver 312 may perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial streams destined for the UE 302. If multiple spatial streams are destined for the UE 302, they may be combined by the receiver 312 into a single OFDM symbol stream. The receiver 312 then uses the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to transform this OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain. The frequency domain signal includes separate OFDM symbol streams for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols and reference signals on each subcarrier are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation points transmitted by the base station 304. These soft decisions may be based on the channel estimates computed by the channel estimator. The soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals originally transmitted by the base station 304 on the physical channel. The data and control signals are then provided to the processing system 332 that implements Layer-3 and Layer-2 functions.

[0081] In the uplink, the processing system 332 provides demultiplexing between transport channels and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the core network. The processing system 332 is also responsible for error detection.

[0082] Similar to the functions described for the downlink transmission of the base station 304, the processing system 332 provides RRC layer functions associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) acquisition, RRC connection, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functions associated with header compression / decompression, and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functions associated with the transmission of upper layer PDUs, error correction via ARQ, concatenation of RLC SDUs, segmentation and reassembly, re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions associated with the mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs into transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction via Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ), prioritization processing, and logical channel prioritization.

[0083] The transmitter 314 can select an appropriate coding and modulation scheme using channel estimates derived from reference signals transmitted by the base station 304 or feedback, and facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by the transmitter 314 can be provided to different antennas 316. The transmitter 314 can modulate the RF carrier with the corresponding spatial streams for transmission.

[0084] The uplink transmission is processed at the base station 304 in a manner similar to that described in conjunction with the receiver functionality at the UE 302. The receiver 352 receives signals through its respective antennas 356. The receiver 352 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to the processing system 384.

[0085] In the uplink, the processing system 384 provides demultiplexing between transport channels and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, control signal processing to recover IP packets from the UE 302. The IP packets from the processing system 384 can be provided to the core network. The processing system 384 is also responsible for error detection.

[0086] For convenience, the UE 302, the base station 304, and / or the network entity 306 are shown in Figures 3A - 3C as including various components configured according to various examples described herein. However, it is to be understood that the shown boxes can have different functions in different designs.

[0087] The various components of the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 can communicate with each other via data buses 334, 382, and 392, respectively. Figures 3A - 3C The components of can be implemented in various ways. In some implementations, Figures 3A - 3CThe components can be implemented in one or more circuits, such as one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors). Here, each circuit can use and / or incorporate at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by the circuit to provide the functionality. For example, some or all of the functions represented by blocks 310 to 346 can be implemented by the processor and memory components of UE 302 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). Similarly, some or all of the functions represented by blocks 350 to 388 can be implemented by the processor and memory components of base station 304 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). Also, some or all of the functions represented by blocks 390 to 398 can be implemented by the processor and memory components of network entity 306 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). For simplicity, various operations, actions, and / or functions are described herein as "performed by the UE," "performed by the base station," "performed by the positioning entity," etc. However, as will be understood, such operations, actions, and / or functions can actually be performed by specific components or combinations of components of the UE, base station, positioning entity, etc., such as processing systems 332, 384, 394, transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, memory components 340, 386, and 396, punching components 342, 388, and 398, etc.

[0088] NR supports multiple cellular network-based positioning techniques, including downlink-based, uplink-based, and downlink- and uplink-based positioning methods. Downlink-based positioning methods include Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) in LTE, Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDOA) in NR, and Downlink Angle of Departure (DL-AoD) in NR. During the OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning process, the UE measures the difference in the time of arrival (ToA) of reference signals (e.g., PRS, TRS, NRS, CSI-RS, SSB, etc.) received from paired base stations, which is referred to as the Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD) or Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) measurement, and reports them to the positioning entity. More specifically, the UE receives the identifiers of the reference base station (e.g., serving base station) and multiple non-reference base stations in the assistance data. Then, the UE measures the RSTD between the reference base station and each non-reference base station. Based on the known locations of the involved base stations and the RSTD measurement values, the positioning entity can estimate the location of the UE. For DL-AoD positioning, the base station measures the angle of the downlink transmission beam used for communicating with the UE and other channel attributes (e.g., signal strength) to estimate the location of the UE.

[0089] Uplink-based positioning methods include uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA) and uplink angle of arrival (UL-AoA). UL-TDOA is similar to DL-TDOA, but is based on uplink reference signals (e.g., SRS) transmitted by the UE. For UL-AOA positioning, the base station measures the angle of the uplink receive beam used for communication with the UE and other channel attributes (e.g., gain level) to estimate the position of the UE.

[0090] Downlink- and uplink-based positioning methods include enhanced cell ID (E-CID) positioning and multi-round-trip time (RTT) positioning (also known as "multi-cell RTT"). During the RTT process, the initiator (base station or UE) sends an RTT measurement signal (e.g., PRS or SRS) to the responder (UE or base station), and the responder sends an RTT response signal (e.g., SRS or PRS) back to the initiator. The RTT response signal includes the difference between the ToA of the RTT measurement signal and the transmission time of the RTT response signal, which is called the received-to-transmit (Rx-Tx) measurement. The initiator calculates the difference between the transmission time of the RTT measurement signal and the ToA of the RTT response signal, which is called the "Tx-Rx" measurement. From the Tx-Rx and Rx-Tx measurements, the propagation time (also known as the "time of flight") between the initiator and the responder can be calculated. Based on the propagation time and the known speed of light, the distance between the initiator and the responder can be determined. For multi-RTT positioning, the UE performs the RTT process with multiple base stations so that its position can be triangulated based on the known positions of the base stations. The RTT and multi-RTT methods can be combined with other positioning techniques such as UL-AoA and DL-AoD to improve positioning accuracy.

[0091] The E-CID positioning method is based on radio resource management (RRM) measurements. In E-CID, the UE reports the serving cell ID, timing advance (TA), and the identifiers, estimated timing, and signal strength of the detected neighboring base stations. Then, based on this information and the known positions of the base stations, the position of the UE is estimated.

[0092] To assist in positioning operations, a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272) can provide assistance data to a UE. For example, the assistance data can include identifiers of base stations (or cells / TRPs of base stations) from which reference signals are to be measured, reference signal configuration parameters (e.g., number of consecutive positioning time slots, periodicity of positioning time slots, silence sequences, frequency hopping sequences, reference signal identifiers (IDs), reference signal bandwidths, time slot offsets, etc.) and / or other parameters applicable to a particular positioning method. Alternatively, the assistance data can come directly from the base station itself (e.g., in a periodically broadcast overhead message, etc.). In some cases, UE 104 may be able to detect adjacent network nodes themselves without using assistance data.

[0093] Location estimation can be referred to by other names, such as place estimation, position, location, location calibration, calibration, etc. Location estimation can be geodetic and include coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude), or it can be civic and include a street address, postal address, or some other verbal description of the location. Location estimation can also be defined relative to some other known location or in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude). Location estimation can include an expected error or uncertainty (e.g., by including the area or volume within which the location is expected to be included at a certain specified or default confidence level).

[0094] Various frame structures can be used to support downlink and uplink transmissions between network nodes (e.g., base stations and UEs). Figure 4 FIG. 400 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a downlink frame structure according to aspects of the present disclosure. Figure 5 FIG. 500 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of channels in a downlink frame structure according to aspects of the present disclosure. Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels.

[0095] LTE, and in some cases NR, utilize OFDM on the downlink and single-carrier frequency-division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. However, different from LTE, NR also has the option of using OFDM on the uplink. OFDM and SC-FDM divide the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, which are usually also referred to as frequency tones, bins, etc. Each subcarrier can be modulated with data. Generally, modulation symbols are sent using OFDM in the frequency domain and SC-FDM in the time domain. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers can be fixed, and the total number (K) of subcarriers can depend on the system bandwidth. For example, the subcarrier spacing can be 15 kHz, and the minimum resource allocation (resource block) can be 12 subcarriers (or 180 kHz). Thus, the nominal FFT size can be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024, or 2048 for system bandwidths of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 megahertz (MHz), respectively. The system bandwidth can also be divided into subbands. For example, a subband can cover 1.08 MHz (i.e., 6 resource blocks), and for system bandwidths of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 MHz, there can be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 subbands, respectively.

[0096] LTE supports a single numerology (subcarrier spacing, symbol length, etc.). In contrast, NR can support multiple numerologies (μ), for example, subcarrier spacings of 15 kHz, 30 kHz, 60 kHz, 120 kHz, and 240 kHz or greater are available. Table 1 provided below lists some different parameters for different NR numerologies.

[0097]

[0098] Table 1

[0099] In Figure 4 and Figure 5 a numerology of 15 kHz is used. Thus, in the time domain, a 10 millisecond (ms) frame is divided into 10 equal-sized subframes of 1 ms each, and each subframe includes one time slot. In Figure 4 and Figure 5 time is represented in the horizontal direction (e.g., on the X-axis), with time increasing from left to right, and frequency is represented in the vertical direction (e.g., on the Y-axis), with frequency increasing (or decreasing) from bottom to top.

[0100] The resource grid can be used to represent time slots, each time slot including one or more time-concurrent resource blocks (RBs) (also referred to as physical RBs (PRBs)) in the frequency domain. The resource grid is further divided into a plurality of resource elements (REs). One RE can correspond to one symbol length in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain. In Figure 4 and Figure 5 parameter sets, for a normal cyclic prefix, one RB can contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 7 consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 84 REs. For an extended cyclic prefix, one RB can contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 6 consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 72 REs. The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0101] Some REs carry downlink reference (pilot) signals (DL-RS). DL-RS can include PRS, TRS, PTRS, CRS, CSI-RS, DMRS, PSS, SSS, SSB, etc. Figure 4 Shows an exemplary position of the REs carrying PRS (labeled "R").

[0102] The set of resource elements (REs) used for PRS transmission is referred to as a "PRS resource". The set of resource elements can span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and N (e.g., 1 or more) consecutive symbols within a time slot in the time domain. In a given OFDM symbol in the time domain, the PRS resource occupies consecutive PRBs in the frequency domain.

[0103] The transmission of the PRS resource within a given PRB has a specific comb size (also referred to as "comb density"). The comb size 'N' represents the subcarrier spacing (or frequency / tone spacing) within each symbol of the PRS resource configuration. Specifically, for a comb size 'N', the PRS is transmitted in every Nth subcarrier of the symbol of the PRB. For example, for comb-4, for every fourth symbol of the PRS resource configuration, the REs corresponding to every fourth subcarrier (e.g., subcarriers 0, 4, 8) are used to transmit the PRS of the PRS resource. Currently, comb sizes of comb-2, comb-4, comb-6, and comb-12 are supported for DL-PRS. Figure 4 Shows an exemplary PRS resource configuration for comb-6 (which spans six symbols). That is, the positions of the shaded REs (labeled "R") indicate the comb-6 PRS resource configuration.

[0104] "PRS resource set" is a PRS resource set for the transmission of PRS signals, where each PRS resource has a PRS resource ID. Additionally, the PRS resources in the PRS resource set are associated with the same TRP. The PRS resource set is identified by a PRS resource set ID and is associated with a specific TRP (identified by the TRP ID). Additionally, the PRS resources in the PRS resource set have the same periodicity, a common mute pattern configuration, and the same repetition factor across time slots (e.g., PRS-ResourceRepetitionFactor). The period is the time from the first repetition of the first PRS resource of the first PRS instance to the same first repetition of the same first PRS resource of the next PRS instance. The period can have a length selected from 2 μ ·{4, 5, 8, 10, 16, 20, 32, 40, 64, 80, 160, 320, 640, 1280, 2560, 5120, 10240} time slots, where μ = 0, 1, 2, 3. The repetition factor can have a length selected from {1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 16, 32} time slots.

[0105] The PRS resource ID in the PRS resource set is associated with a single beam (and / or beam ID) transmitted from a single TRP (where the TRP can transmit one or more beams). That is, each PRS resource of the PRS resource set can be transmitted on a different beam, and thus, "PRS resource" or simply "resource" can also be referred to as "beam". Note that this has no impact on whether the UE knows the TRP and beam on which the PRS is transmitted.

[0106] "PRS instance" or "PRS occasion" is an instance of a periodically repeating time window (e.g., a group of one or more consecutive time slots) in which a PRS is expected to be transmitted. A PRS occasion can also be referred to as "PRS positioning occasion", "PRS positioning instance", "positioning occasion", "positioning instance", "positioning repetition", or simply "occasion", "instance", or "repetition".

[0107] A "positioning frequency layer" (also simply referred to as "frequency layer") is a collection of one or more PRS resource sets across one or more TRPs, where these resource sets have the same values for certain parameters. Specifically, the collection of PRS resource sets has the same subcarrier spacing (SCS) and cyclic prefix (CP) type (meaning that all parameter sets supported for PDSCH are also supported for PRS), the same Point A, the same downlink PRS bandwidth value, the same starting PRB (and center frequency), and the same comb size. The Point A parameter takes the value of the parameter ARFCN-ValueNR (where "ARFCN" stands for "absolute radio frequency channel number"), and is an identifier / code for a pair of physical radio channels specified for transmission and reception. The downlink PRS bandwidth can have a granularity of four PRBs, with a minimum of 24 PRBs and a maximum of 272 PRBs. Currently, up to four frequency layers have been defined, and each frequency layer can be configured with up to two PRS resource sets per TRP.

[0108] The concept of a frequency layer is somewhat similar to the concepts of component carrier and bandwidth part (BWP), but the difference is that component carriers and BWPs are used by a base station (or a macrocell base station and a small cell base station) to transmit data channels, while frequency layers are used by several (usually three or more) base stations to transmit PRS. A UE can indicate the number of frequency layers it can support when it sends its positioning capabilities to the network, such as during an LTE positioning protocol (LPP) session. For example, a UE can indicate whether it can support one or four positioning frequency layers.

[0109] Figure 5 Examples of various channels within the downlink time slot of a radio frame are shown. In NR, the channel bandwidth or system bandwidth is divided into multiple BWPs. A BWP is a continuous set of PRBs selected from a continuous subset of common RBs for a given parameter set on a given carrier. Generally, up to four BWPs can be specified in the downlink and uplink. That is, a UE can be configured with up to four BWPs on the downlink and up to four BWPs on the uplink. At a given time, only one BWP (uplink or downlink) can be active, which means that a UE can only receive or transmit through one BWP at a time. On the downlink, the bandwidth of each BWP should be equal to or greater than the bandwidth of the SSB, but it can contain the SSB or not.

[0110] Reference Figure 5, the UE uses the Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS) to determine subframe / symbol timing and the physical layer identity. The UE uses the Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS) to determine the physical layer cell identity group number and radio frame timing. Based on the physical layer identity and the physical layer cell identity group number, the UE can determine the PCI. Based on this PCI, the UE can determine the location of the above-mentioned DL-RS. The Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) carrying the MIB can be logically grouped with the PSS and SSS to form an SSB (also known as SS / PBCH). The MIB provides the number of RBs in the downlink system bandwidth and the System Frame Number (SFN). The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) carries user data, broadcast system information not sent via the PBCH (such as System Information Blocks (SIBs)), and paging messages.

[0111] The Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) carries downlink control information (DCI) within one or more Control Channel Elements (CCEs). Each CCE includes one or more groups of Resource Element Groups (REGs) (which can span multiple symbols in the time domain). Each REG group includes one or more REGs, and each REG corresponds to 12 resource elements in the frequency domain (one resource block) and one OFDM symbol in the time domain. The physical resource set used to carry the PDCCH / DCI is called a Control Resource Set (CORESET) in NR. In NR, a PDCCH is restricted to a single CORESET and is transmitted together with its own DMRS. This enables specific UE beamforming for the PDCCH.

[0112] In Figure 5 the example, each BWP has one CORESET, and this CORESET spans three symbols in the time domain (although it may be only one or two symbols). Different from the LTE control channel that occupies the entire system bandwidth, in NR, the PDCCH channel is localized to a specific region in the frequency domain (i.e., the CORESET). Therefore, Figure 5 the frequency components of the PDCCH shown in

[0113] The DCI within the PDCCH carries information regarding uplink resource allocation (persistent and non-persistent) and a description of the downlink data to be sent to the UE. Multiple (e.g., up to eight) DCIs can be configured in the PDCCH, and these DCIs can have one of multiple formats. For example, there are different DCI formats for uplink scheduling, for non-MIMO downlink scheduling, for MIMO downlink scheduling, and for uplink power control. The PDCCH can be transmitted by 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 CCEs to accommodate different DCI payload sizes or coding rates.

[0114] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary PRS configuration 600 for PRS transmission for a given base station according to aspects of the present disclosure. In Figure 6 , time is represented horizontally and increases from left to right. Each long rectangle represents a time slot, and each short (shaded) rectangle represents an OFDM symbol. The PRS configuration 600 identifies the PRS resources 612 and 614 of the PRS resource set 610 of the base station for transmitting the PRS during this period. The PRS resource set 610 has a timing length N of two (2) time slots PRS and T PRS with a periodicity (e.g., 160 subframes or 160 milliseconds). Thus, both PRS resources 612 and 614 are two consecutive time slots in length and repeat every T PRS subframes starting from the time slot of the first symbol of the corresponding PRS resource.

[0115] In Figure 6 's example, the PRS resource set 610 includes two PRS resources, the first PRS resource 612 (labeled "PRS Resource 1" in Figure 6 ) and the second PRS resource 614 (labeled "PRS Resource 2" in Figure 6 ). The PRS resource 612 and the PRS resource 614 can be transmitted on separate beams of the same base station. The PRS resource 612 has a symbol length N of two (2) symbols symb , and the PRS resource 614 has a symbol length N of four (4) symbols symb .

[0116] Each instance of the PRS resource set 610 as shown in instances 630a, 630b, and 630c includes a timing of length '2' (i.e., N PRS = 2) for each PRS resource 612, 614 of the PRS resource set. The PRS resource 612 and the PRS resource 614 repeat every T PRS subframes until the mute sequence period T REP . Thus, a length T REPA bitmap is used to indicate which times of instances 630a, 630b, and 630c are muted.

[0117] In one aspect, there may be a PRS configuration such as Figure 1 For example, for all PRS resources (e.g., PRS resources 612, 614) of a PRS resource set (e.g., PRS resource set 610), the base station may configure the following parameters to be the same: (a) opportunity length (e.g., T PRS ), (b) the number of symbols (e.g. N symb ), (c) comb type, and / or (d) bandwidth. In addition, for all PRS resources of all PRS resource sets, the subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix can be configured to be the same for one base station or for all base stations. Whether it is for one base station or for all base stations may depend on the ability of the UE to support the first and / or second options.

[0118] In 5G NR, multiple service types can be supported, including enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) and ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC). An ongoing eMBB transmission may be punctured or interrupted to send a higher priority URLLC transmission. Puncturing is a technique that cancels the transmission of a lower priority signal in a symbol or time slot when the lower priority signal in the symbol or time slot overlaps (collides) with a higher priority signal. This may result in a loss of phase coherence between two eMBB transmission durations that have been made discontinuous by URLLC transmission. For example, when URLLC transmissions have different transmit powers, phase coherence loss may occur in the uplink. As another example, when URLLC transmissions are scheduled in different component carriers (CCs) or BWPs, the UE may have to tune away from the ongoing eMBB communication to receive (on the downlink) or send (on the uplink) ULRRC services, and then tune back for eMBB services. This results in a loss of phase coherence.

[0119] Punching can be indicated by a multiplexing method. Such an indication-based multiplexing method can benefit both ULRRC UE and eMBB UE at the expense of indicator overhead. When an ongoing eMBB service is preempted or punctured by a URLLC service, a preemption indication (PI) DCI can be used to notify that puncturing has occurred. Unless otherwise specified, "punching" and "preemption" can be used synonymously. Therefore, "PI" can also refer to "punching indication".

[0120] Figure 7A , Figure 7B and Figure 7CShows different ways of indicating that an ongoing eMBB service has been punctured by a URLLC service. In these figures, it can be assumed that the "mini-slots" allocated for the eMBB service are punctured to carry the URLLC service. Figure 7A Is a schematic diagram 700 of an example of the current indication regarding the URLLC service. In this case, the PIDCI resource (i.e., the indication channel resource) spans the entire time slot. Therefore, the PIDCI indicating the punctured resource can be provided in the same time resource (e.g., the same time slot) as the punctured resource.

[0121] Figure 7B Is a schematic diagram 710 of an example of the post-indication regarding both the URLLC service and the eMBB service. In this example, the PIDCI resource (indication channel) is illustrated as the resource of the next eMBB time slot. Figure 7C Is a schematic diagram 720 of an example of the URLLC service, but the post-indication regarding the current eMBB service. In this example, the PIDCI resource is illustrated as occupying the resource of the current eMBB time slot, but occupying the time resource (symbols) after the resource punctured by the URLLC service.

[0122] Currently, DCI format 2_1 is used to notify the PRB and OFDM symbols where the UE can assume that there is no transmission destined for the UE. For example, the gNB can schedule the eMBB UE during a time slot. When a packet of the URLLC UE (the same as or different from the eMBB UE) arrives in the middle of the time slot, the gNB can schedule in a subset of the resource blocks (RBs) / time slots scheduled for the eMBB UE and send the packet to the URLLC UE. Then, the gNB indicates to the eMBB UE via the DL PI (e.g., in the next time slot) which part of the RB / symbol has been punctured (for the URLLC UE).

[0123] The eMBB UE can use this information to improve the chance of decoding the data service. For example, the eMBB UE can zero out the log-likelihood ratio (LLR) of the punctured resource. This may result in better decoding performance of the eMBB service in the remaining unpunctured resources.

[0124] The following information can be sent via the DCI under DCI format 2_1, which has a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) scrambled by an interrupt radio network temporary identifier (INT-RNTI):

[0125] · PI_1 (Puncture Indication 1), PI_2 (Puncture Indication 2), …, PI_N (Puncture Indication N).

[0126] · Each puncturing indication can be a number of bits (e.g., 14 bits). For each UE, different preemption indications can correspond to different component carriers (serving cells).

[0127] Figure 8 FIG. 800 is a schematic diagram of an example DCI under DCI format 2_1, where N = 4. Note that DCI2_1 is group common. However, the interpretation for different UEs can be different. This means that each UE can read any information related to that UE. For example:

[0128] · UE1: CC1 → PI_1, CC2 → PI_2, CC3 → PI_4.

[0129] · UE2: CC1 → PI_3.

[0130] · UE3: CC1 → PI_1, CC2 → PI_2.

[0131] Figure 7A 、 Figure 7B and Figure 7C show cases where the transmission of data is preempted, i.e., data resources (e.g., PDSCH) may be punctured. However, reference signals (RS) can also be punctured. URLLC services should have priority compared to the signals received by the UE from the serving cell or neighboring cells. For example, URLLC services should have priority over receiving PRS on the downlink. Figure 9 FIG. 900 is a schematic diagram of an example scenario including a first UE 910, a second UE 920, a first gNB 930, a second gNB 940, and an LMF 950. In Figure 9 the scenario, the following assumptions can be made:

[0132] · The first gNB 930 serves the first UE 910. Therefore, the first and second gNBs 930 and 940 can also be referred to as the serving gNB and the neighboring gNB, respectively.

[0133] · The first UE 910 is receiving eMBB services from both the serving gNB 930 and the neighboring gNB 940. Therefore, the first UE 910 can be referred to as the eMBB UE 910.

[0134] · The neighboring gNB 940 needs to deliver URLLC data to the second UE 920. Therefore, the second UE 920 can be referred to as the URLLC UE 920.

[0135] A network entity such as LMF 950 or serving gNB 930 may configure PRS resources for UEs 910, 920, for example, via one or more configuration messages (e.g., almanac messages). In one aspect, the network entity may also configure gNBs 930, 940 such that gNBs 930, 940 know which resources are allowed to be punctured.

[0136] As shown, serving gNB 930 may send a first PRS signal labeled "PRS1", and neighboring gNB 940 may send a second PRS signal labeled "PRS2". eMBB UE 910 may perform positioning-related measurements (e.g., OTDOA, RSTD, RTT, AoA, AoD, etc.) based on the "PRS1" and "PRS2" signals sent by the serving and neighboring gNBs 930, 940. However, when neighboring gNB 940 wants to send URLLC data, it may puncture some of the "PRS2" resources to deliver the URLLC data to URLLC UE 920 to comply with the low latency standard of URLLC services.

[0137] Typically, it is not realistic for a cell to directly contact a UE of another cell (e.g., via downlink PIDCI) to inform the UE about puncturing. That is, in the Figure 9 scenario, it may not be realistic for neighboring gNB 940 to directly contact (e.g., via downlink PIDCI) eMBB UE 910 because eMBB UE 910 is being served by another cell, i.e., by serving gNB 930. Neighboring gNB 940 may notify serving bNB 930 - for example, via higher layer signaling through LMF 950 - about the puncturing of "PRS2", such that serving gNB 930 can in turn notify eMBB UE 910. However, this is likely to result in large latency such that when the information is finally received by eMBB UE 910, the information will no longer be useful. For example, eMBB UE 910 may have already performed PRS processing on the entire PRS resource including the punctured resources.

[0138] One caveat is that if neighboring gNB 940 is one of the gNBs in a multi-TRP scenario, there is a possibility for neighboring gNB 940 to directly contact eMBB UE 910. In such an instance, neighboring gNB 940 may be able to use any of the methods shown in Figure 7A 、 Figure 7B and Figure 7C to contact eMBB UE 910.

[0139] The present disclosure provides techniques in which adjacent gNBs 940 can notify eMBB UEs 910 without having to forward the PI to the serving gNB 930 via the LMF 950. In one or more aspects, it is proposed that the adjacent gNB 940 embeds an indication of whether "PRS2" is punctured into "PRS2" itself. Since the indication is embedded in "PRS2" itself, the eMBB UE 910 can be notified in a timely manner.

[0140] In the proposed method, the UE can be configured via a higher layer (e.g., a layer above the physical layer) regarding the resources (frequency, time, and / or space (i.e., port) domain) of a reference signal (RS). This configuration can be received via RRC and / or MAC control element (CE) messages. For PRS, this configuration can also be received via LPP messages. The RS resources can be divided into a "puncturable" subset and a "non-puncturable" subset. The puncturable subset can be a subset of RS resources that are allowed to be punctured by other PHY signals (e.g., PHY channels carrying URLLC data or control information). However, puncturing of the puncturable subset resources is not required. Instead, the non-puncturable subset can be a subset of RS resources that are prohibited from being punctured. In other words, for the non-puncturable subset, the UE can assume that no puncturing will occur. In one aspect, the non-puncturable subset can include all remaining RS resources that are not in the puncturable subset.

[0141] The higher layer configuration can indicate which RS resources are in the puncturable subset and which are in the non-puncturable subset. If the RS resources are divided such that each resource is in one subset or the other, only one subset may be indicated. To indicate which resources are puncturable / non-puncturable, the configuration can include a puncturable and / or non-puncturable subset indication, where each indication can include (not necessarily exhaustively):

[0142] · A puncturable (non-puncturable) frequency bitmap that indicates one or more frequency domain resources (e.g., PRB index, PRB group index, etc.) of the puncturable (non-puncturable) subset;

[0143] · A puncturable (non-puncturable) time bitmap that indicates one or more time domain resources (e.g., OFDM symbol, OFDM symbol region, time slot, subframe, frame, occasion if the RS is PRS, instance if the RS is PRS) of the puncturable (non-puncturable) subset; and / or

[0144] · A puncturable (non-puncturable) space bitmap that indicates one or more space domain resources (e.g., ports) of the puncturable (non-puncturable) subset.

[0145] The higher layer configuration can also configure the UE to use the non-punctureable subset to identify whether the puncturable subset has actually been punctured. Before proceeding further, the following should be noted. In Figure 9 In the scenario of

[0146] Figures 10A to 10E Different examples of the puncturable subset 1010 and the non-punctureable subset 1020 of the resources of RS1000 are shown. Figure 10A An example of how the resources of RS1000 can be configured is shown. In this example, it can be assumed that RS1000 is a PRS. In this instance, the RS1000 resources are illustrated as including some bandwidth in the frequency domain (e.g., PRB, PRB group, etc.) and two symbols in the time domain. This RS resource can include a puncturable subset 1010 and a non-punctureable subset 1020. If there is no puncturing, i.e., the puncturable subset 1010 is not punctured by another PHY signal, the UE can use all the resources, i.e., the resources of both the puncturable subset 1010 and the non-punctureable subset 1020, to perform PRS-related measurements (e.g., OTDOA, RSTD, RTT, AoA, AoD, etc.). However, if there is puncturing, i.e., the puncturable subset 1010 is punctured, the UE can use only the non-punctureable subset 1020 to perform PRS-related measurements. For example, the UE can set the LLR of the puncturable subset 1010 to zero.

[0147] In one aspect, the higher layer configuration can indicate to the UE multiple scrambling identifiers (IDs) applied to the configured RS1000. For example, the higher layer configuration can configure the UE to have a first scrambling ID and a second scrambling ID for RS1000. The first scrambling ID can correspond to the case where no puncturing occurs, and the second scrambling ID can correspond to the case where puncturing occurs. In other words, if the gNB punctures the puncturable subset 1010 (e.g., through a PHY signal carrying URLLC data or control information), the gNB can scramble the transmitted PRS based on this first scrambling ID. On the other hand, if the gNB does not puncture the puncturable subset 1010, the gNB can scramble the transmitted PRS based on this second scrambling ID. The c init formula for the scrambling initialization at the start of each OFDM symbol is provided as follows:

[0148]

[0149] wherein, represents the number of symbols per time slot, represents the time slot index within a frame for the parameter set indicated by μ, and l represents the symbol index within that time slot. In this formula, two Ns can be provided ID to distinguish the first scrambling ID and the second scrambling ID. In one aspect, the entire scrable subset and the non-scrable subsets 1010, 1020 of the transmitted RS1000 can be scrambled based on the first / second scrambling ID.

[0150] During operation, when the UE receives the PRS from the gNB, the UE can apply the first and / or second scrambling ID to the received PRS to determine whether the PRS is punctured. In one aspect, the first and / or second scrambling ID can be applied to the entire received PRS, i.e., to both the puncturable subset and the non-puncturable subsets 1010, 1020. As an illustration, the UE can determine a first quality measurement (e.g., signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), SINR, error rate (ER), etc.) of the received PRS based on the first scrambling ID, and determine a second quality measurement of the received PRS based on the second scrambling ID. If the first quality measurement is better (e.g., first SNR > second SNR, first SINR > second SINR, first ER > second ER, etc.), the UE can determine that the PRS has not been punctured. Otherwise, the UE can determine that the PRS has been punctured.

[0151] Alternatively, a difference threshold can be applied to the quality measurement. For example, if SNR measurement is performed, "SNR_thresh" (e.g., in dB) can be defined. In this case, if the first SNR is greater than the second SNR plus "SNR_thresh", the UE can determine that the PRS has not been punctured. On the other hand, if the second SNR is greater than the first SNR plus "SNR_thresh", the UE can determine that the PRS has been punctured. If the first and second SNRs are within "SNR_thresh" of each other, i.e., if the difference between the first SNR and the second SNR is less than "SNR_thresh", an error can be indicated.

[0152] In another aspect, the higher layer configuration can again indicate to the UE multiple scrambling IDs applied to the configured RS1000. But in this aspect, the higher layer configuration can configure the UE with three scrambling IDs - a u-scrambling ID (corresponding to the non-puncturable subset 1020), a first p-scrambling ID (corresponding to the puncturable subset 1020 when not punctured), and a second p-scrambling ID (corresponding to the puncturable subset 1020 when punctured).

[0153] During operation, when the UE receives the PRS from the gNB, the UE may apply the u-scrambling ID to the unpuncturable subset 1020. The UE may also apply the first and / or second p-scrambling ID to the puncturable subset 1010 to determine whether the PRS is punctured. By way of illustration, the UE may determine the u-quality measurement (e.g., SNR, SINR, error rate, etc.) of the unpuncturable subset 1020 based on the u-scrambling ID, the first p-quality measurement of the puncturable subset 1010 based on the first p-scrambling ID, and the second p-quality measurement of the puncturable subset 1010 based on the second p-scrambling ID. If the first p-quality measurement is closer to the u-quality measurement (e.g., |first p-SNR - u-SNR| < |second p-SNR - u-SNR|, |first p-SINR - u-SINR| < |second p-SINR - u-SINR|, |first p-ER - u-ER| < |second p-ER - u-ER|, etc.), the UE may determine that the PRS has not been punctured. Otherwise, the UE may determine that the PRS has been punctured.

[0154] In an alternative, the first and second p-quality measurements themselves may be used without the u-quality measurement. For example, if the first p-SNR is greater than the second p-SNR, the UE may determine that the PRS has not been punctured. As another alternative, a difference threshold may be applied.

[0155] Note that, in another aspect, the UE may be configured with two scrambling IDs instead of three. In this aspect, the u-scrambling ID and the first p-scrambling ID may be one and the same. Thus, these two scrambling IDs may be referred to as the u-scrambling ID (corresponding to the unpuncturable subset 1020 and the puncturable subset 1010 when not punctured) and the p-scrambling ID (corresponding to the puncturable subset 1020 when punctured). Further details are omitted for this aspect as the aspects described above are directly adopted to this aspect.

[0156] In one aspect, the unpuncturable subset may be configured to observe one or more configuration thresholds. Such configuration thresholds may include any one or more of the following:

[0157] · min_unpuncturable_ratio, which sets the lower limit of the ratio of the unpuncturable subset resources of the RS to all resources, i.e., the unpunctured_ratio of the configured RS must be min_unpuncturable_ratio or greater;

[0158] ·min_PRB, which sets the lower limit of the number of PRBs in the unpuncturable subset, i.e., the number of PRBs in the unpuncturable subset must be min_PRB or more; and

[0159] ·min_RE_symbol, min_RE_slot, min_RE_occasion, and / or min_RE_instance, which respectively set (not all need to be set) the minimum number of resource elements in a symbol, time slot, occasion, or instance.

[0160] The unpuncturable subset 1020 can be configured to enhance performance and / or reduce complexity. For example, the unpuncturable subset 1020 can be configured to be larger than the puncturable subset 1010. That is, min_unpuncturable_ratio can be set to 50% or more. In some cases, min_unpuncturable_ratio can be set as high as 90% or more.

[0161] As another example, to the extent possible, the unpuncturable subset 1020 can be configured to be continuous in time and / or frequency. Figure 10A An example is shown where the unpuncturable subset 1020 is continuous in both time and frequency. Figure 10B Another example shows how the resources of RS1000 can be configured. In Figure 10B , the unpuncturable subset 1020 is not continuous in frequency.

[0162] Although RS1000 can be configured as shown in Figure 10B , the configuration in Figure 10A can provide better performance. Since the unpuncturable subset 1020 in Figure 10A is continuous in frequency, it is sufficient to perform the FFT only once per symbol. But in Figure 10B , the FFS may need to be performed twice per symbol - once for the unpuncturable subset 1020 above the puncturable subset 1010 and once for the unpuncturable subset 1020 below the puncturable subset 1010. Figure 10A 's simpler configuration may result in better performance than the configuration in Figure 10B (e.g., more accurate in PRS-related measurements).

[0163] Figure 10A 's configuration is also advantageous because it can allow for more accurate detection of the puncturable subset 1010. Since it is guaranteed that the unpuncturable subset 1020 remains unpunctured, the UE can perform channel estimation based on the unpuncturable subset 1020. Then, the UE can use the channel estimation to detect whether the puncturable subset 1010 has indeed been punctured. Due to its simple characteristics, Figure 10AThe configuration may result in better channel estimation, which in turn may result in more accurate quality measurements (e.g., SNR, SINR, error rate, etc.) of the puncturable subset 1010.

[0164] Figure 10C Yet another example of how the resources of the RS 1000 can be configured is shown. Figure 10C An example configuration is shown, in which for one or more symbols, the unpuncturable subset 1020 includes the entire bandwidth of the RS 1000. More generally, the unpuncturable subset 1020 may include the entire bandwidth of the RS 1000 at least for a certain duration (e.g., symbol, time slot, subframe, etc.). In Figure 10C it, the unpuncturable subset 1020 is shown to include the entire bandwidth of the RS 1000 during the duration of the first symbol. This means that the UE will be able to use the entire bandwidth of the RS 1000 to perform channel estimation during the first symbol.

[0165] The puncturable subset 1010 can also be configured. In one aspect, the puncturable subset 1010 can be configured as a two-dimensional block in the time and frequency dimensions. The puncturable subset 1010 can be continuous in the frequency domain, time domain, or both. For example, if the PRS is four symbols long, and if the first and third symbols are puncturable, it may be preferred that the second symbol is also puncturable. That is, generally, having an unpuncturable symbol between puncturable symbols should be avoided.

[0166] As described above, the UE can receive higher layer configuration information through any one or more of RRC, MAC CE, and LPP (for PRS). Using the scrambling ID to indicate whether the puncturable subset 1010 is actually punctured can be considered an example of implicit indication.

[0167] However, if the RS resource is sent by the serving gNB, the UE can be explicitly notified through the PIDCI applied to the RS resource. The PIDCI can specify the puncturable subset. The puncturable subset specified in the PIDCI does not need to comply with the puncturable subset configured through higher layer signaling. That is, the PIDCI can define its own independent puncturable subset and does not require implicit indication through scrambling. For example, it may be allowed that the puncturable subset can be the entire RS resource. The PIDCI can be received within the maximum time domain distance from the punctured RS resource - e.g., the number of symbols, time slots, same occasion, same subframe, same frame, same instance. In one aspect, the UE can indicate its ability to receive the PIDCI and indicate its maximum time distance.

[0168] Of course, it can be envisaged that if the RS configured by the higher layer is sufficient, the serving gNB can use implicit indication through the aforementioned scrambling ID.

[0169] Figure 10D Shows another example of how the resources of the RS1000 can be configured. In particular, Figure 10D Shows a technique for embedding multiple bits in the non-puncturable subset 1020. In Figure 10D , the puncturable subset 1010 may include multiple puncturable subset regions 1010-k (where k = 1 to n), and the non-puncturable subset 1020 may include associated multiple non-puncturable subset regions 1020-k (where k = 1 to n). In FIG. 10, n = 4. For each non-puncturable subset region 1010-k, a flag (e.g., one bit) indicating whether the associated puncturable subset region 1010-k is actually punctured may be embedded in the associated non-puncturable subset region 1020-k, for example, in the OFDM pilot sequence. Any constraints on the length of the non-puncturable subset 1020 can be defined separately for each region to ensure that the UE can detect the correct sequence.

[0170] Figure 10E Shows another example of how the resources of the RS1000 can be configured. In one aspect, multiple puncturable subsets can be configured. Figure 10E Shows an example where three puncturable subsets 1010A, 1010B, and 1010C are configured. Each puncturable subset 1010 can be continuous in time and / or frequency. However, the puncturable subsets 1010 themselves do not have to be contiguous with each other.

[0171] In this case, multiple scrambling IDs can be configured. For example, two scrambling IDs can be configured for each puncturable subset 1010 - one indicating punctured and one indicating non-punctured. More specifically, the scrambling ID may include a u-scrambling ID corresponding to the non-puncturable subset 1020. For each puncturable subset 1010, the scrambling ID may also include a first p-scrambling ID and a second p-scrambling ID. The u-scrambling ID and the first p-scrambling ID and the second p-scrambling ID for each puncturable subset 1010 can be applied in a manner similar to when Figure 10A applying three scrambling IDs (e.g., u-scrambling ID, first p-scrambling ID, second p-scrambling ID) as described above.

[0172] Alternatively, the number of scrambling IDs can be minimized by configuring a u-scrambling ID common to all puncturable subsets 1010 for use when the puncturable subsets 1010 are not punctured, and separate p-scrambling IDs for each puncturable subset. In this alternative, the u-scrambling ID and the p-scrambling ID for each puncturable subset 1010 can be applied in a manner similar to Figure 10A the application of two scrambling IDs (e.g., u-scrambling ID, p-scrambling ID) as described above.

[0173] Figure 11 A flowchart of an exemplary method 1100 of a network entity (e.g., a location server, LMF, base station, etc.) is shown.

[0174] In block 1110, the network entity may configure the RS. In one aspect, in the case where the network entity is a base station, block 1110 may be performed by the WWAN transceiver 350, the processing system 384, the memory component 386, and / or the puncturing component 388, any one or all of which may be regarded as components for performing this block. In the case where the network entity is a location server, block 1110 may be performed by the network interface 390, the processing system 394, the memory component 396, and / or the puncturing component 398, any one or all of which may be regarded as components for performing this block.

[0175] The RS may be configured such that the RS can be punctured by another physical layer (PHY) signal having a higher priority than the RS. For example, a PHY channel carrying URLLC data or control information may have priority over the RS. The RS may be a PRS, CRS, CSI-RS, SSB, TRS, etc. The RS may include a puncturable subset and a non-puncturable subset. The puncturable subset may include one or more resources of the RS that are allowed to be punctured, while the non-puncturable subset may include one or more resources of the RS that are prohibited from being punctured. The RS may be configured such that when the RS is transmitted, the non-puncturable subset of the RS indicates whether the puncturable subset of the RS has been punctured.

[0176] In block 1120, the network entity may provide the RS configuration to the UE (e.g., any UE described herein). The RS configuration may indicate the resource configuration of the RS. In one aspect, in the case where the network entity is a base station, block 1120 may be performed by the WWAN transceiver 350, the processing system 384, the memory component 386, and / or the puncturing component 388, any one or all of which may be regarded as components for performing this block. In the case where the network entity is a location server, block 1120 may be performed by the network interface 390, the processing system 394, the memory component 396, and / or the puncturing component 398, any one or all of which may be regarded as components for performing this block.

[0177] The RS configuration may be provided in a higher layer signaling (e.g., a layer above the physical layer) message such as an RRC message, a MAC CE message, an LPP message, or any combination thereof. The RS configuration may include a puncturable and / or non-puncturable subset indication. The puncturable subset indication may indicate the resources of the puncturable subset, while the non-puncturable subset indication may indicate the resources of the non-puncturable subset.

[0178] In one aspect, the RS configuration may include a plurality of scrambling IDs, which includes a first scrambling ID and a second scrambling ID. When the puncturable subset of the RS is punctured, the RS may be scrambled based on the first scrambling ID. When the puncturable subset of the RS is not punctured, the RS may be scrambled based on the second scrambling ID.

[0179] In one aspect, the RS configuration may include a plurality of scrambling IDs, which includes a u-scrambling ID, a first p-scrambling ID, and a second p-scrambling ID. The non-puncturable subset may be scrambled based on the u-scrambling ID. When the puncturable subset of the RS is punctured, the puncturable subset of the RS may be scrambled based on the first p-scrambling ID. When the puncturable subset of the RS is not punctured, the puncturable subset of the RS may be scrambled based on the second p-scrambling ID.

[0180] In one aspect, the RS configuration may include a plurality of scrambling IDs, which includes a u-scrambling ID and a p-scrambling ID. The non-puncturable subset may be scrambled based on the u-scrambling ID. When the puncturable subset of the RS is punctured, the puncturable subset of the RS may be scrambled based on the p-scrambling ID. When the puncturable subset of the RS is not punctured, the puncturable subset of the RS may be scrambled based on the u-scrambling ID.

[0181] In one aspect, the puncturable subset may include a plurality of puncturable subset regions, and the non-puncturable subset may include a plurality of non-puncturable subset regions associated with the plurality of puncturable subset regions. Moreover, a flag (e.g., one bit) may be embedded in each non-puncturable subset region of the RS to indicate whether each associated puncturable subset region of the RS has been punctured. For each non-puncturable subset region of the RS, the flag may be embedded in the OFDM pilot sequence of the non-puncturable subset region.

[0182] In one aspect, the RS may be configured to include a plurality of puncturable subsets, and the RS configuration may include a plurality of scrambling IDs, which includes a u-scrambling ID for each puncturable subset, a first p-scrambling ID, and a second p-scrambling ID. The non-puncturable subset of the RS may be scrambled based on the u-scrambling ID. For each puncturable subset of the RS, when the puncturable subset is punctured, the puncturable subset may be scrambled based on the first p-scrambling ID of the puncturable subset. For each puncturable subset of the RS, when the puncturable subset is not punctured, the puncturable subset may be scrambled based on the second p-scrambling ID of the puncturable subset.

[0183] In one aspect, the RS can be configured to include multiple puncturable subsets, and the RS configuration can include multiple scrambling IDs, the multiple scrambling IDs including a u-scrambling ID and a p-scrambling ID for each puncturable subset. The non-puncturable subset of the RS can be scrambled based on the u-scrambling ID. For each puncturable subset of the RS, when the puncturable subset is punctured, the puncturable subset can be scrambled based on the p-scrambling ID of the puncturable subset. For each puncturable subset of the RS, when the puncturable subset is not punctured, the puncturable subset can be scrambled based on the u-scrambling ID.

[0184] Figure 12 A flowchart of an exemplary method 1200 of a UE (e.g., any UE described herein) is shown.

[0185] In block 1210, the UE can receive an RS configuration from a network entity (e.g., a location server, LMF, base station, etc.). The RS configuration can be received via higher layer signaling and can indicate the resource configuration of the RS. In one aspect, block 1210 can be performed by the WWAN transceiver 310, the processing system 332, the memory component 340, and / or the puncturing component 342, any one or all of which can be regarded as a component for performing this block.

[0186] In block 1220, the UE can receive an RS from a non-serving cell. The RS can include a puncturable subset and a non-puncturable subset. The puncturable subset can include one or more resources of the RS that are allowed to be punctured, while the non-puncturable subset can include one or more resources of the RS that are prohibited from being punctured. In one aspect, block 1220 can be performed by the WWAN transceiver 310, the processing system 332, the memory component 340, and / or the puncturing component 342, any one or all of which can be regarded as a component for performing this block.

[0187] In block 1230, the UE can determine whether the puncturable subset has been punctured by another PHY signal based on the non-puncturable subset. In one aspect, block 1230 can be performed by the WWAN transceiver 310, the processing system 332, the memory component 340, and / or the puncturing component 342, any one or all of which can be regarded as a component for performing this block.

[0188] Figure 13 A flowchart of an example process for implementing block 1230 is shown. In one aspect, the RS configuration can include multiple scrambling IDs, the multiple scrambling IDs including a first scrambling ID and a second scrambling ID.

[0189] In block 1310, the UE can measure the RS based on the first scrambling ID to determine a first quality measurement. The first quality measurement can include a first SNR, a first SINR, a first error rate, etc.

[0190] In block 1320, the UE may measure the RS based on the second scrambling ID to determine a second quality measurement. The second quality measurement may include a second SNR, a second SINR, a second error rate, etc.

[0191] In block 1330, the UE may determine whether the puncturable subset has been punctured based on the first quality measurement and the second quality measurement. For example, when the first SNR is greater than (less than) the second SNR, when the first SINR is greater than (less than) the second SINR, when the first error rate is less than (greater than) the second error rate, etc., the UE may determine that the puncturable subset has been punctured (has not been punctured).

[0192] Figure 14 A flowchart showing another example process for implementing block 1230 is presented. In this regard, the RS configuration may include multiple scrambling IDs, the multiple scrambling IDs including a u-scrambling ID and a first scrambling ID and a second scrambling ID.

[0193] In block 1410, the UE may measure the non-puncturable subset based on the u-scrambling ID to determine a u-quality measurement. The u-quality measurement may include a u-SNR, a u-SINR, a u-error rate, etc.

[0194] In block 1420, the UE may measure the puncturable subset based on the first p-scrambling ID to determine a first p-quality measurement. The first p-quality measurement may include a first p-SNR, a first p-SINR, a first p-error rate, etc.

[0195] In block 1430, the UE may measure the puncturable subset based on the second p-scrambling ID to determine a second p-quality measurement. The second p-quality measurement may include a second p-SNR, a second p-SINR, a second p-error rate, etc.

[0196] In block 1440, the UE may determine whether the puncturable subset has been punctured based on the u-quality measurement and the first p-quality measurement and the second p-quality measurement. In block 1440, when the first SNR difference is less than (greater than) the second SNR difference, when the first SINR difference is less than (greater than) the second SINR difference, when the first error rate difference is greater than (less than) the second error rate difference, etc., the UE may determine that the puncturable subset has been punctured (has not been punctured). The first SNR difference and the second SNR difference may be the differences between the u-SNR and the first SNR and the second SNR, respectively. The first SINR and the second SINR differences may be the differences between the u-SINR and the first SINR and the second SINR, respectively. The first error rate difference and the second error rate difference may be the differences between the u-error rate and the first error rate and the second error rate, respectively.

[0197] When there are multiple punchable subsets, the multiple scrambling IDs can include a first p-scrambling ID and a second p-scrambling ID for each punchable subset, and Figure 14 the process shown in can be adjusted relatively straightforwardly. Accordingly, further details are omitted.

[0198] Figure 15 A flowchart showing another example process for implementing block 1230 is shown. In this regard, the RS configuration can include multiple scrambling IDs, the multiple scrambling IDs including u-scrambling IDs and p-scrambling IDs.

[0199] In block 1510, the UE can measure the non-punchable subset based on the u-scrambling ID to determine a u-quality measurement. The u-quality measurement can include u-SNR, u-SINR, u-error rate, etc.

[0200] In block 1520, the UE can measure the punchable subset based on the u-scrambling ID to determine a first p-quality measurement. The first p-quality measurement can include a first p-SNR, a first p-SINR, a first p-error rate, etc.

[0201] In block 1530, the UE can measure the punchable subset based on the p-scrambling ID to determine a second p-quality measurement. The second p-quality measurement can include a second p-SNR, a second p-SINR, a second p-error rate, etc.

[0202] In block 1540, the UE can determine whether the punchable subset has been punched based on the u-quality measurement and the first p-quality measurement and the second p-quality measurement. In block 1540, when the first SNR difference is less than (greater than) the second SNR difference, when the first SINR difference is less than (greater than) the second SINR difference, when the first error rate difference is greater than (less than) the second error rate difference, etc., the UE can determine that the punchable subset has been punched (has not been punched). The first SNR difference and the second SNR difference can be the differences between the u-SNR and the first SNR and the second SNR, respectively. The first SINR and the second SINR differences can be the differences between the u-SINR and the first SINR and the second SINR, respectively. The first error rate difference and the second error rate difference can be the differences between the u-error rate and the first error rate and the second error rate, respectively.

[0203] When there are multiple punchable subsets, the multiple scrambling IDs can include p-scrambling IDs for each punchable subset, and Figure 15 the process shown in can be adjusted relatively straightforwardly. Accordingly, further details are omitted.

[0204] Figure 16A flowchart showing another example process for implementing block 1230 is presented.

[0205] In block 1610, the UE can estimate the channel between the UE and a non-serving cell by measuring the unpuncturable subset.

[0206] In block 1620, the UE can measure the puncturable subset based on the estimated channel.

[0207] In block 1630, the UE can determine whether the puncturable subset has been punctured based on the measurement of the puncturable subset.

[0208] Figure 17 A flowchart showing another example process for implementing block 1230 is presented. In this regard, the puncturable subset can include multiple puncturable subset regions, and the unpuncturable subset can include multiple unpuncturable subset regions associated with the multiple puncturable subset regions.

[0209] In block 1710, for each puncturable subset region, the UE can determine whether the puncturable subset region has been punctured based on a flag (e.g., one bit) embedded in the unpuncturable subset region associated with the puncturable subset region.

[0210] Returning to reference Figure 12 , in block 1240, the UE can also exclude the puncturable subset when processing the RS when it determines that the puncturable subset has been punctured. In one aspect, block 1240 can be executed by the WWAN transceiver 310, the processing system 332, the memory component 340, and / or the puncturing component 342, any one or all of which can be regarded as components for executing this block.

[0211] In block 1250, when it determines that the puncturable subset has not been punctured, the UE can include the puncturable subset when processing the RS. In one aspect, block 1250 can be executed by the WWAN transceiver 310, the processing system 332, the memory component 340, and / or the puncturing component 342, any one or all of which can be regarded as components for executing this block.

[0212] In one aspect, regardless of whether the puncturable subset is excluded (as in block 1240) or included (as in block 1250) when the RS is processed, the information from the RS processing can be used to determine the location of the UE. The UE location can be determined by the UE itself (e.g., based on the UE). Alternatively or in addition, the UE can provide the processed RS information to the network (e.g., to the LMF, serving base station, etc.) so that the network can determine the UE location (i.e., UE-assisted). The location can be determined based on any one or more of RTT, OTDOA, AoA, AoD, etc.

[0213] Figure 18 A flowchart of an exemplary method 1800 of a network node (e.g., a cell, a base station, a gNB, etc.) is shown.

[0214] In block 1810, the network node may send an RS to a UE (e.g., any UE described herein). In one aspect, in the case where the network node is a base station, block 1810 may be performed by the WWAN transceiver 350, the processing system 384, the memory component 386, and / or the puncturing component 388, any one or all of which may be regarded as components for performing this block.

[0215] In this aspect, it is possible that the UE is not currently served by the network node. The RS may include a puncturable subset and a non-puncturable subset. The puncturable subset may include one or more resources of the RS that are allowed to be punctured, while the non-puncturable subset may include one or more resources of the RS that are prohibited from being punctured. The non-puncturable subset may indicate whether the puncturable subset of the RS has been punctured (e.g., punctured by another PHY signal).

[0216] Those skilled in the art will understand that information and signals can be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and methods. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout the above specification may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0217] In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, the various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends on the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. The skilled person may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be construed as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0218] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0219] The methods, sequences, and / or algorithms described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of both. The software module may reside in RAM, flash memory, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., a UE). In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.

[0220] In one or more exemplary aspects, the described functionality may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or code. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. The storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store the desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium. As used herein, disk and disc include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0221] Although the foregoing disclosure shows illustrative aspects of the present disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications may be made herein without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps, and / or acts of the methods claimed in aspects of the disclosure described herein need not be performed in any particular order. Further, although the elements of the present disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless expressly limited to the singular.

Claims

1. A user equipment (UE), comprising: one or more transceivers; one or more memories; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more transceivers and the one or more memories, wherein the one or more processors are configured, individually or in combination, to: receive a reference signal (RS) via the one or more transceivers, the RS including a puncturable subset and a non-puncturable subset, the puncturable subset including one or more resources of the RS that are permitted to be punctured, and the non-puncturable subset including one or more resources of the RS that are prohibited from being punctured; estimate a channel on which the RS is received based on measurements of the non-puncturable subset; obtain measurements of the puncturable subset based on the estimated channel; determine, based on the measurements of the puncturable subset, whether the puncturable subset has been punctured by another physical layer signal; and process the RS based on the determination of whether the puncturable subset has been punctured.

2. The UE according to claim 1, wherein the another physical layer signal is a physical layer channel carrying higher priority information.

3. The UE according to claim 2, wherein the higher priority information includes ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) data or control information.

4. The UE according to claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured, individually or in combination, to: receive an RS configuration from a network entity via the one or more transceivers, the RS configuration indicating a resource configuration of the RS.

5. The UE according to claim 4, wherein the RS configuration is received via higher layer signaling, the higher layer signaling being signaling through one or more layers above the physical layer.

6. The UE according to claim 5, wherein the RS configuration is received via one or more radio resource control (RRC) messages, one or more medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) messages, one or more long term evolution (LTE) positioning protocol (LPP) messages, or any combination thereof.

7. The UE according to claim 4, wherein the RS configuration includes: a puncturable subset indication indicating resources of the puncturable subset, a non-puncturable subset indication indicating resources of the non-puncturable subset, or both.

8. The UE according to claim 7, wherein when included in the RS configuration, the puncturable subset indication includes: a puncturable frequency bitmap indicating one or more frequency domain resources of the puncturable subset, a puncturable time bitmap indicating one or more time domain resources of the puncturable subset, a puncturable spatial bitmap indicating one or more spatial domain resources of the puncturable subset, or any combination thereof, and wherein when included in the RS configuration, the non-puncturable subset indication includes: a non-puncturable frequency bitmap indicating one or more frequency domain resources of the non-puncturable subset, a non-puncturable time bitmap indicating one or more time domain resources of the non-puncturable subset, a non-puncturable spatial bitmap indicating one or more spatial domain resources of the non-puncturable subset, or any combination thereof.

9. The UE according to claim 4, wherein, the RS is configured such that the non-puncturable subset is continuous in time, frequency, or both time and frequency.

10. The UE according to claim 4, wherein, the RS is configured such that within at least one symbol duration, the non-punctured subset includes the entire bandwidth of the RS within the at least one symbol duration.

11. The UE according to claim 4, wherein, the RS is configured such that the puncturable subset includes a plurality of puncturable subset regions, and the non-puncturable subset includes a plurality of non-puncturable subset regions associated with the plurality of puncturable subset regions, and wherein the one or more processors are further configured, individually or in combination, for each puncturable subset region, to determine whether the puncturable subset region has been punctured based on a flag associated with the puncturable subset region embedded in the non-puncturable subset region.

12. The UE according to claim 1, wherein, the one or more processors configured to process the RS include one or more processors configured, individually or in combination, to perform the following operations: when determining that the puncturable subset has been punctured, exclude the puncturable subset when processing the RS; when determining that the puncturable subset has not been punctured, include the puncturable subset when processing the RS.

13. A method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment UE, the method comprising: receiving a reference signal RS, the RS including a puncturable subset and a non-puncturable subset, the puncturable subset including one or more resources of the RS that are allowed to be punctured, and the non-puncturable subset including one or more resources of the RS that are prohibited from being punctured; estimating a channel on which the RS is received based on measurements of the non-puncturable subset; obtaining measurements of the puncturable subset based on the estimated channel; determining, based on the measurements of the puncturable subset, whether the puncturable subset has been punctured by another physical layer signal; and processing the RS based on the determination of whether the puncturable subset has been punctured.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein, the another physical layer signal is a physical layer channel carrying higher priority information.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein, the higher priority information includes ultra-reliable low-latency communication URLLC data or control information.

16. The method according to claim 13, further comprising: receiving an RS configuration from a network entity, the RS configuration indicating a resource configuration of the RS.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein, the RS configuration is received via higher layer signaling, the higher layer signaling being signaling through one or more layers above the physical layer.

18. The method according to claim 16, wherein, the RS is configured such that the non-puncturable subset is continuous in time, frequency, or both time and frequency.

19. The method according to claim 16, wherein, The RS is configured such that, within at least one symbol duration, the non-punctured subset includes the entire bandwidth of the RS within the at least one symbol duration.

20. A user equipment UE, comprising: means for receiving a reference signal RS, the RS including a puncturable subset and a non-puncturable subset, the puncturable subset including one or more resources of the RS that are allowed to be punctured, and the non-puncturable subset including one or more resources of the RS that are prohibited from being punctured; means for estimating a channel on which the RS is received based on measurements of the non-puncturable subset; means for obtaining measurements of the puncturable subset based on the estimated channel; means for determining, based on the measurements of the puncturable subset, whether the puncturable subset has been punctured by another physical layer signal; and means for processing the RS based on the determination of whether the puncturable subset has been punctured.

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