Frequency domain resource allocation in wireless networks

Abstract

A method comprising: receiving, by a user equipment from a network node, a configuration comprising at least an indication to perform a spectral extension; determining a target extension factor of an overfrequency band frequency resource for target spectrum extension; receiving information indicating a set of in-band frequency resources allocated to the user equipment for uplink transmission; determining, by the user equipment based on the in-band frequency resource set and the target expansion factor, over-band frequency resources for spectrum expansion and / or total frequency resource allocation for uplink transmission, wherein the total frequency resource allocation comprises in-band frequency resources and over-band frequency resources; performing, by the user equipment, a spectrum spread on the frequency domain value set based on the overclocking band frequency resource to obtain a spectrum spread signal; and transmitting the spectrum spread signal.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This description relates to wireless communication. Background Art

[0002] A communication system can be a facility that enables communication between two or more nodes or devices (such as fixed or mobile communication devices). Signals can be carried via wired or wireless carriers.

[0003] An example of a cellular communication system is the architecture being standardized by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The latest developments in this area are often referred to as the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) radio access technology. E-UTRA (Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access) is the air interface of the 3GPP's mobile network Long-Term Evolution (LTE) upgrade path. In LTE, a base station or access point (AP) (referred to as an evolved Node B (eNB)) provides wireless access within a coverage area or cell. In LTE, a mobile device or mobile station is called a user equipment (UE). LTE includes many improvements or developments. Aspects of LTE are also continuously being improved.

[0004] The 5G New Radio (NR) development is part of the continuous mobile broadband evolution process, aiming to meet the requirements of 5G, similar to the early evolution of 3G and 4G wireless networks. In addition to mobile broadband, 5G also targets emerging use cases. The goal of 5G is to provide significant improvements in wireless performance, which may include new levels of data rate, latency, reliability, and security. 5G NR can also be extended to efficiently connect massive Internet of Things (IoT), and can provide new types of mission-critical services. For example, ultra-reliable and low-latency communication (URLLC) devices may require high reliability and extremely low latency. Advanced 5G is developed based on NR Rel-18. 6G is also under development and will be further developed in the future, even for more demanding applications. Summary of the Invention

[0005] According to an example embodiment, a method may include: receiving, by a user equipment, a configuration from a network node that includes at least an indication to perform spectrum spreading; determining, by the user equipment, a target spreading factor for excess band frequency resources for a target spectrum spreading; receiving, by the user equipment, from the network node information indicating a set of in-band frequency resources allocated to the user equipment for uplink transmission; determining, by the user equipment, based on the set of in-band frequency resources and the target spreading factor, the excess band frequency resources for the spectrum spreading and / or a total frequency resource allocation for uplink transmission, where the total frequency resource allocation includes the in-band frequency resources and the excess band frequency resources; performing, by the user equipment, spectrum spreading on a set of frequency domain values based on the excess band frequency resources to obtain a spectrum spread signal; and transmitting the spectrum spread signal.

[0006] According to an example embodiment, an apparatus includes at least one processor and at least one memory, the at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least: receive, by a user equipment, a configuration from a network node that includes at least an indication to perform spectrum spreading; determine, by the user equipment, a target spreading factor for excess band frequency resources for a target spectrum spreading; receive, by the user equipment, from the network node information indicating a set of in-band frequency resources allocated to the user equipment for uplink transmission; determine, by the user equipment, based on the set of in-band frequency resources and the target spreading factor, the excess band frequency resources for the spectrum spreading and / or a total frequency resource allocation for uplink transmission, where the total frequency resource allocation includes the in-band frequency resources and the excess band frequency resources; perform, by the user equipment, spectrum spreading on a set of frequency domain values based on the excess band frequency resources to obtain a spectrum spread signal; and transmit the spectrum spread signal.

[0007] Other example embodiments are provided or described for the various example methods, including: components for performing any example method; and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions stored thereon that, when executed by at least one processor, are configured to cause a computing system to perform any example method.

[0008] Details of one or more examples of the embodiments are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the following description. Other features will be apparent from the description, the drawings, and the claims. Description of the Drawings

[0009] Figure 1 is a block diagram of a wireless network according to an example embodiment.

[0010] Figure 2It is a flowchart showing the operation of a user equipment (UE) according to an exemplary embodiment.

[0011] Figure 3 It is a block diagram of a transmitter with spectrum spreading according to an exemplary embodiment.

[0012] Figure 4 It is a diagram showing shifting a fraction of a resource block of in-band frequency resources according to an exemplary embodiment.

[0013] Figure 5 It is a diagram showing the operation of a UE or user equipment according to an exemplary embodiment.

[0014] Figure 6 It is a block diagram of a wireless station, network node, or wireless node (e.g., an AP, BS, RAN node, UE or user equipment, or other wireless node or network node) according to an exemplary embodiment.

[0015] Figure 7 It is a diagram showing an exemplary table known and / or used by both the UE and the gNB, and showing different total allocation sizes (in RBs) for different in-band allocation sizes (in RBs) and different target spreading factors (α). Detailed Description

[0016] Figure 1 It is a block diagram of a wireless network 130 according to an exemplary embodiment. In Figure 1In the wireless network 130, user equipments 131, 132, 133, and 135 (which may also be referred to as mobile stations (MSs) or user equipments (UEs)) may be connected (and communicate) with a base station (BS) 134 (which may also be referred to as an access point (AP), an enhanced Node B (eNB), a BS, a next-generation Node B (gNB), a next-generation enhanced Node B (ng-eNB), or a network node). The terms user equipment and user equipment (UE) may be used interchangeably. The BS may also include or may be referred to as a radio access network (RAN) node and may include a part of the BS or a part of the RAN node (e.g., a central unit (CU) and / or a distributed unit (DU) in the case of a split BS). At least part of the functions of the BS (e.g., an access point (AP), a base station (BS), or an (e)NodeB (eNB), a BS, a RAN node) may also be performed by any node, server, or host that may be operably coupled to a transceiver, such as a remote radio head. The BS (or AP) 134 provides wireless coverage within a cell 136, including wireless coverage to the user equipments (or UEs) 131, 132, 133, and 135. Although only four user equipments (or UEs) are shown as being connected or attached to the BS 134, any number of user equipments may be provided. The BS 134 is also connected to a core network 150 via an S1 interface or an NG interface 151. This is merely a simple example of a wireless network, and other examples may be used.

[0017] A base station (e.g., BS 134) is an example of a radio access network (RAN) node in a wireless network. The BS (or RAN node) may be or may include (or may alternatively be referred to as) for example, an access point (AP), a gNB, an eNB, or a part thereof (e.g., a central unit (CU) and / or a distributed unit (DU) in the case of a split BS or a split gNB) or other network nodes.

[0018] According to an illustrative example, a BS node (e.g., BS, eNB, gNB, CU / DU, ...) or a radio access network (RAN) can be part of a mobile telecommunications system. The RAN (radio access network) can include one or more BS or RAN nodes that implement radio access technologies, e.g., to allow one or more UEs to access the network or the core network. Thus, for example, the RAN (RAN nodes, e.g., BS or gNB) can be located between one or more user devices or UEs and the core network. According to an example embodiment, each RAN node (e.g., BS, eNB, gNB, CU / DU, …) or BS can provide one or more wireless communication services to one or more UEs or user devices, e.g., to allow the UEs to have wireless access to the network via the RAN node. Each RAN node or BS can perform or provide wireless communication services, e.g., such as allowing the UE or user device to establish a wireless connection to the RAN node and sending data to and / or receiving data from one or more UEs. For example, after establishing a connection to the UE, the RAN node (e.g., BS, eNB, gNB, CU / DU, etc.) can forward the data received from the network or the core network to the UE, and / or forward the data received from the UE to the network or the core network. The RAN node (e.g., BS, eNB, gNB, CU / DU, etc.) can perform various other wireless functions or services, e.g., broadcasting control information (e.g., such as system information) to the UE, paging the UE when there is data to be sent to the UE, assisting the UE in handover between cells, scheduling resources for uplink data transmission from the UE and downlink data transmission to the UE, sending control information to configure one or more UEs, etc. These are several examples of one or more functions that the RAN node or BS can perform. The base station can also be the DU (distributed unit) part of an IAB (integrated access and backhaul) node (also known as a relay node). The DU facilitates the access link connection of the IAB node.

[0019] A user equipment (user terminal, user equipment (UE), mobile terminal, handheld wireless device, etc.) may refer to a portable computing device, including a wireless mobile communication device operating with or without a subscriber identity module (SIM), including but not limited to the following types of devices: for example, a mobile station (MS), a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handset, a device using a wireless modem (such as an alarm or measurement device), a laptop computer and / or a touchscreen computer, a tablet computer, a phablet, a gaming console, a notebook computer, a vehicle, a sensor, and a multimedia device, or any other wireless device. It should be recognized that the user equipment may also be (or may include) an almost exclusively uplink-only device, an example of which is a camera or video camera that loads images or video clips onto the network. The user equipment may also be the MT (mobile terminal) part of an IAB (integrated access and backhaul) node (also known as a relay node). The MT facilitates the backhaul connection of the IAB node.

[0020] In LTE (as an illustrative example), the core network 150 may be referred to as an evolved packet core (EPC), which may include a mobility management entity (MME) that can handle or assist with the mobility / handoff of user equipment between BSs, one or more gateways that can forward data and control signals between the BS and a packet data network or the Internet, and other control functions or blocks. Other types of wireless networks, such as 5G (which may be referred to as new radio (NR)), may also include a core network.

[0021] Furthermore, as an illustrative example, the various example embodiments or techniques described herein may be applied to various types of user equipment or data service types, or may be applied to user equipment on which multiple applications may run, and these applications may belong to different data service types. The development of new radio (5G) may support many different applications or many different data service types, such as, for example, machine type communication (MTC), enhanced machine type communication (eMTC), Internet of Things (IoT) and / or narrowband IoT user equipment, enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), and ultra-reliable and low-latency communication (URLLC). Many of these new 5G (NR)-related applications may generally require higher performance than previous wireless networks. Other wireless networks, such as 6G, are also under development and will be developed in the future.

[0022] The IoT can refer to a growing group of objects that may have an Internet or network connection so that these objects can send information to and receive information from other network devices. For example, many sensor type applications or devices can monitor physical conditions or states and can send reports to a server or other network devices, for example, when an event occurs. Machine Type Communication (MTC, i.e., machine-to-machine communication) can be characterized, for example, by fully automatic data generation, exchange, processing, and actuation between intelligent machines, whether or not human intervention is required. Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) can support higher data rates than currently available in LTE.

[0023] Ultra-Reliable and Low-Latency Communication (URLLC) is a new type of data service or new usage scenario that can support the New Radio (5G) system. This enables emerging applications and services such as industrial automation, autonomous driving, vehicle safety, e-health services, etc. The goal of 3GPP is to provide a connection with reliability corresponding to a Block Error Rate (BLER) of 10 -5 and a U-plane (user / data plane) latency of up to 1 millisecond, as an illustrative example. Thus, for example, a URLLC User Equipment / UE may require a much lower block error rate and lower latency than other types of user equipment / UE (with or without the need for high reliability at the same time). Thus, for example, compared to an eMBB UE (or an eMBB application running on the UE), a URLLC UE (or a URLLC application on the UE) may require a much shorter latency.

[0024] Various example embodiments can be applied to various wireless technologies or wireless networks such as 5G (New Radio (NR)), 6G, LTE, LTE-A, cmWave (centimeter wave) and / or mmWave (millimeter wave) band networks, IoT, MTC, eMTC, eMBB, URLLC, NR sidelink communication, etc., or any other wireless network or wireless technology. These example networks, technologies, or data service types are provided only as illustrative examples.

[0025] The Peak-to-Average Power Ratio (PAPR) can refer, for example, to the ratio between the maximum instantaneous power and the average power of a signal (such as an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) signal). Low PAPR transmission can significantly increase cell coverage or cell range because low PAPR transmission can allow high (or higher) power transmission without saturating the power amplifier of the transmitter. In other words, a signal (or waveform) with low PAPR can be transmitted with a smaller output power backoff. 3GPP defines the Maximum Power Reduction (MPR) requirements for different waveforms and modulations, which means the maximum allowed reduction (i.e., backoff) of the transmit power.

[0026] New Radio (NR / 5G) introduces a Pi / 2 - Binary Phase Shift Keying (Pi / 2 - PBSK) modulation scheme to support low PAPR uplink data transmission using a Discrete Fourier Transform Spread Spectrum Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (DFT - spread OFDM) waveform (data). For NR uplink (UL) communication, 3GPP NR has decided to apply FDSS (Frequency - Domain Spectrum Shaping) to pi / 2BPSK modulation without spectrum spreading of the data. Other modulation schemes can also be advantageously combined with PAPR reduction techniques, such as Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK).

[0027] Spectrum (or spectral) shaping (e.g., can include Frequency - Domain Spectrum Shaping (FDSS)) is a PAPR reduction technique that can be performed in the time domain (e.g., before the Discrete Fourier Transform step or after the Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform step at the transmitter) or in the frequency domain (e.g., after the Discrete Fourier Transform but before the Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform step). Spectrum shaping can include using filters to adjust the amplitude of one or more sub - carriers or spectral components of a signal, e.g., in order to reduce the PAPR of the transmitted signal or increase the maximum transmit power in certain scenarios or obtain other desired benefits. Some spectrum - shaping filters can provide a rounding function, where sub - carriers or spectral components that can be reduced or rounded (e.g., near the channel edge or bandwidth portion) are used to reduce the PAPR of the transmitted signal. Some example filters that can be used to provide spectrum shaping can include, for example, time - domain precoding or time - domain filters, including at least one of (1 + D) or (x1x) filters or a time - domain filter with more than three taps; frequency - domain filters; Raised Cosine (RC) filters; Root Raised Cosine (RRC) filters; and / or truncation filters, as some examples. Other spectrum - shaping functions or filters can be used. Spectrum shaping can be performed without spectrum spreading or with spectrum spreading.

[0028] Spectrum (or spectral) spreading may also be performed to reduce (or further reduce) the PAPR of a signal. Spectrum spreading may expand or increase the spectrum or frequency range of the signal, thereby reducing the PAPR of the signal. For example, cyclic spreading may be used to perform spectrum spreading in the frequency domain of the signal. Cyclic spreading may involve copying a portion of the DFT output (or the frequency domain values of the DFT block output) at the end of the DFT output and appending these frequency domain values to the beginning of the DFT output, which results in additional frequency domain values or super (or additional) bands being added on both sides of the originally generated signal before spreading. This increases the spectrum or frequency range of the frequency domain values of the DFT output, thereby prompting the spectrum expansion or increase in the frequency range of the original signal. Additionally, at least in some cases, spectrum shaping and spectrum spreading (where spectrum shaping is applied to the signal after spreading) may be used for the signal to provide a greater reduction in the PAPR of the signal. According to an example embodiment, FDSS with spectrum spreading can provide a significant or substantial coverage gain for QPSK modulation symbols. Thus, for example, Figure 3 the data input of the transmitter described below may be QPSK modulated data or symbols.

[0029] According to an example embodiment, various techniques for a UE (or user equipment) to determine spectrum (spectral) spreading are described, such as based on parameters signaled or provided from a gNB or network node (or based on signals or information transmitted between the UE and the gNB).

[0030] Figure 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of a user equipment (or UE) according to an example embodiment. Operation 210 includes the user equipment receiving a configuration from a network node that includes at least an indication to perform spectrum spreading. Operation 220 includes the user equipment determining a target expansion factor for the overband frequency resources for target spectrum spreading. Operation 230 includes the user equipment receiving information from the network node indicating a set of in-band frequency resources allocated to the user equipment for uplink transmission. Operation 240 includes the user equipment determining the overband frequency resources for spectrum spreading and / or the total frequency resource allocation for uplink transmission based on the set of in-band frequency resources and the target expansion factor, where the total frequency resource allocation includes in-band frequency resources and overband frequency resources. Operation 250 includes the user equipment performing spectrum spreading on a set of frequency domain values based on the overband frequency resources to obtain a spectrum-spread signal. And, operation 260 includes transmitting the spectrum-spread signal.

[0031] For Figure 2 the method, determining the target expansion factor by the user equipment may include the user equipment receiving information from the network node identifying the target expansion factor for target expansion to determine the overband frequency resources for spectrum spreading.

[0032] For Figure 2The method may further include the user equipment sending information indicating that the user equipment has the ability to perform spectrum expansion for uplink transmission to a network node.

[0033] For Figure 2 The method, performing spectrum expansion may include: the user equipment performing symmetric expansion on in-band frequency resources by attaching the first half of the superband frequency resources to the upper end of the in-band frequency resources and attaching the second half of the superband frequency resources to the lower end of the in-band frequency resources.

[0034] For Figure 2 The method, performing spectrum expansion may include: the user equipment performing symmetric expansion on in-band frequency resources by attaching a certain number of the lowest in-band frequency resources to the superband frequency resources adjacent to the highest in-band frequency resources and attaching the same number of higher in-band frequency resources to the superband frequency resources adjacent to the lowest in-band frequency resources.

[0035] For Figure 2 The method, the configuration received from the network node may include (for example, one or more of the following): information indicating in-band frequency resources, including one or more of the following: the starting resource block of the in-band frequency resources, the ending resource block of the in-band frequency resources, the size or number of resource blocks of the in-band frequency resources, a bitmap of bits indicating one or more resource block groups (RBGs) allocated to the user equipment, where an RBG is a set of consecutive virtual resource blocks defined by the higher layer parameter rbg-Size and the size of the bandwidth part; and the target expansion factor of the target spectrum expansion. Additionally, for example, according to the scenario, some configuration parameters (such as the target expansion factor) may be determined from the specification or standard (for example, in the case of only supporting one expansion factor (such as 0.25)). For example, based on the standard or specification, when performing expansion, both the UE and the gNB may use the pre-configured value of the target expansion factor (for example, 0.25). If multiple target expansion factors are possible, the control information may be used by the gNB, for example, to configure the UE to use one of the possible target expansion factors. Alternatively, the UE may inform the gNB of the target expansion factor among the multiple possible target expansion factors that the UE will use to perform expansion.

[0036] For Figure 2Method, wherein: The size (M) of the in-band frequency resource set may include the number (M) of occupied resource elements or subcarriers after the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) block, where the number of resource elements or subcarriers of the in-band frequency resource (M) is an integer number of 12 resource elements or subcarriers, and where a resource block includes 12 resource elements or subcarriers; The total allocated size (Q) of the frequency resources includes the sum of the resource elements of the in-band frequency resources and the out-of-band frequency resources for the target spectrum expansion; The size of the out-of-band frequency resources for the target spectrum expansion based on the target expansion factor includes the number of resource elements (Q - M), where the size of the out-of-band frequency resources includes the difference between the total allocated size (Q) and the number of resource elements or subcarriers (M) of the in-band frequency resources.

[0037] For Figure 2 Method, where the user equipment determines the out-of-band frequency resources for spectrum expansion and / or the total allocated frequency resources for uplink transmission based on the in-band frequency resource set and the target expansion factor, which may include determining at least one of the following: The number of resource elements for the total allocation = [(the number of resource elements of the in-band frequency resource set) / (1 - target expansion factor)]; The number of resource elements for the out-of-band allocation = [[(the number of resource elements of the in-band frequency resource set)*target expansion factor / (1 - target expansion factor)]]; and / or The number of resource elements of the in-band frequency resource set = [(the number of resource elements of the total allocation)*(1 - target expansion factor)].

[0038] For Figure 2 Method, wherein if 1) based on the target expansion factor for the target spectrum expansion, the size of the out-of-band frequency resources is not a resource block of an integer number of resource elements, resulting in the total allocation including one or more isolated resource elements that are part of a fractional resource block or not part of an integer multiple of resource elements, or 2) the out-of-band frequency resources are not suitable for the current uplink bandwidth part or carrier for the user equipment to perform uplink transmission, then the method further includes performing at least one of the following: Treating or applying one or more isolated resource elements as guard bands or unused resource elements; Rounding up or down the out-of-band frequency based on the target expansion factor including the fractional resource block to the closest integer number of resource blocks; Rounding up or down the total allocated frequency resources based on the target expansion factor including the fractional resource block to the closest integer number of resource blocks; and / or Treating or determining the size of the out-of-band frequency resources for the target spectrum expansion that results in the out-of-band frequency or total allocation including the fractional resource block as an invalid resource allocation from the network node.

[0039] For Figure 2A method, where performing spectral expansion may include performing symmetric expansion on in-band frequency resources by attaching the first half of the over-band frequency resources to the upper end of the in-band frequency resources and attaching the second half of the over-band frequency resources to the lower end of the in-band frequency resources; the method may further include: determining by the user equipment that the over-band frequency resources include an odd number of resource blocks or one or more isolated resource elements that are part of a fractional resource block; and shifting by the user equipment half a resource block of the total allocation including the in-band frequency resources and the first and second halves of the over-band frequency resources in the frequency domain such that the total allocated resource blocks are resource blocks aligned with the grid of the resource blocks.

[0040] For Figure 2 A method, the method may further include: determining by the user equipment that the over-band frequency resources include an odd number of resource blocks or one or more isolated resource elements that are part of a fractional resource block; and shifting by the user equipment half a resource block of the total allocation including the in-band frequency resources and the first and second halves of the over-band frequency resources in the frequency domain such that the total allocated resource blocks are resource blocks aligned with the grid of the resource blocks.

[0041] Figure 3 is a block diagram of a transmitter with spectral expansion according to an exemplary embodiment. Data (e.g., for example, binary phase shift keying (BPSK) data or QPSK data that may have been phase rotated by Pi / 2, or other data) may be input to the serial-to-parallel converter 310, where the serial data stream is converted to a parallel output. The discrete Fourier transform (DFT) block 312 performs a discrete Fourier transform on the parallel data to output frequency domain values. For example, M may follow existing DFT size rules: for example, where M should be a multiple of 2^a*3^b*5^c, where [a, b, c] are integers ≥ 0.

[0042] As Figure 3 shown, the symmetric expansion block 313 may perform symmetric expansion on the frequency domain values output by the DFT block 312 to perform spectral expansion. As previously described, spectral expansion may be performed to reduce the PAPR of the signal. Spectral expansion may expand or increase the spectrum or frequency range of the signal, thereby reducing the PAPR of the signal. Generally, spectral expansion may involve copying a portion of the output (e.g., the frequency domain values output by the DFT block or by a previous block) and attaching these frequency domain values to the beginning and / or end of the output, which prompts the addition of additional frequency domain values or over (or additional) frequency bands (or resource elements or subcarriers). For example, symmetric expansion may be performed by copying the lower frequency portion after the DFT output and pasting it next to the higher frequency portion of the DFT output and by copying the higher frequency portion after the DFT output and pasting it next to the lower frequency portion of the DFT output.

[0043] The frequency domain spectrum shaper 314 (implemented in the frequency domain in this illustrative example) can perform frequency domain spectrum shaping on the frequency domain values. For example, this can reduce the PAPR. The spectrum shaping output from the FDSS 314 is input to the subcarrier mapping block 316, where the spectrum shaping output is mapped to the subcarriers of the signal to be transmitted (still in the frequency domain). At the inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) block 318, the output of block 316 is converted to time domain values through the IFFT process. A cyclic prefix (CP) is added to the time domain signal at the cyclic prefix (CP) block 320. Then, the signal output from block 320 is converted from parallel to serial format by the parallel-to-serial (P / S) block 322 and then transmitted through the antenna.

[0044] An example process of performing symmetric extension will be described in more detail with reference to Figure 3 the illustrative example. According to the example embodiment, the output of the DFT block 312 is (or may include) the in-band frequency resources 330, which have been allocated by the gNB or network node to the UE for uplink transmission. For example, the in-band frequency resources 330 may include M resource elements or subcarriers. For example, the gNB may allocate 5 resource blocks (RBs) to the UE as the in-band frequency resources. For example, each resource block (RB) (which may also be referred to as a physical resource block or PRB) may include 12 resource elements or subcarriers. Thus, in this example, 60 resource elements or subcarriers (e.g., M = 60 resource elements or subcarriers can be allocated to the UE as the in-band frequency resources for uplink transmission).

[0045] As Figure 3 shown, the in-band frequency resources (M resource elements or subcarriers) can be extended by the symmetric extension 313 block to add spectrum extension (including the upper extension block 342 and the lower extension block 344). The M in-band frequency resource elements can be extended by (M - Q) resource elements to produce a total allocation of Q resource elements. For example, M = 72 resource elements (e.g., 6 RBs) can be extended by 24 resource elements (or 2 RBs, e.g., which is the size or number of the overband frequency resource elements for spectrum extension) to obtain a total allocation of 96 resource elements (or 8 RBs) as an illustrative example. Thus, after the symmetric extension by block 313, the UE has a total allocation 340 of Q resource elements or subcarriers (e.g., Q = 96 resource elements or subcarriers). The FDSS block 314 can perform spectrum shaping on the total allocation of frequency resources 340 to output the sum and spectrum-shaped output of the spectrum extension of the total allocation at 350, which is input to the subcarrier mapping block 316. Alternatively, if there is no spectrum shaping (e.g., no FDSS block 314), the spectrum extension output of block 313 can be input to the subcarrier mapping block 316.

[0046] Figure 3 The transmitter can be or can include a DFT-S-OFDM (Discrete Fourier Transform-Spread Spectrum-Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) transmitter with FDSS and spectrum spreading. The symmetric spreading block results in the total allocation to the UE including the overband (Q-M). The FDSS block with frequency bins is weighted by the FDSS function before being mapped to the IFFT input. FDSS with symmetric spectrum spreading can provide up to 2 dB improvement in uplink coverage for QPSK modulation at least in some cases.

[0047] In addition to receiving information indicating an in-band frequency resource set from the gNB, the UE can also receive information indicating an overband frequency resource for spectrum spreading from the gNB or a network node (or information that the UE can use to determine such overband frequency resources, such as information indicating the number or quantity of resource elements for the overband or spectrum spreading). For example, the gNB can send the UE information indicating an in-band frequency resource of 72 resource elements or subcarriers (6 RBs) (e.g., information indicating the start and stop RBs of the in-band frequency resource), and information indicating an overband size of 24 resource elements or subcarriers (2 RBs) that should be provided as the spectrum spreading for the in-band frequency resource. These values are merely examples, and other quantities of in-band frequency resources and / or extended band frequency resources can be used.

[0048] For example, the UE may receive configuration from the gNB, which may include information indicating in-band frequency resources (e.g., such as starting and / or stopping RBs, and / or the size of the in-band frequency resources) and information indicating the superband frequency resources (or the size of such superband frequency resources) to be used as or provided for spectrum expansion. For example, such configuration from the gNB may include information indicating in-band frequency resources, which includes one or more of the following: the starting resource block (starting RB) of the in-band frequency resources, the ending resource block of the in-band frequency resources, the size or number of resource blocks for the in-band frequency resources, a bitmap indicating one or more resource block groups (RBGs) assigned to the user equipment, where an RBG is a set of consecutive virtual resource blocks defined by the higher layer parameter rbg-Size and the size of the bandwidth part; and the target expansion factor for the target spectrum expansion. The target expansion factor may indicate the target size or number (or amount) of frequency resources (e.g., the number or amount of RBs, subcarriers, or resource elements), which may be expressed as a percentage of, for example, the total frequency resource allocation (Q). For example, a target expansion factor of 0.25 (or 25%) may indicate that 25% of the total frequency resource allocation (e.g., the total allocation of resource elements or subcarriers) assigned to the UE is (or will be used as) superband frequency resources (or spectrum expansion). For example, the in-band frequency size is 60 resource elements, and a target expansion factor of.25 (or 25%) indicates that the target superband size or target spectrum expansion will be 80 resource elements (e.g.,.25 * 80 RE = 20 RE). Additionally, for example, the UE may explicitly receive a frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) in the in-band (e.g., via an uplink grant). Additionally, the UE may receive or determine the target expansion factor. Based on this information, the UE may implicitly (e.g., without an explicit indication from the network) determine the superband size and location.

[0049] In addition, as described in more detail below, for example, the target expansion (or target spectrum expansion) based on the target expansion factor may be the same as or different from the actual spectrum expansion, for example, because the UE may round up or down the number of resource elements used for spectrum expansion or the number of resource elements used for the total allocation to the nearest integer number of resource blocks (RBs). For example, the UE may round up or down the total allocation of frequency resources (e.g., the total allocation of resource elements or subcarriers) based on the target expansion factor that may result in fractional resource blocks (e.g., where an RB may include 12 resource elements / subcarrier) to the nearest integer number of resource blocks, for example, if based on the target expansion factor for the target spectrum expansion, the size of the overband frequency resources is not an integer number of resource elements of resource blocks, and / or results in the total allocation including one or more isolated resource elements (or isolated subcarriers) that are part of a fractional resource block or not part of an integer multiple of resource elements. Isolated resource elements may include resource elements or subcarriers that are outside an integer number of resource blocks or not part of an integer number of resource blocks. For example, if one resource block includes 12 resource elements and a total allocation of 68 resource elements (resource elements of 5 RBs, plus 8 additional resource elements / subcarrier) is provided to the UE, then the last 8 resource elements (e.g., resource elements outside 5 RBs) do not form a whole RB or are considered fractional RBs and may be considered, for example, isolated resource elements.

[0050] The gNB may indicate or signal information indicating the set of in-band frequency resources (e.g., information such as indicating the start and stop PRBs of the in-band frequency resources) and the target expansion factor to the UE. Then, the UE may be able to (or be enabled to) determine at least one of the following: the number of resource elements for the total allocation = [(the number of resource elements for the set of in-band frequency resources) / (1 - target expansion factor)]; the number of resource elements for the overband allocation = [[(the number of resource elements for the set of in-band frequency resources)*target expansion factor / (1 - target expansion factor)]]; and / or the number of resource elements for the set of in-band frequency resources = [(the number of resource elements for the total allocation)*(1 - target expansion factor)].

[0051] As Figure 3 shown in the exemplary example of Figure 3)The symmetric expansion of M in-band frequency resources 330 can be performed in the following ways: 1) Append a certain number of the lowest (or lower portion 334) in-band frequency resources to the overband frequency resource adjacent to the highest in-band frequency resource 330 (e.g., by appending the lower portion 334 of the in-band resource to the one adjacent to the highest in-band frequency resource as the higher expansion block 342), and 2) Append a certain number of the highest (or highest frequency) (or higher portion 332) in-band frequency resources 330 to the overband frequency resource adjacent to the lowest (or lowest frequency) in-band frequency resource (e.g., by appending the higher portion 334 of the in-band resource to the one adjacent to the lowest in-band frequency resource as the lower expansion block 344). For example, in-band frequency resources 330 of 5 RBs can be allocated to a UE, and it is indicated that the target expansion results in a spectral expansion of 2 RBs. Thus, the lower portion (or lowest frequency portion) (1 RB) 334 of the in-band frequency resources 330 can be appended to the in-band frequency resources 330 as the upper expansion block 342, and the upper portion (or highest frequency) portion (1 RB) 332 of the in-band frequency resources 330 can be appended to the in-band frequency resources 330 as the upper expansion block 342. Thus, 1 RB can be appended to both the upper and lower edges of the in-band frequency resources 330, resulting in a symmetric expansion (e.g., providing an expansion of 1 RB to each edge of the in-band frequency resources). Thus, for example, the overband frequency resources or spectral expansion can include: for example, the first half (342) of the overband frequency resources (or the first half of the spectral expansion) appended to the upper end of the in-band frequency resources 330 (or appended to the upper frequency edge), and the second half (344) of the overband frequency resources (or the second half of the spectral expansion) appended to the lower end of the in-band frequency resources 330 (or appended to the lower frequency edge). This is just an illustrative example, and other types of spectral expansion can also be performed.

[0052] To have the same notation among different vendors or UE device manufacturers, the spectral expansion can be defined in the same way, e.g., to allow interoperability between UEs and gNBs of different manufacturers / suppliers. Some parameters can be used, such as:

[0053] In-band size: The REs (occupied resource elements or subcarriers) occupied after the DFT block, Figure 3 M in.

[0054] Overband size: The amount of spectral expansion, Figure 3 (Q - M) in.

[0055] Total allocated size (in-band size + overband size): The REs occupied after the symmetric expansion block 313, Figure 3 Q in.

[0056] The amount of spectrum expansion or size or the size of the super frequency resource can be defined or determined based on a target expansion factor (or expansion factor) (a), which can be defined, for example, as:

[0057] Target expansion factor or (a) = overband size / total allocation size.

[0058] Regarding the in-band size, the current DFT size limit can be maintained or required, which may have been defined for LTE and NR Rel-15 for DFT-s-OFDM. Based on this, for example, the DFT size should (in the example embodiment) be expressed as 2 a *3 b *5 c times a multiple, where [a, b, c] are integers ≥ 0. This means that compared with the traditional case, FDSS with spectrum expansion does not require new DFT size options.

[0059] Furthermore, for example, depending on the in-band size and the expansion factor (α), the total allocation size may or may not be a multiple of 12 REs (may or may not be an integer multiple of RBs).

[0060] Example:

[0061] α = 0.25 (target expansion factor)

[0062] In-band size: 60 REs (5 RBs)

[0063] Overband size: 20 REs (1.67 RBs)

[0064] Total allocation: 6.67 RBs

[0065] In this example, the total allocation size is not an integer multiple of 1 RB. In this example, based on the size of the overband frequency resource (and / or the size of the total allocation) for the target spectrum expansion with the target expansion factor, the resource block is not an integer number of resource elements, resulting in the total allocation including one or more isolated resource elements, which are part of a fractional resource block or not part of an integer multiple of resource elements.

[0066] Another problem may occur, for example, if the overband frequency resource is not suitable for the current uplink bandwidth part or carrier used for the user equipment / UE to perform uplink transmission.

[0067] Thus, for example, the UE and / or gNB can have multiple ways to handle such a situation. For example, there are isolated resource elements or the total allocation includes fractional RBs, or the superband frequency resources are not suitable for the current uplink bandwidth part or carrier. For example, if 1) based on the target expansion factor for the target spectrum expansion, the size of the superband frequency resources is not an integer number of resource blocks of resource elements, resulting in the total allocation including one or more isolated resource elements that are part of a fractional resource block or not part of an integer multiple of resource elements, or 2) the superband frequency resources are not suitable for the current uplink bandwidth part or carrier used by the user equipment to perform uplink transmission, the resource elements can be processed or considered in the following ways (several possibilities): consider one or more isolated resource elements as guard bands or unused resource elements; round up or down the superband based on the target expansion factor including fractional resource blocks to the nearest integer number of resource blocks; round up or down the total allocation of frequency resources based on the target expansion factor including fractional resource blocks to the nearest integer number of resource blocks; consider or determine the size of the superband for the target spectrum expansion that results in a superband or total allocation including fractional resource blocks as an invalid resource allocation from the network node.

[0068] For example, rounding up (rounding towards the next full RB) may not be (at least in some cases) preferred because it may complicate the FDSS filter design (basically it will introduce a new expansion factor). Instead, other options may be better. Thus, according to the example embodiment, the following operations can be performed: consider the isolated RE as a guard band (unused band), where the isolated RE (resource elements from 6.67 to 7 RBs, possibly 2 REs on each side of the in-band frequency resource) is not part of the in-band or superband allocation, and consider the unused as a guard band, for example, to simplify the FDSS design.

[0069] Thus, depending on how the isolated resource elements (or fractional PRBs) are treated as part of the total allocation for the UE's uplink transmission, the actual expansion factor (e.g., the number of actual superband resource elements (of the actual spectrum expansion) divided by the total number of resource elements in the total allocation) may be the same as or different from the target expansion factor (the number of target superband resources (of the target spectrum expansion) divided by the total allocation of resource elements). This is because, for example, the UE may round up or down the total allocation of resource elements (e.g., if it is a non-integer number of resource blocks) to the nearest integer multiple of the PRB (e.g., a multiple of 12 resource elements), or may discard the isolated resource elements (e.g., in this case, the resource elements of.67 RB, which, based on 1 RB including 12 resource elements, would be approximately 8 resource elements) or use them as a guard band and thus not consider them as part of the superband or the total allocation. For example, a total allocation of 6.67 RB can be rounded up to 7 RB or rounded down to 6 RB, or the.67 RB (e.g., 8 resource elements, which are isolated resources or part of the fractional RB for the total allocation or part of the superband or spectrum expansion) can be used as guard band resource elements and thus not used as superband frequency resources or part of the total allocation.

[0070] In addition, according to another example embodiment, the in-band size allocation and / or superband allocation (and / or the target expansion factor) that results in a fractional PRB allocation can be considered, for example, as an invalid allocation and thus can be ignored by the UE or may not be allocated by the gNB.

[0071] Various options can be used to handle the case where the total allocation may include fractional PRBs, or the case where the superband may not be suitable for the bandwidth portion or carrier of the uplink transmission, including: considering one or more isolated resource elements as guard bands or unused resource elements; rounding up or down the superband based on the target expansion factor that includes fractional resource blocks to the nearest integer number of resource blocks; rounding up or down the total allocation of frequency resources based on the target expansion factor that includes fractional resource blocks to the nearest integer number of resource blocks; considering or determining the size of the superband for the target spectrum expansion that results in a superband or total allocation including fractional resource blocks as an invalid resource allocation from the network node.

[0072] Figure 4 FIG. is a diagram showing a part of a resource block for shifting in-band frequency resources according to an example embodiment. The figure shows a frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA), including the RBs allocated to the UE for uplink transmission, e.g., including in-band and superband allocations (which together constitute the total allocation for the UE). As mentioned above, the UE can use the target expansion factor to determine the superband frequency resources. In Figure 4In Example 1 shown, the UE is indicated a target expansion factor of 0.25 and in-band frequency resources of 12 RBs. Thus, in this example, based on this information, the UE can determine the overband (i.e., an even number of RBs) of 4 RBs allocated to the UE. Thus, the UE can provide a symmetric expansion (or overband) of 4 RBs, including 2 PRBs provided in the upper expansion block or appended to the upper end of the in-band frequency resources (at 407), and 2 RBs provided in the lower expansion block or appended to the lower frequency range of the in-band frequency resources (at 406). In an example embodiment, the total allocation (including in-band RBs and overband RBs) should be aligned with the RB grid or the expected or required frequency of the RBs to be aligned (e.g., the start of each RB should be aligned with a particular group of 12 resource elements or subcarriers). There is no resource block alignment problem in Example 1 because the overband or spectrum expansion in Example 1 includes an even number of RBs, thus allowing an integer number of RBs to be allocated to both the upper expansion block and the lower expansion block of the overband or spectrum expansion. Thus, at Figure 4 410, if the overband size is an even number of RBs (which may also include possible fractional RBs on both overbands, i.e., at both ends of the total allocation), then there is no need to shift the RBs of the total allocation because the RBs are already RB grid-aligned.

[0073] However, as Figure 4 shown in Example 2, RB misalignment may occur (e.g., typically) when an odd number of RBs are allocated or determined as the overband or spectrum expansion. The odd number of overband RBs may or may not include fractional RBs (i.e., isolated REs). As Figure 4 shown in Example 2, 3 RBs are determined as the total overband or spectrum expansion, which means that each of the upper expansion block 422 and the lower expansion block 420 of the overband RBs includes 1.5 (or 1 1 / 2) RBs, thus causing the edges of the upper and lower expansion blocks (420, 422) to stay at fractional RB points, which may not be allowed, for example, in the possible case where the RBs of the allocation (in-band and overband allocation) should start and end at the expected RB boundaries that can be defined by the RB grid. Thus, in this Example 2, at 424, if the overband is an odd number of RBs (or includes fractional RBs, such as 1 / 2 or 1 / 3 RBs), the UE can shift the total allocation (including in-band and overband / spectrum expansion RBs) by a fractional number of RBs (e.g., at Figure 4In Example 2, shift by 1 / 2 RB) so that the total allocated RBs will be correctly aligned with the expected RB boundaries or aligned with the RB grid. Thus, the UE can shift the total allocation of the first half (e.g., 420) and the second half (e.g., 422) including in-band frequency resources and out-of-band frequency resources by half (or other fraction) of the resource blocks in the frequency domain so that the total allocated resource blocks are resource blocks aligned with the resource block grid (or aligned with the required frequency resources). Additionally, the total allocation shift can be performed downward (as Figure 4 shown), or upward (not shown). The UE and the gNB can typically perform the same shift in the same direction. For example, the shift amount and / or the shift direction can be defined in a standard or specification known and used by both the UE and the gNB (i.e., it does not require additional signaling).

[0074] Figure 5FIG. is a diagram illustrating operations of a UE or user equipment according to an example embodiment. At 510, the UE 502 may exchange capabilities with the gNB 504 or, alternatively, may indicate to the gNB 504 one or more of its capabilities, including that the UE 502 is capable of performing spectrum spreading (or is capable of performing FDSS and spectrum spreading). At 520, the UE 502 may receive a configuration (e.g., via a radio resource control (RRC) message or other message) that includes at least an indication to perform spectrum spreading for an allocated uplink transmission. At 530, the UE may receive a PUSCH (or uplink data transmission) configuration or allocation that includes, for example, an indication of a start PRB and an end PRB of in-band frequency resources and an indication of a target spread (e.g., 0.25 or 0.33) for determining a target overband frequency resource (or for the UE to determine the number or amount of PRBs for a target overband or target spectrum spreading). This information (allocation or authorization of uplink transmission via the physical uplink shared channel) may be communicated to the UE by the gNB via a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) or downlink control information (DCI) of a MAC control element or other message or control information. At 540, the UE 502 may determine a total allocation, including determining in-band frequency resources and overband frequency resources (and spectrum spreading). At 550, the UE 502 determines resource elements or subcarriers of in-band and overband RBs (including spectrum spreading). The UE may, for example, round up or down the overband or spectrum spreading to an integer number of PRBs, or may ignore or not use (or treat as a guard band) any isolated resource elements or fractional RBs, and / or may shift the total allocation by an RB fraction, as described above (if needed and if performed / implemented by the UE 502). Thus, at 540 and 550, the UE may determine an overband frequency resource for spectrum spreading and / or a total allocation of frequency resources for uplink transmission based on a set of in-band frequency resources and a target spread factor, where the total allocation of frequency resources includes in-band frequency resources and overband frequency resources. At 560, the UE 502 may perform (or add) spectrum spreading, and / or perform spectrum spreading and FDSS, as described above. At 570, the UE may transmit a spectrum spread signal (or a spectrum spread and FDSS shaped signal).

[0075] Various example embodiments relate to adaptive coverage extension of spectrally shaped waveforms. Techniques are described for a UE to determine spectrum spreading based on parameters signaled between the gNB and the UE, and how to define spreading for different RB sizes based on the DFT size available in a legacy system and / or based on other parameters or information that may be provided / signaled by the gNB or known to the UE. For example, the UE may be preconfigured with one or more (target) spreads (or target spread values) (e.g., via RRC). DCI may be used to select a target spread (or legacy operation) for the UE to use for a current transmission.

[0076] Based on the selected target extension and frequency domain resource allocation, the UE can select the actual extension and the corresponding allocation of in-band and super-band REs (resource elements).

[0077] In an example embodiment, the UE may not fully use the extension signaled (but define guard REs according to a defined procedure).

[0078] In an example embodiment, the UE can receive in-band RBs (e.g., information indicating the start / stop RBs of the in-band allocation) and the target extension from the gNB.

[0079] The target extension can be, for example, the amount of extension as a percentage value compared to the total allocation (in-band + super-band). For example, a new field or an existing field in the DCI (included by the gNB in the PDCCH) can be used to control or indicate the parameters of the spectrum extension (e.g., indicating the target extension factor). For example, the DCI (downlink control information) sent to the UE can include, for example:

[0080] 1 bit for indicating: spectrum extension OFF (target extension = 0), RRC-configured extension #1; or

[0081] 2 bits for indicating one of the following: spectrum extension OFF (target extension = 0), RRC-configured extension #1, RRC-configured extension #2, RRC-configured extension #3.

[0082] In another example embodiment, the target extension can be configured separately for external and internal allocations. The configuration can be done via RRC.

[0083] The advantage of this method is that it can allow for improving and / or potentially optimizing the amount of extension for each RB region (internal, external, edge) (& FDSS filters separately), as the gain depends on the allocation region. The RB region is the position of the allocated REs in the channel bandwidth, e.g., whether the RB is located in the center or at the edge of the frequency band.

[0084] In an example embodiment, the RB region can be configured via RRC with the help of RB_start_low (or RB_start_high) and / or the allocation size.

[0085] The UE can use these parameters to calculate the total allocation as follows: (Note that, as used herein, resource block (RB) and physical resource block (PRB) are different terms for the same resource block, e.g., 1RB = 12 resource elements or subcarriers).

[0086] Total allocation (in - band + over - band) = In - band RBs / (1 - Target extension). As mentioned before, in some cases, the total allocation may include fractional RBs or isolated resource elements (REs). The UE may round the resulting total allocation (e.g., depending on the implementation, round up via a ceiling operation or round down via a floor operation) to the next complete RB (ceiling / floor operation) (an option that can be selected between the ceiling or floor operation via RRC configuration). In one example embodiment: The UE may round up the resulting total RB allocation via a ceiling operation (→ in this case, the target extension is the lower limit). In another embodiment, the UE may round down the RB total allocation via a floor operation (→ in this case, the target extension is the upper limit).

[0087] RB allocation in frequency. Resource allocation may include RB allocation (start / stop RBs), as in the tradition (assuming no FDSS with in - band spectrum extension).

[0088] Total allocation T startPRB Start from: the indicated startPRB - ceil(over - band in units of PRB / 2);

[0089] In - band starts from: 12*[T startPRB +floor(over - band in units of PRB / 2)+c, where if the over - band in units of PRB is even, c = 0, and if the over - band in units of PRB is odd, c = 6.

[0090] Note that according to the embodiment, the actual amount of spectrum extension may be selected by the UE, which can provide flexibility to the UE.

[0091] According to an example embodiment, 25% (or 0.25) for the target extension factor (or target extension) may be a good value, providing a large or improved coverage (net) gain. However, in some cases, some in - band sizes may not directly support a 25% extension. Therefore, at least in some cases, the rounding operation (rounding up or down non - integer numbers of RBs in the total allocation) and the rules for allocating transmissions in frequency resources may be useful or required.

[0092] In an example embodiment, the UE is not allowed to use sub - carriers outside the "target extension factor" or the target spectrum extension. Total allocation in sub - carriers (in - band + over - band) = floor(12*in - band PRBs / (1 - target extension)) or ceil(12*in - band PRBs / (1 - target extension)). One goal of this embodiment is to make all UEs have a similar over - band size.

[0093] In yet another exemplary embodiment, the total allocation can be calculated as: Total Allocation (In-Band + Over-Band) = In-Band PRB * (1 + Target Extension), where the Target Extension in step 1 is defined compared to In-Band only (which is equivalent to defining the allocation size in terms of rolloff).

[0094] Resource allocations where In-Band or Over PRB are outside the active UL BWP (Active Uplink Bandwidth Part) can be considered invalid resource allocations (e.g., and thus, if received, the UE will ignore them).

[0095] One or more Target Extensions can be configured via RRC, or can be determined by the specification.

[0096] In an exemplary embodiment, a fixed Target Extension factor (e.g., 0.25) can be used.

[0097] In another exemplary embodiment, multiple fixed Target Extension factors can be used, where the gNB can select or indicate a selected one of these Target Extension factors to the UE via Downlink Control Information (DCI) or other signaling or control information.

[0098] In one exemplary embodiment, the allowed extension depends on the code rate.

[0099] In another exemplary embodiment, fixed Target Extension factor values can be defined separately for different allocation types: internal allocation, edge allocation, external allocation, or based on the allocation size, or based on the Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS). In these cases, the UE can determine the amount of extension from the starting RB and / or the number of RBs (Lcrb) of the In-Band frequency resources. The allocation types can be determined in the RAN4 specification.

[0100] In another exemplary embodiment, the UE receives the total allocation (e.g., the start-stop RBs of the In-Band allocation) and the Target Extension factor from the gNB. In this case, the In-Band size (in terms of RBs) is determined as: In-Band RBs = Total Allocation * (1 - Target Extension factor). The obtained In-Band RB value can be rounded such that the number of In-Band REs can be or become a power of 2, 3, 5 (→ actual In-Band RBs). It can be rounded, for example, to the nearest, or the next higher or lower number of active RBs that satisfies the rule. The rounding operation can be configured via RRC (e.g., the next higher or lower power of 2, 3, 5).

[0101] Over-Band RBs = Total Allocation - In-Band RBs

[0102] The total allocation starts from the signaled starting RB (T_startRB)

[0103] In-band starts from: 12 * [T_startRB + floor(overclocking band in terms of RBs / 2)] + c, where if the overclocking band in terms of RBs is even, c = 0, and if the overclocking band in terms of RBs is odd, c = 6.

[0104] Describes various example terms that may be related to various example embodiments.

[0105] The guard band may include or correspond to a certain number of unused resource elements (or RBs) around the used resource elements. This term is used together with the traditional (i.e., in a scenario without spectrum expansion). The guard band should not be mixed with the overclocking band. The guard band is used as an empty frequency band to separate frequency resources (e.g., to prevent interference).

[0106] The overclocking band is used to achieve PAPR reduction so that the resources are actually used by the UE (or at least available to the UE).

[0107] Overclocking band: May include or may be the occupied resources outside the DFT output. For example, the overclocking band can be created by the symmetric extension block 313.

[0108] Spectrum expansion: It is the "symmetric expansion" part of the FDSS with spectrum expansion (e.g., the power domain enhancement to be considered in NR Rel-18).

[0109] Target expansion: The amount of expansion as a percentage value compared to the total bandwidth (in-band + overclocking band). Example values of the target expansion are, for example, 25%, 33%. The target expansion (%) can also be regarded as the maximum (or minimum, depending on the defined floor / ceiling) expansion allowed for the UE. But after the target expansion, the actual expansion depends on the number of allocated PRBs, which can be adjusted as described herein.

[0110] Actual expansion = (or is based on) the actual expansion factor obtained after performing corresponding calculations or adjustments (e.g., rounding, discarding isolated REs as guard band REs, or other adjustments) based on the target expansion factor and in-band RBs.

[0111] Actual expansion factor: The actual expansion (expressed as a percentage), which varies according to the scenario. In some cases, "actual expansion factor" = "actual expansion".

[0112] According to an example embodiment:

[0113] The target expansion can be given by the RRC (and possibly using DCI). Another option is to define the target expansion factor through a specification or standard known and used by the UE and gNB.

[0114] For example, the overband size and / or the total allocation size can be determined from the frequency-domain resource allocation (e.g., through a table or equation that may be known to the UE and the gNB). Alternatively, a signal can be sent from the UE to the gNB or from the gNB to the UE to indicate or identify the table or equation that the UE is using or should use to determine the overband size, the total allocation size, and / or the target expansion factor. For example, the in-band size can be defined by the FDRA or UL grant, while the table or equation can define the overband size and / or the total allocation size for a given target expansion factor.

[0115] Figure 7 is a figure showing an example table that may be known and / or used by both the UE and the gNB, and shows the different total allocation sizes (in RBs) for different in-band allocation sizes (in RBs) and different target expansion factors (α). Figure 7 An example shown in the table of indicates that for an in-band allocation size of 5 RBs and a target expansion factor of α = 0.25, the total allocation size will be 6.67 RBs.

[0116] α = 0.25 (target expansion factor).

[0117] In-band size: 60 RE (5 RBs).

[0118] Overband size: 20 RE (1.67 RBs).

[0119] Total allocation: 6.67 RBs.

[0120] Thus, in this way, by using the same table by the UE and the gNB, the in-band allocation (or in-band allocation size) and the target expansion factor can be signaled to the UE and / or determined by the UE, and then the UE can determine the total allocation size of this uplink transmission to the gNB (based on this information and the table). Alternatively, two of the three parameters can be signaled to the UE and / or known to the UE, and the UE can determine the third of these parameters from the table (e.g., the target expansion factor can be determined based on the in-band allocation size and the total allocation size). The gNB can use the same table to determine or know the same information of the uplink transmission from the UE.

[0121] In this embodiment, for example, the overband is represented in complete RBs.

[0122] Actual expansion ≥ Target expansion

[0123] Highlighted example

[0124] In-band PRB: 45

[0125] Target expansion factor: 0.333

[0126] Overclocked Band PRB: 23

[0127] Total Allocation 68 PRB

[0128] Actual Expansion Factor = 0.3382 (≥0.333)

[0129] Overclocked Band Start: -11.5 RB relative to the RB start

[0130] Therefore, in the example embodiment, the overclocked band is not obtained from the guard band but must be deliberately allocated by the scheduler. It is part of the signal RB allocation, so compared with the case of the same total RB allocation without expansion, the in-band allocation can be reduced. Although the code rate is higher due to the smaller in-band allocation, a coverage gain can still be obtained because the signal characteristics during transmission are better (as described above, lower PAPR).

[0131] The purpose of the given example is to show the relationship between:

[0132] In-band Size

[0133] Overclocked Band

[0134] Expansion Amount

[0135] Instead of adjusting the number of overclocked band RBs, there can also be various embodiments or methods:

[0136] One example embodiment: Signaling in-band RBs + indicating the target expansion factor, which will provide (in-band + overclocked band) (for example, the UE can determine the total allocation based on the information signaled).

[0137] Second example embodiment: Signaling (in-band + overclocked band) + indicating the target expansion factor. This will provide the in-band RBs (the in-band RBs can be determined based on this information).

[0138] This allows supporting FDSS with spectrum expansion applicable to various PRB allocation sizes. This solution allows reducing the signaling overhead because the target expansion set can be standardized, such as 4 (0.1, 0.15, 0.2, and 0.25). The target expansion can be configured with 2 bits in the RRC, and in the DCI, 1 bit can be used to mark the expansion to be used. The rule set can be standardized to ensure that the UE and gNB know the positions of the allocated PRBs (superband and in-band).

[0139] Some example advantages can include, for example:

[0140] This solution allows trading off the UL capability and UL coverage according to the actual traffic conditions in the cell.

[0141] A practical and flexible method to maximize network and UE - side performance. Allows the gNB to configure and / or specify a spectrum expansion of a specific size, e.g., via signaling and / or using one or more possible target expansion factors.

[0142] The signaling size is beneficial for the efficient use of spectrum expansion or FDSS with spectrum expansion.

[0143] The current DCI format can be used to support (even without changing the DCI content)

[0144] Support both the current gNB receiver and the enhanced gNB receiver.

[0145] Has little impact on the specification (can be performed on top of PUSCH resource allocation type 1).

[0146] Example 1. An apparatus, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code; the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least: receive, by a user equipment, from a network node, a configuration including at least an indication to perform spectrum expansion; determine, by the user equipment, a target expansion factor for out - of - band frequency resources for a target spectrum expansion; receive, by the user equipment, from the network node, information indicating a set of in - band frequency resources allocated to the user equipment for uplink transmission; determine, by the user equipment, based on the set of in - band frequency resources and the target expansion factor, an out - of - band frequency resource for spectrum expansion and / or a total frequency resource allocation for uplink transmission, where the total frequency resource allocation includes in - band frequency resources and out - of - band frequency resources; perform, by the user equipment, spectrum expansion on the out - of - band frequency resources for a set of frequency - domain values to obtain a spectrum - expanded signal; and transmit the spectrum - expanded signal.

[0147] Example 2. The apparatus according to Example 1, wherein the at least one processor and the computer program code are configured to cause the apparatus to determine the target expansion factor by the user equipment to include the at least one processor and the computer program code being configured to cause the apparatus to perform the following: receive, by the user equipment, from the network node, information identifying the target expansion factor for the target expansion to determine the out - of - band frequency resources for spectrum expansion.

[0148] Example 3. The apparatus according to any one of Examples 1 - 2, wherein the at least one processor and the computer program code are further configured to cause the apparatus to: transmit, by the user equipment, to the network node, information indicating that the user equipment has the ability to perform spectrum expansion for uplink transmission.

[0149] Example 4. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein at least one processor and computer program code are configured to cause the apparatus to perform spectral spreading including at least one processor and computer program code are configured to cause the apparatus to perform the following: symmetric spreading of the in-band frequency resources by the user equipment by attaching the first half of the superband frequency resources to the upper end of the in-band frequency resources and attaching the second half of the superband frequency resources to the lower end of the in-band frequency resources.

[0150] Example 5. The apparatus according to any one of Examples 1-4, wherein at least one processor and computer program code are configured to cause the apparatus to perform spectral spreading including at least one processor and computer program code are configured to cause the apparatus to perform the following: symmetric spreading of the in-band frequency resources by the user equipment by attaching a certain number of the lowest in-band frequency resources to the superband frequency resources adjacent to the highest in-band frequency resources and attaching a certain number of the higher in-band frequency resources to the superband frequency resources adjacent to the lowest in-band frequency resources.

[0151] Example 6. The apparatus according to any one of Examples 1-5, wherein the configuration received from the network node includes information indicating the in-band frequency resources, including one or more of the following: the starting resource block of the in-band frequency resources; the ending resource block of the in-band frequency resources; the size or number of resource blocks for the in-band frequency resources; a bitmap indicating one or more resource block groups (RBGs) allocated to the user equipment, where an RBG is a set of consecutive virtual resource blocks defined by the higher layer parameter rbg-Size and the size of the bandwidth part; and the target expansion factor for the target spectral spreading.

[0152] Example 7. The apparatus according to any one of Examples 1-5, wherein: the size (M) of the in-band frequency resource set includes the number (M) of resource elements or subcarriers occupied after the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) block, where the number of resource elements or subcarriers (M) of the in-band frequency resources is an integer number of 12 resource elements or subcarriers, and a resource block includes 12 resource elements or subcarriers; the size (Q) of the total frequency resource allocation includes the sum of the resource elements for the in-band frequency resources and the superband frequency resources for the target spectral spreading; and the size of the superband frequency resources for the target spectral spreading based on the target expansion factor includes the number of resource elements (Q - M), where the size of the superband frequency resources includes the difference between the total allocation size (Q) and the number of resource elements or subcarriers (M) of the in-band frequency resources.

[0153] Example 8. The apparatus according to any one of Examples 1-6, wherein at least one processor and computer program code are configured to cause the apparatus to determine, based on an in-band frequency resource set and a target spreading factor by a user equipment, an overband frequency resource for spectrum spreading and / or a total allocation of frequency resources for uplink transmission, including at least one processor and computer program code configured to cause the apparatus to determine at least one of the following: the number of resource elements for the total allocation = [(the number of resource elements for the in-band frequency resource set) / (1 - the target spreading factor)]; the number of resource elements for the overband allocation = [[(the number of resource elements for the in-band frequency resource set)*the target spreading factor / (1 - the target spreading factor)]]; and / or the number of resource elements for the in-band frequency resource set = [(the number of resource elements for the total allocation)*(1 - the target spreading factor)].

[0154] Example 9. The apparatus according to any one of Examples 1-8, wherein if 1) the size of the overband frequency resource based on the target spreading factor for target spectrum spreading is not a resource block of an integer number of resource elements, resulting in the total allocation including one or more isolated resource elements that are part of a fractional resource block or not part of an integer multiple of resource elements, or 2) the overband frequency resource is not suitable for the current uplink bandwidth part or carrier for the user equipment to perform uplink transmission, then at least one processor and computer program code are further configured to cause the apparatus to perform at least one of the following: treat one or more isolated resource elements as guard bands or unused resource elements; round up or down the overband based on the target spreading factor including a fractional resource block to the closest integer number of resource blocks; round up or down the total allocation of frequency resources based on the target spreading factor including a fractional resource block to the closest integer number of resource blocks; consider or determine the size of the overband for target spectrum spreading that results in the overband or total allocation including a fractional resource block as an invalid resource allocation from a network node.

[0155] Example 10. The apparatus according to any one of Examples 1-9, wherein at least one processor and computer program code are configured to cause the apparatus to perform spectral expansion including: at least one processor and computer program code are configured to cause the apparatus to perform symmetric expansion on in-band frequency resources by attaching the first half of the super-band frequency resources to the upper end of the in-band frequency resources and attaching the second half of the super-band frequency resources to the lower end of the in-band frequency resources; at least one processor and computer program code are further configured to cause the apparatus to: determine by the user equipment that the super-band frequency resources include an odd number of resource blocks or one or more isolated resource elements that are part of a fractional resource block; and shift by the user equipment half a resource block in the frequency domain for the total allocation including the in-band frequency resources and the first and second halves of the super-band frequency resources such that the total allocated resource blocks are resource blocks aligned with the resource block grid.

[0156] Example 11. The apparatus according to any one of Examples 1-9, wherein at least one processor and computer program code are further configured to cause the apparatus to: determine by the user equipment that the super-band frequency resources include an odd number of resource blocks or one or more isolated resource elements that are part of a fractional resource block; and shift by the user equipment half a resource block in the frequency domain for the total allocation including the in-band frequency resources and the first and second halves of the super-band frequency resources such that the total allocated resource blocks are resource blocks aligned with the resource block grid.

[0157] Example 12. A method includes: receiving by the user equipment from a network node a configuration including at least an indication to perform spectral expansion; determining by the user equipment a target expansion factor for the super-band frequency resources for target spectral expansion; receiving by the user equipment from the network node information indicating an in-band frequency resource set allocated to the user equipment for uplink transmission; determining by the user equipment the super-band frequency resources for spectral expansion and / or the total frequency resource allocation for uplink transmission based on the in-band frequency resource set and the target expansion factor, where the total frequency resource allocation includes in-band frequency resources and super-band frequency resources; performing by the user equipment spectral expansion on the super-band frequency resources for a set of frequency domain values to obtain a spectrally expanded signal; and transmitting the spectrally expanded signal.

[0158] Example 13. The method according to Example 12, wherein the user equipment determines the target expansion factor including: the user equipment receives from the network node information identifying the target expansion factor for the target expansion to determine the super-band frequency resources for spectral expansion.

[0159] Example 14. The method according to any one of Examples 12-13, further includes: transmitting by the user equipment to the network node information indicating the user equipment's ability to perform spectral expansion for uplink transmission.

[0160] Example 15. The method according to any one of Examples 12 - 14, wherein performing spectrum expansion includes: the user equipment performing symmetric expansion on the in - band frequency resources by attaching the first half of the super - band frequency resources to the upper end of the in - band frequency resources and attaching the second half of the super - band frequency resources to the lower end of the in - band frequency resources.

[0161] Example 16. The method according to any one of Examples 12 - 15, wherein performing spectrum expansion includes: the user equipment performing symmetric expansion on the in - band frequency resources by attaching a certain number of the lowest in - band frequency resources to the super - band frequency resources adjacent to the highest in - band frequency resources and attaching a certain number of the higher in - band frequency resources to the super - band frequency resources adjacent to the lowest in - band frequency resources.

[0162] Example 17. The method according to any one of Examples 12 - 16, wherein the configuration received from the network node includes information indicating the in - band frequency resources, including one or more of the following: the starting resource block of the in - band frequency resources; the ending resource block of the in - band frequency resources; the size or number of resource blocks of the in - band frequency resources; a bitmap indicating one or more resource block groups (RBGs) allocated to the user equipment, where an RBG is a set of consecutive virtual resource blocks defined by the higher - layer parameter rbg - Size and the size of the bandwidth part; and a target expansion factor for the target spectrum expansion.

[0163] Example 18. The method according to any one of Examples 12 - 17, wherein: the size (M) of the in - band frequency resource set includes the number of occupied resource elements or sub - carriers (M) after the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) block, where the number of resource elements or sub - carriers (M) of the in - band frequency resources is an integer number of 12 resource elements or sub - carriers, and a resource block includes 12 resource elements or sub - carriers; the size (Q) of the total frequency resource allocation includes the sum of the resource elements of the in - band frequency resources and the super - band frequency resources for the target spectrum expansion; and the size of the super - band frequency resources for the target spectrum expansion based on the target expansion factor includes the number of resource elements (Q - M), where the size of the super - band frequency resources includes the difference between the total allocation size (Q) and the number of resource elements or sub - carriers (M) of the in - band frequency resources.

[0164] Example 19. The method according to any one of Examples 12 - 18, wherein the total allocation of the over - band frequency resources for spectrum expansion and / or the frequency resources for uplink transmission determined by the user equipment based on the in - band frequency resource set and the target expansion factor includes determining at least one of the following: the number of resource elements for the total allocation = [(the number of resource elements for the in - band frequency resource set) / (1 - target expansion factor)]; the number of resource elements for the over - band allocation = [[(the number of resource elements for the in - band frequency resource set)*target expansion factor / (1 - target expansion factor)]]; and / or the number of resource elements for the in - band frequency resource set = [(the number of resource elements for the total allocation)*(1 - target expansion factor)].

[0165] Example 20. The method according to any one of Examples 12 - 19, wherein if 1) the size of the over - band frequency resources based on the target expansion factor for the target spectrum expansion is not a resource block of an integer number of resource elements, resulting in the total allocation including one or more isolated resource elements that are part of a fractional resource block or not part of an integer - multiple resource element, or 2) the over - band frequency resources are not suitable for the current uplink bandwidth part or carrier for the user equipment to perform uplink transmission, then the method further includes performing at least one of the following: treating or applying one or more isolated resource elements as guard bands or unused resource elements; rounding up or down the over - band based on the target expansion factor including a fractional resource block to the nearest integer number of resource blocks; rounding up or down the total allocation of frequency resources based on the target expansion factor including a fractional resource block to the nearest integer number of resource blocks; and / or considering or determining that the size of the over - band for the target spectrum expansion resulting in an over - band or total allocation including a fractional resource block is an invalid resource allocation from the network node.

[0166] Example 21. The method according to any one of Examples 12 - 20, wherein performing spectrum expansion includes performing symmetric expansion on the in - band frequency resources by appending the first half of the over - band frequency resources to the upper end of the in - band frequency resources and appending the second half of the over - band frequency resources to the lower end of the in - band frequency resources; the method further includes: the user equipment determining that the over - band frequency resources include an odd number of resource blocks or one or more isolated resource elements that are part of a fractional resource block; and the user equipment shifting half of a resource block of the total allocation including the in - band frequency resources and the first and second halves of the over - band frequency resources in the frequency domain, such that the resource blocks of the total allocation are resource blocks aligned with the resource - block grid.

[0167] Example 22. The method according to any one of Examples 12-21 further includes: determining, by a user equipment, that an overband frequency resource includes an odd number of resource blocks or one or more isolated resource elements that are part of a fractional resource block; and shifting, by the user equipment, half of a resource block in a frequency domain for a total allocation including an inband frequency resource and first and second halves of the overband frequency resource, such that the total allocated resource blocks are resource blocks aligned with a resource block grid.

[0168] Example 23. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions stored thereon that, when executed by at least one processor, are configured to cause a computing system to perform the method according to any one of Examples 12-22.

[0169] Example 24. An apparatus including components for performing the method according to any one of Examples 12-22.

[0170] Figure 6 is a block diagram of a wireless station (e.g., an AP, a BS, or a user equipment / UE, or another network node) 1200 according to an example embodiment. The wireless station 1200 may include, for example, one or more (e.g., two as shown) RF (radio frequency) or wireless transceivers 1202A, 1202B, where each wireless transceiver includes a transmitter for transmitting signals and a receiver for receiving signals. The wireless station further includes a processor or control unit / entity (controller) 1204 for executing instructions or software and controlling the transmission and reception of signals, and a memory 1206 for storing data and / or instructions.

[0171] The processor 1204 may also make decisions or determinations, generate frames, packets, or messages for transmission, decode received frames or messages for further processing, and other tasks or functions described herein. The processor 1204, which may be a baseband processor, may generate, for example, messages, packets, frames, or other signals for transmission via the wireless transceiver 1202 (1202A or 1202B). The processor 1204 may control the transmission of signals or messages over a wireless network and may control the reception of signals or messages over a wireless network, etc. (e.g., after being downconverted by the wireless transceiver 1202, for example). The processor 1204 may be programmable and capable of executing software or other instructions stored in the memory or other computer media to perform the various tasks and functions described above, such as one or more of the tasks or methods described above. The processor 1204 may be (or may include), for example, hardware that executes software or firmware, programmable logic, a programmable processor, and / or any combination of these. Using other terms, for example, the processor 1204 and the transceiver 1202 together may be regarded as a wireless transmitter / receiver system.

[0172] In addition, referring to Figure 6, the controller (or processor) 1208 can execute software and instructions, and can provide overall control for the station 1200, and can provide control for Figure 6 other systems not shown in, for example, controlling input / output devices (such as a display, a keyboard), and / or can execute software of one or more applications that can be provided on the wireless station 1200, such as, for example, an email program, an audio / video application, a word processor, an IP voice application or other applications or software.

[0173] In addition, a storage medium can be provided, which includes stored instructions that, when executed by the controller or processor, can cause the processor 1204 or other controller or processor to execute the above one or more functions or tasks.

[0174] According to another example embodiment, the RF or wireless transceiver 1202A / 1202B can receive signals or data and / or transmit or send signals or data. The processor 1204 (and possibly the transceiver 1202A / 1202B) can control the RF or wireless transceiver 1202A or 1202B to receive, send, broadcast or transmit signals or data.

[0175] However, the example embodiment is not limited to the system given as an example, but those skilled in the art can apply this solution to other communication systems. Another example of a suitable communication system is a 5G system. It is assumed that the network architecture in 5G is very similar to that of LTE-advanced. 5G may use multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antennas, have more base stations or nodes (the so-called small cell concept) than LTE, including macro sites operating in cooperation with smaller sites, and may also adopt various radio technologies to achieve better coverage and enhanced data rates.

[0176] It should be recognized that future networks are likely to utilize network function virtualization (NFV), which is a network architecture concept that proposes virtualizing network node functions into "building blocks" or entities that can be operably connected or linked together to provide services. Virtualized network functions (VNFs) can include one or more virtual machines that run computer program code using standard or general types of servers instead of custom hardware. Cloud computing or data storage can also be used. In radio communication, this may mean that node operations can be performed at least partially in a server, host or node coupled to the operation of a remote radio head. It is also possible that node operations will be distributed among multiple servers, nodes or hosts. It should also be understood that the labor distribution between core network operations and base station operations may be different from that of LTE, or may even not exist.

[0177] Example embodiments of the various techniques described herein can be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, or in computer hardware, firmware, software, or combinations thereof. Embodiments can be implemented as a computer program product, i.e., a computer program tangibly embodied in an information carrier, e.g., in a machine-readable storage device or in a propagated signal, for execution by, or to control the operation of, data processing apparatus, e.g., a programmable processor, a computer, or multiple computers. Embodiments can also be provided on a computer-readable medium or computer-readable storage medium that can be non-transitory. Embodiments of the various techniques can also include embodiments provided via a transient signal or medium, and / or program and / or software embodiments that can be downloaded over the Internet or other networks (wired network and / or wireless network). In addition, embodiments can be provided via machine type communication (MTC) and can also be provided via the Internet of Things (IoT).

[0178] A computer program can be in source code form, object code form, or some intermediate form, and can be stored in some carrier, distribution medium, or computer-readable medium, which can be any entity or device capable of carrying the program. For example, such carriers include recording media, computer memories, read-only memories, electro-optical and / or electrical carrier signals, telecommunication signals, and software distribution packages. Depending on the required processing power, the computer program can be executed in a single electronic digital computer or distributed among multiple computers.

[0179] In addition, embodiments of the various techniques described herein can use cyber-physical systems (CPS) (systems of collaborative computing elements that control physical entities). CPS can enable the implementation and utilization of a large number of interconnected ICT devices (sensors, actuators, processor microcontrollers, etc.) embedded in physical objects at different locations. Mobile cyber-physical systems are a subcategory of cyber-physical systems, where the physical systems under discussion have inherent mobility. Examples of mobile physical systems include mobile robots and electronic devices transported by humans or animals. The popularity of smartphones has increased the interest in the field of mobile cyber-physical systems. Therefore, various embodiments of the techniques described herein can be provided via one or more of these technologies.

[0180] A computer program, such as the above computer program, can be written in any form of programming language, including a compiled language or an interpreted language, and can be deployed in any form, including as a stand-alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, or other unit or part of it suitable for use in a computing environment. The computer program can be deployed to execute on one computer or multiple computers at a site, or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected via a communication network.

[0181] The method steps may be executed by one or more programmable processors that execute a computer program or portions of a computer program to perform functions by operating on input data and generating output. The method steps may also be executed by dedicated logic circuitry, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) or ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), and the apparatus may be implemented as dedicated logic circuitry.

[0182] Processors suitable for the execution of a computer program include, by way of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors, and any one or more processors of any type of digital computer, chip, or chipset. In general, a processor will receive instructions and data from a read only memory or a random access memory or both. Elements of a computer may include at least one processor for executing instructions and one or more memory devices for storing instructions and data. In general, a computer may also include, or be operatively coupled to receive data from, or transfer data to, or both, one or more mass storage devices for storing data, such as magnetic disks, magneto-optical disks, or optical disks. Information carriers suitable for embodying computer program instructions and data include all forms of non-volatile memory, including by way of example semiconductor memory devices, such as EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks or removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. The processor and the memory may be supplemented by, or incorporated in, dedicated logic circuitry.

[0183] For interaction with a user, embodiments may be implemented on a computer having a display device, such as a cathode ray tube (CRT) or a liquid crystal display (LCD) monitor, for displaying information to the user, and a user interface, such as a keyboard and a pointing device, such as a mouse or a trackball, by which the user may provide input to the computer. Other types of devices may also be used for interacting with a user; for example, feedback provided to the user may be any form of sensory feedback, such as visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback; and input received from the user may be in any form, including acoustic, speech, or tactile input.

[0184] Embodiments may be implemented in a computing system that includes, by way of example, a backend component, such as a data server, or a middleware component, such as an application server, or a frontend component, such as a client computer having a graphical user interface or a web browser through which a user may interact with example embodiments, or any combination of such backend, middleware, or frontend components. The components may be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication, such as a communication network. Examples of communication networks include a local area network (LAN) and a wide area network (WAN), such as the Internet.

[0185] Although certain features of the embodiments have been illustrated as described herein, many modifications, substitutions, changes and equivalents will now occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and changes as fall within the true spirit of the various embodiments.

Claims

1. An apparatus, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code; the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least: receive, by a user equipment, a configuration from a network node, the configuration including at least an indication to perform spectrum spreading; determine, by the user equipment, a target spreading factor for an overband frequency resource for a target spectrum spreading; receive, by the user equipment, from the network node information indicating a set of in-band frequency resources allocated to the user equipment for uplink transmission; determine, by the user equipment, based on the set of in-band frequency resources and the target spreading factor, a total allocation of the overband frequency resources for the spectrum spreading and / or frequency resources for uplink transmission, wherein the total allocation of frequency resources includes the in-band frequency resources and the overband frequency resources; perform, by the user equipment, spectrum spreading on a set of frequency domain values based on the overband frequency resources to obtain a spectrum spread signal; and transmit the spectrum spread signal.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein The at least one processor and the computer program code are configured to cause the apparatus to determine the target spreading factor by the user equipment, including the at least one processor and the computer program code being configured to cause the apparatus to perform the following: receive, by the user equipment, from the network node information identifying the target spreading factor for the target spreading to determine the overband frequency resources for the spectrum spreading.

3. The device according to any one of claims 1-2, wherein, The at least one processor and the computer program code are further configured to cause the apparatus to: send, by the user equipment, to the network node information indicating that the user equipment has an ability to perform spectrum spreading for uplink transmission.

4. The device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein The at least one processor and the computer program code are configured to cause the apparatus to perform spectrum spreading, including the at least one processor and the computer program code being configured to cause the apparatus to perform the following: perform, by the user equipment, symmetric spreading on the in-band frequency resources by attaching a first half of the overband frequency resources to an upper end of the in-band frequency resources and attaching a second half of the overband frequency resources to a lower end of the in-band frequency resources.

5. The device according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein The at least one processor and the computer program code are configured to cause the apparatus to perform spectrum spreading, including the at least one processor and the computer program code being configured to cause the apparatus to perform the following: perform, by the user equipment, symmetric spreading on the in-band frequency resources by attaching a certain number of the lowest in-band frequency resources to an overband frequency resource adjacent to the highest in-band frequency resource, and attaching the same number of higher in-band frequency resources to an overband frequency resource adjacent to the lowest in-band frequency resource.

6. The device according to any one of claims 1-5, wherein The configuration received from the network node includes: Information indicating one or more of the following in-band frequency resources: the starting resource block of the in-band frequency resource; the ending resource block of the in-band frequency resource; the size or number of resource blocks of the in-band frequency resource; a bitmap indicating one or more resource block groups (RBGs) allocated to the user equipment, where an RBG is a set of consecutive virtual resource blocks defined by a higher layer parameter rbg-Size and the size of a bandwidth part; and The target expansion factor for the target spectrum expansion.

7. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1-5, wherein: The size (M) of the in-band frequency resource set includes the number (M) of occupied resource elements or subcarriers after a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) block, where the number (M) of resource elements or subcarriers of the in-band frequency resource is an integer number of 12 resource elements or subcarriers, and a resource block includes 12 resource elements or subcarriers; The size (Q) of the total frequency resource allocation includes the sum of the resource elements of the in-band frequency resource and the out-of-band frequency resource for the target spectrum expansion; and The size of the out-of-band frequency resource for the target spectrum expansion based on the target expansion factor includes (Q - M) number of resource elements, where the size of the out-of-band frequency resource includes the difference between the total allocation size (Q) and the number (M) of resource elements or subcarriers of the in-band frequency resource.

8. The device according to any one of claims 1-6, wherein, The at least one processor and the computer program code are configured to cause the apparatus to determine, by the user equipment, the out-of-band frequency resource for the spectrum expansion and / or the total frequency resource allocation for uplink transmission based on the in-band frequency resource set and the target expansion factor, including that the at least one processor and the computer program code are configured to cause the apparatus to determine at least one of the following: The number of resource elements for the total allocation = [(the number of resource elements for the in-band frequency resource set) / (1 - the target expansion factor)]; The number of resource elements for out-of-band allocation = [[(the number of resource elements for the in-band frequency resource set) * the target expansion factor / (1 - the target expansion factor)]; and / or The number of resource elements for the in-band frequency resource set = [(the number of resource elements for the total allocation) * (1 - the target expansion factor)].

9. The device according to any one of claims 1 - 8, wherein If 1) based on the target expansion factor for the target spectrum expansion, the size of the out-of-band frequency resource is not a resource block of an integer number of resource elements, resulting in the total allocation including one or more isolated resource elements, where the isolated resource elements are part of a fractional resource block or not part of an integer multiple of resource elements, or 2) the out-of-band frequency resource is not suitable for the current uplink bandwidth part or carrier for the user equipment to perform uplink transmission, the at least one processor and the computer program code are further configured to cause the apparatus to perform at least one of the following: Treat the one or more isolated resource elements as guard bands or unused resource elements; Round up or down the overband based on the target expansion factor including fractional resource blocks to the nearest integer number of resource blocks; Round up or down the total frequency resource allocation based on the target expansion factor including fractional resource blocks to the nearest integer number of resource blocks; Consider or determine the size of the overband for the target spectrum expansion that results in an overband or total allocation including fractional resource blocks as an invalid resource allocation from the network node.

10. The device according to any one of claims 1-9, wherein, The at least one processor and the computer program code are configured to cause the device to perform spectrum expansion including the at least one processor and the computer program code are configured to cause the device to perform symmetric expansion on the in-band frequency resources by attaching the first half of the overband frequency resources to the upper end of the in-band frequency resources and attaching the second half of the overband frequency resources to the lower end of the in-band frequency resources; The at least one processor and the computer program code are further configured to cause the device to: Determine by the user equipment that the overband frequency resources include an odd number of resource blocks or one or more isolated resource elements that are part of a fractional resource block; And Shift the total allocation including the first half and the second half of the in-band frequency resources and the overband frequency resources by half a resource block in the frequency domain by the user equipment so that the resource blocks of the total allocation are resource blocks aligned with the resource block grid.

11. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1-9, wherein the at least one processor and the computer program code are further configured to cause the device to: Determine by the user equipment that the overband frequency resources include an odd number of resource blocks or one or more isolated resource elements that are part of a fractional resource block; and Shift the total allocation including the first half and the second half of the in-band frequency resources and the overband frequency resources by half a resource block in the frequency domain by the user equipment so that the resource blocks of the total allocation are resource blocks aligned with the resource block grid.

12. A method, comprising: Receiving, by a user equipment, a configuration from a network node that includes at least an indication to perform spectrum expansion; Determining, by the user equipment, a target expansion factor for overband frequency resources for a target spectrum expansion; Receiving, by the user equipment, information from the network node indicating a set of in-band frequency resources allocated to the user equipment for uplink transmission; Determining, by the user equipment, the overband frequency resources for the spectrum expansion and / or the total frequency resource allocation for uplink transmission based on the set of in-band frequency resources and the target expansion factor, wherein the total frequency resource allocation includes the in-band frequency resources and the overband frequency resources; Performing, by the user equipment, spectrum expansion on the overband frequency resources for a set of frequency domain values to obtain a spectrum expansion signal; and Transmitting the spectrum expansion signal.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein, Determining the target expansion factor by the user equipment includes: The user equipment receives information identifying the target expansion factor for target expansion from the network node to determine the overband frequency resources for the spectrum expansion.

14. The method according to any one of claims 12-13, further comprising: The user equipment sends information indicating that the user equipment has the ability to perform spectrum expansion for uplink transmission to the network node.

15. The method according to any one of claims 12 - 14, wherein, Performing spectrum expansion includes: The user equipment performs symmetric expansion on the in-band frequency resources by attaching the first half of the overband frequency resources to the upper end of the in-band frequency resources and attaching the second half of the overband frequency resources to the lower end of the in-band frequency resources.

16. The method according to any one of claims 12-15, wherein Performing spectrum expansion includes: The user equipment performs symmetric expansion on the in-band frequency resources by attaching a certain number of the lowest in-band frequency resources to the overband frequency resources adjacent to the highest in-band frequency resources and attaching the same number of higher in-band frequency resources to the overband frequency resources adjacent to the lowest in-band frequency resources.

17. The method according to any one of claims 12 - 16, wherein, The configuration received from the network node includes: Information indicating the in-band frequency resources including one or more of the following: the starting resource block of the in-band frequency resources; the ending resource block of the in-band frequency resources; the size or number of resource blocks for the in-band frequency resources; a bitmap indicating one or more resource block groups (RBGs) allocated to the user equipment, where an RBG is a set of consecutive virtual resource blocks defined by the higher layer parameter rbg-Size and the size of the bandwidth part; and The target expansion factor for the target spectrum expansion.

18. The method according to any one of claims 12-17, wherein: The size (M) of the in-band frequency resource set includes the number (M) of occupied resource elements or subcarriers after the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) block, where the number (M) of resource elements or subcarriers of the in-band frequency resources is an integer number of 12 resource elements or subcarriers, and a resource block includes 12 resource elements or subcarriers; The size (Q) of the total frequency resource allocation includes the sum of the resource elements of the in-band frequency resources and the overband frequency resources for the target spectrum expansion; And The size of the overband frequency resources for the target spectrum expansion based on the target expansion factor includes (Q - M) number of resource elements, where the size of the overband frequency resources includes the difference between the total allocation size (Q) and the number of resource elements or subcarriers (M) of the in-band frequency resources.

19. The method according to any one of claims 12-18, wherein, The user equipment determines the overband frequency resources for the spectrum expansion and / or the total frequency resource allocation for uplink transmission based on the in-band frequency resource set and the target expansion factor, including determining at least one of the following: The number of resource elements for the total allocation = [(the number of resource elements of the in-band frequency resource set) / (1 - the target expansion factor)]; Number of resource elements for overband allocation = [[(Number of resource elements for the in-band frequency resource set) * the target expansion factor / (1 - the target expansion factor)]; and / or Number of resource elements for the in-band frequency resource set = [(Number of resource elements for the total allocation) * (1 - the target expansion factor)].

20. The method according to any one of claims 12-19, wherein, If 1) based on the target expansion factor for the target spectrum expansion, the size of the overband frequency resource is not a resource block of an integer number of resource elements, resulting in the total allocation including one or more isolated resource elements, where the isolated resource elements are part of a fractional resource block or not part of an integer multiple of resource elements, or 2) the overband frequency resource is not suitable for the current uplink bandwidth part or carrier for the user equipment to perform uplink transmission, then the method further includes performing at least one of the following: Regarding or applying the one or more isolated resource elements as a guard band or unused resource elements; Rounding up or down the overband based on the target expansion factor including fractional resource blocks to the closest integer number of resource blocks; Rounding up or down the total allocation of frequency resources based on the target expansion factor including fractional resource blocks to the closest integer number of resource blocks; Regarding or determining the size of the overband for the target spectrum expansion that results in an overband or total allocation including fractional resource blocks as an invalid resource allocation from the network node.

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