Method, apparatus and computer program

Abstract

There is provided a user equipment comprising means for sending assistance information to an access node, the assistance information comprising an indication of a phase noise characteristic over a plurality of communication resources for performing a joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the access node; receiving one or more indications of the plurality of communication resources from the access node for performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise and / or one or more signal configurations at the access node; and transmitting a signal to the access node based on the one or more indications, the signal comprising at least a portion of the plurality of communication resources.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to methods, apparatus, systems and computer programs, and particularly, but not exclusively, to performing phase noise estimation and / or compensation. Background Art

[0002] A communication system can be considered as a facility that enables communication sessions between two or more entities, such as user terminals, base stations, and / or other nodes, by providing carrier waves between the various entities involved in the communication path. A communication system can be provided, for example, via a communication network and one or more compatible communication devices. A communication session can include, for example, data communications for carrying communications such as voice, video, electronic mail (email), text messaging, multimedia, and / or content data. Non-limiting examples of the services provided include two-way or multi-way calls, data communications or multimedia services, and access to data network systems such as the Internet.

[0003] In a wireless communication system, at least a portion of a communication session between at least two stations occurs over a wireless link. Examples of wireless systems include public land mobile networks (PLMNs), satellite-based communication systems, and various wireless local area networks, such as wireless local area networks (WLANs). Some wireless systems can be divided into cells and are therefore often referred to as cellular systems.

[0004] A user can access a communication system through an appropriate communication device or terminal. A user's communication device may be referred to as user equipment (UE) or user equipment. The communication device is provided with appropriate signal reception and transmission means to enable communication, such as access to a communication network or direct communication with other users. The communication device can access a carrier provided by a station, such as a base station of a cell, and transmit and / or receive communications on the carrier.

[0005] Communication systems and associated equipment typically operate according to a given standard or specification that sets out what the various entities associated with the system are allowed to do and how this should be implemented. The communication protocols and / or parameters to be used for the connection are also typically defined. One example of a communication system is UTRAN (3G radio). Other examples of communication systems are the Long Term Evolution (LTE) of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) radio access technology, the so-called 5G or New Radio (NR) networks, and the so-called 6G networks. NR is being standardized by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). It should be understood that the examples of the present disclosure may still be applicable to communication systems that have not yet been developed and may not be limited to being implemented by a specific system (such as a 5G or 6G network). Summary of the Invention

[0006] According to one aspect, a user equipment is provided, comprising components for: sending auxiliary information to an access node, the auxiliary information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristics of a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the access node; receiving one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations from the access node; and sending a signal to the access node based on the one or more indications, the signal comprising at least a portion of the plurality of communication resources.

[0007] The component can also be configured to: receive feedback information from the access node, the feedback information being based on a result of the joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the access node; based on the feedback information, determine a reconfiguration for the signal according to one or more preconfigured configurations or a predefined set of conditions shared by the user equipment and the access node; and based on the determined reconfiguration, adapt the multiple communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations for future joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise.

[0008] The component may be further configured to receive a request for assistance information from the access node, wherein sending the assistance information is performed based on the request.

[0009] The multiple communication resources may include one or more of the following: one or more resource elements; one or more groups of resource elements; one or more component carriers; one or more physical resource blocks; one or more transport layers; one or more bandwidth parts; one or more physical channels; one or more symbols; and / or one or more time slots.

[0010] The signal may include at least one reference signal.

[0011] The at least one reference signal may include a phase tracking reference signal.

[0012] The signal may include at least one signal symbol transmitted with the same or different symbol periods on at least one of: multiple carriers, multiple physical channels, and / or multiple multiple-input / multiple-output layers.

[0013] The one or more indications may include information indicating a location and / or pattern of the at least one signal symbol within the plurality of communication resources.

[0014] The phase noise may include a correlated part and / or an uncorrelated part, and wherein performing a joint estimation of the phase noise may include at least one of the following: for the correlated part, performing the joint estimation of the phase noise based on at least one signal symbol that is transmitted over two or more symbol periods using at least one communication resource of the multiple communication resources; and / or for the uncorrelated part, performing a joint estimation of the phase noise based on at least one signal symbol that is transmitted over the same symbol period using at least two of the following: multiple carriers, multiple physical channels and / or multiple multiple-input / multiple-output layers.

[0015] Multiple communication resources may be transmitted using the same local oscillator, and multiple communication resources may be received using the same local oscillator.

[0016] According to one aspect, a user equipment is provided, comprising components for: sending auxiliary information to an access node, the auxiliary information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristics of multiple communication resources for performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the user equipment; receiving one or more indications of multiple communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations from the access node; based on the one or more indications, receiving a signal from the access node, the signal comprising at least a portion of the multiple communication resources; and performing joint phase noise estimation and / or compensation based on the received signal and the one or more received indications.

[0017] The component may also be configured to send feedback information to the access node, the feedback information being based on a result of the joint estimation and / or compensation of the phase noise.

[0018] The component may be further configured to receive a request for assistance information from the access node, wherein sending the assistance information is performed based on the request.

[0019] The multiple communication resources may include one or more of the following: one or more resource elements; one or more groups of resource elements; one or more component carriers; one or more physical resource blocks; one or more transport layers; one or more bandwidth parts; one or more physical channels; one or more symbols; and / or one or more time slots.

[0020] The signal may include at least one reference signal.

[0021] The at least one reference signal may include a phase tracking reference signal.

[0022] The signal may include at least one signal symbol transmitted with the same or different symbol periods on at least one of: multiple carriers, multiple physical channels, and / or multiple multiple-input / multiple-output layers.

[0023] The one or more indications may include information indicating a location and / or pattern of the at least one signal symbol within the plurality of communication resources.

[0024] The phase noise may include a correlated part and / or an uncorrelated part, and wherein performing a joint estimation of the phase noise may include at least one of the following: for the correlated part, performing the joint estimation of the phase noise based on at least one signal symbol that is transmitted over two or more symbol periods using at least one communication resource of the multiple communication resources; and / or for the uncorrelated part, performing a joint estimation of the phase noise based on at least one signal symbol that is transmitted over the same symbol period using at least two of the following: multiple carriers, multiple physical channels and / or multiple multiple-input / multiple-output layers.

[0025] Multiple communication resources may be transmitted using the same local oscillator, and multiple communication resources may be received using the same local oscillator.

[0026] According to one aspect, an access node is provided, comprising components for: receiving auxiliary information from a user equipment, the auxiliary information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristics on a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the access node; sending one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations to the user equipment; based on the one or more indications, receiving a signal from the user equipment, the signal comprising at least a portion of the plurality of communication resources; and performing joint phase noise estimation and / or compensation based on the received signal and the received auxiliary information.

[0027] The component may also be configured to send feedback information to the user equipment, the feedback information being based on a result of the joint estimation and / or compensation of the phase noise at the access node.

[0028] The component may be further configured to send a request for assistance information to the user equipment, wherein receiving the assistance information is performed based on the request.

[0029] The component may also be configured to schedule the plurality of communication resources based on the one or more indications.

[0030] The multiple communication resources may include one or more of the following: one or more resource elements; one or more groups of resource elements; one or more component carriers; one or more physical resource blocks; one or more transport layers; one or more bandwidth parts; one or more physical channels; one or more symbols; and / or one or more time slots.

[0031] The signal may include at least one reference signal.

[0032] The at least one reference signal may include a phase tracking reference signal.

[0033] The signal may include at least one signal symbol transmitted with the same or different symbol periods on at least one of: multiple carriers, multiple physical channels, and / or multiple multiple-input / multiple-output layers.

[0034] The one or more indications may include information indicating a location and / or pattern of the at least one signal symbol within the plurality of communication resources.

[0035] The phase noise may include a correlated part and / or an uncorrelated part, and wherein performing a joint estimation of the phase noise may include at least one of: for the correlated part, performing a joint estimation of the phase noise based on at least one signal symbol transmitted over two or more symbol periods using at least one communication resource from a plurality of communication resources; and / or for the uncorrelated part, performing a joint estimation of the phase noise based on at least one signal symbol transmitted over the same symbol period using at least two of the following: multiple carriers, multiple physical channels and / or multiple multiple-input / multiple-output layers.

[0036] Multiple communication resources may be transmitted using the same local oscillator, and multiple communication resources may be received using the same local oscillator.

[0037] According to one aspect, an access node is provided, comprising components for: receiving assistance information from a user equipment, the assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristics on a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the user equipment; sending one or more indications of the plurality of communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations to the user equipment; and sending a signal to the user equipment based on the one or more indications, the signal comprising at least a portion of the plurality of communication resources.

[0038] The component may also be configured to: receive feedback information from the user equipment, the feedback information being based on a result of a joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the user equipment; determine, based on the feedback information, a reconfiguration for the signal according to one or more preconfigured configurations or a predefined set of conditions shared by the user equipment and the access node; and adapt, based on the determined reconfiguration, multiple communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations for future joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise.

[0039] The component may be further configured to send a request for assistance information to the user equipment, wherein receiving the assistance information is performed based on the request.

[0040] The component may also be configured to schedule the plurality of communication resources based on the one or more indications.

[0041] The multiple communication resources may include one or more of the following: one or more resource elements; one or more groups of resource elements; one or more component carriers; one or more physical resource blocks; one or more transport layers; one or more bandwidth parts; one or more physical channels; one or more symbols; and / or one or more time slots.

[0042] The signal may include at least one reference signal.

[0043] The at least one reference signal may include a phase tracking reference signal.

[0044] The signal may include at least one signal symbol transmitted with the same or different symbol periods on at least one of: multiple carriers, multiple physical channels, and / or multiple multiple-input / multiple-output layers.

[0045] The one or more indications may include information indicating a location and / or pattern of the at least one signal symbol within the plurality of communication resources.

[0046] The phase noise may include a correlated part and / or an uncorrelated part, and wherein performing a joint estimation of the phase noise may include at least one of the following: for the correlated part, performing the joint estimation of the phase noise based on at least one signal symbol that is transmitted over two or more symbol periods using at least one communication resource of the multiple communication resources; and / or for the uncorrelated part, performing a joint estimation of the phase noise based on at least one signal symbol that is transmitted over the same symbol period using at least two of the following: multiple carriers, multiple physical channels and / or multiple multiple-input / multiple-output layers.

[0047] Multiple communication resources may be transmitted using the same local oscillator, and multiple communication resources may be received using the same local oscillator.

[0048] According to one aspect, a user device is provided, comprising at least one processor and at least one memory, the at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the user device to at least: send auxiliary information to an access node, the auxiliary information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristics on a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the access node; receive one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations from the access node; and send a signal to the access node based on the one or more indications, the signal comprising at least a portion of the plurality of communication resources.

[0049] The at least one processor can be configured to cause the user equipment to: receive feedback information from the access node, the feedback information being based on a result of a joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the access node; determine, based on the feedback information, a reconfiguration for a signal according to one or more preconfigured configurations or a predefined set of conditions shared by the user equipment and the access node; and adapt, based on the determined reconfiguration, multiple communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations for future joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise.

[0050] The at least one processor may be configured to cause the user equipment to: receive a request for assistance information from the access node, wherein the at least one processor may be configured to cause the apparatus to send the assistance information based on the request.

[0051] The multiple communication resources may include one or more of the following: one or more resource elements; one or more groups of resource elements; one or more component carriers; one or more physical resource blocks; one or more transport layers; one or more bandwidth parts; one or more physical channels; one or more symbols; and / or one or more time slots.

[0052] The signal may include at least one reference signal.

[0053] The at least one reference signal may include a phase tracking reference signal.

[0054] The signal may include at least one signal symbol transmitted with the same or different symbol periods on at least one of: multiple carriers, multiple physical channels, and / or multiple multiple-input / multiple-output layers.

[0055] The one or more indications may include information indicating a location and / or pattern of the at least one signal symbol within the plurality of communication resources.

[0056] The phase noise may include a correlated part and / or an uncorrelated part, and wherein performing a joint estimation of the phase noise may include at least one of the following: for the correlated part, performing the joint estimation of the phase noise based on at least one signal symbol that is transmitted over two or more symbol periods using at least one communication resource of the multiple communication resources; and / or for the uncorrelated part, performing a joint estimation of the phase noise based on at least one signal symbol that is sent over the same symbol period using at least two of the following: multiple carriers, multiple physical channels and / or multiple multiple-input / multiple-output layers.

[0057] Multiple communication resources may be transmitted using the same local oscillator, and multiple communication resources may be received using the same local oscillator.

[0058] According to one aspect, a user equipment is provided, comprising at least one processor and at least one memory, the at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the user equipment to at least: send auxiliary information to an access node, the auxiliary information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristics on a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the user equipment; receive one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations from the access node; based on the one or more indications, receive a signal from the access node, the signal comprising at least a portion of the plurality of communication resources; and perform joint phase noise estimation and / or compensation based on the received signal and the received one or more indications.

[0059] The at least one processor may be configured to cause the user equipment to: send feedback information to the access node, the feedback information being based on a result of the joint estimation and / or compensation of the phase noise.

[0060] The at least one processor may be configured to cause the user equipment to: receive a request for assistance information from the access node, wherein the at least one processor may be configured to cause the user equipment to send the assistance information based on the request.

[0061] The multiple communication resources may include one or more of the following: one or more resource elements; one or more groups of resource elements; one or more component carriers; one or more physical resource blocks; one or more transport layers; one or more bandwidth parts; one or more physical channels; one or more symbols; and / or one or more time slots.

[0062] The signal may include at least one reference signal.

[0063] The at least one reference signal may include a phase tracking reference signal.

[0064] The signal may include at least one signal symbol transmitted with the same or different symbol periods on at least one of: multiple carriers, multiple physical channels, and / or multiple multiple-input / multiple-output layers.

[0065] The one or more indications may include information indicating a location and / or pattern of the at least one signal symbol within the plurality of communication resources.

[0066] The phase noise may include a correlated part and / or an uncorrelated part, and wherein performing a joint estimation of the phase noise may include at least one of the following: for the correlated part, performing the joint estimation of the phase noise based on at least one signal symbol that is transmitted over two or more symbol periods using at least one communication resource of the multiple communication resources; and / or for the uncorrelated part, performing a joint estimation of the phase noise based on at least one signal symbol that is transmitted over the same symbol period using at least two of the following: multiple carriers, multiple physical channels and / or multiple multiple-input / multiple-output layers.

[0067] Multiple communication resources may be transmitted using the same local oscillator, and multiple communication resources may be received using the same local oscillator.

[0068] According to one aspect, an access node is provided, comprising at least one processor and at least one memory, the at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the access node to at least: receive auxiliary information from a user equipment, the auxiliary information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristics on a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the access node; send one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations to the user equipment; based on the one or more indications, receive a signal from the user equipment, the signal comprising at least a portion of the plurality of communication resources; and perform joint phase noise estimation and / or compensation based on the received signal and the received auxiliary information.

[0069] The at least one processor may be configured to cause the access node to: send feedback information to the user equipment, the feedback information being based on a result of the joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the access node.

[0070] The at least one processor may be configured to cause the access node to: send a request for assistance information to a user equipment, wherein the at least one processor may be configured to cause the access node to receive the assistance information based on the request.

[0071] The at least one processor may be configured to cause the access node to schedule the plurality of communication resources based on the one or more indications.

[0072] The multiple communication resources may include one or more of the following: one or more resource elements; one or more groups of resource elements; one or more component carriers; one or more physical resource blocks; one or more transport layers; one or more bandwidth parts; one or more physical channels; one or more symbols; and / or one or more time slots.

[0073] The signal may include at least one reference signal.

[0074] The at least one reference signal may include a phase tracking reference signal.

[0075] The signal may include at least one signal symbol transmitted with the same or different symbol periods on at least one of: multiple carriers, multiple physical channels, and / or multiple multiple-input / multiple-output layers.

[0076] The one or more indications may include information indicating a location and / or pattern of the at least one signal symbol within the plurality of communication resources.

[0077] The phase noise may include a correlated part and / or an uncorrelated part, and wherein performing a joint estimation of the phase noise may include at least one of the following: for the correlated part, performing the joint estimation of the phase noise based on at least one signal symbol that is transmitted over two or more symbol periods using at least one communication resource of the multiple communication resources; and / or for the uncorrelated part, performing a joint estimation of the phase noise based on at least one signal symbol that is transmitted over the same symbol period using at least two of the following: multiple carriers, multiple physical channels and / or multiple multiple-input / multiple-output layers.

[0078] Multiple communication resources may be transmitted using the same local oscillator, and multiple communication resources may be received using the same local oscillator.

[0079] According to one aspect, an access node is provided, comprising at least one processor and at least one memory, the at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the access node to at least: receive auxiliary information from a user equipment, the auxiliary information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristics on a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the user equipment; send one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations to the user equipment; and send a signal to the user equipment based on the one or more indications, the signal comprising at least a portion of the plurality of communication resources.

[0080] The at least one processor can be configured to cause the access node to: receive feedback information from the user equipment, the feedback information being a result of a joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the user equipment; determine, based on the feedback information, a reconfiguration for the signal according to one or more preconfigured configurations or a predefined set of conditions shared by the user equipment and the access node; and adapt, based on the determined reconfiguration, multiple communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations for future joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise.

[0081] The at least one processor may be configured to cause the access node to: send a request for assistance information to the user equipment, wherein the at least one processor may be configured to cause the access node to receive the assistance information based on the request.

[0082] At least one processor may be configured to cause the access node to schedule a plurality of communication resources based on the one or more indications.

[0083] The multiple communication resources may include one or more of the following: one or more resource elements; one or more groups of resource elements; one or more component carriers; one or more physical resource blocks; one or more transport layers; one or more bandwidth parts; one or more physical channels; one or more symbols; and / or one or more time slots.

[0084] The signal may include at least one reference signal.

[0085] The at least one reference signal may include a phase tracking reference signal.

[0086] The signal may include at least one signal symbol transmitted with the same or different symbol periods on at least one of: multiple carriers, multiple physical channels, and / or multiple multiple-input / multiple-output layers.

[0087] The one or more indications may include information indicating a location and / or pattern of the at least one signal symbol within the plurality of communication resources.

[0088] The phase noise may include a correlated part and / or an uncorrelated part, and wherein performing a joint estimation of the phase noise may include at least one of the following: for the correlated part, performing the joint estimation of the phase noise based on at least one signal symbol that is transmitted over two or more symbol periods using at least one communication resource of the multiple communication resources; and / or for the uncorrelated part, performing a joint estimation of the phase noise based on at least one signal symbol that is transmitted over the same symbol period using at least two of the following: multiple carriers, multiple physical channels and / or multiple multiple-input / multiple-output layers.

[0089] Multiple communication resources may be transmitted using the same local oscillator, and multiple communication resources may be received using the same local oscillator.

[0090] According to one aspect, a method performed at a user equipment is provided, the method comprising: sending auxiliary information to an access node, the auxiliary information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristics on a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the access node; receiving one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations from the access node; and based on the one or more indications, sending a signal to the access node, the signal comprising at least a portion of the plurality of communication resources.

[0091] The method may include: receiving feedback information from an access node, the feedback information being based on a result of a joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the access node; determining a reconfiguration of a signal based on the feedback information according to one or more preconfigured configurations or a predefined set of conditions shared by a user equipment and the access node; and adapting a plurality of communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations based on the determined reconfiguration for future joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise.

[0092] The method may include receiving a request for assistance information from an access node, wherein sending the assistance information is performed based on the request.

[0093] The multiple communication resources may include one or more of the following: one or more resource elements; one or more groups of resource elements; one or more component carriers; one or more physical resource blocks; one or more transport layers; one or more bandwidth parts; one or more physical channels; one or more symbols; and / or one or more time slots.

[0094] The signal may include at least one reference signal.

[0095] The at least one reference signal may include a phase tracking reference signal.

[0096] The signal may include at least one signal symbol transmitted with the same or different symbol periods on at least one of: multiple carriers, multiple physical channels, and / or multiple multiple-input / multiple-output layers.

[0097] The one or more indications may include information indicating a location and / or pattern of the at least one signal symbol within the plurality of communication resources.

[0098] The phase noise may include a correlated part and / or an uncorrelated part, and wherein performing a joint estimation of the phase noise may include at least one of the following: for the correlated part, performing the joint estimation of the phase noise based on at least one signal symbol that is transmitted over two or more symbol periods using at least one communication resource of the multiple communication resources; and / or for the uncorrelated part, performing a joint estimation of the phase noise based on at least one signal symbol that is transmitted over the same symbol period using at least two of the following: multiple carriers, multiple physical channels and / or multiple multiple-input / multiple-output layers.

[0099] Multiple communication resources may be transmitted using the same local oscillator, and multiple communication resources may be received using the same local oscillator.

[0100] According to one aspect, a method performed at a user equipment is provided, the method comprising: sending auxiliary information to an access node, the auxiliary information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristics on a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the user equipment; receiving one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations from the access node; based on the one or more indications, receiving a signal from the access node, the signal comprising at least a portion of the plurality of communication resources; and performing joint phase noise estimation and / or compensation based on the received signal and the received one or more indications.

[0101] The method may include sending feedback information to the access node, the feedback information being based on a result of the joint estimation and / or compensation of the phase noise.

[0102] The method may include receiving a request for assistance information from an access node, wherein sending the assistance information is performed based on the request.

[0103] The multiple communication resources may include one or more of the following: one or more resource elements; one or more groups of resource elements; one or more component carriers; one or more physical resource blocks; one or more transport layers; one or more bandwidth parts; one or more physical channels; one or more symbols; and / or one or more time slots.

[0104] The signal may include at least one reference signal.

[0105] The at least one reference signal may include a phase tracking reference signal.

[0106] The signal may include at least one signal symbol transmitted with the same or different symbol periods on at least one of: multiple carriers, multiple physical channels, and / or multiple multiple-input / multiple-output layers.

[0107] The one or more indications may include information indicating a location and / or pattern of the at least one signal symbol within the plurality of communication resources.

[0108] The phase noise may include a correlated part and / or an uncorrelated part, and wherein performing a joint estimation of the phase noise may include at least one of the following: for the correlated part, performing the joint estimation of the phase noise based on at least one signal symbol that is transmitted over two or more symbol periods using at least one communication resource of the multiple communication resources; and / or for the uncorrelated part, performing a joint estimation of the phase noise based on at least one signal symbol that is transmitted over the same symbol period using at least two of the following: multiple carriers, multiple physical channels and / or multiple multiple-input / multiple-output layers.

[0109] Multiple communication resources may be transmitted using the same local oscillator, and multiple communication resources may be received using the same local oscillator.

[0110] According to one aspect, a method performed at an access node is provided, the method comprising: receiving auxiliary information from a user equipment, the auxiliary information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristics on a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the access node; sending one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations to the user equipment; based on the one or more indications, receiving a signal from the user equipment, the signal comprising at least a portion of the plurality of communication resources; and performing joint phase noise estimation and / or compensation based on the received signal and the received auxiliary information.

[0111] The method may include sending feedback information to the user equipment, the feedback information being based on a result of the joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the access node.

[0112] The method may include sending a request for assistance information to a user equipment, wherein receiving the assistance information is performed based on the request.

[0113] The method may include scheduling the plurality of communication resources based on the one or more indications.

[0114] The multiple communication resources may include one or more of the following: one or more resource elements; one or more groups of resource elements; one or more component carriers; one or more physical resource blocks; one or more transport layers; one or more bandwidth parts; one or more physical channels; one or more symbols; and / or one or more time slots.

[0115] The signal may include at least one reference signal.

[0116] The at least one reference signal may include a phase tracking reference signal.

[0117] The signal may include at least one signal symbol transmitted with the same or different symbol periods on at least one of: multiple carriers, multiple physical channels, and / or multiple multiple-input / multiple-output layers.

[0118] The one or more indications may include information indicating a location and / or pattern of the at least one signal symbol within the plurality of communication resources.

[0119] The phase noise may include a correlated part and / or an uncorrelated part, and wherein performing a joint estimation of the phase noise may include at least one of the following: for the correlated part, performing the joint estimation of the phase noise based on at least one signal symbol that is transmitted over two or more symbol periods using at least one communication resource of the multiple communication resources; and / or for the uncorrelated part, performing a joint estimation of the phase noise based on at least one signal symbol that is transmitted over the same symbol period using at least two of the following: multiple carriers, multiple physical channels and / or multiple multiple-input / multiple-output layers.

[0120] Multiple communication resources may be transmitted using the same local oscillator, and multiple communication resources may be received using the same local oscillator.

[0121] According to one aspect, a method performed at an access node is provided, the method comprising: receiving auxiliary information from a user equipment, the auxiliary information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristics on a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the user equipment; sending one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations to the user equipment; and sending a signal to the user equipment based on the one or more indications, the signal comprising at least a portion of the plurality of communication resources.

[0122] The method may include: receiving feedback information from a user equipment, the feedback information being based on a result of a joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the user equipment; determining a new configuration of a signal based on the feedback information according to one or more preconfigured configurations or a predefined set of conditions shared by the user equipment and the access node; and adapting a plurality of communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations based on the determined reconfiguration for future joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise.

[0123] The method may include sending a request for assistance information to a user equipment, wherein receiving the assistance information is performed based on the request.

[0124] The method may include scheduling the plurality of communication resources based on the one or more indications.

[0125] The multiple communication resources may include one or more of the following: one or more resource elements; one or more groups of resource elements; one or more component carriers; one or more physical resource blocks; one or more transport layers; one or more bandwidth parts; one or more physical channels; one or more symbols; and / or one or more time slots.

[0126] The signal may include at least one reference signal.

[0127] The at least one reference signal may include a phase tracking reference signal.

[0128] The signal may include at least one signal symbol transmitted with the same or different symbol periods on at least one of: multiple carriers, multiple physical channels, and / or multiple multiple-input / multiple-output layers.

[0129] The one or more indications may include information indicating a location and / or pattern of the at least one signal symbol within the plurality of communication resources.

[0130] The phase noise may include a correlated part and / or an uncorrelated part, and wherein performing a joint estimation of the phase noise may include at least one of the following: for the correlated part, performing the joint estimation of the phase noise based on at least one signal symbol that is transmitted over two or more symbol periods using at least one communication resource of the multiple communication resources; and / or for the uncorrelated part, performing a joint estimation of the phase noise based on at least one signal symbol that is transmitted over the same symbol period using at least two of the following: multiple carriers, multiple physical channels and / or multiple multiple-input / multiple-output layers.

[0131] Multiple communication resources may be transmitted using the same local oscillator, and multiple communication resources may be received using the same local oscillator.

[0132] According to one aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided, comprising instructions that, when executed by a user device, cause the user device to perform at least the following operations: sending auxiliary information to an access node, the auxiliary information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristics on a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the access node; receiving one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations from the access node; and sending a signal to the access node based on the one or more indications, the signal comprising at least a portion of the plurality of communication resources.

[0133] When executed by the user equipment, the instruction may also cause the user equipment to perform: receiving feedback information from the access node, the feedback information being based on the result of the joint estimation and / or compensation of the phase noise at the access node; determining a reconfiguration of the signal based on one or more preconfigured configurations or a predefined set of conditions shared by the user equipment and the access node based on the feedback information; and adapting multiple communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations based on the determined reconfiguration for future joint estimation and / or compensation of the phase noise.

[0134] The instructions, when executed by the user equipment, may further cause the user equipment to receive a request for assistance information from the access node, wherein sending the assistance information is performed based on the request.

[0135] The multiple communication resources may include one or more of the following: one or more resource elements; one or more groups of resource elements; one or more component carriers; one or more physical resource blocks; one or more transport layers; one or more bandwidth parts; one or more physical channels; one or more symbols; and / or one or more time slots.

[0136] The signal may include at least one reference signal.

[0137] The at least one reference signal may include a phase tracking reference signal.

[0138] The signal may include at least one signal symbol transmitted with the same or different symbol periods on at least one of: multiple carriers, multiple physical channels, and / or multiple multiple-input / multiple-output layers.

[0139] The one or more indications may include information indicating a location and / or pattern of the at least one signal symbol within the plurality of communication resources.

[0140] The phase noise may include a correlated part and / or an uncorrelated part, and wherein performing a joint estimation of the phase noise may include at least one of the following: for the correlated part, performing the joint estimation of the phase noise based on at least one signal symbol that is transmitted over two or more symbol periods using at least one communication resource of the multiple communication resources; and / or for the uncorrelated part, performing a joint estimation of the phase noise based on at least one signal symbol that is transmitted over the same symbol period using at least two of the following: multiple carriers, multiple physical channels and / or multiple multiple-input / multiple-output layers.

[0141] Multiple communication resources may be transmitted using the same local oscillator, and multiple communication resources may be received using the same local oscillator.

[0142] According to one aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided, comprising instructions that, when executed by a user device, cause the user device to perform at least the following operations: send auxiliary information to an access node, the auxiliary information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristics on multiple communication resources for performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the user device; receive one or more indications of multiple communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations from the access node; based on the one or more indications, receive a signal from the access node, the signal comprising at least a portion of the multiple communication resources; and perform joint phase noise estimation and / or compensation based on the received signal and the received one or more indications.

[0143] When executed by the user equipment, the instructions may further cause the user equipment to send feedback information to the access node, where the feedback information is based on a result of the joint estimation and / or compensation of the phase noise.

[0144] The instructions, when executed by the user equipment, may further cause the user equipment to receive a request for assistance information from the access node, wherein sending the assistance information is performed based on the request.

[0145] The multiple communication resources may include one or more of the following: one or more resource elements; one or more groups of resource elements; one or more component carriers; one or more physical resource blocks; one or more transport layers; one or more bandwidth parts; one or more physical channels; one or more symbols; and / or one or more time slots.

[0146] The signal may include at least one reference signal.

[0147] The at least one reference signal may include a phase tracking reference signal.

[0148] The signal may include at least one signal symbol transmitted with the same or different symbol periods on a high side of at least one of: multiple carriers, multiple physical channels, and / or multiple multiple-input / multiple-output layers.

[0149] The one or more indications may include information indicating a location and / or pattern of the at least one signal symbol within the plurality of communication resources.

[0150] The phase noise may include a correlated part and / or an uncorrelated part, and wherein performing a joint estimation of the phase noise may include at least one of the following: for the correlated part, performing the joint estimation of the phase noise based on at least one signal symbol that is transmitted over two or more symbol periods using at least one communication resource of the multiple communication resources; and / or for the uncorrelated part, performing a joint estimation of the phase noise based on at least one signal symbol that is transmitted over the same symbol period using at least two of the following: multiple carriers, multiple physical channels and / or multiple multiple-input / multiple-output layers.

[0151] Multiple communication resources may be transmitted using the same local oscillator, and multiple communication resources may be received using the same local oscillator.

[0152] According to one aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided, comprising instructions that, when executed by an access node, cause the access node to perform at least the following operations: receive auxiliary information from a user device, the auxiliary information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristics on multiple communication resources for performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the access node; send one or more indications of multiple communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations to the user device; receive a signal from the user device and based on the one or more indications, the signal comprising at least a portion of the multiple communication resources; and perform joint phase noise estimation and / or compensation based on the received signal and the received auxiliary information.

[0153] When executed by the access node, the instructions may further cause the access node to send feedback information to the user equipment, the feedback information being based on a result of the joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the access node.

[0154] The instructions, when executed by the access node, may further cause the access node to send a request for assistance information to the user equipment, wherein receiving the assistance information is performed based on the request.

[0155] The instructions, when executed by the access node, may cause the access node to further perform: scheduling a plurality of communication resources based on the one or more indications.

[0156] The multiple communication resources may include one or more of the following: one or more resource elements; one or more groups of resource elements; one or more component carriers; one or more physical resource blocks; one or more transport layers; one or more bandwidth parts; one or more physical channels; one or more symbols; and / or one or more time slots.

[0157] The signal may include at least one reference signal.

[0158] The at least one reference signal may include a phase tracking reference signal.

[0159] The signal may include at least one signal symbol transmitted with the same or different symbol periods on at least one of: multiple carriers, multiple physical channels, and / or multiple multiple-input / multiple-output layers.

[0160] The one or more indications may include information indicating a location and / or pattern of the at least one signal symbol within the plurality of communication resources.

[0161] The phase noise may include a correlated part and / or an uncorrelated part, and wherein performing a joint estimation of the phase noise may include at least one of the following: for the correlated part, performing the joint estimation of the phase noise based on at least one signal symbol that is transmitted over two or more symbol periods using at least one communication resource of the multiple communication resources; and / or for the uncorrelated part, performing a joint estimation of the phase noise based on at least one signal symbol that is sent over the same symbol period using at least two of the following: multiple carriers, multiple physical channels and / or multiple multiple-input / multiple-output layers.

[0162] Multiple communication resources may be transmitted using the same local oscillator, and multiple communication resources may be received using the same local oscillator.

[0163] According to one aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided, comprising instructions that, when executed by an access node, cause the access node to perform at least the following operations: receive auxiliary information from a user equipment, the auxiliary information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristics on a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the user equipment; send one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations to the user equipment; and, based on the one or more indications, send a signal to the user equipment, the signal comprising at least a portion of the plurality of communication resources.

[0164] When executed by the access node, the instruction may also cause the access node to perform: receiving feedback information from the user equipment, the feedback information being based on the result of the joint estimation and / or compensation of the phase noise at the user equipment; determining a reconfiguration of the signal based on one or more preconfigured configurations or a predefined set of conditions shared by the user equipment and the access node based on the feedback information; and adapting multiple communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations based on the determined reconfiguration for future joint estimation and / or compensation of the phase noise.

[0165] The instructions, when executed by the access node, may further cause the access node to send a request for assistance information to the user equipment, wherein receiving the assistance information is performed based on the request.

[0166] The instructions, when executed by the access node, may further cause the access node to schedule multiple communication resources based on the one or more indications.

[0167] The multiple communication resources may include one or more of the following: one or more resource elements; one or more groups of resource elements; one or more component carriers; one or more physical resource blocks; one or more transport layers; one or more bandwidth parts; one or more physical channels; one or more symbols; and / or one or more time slots.

[0168] The signal may include at least one reference signal.

[0169] The at least one reference signal may include a phase tracking reference signal.

[0170] The signal may include at least one signal symbol transmitted with the same or different symbol periods on at least one of: multiple carriers, multiple physical channels, and / or multiple multiple-input / multiple-output layers.

[0171] The one or more indications may include information indicating a location and / or pattern of the at least one signal symbol within the plurality of communication resources.

[0172] The phase noise may include a correlated part and / or an uncorrelated part, and wherein performing a joint estimation of the phase noise may include at least one of the following: for the correlated part, performing the joint estimation of the phase noise based on at least one signal symbol that is transmitted over two or more symbol periods using at least one communication resource of the multiple communication resources; and / or for the uncorrelated part, performing a joint estimation of the phase noise based on at least one signal symbol that is transmitted over the same symbol period using at least two of the following: multiple carriers, multiple physical channels and / or multiple multiple-input / multiple-output layers.

[0173] Multiple communication resources may be transmitted using the same local oscillator, and multiple communication resources may be received using the same local oscillator.

[0174] According to one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium is provided, comprising program instructions, which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to at least perform the method according to any one of the preceding aspects.

[0175] In the above, many different embodiments have been described. It should be understood that further embodiments can be provided by combining any two or more of the above embodiments. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0176] Embodiments will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0177] Figure 1 shows a representation of a network system according to some example embodiments;

[0178] Figure 2 shows a representation of a control device according to some example embodiments;

[0179] Figure 3 shows a representation of an apparatus according to some example embodiments;

[0180] FIG4 shows an example PTRS allocation;

[0181] Figure 5 An example PTRS symbol transmission pattern is shown;

[0182] FIG6 illustrates a method according to some examples;

[0183] Figure 7 An example signal bundling scheme is shown;

[0184] Figure 8 and 9 shows a signaling exchange according to some examples; and

[0185] Figure 10 An example of a scheme in which the PDCCH and the PDSCH are transmitted using two carriers is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0186] The following non-exhaustive list of abbreviations used herein is provided for reference: ADC analog-to-digital converter BW Bandwidth CBW Carrier Bandwidth CC component carrier CFO Carrier Frequency Offset CP Cyclic Prefix CPE Common Phase Estimation DCI Downlink Control Information DFTs-OFDM Discrete Fourier Transform Spread Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing DL Downlink DMRS Demodulation Reference Signal DVB Digital Video Broadcasting FDRA Frequency Domain Resource Allocation gNB 5G-NR gNodeB base station ICI Inter-Carrier Interference MAC Media Access Control MCS modulation and coding scheme MIMO Multiple Input Multiple Output OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing OOK On / Off Keying P2P peer-to-peer PA power amplifier PAPR Peak to Average Power Ratio PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel PN phase noise PRB Physical Resource Block PRS Position Reference Signal PSD power spectral density PTRS Phase Tracking Reference Signal PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel RE resource element RF RRC Radio Resource Control RS reference signal Rx Receiver SC single carrier SC-FDE Single Carrier with Frequency Domain Equalization SCS subcarrier spacing SE spectral efficiency SNR / SNIR Signal-to-noise ratio / Signal-to-noise-and-interference ratio TBoMS Transport Block over Multiple Timeslots TDRA Time Domain Resource Allocation Tx Transmitter UE User Equipment UL Uplink

[0187] In the following, certain embodiments are explained with reference to a mobile communication device capable of communicating via a wireless cellular system and a mobile communication system serving such a mobile communication device. Before explaining the exemplary embodiments in detail, certain general principles of a wireless communication system, its access system and a mobile communication device are explained with reference to Figure 1 、 Figure 2 and Figure 3 It is briefly explained to help understand the technology underlying the described examples.

[0188] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a 5G system (5GS) is shown. The 5G system may consist of a terminal or user equipment (UE), a 5G radio access network (5GRAN) or a next-generation radio access network (NG-RAN), a 5G core network (5GC), one or more application functions (AFs), and one or more data networks (DNs).

[0189] 5G-RAN may include one or more gNodeBs (GNBs) or one or more gNodeB (GNB) distributed unit functions connected to one or more gNodeB (GNB) centralized unit functions. 5GC may include the following entities: Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF); Network Exposure Function; Network Repository Function (NRF); Policy Control Function (PCF); Unified Data Management (UDM); Application Function (AF); Authentication Server Function (AUSF); Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF); and Session Management Function (SMF). Figure 1 Also shown are various interfaces (N1, N2, etc.) that may be implemented between the various elements of the system.

[0190] Figure 2 The diagram shows the Figure 1 An example of a control device 200 for a 5GRAN or 5GC function is shown. The control device may include at least one random access memory (RAM) 211a, at least one read-only memory (ROM) 211b, at least one processor 212, 213, and an input / output interface 214. The at least one processor 212, 213 may be coupled to the RAM 211a and the ROM 211b. The at least one processor 212, 213 may be configured to execute appropriate software code 215. The software code 215 may, for example, enable execution of one or more steps to perform one or more aspects of the present invention. The software code 215 may be stored in the ROM 211b. The control device 200 may be interconnected with another control device 200 that controls another function of the 5GRAN or 5GC. In some embodiments, each function of the 5GRAN or 5GC includes a control device 200. In alternative embodiments, two or more functions of the 5GRAN or 5GC may share a control device.

[0191] Figure 3 An example of a terminal 300 is shown, for example Figure 1 The terminal 300 can be provided by any device capable of sending and receiving radio signals. Non-limiting examples include user equipment, a mobile station (MS) or mobile device (such as a mobile phone or so-called smart phone), a computer provided with a wireless interface card or other wireless interface facilities (e.g., a USB software dongle), a personal data assistant (PDA) or tablet provided with wireless communication capabilities, a machine type communication (MTC) device, an Internet of Things (IoT) type communication device, or any combination thereof. The terminal 300 can provide communication, for example, for carrying data for communication. The communication can be one or more of voice, electronic mail (email), text message, multimedia, data, machine data, etc.

[0192] The terminal 300 may receive signals over the air or on the radio interface 307 via suitable means for reception and may transmit signals via suitable means for transmission of radio signals. Figure 3 In FIG, the transceiver arrangement is schematically designated by block 306. The transceiver arrangement 306 may be provided, for example, by radio components and an associated antenna arrangement. The antenna arrangement may be arranged internally or externally to the mobile device.

[0193] Terminal 300 may be provided with at least one processor 301, at least one memory (ROM) 302a, at least one RAM 302b, and other possible components 303 for software and hardware-assisted tasks designed to perform, including controlling access to and communications with access systems and other communication devices. At least one processor 301 is coupled to RAM 302b and ROM 302a. At least one processor 301 may be configured to execute appropriate software code 308. Software code 308 may, for example, enable implementation of one or more aspects of the present invention. Software code 308 may be stored in ROM 302a.

[0194] The processor, memory and other related control means may be provided on an appropriate circuit board and / or in a chipset. This feature is indicated by reference numeral 304. The device may optionally have a user interface such as a keypad 305, a touch-sensitive screen or touchpad, a combination thereof, or the like. Optionally, one or more of a display, a speaker and a microphone may be provided, depending on the type of device.

[0195] Some network implementations may utilize frequency bands or portions of frequency bands above 71 GHz (which may be referred to as the W-band of 75 to 110 GHz and the D-band of 110 to 170 GHz) for inter-device communications (e.g., between an access node (such as a gNB or 6G Node B) and a UE). More generally, higher frequency bands such as the 100 to 300 GHz range (referred to herein as "sub-THz") are also contemplated for some future network implementations.

[0196] However, these higher frequencies may suffer from one or more problems, such as more technical limitations, severe RF losses (which may be particularly relevant for low-cost devices), and higher attenuation / blocking / absorption in the environment.

[0197] In particular, some implementations may suffer from high phase noise (PN) with a strong non-correlated component in the wideband. That is, PN may vary significantly between symbols, and some PN tracking algorithms may be less effective in the case of non-correlated PN.

[0198] Additionally or alternatively, other issues may include medium to high carrier frequency offset (CFO) due to hardware inaccuracies and drift, and higher Doppler shift with small UE mobility even at high frequencies.

[0199] System requirements such as energy efficiency to reduce power consumption, smaller PAPR to achieve higher transmission power, and higher robustness to RF impairments may be particularly relevant at these high frequencies. In addition, it may be desirable for the system to be able to estimate and track fast time-varying parameters such as non-correlated PN, channels with high Doppler shift, etc.

[0200] Based on these challenges, single-carrier waveforms (e.g., DFT-s-OFDM or SC-FDE or other variants) may be considered for both uplink and downlink directions. Single-carrier waveforms such as SC-FDE and DFT-s-OFDM can generally be more power efficient, more robust to PN and RF impairments, and less sensitive to coarse ADC quantization than OFDM and multi-carrier waveforms. Therefore, single-carrier waveforms can enable the use of smaller power amplifier (PA) output power back-off to achieve higher EIRP (e.g., 60 dBm) to achieve higher SNR. This can be particularly beneficial given the limited transmit power and high attenuation available in some technologies.

[0201] As mentioned previously, high PN can be a particular problem at higher frequencies. Phase noise can originate from local oscillators in both upconversion and downconversion. In some OFDM-based systems (including DFT-s-OFDM), PN can affect the signal in the form of common phase error (CPE) and inter-carrier interference (ICI). CPE can be common to all subcarriers. ICI can be unique to each carrier and can depend on the subcarrier spacing.

[0202] PN compensation, such as CPE or ICI compensation, can be beneficial to improve communications with higher frequency bands.

[0203] The PN spectrum may depend on the oscillator used, and its effect may depend on the signal bandwidth (or symbol rate).PN may be modeled as a combination of correlated components (eg, Wiener-type PN) and uncorrelated components (eg, Gaussian-type PN).

[0204] The threshold for determining the dominant factor (i.e., whether the correlated component or the non-correlated component is dominant) can be approximated as: where N is the number of symbols (samples), f is the oscillator corner frequency, and T is the symbol duration.

[0205] If the above conditions are met, the PN can be appropriately modeled as Gaussian, with the non-correlated component having the dominant effect, which may be the case with larger bandwidths (e.g., for small symbol periods T). Therefore, in this case, compensation of the correlated portion may have minimal or no impact on performance. Conversely, performance can be improved by estimating and compensating for the non-correlated PN portion. Consequently, more reference signals (RS) may be required, as the non-correlated component may not be tracked (due to non-correlated random phase variations).

[0206] A reference signal may include a known modulation symbol occupying a specific fixed resource element. As used herein, the term "reference signal" may include predefined symbols known in advance by the receiver of the reference signal (such as, but not limited to, 5G NRRS, unique words (UW), KT, etc.) and / or predictable symbols that can be derived at the receiver and are not necessarily known in advance (such as, but not limited to, CP symbols, detected data symbols, etc.).

[0207] When transmitting reference signals on a communication system, according to 3GPP TS 38.211 V17.1.0 (2022-03) Section 6.1.2., using RSs for data transmission on the same REs may not be allowed. Therefore, the need for more RSs to estimate rapidly time-varying parameters may also lead to a decrease in overhead and spectrum efficiency.

[0208] Various reference signals may be used. In the following, reference is primarily made to PTRS, which may be used to estimate phase noise. In short, PTRS is a time-multiplexed signal and may have a configuration that provides a higher temporal density to account for temporal variations in PN common to all subcarriers (CPE). It should be understood that in some examples, RSs other than PTRS may be used, and some of the technical advantages or benefits provided by various aspects of the present disclosure may still be achieved to a similar or lesser extent than with PTRS.

[0209] High frequency carriers (such as, but not limited to, the 100 GHz and above frequency range) can introduce additional challenges for establishing reliable communications. These include: - Low SNR and poor coverage for edge users, especially at higher frequencies. o Phase noise estimation accuracy may need to be further enhanced to improve coverage, especially at low SNR. - Strong phase noise generated by the local oscillator at high frequencies and non-correlated PNs may dominate at wider bandwidths. o High frequency oscillators operating at high frequencies may experience high phase noise. When the system bandwidth is large compared to the oscillator corner frequency, the non-correlated part of PN may become more significant. o Frequent phase noise estimation may need to be performed to suppress the impact of especially the non-correlated part of PN. Due to the inevitable RS overhead, the device may not perform frequent estimation of PN without sacrificing spectrum efficiency. In some cases, more frequent and more accurate PN estimation capabilities may be needed to enhance coverage, and thus finer PTRS time density may be needed. Possible finer PTRS time granularity may be, for example, in terms of modulated M-ary symbols or resource elements within a DFT-s-OFDM symbol and / or SC-FDE block. High PTRS modulated symbol time density for non-correlated PNs may result in significant RS overhead and, in extreme cases, may not allow any data transmission. In some examples, symbols for phase noise estimation can be assigned to resource elements in the time domain (DFT-s-OFDM) or frequency domain (OFDM). Placed at regular intervals in the time domain within a DFT-s-OFDM symbol or in the frequency domain within an OFDM symbol, the phase noise at one or more PTRS positions can be estimated, and then the phase noise in other modulation symbol positions can be estimated using certain estimation algorithms to a certain accuracy (which may be higher when the PN is more correlated). In this case, even the phase noise on adjacent OFDM or DFT-s-OFDM symbols can be interpolated. However, at sub-THz with wider bandwidths, the non-correlated part of the PN may be higher and dominant, and therefore more frequent and ultimately independent PN estimates for each symbol may be required, with minimal interpolation over time being reliably accurate in some cases. In high phase noise, PTRS may require significantly higher temporal density, which may come at the expense of spectral efficiency and high RS overhead. ο Even with low MCS in sub-THz, this high time domain density requirement (L-ptrs = 1, and possibly with finer granularity at the modulation symbol level or resource element level with a single carrier) may be needed, because symbols without PTRS may not be able to accurately cancel the main non-correlated PN components, and when non-correlated PN is dominant, the cancellation of the correlated part has little impact on the performance.

[0210] One solution to handle non-correlated PNs may be to have several PTRSs on each symbol and a separate PN estimate for each (DFT-s)OFDM or SC-FDE block symbol. However, estimating non-correlated PNs (which may be particularly useful in cases where each modulated symbol or resource element for a single carrier is subject to extreme PNs) may result in higher RS ​​overhead and may present some additional issues, such as: - While the 5G-NR PTRS configuration can be used to reasonably estimate the (DFT-s)-OFDM symbol or SC-FDE block-level PN at lower frequencies, the PTRS density may be too low to reliably estimate the PN at the modulation symbol level (especially in low SNRs) and may be too challenging in higher frequencies for any SNR; - Some channel(s) may not have PTRS (e.g., PDCCH), and higher RS ​​may require increased allocation or overhead for the same TBS, impacting network performance; - Using a constant time density Lptrs=1 with non-correlated PN may result in high RS overhead and less SE; - Compensating for extremely high non-correlated PN using a single carrier at each moment may not allow significant data transmission; - Higher RS ​​overhead in time and frequency to enhance PN estimation accuracy may lead to sacrifice of spectral efficiency and affect the motivation of sub-THz to achieve very high data rates with wider allocation.

[0211] In summary, to address these issues, it may be beneficial for the network to perform frequent and accurate channel and RF impairment estimation, especially at low SNR, with acceptable RS overhead to enhance coverage.

[0212] PTRS with OFDM and DFT-s-OFDM can have a coarse time density Lptrs = 1 (PTRS pattern on each OFDM / DFT-s-OFDM symbol) to compensate for the high PN. However, as a result, the accuracy may be lower, especially at low SNR, and may become too challenging for sub-THz frequencies with very high non-correlated PN that changes rapidly between modulated symbol periods. In addition, higher PTRS density in the same symbol and finer PTRS time granularity (i.e., more PTRS groups and / or more time samples per PTRS group in Table 1) may result in more significant RS overhead.

[0213] RSs with SC-FDE and DFT-s-OFDM waveforms can be time-multiplexed, and thus each modulation symbol (i.e., resource element) can carry data or RSs over the entire allocated DFT-s-OFDM BW. Therefore, finer RS ​​time density per modulation symbol period may result in increased overhead.

[0214] For example, when the time density of PTRS (L_ptrs) = 1 and 3 symbols out of every 12 modulation symbols (which can be considered as an equivalent time-domain PRB) are dedicated to RS, this results in a 25% RS overhead. In addition, the estimation accuracy in the sub-THz band may be unsatisfactory, especially in the case of low RS time density and / or coarse RS time density and a small number of RSs.

[0215] RF impairments in higher frequency ranges may require more RSs and finer RS ​​granularity. Considering the above example, 6 RSs are used for every 12 modulated symbols, and L_ptrs=1 results in 50% of the symbols being used for RSs (i.e., 50% RS overhead). This results in a loss of spectral efficiency that cannot be compensated by increasing the modulation order on the data symbols, as the system becomes more susceptible to phase noise and may suffer from low SNR.

[0216] In summary, reference signals can create a trade-off between spectral efficiency and estimation quality. Using a higher number of RSs with resource element granularity for better estimation can result in fewer resource elements being used for data transmission and, therefore, a less efficient system. Higher frequency bands may require more frequent estimation, exacerbating this problem.

[0217] Some systems may not provide frequent enough estimations to handle non-correlated PNs without greatly sacrificing spectral efficiency. In addition, spectral efficiency may be further reduced when finer resource element time density is used in single-carrier waveforms. Therefore, a coarse time density equal to 1 (possible time density in 5G-NR for PTRS: L-ptrs = 1 at (DFT-s)OFDM or SC-FDE blocks) is possible for any waveform and may result in RS overhead. However, for all waveforms, a finer time density granularity of = 1 at each resource element may not be possible at all, because a time slot with all RSs means no data transmission and zero SE.

[0218] While one can enhance the estimation accuracy by increasing the number of RSs within the same slot or even the same (DFT-s) OFDM symbol or SC-FDE block by using finer RS ​​temporal density at the resource element level, especially at the low SNRs common in sub-THz, this may degrade the spectral efficiency (SE) of all waveforms.

[0219] Some examples may address one or more of these issues. Some examples may provide systems, methods, and apparatus that enable adaptation to reference signals and finer RS ​​time and frequency density capabilities. Some examples may provide one or more of the following benefits: - Allowing higher and finer temporal density at the resource element level for RS, particularly for SC-FDE and 5G-NR waveforms; - Reduce / avoid high RS overhead and impact on SE while maintaining / enhancing estimation accuracy; - Allows non-correlated PN estimation on all symbols and at a finer granularity to achieve better accuracy when transmitting data; - Enhance PN estimation accuracy while reducing RS overhead; - provide better estimation accuracy of dominant non-correlated PNs, especially at low SNRs; ​​and - Allow PN compensation on physical channels, component carriers and / or MIMO layers without any PTRS.

[0220] As mentioned previously, some examples may involve PTRS. Although different RSs may be employed, PTRS may be particularly useful for higher frequency bands with high non-correlated PN (eg, sub-THz).

[0221] For DFT-s-OFDM, PTRS can be defined as shown in Table 1 below. Scheduling bandwidth Number of PTRS groups Number of samples per PTRS group <![CDATA[N RB0 ≤N RB <N RB1 ]]> 2 2 <![CDATA[N RB1 ≤N RB <N RB2 ]]> 2 4 <![CDATA[N RB2 ≤N RB <N RB3 ]]> 4 2 <![CDATA[N RB3 ≤N RB <N RB4 ]]> 4 4 <![CDATA[N RB4 ≤N RB ]]> 8 4 Table 1: Example PTRS group mode defined in 3GPP TS 38.214

[0222] The PTRS pattern in each symbol may depend on a PRB allocation threshold, which is configurable, for example, by using the sampleDensity field. The PTRS time domain density (at OFDM symbol level) is configurable using the timeDensity-TransformPrecoding field.

[0223] For DFT-s-OFDM, when the timeDensity-TransformPrecoding field does not exist, the UE can assume that the time density is 1.

[0224] FIG. 4 shows an example of how PTRS may be allocated to DFT-s-OFDM.

[0225] exist Figure 4a In FIG, an example of a single resource block allocation is shown, where the DFTs OFDM symbol has two sets of two PTRS 400, and the time-domain symbol level density (L_ptrs) is 2 (i.e., the PTRS pattern is repeated in every second equivalent OFDM symbol). It should be understood that the time-domain symbol level density can be a different number, such as 1 or 4. Also shown is the DM-RS symbol period 402.

[0226] The above-mentioned timeDensity and timeDensity-TransformPrecoding fields may be similar and may refer to the coarse time density at the equivalent OFDM symbol level (regardless of the finer density or number of PTRS within the equivalent OFDM symbol for different patterns between waveforms). One of these coarse time density parameters may be used depending on the configured waveform.

[0227] The fine density of the PTRS group can be defined within the equivalent OFDM symbol period carrying the PTRS. The fine density can depend on the actual PRB allocation (the total number of allocated REs) and Table 1, for example Figure 4b The fine density of the PTRS group can be understood as corresponding to Figure 4b The distance between REs of the PTRS in , which illustrates a single DFT-OFDM symbol using the configuration corresponding to the first row in Table 1, i.e., two groups with two samples each.

[0228] For OFDM, the PTRS time density (i.e., at the OFDM symbol level) can be based on the MCS. These values ​​can be configurable. The PTRS frequency density (i.e., REs in each OFDM symbol) can be based on the PRB allocation threshold. The threshold can be configurable. Tables 2 and 3 below show some example configurations. In some examples, when the timeDensity field is not present in CP-OFDM, the UE can assume a time density of 1. Scheduled MCS <![CDATA[Time density (L PTRS )]]> <![CDATA[I MCS <ptrs-MCS1]]> PTRS does not exist <![CDATA[ptrs-MCS1≤I MCS <ptrs-MCS2]]> 4 <![CDATA[ptrs-MCS2≤I MCS <ptrs-MCS3]]> 2 <![CDATA[ptrs-MCS3≤I MCS <ptrs-MCS4]]> 1 Table 2: Example time density of PTRS as a function of scheduled MCS Scheduled bandwidth <![CDATA[Frequency density (K PTRS )]]> <![CDATA[N RB <N RB0 ]]> PTRS does not exist <![CDATA[N RB0 ≤N RB <N RB1 ]]> 2 <![CDATA[N RB1 ≤N RB ]]> 4 Table 3: Example frequency density of PTRS as a function of scheduled bandwidth

[0229] Referring to FIG. 6 , a method according to some examples is shown.

[0230] Reference Figure 6a and Figure 6b , example methods for performing PN estimation and / or compensation at an access node are shown. Figure 6a An example method performed at a UE is shown, and Figure 6b An example method performed at an access node is shown.

[0231] At 600, the method includes sending assistance information to an access node, the assistance information including an indication of phase noise characteristics across a plurality of communication resources for use in performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the access node.

[0232] At 602, the method includes receiving one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations from an access node.

[0233] At 604, the method includes sending a signal to an access node based on the one or more indications, the signal including at least a portion of the plurality of communication resources.

[0234] At 606, a method includes receiving assistance information from a user equipment, the assistance information including an indication of phase noise characteristics across a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at an access node.

[0235] At 608, the method includes sending one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations to the user equipment.

[0236] At 610, the method includes receiving a signal from a user equipment based on the one or more indications, the signal including at least a portion of a plurality of communication resources.

[0237] At 612, the method includes performing joint phase noise estimation and / or compensation based on the received signal and the received assistance information.

[0238] Reference Figure 6c and Figure 6d , an example method of performing PN estimation and / or compensation at a UE is shown. Figure 6c An example method performed at a UE is shown, and Figure 6d An example method performed at an access node is shown.

[0239] At 614, a method includes sending assistance information including an indication of phase noise characteristics across a plurality of communication resources to an access node for use in performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at a user equipment.

[0240] At 616, the method includes receiving one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations from the access node.

[0241] At 618, the method includes receiving a signal from the access node based on the one or more indications, the signal including at least a portion of the plurality of communication resources.

[0242] At 620 , the method includes performing joint phase noise estimation and / or compensation based on the received signal and the received one or more indications.

[0243] At 622, a method includes receiving assistance information from a user equipment, the assistance information including an indication of phase noise characteristics across a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the user equipment.

[0244] At 624, the method includes sending one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations to the user equipment.

[0245] At 626, the method includes sending a signal to the user equipment based on the one or more indications, the signal including at least a portion of the plurality of communication resources.

[0246] In some examples, if the UE has a reconfigurable architecture, the access node can use one or more indications to require the UE to maintain a common LO for the resources indicated in the previous step and avoid actions that result in phase discontinuity. One or more signal configurations can be used to configure the signals transmitted on the multiple communication resources. The received indications can adapt the Tx UL signal and allow for joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the access node.

[0247] Some examples may utilize signal (e.g., reference signal) bundling on multiple communication resources. Signal bundling may include using one or more carriers, physical channels, and / or MIMO layers to transmit signal symbols with the same or different symbol periods. Some examples may use multiple carriers, physical channels, and / or MIMO layers to transmit signal symbols with the same or different symbol periods, where the signals pass through the same tx / rx oscillator. This may allow for finer signal symbol time density at resource elements and less increased overhead. This may allow PN to be estimated in one location (e.g., MIMO layer, PDSCH, CC, symbol, etc.) and used in another location (e.g., another layer, PDCCH, CC, symbol, etc.) without (multiple) signal symbols. In some examples, the estimation may be performed based on the dominant component of the PN (i.e., correlated or non-correlated component).

[0248] A given number of signal symbols can be mapped, divided, shared, or optimized across multiple component carriers (CCs), physical channels such as PDSCH / PDCCH, tiles, symbols, slots, and / or MIMO layers, as long as they go through the same oscillator.

[0249] Signal bundling on the same symbol slot can help estimate and address non-correlated PNs.In some examples, signal bundling can be used with correlated PNs over multiple symbols / slots.

[0250] In some examples, assuming that the signals pass through the same Tx / Rx oscillator, when different signals are available / allocatable at the same / different modulation symbol periods and / or OFDM symbol periods, signal bundling can be performed on at least some of the available physical channels, component carriers, and / or MIMO layers. Thus, assuming that a common oscillator is used, some examples can be used when using different physical channels between the same access node and UE, aggregated channels using the same oscillator, and / or different MIMO layers.

[0251] Some examples may be adapted to allocate signals and symbol / slot allocations across physical channels, component carriers, and / or MIMO layers sharing the same Tx / Rx oscillator to better serve non-correlated PN estimation and / or correlated PN estimation.

[0252] For example, one possible allocation could be alternating signals between symbols on different physical channels, component carriers and / or MIMO layers, e.g. Figure 5 As shown, the dashed box indicates signal (e.g., PTRS) symbol transmission. Figure 5 The example patterns shown in can be viewed as modulation symbols (REs) at a roughly equivalent OFDM symbol period and even at a finer level. Figure 5 The example of shows one possible mode, but it should be understood that many other modes are possible and fall within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0253] In some examples, when multiple physical channels or carriers or MIMO layers are multiplexed, the patterns may be mapped or aggregated such that (as an example) PN is estimated in one channel, carrier, layer, etc. and PN is used in another channel, carrier, layer, etc. Additionally or alternatively, PN estimation may be increased by increasing the number of bundled signals with the same overhead.

[0254] In some examples, for relevant PN parts, signals can be distributed on overlapping physical channels, component carriers, and / or MIMO layers. This may result in higher accuracy using more bundled signals without high PN estimation frequencies. This may result in less Rx average computational complexity.

[0255] In some examples, for the non-correlated PN portion, the signal may be distributed in certain pattern(s) / allocation(s) to cover more time instances for more frequent estimation.

[0256] These two strategies can be executed separately or simultaneously with large amounts of resources through the same oscillator. This can achieve more accurate and frequent PN estimation.

[0257] Using PTRS at the same symbol period on other channels / carriers and / or MIMO layers may be particularly beneficial in situations where there is currently no PTRS allocation in the transmission (such as but not limited to in the PDCCH) or where the number of PTRS per symbol is insufficient for accurate PN estimation.

[0258] In some examples, signal bundling can be applied to different transmission schemes, such as, but not limited to, CP-OFDM, DFT-s-OFDM, SC-FDE, and any other waveform in UL and / or DL. In some examples, PTRS bundling on physical channels, component carriers, and / or MIMO layers in the same symbol or time slot, or even in different time slots, can also be applied together with other RSs (e.g., PRSs, etc.) to enhance estimation accuracy and / or coverage. Therefore, it should be understood that in the context of the examples of the present disclosure, PTRS can be replaced by another RS.

[0259] Figure 7 An example signal bundling scheme is shown. Figure 7 The example can be applied to CP-OFDM, and can also be applied to DFTS-OFDM and SC-FDE, where each signal occupies all frequencies. Figure 7 In the example of , resource elements containing diagonal lines may represent symbol periods in which signals are transmitted, and resource elements containing vertical lines may represent symbol periods in which DM-RSs are transmitted.

[0260] It should be noted that although Figure 7 Examples are shown for PRBs of CCs of the same / different physical channels or different frequencies over the same oscillator, but in some examples the bundled signals may also be on the same frequency MIMO layer.

[0261] In some examples, Tx / Rx can perform appropriate signal bundling on specific UE channels / carriers / layers. The signaling exchanges used to establish signal bundling are described in more detail later. In some examples, signal bundling can be performed based on PN class or characteristics (e.g., low, medium, or high total PN, correlated / non-correlated PN, dominant correlated / non-correlated PN (and any other definition using a percentage of dominant), class based on a more accurate PN model (indication of the slope of different correlation parts in the PN PSD, etc.), PN variance, etc.). Signal allocation can be jointly configured to allow optimal and appropriate bundling.

[0262] The same OFDM symbol period and / or modulated symbol period can be used to estimate PN or a portion of PN (e.g., a correlated portion or a non-correlated portion) using a signal from the same oscillator. Figure 7As shown, the signal symbols included in the beams 700a and / or 700b may be used to estimate the uncorrelated PN portion.

[0263] exist Figure 7 In the example of FIG, RE block 704 utilizes a different subcarrier spacing (SCS) than other blocks. Signal bundling can still be performed using other RE blocks on another bandwidth portion (e.g., as shown in 700b) with a different SCS, as long as they pass through the same local oscillator.

[0264] Additionally, signals from the same oscillator at different symbols / time slots can be used to estimate the relevant PN portion, e.g. Figure 7 702a and / or 702b.

[0265] That is, in some examples, (multiple) signal symbols transmitted at multiple symbol periods using at least one of multiple channels, component carriers and / or MIMO layers can be used to estimate the relevant part of the PN, and / or signal symbols transmitted at the same symbol period using at least two of the multiple channels / component carriers / MIMO layers can be used to estimate the non-correlated part of the PN.

[0266] In some examples, a receiver (eg, an access node) can perform signal bundling based on the transmitter PN class. The receiver can determine the transmitter PN class to perform appropriate bundling configuration.

[0267] In some examples, the receiver can determine the transmitter capacity and on which resources signal bundling is possible. If the receiver does not know the PN characteristics and which signals can be bundled according to the transmitter implementation, then a simple signal bundling assumption at the Rx can degrade PN estimation and coverage.

[0268] For example, since the transmitter may not have a predefined hardware implementation and different oscillator / PLL architectures with MIMO may be possible (e.g., centralized oscillator for all antennas, distributed oscillators (local oscillators for each antenna), or hybrid architectures), any assumptions about signal bundling over multiple MIMO layers without indication may significantly degrade coverage.

[0269] In some examples, the receiver may perform joint signal allocation across physical channels, component carriers, and / or MIMO layers to provide one or more of the following: Higher joint time density of bundled signals using the same total signal overhead. For example, bundling signals on two different physical channels, component carriers, and / or MIMO layers (transmitted on overlapping time resources) with alternating signals can allow for a time density equal to 2 and a joint time density equal to 1. - Lower signal overhead with similar PN estimation accuracy by reducing the temporal density of each time slot and alternating signals between symbols on different physical channels, component carriers and / or MIMO layers. - Better estimation accuracy especially at low SNR by using more bundled signals with correlated PN and / or uncorrelated PN.

[0270] In some examples, signaling exchanges may be implemented to enable signal bundling in the UL / DL and adapt joint signal allocation across different physical channels, component carriers, and / or MIMO layers, or to indicate available signals for bundling when necessary. In the case of a bundled configuration, the transmitter and receiver may operate the bundled configuration using the same oscillator.

[0271] refer to Figure 8 , which shows a signaling exchange according to some examples. Figure 8 In the example, the joint PN estimation and / or compensation is performed by the access node.

[0272] At 800, the access node may request assistance information from the UE.

[0273] For example, the access node may request the UE to report / indicate UE capabilities for signal bundling and / or PN characteristics. The request may include an assistance reporting request.

[0274] In some examples, the UE capability may be per physical channel, component carrier, MIMO layer, block, symbol, time slot, etc. For example, a UE may have the capability to bundle signals in the same / different time / frequency resources rather than on different layers because a specific UE implementation may use a distributed oscillator in MIMO.

[0275] In some examples, the PN characteristics can be about the dominant PN type (e.g., low, medium or high total PN, correlated / non-correlated PN, dominant correlated / non-correlated PN (and any other definition using a dominant percentage), a category based on a more accurate PN model (the slope of different correlation parts indicates 1 degree, 2 degrees, ..., PN variance, etc.)) or a detailed PN structure according to its implementation (e.g., the variance or level of correlated PN and / or non-correlated PN) or a time or frequency correlation function. For example, there can be one or more bits indicating which type of PN is dominant or the percentage of correlated / non-correlated PN from the UE oscillator.

[0276] At 802, the UE may send assistance information to an access node.

[0277] For example, the UE may report / indicate its PN characteristics and / or capabilities and / or other auxiliary information (eg, indicating the implementation architecture of entities using the common oscillator) to the access node. This may be in response to the request from the access node at 800 .

[0278] Thus, the access node may determine the capabilities of the UE with respect to signal bundling for performing joint PN estimation and / or compensation and / or PN characterization.

[0279] PN characteristics may include at least one of the following: a. Explicit PN details: e.g., information related to the local oscillator (LO), such as PN class (correlated / uncorrelated / hybrid / etc.), PN PSD, PN severity (low, medium, high), hardware architecture implementation (common / distributed / hybrid LO architecture), analog or digital signal processing that affects PN on the received signal; and / or b. Implicit PN information is conveyed directly within the preferred signal configuration and / or indication about the resources that may be considered for joint PN estimation / compensation by the access node.

[0280] In some examples, the UE may directly request / indicate a specific signal configuration based on PN characteristics and capabilities with / without prior request by the access node.

[0281] For example, the UE may request the access node to enable signal bundling and implicitly / explicitly indicate the appropriate signal configuration (eg, implicitly in the PRACH preamble).

[0282] The signal configuration may include one or more of the following: signal pattern, time / frequency / spatial density / pattern, dimensions of time / frequency / spatial overlap or offset, distribution within and across different physical channels, component carriers, and / or MIMO layers, where (multiple) signals pass through the same oscillator and bundling is possible. The signal configuration may be different across different physical channels, component carriers, and / or MIMO layers (e.g., higher density in one physical channel, component carrier, and / or MIMO layer than in other physical channels, component carriers, and / or MIMO layers, signal pattern changes, some physical channel(s), component carrier(s), and / or MIMO layers have no signal, etc.).

[0283] Some signal configurations may be associated with certain configurations (MCS, CBW, frequency allocation, carrier frequency, etc.) and / or PN characteristics.

[0284] At 804, the access node sends one or more indications of multiple communication resources (e.g., (multiple) physical channels, (multiple) carrier components and / or (multiple) MIMO layers, etc.) to the UE, which can be used for signal bundling, and joint PN estimation and / or compensation, and / or one or more signal configurations.

[0285] The one or more indications may include information indicating one or more of the following: Certain signal configurations on single and / or multiple physical channels, component carriers, time slots, and / or MIMO layers; A certain signal configuration and an indication of which physical channels, component carriers, time slots and / or MIMO layers can be used for joint PN estimation; and / or • Confirmation of using the signal configuration requested by the UE when reported / indicated to the access node in previous signaling, e.g., at 802.

[0286] In some examples, the access node may configure signal bundling and signal(s) for the same / different physical channels, component carriers, and / or MIMO layers based on PN variation estimates for previous transmissions from the same UE.

[0287] In some examples, the access node may evaluate the appropriate signal configuration based on the received assistance information and the scheduled transmission (SCS, CBW, carrier frequency, MCS, etc.).

[0288] One or more signal configurations may be used for a single physical channel, component carrier, and / or MIMO layer, and / or for multiple physical channels, component carriers, and / or MIMO layers.

[0289] The signal configuration can be based on the received reports and / or the access node's assessment of the overall PN characteristics (PN from the Tx and Rx oscillators). This configuration can be sent to the UE, for example, via DCI (e.g., for RS fast adaptation using MCS), MAC signaling, or higher layer (RRC) signaling to adjust its UL transmission or provide an updated joint signal allocation in the DL channel.

[0290] In some examples, one or more indications of multiple communication resources to consider for joint PN estimation may implicitly indicate a particular pattern / rule to use for signal configuration on a group or subgroup of these resources. For example, there may be an RRC configuration and / or hard-coded table / rules for signal configuration that will be selected based on receiving one or more indications of multiple communication resources.

[0291] In some examples, the one or more indications may include one or more indications of multiple communication resources for more than one group / subgroup. For example, two different groups / sets of communication resources may be indicated, which may be used for joint PN estimation and / or compensation, respectively.

[0292] In some examples, the access node may schedule multiple communication resources based on one or more indications.

[0293] At 806, the UE sends one or more signals to the access node according to the signal configuration.

[0294] For example, the UE may perform scheduled uplink transmission according to the signal configuration.

[0295] At 808 , the access node performs joint PN estimation and / or compensation based on the signaling received from the UE at 806 .

[0296] For example, the access node may perform a joint PN estimation based on the received signal(s) and the signal configuration, and subsequently compensate for the PN based on the joint PN estimation.

[0297] PN compensation may be performed in any suitable manner, such as but not limited to: - simple estimator(s) by multiplying the received signal(s) with the conjugate of their corresponding known signal and then averaging these estimates over the bundled set of signal(s); - Least Squares Estimator(s) (LSE) using the MMSE of the vector(s) of the bundled signal set(s); - Extended Kalman filter etc. for the relevant PN part; - Iterative approaches based on the above technologies or other AI / neural network based solutions;

[0298] Depending on the signal configuration, these techniques may use some interpolation / prediction to some extent, which may also be based on different principles.

[0299] Thus, while the implementation of PN compensation may vary, examples of the present disclosure may enable information exchange between UEs / access nodes of PN estimators / compensators (e.g., creating (sub)element groups based at least on the configuration / indications to be used in independent / joint PN estimation, selecting the algorithm itself for estimation or prediction, control / supervision algorithms, etc.).

[0300] At 810, the access node may send feedback regarding the PN compensation accuracy to the UE. In some examples, the UE may adapt future configurations accordingly based on the feedback (eg, may reduce / increase signal overhead or use a different mode, etc.).

[0301] For example, the UE may determine a reconfiguration for a signal comprising multiple resources based on the feedback. The reconfiguration may be determined based on one or more preconfigured configurations or predefined condition sets shared by the UE and the access node. As an illustrative example, if the feedback indicates low accuracy, the preconfigured configurations or predefined conditions may include increasing the signal density (e.g., from X to Y, or from X to 2X, etc.), or changing the signal mode from mode A to mode B, etc.

[0302] refer to Figure 9 , which shows a signaling exchange according to some examples. Figure 9 In the example, the joint PN estimation and / or compensation is performed by the UE.

[0303] At 900, the access node may request assistance information from the UE. The assistance information may be as described above with respect to Figure 8 described.

[0304] At 902, the UE may send assistance information to the access node. The assistance information may be as described above with respect to Figure 8 described.

[0305] At 904, the access node sends one or more indications of multiple communication resources (e.g., physical channel(s), carrier component(s), and / or MIMO layer(s), etc.) to the UE, which may be used for signal bundling and joint PN estimation and / or compensation, and / or one or more signal configurations. The one or more indications may be as described above with respect to Figure 8 described.

[0306] At 906, the access node sends a signal to the UE based on the one or more indications, the signal including a plurality of communication resources.

[0307] For example, the access node may perform scheduled downlink transmissions according to the signal configuration.

[0308] At 908, the UE performs joint phase noise estimation and / or compensation based on the received signal(s) and the received one or more indications.

[0309] For example, the UE may perform a joint PN estimation based on the received signal and the signal configuration, and subsequently compensate the PN based on the joint PN estimation. PN compensation may be as described above with respect to Figure 8 is executed as described.

[0310] At 910, the UE may send feedback regarding the PN compensation accuracy to the access node. In some examples, the access node may adapt future configurations accordingly based on the feedback (eg, may reduce / increase signal overhead or use a different mode, etc.).

[0311] In some examples, the signal may include a reference signal, such as a PTRS. However, in some examples, the signal beam may be a signal without a reference signal or a PTRS. For example, beaming may be performed using any reference signal and / or CP / KT / UW in the signal for joint PN estimation / compensation; or using detected data symbols from other resources to estimate the PN of the next resource using sequential decoding, or to estimate the PN of all resources in the next iteration using iterative decoding. In some examples, AI / ML-based methods may take received signals on multiple resources and beam them together to directly estimate the PN or directly recover the Rx data.

[0312] In some of the foregoing examples, reference is made to a gNB. However, it will be appreciated that in other examples, any suitable access node may be used in place of a gNB.

[0313] In some examples, signals can be bundled / distributed at the beginning of a time slot or in the first time slot(s) with each group of time slot transmissions or transmission cycles. That is, using time densities L=1, L=2, L=4, signals may not appear regularly but can be considered "front-loaded." In such examples, the overhead of the first symbol can be increased, but the overhead of the entire time slot can remain the same.

[0314] In some examples, signals may be bundled on different physical channels. For example, when PDSCH and PDCCH are multiplexed in the same symbol, the signal pattern on the symbol may be different compared to the case without multiplexing. PDCCH may not support some signals (such as PTRS), but by bundling PDCCH with another channel (such as PDSCH) that supports those signals (e.g., PTRS), joint PN compensation can be performed for PDCCH regardless of whether PDCCH and other channels are multiplexed in the same symbol (depending on the indicated PN characteristics, correlated / non-correlated PN, etc.). The signal pattern can be optimized only on another channel (e.g., PDSCH), or if PDCCH is configured to carry a signal, it can be optimized for PDCCH. To further illustrate, in the example of K=4 (frequency density) for PDSCH, in some examples of the present disclosure, this K=4 can be calculated on PDSCH+PDCCH (not only PDSCH).

[0315] In other words, the signal pattern of the PDCCH may depend on the signal pattern of the PDSCH, and vice versa.Thus, the signal pattern may depend on the combination of entities being transmitted simultaneously, such as channel / component carrier / MIMO layer, etc.

[0316] In some examples, if the RSs pass through the same (multiple) oscillators, the signals can be bundled on different MIMO layers with non-correlated PNs. That is, for better PN estimation, signal bundling can be performed using the same symbols on different layers. The signals can also be bundled to the layer with the best SNR, or based on the SNR, the signals can be weighted according to the estimated reliability, such as the layer with the highest eigenvalue. In some examples, bundling on different layers can be subject to specific antenna ports.

[0317] In some examples, when the RS locations and necessary information are shared by the access node with other nearby UEs, or follow any predetermined pattern with some (multiple) fixed signal locations, the UE can perform signal bundling for joint PN estimation / compensation on other DL channels for known or configured such use cases for the UEs involved.

[0318] In some examples, signal bundling and signal co-optimization can be performed on communication UL and DL resources in a full-duplex scenario.

[0319] Some examples can enhance PN estimation accuracy and frequency, and can do so with the same or less signal overhead.Some examples can avoid erroneous estimates when using signals on different symbols with non-correlated dominant PN parts.

[0320] In some examples, the accuracy of PN estimation can be improved by bundling appropriate signals on indicated resources based on received information. This can result in efficient use of available signals without additional overhead, and may even reduce overhead. Signal bundling can increase the number of signal symbols in the joint PN estimate and enable PN compensation in signals without a reference signal, where PN was not initially compensated.

[0321] In some examples, frequent PN estimation can be achieved by signal bundling on the indicated resources when signal patterns are distributed or co-optimized across resources to cover more time instances with the same or less overhead compared to a baseline.

[0322] For example, a first resource may have a signal starting in the first symbol at a time density of equivalent OFDM symbol level = 2 (i.e., PTRS at symbols 1, 3, 7, 9, 11, 13), while a second resource may have a signal starting in the second symbol at the same time density (i.e., PTRS at symbols 2, 4, 8, 10, 12, 14). By bundling the signals on these two resources, PN can be estimated more frequently on all symbols similar to time density = 1 but with half the overhead.

[0323] In some examples, using signal bundling on more resources can allow signal overhead to be further reduced. Even when compared to the signal time density at level 1 of an equivalent OFDM symbol for a single resource in a conventional system, signal bundling on N resources can increase the number of signals by a factor of N and improve estimation accuracy.

[0324] In some examples, the maximum frequency of PN estimation can be enhanced to provide finer granularity per modulation symbol period—for example, by allocating communication resources with signals primarily for non-correlated PNs with finer granularity, and data being transmitted on other communication resources (for example, all REs or modulation symbols can be allocated with PTRS in 1 layer or CC, and data can be transmitted on other communication resources, etc.). Similar to the above in conjunction with Figure 5 Some of the alternatives discussed are also possible at a finer granularity).

[0325] When the estimation accuracy using bundled RSs is good enough, some examples may reduce the overhead of signal multiplexing on one or more physical channels, component carriers, and / or MIMO layers.

[0326] Some examples may compensate for PN on a signal without a reference signal when received through at least another resource of the same oscillator comprising the signal.

[0327] For example, PN compensation of PTRS without any injection into PDCCH or PUCCH may be achieved by bundling PTRS on other resources that are transmitted and received by the same oscillator.

[0328] Some examples may adjust the scheduled transmissions (e.g., TDRA, FDRA, etc.) based on PN characteristics. For example, an access node may schedule PDCCH without PTRS and PDSCH with PTRS at overlapping times on different resources to compensate for non-correlated PNs in the PDCCH. For example, Figure 10 A scheme in which PDCCH and PDSCH are transmitted using two carriers is shown. PTRS may be scheduled on PDSCH, and PTRS bundling may be performed, for example, according to bundling 1000 to estimate correlated PN and / or bundling 1002 to estimate uncorrelated PN.

[0329] Some examples may allow the bundled signal to have higher time density and finer time density granularity at the modulated symbol period through joint signal allocation on different physical channels, component carriers and / or MIMO layers.

[0330] Due to the possibility of lower signal overhead with signal bundling, some examples can allow for lower data coding rates while maintaining / improving estimation accuracy. By reducing signal overhead, more REs can be used to carry bits, which can be used to use a lower data coding rate (e.g., a lower MCS with a lower coding rate R) while maintaining similar data throughput. Alternatively, when estimation accuracy is sufficient, throughput can be increased after reducing signal overhead (e.g., by using a higher MCS or providing more REs to carry more data bits with the same MCS).

[0331] In some examples, one or more devices may be provided to perform one or more of the above steps.

[0332] In some examples, a user device may include components for: sending auxiliary information to an access node, the auxiliary information including an indication of phase noise characteristics on multiple communication resources for performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the access node; receiving one or more indications of multiple communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations from the access node; and based on the one or more indications, sending a signal to the access node, the signal including at least a portion of the multiple communication resources.

[0333] In some examples, a user device may include at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the user device to at least: send auxiliary information to an access node, the auxiliary information including an indication of phase noise characteristics on multiple communication resources for performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the access node; receive one or more indications of multiple communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations from the access node; and, based on the one or more indications, send a signal to the access node, the signal including at least a portion of the multiple communication resources.

[0334] In some examples, an access node may include components for: receiving auxiliary information from a user device, the auxiliary information including specific indications of phase noise on multiple communication resources for performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the access node; sending one or more indications of multiple communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations to the user device; based on the one or more indications, receiving a signal from the user device, the signal including at least a portion of the multiple communication resources; and performing joint phase noise estimation and / or compensation based on the received signal and the received auxiliary information.

[0335] In some examples, an access node may include at least one processor and at least one memory, the at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the access node to perform at least the following operations: receive auxiliary information from a user device, the auxiliary information including an indication of phase noise characteristics on multiple communication resources for performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the access node; send one or more indications of multiple communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations to the user device; based on the one or more indications, receive a signal from the user device, the signal including at least a portion of the multiple communication resources; and perform joint phase noise estimation and / or compensation based on the received signal and the received auxiliary information.

[0336] In some examples, a user device may include components for: sending auxiliary information to an access node, the auxiliary information including auxiliary information indicating phase noise characteristics on multiple communication resources for performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the user device; receiving one or more indications of multiple communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations from the access node; based on the one or more indications, receiving a signal from the access node, the signal including at least a portion of the multiple communication resources; and performing joint phase noise estimation and / or compensation based on the received signal and the received one or more indications.

[0337] In some examples, a user device may include at least one processor and at least one memory, the at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the user device to at least: send auxiliary information to an access node, the auxiliary information including an indication of phase noise characteristics on multiple communication resources for performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the user device; receive one or more indications of multiple communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations from the access node; based on the one or more indications, receive a signal from the access node, the signal including at least a portion of the multiple communication resources; and perform joint phase noise estimation and / or compensation based on the received signal and the received one or more indications.

[0338] In some examples, an access node may include components for performing the following operations: receiving auxiliary information from a user device, the auxiliary information including an indication of phase noise characteristics on multiple communication resources for performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the user device; sending one or more indications of multiple communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations to the user device; and based on the one or more indications, sending a signal to the user device, the signal including at least a portion of the multiple communication resources.

[0339] In some examples, an access node may include at least one processor and at least one memory, the at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the access node to perform at least the following operations: receive auxiliary information from a user device, the auxiliary information including an indication of phase noise characteristics on multiple communication resources for performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the user device; send one or more indications of multiple communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations to the user device; and based on the one or more indications, send a signal to the user device, the signal including at least a portion of the multiple communication resources.

[0340] It should be understood that the apparatus may include or be coupled to other units or modules, such as radio components or radio heads, used in or for transmission and / or reception. Although the apparatus has been described as one entity, the different modules and memories may be implemented in one or more physical or logical entities.

[0341] Note that while some embodiments have been described with respect to 5G networks, similar principles can be applied with respect to other networks and communication systems. Thus, while certain embodiments have been described above by way of example with reference to certain example architectures for wireless networks, technologies, and standards, the embodiments can be applied to any other suitable form of communication system in addition to the communication systems shown and described herein.

[0342] It is also noted herein that while the above describes example embodiments, there are several variations and modifications which may be made to the disclosed solution without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[0343] As used herein, “at least one of: ” and “at least one of ” and similar expressions, where a list of two or more elements is joined by “and” or “or”, mean at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all of the elements.

[0344] For the purposes of this disclosure, the phrases "at least one of A or B," "at least one of A and B," "A and / or B" mean (A), (B), or (A and B). For the purposes of this disclosure, the phrases "A or B" and "A and / or B" mean (A), (B), or (A and B). For the purposes of this disclosure, the phrases "A, B, and / or C" mean (A), (B), (C), (A and B), (A and C), (B and C), or (A, B, and C).

[0345] In general, various embodiments may be implemented in hardware or dedicated circuitry, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software that may be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device, but the disclosure is not limited thereto. Although various aspects of the present disclosure may be illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other graphical representation, it is well understood that the blocks, devices, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be implemented as non-limiting examples in hardware, software, firmware, dedicated circuitry or logic, general-purpose hardware or a controller or other computing device, or some combination thereof.

[0346] As used in this application, the term "circuitry" may refer to one or more or all of the following: (a) hardware circuit implementation only (such as implementation only in analog implementation and / or digital circuitry) and (b) a combination of hardware circuitry and software, such as (if applicable): (i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuits and software / firmware; and (ii) any portion of hardware processor(s) (including digital signal processor(s)), software and memory(s) with software working together to enable a device such as a mobile phone or server to perform various functions; and (c) hardware circuit(s) and / or processor(s), such as microprocessor(s) or portion(s) of microprocessor(s), that require software (e.g., firmware) to operate, but where the software may not be present when not required for operation.

[0347] This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of the term in this application, including any claims. As another example, as used in this application, the term "circuitry" also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or a portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware. The term "circuitry" also covers, for example and if applicable to the elements of a particular claim, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in a server, cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

[0348] The embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by computer software that can be executed by a data processor of a mobile device, such as in a processor entity, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. Computer software or programs (also referred to as program products, including software routines, applets and / or macros) can be stored in a data storage medium readable by any device, and they include program instructions for performing specific tasks. A computer program product may include one or more computer executable components that are configured to perform an embodiment when the program is running. One or more computer executable components may be at least one software code or a portion thereof.

[0349] Furthermore, in this regard, it should be noted that any block of the logic flow as in the accompanying drawings may represent program steps, or interconnected logic circuits, blocks and functions, or a combination of program steps and logic circuits, blocks and functions. The software may be stored on physical media such as memory chips or memory blocks implemented within a processor, magnetic media such as hard disks or floppy disks, and optical media such as DVDs and their data variants, CDs. Physical media are non-transitory media.

[0350] The term "non-transitory" as used herein is a limitation on the medium itself (ie, tangible, not a signal), not on data storage persistence (eg, RAM versus ROM).

[0351] The memory may be of any type suitable for the local technical environment and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor-based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory, and removable memory. As non-limiting examples, the data processor may be of any type suitable for the local technical environment and may include one or more of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an FPGA, a gate-level circuit, and a processor based on a multi-core processor architecture.

[0352] Embodiments of the present disclosure can be practiced in various components such as integrated circuit modules. The design of integrated circuits is a highly automated process. Complex and powerful software tools are available to convert logic level designs into semiconductor circuit designs that can be directly etched and formed on semiconductor substrates.

[0353] The scope of protection sought by various embodiments of the present disclosure is set out in the independent claims. Embodiments and features described in this specification that do not fall within the scope of the independent claims (if any) should be interpreted as examples that help understand the various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0354] The foregoing description has provided by way of non-limiting examples a complete and informative description of the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. However, various modifications and adaptations may become apparent to those skilled in the relevant art in view of the foregoing description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the appended claims. Nevertheless, all such and similar modifications of the teachings of this disclosure will still fall within the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims. Indeed, there may be further embodiments comprising a combination of one or more embodiments with any of the other embodiments previously discussed.

Claims

1. A user equipment comprising components for performing the following operations: sending assistance information to an access node, the assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristics on a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the access node; receiving one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations from the access node; as well as Based on the one or more indications, a signal is sent to the access node, the signal including at least a portion of the plurality of communication resources.

2. The user equipment according to claim 1, wherein the component is further configured to: receiving feedback information from the access node, the feedback information being based on a result of the joint estimation and / or compensation of the phase noise at the access node; determining, based on the feedback information, a reconfiguration for the signal according to one or more preconfigured configurations or a predefined set of conditions shared by the user equipment and the access node; as well as Based on the determined reconfiguration, the plurality of communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations are adapted for future joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise.

3. A user equipment comprising components for performing the following operations: sending assistance information to an access node, the assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristics on a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the user equipment; receiving one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations from the access node; receiving, based on the one or more indications, a signal from the access node, the signal including at least a portion of the plurality of communication resources; as well as Joint phase noise estimation and / or compensation is performed based on the received signal and the received one or more indications.

4. The user equipment according to claim 3, wherein the component is further configured to: Feedback information is sent to the access node, where the feedback information is based on a result of the joint estimation and / or compensation of the phase noise.

5. The user equipment according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the component is further configured to: receiving a request for assistance information from the access node, Wherein sending the auxiliary information is performed based on the request.

6. An access node comprising means for: receiving assistance information from a user equipment, the assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristics on a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the access node; sending one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations to the user equipment; receiving, based on the one or more indications, a signal from the user equipment, the signal including at least a portion of the plurality of communication resources; as well as Joint phase noise estimation and / or compensation is performed based on the received signal and the received auxiliary information.

7. The access node according to claim 6, wherein the component is further configured to: Feedback information is sent to the user equipment, where the feedback information is based on a result of the joint estimation and / or compensation of the phase noise at the access node.

8. An access node comprising means for: receiving assistance information from a user equipment, the assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristics on a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the user equipment; sending one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations to the user equipment; and Based on the one or more indications, a signal is sent to the user equipment, the signal including at least a portion of the plurality of communication resources.

9. The access node according to claim 8, wherein the component is further configured to: receiving feedback information from the user equipment, the feedback information being based on a result of the joint estimation and / or compensation of the phase noise at the user equipment; determining, based on the feedback information, a reconfiguration for the signal according to one or more preconfigured configurations or a predefined set of conditions shared by the user equipment and the access node; as well as Based on the determined reconfiguration, the plurality of communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations are adapted for future joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise.

10. The apparatus according to any one of claims 6 to 9, wherein the component is further configured to: sending a request for assistance information to the user equipment, Wherein receiving the auxiliary information is performed based on the request.

11. The access node according to any one of claims 6 to 10, wherein the component is further configured to: The plurality of communication resources are scheduled based on the one or more indications.

12. The user equipment or access node according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the plurality of communication resources comprises one or more of the following: One or more resource elements; One or more groups of resource elements; one or more component carriers; one or more physical resource blocks; One or more transport layers; one or more bandwidth portions; one or more physical channels; one or more symbols; and / or One or more time slots.

13. A user equipment or access node according to any preceding claim, wherein the signal comprises at least one reference signal.

14. The user equipment or access node of claim 13, wherein the at least one reference signal comprises a phase tracking reference signal.

15. The user equipment or access node according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the signal comprises at least one signal symbol transmitted with the same or different symbol periods on at least one of: multiple carriers, multiple physical channels, and / or multiple multiple-input / multiple-output layers.

16. The user equipment or access node according to any one of claims 13 to 15, wherein the one or more indications comprise information indicating a position and / or pattern of the at least one signal symbol within the plurality of communication resources.

17. The access node according to any one of claims 6 to 16, wherein the phase noise comprises a correlated part and / or an uncorrelated part, and wherein performing the joint estimation of the phase noise comprises at least one of: performing, for the correlated portion, a joint estimation of the phase noise based on at least one signal symbol transmitted over two or more symbol periods using at least one communication resource of the plurality of communication resources; and / or For the non-correlated portion, the joint estimation of the phase noise is performed based on at least one signal symbol transmitted on a same symbol period using at least two of: the multiple carriers, the multiple physical channels, and / or the multiple-input / multiple-output layers.

18. A user equipment or access node according to any preceding claim, wherein the plurality of communication resources are transmitted using the same local oscillator.

19. A user equipment comprising at least one processor and at least one memory, wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the user equipment to at least: sending assistance information to an access node, the assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristics on a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the access node; receiving one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations from the access node; as well as Based on the one or more indications, a signal is sent to the access node, the signal including at least a portion of the plurality of communication resources.

20. A user equipment comprising at least one processor and at least one memory, wherein the at least one memory stores instructions, which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the user equipment to at least: sending assistance information to an access node, the assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristics on a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the user equipment; receiving one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations from the access node; receiving, based on the one or more indications, a signal from the access node, the signal including at least a portion of the plurality of communication resources; as well as Joint phase noise estimation and / or compensation is performed based on the received signal and the received one or more indications.

21. An access node comprising at least one processor and at least one memory, the at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the access node to at least: receiving assistance information from a user equipment, the assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristics on a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the access node; sending one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations to the user equipment; receiving, based on the one or more indications, a signal from the user equipment, the signal including at least a portion of the plurality of communication resources; as well as Joint phase noise estimation and / or compensation is performed based on the received signal and the received auxiliary information.

22. An access node comprising at least one processor and at least one memory, the at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the access node to at least: receiving assistance information from a user equipment, the assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristics on a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the user equipment; sending one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations to the user equipment; and Based on the one or more indications, a signal is sent to the user equipment, the signal including at least a portion of the plurality of communication resources.

23. A method performed at a user equipment, the method comprising: sending assistance information to an access node, the assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristics on a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the access node; receiving one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations from the access node; as well as Based on the one or more indications, a signal is sent to the access node, the signal including at least a portion of the plurality of communication resources.

24. A method performed at a user equipment, the method comprising: sending assistance information to an access node, the assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristics on a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the user equipment; receiving one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations from the access node; receiving, based on the one or more indications, a signal from the access node, the signal including at least a portion of the plurality of communication resources; as well as Joint phase noise estimation and / or compensation is performed based on the received signal and the received one or more indications.

25. A method performed at an access node, the method comprising: receiving assistance information from a user equipment, the assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristics on a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the access node; sending one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations to the user equipment; receiving, based on the one or more indications, a signal from the user equipment, the signal including at least a portion of the plurality of communication resources; as well as Joint phase noise estimation and / or compensation is performed based on the received signal and the received auxiliary information.

26. A method performed at an access node, the method comprising: receiving assistance information from a user equipment, the assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristics on a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and / or compensation of phase noise at the user equipment; sending one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and / or one or more signal configurations to the user equipment; and Based on the one or more indications, a signal is sent to the user equipment, the signal including at least a portion of the plurality of communication resources.

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