Representing compact data and reference signals using modulation compression

Abstract

Certain aspects of this disclosure provide techniques for wireless communication by a first network entity. These techniques may generally involve generating messages having entries representing physical resource blocks (PRBs) for transmitting reference signals via a fronthaul interface using modulation and compression; transmitting messages to a second network entity via the fronthaul interface; and processing the reference signals transmitted in PRBs on the fronthaul interface using modulation and compression.

Description

[0001] Cross-reference to related applications

[0002] This application claims priority to U.S. Patent Application No. 18 / 506,915, filed November 10, 2023, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Background Technology

[0003] This disclosure relates to various aspects of wireless communication, and more specifically to techniques for efficient signaling description of both data and reference signals transmitted on a fronthaul interface using modulation compression.

[0004] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide a variety of telecommunications services, such as telephone, video, data, messaging, broadcasting, or other similar services. These wireless communication systems may employ multiple access technologies that enable communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, or other resources). Multiple access technologies may rely on code division, time division, frequency division, orthogonal frequency division, single-carrier frequency division, or time-division synchronous code division, to name just a few. These and other multiple access technologies have been adopted in various telecommunications standards to provide common protocols that enable different wireless devices to communicate at the city, national, regional, and even global levels.

[0005] Despite the significant technological advancements in wireless communication systems over the years, challenges remain. For example, complex and dynamic environments can still attenuate or block signals between wireless transmitters and receivers, disrupting various established wireless channel measurement and reporting mechanisms used to manage and optimize the use of limited wireless channel resources. Therefore, there is a need for further improvements to wireless communication systems to overcome these challenges. Summary of the Invention

[0006] One aspect provides a method for wireless communication by a first network entity, the method comprising: generating a message having entries representing time and frequency resources for transmitting data and a reference signal, wherein the data and the reference signal are for transmission via a fronthaul interface using modulation and compression; transmitting the message to a second network entity via the fronthaul interface; and processing the data and reference signal transmitted on the fronthaul interface using modulation and compression according to segments.

[0007] One aspect provides a method for wireless communication by a second network entity, the method comprising: receiving from a first network entity a message having entries representing time and frequency resources for transmitting data and reference signals, wherein the data and reference signals are for transmission via a fronthaul interface using modulation and compression; and processing the data and reference signals transmitted on the fronthaul interface using modulation and compression according to a segment.

[0008] Other aspects provide: an apparatus capable of operating to, being configured to, or otherwise adapted to perform the foregoing methods and those methods described elsewhere herein; a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of the apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the foregoing methods and those methods described elsewhere herein; a computer program product embodied on a computer-readable storage medium comprising: code for performing the foregoing methods and those methods described elsewhere herein; and an apparatus comprising components for performing the foregoing methods and those methods described elsewhere herein. By way of example, an apparatus may include a processing system, a device having a processing system, or a processing system cooperating via one or more networks.

[0009] For illustrative purposes, the following description and figures illustrate certain features. Attached Figure Description

[0010] The accompanying drawings depict certain features of the various aspects described herein and should not be considered as limiting the scope of this disclosure.

[0011] Figure 1 It is a block diagram that conceptually illustrates an example wireless communication network.

[0012] Figure 2 It is a block diagram that conceptually illustrates various aspects of base stations and user equipment.

[0013] Figure 3A , Figure 3B , Figure 3C and Figure 3D Various example aspects of data structures used in wireless communication networks are described.

[0014] Figure 4 An example open RAN (O-RAN) architecture in which various aspects of this disclosure can be utilized is illustrated.

[0015] Figure 5 It is a call flow diagram that depicts the conventional signaling used for data and reference signal representations transmitted through the fronthaul interface.

[0016] Figure 6 It is a call flowchart depicting signaling representing data and reference signals to be transmitted via a fronthaul interface according to certain aspects of this disclosure.

[0017] Figures 7A and 7B illustrate examples of data and reference signal resource allocation in resource blocks that can be efficiently represented according to certain aspects of this disclosure.

[0018] Figure 8 Examples of data and reference signal resource allocation in resource blocks that can be efficiently represented according to certain aspects of this disclosure are illustrated.

[0019] Figure 9 Examples of open radio access network (O-RAN) segment representations based on data and reference signals according to certain aspects of this disclosure are illustrated.

[0020] Figure 10 An example of a synchronization signal block (SSB) structure is shown.

[0021] Figure 11 Examples of O-RAN segment architecture segment representations according to certain aspects of this disclosure are illustrated.

[0022] Figure 12 Examples of O-RAN segment architecture segment representations according to certain aspects of this disclosure are illustrated.

[0023] Figure 13 Example operations for wireless communication by a first network entity are illustrated according to some aspects of this disclosure.

[0024] Figure 14 Example operations for wireless communication by a second network entity are illustrated according to some aspects of this disclosure.

[0025] Figure 15 Various aspects of the example communication device are described.

[0026] Figure 16 Various aspects of the example communication device are described. Detailed Implementation

[0027] This disclosure relates to various aspects of wireless communication, and more specifically to techniques for efficient signaling description of both data and reference signals transmitted on a fronthaul interface using modulation compression.

[0028] In the current deployment of 5G New Radio (NR), a functionally partitioned distributed architecture is becoming increasingly important for supporting a wide variety of services on the wireless network, such as eMBB, URLLC, etc. While the standard Radio Access Network (RAN) architecture can support the diverse data rate and latency requirements of 5G-NR services, the Open RAN (O-RAN) architecture presents an alternative RAN architecture for specific 5G implementations.

[0029] O-RAN architecture (such as) Figure 4(As shown) This architecture utilizes the concept of functional splitting, which defines network entities including a Central Unit (CU) connected via a midhaul interface and one or more Distributed Units (DUs). Each DU can connect to one or more Remote Units (RUs) using a fronthaul interface. In addition to better support for the data rate and latency requirements in 5G-NR, this architecture also allows for greater network flexibility and modularity.

[0030] The data segments are defined by structural identifiers and resource blocks. The O-RAN control plane (C plane) identifies these data segments and transmits messages from the DU to the RU containing descriptions of the data segments and instructions on how the RU will process them. The data itself is transmitted on the user plane (U plane). A typical RB (shown below) reserves some tones for reference signals such as Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS), Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS), and Phase Tracking Reference Signal (PTRS), some tones for control, and some tones for user data.

[0031] To better meet the requirements of 5G-NR, O-RAN utilizes a mechanism called modulation compression to reduce open fronthaul traffic. This reduces the data rate on the fronthaul interface. In 5G-NR, certain reference signals (such as DMRS and PTRS) experience the same channels as the data and can therefore share beam weights.

[0032] Nevertheless, when used with modulation compression in conjunction with DL channels, current ORAN C-plane constraints require that DMRS and PTRS be represented in a different segment than the data segment. In some cases, this segment repetition can lead to beam weight repetition in order to avoid race conditions caused by packet reordering. Therefore, in addition to inefficient signaling with redundant information, data and reference signal segment repetition can also lead to ambiguity regarding which beam weights to apply.

[0033] However, aspects of this disclosure can help address these issues by implementing a single segment describing both the reference signal and the data, while still including different compression parameters for the reference signal. Single-segment description reduces the transmission load on the fronthaul by transmitting common information (e.g., beam weights shared between the reference signal and data) only once.

[0034] Introduction to Wireless Communication Networks

[0035] Figure 1 An example of a wireless communication system 100 in which the aspects described herein can be implemented is depicted.

[0036] Generally, wireless communication system 100 includes base station (BS) 102, user equipment (UE) 104, and one or more core networks (such as evolved packet core (EPC) 160 and 5G core (5GC) network 190) that interoperate to provide wireless communication services.

[0037] Base station 102 provides user equipment 104 with access to EPC 160 and / or 5GC 190, and can perform one or more of the following functions: user data transmission, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection establishment and release, load balancing, distribution of Non-Access Stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, Radio Access Network (RAN) sharing, Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracking, RAN Information Management (RIM), paging, location, delivery of alarm messages, and other functions. In various contexts, a base station may include and / or be referred to as a gNB, Node B, eNB, ng-eNB (e.g., an eNB that has been enhanced to provide connectivity to both EPC 160 and 5GC 190), access point, transceiver base station, radio base station, radio transceiver, or transceiver functional unit, or transmit / receive point.

[0038] Base station 102 communicates wirelessly with UE 104 via communication link 120. Each base station in base station 102 can provide communication coverage for a corresponding geographic coverage area 110, which may overlap in some cases. For example, a small cell 102' (e.g., a low-power base station) may have a coverage area 110' that overlaps with the coverage areas 110 of one or more macro cells (e.g., high-power base stations).

[0039] The communication link 120 between base station 102 and UE 104 may include uplink (UL) (also known as reverse link) transmission from user equipment 104 to base station 102 and / or downlink (DL) (also known as forward link) transmission from base station 102 to user equipment 104. In various aspects, the communication link 120 may utilize multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technologies, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity.

[0040] Examples of UE 104 include cellular phones, smartphones, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones, laptops, personal digital assistants (PDAs), satellite radios, GPS devices, multimedia devices, video devices, digital audio players, cameras, game consoles, tablets, smart devices, wearable devices, vehicles, electricity meters, air pumps, large or small kitchen appliances, healthcare devices, implants, sensors / actuators, displays, or other similar devices. Some UEs in UE 104 can be Internet of Things (IoT) devices (e.g., parking meters, air pumps, ovens, vehicles, heart monitors, or other IoT devices), always-on (AON) devices, or edge processing devices. UE 104 may also be more generally referred to as a station, mobile station, subscriber station, mobile unit, subscriber unit, wireless unit, remote unit, mobile device, wireless device, wireless communication device, remote device, mobile subscriber station, access terminal, mobile terminal, wireless terminal, remote terminal, mobile phone, user agent, mobile client, or client.

[0041] Compared to lower-frequency communication, communication using higher frequency bands may have higher path loss and shorter range. Therefore, some base stations (e.g., Figure 1 The beamforming 182 of the base station 180 (180) with the UE 104 can be used to improve path loss and range. For example, the base station 180 and the UE 104 may each include multiple antennas, such as antenna elements, antenna panels and / or antenna arrays, to facilitate beamforming.

[0042] In some cases, base station 180 may transmit beamformed signals to UE 104 in one or more transmit directions 182'. UE 104 may receive beamformed signals from base station 180 in one or more receive directions 182''. UE 104 may also transmit beamformed signals to base station 180 in one or more transmit directions 182''. Base station 180 may also receive beamformed signals from UE 104 in one or more receive directions 182''. Base station 180 and UE 104 may then perform beamforming to determine the optimal receive and transmit directions for each of base station 180 and UE 104. It is worth noting that the transmit and receive directions of base station 180 may be the same or different. Similarly, the transmit and receive directions of UE 104 may be the same or different.

[0043] The wireless communication network 100 includes a modulation and compression component 199, which can be configured to transmit and / or receive data and reference signals via a fronthaul interface. For example, the modulation and compression component 199 can... Figure 4 Implemented in the DU or RU, and configured to execute the following reference. Figure 10 and Figure 11 The described operation.

[0044] Figure 2 Various aspects of the example base station (BS) 102 and user equipment (UE) 104 are described.

[0045] Generally, base station 102 includes various processors (e.g., 220, 230, 238, and 240), antennas 234a-234t (collectively referred to as 234), transceivers 232a-232t (collectively referred to as 232) including modulators and demodulators, and other aspects that enable wireless transmission of data (e.g., data source 212) and wireless reception of data (e.g., data sink 239). For example, base station 102 can transmit and receive data between itself and user equipment 104.

[0046] Base station 102 includes a controller / processor 240 that can be configured to implement various functions related to wireless communication. In the depicted example, controller / processor 240 includes components that can represent... Figure 1 The modulation and compression component 241 of the modulation and compression component 199. It is worth noting that although depicted as one aspect of the controller / processor 240, in other specific implementations, the modulation and compression component 241 may additionally or alternatively be implemented in various other aspects of the base station 102.

[0047] Generally, user equipment 104 includes various processors (e.g., 258, 264, 266 and 280), antennas 252a-252r (collectively referred to as 252), transceivers 254a-254r (collectively referred to as 254) including modulators and demodulators, and other aspects that enable wireless transmission of data (e.g., data source 262) and wireless reception of data (e.g., data sink 260).

[0048] User equipment 104 includes a controller / processor 280 that can be configured to perform various functions related to wireless communication.

[0049] Figures 3A to 3D Describes the use of wireless communication networks (such as Figure 1 The data structure of the wireless communication network 100) in various aspects. Specifically, Figure 3A Figure 300 illustrates an example of the first subframe within a 5G (e.g., 5G NR) frame structure. Figure 3B Figure 330 illustrates an example of a DL channel within a 5G subframe. Figure 3C Figure 350 illustrates an example of the second subframe within a 5G frame structure, and Figure 3D Figure 380 illustrates an example of a UL channel within a 5G subframe.

[0050] Information about this disclosure will be provided later in this publication. Figure 1 , Figure 2 and Figures 3A to 3D Further discussion is needed.

[0051] Example Open RAN Network Architecture

[0052] As mentioned above, in the current deployment of 5G New Radio (NR), an efficient distributed architecture is likely to become increasingly important for supporting a wide variety of services on the wireless network, such as eMBB, URLLC, etc. Specific 5G-enabled services may require enhancements to increase data flow and reduce processing time for data transmitted in the 5G network. The network can use, for example, a massive MIMO system to achieve the required enhancements. While standard Radio Access Network (RAN) architectures can support the diverse data rate and latency requirements of 5G-NR services, software-based and cloud-based network architectures may be the best alternative for the increasingly demanding RAN architecture requirements of diverse 5G services.

[0053] For example, Figure 4 The Open RAN (O-RAN) architecture shown presents a software-based alternative to the RAN architecture for 5G implementations. As described above, the O-RAN architecture utilizes the concept of function splitting, which defines a next-generation node B (gNB) comprising a Central Unit (CU) connected via a midhaul interface and one or more Distributed Units (DUs). Each DU can connect to one or more Radio Units (RUs) using a fronthaul interface. Baseband processing can be split among different entities located at the CU, DU, and RU. In addition to better support for data rate and latency requirements, this architecture allows for greater network flexibility and modularity.

[0054] One aspect of the O-RAN architecture is the Lower Layer Split (LLS) open fronthaul interface used for communication between DUs and RUs. The fronthaul interface is a frequency-domain interface at the physical layer between the DU and each RU. DU functions in the O-RAN (e.g., Radio Link Control (RLC), Medium Access Control (MAC), Physical Layer (PHY) higher layers, etc.) are split between the DU and RU. RU functions (e.g., PHY lower layers, Radio Frequency (RF), etc.) are hosted on the RU.

[0055] The Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) categorizes open fronthaul traffic into four message types: Control (C plane), User Data (U plane), Synchronization (S plane), and Management (M plane). Each message is defined using Resource Blocks (RBs). As mentioned above, each message contains both a data segment identifier and a resource block identifier. The C plane identifies these data segments and transmits messages from the DU to the RU containing descriptions of the data segments and how the RU will handle them. C plane messages are defined by a transport header, application header, segment header, and extensions. The transport header defines the C plane as a CPRI packet for a specific RU and flow. The application header describes the overall data area in terms of symbols and RBs. The data segment and extensions are described in the segment header, identified by the segment ID. The data segment describes a specific channel that spans multiple symbols within a specific symbol or time slot. The segment providing the channel also provides a beam identifier. Additionally, the segment may describe the channel's compression parameters. The C plane describes the segment in both directions because the DU determines the RU's behavior for downlink and uplink. Data is transmitted on the U plane. RBs can be resource elements (REs) used for reference signals, control, and user data. A segment encompasses information with similar transmission characteristics, thus allowing data blocks to be transmitted within a single segment representing a set of transmission characteristics.

[0056] Within O-RAN data transmission, symbol mapping may require different segments for different transmission types. At the current technology level, symbol 3 has no reference signal, therefore reference signals for application-specific beamforming are defined in different segments. Data segments are transmitted from DU to RU in symbol order. Within a segment, the RE mask describes which REs in the RB have the beamforming mode to be applied. For example, if the RE bitmap of a segment is defined as 011011, beamforming weights are applied to REs 1, 2, 4, 5, etc., and REs 0, 3, 6, etc., are skipped. For the reference signal, mask 100100 is used for cell reference / CSI-RS, and different beamforming is applied. In some cases, O-RAN C-plane extensions can change or define the reference signal mask to reduce load on open fronthaul.

[0057] To meet the requirements of the 5G New Radio (NR) standard, which includes wider carrier bandwidth, massive MIMO, higher modulation order, increased carrier requirements, and a wider frequency range, Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) utilizes five compression schemes (i.e., block floating-point, block scaling, ...). μ (Using beamforming, beam weighting, and modulation compression) to limit open fronthaul capacity requirements. Open fronthaul compression reduces the data rate for all users across one or more RUs based on open fronthaul capacity.

[0058] In some cases, modulation compression is used to implement O-RAN extension. Modulation compression is a lossless compression technique that operates on downlink (DL) user plane modulated data symbols before transmission through the fronthaul interface. Each modulation compression encodes the modulated data symbols into a defined number of symbols. In the modulation compression scheme, the defined number of symbols, or bit width, is reduced. Typically, the bit width before compression is equal to 32 bits. After modulation compression, the bit width is reduced according to the maximum modulation order defined on the interface, which allows for a reduction in capacity on the open fronthaul interface.

[0059] Modulation compression is achieved by shifting the constellation of modulation points to overlap and match each symbol across all supported modulations in the fronthaul interface. Based on this shift, a single coded constellation point can represent multiple symbols belonging to different modulations. A single constellation point can correspond to a specific width that covers the modulation order required to represent the maximum data volume. In the O-RAN segment, the constellation shift can be represented by the constellation shift values ​​described in that segment.

[0060] The specific width can also represent the symbol value used for constellation point arrays with varying sizes. In the O-RAN segment, the scaling factor can be represented by the modulation compression scalar value described in that segment.

[0061] After receiving compressed data from the DU, the RU must reverse the shift of the constellation points and apply a scaling factor to the constellation modulation type represented in the block.

[0062] The control plane (C plane) in an Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) describes the beam information for each channel. In cases where a beam might stagnate on an O-RAN remote unit, and when beam weights are transmitted along with the beam ID, the C plane describes the beam being used by the channel by indicating the beam identifier (ID). This allows for beam refreshing on remote units.

[0063] Typically, different channels have different beams. For example, the Physical Downlink (DL) Shared Channel (PDSCH) may have a different beam set than the Channel State Resource Reference Signal (CSI-RS). However, in 5G New Radio (5G-NR), reference signals within the same channel (such as the Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS) and Phase Tracking Reference Signal (PTRS)) can use the same channel as PDSCH data. Therefore, the reference signals used for PDSCH data transmission can share the same beam set as the data. The PDSCH can carry the DMRS and PTRS, along with the corresponding data, using signaling describing a transmission on a given beam for both the PDSCH and DMRS / PTRS.

[0064] As described above, in conventional O-RAN deployments, signaling between Distributed Units (DUs) and Radio Units (RUs) describes compression parameters from DMRS / PTRS in a different way than the way compression parameters are described for data on the PDSCH. Specifically, current O-RAN standards (e.g., Extension 5) use segment extensions to measure compression separately from PDSCH data. Therefore, at the current level of technology, compression parameters for DMRS / PTRS are described separately from data channels with the same beam weights. This partitioning can lead to beam weight duplication, thus doubling the throughput used between DUs and RUs.

[0065] The extension to the compression describes the compression parameters of the channel. The extension resides in a segment with multiple parts, and each part describes different compression parameters. When modulation compression is used with a downlink (DL) channel, C-plane constraints require that DMRS and PTRS be represented in a segment different from the data.

[0066] like Figure 5 As illustrated in call flow diagram 500, the DU generates a PDSCH data segment at 502, separate from the DMRS / PTRS segment at 504, each segment potentially containing the same beam information. The DU transmits the two segments separately to the RU on the fronthaul interface. Since the segment transmitted at 506 contains the same beam information transmitted at 508, the second transmission is redundant and expensive from a signaling overhead perspective.

[0067] Aspects related to transmitting data and reference signals in a single segment

[0068] However, aspects of this disclosure can help address this redundancy by implementing messages describing both DMRS / PTRS and PDSCH data (e.g., messages with a single segment and segment extension), while still including different compression parameters for the reference signal. In other words, the signaling mechanism proposed herein reduces the amount of traffic transmitted across the fronthaul interface between the DU and RU for the format and content (in symbol / RE) of the data and reference signal in the RB. While the examples described herein involve messages with defined (single) segments with bitmaps to convey various information describing the data and reference signal transmitted using various bitmaps, the techniques presented herein can be implemented using any type of message that uses bitmaps or other structures (e.g., other suitable types of fields) to efficiently convey such information (e.g., whether defined segments / segment extensions are used).

[0069] like Figure 6As illustrated in call flow diagram 600, a message describing both data and reference signals (e.g., a single segment) can reduce the transmit load across the fronthaul interface by half because the beam information is transmitted only once. As shown, at 602, a single segment is generated that has common beam information and represents both PDSCH data and DMRS / PTRS. By utilizing this single segment, the DU avoids the need to transmit separate segments containing the same beam information to the RU to describe the reference signal. Therefore, a single transmission at 504 is sufficient, significantly reducing signaling overhead and fronthaul load.

[0070] In some respects, the segment extension also optimizes the PTRS representation so that it can be packaged within a single segment instead of up to 10 segments (as is the case in the currently defined segment extension 6). The new extension is an improvement on the O-RAN segment 5 extension and adds symbol bitmap and resource block (RB) periodic information to each of its entries.

[0071] In the first case, a single segment can be used to signal the representation of the demodulation reference signal (DMRS) transmitted along with the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) data. As will be described below, this segment may include entries (with a bitmap) indicating which symbols and REs are assigned to the data and / or the reference signal. The single segment and bitmap can be described with reference to Figures 7A and 7B, which illustrate a 2-DMRS port example and a 1-DMRS port example, respectively.

[0072] As described above, two separate segments are used in the control plane (C plane) to represent the O-RAN description, which includes data from the two DMRS ports and the RBs of the DMRS. In the conventional O-RAN C plane representation, the first segment describes data symbols 3-13, while the second segment describes symbol 2 of the DMRS.

[0073] For the 1-port DMRS example in Figure 7B, the first segment could have an all-1 RE bitmap, indicating the data for each RE (vertical axis) for symbols 3-13 (horizontal axis). However, since symbol 2 has both data and DMRS, the second segment could have two entries: a first entry with a bitmap (010101010101) describing the DMRS in every other (odd) RE; and a second entry with a complementary bitmap (101010101010) describing the data in every other (even) RE. The use of these two segments with two compression factors results in redundancy between the PDSCH data for symbol 2 and the PDSCH data for symbols 3-13.

[0074] According to certain aspects of this disclosure, a single segment via segment extension (e.g., SE22) may have entries describing symbols and data and DMRS on REs, thereby avoiding the redundancy mentioned above. Entries may include a combination of RE bitmaps and symbol bitmaps. Each entry indicates to the radio unit (RU) the type of information mapped on each RE and the symbol indicated in the corresponding bitmap.

[0075] For example, in the two-port DMRS example of Figure 7A, the first entry (e.g., SE22 entry #1) may have an all-1 RE bitmap to indicate that each RE is used for data, and a (14-bit) sign bitmap (000111111111111) indicating that symbols 3-13 are used for data. The second entry (e.g., SE22 entry #2) may have an all-1 RE bitmap and a (14-bit) sign bitmap (001000000000000) indicating that all REs of symbol 2 are used for DMRS.

[0076] For the single-port DMRS example in Figure 7B, the first entry for data (e.g., SE22 entry #1) may be the same as in the two-port DMRS example in Figure 7A. The second entry (e.g., SE22 entry #2) may have the same sign bitmap for indicator symbol 2 as above (00100000000000), but with odd REs for indicator symbol 2 used in the RE bitmap of the DMRS (010101010101). The third entry (e.g., SE22 entry #3) may have the same sign bitmap for indicator symbol 2 (00100000000000), but with even REs for indicator symbol 2 used in the RE bitmap of the data (101010101010).

[0077] Similarly, a single segment can be used to signal the representation of the Phase Tracking Reference Signal (PTRS) transmitted along with the PDSCH data. As will be described below, this segment may include entries (with bitmaps) that not only indicate which symbols and REs are assigned to the data and / or PTRS, but also use a 4-bit bitmap to indicate resource block (RB) periodicity information for each entry.

[0078] like Figure 8As illustrated, similar to DMRS, PTRS can be transmitted in a single segment containing PDSCH data using a segment that explicitly indicates which symbols each entry describes. This segment will contain entries describing the PDSCH data and PTRS using the RS and symbol patterns within the segment. However, currently, PTRS may not repeat in every RB. Instead, it may repeat in every other RB, or it may repeat every four RBs. Therefore, in addition to the bitmap describing the REs and symbol patterns, the segment describing PTRS may also use a bitmap indicating the periodicity pattern of PTRS. The following description illustrates how a single segment (segment extension 22) can be used to represent PTRS and data for different PTRS periods.

[0079] For example, when the PTRS periodicity is equal to 1, PTRS is transmitted in each RB. Figure 8 In the example shown, PTRS is transmitted only on RE1 in even symbols 2-12. For this example, the first entry (e.g., SE22 entry #1) may have an all-1 RE bitmap, an all-1 periodic bitmap, and a sign bitmap (00010101010101) indicating that all REs are used for data for each odd symbol 3-13. The all-1 periodic bitmap indicates that this is repeated on each RB.

[0080] The second entry (e.g., SE22 entry #2) may have a RE bitmap (01000000000) and a (14-bit) sign bitmap (00101010101010) for PTRS, indicating even-numbered signs 2-12, and a periodicity of all 1s.

[0081] Finally, the third entry (e.g., SE22 entry #3) may have an RE bitmap (1011111111111) and a (14-bit) sign bitmap (00101010101010) indicating that all REs except RE1 are used for data, as well as a periodicity of all 1s.

[0082] When the periodicity of PTRS is equal to 2, such as Figure 8 As shown, PTRS is transmitted every other RB (e.g., even RBs 0, 2, 4, and 6). As described below, this periodic variation can be captured by modifying certain entries and adding another data entry.

[0083] The first entry describing only data symbols (odd symbols 3-13) (e.g., SE22 entry #1) may be the same as the example above, where all RE bitmaps are 1, all periodic bitmaps are 1, and the symbol bitmap (00010101010101) indicates that for each odd symbol 3-13, all REs are used for data (in each RB).

[0084] The second entry (e.g., SE22 entry #2) may have the same RE bitmap (010000000000) as in the example above and a (14-bit) sign bitmap (00101010101010) indicating the even signs 2-12 for PTRS, but with a periodic bitmap 1010 indicating that this applies every other RB (e.g., even RBs 0, 2, 4, and 6).

[0085] Similarly, the third entry (e.g., SE22 entry #3) may have the same RE bitmap (1011111111111) as in the example above and a (14-bit) sign bitmap (00101010101010) indicating that all REs except RE1 are used for data in even signs 2-12, but it also has a periodic bitmap 1010 that indicates that this applies every other RB (e.g., even RBs 0, 2, 4, and 6).

[0086] Finally, the fourth entry (e.g., SE22 entry #4) may have an all-1 RE bitmap and a (14-bit) sign bitmap (00101010101010) and a periodic bitmap 0101 that indicates that all REs (including RE1) of the even signs 2-12 are used for the data in the odd signs RB 1, 3, 4 and 7.

[0087] When the periodicity of PTRS is equal to 4, such as Figure 8 As shown, PTRS is sent every fourth RB (e.g., even RBs 2 and 6). As described below, this periodic variation can be captured by modifying certain entries and adding another data entry.

[0088] The first entry describing only data symbols (odd symbols 3-13) (e.g., SE22 entry #1) may be the same as the example above, where all RE bitmaps are 1, all periodic bitmaps are 1, and the symbol bitmap (00010101010101) indicates that for each odd symbol 3-13, all REs are used for data (in each RB).

[0089] The second entry (e.g., SE22 entry #2) may have the same RE bitmap (01000000000) as in the example above and a (14-bit) sign bitmap (00101010101010) indicating the even signs 2-12 for PTRS, but with a periodic bitmap 0010 that indicates this applies every other fourth RB (e.g., only RB 2 and 6).

[0090] Similarly, the third entry (e.g., SE22 entry #3) may have the same RE bitmap (1011111111111) as in the example above and a (14-bit) sign bitmap (00101010101010) indicating that all REs except RE1 are used for data in the even number signs 2-12, but it also has a periodic bitmap 0010 that indicates that this applies every other fourth RB (e.g., only RB 2 and 6).

[0091] Finally, the fourth entry (e.g., SE22 entry #4) may have an all-1 RE bitmap and a (14-bit) sign bitmap (00101010101010) and a periodic bitmap 1101 that indicates all REs (including RE1) of even signs 2-12 for data in all RBs except every other fourth RB (e.g., except RB 2 and 6).

[0092] Figure 9 An example structure definition for a segment extension (SE) representing PDSCH data and reference signals as presented herein is illustrated. As illustrated, the structure may have header information, for example, indicating how many entries are included. In the example structure, the 3-bit field numSymMask indicates the number of symbol masks (bitmaps) in the SE (up to 8), while the 2-bit field num#MaskSets[1:0] indicates the number of RE masks (reMasks) for a given symbol mask (up to 4). The 4-bit periodicity field ptrs#.$Mask[3:0] represents a 4-bit mask (bitmap) showing the PTRS repeating pattern. In some cases, this field may indicate the PTRS pattern to customize a set, such as {1111, 0001, 0010, 0100, 1000, 1110, 1101, 1011, 0111, 0101, 1010}. The RE bitmap may be indicated by the field set #.$ReMask[11:0] of the symbol #. The field set #.$.Csf indicates the constellation shift flag $ for the symbol # (modulation compression parameter). The field set #.$.ModCompScaler[14:0] indicates the scaler $ symbol #.

[0093] As described herein, aspects of this disclosure provide a compact way to represent DMRS and PTRS channel information within the O-RAN CUS specification. The efficient representation techniques described herein help reduce the complexity of ORAN transmitters and receivers, and also help reduce the bandwidth requirements from the fronthaul network used to connect O-DU and O-RU.

[0094] Example section extension for synchronization signal blocks

[0095] As described above, various aspects of this disclosure provide a range of signaling mechanisms that can efficiently describe resources used to transmit certain signals (or channels) on a fronthaul interface. For example, the signaling mechanisms proposed herein can be used to transmit resources for DM-RS and PT-RS, which have fixed patterns in both time and frequency, and whose symbol and resource element (RE) patterns repeat every few physical resource blocks (PRBs).

[0096] Various aspects of this disclosure also provide signaling mechanisms that can efficiently describe the time and frequency resources used to transmit a variety of signals spanning multiple symbols, but in which various characteristics can vary across PRBs. For example, in 5G NR, the signaling mechanism proposed herein can be used to deliver resources for Synchronization Signal Blocks (SSBs).

[0097] like Figure 10 As illustrated in Figure 1000, the SSB can span four symbols (within segments 1002 and 1004), with each symbol occupying a different number of PRBs for the Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS) transmission, Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) transmission, and Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS) transmission. For example, symbol 2 has only the PSS, symbols 3 and 5 have only the PBCH, while symbol 4 has both the PBCH and SSS.

[0098] Transmitting modulation and compression parameters for a channel (such as an SSB) from an O-RAN Distributed Unit (O-DU) to an O-RAN Radio Unit (O-RU) (where different PRB groups (e.g., ranges of consecutive PRBs) are modulated differently per symbol) may require generating multiple segments and transmitting them to the O-RU, each segment having an existing segment extension 4 or 5 (SE 4 or SE 5). For example, if segments cannot be used to specify different modulation and compression for multiple symbols using a single instance, multiple segments may be required.

[0099] However, certain sections can be designed to allow the specification of modulation and compression parameters for multiple symbols and multiple PRBs.

[0100] For example, Figure 11 Example segment 1100 (e.g., SE 23) is illustrated, which may be able to specify modulation and compression parameters for multiple symbols and multiple PRBs. As illustrated, field 1104 may be able to specify the mode of the PRB. Such segments can be efficient for specifying resources (such as DM-RS and PT-RS) for channels that have defined modes in the PRB and symbol domains.

[0101] Figure 11 The structure can be used to indicate the set of modulation and compression parameters to be applied to the SymPrbPattern pattern corresponding to the parameter set symMask and prbPattern.

[0102] Various aspects of this disclosure provide similar structures that allow indication of modulation and compression parameters for multiple symbols and multiple PRBs, even for signals such as SSBs, where the number of PRBs per symbol can vary and the modulation and compression parameters can differ across both symbols and PRBs.

[0103] In some cases, O-DU may be able to generate messages with segments (e.g., SE 23 or similar format) that contain entries representing Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs) within at least one segment of time and frequency resources for transmitting reference signals via the fronthaul interface using modulation compression. PRBs may occupy different sets of consecutive PRBs, such as in... Figure 10 The example SSB structure shown.

[0104] For example, such as Figure 12 As illustrated, segment format 1200 may have a set of parameters 1204 and 1206, which indicate the offset (prbBlkOffset) and size (prbBlkSize) for a PRB block, and a set of modulation compression parameters applied to that PRB block.

[0105] The offset can be relative to a reference PRB index, while the size indicates the number of consecutive PRBs in the block. For example, the reference... Figure 10 For the SSB, the reference PRB index can be N+19, and each PSS PRB block can be indicated as having an offset of 5 relative to the reference PRB index (prbBlkOffset = 5), with a size of 10 (prbBlkSize = 10). Similarly, each SSS PRB block can be indicated as having an offset of 4 relative to the reference PRB index (prbBlkOffset = 4), with a size of 12 (prbBlkSize = 12).

[0106] As illustrated at 1202, segment 1200 may include a parameter (prbMode) that indicates whether the corresponding set of modulation and compression parameters will be applied to one (or more) PRB blocks (prbMode = PRB-BLOCK). Therefore, for the PRB-BLOCK pattern, the symbol and PRB pattern (SymPrbPattern) may correspond to the set of parameters symMask, prbBlkOffset, and prbBlkSize.

[0107] In comparison, such as Figure 11As shown at 1102, the parameter prbMode can be set to a value (prbMode = PRB-MASK) that indicates the corresponding modulation and compression parameters are applicable to symbol and PRB (not PRB block) modes. As illustrated, reserved field 1106 of segment 1100 can be used (reused) Figure 12 The parameters 1204 / 1206 (prbBlkOffset and prbBlkSize) in section 1200 (when prbMode = PRB-BLOCK).

[0108] Example Method

[0109] Figure 13 Example operations for wireless communication by a first network entity (e.g., DU) according to some aspects of this disclosure are illustrated.

[0110] At 1310, the first network entity generates a message with entries representing time and frequency resources for transmitting data and reference signals, which are used for transmission via the fronthaul interface using modulation and compression.

[0111] At point 1320, the first network entity sends the message to the second network entity via the fronthaul interface.

[0112] At 1330, the first network entity processes the data and reference signals transmitted on the fronthaul interface using modulation and compression, according to the segment.

[0113] Figure 14 Example operations for wireless communication by a second network entity (e.g., RU) according to some aspects of this disclosure are illustrated.

[0114] At 1410, the second network entity receives a message from the first network entity containing entries representing time and frequency resources for transmitting data and reference signals, which are used for transmission via the fronthaul interface using modulation and compression.

[0115] At 1420, the second network entity processes the data and reference signals transmitted on the fronthaul interface using modulation and compression, according to the segment.

[0116] Example wireless communication device

[0117] Figure 14 The description includes operations operable to, configured to, or adapted to perform the techniques disclosed herein (such as regarding...). Figure 11 Example communication device 1400 (the operation described and illustrated) includes various components. In some examples, communication device 1400 may be, for example, as described above. Figure 1 and Figure 2 The described base station 102.

[0118] Communication device 1400 includes a processing system 1402 coupled to transceiver 148 (e.g., transmitter and / or receiver). Transceiver 148 is configured to transmit (or transmit) and receive signals for communication device 1400, such as the various signals described herein, via antenna 1410. Processing system 1402 may be configured to perform processing functions for communication device 1400, including processing signals received by communication device 1400 and / or to be transmitted by the communication device.

[0119] Processing system 1402 includes one or more processors 1420 coupled to computer-readable medium / memory 1430 via bus 1406. In some aspects, computer-readable medium / memory 1430 is configured to store instructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that, when executed by the one or more processors 1420, cause the one or more processors 1420 to perform. Figure 11 The operations illustrated herein or other operations performed are used to perform the various techniques discussed herein.

[0120] In the depicted example, computer-readable medium / memory 1430 stores: code 1431 for generating messages with entries representing time and frequency resources for transmitting data and reference signals, wherein the data and reference signals are to be transmitted via a fronthaul interface using modulation and compression; code 1432 for transmitting messages to a second network entity via the fronthaul interface; and code 1433 for processing data and reference signals transmitted on the fronthaul interface using modulation and compression according to segments.

[0121] In the depicted example, one or more processors 1420 include circuitry configured to implement code stored in computer-readable medium / memory 1430, the circuitry including: circuitry 1421 for generating messages with entries representing time and frequency resources for transmitting data and reference signals, wherein the data and reference signals are for transmission via a fronthaul interface using modulation and compression; circuitry 1422 for transmitting messages to a second network entity via the fronthaul interface; and circuitry 1423 for processing data and reference signals transmitted on the fronthaul interface using modulation and compression according to segments.

[0122] The various components of the communication device 1400 can provide for the execution of this document (including those concerning...) Figure 11 The components of the method described.

[0123] In some examples, the component for sending or transmitting (or the component for outputting for sending) may include Figure 2The transceiver 232 and / or antenna 234 of the base station 102 illustrated herein, and / or Figure 14 The transceiver 148 and antenna 1410 of the communication device 1400.

[0124] In some examples, the component for receiving (or the component for obtaining) may include Figure 2 The transceiver 232 and / or antenna 234 of the base station illustrated herein, and / or Figure 14 The transceiver 148 and antenna 1410 of the communication device 1400.

[0125] In some examples, the components used for generation and transmission may include various processing system components, such as: Figure 14 One or more processors 1420, or Figure 2 The various aspects of the base station 102 depicted include a receiver processor 238, a transmitter processor 220, a TX MIMO processor 230, and / or a controller / processor 240 (including a modulation and compression assembly 241).

[0126] It is worth noting that, Figure 14 This is just one example, and many other examples and configurations of the communication device 1400 are possible.

[0127] Figure 15 The description includes operations operable to, configured to, or adapted to perform the techniques disclosed herein (such as regarding...). Figure 11 Example communication device 1500 (the operation described and illustrated) includes various components. In some examples, communication device 1500 may be, for example, as described above. Figure 1 and Figure 2 User equipment 104 as described.

[0128] Communication device 1500 includes a processing system 1502 coupled to transceiver 158 (e.g., transmitter and / or receiver). Transceiver 158 is configured to transmit (or transmit) and receive signals for communication device 1500, such as the various signals described herein, via antenna 1510. Processing system 1502 may be configured to perform processing functions for communication device 1500, including processing signals received by communication device 1500 and / or to be transmitted by the communication device.

[0129] Processing system 1502 includes one or more processors 1520 coupled to computer-readable medium / memory 1530 via bus 1506. In some aspects, computer-readable medium / memory 1530 is configured to store instructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that, when executed by the one or more processors 1520, cause the one or more processors 1520 to perform. Figure 11The operations illustrated herein or other operations performed are used to perform the various techniques discussed herein.

[0130] In the depicted example, computer-readable medium / memory 1530 stores: code 1531 for receiving messages with entries from a first network entity, the entries representing time and frequency resources for transmitting data and reference signals, wherein the data and reference signals are to be transmitted via a fronthaul interface using modulation and compression; and code 1532 for processing data and reference signals transmitted on the fronthaul interface using modulation and compression according to segments.

[0131] In the depicted example, one or more processors 1520 include circuitry configured to implement code stored in computer-readable medium / memory 1530, the circuitry including: circuitry 1521 for receiving messages with entries from a first network entity, the entries representing time and frequency resources for transmitting data and reference signals, wherein the data and reference signals are for transmission via a fronthaul interface using modulation and compression; and circuitry 1522 for processing the data and reference signals transmitted on the fronthaul interface using modulation and compression according to segments.

[0132] The various components of the communication device 1500 can provide for the execution of this document (including those concerning...) Figure 11 The components of the method described.

[0133] In some examples, the component for sending or transmitting (or the component for outputting for sending) may include Figure 2 The transceiver 254 and / or antenna 252 of the user equipment 104 illustrated herein, and / or Figure 15 The transceiver 158 and antenna 1510 of the communication equipment 1500.

[0134] In some examples, the component for receiving (or the component for obtaining) may include Figure 2 The transceiver 254 and / or antenna 252 of the user equipment 104 illustrated herein, and / or Figure 15 The transceiver 158 and antenna 1510 of the communication equipment 1500.

[0135] In some examples, the components used for receiving and processing may include various processing system components, such as: Figure 15 One or more processors 1520, or Figure 2 The user equipment 104 depicted includes various aspects such as a receiver processor 258, a transmitter processor 264, a TX MIMO processor 266, and / or a controller / processor 280 (including a modulation and compression assembly 241).

[0136] It is worth noting that, Figure 15This is just one example, and many other examples and configurations of the communication device 1500 are possible.

[0137] Example Terms

[0138] Specific implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses: Clause 1. A method for wireless communication by a first network entity, the method comprising: generating a message having entries representing time and frequency resources for transmitting data and reference signals, wherein the data and reference signals are for transmission via a fronthaul interface using modulation and compression; transmitting the message to a second network entity via the fronthaul interface; and processing the data and reference signals transmitted on the fronthaul interface using modulation and compression according to segments.

[0139] Clause 2. The method according to Clause 1, wherein the reference signal and the data share a common beam weight.

[0140] Clause 3. The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 2, wherein the reference signal includes a demodulation reference signal (DMRS).

[0141] Clause 4. The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 3, wherein the reference signal includes a phase tracking reference signal (PTRS).

[0142] Clause 5. The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 4, wherein the segment comprises: at least a first entry having a first resource element (RE) bitmap identifying a resource element (RE) in a resource block (RB) for transmitting data and a first symbol bitmap identifying a symbol in the RB for transmitting data; and at least a second entry having a second RE bitmap identifying a RE in the RB for transmitting a reference signal and a second symbol bitmap identifying a symbol in the RB for transmitting a reference signal.

[0143] Clause 6. The method according to Clause 5, wherein if both data and reference signals are transmitted in the same symbol of the RB, the segment further comprises: at least a third entry having a third RE bitmap identifying the RE used for transmitting data in the same symbol as the second entry.

[0144] Clause 7. The method according to Clause 5, wherein each of the first entry and the second entry further comprises: a bitmap indicating the periodicity of the occurrence of the data or the reference signal across RB.

[0145] Clause 8. The method according to Clause 5, wherein each of the first entry and the second entry further includes: indicating the value of a compression modulation scaling factor for one or more symbols.

[0146] Clause 9. The method according to Clause 5, wherein each of the first and second entries further comprises: a value indicating a constellation shift for one or more symbols.

[0147] Clause 10. A method for wireless communication by a second network entity, the method comprising: receiving from a first network entity a message having entries, the entries representing time and frequency resources for transmitting data and reference signals, wherein the data and reference signals are for transmission via a fronthaul interface using modulation and compression; and processing the data and reference signals transmitted on the fronthaul interface using modulation and compression according to segments.

[0148] Clause 11. The method according to Clause 10, wherein the reference signal and the data share a common beam weight.

[0149] Clause 12. The method according to any one of Clauses 10 to 11, wherein the reference signal includes a demodulation reference signal (DMRS).

[0150] Clause 13. The method according to any one of Clauses 10 to 12, wherein the reference signal includes a phase tracking reference signal (PTRS).

[0151] Clause 14. The method according to any one of Clauses 10 to 13, wherein the segment comprises: at least a first entry having a first resource element (RE) bitmap identifying a resource element (RE) in a resource block (RB) for transmitting data and a first symbol bitmap identifying a symbol in the RB for transmitting data; and at least a second entry having a second RE bitmap identifying a RE in the RB for transmitting a reference signal and a second symbol bitmap identifying a symbol in the RB for transmitting a reference signal.

[0152] Clause 15. The method according to Clause 14, wherein if both data and reference signals are transmitted in the same symbol of the RB, the segment further comprises: at least a third entry having a third RE bitmap identifying the RE used for transmitting data in the same symbol as the second entry.

[0153] Clause 16. The method according to Clause 14, wherein each of the first entry and the second entry further comprises: a bitmap indicating the periodicity of the occurrence of the data or the reference signal across RB.

[0154] Clause 17. The method according to Clause 14, wherein each of the first entry and the second entry further includes: indicating the value of a compression modulation scaling factor for one or more symbols.

[0155] Clause 18. The method according to Clause 14, wherein each of the first and second entries further comprises: a value indicating a constellation shift for one or more symbols.

[0156] Clause 19: A method for wireless communication at a first network entity, the method comprising: generating a message having entries representing physical resource blocks (PRBs) for transmitting a reference signal via a fronthaul interface using modulation and compression parameters; transmitting the message to a second network entity via the fronthaul interface; and processing the reference signal on the fronthaul interface based on the modulation and compression parameters.

[0157] Clause 20: The method according to Clause 19, wherein the reference signal includes a synchronization signal block (SSB), and processing the reference signal includes transmitting the SSB on the fronthaul interface based on the modulation and compression parameters.

[0158] Clause 21: The method according to Clause 20, wherein the entry comprises: at least a first entry, the at least first entry representing at least a first PRB block for transmitting the primary synchronization signal (PSS) of the SSB; at least a second entry, the at least second entry representing at least a second PRB block for transmitting the physical broadcast channel (PBCH) signal of the SSB; and at least a third entry, the at least third entry representing at least a third PRB block for transmitting the secondary synchronization signal (SSS) of the SSB.

[0159] Clause 22: The method according to any one of Clauses 19 to 21, wherein each entry includes at least a PRB offset and a PRB block size to indicate the location and size of the PRB block within at least one segment of the time and frequency resources.

[0160] Clause 23: The method described in Clause 22, wherein each entry further includes a symbol mask indicating the number of one or more symbols spanned by the corresponding PRB block.

[0161] Clause 24: The method according to any one of Clauses 19 to 23, wherein the message further includes a field indicating that the entry represents a block or PRB.

[0162] Clause 25: The method according to any one of Clauses 19 to 24, wherein the message further comprises an entry representing a resource element (RE) within the PRB block for transmitting the reference signal.

[0163] Clause 26: A method for wireless communication at a second network entity, the method comprising: receiving from a first network entity a message having an entry representing a physical resource block (PRB) block for transmitting a reference signal via a fronthaul interface using modulation and compression parameters; and processing the reference signal on the fronthaul interface based on the modulation and compression parameters.

[0164] Clause 27: The method described in Clause 26, wherein the reference signal includes a synchronization signal block (SSB).

[0165] Clause 28: The method according to Clause 27, wherein the entry comprises: at least a first entry, the at least first entry representing at least a first PRB block for transmitting the primary synchronization signal (PSS) of the SSB; at least a second entry, the at least second entry representing at least a second PRB block for transmitting the physical broadcast channel (PBCH) signal of the SSB; and at least a third entry, the at least third entry representing at least a third PRB block for transmitting the secondary synchronization signal (SSS) of the SSB.

[0166] Clause 29: The method according to any one of Clauses 26 to 28, wherein each entry includes at least a PRB offset and a PRB block size to indicate the location and size of the PRB block within at least one segment of the time and frequency resources.

[0167] Clause 30: The method described in Clause 29, wherein each entry further includes a symbol mask indicating the number of one or more symbols spanned by the corresponding PRB block.

[0168] Clause 31: The method according to any one of Clauses 26 to 30, wherein the message further includes a field indicating that the entry represents a block or PRB.

[0169] Clause 32: The method according to any one of Clauses 26 to 31, wherein the message further comprises an entry representing a resource element (RE) within the PRB block for transmitting the reference signal.

[0170] Clause 33: An apparatus comprising: a memory including executable instructions; and one or more processors configured to execute the executable instructions and cause the apparatus to perform a method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 32.

[0171] Clause 34: An apparatus comprising components for performing the method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 32.

[0172] Clause 35: A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising: executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of the device, cause the device to perform the method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 32.

[0173] Clause 36: A computer program product embodied on a computer-readable storage medium, the computer program product comprising code for performing a method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 32.

[0174] Additional precautions for wireless communication networks

[0175] The techniques and methods described herein can be used in a variety of wireless communication networks (or wireless wide area networks (WWANs)) and radio access technologies (RATs). While aspects may be described herein using terms commonly associated with 3G, 4G, and / or 5G (e.g., 5G New Radio (NR)) wireless technologies, aspects of this disclosure are equally applicable to other communication systems and standards not explicitly mentioned herein.

[0176] 5G wireless communication networks can support a variety of advanced wireless communication services, such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), millimeter wave (mmWave), machine-type communication (MTC), and / or ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) for mission-critical applications. These and other services may include latency and reliability requirements.

[0177] return Figure 1 Various aspects of this disclosure can be implemented within the example wireless communication network 100.

[0178] In 3GPP, the term "cell" can refer to the coverage area of ​​a Node B and / or the narrowband subsystem serving that coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used. In NR systems, the term "cell" is used interchangeably with BS, Next Generation Node B (gNB or gNodeB), Access Point (AP), Distributed Unit (DU), carrier, or Transmit / Receive Point. A BS can provide communication coverage for macrocells, picocells, femtocells, and / or other cell types.

[0179] Macro cells typically cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscriptions. Pico cells cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a stadium) and allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscriptions. Femto cells cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home) and allow restricted access by UEs associated with that femto cell (e.g., UEs in a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG) and UEs belonging to users in the home). A BS used for a macro cell can be referred to as a macro BS. A BS used for a pico cell can be referred to as a pico BS. A BS used for a femto cell can be referred to as a femto BS, a home BS, or a home node B.

[0180] Base station 102 configured for 4G LTE (collectively referred to as Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN)) can interact with EPC 160 via a first backhaul link 132 (e.g., S1 interface). Base station 102 configured for 5G (e.g., 5G NR or Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN)) can interact with 5GC 190 via a second backhaul link 184. Base station 102 can communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., via EPC 160 or 5GC 190) on a third backhaul link 134 (e.g., X2 interface). The third backhaul link 134 can typically be wired or wireless.

[0181] Small cell 102' can operate in licensed and / or unlicensed spectrum. When operating in unlicensed spectrum, small cell 102' can employ NR and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum as Wi-Fi AP 150. Small cell 102' employing NR in unlicensed spectrum can improve coverage of the access network and / or increase the capacity of the access network.

[0182] Some base stations, such as gNB 180, can operate in conventional sub-6 GHz spectrum, millimeter wave (mmWave) frequencies, and / or near-mmWave frequencies to communicate with UE 104. When gNB 180 operates in mmWave or near-mmWave frequencies, gNB 180 can be referred to as an mmWave base station.

[0183] The communication link 120 between base station 102 and, for example, UE 104, can be via one or more carriers. For example, for a total of up to [number missing] carriers used for transmission in each direction. Yx MHz ( x For each carrier allocated in carrier aggregation (of component carriers), base station 102 and UE 104 can use up to [number missing] carriers. YA spectrum with a bandwidth of MHz (e.g., 5MHz, 10MHz, 15MHz, 20MHz, 100MHz, 400MHz, and other MHz). Carriers may be adjacent to each other or may not be adjacent to each other. Carrier allocation may be asymmetric with respect to DL and UL (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated to DL compared to UL). Component carriers may include primary component carriers and one or more secondary component carriers. The primary component carrier may be referred to as the primary cell (PCell) and the secondary component carrier may be referred to as the secondary cell (SCell).

[0184] The wireless communication system 100 further includes a Wi-Fi access point (AP) 150 that communicates with a Wi-Fi station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154 in, for example, unlicensed spectrum of 2.4 GHz and / or 5 GHz. When communicating in unlicensed spectrum, the STA 152 / AP 150 may perform a free channel assessment (CCA) to determine whether the channel is available before communication.

[0185] Some UEs 104 may communicate with each other using device-to-device (D2D) communication link 158. D2D communication link 158 may use DL / UL WWAN spectrum. D2D communication link 158 may use one or more sidelink channels, such as Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH), Physical Sidelink Discovery Channel (PSDCH), Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), and Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH). D2D communication can be conducted through a wide variety of wireless D2D communication systems, such as, for example, FlashLinQ, WiMedia, Bluetooth, ZigBee, Wi-Fi based on the IEEE 802.11 standard, 4G (e.g., LTE), or 5G (e.g., NR), to name just a few options.

[0186] EPC 160 may include a Mobility Management Entity (MME) 162, other MMEs 164, a Serving Gateway 166, a Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) Gateway 168, a Broadcast Multicast Service Center (BM-SC) 170, and a Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway 172. MME 162 can communicate with the Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 174. MME 162 is the control node that handles signaling between UE 104 and EPC 160. Generally, MME 162 provides bearer and connection management.

[0187] Generally, user Internet Protocol (IP) packets are transmitted through Serving Gateway 166, which is itself connected to PDN Gateway 172. PDN Gateway 172 provides UE IP address allocation and other functions. PDN Gateway 172 and BM-SC 170 are connected to IP Service 176, which may include, for example, the Internet, intranet, IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), PS streaming media service, and / or other IP services.

[0188] The BM-SC 170 provides functions for MBMS user service dispatch and delivery. The BM-SC 170 can serve as an entry point for content provider MBMS transmission, authorize and initiate MBMS bearer services within the Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), and schedule MBMS transmissions. The MBMS gateway 168 can distribute MBMS services to base station 102 in a Broadcast-Specific Service Single Frequency Network (MBSFN) area, and is responsible for session management (start / stop) and collecting eMBMS-related billing information.

[0189] 5GC 190 may include Access and Mobility Management Functions (AMF) 192, other AMFs 193, Session Management Functions (SMF) 194, and User Plane Functions (UPF) 195. AMF 192 may communicate with Unified Data Management (UDM) 196.

[0190] The AMF 192 is typically the control node that handles signaling between UE 104 and 5GC 190. Generally, the AMF 192 provides QoS flow and session management.

[0191] All user Internet Protocol (IP) packets are transmitted via UPF 195, which connects to IP service 197 and provides the UE with IP address allocation and other functions for 5GC 190. IP service 197 may include, for example, the Internet, intranet, IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), PS streaming service, and / or other IP services.

[0192] return Figure 2 The document describes BS 102 and UE 104 (e.g., which can be used to implement various aspects of this disclosure). Figure 1 Various example components of the wireless communication network 100.

[0193] At BS 102, the transmitting processor 220 can receive data from the data source 212 and control information from the controller / processor 240. This control information can be for the Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), Physical Control Format Indicator Channel (PCFICH), Physical Hybrid ARQ Indicator Channel (PHICH), Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), Group Shared PDCCH (GC PDCCH), and others. In some examples, this data can be for the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH).

[0194] The Media Access Control (MAC)-Control Element (MAC-CE) is a MAC layer communication structure that can be used for the exchange of control commands between wireless nodes. The MAC-CE can be carried in a shared channel, such as the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), or Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH).

[0195] Processor 220 can process (e.g., encode and symbol map) data and control information to obtain data symbols and control symbols, respectively. Transmitter processor 220 can also generate reference symbols, such as those for primary synchronization signal (PSS), secondary synchronization signal (SSS), PBCH demodulation reference signal (DMRS), and channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

[0196] The transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 can perform spatial processing (e.g., pre-decoding) on ​​data symbols, control symbols, and / or reference symbols where applicable, and can provide the output symbol stream to the modulators (MODs) in transceivers 232a-232t. Each modulator in transceivers 232a-232t can process the corresponding output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator can further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and up-convert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. The downlink signal from the modulators in transceivers 232a-232t can be transmitted via antennas 234a-234t, respectively.

[0197] At UE 104, antennas 252a-252r can receive downlink signals from BS 102 and can provide the received signals to demodulators (DEMODs) in transceivers 254a-254r respectively. Each demodulator in transceivers 254a-254r can adjust (e.g., filter, amplify, down-convert, and digitize) the corresponding received signal to obtain an input sample. Each demodulator can further process the input sample (e.g., for OFDM) to obtain the received symbols.

[0198] MIMO detector 256 acquires received symbols from all demodulators in transceivers 254a-254r, performs MIMO detection on the received symbols where applicable, and provides the detected symbols. Receiver processor 258 processes (e.g., demodulates, deinterleaves, and decodes) the detected symbols, provides the decoded data for UE 104 to data sink 260, and provides the decoded control information to controller / processor 280.

[0199] On the uplink, at UE 104, the transmitting processor 264 can receive and process data from data source 262 (e.g., for the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH)) and control information from controller / processor 280 (e.g., for the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH)). The transmitting processor 264 can also generate reference symbols for reference signals (e.g., for Sounding Reference Signals (SRS)). Symbols from the transmitting processor 264 can be pre-decoded by the TXMIMO processor 266, where applicable, further processed by modulators in transceivers 254a to 254r (e.g., for SC-FDM), and transmitted to BS 102.

[0200] At BS 102, uplink signals from UE 104 can be received by antennas 234a-234t, processed by demodulators in transceivers 232a-232t, detected by MIMO detector 236 where applicable, and further processed by receiver processor 238 to obtain decoded data and control information transmitted by UE 104. Receiver processor 238 can provide the decoded data to data sink 239 and the decoded control information to controller / processor 240.

[0201] Memory 242 and memory 282 can store data and program code for BS 102 and UE 104, respectively.

[0202] Scheduler 244 can schedule UE to transmit data on the downlink and / or uplink.

[0203] 5G can utilize Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) with a cyclic prefix (CP) on both the uplink and downlink. 5G can also support half-duplex operation using Time Division Duplex (TDD). OFDM and Single-Carrier Frequency Division Multiplexing (SC-FDM) divide the system bandwidth into multiple orthogonal subcarriers, often referred to as tone boxes. Each subcarrier can be modulated with data. Modulation symbols can be transmitted in the frequency domain using OFDM and in the time domain using SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers can be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers can depend on the system bandwidth. In some examples, the minimum resource allocation (called a resource block (RB)) can be 12 consecutive subcarriers. The system bandwidth can also be divided into subbands. For example, a subband can cover multiple RBs. NR supports a base subcarrier spacing (SCS) of 15 kHz and can define other SCSs (e.g., 30 kHz, 60 kHz, 120 kHz, 240 kHz, and others) for the base SCS.

[0204] As mentioned above, Figures 3A to 3D Describes the use of wireless communication networks (such as Figure 1 Examples of various aspects of the data structure of the wireless communication network 100.

[0205] In various aspects, the 5G frame structure can be Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), where for a specific set of subcarriers (carrier system bandwidth), subframes within that set are dedicated to either DL (Deep Flow) or UL (Ultra-Low Flow). The 5G frame structure can also be Time Division Duplex (TDD), where for a specific set of subcarriers (carrier system bandwidth), subframes within that set are dedicated to both DL and UL. Figure 3A and Figure 3C In the provided example, the 5G frame structure is assumed to be TDD, where subframe 4 is configured with slot format 28 (mostly DL) and subframe 3 is configured with slot format 34 (mostly UL), where D is DL, U is UL, and X is for flexible use between DL and UL. Although subframes 3 and 4 are shown as having slot formats 34 and 28 respectively, any particular subframe can be configured using any of the various available slot formats 0 to 61. Slot formats 0 and 1 are both DL and UL, respectively. Other slot formats 2-61 include a mixture of DL, UL, and flexible symbols. The UE is configured using the slot format via the received Slot Format Indicator (SFI) (dynamically configured via DL Control Information (DCI) or semi-statically / statically configured via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling). Note that the following description also applies to 5G frame structures for TDD.

[0206] Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels. A frame (10 ms) can be divided into 10 equal-sized subframes (1 ms). Each subframe may include one or more time slots. Subframes may also include micro-time slots, which may include 7, 4, or 2 symbols. In some examples, each time slot may include 7 or 14 symbols, depending on the time slot configuration.

[0207] For example, for slot configuration 0, each slot may include 14 symbols, while for slot configuration 1, each slot may include 7 symbols. Symbols on the DL can be Cyclic Prefix (CP) OFDM (CP-OFDM) symbols. Symbols on the UL can be CP-OFDM symbols (for high-throughput scenarios) or Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) Extended OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) symbols (also known as Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) symbols) (for power-constrained scenarios; limited to single-stream transmission).

[0208] The number of time slots within a subframe is based on the time slot configuration and parameter set (numerology). For time slot configuration 0, different parameter sets (µ) 0 to 5 allow for 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32 time slots per subframe, respectively. For time slot configuration 1, different parameter sets 0 to 2 allow for 2, 4, and 8 time slots per subframe, respectively. Therefore, for time slot configuration 0 and parameter set µ, there are 14 symbols per time slot and 2µ time slots per subframe. The subcarrier spacing and symbol length / duration are functions of the parameter set. The subcarrier spacing can be equal to... kHz, where μ is the parameter set from 0 to 5. Therefore, the parameter set... It has a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz and a parameter set It has a subcarrier spacing of 480 kHz. The symbol length / duration is negatively correlated with the subcarrier spacing. Figures 3A to 3D It provides a time slot configuration of 0 with 14 symbols per time slot and a parameter set with 4 time slots per subframe. Example: The time slot duration is 0.25 ms, the subcarrier spacing is 60 kHz, and the symbol duration is approximately 16.67 μs.

[0209] A resource grid can be used to represent the frame structure. Each time slot consists of a resource block (RB) extending for 12 consecutive subcarriers (also known as a physical RB (PRB)). The resource grid is divided into multiple resource elements (REs). The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0210] like Figure 3A As illustrated in the example, some REs in the RE carry information for the UE (e.g., Figure 1 and Figure 2The reference (pilot) signal (RS) for the UE (104) may include a demodulation RS (DM-RS) (denoted as Rx for a particular configuration, where 100x is the port number, but other DM-RS configurations are also possible) and a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) for channel estimation at the UE. The RS may also include a beam measurement RS (BRS), a beam refinement RS (BRRS), and a phase tracking RS (PT-RS).

[0211] Figure 3B Examples of various DL channels within a subframe of a frame are illustrated. The Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) carries the DCI within one or more Control Channel Elements (CCEs), each CCE comprising nine RE groups (REGs), each REG comprising four consecutive REs in an OFDM symbol.

[0212] The Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS) can be located within symbol 2 of a specific subframe of the frame. The PSS is generated by the UE (e.g., Figure 1 and Figure 2 104) is used to determine subframe / symbol timing and physical layer identifier.

[0213] The secondary synchronization signal (SSS) can be located in symbol 4 of a specific subframe of the frame. The SSS is used by the UE to determine the physical layer cell identifier group number and radio frame timing.

[0214] Based on the Physical Layer Identifier and Physical Layer Cell Identifier Group Number, the UE can determine the Physical Cell Identifier (PCI). Based on the PCI, the UE can determine the location of the aforementioned DM-RS. The Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), carrying the Master Information Block (MIB), can be logically grouped with the PSS and SSS to form a Synchronization Signal (SS) / PBCH block. The MIB provides the System Frame Number (SFN) and the number of Restricted Frames (RBs) in the system bandwidth. The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) carries user data, broadcast system information not transmitted via the PBCH (such as System Information Blocks (SIBs)), and paging messages.

[0215] like Figure 3CAs illustrated, some REs in the REs carry DM-RS for channel estimation at the base station (indicated as R for a particular configuration, but other DM-RS configurations are possible). The UE can transmit DM-RS for the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) and DM-RS for the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH). The PUSCH DM-RS can be transmitted in the first or first two symbols of the PUSCH. Depending on whether a short or long PUCCH is transmitted and depending on the specific PUCCH format used, different configurations can be used to transmit the PUCCH DM-RS. The UE can transmit a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS). The SRS can be transmitted in the last symbol of a subframe. The SRS can have a comb structure, and the UE can transmit the SRS on one of the comb teeth. The SRS can be used by the base station for channel quality estimation to enable frequency-dependent scheduling of the UL.

[0216] Figure 3D Examples of various UL channels within a subframe of a frame are illustrated. The PUCCH can be located as indicated in one configuration. The PUCCH carries uplink control information (UCI), such as scheduling requests, channel quality indicators (CQI), pre-decoding matrix indicators (PMI), rank indicators (RI), and HARQ ACK / NACK feedback. The PUSCH carries data and may additionally be used to carry buffer status reports (BSR), power clearance reports (PHR), and / or UCI.

[0217] Additional Notes

[0218] The foregoing description provides an example of using modulation and compression in a communication system to transmit both data and reference signals in a single segment. The foregoing description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. The examples discussed herein do not limit the scope, applicability, or aspects set forth in the claims. Various modifications to these aspects will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein can be applied to other aspects. For example, the function and arrangement of the elements discussed may be changed without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Various processes or components may be omitted, substituted, or added as appropriate in various examples. For example, the described methods may be performed in a different order than described, and various steps may be added, omitted, or combined. Furthermore, features described in some examples may be combined in some other examples. For example, any number of aspects set forth herein can be used to implement an apparatus or practice. Moreover, the scope of this disclosure is intended to cover such apparatuses or methods practiced using other structures, functionalities, or structures and functionalities that complement or replace the various aspects of this disclosure set forth herein. It should be understood that any aspect of the disclosure herein may be embodied by one or more elements of the claims.

[0219] The techniques described in this article can be used in various wireless communication technologies, such as 5G (e.g., 5G NR), 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-A Advanced (LTE-A), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA), Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA), and other networks. The terms "network" and "system" are often used interchangeably. CDMA networks can implement radio technologies such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), cdma2000, and others. UTRA includes Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) and other variants of CDMA. cdma2000 covers the IS-2000, IS-95, and IS-856 standards. TDMA networks can implement radio technologies such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). OFDMA networks can implement radio technologies such as NR (e.g., 5G RA), evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDMA, etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are parts of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). LTE and LTE-A are UMTS versions using E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A, and GSM are described in documents from an organization called the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). cdma2000 and UMB are described in documents from an organization called the 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2). NR is an emerging wireless communication technology under development.

[0220] The various exemplary logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in this disclosure can be implemented or executed using a general-purpose processor, DSP, ASIC, field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device (PLD), discrete gate or transistor logic unit, discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. While the general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, in alternative embodiments, the processor may be any commercially available processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors working in conjunction with a DSP core, a system-on-a-chip (SoC), or any other such configuration.

[0221] If implemented in hardware, an example hardware configuration could include a processing system in a wireless node. This processing system could utilize a bus architecture. Depending on the specific application and overall design constraints of the processing system, the bus could include any number of interconnect buses and bridges. The bus can link various circuits together, including processors, machine-readable media, and bus interfaces. The bus interface could be used to connect network adapters, etc., to the processing system via the bus. The network adapter could be used to implement signal processing functions at the PHY layer. Regarding user equipment (see...), Figure 1 For this purpose, user interfaces (e.g., keypads, displays, mice, joysticks, touchscreens, biometric sensors, proximity sensors, light-emitting elements, etc.) can also be connected to the bus. The bus can also link various other circuits, such as timing sources, peripheral devices, voltage regulators, power management circuits, etc., which are well known in the art and will not be described further. The processor can be implemented using one or more general-purpose processors and / or special-purpose processors. Examples include microprocessors, microcontrollers, DSP processors, and other circuits that can execute software. Those skilled in the art will recognize how best to achieve the described functionality of the processing system depends on the specific application and the overall design constraints imposed on the system.

[0222] If implemented in software, functionality can be stored as one or more instructions or code on or transmitted via a computer-readable medium. Software should be broadly interpreted to mean instructions, data, or any combination thereof, whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media, including any medium that facilitates the transfer of a computer program from one location to another. The processor may be responsible for managing the bus and general-purpose processing, including executing software modules stored on the machine-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium may be coupled to the processor, allowing the processor to read information from and write information to the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium may be integral with the processor. By way of example, machine-readable media may include transmission lines, carrier waves modulated by data, and / or separate computer-readable storage media containing instructions stored thereon, all accessible to the processor via a bus interface. Alternatively or additionally, machine-readable media or any portion thereof may be integrated into the processor, such as in the case of a cache and / or a general-purpose register file. By way of example, examples of machine-readable storage media may include RAM (random access memory), flash memory, ROM (read-only memory), PROM (programmable read-only memory), EPROM (erasable programmable read-only memory), EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory), registers, disks, optical disks, hard disks, or any other suitable storage media, or any combination thereof. Machine-readable media may be embodied in computer program products.

[0223] Software modules may include a single instruction or multiple instructions, and may be distributed across several different code segments, across different programs, and across multiple storage media. Computer-readable media may include multiple software modules. Software modules include instructions that, when executed by a device such as a processor, cause the processing system to perform various functions. Software modules may include sending modules and receiving modules. Each software module may reside in a single storage device or be distributed across multiple storage devices. For example, when a triggering event occurs, a software module may be loaded from a hard disk drive into RAM. During the execution of a software module, the processor may load some of the instructions into a cache to improve access speed. One or more cache lines may then be loaded into a general-purpose register file for processor execution. When the functionality of a software module is referred to below, it will be understood that such functionality is implemented by the processor when executing the instructions from that software module.

[0224] As used herein, the term “exemplary” means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any aspect described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or superior to other aspects.

[0225] As used in this article, the phrase “at least one of” in a list of items refers to any combination of these items, including a single member. For example, “at least one of a, b, or c” is intended to cover: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, and abc, as well as any combination with multiple identical elements (e.g., aa, aaa, aab, aac, abb, acc, bb, bbb, bbb, bbc, cc, and ccc, or any other ordering of a, b, and c).

[0226] As used herein, the term "determine" encompasses a wide variety of actions. For example, "determine" can include calculation, operation, processing, deduction, investigation, lookup (e.g., searching in a table, database, or other data structure), assertion, etc. Additionally, "determine" can include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g., accessing data in memory), etc. Furthermore, "determine" can include parsing, selecting, picking, building, etc.

[0227] The methods disclosed herein include one or more steps or actions for implementing the methods. The steps and / or actions of the methods may be interchanged without departing from the scope of the claims. In other words, unless a specific order of steps or actions is specified, the order and / or use of a particular step and / or action may be modified without departing from the scope of the claims. Furthermore, the various operations of the methods described above may be performed by any suitable component capable of performing the corresponding function. This component may include various hardware and / or software components and / or modules, including but not limited to circuits, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or processors. Generally, where the operations illustrated in the figures are present, those operations may have corresponding components with similar numbering plus functional components.

[0228] The following claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but should be given the full scope consistent with the language of the claims. Within the claims, unless specifically stated otherwise, reference to the singular form of an element is not intended to mean “one and only one,” but rather “one or more.” Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term “some” refers to one or more. No element of any claim should be interpreted in accordance with 35 USC §112(f) unless it is expressly referred to herein by the phrase “for a component of,” or, in the case of a method claim, by the phrase “for a step of.” All structural and functional equivalents of the elements throughout the various aspects described herein that are known to a person of ordinary skill in the art, or will be known thereafter, are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be covered by the claims. Furthermore, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be offered to the public, whether or not such disclosure is explicitly stated in the claims.

Claims

1. An apparatus for wireless communication at a first network entity, the apparatus comprising: At least one memory, the at least one memory including computer-executable instructions; and One or more processors, the one or more processors being configured to execute the computer-executable instructions and cause the UE to: Generate a message with entries representing Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs) for use in sending reference signals via the fronthaul interface using modulation and compression parameters; The message is sent to the second network entity via the fronthaul interface; as well as The reference signal on the fronthaul interface is processed based on the modulation and compression parameters.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: The reference signal includes a synchronization signal block (SSB); and Processing the reference signal includes transmitting the SSB on the fronthaul interface based on the modulation and compression parameters.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the item comprises: At least a first entry, the at least first entry representing at least a first PRB block for transmitting the master synchronization signal (PSS) of the SSB; At least a second entry, wherein the at least second entry represents at least a second PRB block for transmitting the physical broadcast channel (PBCH) signal of the SSB; and At least a third entry, which represents at least a third PRB block used to transmit the secondary synchronization signal (SSS) of the SSB.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each entry includes at least a PRB offset and a PRB block size to indicate the location and size of the PRB block within a segment of time and frequency resources.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein each entry further includes a symbol mask indicating the number of one or more symbols spanned by the corresponding PRB block.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the message further includes a field indicating whether the entry represents a PRB block or a PRB.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the message further comprises an entry representing a resource element (RE) within the PRB block for transmitting the reference signal.

8. An apparatus for wireless communication at a second network entity, the apparatus comprising: At least one memory, the at least one memory including computer-executable instructions; and One or more processors, the one or more processors being configured to execute the computer-executable instructions and cause the UE to: Receive messages from the first network entity containing entries representing Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs) for transmitting reference signals via the fronthaul interface using modulation and compression parameters; as well as The reference signal on the fronthaul interface is processed based on the modulation and compression parameters.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein: The reference signal includes a synchronization signal block (SSB); and Processing the reference signal includes receiving the SSB on the fronthaul interface based on the modulation and compression parameters.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the item comprises: At least a first entry, the at least first entry representing at least a first PRB block for transmitting the master synchronization signal (PSS) of the SSB; At least a second entry, wherein the at least second entry represents at least a second PRB block for transmitting the physical broadcast channel (PBCH) signal of the SSB; and At least a third entry, which represents at least a third PRB block used to transmit the secondary synchronization signal (SSS) of the SSB.

11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein each entry includes at least a PRB offset and a PRB block size to indicate the location and size of the PRB block within a segment of time and frequency resources.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein each entry further includes a symbol mask indicating the number of one or more symbols spanned by the corresponding PRB block.

13. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the message further includes a field indicating the entry representation block or PRB.

14. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the message further comprises an entry representing a resource element (RE) within the PRB block for transmitting the reference signal.

15. A method for wireless communication at a first network entity, the method comprising: Generate a message with entries representing Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs) for use in sending reference signals via the fronthaul interface using modulation and compression parameters; The message is sent to the second network entity via the fronthaul interface; as well as The reference signal on the fronthaul interface is processed based on the modulation and compression parameters.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein: The reference signal includes a synchronization signal block (SSB); and Processing the reference signal includes transmitting the SSB on the fronthaul interface based on the modulation and compression parameters.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the item comprises: At least a first entry, the at least first entry representing at least a first PRB block for transmitting the master synchronization signal (PSS) of the SSB; At least a second entry, wherein the at least second entry represents at least a second PRB block for transmitting the physical broadcast channel (PBCH) signal of the SSB; and At least a third entry, which represents at least a third PRB block used to transmit the secondary synchronization signal (SSS) of the SSB.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein each entry includes at least a PRB offset and a PRB block size to indicate the location and size of the PRB block within a segment of the time and frequency resources.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein each entry further includes a symbol mask indicating the number of one or more symbols spanned by the corresponding PRB block.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein the message further includes a field indicating whether the entry represents a PRB block or a PRB.

21. The method of claim 15, wherein the message further comprises an entry representing a resource element (RE) within the PRB block for transmitting the reference signal.

22. A method for wireless communication at a second network entity, the method comprising: Receive messages from the first network entity containing entries representing Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs) for transmitting reference signals via the fronthaul interface using modulation and compression parameters; as well as The reference signal on the fronthaul interface is processed based on the modulation and compression parameters.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the reference signal comprises a synchronization signal block (SSB).

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the item comprises: At least a first entry, the at least first entry representing at least a first PRB block for transmitting the master synchronization signal (PSS) of the SSB; At least a second entry, wherein the at least second entry represents at least a second PRB block for transmitting the physical broadcast channel (PBCH) signal of the SSB; and At least a third entry, which represents at least a third PRB block used to transmit the secondary synchronization signal (SSS) of the SSB.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein each entry includes at least a PRB offset and a PRB block size to indicate the location and size of the PRB block within a segment of the time and frequency resources.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein each entry further includes a symbol mask indicating the number of one or more symbols spanned by the corresponding PRB block.

27. The method of claim 22, wherein the message further includes a field indicating that the entry represents a block or PRB.

28. The method of claim 22, wherein the message further comprises an entry representing a resource element (RE) within the PRB block for transmitting the reference signal.

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