Virtual cell reference signal configuration

Abstract

Various aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communication. In some aspects, a first network entity can transmit, to a second network entity, a communication indicating information about a reference signal configuration of a virtual cell that the second network entity is configured to support. The first network entity can receive, from the second network entity and based on the communication, the reference signal configuration of the virtual cell, where the reference signal configuration configures a reference signal in a frequency band that is outside of an anchor frequency band of the virtual cell. Numerous other aspects are described.

Description

Cross-reference to related applications

[0001] This patent application claims priority to Greek Patent Application No. 20230101045, filed on December 18, 2023, entitled “VIRTUAL CELL REFERENCESIGNAL CONFIGURATION” and assigned to the assignee of this application. The disclosure of the earlier application is considered part of this patent application and is incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0002] All aspects of this disclosure relate to wireless communication in general, and more particularly to techniques, apparatus and methods associated with virtual cell reference signal configuration. Background Technology

[0003] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide a variety of services, including voice, text, messaging, video, data, and / or other services. Services may include unicast, multicast, and / or broadcast services, etc. Typical wireless communication systems employ multiple access radio access technologies (RATs) capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., time-domain resources, frequency-domain resources, spatial-domain resources, and / or device transmit power, etc.). Examples of such multiple access RATs include Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) systems, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) systems, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) systems, Single-Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) systems, and Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA) systems.

[0004] The aforementioned Multiple Access RATs have been adopted in various telecommunications standards to provide a common protocol enabling different wireless communication devices to communicate at the city, national, regional, or global level. An example telecommunications standard is New Radio (NR). NR (also known as 5G) is part of the continuous evolution of mobile broadband announced by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). NR (and other mobile broadband evolutions beyond NR) can be designed to better support the Internet of Things (IoT) and reduced-capacity device deployments, industrial connectivity, millimeter-wave (mmWave) expansion, licensed and unlicensed spectrum access, non-terrestrial network (NTN) deployments, sidelinks and other device-to-device direct communication technologies (e.g., cellular vehicle-to-everything (CV2X) communications), massive MIMO, decomposed network architectures and network topology expansion, multi-subscriber implementations, high-precision positioning and / or radio frequency (RF) sensing, and more. As the demand for mobile broadband access continues to grow, further improvements to NR can be implemented, and other radio access technologies (such as 6G) can be introduced to further advance mobile broadband evolution. Summary of the Invention

[0005] In some aspects, a first network entity for wireless communication includes a processing system configured to: transmit to a second network entity information indicating a reference signal configuration for a virtual cell that the second network entity is configured to support; and receive from the second network entity and based on the communication the reference signal configuration for the virtual cell, wherein the reference signal configuration configures a reference signal in a frequency band outside the anchor frequency band of the virtual cell.

[0006] In some aspects, a first network entity for wireless communication includes a processing system configured to: receive from a second network entity information indicating a reference signal configuration for a virtual cell that the second network entity is configured to support; and transmit to the second network entity and based on the communication the reference signal configuration for the virtual cell, wherein the reference signal configuration configures a reference signal in a frequency band outside the anchor frequency band of the virtual cell.

[0007] In some aspects, a method of wireless communication performed by a first network entity includes: sending communication to a second network entity indicating information about a reference signal configuration of a virtual cell that the second network entity is configured to support; and receiving, from the second network entity and based on the communication, the reference signal configuration of the virtual cell, wherein the reference signal configuration configures a reference signal in a frequency band outside the anchor frequency band of the virtual cell.

[0008] In some aspects, a method of wireless communication performed by a first network entity includes: receiving from a second network entity information indicating a reference signal configuration for a virtual cell that the second network entity is configured to support; and transmitting to the second network entity and based on the communication the reference signal configuration for the virtual cell, wherein the reference signal configuration configures a reference signal in a frequency band outside the anchor frequency band of the virtual cell.

[0009] In some aspects, a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions for wireless communication, which, when executed by a first network entity, cause the first network entity to: send to a second network entity a communication indicating information about a reference signal configuration of a virtual cell to which the second network entity is configured; and receive from the second network entity and based on the communication the reference signal configuration of the virtual cell, wherein the reference signal configuration configures a reference signal in a frequency band outside the anchor frequency band of the virtual cell.

[0010] In some aspects, a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions for wireless communication, which, when executed by a first network entity, cause the first network entity to: receive from a second network entity information indicating a reference signal configuration for a virtual cell that the second network entity is configured to support; and to transmit to the second network entity and based on the communication the reference signal configuration for the virtual cell, wherein the reference signal configuration configures a reference signal in a frequency band outside the anchor band of the virtual cell.

[0011] In some aspects, an apparatus for wireless communication includes: a means for transmitting to a network entity information indicating a reference signal configuration of a virtual cell to which a second network entity is configured; and a means for receiving, from the network entity and based on the communication, the reference signal configuration of the virtual cell, wherein the reference signal configuration is configured in a frequency band outside the anchor frequency band of the virtual cell.

[0012] In some aspects, an apparatus for wireless communication includes: means for receiving from a network entity information indicating a reference signal configuration of a virtual cell to be supported by a second network entity; and means for transmitting the reference signal configuration of the virtual cell to the network entity and based on the communication, wherein the reference signal configuration is configured in a frequency band outside the anchor frequency band of the virtual cell.

[0013] The entirety of the terms includes methods, apparatus, systems, computer program products, non-transitory computer-readable media, user equipment, base stations, network entities, network nodes, wireless communication devices and / or processing systems as fully described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings and description and illustrated as illustrated in the drawings and description.

[0014] The foregoing provides a broad overview of the exemplary features and technical advantages of the examples according to this disclosure. Additional exemplary features and advantages are described below. Attached Figure Description

[0015] The accompanying drawings illustrate certain exemplary aspects of this disclosure and are therefore not limiting in scope. The same reference numerals in different drawings may identify the same or similar elements.

[0016] Figure 1 These are illustrations of example environments in which the apparatus and / or methods described herein may be implemented according to this disclosure.

[0017] Figure 2 This is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communication network according to the present disclosure.

[0018] Figure 3 This is a diagram illustrating an example network node communicating with an example user equipment (UE) in a wireless network according to the present disclosure.

[0019] Figure 4 This is a diagram illustrating an example decomposed base station architecture according to this disclosure.

[0020] Figure 5 This is a diagram illustrating an example of a virtual cell according to this disclosure.

[0021] Figure 6 This is a diagram illustrating an example of virtual cell reference signal configuration associated with this disclosure.

[0022] Figure 7 This is a diagram illustrating an example associated with the initial downlink bandwidth portion (BWP) of a virtual cell according to this disclosure.

[0023] Figure 8 This is a diagram illustrating an example associated with the initial downlink BWP of a virtual cell according to this disclosure.

[0024] Figure 9 This is a diagram illustrating an example of virtual cell reference signal configuration associated with this disclosure.

[0025] Figure 10 This is a diagram illustrating an example process performed, for example, at a first network entity or a device of the first network entity, according to the present disclosure.

[0026] Figure 11 This is a diagram illustrating an example process performed, for example, at a first network entity or a device of the first network entity, according to the present disclosure.

[0027] Figure 12 This is a diagram of an example device for wireless communication according to the present disclosure.

[0028] Figure 13 This is a diagram of an example device for wireless communication according to the present disclosure. Detailed Implementation

[0029] Typically, a cell, carrier, or component carrier can use a contiguous bandwidth in the frequency domain for wireless communication. For example, the bandwidth of a cell, carrier, or component carrier can span a set of one or more contiguous resource blocks (RBs) in the frequency domain. In some examples, for component carriers to be aggregated via carrier aggregation, the bandwidth of each component carrier can meet a bandwidth threshold. The bandwidth threshold can be based on (e.g., it can be) the minimum channel bandwidth of the user equipment (UE). For example, for component carriers to be aggregated for a UE, the bandwidth of each component carrier can be greater than or equal to the minimum channel bandwidth of the UE. If the bandwidth of a component carrier or subband does not meet the bandwidth threshold (e.g., less than or equal to the bandwidth threshold), the component carrier or subband may not be aggregated via carrier aggregation for the UE.

[0030] In some examples, the spectrum used for wireless communication may include frequency domain resources allocated for different technologies. For example, some operating bands or frequency ranges may include cellular radio access technology (RAT) spectrum, personal area network (PAN) spectrum, wireless local area network (WLAN) spectrum (e.g., Wi-Fi spectrum), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) spectrum, and / or unlicensed spectrum, etc. Therefore, available frequency domain resources (e.g., subbands) may have relatively small bandwidth. Consequently, available frequency domain resources may not be available for aggregation via carrier aggregation for the UE (e.g., because the bandwidth of the available frequency domain resources (e.g., subbands) may not meet the bandwidth threshold for carrier aggregation). This may reduce UE coverage, reduce UE data capacity, and / or reduce UE performance, etc., because the UE may be restricted to communicating via frequency domain resources with relatively small bandwidth.

[0031] Therefore, in some examples, a network (e.g., one or more network nodes) can aggregate discontinuous frequency domain resources to form virtual cells. As used herein, a “virtual cell” refers to a spectrum that includes frequency domain resources (e.g., subbands, RBs, and / or groups of RBs) that are discontinuous in the frequency domain. For example, a virtual cell may include one or more reorganized (or reallocated) frequency domain resources or spectra. A virtual cell may include an anchor band. An anchor band may be a subband in which a Cell Definition (CD) Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) (CD-SSB) is transmitted for the virtual cell (e.g., included in the aggregated bandwidth of the virtual cell). Configuring virtual cells enables frequency domain resources or spectra that are scattered in the frequency domain and / or have relatively small (e.g., narrow) bandwidths to be aggregated into virtual cells with larger bandwidths, thereby improving UE coverage, UE data capacity, and / or UE performance, etc. For example, virtual cells can enable the network to overcome bandwidth-limited spectrum reorganization and carrier aggregation. Additionally, configuring virtual cells can improve the resource utilization efficiency of segmented, reorganized, and / or reallocated resources. Furthermore, virtual cells can enable the coexistence of different UE types (e.g., UEs with different capabilities) and / or different types of UE functions or use cases using the same virtual cell.

[0032] In some examples, the UE may receive and / or measure one or more downlink reference signals to perform one or more control loop operations. A “control loop” can refer to operations used to determine, adjust, and / or optimize one or more parameters to ensure efficient and reliable communication by the UE. For example, the UE may receive and / or measure one or more downlink reference signals to perform time tracking (e.g., for Time Tracking Loop (TTL) operation), frequency tracking (e.g., for Frequency Tracking Loop (FTL) operation), automatic gain control (AGC) operation, beam fault detection (BFD) operation, beam management operation, and / or radio link monitoring (RLM) operation, etc.

[0033] However, when a UE is configured to operate via a virtual cell, downlink reference signal configuration and / or measurement operations (e.g., for a control loop) may not be defined. For example, because the frequency domain resources (e.g., subbands) of a virtual cell may be discontinuous in the frequency domain, the UE may have to monitor an RF component and / or tune that RF component to different frequencies (e.g., for one or more subbands or each subband included in the virtual cell) to monitor the downlink reference signal, since the UE may not receive instructions for reference signal configuration and / or measurement operations (e.g., for a control loop) for the virtual cell. This can consume processing and / or power resources associated with the UE monitoring the downlink reference signal. Additionally, network nodes may have to configure and / or transmit downlink reference signals on each subband included in the virtual cell (e.g., because network nodes may not know which subband's reference signal a given UE is monitoring), thus consuming network resources, reference signal resource overhead, processing resources, and / or power resources associated with configuring and / or transmitting downlink reference signals on each subband included in the virtual cell. To save on the overhead and network energy associated with configuring and / or transmitting downlink reference signals on each subband included in the virtual cell, it is possible to omit configuring downlink reference signals for all subbands included in the virtual cell. However, in such examples, the UE may not know on which subband the downlink reference signal will be transmitted, thus increasing the likelihood that the UE will not receive the downlink reference signal and / or increasing the overhead associated with the UE monitoring additional resources to improve the likelihood that the UE can receive the downlink reference signal.

[0034] Various aspects generally relate to virtual cell reference signal configuration. Some aspects more specifically relate to network entities (e.g., a UE or another network entity) configured using virtual cell reference signal configuration (e.g., for one or more control loop operations or other operations), where the reference signal configuration is configured in a frequency band outside the anchor band of the virtual cell. In some aspects, the reference signal may be a CD-SSB. In other aspects, the reference signal may be a non-CD (NCD) SSB or another downlink reference signal.

[0035] In some aspects, network entities can utilize the initial downlink bandwidth portion (BWP) of the virtual cell for configuration. In some aspects, the initial downlink BWP may not include the anchor band of the virtual cell. In other words, the CD-SSB of the virtual cell can be transmitted outside the initial downlink BWP. In some other aspects, the initial downlink BWP may include the anchor band (and one or more other subbands that may be discontinuous with the anchor band in the frequency domain). In some aspects, network entities can utilize the initial control resource set (CORESET) of the virtual cell (sometimes referred to as CORESET0 or CORESET#0). The initial CORESET can be configured within the initial downlink BWP. In some aspects, the initial CORESET can be configured in a subband different from the CD-SSB of the virtual cell. In some aspects, the initial CORESET can be configured to include discontinuous frequency domain resources (e.g., the initial CORESET can be configured in two or more subbands that are discontinuous in the frequency domain or separated by at least one frequency gap).

[0036] Reference signals can be configured in the active downlink bandpass (BWP) of a virtual cell of a network entity. In some aspects, reference signals can be configured in two or more sub-bands included in the active downlink BWP. Reference signals can be configured in discontinuous frequency domain resources (e.g., multiple sub-configurations can configure corresponding portions of the reference signal separated by at least one frequency gap). In some aspects, the network entity can receive and / or measure reference signals outside the active downlink BWP of the virtual cell (e.g., based on the network entity's capabilities).

[0037] Specific aspects of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented to achieve one or more of the following potential advantages. In some examples, the described techniques can be used to improve the resource utilization of virtual cells. For example, by configuring the reference signal of a virtual cell as described herein, network entities (e.g., network nodes) can save network resources, processing resources, and / or energy resources, etc., that would otherwise be associated with transmitting downlink reference signals in all subbands of the virtual cell. Additionally, by configuring the reference signal of a virtual cell as described herein, the UE can efficiently use the downlink reference for one or more operations of the virtual cell, such as control loop operations.

[0038] In some respects, configuring the initial downlink BWP to exclude the anchor band of the virtual cell can improve the resource utilization efficiency of the virtual cell. For example, when a network entity (e.g., a UE) is operating in connected mode, the CD-SSB can be used by that network entity for one or more operations, such as using the CD-SSB as a downlink reference signal to be measured for one or more tracking loops and / or for other operations, as described in more detail elsewhere herein. However, after initial access is completed, system information transmitted via the initial downlink BWP (e.g., System Information Block (SIB) Type 1, Residual Minimum System Information (RMSI), and / or other system information) may be useless to the network entity. Therefore, by decoupling the CD-SSB from the initial downlink BWP, the CD-SSB can be included in the active downlink BWP, while the subbands in the initial downlink BWP are not similarly included in the active downlink BWP. Thus, it is possible for a network entity to use the CD-SSB in connected mode for one or more operations without having to monitor and / or receive the system information transmitted via the initial downlink BWP. This improves the resource utilization of the virtual cell and saves network resources, processing resources, and / or power resources that would otherwise be associated with monitoring and / or receiving system information transmitted via the initial downlink BWP.

[0039] Various aspects of this disclosure are described more fully below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, this disclosure may be embodied in many different forms and is not limited to any particular structure, function, example, aspect, etc., presented throughout this disclosure. For example, this disclosure includes any aspect disclosed herein, whether implemented independently of or in combination with any other aspect of this disclosure. For example, any number of aspects set forth herein may be used to implement an apparatus or method of practice. Furthermore, the scope of this disclosure includes such apparatus or methods implemented using structures, functionalities, or structures and functionalities other than or different from the various aspects of the disclosure set forth herein. Any aspect of this disclosure disclosed herein may be embodied by one or more elements of the claims.

[0040] Aspects and examples generally include methods, apparatus, network nodes, network entities, systems, computer program products, non-transitory computer-readable media, user equipment, base stations, wireless communication devices and / or processing systems as described or fully described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings and description and illustrated as such.

[0041] This disclosure can be readily used as the basis for modifying or designing other structures for performing the same purposes as this disclosure. Such equivalent constructions do not depart from the scope of the appended claims. The characteristics (both organization and operation) of the exemplary concepts disclosed herein, along with their associated exemplary advantages, are described in the following description and in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Each figure in the accompanying drawings is for illustrative and descriptive purposes and not as a limitation of the claims.

[0042] While aspects are described herein by way of example, those skilled in the art will understand that such aspects can be implemented in many different arrangements and scenarios. The techniques described herein can be implemented using different platform types, devices, systems, shapes, sizes, and / or package arrangements. For example, some aspects can be implemented via integrated chip implementations or other devices based on non-modular components (e.g., end-user equipment, vehicles, communication equipment, computing devices, industrial equipment, retail / shopping devices, medical devices, and / or artificial intelligence devices). Aspects can be implemented in chip-level components, modular components, non-modular components, non-chip-level components, device-level components, and / or system-level components. Devices incorporating the described example aspects and features may include additional example components and features for implementing and practicing the claimed and described aspects. For example, the transmission and reception of wireless signals may include one or more components for analog and digital purposes (e.g., hardware components including antennas, radio frequency (RF) chains, power amplifiers, modulators, buffers, processors, interleavers, adders, and / or summers). The aspects described herein can be practiced in a wide variety of devices, components, systems, distributed arrangements, and / or end-user equipment of different sizes, shapes, and configurations.

[0043] Various devices and technologies are used to illustrate several aspects of a telecommunications system. These devices and technologies are described in detail below and illustrated in the accompanying drawings by various blocks, modules, components, circuits, steps, processes, algorithms, etc. (collectively, “elements”). These elements can be implemented using hardware, software, or a combination thereof. Whether such elements are implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the system as a whole.

[0044] Multiple access protocols (RATs) have been adopted in various telecommunications standards to provide a common protocol enabling wireless communication devices to communicate at the city, enterprise, national, regional, or global levels. For example, 5G New Radio (NR) is part of the continuous mobile broadband evolution program released by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). 5G NR supports a variety of technologies and use cases, including enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC), massive machine-type communication (mMTC), millimeter wave (mmWave) technology, beamforming, network slicing, edge computing, Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity and management, and network function virtualization (NFV).

[0045] With increasing demand for broadband access and the evolution of technologies supported by wireless communication networks, further technological improvements can be adopted in or implemented for 5G NR or future RATs (such as 6G) to further advance the evolution of wireless communication for a variety of existing and new use cases and applications. These technological improvements can be associated with new frequency band extensions, licensed and unlicensed spectrum access, overlapping spectrum use, small cell deployments, non-terrestrial network (NTN) deployments, decomposed network architectures and network topology extensions, device aggregation, advanced duplex communication, sidelinks and other device-to-device direct communication, IoT (including passive or ambient IoT) networks, reduced-capacity (RedCap) UE functionality, industrial connectivity, multi-subscriber implementations, high-precision positioning, radio frequency (RF) sensing and / or artificial intelligence or machine learning (AI / ML), and more. Such technological improvements can support use cases such as wireless backhaul, wireless data centers, extended reality (XR) and metaverse applications, meta-services for supporting vehicle connectivity, holographic and mixed reality communications, autonomous and collaborative robots, vehicle platooning and collaborative manipulation, sensor networks, posture monitoring, brain-computer interfaces, digital twin applications, asset management, and general coverage applications using off-ground and / or aerial platforms, etc. The methods, operations, apparatuses, and techniques described herein can implement one or more of the foregoing technologies and / or support one or more of the foregoing use cases.

[0046] Figure 1 This is a diagram illustrating an example environment 100 in which the apparatus and / or methods described herein may be implemented according to this disclosure. Figure 1 As shown, environment 100 may include network entities 102, 104, and 106 that can communicate with each other via network 108. Network entities 102, 104, and 106 may be distributed throughout network 108, and each network entity 102, 104, and 106 may be stationary and / or mobile. Network 108 may include wired communication connections, wireless communication connections, or a combination of wired and wireless communication connections.

[0047] For example, network 108 may include cellular networks (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) networks, 4G networks, 5G networks, 6G networks, or another type of next-generation network), Public Land Mobile Networks (PLMNs), Local Area Networks (LANs), Wide Area Networks (WANs), Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs), telephone networks (e.g., Public Switched Telephone Networks (PSTN)), private networks, ad hoc networks, intranets, the Internet, fiber-optic networks, cloud computing networks, and / or combinations of these or other types of networks. Network 108 may include combinations of... Figure 2 The wireless communication network 200 described.

[0048] As described herein, a network entity (which may alternatively be referred to as an entity, node, network node, or wireless entity) can be, can be similar to, can include, or can be included in (e.g., can be a component of) the following: base station (e.g., any base station described herein, including a decomposed base station), UE (e.g., any UE described herein), RedCap device, eRedCap device, ambient Internet of Things (IoT) device, energy harvesting (EH) capable device, network controller, apparatus, device, computing system, integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, distributed unit (DU), central unit (CU), remote / radio unit (RU) (which may also be referred to as a remote radio unit (RRU)), and / or another processing entity configured to perform any of the techniques described herein. For example, a network entity can be a UE. As another example, a network entity can be a base station. As used herein, “network entity” can mean an entity configured to operate in a network (such as network 108). For example, “network entity” is not limited to an entity currently located in and / or currently operating in the network. Rather, a network entity can be any entity capable of communicating and / or operating within a network. A network entity may include entities combining... Figure 2 Network node 210 or UE 220 described in more detail.

[0049] The adjectives "first," "second," "third," etc., are used to distinguish between two or more modified nouns in context, and do not imply absolute modifiers applicable only to a specific corresponding entity throughout the document. For example, a network entity may be referred to as "first network entity" in one discussion and as "second network entity" in another, and vice versa. As an example, the first network entity may be configured to communicate with a second network entity or a third network entity. In one aspect of this example, the first network entity may be a UE, the second network entity may be a base station, and the third network entity may be a UE. In another aspect of this example, the first network entity may be a UE, the second network entity may be a base station, and the third network entity may be a base station. In yet other aspects of this example, the first, second, and third network entities may be different from these examples.

[0050] Similarly, references to UE, base station, device, equipment, computing system, etc., may include disclosures of UE, base station, device, equipment, computing system, etc., as network entities. For example, a disclosure of a UE being configured to receive information from a base station also discloses that a first network entity is configured to receive information from a second network entity. Consistent with this disclosure, once a particular example is extended according to this disclosure (e.g., a disclosure of a UE being configured to receive information from a base station also discloses that a first network entity is configured to receive information from a second network entity), a broader example of a narrower example may be interpreted in reverse, but in a broad, open-ended manner. In the above example where a UE is configured to receive information from a base station and a first network entity is configured to receive information from a second network entity, the first network entity may refer to a first UE, a first base station, a first device, a first equipment, a first computing system, a first set of one or more components, a first processing entity, etc., configured to receive information; and the second network entity may refer to a second UE, a second base station, a second device, a second equipment, a second computing system, a second set of one or more components, a second processing entity, etc.

[0051] As described herein, different terms may be used in various contexts to describe the transmission of information (e.g., any information, signal, etc.). Disclosure of one communication term includes disclosure of other communication terms. For example, a first network entity may be described as being configured to send information to a second network entity. In this example and consistent with this disclosure, disclosure that a first network entity is configured to send information to a second network entity includes disclosure that the first network entity is configured to provide, transmit, output, communicate, or send information to the second network entity. Similarly, in this example and consistent with this disclosure, disclosure that a first network entity is configured to send information to a second network entity includes disclosure that the second network entity is configured to receive, obtain, or decode information provided, transmitted, output, communicate, or sent by the first network entity.

[0052] As shown in the figure, network entity 102 may include processing system 110. Similarly, network entity 106 may include processing system 112. A processing system may include one or more components (or sub-components), such as those described herein. For example, a corresponding component among these one or more components may be, similar to, include, or be included in at least one memory, at least one communication interface, or at least one processor. For example, a processing system may include one or more components. In such an example, the one or more components may include a first component, a second component, and a third component. In this example, the first component may be coupled to the second and third components. In this example, the first component may be at least one processor, the second component may be a communication interface, and the third component may be at least one memory. A processing system can generally be one or more components of a system capable of performing one or more functions (such as any function or combination of functions described herein). For example, one or more components may receive input information (e.g., any information as input, such as a signal, any digital information, or any other information), one or more components may process the input information to generate output information (e.g., any information as output, such as a signal or any other information), one or more components may perform any function as described herein or any combination thereof.

[0053] As described herein, “input” and “input information” can be used interchangeably. Similarly, as described herein, “output” and “output information” can be used interchangeably. Any information generated by any component can be provided to one or more other systems or components of network entities such as those described herein. For example, a processing system may include a first component configured to receive or obtain information, a second component configured to process the information to generate output information, and / or a third component configured to provide the output information to other systems or components. In this example, the first component may be a communication interface (e.g., a first communication interface), the second component may be at least one processor (e.g., coupled to the communication interface and / or at least one memory), and the third component may be a communication interface (e.g., a first communication interface or a second communication interface). For example, a processing system may include at least one memory, at least one communication interface, and / or at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor may, for example, be coupled to the at least one memory and the at least one communication interface.

[0054] The processing system of the network entity described herein can interface with one or more other components of the network entity, process information received from one or more other components (such as input information), or output such information to one or more other components. For example, the processing system may include a first component configured to interface with one or more other components of the network entity to receive or obtain information, a second component configured to process the information to generate one or more outputs, and / or a third component configured to output the one or more outputs to one or more other components. In this example, the first component may be a communication interface (e.g., a first communication interface), the second component may be at least one processor (e.g., coupled to the communication interface and / or at least one memory), and the third component may be a communication interface (e.g., the first communication interface or the second communication interface). For example, a chip or modem of the network entity may include the processing system. The processing system may include a first communication interface for receiving or obtaining information, and a second communication interface for outputting, transmitting, or providing information. In some examples, the first communication interface may be an interface configured to receive input information, and such information may be provided to the processing system. In some examples, the second system interface may be configured to transmit information output from the chip or modem. The second communication interface can also obtain or receive input information, and the first communication interface can also output, send, or provide information.

[0055] For example, such as Figure 1 As shown, processing system 110 may include (e.g., one or more) communication managers 114 and one or more communication interfaces 116. Communication manager 114 may be configured to perform one or more communication tasks as described herein. In some aspects, communication manager 114 may direct communication interface 120 and / or processing system 110 to perform one or more communication tasks as described herein. Similarly, processing system 112 may include (e.g., one or more) communication managers 118 and one or more communication interfaces 120. Communication manager 118 may be configured to perform one or more communication tasks as described herein. In some aspects, processing system 112 and / or communication manager 118 may direct communication interface 120 to perform one or more communication tasks as described herein. Although network entities 102 and 104 are depicted only with reference to clarity of description, any one or more of network entities 102, 104, and 106 may also include communication managers and communication interfaces.

[0056] As used herein, a “communication interface” refers to an interface that enables communication (e.g., wireless communication, wired communication, or a combination thereof) between a first network entity and a second network entity. A communication interface may include electronic circuitry that enables the network entity to transmit, receive, or otherwise perform communication. A communication interface may be, resemble, include, or be comprised of one or more components configured to enable communication between the first and second network entities. For example, a communication interface may include transmitting components, receiving components, and / or transceivers, etc. For example, a communication interface may include one or more transceivers, one or more receivers, and / or one or more transmitters configured to communicate with other devices, such as via a wired connection, a wireless connection, or a combination of wired and wireless connections. In some examples, a communication interface may include one or more RF components, an RF front-end, one or more antennas, one or more transmitting or receiving processors, demodulation components, and / or modulation components, etc.

[0057] A communication interface may include transmitting and / or receiving components. For example, a communication interface may include a transceiver and / or one or more separate receivers and / or transmitters, enabling network entities to communicate with other devices, such as via wired connections, wireless connections, or a combination of wired and wireless connections. In some examples, a communication interface may include one or more radio frequency reflective elements and / or one or more radio frequency refractive elements. A communication interface can enable network entities to receive information from and / or provide information to another device. In some examples, a communication interface may include an Ethernet interface, an optical interface, a coaxial interface, an infrared interface, an RF interface, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface, a Wi-Fi interface, a cellular network interface, a wireless modem, or an internal integrated circuit (IIC). 2 C) and / or Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI), etc.

[0058] As described herein, network entities (e.g., network entity 102 and / or network entity 106) may be configured to perform one or more operations. References to network entities configured to perform one or more operations may refer to the processing system of the network entity configured to perform one or more operations and / or the processing system configured to cause one or more components of the network entity to perform one or more operations. For example, a reference to a processing system configured to perform one or more operations may refer to one or more components (or subcomponents) of the processing system performing one or more operations. For example, one or more components of the processing system may include at least one memory, at least one processor, and / or at least one communication interface, etc., configured to perform one or more (or all) of the one or more operations and / or any combination thereof. When referring to network entities and / or processing systems being configured to perform operations, the network entities and / or processing systems may be configured to cause one component to perform all operations, or to cause more than one component to perform operations jointly. When network entities and / or processing systems are configured to enable more than one component to perform an operation, each operation does not need to be performed by every single one of those components (e.g., different operations can be performed by different components) and / or each operation does not need to be performed by only one component as a whole (e.g., different components can perform different sub-functions of the operation).

[0059] As described in more detail elsewhere herein, network entity 102 may (e.g., processing system 110 may, or processing system 110 may enable communication manager 114 and / or communication interface 116) send communications to a second network entity indicating information regarding the reference signal configuration of a virtual cell to which the second network entity is configured; and / or receive, from the second network entity and based on the communications, the reference signal configuration of the virtual cell, wherein the reference signal configuration configures a reference signal in a frequency band outside the anchor band of the virtual cell. Additionally or alternatively, network entity 102 and / or communication manager 114 may perform one or more other operations described herein.

[0060] As described in more detail elsewhere herein, network entity 106 may (e.g., processing system 112 may, or processing system 112 may enable communication manager 114 and / or communication interface 116) receive from the second network entity information indicating reference signal configuration for a virtual cell to which the second network entity is configured; and / or transmit to the second network entity and based on the communication the reference signal configuration for the virtual cell, wherein the reference signal configuration configures a reference signal in a frequency band outside the anchor band of the virtual cell. Additionally or alternatively, network entity 106 and / or communication manager 118 may perform one or more other operations described herein.

[0061] Figure 1 The number and arrangement of entities shown are provided as one or more examples. In practice, they may exist in... Figure 1 The network entities and / or networks shown are compared to additional network entities and / or networks, fewer network entities and / or networks, different network entities and / or networks, or network entities and / or networks arranged in a different manner. Furthermore, network entities 102, 104, and 106 can be implemented using a single device or multiple devices.

[0062] Figure 2 This is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communication network 200 according to the present disclosure. The wireless communication network 200 may be a 5G (or NR) network or a 6G network, or may include elements of a 5G (or NR) network or a 6G network, etc. The wireless communication network 200 may include a plurality of network nodes 210, shown as network node (NN) 210a, network node 210b, network node 210c, and network node 210d. Network nodes 210 may support communication with a plurality of UEs 220 (shown as UE 220a, UE 220b, UE 220c, UE 220d, and UE 220e).

[0063] Network nodes 210 and UEs 220 of the wireless communication network 200 can communicate using the electromagnetic spectrum, which can be subdivided into various categories, frequency bands, carriers, and / or channels according to frequency or wavelength. For example, devices of the wireless communication network 200 can communicate using one or more operating frequency bands. In some aspects, multiple wireless communication networks 200 can be deployed in a given geographical area. Each wireless communication network 200 can support a specific RAT (which may also be referred to as an air interface) and can operate on one or more carrier frequencies in one or more frequency ranges. Examples of RATs include 4G RATs, 5G / NRRATs, and / or 6G RATs, etc. In some examples, when multiple RATs are deployed in a given geographical area, each RAT in that geographical area can operate on a different frequency to avoid interference with each other.

[0064] Various operating frequency bands have been defined as frequency ranges designated FR1 (410 MHz to 7.125 GHz), FR2 (24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz), FR3 (7.125 GHz to 24.25 GHz), FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6 GHz to 71 GHz), FR4 (52.6 GHz to 114.25 GHz), and FR5 (114.25 GHz to 300 GHz). Although a portion of FR1 is greater than 6 GHz, in some documents and articles, FR1 is often (interchangeably) referred to as the “sub-6 GHz” band. Similarly, in some documents and articles, FR2 is often (interchangeably) referred to as the “millimeter wave” band, but this is different from the Very High Frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz to 300 GHz) identified as the “millimeter wave” band by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are often referred to as the mid-band frequencies, including FR3. Frequency bands falling within FR3 can inherit FR1 or FR2 characteristics, thereby effectively extending the characteristics of FR1 or FR2 into mid-band frequencies. Therefore, "below 6 GHz" (if used herein) can broadly refer to frequencies less than 6 GHz, within FR1, and / or included in mid-band frequencies. Similarly, the term "millimeter wave" (if used herein) can broadly refer to frequencies included in mid-band frequencies, within FR2, FR4, FR4-a, FR4-1, or FR5, and / or within the EHF band. Higher frequency bands can extend 5G NR operation, 6G operation, and / or other RATs above 52.6 GHz. For example, each of FR4a, FR4-1, FR4, and FR5 falls within the EHF band. In some examples, the wireless communication network 200 can implement dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS), where multiple RATs (e.g., 4G / LTE and 5G / NR) are implemented within a single frequency band using dynamic bandwidth allocation (e.g., based on user demand). It is conceivable that the frequencies included in these operating frequency bands (e.g., FR1, FR2, FR3, FR4, FR4-a, FR4-1 and / or FR5) can be modified, and the techniques described herein are applicable to those modified frequency ranges.

[0065] Network node 210 may include one or more devices, components, or systems that enable communication between UE 220 and one or more devices, components, or systems of wireless communication network 200. Network node 210 may be, may include, or may also be referred to as an NR network node, 5G network node, 6G network node, node B, eNB, gNB, access point (AP), transmit / receive point (TRP), mobility element, core, network entity, network element, network equipment, and / or another type of device, component, or system included in a radio access network (RAN).

[0066] Network node 210 may be implemented as a single physical node (e.g., a single physical structure) or as two or more physical nodes (e.g., two or more different physical structures). For example, network node 210 may be a device or system implementing a portion of a radio protocol stack, a device or system implementing a complete radio protocol stack (such as a complete gNB protocol stack), or a collection of devices or systems collectively implementing a complete radio protocol stack. For example, and as shown, network node 210 may be an aggregated network node (with an aggregated architecture), meaning that network node 210 can implement a complete radio protocol stack physically and logically integrated within a single node (e.g., a single physical structure) in the wireless communication network 200. For example, aggregated network node 210 may consist of a single standalone base station or a single TRP that uses a complete radio protocol stack to implement or facilitate communication between UE 220 and the core network of wireless communication network 200.

[0067] Alternatively, and also as shown in the figure, network node 210 can be a decomposed network node (sometimes referred to as a decomposed base station), meaning that network node 210 can physically and / or logically distribute the radio protocol stack among two or more nodes in the same or different geographic locations. For example, a decomposed network node may have a decomposed architecture. In some deployments, decomposed network node 210 may be used in integrated access and backhaul (IAB) networks, in open radio access networks (O-RAN) (such as network configurations compliant with the O-RAN Alliance), or in virtualized radio access networks (vRAN) (also referred to as cloud radio access networks (C-RAN)) to facilitate scaling by decomposing base station functionality into multiple separately deployable units.

[0068] Network nodes 210 of the wireless communication network 200 may include one or more central units (CUs), one or more distributed units (DUs), and / or one or more radio units (RUs). CUs may host one or more higher-layer control functions, such as Radio Resource Control (RRC) functions, Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) functions, and / or Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) functions, etc. DUs may host one or more of the Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, Media Access Control (MAC) layer, and / or one or more higher physical (PHY) layers, at least in part, according to functional splits (such as those defined by 3GPP). In some examples, DUs may also host one or more lower PHY layer functions, such as Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), Inverse FFT (iFFT), beamforming, Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) extraction and filtering, and / or scheduling of resources for one or more UEs 220, etc. RUs may host RF processing functions or lower PHY layer functions, such as FFT, iFFT, beamforming, or PRACH extraction and filtering, etc., according to functional splits (such as lower-layer functional splits). In this type of architecture, each RU can be operated to handle over-the-air (OTA) communications with one or more UEs 220.

[0069] In some aspects, a single network node 210 may include a combination of one or more CUs, one or more DUs, and / or one or more RUs. Additionally or alternatively, network node 210 may include one or more near real-time (near RT) RAN Intelligent Controllers (RICs) and / or one or more non-real-time (non-RT) RICs. In some examples, CUs, DUs, and / or RUs may be implemented as virtual units, such as Virtual Central Units (VCUs), Virtual Distributed Units (VDUs), or Virtual Radio Units (VRUs), etc. Virtual units may be implemented as virtual network functions, such as those associated with cloud deployments.

[0070] Some network nodes 210 (e.g., base stations, RUs, or TRPs) can provide communication coverage for specific geographic areas. In 3GPP, the term "cell" can refer to the coverage area of ​​network node 210 or to network node 210 itself, depending on the context in which the term is used. Network node 210 can support one or more (e.g., three) cells. In some examples, network node 210 can provide communication coverage for macro cells, pico cells, femto cells, or another type of cell. A macro cell can cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and can allow unrestricted access by UE 220 with a service subscription. A pico cell can cover a relatively small geographic area and can allow unrestricted access by UE 220 with a service subscription. A femto cell can cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a residential area) and can allow restricted access by UE 220 associated with that femto cell (e.g., UE 220 in a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG)). The network node 210 used for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro network node. Network node 210 used for a picocell may be referred to as a pico network node. Network node 210 used for a femtocell may be referred to as a femto network node or a home network node. In some examples, the cell may not necessarily be stationary. For example, the geographical area of ​​the cell may be mobile based on the location of the associated mobile network node 210 (e.g., a train, satellite base station, unmanned aerial vehicle, or non-terrestrial network (NTN) network node).

[0071] The wireless communication network 200 can be a heterogeneous network, comprising different types of network nodes 210, such as macro network nodes, piconet network nodes, femtonet network nodes, relay network nodes, aggregation network nodes, and / or decomposition network nodes, etc. Figure 1 In the example shown, network node 210a can be a macro network node for macro cell 230a, network node 210b can be a pico network node for pico cell 230b, and network node 210c can be a femto network node for femto cell 230c. Compared to other types of network nodes 210, the various types of network nodes 210 typically transmit at different power levels, serve different coverage areas, and / or have different effects on interference in the wireless communication network 200. For example, macro network nodes may have high transmit power levels (e.g., 5 watts to 40 watts), while pico network nodes, femto network nodes, and relay network nodes may have lower transmit power levels (e.g., 0.1 watts to 2 watts).

[0072] In some examples, network node 210 may be, may include, or operate as a RU, TRP, or base station communicating with one or more UEs 220 via a radio access link (which may be referred to as a "Uu" link). The radio access link may include a downlink and an uplink. "Downlink" (or "DL") refers to the communication direction from network node 210 to UE 220, and "uplink" (or "UL") refers to the communication direction from UE 220 to network node 210. Downlink channels may include one or more control channels and one or more data channels. Downlink control channels may be used to transmit downlink control information (DCI) (e.g., scheduling information, reference signals, and / or configuration information) from network node 210 to UE 220. Downlink data channels may be used to transmit downlink data (e.g., user data associated with UE 220) from network node 210 to UE 220. Downlink control channels may include one or more physical downlink control channels (PDCCH), and downlink data channels may include one or more physical downlink shared channels (PDSCH). The uplink channel may similarly include one or more control channels and one or more data channels. The uplink control channel can be used to transmit uplink control information (UCI) from UE 220 to network node 210 (e.g., transmitting corresponding reference signals and / or feedback with one or more downlinks). The uplink data channel can be used to transmit uplink data (e.g., user data associated with UE 220) from UE 220 to network node 210. The uplink control channel may include one or more physical uplink control channels (PUCCH), and the uplink data channel may include one or more physical uplink shared channels (PUSCH). The downlink and uplink may each include a set of resources on which network node 210 and UE 220 can communicate.

[0073] Downlink and uplink resources may include time-domain resources (frames, subframes, time slots, and / or symbols), frequency-domain resources (bands, component carriers, subcarriers, resource blocks, and / or resource elements), and / or spatial-domain resources (specific transmission directions and / or beam parameters). Frequency-domain resources in some bands may be subdivided into Blocks of Frequency Resources (BWPs). A BWP may be a block of frequency-domain resources (e.g., a block of resource blocks) allocated to one or more UEs 220. UE 220 may be configured using both uplink and downlink BWPs (where the uplink and downlink BWPs may be the same BWP or different BWPs). BWPs may be dynamically configured and / or reconfigured (e.g., by sending DCI configuration to one or more UEs 220 via network node 210), meaning that BWPs may be adjusted in real-time (or near real-time) based on changing network conditions in the wireless communication network 200 and / or based on the specific requirements of one or more UEs 220. This allows for more efficient use of available frequency domain resources in the wireless communication network 200, as fewer frequency domain resources can be allocated to the BWP for UE 220 (which reduces the number of frequency domain resources that UE 220 needs to monitor), thus allowing more frequency domain resources to be distributed across multiple UE 220s. Therefore, the BWP can also assist in the implementation of such UE 220s by facilitating the configuration of smaller bandwidths for communications performed by lower-capacity UE 220s.

[0074] As indicated above, a BWP can be configured as a subset or part of the total or full component carrier bandwidth, and typically forms or covers a set of Common Resource Blocks (CRBs) within the full component carrier bandwidth. In other words, within the carrier bandwidth, a BWP begins at a CRB and can span the set of CRBs. Each BWP can be associated with its own set of parameters (indicating the Subcarrier Spacing (SCS) and Cyclic Prefix (CP)). UE 220 can be configured with up to four downlink BWPs and up to four uplink BWPs for each serving cell. To achieve reasonable UE battery consumption, under typical operation, only one downlink BWP and one uplink BWP are typically active at a given time on the active serving cell. The active BWP defines the operating bandwidth of UE 220 within the operating bandwidth of the serving cell, while all other BWPs configured on UE 220 are deactivated. On deactivated BWPs, UE 220 does not send or receive any communication.

[0075] As described above, in some aspects, the wireless communication network 200 may be an IAB network, may include an IAB network, or may be included in an IAB network. In an IAB network, at least one network node 210 is an anchored network node that communicates with a core network. Anchored network node 210 may also be referred to as an IAB donor (or "IAB-donor"). Anchored network node 210 may be connected to the core network via a wired backhaul link. For example, the Ng interface of anchored network node 210 may terminate at the core network. Additionally or alternatively, anchored network node 210 may be connected to one or more devices in the core network that provide core access and mobility management functions (AMF). IAB networks typically also include multiple non-anchored network nodes 210, which may also be referred to as relay network nodes or simply IAB nodes (or "IAB-nodes"). Each non-anchored network node 210 can directly communicate with the anchored network node 210 via a wireless backhaul link to access the core network, or can indirectly communicate with the anchored network node 210 via one or more other non-anchored network nodes 210 and an associated wireless backhaul link forming a backhaul path to the core network. Some anchored network nodes 210 or other non-anchored network nodes 210 can also directly communicate with one or more UEs 220 via a wireless access link carrying access services. In some examples, network resources (such as time resources, frequency resources, and / or spatial resources) used for wireless communication can be shared between the access link and the backhaul link.

[0076] In some examples, any network node 210 relaying communication may be referred to as a relay network node, a relay station, or simply a repeater. A repeater may receive communications from an upstream station (e.g., another network node 210 or UE 220) and transmit communications to a downstream station (e.g., UE 220 or another network node 210). In this case, the wireless communication network 200 may include or be referred to as a "multi-hop network." Figure 1 In the example shown, network node 210d (e.g., a relay network node) can communicate with network node 210a (e.g., a macro network node) and UE 220d to facilitate communication between network node 210a and UE 220d. Additionally or alternatively, UE 220 can be a relay station capable of relaying transmissions to or from other UEs 220, or can operate as such a relay station. UE 220 relaying communication can be referred to as a UE repeater or relay UE, etc.

[0077] UE 220 may be physically distributed throughout the wireless communication network 200, and each UE 220 may be stationary or mobile. UE 220 may be, may include, an access terminal, another terminal, a mobile station, or a subscriber unit, or may be included in an access terminal, another terminal, a mobile station, or a subscriber unit. UE 220 may be, or may include, a cellular phone (e.g., a smartphone), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a tablet device, a camera, a gaming device, a netbook, a smartbook, an ultrabook, a medical device, a biometric device, a wearable device (e.g., a smartwatch, smart clothing, smart glasses, a smart wristband and / or smart jewelry (such as a smart ring or smart bracelet)), an entertainment device (e.g., a music device, a video device and / or a satellite radio), an extended reality (XR) device, a vehicle component or sensor, a smart meter or sensor, industrial manufacturing equipment, a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) device (such as a Global Positioning System device or another type of positioning device), a UE function of a network node, and / or any other suitable device or function that can communicate via a wireless medium, or may be coupled to them.

[0078] UE 220 and / or network node 210 may include one or more chips, system-on-a-chip (SOC), chipsets, packages, or devices that individually or collectively constitute or include a processing system (such as processing system 110 and / or processing system 112). The processing system includes processor (or “processing”) circuitry in the form of one or more processors, microprocessors, processing units (such as central processing units (CPUs), graphics processing units (GPUs), neural processing units (NPUs), and / or digital signal processors (DSPs)), processing blocks, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), programmable logic devices (PLDs) (such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs)), or other discrete gate or transistor logic components or circuits (all of which are generally referred to herein individually as “processors” or collectively as “processors” or “processor circuitry”). One or more of these processors may be individually or collectively configured to perform the various functions or operations described herein. A processor group that can be configured or configured to perform a set of functions may include a first processor that can be configured or configured to perform a first function in the set, and a second processor that can be configured or configured to perform a second function in the set, or may include the entire processor group that is configured or configured to perform the set of functions.

[0079] The processing system may also include memory circuitry in the form of one or more memory devices, memory blocks, memory elements, or other discrete gate or transistor logic components or circuits, each of which may include tangible storage media such as random access memory (RAM) or read-only memory (ROM) or combinations thereof (all of which are generally referred to herein individually as "memory" or collectively as "memory" or "memory circuitry"). One or more of these memories may be coupled to one or more processors in the processor (e.g., operatively coupled, communicatively coupled, electronically coupled, or electrically coupled) and may store processor-executable code (such as software) individually or collectively, which, when executed by one or more processors in the processor, may configure one or more processors in the processor to perform the various functions or operations described herein. Additionally or alternatively, in some examples, one or more processors in the processor may be pre-configured to perform the various functions or operations described herein without being configured by software. The processing system may also include or be coupled to one or more modems (such as Wi-Fi (e.g., IEEE compliant) modems or cellular (e.g., 3GPP 4G LTE, 5G, or 6G compliant) modems). In some embodiments, one or more processors of the processing system include or implement one or more modems among the modems. The processing system may also include, or be coupled to, multiple radio components (collectively, “radio components”), multiple RF chains, or multiple transceivers, each of which may in turn be coupled to one or more antennas among a plurality of antennas. In some embodiments, one or more processors of the processing system include or implement one or more of the radio components, RF chains, or transceivers. UE 220 may be included or may be included in a housing that accommodates components associated with UE 220, including the processing system.

[0080] Some UEs 220 may be considered Machine Type Communication (MTC) UEs, Evolved or Enhanced Machine Type Communication (eMTC) UEs, Further Enhanced eMTC (feMTC) UEs, or Enhanced feMTC (efeMTC) UEs, or further evolutions thereof, all of which may be referred to simply as "MTC UEs". An MTC UE may be, may include, or may be included in or coupled with the following: robots, unmanned aerial vehicles or drones, remote devices, sensors, instruments, monitors, and / or location tags. Some UEs 220 may be considered IoT devices and / or may be implemented as NB-IoT (Narrowband IoT) devices. IoT UEs or NB-IoT devices may be, may include, or may be included in or coupled with the following: industrial machines, appliances, refrigerators, doorbell camera devices, home automation devices, and / or lighting fixtures, etc. Some UEs 220 can be considered customer premises equipment, which may include telecommunications equipment installed at a customer location (such as a home or office) to enable access to a service provider’s network (such as being included in or communicating with a wireless communication network 200).

[0081] Some UEs 220 can be categorized according to different categories associated with varying levels of complexity and / or capabilities. UEs 220 in the first category facilitate large-scale IoT within the wireless communication network 200 and offer lower complexity and / or lower cost compared to UEs 220 in the second category. UEs 220 in the second category may include mission-critical IoT devices, legacy UEs, baseline UEs, high-level UEs, advanced UEs, full-capability UEs, and / or premium UEs capable of ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), and / or precise positioning within the wireless communication network 200. UEs 220 in the third category may possess intermediate-level complexity and / or capabilities (e.g., capabilities between first-category UEs and second-capability UEs). UEs 220 in the third category may be referred to as reduced-capability UEs (“RedCap UEs”), intermediate-level UEs, NR lightweight UEs, and / or NR simplified UEs, etc. RedCap UEs bridge the gap in capabilities and complexity between NB-IoT devices and / or eMTC UEs and mission-critical IoT devices and / or premium UEs. RedCap UEs can include, for example, wearable devices, IoT devices, industrial sensors, and / or cameras associated with limited bandwidth, power capacity, and / or transmission range. RedCap UEs can support healthcare environments, building automation, power distribution, process automation, transportation and logistics, and / or smart city deployments, among others.

[0082] In some examples, two or more UEs 220 (e.g., shown as UE 220a and UE 220e) can communicate directly with each other using sidelink communication (e.g., without communicating through a network node 210 acting as an intermediary). As an example, UE 220a can send data, control information, or other signaling directly to UE 220e as sidelink communication. This contrasts with, for example, UE 220a first sending data to network node 210 in UL communication, and then that network node sending data to UE 220e in DL communication. In various examples, UE 220 can use peer-to-peer (P2P) communication protocols, device-to-device (D2D) communication protocols, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication protocols (which may include vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) protocols, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) protocols, and / or vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) protocols), and / or mesh network communication protocols to send and receive sidelink communication. In some deployments and configurations, network node 210 may schedule and / or allocate resources for sidelink communication between UEs 220 in the wireless communication network 200. In some other deployments and configurations, UE 220 (instead of network node 210) may perform or cooperate with or negotiate with one or more other UEs to perform scheduling operations, resource selection operations, and / or other operations for sidelink communication.

[0083] In various examples, in addition to half-duplex operation, some network nodes and UEs in the wireless communication network 200, including network node 210 and UE 220, can also be configured for full-duplex operation. Network node 210 or UE 220 operating in half-duplex mode can perform only one of transmission or reception during a specific time resource period (such as a specific time slot, symbol, or other time period). Half-duplex operation may involve time division duplex (TDD), where the DL transmission of network node 210 and the UL transmission of UE 220 do not occur in the same time resource (i.e., the transmissions do not overlap in time). In contrast, network node 210 or UE 220 operating in full-duplex mode can transmit and receive communications concurrently (e.g., within the same time resource). By operating in full-duplex mode, network node 210 and / or UE 220 can generally increase the capacity of the network and radio access links. In some examples, full-duplex operation may involve frequency division duplex (FDD), in which network node 210 performs DL transmission in a first frequency band or on a first component carrier, and UE 220 performs transmission in a second frequency band or on a second component carrier, the second frequency band or the second component carrier being different from the first frequency band or the first component carrier, respectively. In some examples, full-duplex operation may be enabled for UE 220 but not for network node 210. For example, UE 220 may simultaneously transmit UL to the first network node 210 and receive DL transmissions from the second network node 210 in the same time resources. In some other examples, full-duplex operation may be enabled for network node 210 but not for UE 220. For example, network node 210 may simultaneously transmit DL to the first UE 220 and receive UL transmissions from the second UE 220 in the same time resources. In some other examples, full-duplex operation may be enabled for both network node 210 and UE 220.

[0084] In some examples, UE 220 and network node 210 can perform MIMO communication. "MIMO" generally refers to the simultaneous transmission or reception of multiple signals (such as multiple layers or multiple data streams) using the same time and frequency resources. MIMO techniques typically utilize multipath propagation. MIMO can be implemented using various spatial processing or spatial multiplexing operations. In some examples, MIMO can support simultaneous transmission to multiple receivers, which is called multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO). Some RATs can employ advanced MIMO techniques such as mTRP operations (including redundant transmission or reception on multiple TRPs), reciprocity in the time or frequency domain, single-frequency network (SFN) transmission, or noncoherent joint transmission (NC-JT).

[0085] Network node 210 may provide UE 220 with a configuration of Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) states, which indicate or correspond to beams that UE 220 may use for, for example, receiving one or more communications via a physical channel. For example, network node 210 may (e.g., using DCI) indicate an active TCI state to UE 220, which UE 220 may use to generate a beam for receiving one or more communications via a physical channel. The beam indication may be a TCI state information element, beam identifier (ID), spatial relation information, TCI state ID, closed-loop index, panel ID, TRPID, and / or sounding reference signal (SRS) set ID, etc., or may include TCI state information elements, beam identifier (ID), spatial relation information, TCI state ID, closed-loop index, panel ID, TRP ID, and / or sounding reference signal (SRS) set ID, etc. TCI state information elements (sometimes referred to herein as TCI states) may indicate specific information associated with the beam. For example, TCI state information elements may indicate a TCI state identifier (e.g., tci-StateID), quasi-co-location (QCL) type (e.g., qcl-Type1, qcl-Type2, qcl-TypeA, qcl-TypeB, qcl-TypeC, or qcl-TypeD, etc.), cell identifier (e.g., ServCellIndex), bandwidth portion identifier (bwp-Id), or reference signal identifier (such as Channel State Information (CSI) Reference Signal (CSI-RS) identifier (e.g., NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId or SSB-Index, etc.)). Spatial relationship information may similarly indicate information associated with the uplink beam. Beam indication can be a joint or separate DL / UL beam indication within a unified TCI framework. Within the unified TCI framework, network node 210 may support common TCI state ID updates and activations, which can provide common QCL and / or common UL transmit spatial filters across a set of configured component carriers. This type of beam indication is applicable to in-band carrier aggregation and to both combined DL / UL beam indication and individual DL / UL beam indication. A common TCI state ID can refer to a reference signal determined based on the TCI state indicated by the common TCI state ID, used to provide QCL type D indication and to determine the UL transmit space filter across the configured CC set.

[0086] In some aspects, UE 220 may include communication manager 240. As described in more detail elsewhere herein, communication manager 240 may send communications to a network entity instructing information regarding a reference signal configuration for a virtual cell that a second network entity is configured to support; and receive, from the network entity and based on the communications, the reference signal configuration for the virtual cell, wherein the reference signal configuration configures a reference signal in a frequency band outside the anchor band of the virtual cell. Additionally or alternatively, communication manager 240 may perform one or more other operations described herein.

[0087] In some aspects, network node 210 may include communication manager 250. As described in more detail elsewhere herein, communication manager 250 may receive communication from a network entity indicating information regarding a reference signal configuration for a virtual cell that a second network entity is configured to support; and transmit, to the network entity and based on the communication, the reference signal configuration for the virtual cell, wherein the reference signal configuration configures a reference signal in a frequency band outside the anchor band of the virtual cell. Additionally or alternatively, communication manager 250 may perform one or more other operations described herein.

[0088] Figure 3 This is a diagram illustrating an example network node 210 communicating with an example UE 220 in a wireless network according to the present disclosure.

[0089] like Figure 3 As shown, network node 210 may include a data source 312, a transmit processor 314, a transmit (TX) MIMO processor 316, a set of modems 332 (shown as 332a to 332t, where t≥1), a set of antennas 334 (shown as 334a to 334v, where v≥1), a MIMO detector 336, a receive processor 338, a data sink 339, a controller / processor 340, a memory 342, a communication unit 344, a scheduler 346, and / or a communication manager 250, etc. In some configurations, one or a combination of antennas 334, modems 332, MIMO detectors 336, receive processors 338, transmit processors 314, and / or TX MIMO processors 316 may be included in the transceiver of network node 210. The transceiver may be under the control of and used by one or more processors (such as controller / processor 340), and in some respects, may perform aspects of the methods, procedures and / or operations described herein in conjunction with processor-readable code stored in memory 342. In some respects, network node 210 may include one or more interfaces, communication components and / or other components that facilitate communication with UE 220 or another network node.

[0090] The terms “processor,” “controller,” or “controller / processor” can refer to one or more controllers and / or one or more processors. For example, references to “a / the processor,” “a / the controller / processor,” etc. (in the singular) refer to the combination of… Figure 3 The processor described refers to any one or more processors, such as a single processor or a combination of multiple different processors. The reference to "one or more processors" means a combination of... Figure 3 Any one or more processors described herein. For example, one or more processors of network node 210 may include transmit processor 314, TX MIMO processor 316, MIMO detector 336, receive processor 338, and / or controller / processor 340. Similarly, one or more processors of UE 220 may include MIMO detector 356, receive processor 358, transmit processor 364, TX MIMO processor 366, and / or controller / processor 380.

[0091] In some aspects, a single processor can perform all operations described as being performed by one or more processors. In some aspects, a first set of one or more processors can perform a first operation described as being performed by that one or more processors, and a second set of one or more processors can perform a second operation described as being performed by that one or more processors. The first set of processors and the second set of processors can be the same set of processors or can be different sets of processors. The reference to "one or more memories" refers to any one or more memories of the corresponding device, such as combined... Figure 3 The memory described. For example, an operation described as being performed by one or more memories can be performed by the same subset of the one or more memories or by different subsets of the one or more memories.

[0092] For downlink communication from network node 210 to UE 220, transmitting processor 314 may receive data (“downlink data”) intended for use by UE 220 (or a set of UEs including UE 220) from data source 312 (such as a data pipeline or data queue). In some examples, transmitting processor 314 may select one or more MCSs for UE 220 based on one or more Channel Quality Indicators (CQIs) received from UE 220. Network node 210 may process the data (e.g., including encoding the data) according to the MCS selected for UE 220 for transmission to UE 220 on the downlink, thereby generating data symbols. Transmitting processor 314 may process system information (e.g., semi-static resource partitioning information (SRPI)) and / or control information (e.g., CQI requests, grants, and / or upper-layer signaling) and provide overhead symbols and / or control symbols. The transmitting processor 314 can generate reference symbols for reference signals (e.g., cell-specific reference signal (CRS), demodulation reference signal (DMRS), or CSI-RS) and / or synchronization signals (e.g., primary synchronization signal (PSS) or secondary synchronization signal (SSS)).

[0093] The TX MIMO processor 316 can perform spatial processing (e.g., pre-decoding) on ​​data symbols, control symbols, overhead symbols, and / or reference symbols, where applicable, and can provide a set of output symbol streams (e.g., T output symbol streams) to a set of modems 332. For example, each output symbol stream can be provided to a corresponding modulator component (shown as MOD) of the modem 332. Each modem 332 can use the corresponding modulator component to process (e.g., modulate) the corresponding output symbol stream (e.g., for Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM)) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modem 332 can further use the corresponding modulator component to process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and / or up-convert) the output sample stream to obtain a time-domain downlink signal. Modems 332a to 332t can transmit a set of downlink signals (e.g., T downlink signals) together via a set of corresponding antennas 334.

[0094] Downlink signaling may include DCI communication, MAC control element (MAC-CE) communication, RRC communication, downlink reference signaling, or another type of downlink communication. Downlink signaling may be transmitted on the PDCCH, PDSCH, and / or another downlink channel. Downlink signaling may carry one or more transport blocks (TBs) of data. A TB may be a data unit transmitted via the air interface in the wireless communication network 200. A data stream (e.g., from data source 312) may be encoded into multiple TBs for transmission via the air interface. The number of TBs used to carry data associated with a particular data stream may be associated with a TB size shared by multiple TBs. The TB size may be based on the radio channel conditions of the air interface, the MCS used to encode the data, downlink resources allocated for transmitting data, and / or other parameters, or otherwise associated with them. Generally, a larger TB size allows for a larger amount of data to be transmitted in a single transmission, reducing signaling overhead. However, a larger TB size may be more prone to transmission and / or reception errors than a smaller TB size, but such errors can be mitigated through more robust error correction techniques.

[0095] For uplink communication from UE 220 to network node 210, the uplink signal from UE 220 may be received by antenna 334, processed by modem 332 (e.g., demodulator component of modem 332, shown as DEMOD), detected where applicable by MIMO detector 336 (e.g., receive (Rx) MIMO processor), and / or further processed by receive processor 338 to obtain decoded data and / or control information. Receive processor 338 may provide the decoded data to data sink 339 (which may be a data pipeline, data queue, and / or another type of data sink) and provide the decoded control information to processors such as controller / processor 340.

[0096] Network node 210 may use scheduler 346 to schedule one or more UEs 220 for downlink or uplink communication. In some aspects, scheduler 346 may use DCI to dynamically schedule DL transmissions to and / or UL transmissions from UE 220. In some examples, scheduler 346 may allocate repetitive time-domain and / or frequency-domain resources that UE 220 may use for transmitting and / or receiving communication with RRC configuration (e.g., semi-static configuration), for example, to perform semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) or to use configured permission (CG) configuration for UE 220.

[0097] One or more of the following may be included in the RF chain of network node 210: transmit processor 314, TX MIMO processor 316, modem 332, antenna 334, MIMO detector 336, receive processor 338, and / or controller / processor 340. The RF chain may include one or more filters, mixers, oscillators, amplifiers, analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), and / or other devices for converting analog signals (such as those used for transmission or reception via an air interface) to digital signals (such as those used for processing by one or more processors of network node 210). In some aspects, the RF chain may be a transceiver of network node 210, or may be included in such a transceiver.

[0098] In some examples, network node 210 may use communication unit 344 to communicate with the core network and / or other network nodes. Communication unit 344 may support wired and / or wireless communication protocols and / or connections, such as Ethernet, fiber optic, Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI), and / or wired or wireless backhaul, etc. Network node 210 may use communication unit 344 to send and / or receive data associated with UE 220, or to execute network control signaling, etc. Communication unit 344 may include transceivers and / or interfaces, such as network interfaces.

[0099] UE 220 may include a set of antennas 352 (shown as antennas 352a to 352r, where r ≥ 1), a set of modems 354 (shown as modems 354a to 354u, where u ≥ 1), a MIMO detector 356, a receive processor 358, a data sink 360, a data source 362, a transmit processor 364, a TX MIMO processor 366, a controller / processor 380, a memory 382, ​​and / or a communication manager 240, etc. One or more components of UE 220 may be included in housing 384. In some aspects, one or a combination of antennas 352, modems 354, MIMO detector 356, receive processor 358, transmit processor 364, or TX MIMO processor 366 may be included in a transceiver included in UE 220. The transceiver may be under the control of and used by one or more processors (such as controller / processor 380), and in some respects, may perform aspects of the methods, procedures, or operations described herein in conjunction with processor-readable code stored in memory 382. In some respects, UE 220 may include another interface, another communication component, and / or another component that facilitates communication with network node 210 and / or another UE 220.

[0100] For downlink communication from network node 210 to UE 220, the set of antennas 352 can receive downlink communication or signals from network node 210 and can provide a set of received downlink signals (e.g., R received signals) to a set of modems 354. For example, each received signal can be provided to a corresponding demodulator component (shown as DEMOD) of modem 354. Each modem 354 can use the corresponding demodulator component to condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and / or digitize) the received signal to obtain an input sample. Each modem 354 can use the corresponding demodulator component to further demodulate or process the input sample (e.g., for OFDM) to obtain a received symbol. MIMO detector 356 can obtain the received symbols from the set of modems 354, can perform MIMO detection on the received symbols where applicable, and can provide the detected symbols. The receiver processor 358 can process (e.g., decode) the detected symbols, provide the decoded data for the UE 220 to the data sink 360 (which may include a data pipeline, a data queue, and / or an application running on the UE 220), and provide the decoded control information and system information to the controller / processor 380.

[0101] For uplink communication from UE 220 to network node 210, the transmitting processor 364 may receive and process data (“uplink data”) from data source 362 (such as data pipelines, data queues, and / or applications running on UE 220) and control information from controller / processor 380. The control information may include one or more parameters, feedback, one or more signal measurements, and / or other types of control information. In some aspects, the receiving processor 358 and / or controller / processor 380 may determine one or more parameters related to the transmission of uplink communication for received signals (such as those received from network node 210 or another UE). One or more parameters may include a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) parameter, a Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) parameter, a Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ) parameter, a Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) parameter, or a Transmit Power Control (TPC) parameter, etc. The control information may include indications of RSRP, RSSI, RSRQ, CQI, TPC, and / or another parameter. Control information can facilitate parameter selection and / or scheduling for UE 220 by network node 210.

[0102] Transmitter 364 can generate reference symbols for one or more reference signals, such as uplink DMRS, uplink SRS, and / or another type of reference signal. Symbols from transmitter 364 may be pre-decoded by TX MIMO processor 366 where applicable, and further processed by an assembly of modems 354 (e.g., for DFT-s-OFDM or CP-OFDM). TX MIMO processor 366 may perform spatial processing (e.g., pre-decoding) on ​​data symbols, control symbols, overhead symbols, and / or reference symbols where applicable, and may provide an assembly of output symbol streams (e.g., U output symbol streams) to the assembly of modems 354. For example, each output symbol stream may be provided to a corresponding modulator component (shown as MOD) of modem 354. Each modem 354 may use the corresponding modulator component to process (e.g., modulate) the corresponding output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modem 354 may further use a corresponding modulator component to process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and / or upconvert) the output sample stream to obtain an uplink signal.

[0103] Modems 354a to 354u can transmit a set of uplink signals (e.g., R uplink signals or U uplink symbols) via a set of corresponding antennas 352. Uplink signals may include UCI communication, MAC-CE communication, RRC communication, or another type of uplink communication. Uplink signals can be transmitted on PUSCH, PUCCH, and / or another type of uplink channel. Uplink signals can carry one or more TBs of data. Sidelink data and control transmission (i.e., transmission directly between two or more UEs 220) typically uses techniques similar to those described for uplink data and control transmission and may use sidelink-specific channels such as the Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), and / or Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel (PSFCH).

[0104] One or more antennas in the set of antennas 352 or the set of antennas 334 may include one or more antenna panels, one or more antenna groups, one or more sets of antenna elements, or one or more antenna arrays, etc., or may be included in one or more antenna panels, one or more antenna groups, one or more sets of antenna elements, or one or more antenna arrays, etc. Antenna panels, antenna groups, sets of antenna elements, or antenna arrays may include one or more antenna elements (within a single housing or multiple housings), a set of coplanar antenna elements, a set of non-coplanar antenna elements, or with one or more transmitting or receiving components (such as...) Figure 3An antenna module is a device that integrates one or more antenna elements (such as one or more components of an antenna). As used herein, "antenna" can refer to one or more antennas, one or more antenna panels, one or more antenna groups, one or more collections of antenna elements, or one or more antenna arrays. "Antenna panel" can refer to an array or panel of antenna elements arranged in an array or panel that can facilitate beamforming by manipulating the parameters of the antenna group. "Antenna module" can refer to a circuit that includes one or more antennas, and may also include one or more other components (such as filters, amplifiers, or processors) associated with integrating the antenna module into a wireless communication device.

[0105] In some examples, each antenna element of antenna 334 or antenna 352 may include one or more sub-elements for radiating or receiving radio frequency signals. For example, a single antenna element may include a first sub-element cross-polarized with a second sub-element that can be used to independently transmit cross-polarized signals. Antenna elements may include patch antennas, dipole antennas, and / or other types of antennas arranged in a linear pattern, a two-dimensional pattern, or another pattern. The spacing between antenna elements can allow signals transmitted individually by antenna elements at desired wavelengths to interact or interfere with each other constructively and destructively in various directions (such as to form a desired beam). For example, given a desired wavelength or frequency range, the spacing may provide a quarter wavelength, half a wavelength, or another fraction of the wavelength of the spacing between adjacent antenna elements to allow desired constructive and destructive interference modes of signals transmitted by individual antenna elements within that desired range.

[0106] The amplitude and / or phase of signals transmitted via antenna elements and / or sub-elements can be modulated and (e.g., by manipulating phase shifts, phase offsets, and / or amplitudes) shifted relative to each other to generate one or more beams; this is known as beamforming. The term "beam" can refer to the directional transmission of a wireless signal toward a receiving device or otherwise in a desired direction. "Beam" can also generally refer to the direction associated with such directional signal transmission, the set of directional resources associated with the signal transmission (e.g., angle of arrival, horizontal direction, and / or vertical direction), and / or a set of parameters indicating one or more aspects of the directional signal, the direction associated with the signal, and / or the set of directional resources associated with the signal. In some implementations, antenna elements can be individually selected or deselected for the directional transmission of a signal (or multiple signals) by controlling the amplitude of one or more corresponding amplifiers and / or the phase of the signal to form one or more beams. The shape of the beam (such as amplitude, width, and / or the presence of sidelobes) and / or the direction of the beam (such as the angle of the beam relative to the surface of the antenna array) can be dynamically controlled by modifying the phase shifts, phase offsets, and / or amplitudes of multiple signals relative to each other.

[0107] Different UEs 220 or network nodes 210 may include different numbers of antenna elements. For example, UE 220 may include a single antenna element, two antenna elements, four antenna elements, eight antenna elements, or different numbers of antenna elements. As another example, network node 210 may include eight antenna elements, 24 antenna elements, 64 antenna elements, 128 antenna elements, or different numbers of antenna elements. Generally speaking, a larger number of antenna elements provides increased control over the parameters used for beamforming compared to a smaller number of antenna elements, while a smaller number of antenna elements may be less complex to implement and can use less power. Multiple antenna elements can support multi-layer transmission, in which the same time and frequency resources are used to utilize spatial multiplexing to transmit a first layer of communication (which may include a first data stream) and a second layer of communication (which may include a second data stream).

[0108] Figure 4 This is an illustration of an example decomposed base station architecture 400 according to the present disclosure. One or more components of the example decomposed base station architecture 400 may be, may include, or may be included in one or more network nodes (such as one or more network nodes 210). The decomposed base station architecture 400 may include a CU 410, which may communicate directly with the core network 420 via a backhaul link, or may communicate indirectly with the core network 420 via one or more decomposed control units (such as non-RT RIC 450 and / or near-RT RIC 470 associated with a Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) framework 460 (e.g., via an E2 link)). The CU 410 may communicate with one or more DU 430 via a corresponding midhaul link (such as via an F1 interface). Each DU in the DU 430 may communicate with one or more RU 440 via a corresponding fronthaul link. Each RU in the RU 440 may communicate with one or more UE 220 via a corresponding RF access link. In some deployments, a UE 220 may be served simultaneously by multiple RU 440s.

[0109] Each component of the disassembled base station architecture 400 (including CU 410, DU 430, RU 440, near-RT RIC 470, non-RT RIC 450, and SMO frame 460) may include one or more interfaces or be coupled to one or more interfaces for receiving or transmitting signals, such as data or information, via wired or wireless transmission media.

[0110] In some respects, the CU 410 can be logically divided into one or more CU-UP units and one or more CU-CP units. When implemented in an O-RAN configuration, the CU-UP units can communicate bidirectionally with the CU-CP units via an interface such as an E1 interface. The CU 410 can be deployed to communicate with one or more DU 430s for network control and signaling, as needed. Each DU 430 may correspond to a logical unit that includes one or more base station functions for controlling the operation of one or more RU 440s. For example, the DU 430 may host various layers, such as the RLC layer, MAC layer, or one or more PHY layers (such as one or more high PHY layers or one or more low PHY layers). Each layer (which may also be referred to as a module) can be implemented using an interface for signaling to other layers (and modules) hosted by the DU 430, or for signaling to control functions hosted by the CU 410. Each RU 440 may implement lower-layer functionality. In some respects, the real-time and non-real-time aspects of communication with the control plane and user plane of the RU 440 can be controlled by the corresponding DU 430.

[0111] The SMO framework 460 supports RAN deployment and provisioning for both non-virtualized and virtualized network elements. For non-virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 460 supports the deployment of dedicated physical resources for RAN coverage requirements, which can be managed via operation and maintenance interfaces such as the O1 interface. For virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 460 can interact with cloud computing platforms such as the Open Cloud (O-Cloud) platform 490 to perform network element lifecycle management (such as instantiating virtualized network elements) via cloud computing platform interfaces such as the O2 interface. Virtualized network elements may include, but are not limited to, CU 410, DU 430, RU 440, non-RT RIC 450, and / or near-RT RIC 470. In some aspects, the SMO framework 460 can communicate with hardware aspects of the 4G RAN, 5G NR RAN, and / or 6G RAN (such as the Open eNB (O-eNB) 480) via the O1 interface. Additionally or alternatively, the SMO framework 460 can communicate directly with each of one or more RUs 440 via the respective O1 interface. In some deployments, this configuration enables each DU 430 and CU 410 to be implemented in a cloud-based RAN architecture, such as a vRAN architecture.

[0112] The non-RT RIC 450 may include or implement logical functions that enable non-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources, including artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML) workflows for model training and updates, and / or policy-based guidance of applications and / or features in the near-RT RIC 470. The non-RT RIC 450 may be coupled to or communicate with the near-RT RIC 470, such as via an A1 interface. The near-RT RIC 470 may include or implement logical functions that enable near real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources via an interface, such as an E2 interface, through data collection and action, connecting one or more CU 410s, one or more DU 430s, and / or O-eNBs to the near-RT RIC 470.

[0113] In some respects, to generate AI / ML models to be deployed in the near-RT RIC 470, the non-RT RIC 450 may receive parameters or external enrichment information from an external server. This information can be utilized by the near-RT RIC 470 and may be received from non-network data sources or network functions at the SMO framework 460 or the non-RT RIC 450. In some examples, the non-RT RIC 450 or near-RT RIC 470 may modulate RAN behavior or performance. For example, the non-RT RIC 450 may monitor long-term trends and patterns in performance and may employ AI / ML models to perform corrective actions via the SMO framework 460 (such as reconfiguration via the O1 interface) or via the creation of RAN management policies (such as A1 interface policies).

[0114] Figure 1 , Figure 2 , Figure 3 or Figure 4 Network node 210, its controller / processor 340, UE 220, UE 220's controller / processor 380, CU 410, DU 430, RU 440, or any other component may implement one or more technologies or perform one or more operations associated with virtual cell reference signal configuration, as described in more detail elsewhere herein. For example, network node 210's controller / processor 340, UE 220's controller / processor 380, CU 410, DU 430, RU 440, or any other component may implement one or more technologies or perform one or more operations associated with virtual cell reference signal configuration, as described in more detail elsewhere herein. Figure 3 Any other component, CU 410, DU 430, or RU 440 may execute or instruct, for example Figure 10 Process 1000 Figure 11The operation of process 1100 or other processes as described herein (alone or in combination with one or more other processors). Memory 342 may store data and program code for network node 210, CU 410, DU 430, or RU 440. Memory 382 may store data and program code for UE 220. In some examples, memory 342 or memory 382 may include a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instruction sets (e.g., code or program code) for wireless communication. Memory 342 may include one or more memories, such as a single memory or multiple different memories (of the same or different types). Memory 382 may include one or more memories, such as a single memory or multiple different memories (of the same or different types). For example, the instruction set may be made to be executed by one or more processors of network node 210, UE 220, CU 410, DU 430, or RU 440 (e.g., directly, or after compilation, transformation, or interpretation). Figure 10 Process 1000 Figure 11 The process 1100 or other processes as described herein. In some examples, the execution instructions may include run instructions, transform instructions, compile instructions, and / or interpret instructions, etc.

[0115] In some aspects, the first network entity includes: components for transmitting communication to a second network entity indicating information regarding a reference signal configuration of a virtual cell that the second network entity is configured to support; and / or components for receiving, from the second network entity and based on the communication, the reference signal configuration of the virtual cell, wherein the reference signal configuration configures a reference signal in a frequency band outside the anchor band of the virtual cell. In some aspects, components for enabling the first network entity to perform the operations described herein may include, for example, one or more of a communication manager 250, a transmit processor 314, a TX MIMO processor 316, a modem 332, an antenna 334, a MIMO detector 336, a receive processor 338, a controller / processor 340, a memory 342, or a scheduler 346. In some other aspects, components for enabling the first network entity to perform the operations described herein may include, for example, one or more of the following: a communication manager 240, an antenna 352, a modem 354, a MIMO detector 356, a receive processor 358, a transmit processor 364, a TX MIMO processor 366, a controller / processor 380, or a memory 382.

[0116] In some aspects, the first network entity includes: components for receiving communication from a second network entity indicating information regarding a reference signal configuration for a virtual cell that the second network entity is configured to support; and / or components for transmitting the reference signal configuration of the virtual cell to the second network entity and based on the communication, wherein the reference signal configuration configures a reference signal in a frequency band outside the anchor band of the virtual cell. In some aspects, components for enabling the first network entity to perform the operations described herein may include, for example, one or more of a communication manager 250, a transmit processor 314, a TX MIMO processor 316, a modem 332, an antenna 334, a MIMO detector 336, a receive processor 338, a controller / processor 340, a memory 342, or a scheduler 346. In some other aspects, components for enabling the first network entity to perform the operations described herein may include, for example, one or more of the following: a communication manager 240, an antenna 352, a modem 354, a MIMO detector 356, a receive processor 358, a transmit processor 364, a TX MIMO processor 366, a controller / processor 380, or a memory 382.

[0117] Carrier aggregation is a technique that enables two or more component carriers (CCs, sometimes referred to as carriers) to be combined (e.g., combined into a single channel) for a single UE 220 to enhance data capacity. Carriers in the same or different frequency bands can be combined. Additionally or alternatively, contiguous or discontinuous carriers can be combined. Network node 210 can be configured for carrier aggregation for UE 220, such as in RRC messages, DCI and / or other signaling messages.

[0118] In some examples, carrier aggregation can be configured in an intra-band continuous mode, where the aggregated carriers are consecutive and in the same frequency band. In some examples, carrier aggregation can be configured in an intra-band discontinuous mode, where the aggregated carriers are discontinuous and in the same frequency band. In some examples, carrier aggregation can be configured in an inter-band discontinuous mode, where the aggregated carriers are discontinuous and in different frequency bands.

[0119] In carrier aggregation, UE 220 can be configured using a primary carrier or primary cell (PCell) and one or more secondary carriers or secondary cells (SCells). In some examples, the primary carrier may carry control information (e.g., downlink control information and / or scheduling information) for scheduling data communications on one or more secondary carriers; this scheduling may be referred to as cross-carrier scheduling. In some aspects, a carrier (e.g., a primary carrier or secondary carrier) may carry control information for scheduling data communications on that carrier; this may be referred to as self-carrier scheduling or carrier self-scheduling.

[0120] Figure 5This is a diagram illustrating example 500 of a virtual cell according to the present disclosure. Typically, a cell, carrier, or component carrier can use a continuous bandwidth for wireless communication in the frequency domain. For example, the bandwidth of a cell, carrier, or component carrier can span a set of one or more resource blocks (RBs) that are continuous in the frequency domain.

[0121] Time-frequency resources in a radio access network can be divided into Resource Blocks (RBs). RBs are sometimes referred to as Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs). An RB may include a set of subcarriers (e.g., 12 subcarriers) and a set of symbols (e.g., 14 symbols) that can be scheduled as units by network node 210. In some aspects, an RB may include a set of subcarriers in a single time slot. A single time-frequency resource included in an RB may be referred to as a Resource Element (RE). An RE may include a single subcarrier (e.g., in frequency) and a single symbol (e.g., in time). A symbol may be referred to as an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol. An RE can be used to transmit a modulation symbol, which can be real-valued or complex-valued. In some examples, resources (such as a Control Resource Set (CORESET)) may be defined with reference to a common reference point of the resource block grid, which may be referred to as "Point A," "Absolute Frequency Point A," or "Common RB (CRB) 0."

[0122] In some examples, for component carriers to be aggregated via carrier aggregation, the bandwidth of each component carrier may meet a bandwidth threshold. The bandwidth threshold may be based on (for example, it may be) the minimum channel bandwidth of UE 220. For example, for component carriers to be aggregated for UE 220, the bandwidth of each component carrier may be greater than or equal to the minimum channel bandwidth of UE 220. If the bandwidth of a component carrier or subband does not meet the bandwidth threshold (for example, less than or equal to the bandwidth threshold), then the component carrier or subband may not be aggregated via carrier aggregation for UE 220.

[0123] In some examples, the spectrum used for wireless communication may include frequency domain resources allocated for different technologies. For example, some operating bands or frequency ranges may include cellular RAT spectrum, personal area network (PAN) spectrum, wireless local area network (WLAN) spectrum (e.g., Wi-Fi spectrum), V2X spectrum, and / or unlicensed spectrum, etc. Therefore, available frequency domain resources (e.g., subbands) may have relatively small bandwidths. Consequently, available frequency domain resources may not be available for aggregation via carrier aggregation for UE 220 (e.g., because the bandwidth of the available frequency domain resources (e.g., subbands) may not meet the bandwidth threshold for carrier aggregation). This may reduce UE coverage, reduce UE data capacity, and / or reduce UE performance, etc., because the UE may be restricted to communicating via frequency domain resources with relatively small bandwidths.

[0124] For example, a network (e.g., one or more network nodes 110) can allocate frequency domain resources previously allocated to a legacy RAT to a new RAT. For example, the new RAT could be a 6G RAT, while the legacy RAT could be a 2G or 3G RAT. For example, as the number of subscribers to the new RAT increases, the network can configure the UE to reallocate more frequency domain resources reserved for the legacy RAT to the new RAT. This reallocation of frequency domain resources can be referred to as “reorganizing” frequency domain resources. However, if the reorganized frequency domain resources (e.g., the spectrum previously allocated to the legacy RAT) are scattered across the frequency domain and / or associated with relatively small (e.g., narrow) bandwidths, the network may not be able to aggregate the reallocated spectrum using carrier aggregation or dynamic spectrum sharing. One or more reorganized component carriers with bandwidths that do not meet bandwidth thresholds may not be suitable for standalone (SA) deployments for the new RAT if spectrum aggregation with other component carriers is not used to meet the minimum channel bandwidth requirement for the UE.

[0125] Therefore, in some examples, a network (e.g., one or more network nodes) can aggregate discontinuous frequency domain resources to form virtual cells. As used herein, a “virtual cell” refers to a spectrum that includes frequency domain resources (e.g., subbands, RBs, and / or RB groups) that are discontinuous in the frequency domain. For example, a virtual cell may include one or more reorganized (or reallocated) frequency domain resources or spectra. This allows frequency domain resources or spectra that are scattered in the frequency domain and / or have relatively small (e.g., narrow) bandwidths to be aggregated into virtual cells with larger bandwidths, thereby improving UE coverage, UE data capacity, and / or UE performance, etc. For example, virtual cells can enable the network to overcome bandwidth-limited spectrum reorganization and carrier aggregation. Additionally, configuring virtual cells can improve the resource utilization efficiency of segmented, reorganized, and / or reallocated resources. Furthermore, virtual cells can enable the coexistence of different UE types (e.g., UEs with different capabilities) and / or different types of UE functions or use cases using the same virtual cell.

[0126] like Figure 5 As shown, a virtual cell may include aggregated bandwidth 505. Aggregated bandwidth 505 may be referred to as system bandwidth or W. SYS Aggregated bandwidth can include the bandwidth of one or more frequency domain resources, such as one or more subbands (e.g., such as...). Figure 5 The diagram shows K+N subbands. A subband may include one or more RBs and / or one or more groups of RBs (e.g., where a group of RBs includes one or more RBs). Figure 5 As shown, some subbands included in the aggregate bandwidth 505 (e.g., in...) Figure 5The subbands (shown as subband K and subband K+1) can be separated by frequency gap 510 in the frequency domain. For example, two adjacent subbands in the aggregate bandwidth 505 can be separated by frequency gap 510 in the frequency domain. Some subbands included in the aggregate bandwidth 505 can be continuous in the frequency domain.

[0127] UEs with different capabilities (e.g., different bandwidth capabilities) can operate via a virtual cell with aggregated bandwidth 505. For example, the maximum bandwidth supported by the UE can be greater than, equal to, or less than the aggregated bandwidth 505. When operating via a virtual cell, the UE can be configured using an initial downlink BWP and / or an initial uplink BWP (e.g., when the UE operates in RRC idle or RRC inactive state). When the UE operates in RRC connected state, the UE can be configured using dedicated BWPs for downlink and / or uplink (e.g., from aggregated bandwidth 505). The maximum bandwidth of the initial BWP and the maximum bandwidth of the dedicated BWP can be less than or equal to the maximum bandwidth supported by the UE. Additionally, the maximum bandwidth of the initial BWP and the maximum bandwidth of the dedicated BWP can be less than or equal to the aggregated bandwidth 505.

[0128] In some examples, the UE may receive and / or measure one or more downlink reference signals to perform one or more control loop operations. A “control loop” can refer to operations used to determine, adjust, and / or optimize one or more parameters to ensure efficient and reliable communication by the UE. For example, the UE may receive and / or measure one or more downlink reference signals to perform time tracking (e.g., for Time Tracking Loop (TTL) operation), frequency tracking (e.g., for Frequency Tracking Loop (FTL) operation), automatic gain control (AGC) operation, beam fault detection (BFD) operation, beam management operation, and / or radio link monitoring (RLM) operation, etc.

[0129] For example, a UE can perform measurements (e.g., Layer 1 (L1) measurements and / or Layer 3 (L3) measurements) when connected to a wireless network. Many measurements are performed on the SSB. As used herein, "SSB" refers to a signal carrying information for initial network acquisition and synchronization, such as the Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS), Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS), Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), and PBCH Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS). Therefore, the SSB is sometimes referred to as the Synchronization Signal / PBCH (SS / PBCH) block. A UE can also use different Bandwidth Parts (BWPs) to communicate on a wireless network. As used herein, "Bandwidth Part" or "BWP" can refer to a contiguous set of Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs), where each PRB includes a set of frequencies corresponding to one or more subcarriers. A "subcarrier" can refer to a frequency at least partially based on the "carrier" frequency, and subcarriers can be aggregated (e.g., using carrier aggregation (CA)) to wirelessly transmit information (e.g., using OFDM symbols and / or other RF symbols). When a UE switches BWPs with limited BWPs, each active BWP includes a CD-SSB. As used herein, "CD-SSB" refers to an SSB that indicates an SIB message, which includes an identifier associated with the cell (e.g., the NR Cell Global Identifier (NCGI)). In some respects, a CD-SSB may carry system information, such as Residual Minimal System Information (RMSI). For example, the SIB included in a CD-SSB may be SIB Type 1 (SIB1), as defined by wireless communication standards (such as 3GPP) or otherwise fixed. In some respects, a CD-SSB may enable RMSI acquisition. A non-cell-defined SSB (NCD-SSB) refers to an SSB that does not indicate an SIB message and / or indicates an SIB message that does not include an identifier associated with the cell.

[0130] However, when a UE is configured to operate via a virtual cell, downlink reference signal configuration and / or measurement operations (e.g., for a control loop) may not be defined. For example, because the frequency domain resources (e.g., subbands) of a virtual cell may be discontinuous in the frequency domain, the UE may have to monitor an RF component and / or tune that RF component to different frequencies (e.g., for one or more subbands or each subband included in the virtual cell) to monitor the downlink reference signal, since the UE may not receive instructions for reference signal configuration and / or measurement operations (e.g., for a control loop) for the virtual cell. This can consume processing and / or power resources associated with the UE monitoring the downlink reference signal. Additionally, network nodes may have to configure and / or transmit downlink reference signals on each subband included in the virtual cell (e.g., because network nodes may not know which subband's reference signal a given UE is monitoring), thus consuming network resources, reference signal resource overhead, processing resources, and / or power resources associated with configuring and / or transmitting downlink reference signals on each subband included in the virtual cell. To save on the overhead and network energy associated with configuring and / or transmitting downlink reference signals on each subband included in the virtual cell, it is possible to omit configuring downlink reference signals for all subbands included in the virtual cell. However, in such examples, the UE may not know on which subband the downlink reference signal will be transmitted, thus increasing the likelihood that the UE will not receive the downlink reference signal and / or increasing the overhead associated with the UE monitoring additional resources to improve the likelihood that the UE can receive the downlink reference signal.

[0131] As indicated above, Figure 5 This is provided as an example. Other examples are available with reference to [the relevant information]. Figure 5 The examples described are different.

[0132] Figure 6 This is a diagram of Example 600 associated with the virtual cell reference signal configuration according to this disclosure. (See diagram for example.) Figure 6 As shown, the first network entity 605 can communicate with the second network entity 610. The first network entity 605 can be network entity 102, network entity 106, network node 210, UE 220, base station, CU, DU, and / or RU. The second network entity 610 can be network entity 102, network entity 106, network node 210, UE 220, base station, CU, DU, and / or RU. In some aspects, the first network entity 605 can be network node 210, and the second network entity 610 can be UE 220. In some aspects, the first network entity 605 and the second network entity 610 can be part of a wireless network (e.g., wireless communication network 200). The first network entity 605 and the second network entity 610 can... Figure 6 The operation shown has been performed after a wireless connection has been established.

[0133] In some respects, as indicated by reference numeral 615, the second network entity 610 may transmit a capability report, and the first network entity 605 may receive a capability report. The capability report may indicate capability information of the second network entity 610. The second network entity 610 may transmit the capability report via uplink communication, UE Assistance Information (UAI) communication, uplink control information (UCI) communication, uplink MAC-CE communication, RRC communication, physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), and / or physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), etc. The capability report may indicate one or more parameters associated with the corresponding capability of the second network entity 610. One or more parameters may be indicated via the corresponding information element (IE) included in the capability report.

[0134] The capability report may indicate whether the second network entity 610 supports a feature and / or one or more parameters related to that feature. For example, the capability report may indicate the capabilities and / or parameters of a virtual cell, the downlink reference signal configuration of the virtual cell, and / or the downlink reference signal configuration of the control loop associated with the virtual cell, etc. One or more operations described herein may be based on the capability information in the capability report. For example, the second network entity 610 may perform communication based on the capability information, or may receive configuration information based on the capability information.

[0135] In some respects, as described herein, the capability report may indicate whether the second network entity 610 supports configuration using virtual cells. For example, the capability report may indicate whether the second network entity 610 supports configuration using virtual cells with discontinuous frequency domain resources. In some respects, the capability report may indicate information (e.g., capability information) regarding the reference signal configuration of the virtual cell (e.g., for example, where the first network entity 605 is configured to support it).

[0136] For example, a capability report can indicate whether the second network entity 610 supports measuring reference signals other than the active downlink BWP of a virtual cell. As another example, a capability report can indicate whether the second network entity 610 supports measuring reference signals other than the active downlink BWP without a time-domain measurement gap. As yet another example, a capability report can indicate whether the second network entity 610 supports measuring reference signals other than the active downlink BWP with a time-domain measurement gap.

[0137] For example, in some examples, when the active downlink BWP of the second network entity 610 is not configured using a downlink reference signal, the second network entity 610 may have the capability to measure the downlink reference signal (e.g., for one or more control loops). In one type of capability (e.g., Type 1 capability), the second network entity 610 may support the measurement of downlink reference signals outside the active downlink BWP (e.g., for control loops, RLM, beam management, BFD, and / or other operations) without time-domain interruptions (e.g., without time gaps or measurement gaps for antenna switching or retuning). For Type 1 capability, the second network entity 610 may support the measurement of downlink reference signals outside the active downlink BWP if the downlink reference signal is within the maximum channel bandwidth supported by the second network entity 610 on the virtual cell. In such examples, a Layer 1 (L1) measurement configuration gap for the reference signal performed by the second network entity 610 may not be required.

[0138] In some other aspects, the second network entity 610 may support different types of capabilities (e.g., type 2 capabilities) for measuring downlink reference signals outside the active downlink BWP. In such examples, the second network entity 610 may support measuring downlink reference signals outside the active downlink BWP even with interruptions (e.g., with time gaps or measurement gaps for antenna switching or retuning). For example, if the second network entity 610 is configured to utilize time gaps for performing measurements, it may support measuring downlink reference signals outside the active downlink BWP. For example, gap-assisted L1 measurements on the serving cell (e.g., a virtual cell) may be configured by the first network entity 605 using auxiliary information from the second network entity 610. The duration of the time gap may be based on whether the downlink reference signal is outside the maximum channel bandwidth supported by the second network entity 610 on the virtual cell and / or whether the second network entity 610 intends to perform antenna switching (e.g., Rx antenna switching or Tx-to-Rx antenna switching) to measure the downlink reference signal, etc.

[0139] As indicated by reference numeral 620 in the accompanying drawings, the first network entity 605 may send configuration information, and the second network entity 610 may receive configuration information. In some aspects, the second network entity 610 may receive configuration information via one or more of the following: system information signaling (e.g., Master Information Block (MIB) and / or System Information Block (SIB), etc.), RRC signaling, MAC signaling (e.g., one or more MAC-CEs), and / or DCI signaling.

[0140] In some aspects, the configuration information may indicate one or more candidate configuration and / or communication parameters. In some aspects, these one or more candidate configuration and / or communication parameters may be selected, activated, and / or deactivated by subsequent indications. For example, a subsequent indication may select a candidate configuration and / or communication parameter from the one or more candidate configuration and / or communication parameters. In some aspects, subsequent indications (e.g., the indications described herein) may include dynamic indications, such as one or more MAC-CE and / or one or more DCI messages, etc.

[0141] In some respects, configuration information may include virtual cell configuration. For example, configuration information may indicate one or more frequency domain resources (e.g., subbands) included in the bandwidth of the virtual cell. As described elsewhere herein, one or more frequency domain resources (e.g., subbands) may be discontinuous in the frequency domain (e.g., at least one frequency gap may exist between resources included in the bandwidth of the virtual cell).

[0142] In some aspects, the virtual cell can be configured as the serving cell of the second network entity 610. In some aspects, the virtual cell can be configured as a PCell, primary SCell (PSCell), or SCell. In some aspects, if the virtual cell is configured as a PCell or PSCell, the first network entity 605 can transmit system information via the virtual cell. For example, the first network entity 605 can transmit CD-SSB via the virtual cell.

[0143] In some aspects, the configuration information may indicate one or more BWPs configured for the second network entity 610 within the bandwidth of the virtual cell. For example, the configuration information may indicate the frequency domain resources and / or subbands included in the downlink carrier of the virtual cell. Additionally, the configuration information may indicate the initial downlink BWP, the initial uplink BWP, and / or one or more other BWPs for the second network entity 610.

[0144] In some aspects, configuration information may include the configuration of one or more CORESETs. A potential control area for a time slot may be referred to as a CORESET and may be configured to support efficient resource utilization, such as by flexibly configuring or reconfiguring the resources of a CORESET for one or more PDCCHs and / or one or more Physical Downlink Shared Channels (PDSCHs). In some aspects, a CORESET may occupy the first symbol of a time slot, the first two symbols of a time slot, or the first three symbols of a time slot. Therefore, a CORESET may include multiple RBs in the frequency domain and one, two, or three symbols in the time domain. In 5G, the number of resources included in a CORESET can be flexibly configured, such as by using RRC signaling to indicate the frequency domain area (e.g., the number of resource blocks) and / or time domain area (e.g., the number of symbols) of the CORESET. One type of CORESET is the initial CORESET, sometimes referred to as CORESET#0 or CORESET0. An initial CORESET may include a PDCCH with a DCI indicating the configuration for receiving SIB1. An initial CORESET may be used to convey scheduling information for RMSI (e.g., for initial access). The initial CORESET can be configured to carry an RMSI. For example, the second network entity 610 can monitor the initial CORESET based on various assumptions to obtain a DCI indicating the configuration for receiving SIB1. The CD-SSB may include an indication of the initial CORESET (e.g., CORESET#0).

[0145] For example, the second network entity 610 can search for CD-SSBs transmitted via a virtual cell. In some aspects, wireless communication standards (such as 3GPP) can define or otherwise fix the location of CD-SSBs. The second network entity 610 can receive CD-SSBs. The CD-SSBs can indicate the configuration and / or location of the initial CORESET (e.g., in time-frequency resources). The initial CORESET can include scheduling information (e.g., SIB1) for the RMSI. The second network entity 610 can use the RMSI to identify the initial access resource (e.g., random access channel (RACH) resource) to be used for initial access in order to establish a connection with the first network entity 605. For example, the second network entity 610 can receive an indication of an initial downlink BWP. The initial CORESET can be included in the initial downlink BWP.

[0146] A virtual cell may include an anchor band. For example, the downlink carrier of a virtual cell may include one or more subbands. The anchor band may be one of the subbands configured and / or in which the CD-SSB is transmitted. In some aspects, the initial downlink BWP of the second network entity 610 includes an anchor band. In other aspects, the initial downlink BWP of the second network entity 610 does not include an anchor band. In other words, the CD-SSB may be configured to be transmitted via a virtual cell other than the initial downlink BWP. This is because the CD-SSB can be used by the second network entity 610 as a downlink reference signal for one or more tracking loops and / or for other operational measurements, as described in more detail elsewhere herein. However, after initial access is completed, system information transmitted via the initial downlink BWP (e.g., SIB1, RMSI, and / or other system information) may be useless to the second network entity 610. Therefore, by decoupling the CD-SSB from the initial downlink BWP, the CD-SSB may be included in the active downlink BWP, while the initial downlink BWP is not similarly included in the active downlink BWP. Therefore, the second network entity 610 can use the CD-SSB as a downlink reference signal for one or more tracking loops and / or for other operational measurements, as described in more detail elsewhere herein, without having to monitor and / or receive system information transmitted via the initial downlink BWP. This improves the resource utilization of the virtual cell and saves network resources, processing resources, and / or power resources that would otherwise be associated with monitoring and / or receiving system information transmitted via the initial downlink BWP.

[0147] In some aspects, the initial CORESET (e.g., CORESET#0) may be discontinuous in the frequency domain. For example, the initial downlink BWP of the second network entity 610 may include multiple subbands of a virtual cell. The initial CORESET may be configured to include frequency domain resources from the multiple subbands included in the initial downlink BWP. In some aspects, the multiple subbands included in the initial downlink BWP may be separated by one or more frequency gaps. Therefore, in some examples, the initial CORESET may include frequency domain resources that are discontinuous in the frequency domain (e.g., separated by one or more frequency gaps).

[0148] The second network entity 610 may configure itself, at least in part, based on configuration information. In some aspects, the second network entity 610 may be configured to perform one or more operations described herein, at least in part, based on configuration information.

[0149] In some aspects, the configuration information described in conjunction with reference numeral 620 and / or the capability report described in conjunction with reference numeral 615 may include information transmitted via multiple communications. Additionally or alternatively, the first network entity 605 may transmit the configuration information or communications including at least a portion of the configuration information before and / or after the second network entity 610 transmits the capability report. For example, the first network entity 605 may transmit a first portion of the configuration information before the second network entity 610 transmits the capability report, the second network entity 610 may transmit at least a portion of the capability report, and the first network entity 605 may transmit a second portion of the configuration information after receiving the capability report.

[0150] In some aspects, as indicated by reference numeral 625, the second network entity 610 may send requests for reference signal configuration (e.g., for control loop, time tracking, frequency tracking, AGC, BFD, beam management, and / or RLM), and the first network entity 605 may receive requests for reference signal configuration (e.g., for control loop, time tracking, frequency tracking, AGC, BFD, beam management, and / or RLM). For example, the second network entity 610 may send requests for reference signal configuration on a virtual cell, and the first network entity 605 may receive requests for reference signal configuration on a virtual cell. The second network entity 610 may send the requests via auxiliary information, uplink communication, RRC communication, and / or other signaling.

[0151] As indicated by reference numeral 630, a first network entity 605 may transmit a virtual cell reference signal configuration, and a second network entity 610 may receive a virtual cell reference signal configuration. The virtual cell reference signal configuration may include the configuration of one or more downlink reference signals (such as SSB, CSI-RS, tracking reference signal, location reference signal, and / or another type of downlink reference signal). For example, the first network entity 605 may transmit the virtual cell reference signal configuration, and the second network entity 610 may receive the virtual cell reference signal configuration. In some aspects, the virtual cell reference signal configuration may be included in configuration information (e.g., transmitted by the first network entity 605, as described in conjunction with reference numeral 620). In other aspects, the virtual cell reference signal configuration may be transmitted by the first network entity 605 in a separate communication (such as RRC communication, MAC-CE communication, and / or DCI communication, etc.). The reference signal may be configured within the active downlink BWP of the second network entity 610. In other examples, the reference signal may be configured outside the active downlink BWP of the second network entity 610.

[0152] The reference signal can be configured as a periodic reference signal, a semi-persistent reference signal, and / or an aperiodic reference signal. In some aspects, the virtual cell reference signal configuration can instruct the reference signal to be configured to be transmitted using frequency domain resources outside the anchor band of the virtual cell. For example, the virtual cell reference signal configuration can instruct the reference signal to be configured to be transmitted in a subband of the virtual cell that is not in the anchor band. In other words, on the virtual cell, periodic, semi-persistent, and / or aperiodic downlink reference signals can be configured outside the anchor band on the active downlink BWP of the second network entity 610.

[0153] In some aspects, the reference signal may be an NCD-SSB or another periodic downlink reference signal. In such examples, the reference signal may be configured via RRC configuration. As described elsewhere herein, the downlink carrier of a virtual cell may include one or more subbands. The virtual cell reference signal configuration may indicate that the reference signal (e.g., an NCD-SSB or another periodic downlink reference signal) is configured in a single subband of one or more subbands. In other words, when an NCD-SSB burst is configured on the active downlink BWP of the virtual cell, the NCD-SSB beam may be mapped to only a single subband. In some aspects, the reference signal configuration may indicate that the NCD-SSB has a QCL relationship with the virtual cell's CD-SSB. In such examples, the CS-SSB and NCD-SSB may have the same SSB block index. For example, the NCD-SSB beam may have a QCL with a CD-SSB beam transmitted on an anchor band, and the NCD-SSB and CD-SSB may have the same SSB block index.

[0154] Virtual cell reference signal configuration can indicate that a reference signal (e.g., a periodic downlink reference signal) is configured in one or more subbands among multiple subbands included in the virtual cell and / or the active downlink BWP. For example, if the reference signal is a periodic reference signal configured in the active downlink BWP of the second network entity 610 (e.g., different from the NCD-SSB), the resources of the reference signal can be mapped to one or more subbands. Additionally, the reference signal can have a QCL relationship with the virtual cell's (e.g., transmitted via an anchor band) CD-SSB.

[0155] In some aspects, the reference signal can be a semi-persistent downlink reference signal or an aperiodic downlink reference signal. In such examples, the reference signal configuration can indicate that a semi-persistent downlink reference signal or an aperiodic downlink reference signal is configured in one or more subbands among a plurality of subbands included in the active downlink BWP. For example, a semi-persistent or aperiodic downlink reference signal can be configured for the second network entity 610 via RRC signaling, and the semi-persistent or aperiodic downlink reference signal can be activated by MAC signaling (e.g., one or more MAC-CEs) or DCI signaling. If the aperiodic downlink reference signal is activated, the first network entity 605 can transmit the reference signal via one or more subbands of the active downlink BWP.

[0156] In some aspects, the reference signal configuration can be a first resource element size for the reference signal that is smaller than a second resource element size used to configure the SSB. For example, a finer granularity can be configured for the downlink reference signal (e.g., unless the downlink reference signal is an SSB). For example, the smallest resource element for the reference signal configuration can be one RB, two RBs, three RBs, four RBs, five RBs, or another number of RBs. This allows the reference signal to be configured in a subband of the virtual cell with a narrower bandwidth than a traditional carrier or CC.

[0157] In some aspects, the first network entity 605 may send an indication of the active downlink BWP, and the second network entity 610 may receive the indication of the active downlink BWP. In some aspects, the active downlink BWP does not include the anchor frequency band of the virtual cell. In such examples, a reference signal configuration may indicate that a reference signal is included in the active downlink BWP. For example, the active downlink BWP may include a set of frequency domain resources (e.g., one or more subbands of the virtual cell), and the reference signal configuration may indicate that the reference signal is configured in a subset of the frequency domain resources in that set. In some aspects, the subset of frequency domain resources may be discontinuous frequency domain resources. For example, the reference signal may be configured in two (or more) discontinuous subbands of the virtual cell in the frequency domain.

[0158] In some aspects, a first network entity 605 may transmit one or more sub-configurations of a reference signal, and a second network entity 610 may receive one or more sub-configurations of the reference signal. The one or more sub-configurations may configure a corresponding discontinuous frequency domain range of the reference signal. For example, a downlink reference signal may be discontinuous in the frequency domain and may occupy a subset of subbands or RBs on the active downlink BWP. A virtual cell reference signal configuration may include multiple sub-configurations of corresponding continuous (in the frequency domain) portions of the reference signal configuration. For example, a first sub-configuration may configure the reference signal in a first or more frequency domain resources (e.g., a first or more RBs), and a second sub-configuration may configure the reference signal in a second or more frequency domain resources (e.g., a second or more RBs). The first or more frequency domain resources and the second or more frequency domain resources may not be continuous (e.g., they may be separated by frequency gaps). For example, a sub-configuration may indicate the start and end RBs of a portion of the frequency domain resources configured by that sub-configuration for the reference signal. As another example, a sub-configuration may indicate the start and number of RBs of a portion of the frequency domain resources configured by that sub-configuration for the reference signal.

[0159] In some aspects, the reference signal may be associated with a single pseudo-random sequence generator configured to be initialized by a pseudo-random seed. For example, the reference signal may be associated with a frequency domain resource that is discontinuous in the frequency domain, and the reference signal may be associated with a pseudo-random sequence generator initialized by a single seed. In other aspects, the reference signal may be associated with one or more pseudo-random sequence generators configured to be initialized by multiple pseudo-random seeds. For example, the reference signal may be associated with a frequency domain resource that is discontinuous in the frequency domain, and the reference signal may be associated with one or more pseudo-random sequence generators initialized by multiple seeds.

[0160] As indicated by reference numeral 635, a first network entity 605 may transmit a downlink reference signal, and a second network entity 610 may receive a downlink reference signal. In some aspects, the second network entity 610 may receive the downlink reference signal in the active downlink BWP of a virtual cell. In some other aspects, the second network entity 610 may receive the downlink reference signal in the active downlink BWP of a virtual cell (e.g., depending on the capabilities of the second network entity 610, as described elsewhere herein). In such an example, the first network entity 605 may or may not configure a time slot for measuring the downlink reference signal (e.g., depending on the capabilities of the second network entity 610, as described elsewhere herein).

[0161] In some respects, the first network entity 605 and the second network entity 610 can transmit a target signal and a source reference signal via one or more subbands of a virtual cell. The target signal and the source reference signal have a QCL relationship. The target reference signal can be a data channel, a control channel, or another reference signal.

[0162] In some aspects, source reference signals and target reference signals can be transmitted on the same subband of a virtual cell. Alternatively, source reference signals and target reference signals can be transmitted across multiple subbands. In some aspects, whether the source reference signals and target reference signals are transmitted on the same subband or on different subbands can be based on the type of QCL relationship between the source reference signals and the target reference signals. For example, some QCL types (e.g., QCL type A) can be associated with transmitting source reference signals and target reference signals via the same subband (e.g., it may be required to transmit source reference signals and target reference signals via the same subband). Additionally, whether the source reference signals and target reference signals are transmitted on the same subband or on different subbands can be based on the type or capability of the second network entity 610. For example, some types of network entities (e.g., some types of UEs) may only support transmitting source reference signals and target reference signals on the same subband.

[0163] In some respects, the downlink reference signal (e.g., transmitted as described in conjunction with reference to reference numeral 635) can be a source reference signal, a target reference signal, or both a source reference signal and a target reference signal. For example, the downlink reference signal used by the second network entity 610 to control the loop can be a source reference signal, a target reference signal, or both.

[0164] In some aspects, the first network entity 605 and the second network entity 610 can transmit target signals via a first subband of the virtual cell. The first network entity 605 and the second network entity 610 can transmit source reference signals via a second subband of the virtual cell. In some aspects, the frequency domain gap between the first and second subbands can satisfy a threshold. In some aspects, the threshold can be based on the frequency range of one or more subbands. For example, if the downlink reference signal transmitted via the first subband is a QCL source of a data channel, control channel, or another reference signal in the second subband, then the frequency gap between the first and second subbands should be small (e.g., should be less than or equal to the threshold). The threshold can be specified at least based on the frequency range of the subbands aggregated by the virtual cell. Additionally or alternatively, the threshold can be based on the capabilities of the second network entity 610.

[0165] In some aspects, the target signal can have a QCL relationship with multiple source reference signals, including the source reference signal. For example, multiple QCL source reference signals can be configured for a given target reference signal. The multiple QCL source reference signals can be transmitted via corresponding subbands included in the bandwidth of the virtual cell. This allows the second network entity 610 to obtain QCL information for different subbands of the virtual cell for a single target reference signal. For example, based on the capabilities of the second network entity 610 and / or network configuration (e.g., based on subbands configured with downlink reference signals), the second network entity 610 can measure one or more of the multiple QCL source reference signals.

[0166] As indicated by reference numeral 640, the second network entity 610 can perform operations. These operations can be based on or utilize measurements of a downlink reference signal (e.g., transmitted as described in conjunction with reference numeral 635). For example, the second network entity 610 can measure the downlink reference signal. The second network entity 610 can use the measurement of the downlink reference signal to perform one or more control loop operations, such as time tracking (e.g., for TTL operations), frequency tracking (e.g., for FTL operations), AGC operations, BFD operations, beam management operations, and / or RLM operations, etc.

[0167] As indicated above, Figure 6 This is provided as an example. Other examples are available with reference to [the relevant information]. Figure 6 The examples described are different.

[0168] Figure 7 This is a diagram of example 700 associated with the initial downlink BWP of a virtual cell according to this disclosure. (See diagram for example 70 ... Figure 7 As shown, a virtual cell may include the aggregated bandwidth of the downlink carrier 705 of the virtual cell. The downlink carrier 705 may include one or more subbands (e.g., K subbands), shown as subbands 0 to K-1. As described elsewhere in this document, the virtual cell may include an anchor band. The anchor band may be a subband through which CD-SSB 710 is transmitted. Although the anchor band is in Figure 7 The subband is shown as subband 0 (e.g., the subband with the lowest frequency in downlink carrier 705), but the anchor band can be any subband that transmits CD-SSB 710.

[0169] Downlink carrier 705 may include initial downlink BWP 715. Initial downlink BWP 715 may be associated with initial access performed via a virtual cell. For example, as... Figure 7 As shown, the initial downlink BWP 715 may include an initial CORESET 720 (e.g., CORESET #0). In some aspects, such as Figure 7 As shown, the initial downlink BWP 715 may not include an anchor band. This allows the anchor band to be configured in the active downlink BWP (e.g., where CD-SSB 710 can be used as a downlink reference signal for one or more control loops, as described elsewhere herein), while the subband configured with the initial CORESET 720 is not included in the active downlink BWP. This improves the resource utilization of the virtual cell and saves network resources, processing resources, and / or power resources that would otherwise be associated with monitoring and / or receiving system information transmitted via the initial downlink BWP 715 and / or the initial CORESET 720.

[0170] As indicated above, Figure 7 This is provided as an example. Other examples are available with reference to [the relevant information]. Figure 7 The examples described are different.

[0171] Figure 8 This is a diagram of example 800 associated with the initial downlink BWP of a virtual cell according to this disclosure. (See diagram 80 ... Figure 8 As shown, a virtual cell may include the aggregated bandwidth of a downlink carrier 805 of the virtual cell. Downlink carrier 805 may include one or more subbands (e.g., K subbands), shown as subbands 0 to K-1. As described elsewhere herein, a virtual cell may include an anchor band. The anchor band may be a subband through which CD-SSB 810 is transmitted.

[0172] Downlink carrier 805 may include an initial downlink BWP 815. The initial downlink BWP 815 may be associated with initial access performed via a virtual cell. For example, as... Figure 8 As shown, the initial downlink BWP 715 may include an initial CORESET 820 (e.g., CORESET #0). In some aspects, such as Figure 8 As shown, the initial downlink BWP 815 may include an anchor frequency band. For example, the initial downlink BWP 815 may include multiple subbands (e.g., they may be discontinuous in the frequency domain). In some aspects, the initial CORESET 820 may be discontinuous in the frequency domain. For example, the initial downlink BWP 815 may include multiple subbands of a virtual cell. The initial CORESET 820 may be configured to include frequency domain resources from the multiple subbands included in the initial downlink BWP 815. In some aspects, the multiple subbands included in the initial downlink BWP 815 may be separated by one or more frequency gaps. Therefore, in some examples, the initial CORESET 820 may include frequency domain resources that are discontinuous in the frequency domain (e.g., separated by one or more frequency gaps). Figure 8As shown, the initial downlink BWP 815 may include both CD-SSB 810 and initial CORESET 820.

[0173] As indicated above, Figure 8 This is provided as an example. Other examples are available with reference to [the relevant information]. Figure 8 The examples described are different.

[0174] Figure 9 This is a diagram of Example 900 associated with the virtual cell reference signal configuration according to this disclosure.

[0175] As described elsewhere in this document, a virtual cell may include aggregated bandwidth 905. Aggregated bandwidth 905 may include the bandwidth of one or more frequency domain resources, such as one or more subbands (e.g., such as...). Figure 9 (As shown, K+N sub-bands). Figure 9 As shown, some subbands included in the aggregate bandwidth 905 (e.g., in...) Figure 9 The subbands (shown as subband K and subband K+1) can be separated by frequency gap 910 in the frequency domain. For example, two adjacent subbands in the aggregate bandwidth 905 can be separated by frequency gap 910 in the frequency domain. Some subbands included in the aggregate bandwidth 905 can be continuous in the frequency domain.

[0176] Active downlink BWP 915 can be configured for virtual cells. For example... Figure 9 As shown, the active downlink BWP 915 can have bandwidth including one or more subbands included in the aggregate bandwidth 905. A downlink reference signal 920 can be configured in the active downlink BWP 915. (As shown...) Figure 9 As shown, the bandwidth of the downlink reference signal 920 may include one or more subbands included in the aggregate bandwidth 905. For example, the downlink reference signal 920 may be transmitted via subband K and subband K+1. The downlink reference signal 920 may be configured by multiple sub-configurations. For example, a first sub-configuration may configure the portion of the downlink reference signal 920 included in subband K, and a second sub-configuration may configure the portion of the downlink reference signal 920 included in subband K+1. The downlink reference signal 920 may be configured such that it is not transmitted in frequency gap 910.

[0177] As indicated above, Figure 9 This is provided as an example. Other examples are available with reference to [the relevant information]. Figure 9 The examples described are different.

[0178] Figure 10This is a diagram illustrating an example process 1000 performed, for example, at a first network entity or a device of a first network entity, according to the present disclosure. Example process 1000 is an example in which a device or a first network entity (e.g., a second network entity 610, network entity 102, network entity 106, network node 210, UE 220, base station, CU, DU, and / or RU) performs operations associated with virtual cell reference signal configuration.

[0179] like Figure 10 As shown, in some aspects, process 1000 may include: sending communication to a second network entity indicating information about a reference signal configuration of a virtual cell that the second network entity is configured to support (block 1010). For example, a first network entity (e.g., using...) Figure 12 The transmitting component 1204 and / or the communication manager 1206 described herein can send communications to the second network entity indicating information about the reference signal configuration of the virtual cell to which the second network entity is configured, as described above. In some aspects, the communications may be capability reports or requests for reference signal configuration, etc.

[0180] like Figure 10 As further shown, in some aspects, process 1000 may include: receiving a reference signal configuration of a virtual cell from a second network entity and based on communication, wherein the reference signal configuration configures a reference signal in a frequency band outside the anchor frequency band of the virtual cell (box 1020). For example, a first network entity (e.g., using...) Figure 12 The receiving component 1202 and / or communication manager 1206 described herein can receive a reference signal configuration of a virtual cell from a second network entity and based on communication, wherein the reference signal configuration configures a reference signal in a frequency band outside the anchor frequency band of the virtual cell, as described above.

[0181] Process 1000 may include additional aspects, such as any single aspect or any combination of aspects described below and / or in conjunction with one or more other processes described elsewhere in this document.

[0182] In the first aspect, the downlink carrier of the virtual cell includes one or more subbands, and the anchor band is a subband among the one or more subbands that is configured with a cell-defined SSB.

[0183] In a second aspect, either alone or in combination with the first aspect, process 1000 includes: receiving an indication for an initial downlink BWP, wherein the initial downlink BWP includes a CORESET configured to carry an RMSI.

[0184] In the third aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first and second aspects, the initial downlink BWP includes an anchor band.

[0185] In the fourth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to third aspects, the initial downlink BWP does not include the anchor band.

[0186] In the fifth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to fourth aspects, the downlink carrier of the virtual cell comprises multiple subbands, and CORESET is configured to be included in two or more subbands that are not contiguous in the frequency domain.

[0187] In the sixth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to fifth aspects, the reference signal is a non-cell-defined SSB.

[0188] In the seventh aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to sixth aspects, the downlink carrier of the virtual cell comprises one or more subbands, and the reference signal configuration indicates that the non-cell-defined SSB is configured in a single subband of the one or more subbands.

[0189] In the eighth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to seventh aspects, the anchor band is a subband of the virtual cell configured with a cell-defined SSB, and the reference signal configuration indicates that the non-cell-defined SSB has a QCL relationship with the cell-defined SSB.

[0190] In the ninth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to eighth aspects, the cell-defined SSB and the non-cell-defined SSB have the same SSB block index.

[0191] In the tenth aspect, the reference signal is a periodic downlink reference signal, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to ninth aspects.

[0192] In the eleventh aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to tenth aspects, the downlink carrier of the virtual cell comprises multiple subbands, and the reference signal configuration indicates that a periodic downlink reference signal is configured in one or more of the multiple subbands.

[0193] In the twelfth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to eleventh aspects, the anchor band is a subband of the virtual cell configured with a cell-defined SSB, and the reference signal configuration indicates that the periodic downlink reference signal has a QCL relationship with the cell-defined SSB.

[0194] In the thirteenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to twelfth aspects, the downlink carrier of the virtual cell includes multiple subbands, wherein the reference signal is a semi-persistent downlink reference signal or an aperiodic downlink reference signal, and the reference signal configuration indicates that the semi-persistent downlink reference signal or the aperiodic downlink reference signal is configured in one or more of the multiple subbands.

[0195] In the fourteenth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to thirteenth aspects, the reference signal configuration uses a first resource unit size for the reference signal, which is smaller than the second resource unit size used to configure the SSB.

[0196] In the fifteenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to fourteenth aspects, process 1000 includes: receiving an indication for an active downlink BWP that does not include an anchor band, and a reference signal configuration indicating that a reference signal is included in the active downlink BWP.

[0197] In the sixteenth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to fifteenth aspects, the active downlink BWP includes a set of frequency domain resources, and the reference signal configuration indicates that the reference signal is configured in a subset of the frequency domain resources in the set of frequency domain resources.

[0198] In the seventeenth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to sixteenth aspects, a subset of frequency domain resources is discontinuous frequency domain resources.

[0199] In the eighteenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to seventeenth aspects, the configuration for receiving a reference signal includes: one or more sub-configurations for receiving a reference signal, wherein the one or more sub-configurations configure corresponding discontinuous frequency domain ranges of the reference signal.

[0200] In the nineteenth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to eighteenth aspects, the reference signal is associated with a single pseudo-random sequence generator configured to be initialized by a pseudo-random seed.

[0201] In the twentieth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to nineteenth aspects, the reference signal is associated with one or more pseudo-random sequence generators configured to be initialized by a plurality of pseudo-random seeds.

[0202] In the twenty-first aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to twentieth aspects, the information is information indicating whether the first network entity supports the ability to measure reference signals other than the active downlink BWP of the virtual cell.

[0203] In the twenty-second aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to twenty-first aspects, the capability information indicates that the first network entity supports measuring reference signals outside the active downlink BWP without time-domain measurement gaps.

[0204] In aspect twenty-three, either alone or in combination with one or more of aspects one through twenty-two, the reference signal configuration is based on capability information to configure the reference signal within the supported channel bandwidth on the virtual cell.

[0205] In the twenty-fourth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to twenty-third aspects, the capability information indicates that the first network entity supports measuring reference signals outside the active downlink BWP in the presence of time-domain measurement gaps.

[0206] In the twenty-fifth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to twenty-fourth aspects, the reference signal configuration is based on capability information to configure one or more time-domain measurement gaps for measuring the reference signal.

[0207] In the twenty-sixth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to twenty-fifth aspects, the duration of one or more time-domain measurement gaps is based on at least one of the following: whether the reference signal is configured outside the supported channel bandwidth on the virtual cell, or whether the first network entity is configured to perform antenna switching to measure the reference signal.

[0208] In the twenty-seventh aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to twenty-sixth aspects, process 1000 includes: transmitting a target signal and a source reference signal via one or more subbands of a virtual cell, wherein the target signal and the source reference signal have a QCL relationship.

[0209] In aspect 28, alone or in combination with one or more of aspects 1 to 27, the target signal includes at least one of the following: a reference signal, a data channel signal, or a control channel signal.

[0210] In aspect 29, alone or in combination with one or more of aspects 1 to 28, one or more sub-bands comprise a single sub-band.

[0211] In the thirtieth aspect, the transmission of the target signal and the source reference signal, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to twenty-ninth aspects, includes: transmitting the target signal via a first subband of the virtual cell; and transmitting the source reference signal via a second subband of the virtual cell.

[0212] In the thirty-first aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to thirtieth aspects, the frequency domain gap between the first sub-band and the second sub-band satisfies a threshold.

[0213] In aspect thirty-two, either alone or in combination with one or more of aspects one through thirty-one, the threshold is based on the frequency range of one or more sub-bands.

[0214] In aspect thirty-three, either alone or in combination with one or more of aspects one through thirty-two, the target signal has a QCL relationship with a plurality of source reference signals, including the source reference signal.

[0215] In the thirty-fourth aspect, the transmission of target signals and source reference signals, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to thirty-third aspects, includes: transmitting multiple source reference signals via corresponding subbands of a virtual cell.

[0216] In the thirty-fifth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to thirty-fourth aspects, process 1000 includes: using measurement information of a reference signal to perform one or more tracking loop operations.

[0217] In the thirty-sixth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to thirty-fifth aspects, transmitting communication includes: transmitting a request for the configuration of reference signals on a virtual cell.

[0218] In aspect thirty-seven, either alone or in combination with one or more of aspects one through thirty-six, the downlink carrier of the virtual cell comprises one or more subbands, and the one or more subbands are discontinuous in the frequency domain.

[0219] In aspect thirty-eight, either alone or in combination with one or more of aspects one through thirty-seven, a virtual cell is a primary cell or a primary-secondary cell.

[0220] although Figure 10 An example box of process 1000 is shown, but in some respects, process 1000 may include... Figure 10 The boxes depicted may be fewer, different, or arranged differently compared to additional boxes. Alternatively, two or more boxes in the process 1000 may be executed in parallel.

[0221] Figure 11This is a diagram illustrating an example process 1100 performed, for example, at a first network entity or a device of a first network entity, according to the present disclosure. Example process 1100 is an example in which a device or a first network entity (e.g., first network entity 605, network entity 102, network entity 106, network node 210, UE 220, base station, CU, DU, and / or RU) performs operations associated with virtual cell reference signal configuration.

[0222] like Figure 11 As shown, in some aspects, process 1100 may include: receiving communication from a second network entity indicating information about a reference signal configuration of a virtual cell that the second network entity is configured to support (block 1110). For example, a first network entity (e.g., using...) Figure 13 The receiving component 1302 and / or communication manager 1306 depicted herein can receive communications from the second network entity indicating reference signal configurations for virtual cells that the second network entity is configured to support, as described above. In some aspects, the communications may be capability reports or requests for reference signal configurations, etc.

[0223] like Figure 11 As further shown, in some aspects, process 1100 may include: transmitting a reference signal configuration for the virtual cell to a second network entity and based on communication, wherein the reference signal configuration configures the reference signal in a frequency band outside the anchor frequency band of the virtual cell (block 1120). For example, the first network entity (e.g., using...) Figure 13 The transmitting component 1304 and / or communication manager 1306 described herein can transmit a reference signal configuration of a virtual cell to a second network entity and based on communication, wherein the reference signal configuration configures a reference signal in a frequency band outside the anchor frequency band of the virtual cell, as described above.

[0224] Process 1100 may include additional aspects, such as any single aspect or any combination of aspects described below and / or in conjunction with one or more other processes described elsewhere in this document.

[0225] In the first aspect, the downlink carrier of the virtual cell includes one or more subbands, and the anchor band is a subband among the one or more subbands that is configured with a cell-defined SSB.

[0226] In a second aspect, either alone or in combination with the first aspect, process 1100 includes: sending an indication of an initial downlink BWP, wherein the initial downlink BWP includes a CORESET configured to carry an RMSI.

[0227] In the third aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first and second aspects, the initial downlink BWP includes an anchor band.

[0228] In the fourth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to third aspects, the initial downlink BWP does not include the anchor band.

[0229] In the fifth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to fourth aspects, the downlink carrier of the virtual cell comprises multiple subbands, and CORESET is configured to be included in two or more subbands that are not contiguous in the frequency domain.

[0230] In the sixth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to fifth aspects, the reference signal is a non-cell-defined SSB.

[0231] In the seventh aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to sixth aspects, the downlink carrier of the virtual cell comprises one or more subbands, and the reference signal configuration indicates that the non-cell-defined SSB is configured in a single subband of the one or more subbands.

[0232] In the eighth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to seventh aspects, the anchor band is a subband of the virtual cell configured with a cell-defined SSB, and the reference signal configuration indicates that the non-cell-defined SSB has a QCL relationship with the cell-defined SSB.

[0233] In the ninth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to eighth aspects, the cell-defined SSB and the non-cell-defined SSB have the same SSB block index.

[0234] In the tenth aspect, the reference signal is a periodic downlink reference signal, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to ninth aspects.

[0235] In the eleventh aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to tenth aspects, the downlink carrier of the virtual cell comprises multiple subbands, and the reference signal configuration indicates that a periodic downlink reference signal is configured in one or more of the multiple subbands.

[0236] In the twelfth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to eleventh aspects, the anchor band is a subband of the virtual cell configured with a cell-defined SSB, and the reference signal configuration indicates that the periodic downlink reference signal has a QCL relationship with the cell-defined SSB.

[0237] In the thirteenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to twelfth aspects, the downlink carrier of the virtual cell includes multiple subbands, the reference signal is a semi-persistent downlink reference signal or an aperiodic downlink reference signal, and the reference signal configuration indicates that the semi-persistent downlink reference signal or the aperiodic downlink reference signal is configured in one or more of the multiple subbands.

[0238] In the fourteenth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to thirteenth aspects, the reference signal configuration uses a first resource unit size for the reference signal, which is smaller than the second resource unit size used to configure the SSB.

[0239] In the fifteenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to fourteenth aspects, process 1100 includes: sending an indication for an active downlink BWP that does not include an anchor band, and a reference signal configuration indicating that a reference signal is included in the active downlink BWP.

[0240] In the sixteenth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to fifteenth aspects, the active downlink BWP includes a set of frequency domain resources, and the reference signal configuration indicates that the reference signal is configured in a subset of the frequency domain resources in the set of frequency domain resources.

[0241] In the seventeenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to sixteenth aspects, a subset of frequency domain resources is discontinuous frequency domain resources.

[0242] In the eighteenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to seventeenth aspects, the configuration for receiving a reference signal includes: one or more sub-configurations for transmitting a reference signal, wherein the one or more sub-configurations configure corresponding discontinuous frequency domain ranges of the reference signal.

[0243] In the nineteenth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to eighteenth aspects, the reference signal is associated with a single pseudo-random sequence generator configured to be initialized by a pseudo-random seed.

[0244] In the twentieth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to nineteenth aspects, the reference signal is associated with one or more pseudo-random sequence generators configured to be initialized by a plurality of pseudo-random seeds.

[0245] In the twenty-first aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to twentieth aspects, the information is information indicating whether the first network entity supports the ability to measure reference signals other than the active downlink BWP of the virtual cell.

[0246] In the twenty-second aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to twenty-first aspects, the capability information indicates that the first network entity supports measuring reference signals outside the active downlink BWP without time-domain measurement gaps.

[0247] In aspect twenty-three, either alone or in combination with one or more of aspects one through twenty-two, the reference signal configuration is based on capability information to configure the reference signal within the supported channel bandwidth on the virtual cell.

[0248] In the twenty-fourth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to twenty-third aspects, the capability information indicates that the first network entity supports measuring reference signals outside the active downlink BWP in the presence of time-domain measurement gaps.

[0249] In the twenty-fifth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to twenty-fourth aspects, the reference signal configuration is based on capability information to configure one or more time-domain measurement gaps for measuring the reference signal.

[0250] In the twenty-sixth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to twenty-fifth aspects, the duration of one or more time-domain measurement gaps is based on at least one of the following: whether the reference signal is configured outside the supported channel bandwidth on the virtual cell, or whether the first network entity is configured to perform antenna switching to measure the reference signal.

[0251] In the twenty-seventh aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to twenty-sixth aspects, process 1100 includes: transmitting a target signal and a source reference signal via one or more subbands of a virtual cell, wherein the target signal and the source reference signal have a QCL relationship.

[0252] In aspect 28, alone or in combination with one or more of aspects 1 to 27, the target signal includes at least one of the following: a reference signal, a data channel signal, or a control channel signal.

[0253] In aspect 29, alone or in combination with one or more of aspects 1 to 28, one or more sub-bands comprise a single sub-band.

[0254] In the thirtieth aspect, the transmission of the target signal and the source reference signal, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to twenty-ninth aspects, includes: transmitting the target signal via a first subband of the virtual cell; and transmitting the source reference signal via a second subband of the virtual cell.

[0255] In the thirty-first aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to thirtieth aspects, the frequency domain gap between the first sub-band and the second sub-band satisfies a threshold.

[0256] In aspect thirty-two, either alone or in combination with one or more of aspects one through thirty-one, the threshold is based on the frequency range of one or more sub-bands.

[0257] In aspect thirty-three, either alone or in combination with one or more of aspects one through thirty-two, the target signal has a QCL relationship with a plurality of source reference signals, including the source reference signal.

[0258] In the thirty-fourth aspect, the transmission of target signals and source reference signals, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to thirty-third aspects, includes: transmitting multiple source reference signals via corresponding subbands of a virtual cell.

[0259] In aspect thirty-five, either alone or in combination with one or more of aspects one through thirty-four, transmitting communication includes: receiving a request for configuration of reference signals on a virtual cell.

[0260] In aspect thirty-six, either alone or in combination with one or more of aspects one through thirty-five, the downlink carrier of the virtual cell comprises one or more subbands, and the one or more subbands are discontinuous in the frequency domain.

[0261] In aspect thirty-seven, either alone or in combination with one or more of aspects one through thirty-six, a virtual cell is a primary cell or a primary-secondary cell.

[0262] although Figure 11 An example box of process 1100 is shown, but in some respects, process 1100 may include... Figure 11 The boxes depicted may be fewer, different, or arranged differently compared to additional boxes. Alternatively, two or more boxes in process 1100 may be executed in parallel.

[0263] Figure 12This is a diagram of an example device 1200 for wireless communication according to the present disclosure. Device 1200 may be a network entity, or a network entity may include device 1200. In some aspects, the network entity may be a UE. In some aspects, device 1200 includes a receiving component 1202, a transmitting component 1204, and / or a communication manager 1206 that can communicate with each other (e.g., via one or more buses and / or one or more other components). In some aspects, the communication manager 1206 is combined with... Figure 1 The described communication manager 114 and / or combination Figure 2 The described communication manager 240. As shown, device 1200 can communicate with another device 1208 (such as a UE or a network node (such as a CU, DU, RU or base station)) using receiving component 1202 and transmitting component 1204.

[0264] In some respects, device 1200 can be configured to perform the functions described herein. Figures 6 to 9 One or more operations as described herein. Additionally or alternatively, the apparatus 1200 may be configured to perform one or more processes described herein (such as...). Figure 10 The process 1000) or a combination thereof. In some respects, Figure 12 The illustrated device 1200 and / or one or more components may include a combination Figure 3 One or more components of the described UE or network node. Additionally or alternatively, Figure 12 One or more components shown can be combined Figure 3 Implementation within one or more of the described components. Additionally or alternatively, one or more components in the set of components may be implemented at least partially as software stored in one or more memories. For example, a component (or a portion thereof) may be implemented as instructions or code stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium and executable by one or more controllers or one or more processors to perform the function or operation of the component.

[0265] Receiver 1202 may receive communications from device 1208, such as reference signals, control information, data communications, or combinations thereof. Receiver 1202 may provide the received communications to one or more other components of device 1200. In some aspects, receiver 1202 may perform signal processing (such as filtering, amplification, demodulation, analog-to-digital conversion, demultiplexing, deinterleaving, demapping, equalization, interference cancellation, or decoding, etc.) on the received communications, and may provide the processed signals to the one or more other components of device 1200. In some aspects, receiver 1202 may include combinations of... Figure 3The described UE or network node includes one or more antennas, one or more modems, one or more demodulators, one or more MIMO detectors, one or more receive processors, one or more controllers / processors, one or more memories, or combinations thereof.

[0266] Transmitting component 1204 may transmit communications, such as reference signals, control information, data communications, or combinations thereof, to device 1208. In some aspects, one or more other components of device 1200 may generate communications and provide the generated communications to transmitting component 1204 for transmission to device 1208. In some aspects, transmitting component 1204 may perform signal processing (such as filtering, amplification, modulation, digital-to-analog conversion, multiplexing, interleaving, mapping, or encoding, etc.) on the generated communications and may transmit the processed signals to device 1208. In some aspects, transmitting component 1204 may include combinations of... Figure 3 The described UE or network node may include one or more antennas, one or more modems, one or more modulators, one or more transmit MIMO processors, one or more transmit processors, one or more controllers / processors, one or more memories, or combinations thereof. In some aspects, the transmit component 1204 may co-located with the receive component 1202 in one or more transceivers.

[0267] The communication manager 1206 may support the operation of the receiving component 1202 and / or the transmitting component 1204. For example, the communication manager 1206 may receive information associated with configuring the receiving component 1202 to receive communication and / or the transmitting component 1204 to transmit communication. Additionally or alternatively, the communication manager 1206 may generate control information and / or provide control information to the receiving component 1202 and / or the transmitting component 1204 to control the receiving and / or transmitting of communication.

[0268] The transmitting component 1204 can send communications to the second network entity indicating information about the reference signal configuration of a virtual cell that the second network entity is configured to support. The receiving component 1202 can receive the reference signal configuration of the virtual cell from the second network entity and based on the communications, wherein the reference signal configuration configures reference signals in a frequency band outside the anchor frequency band of the virtual cell.

[0269] The receiving component 1202 can receive an indication of an initial downlink BWP, wherein the initial downlink BWP includes a CORESET configured to carry an RMSI. In some aspects, the initial downlink BWP may not include an anchor band.

[0270] The receiving component 1202 can receive an indication of an active downlink BWP, wherein the active downlink BWP does not include an anchor band, and wherein a reference signal configuration indicates that a reference signal is included in the active downlink BWP.

[0271] The communication manager 1206 can transmit a target signal and a source reference signal via one or more subbands of a virtual cell, wherein the target signal and the source reference signal have a QCL relationship.

[0272] The communication manager 1206 can use the measurement information of the reference signal to perform one or more tracking loop operations.

[0273] Figure 12 The number and arrangement of components shown are provided as an example. In reality, with... Figure 12 Compared to the components shown, there may be additional components, fewer components, different components, or components arranged in a different manner. Furthermore, Figure 12 The two or more components shown can be implemented within a single component, or Figure 12 The single component shown can be implemented as multiple distributed components. Additionally or alternatively, Figure 12 The collection of (one or more) components shown is executable and described as being composed of Figure 12 Another set of components shown performs one or more functions.

[0274] Figure 13 This is a diagram of an example device 1300 for wireless communication according to the present disclosure. Device 1300 may be a network entity, or a network entity may include device 1300. In some aspects, the network entity may be a network node (e.g., network node 210). In some aspects, device 1300 includes a receiving component 1302, a transmitting component 1304, and / or a communication manager 1306 that can communicate with each other (e.g., via one or more buses and / or one or more other components). In some aspects, the communication manager 1306 is combined with... Figure 1 The described communication manager 118 and / or combination Figure 2 The described communication manager 250. As shown, device 1300 can communicate with another device 1308 (such as a UE or a network node (such as a CU, DU, RU or base station)) using receiving component 1302 and transmitting component 1304.

[0275] In some respects, device 1300 can be configured to perform the functions described herein. Figures 6 to 9 One or more operations as described herein. Additionally or alternatively, the apparatus 1300 may be configured to perform one or more processes described herein (such as...). Figure 11 The process 1100) or a combination thereof. In some respects, Figure 13The illustrated device 1300 and / or one or more components may include a combination Figure 3 The described network node or one or more components of the UE. Additionally or alternatively, Figure 13 One or more components shown can be combined Figure 3 Implementation within one or more of the described components. Additionally or alternatively, one or more components in the set of components may be implemented at least partially as software stored in one or more memories. For example, a component (or a portion thereof) may be implemented as instructions or code stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium and executable by one or more controllers or one or more processors to perform the function or operation of the component.

[0276] Receiver 1302 may receive communications from device 1308, such as reference signals, control information, data communications, or combinations thereof. Receiver 1302 may provide the received communications to one or more other components of device 1300. In some aspects, receiver 1302 may perform signal processing on the received communications (such as filtering, amplification, demodulation, analog-to-digital conversion, demultiplexing, deinterleaving, demapping, equalization, interference cancellation, or decoding, etc.) and may provide the processed signals to the one or more other components of device 1300. In some aspects, receiver 1302 may include combinations of... Figure 3 The network node or UE described includes one or more antennas, one or more modems, one or more demodulators, one or more MIMO detectors, one or more receive processors, one or more controllers / processors, one or more memories, or combinations thereof.

[0277] Transmitting component 1304 may transmit communications, such as reference signals, control information, data communications, or combinations thereof, to device 1308. In some aspects, one or more other components of device 1300 may generate communications and provide the generated communications to transmitting component 1304 for transmission to device 1308. In some aspects, transmitting component 1304 may perform signal processing (such as filtering, amplification, modulation, digital-to-analog conversion, multiplexing, interleaving, mapping, or encoding, etc.) on the generated communications and may transmit the processed signals to device 1308. In some aspects, transmitting component 1304 may include combinations of... Figure 3 The described network node or UE may include one or more antennas, one or more modems, one or more modulators, one or more transmit MIMO processors, one or more transmit processors, one or more controllers / processors, one or more memories, or combinations thereof. In some aspects, the transmit component 1304 may co-located with the receive component 1302 in one or more transceivers.

[0278] The communication manager 1306 may support the operation of the receiving component 1302 and / or the transmitting component 1304. For example, the communication manager 1306 may receive information associated with configuring the receiving component 1302 to receive communication and / or the transmitting component 1304 to transmit communication. Additionally or alternatively, the communication manager 1306 may generate control information and / or provide control information to the receiving component 1302 and / or the transmitting component 1304 to control the receiving and / or transmitting of communication.

[0279] The receiving component 1302 can receive communications from another network entity indicating information about the reference signal configuration of a virtual cell that the second network entity is configured to support. The transmitting component 1304 can transmit the reference signal configuration of the virtual cell to another network entity and based on the communications, wherein the reference signal configuration configures reference signals in a frequency band outside the anchor frequency band of the virtual cell.

[0280] Transmitting component 1304 can transmit an indication of an initial downlink BWP, wherein the initial downlink BWP includes a CORESET configured to carry an RMSI. In some respects, the initial downlink BWP does not include an anchor band.

[0281] The transmitting component 1304 can transmit an indication of the active downlink BWP, wherein the active downlink BWP does not include an anchor band, and wherein a reference signal configuration indicates that a reference signal is included in the active downlink BWP.

[0282] The communication manager 1306 can transmit a target signal and a source reference signal via one or more subbands of a virtual cell, wherein the target signal and the source reference signal have a QCL relationship.

[0283] Figure 13 The number and arrangement of components shown are provided as an example. In reality, with... Figure 13 Compared to the components shown, there may be additional components, fewer components, different components, or components arranged in a different manner. Furthermore, Figure 13 The two or more components shown can be implemented within a single component, or Figure 13 The single component shown can be implemented as multiple distributed components. Additionally or alternatively, Figure 13 The collection of (one or more) components shown is executable and described as being composed of Figure 13 Another set of components shown performs one or more functions.

[0284] The following provides an overview of some aspects of this disclosure:

[0285] Aspect 1: A method of wireless communication performed by a first network entity, the method comprising: sending to a second network entity communication indicating information regarding a reference signal configuration of a virtual cell to which the second network entity is configured; and receiving from the second network entity and based on the communication the reference signal configuration of the virtual cell, wherein the reference signal configuration configures reference signals in a frequency band outside the anchor frequency band of the virtual cell.

[0286] Aspect 2: According to the method of aspect 1, the downlink carrier of the virtual cell includes one or more subbands, and the anchor band is a subband among the one or more subbands configured with a cell-defined synchronization signal block (SSB).

[0287] Aspect 3: The method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 2, the method further comprising: receiving an indication of an initial downlink bandwidth portion (BWP), wherein the initial downlink BWP includes a control resource set (CORESET) configured to carry residual minimum system information (RMSI).

[0288] Aspect 4: According to the method of aspect 3, the initial downlink BWP includes the anchor band.

[0289] Aspect 5: According to the method of aspect 3, the initial downlink BWP does not include the anchor band.

[0290] Aspect 6: The method according to any one of Aspects 3 to 5, wherein the downlink carrier of the virtual cell comprises a plurality of subbands, and wherein the CORESET is configured to be included in two or more subbands that are not contiguous in the frequency domain among the plurality of subbands.

[0291] Aspect 7: The method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 6, wherein the reference signal is a non-cell defined synchronization signal block (SSB).

[0292] Aspect 8: According to the method of aspect 7, the downlink carrier of the virtual cell includes one or more subbands, and the reference signal configuration indicates that the non-cell defined SSB is configured in a single subband of the one or more subbands.

[0293] Aspect 9: The method according to any one of Aspects 7 to 8, wherein the anchor frequency band is a subband of the virtual cell configured with a cell-defined SSB, and wherein the reference signal configuration indicates that the non-cell-defined SSB has a quasi-co-location (QCL) relationship with the cell-defined SSB.

[0294] Aspect 10: According to the method of aspect 9, wherein the cell-defined SSB and the non-cell-defined SSB have the same SSB block index.

[0295] Aspect 11: The method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 10, wherein the reference signal is a periodic downlink reference signal.

[0296] Aspect 12: According to the method of aspect 11, the downlink carrier of the virtual cell includes a plurality of subbands, and the reference signal configuration indicates that the periodic downlink reference signal is configured in one or more of the plurality of subbands.

[0297] Aspect 13: The method according to any one of Aspects 11 to 12, wherein the anchoring frequency band is a subband of the virtual cell configured with a cell-defined SSB, and wherein the reference signal configuration indicates that the periodic downlink reference signal has a quasi-co-location (QCL) relationship with the cell-defined SSB.

[0298] Aspect 14: The method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 13, wherein the downlink carrier of the virtual cell comprises a plurality of subbands, wherein the reference signal is a semi-persistent downlink reference signal or an aperiodic downlink reference signal, and wherein the reference signal is configured to indicate that the semi-persistent downlink reference signal or the aperiodic downlink reference signal is configured in one or more of the plurality of subbands.

[0299] Aspect 15: The method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 14, wherein the reference signal configuration uses a first resource unit size for the reference signal, the first resource unit size being smaller than a second resource unit size for configuring a synchronization signal block (SSB).

[0300] Aspect 16: The method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 15, the method further comprising: receiving an indication of an active downlink bandwidth portion (BWP), wherein the active downlink BWP does not include the anchor band, and wherein the reference signal configuration indicates that the reference signal is included in the active downlink BWP.

[0301] Aspect 17: According to the method of aspect 16, wherein the active downlink BWP includes a frequency domain resource set, and wherein the reference signal configuration indicates that the reference signal is configured in a subset of the frequency domain resources in the frequency domain resource set.

[0302] Aspect 18: According to the method of aspect 17, wherein the subset of frequency domain resources is discontinuous frequency domain resources.

[0303] Aspect 19: The method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 18, wherein receiving the reference signal configuration includes: receiving one or more sub-configurations of the reference signal, wherein the one or more sub-configurations configure corresponding discontinuous frequency domain ranges of the reference signal.

[0304] Aspect 20: The method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 19, wherein the reference signal is associated with a single pseudo-random sequence generator configured to be initialized by a pseudo-random seed.

[0305] Aspect 21: The method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 20, wherein the reference signal is associated with one or more pseudo-random sequence generators configured to be initialized by a plurality of pseudo-random seeds.

[0306] Aspect 22: The method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 21, wherein the information is capability information indicating whether the first network entity supports measuring reference signals other than the active downlink bandwidth portion (BWP) of the virtual cell.

[0307] Aspect 23: According to the method of aspect 22, wherein the capability information indicates that the first network entity supports measuring reference signals outside the active downlink BWP without time-domain measurement gaps.

[0308] Aspect 24: According to the method of aspect 23, wherein the reference signal configuration is based on the capability information to configure the reference signal within the supported channel bandwidth on the virtual cell.

[0309] Aspect 25: The method according to any one of Aspects 22 to 24, wherein the capability information indicates that the first network entity supports measuring a reference signal outside the active downlink BWP in the presence of a time-domain measurement gap.

[0310] Aspect 26: According to the method of aspect 25, wherein the reference signal configuration is based on the capability information to configure one or more time-domain measurement gaps for measuring the reference signal.

[0311] Aspect 27: According to the method of aspect 26, the duration of the one or more time-domain measurement gaps is based on at least one of the following: whether the reference signal is configured outside the supported channel bandwidth on the virtual cell, or whether the first network entity is configured to perform antenna switching to measure the reference signal.

[0312] Aspect 28: The method according to any one of aspects 1 to 27, the method further comprising: transmitting a target signal and a source reference signal via one or more subbands of the virtual cell, wherein the target signal and the source reference signal have a quasi-co-located (QCL) relationship.

[0313] Aspect 29: According to the method of aspect 28, the target signal includes at least one of the following: the reference signal, the data channel signal, or the control channel signal.

[0314] Aspect 30: The method according to any one of Aspects 28 to 29, wherein the one or more sub-bands comprise a single sub-band.

[0315] Aspect 31: The method according to any one of Aspects 28 to 29, wherein transmitting the target signal and the source reference signal comprises: transmitting the target signal via a first subband of the virtual cell; and transmitting the source reference signal via a second subband of the virtual cell.

[0316] Aspect 32: According to the method of aspect 31, the frequency domain gap between the first sub-band and the second sub-band satisfies a threshold.

[0317] Aspect 33: According to the method of aspect 32, wherein the threshold is based on the frequency range of the one or more sub-bands.

[0318] Aspect 34: The method according to any one of Aspects 28 to 33, wherein the target signal has a QCL relationship with a plurality of source reference signals including the source reference signal.

[0319] Aspect 35: According to the method of aspect 34, wherein conveying the target signal and the source reference signal includes: conveying the plurality of source reference signals via corresponding subbands of the virtual cell.

[0320] Aspect 36: The method according to any one of aspects 1 to 35, the method further comprising: using measurement information of the reference signal to perform one or more tracking loop operations.

[0321] Aspect 37: The method according to any one of aspects 1 to 36, wherein sending the communication includes: sending a request for the configuration of the reference signal on the virtual cell.

[0322] Aspect 38: The method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 37, wherein the downlink carrier of the virtual cell comprises one or more sub-bands, and wherein the one or more sub-bands are discontinuous in the frequency domain.

[0323] Aspect 39: The method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 38, wherein the virtual cell is a primary cell or a primary-secondary cell.

[0324] Aspect 40: A method of wireless communication performed by a first network entity, the method comprising: receiving from a second network entity information indicating reference signal configuration of a virtual cell to be supported by the second network entity; and transmitting to the second network entity and based on the communication the reference signal configuration of the virtual cell, wherein the reference signal configuration configures reference signals in a frequency band outside the anchor frequency band of the virtual cell.

[0325] Aspect 41: According to the method of aspect 40, the downlink carrier of the virtual cell includes one or more subbands, and the anchor band is a subband of the one or more subbands configured with a cell-defined synchronization signal block (SSB).

[0326] Aspect 42: The method according to any one of aspects 40 to 41, the method further comprising: sending an indication of an initial downlink bandwidth portion (BWP), wherein the initial downlink BWP includes a control resource set (CORESET) configured to carry residual minimum system information (RMSI).

[0327] Aspect 43: According to the method of aspect 42, wherein the initial downlink BWP includes the anchor band.

[0328] Aspect 44: According to the method of aspect 42, the initial downlink BWP does not include the anchor band.

[0329] Aspect 45: The method according to any one of Aspects 42 to 44, wherein the downlink carrier of the virtual cell comprises a plurality of subbands, and wherein the CORESET is configured to be included in two or more subbands that are not contiguous in the frequency domain among the plurality of subbands.

[0330] Aspect 46: The method according to any one of Aspects 40 to 45, wherein the reference signal is a non-cell defined synchronization signal block (SSB).

[0331] Aspect 47: According to the method of aspect 46, the downlink carrier of the virtual cell includes one or more subbands, and the reference signal configuration indicates that the non-cell defined SSB is configured in a single subband of the one or more subbands.

[0332] Aspect 48: The method according to any one of Aspects 46 to 47, wherein the anchored frequency band is a subband of the virtual cell configured with a cell-defined SSB, and wherein the reference signal configuration indicates that the non-cell-defined SSB has a quasi-co-address (QCL) relationship with the cell-defined SSB.

[0333] Aspect 49: According to the method of aspect 48, wherein the cell-defined SSB and the non-cell-defined SSB have the same SSB block index.

[0334] Aspect 50: The method according to any one of aspects 40 to 49, wherein the reference signal is a periodic downlink reference signal.

[0335] Aspect 51: According to the method of aspect 50, the downlink carrier of the virtual cell includes a plurality of subbands, and the reference signal configuration indicates that the periodic downlink reference signal is configured in one or more of the plurality of subbands.

[0336] Aspect 52: The method according to any one of Aspects 50 to 51, wherein the anchoring frequency band is a subband of the virtual cell configured with a cell-defined SSB, and wherein the reference signal configuration indicates that the periodic downlink reference signal has a quasi-co-location (QCL) relationship with the cell-defined SSB.

[0337] Aspect 53: The method according to any one of Aspects 40 to 52, wherein the downlink carrier of the virtual cell comprises a plurality of subbands, wherein the reference signal is a semi-persistent downlink reference signal or an aperiodic downlink reference signal, and wherein the reference signal is configured to indicate that the semi-persistent downlink reference signal or the aperiodic downlink reference signal is configured in one or more of the plurality of subbands.

[0338] Aspect 54: The method according to any one of Aspects 40 to 53, wherein the reference signal configuration uses a first resource unit size for the reference signal, the first resource unit size being smaller than a second resource unit size for configuring a synchronization signal block (SSB).

[0339] Aspect 55: The method according to any one of Aspects 40 to 54, the method further comprising: sending an indication of an active downlink bandwidth portion (BWP), wherein the active downlink BWP does not include the anchor band, and wherein the reference signal configuration indicates that the reference signal is included in the active downlink BWP.

[0340] Aspect 56: According to the method of aspect 55, the active downlink BWP includes a set of frequency domain resources, and the reference signal configuration indicates that the reference signal is configured in a subset of the frequency domain resources in the set of frequency domain resources.

[0341] Aspect 57: According to the method of aspect 56, the subset of frequency domain resources is a discontinuous frequency domain resource.

[0342] Aspect 58: The method according to any one of Aspects 40 to 57, wherein receiving the reference signal configuration includes: transmitting one or more sub-configurations of the reference signal, wherein the one or more sub-configurations configure corresponding discontinuous frequency domain ranges of the reference signal.

[0343] Aspect 59: The method according to any one of Aspects 40 to 58, wherein the reference signal is associated with a single pseudo-random sequence generator configured to be initialized by a pseudo-random seed.

[0344] Aspect 60: The method according to any one of Aspects 40 to 59, wherein the reference signal is associated with one or more pseudo-random sequence generators configured to be initialized by a plurality of pseudo-random seeds.

[0345] Aspect 61: The method according to any one of Aspects 40 to 60, wherein the information is capability information indicating whether the first network entity supports measuring reference signals other than the active downlink bandwidth portion (BWP) of the virtual cell.

[0346] Aspect 62: According to the method of aspect 61, wherein the capability information indicates that the first network entity supports measuring reference signals outside the active downlink BWP without time-domain measurement gaps.

[0347] Aspect 63: According to the method of aspect 62, wherein the reference signal configuration is based on the capability information to configure the reference signal within the supported channel bandwidth on the virtual cell.

[0348] Aspect 64: The method according to any one of Aspects 61 to 63, wherein the capability information indicates that the first network entity supports measuring a reference signal outside the active downlink BWP in the presence of a time-domain measurement gap.

[0349] Aspect 65: According to the method of aspect 64, wherein the reference signal configuration is based on the capability information to configure one or more time-domain measurement gaps for measuring the reference signal.

[0350] Aspect 66: According to the method of aspect 65, the duration of the one or more time-domain measurement gaps is based on at least one of the following: whether the reference signal is configured outside the supported channel bandwidth on the virtual cell, or whether the first network entity is configured to perform antenna switching to measure the reference signal.

[0351] Aspect 67: The method according to any one of aspects 40 to 66, the method further comprising: transmitting a target signal and a source reference signal via one or more subbands of the virtual cell, wherein the target signal and the source reference signal have a quasi-co-located (QCL) relationship.

[0352] Aspect 68: According to the method of aspect 67, the target signal includes at least one of the following: the reference signal, the data channel signal, or the control channel signal.

[0353] Aspect 69: The method according to any one of aspects 67 to 68, wherein the one or more sub-bands comprise a single sub-band.

[0354] Aspect 70: The method according to any one of Aspects 67 to 68, wherein transmitting the target signal and the source reference signal comprises: transmitting the target signal via a first subband of the virtual cell; and transmitting the source reference signal via a second subband of the virtual cell.

[0355] Aspect 71: According to the method of aspect 70, the frequency domain gap between the first sub-band and the second sub-band satisfies a threshold.

[0356] Aspect 72: The method according to aspect 71, wherein the threshold is based on the frequency range of the one or more sub-bands.

[0357] Aspect 73: The method according to any one of aspects 67 to 72, wherein the target signal has a QCL relationship with a plurality of source reference signals including the source reference signal.

[0358] Aspect 74: The method according to aspect 73, wherein conveying the target signal and the source reference signal comprises: conveying the plurality of source reference signals via corresponding subbands of the virtual cell.

[0359] Aspect 75: The method according to any one of aspects 40 to 74, wherein sending the communication includes: receiving a request for the configuration of the reference signal on the virtual cell.

[0360] Aspect 76: The method according to any one of Aspects 40 to 75, wherein the downlink carrier of the virtual cell comprises one or more sub-bands, and wherein the one or more sub-bands are discontinuous in the frequency domain.

[0361] Aspect 77: The method according to any one of Aspects 40 to 76, wherein the virtual cell is a primary cell or a primary-secondary cell.

[0362] Aspect 78: An apparatus for wireless communication at a device, the apparatus comprising: one or more processors; one or more memories coupled to the one or more processors; and instructions stored in the one or more memories and executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to perform the method according to one or more of aspects 1 to 77.

[0363] Aspect 79: An apparatus for wireless communication at a device, the apparatus comprising: one or more memories; and one or more processors coupled to the one or more memories, the one or more processors being configured to cause the device to perform the method according to one or more of aspects 1 to 77.

[0364] Aspect 80: An apparatus for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising at least one component for performing the method according to one or more of aspects 1 to 77.

[0365] Aspect 81: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication, said code including instructions executable by one or more processors to perform the methods described in one or more of aspects 1 to 77.

[0366] Aspect 82: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set of instructions for wireless communication, the set of instructions comprising one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a device, cause the device to perform the method according to one or more of aspects 1 to 77.

[0367] Aspect 83: A device for wireless communication, the device including a processing system comprising one or more processors and one or more memories coupled to the one or more processors, the processing system being configured to cause the device to perform the method according to one or more of aspects 1 to 77.

[0368] Aspect 84: An apparatus for wireless communication at a device, the apparatus comprising one or more memories and one or more processors coupled to the one or more memories, the one or more processors being individually or collectively configured to cause the device to perform the method according to one or more of aspects 1 to 77.

[0369] The foregoing disclosure provides examples and descriptions, but is neither exhaustive nor a limitation on the scope of this disclosure. For example, various aspects and examples are disclosed herein, but this disclosure is not limited to the precise form used to describe such aspects and examples. Modifications and variations may be made based on the foregoing disclosure, or may be derived from practice in various aspects.

[0370] As used herein, the term "component" should be broadly interpreted as hardware or a combination of hardware and at least one of software or firmware. "Software" should be broadly interpreted as instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subroutines, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable programs, threads of execution, procedures, or functions, whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or other terms. As used herein, a "processor" is implemented using hardware or a combination of hardware and software. The systems or methods described herein can be implemented using various forms of hardware or combinations of hardware and software. The actual dedicated control hardware or software code used to implement these systems or methods is not limited in any way. Therefore, the operation and behavior of these systems or methods are described herein without reference to any specific software code, as those skilled in the art will understand that the software and hardware can be designed to implement these systems or methods, at least in part, based on the description herein. Unless otherwise stated, a component configured to perform a function means that the component has the capability to perform that function, but it is not required that the component actually performs that function.

[0371] As used in this article, depending on the context, "meeting the threshold" can mean a value greater than the threshold, greater than or equal to the threshold, less than the threshold, less than or equal to the threshold, equal to the threshold, not equal to the threshold, etc.

[0372] As used herein, the term "determine" encompasses a wide variety of actions, and therefore, "determine" can include operations, calculations, processing, derivation, investigation, lookup (such as by searching in a table, database, or other data structure), reasoning, probing, and / or measurement, etc. Additionally, "determine" can include receiving (such as receiving information), accessing (such as accessing data stored in memory), and / or sending (such as sending information), etc. As another example, "determine" can include parsing, selecting, obtaining, choosing, building, and / or other similar actions.

[0373] Although specific combinations of features are recited in the claims and / or disclosed in the specification, these combinations do not limit the scope of this disclosure. Many of these features may be combined in ways not specifically recited in the claims and / or not disclosed in the specification. The disclosure of various aspects includes each dependent claim in combination with each other claim in the claim set. As used herein, the phrase “at least one of” in the list of items refers to any combination of these items, including a single member. As used herein, the phrase “at least one of” in the list of items refers to any combination of these items, including a single member. As an example, “at least one of a, b, or c” covers a, b, c, a+b, a+c, b+c, and a+b+c, as well as any combination with multiple of the same element (e.g., a+a, a+a+a, a+a+b, a+a+c, a+b+b, a+c+c, b+b, b+b+b, b+b+c, c+c, and c+c+c, or any other ordering of a, b, and c).

[0374] No element, action, or instruction used herein should be construed as essential or necessary unless explicitly stated otherwise. Furthermore, as used herein, the articles “a” and “one” include one or more items and are used interchangeably with “one or more.” Furthermore, as used herein, the article “the” can include one or more items mentioned in connection with the article “the” and is used interchangeably with “one or more.” Furthermore, as used herein, the terms “set” and “group” can include one or more entries and are used interchangeably with “one or more.” If only one item is desired, the phrase “only one” or similar terminology will be used. Furthermore, as used herein, the term “has” and similar terms are open-ended terms that do not limit the elements they modify (e.g., an element “having” A may also have B). Furthermore, the phrase “based on” means “based on or otherwise related to” unless explicitly stated otherwise. Furthermore, as used herein, the term “or” is inclusive when used consecutively and may be used interchangeably with “and / or” unless otherwise expressly stated (e.g., if used in conjunction with “either of the two” or “only one of them”). Additionally, “one or more” may be equivalent to “at least one”.

[0375] Although specific combinations of features are recited in the claims or disclosed in the description, these combinations do not limit the disclosure of various aspects. Many of these features can be combined in ways not specifically recited in the claims or disclosed in the description. The disclosure of various aspects includes each dependent claim in combination with each other claim in the claim set.

Claims

1. A first network entity for wireless communication, the first network entity comprising: Processing system, the processing system being configured to: Communication to send information to a second network entity indicating reference signal configuration information about the virtual cell that the second network entity is configured to support; as well as The reference signal configuration of the virtual cell is received from the second network entity and based on the communication, wherein the reference signal configuration configures a reference signal in a frequency band outside the anchor frequency band of the virtual cell.

2. The first network entity according to claim 1, wherein the downlink carrier of the virtual cell comprises one or more subbands, and wherein the anchor band is a subband among the one or more subbands configured with a cell-defined synchronization signal block (SSB).

3. The first network entity according to claim 1, wherein the processing system is further configured to: Receive an indication of an initial downlink bandwidth portion (BWP), wherein the initial downlink BWP includes a control resource set (CORESET) configured to carry residual minimum system information (RMSI), wherein the initial downlink BWP does not include the anchor band.

4. The first network entity according to claim 3, wherein the downlink carrier of the virtual cell comprises a plurality of subbands, and wherein the CORESET is configured to be included in two or more subbands that are not contiguous in the frequency domain among the plurality of subbands.

5. The first network entity of claim 1, wherein the reference signal is a non-cell-defined synchronization signal block (SSB), wherein the downlink carrier of the virtual cell comprises one or more subbands, and wherein the reference signal configuration indicates that the non-cell-defined SSB is configured in a single subband of the one or more subbands.

6. The first network entity according to claim 1, wherein the reference signal is a non-cell-defined synchronization signal block (SSB), wherein the anchored frequency band is a sub-band of the virtual cell configured with a cell-defined SSB, and wherein the reference signal configuration indicates that the non-cell-defined SSB and the cell-defined SSB have a quasi-co-location (QCL) relationship.

7. The first network entity of claim 1, wherein the reference signal configuration uses a first resource unit size for the reference signal, the first resource unit size being smaller than a second resource unit size for configuring a synchronization signal block (SSB).

8. The first network entity according to claim 1, wherein the processing system is further configured to: Receive an indication of an active downlink bandwidth portion (BWP), wherein the active downlink BWP does not include the anchor band, and wherein the reference signal configuration indicates that the reference signal is included in the active downlink BWP.

9. The first network entity according to claim 1, wherein, in order to receive the reference signal configuration, the processing system is configured to: One or more sub-configurations for receiving the reference signal, wherein the one or more sub-configurations configure the corresponding discontinuous frequency domain range of the reference signal.

10. The first network entity of claim 1, wherein the information is capability information indicating whether the first network entity supports measuring reference signals outside the active downlink bandwidth portion (BWP) of the virtual cell.

11. The first network entity according to claim 1, wherein the processing system is further configured to: A target signal and a source reference signal are transmitted via one or more subbands of the virtual cell, wherein the target signal and the source reference signal have a quasi-co-located (QCL) relationship.

12. The first network entity of claim 11, wherein, in order to convey the target signal and the source reference signal, the processing system is configured to: The target signal is transmitted via the first subband of the virtual cell; and The source reference signal is transmitted via a second subband of the virtual cell, wherein the frequency domain gap between the first subband and the second subband satisfies a threshold.

13. The first network entity of claim 1, wherein, in order to transmit the communication, the processing system is configured to: Send a request for the configuration of the reference signal on the virtual cell.

14. A first network entity for wireless communication, the first network entity comprising: Processing system, the processing system being configured to: Receive communication from the second network entity indicating information about the reference signal configuration of the virtual cell that the second network entity is configured to support; as well as The reference signal configuration of the virtual cell is transmitted to the second network entity and based on the communication, wherein the reference signal configuration configures a reference signal in a frequency band outside the anchor frequency band of the virtual cell.

15. The first network entity according to claim 14, wherein the processing system is further configured to: Sending an indication for an initial downlink bandwidth portion (BWP), wherein the initial downlink BWP includes a control resource set (CORESET) configured to carry residual minimum system information (RMSI), wherein the initial downlink BWP does not include the anchor band.

16. The first network entity of claim 14, wherein the reference signal is a non-cell-defined synchronization signal block (SSB), wherein the anchored frequency band is a sub-band of the virtual cell configured with a cell-defined SSB, and wherein the reference signal configuration indicates that the non-cell-defined SSB and the cell-defined SSB have a quasi-co-addressable (QCL) relationship, and wherein the cell-defined SSB and the non-cell-defined SSB have the same SSB block index.

17. The first network entity of claim 14, wherein the reference signal is a periodic downlink reference signal, wherein the downlink carrier of the virtual cell comprises a plurality of subbands, and wherein the reference signal configuration indicates that the periodic downlink reference signal is configured in one or more of the plurality of subbands.

18. The first network entity of claim 14, wherein the reference signal is a periodic downlink reference signal, wherein the anchor band is a subband of the virtual cell configured with a cell-defined SSB, and wherein the reference signal configuration indicates that the periodic downlink reference signal and the cell-defined SSB have a quasi-co-location (QCL) relationship.

19. The first network entity of claim 14, wherein the processing system is further configured to: Sending an indication for an active downlink bandwidth portion (BWP), wherein the active downlink BWP does not include the anchor band, and wherein the reference signal configuration indicates that the reference signal is included in the active downlink BWP, wherein the active downlink BWP includes a set of frequency domain resources, and wherein the reference signal configuration indicates that the reference signal is configured in a subset of the frequency domain resources in the set of frequency domain resources.

20. The first network entity of claim 14, wherein, in order to receive the reference signal configuration, the processing system is configured to: One or more sub-configurations for transmitting the reference signal, wherein the one or more sub-configurations configure the corresponding discontinuous frequency domain range of the reference signal.

21. A method for wireless communication performed by a first network entity, the method comprising: Communication to send information to a second network entity indicating reference signal configuration information about the virtual cell that the second network entity is configured to support; as well as The reference signal configuration of the virtual cell is received from the second network entity and based on the communication, wherein the reference signal configuration configures a reference signal in a frequency band outside the anchor frequency band of the virtual cell.

22. The method according to claim 21, further comprising: Receive an indication of an initial downlink bandwidth portion (BWP), wherein the initial downlink BWP includes a control resource set (CORESET) configured to carry residual minimum system information (RMSI), wherein the initial downlink BWP includes the anchor band.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein the downlink carrier of the virtual cell comprises one or more subbands, and wherein the reference signal configuration indicates that the reference signal is configured in a single subband of the one or more subbands.

24. The method according to claim 21, further comprising: Receive an indication of an active downlink bandwidth portion (BWP), wherein the active downlink BWP does not include the anchor band, and wherein the reference signal configuration indicates that the reference signal is included in the active downlink BWP.

25. The method of claim 21, wherein receiving the reference signal configuration includes: One or more sub-configurations for receiving the reference signal, wherein the one or more sub-configurations configure the corresponding discontinuous frequency domain range of the reference signal.

26. The method of claim 21, wherein the information is capability information indicating whether the first network entity supports measuring reference signals outside the active downlink bandwidth portion (BWP) of the virtual cell, and wherein the reference signal configuration is based on the capability information to configure one or more time-domain measurement gaps for measuring the reference signals.

27. The method of claim 21, wherein sending the communication comprises: Send a request for the configuration of the reference signal on the virtual cell.

28. A method for wireless communication performed by a first network entity, the method comprising: Receive communication from the second network entity indicating information about the reference signal configuration of the virtual cell that the second network entity is configured to support; as well as The reference signal configuration of the virtual cell is transmitted to the second network entity and based on the communication, wherein the reference signal configuration configures a reference signal in a frequency band outside the anchor frequency band of the virtual cell.

29. The method according to claim 28, further comprising: Send an indication of the initial downlink bandwidth portion (BWP), wherein the initial downlink BWP includes a control resource set (CORESET) configured to carry residual minimum system information (RMSI).

30. The method according to claim 28, further comprising: Sending an indication of an active downlink bandwidth portion (BWP), wherein the active downlink BWP does not include the anchor band, and wherein the reference signal configuration indicates that the reference signal is included in the active downlink BWP.

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