Midamble transmission for a-IOT systems

Abstract

An apparatus and system for midamble insertion in Ambient Internet-of-Things (A-IoT) transmissions are disclosed. An A-IoT device determines the number of midambles to be included in a transmission to a receiver. The data block of the transmission is partitioned into segments based on the number of midambles. The midambles are inserted immediately prior to a corresponding segment of the data block. The transmission is sent to a receiver, where each midamble is used for channel estimation and to correct for timing drift of the transmission.

Description

MID AMBLE TRANSMISSION FOR A-IOT SYSTEMSPRIORITY CLAIM

[0001] This application claims the benefit of priority to United States Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 63 / 674,248, filed luly 22, 2024, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] Embodiments pertain to wireless networks and wireless communications. Some embodiments relate to midamble transmissions for Ambient Internet of Things (A-IoT) systems.BACKGROUND

[0003] Mobile communication has evolved significantly from early voice systems to highly sophisticated integrated communication platform. Nextgeneration (NG) wireless communication systems, including 5thgeneration (5G) and sixth generation (6G) or new radio (NR) systems, are to provide access to information and sharing of data by various user equipment (UEs) and applications. NR is to be a unified network / system that is to meet vastly different and sometimes conflicting performance dimensions and services driven by different services and applications. As such, the complexity of such communication systems, as well as interactions between elements within a communication system, has increased. In particular, A-IoT devices have been introduced to reduce device size and power consumption for a myriad of uses. However, a number of issues remain to be resolved for A-IoT communications.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0004] The present disclosure is illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like references indicate similar elements and in which:

[0005] FIG. 1 A illustrates an architecture of a network, according to some examples.

[0006] FIG. IB illustrates a non-roaming 5G system architecture, according to some examples.

[0007] FIG. 1C illustrates a non-roaming 5G system architecture, according to some examples.

[0008] FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a communication device, according to some examples.

[0009] FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate topologies for A-IoT applications, according to some examples.

[0010] FIG. 4 illustrates midamble transmissions for an associated physical device to reader channel (PDRCH), according to some examples.

[0011] FIG. 5 illustrates midamble transmissions for an associated PDRCH with gaps, according to some examples.

[0012] FIG. 6 illustrates midamble transmissions for an associated PDRCH with repetitions, according to some examples.

[0013] FIG. 7 illustrates midamble transmissions for an associated PDRCH with frequency hopping, according to some examples.DESCRIPTION

[0014] The following description and the drawings sufficiently illustrate specific embodiments to enable those skilled in the art to practice them. Other embodiments may incorporate structural, logical, electrical, process, and other changes. Portions and features of some embodiments may be included in or substituted for, those of other embodiments. Embodiments outlined in the claims encompass all available equivalents of those claims.

[0015] FIG. 1 A illustrates an architecture of a network in accordance with some aspects. The network 140 A includes 3 GPP LTE / 4G and NG network functions that may be extended to 6G functions. Accordingly, although 5G will be referred to, it is to be understood that this is to extend as able to 6G structures, systems, and functions. A network function may be implemented as a discrete network element on a dedicated hardware, as a software instance running ondedicated hardware, and / or as a virtualized function instantiated on an appropriate platform, e.g., dedicated hardware or a cloud infrastructure.

[0016] The network 140 A is shown to include user equipment (UE) 101 and UE 102. The UEs 101 and 102 are illustrated as smartphones (e.g., handheld touchscreen mobile computing devices connectable to one or more cellular networks) but may also include any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as portable (laptop) or desktop computers, wireless handsets, drones, or any other computing device including a wired and / or wireless communications interface. The UEs 101 and 102 may be collectively referred to herein as UE 101, and UE 101 may be used to perform one or more of the techniques disclosed herein.

[0017] Any of the radio links described herein (e.g., as used in the network 140 A or any other illustrated network) may operate according to any exemplary radio communication technology and / or standard. Any spectrum management scheme including, for example, dedicated licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, (licensed) shared spectrum (such as Licensed Shared Access (LSA) in 2.3-2.4 GHz, 3.4-3.6 GHz, 3.6-3.8 GHz, and other frequencies and Spectrum Access System (SAS) in 3.55-3.7 GHz and other frequencies). Different Single Carrier or Orthogonal Frequency Domain Multiplexing (OFDM) modes (CP-OFDM, SC-FDMA, SC-OFDM, filter bank-based multicarrier (FBMC), OFDMA, etc.), and in particular 3 GPP NR, may be used by allocating the OFDM carrier data bit vectors to the corresponding symbol resources.

[0018] In some aspects, any of the UEs 101 and 102 can comprise an Internet-of-Things (loT) UE or a Cellular loT (CIoT) UE, which can comprise a network access layer designed for low-power loT applications utilizing shortlived UE connections. In some aspects, any of the UEs 101 and 102 can include a narrowband (NB) loT UE (e.g., such as an enhanced NB-IoT (eNB-IoT) UE and Further Enhanced (FeNB-IoT) UE). An loT UE can utilize technologies such as machine-to-machine (M2M) or machine-type communications (MTC) for exchanging data with an MTC server or device via a public land mobile network (PLMN), Proximity-Based Service (ProSe) or device-to-device (D2D) communication, sensor networks, or loT networks. The M2M or MTC exchangeof data may be a machine-initiated exchange of data. An loT network includes interconnecting loT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure), with short-lived connections. The loT UEs may execute background applications (e.g., keepalive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate the connections of the loT network. In some aspects, any of the UEs 101 and 102 can include enhanced MTC (eMTC) UEs or further enhanced MTC (FeMTC) UEs.

[0019] The UEs 101 and 102 may be configured to connect, e.g., communicatively couple, with a radio access network (RAN) 110. The RAN 110 may be, for example, an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), a NextGen RAN (NG RAN), or some other type of RAN.

[0020] The UEs 101 and 102 utilize connections 103 and 104, respectively, each of which comprises a physical communications interface or layer (discussed in further detail below); in this example, the connections 103 and 104 are illustrated as an air interface to enable communicative coupling, and may be consistent with cellular communications protocols, such as a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) protocol, a code-division multiple access (CDMA) network protocol, a Push-to-Talk (PTT) protocol, a PTT over Cellular (POC) protocol, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) protocol, a 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) protocol, a 5G protocol, a 6G protocol, and the like.

[0021] In an aspect, the UEs 101 and 102 may further directly exchange communication data via a ProSe interface 105. The ProSe interface 105 may alternatively be referred to as a sidelink (SL) interface comprising one or more logical channels, including but not limited to a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), a Physical Sidelink Discovery Channel (PSDCH), a Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH), and a Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel (PSFCH).

[0022] The UE 102 is shown to be configured to access an access point (AP) 106 via connection 107. The connection 107 can comprise a local wireless connection, such as, for example, a connection consistent with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, according to which the AP 106 can comprise a wireless fidelity(WiFi®) router. In this example, the AP 106 is shown to be connected to the Internet without connecting to the core network of the wireless system (described in further detail below).

[0023] The RAN 110 can include one or more access nodes that enable the connections 103 and 104. These access nodes (ANs) may be referred to as base stations (BSs), NodeBs, evolved NodeBs (eNBs), Next Generation NodeBs (gNBs), RAN nodes, and the like, and can comprise ground stations (e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stations providing coverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). In some aspects, the communication nodes 111 and 112 may be transmission / reception points (TRPs). In instances when the communication nodes 111 and 112 are NodeBs (e.g., eNBs or gNBs), one or more TRPs can function within the communication cell of the NodeBs. The RAN 110 may include one or more RAN nodes for providing macrocells, e.g., macro RAN node 111, and one or more RAN nodes for providing femtocells or picocells (e.g., cells having smaller coverage areas, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth compared to macrocells), e.g., low power (LP) RAN node 112.

[0024] Any of the RAN nodes 111 and 112 can terminate the air interface protocol and may be the first point of contact for the UEs 101 and 102. In some aspects, any of the RAN nodes 111 and 112 can fulfill various logical functions for the RAN 110 including, but not limited to, radio network controller (RNC) functions such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobility management. In an example, any of the nodes 111 and / or 112 may be a gNB, an eNB, or another type of RAN node.

[0025] The RAN 110 is shown to be communicatively coupled to a core network (CN) 120 via an SI interface 113. In aspects, the CN 120 may be an evolved packet core (EPC) network, a NextGen Packet Core (NPC) network, or some other type of CN (e.g., as illustrated in reference to FIGS. 1B-1C). In this aspect, the SI interface 113 is split into two parts: the Sl-U interface 114, which carries traffic data between the RAN nodes 111 and 112 and the serving gateway (S-GW) 122, and the Sl-mobility management entity (MME) interface 115, which is a signaling interface between the RAN nodes 111 and 112 and MMEs 121.

[0026] In this aspect, the CN 120 comprises the MMEs 121, the S-GW 122, the Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (P-GW) 123, and a home subscriber server (HSS) 124. The MMEs 121 may be similar in function to the control plane of legacy Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Support Nodes (SGSN). The MMEs 121 may manage mobility aspects in access such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. The HSS 124 may comprise a database for network users, including subscription-related information to support the network entities' handling of communication sessions. The CN 120 may comprise one or several HSSs 124, depending on the number of mobile subscribers, on the capacity of the equipment, on the organization of the network, etc. For example, the HSS 124 can provide support for routing / roaming, authentication, authorization, naming / addressing resolution, location dependencies, etc.

[0027] The S-GW 122 may terminate the SI interface 113 towards the RAN 110, and routes data packets between the RAN 110 and the CN 120. In addition, the S-GW 122 may be a local mobility anchor point for inter-RAN node handovers and also may provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities of the S-GW 122 may include a lawful intercept, charging, and some policy enforcement.

[0028] The P-GW 123 may terminate an SGi interface toward a PDN. The P-GW 123 may route data packets between the CN 120 and external networks such as a network including the application server 184 (alternatively referred to as application function (AF)) via an Internet Protocol (IP) interface 125. The P-GW 123 can also communicate data to other external networks 131 A, which can include the Internet, IP multimedia subsystem (IPS) network, and other networks. Generally, the application server 184 may be an element offering applications that use IP bearer resources with the core network (e.g., UMTS Packet Services (PS) domain, LTE PS data services, etc.). In this aspect, the P-GW 123 is shown to be communicatively coupled to an application server 184 via an IP interface 125. The application server 184 can also be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, social networking services, etc.) for the UEs 101 and 102 via the CN 120.

[0029] The P-GW 123 may further be a node for policy enforcement and charging data collection. Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) 126 is the policy and charging control element of the CN 120. In a non-roaming scenario, in some aspects, there may be a single PCRF in the Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) associated with a UE's Internet Protocol Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) session. In a roaming scenario with a local breakout of traffic, there may be two PCRFs associated with a UE's IP-CAN session: a Home PCRF (H-PCRF) within an HPLMN and a Visited PCRF (V-PCRF) within a Visited Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN). The PCRF 126 may be communicatively coupled to the application server 184 via the P-GW 123.

[0030] In some aspects, the communication network 140 A may be an loT network or a 5G or 6G network, including 5G new radio network using communications in the licensed (5GNR) and the unlicensed (5GNR-U) spectrum. One of the current enablers of loT is the narrowband-IoT (NB-IoT). Operation in the unlicensed spectrum may include dual connectivity (DC) operation and the standalone LTE system in the unlicensed spectrum, according to which LTE-based technology solely operates in unlicensed spectrum without the use of an “anchor” in the licensed spectrum, called MulteFire. Further enhanced operation of LTE systems in the licensed as well as unlicensed spectrum is expected in future releases and 5G systems. Such enhanced operations can include techniques for sidelink resource allocation and UE processing behaviors for NR sidelink V2X communications.

[0031] An NG system architecture (or 6G system architecture) can include the RAN 110 and a 5G core network (5GC) 120. The NG-RAN 110 can include a plurality of nodes, such as gNBs and NG-eNBs. The CN 120 (e.g., a 5G core network / 5GC) can include an access and mobility function (AMF) and / or a user plane function (UPF). The AMF and the UPF may be communicatively coupled to the gNBs and the NG-eNBs via NG interfaces. More specifically, in some aspects, the gNBs and the NG-eNBs may be connected to the AMF by NG-C interfaces, and to the UPF by NG-U interfaces. The gNBs and the NG-eNBs may be coupled to each other via Xn interfaces.

[0032] In some aspects, the NG system architecture can use reference points between various nodes. In some aspects, each of the gNBs and the NG-eNBs may be implemented as a base station, a mobile edge server, a small cell, a home eNB, and so forth. In some aspects, a gNB may be a master node (MN) and NG-eNB may be a secondary node (SN) in a 5G architecture.

[0033] FIG. IB illustrates a non-roaming 5G system architecture in accordance with some aspects. In particular, FIG. IB illustrates a 5G system architecture 140B in a reference point representation, which may be extended to a 6G system architecture. More specifically, UE 102 may be in communication with RAN 110 as well as one or more other 5GC network entities. The 5G system architecture 140B includes a plurality of network functions (NFs), such as an AMF 132, session management function (SMF) 136, policy control function (PCF) 148, application function (AF) 150, UPF 134, network slice selection function (NSSF) 142, authentication server function (AUSF) 144, and unified data management (UDM) / home subscriber server (HSS) 146.

[0034] The UPF 134 can provide a connection to a data network (DN) 152, which can include, for example, operator services, Internet access, or third- party services. The AMF 132 may be used to manage access control and mobility and can also include network slice selection functionality. The AMF 132 may provide UE-based authentication, authorization, mobility management, etc., and may be independent of the access technologies. The SMF 136 may be configured to set up and manage various sessions according to network policy. The SMF 136 may thus be responsible for session management and allocation of IP addresses to UEs. The SMF 136 may also select and control the UPF 134 for data transfer. The SMF 136 may be associated with a single session of a UE 101 or multiple sessions of the UE 101. This is to say that the UE 101 may have multiple 5G sessions. Different SMFs may be allocated to each session. The use of different SMFs may permit each session to be individually managed. As a consequence, the functionalities of each session may be independent of each other.

[0035] The UPF 134 may be deployed in one or more configurations according to the desired service type and may be connected with a data network. The PCF 148 may be configured to provide a policy framework using network slicing, mobility management, and roaming (similar to PCRF in a 4Gcommunication system). The UDM may be configured to store subscriber profiles and data (similar to an HSS in a 4G communication system).

[0036] The AF 150 may provide information on the packet flow to the PCF 148 responsible for policy control to support a desired QoS. The PCF 148 may set mobility and session management policies for the UE 101. To this end, the PCF 148 may use the packet flow information to determine the appropriate policies for proper operation of the AMF 132 and SMF 136. The AUSF 144 may store data for UE authentication.

[0037] In some aspects, the 5G system architecture 140B includes an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) 168B as well as a plurality of IP multimedia core network subsystem entities, such as call session control functions (CSCFs). More specifically, the IMS 168B includes a CSCF, which can act as a proxy CSCF (P-CSCF) 162B, a serving CSCF (S-CSCF) 164B, an emergency CSCF (E-CSCF) (not illustrated in FIG. IB), or interrogating CSCF (I-CSCF) 166B. The P-CSCF 162B may be configured to be the first contact point for the UE 102 within the IM subsystem (IMS) 168B. The S-CSCF 164B may be configured to handle the session states in the network, and the E-CSCF may be configured to handle certain aspects of emergency sessions such as routing an emergency request to the correct emergency center or PSAP. The I-CSCF 166B may be configured to function as the contact point within an operator's network for all IMS connections destined to a subscriber of that network operator, or a roaming subscriber currently located within that network operator's service area. In some aspects, the I-CSCF 166B may be connected to another IP multimedia network 170B, e.g., an IMS operated by a different network operator.

[0038] In some aspects, the UDM / HSS 146 may be coupled to an application server 184, which can include a telephony application server (TAS) or another application server (AS) 160B. The AS 160B may be coupled to the IMS 168B via the S-CSCF 164B or the I-CSCF 166B.

[0039] A reference point representation shows that interaction can exist between corresponding NF services. For example, FIG. IB illustrates the following reference points: N1 (between the UE 102 and the AMF 132), N2 (between the RAN 110 and the AMF 132), N3 (between the RAN 110 and the UPF 134), N4 (between the SMF 136 and the UPF 134), N5 (between the PCF148 and the AF 150, not shown), N6 (between the UPF 134 and the DN 152), N7 (between the SMF 136 and the PCF 148, not shown), N8 (between the UDM 146 and the AMF 132, not shown), N9 (between two UPFs 134, not shown), N10 (between the UDM 146 and the SMF 136, not shown), Ni l (between the AMF 132 and the SMF 136, not shown), N12 (between the AUSF 144 and the AMF 132, not shown), N13 (between the AUSF 144 and the UDM 146, not shown), N14 (between two AMFs 132, not shown), N15 (between the PCF 148 and the AMF 132 in case of a non-roaming scenario, or between the PCF 148 and a visited network and AMF 132 in case of a roaming scenario, not shown), N16 (between two SMFs, not shown), and N22 (between AMF 132 and NSSF 142, not shown). Other reference point representations not shown in FIG. IB can also be used.

[0040] FIG. 1C illustrates a 5G system architecture 140C and a servicebased representation. In addition to the network entities illustrated in FIG. IB, system architecture 140C can also include a network exposure function (NEF) 154 and a network repository function (NRF) 156. In some aspects, 5G system architectures may be service-based and interaction between network functions may be represented by corresponding point-to-point reference points Ni or as service-based interfaces.

[0041] In some aspects, as illustrated in FIG. 1C, service-based representations may be used to represent network functions within the control plane that enable other authorized network functions to access their services. In this regard, 5G system architecture 140C can include the following service-based interfaces: Namf 158H (a service-based interface exhibited by the AMF 132), Nsmf 1581 (a service-based interface exhibited by the SMF 136), Nnef 158B (a service-based interface exhibited by the NEF 154), Npcf 158D (a service-based interface exhibited by the PCF 148), a Nudm 158E (a service-based interface exhibited by the UDM 146), Naf 158F (a service-based interface exhibited by the AF 150), Nnrf 158C (a service-based interface exhibited by the NRF 156), Nnssf 158 A (a service-based interface exhibited by the NSSF 142), Nausf 158G (a service-based interface exhibited by the AUSF 144). Other service-based interfaces (e.g., Nudr, N5g-eir, and Nudsf) not shown in FIG. 1C can also be used.

[0042] NR-V2X architectures may support high-reliability low latency sidelink communications with a variety of traffic patterns, including periodic and aperiodic communications with random packet arrival time and size. Techniques disclosed herein may be used for supporting high reliability in distributed communication systems with dynamic topologies, including sidelink NR V2X communication systems.

[0043] FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a communication device in accordance with some embodiments. The communication device 200 may be a UE such as a specialized computer, a personal or laptop computer (PC), a tablet PC, or a smart phone, dedicated network equipment such as an eNB, a server running software to configure the server to operate as a network device, a virtual device, or any machine capable of executing instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. For example, the communication device 200 may be implemented as one or more of the devices shown in FIGS. 1 A-1C. Note that communications described herein may be encoded before transmission by the transmitting entity (e.g., UE, gNB) for reception by the receiving entity (e.g., gNB, UE) and decoded after reception by the receiving entity.

[0044] Examples, as described herein, may include, or may operate on, logic or a number of components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules and components are tangible entities (e.g., hardware) capable of performing specified operations and may be configured or arranged in a certain manner. In an example, circuits may be arranged (e.g., internally or with respect to external entities such as other circuits) in a specified manner as a module. In an example, the whole or part of one or more computer systems (e.g., a standalone, client or server computer system) or one or more hardware processors may be configured by firmware or software (e.g., instructions, an application portion, or an application) as a module that operates to perform specified operations. In an example, the software may reside on a machine readable medium. In an example, the software, when executed by the underlying hardware of the module, causes the hardware to perform the specified operations.

[0045] Accordingly, the term “module” (and “component”) is understood to encompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physically constructed,specifically configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarily (e.g., transitorily) configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a specified manner or to perform part or all of any operation described herein. Considering examples in which modules are temporarily configured, each of the modules need not be instantiated at any one moment in time. For example, where the modules comprise a general-purpose hardware processor configured using software, the general -purpose hardware processor may be configured as respective different modules at different times. Software may accordingly configure a hardware processor, for example, to constitute a particular module at one instance of time and to constitute a different module at a different instance of time.

[0046] The communication device 200 may include a hardware processor (or equivalently processing circuitry) 202 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a GPU, a hardware processor core, or any combination thereof), a main memory 204 and a static memory 206, some or all of which may communicate with each other via an interlink (e.g., bus) 208. The main memory 204 may contain any or all of removable storage and non-removable storage, volatile memory or non-volatile memory. The communication device 200 may further include a display unit 210 such as a video display, an alphanumeric input device 212 (e.g., a keyboard), and a user interface (UI) navigation device 214 (e.g., a mouse). In an example, the display unit 210, input device 212 and UI navigation device 214 may be a touch screen display. The communication device 200 may additionally include a storage device (e.g., drive unit) 216, a signal generation device 218 (e.g., a speaker), a network interface device 220, and one or more sensors, such as a global positioning system (GPS) sensor, compass, accelerometer, or another sensor. The communication device 200 may further include an output controller, such as a serial (e.g., universal serial bus (USB), parallel, or other wired or wireless (e.g., infrared (IR), near field communication (NFC), etc.) connection to communicate or control one or more peripheral devices (e.g., a printer, card reader, etc.).

[0047] The storage device 216 may include a non-transitory machine readable medium 222 (hereinafter simply referred to as machine readable medium) on which is stored one or more sets of data structures or instructions 224 (e.g., software) embodying or utilized by any one or more of the techniquesor functions described herein. The non-transitory machine readable medium 222 is a tangible medium. The instructions 224 may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 204, within static memory 206, and / or within the hardware processor 202 during execution thereof by the communication device 200. While the machine readable medium 222 is illustrated as a single medium, the term "machine readable medium" may include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and / or associated caches and servers) configured to store the one or more instructions 224.

[0048] The term “machine readable medium” may include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructions for execution by the communication device 200 and that cause the communication device 200 to perform any one or more of the techniques of the present disclosure, or that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying data structures used by or associated with such instructions. Non-limiting machine-readable medium examples may include solid-state memories, and optical and magnetic media. Specific examples of machine-readable media may include non-volatile memory, such as semiconductor memory devices (e.g., Electrically Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM)) and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; Random Access Memory (RAM); and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks.

[0049] The instructions 224 may further be transmitted or received over a communications network using a transmission medium 226 via the network interface device 220 utilizing any one of a number of wireless local area network (WLAN) transfer protocols (e.g., frame relay, internet protocol (IP), transmission control protocol (TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP), hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), etc.). Example communication networks may include a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a packet data network (e.g., the Internet), mobile telephone networks (e.g., cellular networks), Plain Old Telephone (POTS) networks, and wireless data networks. Communications over the networks may include one or more different protocols, such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 family of standardsknown as Wi-Fi, IEEE 802.16 family of standards known as WiMax, IEEE 802.15.4 family of standards, a Long Term Evolution (LTE) family of standards, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) family of standards, peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, a next generation (NG) / 5thgeneration (5G) standards among others. In an example, the network interface device 220 may include one or more physical jacks (e.g., Ethernet, coaxial, or phonejacks) or one or more antennas to connect to the transmission medium 226.

[0050] Note that the term “circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, or includes hardware components such as an electronic circuit, a logic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) and / or memory (shared, dedicated, or group), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable device (FPD) (e.g., a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic device (PLD), a complex PLD (CPLD), a high-capacity PLD (HCPLD), a structured ASIC, or a programmable SoC), digital signal processors (DSPs), etc., that are configured to provide the described functionality. In some embodiments, the circuitry may execute one or more software or firmware programs to provide at least some of the described functionality. The term “circuitry” may also refer to a combination of one or more hardware elements (or a combination of circuits used in an electrical or electronic system) with the program code used to carry out the functionality of that program code. In these embodiments, the combination of hardware elements and program code may be referred to as a particular type of circuitry.

[0051] The term “processor circuitry” or “processor” as used herein thus refers to, is part of, or includes circuitry capable of sequentially and automatically carrying out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations, or recording, storing, and / or transferring digital data. The term “processor circuitry” or “processor” may refer to one or more application processors, one or more baseband processors, a physical central processing unit (CPU), a single- or multi-core processor, and / or any other device capable of executing or otherwise operating computer-executable instructions, such as program code, software modules, and / or functional processes.

[0052] Any of the radio links described herein may operate according to any one or more of the following radio communication technologies and / orstandards including but not limited to: a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) radio communication technology, a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) radio communication technology, an Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) radio communication technology, and / or a Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) radio communication technology, for example Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Freedom of Multimedia Access (FOMA), 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE), 3GPP Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE Advanced), Code division multiple access 2000 (CDMA2000), Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD), Mobitex, Third Generation (3G), Circuit Switched Data (CSD), High-Speed Circuit- Switched Data (HSCSD), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (Third Generation) (UMTS (3 G)), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) (W-CDMA (UMTS)), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), High-Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), High Speed Packet Access Plus (HSPA+), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System-Time-Division Duplex (UMTS-TDD), Time Division-Code Division Multiple Access (TD-CDMA), Time Division- Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-CDMA), 3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 8 (Pre-4th Generation) (3 GPP Rel. 8 (Pre-4G)), 3GPP Rel. 9 (3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 9), 3GPP Rel. 10 (3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 10) , 3GPP Rel. 11 (3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 11), 3GPP Rel. 12 (3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 12), 3GPP Rel. 13 (3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 13), 3GPP Rel. 14 (3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 14), 3GPP Rel. 15 (3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 15), 3GPP Rel. 16 (3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 16), 3GPP Rel. 17 (3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 17) and subsequent Releases (such as Rel. 18, Rel. 19, etc ), 3GPP 5G, 5G, 5G New Radio (5G NR), 3GPP 5G New Radio, 3GPP LTE Extra, LTE-Advanced Pro, LTE Licensed-Assisted Access (LAA), MuLTEfire, UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA), Long Term Evolution Advanced (4th Generation) (LTE Advanced (4G)), cdmaOne (2G), Code division multiple access 2000 (Third generation) (CDMA2000 (3 G)), Evolution-Data Optimizedor Evolution-Data Only (EV-DO), Advanced Mobile Phone System (1st Generation) (AMPS (1G)), Total Access Communication System / Extended Total Access Communication System (TACSZETACS), Digital AMPS (2nd Generation) (D-AMPS (2G)), Push-to-talk (PTT), Mobile Telephone System (MTS), Improved Mobile Telephone System (IMTS), Advanced Mobile Telephone System (AMTS), OLT (Norwegian for Offentlig Landmobil Telefoni, Public Land Mobile Telephony), MTD (Swedish abbreviation for Mobiltelefonisystem D, or Mobile telephony system D), Public Automated Land Mobile (Autotel / PALM), ARP (Finnish for Autoradiopuhelin, "car radio phone"), NMT (Nordic Mobile Telephony), High capacity version of NTT (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone) (Hicap), Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD), Mobitex, DataTAC, Integrated Digital Enhanced Network (iDEN), Personal Digital Cellular (PDC), Circuit Switched Data (CSD), Personal Handyphone System (PHS), Wideband Integrated Digital Enhanced Network (WiDEN), iBurst, Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA), also referred to as 3GPP Generic Access Network, or GAN standard), Zigbee, Bluetooth(r), Wireless Gigabit Alliance (WiGig) standard, mmWave standards in general (wireless systems operating at 10-300 GHz and above such as WiGig, IEEE 802.1 lad, IEEE 802. Hay, etc.), technologies operating above 300 GHz and THz bands, (3GPP / LTE based or IEEE 802.1 Ip or IEEE 802.1 Ibd and other) Vehicle-to- Vehicle (V2V) and Vehicle-to-X (V2X) and Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) and Infrastructure-to-Vehicle (12 V) communication technologies, 3GPP cellular V2X, DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communications) communication systems such as Intelligent-Transport-Systems and others (typically operating in 5850 MHz to 5925 MHz or above (typically up to 5935 MHz following change proposals in CEPT Report 71)), the European ITS-G5 system (i.e. the European flavor of IEEE 802. l ip based DSRC, including ITS-G5 A (i.e., Operation of ITS-G5 in European ITS frequency bands dedicated to ITS for safety related applications in the frequency range 5,875 GHz to 5,905 GHz), ITS-G5B (i.e., Operation in European ITS frequency bands dedicated to ITS non-safety applications in the frequency range 5,855 GHz to 5,875 GHz), ITS-G5C (i.e., Operation of ITS applications in the frequency range 5,470 GHz to 5,725 GHz)),DSRC in Japan in the 700MHz band (including 715 MHz to 725 MHz), IEEE 802.1 Ibd based systems, etc.

[0053] Aspects described herein may be used in the context of any spectrum management scheme including dedicated licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, license exempt spectrum, (licensed) shared spectrum (such as LSA = Licensed Shared Access in 2.3 -2.4 GHz, 3.4-3.6 GHz, 3.6-3.8 GHz and further frequencies and SAS = Spectrum Access System / CBRS = Citizen Broadband Radio System in 3.55-3.7 GHz and further frequencies). Applicable spectrum bands include IMT (International Mobile Telecommunications) spectrum as well as other types of spectrum / bands, such as bands with national allocation (including 450 - 470 MHz, 902-928 MHz (note: allocated for example in US (FCC Part 15)), 863-868.6 MHz (note: allocated for example in European Union (ETSI EN 300 220)), 915.9-929.7 MHz (note: allocated for example in Japan), 917-923.5 MHz (note: allocated for example in South Korea), 755-779 MHz and 779-787 MHz (note: allocated for example in China), 790 - 960 MHz, 1710 - 2025 MHz, 2110 - 2200 MHz, 2300 - 2400 MHz, 2.4-2.4835 GHz (note: it is an ISM band with global availability and it is used by Wi-Fi technology family (1 Ib / g / n / ax) and also by Bluetooth), 2500 - 2690 MHz, 698-790 MHz, 610 - 790 MHz, 3400 - 3600 MHz, 3400 - 3800 MHz, 3800 - 4200 MHz, 3.55- 3.7 GHz (note: allocated for example in the US for Citizen Broadband Radio Service), 5.15-5.25 GHz and 5.25-5.35 GHz and 5.47-5.725 GHz and 5.725-5.85 GHz bands (note: allocated for example in the US (FCC part 15), consists four U-NII bands in total 500 MHz spectrum), 5.725-5.875 GHz (note: allocated for example in EU (ETSI EN 301 893)), 5.47-5.65 GHz (note: allocated for example in South Korea, 5925-7125 MHz and 5925-6425MHz band (note: under consideration in US and EU, respectively. Next generation Wi-Fi system is expected to include the 6 GHz spectrum as operating band, but it is noted that, as of December 2017, Wi-Fi system is not yet allowed in this band. Regulation is expected to be finished in 2019-2020 time frame), IMT-advanced spectrum, IMT -2020 spectrum (expected to include 3600-3800 MHz, 3800 - 4200 MHz, 3.5 GHz bands, 700 MHz bands, bands within the 24.25-86 GHz range, etc.), spectrum made available under FCC's "Spectrum Frontier" 5G initiative(including 27.5 - 28.35 GHz, 29.1 - 29.25 GHz, 31 - 31.3 GHz, 37 - 38.6 GHz,38.6 - 40 GHz, 42 - 42.5 GHz, 57 - 64 GHz, 71 - 76 GHz, 81 - 86 GHz and 92 - 94 GHz, etc.), the ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) band of 5.9 GHz (typically 5.85-5.925 GHz) and 63-64 GHz, bands currently allocated to WiGig such as WiGig Band 1 (57.24-59.40 GHz), WiGig Band 2 (59.40-61.56 GHz) and WiGig Band 3 (61.56-63.72 GHz) and WiGig Band 4 (63.72-65.88 GHz), 57-64 / 66 GHz (note: this band has near-global designation for Multi-Gigabit Wireless Systems (MGWS) / WiGig . In US (FCC part 15) allocates total 14 GHz spectrum, while EU (ETSI EN 302 567 and ETSI EN 301 217-2 for fixed P2P) allocates total 9 GHz spectrum), the 70.2 GHz - 71 GHz band, any band between 65.88 GHz and 71 GHz, bands currently allocated to automotive radar applications such as 76-81 GHz, and future bands including 94-300 GHz and above. Furthermore, the scheme may be used on a secondary basis on bands such as the TV White Space bands (typically below 790 MHz) where in particular the 400 MHz and 700 MHz bands are promising candidates. Besides cellular applications, specific applications for vertical markets may be addressed such as PMSE (Program Making and Special Events), medical, health, surgery, automotive, low-latency, drones, etc. applications.

[0054] In NR systems, Internet of Things (loT) has evolved to encompass a diverse range of applications, including smart home, smart city, healthcare monitoring, etc. Various connectivity technologies tailored to loT requirements have been introduced. In particular, Low Power, Wide-Area (LPWA) Technologies such as Narrowband loT (NB-IoT) and LTE-M were specified to address the specific needs of low-power devices, extending the battery life of loT devices and enabling their use in remote or hard-to-reach locations.

[0055] Given that existing technologies are unable to meet all the requirements of target use cases such as asset identification, inventory, sensing, etc., A-IoT technology have been developed within 3GPP systems in which the number of connections and / or device density can be orders of magnitude higher than existing 3GPP loT technologies. The new loT technology provides complexity and power consumption orders of magnitude lower than the existing 3 GPP LPWA technologies and addresses use cases and scenarios that are unable to otherwise be fulfilled based on existing 3GPP LPWA loT technologies.

[0056] A-IoT devices, however, typically have limited size with limited energy storage. The energy source in A-IoT devices may or may not be replaced or recharged manually. In this case, the output power of an energy harvester in A-IoT devices is typically from IpW to a few hundreds of pW. Existing cellular devices may not work well with energy harvesting due to their peak power consumption of higher than lOmW.

[0057] FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate topologies for A-IoT applications, according to some examples. The two topologies shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B for A-IoT applications include: topology 1 in which the A-IoT device directly and bidirectionally communicates with a gNB (FIG. 3 A), and topology 2 in which the A-IoT device communicates bidirectionally with an intermediate node (relay, Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) node, UE, repeater, etc.) between the A- loT device and gNB (FIG. 3B). In some embodiments, the intermediate node may be a reader. A reader is a network entity that serves as an intermediary between the A-IoT devices and the core network; the reader may be, for example, a RAN node such as a gNB, eNB, distributed unit (DU), or transmission reception point (TRP). In topology 1, the communication between the gNB and the A-IoT device includes A-IoT data and / or signalling. In topology 2, the intermediate node transfers A-IoT data and / or signalling between the gNB and the A-IoT device.

[0058] For A-IoT device communications, substantial timing drift may be expected due to large sampling frequency offset (SFO). For device-to-reader (D2R) communication, a preamble is transmitted immediately prior to the physical device-to-reader channel (PDRCH) transmission, which may facilitate the timing and frequency offset compensation and channel estimation to enable coherent detection at the receiver. However, when the timing drift is large, performance degradation can be observed for detection and decoding of the last part of the R2D transmission.

[0059] In order to improve the link budget for D2R transmission, a midamble can be inserted within the PDRCH transmission to update the channel estimation. Although midamble transmissions are described herein for D2R communications, midamble transmissions may be used in R2D communications for A-IoT systems. Further, although paging, trigger or query messages are usedto indicate the parameter, other messages (such as write or read commands) may also be used. Note that the term midamble refers to a reference signal / sequence used for channel estimation within a transmission, a midamble instance refers to a single occurrence / insertion of a midamble within the transmission, and a midamble transmission refers to the act of transmitting a midamble instance, or the process of including midambles. Each midamble contains the same sequence, which may be short or long based on transmission type.

[0060] In one embodiment, one or more midamble instances can be associated with a D2R transmission. When M midamble instances are used (M > 1), M+l segments are used for the associated D2R transmission. In this case, identical or different lengths can be used for different segments of the D2R transmission. As shown, a first midamble is inserted immediately prior to the second segment, a second midamble is inserted immediately prior to the third segment, and so on until the final segment is reached. Note that a segment may be a contiguous portion of the data block, codeblock, or repetition.

[0061] FIG. 4 illustrates midamble transmissions for an associated PDRCH, according to some examples. In FIG. 4, M midambles are inserted in the associated PDRCH transmission. In particular, a preamble is transmitted immediately prior to the PDRCH transmission, which is divided into (M+l) segments and midambles are inserted immediately prior to one segment of the associated PDRCH transmission.

[0062] In another embodiment, a gap may be inserted between a midamble and the segment of D2R transmission before the midamble. The gap is a time interval in which no transmission occurs and may be used by the receiver for processing of earlier received data / midamble or to avoid symbol interference. The length of the gap may be predefined in the specification or indicated by the paging, trigger message or query message, or other messages (e.g., write or read command) or a combination thereof. The length of the gap may be defined with reference to the chip duration of the preamble associated with the PDRCH, the PDRCH itself, or the midamble transmission. A chip is a unit of time.

[0063] FIG. 5 illustrates midamble transmissions for an associatedPDRCH with gaps, according to some examples. In FIG. 5, M midambles areinserted in the associated PDRCH transmission. As shown, a preamble is transmitted immediately prior to the PDRCH transmission. The PDRCH is divided into (M+l) segments, and midambles are inserted immediately prior to one segment of the associated PDRCH transmission. In addition, a gap is inserted between each midamble and the PDRCH segment prior to the midamble. When more than one midamble is inserted in the associated PDRCH transmission, an identical sequence may be used for each midamble.

[0064] In one embodiment, one bit field may be included in the control information to indicate the presence of midamble for the associated PDRCH transmission. For example, a bit value of “0” may be used to indicate that the midamble is not present in the associated PDRCH transmission, while a bit value of “1” may be used to indicate that the midamble is present in the associated PDRCH transmission.

[0065] In another embodiment, one field may be included in the control information to indicate the number of midamble instances for the associated PDRCH transmission. Alternatively, a set of the number of midamble instances may be predefined in the specification, or indicated by the paging, trigger message or query message, or other messages (write or read command) or a combination thereof.

[0066] In this case, one field in the control information may be used to indicate one number from the set of numbers of the transmission occasions for midamble for the associated PDRCH transmission. In some aspects, for this embodiment, a single code-point in the field may be used to indicate that the midamble may not be present in the associated PDRCH transmission.

[0067] In some aspects, the control information may be included in the associated PDRCH transmission or the physical reader-to-device channel (PRDCH) transmission that is used to trigger the associated D2R transmission. The control information may be included as layer 1 control information or medium access control (MAC) layer. In the former case, a separate or joint Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) may be applied for the control information and data packet for the D2R or R2D transmission.

[0068] In another embodiment, one field may be included in the paging, trigger message or query message, or other messages (including a write or readcommand) or a combination thereof to indicate the presence of a midamble for the PDRCH transmission for a group of A-IoT devices. In one example, for a first group of A-IoT devices, the midamble may be present for the associated PDRCH transmission, while for a second group of A-IoT devices, the midamble may be not present for the associated PDRCH transmission.

[0069] In another embodiment, one field in the control information or paging, trigger message or query message, or other messages (including a write or read command) or a combination thereof may be used to indicate whether the segmentation is applied to the PDRCH transmission. Further, if the segmentation is applied to the PDRCH transmission, the midamble may be inserted immediately prior to the second-to-last PDRCH segment. This positioning ensures that channel estimation is refreshed just before the final segment of the data block is transmitted, which is useful for maintaining reliable detection and decoding at the receiver, especially in the presence of timing drift or channel variation.

[0070] In another embodiment, the number of midamble instances for the associated PDRCH transmission may be determined in accordance with the one or more of the following: coding rate, chip rate, repetition factor, length of the PDRCH transmission, and transport block size (TBS) of the PDRCH transmission. In this case, the field to indicate the presence or the number of midamble instances may not be included in the control information.

[0071] In some embodiments, the length of PDRCH transmission may be the number of chips, the number of modulated symbols, or the number of encoded bits for the PDRCH transmission. In some embodiments, the control information may be included in the associated PDRCH transmission or the R2D transmission that is used to trigger the associated PDRCH transmission.

[0072] In one embodiment, if the length of the PDRCH transmission is less than a threshold, the midamble may not be present in the associated PDRCH transmission. The threshold may be predefined in the specification or indicated by the paging, trigger message or query message or other messages (including a write or read command) or a combination thereof.

[0073] In another embodiment, a set of thresholds may be predefined in the specification or indicated by the paging, trigger message or query message orother messages (including a write or read command) or a combination thereof. When the length of PDRCH transmission is within two adjacent thresholds, the number of midamble instances for the associated PDRCH transmissions can be determined in accordance with a predefined table. The thresholds may be static (e.g., defined in the specification) or may be dynamic and thus indicated in control signaling.

[0074] Table 1 illustrates one example of determination of the number of midamble instances. In the table, the set of thresholds, Thrt(i = 0,1, ... ,3) and Mj, (j = 0,1,2) can be predefined in the specification or indicated by the paging, trigger message or query message or other messages (including a write or read command) or a combination thereof. Different A-IoT devices may have different predefined values. Also, different number of thresholds and the number of midamble instances may be extended from the table below.Table 1. Determination of the number of midamble instances

[0075] In another embodiment, when the number of midamble instances is indicated in the control information in the PDRCH transmission or the PRDCH transmission that triggers the PDRCH transmission, the positioning of midamble in the time domain may be determined in accordance with the length of the PDRCH transmission and the number of midamble instances.

[0076] In some embodiments, the PDRCH transmission may include the control information and / or data packets. In one example, the positioning of the midamble in the time domain and / or the number of midamble instances may be determined in accordance with the length of a PDRCH transmission that only includes a data packet. In another example, the positioning of the midamble in the time domain may be determined in accordance with the length of a PDRCHtransmission that includes both control information and a data packet. The length of PDRCH transmission may be the number of chips, the number of modulated symbols, or the number of encoded bits for the PDRCH transmission.

[0077] Assuming the number of midamble instances is M, the length of PDRCH transmissions as L, then the first M — L + • M PDRCH segmentscan be determined with length of chips, modulated symbols or encoded bits,and the second L — • M PDRCH segments can be determined with length ofchips, modulated symbols or encoded bits, respectively. As above, the midamble is immediately transmitted prior to the second-to-last PDRCH segment.

[0078] In one example, the length of D2R transmissions is 800 chips. If 3 midambles are included in the associated D2R transmissions, the first midamble is inserted prior to the second segment starting from the 200thchip, the second midamble is inserted prior to the third segment starting from the 400thchip, while the third midamble is inserted prior to the fourth segment starting from the 600thchip.

[0079] In another embodiment, the number of midamble instances for the associated PDRCH transmission may be given by

[0080] where L is the length of the PDRCH transmission in terms of chips, modulated symbols or encoded bits, and Lsegis the length of first M segments for PDRCH transmissions, which can be predefined in the specification or indicated by the paging, trigger message or query message or other messages (including write or read commands) or a combination thereof. This may also depend on the A-IoT device types or capabilities.

[0081] In this case, the first M PDRCH segments have Lsegchips, modulated symbols, or encoded bits and the last PDRCH segment or (M+l)thPDRCH segment has (L — M ■ Lseg) chips, modulated symbols, or encoded bits. Further, the midamble is inserted immediately prior to the second-to-last PDRCH segment.

[0082] In one example, the length of D2R transmissions is 1000 chips and the first M PDRCH segments have 400 chips. In this case, 2 midambles are included in the associated D2R transmissions, where the first midamble is inserted prior to the second segment starting from the 400thchips, and the second midamble is inserted prior to the third segment starting from the 800thchips.

[0083] In another embodiment, the midamble may not be present in an PDRCH transmission in response to a specific command message from the reader.

[0084] In one example, for Msgl transmission in both 2-step and 4-step random access procedure, the midamble may not be present in the D2R transmission. The Msgl transmission is the Random Access Preamble transmitted by the UE to the network as the first step of the random access procedure.

[0085] In another example, the midamble may not be present in a D2R transmission in response to a “Write” command message from the reader.

[0086] In another embodiment, a combination of the above embodiments may be used to determine the presence of the midamble and / or the number of midamble instances.

[0087] In one example, one field in the control information in the PDRCH or PRDCH transmission may be used to indicate whether the midamble is present in the associated PDRCH transmission. In addition, if the midamble is determined to be present in the associated PDRCH transmission, the number of transmission instances of the midamble can be determined in accordance with the length of associated PDRCH transmission or the number of repetitions for PDRCH transmission.

[0088] In one embodiment, the chip duration of the midamble may be determined in accordance with the chip duration of the associated PDRCH transmission. In one example, the same chip duration of the associated PDRCH transmission is used for the chip duration of the midamble.

[0089] In another example, the chip duration of the midamble may be determined in accordance with the chip duration of the preamble associated with the PDRCH transmission. In some examples, the preamble is transmittedimmediately prior to the PDRCH transmission. In one example, the same chip duration of the preamble is used for the chip duration of the midamble.

[0090] In another example, the chip duration of the midamble may be predefined in the specification or indicated in the control information that is included in the PDRCH or PRDCH transmission.

[0091] In another embodiment, when block level repetition is applied to the PDRCH transmission, the midamble is present in the PDRCH transmission. In this case, the field used to indicate the presence or the number of midamble instances may not be included in the control information.

[0092] In addition, the number of midamble instances may be determined in accordance with the number of block level repetitions for the PDRCH transmission. In one example, the number of midamble instances may be equal to the number of block level repetitions for the PDRCH transmission minus 1. In this case, the midamble may be transmitted immediately prior to the second-to-last PDRCH repetition.

[0093] FIG. 6 illustrates midamble transmissions for an associated PDRCH with repetitions, according to some examples. In FIG. 6, 4 block level repetitions are indicated for the PDRCH transmission. In this case, 3 midambles are inserted in the associated PDRCH transmission. As shown, a preamble is transmitted immediately prior to the PDRCH transmission. After the preamble, first, second, and fourth PDRCH repetitions are transmitted, and first and third midambles are inserted immediately prior to one repetition of the associated PDRCH transmission.

[0094] In another embodiment, the PDRCH segment is determined in accordance with each codeblock for the PDRCH transmission. In some examples, a CRC is appended to each codeblock. In one example, the PDRCH segment is aligned with the codeblock.

[0095] In one example, for each segment of PDRCH transmission, bytealignment is applied. In this case, zero padding may be used to align the byte size.

[0096] In another embodiment, frequency hopping may be applied for the PDRCH transmission. In particular, different frequency resources may be applied for one or more of the PDRCH segments, and the midamble isimmediately transmitted prior to the segment with frequency hopping. Although not shown, a gap may or may not be inserted prior to the transmission of the midamble (in the former case, similar to FIG. 5).

[0097] FIG. 7 illustrates midamble transmissions for an associated PDRCH with frequency hopping, according to some examples. In FIG. 7, 2 segments are used for PDRCH transmission, where a first frequency resource is used for a first PDRCH segment and a second frequency resource is used for a second PDRCH segment. The preamble is transmitted immediately prior to the first PDRCH segment in the first frequency resource. The first and second PDRCH segments are transmitted in the first and second frequency resource, respectively. One midamble is inserted immediately prior to the second PDRCH segment in the second frequency resource. A gap may be inserted between the first PDRCH segment and the midamble. The gap length and frequency change may be predetermined in the specification or configured dynamically.

[0098] Thus, a process to be performed by an A-IoT device, one or more elements of an A-IoT device, and / or one or more electronic devices that include and / or implement an A-IoT device may include identifying, based on an indication received from an A-IoT reader device, a number of midambles that are to be inserted into a physical channel transmission and sending the transmission (that includes the number of midambles). Similarly, another process to be performed by an A-IoT reader, one or more elements of an A-IoT reader, and / or one or more electronic devices that include and / or implement an A-IoT reader may include sending, to an A-IoT device, an indication of a number of midambles that are to be inserted into a physical channel (e.g., D2R) transmission and identifying, from the A-IoT device, a physical channel transmission that includes the number of midambles.

[0099] Examples[000100] Example 1 is an apparatus for an Ambient Intemet-of-Things (A- loT) device, the apparatus comprising: a memory configured to store parameters for midamble transmission; and a processor to: determine a number of midamble instances to be included in a device-to-reader (D2R) transmission; partition a data block of the D2R transmission into a plurality of segments based on thenumber of midamble instances; insert a midamble immediately prior to a corresponding segment of the data block; and configure the A-IoT device to transmit the D2R transmission including the data block and the midambles to a reader.[000101] In Example 2, the subject matter of Example 1 includes, wherein each midamble contains information for channel estimation.[000102] In Example 3, the subject matter of Example 2 includes, wherein the processor is further to use an identical predetermined sequence for each midamble.[000103] In Example 4, the subject matter of Examples 1-3 includes, wherein the processor is further to configure the A-IoT device to insert a gap between each midamble and the corresponding segment of the data block. [000104] In Example 5, the subject matter of Examples 1-4 includes, in control information, a field indicating at least one of presence or number of midamble instances in the D2R transmission.[000105] In Example 6, the subject matter of Examples 1-5 includes, wherein the processor is further to determine a chip duration for each midamble based on a chip duration of a preamble associated with the D2R transmission, a chip duration of the D2R transmission, a specification-defined value, or indicated in control information included in reader-to-device (R2D) transmission.[000106] In Example 7, the subject matter of Examples 1-6 includes, wherein the processor is further to configure the A-IoT device to insert a particular midamble immediately prior to a second-to-last segment of the data block to refresh channel estimation immediately before transmission of a final segment of the data block to maintain reliable detection and decoding at the reader.[000107] In Example 8, the subject matter of Examples 1-7 includes, wherein the processor is further to: determine the number of midamble instances using M = [L / L seg], where L is a length of the data block and L seg is a predetermined segment length stored in the memory, and set a length of each segment using floor and ceiling operations based on an overall length of the data block.[000108] In Example 9, the subject matter of Examples 1-8 includes, wherein the processor is further to configure the A-IoT device to omit insertion of any midamble instance into the data block when a length of the data block is less than a predetermined threshold.[000109] In Example 10, the subject matter of Examples 1-9 includes, wherein the processor is further to determine the number of midamble instances based on a set of thresholds associated with a length of the data block such that the number of midamble instances increases as the length of the data block exceeds successive thresholds of the set of thresholds.[000110] In Example 11, the subject matter of Examples 1-10 includes, wherein the processor is further to include, in control information or in a paging, trigger, query, write, or read message, a field indicating at least one of: presence of a particular midamble instance for a group of A-IoT devices, or whether segmentation is applied to the D2R transmission.[000111] In Example 12, the subject matter of Examples 1-11 includes, wherein the processor is further to determine a number of midamble instances in accordance with a number of block-level repetitions for the D2R transmission. [000112] In Example 13, the subject matter of Examples 1-12 includes, wherein the processor is further to configure the A-IoT device to at least one of: align a segment of the D2R transmission with a codeblock and append a cyclic redundancy check to each codeblock, or apply byte-alignment to each segment of the D2R transmission and use zero padding to align a byte size.[000113] In Example 14, the subject matter of Examples 1-13 includes, wherein the processor is further to configure the A-IoT device to insert a particular midamble instance immediately prior to a particular segment transmitted on a different frequency resource than an immediately preceding segment, and insert a gap between the particular segment and the particular midamble instance.[000114] In Example 15, the subject matter of Examples 1-14 includes, wherein the processor is further to configure the A-IoT device to omit insertion of any midamble instances in response to a specific command message from the reader.[000115] In Example 16, the subject matter of Examples 1-15 includes, wherein the processor is further to configure the A-IoT device to omit insertion of the midambles for Msgl transmission in a two-step or four-step random access procedure.[000116] Example 17 is an apparatus for a reader in an Ambient Internet- of-Things (A-IoT) system, the apparatus comprising: a memory configured to store parameters for midamble transmission; and a processor to configure the reader to: receive, from an A-IoT device, a device-to-reader (D2R) transmission including a data block partitioned into a plurality of segments and a midamble inserted immediately prior to a corresponding segment of the data block, each midamble containing information for channel estimation; and perform channel estimation and correct for timing drift for each segment of the data block based on a corresponding midamble.[000117] In Example 18, the subject matter of Example 17 includes, wherein the D2R transmission includes a gap between each midamble and the corresponding segment of the data block.[000118] Example 19 is a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by one or more processors of an apparatus of an Ambient Intemet-of-Things (A-IoT) device, the instructions, when executed, cause the one or more processors to: determine a number of midamble instances to be included in a device-to-reader (D2R) transmission; partition a data block of the D2R transmission into a plurality of segments based on the number of midamble instances; insert a midamble immediately prior to a corresponding segment of the data block, each midamble containing information for channel estimation; and cause the A-IoT device to transmit the D2R transmission including the data block and the midambles to a receiver.[000119] In Example 20, the subject matter of Example 19 includes, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the one or more processors to insert a gap between each midamble and the corresponding segment of the data block.[000120] Example 21 is at least one machine-readable medium including instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry to perform operations to implement of any of Examples 1-20.[000121] Example 22 is an apparatus comprising means to implement of any of Examples 1-20.[000122] Example 23 is a system to implement of any of Examples 1-20.[000123] Example 24 is a method to implement of any of Examples 1-20.[000124] Although an embodiment has been described with reference to specific example embodiments, it will be evident that various modifications and changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from the broader scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. The accompanying drawings that form a part hereof show, by way of illustration, and not of limitation, specific embodiments in which the subject matter may be practiced. The embodiments illustrated are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the teachings disclosed herein. Other embodiments may be utilized and derived therefrom, such that structural and logical substitutions and changes may be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure. This Detailed Description, therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of various embodiments is defined only by the appended claims, along with the full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.[000125] The subject matter may be referred to herein, individually and / or collectively, by the term “embodiment” merely for convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope of this application to any single inventive concept if more than one is in fact disclosed. Thus, although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it should be appreciated that any arrangement calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to cover any and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments. Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments not specifically described herein, will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. [000126] In this document, the terms "a" or "an" are used, as is common in patent documents, to indicate one or more than one, independent of any other instances or usages of "at least one" or "one or more." In this document, the term "or" is used to refer to a nonexclusive or, such that "A or B" includes "Abut not B," "B but not A," and "A and B," unless otherwise indicated. In this document, the terms "including" and "in which" are used as the plain-English equivalents of the respective terms "comprising" and "wherein." Also, in the following claims, the terms "including" and "comprising" are open-ended, that is, a system, UE, article, composition, formulation, or process that includes elements in addition to those listed after such a term in a claim are still deemed to fall within the scope of that claim. Moreover, in the following claims, the terms "first," "second," and "third," etc. are used merely as labels, and are not intended to impose numerical requirements on their objects. As indicated herein, although the term “a” is used herein, one or more of the associated elements may be used in different embodiments. For example, the term “a processor” configured to carry out specific operations includes both a single processor configured to carry out all of the operations as well as multiple processors individually configured to carry out some or all of the operations (which may overlap) such that the combination of processors carry out all of the operations. Further, the term “includes” may be considered to be interpreted as “includes at least” the elements that follow.[000127] The Abstract of the Disclosure is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it may be seen that various features are grouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus, the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for an Ambient Intemet-of-Things (A-IoT) device, the apparatus comprising: a memory configured to store parameters for midamble transmission; and a processor to: determine a number of midamble instances to be included in a device-to-reader (D2R) transmission; partition a data block of the D2R transmission into a plurality of segments based on the number of midamble instances; insert a midamble immediately prior to a corresponding segment of the data block; and configure the A-IoT device to transmit the D2R transmission including the data block and the midambles to a reader.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each midamble contains information for channel estimation.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the processor is further to use an identical predetermined sequence for each midamble.

4. The apparatus of any of claims 1-3, wherein the processor is further to configure the A-IoT device to insert a gap between each midamble and the corresponding segment of the data block.

5. The apparatus of any of claims 1-4, wherein the processor is further to include, in control information, a field indicating at least one of presence or number of midamble instances in the D2R transmission.

6. The apparatus of any of claims 1-5, wherein the processor is further to determine a chip duration for each midamble based on a chip duration of a preamble associated with the D2R transmission, a chip duration of the D2Rtransmission, a specification-defined value, or indicated in control information included in reader-to-device (R2D) transmission.

7. The apparatus of any of claims 1-6, wherein the processor is further to configure the A-IoT device to insert a particular midamble immediately prior to a second-to-last segment of the data block to refresh channel estimation immediately before transmission of a final segment of the data block to maintain reliable detection and decoding at the reader.

8. The apparatus of any of claims 1-7, wherein the processor is further to: determine the number of midamble instances using M = [L / L segJ, where L is a length of the data block and L seg is a predetermined segment length stored in the memory, and set a length of each segment using floor and ceiling operations based on an overall length of the data block.

9. The apparatus of any of claims 1-8, wherein the processor is further to configure the A-IoT device to omit insertion of any midamble instance into the data block when a length of the data block is less than a predetermined threshold.

10. The apparatus of any of claims 1-9, wherein the processor is further to determine the number of midamble instances based on a set of thresholds associated with a length of the data block such that the number of midamble instances increases as the length of the data block exceeds successive thresholds of the set of thresholds.

11. The apparatus of any of claims 1-10, wherein the processor is further to include, in control information or in a paging, trigger, query, write, or read message, a field indicating at least one of presence of a particular midamble instance for a group of A-IoT devices, or whether segmentation is applied to the D2R transmission.

12. The apparatus of any of claims 1-11, wherein the processor is further to determine a number of midamble instances in accordance with a number of block-level repetitions for the D2R transmission.

13. The apparatus of any of claims 1-12, wherein the processor is further to configure the A-IoT device to at least one of: align a segment of the D2R transmission with a codeblock and append a cyclic redundancy check to each codeblock, or apply byte-alignment to each segment of the D2R transmission and use zero padding to align a byte size.

14. The apparatus of any of claims 1-13, wherein the processor is further to configure the A-IoT device to insert a particular midamble instance immediately prior to a particular segment transmitted on a different frequency resource than an immediately preceding segment, and insert a gap between the particular segment and the particular midamble instance.

15. The apparatus of any of claims 1-14, wherein the processor is further to configure the A-IoT device to omit insertion of any midamble instances in response to a specific command message from the reader.

16. The apparatus of any of claims 1-15, wherein the processor is further to configure the A-IoT device to omit insertion of the midambles for Msgl transmission in a two-step or four-step random access procedure.

17. An apparatus for a reader in an Ambient Internet-of-Things (A-IoT) system, the apparatus comprising: a memory configured to store parameters for midamble transmission; and a processor to configure the reader to: receive, from an A-IoT device, a device-to-reader (D2R) transmission including a data block partitioned into a plurality of segments and a midamble inserted immediately prior to a correspondingsegment of the data block, each midamble containing information for channel estimation; and perform channel estimation and correct for timing drift for each segment of the data block based on a corresponding midamble.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the D2R transmission includes a gap between each midamble and the corresponding segment of the data block.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by one or more processors of an apparatus of an Ambient Intemet-of-Things (A-IoT) device, the instructions, when executed, cause the one or more processors to: determine a number of midamble instances to be included in a device-to- reader (D2R) transmission; partition a data block of the D2R transmission into a plurality of segments based on the number of midamble instances; insert a midamble immediately prior to a corresponding segment of the data block, each midamble containing information for channel estimation; and cause the A-IoT device to transmit the D2R transmission including the data block and the midambles to a receiver.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the one or more processors to insert a gap between each midamble and the corresponding segment of the data block.

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