A method and apparatus for security in wireless communication system

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a 5G or 6G communication system for supporting a higher data transmission rate. The present disclosure proposes a UE and a base station in a cellular wireless communication network and methods performed by the same. According to an embodiment, a method performed by a UE in a wireless communication system includes: receiving configuration information, where the configuration information includes information on a first resource associated with a first signal and information on a second resource associated with a feedback signal, and the first signal and the feedback signal are associated with authentication of the UE; transmitting the first signal on the first resource; and receiving the feedback signal on the second resource, where the feedback signal includes information on an authentication result of the UE.

Description

A METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SECURITY IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of wireless communication technology, in particular, to a user equipment and a base station in a cellular wireless communication network and methods performed by the same.

[0002] 5G mobile communication technologies define broad frequency bands such that high transmission rates and new services are possible, and can be implemented not only in “Sub 6GHz” bands such as 3.5GHz, but also in “Above 6GHz” bands referred to as mmWave including 28GHz and 39GHz. In addition, it has been considered to implement 6G mobile communication technologies (referred to as Beyond 5G systems) in terahertz bands (for example, 95GHz to 3THz bands) in order to accomplish transmission rates fifty times faster than 5G mobile communication technologies and ultra-low latencies one-tenth of 5G mobile communication technologies.

[0003] At the beginning of the development of 5G mobile communication technologies, in order to support services and to satisfy performance requirements in connection with enhanced Mobile BroadBand (eMBB), Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC), and massive Machine-Type Communications (mMTC), there has been ongoing standardization regarding beamforming and massive MIMO for mitigating radio-wave path loss and increasing radio-wave transmission distances in mmWave, supporting numerologies (for example, operating multiple subcarrier spacings) for efficiently utilizing mmWave resources and dynamic operation of slot formats, initial access technologies for supporting multi-beam transmission and broadbands, definition and operation of BWP (BandWidth Part), new channel coding methods such as a LDPC (Low Density Parity Check) code for large amount of data transmission and a polar code for highly reliable transmission of control information, L2 pre-processing, and network slicing for providing a dedicated network specialized to a specific service.

[0004] Currently, there are ongoing discussions regarding improvement and performance enhancement of initial 5G mobile communication technologies in view of services to be supported by 5G mobile communication technologies, and there has been physical layer standardization regarding technologies such as V2X (Vehicle-to-everything) for aiding driving determination by autonomous vehicles based on information regarding positions and states of vehicles transmitted by the vehicles and for enhancing user convenience, NR-U (New Radio Unlicensed) aimed at system operations conforming to various regulation-related requirements in unlicensed bands, NR UE Power Saving, Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) which is UE-satellite direct communication for providing coverage in an area in which communication with terrestrial networks is unavailable, and positioning.

[0005] Moreover, there has been ongoing standardization in air interface architecture / protocol regarding technologies such as Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) for supporting new services through interworking and convergence with other industries, IAB (Integrated Access and Backhaul) for providing a node for network service area expansion by supporting a wireless backhaul link and an access link in an integrated manner, mobility enhancement including conditional handover and DAPS (Dual Active Protocol Stack) handover, and two-step random access for simplifying random access procedures (2-step RACH for NR). There also has been ongoing standardization in system architecture / service regarding a 5G baseline architecture (for example, service based architecture or service based interface) for combining Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) and Software-Defined Networking (SDN) technologies, and Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) for receiving services based on UE positions.

[0006] As 5G mobile communication systems are commercialized, connected devices that have been exponentially increasing will be connected to communication networks, and it is accordingly expected that enhanced functions and performances of 5G mobile communication systems and integrated operations of connected devices will be necessary. To this end, new research is scheduled in connection with eXtended Reality (XR) for efficiently supporting AR (Augmented Reality), VR (Virtual Reality), MR (Mixed Reality) and the like, 5G performance improvement and complexity reduction by utilizing Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), AI service support, metaverse service support, and drone communication.

[0007] Furthermore, such development of 5G mobile communication systems will serve as a basis for developing not only new waveforms for providing coverage in terahertz bands of 6G mobile communication technologies, multi-antenna transmission technologies such as Full Dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antennas and large-scale antennas, metamaterial-based lenses and antennas for improving coverage of terahertz band signals, high-dimensional space multiplexing technology using OAM (Orbital Angular Momentum), and RIS (Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface), but also full-duplex technology for increasing frequency efficiency of 6G mobile communication technologies and improving system networks, AI-based communication technology for implementing system optimization by utilizing satellites and AI (Artificial Intelligence) from the design stage and internalizing end-to-end AI support functions, and next-generation distributed computing technology for implementing services at levels of complexity exceeding the limit of UE operation capability by utilizing ultra-high-performance communication and computing resources.

[0008] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a method performed by a user equipment (UE) in a cellular wireless communication network is provided, including: receiving configuration information, where the configuration information includes information on a first resource associated with a first signal and information on a second resource associated with a feedback signal, and the first signal and the feedback signal are associated with authentication of the UE; transmitting the first signal on the first resource, the first signal being based on a measurement signal or a group of reference signals received by the UE; and receiving the feedback signal on the second resource, where the feedback signal includes information on an authentication result of the UE.

[0009] In an exemplary embodiment, the configuration information further includes information on a third resource associated with the measurement signal, and the method performed by a UE further includes: receiving the measurement signal on the third resource.

[0010] In an exemplary embodiment, the first signal is obtained by an analog-to-digital conversion on the measurement signal; or, the first signal is obtained by a coding and modulation, using a first modulation coding method, on a signal obtained by a demodulation and decoding of the measurement signal, wherein the first modulation coding method is same as a modulation coding method used for the measurement signal.

[0011] In an exemplary embodiment, the configuration information further includes information on the group of reference signals.

[0012] In an exemplary embodiment, the information on the group of reference signals includes the number of reference signal sequences and / or a reference signal sequence index, or, the information on the group of reference signals includes a base sequence and a relative relationship between the reference signal sequence and the base sequence, where the first resource configured by first resource configuration information is in one-to-one association with the reference signal sequence.

[0013] In an exemplary embodiment, the relative relationship between the reference signal sequence and the base sequence includes one or more of: a power offset relationship between the reference signal sequence and the base sequence, a phase offset relationship between the reference signal sequence and the base sequence, and a density relationship of a comb structure between the reference signal sequence and the base sequence.

[0014] In an exemplary embodiment, the method performed by a UE further includes: establishing a connection with a base station, in the case where the feedback signal indicates successful authentication.

[0015] In an exemplary embodiment, in the case where the feedback signal indicates an authentication failure, the feedback signal further includes information on retransmitting the first signal, or receiving the configuration information.

[0016] In an exemplary embodiment, the method performed by a UE further includes: receiving the configuration information, in the case where no feedback signal is received on the second resource.

[0017] In an exemplary embodiment, the configuration information is received in downlink control information, downlink broadcast information and / or higher-layer signaling.

[0018] In an exemplary embodiment, the first resource is reserved and / or the second resource is reserved, and the method performed by a UE further includes: receiving information on whether the reserved resource is activated on a downlink control channel.

[0019] In an exemplary embodiment, the feedback signal is received on a downlink control channel or a downlink shared channel.

[0020] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a method performed by a base station in a cellular wireless communication network is provided, including: transmitting configuration information, where the configuration information includes information on a first resource associated with a first signal and information on a second resource associated with a feedback signal, and the first signal and the feedback signal are associated with authentication of a UE; receiving the first signal on the first resource, the first signal being based on a measurement signal or a group of reference signals received by the UE; and transmitting the feedback signal on the second resource, where the feedback signal includes information on an authentication result of the UE.

[0021] In an exemplary embodiment, the configuration information further includes information on a third resource associated with the measurement signal, and the method performed by a base station further includes: transmitting the measurement signal on the third resource.

[0022] In an exemplary embodiment, the first signal is obtained by an analog-to-digital conversion on the measurement signal; or, the first signal is obtained by a coding and modulation, using a first modulation coding method, on a signal obtained by a demodulation and decoding of the measurement signal, wherein the first modulation coding method is same as a modulation coding method used for the measurement signal.

[0023] In an exemplary embodiment, the configuration information further includes information on the group of reference signals.

[0024] In an exemplary embodiment, the information on the group of reference signals includes the number of reference signal sequences and / or a reference signal sequence index, or, the information on the group of reference signals includes a base sequence and a relative relationship between the reference signal sequence and the base sequence, where the first resource configured by first resource configuration information is in one-to-one association with the reference signal sequence.

[0025] In an exemplary embodiment, the relative relationship between the reference signal sequence and the base sequence includes one or more of: a power offset relationship between the reference signal sequence and the base sequence, a phase offset relationship between the reference signal sequence and the base sequence, and a density relationship of a comb structure between the reference signal sequence and the base sequence.

[0026] In an exemplary embodiment, the method performed by a base station further includes: establishing a connection with the UE, in the case where the feedback signal indicates successful authentication.

[0027] In an exemplary embodiment, in the case where the feedback signal indicates an authentication failure, the feedback signal further includes information on retransmitting the first signal, or receiving the configuration information.

[0028] In an exemplary embodiment, the configuration information is transmitted periodically.

[0029] In an exemplary embodiment, the configuration information is transmitted in downlink control information, downlink broadcast information and / or higher-layer signaling.

[0030] In an exemplary embodiment, the first resource is reserved and / or the second resource is reserved, and the method performed by a base station further includes: transmitting information on whether the reserved resource is activated on a downlink control channel.

[0031] In an exemplary embodiment, the feedback signal is transmitted on a downlink control channel or a downlink shared channel.

[0032] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a UE is provided, including: a transceiver, configured to transmit and receive a signal; and a processor, coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform the method performed by a UE.

[0033] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a base station is provided, including: a transceiver, configured to transmit and receive a signal; and a processor, coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform the method performed by a base station.

[0034] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a computer readable storage medium, storing computer-executable instructions, is provided, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the method performed by a UE or performed by a base station.

[0035] In the wireless communication system, the UE receives configuration information, wherein the configuration information includes information on a first resource associated with a first signal and information on a second resource associated with a feedback signal, the first signal and the feedback signal are associated with authentication of the UE. Then, the first signal is transmitted on the first resource, and the feedback signal is received on the second resource, wherein the feedback signal includes information on an authentication result of the UE. Accordingly, a terminal whitelist can be effectively established.

[0036] The foregoing and additional aspects and advantages of the present disclosure will become clearer and more readily understood through the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0037] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless network according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0038] FIG. 2a illustrates an example wireless transmitting path according to the present disclosure;

[0039] FIG. 2b illustrates an example wireless receiving path according to the present disclosure;

[0040] FIG. 3a illustrates an example user equipment according to the present disclosure;

[0041] FIG. 3b illustrates an example base station according to the present disclosure;

[0042] FIG. 4 is an exemplary flowchart of a method performed by a user equipment, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0043] FIG. 5a illustrates an example of a structure of a feedback signal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0044] FIG. 5b illustrates another example of a structure of a feedback signal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0045] FIG. 5c illustrates yet another example of a structure of a feedback signal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0046] FIG. 5d illustrates yet another example of a structure of a feedback signal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0047] FIG. 6 is an exemplary flowchart of a method performed by a user equipment, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0048] FIG. 7 is an exemplary flowchart of a method performed by a user equipment, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

[0049] FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary structure of a user equipment according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0050] Hereinafter, embodiments of the disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0051] In describing the embodiments, descriptions related to technical contents well-known in the art and not associated directly with the disclosure will be omitted. Such an omission of unnecessary descriptions is intended to prevent obscuring of the main idea of the disclosure and more clearly transfer the main idea.

[0052] For the same reason, in the accompanying drawings, some elements may be exaggerated, omitted, or schematically illustrated. Further, the size of each element does not completely reflect the actual size. In the drawings, identical or corresponding elements are provided with identical reference numerals or different reference numerals.

[0053] The advantages and features of the disclosure and ways to achieve them will be apparent by making reference to embodiments as described below in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the disclosure is not limited to the embodiments set forth below, but may be implemented in various different forms. The following embodiments are provided only to completely disclose the disclosure and inform those skilled in the art of the scope of the disclosure, and the disclosure is defined only by the scope of the appended claims. Throughout the specification, the same or like reference numerals designate the same or like elements. Furthermore, in describing the disclosure, a detailed description of known functions or constitution incorporated herein will be omitted in the case that it is determined that the description may make the subject matter of the disclosure unnecessarily unclear. The terms which will be described below are terms defined in consideration of the functions in the disclosure, and may be different according to users, intentions of the operators, or customs. Therefore, the definitions of the terms should be made based on the contents throughout the specification.

[0054] Herein, it will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations, may be performed based on computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be loaded collectively onto at least one processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which perform through any one of, or in any combination of, the at least one processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for performing the functions specified in the flowchart block(s). These computer program instructions may also be stored in a non-transitory computer usable or computer-readable memory that may direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer usable or computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means that perform the function specified in the flowchart block(s). The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a computer executed process such that the instructions that perform on the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus provide steps for executing the functions specified in the flowchart block(s).

[0055] Further, each block may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which includes one or more executable instructions for executing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of the order. For example, two blocks(or functions) shown in succession may in fact be performed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be performed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved.

[0056] As used in embodiments of the disclosure, a “~unit” may refer to a software element or a hardware element, such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), which performs a predetermined function. However, the term including the word “~unit” does not always have a meaning limited to software or hardware. The “~unit” may be constructed either to be stored in an addressable storage medium or to execute one or more processors. Therefore, the “~unit” includes, for example, software elements, object-oriented software elements, components such as class elements and task elements, processes, functions, properties, procedures, sub-routines, segments of a program code, drivers, firmware, micro-codes, circuits, data, database, data structures, tables, arrays, and parameters. The components and functions provided by the “~unit” may be either combined into a smaller number of components and a “~unit,” or divided into additional components and a “~unit.” Moreover, the components and “~units” may be implemented to reproduce one or more central processing units (CPUs) within a device or a security multimedia card. Further, in the embodiments, the “~unit” may include one or more processors.

[0057] It should be appreciated that the blocks in each flowchart and combinations of the flowcharts may be performed by one or more computer programs which include instructions. The entirety of the one or more computer programs may be stored in a single memory device or the one or more computer programs may be divided with different portions stored in different multiple memory devices.

[0058] Any of the functions or operations described herein can be processed by one processor or a combination of processors. The one processor or the combination of processors is circuitry performing processing and includes circuitry like an application processor (AP, e.g. a CPU), a communication processor (CP, e.g., a modem), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a neural processing unit (NPU) (e.g., an artificial intelligence (AI) chip), a Wi-Fi chip, a Bluetooth® chip, a global positioning system (GPS) chip, a near field communication (NFC) chip, connectivity chips, a sensor controller, a touch controller, a finger-print sensor controller, a display driver integrated circuit (IC), an audio CODEC chip, a universal serial bus (USB) controller, a camera controller, an image processing IC, a microprocessor unit (MPU), a system on chip (SoC), an IC, or the like.

[0059] It will be appreciated that various embodiments of the disclosure according to the claims and description in the specification can be realized in the form of hardware, software or a combination of hardware and software.

[0060] Any such software may be stored in non-transitory computer readable storage media. The non-transitory computer readable storage media store one or more computer programs (software modules), the one or more computer programs include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to perform a method of the disclosure.

[0061] Any such software may be stored in the form of volatile or non-volatile storage such as, for example, a storage device like read only memory (ROM), whether erasable or rewritable or not, or in the form of memory such as, for example, random access memory (RAM), memory chips, device or integrated circuits or on an optically or magnetically readable medium such as, for example, a compact disk (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), magnetic disk or magnetic tape or the like. It will be appreciated that the storage devices and storage media are various embodiments of non-transitory machine-readable storage that are suitable for storing a computer program or computer programs comprising instructions that, when executed, implement various embodiments of the disclosure. Accordingly, various embodiments of the present disclosure may provide a program comprising code for implementing apparatus or a method as claimed in any one of the claims of this specification and a non-transitory machine-readable storage storing such a program.

[0062] Hereinafter, the determination of priority between A and B in the present disclosure may refer to various actions such as selecting the one having a higher priority based on a predefined priority rule and performing an operation corresponding thereto, or omitting or dropping an operation corresponding to the one having a lower priority.

[0063] Hereinafter, "A or B" as described in the present disclosure may be understood as "A and / or B," which may include A, or B, or both A and B.

[0064] In addition, "at least one of A, B, and C" as described in the present disclosure may be understood to include A, or B, or C, or any combination of A, B, and C.

[0065] In addition, "at least one of A, B, or C" as described in the present disclosure may be understood to include A, or B, or C, or any combination of A, B, and C.

[0066] Furthermore, "A / B" as described in the present disclosure may be understood as "A and / or B," which may include A, or B, or both A and B.

[0067] Furthermore, "A, B" as described in the present disclosure may be understood as "A and / or B," which may include A, or B, or both A and B.

[0068] Furthermore, "A and B" as described in the present disclosure may be understood as "A and / or B," which may include A, or B, or both A and B.

[0069] Furthermore, “if condition A and condition B are satisfied,” as described in the present disclosure, may not be limited to a case where both condition A and condition B are satisfied, but may be understood to include a case where either condition A or condition B is individually satisfied, both condition A and condition B are satisfied, or one or more additional conditions are satisfied in combination.

[0070] Furthermore, throughout this disclosure, ordinal terms such as "first," "second," "third," etc., (and similar qualifiers) are used merely to distinguish between different instances, occurrences, configurations, messages, stages, or aspects of elements, operations, or information as described herein. Unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, the use of such ordinal terms does not itself require that the elements, operations, or information distinguished by these terms be structurally different, numerically distinct, or substantively dissimilar. For example, a "first signal" and a "second signal" may refer to instances of the same signal transmitted at different times or containing the same core information despite minor variations, or they may refer to signals with different content or characteristics, depending on the specific context. Similarly, a "first value" and a "second value" may represent the same magnitude but measured or applied in different circumstances, or they may represent different magnitudes. The interpretation should be guided by the specific technical context, function, and relationship described in the relevant portion of the specification and claims.

[0071] Furthermore, the terms “first ~”, “second ~”, etc., as described in the present disclosure with respect to various elements (e.g., information, objects, operation, sequences, or the like), should not limit those elements. These terms may only be intended to distinguish one element from another, and may not be intended to indicate a specific order. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element.

[0072] Furthermore, even if “first ~” and “second ~” are described in the present disclosure, it may be understood that element(s) referred to by “first ~” and “second ~” may be the same or different. For example, in case of element(s) being information, first information and second information may both be same information and, in some cases, are separate and different information.

[0073] In addition, the terms “if ~” and “in case that ~” as used in the disclosure or claims may be interpreted to include the meanings of “when (or upon) ~,” “in response to ~,” “based on ~,” or “according to ~,” and may be used interchangeably with these expressions. In addition, expressions other than those exemplified herein may also be used, as long as they have substantially the same meaning and do not impair the technical features of the present disclosure.

[0074] For example, the physical layer signaling may be referred to as Layer 1 (L1) signaling and may include downlink control information (DCI). In addition, the higher layer signaling may include a medium access control (MAC) control message, a radio resource control (RRC) signaling message, a non-access stratum (NAS) signaling message, or an application layer message. The RRC signaling message may be referred to as L3 (layer 3) signaling. It should be noted, however, that the higher layer signaling is not limited to the aforementioned examples.

[0075] In addition, the term "not perform" as used in the present disclosure or claims may, in context, be understood to mean that the corresponding step is omitted or skipped. Such a term may be replaced with other terms having the same or substantially equivalent meaning.

[0076] In addition, "transmitting a message including A and B" as described in the present disclosure, may be understood as encompassing both (i) transmitting A and B in a single message, and (ii) transmitting A and B separately via multiple messages (e.g., transmitting a first message including A and a second message including B). This interpretation may also apply to messages that include two or more items (e.g., A, B, C), transmitted either together or separately.

[0077] In addition, "transmitting a message including A and transmitting a message including B" may also be interpreted as transmitting a message including A and B in a single message.

[0078] In the specific embodiments of the present disclosure described below, terms or components included in the disclosure may be expressed in singular or plural form depending on the specific embodiments presented. However, such singular or plural expressions are selected appropriately for convenience of description, and the present disclosure is not limited to a singular or plural number of components. A component expressed in the plural form may be implemented as a single component, and a component expressed in the singular form may be implemented as multiple components.

[0079] The drawings or flowcharts described below illustrate exemplary methods that may be implemented according to the principles of the present disclosure, and various modifications may be made to the methods illustrated in the flowcharts of the present disclosure. For example, although illustrated as a series of steps, various steps in each drawing or flowchart may overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, or be repeated. In other examples, any step may be omitted or replaced with another step.

[0080] The methods and apparatuses proposed in the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to each embodiment individually, but may also be applied in combination of all or some of the embodiments proposed in the disclosure. Therefore, the embodiments of the present disclosure may be modified and applied without significantly departing from the scope of the present disclosure, as would be understood by those skilled in the art.

[0081] In this case, even if certain wordings are described differently across embodiments, they may be used interchangeably or in substitution or in combination if their underlying concepts are equivalent. For example, for the same or equivalent concept, even if one embodiment uses the expression "A" and another embodiment uses the expression "B", such expressions may be understood interchangeably, in substitution, or in combination.

[0082] The terms used in the following description to refer to access nodes, network entities, messages, interfaces between network entities, various types of identification information, and the like, are provided merely for the convenience of explanation by way of example. Therefore, the present disclosure is not limited to the terms described below, and other terms having equivalent technical meanings may also be used. Such terms may also be interchangeable with terms defined in any 3rd generation partnership project　(3GPP) technical specifications (TS) where appropriate.

[0083] Hereinafter, a base station is an entity that allocates resources to terminals, and may be at least one of a gNode B, an eNode B, a Node B, a base station (BS), a wireless access unit, a BS controller, or a node on a network.

[0084] Furthermore, the base station of the present disclosure may include a split architecture comprising a central unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU). In this structure, the CU is configured to process the higher layers of the control and user planes, while the DU is configured to process lower-layer radio resource functions. The embodiments of the present disclosure may be equally applicable to 5G base station architectures in which such CU and DU functional splits are implemented.

[0085] A terminal may include a UE, a mobile station (MS), a cellular phone, a smartphone, a computer, or a multimedia system capable of performing communication functions.

[0086] In the disclosure, a downlink (DL) refers to a radio link through which a BS transmits a signal to a UE, and an uplink (UL) refers to a radio link through which a UE transmits a signal to a BS.

[0087] Furthermore, hereinafter, 5th generation (5G) mobile communication technologies (e.g., 5G new radio (NR)), 6th generation (6G) mobile communication technologies may be described by way of example, but the embodiments of the present disclosure may also be applied to other communication systems having similar technical backgrounds or channel types. For example, newly evolved mobile communication systems developed after 5G and 6G may be included. Furthermore, based on determinations by those skilled in the art, the embodiments of the present disclosure may also be applied to other communication systems (e.g., Wi-Fi systems) through some modifications without significantly departing from the scope of the present disclosure

[0088] In the following description, the terms physical channel and signal may be used interchangeably with data or control signal. For example, the term physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) refers to a physical channel through which data is transmitted, but the term PDSCH may also be used to refer to the data itself. That is, in the present disclosure, the expression "transmit a physical channel" may be interpreted as being equivalent to the expression "transmit data or a signal via a physical channel."

[0089] Hereinafter, in the context of the present disclosure, higher layer signaling may refer to signaling corresponding to at least one or any combination of the following: master information block (MIB), system information block (SIB) or SIB M (M = 1, 2, ...), radio resource control (RRC), or medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), or a non-access stratum (NAS) signaling message, or an application layer message. The RRC signaling message may be referred to as L3 (layer 3) signaling.

[0090] In addition, L1 signaling may refer to signaling corresponding to at least one or any combination of signaling techniques using the at least one or any combination of the following physical layer channels or signaling: physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), downlink control information (DCI), user equipment (UE)-specific DCI, group-common DCI, common DCI, scheduling DCI (e.g., DCI used for scheduling downlink or uplink data), non-scheduling DCI (e.g., DCI not used for scheduling downlink or uplink data) physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), or uplink control information (UCI). The L1 signaling message may be referred to as a physical layer signaling.

[0091] Hereinafter, the expression that information is configured by the BS, as used in the present disclosure or claims, may, in context, be understood to mean that the terminal receives the corresponding information from the BS via a physical layer signaling or a higher layer signaling. Such an expression may be replaced with other terms having the same or substantially equivalent meaning.

[0092] Hereinafter, the operational principle of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0093] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless network 100 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiment of the wireless network 100 shown in FIG. 1 is for illustration only. Other embodiments of the wireless network 100 can be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0094] The wireless network 100 includes a gNodeB (gNB) 101, a gNB 102, and a gNB 103. gNB 101 communicates with gNB 102 and gNB 103. gNB 101 also communicates with at least one Internet Protocol (IP) network 130, such as the Internet, a private IP network, or other data networks.

[0095] Depending on a type of the network, other well-known terms such as "base station" or "access point" can be used instead of "gNodeB" or "gNB". For convenience, the terms "gNodeB" and "gNB" are used in this patent document to refer to network infrastructure components that provide wireless access for remote terminals. And, depending on the type of the network, other well-known terms such as "mobile station", "user station", "remote terminal", "wireless terminal" or "user apparatus" can be used instead of "user equipment" or "UE". For convenience, the terms "user equipment" and "UE" are used in this patent document to refer to remote wireless devices that wirelessly access the gNB, no matter whether the UE is a mobile device (such as a mobile phone or a smart phone) or a fixed device (such as a desktop computer or a vending machine).

[0096] gNB 102 provides wireless broadband access to the network 130 for a first plurality of User Equipments (UEs) within a coverage area 120 of gNB 102. The first plurality of UEs include a UE 111, which may be located in a Small Business (SB); a UE 112, which may be located in an enterprise (E); a UE 113, which may be located in a WiFi Hotspot (HS); a UE 114, which may be located in a first residence (R); a UE 115, which may be located in a second residence (R); a UE 116, which may be a mobile device (M), such as a cellular phone, a wireless laptop computer, a wireless PDA, etc. GNB 103 provides wireless broadband access to network 130 for a second plurality of UEs within a coverage area 125 of gNB 103. The second plurality of UEs include a UE 115 and a UE 116. In some embodiments, one or more of gNBs 101-103 can communicate with each other and with UEs 111-116 using 5G, Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-A, WiMAX or other advanced wireless communication technologies.

[0097] The dashed lines show approximate ranges of the coverage areas 120 and 125, and the ranges are shown as approximate circles merely for illustration and explanation purposes. It should be clearly understood that the coverage areas associated with the gNBs, such as the coverage areas 120 and 125, may have other shapes, including irregular shapes, depending on configurations of the gNBs and changes in the radio environment associated with natural obstacles and man-made obstacles.

[0098] As will be described in more detail below, one or more of gNB 101, gNB 102, and gNB 103 include a 2D antenna array as described in embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, one or more of gNB 101, gNB 102, and gNB 103 support codebook designs and structures for systems with 2D antenna arrays.

[0099] Although FIG. 1 illustrates an example of the wireless network 100, various changes can be made to FIG. 1. The wireless network 100 can include any number of gNBs and any number of UEs in any suitable arrangement, for example. Furthermore, gNB 101 can directly communicate with any number of UEs and provide wireless broadband access to the network 130 for those UEs. Similarly, each gNB 102-103 can directly communicate with the network 130 and provide direct wireless broadband access to the network 130 for the UEs. In addition, gNB 101, 102 and / or 103 can provide access to other or additional external networks, such as external telephone networks or other types of data networks.

[0100] FIGs. 2a and 2b illustrate example wireless transmission and reception paths according to the present disclosure. In the following description, the transmission path 200 can be described as being implemented in a gNB, such as gNB 102, and the reception path 250 can be described as being implemented in a UE, such as UE 116. However, it should be understood that the reception path 250 can be implemented in a gNB and the transmission path 200 can be implemented in a UE. In some embodiments, the reception path 250 is configured to support codebook designs and structures for systems with 2D antenna arrays as described in embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0101] The transmission path 200 includes a channel coding and modulation block 205, a Serial-to-Parallel (S-to-P) block 210, a size N Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) block 215, a Parallel-to-Serial (P-to-S) block 220, a cyclic prefix addition block 225, and an up-converter (UC) 230. The reception path 250 includes a down-converter (DC) 255, a cyclic prefix removal block 260, a Serial-to-Parallel (S-to-P) block 265, a size N Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) block 270, a Parallel-to-Serial (P-to-S) block 275, and a channel decoding and demodulation block 280.

[0102] In the transmission path 200, the channel coding and modulation block 205 receives a set of information bits, applies coding (such as Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) coding), and modulates the input bits (such as using Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) or Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM)) to generate a sequence of frequency-domain modulated symbols. The Serial-to-Parallel (S-to-P) block 210 converts (such as demultiplexes) serial modulated symbols into parallel data to generate N parallel symbol streams, where N is a size of the IFFT / FFT used in gNB 102 and UE 116. The size N IFFT block 215 performs IFFT operations on the N parallel symbol streams to generate a time-domain output signal. The Parallel-to-Serial block 220 converts (such as multiplexes) parallel time-domain output symbols from the Size N IFFT block 215 to generate a serial time-domain signal. The cyclic prefix addition block 225 inserts a cyclic prefix into the time-domain signal. The up-converter 230 modulates (such as up-converts) the output of the cyclic prefix addition block 225 to an RF frequency for transmission via a wireless channel. The signal can also be filtered at a baseband before switching to the RF frequency.

[0103] The RF signal transmitted from gNB 102 arrives at UE 116 after passing through the wireless channel, and operations in reverse to those at gNB 102 are performed at UE 116. The down-converter 255 down-converts the received signal to a baseband frequency, and the cyclic prefix removal block 260 removes the cyclic prefix to generate a serial time-domain baseband signal. The Serial-to-Parallel block 265 converts the time-domain baseband signal into a parallel time-domain signal. The Size N FFT block 270 performs an FFT algorithm to generate N parallel frequency-domain signals. The Parallel-to-Serial block 275 converts the parallel frequency-domain signal into a sequence of modulated data symbols. The channel decoding and demodulation block 280 demodulates and decodes the modulated symbols to recover the original input data stream.

[0104] Each of gNBs 101-103 may implement a transmission path 200 similar to that for transmitting to UEs 111-116 in the downlink, and may implement a reception path 250 similar to that for receiving from UEs 111-116 in the uplink. Similarly, each of UEs 111-116 may implement a transmission path 200 for transmitting to gNBs 101-103 in the uplink, and may implement a reception path 250 for receiving from gNBs 101-103 in the downlink.

[0105] Each of the components in FIGs. 2a and 2b can be implemented using only hardware, or using a combination of hardware and software / firmware. As a specific example, at least some of the components in FIGs. 2a and 2b may be implemented in software, while other components may be implemented in configurable hardware or a combination of software and configurable hardware. For example, the FFT block 270 and IFFT block 215 may be implemented as configurable software algorithms, in which the value of the size N may be modified according to the implementation.

[0106] Furthermore, although described as using FFT and IFFT, this is only illustrative and should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the present disclosure. Other types of transforms can be used, such as Discrete Fourier transform (DFT) and Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform (IDFT) functions. It should be understood that for DFT and IDFT functions, the value of variable N may be any integer (such as 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.), while for FFT and IFFT functions, the value of variable N may be any integer which is a power of 2 (such as 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, etc.).

[0107] Although FIGs. 2a and 2b illustrate examples of wireless transmission and reception paths, various changes may be made to FIGs. 2a and 2b. For example, various components in FIGs. 2a and 2b can be combined, further subdivided or omitted, and additional components can be added according to specific requirements. Furthermore, FIGs. 2a and 2b are intended to illustrate examples of types of transmission and reception paths that can be used in a wireless network. Any other suitable architecture can be used to support wireless communication in a wireless network.

[0108] FIG. 3a illustrates an example UE 116 according to the present disclosure. The embodiment of UE 116 shown in FIG. 3a is for illustration only, and UEs 111-115 of FIG. 1 can have the same or similar configuration. However, a UE has various configurations, and FIG. 3a does not limit the scope of the present disclosure to any specific implementation of the UE.

[0109] UE 116 includes an antenna 301, a radio frequency (RF) transceiver 302, a transmission (TX) processing circuit 303, a microphone 304, and a reception (RX) processing circuit 305. UE 116 also includes a speaker 306, a controller / processor 307, an input / output (I / O) interface 308, an input device(s) 309, a display 310, and a memory 311. The memory 311 includes an operating system (OS) 312 and one or more applications 313.

[0110] The RF transceiver 302 receives an incoming RF signal transmitted by a gNB of the wireless network 100 from the antenna 301. The RF transceiver 302 down-converts the incoming RF signal to generate an intermediate frequency (IF) or baseband signal. The IF or baseband signal is transmitted to the RX processing circuit 305, where the RX processing circuit 305 generates a processed baseband signal by filtering, decoding and / or digitizing the baseband or IF signal. The RX processing circuit 305 transmits the processed baseband signal to speaker 306 (such as for voice data) or to controller / processor 307 for further processing (such as for web browsing data).

[0111] The TX processing circuit 303 receives analog or digital voice data from microphone 304 or other outgoing baseband data (such as network data, email or interactive video game data) from controller / processor 307. The TX processing circuit 303 encodes, multiplexes, and / or digitizes the outgoing baseband data to generate a processed baseband or IF signal. The RF transceiver 302 receives the outgoing processed baseband or IF signal from the TX processing circuit 303 and up-converts the baseband or IF signal into an RF signal transmitted via the antenna 301.

[0112] The controller / processor 307 can include one or more processors or other processing devices and execute an OS 312 stored in the memory 311 in order to control the overall operation of UE 116. For example, the controller / processor 307 can control the reception of forward channel signals and the transmission of backward channel signals through the RF transceiver 302, the RX processing circuit 305 and the TX processing circuit 303 according to well-known principles. In some embodiments, the controller / processor 307 includes at least one microprocessor or microcontroller.

[0113] The controller / processor 307 is also capable of executing other processes and programs residing in the memory 311, such as operations for channel quality measurement and reporting for systems with 2D antenna arrays as described in embodiments of the present disclosure. The controller / processor 307 can move data into or out of the memory 311 as required by an execution process. In some embodiments, the controller / processor 307 is configured to execute the application 313 based on the OS 312 or in response to signals received from the gNB or the operator. The controller / processor 307 is also coupled to an I / O interface 308, where the I / O interface 308 provides UE 116 with the ability to connect to other devices such as laptop computers and handheld computers. I / O interface 308 is a communication path between these accessories and the controller / processor 307.

[0114] The processor 307 may control general operations of the UE 116 according to embodiments of the disclosure. The processor 307 may be implemented by one or more integrated circuit (or circuitry) (IC) chips and may execute various data processings. The processor 307 may include at least one electric circuit, and may execute instructions (or a program, codes, data, etc.) stored in the memory 311, individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. Further, the processor 307 may include a single-core processor or multi-core processor, and may include a processor assembly including a plurality of processing circuits (circuitry) according to a specific implementation scheme.

[0115] The processor 307 may be electrically, operatively, or communicatively coupled to the transceiver 302 to control the transceiver 302.

[0116] The processor 307 may include at least one processor (or processing circuitry), and the at least one processor may perform the following operations individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. For example, the processor 307 may include a communication processor (CP) configured to control communication operations and an application processor (AP) configured to control execution of an upper layer (for example, an application layer). In a specific embodiment, at least a part of the processor 307 may be included in one chip and the other part of the processor 307 may be included in another chip. Otherwise, at least one processor may be included in another component, for example, the transceiver 302 or the memory 311.

[0117] The processor 307 may perform or control or cause an operation of the UE 116 for executing at least one or a combination of methods according to embodiments of the disclosure. For example, the processor 307 may control operations of the UE 116 for processing a downlink signal received from a BS or generating and transmitting an uplink signal to a BS. To this end, the processor 307 may execute a computer program, codes, or instructions stored in the memory 311, so as to control other components of the UE 116 to enable execution of various operations.The controller / processor 307 is also coupled to the input device(s) 309 and the display 310. An operator of UE 116 can input data into UE 116 using the input device(s) 309. The display 310 may be a liquid crystal display or other display capable of presenting text and / or at least limited graphics (such as from a website). The memory 311 is coupled to the controller / processor 307. A part of the memory 311 can include a random access memory (RAM), while another part of the memory 311 can include a flash memory or other read-only memory (ROM).

[0118] The memory 311 corresponds to a hardware storage device capable of temporarily or permanently storing information and may include one or more storage media. For example, the memory 311 may include a memory assembly including one or more storage media. For example, the one or more storage media may include permanent memory, such as a hard drive, flash memory, or read-only memory (ROM), semipermanent memory, such as random access memory (RAM), cache memory, or a combination thereof.

[0119] The memory 311 may be electrically, operatively, or communicatively coupled to the processor 307 and may be accessed by the processor 307.

[0120] The memory 311 may store a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 307. According to an embodiment, a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 307 may be either stored in a single memory device or separated and distributedly stored in two or more memory devices. By executing the instructions stored in the memory 311, the processor 307 may perform various functions according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0121] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, operations of the UE 116 may be caused to be performed based on execution of instructions (or a computer program or codes) stored in the memory 311 by at least one processor (or processing circuitry) configured to execute the same individually, collectively, or in any combination thereof, based on processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions, and / or based on components of processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions.Although FIG. 3a illustrates an example of UE 116, various changes can be made to FIG. 3a. For example, various components in FIG. 3a can be combined, further subdivided or omitted, and additional components can be added according to specific requirements. As a specific example, the controller / processor 307 can be divided into a plurality of processors, such as one or more central processing units (CPUs) and one or more graphics processing units (GPUs). Furthermore, although FIG. 3a illustrates that the UE 116 is configured as a mobile phone or a smart phone, UEs can be configured to operate as other types of mobile or fixed devices.

[0122] FIG. 3b illustrates an example a base station (e.g. gNB 102) according to the present disclosure. The embodiment of gNB 102 shown in FIG. 3b is for illustration only, and other gNBs of FIG. 1 can have the same or similar configuration. However, a gNB has various configurations, and FIG. 3b does not limit the scope of the present disclosure to any specific implementation of a gNB. It should be noted that gNB 101 and gNB 103 can include the same or similar structures as gNB 102.

[0123] As shown in FIG. 3b, gNB 102 includes a plurality of antennas 370a-370n, a plurality of RF transceivers 372a-372n, a transmission (TX) processing circuit 374, and a reception (RX) processing circuit 376. In certain embodiments, one or more of the plurality of antennas 370a-370n include a 2D antenna array. gNB 102 also includes a controller / processor 378, a memory 380, and a backhaul or network interface 382.

[0124] RF transceivers 372a-372n receive an incoming RF signal from antennas 370a-370n, such as a signal transmitted by UEs or other gNBs. RF transceivers 372a-372n down-convert the incoming RF signal to generate an IF or baseband signal. The IF or baseband signal is transmitted to the RX processing circuit 376, where the RX processing circuit 376 generates a processed baseband signal by filtering, decoding and / or digitizing the baseband or IF signal. RX processing circuit 376 transmits the processed baseband signal to controller / processor 378 for further processing.

[0125] The TX processing circuit 374 receives analog or digital data (such as voice data, network data, email or interactive video game data) from the controller / processor 378. TX processing circuit 374 encodes, multiplexes and / or digitizes outgoing baseband data to generate a processed baseband or IF signal. RF transceivers 372a-372n receive the outgoing processed baseband or IF signal from TX processing circuit 374 and up-convert the baseband or IF signal into an RF signal transmitted via antennas 370a-370n.

[0126] The controller / processor 378 can include one or more processors or other processing devices that control the overall operation of gNB 102. For example, the controller / processor 378 can control the reception of forward channel signals and the transmission of backward channel signals through the RF transceivers 372a-372n, the RX processing circuit 376 and the TX processing circuit 374 according to well-known principles. The controller / processor 378 can also support additional functions, such as higher-level wireless communication functions. For example, the controller / processor 378 can perform a Blind Interference Sensing (BIS) process such as that performed through a BIS algorithm, and decode a received signal from which an interference signal is subtracted. A controller / processor 378 may support any of a variety of other functions in gNB 102. In some embodiments, the controller / processor 378 includes at least one microprocessor or microcontroller.

[0127] The controller / processor 378 is also capable of executing programs and other processes residing in the memory 380, such as a basic OS. The controller / processor 378 can also support channel quality measurement and reporting for systems with 2D antenna arrays as described in embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the controller / processor 378 supports communication between entities such as web RTCs. The controller / processor 378 can move data into or out of the memory 380 as required by an execution process.

[0128] The processor 378 may control general operations of the BS 102 according to embodiments of the disclosure. The processor 378 may be implemented by one or more integrated circuit (or circuitry) (IC) chips and may execute various data processings. The processor 378 may include at least one electric circuit, and may execute instructions (or a program, codes, data, etc.) stored in the memory 380, individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. Further, the processor 378 may include a single-core processor or multi-core processor, and may include a processor assembly including a plurality of processing circuits (circuitry) according to a specific implementation scheme.

[0129] The processor 378 may be electrically, operatively, or communicatively coupled to the transceiver 210a-210n to control the transceiver 372a-372n.

[0130] The processor 378 may include at least one processor (or processing circuitry), and the at least one processor may perform the following operations individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. In a specific embodiment, at least a part of the processor 378 may be included in one chip and the other part of the processor 378 may be included in another chip. Otherwise, at least one processor may be included in another component, for example, the transceiver 372a-372n or the memory 380.

[0131] The processor 378 may perform or control or cause an operation of the BS 102 for executing at least one or a combination of methods according to embodiments of the disclosure. For example, the processor 378 may control operations of the BS 102 for generating and transmitting a downlink signal to a UE or processing an uplink signal received from a UE. Otherwise, the BS 102 may transmit or receive a signal to or from a neighboring BS, transfer a signal received from a UE to an upper node of the network, or transmit a signal transferred from an upper node of the network to a UE. To this end, the processor 378 may execute a computer program, codes, or instructions stored in the memory 380, so as to control other components of the BS 102 to enable execution of various operations.

[0132] The controller / processor 378 is also coupled to the backhaul or network interface 382. The backhaul or network interface 382 allows gNB 102 to communicate with other devices or systems through a backhaul connection or through a network. The backhaul or network interface 382 can support communication over any suitable wired or wireless connection(s). For example, when gNB 102 is implemented as a part of a cellular communication system, such as a cellular communication system supporting 5G or new radio access technology or NR, LTE or LTE-A, the backhaul or network interface 382 can allow gNB 102 to communicate with other gNBs through wired or wireless backhaul connections. When gNB 102 is implemented as an access point, the backhaul or network interface 382 can allow gNB 102 to communicate with a larger network, such as the Internet, through a wired or wireless local area network or through a wired or wireless connection. The backhaul or network interface 382 includes any suitable structure that supports communication through a wired or wireless connection, such as an Ethernet or an RF transceiver.

[0133] The memory 380 is coupled to the controller / processor 378. A part of the memory 380 can include an RAM, while another part of the memory 380 can include a flash memory or other ROMs. In certain embodiments, a plurality of instructions, such as the BIS algorithm, are stored in the memory. The plurality of instructions are configured to cause the controller / processor 378 to execute the BIS process and decode the received signal after subtracting at least one interference signal determined by the BIS algorithm.

[0134] The memory 380 corresponds to a hardware storage device capable of temporarily or permanently storing information and may include one or more storage media. For example, the memory 380 may include a memory assembly including one or more storage media. For example, the one or more storage media may include permanent memory, such as a hard drive, flash memory, or read-only memory (ROM), semipermanent memory, such as random access memory (RAM), cache memory, or a combination thereof.

[0135] The memory 380 may be electrically, operatively, or communicatively coupled to the processor 378 and may be accessed by the processor 378.

[0136] The memory 380 may store a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 378. According to an embodiment, a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 378 may be either stored in a single memory device or separated and distributedly stored in two or more memory devices. By executing the instructions stored in the memory 380, the processor 378 may perform various functions according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0137] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, operations of the BS 102 may be caused to be performed based on execution of instructions (or a computer program or codes) stored in the memory 380 by at least one processor (or processing circuitry) configured to execute the same individually, collectively, or in any combination thereof, based on processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions, and / or based on components of processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions.

[0138] As will be described in more detail below, the transmission and reception paths of gNB 102 (implemented using RF transceivers 372a-372n, TX processing circuit 374 and / or RX processing circuit 376) support aggregated communication with FDD cells and TDD cells.

[0139] Although FIG. 3b illustrates an example of gNB 102, various changes may be made to FIG. 3b. For example, gNB 102 can include any number of each component shown in FIG. 3a. As a specific example, the access point can include many backhaul or network interfaces 382, and the controller / processor 378 can support routing functions to route data between different network addresses. As another specific example, although shown as including a single instance of the TX processing circuit 374 and a single instance of the RX processing circuit 376, gNB 102 can include multiple instances of each (such as one for each RF transceiver).

[0140] The exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0141] The text and drawings are provided as examples only to help readers understand the present disclosure. They are not intended and should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the present disclosure in any way. Although certain embodiments and examples have been provided, based on the content disclosed herein, it is obvious to those skilled in the art that modifications to the illustrated embodiments and examples can be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0142] Cellular wireless communication systems (including 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G) do not encrypt communications at the physical layer. Because of the broadcast nature of wireless transmission, messages can be easily intercepted by malicious users, making the security of the systems vulnerable. Exemplarily, 4G / 5G systems acquire baseband signals based on Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) waveforms, and the specific process involves: mapping a bit sequence into a complex-valued modulation symbol sequence by means of a modulation mapper; and obtaining frequency-domain OFDM baseband signals based on the complex-valued modulation symbol sequence. For example, Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) modulation may be utilized to map the bit sequence into the complex-valued modulation symbol sequence. Since the above modulation mapping method utilizing the QPSK modulation is a well-known method, a malicious user may receive the signals through the same process as a legitimate receiver and demodulate each complex-valued modulation symbol, thereby intercepting the messages.

[0143] In some scenarios, a base station needs to establish a whitelist for the accessed terminals to prevent illegal terminals from stealing information from the network and other terminals. In these scenarios, terminals that are not included in the whitelist are treated as restricted access terminals, and only part of the network functions can be used by the restricted access terminals, while terminals that are included in the whitelist can obtain all network services.

[0144] How to efficiently establish the terminal whitelist is a pressing issue.

[0145] The present disclosure proposes a method performed by a user equipment UE in a cellular wireless communication system. The method according to an embodiment includes: receiving configuration information, where the configuration information includes information on a first resource associated with a first signal and information on a second resource associated with a feedback signal, and the first signal and the feedback signal are associated with authentication of the UE, transmitting the first signal on the first resource, and receiving the feedback signal on the second resource, where the feedback signal includes information on an authentication result of the UE, which may efficiently establish a terminal whitelist.

[0146] FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic flowchart of a method performed by a user equipment in a cellular wireless communication network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0147] In a method 400 as shown in FIG. 4, in step 401, configuration information is received.

[0148] In step 402, a first signal is transmitted on a first resource.

[0149] In step 403, a feedback signal is received on a second resource.

[0150] Exemplarily, the configuration information may include information on the first resource associated with the first signal and information on the second resource associated with the feedback signal, and the first signal and the feedback signal are associated with authentication of the UE.

[0151] Exemplarily, the first signal is based on a measurement signal or a group of reference signals received by the UE.

[0152] Exemplarily, the feedback signal includes information on an authentication result of the UE. Here, the information on the authentication result of the UE may be used for the UE to identify whether the authentication of the UE is successful.

[0153] The UE receives the configuration information, transmits the first signal on the first resource, monitors the feedback signal on the second resource, and identifies whether the authentication is successful through the feedback signal.

[0154] Optionally, the first signal carries radio frequency fingerprint information of the UE. Thus, physical layer radio frequency fingerprint information of the UE can be collected fast and efficiently, so that a whitelist for radio frequency fingerprints of legitimate terminals is established, and the authentication of authorized terminals is completed.

[0155] In one possible approach, the configuration information may further include information on a third resource associated with the measurement signal. The method of the present disclosure may further include: receiving the measurement signal on the third resource.

[0156] Exemplarily, the measurement signal may include a signal for measuring channel quality, or the like.

[0157] For example, after the measurement signal is received, the measurement signal may be forwarded on the first resource. Transmitting the first signal may be forwarding of the measurement signal.

[0158] Optionally, the first signal may be obtained after performing analog-to-digital conversion on the measurement signal. For example, after performing analog-to-digital conversion on the measurement signal, the UE may transmit the measurement signal obtained by the analog-to-digital conversion directly as a time domain transmission signal on the first resource.

[0159] Alternatively, the first signal may be obtained by a coding and modulating using a first modulation coding method, after a demodulation and decoding on the measurement signal, where the first modulation coding method is the same as a modulation coding method used for the measurement signal.

[0160] Alternatively, the first signal may be obtained by a coding and modulating using a second modulation coding method, after a demodulation and decoding on the measurement signal, where the second modulation coding method may be different from the modulation coding method used for the measurement signal. Optionally, the configuration information may further include the second modulation coding method, informing the UE of the modulation coding method used in the process of transmitting the measurement signal by the base station.

[0161] In another possible approach, the configuration information may further include reference signal group configuration information, which includes information on a reference signal sequence. The first signal is generated based on the reference signal sequence. In the present disclosure, the reference signal group configuration information may also be referred to as information on the group of reference signals.

[0162] Exemplarily, the group of reference signals may include one or more reference signals. The reference signal group configuration information may include information on one or more reference signal sequences. The first signal may be a group of reference signals generated based on the one or more reference signal sequences in the reference signal group configuration information.

[0163] Optionally, the reference signal group configuration information may include the number of reference signal sequences and / or a reference signal sequence index. The reference signal group configuration information may further include one or more reference signal sequence generation methods. Alternatively, one or more reference signal sequence generation methods may be predefined.

[0164] Alternatively, the reference signal group configuration information may include a base sequence and a relative relationship between the reference signal sequence and the base sequence.

[0165] Exemplarily, the base sequence, which may also be referred to as a base reference signal sequence, may be pre-set or configured in a higher-layer signaling or a downlink control channel.

[0166] Exemplarily, the number of relative relationships may be one or more. The reference signal group configuration information may include one or more relative relationships between the reference signal sequence and the base sequence. Exemplarily, the relative relationship between the reference signal sequence and the base sequence may include one or more of: a power offset relationship between the reference signal sequence and the base sequence, a phase offset relationship between the reference signal sequence and the base sequence, and a density relationship of a comb structure between the reference signal sequence and the base sequence.

[0167] For example, the power offset relationship between the reference signal sequence and the base sequence may be expressed as:

[0168]

[0169] where, i is the reference signal sequence index, is a power offset factor, x is the base sequence, and xiis the reference signal sequence corresponding to the reference signal sequence index i. Optionally, a separate power offset factor may be configured for each reference signal sequence, for example, by replacing with αi.

[0170] For example, the phase offset relationship between the reference signal sequence and the base sequence may be expressed as:

[0171]

[0172] where, i is the reference signal sequence index, is a configured phase offset factor, x is the base sequence, and xiis the reference signal sequence corresponding to the reference signal sequence index i. Optionally, a separate phase offset factor may be configured for each reference signal sequence.

[0173] Optionally, the first resource is in one-to-one association with the reference signal sequence. For example, the first resource is in one-to-one association with the reference signal sequence index, or the first resource is in one-to-one association with the relative relationship (the relative relationship between the reference signal sequence and the base sequence). The UE may transmit a reference signal generated based on the corresponding reference signal sequence index on the corresponding resource.

[0174] The first resource is in one-to-one association with the reference signal sequence, may include: there is a one-to-one corresponding relationship between a time unit index and the reference signal sequence index in the information on the first resource, there is a one-to-one corresponding relationship between a frequency unit index and the reference signal sequence index in the information on the first resource, and there is a one-to-one corresponding relationship between a time-frequency resource block and the reference signal sequence index in the information on the first resource.

[0175] Exemplarily, the information on the first resource includes one or more time units. The time unit may be a symbol, a mini slot, or a slot. The number of time units corresponds to the number of reference signal sequences in the group of reference signals. There is a one-to-one corresponding relationship between the time unit index and the reference signal sequence index.

[0176] Exemplarily, the information on the first resource includes one or more frequency units. The frequency unit may be a resource block, or a resource block group. The number of frequency units corresponds to the number of reference signal sequences in the group of reference signals. There is a one-to-one corresponding relationship between the frequency unit index and the reference signal sequence index.

[0177] Exemplarily, the information on the first resource includes one or more defined time-frequency resource blocks. The time-frequency resource block includes a time unit and a frequency unit. Each time-frequency resource block corresponds to a reference signal sequence. The number of the time-frequency resource blocks corresponds to the number of signal sequences in the group of reference signals. There is a one-to-one corresponding relationship between the time-frequency resource block and the reference signal sequence index which is established according to a time-first or frequency-first rule.

[0178] In some embodiments, various methods may be used to configure the information on the first resource, the information on the second resource, and / or the information on the third resource associated with the measurement signal.

[0179] For example, in method 1, the information on the first resource may include: Time domain Resource Allocation (TDRA) and / or Frequency domain Resource Allocation (FDRA) of the configured resource. The UE is informed of the information on the first resource based on the TDRA and the FDRA. Alternatively, in method 2, the information on the first resource may include: a time-frequency resource position of the configured resource. The UE is informed of the information on the first resource based on the time-frequency resource position. Alternatively, in method 3, the first resource may be reserved. For example, the information on the reserved first resource may include one or more of: a time-frequency resource start position, a time-frequency resource size, and a time-frequency resource end position.

[0180] Similarly, in method 1, the information on the second resource may include: TDRA and / or FDRA of the configured resource. Alternatively, in method 2, the information on the second resource may include: a time-frequency resource position of the configured resource. Alternatively, in method 3, the second resource may be reserved. For example, the information on the reserved second resource may include one or more of: a time-frequency resource start position, a time-frequency resource size, and a time-frequency resource end position. In method 1, the information on the third resource may include: TDRA and / or FDRA of the configured resource. Alternatively, in method 2, the information on the third resource may include: a time-frequency resource position of the configured resource. Alternatively, in method 3, the third resource may be reserved. For example, the information on the reserved third resource may include one or more of: a time-frequency resource start position, a time-frequency resource size, and a time-frequency resource end position.

[0181] Optionally, the time-frequency resource start position may include a start time unit index and / or a start frequency unit index. The time-frequency resource size may include the number of time units and / or the number of frequency units. The time-frequency resource end position may include an end time unit index and / or an end frequency unit index.

[0182] In some other embodiments, the information on the first resource, the information on the second resource, and / or the information on the third resource associated with the measurement signal may be configured using a method (referred to as method 4) combining the above method 1, method 2, and / or method 3. For example, taking method 1 and the information on the first resource as a base, the information on the first resource may include the time-frequency resource position of the configured resource, the information on the second resource may include a time-domain offset and / or a frequency-domain offset relative to the first resource, and the information on the third resource may include a time-domain offset and / or a frequency-domain offset relative to the first resource. The information on the second resource or the information o n the third resource may also be used as the base, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0183] Alternatively, the information on the first resource, the information on the second resource, and / or the information on the third resource associated with the measurement signal may be configured in various possible methods, such as in exactly the same as described above, partially the same, or completely different methods.

[0184] As an example, the configuration information includes the information on the first resource, the information on the second resource, and the information on the third resource associated with the measurement signal. For example, the information on the first resource and the information on the second resource and the information on the third resource associated with the measurement signal may be configured using one of the above method 1, method 2, method 3, and method 4. For example, the information on the first resource and the information on the second resource may be configured using method 1, and the information on the third resource may be configured using method 3. For example, the information on the first resource and the information on the second resource may be configured using method 1, method 2, and method 3, respectively, and the information on the third resource may be configured using method 3.

[0185] Optionally, the resources configured by the information on the first resource, the information on the second resource, and / or the information on the third resource in the configuration information are reserved. The method of the present disclosure may further include: receiving information on whether the reserved resource is activated. For example, the configuration information includes the information on whether the reserved resource is activated. For example, the information on whether the reserved resource is activated is received in a downlink control channel.

[0186] Optionally, the information on whether the reserved resource is activated may include 1-bit indication information. For example, the 1-bit indication information indicates inactivity when it is 0, and indicates activation when it is 1. Alternatively, the 1-bit indication information indicates inactivity when it is 1, and indicates activation when it is 0. Alternatively, the 1-bit indication information indicates inactivity when it is unchanged, and indicates activation when it is flipped.

[0187] The information on the first resource, the information on the second resource and / or the information on the third resource in the configuration information may use a common activation indication or separate activation indications.

[0188] For example, when the common activation indication is used, the UE acquires the information on the first resource, the information on the second resource, and the information on the third resource as follows. The UE detects and reads activation indication information in downlink control information on the downlink control channel. If the activation indication information indicates that the reserved resource is activated, it means that the information on the first resource, the information on the second resource, and the information on the third resource are all activated.

[0189] When separate activation indications are used, the downlink control information includes multiple pieces of activation indication information, each of which corresponds to information on one or more resources. For example, the downlink control information includes 3 pieces of activation indication information, corresponding to the information on the first resource, the information on the second resource, and the information on the third resource, respectively. Alternatively, the downlink control information includes 2 pieces of activation indication information, wherein one piece of the activation indication information corresponds to the information on the third resource, and the other piece of activation indication information corresponds to the information on the first resource and the information on the second resource.

[0190] Optionally, the information on whether the reserved resource is activated may indicate whether the reserved resource is activated, or may indicate whether the reserved resource is de-activated.

[0191] In some embodiments, the configuration information may be received in downlink control information, downlink broadcast information and / or a higher-layer signaling.

[0192] Exemplarily, the TDRA and / or FDRA of the information on the first resource may be received in downlink control information. The time-frequency resource position of the configured resource of the information on the second resource may be received in a higher-layer signaling. The information on the reserved second resource may be received in a higher-layer signaling or in the downlink broadcast information on a downlink broadcast channel. In another example, the time-frequency resource position of the first resource, the time-domain offset and / or the frequency-domain offset of the second resource relative to the first resource, and the time-domain offset and / or the frequency-domain offset of the third resource relative to the first resource may be received in a higher-layer signaling or in downlink control information. Alternatively, the information on the first resource and the information on the third resource are received in a higher-layer signaling or in downlink control information, and the time-domain offset and / or the frequency-domain offset of the second resource relative to the first resource or the third resource may be received in a higher-layer signaling or in downlink control information.

[0193] Optionally, the information on the first resource, the information on the second resource, and the information on the third resource may be received in reception methods that are exactly the same, partially the same, or completely different. For example, the UE receives the information on the first resource, the information on the second resource, and the information on the third resource in a higher-layer signaling. For example, the UE receives the information on the first resource and the information on the third resource in a higher-layer signaling, and receives the information on the second resource in downlink control information. For example, the UE receives the information on the first resource, the information on the second resource, and the information on the third resource in downlink control information, downlink broadcast information, and a higher-layer signaling, respectively.

[0194] The features in the above example of the present disclosure in which the configuration information includes the information on the first resource, the information on the second resource, and the information on the third resource, are all applicable to the example in which the configuration information includes the information on the first resource and the information on the second resource, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0195] In some embodiments, the UE monitors the feedback signal on the second resource If the feedback signal indicates successful authentication, the UE becomes an authorized terminal.

[0196] Optionally, in the case where the feedback signal indicates successful authentication, a connection is established with the base station.

[0197] In some embodiments, in the case where the feedback signal indicates an authentication failure, the feedback signal further includes information on retransmitting (or transmitting) the first signal, or receiving the configuration information. Optionally, the feedback signal may further include the configuration information, which may include configuration information for generating the group of reference signals (corresponding to the reference signal group configuration information), information on a resource for retransmitting (or transmitting) the first signal (corresponding to the information on the first resource), information on a resource for receiving the feedback signal (corresponding to the information on the second resource), and / or information on a resource for receiving the measurement signal (corresponding to the information on the third resource).

[0198] Exemplarily, the information on retransmitting the first signal (or the information on transmitting the first signal) may indicate the UE to transmit the first signal. The information on retransmitting the first signal may include indication information indicating the UE to retransmit the first signal. It may also include the number of retransmissions. For example, the UE is indicated to perform the above steps 402-403.

[0199] Exemplarily, the information on receiving the configuration information may indicate the UE to receive the configuration information. The information on receiving the configuration information may include indication information indicating the UE to receive the configuration information, such as indicating the UE to perform the above steps 401-403, to re-receive the configuration information, to retransmit the first signal, or to receive the feedback signal.

[0200] Exemplarily, in the case where the first signal is a retransmission of the measurement signal and the feedback signal indicates an authentication failure, the feedback signal may further include the information on retransmitting the first signal, the information on the resource for retransmitting the first signal, and the information on the resource for receiving the feedback signal. The UE does not need to re-receive the information on the third resource, which may reduce an overhead generated by configuring the information. The UE also does not need to receive the measurement signal. The UE may directly forward the previous measurement signal, directly transmit the first signal on a resource configured by the information on the resource for retransmitting the first signal, and receive the feedback signal on a resource configured by the information on the resource for receiving the feedback signal. For example, this behaviour may correspond to a situation that the base station noticed a reception error for the first signal transmitted by the UE, e.g., being unable to extract valid radio frequency fingerprint information, being unable to authenticate the terminal. Thus, the terminal needs to re-transmit the received measurement signal.

[0201] Exemplarily, in the case where the first signal is a retransmission of the measurement signal and the feedback signal indicates an authentication failure, the feedback signal may further include the information on receiving the configuration information, the information on the resource for retransmitting the first signal, the information on the resource for receiving the feedback signal, and the information on the resource for receiving the measurement signal (information on a resource for re-receiving the measurement signal). The UE re-receives the configuration information, receives the measurement signal on a resource configured by the information on the resource for receiving the measurement signal, transmits the first signal on a resource configured by the information on the resource for retransmitting the first signal, and receives the feedback signal on a resource configured by the information on the resource for receiving the feedback signal. For example, this behaviour may correspond to a situation that the base station correctly received the first signal, e.g., correctly extracted the radio frequency fingerprint information on the UE, but needs more information or more types of RF fingerprint information; or the base station correctly extracted a part of the RF fingerprint information. For such cases, the base station reconfigures the resources for RF fingerprint extraction, so that the efficiency of acquiring RF fingerprint information may be improved, and the identification and authentication of different types of RF fingerprint information are supported.

[0202] Exemplarily, in the case where the first signal is the group of reference signals and the feedback signal indicates an authentication failure, the feedback signal may further include the information on retransmitting the first signal, the information on the resource for retransmitting the first signal and the information on the resource for receiving the feedback signal. For example, when the UE does not receive the reference signal group configuration information in the feedback signal, the UE may transmit the group of reference signals previously generated based on the received reference signal group configuration information on a resource configured by the information on the resource for retransmitting the first signal, and receive the feedback signal on a resource configured by the information on the resource for receiving the feedback signal. For example, this behaviour may correspond to a situation that the base station noticed a reception error for the first signal transmitted by the UE, e.g., being unable to extract valid radio frequency fingerprint information, being unable to authenticate the terminal. Thus, the terminal needs to re-transmit the group of reference signals.

[0203] Exemplarily, in the case where the first signal is the group of reference signals and the feedback signal indicates an authentication failure, the feedback signal may further include the information on receiving the configuration information, the configuration information for generating the group of reference signals, information on a resource for transmitting the first signal and the information on the resource for receiving the feedback signal. For example, the UE generates the group of reference signals based on the newly received configuration information for generating the group of reference signals, and transmits the group of reference signals (the first signal) on a resource configured by the information on the resource for transmitting the first signal, and receives the feedback signal on a resource configured by the information on the resource for receiving the feedback signal. For example, this behaviour may correspond to a situation that the base station correctly received the first signal, e.g., correctly extracted the radio frequency fingerprint information on the UE, but needs more information or more types of RF fingerprint information; or the base station correctly extracted a part of the RF fingerprint information. For such cases, the base station reconfigures the resources and the group of reference signals for RF fingerprint extraction, so that the efficiency of acquiring RF fingerprint information may be improved, and the identification and authentication of different types of RF fingerprint information are supported.

[0204] In some embodiments, the feedback signal may be received on a downlink control channel or a downlink shared channel, or may be transmitted in the form of a sequence on the second resource.

[0205] Optionally, the transmission and the configuration of the configuration information for generating the group of reference signals, the information on the resource for retransmitting (or transmitting) the first signal, the information on the resource for receiving the feedback signal and the information on the resource for receiving the measurement signal in the feedback signal are similar to transmission and the configuration of the reference signal group configuration information, the information on the first resource, the information on the second resource, and the information on the third resource as described above, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0206] A structure of the feedback signal is described below in conjunction with FIG. 5a to FIG. 5d.

[0207] As shown in FIG. 5a, the feedback signal may include an authentication indication bit, a first bit, and resource configuration information. The authentication indication bit is used to indicate whether the authentication is successful. If the authentication indication bit indicates an authentication failure, the first bit may indicate the information on retransmitting the first signal, or the information on receiving the configuration information, and the resource configuration information may include configuration information for regenerating the group of reference signals, the information on the resource for retransmitting the first signal, information on the resource for re-receiving the feedback signal, and / or the information on the resource for re-receiving the measurement signal.

[0208] As shown in FIG. 5b, the feedback signal may include an authentication indication bit, a first bit, and resource configuration information scheduling indication. Description of the authentication indication bit and the first bit may be referred to the corresponding description in the above FIG. 5a and thus is omitted herein. The resource configuration information scheduling indication may include configuration information for regenerating the group of reference signals, information on a location of the resource for retransmitting the first signal, information on a location of the resource for re-receiving the feedback signal, and / or information on a location of the resource for re-receiving the measurement signal. In this way, when the UE reads the resource configuration information scheduling indication, the UE would obtain the location of the resource for retransmitting the first signal, the location of the resource for re-receiving the feedback signal and / or the location of the resource for re-receiving the measurement signal based on the resource configuration information scheduling indication.

[0209] Optionally, in conjunction with FIG. 5a and FIG. 5b, when the resource for retransmitting the first signal, the resource for re-receiving the feedback signal and / or the resource for re-receiving the measurement signal are reserved resources, the first bit may indicate information on whether the reserved resource is activated, or whether the reserved resource is de-activated. The UE may learn about the activation indication of the corresponding resource from the first bit.

[0210] In addition to using the bit to indicate whether the authentication is successful, a sequence may also be used to indicate whether the authentication is successful. As shown in FIG. 5c, the feedback signal may include an authentication indication sequence, a first sequence, and resource configuration information. The authentication indication sequence is used to indicate whether the authentication is successful. If the authentication indication sequence indicates an authentication failure, the first sequence indicates information on retransmitting the first signal, or information on receiving the configuration information. The description of the resource configuration information may be referred to the corresponding description in the above FIG. 5a and is omitted herein.

[0211] As shown in FIG. 5d, the feedback signal may include an authentication indication sequence, a first sequence, and resource configuration information scheduling indication. Description of the authentication indication sequence and the first sequence may be referred to the corresponding description in the above FIG. 5c, description of the resource configuration information scheduling indication may be referred to the corresponding description in the above FIG. 5b, which thus are omitted herein.

[0212] Optionally, in conjunction with FIG. 5c and FIG. 5d, when the resource for retransmitting the first signal, the resource for re-receiving the feedback signal and / or the resource for re-receiving the measurement signal are reserved resources, the first sequence may indicate information on whether the reserved resource is activated, or whether the reserved resource is de-activated. The UE learns about the activation indication of the corresponding resource from the first sequence.

[0213] In some embodiments, the method of the present disclosure may further include: receiving the configuration information, in the case where no feedback signal is received on the second resource.

[0214] For example, if the UE does not receive the feedback signal on the second resource, it re-reads the configuration information, such as the information on the resource for retransmitting the first signal, the information on the resource for receiving the feedback signal, and the information on the resource for receiving the measurement signal. Alternatively, it re-reads the configuration information for generating the group of reference signals, the information on the resource for transmitting the first signal, and the information on the resource for receiving the feedback signal, and retransmits the first signal, for example, the UE performs the above steps 401-403 again, to establish the terminal whitelist.

[0215] Embodiment 1:

[0216] FIG. 6 illustrates a schematic flowchart of a method performed by a user equipment in a cellular wireless communication network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0217] In the method 600 as shown in FIG. 6, in step 601, configuration information is received.

[0218] In step 602, a measurement signal on a third resource is received.

[0219] In step 603, a first signal on a first resource is transmitted.

[0220] In step 604, a feedback signal on a second resource is received.

[0221] Exemplarily, the configuration information includes information on the first resource associated with the first signal, information on the second resource associated with the feedback signal, and information on the third resource associated with the measurement signal. The third resource is used to receive the measurement signal. The first resource is used to forward the measurement signal (or transmit the first signal). The second resource is used to receive the feedback signal.

[0222] Exemplarily, the first signal and the feedback signal are associated with authentication of the UE. Optionally, the first signal carries radio frequency fingerprint information of the UE.

[0223] Exemplarily, the feedback signal includes information on an authentication result of the UE.

[0224] In steps 601-604, the configuration information, the measurement signal, the first signal, the feedback signal, the information on the first resource associated with the first signal, the information on the second resource associated with the feedback signal, and the information on the third resource associated with the measurement signal may be referred to the corresponding description in the method shown in the above FIG. 4. The detailed description will be omitted.

[0225] According to the method shown in FIG. 6, the UE can complete the authentication process without the specific structure of the measurement signal, and a whitelist of legitimate terminals may be established more quickly and efficiently.

[0226] Embodiment 2:

[0227] FIG. 7 illustrates a schematic flowchart of a method performed by a user equipment in a cellular wireless communication network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0228] In the method 700 as shown in FIG. 7, in step 701, configuration information is received.

[0229] In step 702, a first signal is generated based on reference signal group configuration information.

[0230] In step 703, the first signal is transmitted on a first resource.

[0231] In step 704, a feedback signal is received on a second resource.

[0232] Exemplarily, the configuration information includes information on the first resource associated with the first signal, and information on the second resource associated with the feedback signal. The reference signal group configuration information is used to generate a group of reference signals (first signal). The first resource is used to transmit the first signal. The second resource is used to receive the feedback signal.

[0233] Exemplarily, the first signal and the feedback signal are associated with authentication of the UE. Optionally, the first signal carries radio frequency fingerprint information on the UE.

[0234] Optionally, the first signal is generated based on the reference signal group configuration information. The generated first signal is the group of reference signals, including one or more reference signals, such that the identification and authentication of different types of radio frequency fingerprint information can be supported.

[0235] Exemplarily, the feedback signal includes information on an authentication result of the UE.

[0236] In steps 701-704, the configuration information, the first signal, the feedback signal, the reference signal group configuration information, the information on the first resource associated with the first signal, and the information on the second resource associated with the feedback signal may be referred to the corresponding description in the method shown in the above FIG. 4. The detailed description will be omitted.

[0237] The above method described in the present disclosure may be performed by a UE including a transceiver and a processor. FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary structure of a UE according to the present disclosure. The UE may be referred to as the UE 116 in FIG. 3a. As shown in FIG. 8, the UE includes a transceiver 810 and a processor 820 coupled to the transceiver 810. The transceiver 810 is configured to transmit and receive signals. The processor 820 is configured to perform the method described in the present disclosure. The present disclosure may also be implemented as a computer storage medium. The computer storage medium has computer executable instructions stored therein. When the stored computer executable instructions are executed by a processor, the processor performs the method described in the present disclosure.

[0238] The UE and the method performed by a UE according to embodiments of the present disclosure are described above. It should be understood that the base station performing the corresponding steps and the corresponding method performed by a base station are also included in the scope of the present disclosure.

[0239] According to an exemplary embodiment, a method performed by a base station in a cellular wireless communication system may include: transmitting configuration information, where the configuration information includes information on a first resource associated with a first signal and information on a second resource associated with a feedback signal, and the first signal and the feedback signal are associated with authentication of a UE; receiving the first signal on the first resource, the first signal being based on a measurement signal or a group of reference signals received by the UE; and transmitting the feedback signal on the second resource, where the feedback signal includes information on an authentication result of the UE.

[0240] In an exemplary embodiment, the configuration information further includes information on a third resource associated with the measurement signal, and the method performed by a base station further includes: transmitting the measurement signal on the third resource.

[0241] In an exemplary embodiment, the first signal is obtained by an analog-to-digital conversion on the measurement signal; or, the first signal is obtained by a coding and modulation, using a first modulation coding method, on a signal obtained by a demodulation and decoding of the measurement signal, wherein the first modulation coding method is same as a modulation coding method used for the measurement signal.

[0242] In an exemplary embodiment, the configuration information further includes information on the group of reference signals.

[0243] In an exemplary embodiment, the information on the group of reference signals includes the number of reference signal sequences and / or a reference signal sequence index, or, the information on the group of reference signals includes a base sequence and a relative relationship between the reference signal sequence and the base sequence, where the first resource configured by first resource configuration information is in one-to-one association with the reference signal sequence.

[0244] In an exemplary embodiment, the relative relationship between the reference signal sequence and the base sequence includes one or more of: a power offset relationship between the reference signal sequence and the base sequence, a phase offset relationship between the reference signal sequence and the base sequence, and a density relationship of a comb structure between the reference signal sequence and the base sequence.

[0245] In an exemplary embodiment, the method performed by a base station further includes: establishing a connection with the UE, in the case where the feedback signal indicates successful authentication.

[0246] In an exemplary embodiment, in the case where the feedback signal indicates an authentication failure, the feedback signal further includes information on retransmitting the first signal, or receiving the configuration information.

[0247] In an exemplary embodiment, the configuration information is transmitted periodically.

[0248] In an exemplary embodiment, the configuration information is transmitted in downlink control information, downlink broadcast information and / or a higher-layer signaling.

[0249] In an exemplary embodiment, the first resource is reserved and / or the second resource is reserved, and the method performed by a base station further includes: transmitting information on whether the reserved resource is activated on a downlink control channel.

[0250] In an exemplary embodiment, the feedback signal is transmitted on a downlink control channel or a downlink shared channel.

[0251] In addition, other technical features related to the base station in the embodiments described with respect to the UE are applicable to the base station according to the present disclosure.

[0252] The illustrative logic boxes, modules, and circuits described in the present disclosure can be implemented or performed with general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in an alternative scheme, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors collaborating with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0253] The steps of the methods or algorithms described in the present disclosure may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by the processor, or in a combination of the two. The software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard drives, removable discs, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. Exemplary storage mediums are coupled to the processor to enable the processor to read and write information from / to the storage mediums. In an alternative scheme, the storage medium may be integrated into the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC, which may reside in a user equipment terminal. In an alternative scheme, the processor and the storage medium may reside in a user equipment terminal as discrete components.

[0254] In one or more exemplary designs, the functions may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored or transmitted as one or more instructions or codes on or through the computer readable medium. The computer readable medium includes both computer storage medium and communication medium, the latter including any medium that facilitates the transfer of computer programs from one place to another. The storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer. In addition, computer-readable storage media may be provided in the form of non-transitory storage media. The 'non-transitory storage medium' is a tangible device and only means that it does not contain a signal (e.g., electromagnetic waves). This term does not distinguish a case in which data is stored semi-permanently in a storage medium from a case in which data is temporarily stored. For example, the non-transitory recording medium may include a buffer in which data is temporarily stored.

[0255] In conjunction with the accompanying drawings, the description set forth herein describes example methods and apparatuses, and does not represent all examples that may be implemented or that are within the scope of the claims. The term "example" as used herein means "used as an example, instance, or illustration" not "preferred" or "superior to other examples". The detailed description includes specific details intended to provide an understanding of the described technology. However, it is possible to practice the technology without these specific details. In some cases, well-known structures and devices are illustrated in block diagram form to avoid blurring the concepts of the described examples.

[0256] Although this specification contains a plurality of specific implementation details, these should not be construed as limitations on any disclosure or the scope of the claimed protection, but rather as descriptions of particular features of particular embodiments of particular disclosures. Certain features described in this specification in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination. Furthermore, although features may be described above as functioning in certain combinations and even initially being so claimed for protection, in some cases, one or more features from the combination for which protection is claimed may be removed from the combination, and the combination for which protection is claimed may be directed to a sub-combination or a variation of the sub-combination. Any of the above variation embodiments can be utilized independently or in combination with at least one other variation embodiment. The above flowchart(s) illustrate example methods that can be implemented in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure and various changes could be made to the methods illustrated in the flowcharts herein. For example, while shown as a series of steps, various steps in each figure could overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, or occur multiple times. In another example, steps may be omitted or replaced by other steps.

[0257] It should be understood that the particular order or hierarchy of steps in the methods of the present disclosure are illustrative of exemplary processes. Based on design preferences, it may be understood that the particular order or hierarchy of steps in the methods may be rearranged to achieve the functions and effects disclosed in the present disclosure. The appended method claims present elements of the various steps in an example order and are not meant to be limited to the particular order or hierarchy presented unless specifically stated otherwise. In addition, although elements may be described or claimed in the singular form, the plural is also to be expected unless a limitation on the singular is explicitly stated. Accordingly, the present disclosure is not limited to the examples shown, and any apparatus for executing the functions described herein is included in the aspects of the present disclosure. In addition, the symbol “ / ” as used in the present disclosure should be understood as “and / or”.

[0258] The text and the accompanying drawings are provided as examples only to assist readers in understanding the present disclosure. They are not intended to and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present disclosure in any way. Although certain embodiments and examples have been provided, based on what is disclosed herein, it may be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes can be made to the shown embodiments and examples without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0259] Meanwhile, although specific embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail, various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the scope of the present disclosure should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be defined by the claims and equivalents thereof.

Claims

1.A method performed by a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:receiving configuration information, wherein the configuration information comprises information on a first resource associated with a first signal and information on a second resource associated with a feedback signal, and the first signal and the feedback signal are associated with authentication of the UE;transmitting the first signal on the first resource, the first signal being based on a measurement signal or a group of reference signals received by the UE; andreceiving the feedback signal on the second resource, wherein the feedback signal comprises information on an authentication result of the UE.2.The method of claim 1, wherein the configuration information further comprises information on a third resource associated with the measurement signal, and the method further comprises:receiving the measurement signal on the third resource.3.The method of claim 2, wherein:the first signal is obtained by an analog-to-digital conversion on the measurement signal; or,the first signal is obtained by a coding and modulation, using a first modulation coding method, on a signal obtained by a demodulation and decoding of the measurement signal, wherein the first modulation coding method is same as a modulation coding method used for the measurement signal.4.The method of claim 1, wherein the configuration information further comprises information on the group of reference signals.5.The method of claim 4, wherein:the information on the group of reference signals comprises a number of reference signal sequences and / or a reference signal sequence index, or,the information on the group of reference signals comprises a base sequence and a relative relationship between the reference signal sequence and the base sequence,wherein the first resource configured by first resource configuration information is in one-to-one association with the reference signal sequence.6.The method of claim 5, wherein the relative relationship between the reference signal sequence and the base sequence comprises at least one of:a power offset relationship between the reference signal sequence and the base sequence,a phase offset relationship between the reference signal sequence and the base sequence, ordensity relationship of a comb structure between the reference signal sequence and the base sequence.7.The method of claim 1, further comprising:establishing a connection with a base station, in the case where the feedback signal indicates successful authentication.8.The method of claim 1, wherein, in the case where the feedback signal indicates an authentication failure, the feedback signal further comprises information on retransmitting the first signal, or receiving the configuration information.9.The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving the configuration information, in the case where no feedback signal is received on the second resource.10.The method of claim 1, wherein the configuration information is received in downlink control information, downlink broadcast information and / or a higher-layer signaling.11.The method of claim 1, wherein the first resource is reserved and / or the second resource is reserved, and the method further comprises:receiving information on whether the reserved resource is activated on a downlink control channel.12.The method of claim 1, wherein the feedback signal is received on a downlink control channel or a downlink shared channel.13.A method performed by a base station in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:transmitting configuration information, wherein the configuration information comprises information on a first resource associated with a first signal and information on a second resource associated with a feedback signal, and the first signal and the feedback signal are associated with authentication of a user equipment (UE);receiving the first signal on the first resource, the first signal being based on a measurement signal or a group of reference signals received by the UE; andtransmitting the feedback signal on the second resource, wherein the feedback signal comprises information on an authentication result of the UE.14.A user equipment UE, comprising:at least one transceiver;at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one transceiver; andat least one memory, communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, storing instructions executable by the at least one processor individually or in any combination to cause the UE to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-12.15.A base station, comprising:at least one transceiver;at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one transceiver; andat least one memory, communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, storing instructions executable by the at least one processor individually or in any combination to cause the base station to perform the method according to claim 13.

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