Techniques for sounding reference signal (SRS) port grouping
SRS port grouping on opposite sides of a foldable UE's hinge optimizes performance by reducing complexity and enhancing signal quality and throughput in wireless communication systems.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- WO · WO
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2024-09-23
- Publication Date
- 2026-03-26
AI Technical Summary
The implementation of multiple ports in wireless communication systems, particularly in foldable UEs, leads to increased complexity and the need for improved signal processing techniques to manage data streams and interference, along with precise channel state information feedback without overwhelming the control channel or increasing latency.
The use of SRS port grouping, where different sets of transmit and receive antenna ports are configured on opposite sides of a foldable UE's hinge, allowing for flexible communication and optimizing performance across various configurations, thereby reducing MIMO receiver complexity.
This approach enhances signal quality, reduces communication latency, and improves throughput by effectively managing multiple ports and accommodating physical constraints in foldable devices.
Smart Images

Figure CN2024120350_26032026_PF_FP_ABST
Abstract
Description
TECHNIQUES FOR SOUNDING REFERENCE SIGNAL (SRS) PORT GROUPINGTECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communication systems, and more particularly, to sounding reference signal (SRS) port grouping, for example, for a foldable mobile device.
[0002] DESCRIPTION OF RELATED TECHNOLOGY
[0003] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be multiple-access systems capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power) . Examples of such multiple-access systems include code-division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time-division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency-division multiple access (FDMA) systems, and orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, and single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems.
[0004] These multiple access technologies have been adopted in various telecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that enables different wireless devices to communicate on a municipal, national, regional, and even global level. For example, a fifth generation (5G) wireless communications technology (which can be referred to as NR) is envisaged to expand and support diverse usage scenarios and applications with respect to current mobile network generations. In an aspect, 5G communications technology can include: enhanced mobile broadband addressing human-centric use cases for access to multimedia content, services and data; ultra-reliable-low latency communications (URLLC) with certain specifications for latency and reliability; and massive machine type communications, which can allow a very large number of connected devices and transmission of a relatively low volume of non-delay-sensitive information.
[0005] For example, the existing New Radio (NR) framework may support multiple ports for increased communication efficiency, i.e., higher throughput, lower latency, and better coverage. However, with more ports come increased implementation complexity at least at the signaling or channel level. Thus, improvements in wireless communication with respect to channel reporting may be desired.SUMMARY
[0006] The following presents a simplified summary of one or more aspects in order to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated aspects, and is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of all aspects nor delineate the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.
[0007] An example aspect includes a method of wireless communications at a user equipment (UE) having a plurality of antenna ports. The method includes transmitting a set of one or more sounding reference signal (SRS) resources to a network entity using a first SRS port group or a second SRS port group, wherein the first SRS port group comprises a first set of transmit antenna ports and a first set of receive antenna ports, wherein the second SRS port group comprises a second set of transmit antenna ports and a second set of receive antenna ports, where a quantity of the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group is different than a quantity of the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group, and where a quantity of the second set of transmit receive ports of the first SRS port group is different than a quantity of the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group. The method further including receiving downlink transmissions from the network entity based on transmitting the set of one or more SRS resources.
[0008] Another example aspect includes an apparatus for wireless communications at a UE having a plurality of antenna ports, comprising one or more memories and one or more processors coupled with one or more memories and configured to perform, individually or in any combination, the follow actions. The one or more processors are configured to transmit a set of one or more SRS resources to a network entity using a first SRS port group or a second SRS port group, wherein the first SRS port group comprises a first set of transmit antenna ports and a first set of receive antenna ports, wherein the second SRS port group comprises a second set of transmit antenna ports and a second set of receive antenna ports, where a quantity of the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group is different than a quantity of the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group, and where a quantity of the second set of transmit receive ports of the first SRS port group is different than a quantity of the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group. Additionally, the one or more processors are further configured to receive downlink transmissions from the network entity based on transmitting the set of one or more SRS resources.
[0009] Another example aspect includes an apparatus for wireless communications at a UE having a plurality of antenna ports, comprising means for transmitting a set of one or more SRS resources to a network entity using a first SRS port group or a second SRS port group, wherein the first SRS port group comprises a first set of transmit antenna ports and a first set of receive antenna ports, wherein the second SRS port group comprises a second set of transmit antenna ports and a second set of receive antenna ports, where a quantity of the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group is different than a quantity of the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group, and where a quantity of the second set of transmit receive ports of the first SRS port group is different than a quantity of the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group. The apparatus further includes means for receiving downlink transmissions from the network entity based on transmitting the set of one or more SRS resources.
[0010] Another example aspect includes a computer-readable medium comprising stored instructions for wireless communications at a UE having a plurality of antenna ports, the instructions are executable by one or more processors, individually or in combination, to transmit a set of one or more SRS resources to a network entity using a first SRS port group or a second SRS port group, wherein the first SRS port group comprises a first set of transmit antenna ports and a first set of receive antenna ports, wherein the second SRS port group comprises a second set of transmit antenna ports and a second set of receive antenna ports, where a quantity of the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group is different than a quantity of the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group, and where a quantity of the second set of transmit receive ports of the first SRS port group is different than a quantity of the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group. The instructions are further executable to receive downlink transmissions from the network entity based on transmitting the set of one or more SRS resources.
[0011] An example aspect includes a method of wireless communications at a UE having a plurality of antenna ports. The method including transmitting a set of one or more SRS resources to a network entity using a first SRS port group or a second SRS port group, wherein the first SRS port group comprises a first set of transmit antenna ports and a first set of receive antenna ports, wherein the second SRS port group comprises a second set of transmit antenna ports and a second set of receive antenna ports, wherein a quantity of the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group is similar to a quantity of the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group, and wherein a quantity of the second set of transmit receive ports of the first SRS port group is similar to a quantity of the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group. The method further including receiving downlink transmissions from the network entity based on transmitting the set of one or more SRS resources.
[0012] Another example aspect includes an apparatus for wireless communications at a UE having a plurality of antenna ports, comprising one or more memories and one or more processors coupled with one or more memories and configured to perform, individually or in any combination, the follow actions. The one or more processors are configured to transmit a set of one or more SRS resources to a network entity using a first SRS port group or a second SRS port group, wherein the first SRS port group comprises a first set of transmit antenna ports and a first set of receive antenna ports, wherein the second SRS port group comprises a second set of transmit antenna ports and a second set of receive antenna ports, wherein a quantity of the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group is similar to a quantity of the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group, and wherein a quantity of the second set of transmit receive ports of the first SRS port group is similar to a quantity of the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group. Additionally, the one or more processors are further configured to receive downlink transmissions from the network entity based on transmitting the set of one or more SRS resources.
[0013] Another example aspect includes an apparatus for wireless communications at a UE having a plurality of antenna ports, comprising means for transmitting a set of one or more SRS resources to a network entity using a first SRS port group or a second SRS port group, wherein the first SRS port group comprises a first set of transmit antenna ports and a first set of receive antenna ports, wherein the second SRS port group comprises a second set of transmit antenna ports and a second set of receive antenna ports, wherein a quantity of the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group is similar to a quantity of the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group, and wherein a quantity of the second set of transmit receive ports of the first SRS port group is similar to a quantity of the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group. The apparatus further includes means for receiving downlink transmissions from the network entity based on transmitting the set of one or more SRS resources.
[0014] Another example aspect includes a computer-readable medium comprising stored instructions for wireless communications at a UE having a plurality of antenna ports, the instructions are executable by one or more processors, individually or in combination, to transmit a set of one or more SRS resources to a network entity using a first SRS port group or a second SRS port group, wherein the first SRS port group comprises a first set of transmit antenna ports and a first set of receive antenna ports, wherein the second SRS port group comprises a second set of transmit antenna ports and a second set of receive antenna ports, wherein a quantity of the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group is similar to a quantity of the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group, and wherein a quantity of the second set of transmit receive ports of the first SRS port group is similar to a quantity of the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group. The instructions are further executable to receive downlink transmissions from the network entity based on transmitting the set of one or more SRS resources.
[0015] To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the one or more aspects comprise the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and the annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative features of the one or more aspects. These features are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of various aspects may be employed, and this description is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] The disclosed aspects will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the appended drawings, provided to illustrate and not to limit the disclosed aspects, wherein like designations denote like elements, and in which:
[0017] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communication system, in accordance with various implementations of the present disclosure;
[0018] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a network entity (also referred to as a base station or gNB) , in accordance with various implementations of the present disclosure;
[0019] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a user equipment (UE) , in accordance with various implementations of the present disclosure;
[0020] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example disaggregated base station architecture, in accordance with various implementations of the present disclosure;
[0021] FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram of a wireless communication scheme supporting an eight port structure, in accordance with various implementations of the present disclosure;
[0022] FIG. 6 is a diagram of a single-codeword and two-codeword communication scheme, in accordance with various implementations of the present disclosure;
[0023] FIG. 7A is a diagram of an example three transmit antenna and six receive antenna structure, in accordance with various implementations of the present disclosure;
[0024] FIG. 7B is a diagram of first and second example of a three transmit antenna and eight receive antenna structures, in accordance with various implementations of the present disclosure;
[0025] FIG. 8 is a diagram of an example four transmit antenna and six receive antenna structure, in accordance with various implementations of the present disclosure;
[0026] FIG. 9A is a flowchart of an example of a method of wireless communications at a UE in accordance with various implementations of the present disclosure;
[0027] FIG. 9B is a flowchart of another example of a method of wireless communications at a UE in accordance with various implementations of the present disclosure; and
[0028] FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a MIMO communication system including a base station and a UE, in accordance with various implementations of the present disclosure.DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0029] Various aspects are now described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of one or more aspects. It may be evident, however, that such aspect (s) may be practiced without these specific details.
[0030] The described features generally relate to sounding reference signal (SRS) port grouping for user equipment (UE) devices, and in particular, foldable UEs. In New Radio (NR) systems, up to eight receiver ports or layers can be supported or utilized to enhance performance in several areas. For example, communicating using eight ports can improve spectral efficiency and capacity. By using multiple layers and receives ports, the system can support higher data rates and more simultaneous connections. The use of multiple ports, i.e., eight ports, may also enhance reliability and reduce latency, which is important for applications demanding immediate data transmission. Additionally, multiport communication may aid in mitigating signal degradation and interference, leading to improved coverage, especially in challenging environments such as highly dense urban areas or inside buildings.
[0031] Introducing additional ports or layers to a UE may result in implementation complexities. Multiport communications, notably at the UE, demands further improvements to signal processing techniques to manage the increased data streams and manage interference between antennas / spatial streams. Further, multiport communications demands precise and frequent channel state information (CSI) feedback from the UE to a network entity, i.e., gNB. Improvements in managing the feedback without overwhelming the control channel or increasing latency may be desired as well. Specifically, techniques relating to port grouping, and notably SRS ports for channel estimation, may be implemented to reduce complexity at the UE. For example, a UE may transmit an SRS per port to a network entity, i.e., gNB, to measure uplink channel conditions.
[0032] Aspects of the present disclosure may include the motivation behind the design of SRS port grouping for foldable UEs, which may address the issue of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) receiver complexity reduction. In some aspects, two receiver antenna groups, which may correspond to two SRS port groups, may be mounted on the two halves of the foldable UE. However, in some UEs, radio frequency circuitry may not cross the hinge or axis by which the UE device folds. The structural UE challenge may relate to effectively configuring SRS port grouping for various UE configurations, such as a first antenna configuration corresponding to three transmit antenna ports and six receiver antenna ports, a second antenna configuration corresponding to four transmit antennas and six receive antennas, and a third antenna configuration group corresponding to three transmit antennas and eight receive antennas. This may involve various techniques to ensure optimal performance while accommodating the physical constraints in foldable UEs, thereby enhancing the overall functionality and user experience of such devices.
[0033] Particular implementations of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented to realize one or more of the following potential advantages. The disclosed techniques can improve coverage for UEs in various communication environments. Effectively using multiple ports or layers may decrease in communication latency as well. Specifically, the techniques described herein may provide a flexible approach than enables a UE to improve signal quality in a coverage area and achieve higher throughput by implementing SRS port groups across all portions of a UE.
[0034] As such, the implementations set forth herein relate to a UE, i.e., foldable UE, transmitting SRS resources to a network entity, i.e., gNB, using a first SRS port group having a first set of transmit and receive antenna ports and a first set of receive antenna ports or a second SRS port group having a second set of transmit and receive antenna ports. The first SRS port group may be located on a first portion of the foldable UE associated with first side of a hinge or axis on which the UE folds, and the second SRS port group may be located on a second portion of the foldable UE associated with second side opposite the first side, i.e., opposite side of hinge. Further, a number or quantity of the first set of transmit and receive antenna ports of the first SRS port group may be either equal or not equal to a number of the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group, and a number or quantity of the second set of transmit receive ports of the first SRS port group may be equal or not equal to a number of the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group.
[0035] The described features will be presented in more detail below with reference to FIGS. 1-10.
[0036] As used in this application, the terms “component, ” “module, ” “system” and the like are intended to include a computer-related entity, such as but not limited to hardware, software, a combination of hardware and software, or software in execution. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and / or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a computing device and the computing device can be a component. One or more components can reside within a process and / or thread of execution and a component can be localized on one computer and / or distributed between two or more computers. In addition, these components can execute from various computer readable media having various data structures stored thereon. The components can communicate by way of local and / or remote processes such as in accordance with a signal having one or more data packets, such as data from one component interacting with another component in a local system, distributed system, and / or across a network such as the Internet with other systems by way of the signal. Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executables, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc., whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise.
[0037] Techniques described herein may be used for various wireless communication systems such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA, and other systems. The terms “system” and “network” may often be used interchangeably. A CDMA system may implement a radio technology such as CDMA2000, Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) , etc. CDMA2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95, and IS-856 standards. IS-2000 Releases 0 and A are commonly referred to as CDMA2000 1X, 1X, etc. IS-856 (TIA-856) is commonly referred to as CDMA2000 1xEV-DO, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD) , etc. UTRA includes Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) and other variants of CDMA. A TDMA system may implement a radio technology such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) . An OFDMA system may implement a radio technology such as Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) , Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA) , IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) , IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX) , IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDMTM, etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) . 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) are new releases of UMTS that use E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A, and GSM are described in documents from an organization named “3rd Generation Partnership Project” (3GPP) . CDMA2000 and UMB are described in documents from an organization named “3rd Generation Partnership Project 2” (3GPP2) . The techniques described herein may be used for the systems and radio technologies mentioned above as well as other systems and radio technologies, including cellular (e.g., LTE) communications over a shared radio frequency spectrum band. The description below, however, describes an LTE / LTE-Asystem for purposes of example, and LTE terminology is used in much of the description below, although the techniques are applicable beyond LTE / LTE-Aapplications (e.g., to fifth generation (5G) NR networks or other next generation communication systems) .
[0038] The following description provides examples, and is not limiting of the scope, applicability, or examples set forth in the claims. Changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements discussed without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Various examples may omit, substitute, or add various procedures or components as appropriate. For instance, the methods described may be performed in an order different from that described, and various steps may be added, omitted, or combined. Also, features described with respect to some examples may be combined in other examples.
[0039] Various aspects or features will be presented in terms of systems that can include a number of devices, components, modules, and the like. It is to be understood and appreciated that the various systems can include additional devices, components, modules, etc. and / or may not include all of the devices, components, modules etc. discussed in connection with the figures. A combination of these approaches can also be used.
[0040] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communications system and an access network 100. The wireless communications system (also referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN) ) can include base stations 102, UEs 104, an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) 160, and / or a 5G Core (5GC) 190. The base stations 102, which may also be referred to as network entities, may include macro cells (high power cellular base station) and / or small cells (low power cellular base station) . The macro cells can include base stations. The small cells can include femtocells, picocells, and microcells. In an example, the base stations 102 may also include gNBs 180, as described further herein. The base stations 102 can be configured in a Disaggregated RAN (D-RAN) or Open RAN (O-RAN) architecture, where functionality is split between multiple units such as a central unit (CU) , one or more distributed units (DUs) , or a radio unit (RU) . Such architectures may be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is logically split between one or more units (such as one or more CUs and one or more DUs) . In some aspects, the CUs may be implemented within an edge RAN node, and in some aspects, one or more DUs may be co-located with a CU, or may be geographically distributed throughout one or multiple RAN nodes. The DUs may be implemented to communicate with one or more RUs.
[0041] In one example, some nodes such as UE 104 of the wireless communication system may have a modem 340 and communicating component 342 for transmitting sounding reference signal (SRS) resources to a network using a first SRS port group having a first set of transmit and receive antenna ports and a first set of receive antenna ports or a second SRS port group having a second set of transmit and receive antenna ports, where a number of the first set of transmit and receive antenna ports of the first SRS port group are one of equal or not equal to a number of the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group, and a number of the second set of transmit receive ports of the first SRS port group are equal or not equal to a number of the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group, as described herein. Though a UE 104 is shown as having the modem 340 and communicating component 342, this is one illustrative example, and substantially any node or type of node may include a modem 340 and communicating component 342 for providing corresponding functionalities described herein.
[0042] In another example, some nodes and / or network entities such as base station 102 / gNB 180, may have a modem 240 and communicating component 242 for generating and transmitting, to the UE 104, downlink communication data, as described herein.
[0043] Though a base station 102 / gNB 180 is shown as having the modem 240 and communicating component 242, this is one illustrative example, and substantially any node or type of node may include a modem 240 and communicating component 242 for providing corresponding functionalities described herein.
[0044] The base stations 102 configured for 4G LTE (which can collectively be referred to as Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) ) may interface with the EPC 160 through backhaul links 132 (e.g., using an S1 interface) . The base stations 102 configured for 5G NR (which can collectively be referred to as Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN) ) may interface with 5GC 190 through backhaul links 184. In addition to other functions, the base stations 102 may perform one or more of the following functions: transfer of user data, radio channel ciphering and deciphering, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity) , inter-cell interference coordination, connection setup and release, load balancing, distribution for non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, radio access network (RAN) sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) , subscriber and equipment trace, RAN information management (RIM) , paging, positioning, and delivery of warning messages. The base stations 102 may communicate directly or indirectly (e.g., through the EPC 160 or 5GC 190) with each other over backhaul links 134 (e.g., using an X2 interface) . The backhaul links 132, 134 and / or 184 may be wired or wireless.
[0045] The base stations 102 may wirelessly communicate with one or more UEs 104. Each of the base stations 102 may provide communication coverage for a respective geographic coverage area 110. There may be overlapping geographic coverage areas 110. For example, the small cell 102'may have a coverage area 110'that overlaps the coverage area 110 of one or more macro base stations 102. A network that includes both small cell and macro cells may be referred to as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include Home Evolved Node Bs (eNBs) (HeNBs) , which may provide service to a restricted group, which can be referred to as a closed subscriber group (CSG) . The communication links 120 between the base stations 102 and the UEs 104 may include uplink (UL) (also referred to as reverse link) transmissions from a UE 104 to a base station 102 and / or downlink (DL) (also referred to as forward link) transmissions from a base station 102 to a UE 104. The communication links 120 may use multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication links may be through one or more carriers. The base stations 102 / UEs 104 may use spectrum up to Y MHz (e.g., 5, 10, 15, 20, 100, 400, etc. MHz) bandwidth per carrier allocated in a carrier aggregation of up to a total of Yx MHz (e.g., for x component carriers) used for transmission in the DL and / or the UL direction. The carriers may or may not be adjacent to each other. Allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to DL and UL (e.g., more or less carriers may be allocated for DL than for UL) . The component carriers may include a primary component carrier and one or more secondary component carriers. A primary component carrier may be referred to as a primary cell (PCell) and a secondary component carrier may be referred to as a secondary cell (SCell) .
[0046] In another example, certain UEs 104 may communicate with each other using device-to-device (D2D) communication link 158. The D2D communication link 158 may use the DL / UL WWAN spectrum. The D2D communication link 158 may use one or more sidelink channels, such as a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH) , a physical sidelink discovery channel (PSDCH) , a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) , and a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) . D2D communication may be through a variety of wireless D2D communications systems, such as for example, FlashLinQ, WiMedia, Bluetooth, ZigBee, Wi-Fi based on the IEEE 802.11 standard, LTE, or NR.
[0047] The wireless communications system may further include a Wi-Fi access point (AP) 150 in communication with Wi-Fi stations (STAs) 152 via communication links 154 in a 5 GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum. When communicating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the STAs 152 / AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) prior to communicating in order to determine whether the channel is available.
[0048] The small cell 102'may operate in a licensed and / or an unlicensed frequency spectrum. When operating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the small cell 102'may employ NR and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum as used by the Wi-Fi AP 150. The small cell 102', employing NR in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, may boost coverage to and / or increase capacity of the access network.
[0049] A base station 102, whether a small cell 102'or a large cell (e.g., macro base station) , may include an eNB, gNodeB (gNB) , or other type of base station. Some base stations, such as gNB 180 may operate in a traditional sub 6 GHz spectrum, in millimeter wave (mmW) frequencies, and / or near mmW frequencies in communication with the UE 104. When the gNB 180 operates in mmW or near mmW frequencies, the gNB 180 may be referred to as an mmW base station. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is part of the RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and a wavelength between 1 millimeter and 10 millimeters. Radio waves in the band may be referred to as a millimeter wave. Near mmW may extend down to a frequency of 3 GHz with a wavelength of 100 millimeters. The super high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz, also referred to as centimeter wave. Communications using the mmW / near mmW radio frequency band has extremely high path loss and a short range. The mmW base station 180 may utilize beamforming 182 with the UE 104 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. A base station 102 referred to herein can include a gNB 180.
[0050] The EPC 160 may include a Mobility Management Entity (MME) 162, other MMEs 164, a Serving Gateway 166, a Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) Gateway 168, a Broadcast Multicast Service Center (BM-SC) 170, and a Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway 172. The MME 162 may be in communication with a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 174. The MME 162 is the control node that processes the signaling between the UEs 104 and the EPC 160. Generally, the MME 162 provides bearer and connection management. All user Internet protocol (IP) packets are transferred through the Serving Gateway 166, which itself is connected to the PDN Gateway 172. The PDN Gateway 172 provides UE IP address allocation as well as other functions. The PDN Gateway 172 and the BM-SC 170 are connected to the IP Services 176. The IP Services 176 may include the Internet, an intranet, an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) , a PS Streaming Service, and / or other IP services. The BM-SC 170 may provide functions for MBMS user service provisioning and delivery. The BM-SC 170 may serve as an entry point for content provider MBMS transmission, may be used to authorize and initiate MBMS Bearer Services within a public land mobile network (PLMN) , and may be used to schedule MBMS transmissions. The MBMS Gateway 168 may be used to distribute MBMS traffic to the base stations 102 belonging to a Multicast Broadcast Single Frequency Network (MBSFN) area broadcasting a particular service, and may be responsible for session management (start / stop) and for collecting eMBMS related charging information.
[0051] The 5GC 190 may include a AMF 192, other AMFs 193, a Session Management Function (SMF) 194, and a User Plane Function (UPF) 195. The AMF 192 may be in communication with a Unified Data Management (UDM) 196. The AMF 192 can be a control node that processes the signaling between the UEs 104 and the 5GC 190. Generally, the AMF 192 can provide QoS flow and session management. User Internet protocol (IP) packets (e.g., from one or more UEs 104) can be transferred through the UPF 195. The UPF 195 can provide UE IP address allocation for one or more UEs, as well as other functions. The UPF 195 is connected to the IP Services 197. The IP Services 197 may include the Internet, an intranet, an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) , a PS Streaming Service, and / or other IP services.
[0052] The base station may also be referred to as a gNB, Node B, evolved Node B (eNB) , an access point, a base transceiver station, a radio base station, a radio transceiver, a transceiver function, a basic service set (BSS) , an extended service set (ESS) , a transmit reception point (TRP) , or some other suitable terminology. The base station 102 provides an access point to the EPC 160 or 5GC 190 for a UE 104. Examples of UEs 104 include a cellular phone, a smart phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a laptop, a personal digital assistant (PDA) , a satellite radio, a positioning system (e.g., satellite, terrestrial) , a multimedia device, a video device, a digital audio player (e.g., MP3 player) , a camera, a game console, a tablet, a smart device, robots, drones, an industrial / manufacturing device, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch, smart clothing, smart glasses, virtual reality goggles, a smart wristband, smart jewelry (e.g., a smart ring, a smart bracelet) ) , a vehicle / avehicular device, a meter (e.g., parking meter, electric meter, gas meter, water meter, flow meter) , a gas pump, a large or small kitchen appliance, a medical / healthcare device, an implant, a sensor / actuator, a display, or any other similar functioning device. Some of the UEs 104 may be referred to as IoT devices (e.g., meters, pumps, monitors, cameras, industrial / manufacturing devices, appliances, vehicles, robots, drones, etc. ) . Further, some of the UEs 104 may be referred to or otherwise correspond to AIoT devices IoT UEs may include MTC / enhanced MTC (eMTC, also referred to as CAT-M, Cat M1) UEs, NB-IoT (also referred to as CAT NB1) UEs, as well as other types of UEs. In the present disclosure, eMTC and NB-IoT may refer to future technologies that may evolve from or may be based on these technologies. For example, eMTC may include FeMTC (further eMTC) , eFeMTC (enhanced further eMTC) , mMTC (massive MTC) , etc., and NB-IoT may include eNB-IoT (enhanced NB-IoT) , FeNB-IoT (further enhanced NB-IoT) , etc. One or both of the UE 104 or the base station 102 may corresponds to a reader device capable of or otherwise configured to communicate with one or more AIoT devices according to the present signaling architecture implementations described herein. The UE 104 may also be referred to as a station, a mobile station, a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a wireless communications device, a remote device, a mobile subscriber station, an access terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, a handset, a user agent, a mobile client, a client, or some other suitable terminology.
[0053] Turning now to FIGS. 2-10, aspects are depicted with reference to one or more components and one or more methods that may perform the actions or operations described herein, where aspects in dashed line may be optional. Although the operations described below in FIG. 9 is presented in a particular order and / or as being performed by an example component, it should be understood that the ordering of the actions and the components performing the actions may be varied, depending on the implementation. Moreover, it should be understood that the following actions, functions, and / or described components may be performed by a specially-programmed processor, a processor executing specially-programmed software or computer-readable media, or by any other combination of a hardware component and / or a software component capable of performing the described actions or functions.
[0054] Referring to FIG. 2, one example of an implementation of a node or network device, such as the base station 102 (e.g., a base station 102 and / or gNB 180, as described above, which may also be referred to or otherwise correspond to a reader device in an AIoT application) may include a variety of components, some of which have already been described above and are described further herein, including components such as one or more processors 212 and memory 216 and transceiver 202 in communication via one or more buses 244, which may operate in conjunction with modem 240 and / or communicating component 242 for generating and transmitting, to the UE 104, downlink communication data.
[0055] In an aspect, the one or more processors 212 can include a modem 240 and / or can be part of the modem 240 that uses one or more modem processors. Thus, the various functions related to communicating component 242 may be included in modem 240 and / or processors 212 and, in an aspect, can be executed by a single processor, while in other aspects, different ones of the functions may be executed by a combination of two or more different processors. For example, in an aspect, the one or more processors 212 may include any one or any combination of a modem processor, or a baseband processor, or a digital signal processor, or a transmit processor, or a receiver processor, or a transceiver processor associated with transceiver 202. In other aspects, some of the features of the one or more processors 212 and / or modem 240 associated with communicating component 242 may be performed by transceiver 202.
[0056] Also, memory 216 may be configured to store data used herein and / or local versions of applications 275 or communicating component 242 and / or one or more of its subcomponents being executed by at least one processor 212. Memory 216 can include any type of computer-readable medium usable by a computer or at least one processor 212, such as random access memory (RAM) , read only memory (ROM) , tapes, magnetic discs, optical discs, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, and any combination thereof. In an aspect, for example, memory 216 may be a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores one or more computer-executable codes defining communicating component 242 and / or one or more of its subcomponents, and / or data associated therewith, when base station 102 is operating at least one processor 212 to execute communicating component 242 and / or one or more of its subcomponents.
[0057] Transceiver 202 may include at least one receiver 206 and at least one transmitter 208. Receiver 206 may include hardware and / or software executable by a processor for receiving data, the code comprising instructions and being stored in a memory (e.g., computer-readable medium) . Receiver 206 may be, for example, a radio frequency (RF) receiver. In an aspect, receiver 206 may receive signals transmitted by at least one base station 102. Additionally, receiver 206 may process such received signals, and also may obtain measurements of the signals, such as, but not limited to, Ec / Io, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) , reference signal received power (RSRP) , received signal strength indicator (RSSI) , etc. Transmitter 208 may include hardware and / or software executable by a processor for transmitting data, the code comprising instructions and being stored in a memory (e.g., computer-readable medium) . A suitable example of transmitter 208 may including, but is not limited to, an RF transmitter.
[0058] Moreover, in an aspect, base station 102 may include RF front end 288, which may operate in communication with one or more antennas 265 and transceiver 202 for receiving and transmitting radio transmissions, for example, wireless communications transmitted by at least one base station 102 or wireless transmissions transmitted by UE 104. RF front end 288 may be connected to one or more antennas 265 and can include one or more low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) 290, one or more switches 292, one or more power amplifiers (PAs) 298, and one or more filters 296 for transmitting and receiving RF signals. The antennas 265 may include one or more antennas, antenna elements, and / or antenna arrays.
[0059] In an aspect, LNA 290 can amplify a received signal at a desired output level. In an aspect, each LNA 290 may have a specified minimum and maximum gain values. In an aspect, RF front end 288 may use one or more switches 292 to select a particular LNA 290 and its specified gain value based on a desired gain value for a particular application.
[0060] Further, for example, one or more PA (s) 298 may be used by RF front end 288 to amplify a signal for an RF output at a desired output power level. In an aspect, each PA 298 may have specified minimum and maximum gain values. In an aspect, RF front end 288 may use one or more switches 292 to select a particular PA 298 and its specified gain value based on a desired gain value for a particular application.
[0061] Also, for example, one or more filters 296 can be used by RF front end 288 to filter a received signal to obtain an input RF signal. Similarly, in an aspect, for example, a respective filter 296 can be used to filter an output from a respective PA 298 to produce an output signal for transmission. In an aspect, each filter 296 can be connected to a specific LNA 290 and / or PA 298. In an aspect, RF front end 288 can use one or more switches 292 to select a transmit or receive path using a specified filter 296, LNA 290, and / or PA 298, based on a configuration as specified by transceiver 202 and / or processor 212.
[0062] As such, transceiver 202 may be configured to transmit and receive wireless signals through one or more antennas 265 via RF front end 288. In an aspect, transceiver may be tuned to operate at specified frequencies such that UE 104 can communicate with, for example, one or more base stations 102 or one or more cells associated with one or more base stations 102. In an aspect, for example, modem 240 can configure transceiver 202 to operate at a specified frequency and power level based on the UE configuration of the UE 104 and the communication protocol used by modem 240.
[0063] In an aspect, modem 240 can be a multiband-multimode modem, which can process digital data and communicate with transceiver 202 such that the digital data is sent and received using transceiver 202. In an aspect, modem 240 can be multiband and be configured to support multiple frequency bands for a specific communications protocol. In an aspect, modem 240 can be multimode and be configured to support multiple operating networks and communications protocols. In an aspect, modem 240 can control one or more components of UE 104 (e.g., RF front end 288, transceiver 202) to enable transmission and / or reception of signals from the network based on a specified modem configuration. In an aspect, the modem configuration can be based on the mode of the modem and the frequency band in use. In another aspect, the modem configuration can be based on UE configuration information associated with UE 104 as provided by the network during cell selection and / or cell reselection.
[0064] In an aspect, the processor (s) 212 may correspond to one or more of the processors described in connection with the UE in FIG. 10. Similarly, the memory 216 may correspond to the memory described in connection with the UE in FIG. 10.
[0065] Referring to FIG. 3, one example of an implementation of UE 104. The UE 104 may include a variety of components, some of which have already been described above and are described further herein, including components such as one or more processors 312 and memory 316 and transceiver 302 in communication via one or more buses 344, which may operate in conjunction with modem 340 and / or communicating component 342 for transmitting sounding reference signal (SRS) resources to a network using a first SRS port group having a first set of transmit and receive antenna ports and a first set of receive antenna ports or a second SRS port group having a second set of transmit and receive antenna ports, where a number of the first set of transmit and receive antenna ports of the first SRS port group are one of equal or not equal to a number of the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group, and a number of the second set of transmit receive ports of the first SRS port group are equal or not equal to a number of the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group.
[0066] The transceiver 302, receiver 306, transmitter 308, one or more processors 312, memory 316, applications 375, buses 344, RF front end 388, LNAs 390, switches 392, filters 396, PAs 398, and one or more antennas 365 may be the same as or similar to the corresponding components of base station 102, as described above, but configured or otherwise programmed for base station operations as opposed to base station operations.
[0067] In an aspect, the processor (s) 312 may correspond to one or more of the processors described in connection with the base station in FIG. 10. Similarly, the memory 316 may correspond to the memory described in connection with the base station in FIG. 10.
[0068] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example disaggregated base station 400 architecture. The disaggregated base station 400 architecture may include one or more central units (CUs) 410 that can communicate directly with a core network 420 via a backhaul link, or indirectly with the core network 420 through one or more disaggregated base station units (such as a Near-Real Time (Near-RT) RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) 425 via an E2 link, or a Non-Real Time (Non-RT) RIC 415 associated with a Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) Framework 2105, or both) . A CU 410 may communicate with one or more distributed units (DUs) 430 via respective midhaul links, such as an F1 interface. The DUs 430 may communicate with one or more radio units (RUs) 440 via respective fronthaul links. The RUs 440 may communicate with respective UEs 104 via one or more radio frequency (RF) access links. In some implementations, the UE 104 may be simultaneously served by multiple RUs 440.
[0069] Each of the units, i.e., the CUs 410, the DUs 430, the RUs 440, as well as the Near-RT RICs 425, the Non-RT RICs 415 and the SMO Framework 405, may include one or more interfaces or be coupled to one or more interfaces configured to receive or transmit signals, data, or information (collectively, signals) via a wired or wireless transmission medium. Each of the units, or an associated processor or controller providing instructions to the communication interfaces of the units, can be configured to communicate with one or more of the other units via the transmission medium. For example, the units can include a wired interface configured to receive or transmit signals over a wired transmission medium to one or more of the other units. Additionally, the units can include a wireless interface, which may include a receiver, a transmitter or transceiver (such as a radio frequency (RF) transceiver) , configured to receive or transmit signals, or both, over a wireless transmission medium to one or more of the other units.
[0070] In some aspects, the CU 410 may host one or more higher layer control functions. Such control functions can include radio resource control (RRC) , packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) , service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) , or the like. Each control function can be implemented with an interface configured to communicate signals with other control functions hosted by the CU 410. The CU 410 may be configured to handle user plane functionality (i.e., Central Unit –User Plane (CU-UP) ) , control plane functionality (i.e., Central Unit –Control Plane (CU-CP) ) , or a combination thereof. In some implementations, the CU 410 can be logically split into one or more CU-UP units and one or more CU-CP units. The CU-UP unit can communicate bidirectionally with the CU-CP unit via an interface, such as the E1 interface when implemented in an O-RAN configuration. The CU 410 can be implemented to communicate with the DU 430, as necessary, for network control and signaling.
[0071] The DU 430 may correspond to a logical unit that includes one or more base station functions to control the operation of one or more RUs 440. In some aspects, the DU 430 may host one or more of a radio link control (RLC) layer, a medium access control (MAC) layer, and one or more high physical (PHY) layers (such as modules for forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation and demodulation, or the like) depending, at least in part, on a functional split, such as those defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) . In some aspects, the DU 430 may further host one or more low PHY layers. Each layer (or module) can be implemented with an interface configured to communicate signals with other layers (and modules) hosted by the DU 430, or with the control functions hosted by the CU 410.
[0072] Lower-layer functionality can be implemented by one or more RUs 440. In some deployments, an RU 440, controlled by a DU 430, may correspond to a logical node that hosts RF processing functions, or low-PHY layer functions (such as performing fast Fourier transform (FFT) , inverse FFT (iFFT) , digital beamforming, physical random access channel (PRACH) extraction and filtering, or the like) , or both, based at least in part on the functional split, such as a lower layer functional split. In such an architecture, the RU (s) 440 can be implemented to handle over the air (OTA) communication with one or more UEs 104. In some implementations, real-time and non-real-time aspects of control and user plane communication with the RU (s) 440 can be controlled by the corresponding DU 430. In some scenarios, this configuration can enable the DU (s) 430 and the CU 410 to be implemented in a cloud-based RAN architecture, such as a vRAN architecture.
[0073] The SMO Framework 405 may be configured to support RAN deployment and provisioning of non-virtualized and virtualized network elements. For non-virtualized network elements, the SMO Framework 405 may be configured to support the deployment of dedicated physical resources for RAN coverage requirements which may be managed via an operations and maintenance interface (such as an O1 interface) . For virtualized network elements, the SMO Framework 405 may be configured to interact with a cloud computing platform (such as an open cloud (O-Cloud) 490) to perform network element life cycle management (such as to instantiate virtualized network elements) via a cloud computing platform interface (such as an O2 interface) . Such virtualized network elements can include, but are not limited to, CUs 410, DUs 430, RUs 440 and Near-RT RICs 425. In some implementations, the SMO Framework 405 can communicate with a hardware aspect of a 4G RAN, such as an open eNB (O-eNB) 411, via an O1 interface. Additionally, in some implementations, the SMO Framework 2105 can communicate directly with one or more RUs 440 via an O1 interface. The SMO Framework 405 also may include a Non-RT RIC 415 configured to support functionality of the SMO Framework 405.
[0074] The Non-RT RIC 415 may be configured to include a logical function that enables non-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning (AI / ML) workflows including model training and updates, or policy-based guidance of applications / features in the Near-RT RIC 425. The Non-RT RIC 415 may be coupled to or communicate with (such as via an A1 interface) the Near-RT RIC 425. The Near-RT RIC 425 may be configured to include a logical function that enables near-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources via data collection and actions over an interface (such as via an E2 interface) connecting one or more CUs 410, one or more DUs 430, or both, as well as an O-eNB, with the Near-RT RIC 425.
[0075] In some implementations, to generate AI / ML models to be deployed in the Near-RT RIC 425, the Non-RT RIC 415 may receive parameters or external enrichment information from external servers. Such information may be utilized by the Near-RT RIC 425 and may be received at the SMO Framework 405 or the Non-RT RIC 415 from non-network data sources or from network functions. In some examples, the Non-RT RIC 415 or the Near-RT RIC 425 may be configured to tune RAN behavior or performance. For example, the Non-RT RIC 415 may monitor long-term trends and patterns for performance and employ AI / ML models to perform corrective actions through the SMO Framework 405 (such as reconfiguration via O1) or via creation of RAN management policies (such as A1 policies) .
[0076] FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram of a multiport wireless communication scheme 500 supporting an eight port structure of a UE. The multiport wireless communication scheme 500 may include up to eight ports 510 for multiport communication between the base station 102 and UE 104. The UE 104 may have a first SRS port group 540 and a second SRS port group 550. Communication channel 520 may represent a targeted PDSCH signal on which mutual interference 530 may be experienced.
[0077] Specifically, an eight receiver (8-Rx) UE structure may be supported in NR. For example, PDSCH may support up to 8 DMRS ports, and hence, eight layers. Further, for instance, a CSI report can support up to rank-8, i.e., Type-I. However, as noted herein, commercialization of UEs employing eight ports may be lacking due to UE receiving and processing complexity. Further, as the form factor of Ues continues to decrease, physical space limitations may be another limiting factor for eight ports. However, the above may not hold for fixed wireless access (FWA) or customer premise equipment (CPE) UE.
[0078] In some wireless communication systems, to reduce UE complexity, two groups of antenna ports may be implemented rather than using all receiver antennas as an entirety. For example, two groups each including four antenna ports may form the eight receiver port UE. Likewise, two groups each including of three antenna ports may form a six receiver port UE.
[0079] In this aspect, the impact of the above grouping on Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) determinations may be significant. Different SRS ports may be associated with distinct UE antenna ports, and if a single codeword is scheduled, both SRS port groups may correspond to the same codeword. This feature may correspond to a separate UE capability, which can be configured via Radio Resource Control (RRC) . Nonetheless, across two antenna groups, mutual interference may be experienced by the transmitted signal (PDSCH) precoded targeting to each antenna group.
[0080] FIG. 6 is a diagram of a two-codeword communication scheme 602 and single-codeword communication scheme 604. The single-codeword communication scheme 604 may include a combination component for receiving and processing two log-likelihood ratios (LLR) for a single decoder. On the other hand, in the two-codeword communication scheme 602, two decoders may be implemented to process, in parallel, for each own information payload bits.
[0081] A UE comprising two SRS port groups may result in reduced complexity for MIMO. Specifically, in the two-codeword communication scheme 602, for a rank greater than four, the two-codeword PDSCH may be transmitted targeting each antenna port group respectively. In this aspect, the architecture may include two channels, where the signals are decoded and demodulated, allowing for efficient processing. For rank less than or equal to four, which corresponds to single-codeword communication scheme 604 in PDSCH, the UE may either employ LLR combining from the two antenna port groups’ demodulation, or alternatively, the UE may simply utilize one of the two antenna port groups, either fixed or selected based on the better signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) . In this aspect, the process includes a combining mechanism that optimizes the reception of signals from the respective channels, thereby enhancing overall performance.
[0082] In some implementations, SRS resource sets may be designated for antenna switching, i.e., with the parameter “usage” configured as “antenaSwitching” . In such implementations, the nomenclature xTyR may reference a UE configuration of transmit antenna ports ‘x’a nd receive antenna ports ‘y’ , with ‘Q=y / x’ corresponding to the SRS resources each having x ports.
[0083] The SRS resources (Q) may be transmitted across different symbols using Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) , with each resource linked to distinct UE) antenna port (s) , differentiating them from the remaining Q-1 resources. In such scenarios, y may be an integer multiple of x, exemplified by configurations such as 1T2R, 2T4R, 1T4R, 2T6R, and 4T8R, or instances where x equals y, such as 1T=1R, 2T=2R, and 4T=4R. Further, some implementations may include cases that contravene this integer multiple principle, potentially resulting in configurations like 4T6R and 3T8R, which may present new challenges and considerations in the design and implementation of antenna switching mechanisms and techniques.
[0084] FIG. 7A is a diagram of an example three transmit antenna and six receive (3T6R) antenna structure 700. The 3T6R structure may include a first SRS port group 702 and a second SRS port group 706. The first SRS port group 702 may be associated with a first half of a foldable UE, such as UE 104, and the second SRS port group 706 may be associated with a second half of a foldable UE, such as UE 104. Specifically, the grouping of the three transmit (x=3) antenna ports within each three-port SRS may be split or allocated such that the first SRS port group 702 includes one transmit antenna port, i.e., single transmit RF chain, and the second SRS port group 706 includes two transmit antenna ports, i.e., two transmit RF chains.
[0085] The grouping of the six receive (y=6) antenna ports may be split or allocated such that the first SRS port group 702 includes two receive antenna ports and the second SRS port group 706 includes four receive antenna ports. In other words, rather than an equal split or allocation of receive antenna ports such that both the first and second SRS port groups 702 and 704, respectively, include three antenna ports, the antenna ports can be allocated or divided in an unequal manner, for example, between portions of a UE as defined by the foldable hinge or axis. Therefore, for PDSCH scheduling and / or CSI report on a rank indicator (RI) , a rank-6 (6-layer PDSCH) may have 2 layers associated with one codeword and four layers associated with the other codeword.
[0086] In this aspect, the grouping of the Q=2 SRS resources, with each set containing x=3 ports, may be structured such that the first SRS port group 702 (Group#0) and the second SRS port group 706 (Group#1) ports may be defined as: {SRS#0 [0] , SRS#1 [0] } for the first SRS port group 702 (Group#0) , while SRS#0 [1, 2] , SRS#1 [1, 2] } for the second SRS port group 706 (Group#1) (representing a transmit antenna port perspective) , or {0, 3} for the first SRS port group 702 (Group#0) , while {1, 2, 4, 5} for the second SRS port group 706 (Group#1) (representing a receive port perspective) .
[0087] FIG. 7B is a diagram of first and second example of a three transmit antenna and eight receive (3T8R) antenna structures 712 and 716, respectively. The first 3T8R antenna structure 712 may include a first SRS port group 722 and a second SRS port group 732. The grouping of the three transmit (x=3) antenna ports within each three-port SRS may be split or allocated such that the first SRS port group 722 includes one transmit antenna port, i.e., single transmit RF chain, and the second SRS port group 732 includes two transmit antenna ports, i.e., two transmit RF chains.
[0088] The grouping of the eight receive (y=8) antenna ports may be split or allocated such that the first SRS port group 722 includes three receive antenna ports and the second SRS port group 732 includes five receive antenna ports. In other words, rather than an equal split or allocation of receive antenna ports such that both the first and second SRS port groups 722 and 732, respectively, include an equal number of four antenna ports, the antenna ports can be allocated or divided in an unequal quantity, for example, between portions of a UE as defined by the foldable hinge or axis. Therefore, for PDSCH scheduling and / or CSI report on RI, the UE can support up to rank-7 (7-layer PDSCH) , which may have three layers associated with the first codeword and four layers associated with the second codeword.
[0089] In this implementation, each SRS resource set may include three SRS resources, with each resource structured such that a first SRS resource (SRS#0) includes three ports, a second SRS resource (SRS#1) includes three ports, and a third SRS resource (SRS#2) includes two ports designated as non-overlap ports. That is, SRS resources across the SRS#0, SRS#1, and SRS#2 do not overlap within either the first SRS port group 722 or the second SRS port group 732. The grouping of the three SRS resources in an SRS resource set may be divided into two groups –the first SRS port group 722 (Group#0) and the second SRS port group 732 (Group#1) . Group#0 ports may be defined as {SRS#0 [0] , SRS#1 [0] , SRS#2 [0] } , while Group#1 ports may be defined as {SRS#0 [1, 2] , SRS#1 [1, 2] , SRS#2 [1] } (representing in a transmit antenna perspective) , or Group#0 ports may be defined as {0, 3, 6} while Group#1 ports may be defined as {1, 2, 4, 5, 7} (representing in a receive antenna perspective) . In this aspect, the figure illustrate the SRS port groupings for a foldable UE, with the first half representing the first SRS port group 722 and the second half representing the second SRS port group 732. The SRS ports are visually differentiated, indicating the respective groupings and their configurations.
[0090] The second 3T8R antenna structure 716 may include a first SRS port group 726 and a second SRS port group 736. The grouping of the three transmit (x=3) antenna ports within each three-port SRS may be split or allocated such that the first SRS port group 726 includes one transmit antenna port, i.e., single transmit RF chain, and the second SRS port group 736 includes two transmit antenna ports, i.e., two transmit RF chains.
[0091] The grouping of the eight receive (y=8) antenna ports may be split or allocated such that the first SRS port group 726 includes three receive antenna ports and the second SRS port group 736 includes five receive antenna ports. Rather than an equal split or allocation of receive antenna ports such that both the first and second SRS port groups 722 and 732, respectively, include an equal number of four antenna ports, the antenna ports can be allocated or divided in an unequal manner, for example, between portions of a UE as defined by the foldable hinge or axis.
[0092] In this implementation, each SRS resource set may include three SRS resources, with each resource structured such that a first SRS resource (SRS#0) includes three ports, a second SRS resource (SRS#1) includes three ports, and a third SRS resource (SRS#2) includes three ports, which may result in overlapping ports. In other words, in the second SRS port group 736, SRS resources from SRS#1 may overlap with those from SRS#2 across the two RF chains. An overlap port may correspond to two index-combinations of an SRS resource index and / or SRS port index.
[0093] The grouping of the three SRS resources in an SRS resource set may be divided into two groups –the first SRS port group 722 (Group#0) and the second SRS port group 732 (Group#1) . Group#0 ports may be defined as {SRS#0 [0] , SRS#1 [0] , SRS#2 [0] } , while Group#1 ports may be defined as {SRS#0 [1, 2] , SRS#1 [1, 2] , SRS#2 [1, 2] } (representing in a transmit antenna perspective) , or Group#0 ports may be defined as {0, 3, 6} while Group#1 ports may be defined as {1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8} (representing in a receive antenna perspective) . In this aspect, the figure illustrate the SRS port groupings for a foldable UE, with the first half representing the first SRS port group 722 and the second half representing the second SRS port group 732. The SRS ports are visually differentiated, indicating the respective groupings and their configurations.
[0094] FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram 800 of an example four transmit antenna and six receive (4T6R) antenna structures 802 and 808, respectively.
[0095] The first 4T6R antenna structure 802 may include a first SRS port group 804 and a second SRS port group 806. The grouping of the four transmit (x=4) antenna ports within each two-port SRS may be split or allocated such that the first SRS port group 804 includes two transmit antenna ports, i.e., two transmit RF chains, and the second SRS port group 806 includes two transmit antenna ports, i.e., two transmit RF chains, hence representing an equal distribution of transmit antenna ports across SRS port groups.
[0096] The grouping of the six receive (y=6) antenna ports may be split or allocated such that the first SRS port group 804 includes three receive antenna ports and the second SRS port group 806 includes three receive antenna ports. In other words, an equal split or allocation of receive antenna ports may be implemented such that both the first and second SRS port groups 722 and 732, respectively, include an equal number of antenna ports across the SRS port groups.
[0097] In this implementation, each SRS resource set may include two SRS resources, with each resource structured such that a first SRS resource (SRS#0) includes four ports, a second SRS resource (SRS#1) includes two ports, with the ports implemented such that they do not overlap. The grouping of the two SRS resources in an SRS resource set may be divided into two groups –the first SRS port group 804 (Group#0) and the second SRS port group 806 (Group#1) . Group#0 ports may be defined as {SRS#0 [0, 1] , SRS#1 [0] } while Group#1 ports may be defined as {SRS#0 [2, 3] , SRS#1 [1] } (representing a transmit perspective) , or Group#0 ports may be defined as {0, 1, 4} Group#1 ports may be defined as {2, 3, 5) (representing a receive antenna perspective) . In this aspect, the figure illustrate the SRS port groupings for a foldable UE, with the first half representing the first SRS port group 804 and the second half representing the second SRS port group 804. The SRS ports are visually differentiated, indicating the respective groupings and their configurations.
[0098] The second 4T6R antenna structure 808 may include a first SRS port group 810 and a second SRS port group 812. A first SRS resource set (SRS#0) may include four antenna ports and a second SRS resource set (SRS#1) may also include four antenna ports resulting in an overlapping of ports within or across the first SRS port group 810 and the second SRS port group 812. The grouping of the four transmit (x=4) antenna ports within each SRS group may be split or allocated such that the first SRS port group 810 includes two transmit antenna ports, i.e., two transmit RF chains, and the second SRS port group 821 includes two transmit antenna ports, i.e., two transmit RF chains, hence representing an equal distribution of transmit antenna ports across SRS port groups.
[0099] In this implementation, each SRS resource set may include four SRS resources or antenna ports, with each resource structured such that a first SRS resource (SRS#0) includes four ports, a second SRS resource (SRS#1) includes four ports, which may result in overlapping ports. In other words, SRS resources or antenna ports at one or both the first SRS port group 810 and the second SRS port group 812 may overlap. An overlap port may correspond to two index-combinations of an SRS resource index and / or SRS port index.
[0100] The grouping of the SRS resources may be split into the first SRS port group 810 (Group#0) and the second SRS port group 812 (Group#1) , represented as: Group#0 ports may be defined as {SRS#0 [0, 1] , SRS#1 [0, 1] } and Group#1 ports may be defined as {SRS#0 [2, 3] , SRS#1 [2, 3] } (representing in a transmit perspective) , or Group#0 ports may be defined as {0, 1, 4, 5} and Group#1 ports may be defined as {2, 3, 6, 7} (representing in a receive perspective) . An receive antenna implementation associated with a same antenna port) should be defined / configured (e.g. {SRS#0 → port [0] } & {SRS#1 → port [0] } (transmit perspective) , or {0} & {4} (receive perspective) may have a same antenna port, and similarly for the overlap antenna port at the 2nd half e.g. {SRS#0 →port [2] } & {SRS#1 → port [2] } (transmit perspective) , or {2} & {6} (receive perspective) may have a same antenna port) .
[0101] FIG. 9A illustrates a flow chart of an example of a method 900 for wireless communication at a UE having a plurality of antenna ports, such as the UE 104. In an example, a UE 104 can perform the functions described in method 900 using one or more of the components and techniques described in FIGS. 1, 3-8, and 10, such as via execution of one or more processors, individually or in combination.
[0102] At block 902, the method 900 may transmit a set of one or more SRS resources to a network entity using a first SRS port group or a second SRS port group, wherein the first SRS port group comprises a first set of transmit antenna ports and a first set of receive antenna ports, wherein the second SRS port group comprises a second set of transmit antenna ports and a second set of receive antenna ports, wherein a quantity of the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group is different than a quantity of the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group, and wherein a quantity of the second set of transmit receive ports of the first SRS port group is different than a quantity of the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group. In an aspect, the communicating component 342, e.g., in conjunction with processor (s) 312, memory 316, and / or transceiver 302, may be configured to transmit a set of one or more SRS resources to a network entity using a first SRS port group or a second SRS port group, wherein the first SRS port group comprises a first set of transmit antenna ports and a first set of receive antenna ports, wherein the second SRS port group comprises a second set of transmit antenna ports and a second set of receive antenna ports, wherein a quantity of the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group is different than a quantity of the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group, and wherein a quantity of the second set of transmit receive ports of the first SRS port group is different than a quantity of the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group. Thus, the UE 104, the processor (s) 312, the communicating component 342, or one of its subcomponents may define the means for transmitting a set of one or more SRS resources to a network entity using a first SRS port group or a second SRS port group, wherein the first SRS port group comprises a first set of transmit antenna ports and a first set of receive antenna ports, wherein the second SRS port group comprises a second set of transmit antenna ports and a second set of receive antenna ports, wherein a quantity of the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group is different than a quantity of the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group, and wherein a quantity of the second set of transmit receive ports of the first SRS port group is different than a quantity of the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group.
[0103] In some implementations, the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group may correspond to a single transmit antenna port associated with two SRS resources and the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group may correspond to two transmit antenna ports each associated with the two SRS resources.
[0104] In some implementations, the first set of receive antenna ports of the first SRS port group may correspond to two receive antenna ports associated with two SRS resources and the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group may correspond to four receive antenna ports associated with the two SRS resources.
[0105] In some implementations, the first set of receive antenna ports may be associated with two layers for one codeword and the second set of receive antenna ports may be associated with four layers for another codeword in six-layer PDSCH communications.
[0106] In some implementations, the set of one or more SRS resources may include a first SRS resource associated with three antenna ports and a second SRS resource associated with three antenna ports different from the three antenna ports of the first SRS resource, and where the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group and the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group may correspond to antenna ports across the first SRS resource and the second SRS resource in a first non-overlapping manner, and where the first set of receive antenna ports of the first SRS port group and the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group may correspond to antenna ports across the first SRS resource and the second SRS resource in a second non-overlapping manner.
[0107] In some implementations, the first set of receive antenna ports of the first SRS port group may correspond to three receive antenna ports associated with three SRS resources and the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group may correspond to five receive antenna ports associated with the three SRS resources.
[0108] In some implementations, the first set of receive antenna ports may be associated with three layers for one codeword and the second set of receive antenna ports may be associated with four layers for another codeword in a maximum seven-layer PDSCH communications.
[0109] In some implementations, the set of one or more SRS resources may include a first SRS resource associated with three antenna ports, a second SRS resource associated with three antenna ports different from the three antenna ports of the first SRS resource, and a third SRS resource associated with two antenna ports different from the three antenna ports of the first SRS resource and the three antenna ports of the second SRS resource.
[0110] In some implementations, the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group and the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group may correspond to antenna ports across the first SRS resource, the second SRS resource, and the third SRS resource in a non-overlapping manner, and where the first set of receive antenna ports of the first SRS port group and the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group may correspond to antenna ports across the first SRS resource, the second SRS resource, and the third SRS resource in a non-overlapping manner.
[0111] In some implementations, the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group and the second set of transmit antenna ports second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group correspond to antenna ports across the first SRS resource, the second SRS resource, and the third SRS resource in an overlapping manner, and where the first set of receive antenna ports of the first SRS port group and the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group correspond to antenna ports across the first SRS resource, the second SRS resource, and the third SRS resource in an overlapping manner.
[0112] In some implementations, an overlapping port corresponds to an index combination of an SRS resource index and an SRS port index associated with the first and second transmit antenna ports or an identical antenna port associated with two SRS resources.
[0113] At block 904, the method 900 may measure one or more CSI-RS resources received from the network entity. In an aspect, the communicating component 342, e.g., in conjunction with processor (s) 312, memory 316, and / or transceiver 302, may be configured to measure one or more CSI-RS resources received from the network entity. Thus, the UE 104, the processor (s) 312, the communicating component 342, or one of its subcomponents may define the means for measuring one or more CSI-RS resources received from the network entity.
[0114] At block 906, the method 900 may transmit, on an uplink communication channel, a CSI report, the CSI report is associated with one of the first SRS port group or the second SRS port group. In an aspect, the communicating component 342, e.g., in conjunction with processor (s) 312, memory 316, and / or transceiver 302, may be configured to transmit, on an uplink communication channel, a CSI report, the CSI report is associated with one of the first SRS port group or the second SRS port group. Thus, the UE 104, the processor (s) 312, the communicating component 342, or one of its subcomponents may define the means for transmitting, on an uplink communication channel, a CSI report, the CSI report is associated with one of the first SRS port group or the second SRS port group.
[0115] At block 908, the method 900 may receive downlink transmissions from the network entity based on transmitting the set of one or more SRS resources. In an aspect, the communicating component 342, e.g., in conjunction with processor (s) 312, memory 316, and / or transceiver 302, may be configured to receive downlink transmissions from the network entity based on transmitting the set of one or more SRS resources. Thus, the UE 104, the processor (s) 312, the communicating component 342, or one of its subcomponents may define the means for receiving downlink transmissions from the network entity based on transmitting the set of one or more SRS resources.
[0116] FIG. 9B illustrates a flow chart of an example of a method 920 for wireless communication at a UE having a plurality of antenna ports, such as the UE 104. In an example, a UE 104 can perform the functions described in method 920 using one or more of the components and techniques described in FIGS. 1, 3-8, and 10, such as via execution of one or more processors, individually or in combination.
[0117] At block 922, the method 900 may transmit a set of one or more SRS resources to a network entity using a first SRS port group or a second SRS port group, wherein the first SRS port group comprises a first set of transmit antenna ports and a first set of receive antenna ports, wherein the second SRS port group comprises a second set of transmit antenna ports and a second set of receive antenna ports, wherein a quantity of the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group is similar to a quantity of the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group, and wherein a quantity of the second set of transmit receive ports of the first SRS port group is similar to a quantity of the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group. In an aspect, the communicating component 342, e.g., in conjunction with processor (s) 312, memory 316, and / or transceiver 302, may be configured to transmit a set of one or more SRS resources to a network entity using a first SRS port group or a second SRS port group, wherein the first SRS port group comprises a first set of transmit antenna ports and a first set of receive antenna ports, wherein the second SRS port group comprises a second set of transmit antenna ports and a second set of receive antenna ports, wherein a quantity of the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group is similar to a quantity of the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group, and wherein a quantity of the second set of transmit receive ports of the first SRS port group is similar to a quantity of the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group. Thus, the UE 104, the processor (s) 312, the communicating component 342, or one of its subcomponents may define the means for transmitting a set of one or more SRS resources to a network entity using a first SRS port group or a second SRS port group, wherein the first SRS port group comprises a first set of transmit antenna ports and a first set of receive antenna ports, wherein the second SRS port group comprises a second set of transmit antenna ports and a second set of receive antenna ports, wherein a quantity of the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group is similar to a quantity of the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group, and wherein a quantity of the second set of transmit receive ports of the first SRS port group is similar to a quantity of the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group.
[0118] In some implementations, the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group may correspond to two transmit antenna ports and the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group may correspond to two transmit antenna ports, and where one of the two transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group overlap with the two transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group, and where the first set of receive antenna ports of the first SRS port group may correspond to three receive antenna ports and the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group may correspond to three receive antenna ports.
[0119] In some implementations, the set of one or more SRS resources may include a first SRS resource associated with four antenna ports and a second SRS resource associated with two antenna ports different from the four antenna ports of the first SRS resource.
[0120] In some implementations, the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group and the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group may correspond to antenna ports across the first SRS resource and the second SRS resource in a non-overlapping manner, and where the first set of receive antenna ports of the first SRS port group and the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group may correspond to antenna ports across the first SRS resource and the second SRS resource in a non-overlapping manner.
[0121] In some implementations, the set of one or more SRS resources may include a first SRS resource associated with four antenna ports and a second SRS resource associated with four antenna ports, at least a portion of which overlap with a portion of the antenna ports of the first SRS resource.
[0122] In some implementations, the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group and the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group may correspond to antenna ports from the first SRS resource and the second SRS resource in a overlapping manner, and where the first set of receive antenna ports of the first SRS port group and the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group may correspond to antenna ports across the first SRS resource and the second SRS resource in a overlapping manner.
[0123] At block 924, the method 920 may measure one or more CSI-RS resources received from the network entity. In an aspect, the communicating component 342, e.g., in conjunction with processor (s) 312, memory 316, and / or transceiver 302, may be configured to measure one or more CSI-RS resources received from the network entity. Thus, the UE 104, the processor (s) 312, the communicating component 342, or one of its subcomponents may define the means for measuring one or more CSI-RS resources received from the network entity.
[0124] At block 926, the method 920 may transmit, on an uplink communication channel, a CSI report, the CSI report is associated with one of the first SRS port group or the second SRS port group. In an aspect, the communicating component 342, e.g., in conjunction with processor (s) 312, memory 316, and / or transceiver 302, may be configured to transmit, on an uplink communication channel, a CSI report, the CSI report is associated with one of the first SRS port group or the second SRS port group. Thus, the UE 104, the processor (s) 312, the communicating component 342, or one of its subcomponents may define the means for transmitting, on an uplink communication channel, a CSI report, the CSI report is associated with one of the first SRS port group or the second SRS port group.
[0125] At block 928, the method 920 may receive downlink transmissions from the network entity based on transmitting the set of one or more SRS resources. In an aspect, the communicating component 342, e.g., in conjunction with processor (s) 312, memory 316, and / or transceiver 302, may be configured to receive downlink transmissions from the network entity based on transmitting the set of one or more SRS resources. Thus, the UE 104, the processor (s) 312, the communicating component 342, or one of its subcomponents may define the means for receiving downlink transmissions from the network entity based on transmitting the set of one or more SRS resources.
[0126] FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a MIMO communication system 1000 including a base station 102, which may be acting as a network device, and a UE 104, which may correspond to a reader device. The MIMO communication system 1000 may illustrate aspects of the wireless communication access network 100 described with reference to FIG. 1. The base station 102 may be an example of aspects of the base station 102 described with reference to FIG. 1. The base station 102 may be equipped with antennas 1034 and 1035, and the UE 104 may be equipped with antennas 1052 and 1053. In the MIMO communication system 1000, the base station 102 may be able to send data over multiple communication links at the same time. Each communication link may be called a “layer” and the “rank” of the communication link may indicate the number of layers used for communication. For example, in a 2x2 MIMO communication system where base station 102 transmits two “layers, ” the rank of the communication link between the base station 102 and the UE 104 is two.
[0127] At the base station 102, a transmit (Tx) processor 1020 may receive data from a data source. The transmit processor 1020 may process the data. The transmit processor 1020 may also generate control symbols or reference symbols. A transmit MIMO processor 1030 may perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on data symbols, control symbols, or reference symbols, if applicable, and may provide output symbol streams to the transmit modulator / demodulators 1032 and 1033. Each modulator / demodulator 1032 through 1033 may process a respective output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM, etc. ) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator / demodulator 1032 through 1033 may further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and upconvert) the output sample stream to obtain a DL signal. In one example, DL signals from modulator / demodulators 1032 and 1033 may be transmitted via the antennas 1034 and 1035, respectively.
[0128] The UE 104 may be an example of aspects of the UEs 104 described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. At the UE 104, the UE antennas 1052 and 1053 may receive the DL signals from the base station 102 and may provide the received signals to the modulator / demodulators 1054 and 1055, respectively. Each modulator / demodulator 1054 through 1055 may condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) a respective received signal to obtain input samples. Each modulator / demodulator 1054 through 1055 may further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM, etc. ) to obtain received symbols. A MIMO detector 1056 may obtain received symbols from the modulator / demodulators 1054 and 1055, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols, if applicable, and provide detected symbols. A receive (Rx) processor 1058 may process (e.g., demodulate, deinterleave, and decode) the detected symbols, providing decoded data for the UE 104 to a data output, and provide decoded control information to a processor 1080, or memory 1082.
[0129] The processor 1080 may in some cases execute stored instructions to instantiate the communicating component 242 (see e.g., FIGS. 1 and 2) for transmitting, to the UE 104, downlink communication data.
[0130] On the uplink (UL) , at the UE 104, a transmit processor 1064 may receive and process data from a data source. The transmit processor 1064 may also generate reference symbols for a reference signal. The symbols from the transmit processor 1064 may be precoded by a transmit MIMO processor 1066 if applicable, further processed by the modulator / demodulators 1054 and 1055 (e.g., for SC-FDMA, etc. ) , and be transmitted to the base station 102 in accordance with the communication parameters received from the base station 102. At the base station 102, the UL signals from the UE 104 may be received by the antennas 1034 and 1035, processed by the modulator / demodulators 1032 and 1033, detected by a MIMO detector 1036 if applicable, and further processed by a receive processor 1038. The receive processor 1038 may provide decoded data to a data output and to the processor 1040 or memory 1042.
[0131] The processor 1040 may in some cases execute stored instructions to instantiate the communicating component 342 (see e.g., FIGS. 1 and 3) for transmitting SRS resources to a network using a first SRS port group having a first set of transmit and receive antenna ports and a first set of receive antenna ports or a second SRS port group having a second set of transmit and receive antenna ports, where a number of the first set of transmit and receive antenna ports of the first SRS port group are one of equal or not equal to a number of the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group, and a number of the second set of transmit receive ports of the first SRS port group are equal or not equal to a number of the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group.
[0132] The components of the UE 104 may, individually or collectively, be implemented with one or more ASICs adapted to perform some or all of the applicable functions in hardware. Each of the noted modules may be a means for performing one or more functions related to operation of the MIMO communication system 1000. Similarly, the components of the base station 102 may, individually or collectively, be implemented with one or more ASICs adapted to perform some or all of the applicable functions in hardware. Each of the noted components may be a means for performing one or more functions related to operation of the MIMO communication system 1000.
[0133] SOME ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES
[0134] The aspects described herein additionally include one or more of the following aspect examples described in the following numbered clauses.
[0135] 1. A method of wireless communications at a user equipment (UE) having a plurality of antenna ports, comprising:
[0136] transmitting a set of one or more sounding reference signal (SRS) resources to a network entity using a first SRS port group or a second SRS port group, wherein the first SRS port group comprises a first set of transmit antenna ports and a first set of receive antenna ports, wherein the second SRS port group comprises a second set of transmit antenna ports and a second set of receive antenna ports, wherein a quantity of the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group is different than a quantity of the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group, and wherein a quantity of the second set of transmit receive ports of the first SRS port group is different than a quantity of the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group; and
[0137] receiving downlink transmissions from the network entity based on transmitting the set of one or more SRS resources.
[0138] 2. The method of clause 1, wherein the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group corresponds to a single transmit antenna port associated with two SRS resources and the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group corresponds to two transmit antenna ports each associated with the two SRS resources.
[0139] 3. The method of clauses 1 and 2, wherein the first set of receive antenna ports of the first SRS port group corresponds to two receive antenna ports associated with two SRS resources and the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group corresponds to four receive antenna ports associated with the two SRS resources.
[0140] 4. The method of clauses 1-3, wherein the first set of receive antenna ports is associated with two layers for one codeword and the second set of receive antenna ports is associated with four layers for another codeword in six-layer physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) communications.
[0141] 5. The method of clauses 1-4, wherein the set of one or more SRS resources includes a first SRS resource associated with three antenna ports and a second SRS resource associated with three antenna ports different from the three antenna ports of the first SRS resource, and wherein the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group and the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group correspond to antenna ports across the first SRS resource and the second SRS resource in a first non-overlapping manner, and wherein the first set of receive antenna ports of the first SRS port group and the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group correspond to antenna ports across the first SRS resource and the second SRS resource in a second non-overlapping manner.
[0142] 6. The method of clauses 1-5, wherein the first set of receive antenna ports of the first SRS port group corresponds to three receive antenna ports associated with three SRS resources and the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group corresponds to five receive antenna ports associated with the three SRS resources.
[0143] 7. The method of clauses 1-6, wherein the first set of receive antenna ports is associated with three layers for one codeword and the second set of receive antenna ports is associated with four layers for another codeword in a maximum seven-layer physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) communications.
[0144] 8. The method of clauses 1-7, wherein the set of one or more SRS resources includes a first SRS resource associated with three antenna ports, a second SRS resource associated with three antenna ports different from the three antenna ports of the first SRS resource, and a third SRS resource associated with two antenna ports different from the three antenna ports of the first SRS resource and the three antenna ports of the second SRS resource.
[0145] 9. The method of clauses 1-8, wherein the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group and the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group correspond to antenna ports across the first SRS resource, the second SRS resource, and the third SRS resource in a non-overlapping manner, and wherein the first set of receive antenna ports of the first SRS port group and the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group correspond to antenna ports across the first SRS resource, the second SRS resource, and the third SRS resource in a non-overlapping manner.
[0146] 10. The method of clauses 1-9, wherein the set of one or more SRS resources includes a first SRS resource associated with three antenna ports, a second SRS resource associated with three antenna ports different from the three antenna ports of the first SRS resource, and a third SRS resource associated with three antenna ports, at least a portion of the third SRS resource associated with three antenna ports overlap with a portion of the three antenna ports of the first SRS resource or the second SRS resource..
[0147] 11. The method of clauses 1-10, wherein the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group and the second set of transmit antenna ports second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group correspond to antenna ports across the first SRS resource, the second SRS resource, and the third SRS resource in an overlapping manner, and wherein the first set of receive antenna ports of the first SRS port group and the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group correspond to antenna ports across the first SRS resource, the second SRS resource, and the third SRS resource in an overlapping manner.
[0148] 12. The method of clauses 1-11, wherein an overlapping port corresponds to an index combination of an SRS resource index and an SRS port index associated with the first and second transmit antenna ports or an identical antenna port associated with two SRS resources.
[0149] 13. A method of wireless communications at a user equipment (UE) having a plurality of antenna ports, comprising:
[0150] transmitting a set of one or more sounding reference signal (SRS) resources to a network entity using a first SRS port group or a second SRS port group, wherein the first SRS port group comprises a first set of transmit antenna ports and a first set of receive antenna ports, wherein the second SRS port group comprises a second set of transmit antenna ports and a second set of receive antenna ports, wherein a quantity of the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group is similar to a quantity of the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group, and wherein a quantity of the second set of transmit receive ports of the first SRS port group is similar to a quantity of the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group; and
[0151] receiving downlink transmissions from the network entity based on transmitting the set of one or more SRS resources.
[0152] 14. The method of clause 13, wherein the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group corresponds to two transmit antenna ports and the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group corresponds to two transmit antenna ports, and wherein one of the two transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group overlap with the two transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group, and wherein the first set of receive antenna ports of the first SRS port group corresponds to three receive antenna ports and the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group corresponds to three receive antenna ports.
[0153] 15. The method of clauses 13 and 14, wherein the set of one or more SRS resources includes a first SRS resource associated with four antenna ports and a second SRS resource associated with two antenna ports different from the four antenna ports of the first SRS resource.
[0154] 16. The method of clauses 13-15, wherein the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group and the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group correspond to antenna ports across the first SRS resource and the second SRS resource in a non-overlapping manner, and wherein the first set of receive antenna ports of the first SRS port group and the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group correspond to antenna ports across the first SRS resource and the second SRS resource in a non-overlapping manner.
[0155] 17. The method of clauses 13-16, wherein the set of one or more SRS resources includes a first SRS resource associated with four antenna ports and a second SRS resource associated with four antenna ports, at least a portion of which overlap with a portion of the antenna ports of the first SRS resource.
[0156] 18. The method of clauses 13-17, wherein the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group and the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group correspond to antenna ports from the first SRS resource and the second SRS resource in a overlapping manner, and wherein the first set of receive antenna ports of the first SRS port group and the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group correspond to antenna ports across the first SRS resource and the second SRS resource in a overlapping manner.
[0157] 19. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising means for performing the steps recited in clauses 1-18.
[0158] 20. A computer-readable medium comprising stored instructions for wireless communications, wherein the instructions are executable by one or more processors, individually or in combination, to perform the steps recited in clauses 1-18.
[0159] The above detailed description set forth above in connection with the appended drawings describes examples and does not represent the only examples that may be implemented or that are within the scope of the claims. The term “example, ” when used in this description, means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration, ” and not “preferred” or “advantageous over other examples. ” The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing an understanding of the described techniques. These techniques, however, may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known structures and apparatuses are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of the described examples.
[0160] Information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, computer-executable code or instructions stored on a computer-readable medium, or any combination thereof.
[0161] The various illustrative blocks and components described in connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented or performed with a specially-programmed device, such as but not limited to a processor, a digital signal processor (DSP) , an ASIC, a FPGA or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A specially-programmed processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A specially-programmed processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.
[0162] As used herein, a processor, at least one processor, and / or one or more processors, individually or in combination, configured to perform or operable for performing a plurality of actions is meant to include at least two different processors able to perform different, overlapping or non-overlapping subsets of the plurality actions, or a single processor able to perform all of the plurality of actions. In one non-limiting example of multiple processors being able to perform different ones of the plurality of actions in combination, a description of a processor, at least one processor, and / or one or more processors configured or operable to perform actions X, Y, and Z may include at least a first processor configured or operable to perform a first subset of X, Y, and Z (e.g., to perform X) and at least a second processor configured or operable to perform a second subset of X, Y, and Z (e.g., to perform Y and Z) . Alternatively, a first processor, a second processor, and a third processor may be respectively configured or operable to perform a respective one of actions X, Y, and Z. It should be understood that any combination of one or more processors each may be configured or operable to perform any one or any combination of a plurality of actions.
[0163] The functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, software, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software executed by a processor, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a non-transitory computer-readable medium. Other examples and implementations are within the scope and spirit of the disclosure and appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software, functions described above can be implemented using software executed by a specially programmed processor, hardware, hardwiring, or combinations of any of these. Features implementing functions may also be physically located at various positions, including being distributed such that portions of functions are implemented at different physical locations. Moreover, the term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” rather than an exclusive “or. ” That is, unless specified otherwise, or clear from the context, the phrase, for example, “X employs A or B” is intended to mean any of the natural inclusive permutations. That is, for example the phrase “X employs A or B” is satisfied by any of the following instances: X employs A; X employs B; or X employs both A and B. Also, as used herein, including in the claims, “or” as used in a list of items prefaced by “at least one of” indicates a disjunctive list such that, for example, a list of “at least one of A, B, or C” means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (Aand B and C) .
[0164] Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer. By way of example, and not limitation, computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code means in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer, or a general-purpose or special-purpose processor. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL) , or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, include compact disc (CD) , laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD) , floppy disk and Blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of computer-readable media.
[0165] As used herein, a memory, at least one memory, and / or one or more memories, individually or in combination, configured to store or having stored thereon instructions executable by one or more processors for performing a plurality of actions is meant to include at least two different memories able to store different, overlapping or non-overlapping subsets of the instructions for performing different, overlapping or non-overlapping subsets of the plurality actions, or a single memory able to store the instructions for performing all of the plurality of actions. In one non-limiting example of one or more memories, individually or in combination, being able to store different subsets of the instructions for performing different ones of the plurality of actions, a description of a memory, at least one memory, and / or one or more memories configured or operable to store or having stored thereon instructions for performing actions X, Y, and Z may include at least a first memory configured or operable to store or having stored thereon a first subset of instructions for performing a first subset of X, Y, and Z (e.g., instructions to perform X) and at least a second memory configured or operable to store or having stored thereon a second subset of instructions for performing a second subset of X, Y, and Z (e.g., instructions to perform Y and Z) . Alternatively, a first memory, and second memory, and a third memory may be respectively configured to store or have stored thereon a respective one of a first subset of instructions for performing X, a second subset of instruction for performing Y, and a third subset of instructions for performing Z. It should be understood that any combination of one or more memories each may be configured or operable to store or have stored thereon any one or any combination of instructions executable by one or more processors to perform any one or any combination of a plurality of actions. Moreover, one or more processors may each be coupled to at least one of the one or more memories and configured or operable to execute the instructions to perform the plurality of actions. For instance, in the above non-limiting example of the different subset of instructions for performing actions X, Y, and Z, a first processor may be coupled to a first memory storing instructions for performing action X, and at least a second processor may be coupled to at least a second memory storing instructions for performing actions Y and Z, and the first processor and the second processor may, in combination, execute the respective subset of instructions to accomplish performing actions X, Y, and Z. Alternatively, three processors may access one of three different memories each storing one of instructions for performing X, Y, or Z, and the three processor may in combination execute the respective subset of instruction to accomplish performing actions X, Y, and Z. Alternatively, a single processor may execute the instructions stored on a single memory, or distributed across multiple memories, to accomplish performing actions X, Y, and Z.
[0166] The previous description of the disclosure is provided to enable a person skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the common principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Furthermore, although elements of the described aspects and / or embodiments may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated. Additionally, all or a portion of any aspect and / or embodiment may be utilized with all or a portion of any other aspect and / or embodiment, unless stated otherwise. Thus, the disclosure is not to be limited to the examples and designs described herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.
Claims
1.A method of wireless communications at a user equipment (UE) having a plurality of antenna ports, comprising:transmitting a set of one or more sounding reference signal (SRS) resources to a network entity using a first SRS port group or a second SRS port group, wherein the first SRS port group comprises a first set of transmit antenna ports and a first set of receive antenna ports, wherein the second SRS port group comprises a second set of transmit antenna ports and a second set of receive antenna ports, wherein a quantity of the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group is different than a quantity of the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group, and wherein a quantity of the second set of transmit receive ports of the first SRS port group is different than a quantity of the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group; andreceiving downlink transmissions from the network entity based on transmitting the set of one or more SRS resources.2.The method of claim 1, wherein the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group corresponds to a single transmit antenna port associated with two SRS resources and the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group corresponds to two transmit antenna ports each associated with the two SRS resources.3.The method of claim 1, wherein the first set of receive antenna ports of the first SRS port group corresponds to two receive antenna ports associated with two SRS resources and the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group corresponds to four receive antenna ports associated with the two SRS resources.4.The method of claim 3, wherein the first set of receive antenna ports is associated with two layers for one codeword and the second set of receive antenna ports is associated with four layers for another codeword in six-layer physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) communications.5.The method of claim 1, wherein the set of one or more SRS resources includes a first SRS resource associated with three antenna ports and a second SRS resource associated with three antenna ports different from the three antenna ports of the first SRS resource, and wherein the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group and the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group correspond to antenna ports across the first SRS resource and the second SRS resource in a first non-overlapping manner, and wherein the first set of receive antenna ports of the first SRS port group and the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group correspond to antenna ports across the first SRS resource and the second SRS resource in a second non-overlapping manner.6.The method of claim 1, wherein the first set of receive antenna ports of the first SRS port group corresponds to three receive antenna ports associated with three SRS resources and the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group corresponds to five receive antenna ports associated with the three SRS resources.7.The method of claim 6, wherein the first set of receive antenna ports is associated with three layers for one codeword and the second set of receive antenna ports is associated with four layers for another codeword in a maximum seven-layer physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) communications.8.The method of claim 6, wherein the set of one or more SRS resources includes a first SRS resource associated with three antenna ports, a second SRS resource associated with three antenna ports different from the three antenna ports of the first SRS resource, and a third SRS resource associated with two antenna ports different from the three antenna ports of the first SRS resource and the three antenna ports of the second SRS resource.9.The method of claim 8, wherein the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group and the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group correspond to antenna ports across the first SRS resource, the second SRS resource, and the third SRS resource in a non-overlapping manner, and wherein the first set of receive antenna ports of the first SRS port group and the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group correspond to antenna ports across the first SRS resource, the second SRS resource, and the third SRS resource in a non-overlapping manner.10.The method of claim 1, wherein the set of one or more SRS resources includes a first SRS resource associated with three antenna ports, a second SRS resource associated with three antenna ports different from the three antenna ports of the first SRS resource, and a third SRS resource associated with three antenna ports, at least a portion of the third SRS resource associated with three antenna ports overlap with a portion of the three antenna ports of the first SRS resource or the second SRS resource..11.The method of claim 10, wherein the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group and the second set of transmit antenna ports second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group correspond to antenna ports across the first SRS resource, the second SRS resource, and the third SRS resource in an overlapping manner, and wherein the first set of receive antenna ports of the first SRS port group and the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group correspond to antenna ports across the first SRS resource, the second SRS resource, and the third SRS resource in an overlapping manner.12.The method of claim 10, wherein an overlapping port corresponds to an index combination of an SRS resource index and an SRS port index associated with the first and second transmit antenna ports or an identical antenna port associated with two SRS resources.13.A method of wireless communications at a user equipment (UE) having a plurality of antenna ports, comprising:transmitting a set of one or more sounding reference signal (SRS) resources to a network entity using a first SRS port group or a second SRS port group, wherein the first SRS port group comprises a first set of transmit antenna ports and a first set of receive antenna ports, wherein the second SRS port group comprises a second set of transmit antenna ports and a second set of receive antenna ports, wherein a quantity of the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group is similar to a quantity of the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group, and wherein a quantity of the second set of transmit receive ports of the first SRS port group is similar to a quantity of the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group; andreceiving downlink transmissions from the network entity based on transmitting the set of one or more SRS resources.14.The method of claim 13, wherein the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group corresponds to two transmit antenna ports and the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group corresponds to two transmit antenna ports, and wherein one of the two transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group overlap with the two transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group, and wherein the first set of receive antenna ports of the first SRS port group corresponds to three receive antenna ports and the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group corresponds to three receive antenna ports.15.The method of claim 13, wherein the set of one or more SRS resources includes a first SRS resource associated with four antenna ports and a second SRS resource associated with two antenna ports different from the four antenna ports of the first SRS resource.16.The method of claim 15, wherein the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group and the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group correspond to antenna ports across the first SRS resource and the second SRS resource in a non-overlapping manner, and wherein the first set of receive antenna ports of the first SRS port group and the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group correspond to antenna ports across the first SRS resource and the second SRS resource in a non-overlapping manner.17.The method of claim 13, wherein the set of one or more SRS resources includes a first SRS resource associated with four antenna ports and a second SRS resource associated with four antenna ports, at least a portion of which overlap with a portion of the antenna ports of the first SRS resource.18.The method of claim 17, wherein the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group and the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group correspond to antenna ports from the first SRS resource and the second SRS resource in a overlapping manner, and wherein the first set of receive antenna ports of the first SRS port group and the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group correspond to antenna ports across the first SRS resource and the second SRS resource in a overlapping manner.19.An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising:a transceiver having a plurality of antenna ports;one or more memories; andone or more processors coupled to at least one of the one or more memories and configured to:transmit a set of one or more sounding reference signal (SRS) resources to a network entity using a first SRS port group or a second SRS port group, wherein the first SRS port group comprises a first set of transmit antenna ports and a first set of receive antenna ports, wherein the second SRS port group comprises a second set of transmit antenna ports and a second set of receive antenna ports, wherein a quantity of the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group is different than a quantity of the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group, and wherein a quantity of the second set of transmit receive ports of the first SRS port group is different than a quantity of the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group; andreceive downlink transmissions from the network entity based on transmitting the set of one or more SRS resources.20.An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising:a transceiver having a plurality of antenna ports;one or more memories, individually or in combination, having instructions; andone or more processors each coupled to at least one of the one or more memories and configurable to:transmit, a set of one or more sounding reference signal (SRS) resources to a network entity, wherein the set of one or more SRS resources is transmitted using a first SRS port group or a second SRS port group, the first SRS port group having a first set of transmit antenna ports and a first set of receive antenna ports, the second SRS port group having a second set of transmit antenna ports and a second set of receive antenna ports, and wherein a quantity of the first set of transmit antenna ports of the first SRS port group is equal to a quantity of the second set of transmit antenna ports of the second SRS port group and a quantity of the second set of receive ports of the first SRS port group is equal to a quantity of the second set of receive antenna ports of the second SRS port group; andreceive downlink transmissions from the network entity based on transmitting the set of one or more SRS resources.
Citation Information
Patent Citations
Reference signal resource management for fast panel switching and antenna switching
US20220353042A1
Sounding reference signal (SRS) antenna switching for multiple transceiver user equipment (UE)
US20230275629A1
Techniques for managing sounding reference signal resource switching
WO2022150255A1