Method and apparatus for hopping design for SRS with partial sounded sub-band in a wireless communication system

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a 5G communication system or a 6G communication system for supporting higher data rates beyond a 4G communication system such as long term evolution (LTE). Apparatuses and methods for a hopping design for a sounding reference signal (SRS) with a partial sounded sub-band. A method performed by a user equipment includes receiving configuration information related to a SRS. The configuration information includes multiple parameters for configuring a frequency hopping pattern for the SRS over time. The method further includes determining, based on the configuration information, a resource allocation for the SRS. The resource allocation provides the SRS with one or more partially sounded sub-bands that implement the frequency hopping pattern. The method further includes transmitting the SRS.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HOPPING DESIGN FOR SRS WITH PARTIAL SOUNDED SUB-BAND IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communication systems and, more specifically, the present disclosure is related to a hopping design for a sounding reference signa (SRS) with a partial sounded sub-band.

[0002] Considering the development of wireless communication from generation to generation, the technologies have been developed mainly for services targeting humans, such as voice calls, multimedia services, and data services. Following the commercialization of 5G (5th generation) communication systems, it is expected that the number of connected devices will exponentially grow. Increasingly, these will be connected to communication networks. Examples of connected things may include vehicles, robots, drones, home appliances, displays, smart sensors connected to various infrastructures, construction machines, and factory equipment. Mobile devices are expected to evolve in various form-factors, such as augmented reality glasses, virtual reality headsets, and hologram devices. In order to provide various services by connecting hundreds of billions of devices and things in the 6G (6th generation) era, there have been ongoing efforts to develop improved 6G communication systems. For these reasons, 6G communication systems are referred to as beyond-5G systems.

[0003] 6G communication systems, which are expected to be commercialized around 2030, will have a peak data rate of tera (1,000 giga)-level bit per second (bps) and a radio latency less than 100μsec, and thus will be 50 times as fast as 5G communication systems and have the 1 / 10 radio latency thereof.

[0004] In order to accomplish such a high data rate and an ultra-low latency, it has been considered to implement 6G communication systems in a terahertz (THz) band (for example, 95 gigahertz (GHz) to 3THz bands). It is expected that, due to severer path loss and atmospheric absorption in the terahertz bands than those in mmWave bands introduced in 5G, technologies capable of securing the signal transmission distance (that is, coverage) will become more crucial. It is necessary to develop, as major technologies for securing the coverage, Radio Frequency (RF) elements, antennas, novel waveforms having a better coverage than Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), beamforming and massive Multiple-input Multiple-Output (MIMO), Full Dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antennas, and multiantenna transmission technologies such as large-scale antennas. In addition, there has been ongoing discussion on new technologies for improving the coverage of terahertz-band signals, such as metamaterial-based lenses and antennas, Orbital Angular Momentum (OAM), and Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface (RIS).

[0005] Moreover, in order to improve the spectral efficiency and the overall network performances, the following technologies have been developed for 6G communication systems: a full-duplex technology for enabling an uplink transmission and a downlink transmission to simultaneously use the same frequency resource at the same time; a network technology for utilizing satellites, High-Altitude Platform Stations (HAPS), and the like in an integrated manner; an improved network structure for supporting mobile base stations and the like and enabling network operation optimization and automation and the like; a dynamic spectrum sharing technology via collision avoidance based on a prediction of spectrum usage; an use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in wireless communication for improvement of overall network operation by utilizing AI from a designing phase for developing 6G and internalizing end-to-end AI support functions; and a next-generation distributed computing technology for overcoming the limit of UE computing ability through reachable super-high-performance communication and computing resources (such as Mobile Edge Computing (MEC), clouds, and the like) over the network. In addition, through designing new protocols to be used in 6G communication systems, developing mechanisms for implementing a hardware-based security environment and safe use of data, and developing technologies for maintaining privacy, attempts to strengthen the connectivity between devices, optimize the network, promote softwarization of network entities, and increase the openness of wireless communications are continuing.

[0006] It is expected that research and development of 6G communication systems in hyper-connectivity, including person to machine (P2M) as well as machine to machine (M2M), will allow the next hyper-connected experience. Particularly, it is expected that services such as truly immersive eXtended Reality (XR), high-fidelity mobile hologram, and digital replica could be provided through 6G communication systems. In addition, services such as remote surgery for security and reliability enhancement, industrial automation, and emergency response will be provided through the 6G communication system such that the technologies could be applied in various fields such as industry, medical care, automobiles, and home appliances.

[0007] The present disclosure relates to method and apparatus for hopping design for SRS with partial sounded sub-band in a wireless communication system.

[0008] According to an aspect of an exemplary embodiment, there is provided a communication method in a wireless communication system.

[0009] Aspects of the present disclosure provide efficient communication methods in a wireless communication system.

[0010]

[0011] For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure and its advantages, reference is now made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals represent like parts:

[0012] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless network according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0013] FIG. 2 illustrates an example BS according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0014] FIG. 3 illustrates an example UE according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0015] FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate an example of a wireless transmit and receive paths according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0016] FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a transmitter structure for beamforming according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0017] FIG. 6 illustrates an example of the configuration parameters for SRS in 5G NR according to embodiments the present disclosure;

[0018] FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate examples of intra-slot hopping with partial sounding of a SRS according to 3GPP Release 18;

[0019] FIGS. 8A and 8B illustrate examples of frequency hopping patterns for SRS over slot indices for a single UE / user according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0020] FIG. 9 illustrates an example multiplexing method for transmitting SRS with partially sounded sub-bands for multiple UEs / users according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0021] FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrate other examples of frequency hopping patterns for SRS over slot indices for a single UE / user according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0022] FIG. 11 illustrates another example multiplexing method for transmitting SRS with partially sounded sub-bands for multiple UEs / users according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0023] FIGS. 12A and 12B illustrate other examples of frequency hopping patterns for SRS over slot indices for a single UE / user according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0024] FIG. 13 illustrates yet another example multiplexing method for transmitting SRS with partially sounded sub-bands for multiple UEs / users according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0025] FIGS. 14A and 14B illustrate other examples of frequency hopping patterns for SRS over slot indices for a single UE / user according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0026] FIG. 15 illustrates yet another example multiplexing method for transmitting SRS with partially sounded sub-bands for multiple UEs / users according to embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0027] FIG. 16 illustrates an example method performed by a UE in a wireless communication system according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0028] FIG. 17illustrates a block diagram of a user equipment, according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0029] FIG. 18 illustrates a block diagram of a base station, according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0030] FIG. 19 illustrates a block diagram of a network entity, according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0031] The present disclosure relates to a hopping design for a SRS with a partial sounded sub-band.

[0032] In one embodiment, a user equipment (UE) is provided. The UE includes a transceiver configured to receive configuration information related to a SRS. The configuration information includes multiple parameters for configuring a frequency hopping pattern for the SRS over time. The UE further includes a processor, operably coupled to the transceiver, the processor configured to determine, based on the configuration information, a resource allocation for the SRS. The resource allocation provides the SRS with one or more partially sounded sub-bands that implement the frequency hopping pattern. Furthermore, the transceiver is further configured to transmit the SRS.

[0033] In another embodiment, a base station (BS) is provided. The BS includes a transceiver configured to transmit configuration information related to a SRS. The configuration information includes multiple parameters for configuring a frequency hopping pattern for the SRS over time. The BS further includes a processor, operably coupled to the transceiver, the processor configured to determine a resource allocation for the SRS. The resource allocation provides the SRS with one or more partially sounded sub-bands that implement the frequency hopping pattern. Furthermore, the transceiver is further configured to receive the SRS.

[0034] In yet another embodiment, a method performed by a user equipment is provided. The method includes receiving configuration information related to a SRS. The configuration information comprises multiple parameters for configuring a frequency hopping pattern for the SRS over time. The method further includes determining, based on the configuration information, a resource allocation for the SRS. The resource allocation provides the SRS with one or more partially sounded sub-bands that implement the frequency hopping pattern. The method further includes transmitting the SRS.

[0035] Hereinafter, embodiments of the disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0036] In describing the embodiments, while numerous details are set forth for the purpose of illustration, it is understood that some aspects of the disclosure may be practiced with less than all of these details. Numerous variations and alternatives to the details provided herein are possible and are considered within the scope of the disclosure. In some instances, descriptions related to technical contents well-known in the art may be omitted so as to not obscure an understanding of the disclosure, and such omitted descriptions are understood to be within the scope of the disclosure.

[0037] For the same reason, in the accompanying drawings, some elements may be exaggerated, omitted, or schematically illustrated. Further, the size of each element does not completely reflect the actual size. In the drawings, identical or corresponding elements are provided with identical reference numerals or different reference numerals.

[0038] The advantages and features of the disclosure and ways to achieve them will be apparent by making reference to embodiments as described herein in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the disclosure is not limited to the embodiments set forth herein, but may be implemented in various different forms. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparent from the disclosure. The following embodiments are merely examples to aid in an understanding of the disclosure and should not be construed to narrow the scope or spirit of the subject matter described herein in any way, but on the contrary, the disclosure covers all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the subject matter as defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof. Throughout the specification, the same or like reference numerals designate the same or like elements. Furthermore, terms which will be described herein are terms defined in consideration of the functions in the disclosure, and may be different according to users, intentions of the operators, or customs. Therefore, the definitions of the terms should be made based on the contents throughout the specification.

[0039] Herein, it will be understood that each block of flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations, may be performed based on computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be loaded collectively onto at least one processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which perform through any one of, or in any combination of, the at least one processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for performing the functions specified in the flowchart block(s). These computer program instructions may also be stored in a non-transitory computer usable or computer-readable memory that may direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer usable or computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means that perform the function specified in the flowchart block(s). The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a computer executed process such that the instructions that perform on the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus provide steps for executing the functions specified in the flowchart block(s).

[0040] Further, each block may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which includes one or more executable instructions for executing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of the order. For example, two blocks(or functions) shown in succession may in fact be performed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be performed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved.

[0041] As used in embodiments of the disclosure, a “~unit / module” may refer to a software element or a hardware element, such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), which performs a predetermined function. However, the term including the word “~unit / module” does not always have a meaning limited to software or hardware. The “~unit / module” may be constructed either to be stored in an addressable storage medium or to execute one or more processors. Therefore, the “~unit / module” includes, for example, software elements, object-oriented software elements, components such as class elements and task elements, processes, functions, properties, procedures, sub-routines, segments of a program code, drivers, firmware, micro-codes, circuits, data, database, data structures, tables, arrays, and parameters. The components and functions provided by the “~unit / module” may be either combined into a smaller number of components and a “~unit / module,” or divided into additional components and a “~unit / module.” Moreover, the components and “~units / modules” may be implemented to reproduce one or more central processing units (CPUs) within a device or a security multimedia card. Further, in the embodiments, the “~unit / module” may include one or more processors.

[0042] The entirety of the one or more computer programs may be stored in a single memory device or the one or more computer programs may be divided with different portions stored in different multiple memory devices.

[0043] Any of the functions or operations described herein can be processed by one processor or a combination of processors. The one processor or the combination of processors is circuitry performing processing and includes circuitry like an application processor (AP, e.g. a CPU), a communication processor (CP, e.g., a modem), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a neural processing unit (NPU) (e.g., an artificial intelligence (AI) chip), a Wi-Fi chip, a Bluetooth® chip, a global positioning system (GPS) chip, a near field communication (NFC) chip, connectivity chips, a sensor controller, a touch controller, a finger-print sensor controller, a display driver integrated circuit (IC), an audio CODEC chip, a universal serial bus (USB) controller, a camera controller, an image processing IC, microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, FPGA, ASIC, a microprocessor unit (MPU), a system on chip (SoC), an IC, or the like. The one processor or the combination of processors executes instructions that can be stored in a memory, such as the operating system, in order to control the overall operation of the device. Also, the one processor or the combination of processors is also capable of executing other processes and programs resident in the memory, such as processes for the disclosure.

[0044] It will be appreciated that various embodiments of the disclosure according to the claims and description in the specification can be realized in the form of hardware, software or a combination of hardware and software.

[0045] Any such software may be stored in non-transitory computer readable storage media. The non-transitory computer readable storage media store one or more computer programs (software modules), the one or more computer programs include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to perform a method of the disclosure. Additionally, or alternatively, such software may be a computer program [product] comprising instructions which, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to perform a method of the disclosure.

[0046] Any such software may be stored in the form of volatile or non-volatile storage such as, for example, a storage device like read only memory (ROM), whether erasable or rewritable or not, or in the form of memory such as, for example, random access memory (RAM), memory chips, device or integrated circuits or on an optically or magnetically readable medium such as, for example, a compact disk (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), magnetic disk or magnetic tape or the like. It will be appreciated that the storage devices and storage media are various embodiments of non-transitory machine-readable storage that are suitable for storing a computer program or computer programs comprising instructions that, when executed, implement various embodiments of the disclosure. Accordingly, various embodiments of the present disclosure may provide a program comprising code for implementing apparatus or a method as claimed in any one of the claims of this specification and a non-transitory machine-readable storage storing such a program.

[0047] Hereinafter, the determination of priority between A and B in the present disclosure may refer to various actions such as selecting the one having a higher priority based on a predefined priority rule and performing an operation corresponding thereto, or omitting or dropping an operation corresponding to the one having a lower priority.

[0048] Hereinafter, "A or B" as described in the present disclosure may be understood as "A and / or B," which may include A, or B, or both A and B.

[0049] In addition, "at least one of A, B, and C" as described in the present disclosure may be understood to include A, or B, or C, or any combination of A, B, and C.

[0050] In addition, "at least one of A, B, or C" as described in the present disclosure may be understood to include A, or B, or C, or any combination of A, B, and C.

[0051] Furthermore, "A / B" as described in the present disclosure may be understood as "A and / or B," which may include A, or B, or both A and B.

[0052] Furthermore, "A, B" as described in the present disclosure may be understood as "A and / or B," which may include A, or B, or both A and B.

[0053] Furthermore, "A and B" as described in the present disclosure may be understood as "A and / or B," which may include A, or B, or both A and B.

[0054] Furthermore, “if condition A and condition B are satisfied,” as described in the present disclosure, may not be limited to a case where both condition A and condition B are satisfied, but may be understood to include a case where either condition A or condition B is individually satisfied, both condition A and condition B are satisfied, or one or more additional conditions are satisfied in combination.

[0055] Furthermore, throughout this disclosure, ordinal terms such as "first," "second," "third," etc., (and similar qualifiers) are used merely to distinguish between different instances, occurrences, configurations, messages, stages, elements or aspects of elements, operations, or information as described herein. Unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, the use of such ordinal terms does not itself require that the elements, operations, or information distinguished by these terms be structurally different, numerically distinct, or substantively dissimilar. For example, a "first signal" and a "second signal" may refer to instances of the same signal transmitted at different times or containing the same core information despite minor variations, or they may refer to signals with different content or characteristics, depending on the specific context. Similarly, a "first value" and a "second value" may represent the same magnitude but measured or applied in different circumstances, or they may represent different magnitudes. The interpretation should be guided by the specific technical context, function, and relationship described in the relevant portion of the specification and claims.

[0056] Furthermore, the terms “first ~”, “second ~”, etc., as described in the present disclosure with respect to various elements (e.g., information, objects, operation, sequences, or the like), should not limit those elements. These terms may only be intended to distinguish one element from another, and may not be intended to indicate a specific order. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element.

[0057] Furthermore, even if “first ~” and “second ~” are described in the present disclosure, it may be understood that element(s) referred to by “first ~” and “second ~” may be the same or different. For example, in case of element(s) being information, first information and second information may both be same information and, in some cases, are separate and different information.

[0058] In addition, the terms “if ~” and “in case that ~” as used in the disclosure or claims may be interpreted to include the meanings of “when (or upon) ~,” “in response to ~,” “based on ~,” or “according to ~,” and may be used interchangeably with these expressions. In addition, expressions other than those exemplified herein may also be used, as long as they have substantially the same meaning and do not impair the technical features of the present disclosure. If a method step (e.g. transmit a signal) is performed according to the disclosure of the application in connection with one of the above terms (such as “in case that ~” or the like), it may be interpreted to include the meanings (disclosure) of a prior determination that a feature has a specific state “~” (e.g. a bit length is above X), and then perform the method step in response to said determination.

[0059] For example, the physical layer signaling may be referred to as Layer 1 (L1) signaling and may include downlink control information (DCI). In addition, the higher layer signaling may include a medium access control (MAC) control message, a radio resource control (RRC) signaling message, a non-access stratum (NAS) signaling message, or an application layer message. The RRC signaling message may be referred to as L3 (layer 3) signaling. It should be noted, however, that the higher layer signaling is not limited to the aforementioned examples.

[0060] In addition, the term "not perform" as used in the present disclosure or claims may, in context, be understood to mean that the corresponding step is omitted or skipped. Such a term may be replaced with other terms having the same or substantially equivalent meaning.

[0061] In addition, "transmitting a message including A and B" as described in the present disclosure, may be understood as encompassing both (i) transmitting A and B in a single message, and (ii) transmitting A and B separately via multiple messages (e.g., transmitting a first message including A and a second message including B). This interpretation may also apply to messages that include two or more items (e.g., A, B, C), transmitted either together or separately.

[0062] In addition, "transmitting a message including A and transmitting a message including B" may also be interpreted as transmitting a message including A and B in a single message.

[0063] In the embodiments of the present disclosure described herein, terms or components included in the disclosure may be expressed in singular or plural form depending on the specific embodiments presented. However, such singular or plural expressions are selected appropriately for convenience of description, and the present disclosure is not limited to a singular or plural number of components. A component expressed in the plural form may be implemented as a single component, and a component expressed in the singular form may be implemented as multiple components.

[0064] The drawings or flowcharts described herein illustrate example methods that may be implemented according to the principles of the present disclosure, and various modifications may be made to the methods illustrated in the flowcharts of the present disclosure. For example, although illustrated as a series of steps, various steps in each drawing or flowchart may overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, or be repeated. In other examples, any step may be omitted or replaced with another step.

[0065] The process of the flowchart may be performed by a device. One or more of the steps of the flowchart can be implemented by one or more processors / computer programs executing instructions to perform the noted functions.

[0066] The methods and apparatuses proposed in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be disclosed in connection with drawings disclosing flowcharts to illustrate example methods that may be implemented according to the principles of the present disclosure. Such flowcharts may contain different branches and / or sub-branches. It is understood that the principles of the present disclosure do not only contain the combination of all branches / sub-branches disclosed in the embodiment, but the present disclosure also contains at least one isolated branch / isolated sub-branch, in particular to a single branch / single sub-branch.

[0067] The methods and apparatuses proposed in the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to each embodiment individually, but may also be applied in combination of all or some of the embodiments proposed in the disclosure. Therefore, the embodiments of the present disclosure may be modified and applied without significantly departing from the scope of the present disclosure, as would be understood by those skilled in the art.

[0068] In this case, even if certain wordings are described differently across embodiments, they may be used interchangeably or in substitution or in combination if their underlying concepts are equivalent. For example, for the same or equivalent concept, even if one embodiment uses the expression "A" and another embodiment uses the expression "B", such expressions may be understood interchangeably, in substitution, or in combination.

[0069] The terms used in the following description to refer to access nodes, network entities, messages, interfaces between network entities, various types of identification information, and the like, are provided merely for the convenience of explanation by way of example. Therefore, the present disclosure is not limited to the terms describedherein, and other terms having equivalent technical meanings may also be used. Such terms may also be interchangeable with terms defined in any 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) technical specifications (TS) or similar technical specifications, e.g., from the European telecommunications standards institute (ETSI), where appropriate.

[0070] Hereinafter, a base station (BS) is an entity that allocates resources to terminals, and may be at least one of a gNode B, an eNode B, a Node B, a wireless access unit, a BS controller, or a node on a network.

[0071] Furthermore, the base station of the present disclosure may include a split architecture comprising a central unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU). In this structure, the CU is configured to process the higher layers of the control and user planes, while the DU is configured to process lower-layer radio resource functions. The embodiments of the present disclosure may be equally applicable to 5th generation (5G) base station architectures in which such CU and DU functional splits are implemented.

[0072] A terminal may include a user equipment (UE), a mobile station (MS), a cellular phone, a smartphone, a computer, a tablet, a wearable device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, or any other device / system capable of performing communication functions.

[0073] In the disclosure, a downlink (DL) refers to a radio link through which a BS transmits a signal to a terminal, and an uplink (UL) refers to a radio link through which a terminal transmits a signal to a BS.

[0074] Furthermore, hereinafter, 5G mobile communication technologies (e.g., 5G new radio (NR)), 6th generation (6G) mobile communication technologies may be described by way of example, but the embodiments of the present disclosure may also be applied to other communication systems having similar technical backgrounds or channel types. For example, newly evolved mobile communication systems developed after 5G and 6G may be included. Furthermore, based on determinations by those skilled in the art, the embodiments of the present disclosure may also be applied to other communication systems (e.g., Wi-Fi systems) through some modifications without significantly departing from the scope of the present disclosure

[0075] In the following description, the terms physical channel and signal may be used interchangeably with data or control signal. For example, the term physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) refers to a physical channel through which data is transmitted, but the term PDSCH may also be used to refer to the data itself. That is, in the present disclosure, the expression "transmit a physical channel" may be interpreted as being equivalent to the expression "transmit data or a signal via a physical channel."

[0076] Hereinafter, in the context of the present disclosure, higher layer signaling may refer to signaling corresponding to at least one or any combination of the following: master information block (MIB), system information block (SIB) or SIB M (M = 1, 2, ...), RRC, or MAC control element (CE), or a non-access stratum (NAS) signaling message, or an application layer message. The RRC signaling message may be referred to as Layer 3 (L3) signaling.

[0077] In addition, L1 signaling may refer to signaling corresponding to at least one or any combination of signaling techniques using the at least one or any combination of the following physical layer channels or signaling: physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), DCI, UE-specific DCI, group-common DCI, common DCI, scheduling DCI (e.g., DCI used for scheduling downlink or uplink data), non-scheduling DCI (e.g., DCI not used for scheduling downlink or uplink data) physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), or uplink control information (UCI). The L1 signaling message may be referred to as a physical layer signaling.

[0078] Hereinafter, the expression that information is configured by the BS, as used in the present disclosure or claims, may, in context, be understood to mean that the terminal receives the corresponding information from the BS via a physical layer signaling or a higher layer signaling. Such an expression may be replaced with other terms having the same or substantially equivalent meaning.

[0079] Hereinafter, the operational principle of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0080] The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 764,357 filed on February 27, 2025, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

[0081] Wireless communication has been one of the most successful innovations in modern history. Recently, the number of subscribers to wireless communication services exceeded five billion and continues to grow quickly. The demand of wireless data traffic is rapidly increasing due to the growing popularity among consumers and businesses of smart phones and other mobile data devices, such as tablets, “note pad” computers, net books, eBook readers, and machine type of devices. In order to meet the high growth in mobile data traffic and support new applications and deployments, improvements in radio interface efficiency and coverage are of paramount importance.

[0082] Other technical features may be readily apparent to one skilled in the art from the following figures, descriptions, and claims.

[0083] It may be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain words and phrases used throughout this patent document. The term “couple” and its derivatives refer to any direct or indirect communication between two or more elements, whether or not those elements are in physical contact with one another. The terms “transmit,” “receive,” and “communicate,” as well as derivatives thereof, encompass both direct and indirect communication. The terms “include” and “comprise,” as well as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion without limitation. The term “or” is inclusive, meaning and / or. The phrase “associated with,” as well as derivatives thereof, means to include, be included within, interconnect with, contain, be contained within, connect to or with, couple to or with, be communicable with, cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be proximate to, be bound to or with, have, have a property of, have a relationship to or with, or the like. The term “controller” means any device, system, or part thereof that controls at least one operation. Such a controller may be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and software and / or firmware. The functionality associated with any particular controller may be centralized or distributed, whether locally or remotely. The phrase “at least one of,” when used with a list of items, means that different combinations of one or more of the listed items may be used, and only one item in the list may be needed. For example, “at least one of: A, B, and C” includes any of the following combinations: A, B, C, A and B, A and C, B and C, and A and B and C.

[0084] Moreover, various functions described below can be implemented or supported by one or more computer programs, each of which is formed from computer readable program code and embodied in a computer readable medium. The terms “application” and “program” refer to one or more computer programs, software components, sets of instructions, procedures, functions, objects, classes, instances, related data, or a portion thereof adapted for implementation in a suitable computer readable program code. The phrase “computer readable program code” includes any type of computer code, including source code, object code, and executable code. The phrase “computer readable medium” includes any type of medium capable of being accessed by a computer, such as read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), a hard disk drive, a compact disc (CD), a digital video disc (DVD), or any other type of memory. A “non-transitory” computer readable medium excludes wired, wireless, optical, or other communication links that transport transitory electrical or other signals. A non-transitory computer readable medium includes media where data can be permanently stored and media where data can be stored and later overwritten, such as a rewritable optical disc or an erasable memory device.

[0085] Definitions for other certain words and phrases are provided throughout this patent document. Those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that in many if not most instances, such definitions apply to prior as well as future uses of such defined words and phrases.

[0086] FIGS. 1-16 discussed below, and the various, non-limiting embodiments used to describe the principles of the present disclosure in this patent document are by way of illustration only and should not be construed in any way to limit the scope of the disclosure. Those skilled in the art will understand that the principles of the present disclosure may be implemented in any suitably arranged system or device.

[0087] To meet the demand for wireless data traffic having increased since deployment of 4G communication systems, and to enable various vertical applications, 5G / NR communication systems have been developed and are currently being deployed. The 5G / NR communication system is implemented in higher frequency (mmWave) bands, e.g., 28 GHz or 60GHz bands, so as to accomplish higher data rates or in lower frequency bands, such as 6 GHz, to enable robust coverage and mobility support. To decrease propagation loss of the radio waves and increase the transmission distance, the beamforming, massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), full dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antenna, an analog beam forming, large scale antenna techniques are discussed in 5G / NR communication systems.

[0088] In addition, in 5G / NR communication systems, development for system network improvement is under way based on advanced small cells, cloud radio access networks (RANs), ultra-dense networks, device-to-device (D2D) communication, wireless backhaul, moving network, cooperative communication, coordinated multi-points (CoMP), reception-end interference cancelation and the like.

[0089] The discussion of 5G systems and frequency bands associated therewith is for reference as certain embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in 5G systems.　 However, the present disclosure is not limited to 5G systems, or the frequency bands associated therewith, and embodiments of the present disclosure may be utilized in connection with any frequency band. For example, aspects of the present disclosure may also be applied to deployment of 5G communication systems, 6G, or even later releases which may use terahertz (THz) bands.

[0090] The following documents and standards descriptions are hereby incorporated by reference into the present disclosure as if fully set forth herein: 3GPP TS 38.214 v18.2.0, “NR; Physical layer procedures for data,” Section 6.2.1.1, “UE SRS frequency hopping procedure” (herein, “REF 1”); and 3GPP TS 38.211 v18.2.0, “NR; Physical channels and modulation,” Section 6.4.1.4.3, “Mapping to physical resources” (herein, “REF 2”).

[0091] FIGS. 1-3 below describe various embodiments implemented in wireless communications systems and with the use of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) or orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) communication techniques. The descriptions of FIGS. 1-3 are not meant to imply physical or architectural limitations to how different embodiments may be implemented. Different embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in any suitably arranged communications system.

[0092] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless network 100 according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiment of the wireless network 100 shown in FIG. 1 is for illustration only. Other embodiments of the wireless network 100 could be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0093] As shown in FIG. 1, the wireless network 100 includes a BS 101 (e.g., base station, eNB, gNB), a BS 102, and a BS 103. The BS 101 communicates with the BS 102 and the BS 103. The BS 101 also communicates with at least one network 130, such as the Internet, a proprietary Internet Protocol (IP) network, or other data network.

[0094] The BS 102 provides wireless broadband access to the network 130 for a first plurality of user equipments (UEs) within a coverage area 120 of the BS 102. The first plurality of UEs includes a UE 111, which may be located in a small business; a UE 112, which may be located in an enterprise; a UE 113, which may be a WiFi hotspot; a UE 114, which may be located in a first residence; a UE 115, which may be located in a second residence; and a UE 116, which may be a mobile device, such as a cell phone, a wireless laptop, a wireless PDA, or the like. The BS 103 provides wireless broadband access to the network 130 for a second plurality of UEs within a coverage area 125 of the BS 103. The second plurality of UEs includes the UE 115 and the UE 116. In some embodiments, one or more of the BSs 101-103 may communicate with each other and with the UEs 111-116 using 5G / NR, long term evolution (LTE), long term evolution-advanced (LTE-A), WiMAX, WiFi, or other wireless communication techniques.

[0095] Depending on the network type, the term “base station” or “BS” can refer to any component (or collection of components) configured to provide wireless access to a network, such as transmit point (TP), transmit-receive point (TRP), an enhanced base station (eNodeB or eNB), a 5G / NR base station (gNB), a macrocell, a femtocell, a WiFi access point (AP), or other wirelessly enabled devices. Base stations may provide wireless access in accordance with one or more wireless communication protocols, e.g., 5G / NR 3rdgeneration partnership project (3GPP) NR, long term evolution (LTE), LTE advanced (LTE-A), high speed packet access (HSPA), Wi-Fi 802.11a / b / g / n / ac, etc. For the sake of convenience, the terms “BS” and “TRP” are used interchangeably in this patent document to refer to network infrastructure components that provide wireless access to remote terminals. Also, depending on the network type, the term “user equipment” or “UE” can refer to any component such as “mobile station,” “subscriber station,” “remote terminal,” “wireless terminal,” “receive point,” or “user device.” For the sake of convenience, the terms “user equipment” and “UE” are used in this patent document to refer to remote wireless equipment that wirelessly accesses a BS, whether the UE is a mobile device (such as a mobile telephone or smartphone) or is normally considered a stationary device (such as a desktop computer or vending machine).

[0096] The dotted lines show the approximate extents of the coverage areas 120 and 125, which are shown as approximately circular for the purposes of illustration and explanation only. It should be clearly understood that the coverage areas associated with BSs, such as the coverage areas 120 and 125, may have other shapes, including irregular shapes, depending upon the configuration of the BSs and variations in the radio environment associated with natural and man-made obstructions.

[0097] As described in more detail below, one or more of the UEs 111-116 include circuitry, programing, or a combination thereof for utilizing a SRS with a partial sounded sub-band that implement a hopping design. In certain embodiments, one or more of the BSs 101-103 include circuitry, programing, or a combination thereof to enable a SRS with a partial sounded sub-band that implement a hopping design.

[0098] Although FIG. 1 illustrates one example of a wireless network, various changes may be made to FIG. 1. For example, the wireless network 100 could include any number of BSs and any number of UEs in any suitable arrangement. Also, the BS 101 could communicate directly with any number of UEs and provide those UEs with wireless broadband access to the network 130. Similarly, each BS 102-103 could communicate directly with the network 130 and provide UEs with direct wireless broadband access to the network 130. Further, the BSs 101, 102, and / or 103 could provide access to other or additional external networks, such as external telephone networks or other types of data networks.

[0099] FIG. 2 illustrates an example BS 102 according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiment of the BS 102 illustrated in FIG. 2 is for illustration only, and the BSs 101 and 103 of FIG. 1 could have the same or similar configuration. However, BSs come in a wide variety of configurations, and FIG. 2 does not limit the scope of the present disclosure to any particular implementation of a BS.

[0100] As shown in FIG. 2, the BS 102 includes multiple antennas 205a-205n, multiple transceivers 210a-210n, a controller / processor 225, a memory 230, and a backhaul or network interface 235.

[0101] The transceivers 210a-210n receive, from the antennas 205a-205n, incoming radio frequency (RF) signals, such as signals transmitted by UEs in the wireless network 100. The transceivers 210a-210n down-convert the incoming RF signals to generate IF or baseband signals. The IF or baseband signals are processed by receive (RX) processing circuitry in the transceivers 210a-210n and / or controller / processor 225, which generates processed baseband signals by filtering, decoding, and / or digitizing the baseband or IF signals. The controller / processor 225 may further process the baseband signals.

[0102] Transmit (TX) processing circuitry in the transceivers 210a-210n and / or controller / processor 225 receives analog or digital data (such as voice data, web data, e-mail, or interactive video game data) from the controller / processor 225. The TX processing circuitry encodes, multiplexes, and / or digitizes the outgoing baseband data to generate processed baseband or IF signals. The transceivers 210a-210n up-converts the baseband or IF signals to RF signals that are transmitted via the antennas 205a-205n.

[0103] The controller / processor 225 can include one or more processors or other processing devices that control the overall operation of the BS 102. For example, the controller / processor 225 could control the reception of uplink (UL) channels or signals and the transmission of downlink (DL) channels or signals by the transceivers 210a-210n in accordance with well-known principles. The controller / processor 225 could support additional functions as well, such as more advanced wireless communication functions. For instance, the controller / processor 225 could support beam forming or directional routing operations in which outgoing / incoming signals from / to multiple antennas 205a-205n are weighted differently to effectively steer the outgoing signals in a desired direction. As another example, the controller / processor 225 could support methods for enabling a SRS with a partial sounded sub-band that implement a hopping design. Any of a wide variety of other functions could be supported in the BS 102 by the controller / processor 225.

[0104] The controller / processor 225 is also capable of executing programs and other processes resident in the memory 230, such as processes to enable a SRS with a partial sounded sub-band that implement a hopping design. The controller / processor 225 can move data into or out of the memory 230 as required by an executing process.

[0105] The controller / processor 225 is also coupled to the backhaul or network interface 235. The backhaul or network interface 235 allows the BS 102 to communicate with other devices or systems over a backhaul connection or over a network. The interface 235 could support communications over any suitable wired or wireless connection(s). For example, when the BS 102 is implemented as part of a cellular communication system (such as one supporting 5G / NR, LTE, or LTE-A), the interface 235 could allow the BS 102 to communicate with other BSs over a wired or wireless backhaul connection. When the BS 102 is implemented as an access point, the interface 235 could allow the BS 102 to communicate over a wired or wireless local area network or over a wired or wireless connection to a larger network (such as the Internet). The interface 235 includes any suitable structure supporting communications over a wired or wireless connection, such as an Ethernet or transceiver.

[0106] The memory 230 is coupled to the controller / processor 225. Part of the memory 230 could include a RAM, and another part of the memory 230 could include a Flash memory or other ROM.

[0107] Although FIG. 2 illustrates one example of BS 102, various changes may be made to FIG. 2. For example, the BS 102 could include any number of each component shown in FIG. 2. Also, various components in FIG. 2 could be combined, further subdivided, or omitted and additional components could be added according to particular needs.

[0108] FIG. 3 illustrates an example UE 116 according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiment of the UE 116 illustrated in FIG. 3 is for illustration only, and the UEs 111-115 of FIG. 1 could have the same or similar configuration. However, UEs come in a wide variety of configurations, and FIG. 3 does not limit the scope of the present disclosure to any particular implementation of a UE.

[0109] As shown in FIG. 3, the UE　116 includes antenna(s) 305, a transceiver(s) 310, and a microphone 320. The UE　116 also includes a speaker 330, a processor 340, an input / output (I / O) interface (IF) 345, an input 350, a display 355, and a memory 360. The memory 360 includes an operating system (OS) 361 and one or more applications 362.

[0110] The transceiver(s) 310 receives from the antenna(s) 305, an incoming RF signal transmitted by a BS of the wireless network 100. The transceiver(s) 310 down-converts the incoming RF signal to generate an intermediate frequency (IF) or baseband signal. The IF or baseband signal is processed by RX processing circuitry in the transceiver(s) 310 and / or processor 340, which generates a processed baseband signal by filtering, decoding, and / or digitizing the baseband or IF signal. The RX processing circuitry sends the processed baseband signal to the speaker 330 (such as for voice data) or is processed by the processor 340 (such as for web browsing data).

[0111] TX processing circuitry in the transceiver(s) 310 and / or processor 340 receives analog or digital voice data from the microphone 320 or other outgoing baseband data (such as web data, e-mail, or interactive video game data) from the processor 340. The TX processing circuitry encodes, multiplexes, and / or digitizes the outgoing baseband data to generate a processed baseband or IF signal. The transceiver(s) 310 up-converts the baseband or IF signal to an RF signal that is transmitted via the antenna(s) 305.

[0112] The processor 340 can include one or more processors or other processing devices and execute the OS 361 stored in the memory 360 in order to control the overall operation of the UE 116. For example, the processor 340 could control the reception of DL channels or signals and the transmission of UL channels or signals by the transceiver(s) 310 in accordance with well-known principles. In some embodiments, the processor 340 includes at least one microprocessor or microcontroller.

[0113] The processor 340 is also capable of executing other processes and programs resident in the memory 360. For example, the processor 340 may execute processes for performing a SRS transmission with a partial sounded sub-band that implement a hopping design as described in embodiments of the present disclosure. The processor 340 can move data into or out of the memory 360 as required by an executing process. In some embodiments, the processor 340 is configured to execute the applications 362 based on the OS 361 or in response to signals received from BSs or an operator. The processor 340 is also coupled to the I / O interface 345, which provides the UE 116 with the ability to connect to other devices, such as laptop computers and handheld computers. The I / O interface 345 is the communication path between these accessories and the processor 340.

[0114] The processor 340 is also coupled to the input 350, which includes, for example, a touchscreen, keypad, etc., and the display 355. The operator of the UE 116 can use the input 350 to enter data into the UE 116. The display 355 may be a liquid crystal display, light emitting diode display, or other display capable of rendering text and / or at least limited graphics, such as from web sites.

[0115] The memory 360 is coupled to the processor 340. Part of the memory 360 could include a random-access memory (RAM), and another part of the memory 360 could include a Flash memory or other read-only memory (ROM).

[0116] Although FIG. 3 illustrates one example of UE 116, various changes may be made to FIG. 3. For example, various components in FIG. 3 could be combined, further subdivided, or omitted and additional components could be added according to particular needs. As a particular example, the processor 340 could be divided into multiple processors, such as one or more central processing units (CPUs) and one or more graphics processing units (GPUs). In another example, the transceiver(s) 310 may include any number of transceivers and signal processing chains and may be connected to any number of antennas. Also, while FIG. 3 illustrates the UE 116 configured as a mobile telephone or smartphone, UEs could be configured to operate as other types of mobile or stationary devices.

[0117] FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B illustrate an example of wireless transmit and receive paths 400 and 450, respectively, according to embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, a transmit path 400 may be described as being implemented in a BS (such as BS 102), while a receive path 450 may be described as being implemented in a UE (such as UE 116). However, it will be understood that the receive path 450 can be implemented in a BS and that the transmit path 400 can be implemented in a UE. In some embodiments, the transmit path 400 and / or the receive path 450 is configured for supporting a SRS with a partial sounded sub-band that implement a hopping design as described in embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0118] As illustrated in FIG. 4A, the transmit path 400 includes a channel coding and modulation block 405, a serial-to-parallel (S-to-P) block 410, a size N Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) block 415, a parallel-to-serial (P-to-S) block 420, an add cyclic prefix block 425, and an up-converter (UC) 430. The receive path 450 includes a down-converter (DC) 455, a remove cyclic prefix block 460, a S-to-P block 465, a size N Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) block 470, a parallel-to-serial (P-to-S) block 475, and a channel decoding and demodulation block 480.

[0119] In the transmit path 400, the channel coding and modulation block 405 receives a set of information bits, applies coding (such as a low-density parity check (LDPC) coding), and modulates the input bits (such as with Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) or Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM)) to generate a sequence of frequency-domain modulation symbols. The serial-to-parallel block 410 converts (such as de-multiplexes) the serial modulated symbols to parallel data in order to generate N parallel symbol streams, where N is the IFFT / FFT size used in the BS and the UE. The size N IFFT block 415 performs an IFFT operation on the N parallel symbol streams to generate time-domain output signals. The parallel-to-serial block 420 converts (such as multiplexes) the parallel time-domain output symbols from the size N IFFT block 415 in order to generate a serial time-domain signal. The add cyclic prefix block 425 inserts a cyclic prefix to the time-domain signal. The up-converter 430 modulates (such as up-converts) the output of the add cyclic prefix block 425 to a RF frequency for transmission via a wireless channel. The signal may also be filtered at a baseband before conversion to the RF frequency.

[0120] As illustrated in FIG. 4B, the down-converter 455 down-converts the received signal to a baseband frequency, and the remove cyclic prefix block 460 removes the cyclic prefix to generate a serial time-domain baseband signal. The serial-to-parallel block 465 converts the time-domain baseband signal to parallel time-domain signals. The size N FFT block 470 performs an FFT algorithm to generate N parallel frequency-domain signals. The (P-to-S) block 475 converts the parallel frequency-domain signals to a sequence of modulated data symbols. The channel decoding and demodulation block 480 demodulates and decodes the modulated symbols to recover the original input data stream.

[0121] Each of the BSs 101-103 may implement a transmit path 400 that is analogous to transmitting in the downlink to UEs 111-116 and may implement a receive path 450 that is analogous to receiving in the uplink from UEs 111-116. Similarly, each of UEs 111-116 may implement a transmit path 400 for transmitting in the uplink to the BSs 101-103 and may implement a receive path 450 for receiving in the downlink from the BSs 101-103.

[0122] Each of the components in FIGS. 4A and 4B can be implemented using only hardware or using a combination of hardware and software / firmware. As a particular example, at least some of the components in FIGS. 4A and 4B may be implemented in software, while other components may be implemented by configurable hardware or a mixture of software and configurable hardware. For instance, the FFT block 470 and the IFFT block 415 may be implemented as configurable software algorithms, where the value of size N may be modified according to the implementation.

[0123] Furthermore, although described as using FFT and IFFT, this is by way of illustration only and should not be construed to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other types of transforms, such as Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) and Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform (IDFT) functions, can be used. It will be appreciated that the value of the variable N may be any integer number (such as 1, 2, 3, 4, or the like) for DFT and IDFT functions, while the value of the variable N may be any integer number that is a power of two (such as 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, or the like) for FFT and IFFT functions.

[0124] Although FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate examples of wireless transmit and receive paths 400 and 450, respectively, various changes may be made to FIGS. 4A and 4B. For example, various components in FIGS. 4A and 4B can be combined, further subdivided, or omitted and additional components can be added according to particular needs. Also, FIGS. 4A and 4B are meant to illustrate examples of the types of transmit and receive paths that can be used in a wireless network. Any other suitable architectures can be used to support wireless communications in a wireless network.

[0125] FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a transmitter structure 500 for beamforming according to embodiments of the present disclosure. In certain embodiments, one or more of BS 102 or UE 116 includes the transmitter structure 500. For example, one or more of antenna 205 and its associated systems or antenna 305 and its associated systems can be included in transmitter structure 500. This example is for illustration only and other embodiments can be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0126] Accordingly, embodiments of the present disclosure recognize that Rel-14 LTE and Rel-15 NR support up to 32 CSI reference signal (CSI-RS) antenna ports which enable an eNB or a BS to be equipped with a large number of antenna elements (such as 64 or 128). A plurality of antenna elements can then be mapped onto one CSI-RS port. For mmWave bands, although a number of antenna elements can be larger for a given form factor, a number of CSI-RS ports, that can correspond to the number of digitally precoded ports, can be limited due to hardware constraints (such as the feasibility to install a large number of analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) / digital-to-analog converters (DACs) at mmWave frequencies) as illustrated in FIG. 5. Then, one CSI-RS port can be mapped onto a large number of antenna elements that can be controlled by a bank of analog phase shifters 501. One CSI-RS port can then correspond to one sub-array which produces a narrow analog beam through analog beamforming 505. This analog beam can be configured to sweep across a wider range of angles 520 by varying the phase shifter bank across symbols or slots / subframes. The number of sub-arrays (equal to the number of RF chains) is the same as the number of CSI-RS portsNCSI-PORT. A digital beamforming unit 510 performs a linear combination acrossNCSI-PORTanalog beams to further increase a precoding gain. While analog beams are wideband (hence not frequency-selective), digital precoding can be varied across frequency sub-bands or resource blocks. Receiver operation can be conceived analogously.

[0127] Since the transmitter structure 500 of FIG. 5 utilizes multiple analog beams for transmission and reception (wherein one or a small number of analog beams are selected out of a large number, for instance, after a training duration that is occasionally or periodically performed), the term “multi-beam operation” is used to refer to the overall system aspect. This includes, for the purpose of illustration, indicating the assigned DL or UL TX beam (also termed “beam indication”), measuring at least one reference signal for calculating and performing beam reporting (also termed “beam measurement” and “beam reporting”, respectively), and receiving a DL or UL transmission via a selection of a corresponding RX beam. The system of FIG. 5 is also applicable to higher frequency bands such as >52.6GHz (also termed frequency range 4 or FR4). In this case, the system can employ only analog beams. Due to the O2 absorption loss around 60 GHz frequency (~10 dB additional loss per 100 m distance), a larger number and narrower analog beams (hence a larger number of radiators in the array) are essential to compensate for the additional path loss.

[0128] FIG. 6 illustrates an example of the configuration parameters for SRS in 5G NR according to embodiments the present disclosure. For example, these configuration parameters can be defined by BS 102 and implemented by any one the UEs 111-116 of FIG. 1. This example is for illustration only and other embodiments can be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0129] The configuration of SRS in 5G NR is managed through the radio resource control (RRC) layer, where, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the configuration is organized into two main components:SRS-ResourceSetandSRS-Resource.

[0130] SRS-ResourceSetdefines the broader group of resources. Key parameters include:

[0131] - resourceType: Configurations such as Aperiodic (AP), Semi-Persistent (semi-P), and Periodic SRS transmissions.

[0132] - usage: Supports multiple functionalities, including beam management, codebook-based transmissions, non-codebook usage, and antenna switching.

[0133] - Power Control: Managed through parameters like alpha, P0, andpasslossReferenceRS, with additional control viaSrs-PowerControlAdjustmentStates.

[0134] SRS-Resourcespecifies detailed characteristics of each SRS resource. Core parameters include:

[0135] - transmissionComb: Configures comb size, offset, and cyclic shift (phase) to facilitate efficient resource allocation.

[0136] - resourceMapping: Controls time domain aspects such as the start symbol, number of symbols, and repetition factor.

[0137] - freqDomPositionandfreqDomShift: Define the frequency domain position and shifts within the bandwidth part (BWP).

[0138] - freqHopping: Allows frequency hopping configurations across resource blocks (RBs).

[0139] - groupOrSeqHoppandsequenceId: Enable group and sequence-based cyclic shift configurations.

[0140] - resourceType: Mirrors the periodicity and offset options found in theSRS-ResourceSet.

[0141] - spatialRelationInfo: Supports spatial relationships for beam-based SRS transmission.

[0142] This robust configuration framework allows the SRS to adapt to varying network conditions, bandwidth allocations, and antenna schemes, enabling 5G NR to deliver enhanced performance in UL coverage, beamforming, and resource　management.

[0143] In general, SRS is an expensive resource due to its overhead and UE power consumptions. The scheduling of SRS is conservative, which causes a high threshold of scheduling SRS and limits the usage of SRS. Balance is needed between overhead reduction and SRS quality such as DL channel state information (CSI) accuracy. Current standards which support partial sounding for sub-bands may provide a benefit with regard to overhead reduction. For instance, the partial sounding feature of 3GPP Release 18 makes UE capable of being configured with SRS with intra-slot frequency hopping within a bandwidth part and configured to partially sound on each sub-band. However, the frequency hopping position is currently fixed over time, which can lead to challenges in obtaining high quality observation / estimation of the whole band.

[0144] FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate examples of intra-slot hopping with partial sounding of a SRS according to 3GPP Release 18. For example, the intra-slot hopping and partial sounding can be implemented by any one the UEs 111-116 of FIG. 1 and enabled by BS 102 of FIG. 1. This example is for illustration only and other embodiments can be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0145] As illustrated in FIG. 7A, the control parameters for SRS may be and where the SRS is partially sounded in resource blocks (RBs) 700 over the SRS periodicity Alternatively, as illustrated in FIG. 7B, the control parameters for SRS may be and where the SRS is partially sounded in resource blocks (RBs) 750 over the SRS periodicity is the number of symbols, is the repetition number, and is the frequency scaling factor. can be 1, 2, or 4 (i.e., ), where 1 means the SRS is sounding at 100% of the assigned band, 2 means the SRS is sounding at 50%, and 4 means the SRS is sounding at 25%. As further illustrated in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the starting point offset corresponding to each sub-band remains the same over time and over different symbols. However, new parameters to control the offset may be introduced to make the offset changeable over symbols and time. Benefits may include making the SRS sounding pattern more flexible, making the SRS overhead reduction easier, and making interpolation / extrapolation possible. Further, more accurate CSI can be obtained via hopping (i.e., incorporating a starting point offset) over all of the partial sounded sub-band, such that position 0, 1, 2, and 3 may be sounded, whereas previously only position 0 was sounded.

[0146] The present disclosure provides a frequency hopping over time design for SRS with partially sounded sub-bands. This design includes two parameters to control the hopping order of sub-bands, and therefore enables partial sound hopping over the whole sub-band for better CSI acquisition. More particularly, the present disclosure provides frequency hopping over time for one or more SRSs with one or more partially sounded sub-bands, including using multiple parameters to control a hopping order of the one or more partially sounded sub-bands, and a corresponding multiplexing method. Once again, this may allow partial sound hopping over a particular whole sub-band for improving CSI acquisition.

[0147] In various embodiments, sub-band hopping with partial sounding and without intra-slot hopping is provided. In current standards, the configures the partial sounding sub-bands start RB index. In the present disclosure, a time-varying parameter computation is provided, enabling frequency hopping at different slots for different sub-bands.

[0148] In such embodiments, a hopping configuration may provide, for example, an additional parameter, and a set, where for and where for Note that if is configured with other values, can also be adjusted with respect to This hopping configuration may control the hopping position for different partial sounded sub-bands. When the UE will perform no frequency hopping over different sub-bands. However, when combined with the hopping position at time / slot is determined as set forth in the procedure below:

[0149]

[0150] Note that in the procedure above can be indices of symbols or slots, depending on the specific configurations and purpose. For example, if the purpose is for intra-slot hopping, is the symbol index.

[0151] FIGS. 8A and 8B illustrate examples of frequency hopping patterns for SRS over slot indices for a single UE / user according to embodiments of the present disclosure. More particularly, FIG. 8A illustrates a currently available frequency hopping pattern set forth in 3GPP Release 18 and FIG. 8B is a frequency hopping pattern according to embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the frequency hopping patterns can be defined by BS 102 and implemented by any one the UEs 111-116 of FIG. 1. These examples are for illustration only and other embodiments can be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0152] As illustrated in FIG. 8A, implementing the currently available frequency hopping pattern when there is no intra-slot hopping results in partially sounded sub-band0 and partially sounded sub-band1 sounding at different times and in the same frequency hopping position within each sub-band (e.g. = 1). In other words, while the SRS is partially sounding in each sub-band at different times, the frequency hopping position between sub-bands is the same over time. Note that the exact frequency starting position may be where although for purposes of the present disclosure and to illustrate the difference from the current standard, the following examples focus on and assuming other parameters remain the same. As illustrated in FIG. 8B, implementing a frequency hopping pattern based on the above hopping configuration allows for partially sounded sub-band0 and partially sounded sub-band1 to have different frequency hopping positions over time (i.e., sub-band0 can sound at a particular frequency position within the sub-band and sub-band1 can sound at a different frequency position within the sub-band). To achieve the frequency hopping pattern of FIG. 8B, the hopping configuration parameters may be defined as and which yields (i.e., the RB positions of the sub-bands in which the SRS is partially sounded). By implementing at least the frequency hopping pattern illustrated in FIG. 8B, a corresponding multiplexing method may be achieved.

[0153] FIG. 9 illustrates an example multiplexing method for transmitting SRS with partially sounded sub-bands for multiple UEs / users according to embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the multiplexing method can be implemented by any of the UEs 111-116 of FIG. 1 (e.g., UEs 111-114) and enabled by BS 102 of FIG. 1. This example is for illustration only and other embodiments can be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0154] As illustrated in FIG. 9, the users that fall into different sub-band hopping positions can be directly multiplexed. For example, a first group (e.g., users 1 and 2) and a second group (e.g., users 3 and 4), can be multiplexed independently without collision. Further, the users within the same frequency hopping order, but with a different can also be multiplexed. As further illustrated in FIG. 9, users 3 and 4 are sounding in the same sub-band order, but partially sounding at different parts of the sub-band. For user 3, and which yields For user 4, and which yields For comparison, users 1 and 2 are multiplexed without time varying

[0155] In various embodiments, sub-band hopping with partial sounding and with intra-slot hopping is provided. In some embodiments, intra-slot hopped symbols may have the same sub-band hopping position. In such embodiments, a hopping configuration may provide, for example, an additional parameter, and a set, where for and where for Note that if is configured with other values, can also be adjusted with respect to This hopping configuration may control the hopping position for different partial sounded sub-bands. When the UE will perform no frequency hopping over different sub-bands. However, when combined with the hopping position at time / slot is determined as set forth in the procedure below:

[0156]

[0157] Note that in the procedure above can be indices of symbols or slots, depending on the specific configurations and purpose. For example, if the purpose is for intra-slot hopping, is the symbol index.

[0158] FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrate examples of frequency hopping patterns for SRS over slot indices for a single UE / user according to embodiments of the present disclosure. More particularly, FIG. 10A illustrates, once again, a currently available frequency hopping pattern set forth in 3GPP Release 18 and FIG. 10B is a frequency hopping pattern according to embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the frequency hopping patterns can be defined by BS 102 and implemented by any one the UEs 111-116 of FIG. 1. These examples are for illustration only and other embodiments can be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0159] As illustrated in FIG. 10A, implementing the currently available frequency hopping pattern when there is intra-slot hopping and the intra-slot hopped symbols have the same sub-band hopping position results in partially sounded sub-band0 and partially sounded sub-band1 sounding at the same time and in the same frequency hopping position within each sub-band (e.g. = 1). Note that the exact frequency starting position may be where although for purposes of the present disclosure and to illustrate the difference from the current standard, the following examples focus on and assuming other parameters remain the same. As illustrated in FIG. 10B, implementing a frequency hopping pattern based on the above hopping configuration allows for partially sounded sub-band0 and partially sounded sub-band1 to each have different frequency hopping positions over time, but the same frequency hopping pattern between sub-bands (i.e., sub-band0 can sound at various frequency positions within the sub-band over time and sub-band1 can also sound at various frequency positions within the sub-band over time and the frequency hopping pattern between sub-band0 and sub-band1 can be the same). To achieve the frequency hopping pattern of FIG. 10B, the hopping configuration parameters may be defined as and which yields (i.e., the RB positions of each sub-band in which the SRS is partially sounded). By implementing at least the frequency hopping pattern illustrated in FIG. 10B, a corresponding multiplexing method may be achieved.

[0160] FIG. 11 illustrates an example multiplexing method for transmitting SRS with partially sounded sub-bands for multiple UEs / users according to embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the multiplexing method can be implemented by any of the UEs 111-116 of FIG. 1 (e.g., UEs 111-113) and enabled by BS 102 of FIG. 1. This example is for illustration only and other embodiments can be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0161] As illustrated in FIG. 11, the users that fall into different sub-band hopping positions can be directly multiplexed. For example, the users within the same frequency hopping order, but with a different can automatically be multiplexed. As further illustrated in FIG. 11, users 1, 2, and 3 are sounding the full band signal, but partially sounding at different parts of each sub-band over time. For user 1, and which yields For user 2, and which yields For user 3, and which yields

[0162] In other embodiments, intra-slot hopped symbols may have different sub-band hopping positions. In such embodiments, the will vary over different sub-bands, denoted as for sub-band Further, a hopping configuration may provide, for example, an additional parameter, and a set, where for and where 0,2,1,3}} for Note that if is configured with other values, can also be adjusted with respect to This hopping configuration may control the hopping position for different partial sounded sub-bands. When the UE will perform no frequency hopping over different sub-bands. However, when combined with the hopping position at time / slot is determined as set forth in the procedure below:

[0163]

[0164] Note that in the procedure above can be indices of symbols or slots, depending on the specific configurations and purpose. For example, if the purpose is for intra-slot hopping, is the symbol index.

[0165] FIGS. 12A and 12B illustrate examples of frequency hopping patterns for SRS over slot indices for a single UE / user according to embodiments of the present disclosure. More particularly, FIG. 12A illustrates, once again, a currently available frequency hopping pattern set forth in 3GPP Release 18 and FIG. 12B is a frequency hopping pattern according to embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the frequency hopping patterns can be defined by BS 102 and implemented by any one the UEs 111-116 of FIG. 1. These examples are for illustration only and other embodiments can be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0166] As illustrated in FIG. 12A, implementing the currently available frequency hopping pattern when there is intra-slot hopping and the intra-slot hopped symbols have different sub-band hopping position results in partially sounded sub-band0 and partially sounded sub-band1 sounding at the same time and in different frequency hopping position within each sub-band (e.g. = 1). Note that the exact frequency starting position may be where although for purposes of the present disclosure and to illustrate the difference from the current standard, the following examples focus on and assuming other parameters remain the same. As illustrated in FIG. 12B, implementing a frequency hopping pattern based on the above hopping configuration allows for partially sounded sub-band0 and partially sounded sub-band1 to each have different frequency hopping positions over time as well as different frequency hopping patterns between sub-bands (i.e., sub-band0 can sound at various frequency positions within the sub-band over time and sub-band1 can also sound at various frequency positions within the sub-band over time and the frequency hopping pattern between sub-band0 and sub-band1 is different). In such embodiments, the different frequency hopping patterns between sub-bands can be based on cyclic-shifted frequency hopping over symbols. To achieve the frequency hopping pattern of FIG. 12B, the hopping configuration parameters may be defined as and where and are, for example, cyclically-shifted by 2. This yields and (i.e., the RB positions of sub-band0 and sub-band1, respectively, in which the SRS is partially sounded). By implementing at least the frequency hopping pattern illustrated in FIG. 12B, a corresponding multiplexing method may be achieved.

[0167] FIG. 13 illustrates an example multiplexing method for transmitting SRS with partially sounded sub-bands for multiple UEs / users according to embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the multiplexing method can be implemented by any of the UEs 111-116 of FIG. 1 (e.g., UEs 111-113) and enabled by BS 102 of FIG. 1. This example is for illustration only and other embodiments can be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0168] As illustrated in FIG. 13, the users that fall into different sub-band hopping positions can be directly multiplexed. For example, the users that have the same different frequency hopping pattern between sub-bands can automatically be multiplexed. As further illustrated in FIG. 13, users 1, 2, and 3 are sounding the full band signal, but partially sounding at different parts of each sub-band over time. For user 1, and which yields and For user 2, and which yields and For user 3, and which yields and For all 3 users, the cyclic shift of the frequency hopping patterns between sub-bands is 2.

[0169] In other such embodiments, where intra-slot hopped symbols have different sub-band hopping positions, a hopping configuration may provide, for example, an additional parameter, and a set, where for and where 0,3,1,2}} for Note that if is configured with other values, can also be adjusted with respect to This hopping configuration may control the hopping position for different partial sounded sub-bands. When the UE will perform no frequency hopping over different sub-bands. However, when combined with the hopping position at time / slot is determined as set forth in the procedure below:

[0170]

[0171] Note that in the procedure above can be indices of symbols or slots, depending on the specific configurations and purpose. For example, if the purpose is for intra-slot hopping, is the symbol index.

[0172] FIGS. 14A and 14B illustrate examples of frequency hopping patterns for SRS over slot indices for a single UE / user according to embodiments of the present disclosure. More particularly, FIG. 14A illustrates, once again, a currently available frequency hopping pattern set forth in 3GPP Release 18 and FIG. 14B is a frequency hopping pattern according to embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the frequency hopping patterns can be defined by BS 102 and implemented by any one the UEs 111-116 of FIG. 1. These examples are for illustration only and other embodiments can be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0173] As illustrated in FIG. 14A, implementing the currently available frequency hopping pattern when there is intra-slot hopping and the intra-slot hopped symbols have different sub-band hopping position results in partially sounded sub-band0 and partially sounded sub-band1 sounding at the same time and in different frequency hopping position within each sub-band (e.g. = 1). Note that the exact frequency starting position may be where although for purposes of the present disclosure and to illustrate the difference from the current standard, the following examples focus on and assuming other parameters remain the same. As illustrated in FIG. 14B, implementing a frequency hopping pattern based on the above hopping configuration allows for partially sounded sub-band0 and partially sounded sub-band1 to each have different frequency hopping positions over time as well as different frequency hopping patterns between sub-bands (i.e., sub-band0 can sound at various frequency positions within the sub-band over time and sub-band1 can also sound at various frequency positions within the sub-band over time and the frequency hopping pattern between sub-band0 and sub-band1 is different). In such embodiments, the different frequency hopping patterns between sub-bands can be independent of each other (i.e., independent hopping over symbols). To achieve the frequency hopping pattern of FIG. 14B, the hopping configuration parameters may be defined as and where and are, for example, independently hopping over symbols. This yields and (i.e., the RB positions of sub-band0 and sub-band1, respectively, in which the SRS is partially sounded). By implementing at least the frequency hopping pattern illustrated in FIG. 14B, a corresponding multiplexing method may be achieved.

[0174] FIG. 15 illustrates an example multiplexing method for transmitting SRS with partially sounded sub-bands for multiple UEs / users according to embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the multiplexing method can be implemented by any of the UEs 111-116 of FIG. 1 (e.g., UEs 111-113) and enabled by BS 102 of FIG. 1. This example is for illustration only and other embodiments can be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0175] As illustrated in FIG. 15, the users that fall into different sub-band hopping positions can be directly multiplexed. For example, since the frequency hopping patterns between sub-bands are independent, the users that have matching frequency hopping patterns for all sub-bands can automatically be multiplexed. As further illustrated in FIG. 15, users 1, 2, and 3 are sounding the full band signal, but partially sounding at different parts of each sub-band over time. For user 1, and which yields and For user 2, and which yields and For user 3, and which yields and For all 3 users, the frequency hopping pattern of sub-band0 is all [1,3,0,2] or its cyclic shift, and the frequency hopping pattern for sub-band1 is all [0,3,1,2] or its cyclic shift.

[0176] FIG. 16 illustrates an example method 1600 performed by a UE in a wireless communication system according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 1600 of FIG. 16 can be performed by any of the UEs 111-116 of FIG. 1, such as the UE 116 of FIG. 3, and a corresponding method can be performed by any of the BSs 101-103 of FIG. 1, such as BS 102 of FIG. 2. The method 1600 is for illustration only and other embodiments can be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0177] The method 1600 begins with receiving configuration information related to a SRS (1610). In various embodiments, the configuration information may comprise multiple parameters for configuring a frequency hopping pattern for the SRS over time. The UE then determines, based on the configuration information, a resource allocation for the SRS (1620). In various embodiments, the resource allocation provides the SRS with one or more partially sounded sub-bands that implement the frequency hopping pattern. The UE then transmits, based on the determined resource allocation, the SRS (1630).

[0178] Although FIG. 16 illustrates one example method 1600 of the actions taken by the UE to transmit the SRS based on the configuration information received from the BS, various changes may be made to FIG. 16. For example, while shown as a series of steps, various steps in FIG. 16 could overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, or occur any number of times.

[0179] FIG. 17 is a block diagram of a terminal or user equipment (UE) 1700 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. Furthermore , the UE of FIG. 17 may correspond to UE (or terminal) of FIG. 3.

[0180] The terminal is an electronic device capable of wireless communication and having various form factors, examples of the terminal may include a UE, a mobile station (MS), a cellular phone, a smartphone, a computer, a tablet, a wearable device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, or any other device / system capable of performing wireless communication with a base station (BS) and / or another terminal through a wireless channel.

[0181] Referring to FIG. 17, the UE 1700 may include at least one transceiver (hereinafter, referred to as simply “transceiver”) 1701, at least one processor (hereinafter, referred to as simply “processor”) 1702, and at least one memory (hereinafter, referred to as simply “memory”) 1703. According to at least one or a combination of methods corresponding to the embodiments described in the present disclosure, the transceiver 1701, the processor 1702, and the memory 1703 of the UE 1700 may operate. However, components of the UE 1700 are not limited to the example components illustrated in FIG. 17. In another embodiment, the UE 1700 may further include additional components in addition to the above-mentioned components, or some components may be omitted. Further, in some embodiments, any combination of the transceiver 1701, the processor 1702, or the memory 1703 may be integrated in the form of one component.

[0182] The transceiver 1701 may be a communication circuit or communication circuitry that enables the UE 1700 to perform wireless communication with a node or an entity of a network. For example, the transceiver 1701 may enable the UE 1700 to transmit or receive a signal to or from a BS through cellular communication, or to transmit or receive a signal to or from another UE through cellular communication. For example, the transceiver 1701 may support at least one of various cellular communication technologies including 3rd generation (3G), 4thgeneration (4G), long term evolution (LTE), 5th generation (5G) NR, 6thgeneration (6G), and various cellular wireless communication technologies supported by the transceiver (1701) may include all subsequent generations of evolved wireless communications.

[0183] According to an embodiment, the UE 1700 may include a plurality of transceivers. For example, in the case of supporting evolved-universal terrestrial radio access-new radio (E-UTRA-NR) dual connectivity (EN-DC), the UE 1700 may include a first transceiver supporting the 4G LTE wireless communication and a second transceiver supporting the 5G NR wireless communication. According to another embodiment, in the case of supporting NR-dual connectivity (NR-DC), the UE 1700 may include a plurality of transceivers supporting the 5G NR wireless communication. According to still another embodiment, in the case of supporting near field wireless communication, the UE 1700 may separately include a transceiver supporting at least one standard in the group of wireless communication protocol standards as defined in the protocol standards for Bluetooth®, wireless local area network (WLAN) network (including institute of electrical and electronics engineers (IEEE) 802.11-2016 standard or its amendments, e.g., 802.11ah, 802.11ad, 802.11ay, 802.11ax, 802.11az, 802.11ba, and 802.11be, without being limited thereto).

[0184] According to an embodiment, the transceiver 1701 may include various circuit structures used to transmit or receive signals to or from a BS through a wireless channel. The signals may include control information and data. For example, the transceiver 1701 may include a radio frequency (RF) transmitter for up-converting and amplifying the frequency of a transmitted signal and an RF receiver for low-noise-amplifying a received signal and down-converting the frequency thereof. The transceiver 1701 may output a signal received through a wireless channel to the processor 1702 and may transmit, through a wireless channel, a signal output from the processor 1702.

[0185] The processor 1702 may control general operations of the UE 1700 according to embodiments of the disclosure. The processor 1702 may be implemented by one or more integrated circuit (or circuitry) (IC) chips and may execute various data processing operations. The processor 1702 may include at least one electric circuit, and may execute instructions (or a program, codes, data, etc.) stored in the memory 1703, individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. Further, the processor 1702 may include a single-core processor or multi-core processor, and may include a processor assembly including a plurality of processing circuits (circuitry) according to a specific implementation scheme.

[0186] The processor 1702 may be electrically, operatively, and / or communicatively coupled to the transceiver 1701 to control the transceiver 1701.

[0187] The processor 1702 may include at least one processor (or processing circuitry), and the at least one processor may perform the following operations individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. For example, the processor 1702 may include a communication processor (CP) configured to control communication operations and an application processor (AP) configured to control execution of an upper layer (for example, an application layer). In a specific embodiment, at least a part of the processor 1702 may be included in one chip (or IC) and the other part of the processor 1702 may be included in another chip (or IC). Otherwise, at least one processor may be included in another component, for example, the transceiver 1701 or the memory 1703.

[0188] The processor 1702 may perform or control or cause an operation of the UE 1700 for executing at least one or a combination of methods according to embodiments of the disclosure. For example, the processor 1702 may control operations of the UE 1700 for processing a downlink signal received from a BS or generating and transmitting an uplink signal to a BS. To this end, the processor 1702 may execute a computer program, codes, or instructions stored in the memory 1703, so as to control other components of the UE 1700 to enable execution of various operations.

[0189] The memory 1703 corresponds to a hardware storage device capable of temporarily or permanently storing information and may include one or more storage media. For example, the memory 1703 may include a memory assembly including one or more storage media. For example, the one or more storage media may include permanent memory, such as a hard drive, flash memory, or read-only memory (ROM), semipermanent memory, such as random access memory (RAM), cache memory, or a combination thereof.

[0190] The memory 1703 may be electrically, operatively, and / or communicatively coupled to the processor 1702 and may be accessed by the processor 1702.

[0191] The memory 1703 may store a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 1702. According to an embodiment, a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 1702 may be either stored in a single memory device or separated and distributedly stored in two or more memory devices. By executing the instructions stored in the memory 1703, the processor 1702 may perform various functions according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0192] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, operations of the UE 1700 may be caused to be performed based on execution of instructions (or a computer program or codes) stored in the memory 1703 by at least one processor (or processing circuitry) configured to execute the same individually, collectively, or in any combination thereof, based on processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions, and / or based on components of processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions.

[0193] FIG. 18 is a block diagram of a base station (BS) 1800 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. Furthermore, the base station of FIG. 18 may correspond to the base station of FIG. 2.

[0194] The BS 1800 may perform wireless communication with at least one user equipment (UE) located within the area of the BS 1800 through a wireless channel. The BS 1800 may perform communication with a node or an entity of a network through wired or wireless communication.

[0195] Referring to FIG. 18, the BS 1800 may include at least one transceiver (hereinafter, referred to as simply “transceiver”) 1801, at least one processor (hereinafter, referred to as simply “processor”) 1802, and at least one memory (hereinafter, referred to as simply “memory”) 1803. According to at least one or a combination of methods corresponding to the embodiments described in the present disclosure, the transceiver 1801, the processor 1802, and the memory 1803 of the BS 1800 may operate. However, components of the BS 1800 are not limited to the example components illustrated in FIG. 18. In another embodiment, the BS 1800 may further include additional components in addition to the above-mentioned components, or some components may be omitted. Further, in some embodiments, any combination of the transceiver 1801, the processor 1802, or the memory 1803 may be integrated in the form of one component.

[0196] The transceiver 1801 may be a communication circuit or communication circuitry that enables the BS 1800 to perform wireless communication with a node or an entity of a network. For example, the transceiver 1801 may enable the BS 1800 to transmit or receive a signal to or from the UE X00 through cellular communication, or to transmit or receive a signal to or from another network entity through wireless communication. For example, the transceiver 1801 may support various cellular communication technologies including 3rd generation (3G), 4thgeneration (4G), long term evolution (LTE), 5th generation (5G) NR, 6thgeneration (6G), and various cellular wireless communication technologies supported by the transceiver (1801) may include all subsequent generations of evolved wireless communications.. According to an embodiment, the transceiver 1801 may include various circuit structures used to transmit or receive signals to or from a UE through a wireless channel. The signals may include control information and data. For example, the transceiver 1801 may include a radio frequency (RF) transmitter for up-converting and amplifying the frequency of a transmitted signal and an RF receiver for low-noise-amplifying a received signal and down-converting the frequency thereof. The transceiver 1801 may output a signal received through a wireless channel to the processor 1802 and may transmit, through a wireless channel, a signal output from the processor 1802.

[0197] Meanwhile, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the BS 1800 may perform communication with a node or an entity of a network through wired or wireless communication. For example, the BS 1800 may perform wired or wireless communication with an adjacent BS, or a node or an entity of a core network through a backhaul network. Although not illustrated in FIG. 18, when the BS 1800 performs wired communication, the BS 1800 may further include a separate network interface for wired communication in addition to the transceiver 1801. The network interface may be referred to as network interface circuitry or communication interface circuitry.

[0198] The processor 1802 may control general operations of the BS 1800 according to embodiments of the disclosure. The processor 1802 may be implemented by one or more integrated circuit (or circuitry) (IC) chips and may execute various data processing operations. The processor 1802 may include at least one electric circuit, and may execute instructions (or a program, codes, data, etc.) stored in the memory 1803, individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. Further, the processor 1802 may include a single-core processor or multi-core processor, and may include a processor assembly including a plurality of processing circuits (circuitry) according to a specific implementation scheme.

[0199] The processor 1802 may be electrically, operatively, and / or communicatively coupled to the transceiver 1801 to control the transceiver 1801.

[0200] The processor 1802 may include at least one processor (or processing circuitry), and the at least one processor may perform the following operations individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. In a specific embodiment, at least a part of the processor 1802 may be included in one chip (or IC) and the other part of the processor 1802 may be included in another chip (or IC). Otherwise, at least one processor may be included in another component, for example, the transceiver 1801 or the memory 1803.

[0201] The processor 1802 may perform or control or cause an operation of the BS 1800 for executing at least one or a combination of methods according to embodiments of the disclosure. For example, the processor 1802 may control operations of the BS 1800 for generating and transmitting a downlink signal to a UE or processing an uplink signal received from a UE. Otherwise, the BS 1800 may transmit or receive a signal to or from a neighboring BS, transfer a signal received from a UE to an upper node of the network, or transmit a signal transferred from an upper node of the network to a UE. To this end, the processor 1802 may execute a computer program, codes, or instructions stored in the memory 1803, so as to control other components of the BS 1800 to enable execution of various operations.

[0202] The memory 1803 corresponds to a hardware storage device capable of temporarily or permanently storing information and may include one or more storage media. For example, the memory 1803 may include a memory assembly including one or more storage media. For example, the one or more storage media may include permanent memory, such as a hard drive, flash memory, or read-only memory (ROM), semipermanent memory, such as random access memory (RAM), cache memory, or a combination thereof.

[0203] The memory 1803 may be electrically, operatively, and / or communicatively coupled to the processor 1802 and may be accessed by the processor 1802.

[0204] The memory 1803 may store a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 1802. According to an embodiment, a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 1802 may be either stored in a single memory device or separated and distributedly stored in two or more memory devices. By executing the instructions stored in the memory 1803, the processor 1802 may perform various functions according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0205] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, operations of the BS 1800 may be caused to be performed based on execution of instructions (or a computer program or codes) stored in the memory 1803 by at least one processor (or processing circuitry) configured to execute the same individually, collectively, or in any combination thereof, based on processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions, and / or based on components of processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions.

[0206] The UE or the base station may perform various communication procedures related to the control plane or the user plane by cooperating with one or more network entities based on wireless communication. For example, the UE may communicate with a network entity (for example, an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), a Session Management Function (SMF), rtc.) via the base station, or the base station may perform at least one communication procedure by directly transmitting and receiving signals to / from, or relaying signals between, the network entities.

[0207] The structure of the above-described network entity will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

[0208] FIG. 19 is a block diagram of a network entity 1900 according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0209] The network entity 1900 may include an entity (apparatus, device, or server, etc.) that performs one or more network functions (NFs) or a part of a network function constituting a core network (e.g., a 5th generation (5G) core (5GC)) in a communication system. In this case, multiple NFs may be implemented within a single network entity, or a single NF may be distributed and implemented across a plurality of network entities. In addition, when an NF is implemented within the network entity, the NF may be implemented in the form of software, and in such a case, a program for operating the NF may be stored in memory of the network entity 1900.

[0210] A single NF may be implemented by one or more instances, which may be deployed on the same network entity or distributed across multiple network entities to operate. The instance may be a software unit that logically executes a specific network function, and may be implemented in a form that is decoupled from physical hardware resources. Further, one or more NFs may be implemented in the form of one network slice to operate to satisfy specifications required by a particular service.

[0211] The NF may include at least one of an access and mobility management function (AMF), a session management function (SMF), a local session management function (L-SMF), a user plane function (UPF), a local user plane function (L-UPF), a policy control function (PCF), a unified data management (UDM), a unified data repository (UDR), a network exposure function (NEF), a network repository function (NRF), an application function (AF), a network slice selection function (NSSF), a network data analytics function (NWDAF), a network slice admission control function (NSACF), an authentication server function (AUSF), or a data network (DN), etc.

[0212] Referring to FIG. 19, the network entity 1900 may include at least one network interface 1901, at least one processor 1902 (hereinafter, “processor”), and at least one memory 1903 (hereinafter, “memory”). As described above, a NF may be implemented in the form of a physical device such as the network entity 1900, or may be virtualized and executed in the form of an instance. When implemented as an instance, the NF need not necessarily include physical components as illustrated in FIG. 19. In such a case, the instance may be logically represented as comprising one or more logical functional elements.

[0213] According to at least one or a combination of methods corresponding to the embodiments described in the present disclosure, the network interface 1901, the processor 1902, and the memory 1903 of the network entity 1900 may operate. However, components of the network entity 1900 are not limited to the example components illustrated in FIG. 19. In another embodiment, the network entity 1900 may further include additional components in addition to the above-mentioned components, or some components may be omitted. Further, in an embodiment, the network interface 1901, the processor 1902, or the memory 1903 may be integrated in the form of one component.

[0214] The network interface 1901 is a collective term for a transmitter part of the network entity 1900 and a receiver part of the network entity 1900, and may be a communication circuit for transmitting or receiving a signal to or from a user equipment (UE), a base station (BS), or another network entity. Here, the communication circuit may include both a communication circuit for wireless communication and a communication circuit for a wired communication. For example, the network interface 1901 may include a circuit, logic, hardware, etc., configured to exchange a control plane message or a user plane message with a UE, a BS, or other core network entities through wireless communication or wired communication. The network interface 1901 may operate using various protocols (e.g., non-access stratum (NAS) protocol). The network interface 1901 may also be referred to, for convenience of description or depending on implementation, as communication circuitry, network interface circuitry, or a communication interface circuitry.

[0215] The processor 1902 may control general operations of the network entity 1900 according to embodiments of the disclosure. The processor 1902 may be implemented by one or more integrated circuit (or circuitry) (IC) chips and may execute various data processing operations. The processor 1902 may include at least one electric circuit, and may execute instructions (or a program, codes, data, etc.) stored in the memory 1903, individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. Further, the processor 1902 may include a single-core processor or multi-core processor, and may include a processor assembly including a plurality of processing circuits (circuitry) according to a specific implementation scheme. Further, it should be noted that, according to another embodiment, in a case where NF is implemented in the form of an instance, the network function may be not necessarily configured by physical hardware.

[0216] According to an embodiment, the processor 1902 may be electrically, operatively, and / or communicatively coupled to the network interface 1901 to control the network interface 1901.

[0217] The processor 1902 may include at least one processor (or processing circuitry), and the at least one processor may perform the following operations individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. In a specific embodiment, at least a part of the processor 1902 may be included in one chip (or IC) and the other part of the processor 1902 may be included in another chip (or IC). Otherwise, at least one processor may be included in another component, for example, the network interface 1901 or the memory 1903.

[0218] The processor 1902 may perform or control or cause an operation of the network entity 1900 for executing at least one or a combination of methods according to embodiments of the disclosure. For example, the processor 1902 may control operations of the network entity 1900 for exchanging a control plane message or a user plane message with a UE, a BS, or other core network entities through wireless or wired communication, using various protocols (e.g., NAS protocol). To this end, the processor 1902 may execute a computer program, codes, or instructions stored in the memory 1903, so as to control other components of the network entity 1900 to enable execution of various operations.

[0219] The memory 1903 corresponds to a hardware storage device capable of temporarily or permanently storing information and may include one or more storage media. For example, the memory 1903 may include a memory assembly including one or more storage media. For example, the one or more storage media may include permanent memory, such as a hard drive, flash memory, or read-only memory (ROM), semipermanent memory, such as random access memory (RAM), cache memory, or a combination thereof.

[0220] The memory 1903 may be electrically, operatively, and / or communicatively coupled to the processor 1902 and may be accessed by the processor 1902.

[0221] The memory 1903 may store a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 1902. According to an embodiment, a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 1902 may be either stored in a single memory device or separated and distributedly stored in two or more memory devices. By executing the instructions stored in the memory 1903, the processor 1902 may perform various functions according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0222] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, operations of the network entity 1900 may be caused to be performed based on execution of instructions (or a computer program or codes) stored in the memory 1903 by at least one processor (or processing circuitry) configured to execute the same individually, collectively, or in any combination thereof, based on processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions, and / or based on components of processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions.

[0223] In one embodiment, a user equipment (UE) is provided, which comprises: at least one transceiver; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one transceiver; and at least one memory, communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, storing instructions executable by the at least one processor individually or in any combination to cause the UE to: receive configuration information related to a sounding reference signal (SRS), wherein the configuration information comprises multiple parameters for configuring a frequency hopping pattern for the SRS over time; and determine, based on the configuration information, a resource allocation for the SRS, wherein the resource allocation provides the SRS with one or more partially sounded sub-bands that implement the frequency hopping pattern, and transmit the SRS.

[0224] In another embodiment, a UE is provided, wherein the frequency hopping pattern is configured to provide partial sound hopping of the SRS over an entire sub-band.

[0225] In another embodiment, a UE is provided, wherein the multiple parameters comprise:

[0226] a starting position parameter configured to provide a starting resource index for the one or more partially sounded sub-bands; a frequency hopping parameter configured to provide whether SRS frequency hopping occurs; and a frequency hopping order set configured to provide a frequency hopping order among the one or more partially sounded sub-bands, wherein the frequency hopping order is based on the starting position parameter.

[0227] In another embodiment, a UE is provided, wherein the multiple parameters further comprise a second starting position parameter, a second frequency hopping parameter, and a second frequency hopping order set for configuring the frequency hopping pattern for individual sub-bands.

[0228] In another embodiment, a UE is provided, wherein the frequency hopping pattern is configured to provide the SRS at different hopping positions between the one or more partially sounded sub-bands when there is no SRS intra-slot frequency hopping.

[0229] In another embodiment, a UE is provided, wherein the frequency hopping pattern is configured to provide the SRS in a particular hopping order that is common between the one or more partially sounded sub-bands when there is SRS intra-slot frequency hopping.

[0230] In another embodiment, a UE is provided, wherein the frequency hopping pattern is configured to provide the SRS in a particular hopping order that is cyclically shifted between the one or more partially sounded sub-bands when there is SRS intra-slot frequency hopping.

[0231] In one embodiment, a base station(BS) is provided, which comprises: at least one transceiver; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one transceiver; and at least one memory, communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, storing instructions executable by the at least one processor individually or in any combination to cause the base station to: transmit configuration information related to a sounding reference signal (SRS), wherein the configuration information comprises multiple parameters for configuring a frequency hopping pattern for the SRS over time; and determine a resource allocation for the SRS, wherein the resource allocation provides the SRS with one or more partially sounded sub-bands that implement the frequency hopping pattern, and receive the SRS.

[0232] In another embodiment, a BS is provided, wherein the frequency hopping pattern is configured to provide partial sound hopping of the SRS over an entire sub-band.

[0233] In another embodiment, a BS is provided, wherein the multiple parameters comprise: a starting position parameter configured to provide a starting resource index for the one or more partially sounded sub-bands; a frequency hopping parameter configured to provide whether SRS frequency hopping occurs; and a frequency hopping order set configured to provide a frequency hopping order among the one or more partially sounded sub-bands, wherein the frequency hopping order is based on the starting position parameter.

[0234] In another embodiment, a BS is provided, wherein the multiple parameters further comprise a second starting position parameter, a second frequency hopping parameter, and a second frequency hopping order set for configuring the frequency hopping pattern for individual sub-bands.

[0235] In another embodiment, a BS is provided, wherein the frequency hopping pattern is configured to provide the SRS at different hopping positions between the one or more partially sounded sub-bands when there is no SRS intra-slot frequency hopping.

[0236] In another embodiment, a BS is provided, wherein the frequency hopping pattern is configured to provide the SRS in a particular hopping order that is common between the one or more partially sounded sub-bands when there is SRS intra-slot frequency hopping.

[0237] In another embodiment, a BS is provided, wherein the frequency hopping pattern is configured to provide the SRS in a particular hopping order that is cyclically shifted between the one or more partially sounded sub-bands when there is SRS intra-slot frequency hopping.

[0238] In one embodiment, a method performed by a user equipment is provided, which comprises: receiving configuration information related to a sounding reference signal (SRS), wherein the configuration information comprises multiple parameters for configuring a frequency hopping pattern for the SRS over time; determining, based on the configuration information, a resource allocation for the SRS, wherein the resource allocation provides the SRS with one or more partially sounded sub-bands that implement the frequency hopping pattern; and transmitting the SRS.

[0239] In another embodiment, a method is provided, wherein the frequency hopping pattern is configured to provide partial sound hopping of the SRS over an entire sub-band.

[0240] In another embodiment, a method is provided, wherein the multiple parameters comprise: a starting position parameter configured to provide a starting resource index for the one or more partially sounded sub-bands; a frequency hopping parameter configured to provide whether SRS frequency hopping occurs; and a frequency hopping order set configured to provide a frequency hopping order among the one or more partially sounded sub-bands, wherein the frequency hopping order is based on the starting position parameter.

[0241] In another embodiment, a method is provided, wherein the multiple parameters further comprise a second starting position parameter, a second frequency hopping parameter, and a second frequency hopping order set for configuring the frequency hopping pattern for individual sub-bands.

[0242] In another embodiment, a method is provided, wherein the frequency hopping pattern is configured to provide the SRS at different hopping positions between the one or more partially sounded sub-bands when there is no SRS intra-slot frequency hopping.

[0243] In another embodiment, a method is provided, wherein the frequency hopping pattern is configured to provide the SRS in a particular hopping order that is common between the one or more partially sounded sub-bands when there is SRS intra-slot frequency hopping.

[0244] Any of the above variation embodiments can be utilized independently or in combination with at least one other variation embodiment. The above flowchart(s) illustrate example methods that can be implemented in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure and various changes could be made to the methods illustrated in the flowcharts herein. For example, while shown as a series of steps, various steps in each figure could overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, or occur multiple times. In another example, steps may be omitted or replaced by other steps.

[0245] Although the figures illustrate different examples of user equipment, various changes may be made to the figures. For example, the user equipment can include any number of each component in any suitable arrangement. In general, the figures do not limit the scope of the present disclosure to any particular configuration(s). Moreover, while figures illustrate operational environments in which various user equipment features disclosed in this patent document can be used, these features can be used in any other suitable system.

[0246] Meanwhile, although specific embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail, various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the scope of the present disclosure should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be defined by the claims and equivalents thereof.

Claims

A user equipment (UE) comprising:at least one transceiver;at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one transceiver; andat least one memory, communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, storing instructions executable by the at least one processor individually or in any combination to cause the UE to:receive configuration information related to a sounding reference signal (SRS), wherein the configuration information comprises multiple parameters for configuring a frequency hopping pattern for the SRS over time; anddetermine, based on the configuration information, a resource allocation for the SRS,wherein the resource allocation provides the SRS with one or more partially sounded sub-bands that implement the frequency hopping pattern, andtransmit the SRS.The UE of Claim 1, wherein the frequency hopping pattern is configured to provide partial sound hopping of the SRS over an entire sub-band.The UE of Claim 1, wherein the multiple parameters comprise:a starting position parameter configured to provide a starting resource index for the one or more partially sounded sub-bands;a frequency hopping parameter configured to provide whether SRS frequency hopping occurs; anda frequency hopping order set configured to provide a frequency hopping order among the one or more partially sounded sub-bands, wherein the frequency hopping order is based on the starting position parameter.The UE of Claim 3, wherein the multiple parameters further comprise a second starting position parameter, a second frequency hopping parameter, and a second frequency hopping order set for configuring the frequency hopping pattern for individual sub-bands.The UE of Claim 1, wherein the frequency hopping pattern is configured to provide the SRS at different hopping positions between the one or more partially sounded sub-bands when there is no SRS intra-slot frequency hopping.The UE of Claim 1, wherein the frequency hopping pattern is configured to provide the SRS in a particular hopping order that is common between the one or more partially sounded sub-bands when there is SRS intra-slot frequency hopping.The UE of Claim 1, wherein the frequency hopping pattern is configured to provide the SRS in a particular hopping order that is cyclically shifted between the one or more partially sounded sub-bands when there is SRS intra-slot frequency hopping.A base station(BS) comprising:at least one transceiver;at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one transceiver; andat least one memory, communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, storing instructions executable by the at least one processor individually or in any combination to cause the base station to:transmit configuration information related to a sounding reference signal (SRS), wherein the configuration information comprises multiple parameters for configuring a frequency hopping pattern for the SRS over time; anddetermine a resource allocation for the SRS,wherein the resource allocation provides the SRS with one or more partially sounded sub-bands that implement the frequency hopping pattern, andreceive the SRS.The BS of Claim 8, wherein the frequency hopping pattern is configured to provide partial sound hopping of the SRS over an entire sub-band.The BS of Claim 8, wherein the multiple parameters comprise:a starting position parameter configured to provide a starting resource index for the one or more partially sounded sub-bands;a frequency hopping parameter configured to provide whether SRS frequency hopping occurs; anda frequency hopping order set configured to provide a frequency hopping order among the one or more partially sounded sub-bands, wherein the frequency hopping order is based on the starting position parameter.The BS of Claim 10, wherein the multiple parameters further comprise a second starting position parameter, a second frequency hopping parameter, and a second frequency hopping order set for configuring the frequency hopping pattern for individual sub-bands.The BS of Claim 8, wherein the frequency hopping pattern is configured to provide the SRS at different hopping positions between the one or more partially sounded sub-bands when there is no SRS intra-slot frequency hopping.The BS of Claim 8, wherein the frequency hopping pattern is configured to provide the SRS in a particular hopping order that is common between the one or more partially sounded sub-bands when there is SRS intra-slot frequency hopping.The BS of Claim 8, wherein the frequency hopping pattern is configured to provide the SRS in a particular hopping order that is cyclically shifted between the one or more partially sounded sub-bands when there is SRS intra-slot frequency hopping.A method performed by a user equipment, the method comprising:receiving configuration information related to a sounding reference signal (SRS), wherein the configuration information comprises multiple parameters for configuring a frequency hopping pattern for the SRS over time;determining, based on the configuration information, a resource allocation for the SRS, wherein the resource allocation provides the SRS with one or more partially sounded sub-bands that implement the frequency hopping pattern; andtransmitting the SRS.

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