SRS Frequency Hopping for Low-Power Wideband Channel Estimation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wireless communication systems, particularly 5G NR, face challenges in efficiently utilizing SRS resources for channel estimation and DL transmission without excessive resource consumption, especially for UEs with limited power and resources.
Innovation Solution
Implementing frequency hopping techniques for SRS transmissions using different SRS ports, antenna ports, periodicities, slot offsets, and transmission comb values across multiple frequency subbands to ensure comprehensive channel coverage with minimal resource usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If SRS resources are transmitted across wide bandwidth to improve channel estimation accuracy, then channel estimation accuracy is improved, but power consumption and resource usage increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the wide bandwidth into multiple frequency subbands and divides SRS transmission across these subbands using frequency hopping. Instead of transmitting SRS across the entire wide bandwidth simultaneously, the UE transmits SRS on different subbands at different time instances (slots), achieving comprehensive channel coverage while reducing instantaneous power consumption and resource usage.
2Measurement precision
If SRS resources are transmitted across wide bandwidth to improve channel estimation accuracy, then channel estimation accuracy is improved, but resource consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the wide bandwidth into multiple frequency subbands and divides SRS transmission across these subbands using frequency hopping. Instead of transmitting SRS across the entire wide bandwidth simultaneously, the UE transmits SRS on different subbands at different time instances (slots), achieving comprehensive channel coverage while reducing instantaneous power consumption and resource usage.
3Area of stationary object
If frequency hopping is implemented across multiple subbands, then bandwidth coverage is improved, but transmission complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements frequency hopping with periodic action by configuring SRS transmission to hop between frequency subbands according to a predefined pattern across different slots. The hopping behavior is controlled by parameters such as hopping bandwidth, hopping direction, and periodicity, which are configured by the network and followed by the UE, providing systematic bandwidth coverage without excessive complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces dynamic frequency hopping where the SRS transmission frequency location changes over time according to configured hopping patterns. The hopping can be unidirectional or bidirectional, and the UE dynamically adjusts its transmission frequency based on the hopping pattern, enabling flexible bandwidth coverage adaptation.
Data Source
AI summary
This disclosure provides systems, methods and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for transmitting sounding reference signal (SRS) resources with frequency hopping. In some implementations, a user equipment (UE) may use different SRS ports, different antenna ports, different numbers and sizes of SRS resources, different periodicities, different offsets, different transmission comb values, different number of symbols, different power control parameters, and/or different transmission comb offset values for SRS transmissions on different frequency subbands of the frequency hopping pattern to ensure that sounding operations cover all antennas of the UE, cover the entire frequency range of interest, and provide sufficiently dense SRS transmissions from which a base station can determine the best channel for DL transmissions while also using a minimum amount of SRS resources and consuming minimal power in the UE.