Patent Description:
Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communication systems, and more particularly, to providing a channel raster for uplink and/or downlink communications.

Wireless communication systems, as are for example described in 3GPP R1-<NUM>, R1-<NUM> and R1-<NUM>, are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. Examples of such multiple-access systems include code-division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time-division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency-division multiple access (FDMA) systems, and orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, and single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems.

For example, a fifth generation (<NUM>) wireless communications technology (which can be referred to as <NUM> new radio (<NUM> NR)) is envisaged to expand and support diverse usage scenarios and applications with respect to current mobile network generations. In an aspect, <NUM> communications technology can include: enhanced mobile broadband addressing human-centric use cases for access to multimedia content, services and data; ultra-reliable-low latency communications (URLLC) with certain specifications for latency and reliability; and massive machine type communications, which can allow a very large number of connected devices and transmission of a relatively low volume of non-delay-sensitive information. As the demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, however, further improvements in <NUM> communications technology and beyond may be desired.

The scope of the present invention is defined by the scope of the appended claims.

The described features generally relate to providing a channel raster (e.g., for uplink and/or downlink communications) in low latency communication technologies, such as technologies that support latency improvements to legacy communication technologies. For example, a legacy communication technology, such as long term evolution (LTE), may support a transmission time interval (TTI) that is one subframe (e.g., one millisecond) in duration. Newer low latency communication technologies, such as fifth generation (<NUM>) new radio (NR), also referred to herein as "<NUM>" or "NR," may be based on LTE concepts, specifications, etc., but may use different short transmission time interval (sTTI) lengths, such as a two symbol sTTI (e.g., in a legacy subframe comprising <NUM> or <NUM> symbols), one slot sTTI (e.g., in a legacy subframe comprising two slots), etc., to provide faster communication capabilities. In an example, the low latency communication technology may use different sTTI for uplink and downlink communications. Moreover, for example, the legacy communication technology and low latency communication technology can coexist on the same or different carrier frequencies.

In a specific example, <NUM> NR can coexist with LTE on an uplink (UL) and/or downlink (DL) carrier (e.g., such that <NUM> NR and LTE can share uplink and/or downlink subframes over one or more carriers, a set of subcarriers, etc.). In addition, for example, <NUM> NR and LTE can be collocated on the same base station. In one example, however, <NUM> NR and LTE may use different DL carriers. Thus, a standalone NR user equipment (UE) may access standalone NR carriers on an associated frequency (F2) and may not be connected to an LTE carrier, while a dual connectivity UE can access an LTE primary cell (PCell) with LTE UL on an associated frequency (F1), and then can be configured by dual connectivity to also operate NR UL on F1 (and/or on F2 for DL). In an example, <NUM> NR and LTE can be configured to be aligned in tone and/or resource block, at least in a cell where the same UL carrier is used for <NUM> NR and LTE, which can provide improved interference management and resource utilization among the wireless communication technologies, as well as more flexible scheduling between <NUM> NR and LTE. In one example, <NUM> NR and LTE may use the same subcarrier spacing (SCS) (e.g., a <NUM> kilohertz (kHz) SCS).

In addition, for example, <NUM> NR can utilize the same UL channel raster as LTE UL (e.g., <NUM>) in order to allow more flexible NR and LTE coexistence while ensuring LTE and NR tone alignment, and/or may use a potentially different DL channel raster as LTE DL (e.g., <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) in order to achieve tone alignment between NR data/control and the synchronization signal. By channel raster, e.g., it is meant that the carrier frequency for the channel is a multiple of <NUM>. In one example, the relationship between DL and UL channel raster in <NUM> NR may be different for different system bandwidths (e.g., the DL and UL channel raster may be different for sub-<NUM> gigahertz (GHz), or sub-<NUM>, but may be the same for above <NUM>, etc.). Moreover, in an example, <NUM> NR, or other low latency communication technologies, may not, by design, have special direct current (DC) or dead center tone treatment like the half-tone shift of LTE, and thus may implement a half-tone (or half subcarrier) shift in at least the UL channel raster to align in tone/RB with LTE, or other legacy communication technologies, on the UL carrier. The shift can be implemented by applying an offset when computing a frequency for the UL carrier based on an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) Absolute Radio-Frequency Channel Number (EARFCN). In another example, a different EARFCN can be configured for UL and DL carriers to achieve the alignment at least on the UL carrier. For example, the EARFCN may be configured in NR system information (SI) broadcast (e.g., along with via random access channel (RACH) configuration), radio resource control (RRC) signaling, etc..

In other examples, where NR wideband is configured, coexistence and alignment with LTE can be achieved by aligning the NR wideband with contiguous LTE carriers in LTE carrier aggregation (CA). In this example, a fractional RB can be inserted into the NR wideband to align with the multiple contiguous LTE carriers, which may have a guard-band separating each of the multiple carriers. In another example, LTE guard-band on the UL carrier that is larger than the guard-band configured for <NUM> NR can be utilized for the UL channel in <NUM> NR. In yet another example, the UL carrier that coexists with LTE can be used to communicate critical information, such as control data (e.g., layer <NUM> control, layer <NUM> control, radio link control (RLC) layer status protocol data unit (PDU), layer <NUM> signaling, etc. In this example, another <NUM> NR UL carrier that does not coexist with LTE can be used for data communications.

As used in this application, the terms "component," "module," "system" and the like are intended to include a computer-related entity, such as but not limited to hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a computing device and the computing device can be a component. One or more components can reside within a process and/or thread of execution and a component can be localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or more computers. In addition, these components can execute from various computer readable media having various data structures stored thereon. The components can communicate by way of local and/or remote processes such as in accordance with a signal having one or more data packets, such as data from one component interacting with another component in a local system, distributed system, and/or across a network such as the Internet with other systems by way of the signal.

Techniques described herein may be used for various wireless communication systems such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA, and other systems. The terms "system" and "network" may often be used interchangeably. IS-<NUM> Releases <NUM> and A are commonly referred to as CDMA2000 1X, 1X, etc. IS-<NUM> (TIA-<NUM>) is commonly referred to as CDMA2000 1xEV-DO, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), etc. UTRA includes Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) and other variants of CDMA. An OFDMA system may implement a radio technology such as Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), IEEE <NUM> (Wi-Fi), IEEE <NUM> (WiMAX), IEEE <NUM>, Flash-OFDM™, etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS). 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) are new releases of UMTS that use E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A, and GSM are described in documents from an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project" (3GPP). The techniques described herein may be used for the systems and radio technologies mentioned above as well as other systems and radio technologies, including cellular (e.g., LTE) communications over a shared radio frequency spectrum band. The description below, however, describes an LTE/LTE-A system for purposes of example, and LTE terminology is used in much of the description below, although the techniques are applicable beyond LTE/LTE-A applications (e.g., to <NUM> networks or other next generation communication systems).

<FIG> illustrates an example of a wireless communication system <NUM> in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. The wireless communication system <NUM> may include one or more base stations <NUM>, one or more UEs <NUM>, and a core network <NUM>. The core network <NUM> may provide user authentication, access authorization, tracking, internet protocol (IP) connectivity, and other access, routing, or mobility functions. The base stations <NUM> may interface with the core network <NUM> through backhaul links <NUM> (e.g., S1, etc.). The base stations <NUM> may perform radio configuration and scheduling for communication with the UEs <NUM>, or may operate under the control of a base station controller (not shown). In various examples, the base stations <NUM> may communicate, either directly or indirectly (e.g., through core network <NUM>), with one another over backhaul links <NUM> (e.g., X2, etc.), which may be wired or wireless communication links.

The base stations <NUM> may wirelessly communicate with the UEs <NUM> via one or more base station antennas. In some examples, base stations <NUM> may be referred to as a network entity, a base transceiver station, a radio base station, an access point, a radio transceiver, a NodeB, eNodeB (eNB), Home NodeB, a Home eNodeB, or some other suitable terminology. The geographic coverage area <NUM> for a base station <NUM> may be divided into sectors making up only a portion of the coverage area (not shown). The wireless communication system <NUM> may include base stations <NUM> of different types (e.g., macro or small cell base stations). There may be overlapping geographic coverage areas <NUM> for different technologies.

In some examples, the wireless communication system <NUM> may be or include a Long Term Evolution (LTE) or LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) network. The wireless communication system <NUM> may also be a next generation network, such as a <NUM> wireless communication network. In LTE/LTE-A networks, the term evolved node B (eNB), gNB, etc. may be generally used to describe the base stations <NUM>, while the term UE may be generally used to describe the UEs <NUM>. The wireless communication system <NUM> may be a heterogeneous LTE/LTE-A network in which different types of eNBs provide coverage for various geographical regions. For example, each eNB or base station <NUM> may provide communication coverage for a macro cell, a small cell, or other types of cell. The term "cell" is a 3GPP term that can be used to describe a base station, a carrier or component carrier associated with a base station, or a coverage area (e.g., sector, etc.) of a carrier or base station, depending on context.

A macro cell may cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by UEs <NUM> with service subscriptions with the network provider.

A small cell may include a lower-powered base station, as compared with a macro cell, that may operate in the same or different (e.g., licensed, unlicensed, etc.) frequency bands as macro cells. An eNB for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro eNB, gNB, etc. An eNB for a small cell may be referred to as a small cell eNB, a pico eNB, a femto eNB, or a home eNB.

The communication networks that may accommodate some of the various disclosed examples may be packet-based networks that operate according to a layered protocol stack and data in the user plane may be based on the IP. A packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer can provide header compression, ciphering, integrity protection, etc. of IP packets. A radio link control (RLC) layer may perform packet segmentation and reassembly to communicate over logical channels. A MAC layer may perform priority handling and multiplexing of logical channels into transport channels. The MAC layer may also use HARQ to provide retransmission at the MAC layer to improve link efficiency. In the control plane, the radio resource control (RRC) protocol layer may provide establishment, configuration, and maintenance of an RRC connection between a UE <NUM> and the base stations <NUM>. The RRC protocol layer may also be used for core network <NUM> support of radio bearers for the user plane data. At the physical (PHY) layer, the transport channels may be mapped to physical channels.

The UEs <NUM> may be dispersed throughout the wireless communication system <NUM>, and each UE <NUM> may be stationary or mobile. A UE <NUM> may also include or be referred to by those skilled in the art as a mobile station, a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a wireless communications device, a remote device, a mobile subscriber station, an access terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, a handset, a user agent, a mobile client, a client, or some other suitable terminology. A UE <NUM> may be a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, an entertainment device, a vehicular component, or the like. A UE may be able to communicate with various types of base stations and network equipment including macro eNBs, small cell eNBs, relay base stations, and the like.

The communication links <NUM> shown in wireless communication system <NUM> may carry uplink (UL) transmissions from a UE <NUM> to a base station <NUM>, or downlink (DL) transmissions, from a base station <NUM> to a UE <NUM>. The downlink transmissions may also be called forward link transmissions while the uplink transmissions may also be called reverse link transmissions. Each communication link <NUM> may include one or more carriers, where each carrier may be a signal made up of multiple sub-carriers (e.g., waveform signals of different frequencies) modulated according to the various radio technologies described above. Each modulated signal may be sent on a different subcarrier and may carry control information (e.g., reference signals, control channels, etc.), overhead information, user data, etc. The communication links <NUM> may transmit bidirectional communications using frequency division duplex (FDD) (e.g., using paired spectrum resources) or time division duplex (TDD) operation (e.g., using unpaired spectrum resources). Frame structures may be defined for FDD (e.g., frame structure type <NUM>) and TDD (e.g., frame structure type <NUM>).

In aspects of the wireless communication system <NUM>, base stations <NUM> or UEs <NUM> may include multiple antennas for employing antenna diversity schemes to improve communication quality and reliability between base stations <NUM> and UEs <NUM>. Additionally or alternatively, base stations <NUM> or UEs <NUM> may employ multiple input multiple output (MIMO) techniques that may take advantage of multi-path environments to transmit multiple spatial layers carrying the same or different coded data.

Wireless communication system <NUM> may support operation on multiple cells or carriers, a feature which may be referred to as carrier aggregation (CA) or multi-carrier operation. A carrier may also be referred to as a component carrier (CC), a layer, a channel, etc. The terms "carrier," "component carrier," "cell," and "channel" may be used interchangeably herein. A UE <NUM> may be configured with multiple downlink CCs and one or more uplink CCs for carrier aggregation.

In an example, a UE <NUM> can include a communicating component <NUM> configured to determine a UL (and/or DL) channel raster for communicating with one or more base stations <NUM>. For example, the communicating component <NUM> can determine a UL channel raster for a low latency communication technology, such as <NUM> NR, that can have a tone and/or RB alignment with a legacy UL channel raster of a legacy communication technology, such as LTE, to facilitate coexistence with the legacy communication technology in the UL carrier. Additionally, or alternatively, the UL channel raster for the low latency communication technology can be determined to be different than a DL channel raster. In one example, the base station <NUM> may include a configuring component <NUM> configured to transmit, to the UE <NUM>, one or more parameters related to a configuration of the UL channel raster, such as a frequency location for the UL channel raster, which may include a channel number (e.g., EARFCN), a frequency location for inserting a fractional RB into a wideband, etc. Moreover, in an example, communicating component <NUM> can be configured to transmit certain communications (e.g., control data) over the UL carrier that coexists with the legacy communication technology and/or to transmit other communications (e.g., data) over a different UL carrier that does not coexist with the legacy communication technology.

Turning now to <FIG>, aspects are depicted with reference to one or more components and one or more methods that may perform the actions or operations described herein, where aspects in dashed line may be optional. Although the operations described below in <FIG> are presented in a particular order and/or as being performed by an example component, it should be understood that the ordering of the actions and the components performing the actions may be varied, depending on the implementation. Moreover, it should be understood that the following actions, functions, and/or described components may be performed by a specially-programmed processor, a processor executing specially-programmed software or computer-readable media, or by any other combination of a hardware component and/or a software component capable of performing the described actions or functions.

Referring to <FIG>, a block diagram <NUM> is shown that includes a portion of a wireless communications system having multiple UEs <NUM> in communication with a base station <NUM> via communication links <NUM>, where the base station <NUM> is also connected to a network <NUM>. The UEs <NUM> may be examples of the UEs described in the present disclosure that are configured to determine a channel raster (e.g., an uplink and/or downlink channel raster) for communicating over an uplink and/or downlink channel with a base station <NUM>. Moreover the base station <NUM> may be an example of the base stations described in the present disclosure (e.g., eNB, gNB, etc.) that are configured to receive uplink communications from the UE <NUM> over an uplink channel based on an uplink channel raster and/or transmit downlink communications to the UE <NUM> over a downlink channel based on a downlink channel raster.

In an aspect, the base station in <FIG> may include one or more processors <NUM> and/or memory <NUM> that may operate in combination with a configuring component <NUM> to perform the functions, methods (e.g., method <NUM> of <FIG>), etc. presented in the present disclosure. In accordance with the present disclosure, the configuring component <NUM> may be configured to communicate one or more parameters regarding a configuration for an uplink and/or downlink channel raster to the UE <NUM>. For example, the one or more parameters may correspond to a frequency location for the UL and/or DL channel raster, which may include a channel number (e.g., EARFCN) related to the UL and/or DL channel raster, a frequency location for inserting a fractional RB into a wideband on the UL channel raster (and/or a size of the fractional RB), etc. EARFCN stands for E-UTRA Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number. In LTE, the carrier frequency in the uplink and downlink is designated by EARFCN, which ranges between <NUM>-<NUM>. EARFCN uniquely identifies the carrier frequency and LTE band.

The one or more processors <NUM> may include a modem <NUM> that uses one or more modem processors. The various functions related to the configuring component <NUM>, and/or its sub-components, may be included in modem <NUM> and/or processor <NUM> and, in an aspect, can be executed by a single processor, while in other aspects, different ones of the functions may be executed by a combination of two or more different processors. For example, in an aspect, the one or more processors <NUM> may include any one or any combination of a modem processor, or a baseband processor, or a digital signal processor, or a transmit processor, or a transceiver processor associated with transceiver <NUM>, or a system-on-chip (SoC). In particular, the one or more processors <NUM> may execute functions and components included in the configuring component <NUM>.

In some examples, the configuring component <NUM> and each of the sub-components may comprise hardware, firmware, and/or software and may be configured to execute code or perform instructions stored in a memory (e.g., a computer-readable storage medium, such as memory <NUM> discussed below). Moreover, in an aspect, the base station <NUM> in <FIG> may include a radio frequency (RF) front end <NUM> and transceiver <NUM> for receiving and transmitting radio transmissions to, for example, UEs <NUM>. The transceiver <NUM> may coordinate with the modem <NUM> to receive signals for, or transmit signals generated by, the configuring component <NUM> to the UEs. RF front end <NUM> may be connected to one or more antennas <NUM> and can include one or more switches <NUM>, one or more amplifiers (e.g., power amplifiers (PAs) <NUM> and/or low-noise amplifiers <NUM>), and one or more filters <NUM> for transmitting and receiving RF signals on uplink channels and downlink channels. In an aspect, the components of the RF front end <NUM> can be communicatively coupled with transceiver <NUM>. The transceiver <NUM> may be communicatively coupled with the one or more of modem <NUM> and processors <NUM>.

The transceiver <NUM> may be configured to transmit (e.g., via transmitter (TX) radio <NUM>) and receive (e.g., via receiver (RX) radio <NUM>) wireless signals through antennas <NUM> via the RF front end <NUM>. In an aspect, the transceiver <NUM> may be tuned to operate at specified frequencies such that the base station <NUM> can communicate with, for example, UEs <NUM>. In an aspect, for example, the modem <NUM> can configure the transceiver <NUM> to operate at a specified frequency and power level based on the configuration of the base station <NUM> and communication protocol used by the modem <NUM>.

The base station <NUM> in <FIG> may further include a memory <NUM>, such as for storing data used herein and/or local versions of applications or configuring component <NUM> and/or one or more of its sub-components being executed by processor <NUM>. Memory <NUM> can include any type of computer-readable medium usable by a computer or processor <NUM>, such as random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), tapes, magnetic discs, optical discs, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, and any combination thereof. In an aspect, for example, memory <NUM> may be a computer-readable storage medium that stores one or more computer-executable codes defining configuring component <NUM> and/or one or more of its sub-components. Additionally or alternatively, the base station <NUM> may include a bus <NUM> for communicatively coupling one or more of the RF front end <NUM>, the transceiver <NUM>, the memory <NUM>, or the processor <NUM>, and to exchange signaling information between each of the components and/or sub-components of the base station <NUM>.

Referring to <FIG>, a block diagram <NUM> is shown that includes a portion of a wireless communications system having multiple UEs <NUM> in communication with a base station <NUM> via communication links <NUM>, where the base station <NUM> is also connected to a network <NUM>. The UEs <NUM> may be examples of the UEs described in the present disclosure that are configured to determine a channel raster (e.g., an uplink channel raster and/or a downlink channel raster) for communicating over an uplink and/or downlink channel with a base station <NUM>. Moreover the base station <NUM> may be an example of the base stations described in the present disclosure (e.g., eNB, gNB, etc.) that are configured to receive uplink communications from the UE <NUM> over an uplink channel based on an uplink channel raster and/or transmit downlink communications to the UE <NUM> over a downlink channel based on a downlink channel raster.

In an aspect, the UE <NUM> in <FIG> may include one or more processors <NUM> and/or memory <NUM> that may operate in combination with a communicating component <NUM> to perform the functions, methods (e.g., method <NUM> of <FIG>), etc., presented in the present disclosure. In accordance with the present disclosure, the communicating component <NUM> may include a UL channel raster component <NUM> configured to determine an UL channel raster for transmitting UL communications to a base station <NUM> over an UL channel, an optional DL channel raster component <NUM> configured to determine a DL channel raster for receiving DL communications from the base station <NUM> over a DL channel, and/or an optional configuration receiving component <NUM> for receiving, from a base station <NUM>, one or more parameter related to determining the UL channel raster.

The one or more processors <NUM> may include a modem <NUM> that uses one or more modem processors. The various functions related to the communicating component <NUM>, and/or its sub-components, may be included in modem <NUM> and/or processor <NUM> and, in an aspect, can be executed by a single processor, while in other aspects, different ones of the functions may be executed by a combination of two or more different processors. For example, in an aspect, the one or more processors <NUM> may include any one or any combination of a modem processor, or a baseband processor, or a digital signal processor, or a transmit processor, or a transceiver processor associated with transceiver <NUM>, or a system-on-chip (SoC). In particular, the one or more processors <NUM> may execute functions and components included in the communicating component <NUM>.

In some examples, the communicating component <NUM> and each of the sub-components may comprise hardware, firmware, and/or software and may be configured to execute code or perform instructions stored in a memory (e.g., a computer-readable storage medium, such as memory <NUM> discussed below). Moreover, in an aspect, the UE <NUM> in <FIG> may include an RF front end <NUM> and transceiver <NUM> for receiving and transmitting radio transmissions to, for example, base stations <NUM>. The transceiver <NUM> may coordinate with the modem <NUM> to receive signals that include the packets as received by the communicating component <NUM>. RF front end <NUM> may be connected to one or more antennas <NUM> and can include one or more switches <NUM>, one or more amplifiers (e.g., PAs <NUM> and/or LNAs <NUM>), and one or more filters <NUM> for transmitting and receiving RF signals on uplink channels and downlink channels. In an aspect, the components of the RF front end <NUM> can be communicatively coupled with transceiver <NUM>. The transceiver <NUM> may be communicatively coupled with one or more of modem <NUM> and processors <NUM>.

The transceiver <NUM> may be configured to transmit (e.g., via transmitter (TX) radio <NUM>) and receive (e.g., via receiver (RX) radio <NUM>) wireless signals through antennas <NUM> via the RF front end <NUM>. In an aspect, the transceiver <NUM> may be tuned to operate at specified frequencies such that the UE <NUM> can communicate with, for example, base stations <NUM>. In an aspect, for example, the modem <NUM> can configure the transceiver <NUM> to operate at a specified frequency and power level based on the configuration of the UE <NUM> and communication protocol used by the modem <NUM>.

The UE <NUM> in <FIG> may further include a memory <NUM>, such as for storing data used herein and/or local versions of applications or communicating component <NUM> and/or one or more of its sub-components being executed by processor <NUM>. Memory <NUM> can include any type of computer-readable medium usable by a computer or processor <NUM>, such as RAM, ROM, tapes, magnetic discs, optical discs, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, and any combination thereof. In an aspect, for example, memory <NUM> may be a computer-readable storage medium that stores one or more computer-executable codes defining communicating component <NUM> and/or one or more of its sub-components. Additionally or alternatively, the UE <NUM> may include a bus <NUM> for communicatively coupling one or more of the RF front end <NUM>, the transceiver <NUM>, the memory <NUM>, or the processor <NUM>, and to exchange signaling information between each of the components and/or sub-components of the UE <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates a flow chart of an example of a method <NUM> for determining (e.g., by a UE) an UL and/or DL channel raster for determining frequency location of an UL channel over which to transmit UL communications and/or a DL channel over which to receive DL communications.

Optionally, at Block <NUM>, a configuration related to determining an uplink channel raster can be received. In an aspect, configuration receiving component <NUM>, e.g., in conjunction with processor(s) <NUM>, memory <NUM>, communicating component <NUM>, and/or transceiver <NUM>, can receive the configuration related to determining the UL channel raster (e.g., from base station <NUM>). For example, the configuration may include one or more parameters indicating a frequency location of the UL channel raster, which may include a channel number (e.g., EARFCN) based on which the UL channel raster can be determined, an indication of a fractional RB location or size for inserting into a wideband to align an UL channel over the UL channel raster with a legacy UL channel, etc., as described further herein. For example, configuration receiving component <NUM> may receive the configuration as part of an NR system information (SI) broadcast, such as one or more master information blocks (MIB), system information blocks (SIB), minimum SI, etc., which may additionally include a random access channel (RACH) configuration and/or the UL EARFCN. In another example, configuration receiving component <NUM> may receive the configuration in a RRC signaling, or other broadcast or dedicated signaling from the base station <NUM>. Moreover, for example, configuration receiving component <NUM> may receive multiple configurations in different signaling (e.g., receiving the frequency location/channel number in broadcast signaling and/or a fractional RB in dedicated signaling, etc.). In another example, configuration receiving component <NUM> can receive the configuration as hardcoded or otherwise stored in memory <NUM> of the UE <NUM>.

Optionally, at Block <NUM>, a downlink channel raster for determining frequency location of a downlink channel over which the receive downlink communications can be determined. In an aspect, DL channel raster component <NUM>, e.g., in conjunction with processor(s) <NUM>, memory <NUM>, communicating component <NUM>, and/or transceiver <NUM>, can determine the DL channel raster for determining frequency location of a DL channel over which to receive DL communications (e.g., from the base station <NUM>). For example, DL channel raster component <NUM> may determine the DL channel raster to be different than an UL channel raster, as described further herein. In an example, DL channel raster component <NUM> may determine the DL channel raster based on a frequency location, such as a channel number (e.g., EARFCN) received in the configuration from the base station <NUM>. For example, DL channel raster component <NUM> may determine the DL channel raster to be of a specific value (e.g., <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, etc.), and may use a formula to determine the DL channel raster based on the EARFCN channel number, NDL , such as FDL = RDL * NDL, where NDL can be the channel number (e.g.,.

EARFCN) received for determining the DL channel raster, FDL can be the downlink frequency, RDL can be a raster value, which can be equal to <NUM> for <NUM>, <NUM> for <NUM>, <NUM> for <NUM>, etc. That is, for a DL having a <NUM>/<NUM>/<NUM> channel raster, with <NUM> offset, the FDL = <NUM>/<NUM>/<NUM> * NDL (MHz. ) In any case, communicating component <NUM> can perform cell search based on the determined DL channel raster in an attempt to decode DL synchronization signals from one or more base stations <NUM> over the DL channel raster. Different raster offsets may depend on whether the channel raster is being determined for UL or DL channels. In this example, for the DL channel, an offset may not be used.

At Block <NUM>, an uplink channel raster for determining frequency location of an uplink channel over which to transmit uplink communications is determined. In an aspect, UL channel raster component <NUM>, e.g., in conjunction with processor(s) <NUM>, memory <NUM>, communicating component <NUM>, and/or transceiver <NUM>, is configured to determine the UL channel raster for determining the frequency location of a UL channel over which to transmit UL communications (e.g., to the base station <NUM>). For example, UL channel raster component <NUM> is configured to determine the UL channel raster for communicating using a low latency communication technology, such as <NUM> NR, where the UL channel raster is configured to align in tone/RB to a legacy UL channel raster of a legacy communication technology, such as LTE, to facilitate coexistence of UL channels in the low latency communication technology with UL channels in the legacy communication technology. For example, aligning the UL channel rasters of the low latency communication technology and the legacy communication technology in this regard can allow for improved interference and/or resource utilization, as well as more flexible scheduling between the communication technologies (e.g., at base stations supporting co-located technologies), etc..

In determining the uplink channel raster at Block <NUM>, at Block <NUM>, the uplink channel raster can be determined as shifted in frequency with respect to a legacy uplink channel raster. In an aspect, UL channel raster component <NUM>, e.g., in conjunction with processor(s) <NUM>, memory <NUM>, communicating component <NUM>, and/or transceiver <NUM>, is configured to determine the uplink channel raster as shifted in frequency with respect to a legacy uplink channel raster. In the legacy communication technology, such as LTE, the UL channel raster is shifted in frequency by a half of a tone (e.g., <NUM>, where a tone is <NUM> in LTE) such to avoid transmitting over a DC tone. In the low latency communication technology, such as <NUM> NR, the avoidance of the DC tone may not be a consideration or requirement of the technology, and thus the UL channel raster component <NUM> may determine the UL channel raster based on a similar shift as in the legacy communication technology to facilitate aligning the UL channel raster with the legacy UL channel raster (considering the tone shift of the legacy communication technology). In another solution, UL channel raster component <NUM> can determine the UL channel raster based on a shift in the range of a half tone of the legacy communication technology, which may be <NUM>-<NUM>, or substantially <NUM>. Thus UL channel raster component <NUM> may determine the UL channel raster by applying an offset to a frequency to effectuate the shift. For example, UL channel raster component <NUM> may determine the UL channel raster based on a channel number, NUL, such as FUL = O+ RUL * NUL, where NUL can be the channel number (e.g., EARFCN) received for determining the UL channel raster, FUL is the uplink frequency, RUL can be a raster value, which can be equal to <NUM> for <NUM>, O can be the offset to effectuate the frequency shift, which may be <NUM> for <NUM>, etc. For example, assuming the EARFCN definition starts from a fixed absolute frequency value, the UL can have a <NUM> channel raster, with a <NUM> offset to align with the LTE UL half tone (<NUM>) shift. The FUL = <NUM> + <NUM>*NUL (MHz), where N is the EARFCN channel number and FUL is the uplink frequency. Unlike the DL, in some examples, here there is a raster offset. An example of UL channel raster is shown in <FIG>, which illustrates an example UL channel raster <NUM> for LTE, and an example UL channel raster <NUM> for <NUM> NR. As shown, for example, the UL channel raster <NUM> for <NUM> NR can be offset (e.g., by <NUM>) to align tones with UL channel raster <NUM> for LTE.

In another example, in determining the uplink channel raster at Block <NUM>, optionally at Block <NUM>, the uplink channel raster can be determined as different from a downlink channel raster. In an aspect, UL channel raster component <NUM>, e.g., in conjunction with processor(s) <NUM>, memory <NUM>, communicating component <NUM>, and/or transceiver <NUM>, can determine the UL channel raster as different from the DL channel raster. For example, in the low latency communication technology, such as <NUM> NR, the UL channel raster and DL channel raster can have different values. For example, the UL channel raster component <NUM> may determine the UL channel raster to be <NUM>, which can be the same as the legacy UL channel raster (e.g., LTE) to achieve coexistence, as described, while the DL channel raster component <NUM> may determine the DL channel raster to be of a different value, such as <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, etc., to achieve tone alignment between NR data/control and a synchronization signal. In addition, in an example, a relationship between the DL channel raster and the UL channel raster may be different for different system bandwidths (e.g., sub-<NUM> (or sub <NUM>) can have different DL and UL channel rasters, while above <NUM> (or above <NUM>) can have the same DL and UL channel raster).

In another example, in determining the uplink channel raster at Block <NUM>, optionally at Block <NUM>, a frequency location corresponding to the uplink channel raster can be received. In an aspect, configuration receiving component <NUM>, e.g., in conjunction with processor(s) <NUM>, memory <NUM>, communicating component <NUM>, and/or transceiver <NUM>, can receive the frequency location (e.g., channel number) corresponding to the UL channel raster. For example, configuration receiving component <NUM> may receive the channel number as a different channel number from a DL channel number for determining the DL channel raster. In one example, the channel number can correspond to an EARFCN. In one example, configuration receiving component <NUM> can receive the frequency location based on a capability of the UE <NUM> to communicate using only NR or NR and LTE. Once the UE acquires the DL, the base station <NUM> can indicate to the UE <NUM> what frequency is used for the UL. Where the UE <NUM> communicates only using NR (that is NR standalone (SA) deployment), for example, configuration receiving component <NUM> can receive the frequency location from a NR SI broadcast (e.g., via MIB, SIB, etc.) from a base station <NUM>, which may also include a RACH configuration for performing random access with the base station <NUM> and the UL EARFCH. Where the UE <NUM> communicates using LTE and NR (that is NR non-standalone (NSA) deployment), for example, the UE <NUM> can acquire an LTE cell with the base station <NUM>, and configuration receiving component <NUM> can receive the frequency location or other configuration parameters (e.g., RACH configuration) for NR from the LTE cell, which may be by way of RRC signaling or other dedicated signaling from the LTE cell. In any case, after the NR UE acquires LTE cell, the base station <NUM> can configure the NR UE from LTE cell about the NR UL configuration, including UL EARFCH, as well UL RACH configuration (in addition to the DL EARFCH, synchronization signal configuration, etc.).

In another example, in determining the uplink channel raster at Block <NUM>, optionally at Block <NUM>, a wideband uplink carrier in the uplink channel raster can be determined as including a fractional RB within the wideband uplink carrier. In an aspect, communicating component <NUM>, e.g., in conjunction with processor(s) <NUM>, memory <NUM>, and/or transceiver <NUM>, can determine the wideband UL carrier in the UL channel raster as including the fractional RB within the wideband UL carrier. For example, communicating component <NUM> may insert the fractional RB within the wideband UL carrier to align with the legacy communication technology. The fractional RB is inserted into the NR RB to allow the NR and LTE RB alignment.

For example, where the wideband UL carrier spans multiple legacy UL carriers in the legacy communication technology, there may typically be a guard-band between the multiple legacy UL carriers. Accordingly, communicating component <NUM> can configure a size of the wideband UL carrier to include the guard-band as well as the multiple legacy UL carriers. In a specific example, in LTE, each UL carrier may be <NUM> megahertz (MHz). For LTE contiguous CA, fractional RB may be needed between two CC (e.g. <NUM>). For a NR wideband UE (e.g. across two LTE CC), to account for fractional RB between two LTE CC, NR can introduce corresponding fractional RB to achieve RB alignment with LTE. Thus, for a wideband UL carrier of <NUM> in <NUM> NR, communicating component <NUM> can configure the wideband UL carrier to span two contiguous LTE UL carriers along with the fractional RB corresponding to the guard-band between the contiguous <NUM> carriers, as specified in LTE, to facilitate alignment of the tones/RBs between <NUM> NR and LTE over the UL carriers. In one example, as described, configuration receiving component <NUM> may receive an indication of the fractional RB size or location within the wideband UL carrier, which may be cell-specific (and/or specific to a group of UEs), from the base station <NUM>, and communicating component <NUM> can accordingly configure the wideband UL carrier to include the fractional RB in the configured location and/or to be of the configured size. In an example, communicating component <NUM> may use the fractional RB to perform interference management (e.g., to determine one or more interfering signals transmitted or received over the UL carrier based on interference measured at the fractional RB).

In another example, in determining the uplink channel raster at Block <NUM>, optionally at Block <NUM>, an uplink carrier in the uplink channel raster can be determined as including a portion of the guard-band of a legacy uplink carrier. In an aspect, communicating component <NUM>, e.g., in conjunction with processor(s) <NUM>, memory <NUM>, and/or transceiver <NUM>, can determine the uplink carrier in the uplink channel raster as including the portion of guard-band of the legacy uplink carrier. For example, the legacy UL carrier may use more guard-band than that defined for the low latency communication technology. Accordingly, communicating component <NUM> can utilize at least a portion of the guard-band for the uplink carrier in the low latency communication technology. In a specific example, LTE can use a <NUM>% guard-band, <NUM>% at each end, of a UL carrier (e.g., <NUM> at each end of a <NUM> carrier). <NUM> NR may use a smaller guard-band, such as <NUM>-<NUM>%, which in one example equates to <NUM>-<NUM>. Accordingly, communicating component <NUM>, in configuring a UL carrier in <NUM> NR, can use additional RBs typically reserved for guard-band in LTE, such as around <NUM>-4RB at each end of the LTE UL carrier to which the <NUM> NR UL carrier is aligned.

At Block <NUM>, the UE can transmit uplink communications over the uplink channel. In an aspect, communicating component <NUM>, e.g., in conjunction with processor(s) <NUM>, memory <NUM>, and/or transceiver <NUM>, can transmit uplink communications (e.g., to base station <NUM>) over the uplink channel. For example, communicating component <NUM> can transmit the uplink communications over the uplink channel as determined based on the uplink channel raster (e.g., which may include a wideband UL carrier, a UL carrier that uses at least a portion of legacy guard-band, etc.).

In an example, in transmitting the uplink communications at Block <NUM>, optionally at Block <NUM>, control signaling can be transmitted over the uplink channel and data can be transmitted over another uplink channel that does not overlap with a legacy communication technology. In an aspect, communicating component <NUM>, e.g., in conjunction with processor(s) <NUM>, memory <NUM>, and/or transceiver <NUM>, can transmit control signaling over the uplink channel and data over another uplink channel that does not overlap with the legacy communication technology. For example, the UL channel can be over the UL carrier that coexists with the legacy communication technology, e.g., LTE, and may thus have more efficient resource utilization and link budget. Accordingly, this UL channel can carry more critical information, such as layer <NUM> control, layer <NUM> control (e.g., RLC status PDU), layer <NUM> control (e.g., RRC signaling), etc. The other uplink channel can be over an UL carrier that does not coexist with the legacy communication technology, and may be used to transmit less critical information, such as data (e.g., sounding reference signal (SRS) data for TDD channel reciprocity based deployments).

<FIG> illustrates a flow chart of an example of a method <NUM> for transmitting (e.g., by a base station) configuration parameters for determining an UL and/or DL channel raster.

In method <NUM>, at Block <NUM>, one or more parameters related to an uplink channel raster can be transmitted. In an aspect, configuring component <NUM>, e.g., in conjunction with processor(s) <NUM>, memory <NUM>, and/or transceiver <NUM>, can transmit (e.g., to a UE <NUM>) the one or more parameters related to the uplink channel raster. For example, the one or more parameters may be transmitted using broadcast signaling (e.g., SI broadcast), dedicated signaling (e.g., RRC signaling), and/or the like.

In an example, in transmitting the one or more parameters at Block <NUM>, optionally at Block <NUM>, an indication of a frequency location for the uplink channel raster can be transmitted. In an aspect, configuring component <NUM>, e.g., in conjunction with processor(s) <NUM>, memory <NUM>, and/or transceiver <NUM>, can transmit the indication of the frequency location (e.g., channel number) for the uplink channel raster. As described, in one example, the channel number can be different than a channel number indicated for the DL channel raster. Moreover, for example, configuring component <NUM> can utilize different mechanisms for transmitting the frequency location based on whether the UE <NUM> is configured for communicating using only the low latency communication technology, or the low latency communication technology and the legacy communication technology, as described above.

In an example, in transmitting the one or more parameters at Block <NUM>, optionally at Block <NUM>, an indication of a fractional RB to insert into a wideband uplink carrier in the uplink channel raster can be transmitted. In an aspect, configuring component <NUM>, e.g., in conjunction with processor(s) <NUM>, memory <NUM>, and/or transceiver <NUM>, can transmit (e.g., to the UE <NUM>) the indication of the fractional RB to insert in the wideband uplink carrier in the uplink channel raster. For example, the indication may correspond to a location within frequency and/or a size of the fractional RB. As described, for example, the UE <NUM> can insert the fractional RB based on the configuration in configuring a UL carrier. In an example, base station <NUM> may use the fractional RB to perform interference management (e.g., to determine one or more interfering signals received over the UL carrier based on interference measured at the fractional RB).

In method <NUM>, at Block <NUM>, uplink communications can be received over an uplink channel based on the uplink channel raster. In an aspect, transceiver <NUM>, e.g., in conjunction with processor(s) <NUM> and/or memory <NUM>, can receive the uplink communications (e.g., from the UE <NUM>) over the UL channel based on the UL channel raster. In an example, transceiver <NUM> can determine the UL channel based on the UL channel raster by detecting a frequency location along the UL channel raster over which signals are received from the UE <NUM>.

<FIG> is a block diagram of a MIMO communication system <NUM> including a base station <NUM> and a UE <NUM>. The MIMO communication system <NUM> may illustrate aspects of the wireless communication system <NUM> described with reference to <FIG>. The base station <NUM> may be an example of aspects of the base station <NUM> described with reference to <FIG>, <FIG>, and <FIG>. The base station <NUM> may be equipped with antennas <NUM> and <NUM>, and the UE <NUM> may be equipped with antennas <NUM> and <NUM>. In the MIMO communication system <NUM>, the base station <NUM> may be able to send data over multiple communication links at the same time. Each communication link may be called a "layer" and the "rank" of the communication link may indicate the number of layers used for communication. For example, in a 2x2 MIMO communication system where base station <NUM> transmits two "layers," the rank of the communication link between the base station <NUM> and the UE <NUM> is two.

The UE <NUM> may be an example of aspects of the UEs <NUM> described with reference to <FIG>, <FIG>, and <FIG>. At the UE <NUM>, the UE antennas <NUM> and <NUM> may receive the DL signals from the base station <NUM> and may provide the received signals to the modulator/demodulators <NUM> and <NUM>, respectively. Each modulator/demodulator <NUM> through <NUM> may condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) a respective received signal to obtain input samples. Each modulator/demodulator <NUM> through <NUM> may further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain received symbols. A MIMO detector <NUM> may obtain received symbols from the modulator/demodulators <NUM> and <NUM>, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols, if applicable, and provide detected symbols. A receive (Rx) processor <NUM> may process (e.g., demodulate, deinterleave, and decode) the detected symbols, providing decoded data for the UE <NUM> to a data output, and provide decoded control information to a processor <NUM>, or memory <NUM>.

The processor <NUM> may in some cases execute stored instructions to instantiate a communicating component <NUM> (see e.g., <FIG> and <FIG>).

The processor <NUM> may in some cases execute stored instructions to instantiate a configuring component <NUM> (see e.g., <FIG> and <FIG>).

Claim 1:
A method for wireless communications, the method being performed by a user equipment, UE (<NUM>), and the method comprising:
determining (<NUM>) an uplink, UL, channel raster for an uplink, UL, channel of a first wireless communications system;
determining (<NUM>) to shift, with respect to the uplink, UL, channel raster, an uplink, UL, transmission over the uplink, UL, channel by an offset in frequency, wherein the shift of the uplink, UL, transmission is based at least in part on tones of uplink, UL, carriers of the first wireless communications system not being aligned with tones of uplink, UL, carriers of a second wireless communications system, wherein the second wireless communications system is a legacy wireless communications system compared to the first wireless communications system; and
transmitting (<NUM>) the shifted uplink, UL, transmission, wherein the shifted uplink, UL, transmission aligns in frequency with a second uplink, UL, channel of the second wireless communications system.