Patent Description:
Wireless mobile communication technology uses various standards and protocols to transmit data between a base station and a wireless mobile device. Wireless communication system standards and protocols can include the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) long term evolution (LTE); fifth-generation (<NUM>) 3GPP new radio (NR) standard; the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) <NUM> standard, which is commonly known to industry groups as worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX); and the IEEE <NUM> standard for wireless local area networks (WLAN), which is commonly known to industry groups as Wi-Fi. In 3GPP radio access networks (RANs) in LTE systems, the base station can include a RAN Node such as a Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) Node B (also commonly denoted as evolved Node B, enhanced Node B, eNodeB, or eNB) and/or Radio Network Controller (RNC) in an E-UTRAN, which communicate with a wireless communication device, known as user equipment (UE). In fifth generation (<NUM>) wireless RANs, RAN Nodes can include a <NUM> Node, new radio (NR) node or g Node B (gNB), which communicate with a wireless communication device, also known as user equipment (UE).

<NPL>; January <NUM>th - February <NUM>th, <NUM>, relates to SRS enhancement designs. <CIT> relates to radio communication networks. <NPL>, relates to enhancement on SRS.

The present invention provides a user equipment and one or more computer-readable media as set out in the appended independent claims. Aspects of the present invention are provided in the independent claims. Preferred embodiments are provided in the dependent claims. The scope of the present invention is determined by the scope of the appended claims.

Features and advantages of the disclosure will be apparent from the detailed description which follows, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which together illustrate, by way of example, features of the disclosure.

In the present disclosure, a "base station" can include a RAN Node such as an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) Node B (also commonly denoted as evolved Node B, enhanced Node B, eNodeB, or eNB) and/or Radio Network Controller (RNC), and/or a <NUM> Node, new radio (NR) node or g Node B (gNB), which communicate with a wireless communication device, also known as user equipment (UE). Although some examples may be described with reference to any of E-UTRAN Node B, an eNB, an RNC and/or a gNB, such devices may be replaced with any type of base station.

In wireless communication, the quality of channel is not as stable as in wired communication. In order to obtain the quality of channel, a base station may require a UE to transmit a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) to the base station.

It should be note that SRS involves uplink (LJL) transmission. If a slot offset for transmitting SRS is predetermined, the slot used for transmitting SRS is also predetermined and thus is fixed. However, in TDD system, the UL slot is limited. When the slot for transmitting SRS is fixed, if it is unavailable (for example, if the slot collides with DL symbols), the UE may skip the transmission of SRS.

<FIG> illustrates a wireless network <NUM>, in accordance with some embodiments. The wireless network <NUM> includes a UE <NUM> and a base station <NUM> connected via an air interface <NUM>.

The UE <NUM> and any other UE in the system may be, for example, laptop computers, smartphones, tablet computers, printers, machine-type devices such as smart meters or specialized devices for healthcare monitoring, remote security surveillance, an intelligent transportation system, or any other wireless devices with or without a user interface. The base station <NUM> provides network connectivity to a broader network (not shown) to the UE <NUM> via the air interface <NUM> in a base station service area provided by the base station <NUM>. In some embodiments, such a broader network may be a wide area network operated by a cellular network provider, or may be the Internet. Each base station service area associated with the base station <NUM> is supported by antennas integrated with the base station <NUM>. The service areas are divided into a number of sectors associated with certain antennas. Such sectors may be physically associated with fixed antennas or may be assigned to a physical area with tunable antennas or antenna settings adjustable in a beamforming process used to direct a signal to a particular sector. One embodiment of the base station <NUM>, for example, includes three sectors each covering a <NUM> degree area with an array of antennas directed to each sector to provide <NUM> degree coverage around the base station <NUM>.

The UE <NUM> includes control circuitry <NUM> coupled with transmit circuitry <NUM> and receive circuitry <NUM>. The transmit circuitry <NUM> and receive circuitry <NUM> may each be coupled with one or more antennas. The control circuitry <NUM> may be adapted to perform operations associated with MTC. In some embodiments, the control circuitry <NUM> of the UE <NUM> may perform calculations or may initiate measurements associated with the air interface <NUM> to determine a channel quality of the available connection to the base station <NUM>. These calculations may be performed in conjunction with control circuitry <NUM> of the base station <NUM>. The transmit circuitry <NUM> and receive circuitry <NUM> may be adapted to transmit and receive data, respectively. The control circuitry <NUM> may be adapted or configured to perform various operations such as those described elsewhere in this disclosure related to a UE. The transmit circuitry <NUM> may transmit a plurality of multiplexed uplink physical channels. The plurality of uplink physical channels may be multiplexed according to time division multiplexing (TDM) or frequency division multiplexing (FDM). The transmit circuity <NUM> may be configured to receive block data from the control circuitry <NUM> for transmission across the air interface <NUM>. Similarly, the receive circuitry <NUM> may receive a plurality of multiplexed downlink physical channels from the air interface <NUM> and relay the physical channels to the control circuitry <NUM>. The uplink and downlink physical channels may be multiplexed according to TDM or FDM. The transmit circuitry <NUM> and the receive circuitry <NUM> may transmit and receive both control data and content data (e.g., messages, images, video, et cetera) structured within data blocks that are carried by the physical channels.

<FIG> also illustrates the base station <NUM>, in accordance with various embodiments. The base station <NUM> circuitry may include control circuitry <NUM> coupled with transmit circuitry <NUM> and receive circuitry <NUM>. The transmit circuitry <NUM> and receive circuitry <NUM> may each be coupled with one or more antennas that may be used to enable communications via the air interface <NUM>.

The control circuitry <NUM> may be adapted to perform operations associated with MTC. The transmit circuitry <NUM> and receive circuitry <NUM> may be adapted to transmit and receive data, respectively, within a narrow system bandwidth that is narrower than a standard bandwidth structured for person to person communication. In some embodiments, for example, a transmission bandwidth may be set at or near <NUM>. In other embodiments, other bandwidths may be used. The control circuitry <NUM> may perform various operations such as those described elsewhere in this disclosure related to a base station.

Within the narrow system bandwidth, the transmit circuitry <NUM> may transmit a plurality of multiplexed downlink physical channels. The plurality of downlink physical channels may be multiplexed according to TDM or FDM. The transmit circuitry <NUM> may transmit the plurality of multiplexed downlink physical channels in a downlink super-frame that is included of a plurality of downlink subframes.

Within the narrow system bandwidth, the receive circuitry <NUM> may receive a plurality of multiplexed uplink physical channels. The plurality of uplink physical channels may be multiplexed according to TDM or FDM. The receive circuitry <NUM> may receive the plurality of multiplexed uplink physical channels in an uplink super-frame that is included of a plurality of uplink subframes.

As described further below, the control circuitry <NUM> and <NUM> may be involved with measurement of a channel quality for the air interface <NUM>. The channel quality may, for example, be based on physical obstructions between the UE <NUM> and the base station <NUM>, electromagnetic signal interference from other sources, reflections or indirect paths between the UE <NUM> and the base station <NUM>, or other such sources of signal noise. Based on the channel quality, a block of data may be scheduled to be retransmitted multiple times, such that the transmit circuitry <NUM> may transmit copies of the same data multiple times and the receive circuitry <NUM> may receive multiple copies of the same data multiple times.

The UE and the base station described in the following embodiments may be implemented by the UE <NUM> and the base station <NUM> described in <FIG>.

<FIG> illustrates a flowchart for a method for a user equipment in accordance with present invention. The method <NUM> illustrated in <FIG> is implemented by the UE <NUM> described in <FIG>. The method <NUM> for UE includes the following steps: S202, obtaining, from a network device, a first configuration information, wherein the first configuration information indicates a first resource set for an aperiodic Sounding Reference Signal (AP-SRS), and wherein the first resource set for the AP-SRS includes a first list of slot offsets; S204, decoding a second configuration information from the network device, wherein the second configuration information indicates a reference slot and a first slot offset of the first list of slot offsets; and S206, generating the AP-SRS for transmission to the network device based on the reference slot and the first slot offset.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, with a first configuration information, a first list of slot offsets including a plurality of slot offsets rather than a single slot offset can be configured by a network device or predefined in the specification. With a second configuration information to be decoded by the UE, a first slot offset can be selected from the first list of slot offsets, such that the first slot offset is selectable instead of being fixed. In this way, the transmission of AP-SRS for the UE is more flexible. Since multiple choices of slot offset of a list of slot offsets are provided, even if some slots for transmitting the AP-SRS is unavailable (for example, if the slot for transmitting AP-SRS collides with DL symbols), slot offsets in the first list of slot offsets corresponding to other available slots can be considered and thus the UE will not skip the transmission of AP-SRS, thereby improving the flexibility of the transmission of the AP-SRS.

In the following, each step of the method <NUM> will be described in details.

At step S202, the UE obtains, from a network device, a first configuration information, wherein the first configuration information indicates a first resource set for an aperiodic Sounding Reference Signal (AP-SRS), and wherein the first resource set for the AP-SRS includes a first list of slot offsets.

According to some embodiments, Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) may include the following three types: (<NUM>) periodic SRS, (<NUM>) semi-persistent SRS and (<NUM>) aperiodic SRS (AP-SRS).

Periodic SRS indicates that SRS is periodically transmitted from the UE to the base station. For example, a periodic SRS may be transmitted from the UE to the base station every N millisecond (ms), wherein N may be any positive number.

Semi-persistent SRS indicates that SRS is periodically transmitted from the UE to the base station, but the activation of the transmission of SRS can be controlled. For example, a Semi-persistent SRS may be transmitted from the UE to the base station every N millisecond where N may be any positive number, but the activation of this transmission may be configured by the network device.

Aperiodic SRS (AP-SRS) indicates that SRS is aperiodically transmitted from the UE to the base station. Compared with periodic SRS and semi-persistent SRS, the latency for AP SRS is shorter. In addition, since AP-SRS is not transmitted periodically, compared with periodic SRS and semi-persistent SRS, AP SRS is more flexible.

According to some embodiments, AP-SRS requires resources for transmitting the AP-SRS. In some embodiments, a first resource set for AP-SRS may be configured by network device through a first configuration information. It should be note that, although a first resource set for AP-SPR is described herein for purpose of clarity, the present disclosure does not intent to limit the expression of "the resource set for AP-SRS" as one resource set for AP-SRS. In fact, according to the present disclosure, one or more resource sets for AP-SRS may be configured by network device through a first configuration information.

According to some embodiments, the first configuration information may include a Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, but the present disclosure does not limit thereto. According to some embodiments, the first configuration information may be any other information, message or signaling that is suitable for configuring the first resource set for AP-SRS.

According to some embodiments, the first resource set for AP-SRS may contain resources that are required by transmitting the AP-SRS. In some embodiments, slot offset of AP-SRS may be configured in the first resource set for AP-SRS.

According to some embodiments, the slot offset may participate in determining the time (i.e., the slot) to transmit the AP-SRS. Slot offset is an offset of slots from a reference slot. For example, if the reference slot is Xth slot and the slot offset is Y, then the slot for UE to transmit the AP-SRS may be determined based on the reference slot Xth slot and the slot offset Y, where X and Y are positive integers. The determination of the reference slot will be described below along with step S204.

In related art, one slot offset may be configured in a resource set for AP-SRS. An exemplary method for configuring the one slot offset (highlighted) is shown as follows.

It should be note that AP-SRS involves uplink (UL) transmission. Since only one slot offset for transmitting AP-SRS is configured in the resource set for AP-SRS in the related art, the slot used for transmitting SRS is fixed relative to the reference slot. However, in TDD system, the UL slot is limited. When the slot for transmitting AP-SRS is fixed, if it is unavailable (for example, if the slot for transmitting AP-SRS collides with DL symbols), the UE will skip the transmission of AP-SRS.

According to some embodiments, a first list of slot offsets may be configured in the first resource set for the AP-SRS. It should be note that, although a first list of slot offsets is described for purpose of clarity, the present disclosure does not intent to limit the expression of "the list of slot offsets" as one list of slot offsets. In fact, according to the present disclosure, one or more list of slot offsets may be configured by network device through a first configuration information.

According to some embodiments, the first list of slot offsets may include a plurality of entries. Each entry of the first list of slot offsets may indicate one slot offset. For example, the first list of slot offsets may include <NUM> (or any integer numbers of) entries {slot offset <NUM>, slot offset <NUM>, slot offset <NUM>}. Note that slot offset i represents the ith entry of the first list of slot offsets, but does not mean that the value of slot offset i equals to i. According to some examples, the value of slot offset i in the first list of slot offsets may be configured by the network device through the first configuration information.

According to some embodiments, the size of the first list of slot offsets may be configured. Note that the size of the first list of slot offsets represents the number of entries included in the first list of slot offsets. The number of entries included in the first list of slot offsets may be any positive integer. For example, if the first list of slot offsets includes <NUM> entries, then the size of the first list of slot offsets is <NUM>. As another example, if the first list of slot offsets includes <NUM> entries, then the size of the first list of slot offsets is <NUM>.

In some embodiments, the maximum size of the first list of slot offsets may be predetermined. For example, the maximum size of the first list of slot offsets may be determined by a parameter maxNrofAperodicSRS-SlotOffsets. An exemplary configuration of the first list of slot offsets is shown as follows.

In case that the SRS to be transmitted is an AP-SRS, the configuration of the first list of slot offsets may be added into the first resource set for AP-SRS. An exemplary addition of the first list of slot offsets into the first resource set for AP-SRS is shown as follows.

At step S204, the UE decodes a second configuration information from the network device, wherein the second configuration information indicates a reference slot and a first slot offset of the first list of slot offsets.

According to some embodiments, the second configuration information may include a Downlink Control Information (DCI), but the present disclosure does not limit thereto. According to some embodiments, the second configuration information may be any other information, message or signaling that is suitable for triggering AP-SRS.

According to some embodiments, the reference slot is the slot when the second configuration information is received by the UE. In some embodiments, the UE may determine the reference slot by decoding the second configuration information.

According to some embodiments, the second configuration information indicates a first slot offset of the first list of slot offsets. In other words, the network device may select a first slot offset from the first list of slot offsets, and apply the selected first slot offset for determining the transmission of the AP-SRS. For example, the first list of slot offsets may include <NUM> entries {slot offset <NUM>, slot offset <NUM>, slot offset <NUM>}, wherein slot offset <NUM> may be <NUM>, slot offset <NUM> may be <NUM>, and slot offset <NUM> may be <NUM>, and the first slot offset can be selected from slot offset <NUM>, slot offset <NUM> and slot offset <NUM>. If the first slot offset is selected as slot offset <NUM>, the first slot offset equals to <NUM>. If the first slot offset is selected as slot offset <NUM>, the first slot offset equals to <NUM>. If the first slot offset is selected as slot offset <NUM>, the first slot offset equals to <NUM>.

According to some embodiments, the UE determines the first slot offset of the first list of slot offsets by decoding the second configuration information. In some embodiments, when the second configuration information is a DCI, then a field of slot offset indicating the first slot offset may be included in the DCI. By decoding the DCI including a field of slot offset, the UE can determine the first slot offset of the first list of slot offsets. In other embodiments, when the second configuration information is not a DCI, then a field of slot offset indicating the first slot offset may also be included in the second configuration information.

At step S206, the UE generates the AP-SRS for transmission to the network device based on the reference slot and the first slot offset.

According to some embodiments, the slot for transmission the AP-SRS from UE to network device may be determined based on the reference slot and the first slot offset. As discussed above, if the reference slot is Xth slot and the first slot offset is Y, then the slot for UE to transmit the AP-SRS may be determined based on the reference slot Xth slot and the first slot offset Y, where X and Y are positive integers.

In some embodiments, the slot for transmission the AP-SRS from UE to network device may be determined by adding the first slot offset to the reference slot, but the present disclosure does not limit thereto. In other words, if the reference slot is Xth slot and the first slot offset is Y, then the slot for transmission the AP-SRS is (X+Y)th slot, where X and Y are positive integers. For example, if the reference slot is slot <NUM> and the first slot offset is <NUM>, then the slot for transmission the AP-SRS is slot <NUM> (=<NUM>+<NUM>). As another example, if the reference slot is slot <NUM> and the first slot offset is <NUM>, then the slot for transmission the AP-SRS is slot <NUM> (=<NUM>+<NUM>). As can be seen, the slot for transmission the AP-SRS is determined based on the selection of the first slot offset.

According to some embodiments, the first resource set for AP-SRS may be included in the AP-SRS for transmission to the network device.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, with a first configuration information, a first list of slot offsets including a plurality of slot offsets rather than a single slot offset can be configured by a network device. With a second configuration information to be decoded by the UE, a first slot offset can be selected from the first list of slot offsets, such that the first slot offset is selectable instead of being fixed. In this way, the transmission of AP-SRS for the UE is more flexible. Since multiple choices of slot offset of a list of slot offsets are provided, even if some slots for transmitting the AP-SRS is unavailable (for example, if the slot for transmitting AP-SRS collides with DL symbols), slot offsets in the first list of slot offsets corresponding to other available slots can be considered and thus the UE will not skip the transmission of AP-SRS, thereby improving the flexibility of the transmission of the AP-SRS.

As discussed above, in the related art, a single slot offset (hereinafter, referred to as a remaining slot offset) rather than a list of slot offsets may be already included in the first resource set for the AP-SRS. In this case, the first resource set for the AP-SRS may include both the first list of slot offsets and the remaining slot offset.

According to some embodiments, the first list of slot offsets and the remaining slot offset can be configured at the same time.

According to some embodiments, the first resource set for the AP-SRS may further include a remaining slot offset, and wherein generating the AP-SRS for transmission to the network device based on the reference slot and the first slot offset may include: generating the AP-SRS for transmission to the network device based on the reference slot, the remaining slot offset and the first slot offset.

In some embodiments, generating the AP-SRS for transmission to the network device based on the reference slot, the remaining slot offset and the first slot offset may include: determining a first slot by adding the remaining slot offset to the reference slot; determining a second slot by adding the first slot offset to the first slot; and generating the AP-SRS for transmission to the network device at the second slot.

For example, if the reference slot is Xth slot, the remaining slot offset is Z, and the first slot offset is Y, then the first slot is (X+Z)th slot and the second slot is (X+Y+Z)th slot, where X, Y and Z are positive integers. In this example, the slot for transmission the AP-SRS is the second slot, i.e., (X+Y+Z)th slot. For example, if the reference slot is slot <NUM>, the remaining slot offset is <NUM> and the first slot offset is <NUM>, then the first slot is slot <NUM> (=<NUM>+<NUM>), while the second slot and the slot for transmission the AP-SRS are slot <NUM> (=<NUM>+<NUM>+<NUM>). As another example, if the reference slot is slot <NUM>, the remaining slot offset is <NUM>, and the first slot offset is <NUM>, then the first slot is also slot <NUM> (=<NUM>+<NUM>), while the second slot and the slot for transmission the AP-SRS is slot <NUM> (=<NUM>+<NUM>+<NUM>).

According to some embodiments, the first slot may include any slot or merely include any available slot, while the second slot may include any slot or merely include any available slot.

It should be note that any slot may include any available slot and any unavailable slot. An "available slot" is a slot satisfying there are UL or flexible symbol(s) for the time-domain location(s) for all the SRS resources (for example, resource for AP-SRS) in the resource set (for example, the resource set for AP-SRS) and it satisfies UE capability on the minimum timing requirement between triggering PDCCH and all the SRS resources (for example, resource for AP-SRS) in the resource set (for example, the resource set for AP-SRS).

In some examples, the remaining slot offset is determined such that the first slot includes any slot, and the first slot offset is determined such that the second slot includes any available slot.

Taking slots <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM> as an example (in this example, only slots <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM> are considered), it is assumed that slots <NUM> and <NUM> are available slots, while slots <NUM> and <NUM> are unavailable slots. If the reference slot is slot <NUM>, since the remaining slot offset is determined such that the first slot includes any slot (including any available slot and any unavailable slot), the first slot can be any of slot <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM>, and thus the remaining slot offset can be any of <NUM> (=<NUM>-<NUM>), <NUM> (=<NUM>-<NUM>), <NUM> (=<NUM>-<NUM>) and <NUM> (=<NUM>-<NUM>). In this case, further assuming that the remaining slot offset is <NUM> (which means the first slot is slot <NUM>), since the first slot offset is determined such that the second slot includes any available slot (does not includes any unavailable slot), the second slot can be slot <NUM> but cannot be slot <NUM> and <NUM>, and thus the first slot offset can be <NUM> (=<NUM>-<NUM>) but cannot be <NUM> (=<NUM>-<NUM>) or <NUM> (=<NUM>-<NUM>).

In other examples, the remaining slot offset is determined such that the first slot includes any available slot, and the first slot offset is determined such that the second slot includes any available slot.

Taking slots <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM> as an example (in this example, only slots12, <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM> are considered) again, it is assumed that slots <NUM> and <NUM> are available slots, while slots <NUM> and <NUM> are unavailable slots. If the reference slot is slot <NUM>, since the remaining slot offset is determined such that the first slot includes any available slot (does not includes any unavailable slot), the first slot can be <NUM> or <NUM> but cannot be <NUM> or <NUM>, and thus the remaining slot offset can be <NUM> (=<NUM>-<NUM>) or <NUM> (=<NUM>-<NUM>), but cannot be <NUM> (=<NUM>-<NUM>) or <NUM> (=<NUM>-<NUM>). In this case, further assuming that the remaining slot offset is <NUM> (which means the first slot is slot <NUM>), since the first slot offset is determined such that the second slot includes any available slot (does not includes any unavailable slot), the second slot can be slot <NUM> but cannot be slot <NUM> and <NUM>, and thus the first slot offset can be <NUM> (=<NUM>-<NUM>) but cannot be <NUM> (=<NUM>-<NUM>) or <NUM> (=<NUM>-<NUM>).

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the first list of slot offsets and the remaining slot offset can be configured at the same time, and meanwhile a first slot offset can also be selected the from the first list of slot offsets, thereby improving the flexibility of transmission of the AP-SRS and meanwhile avoiding any conflict caused by configuring two kinds of slot offset.

In other embodiments, generating the AP-SRS for transmission to the network device based on the reference slot, the remaining slot offset and the first slot offset may also include: determining a first slot by adding the first slot offset to the reference slot; determining a second slot by adding the remaining slot offset to the first slot; and generating the AP-SRS for transmission to the network device at the second slot.

According to some embodiments, the first list of slot offsets and the remaining slot offset cannot be configured at the same time.

In some embodiments, the first list of slot offsets is configured, while the remaining slot offset is not configured. In this case, the slot for transmitting the AP-SRS may be determined based on the reference slot and the first slot offset selected from the first list of slot offsets. For example, the slot for transmitting the AP-SRS may be determined by adding the first slot offset selected from the first list of slot offsets to the reference slot.

In some embodiments, the first list of slot offsets is not configured, while the remaining slot offset is configured. In this case, the slot for transmitting the AP-SRS may be determined based on the reference slot and the remaining slot offset. For example, the slot for transmitting the AP-SRS may be determined by adding the remaining slot offset to the reference slot.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, only one of the first list of slot offsets and the remaining slot offset can be configured, thereby avoiding any conflict caused by configuring two kinds of slot offset.

According to some embodiments, a plurality of trigger states for AP-SRS may be introduced for determining the AP-SRS. For example, there are may be four trigger states in total, such as trigger state <NUM>, trigger state <NUM>, trigger state <NUM> and trigger state <NUM>, wherein trigger state <NUM> refers to not triggering of the transmission of the AP-SRS, while rigger state <NUM>, trigger state <NUM> and trigger state <NUM> refer to triggering the transmission of the AP-SRS.

As discussed above, one or more resource sets for AP-SRS may be configured by the first configuration information. According to some embodiments, the first resource set for AP-SRS may indicate a relation between the first resource set for AP-SRS and one trigger state of the plurality of trigger states for AP-SRS. In some embodiments, there are three resource sets for AP-SRS, wherein resource set <NUM> for AP-SRS indicates that resource set <NUM> for AP-SRS is associated with trigger state <NUM>, resource set <NUM> for AP-SRS indicates that resource set <NUM> for AP-SRS is associated with trigger state <NUM>, resource set <NUM> for AP-SRS indicates that resource set <NUM> for AP-SRS is associated with trigger state <NUM>.

According to some embodiments, the second configuration information may indicate a trigger state among a plurality trigger states. For example, if the second configuration information indicates the trigger state is trigger state <NUM>, then the AP-SRS will not be transmitted. If the second configuration information indicates the trigger state is trigger state <NUM>, then resource set <NUM> for AP-SRS that is associated with trigger state <NUM> may be triggered and may be transmitted to the network device. If the second configuration information indicates the trigger state is trigger state <NUM>, then resource set <NUM> for AP-SRS that is associated with trigger state <NUM> may be triggered and may be transmitted to the network device. If the second configuration information indicates the trigger state is trigger state <NUM>, then resource set <NUM> for AP-SRS that is associated with trigger state <NUM> may be triggered and may be transmitted to the network device.

In some embodiments, when the second configuration information is DCI, the DCI may include a field of trigger state for AP-SRS. The field of trigger state for AP-SRS may occupy <NUM> bits and indicate four cases: <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM>. If the field of trigger state for AP-SRS indicate "<NUM>", then the transmission of AP-SRS will not be triggered and will not be transmitted to the network device. If the field of trigger state for AP-SRS indicate "<NUM>", it may refer to trigger state <NUM> that is associated with resource set <NUM> for AP-SRS. If the field of trigger state for AP-SRS indicate "<NUM>", it may refer to trigger state <NUM> that is associated with resource set <NUM> for AP-SRS. If the field of trigger state for AP-SRS indicate "<NUM>", it may refer to trigger state <NUM> that is associated with resource set <NUM> for AP-SRS.

According to some embodiments, one trigger state for AP-SRS may be mapped to more than one resource set for AP-SRS.

According to the present invention, the first configuration information further indicates a second resource set for the AP-SRS, and wherein the second resource set for the AP-SRS includes a second list of slot offsets, and wherein the first configuration information further indicates that the first resource set for the AP-SRS and the second resource set for the AP-SRS are mapped to a same trigger state for the AP-SRS. According to some embodiments, the first resource set for the AP-SRS and the second resource set for the AP-SRS may be triggered for transmission to the network device according to the same trigger state for the AP-SRS.

For example, the first resource set for the AP-SRS may be resource set <NUM> for AP-SRS and may indicate that resource set <NUM> for AP-SRS is associated with trigger state <NUM>, while the second resource set for the AP-SRS may be resource set <NUM> for AP-SRS and may indicate that resource set <NUM> for AP-SRS is also associated with trigger state <NUM>.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, by mapping a plurality of resource sets for AP-SRS to a single trigger state for AP-SRS, a plurality of resource sets for AP-SRS may be triggered at the same time by only one second configuration information and then may be transmitted to the network device, thereby improving the efficiency of triggering the transmission of the AP-SRS.

According to some embodiments, the number of slot offsets in the list of slot offsets of each resource set for AP-SRS may be the same. In some embodiments, the number of slot offsets in the first list of slot offsets may be the same as the number of slot offsets of the second list of slot offsets.

For example, list <NUM> of slot offsets of resource set <NUM> for AP-SRS may include <NUM> entries of slot offset, and list <NUM> of slot offsets of resource set <NUM> for AP-SRS may also include <NUM> entries of slot offset. In this example, if the second configuration information indicates slot offset <NUM>, the slot for transmitting resource set <NUM> is determined based on slot offset <NUM> of list <NUM> of slot offsets, and the slot for transmitting resource set <NUM> is determined based on slot offset <NUM> of list <NUM> of slot offsets. It should be emphasized herein again that slot offset <NUM> of list <NUM> of slot offsets means the second entry of list <NUM> of slot offsets (rather than slot offset =<NUM>), and the slot offset for resource set <NUM> for AP-SRS is determined on the value of the second entry (i.e., slot offset <NUM>) of list <NUM> of slot offsets. For example, if the reference slot is slot <NUM>, slot offset <NUM> of list <NUM> of slot offsets is <NUM>, and slot offset <NUM> of list <NUM> of slot offsets is <NUM>, then by only one second configuration information, resource set <NUM> for AP-SRS may be transmitted to the network device at slot <NUM> (=<NUM>+<NUM>) and resource set <NUM> for AP-SRS may be transmitted to the network device at slot <NUM> (=<NUM>+<NUM>).

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, since one second configuration information can only indicate one entry from the list of slot offsets, by further equally configuring the size (i.e., the number of entries) of lists of slot offsets of different resource sets for AP-SRS, it is ensured that a slot offset can be selected from each list of slot offsets of different resource sets for AP-SRS.

According to some embodiments, the number of slot offsets in the list of slot offsets of each resource set for AP-SRS may be different. In some embodiments, the number of slot offsets in the first list of slot offsets is different from the number of slot offsets of the second list of slot offsets.

In some embodiments, list <NUM> of slot offsets of resource set <NUM> for AP-SRS may include M entries of slot offset, and list <NUM> of slot offsets of resource set <NUM> for AP-SRS may also include N entries of slot offset, where M and N are positive integers and M<N.

As discussed above, one second configuration information can only indicate one entry from the list of slot offsets. Considering that the field of slot offset in the second configuration information is binary, the minimum size of the field of slot offset in the second configuration information required for indicating any entry of list <NUM> of slot offsets of resource set <NUM> for AP-SRS is <MAT> and the minimum size of the field of slot offset in the second configuration information required for indicating any entry of list <NUM> of slot offsets of resource set <NUM> for AP-SRS is <MAT>.

In some embodiments, if the actual size of the field of slot offset in the second configuration information equals to [log2(M)], any entry in list <NUM> of slot offsets with index number larger than M will not be triggered by the network device.

In some embodiments, if the actual size of the field of slot offset in the second configuration information equals to [log2(N)] and the second configuration information indicates an entry with index number larger than M, there may be two options. As an option, resource set <NUM> for AP-SRS is not triggered. As another option, resource set <NUM> for AP-SRS is triggered but the slot offset selected from list <NUM> of slot offsets is fixed. For example, the slot offset selected from list <NUM> of slot offsets may be fixed as slot offset M (i.e., the last entry of list <NUM> of slot offsets). In other examples, the slot offset selected from list <NUM> of slot offsets may be fixed as any slot offset i, where i is a positive integer and i<M.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, with the above configuration, even if the number of slot offsets in the list of slot offsets of each resource set for AP-SRS are different, these resource sets for AP-SRS can be triggered or not triggered accordingly, without causing any conflict.

According to some embodiments, one resource set for AP-SRS may be mapped to a plurality of trigger states for AP-SRS. In some embodiments, the first configuration information may further indicate that the first resource set for the AP-SRS is mapped to multiple trigger states for the AP-SRS. In other words, each trigger state of multiple trigger states indicated by the second configuration information can trigger the first resource set for the AP-SRS.

In some embodiments, the first list of slot offsets may be associated with the multiple trigger states for the AP-SRS. For example, resource set <NUM> for AP-SRS may include a single list <NUM> of slot offsets, and the single list <NUM> of slot offsets may be mapped to multiple trigger states for AP-SRS, such as trigger state <NUM>, trigger state <NUM> and trigger state <NUM>.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, only one list of slot offsets is needed to be configured for multiple trigger states, thereby improving the efficiency of slot offset configuration.

In some embodiments, the first resource set for the AP-SRS may include multiple lists of slot offsets, and wherein each list of slot offsets of the multiple lists of slot offsets one-to-one corresponds to one trigger state of the multiple trigger states for the AP-SRS. For example, resource set <NUM> for AP-SRS may include list <NUM> of slot offsets, list <NUM> of slot offsets, and list <NUM> of slot offsets, wherein list <NUM> of slot offsets corresponds to trigger state <NUM>, list <NUM> of slot offsets corresponds to trigger state <NUM>, and list <NUM> of slot offsets corresponds to trigger state <NUM>.

According to some embodiments, the method of the UE may further include: Step S203 (as illustratively shown as <NUM> in <FIG>), obtaining, from the network device, a third configuration information, wherein the third configuration information activates a subset of the first list of slot offsets, and wherein the second configuration information indicates the first slot offset from the subset of the first list of slot offsets.

According to some embodiments, the third configuration information may include Media Access Control Control Element (MAC-CE) information, but the present disclosure does not limit thereto. According to some embodiments, the third configuration information may be any other information, message or signaling that is suitable for configuring the first resource set for AP-SRS.

According to some embodiment, the UE may receive the third configuration information from the network device after receiving the first configuration information but before receiving and decoding the second configuration information.

Hereinafter, an exemplary method is described with reference to <FIG>.

<FIG> illustrate a diagram for exemplary Media Access Control Control Element (MAC-CE) activation in accordance with some embodiments.

In <FIG>, a RRC signaling is illustratively shown on the left as an example of the first configuration information, a MAC-CE is illustratively shown in the middle as an example of the third configuration information, and a DCI is illustratively shown on the right as an example of the second configuration information.

It can be seen in <FIG> that the resource set for AP-SRS in the RRC signaling includes a list of slot offsets, wherein the list of slot offsets further includes N slot offsets {slot offset <NUM>, slot offset <NUM>,. , slot offset N-<NUM>}, and where N is a positive integer. As discussed above, MAC-CE may activate M slot offsets out of N slot offsets of the list of slot offsets, where M and N are positive integers and M<N. In other words, M slot offset activated by MAC-CE is a subset of N slot offset configured by RRC signaling. Then, DCI may indicate one slot offset out of the subset of slot offset (including M slot offsets that are activated by MAC-CE) as the first slot offset for the transmission of AP-SRS.

As can be seen, without MAC-CE, the DCI indicate <NUM> out of N slot offsets directly in one step, and with MAC-CE activating M out of N slot offsets, the indication of <NUM> out of N slot offsets can be divided into two steps. The MAC-CE acts as if a "buffer". With MAC-CE, the size of field of slot offset in DCI can be reduced.

For example, assuming that M=<NUM> and N=<NUM>, if there is a MAC-CE as if a "buffer", the size of field of slot offset in DCI is <NUM> (= log<NUM>[<NUM>]) bits, otherwise, if there is not a MAC-CE as a "buffer", the size of field of slot offset in DCI is <NUM> (= log2[<NUM>]) bits. In this example, <NUM> bits can be reduced for DCI. Note that the total size of a DCI is usually about <NUM> bits, and thus saving <NUM> bits for the field of slot offset can greatly reduce overhead and improve the capacity of DCI since the DCI may have more space for storing other fields.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, with a third configuration information, on one hand, the size required by the field of slot offset in the second configuration information (e.g., DCI) can be reduced, thereby reducing overhead and improve the capacity of the second configuration information since the second configuration information may have more space for storing other fields, and on the other hand, the second configuration information can still indicate one slot offset from a list of slot offsets, thereby improving the flexibility of the transmission of the AP-SRS.

The subset of the first list of slot offsets (e.g., M out of N slot offsets) may be activated by the following two ways.

According to some embodiments, with reference to <FIG>, the subset of the first list of slot offsets may be activated per resource set for the AP-SRS. <FIG> illustrates an exemplary bitmap for MAC-CE activation of list of slot offsets in accordance with some embodiments.

As shown in <FIG>, "R" represents a reserved bit and occupies <NUM> bit. "BWP ID" indicates the bandwidth part (BWP) and occupies <NUM> bits. "Serving Cell ID" indicates the serving cell and occupies <NUM> bits. "SUL" occupies <NUM> bit and represents supplemental uplink, which is used to indicate whether it is SUL (supplemental uplink) or NUL (normal uplink). "AP SRS Resource Set ID" indicates the resource set for AP-SRS and occupies <NUM> bits. "Ti (i=<NUM>, <NUM>,. , N-<NUM>)" represents bitmaps for the entries of the list of slot offsets indicated in the first configuration information (e.g., RRC signaling). For example, T0 represents slot offset <NUM>, T1 represents slot offset <NUM>, and TN-<NUM> represents slot offset N-<NUM>, wherein if the value of Ti in bitmap is <NUM>, it means the slot offset i is not activated and if the value of Ti in bitmap is <NUM>, it means the slot offset i is activated.

According to some embodiments, multiple resource sets for AP-SRS may be indicated in a same MAC-CE.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, in accordance with the bitmap as shown in <FIG>, MAC-CE can activate a subset (e.g., including M slot offsets) of the list of slot offsets (e.g., including N slot offsets) per resource set for AP-SRS.

According to some embodiments, with reference to <FIG>, the subset of the first list of slot offsets may be activated per trigger state for the AP-SRS. <FIG> illustrates another exemplary bitmap for MAC-CE activation of list of slot offsets in accordance with some embodiments.

As shown in <FIG>, "R" represents a reserved bit and occupies <NUM> bit. "BWP ID" indicates the bandwidth part (BWP) and occupies <NUM> bits. "Serving Cell ID" indicates the serving cell and occupies <NUM> bits. "SUL" occupies <NUM> bit and represents supplemental uplink, which is used to indicate whether it is SUL (supplemental uplink) or NUL (normal uplink). "AP-SRS Trigger State" indicates the trigger state for AP-SRS and occupies <NUM> bits. Note that if the second configuration information is DCI, there are four trigger states of AP-SRS, and <NUM> bits are enough for representing the four trigger states. "Ti (i=<NUM>, <NUM>,. , N-<NUM>)" represents bitmaps for the entries of the list of slot offsets indicated in the first configuration information (e.g., RRC signaling). For example, T0 represents slot offset <NUM>, T1 represents slot offset <NUM>, and TN-<NUM> represents slot offset N-<NUM>, wherein if the value of Ti in bitmap is <NUM>, it means the slot offset i is not activated and if the value of Ti in bitmap is <NUM>, it means the slot offset i is activated.

According to some embodiments, multiple trigger states of AP-SRS may be indicated in a same MAC-CE. In some embodiments, all the resource sets for AP-SRS associated with the same trigger state for AP-SRS may be activated in the same bitmap.

For example, compared with the bitmap as shown in <FIG>, the bits occupied by "AP-SRS Trigger State" (e.g., <NUM> bits) in <FIG> is less than the bits occupied by "AP SRS Resource Set ID" (e.g., <NUM> bits). In this example, several bits (e.g., <NUM> bits) may be saved for containing more entries of slot offset.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, in accordance with the bitmap as shown in <FIG>, MAC-CE can activate a subset (e.g., including M slot offsets) of the list of slot offsets (e.g., including N slot offsets) per trigger state for AP-SRS, and capacity of MAC-CE can be further reduced compared with <FIG>.

<FIG> illustrates a flowchart for a method for a network device in accordance with the present invention. The method <NUM> illustrated in <FIG> is implemented by the base station <NUM> described in <FIG>. The network device is the network device of the base station <NUM>.

The method <NUM> for a network device includes the following steps: S402, generating a first configuration information for transmission to a user equipment (UE), wherein the first configuration information indicates a first resource set for an aperiodic Sounding Reference Signal (AP-SRS), and wherein the first resource set for the AP-SRS includes a first list of slot offsets; S404, generating a second configuration information for transmission to the UE, wherein the second configuration information indicates a reference slot and a first slot offset of the first list of slot offsets; and S406, obtaining the AP-SRS from the UE, wherein the AP-SRS is transmitted based on the reference slot and the first slot offset.

In the following, each step of the method <NUM> will be described. Note that those elements, expressions, features etc. that have already been described with reference to <FIG> and its corresponding description (about UE) are omitted herein for clarity.

At step S402, the network device generates a first configuration information for transmission to a user equipment (UE), wherein the first configuration information indicates a first resource set for an aperiodic Sounding Reference Signal (AP-SRS), and wherein the first resource set for the AP-SRS includes a first list of slot offsets.

According to some embodiments, the first configuration information may include a Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.

At step S404, the network device generates a second configuration information for transmission to the UE, wherein the second configuration information indicates a reference slot and a first slot offset of the first list of slot offsets.

According to some embodiments, the second configuration information may include a Downlink Control Information (DCI).

At step S406, the network device obtains the AP-SRS from the UE, wherein the AP-SRS is transmitted based on the reference slot and the first slot offset.

According to some embodiments, the method of network device may include: Step S403 (as illustratively shown as <NUM> in <FIG>), generating a third configuration information, wherein the third configuration information activates a subset of the first list of slot offsets, and wherein the second configuration information indicates the first slot offset from the subset of the first list of slot offsets.

According to some embodiments, the third configuration information may include Media Access Control Control Element (MAC-CE) information.

Note that those elements, expressions, features etc. that have already been described with reference to <FIG>, <FIG>, <FIG> and their corresponding description (about UE) are omitted herein for clarity.

<FIG> illustrates a flowchart for exemplary steps for AP-SRS configuration in accordance with some embodiments.

In <FIG>, the steps of the method for UE and the method for network device during the triggering of AP-SRS by RRC signaling and DCI are shown.

At Step <NUM>, the network device may transmit a RRC signaling to the UE, wherein the RRC signaling indicates one or more resource sets for AP-SRS, and wherein the one or more resource sets for the AP-SRS include one or more lists of slot offsets. Step <NUM> can be implemented according to the description with reference to Step S202 and/or Step S402.

At Step <NUM>, the network device may transmit a DCI to the UE. At Step <NUM>, the UE may decode the DCI to obtain a reference slot and a slot offset selected from the one or more lists of slot offsets that are received through the RRC signaling. Step <NUM> and Step <NUM> can be implemented according to the description with reference to Step S204 and/or Step S404.

At Step <NUM>, the UE may transmit the AP-SRS to the network device, wherein the slot for transmission of the AP-SRS is determined based on the reference slot and the slot offset selected from the one or more lists of slot offsets. Step <NUM> can be implemented according to the description with reference to Step S206 and/or Step S406.

In <FIG>, the steps of the method for UE and the method for network device during the triggering of AP-SRS by RRC signaling, MAC-CE and DCI are shown.

At Step <NUM>, the network device may transmit a MAC-CE to the UE, wherein the MAC-CE activates a subset of slot offsets selected from the one or more lists of slot offsets. Step <NUM> can be implemented according to the description with reference to Step S203 and/or Step S403.

At Step <NUM>, the network device may transmit a DCI to the UE. At Step <NUM>, the UE may decode the DCI to obtain a reference slot and a slot offset of the subset of slot offsets that are activated by MAC-CE. Step <NUM> and Step <NUM> can be implemented according to the description with reference to Step S204 and/or Step S404.

At Step <NUM>, the UE may transmit the AP-SRS to the network device, wherein the slot for transmission of the AP-SRS is determined based on the reference slot and the slot offset selected from the activated subset of slot offsets, which is further selected from the one or more lists of slot offsets. Step <NUM> can be implemented according to the description with reference to Step S206 and/or Step S406.

<FIG> illustrates an exemplary block diagram of an apparatus for a UE in accordance with some embodiments. The apparatus <NUM> illustrated in <FIG> may be used to implement the method <NUM> as illustrated in combination with <FIG>.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the apparatus <NUM> includes an obtaining unit <NUM>, a decoding unit <NUM> and a generation unit <NUM>.

The obtaining unit <NUM> may be configured to obtain, from a network device, a first configuration information, wherein the first configuration information indicates a first resource set for an aperiodic Sounding Reference Signal (AP-SRS), and wherein the first resource set for the AP-SRS includes a first list of slot offsets.

The decoding unit <NUM> may be configured to decode a second configuration information from the network device, wherein the second configuration information indicates a reference slot and a first slot offset of the first list of slot offsets.

The generation unit <NUM> may be configured to generate the AP-SRS for transmission to the network device based on the reference slot and the first slot offset.

According to the embodiments of the present application, with a first configuration information, a first list of slot offsets including a plurality of slot offsets rather than a single slot offset can be configured by network. With a second configuration information to be decoded by the UE, a first slot offset can be selected from the first list of slot offsets, such that the first slot offset is not predetermined and fixed. In this way, the transmission of AP-SRS for the UE is more flexible. Since multiple choices of slot offset of a list of slot offsets are provided, even if some slots for transmitting the AP-SRS is unavailable (for example, if the slot for transmitting AP-SRS collides with DL symbols), the UE can have other choices and will not skip the transmission of AP-SRS, thereby improving the flexibility of the transmission of the AP-SRS.

<FIG> illustrates an exemplary block diagram of an apparatus for a network device in accordance with some embodiments. The apparatus <NUM> illustrated in <FIG> may be used to implement the method <NUM> as illustrated in combination with <FIG>.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the apparatus <NUM> includes a generation unit <NUM>, a generation unit <NUM> and an obtaining unit <NUM>.

The generation unit <NUM> may be configured to generate a first configuration information for transmission to a user equipment (UE), wherein the first configuration information indicates a first resource set for an aperiodic Sounding Reference Signal (AP-SRS), and wherein the first resource set for the AP-SRS includes a first list of slot offsets.

The generation unit <NUM> may be configured to generate a second configuration information for transmission to the UE, wherein the second configuration information indicates a reference slot and a first slot offset of the first list of slot offsets.

The obtaining unit <NUM> may be configured to obtain the AP-SRS from the UE, wherein the AP-SRS is transmitted based on the reference slot and the first slot offset.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, with a first configuration information, the network can a first list of slot offsets including a plurality of slot offsets rather than a single slot offset. With a second configuration information to be decoded by the UE, the network can select a first slot offset from the first list of slot offsets, such that the first slot offset is not predetermined and fixed. In this way, the transmission of AP-SRS for the UE is more flexible. Since multiple choices of slot offset of a list of slot offsets are provided, even if some slots for transmitting the AP-SRS is unavailable (for example, if the slot for transmitting AP-SRS collides with DL symbols), the UE can have other choices and will not skip the transmission of AP-SRS, thereby improving the flexibility of the transmission of the AP-SRS.

<FIG> illustrates example components of a device <NUM> in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, the device <NUM> may include application circuitry <NUM>, baseband circuitry <NUM>, Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry (shown as RF circuitry <NUM>), front-end module (FEM) circuitry (shown as FEM circuitry <NUM>), one or more antennas <NUM>, and power management circuitry (PMC) (shown as PMC <NUM>) coupled together at least as shown. The components of the illustrated device <NUM> may be included in a UE or a RAN node. In some embodiments, the device <NUM> may include fewer elements (e.g., a RAN node may not utilize application circuitry <NUM>, and instead include a processor/controller to process IP data received from an EPC). In some embodiments, the device <NUM> may include additional elements such as, for example, memory/storage, display, camera, sensor, or input/output (I/O) interface. In other embodiments, the components described below may be included in more than one device (e.g., said circuitries may be separately included in more than one device for Cloud-RAN (C-RAN) implementations).

The baseband circuitry <NUM> may include one or more baseband processors or control logic to process baseband signals received from a receive signal path of the RF circuitry <NUM> and to generate baseband signals for a transmit signal path of the RF circuitry <NUM>. The baseband circuitry <NUM> may interface with the application circuitry <NUM> for generation and processing of the baseband signals and for controlling operations of the RF circuitry <NUM>. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry <NUM> may include a third generation (<NUM>) baseband processor (<NUM> baseband processor <NUM>), a fourth generation (<NUM>) baseband processor (<NUM> baseband processor <NUM>), a fifth generation (<NUM>) baseband processor (<NUM> baseband processor <NUM>), or other baseband processor(s) <NUM> for other existing generations, generations in development or to be developed in the future (e.g., second generation (<NUM>), sixth generation (<NUM>), etc.). The baseband circuitry <NUM> (e.g., one or more of baseband processors) may handle various radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuitry <NUM>. In other embodiments, some or all of the functionality of the illustrated baseband processors may be included in modules stored in the memory <NUM> and executed via a Central Processing ETnit (CPET <NUM>). The radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, modulation/demodulation circuitry of the baseband circuitry <NUM> may include Fast-Fourier Transform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping/demapping functionality. In some embodiments, encoding/decoding circuitry of the baseband circuitry <NUM> may include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, or Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder/decoder functionality. Embodiments of modulation/demodulation and encoder/decoder functionality are not limited to these examples and may include other suitable functionality in other embodiments.

In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry <NUM> may include a digital signal processor (DSP), such as one or more audio DSP(s) <NUM>. The one or more audio DSP(s) <NUM> may be include elements for compression/decompression and echo cancellation and may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments. Components of the baseband circuitry may be suitably combined in a single chip, a single chipset, or disposed on a same circuit board in some embodiments. In some embodiments, some or all of the constituent components of the baseband circuitry <NUM> and the application circuitry <NUM> may be implemented together such as, for example, on a system on a chip (SOC).

For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry <NUM> may support communication with an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) or other wireless metropolitan area networks (WMAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), or a wireless personal area network (WPAN).

The RF circuitry <NUM> may enable communication with wireless networks using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. The RF circuitry <NUM> may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry <NUM> and provide baseband signals to the baseband circuitry <NUM>. The RF circuitry <NUM> may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry to up-convert baseband signals provided by the baseband circuitry <NUM> and provide RF output signals to the FEM circuitry <NUM> for transmission.

In some embodiments, the receive signal path of the RF circuitry <NUM> may include mixer circuitry <NUM>, amplifier circuitry <NUM> and filter circuitry <NUM>. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of the RF circuitry <NUM> may include filter circuitry <NUM> and mixer circuitry <NUM>. The RF circuitry <NUM> may also include synthesizer circuitry <NUM> for synthesizing a frequency for use by the mixer circuitry <NUM> of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry <NUM> of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry <NUM> based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry <NUM>. The amplifier circuitry <NUM> may be configured to amplify the down-converted signals and the filter circuitry <NUM> may be a low-pass filter (LPF) or band-pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signals to generate output baseband signals. Output baseband signals may be provided to the baseband circuitry <NUM> for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signals may be zero-frequency baseband signals, although this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry <NUM> of the receive signal path may include passive mixers, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry <NUM> of the transmit signal path may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry <NUM> to generate RF output signals for the FEM circuitry <NUM>. The baseband signals may be provided by the baseband circuitry <NUM> and may be filtered by the filter circuitry <NUM>.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry <NUM> of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry <NUM> of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature downconversion and upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry <NUM> of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry <NUM> of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry <NUM> of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry <NUM> may be arranged for direct downconversion and direct upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry <NUM> of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry <NUM> of the transmit signal path may be configured for super-heterodyne operation.

In these alternate embodiments, the RF circuitry <NUM> may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital -to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry and the baseband circuitry <NUM> may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RF circuitry <NUM>.

In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry <NUM> may be a fractional -N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+<NUM> synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other types of frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuitry <NUM> may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer including a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider.

The synthesizer circuitry <NUM> may be configured to synthesize an output frequency for use by the mixer circuitry <NUM> of the RF circuitry <NUM> based on a frequency input and a divider control input. In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry <NUM> may be a fractional N/N+<NUM> synthesizer.

Divider control input may be provided by either the baseband circuitry <NUM> or the application circuitry <NUM> (such as an applications processor) depending on the desired output frequency. In some embodiments, a divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a look-up table based on a channel indicated by the application circuitry <NUM>.

Synthesizer circuitry <NUM> of the RF circuitry <NUM> may include a divider, a delay- locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the divider may be a dual modulus divider (DMD) and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide the input signal by either N or N+<NUM> (e.g., based on a carry out) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, the DLL may include a set of cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phase detector, a charge pump and a D-type flip-flop. In these embodiments, the delay elements may be configured to break a VCO period up into Nd equal packets of phase, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry <NUM> may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and divider circuitry to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency with multiple different phases with respect to each other. In some embodiments, the output frequency may be a LO frequency (fLO). In some embodiments, the RF circuitry <NUM> may include an IQ/polar converter.

The FEM circuitry <NUM> may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or more antennas <NUM>, amplify the received signals and provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the RF circuitry <NUM> for further processing. The FEM circuitry <NUM> may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry configured to amplify signals for transmission provided by the RF circuitry <NUM> for transmission by one or more of the one or more antennas <NUM>. In various embodiments, the amplification through the transmit or receive signal paths may be done solely in the RF circuitry <NUM>, solely in the FEM circuitry <NUM>, or in both the RF circuitry <NUM> and the FEM circuitry <NUM>.

The FEM circuitry <NUM> may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry <NUM> may include an LNA to amplify received RF signals and provide the amplified received RF signals as an output (e.g., to the RF circuitry <NUM>). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuitry <NUM> may include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify input RF signals (e.g., provided by the RF circuitry <NUM>), and one or more filters to generate RF signals for subsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the one or more antennas <NUM>).

The PMC <NUM> may often be included when the device <NUM> is capable of being powered by a battery, for example, when the device <NUM> is included in an EGE.

<FIG> shows the PMC <NUM> coupled only with the baseband circuitry <NUM>. However, in other embodiments, the PMC <NUM> may be additionally or alternatively coupled with, and perform similar power management operations for, other components such as, but not limited to, the application circuitry <NUM>, the RF circuitry <NUM>, or the FEM circuitry <NUM>.

For example, if the device <NUM> is in an RRC Connected state, where it is still connected to the RAN node as it expects to receive traffic shortly, then it may enter a state known as Discontinuous Reception Mode (DRX) after a period of inactivity.

If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time, then the device <NUM> may transition off to an RRC Idle state, where it disconnects from the network and does not perform operations such as channel quality feedback, handover, etc. The device <NUM> goes into a very low power state and it performs paging where again it periodically wakes up to listen to the network and then powers down again. The device <NUM> may not receive data in this state, and in order to receive data, it transitions back to an RRC Connected state.

For example, processors of the baseband circuitry <NUM>, alone or in combination, may be used to execute Layer <NUM>, Layer <NUM>, or Layer <NUM> functionality, while processors of the application circuitry <NUM> may utilize data (e.g., packet data) received from these layers and further execute Layer <NUM> functionality (e.g., transmission communication protocol (TCP) and user datagram protocol (UDP) layers). As referred to herein, Layer <NUM> may include a radio resource control (RRC) layer, described in further detail below. As referred to herein, Layer <NUM> may include a medium access control (MAC) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, described in further detail below. As referred to herein, Layer <NUM> may include a physical (PHY) layer of a UE/RAN node, described in further detail below.

<FIG> illustrates example interfaces <NUM> of baseband circuitry in accordance with some embodiments. As discussed above, the baseband circuitry <NUM> of <FIG> may include <NUM> baseband processor <NUM>, <NUM> baseband processor <NUM>, <NUM> baseband processor <NUM>, other baseband processor(s) <NUM>, CPU <NUM>, and a memory <NUM> utilized by said processors. As illustrated, each of the processors may include a respective memory interface <NUM> to send/receive data to/from the memory <NUM>.

<FIG> is a block diagram illustrating components <NUM>, according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. Specifically, <FIG> shows a diagrammatic representation of hardware resources <NUM> including one or more processors <NUM> (or processor cores), one or more memory/storage devices <NUM>, and one or more communication resources <NUM>, each of which may be communicatively coupled via a bus <NUM>. For embodiments where node virtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor <NUM> may be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices/sub-slices to utilize the hardware resources <NUM>.

The memory /storage devices <NUM> may include main memory, disk storage, or any suitable combination thereof.

Instructions <NUM> may include software, a program, an application, an applet, an app, or other executable code for causing at least any of the processors <NUM> to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. The instructions <NUM> may reside, completely or partially, within at least one of the processors <NUM> (e.g., within the processor's cache memory), the memory /storage devices <NUM>, or any suitable combination thereof. Furthermore, any portion of the instructions <NUM> may be transferred to the hardware resources <NUM> from any combination of the peripheral devices <NUM> or the databases <NUM>. Accordingly, the memory of the processors <NUM>, the memory/storage devices <NUM>, the peripheral devices <NUM>, and the databases <NUM> are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.

For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components set forth in one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes, and/or methods as set forth in the example section below. For example, the baseband circuitry as described above in connection with one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the examples set forth below. For another example, circuitry associated with a UE, base station, network element, etc. as described above in connection with one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the examples set forth below in the example section.

<FIG> illustrates an architecture of a system <NUM> of a network in accordance with some embodiments. The system <NUM> includes one or more user equipment (UE), shown in this example as a UE <NUM> and a UE <NUM>. The UE <NUM> and the UE <NUM> are illustrated as smartphones (e.g., handheld touchscreen mobile computing devices connectable to one or more cellular networks), but may also include any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as Personal Data Assistants (PDAs), pagers, laptop computers, desktop computers, wireless handsets, or any computing device including a wireless communications interface.

In some embodiments, any of the UE <NUM> and the UE <NUM> can include an Internet of Things (IoT) UE, which can include a network access layer designed for low- power IoT applications utilizing short-lived UE connections. An IoT UE can utilize technologies such as machine-to-machine (M2M) or machine-type communications (MTC) for exchanging data with an MTC server or device via a public land mobile network (PLMN), Proximity-Based Service (ProSe) or device-to-device (D2D) communication, sensor networks, or IoT networks. The M2M or MTC exchange of data may be a machine- initiated exchange of data. An IoT network describes interconnecting IoT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure), with short-lived connections. The IoT UEs may execute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate the connections of the IoT network.

The UE <NUM> and the UE <NUM> may be configured to connect, e.g., communicatively couple, with a radio access network (RAN), shown as RAN <NUM>. The RAN <NUM> may be, for example, an Evolved ETniversal Mobile Telecommunications System (ETMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), a NextGen RAN (NG RAN), or some other type of RAN. The UE <NUM> and the UE <NUM> utilize connection <NUM> and connection <NUM>, respectively, each of which includes a physical communications interface or layer (discussed in further detail below); in this example, the connection <NUM> and the connection <NUM> are illustrated as an air interface to enable communicative coupling, and can be consistent with cellular communications protocols, such as a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) protocol, a code-division multiple access (CDMA) network protocol, a Push-to-Talk (PTT) protocol, a PTT over Cellular (POC) protocol, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) protocol, a 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) protocol, a fifth generation (<NUM>) protocol, a New Radio (NR) protocol, and the like.

In this embodiment, the UE <NUM> and the UE <NUM> may further directly exchange communication data via a ProSe interface <NUM>. The ProSe interface <NUM> may alternatively be referred to as a sidelink interface including one or more logical channels, including but not limited to a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), a Physical Sidelink Discovery Channel (PSDCH), and a Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH).

The UE <NUM> is shown to be configured to access an access point (AP), shown as AP <NUM>, via connection <NUM>. The connection <NUM> can include a local wireless connection, such as a connection consistent with any IEEE <NUM> protocol, wherein the AP <NUM> would include a wireless fidelity (WiFi®) router. In this example, the AP <NUM> may be connected to the Internet without connecting to the core network of the wireless system (described in further detail below).

The RAN <NUM> can include one or more access nodes that enable the connection <NUM> and the connection <NUM>. These access nodes (ANs) can be referred to as base stations (BSs), NodeBs, evolved NodeBs (eNBs), next Generation NodeBs (gNB), RAN nodes, and so forth, and can include ground stations (e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stations providing coverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). The RAN <NUM> may include one or more RAN nodes for providing macrocells, e.g., macro RAN node <NUM>, and one or more RAN nodes for providing femtocells or picocells (e.g., cells having smaller coverage areas, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth compared to macrocells), e.g., a low power (LP) RAN node such as LP RAN node <NUM>.

Any of the macro RAN node <NUM> and the LP RAN node <NUM> can terminate the air interface protocol and can be the first point of contact for the UE <NUM> and the UE <NUM>. In some embodiments, any of the macro RAN node <NUM> and the LP RAN node <NUM> can fulfill various logical functions for the RAN <NUM> including, but not limited to, radio network controller (RNC) functions such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobility management.

In accordance with some embodiments, the EGE <NUM> and the EGE <NUM> can be configured to communicate using Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) communication signals with each other or with any of the macro RAN node <NUM> and the LP RAN node <NUM> over a multicarrier communication channel in accordance various communication techniques, such as, but not limited to, an Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) communication technique (e.g., for downlink communications) or a Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) communication technique (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communications), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. The OFDM signals can include a plurality of orthogonal sub carriers.

In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid can be used for downlink transmissions from any of the macro RAN node <NUM> and the LP RAN node <NUM> to the UE <NUM> and the UE <NUM>, while uplink transmissions can utilize similar techniques. Each resource grid includes a number of resource blocks, which describe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements. Each resource block includes a collection of resource elements; in the frequency domain, this may represent the smallest quantity of resources that currently can be allocated.

The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) may carry user data and higher- layer signaling to the UE <NUM> and the UE <NUM>. It may also inform the UE <NUM> and the UE <NUM> about the transport format, resource allocation, and H-ARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request) information related to the uplink shared channel. Typically, downlink scheduling (assigning control and shared channel resource blocks to the UE <NUM> within a cell) may be performed at any of the macro RAN node <NUM> and the LP RAN node <NUM> based on channel quality information fed back from any of the UE <NUM> and UE <NUM>. The downlink resource assignment information may be sent on the PDCCH used for (e.g., assigned to) each of the UE <NUM> and the UE <NUM>.

Before being mapped to resource elements, the PDCCH complex-valued symbols may first be organized into quadruplets, which may then be permuted using a sub- block interleaver for rate matching.

Some embodiments may use concepts for resource allocation for control channel information that are an extension of the above-described concepts. For example, some embodiments may utilize an enhanced physical downlink control channel (EPDCCH) that uses PDSCH resources for control information transmission. The EPDCCH may be transmitted using one or more enhanced the control channel elements (ECCEs). Similar to above, each ECCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements known as enhanced resource element groups (EREGs). An ECCE may have other numbers of EREGs in some situations.

The RAN <NUM> is communicatively coupled to a core network (CN), shown as CN <NUM> - via an S1 interface <NUM>. In embodiments, the CN <NUM> may be an evolved packet core (EPC) network, a NextGen Packet Core (NPC) network, or some other type of CN. In this embodiment the S1 interface <NUM> is split into two parts: the S1-U interface <NUM>, which carries traffic data between the macro RAN node <NUM> and the LP RAN node <NUM> and a serving gateway (S-GW), shown as S-GW <NUM>, and an S1 -mobility management entity (MME) interface, shown as Sl-MME interface <NUM>, which is a signaling interface between the macro RAN node <NUM> and LP RAN node <NUM> and the MME(s) <NUM>.

In this embodiment, the CN <NUM> includes the MME(s) <NUM>, the S-GW <NUM>, a Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (P-GW) (shown as P-GW <NUM>), and a home subscriber server (HSS) (shown as HSS <NUM>). The MME(s) <NUM> may be similar in function to the control plane of legacy Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Support Nodes (SGSN). The MME(s) <NUM> may manage mobility aspects in access such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. The HSS <NUM> may include a database for network users, including subscription-related information to support the network entities' handling of communication sessions. The CN <NUM> may include one or several HSS <NUM>, depending on the number of mobile subscribers, on the capacity of the equipment, on the organization of the network, etc. For example, the HSS <NUM> can provide support for routing/roaming, authentication, authorization, naming/addressing resolution, location dependencies, etc..

In addition, the S-GW <NUM> may be a local mobility anchor point for inter-RAN node handovers and also may provide an anchor for inter-<NUM> GPP mobility.

The P-GW <NUM> may route data packets between the CN <NUM> (e.g., an EPC network) and external networks such as a network including the application server <NUM> (alternatively referred to as application function (AF)) via an Internet Protocol (IP) interface (shown as IP communications interface <NUM>). Generally, an application server <NUM> may be an element offering applications that use IP bearer resources with the core network (e.g., ETMTS Packet Services (PS) domain, LTE PS data services, etc.). The application server <NUM> can also be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., Voice-over-Intemet Protocol (VoIP) sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, social networking services, etc.) for the UE <NUM> and the UE <NUM> via the CN <NUM>.

A Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCRF) (shown as PCRF <NUM>) is the policy and charging control element of the CN <NUM>. In a non-roaming scenario, there may be a single PCRF in the Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) associated with a ETE's Internet Protocol Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) session.

It should be recognized that the systems described herein include descriptions of specific embodiments. These embodiments can be combined into single systems, partially combined into other systems, split into multiple systems or divided or combined in other ways. In addition, it is contemplated that parameters/attributes/aspects/etc. of one embodiment can be used in another embodiment. The parameters/attributes/aspects/etc. are merely described in one or more embodiments for clarity, and it is recognized that the parameters/attributes/aspects/etc. can be combined with or substituted for parameters/attributes/etc. of another embodiment unless specifically disclaimed herein.

Claim 1:
A user equipment, UE, (<NUM>) having circuitry to:
obtain (S202), from a network device, first configuration information, wherein the first configuration information indicates a first resource set for an aperiodic Sounding Reference Signal , AP-SRS, and wherein the first resource set for the AP-SRS includes a first list of slot offsets;
receive (S204), from the network device, second configuration information;
determine, based on reception of the second configuration information, a reference slot and a first slot offset of the first list of slot offsets; and
generate (S206) the AP-SRS for transmission to the network device based on the reference slot and the first slot offset, the UE being characterized in that:
the first configuration information further indicates a second resource set for the AP-SRS, the second resource set for the AP-SRS comprises a second list of slot offsets, and the first configuration information further indicates that the first resource set for the AP-SRS and the second resource set for the AP-SRS are mapped to a same trigger state for the AP-SRS.