PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-11949613-B2
Application Number: US-201917259102-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Scheduling for new radio in unlicensed spectrum (NR-U)

Abstract:
An apparatus of a network (NW) configured to: encode a new radio (NR) Discovery Reference Signal (DRS) transmission, the NR DRS transmission including a synchronization signal block (SSB) and channel state information (CSI) reference signal (RS) (CSI-RS). The apparatus is further configured to configure the NW to transmit the NR DRS transmission. The RS-CSI may be a fragmented RS-CSI including a first fragmented portion and a second fragmented portion, where the apparatus is configured to encode a symbol of the NR DRS transmission to comprise the first fragmented portion, a symbol of the SSB, and the second fragmented portion, where the symbol of the SSB is encoded on a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) portion of the NR DRS transmission.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An apparatus comprising:
 one or more processors, wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause a network (NW) to: 
 encode a new radio (NR) Discovery Reference Signal (DRS) transmission, the NR DRS transmission comprising a synchronization signal block (SSB), remaining minimum system information (RMSI) control resource set (CORESET), and RMSI, mapping to 48 physical resource block (PRBs), wherein the SSB includes a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), primary synchronization signal (PSS), and secondary synchronization signal (SSS); and 
 configure the NW to transmit the NR DRS transmission. 
 
     
     
       2. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the RMSI CORESET is associated with one or more search space sets for physical control channels. 
     
     
       3. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the RMSI comprises a RMSI physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) that is rate-matched around the RMSI CORESET. 
     
     
       4. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the NR DRS transmission further comprises a channel state information (CSI) reference signal (RS) (CSI-RS), wherein the CSI-RS is a fragmented CSI-RS comprising a first fragmented portion and a second fragmented portion, and wherein said encoding further comprises:
 encoding within a symbol duration of the NR DRS transmission the first fragmented portion, a symbol of the SSB, and the second fragmented portion, wherein the symbol of the SSB is encoded on the PBCH of the NR DRS transmission. 
 
     
     
       5. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein said encoding further comprises:
 encoding the NR DRS transmission to comprise 14 symbols, wherein the SSB is encoded on four (4) symbols of the 14 symbols and a channel state information (CSI) reference signal (RS) (CSI-RS) is encoded on a different 2 symbols of the 14 symbols. 
 
     
     
       6. The apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein said encoding further comprises:
 encoding the CSI-RS across a system bandwidth of the NR DRS transmission, and encode the SSB using the PBCH of the NR DRS transmission. 
 
     
     
       7. The apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the SSB is a first SSB and the four symbols is a first four symbols, and wherein said encoding further comprises:
 encoding the NR DRS transmission to further comprise a second SSB encoded on a second four symbols, the second four symbols different from the first four symbols. 
 
     
     
       8. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the NR DRS transmission further comprises a channel state information (CSI) reference signal (RS) (CSI-RS), wherein said encoding further comprises:
 encoding the NR DRS transmission to comprise 6 symbols, wherein the SSB is encoded on four (4) symbols of the 6 symbols and the CSI-RS is encoded on a different 2 symbols of the 6 symbols. 
 
     
     
       9. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the SSB is associated with an SSB index, and wherein the NR DRS transmission comprises slots, each slot of the slots comprising 14 symbols, the 14 symbols comprising a first transmission opportunity of a first 4 symbols and a second transmission opportunity of a second 4 symbols, wherein one or more first SSB indexes is permitted for the first transmission opportunity and one or more second SSB indexes is permitted for the second transmission opportunity, and wherein the SSB index is one of the one or more first SSB indexes or the SSB index is one of the one or more second SSB indexes. 
     
     
       10. The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the NR DRS transmission comprises 5 or 10 slots and the NW is configured with  4  beams (L) or  8  L and to transmit with a subcarrier frequency spacing of 15 kHz or 30 kHz. 
     
     
       11. The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein each beam is associated with a SSB index and each transmission opportunity is associated with one or more SSB indexes that are permitted to be transmitted during the transmission opportunity. 
     
     
       12. The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein each SSB index is permitted to be transmitted on an equal number of transmission opportunities. 
     
     
       13. The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein at most one (1) channel state information (CSI) reference signal (RS) (CSI-RS) CSI RS is transmitted per slot. 
     
     
       14. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
 perform a listen before talk (LBT) procedure before transmission. 
 
     
     
       15. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the NR DRS transmission comprises slots, and wherein each slot of the slots comprises 14 symbols, and wherein at most 2 SSBs are transmitted in each slot. 
     
     
       16. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the NW is an evolved Node-B (eNB) or a new generation Node-B (gNB). 
     
     
       17. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by one or more processors of a user equipment (UE), the instructions to configure the one or more processors to cause the UE to:
 encode a new radio (NR) Discovery Reference Signal (DRS) transmission, the NR DRS transmission comprising a synchronization signal block (SSB), remaining minimum system information (RMSI) control resource set (CORESET), and RMSI, mapping to 48 physical resource block (PRBs), wherein the SSB includes a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), primary synchronization signal (PSS), and secondary synchronization signal (SSS); and 
 transmit the NR DRS transmission. 
 
     
     
       18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 17 , wherein the NR DRS transmission further comprises a channel state information (CSI) reference signal (RS) (CSI-RS), wherein the CSI-RS is a fragmented CSI-RS comprising a first fragmented portion and a second fragmented portion, and wherein encode further comprises:
 encode within a symbol duration of a frequency bandwidth of the NR DRS transmission the first fragmented portion, a symbol of the SSB, and the second fragmented portion, wherein the symbol of the SSB is encoded at least partially the PBCH of the NR DRS transmission. 
 
     
     
       19. An apparatus comprising:
 one or more processors, wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause a user equipment (UE) to:
 decode a new radio (NR) Discovery Reference Signal (DRS) transmission, the NR DRS transmission comprising a synchronization signal block (SSB), remaining minimum system information (RMSI) control resource set (CORESET), and RMSI, mapping to 48 physical resource block (PRBs), wherein the SSB includes a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), primary synchronization signal (PSS), and secondary synchronization signal (SSS); and 
 
 configure the UE to determine channel state based on the NR DRS. 
 
     
     
       20. The apparatus of  claim 19 , wherein the NR DRS transmission further comprises a channel state information (CSI) reference signal (RS) (CSI-RS), wherein the CSI-RS is a fragmented CSI-RS comprising a first fragmented portion and a second fragmented portion, and wherein said decoding further comprises:
 decoding a symbol of the NR DRS transmission to determine the first fragmented portion, a symbol of the SSB, and the second fragmented portion, wherein the symbol of the SSB is encoded on the PBCH of the NR DRS transmission.

Description:
PRIORITY CLAIM 
     This application claims the benefit of priority to the U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/717,704, filed Aug. 10, 2018, and entitled “SYNCHRONIZATION SIGNAL BLOCK (SSB) INDEX SCHEDULING FOR NEW RADIO IN UNLICENSED SPECTRUM (NR-U),” which patent application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     Aspects pertain to wireless communications. Some aspects relate to wireless networks including 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) networks, 3GPP LTE (Long Term Evolution) networks, 3GPP LTE-A (LTE Advanced) networks, and fifth-generation (5G) networks including 5G new radio (NR) (or 5G-NR) networks, 5G-LTE networks, and Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 communication protocols. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Mobile communications have evolved significantly from early voice systems to today&#39;s highly sophisticated integrated communication platform. With the increase in different types of devices communicating with various network devices, usage of 3GPP LTE systems has increased. The penetration of mobile devices (user equipment or UEs) in modern society has continued to drive demand for a wide variety of networked devices in a number of disparate environments. Fifth generation (5G) wireless systems are forthcoming and are expected to enable even greater speed, connectivity, and usability. Next generation 5G networks (or NR networks) are expected to increase throughput, coverage, and robustness and reduce latency and operational and capital expenditures. 5G-NR networks will continue to evolve based on 3GPP LTE-Advanced with additional potential new radio access technologies (RATs) to enrich people&#39;s lives with seamless wireless connectivity solutions delivering fast, rich content and services. As current cellular network frequency is saturated, higher frequencies, such as millimeter wave (mmWave) frequency, can be beneficial due to their high bandwidth. 
     Potential operation in the unlicensed spectrum includes (and is not limited to) the operation in the unlicensed spectrum via dual connectivity (DC), or DC-based LAA, and the standalone LTE system in the unlicensed spectrum, according to which LTE-based technology solely operates in unlicensed spectrum without requiring an “anchor” in the licensed spectrum, called MulteFire. MulteFire combines the performance benefits of LTE technology with the simplicity of Wi-Fi-like deployments. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
         FIG.  1 A  illustrates an architecture of a network, in accordance with some aspects. 
         FIG.  1 B  is a simplified diagram of an overall next generation (NG) system architecture, in accordance with some aspects. 
         FIG.  1 C  illustrates a functional split between next generation radio access network (NG-RAN) and the 5G Core network (5GC), in accordance with some aspects. 
         FIG.  1 D  illustrates an example Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) New Radio Dual Connectivity (EN-DC) architecture, in accordance with some aspects; 
         FIG.  2    illustrates a block diagram of a communication device such as an evolved Node-B (eNB), a new generation Node-B (gNB), an access point (AP), a wireless station (STA), a mobile station (MS), or a user equipment (UE), in accordance with some aspects; 
         FIG.  3    illustrates a transmission pattern, in accordance with some embodiments; 
         FIG.  4    illustrates an example of a NR Discovery Reference Signal (DRS) transmission  400 , in accordance with some embodiments; 
         FIG.  5    illustrates a NR DRS transmission, in accordance with some embodiments; 
         FIG.  6    illustrates a NR DRS transmission, in accordance with some embodiments; 
         FIG.  7    illustrates a remaining minimum system information (RMSI) Coreset and RMSI transmission as part of DRS, in accordance with some embodiments; and 
         FIG.  8    illustrates a for channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) transmission as part of DRS, in accordance with some embodiments. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The following description and the drawings sufficiently illustrate aspects to enable those skilled in the art to practice them. Other aspects may incorporate structural, logical, electrical, process, and other changes. Portions and features of some aspects may be included in, or substituted for, those of other aspects. Aspects set forth in the claims encompass all available equivalents of those claims. 
       FIG.  1 A  illustrates an architecture of a network in accordance with some aspects. The network  140 A is shown to include user equipment (UE)  101  and UE  102 . The UEs  101  and  102  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, drones, or any other computing device including a wired and/or wireless communications interface. The UEs  101  and  102  can be collectively referred to herein as UE  101 , and UE  101  can be used to perform one or more of the techniques disclosed herein. 
     Any of the radio links described herein (e.g., as used in the network  140 A or any other illustrated network) may operate according to any exemplary radio communication technology and/or standard. 
     LTE and LTE-Advanced are standards for wireless communications of high-speed data for UE such as mobile telephones. In LTE-Advanced and various wireless systems, carrier aggregation is a technology according to which multiple carrier signals operating on different frequencies may be used to carry communications for a single UE, thus increasing the bandwidth available to a single device. In some embodiments, carrier aggregation may be used where one or more component carriers operate on unlicensed frequencies. 
     There are emerging interests in the operation of LTE systems in the unlicensed spectrum. As a result, an important enhancement for LTE in 3GPP Release 13 has been to enable its operation in the unlicensed spectrum via Licensed-Assisted Access (LAA), which expands the system bandwidth by utilizing the flexible carrier aggregation (CA) framework introduced by the LTE-Advanced system. Rel-13 LAA system focuses on the design of downlink operation on unlicensed spectrum via CA, while Rel-14 enhanced LAA (eLAA) system focuses on the design of uplink operation on unlicensed spectrum via CA. 
     Aspects described herein can be used in the context of any spectrum management scheme including, for example, dedicated licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, (licensed) shared spectrum (such as Licensed Shared Access (LSA) in 2.3-2.4 GHz, 3.4-3.6 GHz, 3.6-3.8 GHz, and further frequencies and Spectrum Access System (SAS) in 3.55-3.7 GHz and further frequencies). Additionally, spectrum may be spectrums used by IEEE 802.11 compliant STAs  150 ,  151 , e.g., 2.5 GHz, 5 GHz, and/or 6 GHz. Applicable exemplary spectrum bands include IMT (International Mobile Telecommunications) spectrum (including 450-470 MHz, 790-960 MHz, 1710-2025 MHz, 2110-2200 MHz, 2300-2400 MHz, 2500-2690 MHz, 698-790 MHz, 610-790 MHz, 3400-3600 MHz, to name a few), IMT-advanced spectrum, IMT-2020 spectrum (expected to include 3600-3800 MHz, 3.5 GHz bands, 700 MHz bands, bands within the 24.25-86 GHz range, for example), spectrum made available under the Federal Communications Commission&#39;s “Spectrum Frontier” 5G initiative (including 27.5-28.35 GHz, 29.1-29.25 GHz, 31-31.3 GHz, 37-38.6 GHz, 38.6-40 GHz, 42-42.5 GHz, 57-64 GHz, 71-76 GHz, 81-86 GHz and 92-94 GHz, etc), the ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) band of 5.9 GHz (typically 5.85-5.925 GHz) and 63-64 GHz, bands currently allocated to WiGig such as WiGig Band 1 (57.24-59.40 GHz), WiGig Band 2 (59.40-61.56 GHz), WiGig Band 3 (61.56-63.72 GHz), and WiGig Band 4 (63.72-65.88 GHz); the 70.2 GHz-71 GHz band; any band between 65.88 GHz and 71 GHz; bands currently allocated to automotive radar applications such as 76-81 GHz; and future bands including 94-300 GHz and above. Furthermore, the scheme can be used on a secondary basis on bands such as the TV White Space bands (typically below 790 MHz) wherein particular the 400 MHz and 700 MHz bands can be employed. Besides cellular applications, specific applications for vertical markets may be addressed, such as PMSE (Program Making and Special Events), medical, health, surgery, automotive, low-latency, drones, and the like. 
     Aspects described herein can also be applied to different Single Carrier or OFDM flavors (CP-OFDM, SC-FDMA, SC-OFDM, filter bank-based multicarrier (FBMC), OFDMA, etc.) and in particular 3GPP NR (New Radio) by allocating the OFDM carrier data bit vectors to the corresponding symbol resources. 
     In some embodiments, any of the UEs  101  and  102  can comprise an Internet-of-Things (IoT) UE or a Cellular IoT (CIoT) UE, which can comprise a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applications utilizing short-lived UE connections. In some embodiments, any of the UEs  101  and  102  can include a narrowband (NB) IoT UE (e.g., such as an enhanced NB-IoT (eNB-IoT) UE and Further Enhanced (FeNB-IoT) UE). 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 includes 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. 
     In some embodiments, NB-IoT devices can be configured to operate in a single physical resource block (PRB) and may be instructed to retune two different PRBs within the system bandwidth. In some embodiments, an eNB-IoT UE can be configured to acquire system information in one PRB, and then it can retune to a different PRB to receive or transmit data. 
     In some embodiments, any of the UEs  101  and  102  can include enhanced MTC (eMTC) UEs or further enhanced MTC (FeMTC) UEs. The UEs  101  and  102  may be configured to connect, e.g., communicatively couple, with a radio access network (RAN)  110 . The RAN  110  may be, for example, an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), a NextGen RAN (NG RAN), or some other type of RAN. The UEs  101  and  102  utilize connections  103  and  104 , respectively, each of which comprises a physical communications interface or layer (discussed in further detail below); in this example, the connections  103  and  104  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 (5G) protocol, a New Radio (NR) protocol, and the like. 
     In some embodiments, the network  140 A can include a core network (CN)  120 . Various aspects of NG RAN and NG Core are discussed herein in reference to, e.g.,  FIG.  1 B ,  FIG.  1 C , and  FIG.  1 D . 
     In an aspect, the UEs  101  and  102  may further directly exchange communication data via a ProSe interface  105 . The ProSe interface  105  may alternatively be referred to as a sidelink interface comprising 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  102  is shown to be configured to access an access point (AP)  106  via connection  107 . The connection  107  can comprise a local wireless connection, such as, for example, a connection consistent with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, according to which the AP  106  can comprise a wireless fidelity (WiFi®) router. In this example, the AP  106  is shown to be connected to the Internet without connecting to the core network of the wireless system (described in further detail below). The AP  106  and stations (STAs)  150 ,  151  may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more IEEE 802.11 protocols, e.g., IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/n-Greenfield (GF)//ac/ad/af/ah/aj/ay/ax/ab (extremely high-throughput, EHT) with each other and the AP  106 . The UE  101 ,  102 , AP  106 , and STAs  150 ,  151  may be configured to operate in the 2.4/5/6 Gigahertz radio spectrum. The UEs  101 ,  102 , and RAN  110  (e.g., NG interface to the 5GC  120  may be configured to transmit a preamble as disclosed herein that is compatible with one or more preambles of IEEE 802.11. The preambles may be used to defer the AP  106  and/or STAs  150 ,  151 . 
     The RAN  110  can include one or more access nodes that enable the connections  103  and  104 . These access nodes (ANs) can be referred to as base stations (BSs), NodeBs, evolved NodeBs (eNBs), Next Generation NodeBs (gNBs), RAN nodes, and the like, and can comprise ground stations (e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stations providing coverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). In some embodiments, the communication nodes  111  and  112  can be transmission/reception points (TRPs). In instances when the communication nodes  111  and  112  are NodeBs (e.g., eNBs or gNBs), one or more TRPs can function within the communication cell of the NodeBs. The RAN  110  may include one or more RAN nodes for providing macrocells, e.g., macro RAN node  111 , 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., low power (LP) RAN node  112 . 
     Any of the RAN nodes  111  and  112  can terminate the air interface protocol and can be the first point of contact for the UEs  101  and  102 . In some embodiments, any of the RAN nodes  111  and  112  can fulfill various logical functions for the RAN  110  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 an example, any of the nodes  111  and/or  112  can be a new generation node-B (gNB), an evolved node-B (eNB), or another type of RAN node. 
     In accordance with some aspects, the UEs  101  and  102  can be configured to communicate using Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) communication signals with each other or with any of the RAN nodes  111  and  112  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 for sidelink communications), although such aspects are not required. The OFDM signals can comprise a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers. 
     In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid can be used for downlink transmissions from any of the RAN nodes  111  and  112  to the UEs  101  and  102 , while uplink transmissions can utilize similar techniques. The grid can be a time-frequency grid, called a resource grid or time-frequency resource grid, which is the physical resource in the downlink in each slot. Such a time-frequency plane representation may be used for OFDM systems, which makes it applicable for radio resource allocation. Each column and each row of the resource grid may correspond to one OFDM symbol and one OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration of the resource grid in the time domain may correspond to one slot in a radio frame. The smallest time-frequency unit in a resource grid may be denoted as a resource element. Each resource grid may comprise a number of resource blocks, which describe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements. Each resource block may comprise a collection of resource elements; in the frequency domain, this may, in some embodiments, represent the smallest quantity of resources that currently can be allocated. There may be several different physical downlink channels that are conveyed using such resource blocks. 
     The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) may carry user data and higher-layer signaling to the UEs  101  and  102 . The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) may carry information about the transport format and resource allocations related to the PDSCH channel, among other things. It may also inform the UEs  101  and  102  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  102  within a cell) may be performed at any of the RAN nodes  111  and  112  based on channel quality information fed back from any of the UEs  101  and  102 . The downlink resource assignment information may be sent on the PDCCH used for (e.g., assigned to) each of the UEs  101  and  102 . 
     The PDCCH may use control channel elements (CCEs) to convey the control information. 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. Each PDCCH may be transmitted using one or more of these CCEs, where each CCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements known as resource element groups (REGs). Four Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) symbols may be mapped to each REG. The PDCCH can be transmitted using one or more CCEs, depending on the size of the downlink control information (DCI) and the channel condition. There can be four or more different PDCCH formats defined in LTE with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation level, L=1, 2, 4, or 8). 
     Some aspects may use concepts for resource allocation for control channel information that are an extension of the above-described concepts. For example, some aspects 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 control channel elements (ECCEs). Similar to above, each ECCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements known as an enhanced resource element groups (EREGs). An ECCE may have other numbers of EREGs according to some arrangements. 
     The RAN  110  is shown to be communicatively coupled to a core network (CN)  120  via an S1 interface  113 . In aspects, the CN  120  may be an evolved packet core (EPC) network, a NextGen Packet Core (NPC) network, or some other type of CN (e.g., as illustrated in reference to  FIGS.  1 B- 1 D ). In this aspect, the S1 interface  113  is split into two parts: the S1-U interface  114 , which carries traffic data between the RAN nodes  111  and  112  and the serving gateway (S-GW)  122 , and the S1-mobility management entity (MME) interface  115 , which is a signaling interface between the RAN nodes  111  and  112  and MMEs  121 . 
     In this aspect, the CN  120  comprises the MMEs  121 , the S-GW  122 , the Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (P-GW)  123 , and a home subscriber server (HSS)  124 . The MMEs  121  may be similar in function to the control plane of legacy Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Support Nodes (SGSN). The MMEs  121  may manage mobility aspects in access such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. The HSS  124  may comprise a database for network users, including subscription-related information to support the network entities&#39; handling of communication sessions. The CN  120  may comprise one or several HSSs  124 , depending on the number of mobile subscribers, on the capacity of the equipment, on the organization of the network, etc. For example, the HSS  124  can provide support for routing/roaming, authentication, authorization, naming/addressing resolution, location dependencies, etc. 
     The S-GW  122  may terminate the S1 interface  113  towards the RAN  110 , and routes data packets between the RAN  110  and the CN  120 . In addition, the S-GW  122  may be a local mobility anchor point for inter-RAN node handovers and also may provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities of the S-GW  122  may include a lawful intercept, charging, and some policy enforcement. 
     The P-GW  123  may terminate an SGi interface toward a PDN. The P-GW  123  may route data packets between the EPC network  120  and external networks such as a network including the application server  184  (alternatively referred to as application function (AF)) via an Internet Protocol (IP) interface  125 . The P-GW  123  can also communicate data to other external networks  131 A, which can include the Internet, IP multimedia subsystem (IPS) network, and other networks. Generally, the application server  184  may be an element offering applications that use IP bearer resources with the core network (e.g., UMTS Packet Services (PS) domain, LTE PS data services, etc.). In this aspect, the P-GW  123  is shown to be communicatively coupled to an application server  184  via an IP interface  125 . The application server  184  can also be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, social networking services, etc.) for the UEs  101  and  102  via the CN  120 . 
     The P-GW  123  may further be a node for policy enforcement and charging data collection. Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF)  126  is the policy and charging control element of the CN  120 . In a non-roaming scenario, in some embodiments, there may be a single PCRF in the Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) associated with a UE&#39;s Internet Protocol Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) session. In a roaming scenario with a local breakout of traffic, there may be two PCRFs associated with a UE&#39;s IP-CAN session: a Home PCRF (H-PCRF) within an HPLMN and a Visited PCRF (V-PCRF) within a Visited Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN). The PCRF  126  may be communicatively coupled to the application server  184  via the P-GW  123 . The application server  184  may signal the PCRF  126  to indicate a new service flow and select the appropriate Quality of Service (QoS) and charging parameters. The PCRF  126  may provision this rule into a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) (not shown) with the appropriate traffic flow template (TFT) and QoS class of identifier (QCI), which commences the QoS and charging as specified by the application server  184 . 
     In an example, any of the nodes  111  or  112  can be configured to communicate to the UEs  101 ,  102  (e.g., dynamically) an antenna panel selection and a receive (Rx) beam selection that can be used by the UE for data reception on a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) as well as for channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) measurements and channel state information (CSI) calculation. 
     In an example, any of the nodes  111  or  112  can be configured to communicate to the UEs  101 ,  102  (e.g., dynamically) an antenna panel selection and a transmit (Tx) beam selection that can be used by the UE for data transmission on a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) as well as for sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission. 
     In some embodiments, the communication network  140 A can be an IoT network. One of the current enablers of IoT is the narrowband-IoT (NB-IoT). NB-IoT has objectives such as coverage extension, UE complexity reduction, long battery lifetime, and backward compatibility with the LTE network. In addition, NB-IoT aims to offer deployment flexibility allowing an operator to introduce NB-IoT using a small portion of its existing available spectrum, and operate in one of the following three modalities: (a) standalone deployment (the network operates in re-farmed GSM spectrum); (b) in-band deployment (the network operates within the LTE channel); and (c) guard-band deployment (the network operates in the guard band of legacy LTE channels). In some embodiments, such as with further enhanced NB-IoT (FeNB-IoT), support for NB-IoT in small cells can be provided (e.g., in microcell, picocell or femtocell deployments). One of the challenges NB-IoT systems face for small cell support is the UL/DL link imbalance, where for small cells the base stations have lower power available compared to macro-cells, and, consequently, the DL coverage can be affected and/or reduced. In addition, some NB-IoT UEs can be configured to transmit at maximum power if repetitions are used for UL transmission. This may result in large inter-cell interference in dense small cell deployments. 
     In some embodiments, the UE  101  can operate in dual connectivity (DC) configuration with a master node (MN) and a secondary node (SN). The UE  101  can receive configuration information  190 A (from MN or SN) via, e.g., higher layer signaling or other types of signaling. The configuration information  190 A can include an indication for renegotiation of UE NR security capability, which can be used for activation of encryption/decryption and integrity protection of user plane traffic with the SN and control plane signaling traffic with the MN or the SN. In some embodiments, the configuration information  190 A can be communicated directly by the SN via signaling radio bearer type 3 (SRB3) connection. In some embodiments, configuration information  192 A can be communicated from the UE  101  to the SN or the MN for purposes of activation of encryption/decryption and integrity protection of user plane and control plane communications. For example, configuration information  192 A can include UE NR-DC token which can be used in secure key derivation for protecting the user plane and control plane communications. 
       FIG.  1 B  is a simplified diagram of a next generation (NG) system architecture  140 B in accordance with some aspects. Referring to  FIG.  1 B , the NG system architecture  140 B includes RAN  110  and a 5G network core (5GC)  120 . The NG-RAN  110  can include a plurality of nodes, such as gNBs  128  and NG-eNBs  130 . 
     The core network  120  (e.g., a 5G core network or 5GC) can include an access and mobility management function (AMF)  132  and/or a user plane function (UPF)  134 . The AMF  132  and the UPF  134  can be communicatively coupled to the gNBs  128  and the NG-eNBs  130  via NG interfaces. More specifically, in some embodiments, the gNBs  128  and the NG-eNBs  130  can be connected to the AMF  132  by NG-C interfaces, and to the UPF  134  by NG-U interfaces. The gNBs  128  and the NG-eNBs  130  can be coupled to each other via Xn interfaces. 
     In some embodiments, a gNB  128  can include a node providing new radio (NR) user plane and control plane protocol termination towards the UE and is connected via the NG interface to the 5GC  120 . In some embodiments, an NG-eNB  130  can include a node providing evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) user plane and control plane protocol terminations towards the UE and is connected via the NG interface to the 5GC  120 . 
     In some embodiments, the NG system architecture  140 B can use reference points between various nodes as provided by 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 23.501 (e.g., V15.4.0, 2018-12). 
     In some embodiments, each of the gNBs  128  and the NG-eNBs  130  can be implemented as a base station, a mobile edge server, a small cell, a home eNB, and so forth. 
     In some embodiments, node  128  can be a master node (MN) and node  130  can be a secondary node (SN) in a 5G architecture. The MN  128  can be connected to the AMF  132  via an NG-C interface and to the SN  128  via an XN-C interface. The MN  128  can be connected to the UPF  134  via an NG-U interface and to the SN  128  via an XN-U interface. 
       FIG.  1 C  illustrates a functional split between NG-RAN and the 5G Core (5GC) in accordance with some aspects. Referring to  FIG.  1 C , there is illustrated a more detailed diagram of the functionalities that can be performed by the gNBs  128  and the NG-eNBs  130  within the NG-RAN  110 , as well as the AMF  132 , the UPF  134 , and the SMF  136  within the 5GC  120 . In some embodiments, the 5GC  120  can provide access to the Internet  138  to one or more devices via the NG-RAN  110 . 
     In some embodiments, the gNBs  128  and the NG-eNBs  130  can be configured to host the following functions: functions for Radio Resource Management (e.g., inter-cell radio resource management  129 A, radio bearer control  129 B, connection mobility control  129 C, radio admission control  129 D, dynamic allocation of resources to UEs in both uplink and downlink (scheduling)  129 F); IP header compression, encryption and integrity protection of data; selection of an AMF at UE attachment when no routing to an AMF can be determined from the information provided by the UE; routing of User Plane data towards UPF(s); routing of Control Plane information towards AMF; connection setup and release; scheduling and transmission of paging messages (originated from the AMF); scheduling and transmission of system broadcast information (originated from the AMF or Operation and Maintenance); measurement and measurement reporting configuration for mobility and scheduling  129 E; transport level packet marking in the uplink; session management; support of network slicing; QoS flow management and mapping to data radio bearers; support of UEs in RRC_INACTIVE state; distribution function for non-access stratum (NAS) messages; radio access network sharing; dual connectivity; and tight interworking between NR and E-UTRA, to name a few. 
     In some embodiments, the AMF  132  can be configured to host the following functions, for example: NAS signaling termination; NAS signaling security  133 A; access stratum (AS) security control; inter-core network (CN) node signaling for mobility between 3GPP access networks; idle state/mode mobility handling  133 B, including mobile device, such as a UE reachability (e.g., control and execution of paging retransmission); registration area management; support of intra-system and inter-system mobility; access authentication; access authorization including check of roaming rights; mobility management control (subscription and policies); support of network slicing; and/or SMF selection, among other functions. 
     The UPF  134  can be configured to host the following functions, for example: mobility anchoring  135 A (e.g., anchor point for Intra-/Inter-RAT mobility); packet data unit (PDU) handling  135 B (e.g., external PDU session point of interconnect to data network); packet routing and forwarding; packet inspection and user plane part of policy rule enforcement; traffic usage reporting; uplink classifier to support routing traffic flows to a data network; branching point to support multi-homed PDU session; QoS handling for user plane, e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL/DL rate enforcement; uplink traffic verification (SDF to QoS flow mapping); and/or downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, among other functions. 
     The Session Management function (SMF)  136  can be configured to host the following functions, for example: session management; UE IP address allocation and management  137 A; selection and control of user plane function (UPF); PDU session control  137 B, including configuring traffic steering at UPF  134  to route traffic to proper destination; control part of policy enforcement and QoS; and/or downlink data notification, among other functions. 
       FIG.  1 D  illustrates an example Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) New Radio Dual Connectivity (EN-DC) architecture, in accordance with some aspects. Referring to  FIG.  1 D , the EN-DC architecture  140 D includes radio access network (or E-TRA network, or E-TRAN)  110  and EPC  120 . The EPC  120  can include MMES  121  and S-GWs  122 . The E-UTRAN  110  can include nodes  111  (e.g., eNBs) as well as Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access New Radio (EN) next generation evolved Node-Bs (en-gNBs)  128 . 
     In some embodiments, en-gNBs  128  can be configured to provide NR user plane and control plane protocol terminations towards the UE  102  and acting as Secondary Nodes (or SgNBs) in the EN-DC communication architecture  140 D. The eNBs  111  can be configured as master nodes (or MeNBs) and the eNBs  128  can be configured as secondary nodes (or SgNBs) in the EN-DC communication architecture  140 D. As illustrated in  FIG.  1 D , the eNBs  111  are connected to the EPC  120  via the S1 interface and to the EN-gNBs  128  via the X2 interface. The EN-gNBs (or SgNBs)  128  may be connected to the EPC  120  via the S1-U interface, and to other EN-gNBs via the X2-U interface. The SgNB  128  can communicate with the UE  102  via a UU interface (e.g., using signaling radio bearer type 3, or SRB3 communications as illustrated in  FIG.  1 D ), and with the MeNB  111  via an X2 interface (e.g., X2-C interface). The MeNB  111  can communicate with the UE  102  via a UU interface. 
     Even though  FIG.  1 D  is described in connection with EN-DC communication environment, other types of dual connectivity communication architectures (e.g., when the UE  102  is connected to a master node and a secondary node) can also use the techniques disclosed herein. 
     In some embodiments, the MeNB  111  can be connected to the MME  121  via S1-MME interface and to the SgNB  128  via an X2-C interface. In some embodiments, the MeNB  111  can be connected to the SGW  122  via S1-U interface and to the SgNB  128  via an X2-U interface. In some aspects associated with dual connectivity (DC) and/or MultiRate-DC (MR-DC), the Master eNB (MeNB) can offload user plane traffic to the Secondary gNB (SgNB) via split bearer or SCG (Secondary Cell Group) split bearer. 
       FIG.  2    illustrates a block diagram of a communication device such as an evolved Node-B (eNB), a next generation Node-B (gNB), an access point (AP), a wireless station (STA), a mobile station (MS), or a user equipment (UE), in accordance with some aspects and to perform one or more of the techniques disclosed herein. In alternative aspects, the communication device  200  may operate as a standalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) to other communication devices. 
     Circuitry (e.g., processing circuitry) is a collection of circuits implemented intangible entities of the device  200  that include hardware (e.g., simple circuits, gates, logic, etc.). Circuitry membership may be flexible over time. Circuitries include members that may, alone or in combination, perform specified operations when operating. In an example, the hardware of the circuitry may be immutably designed to carry out a specific operation (e.g., hardwired). In an example, the hardware of the circuitry may include variably connected physical components (e.g., execution units, transistors, simple circuits, etc.) including a machine-readable medium physically modified (e.g., magnetically, electrically, moveable placement of invariant massed particles, etc.) to encode instructions of the specific operation. 
     In connecting the physical components, the underlying electrical properties of a hardware constituent are changed, for example, from an insulator to a conductor or vice versa. The instructions enable embedded hardware (e.g., the execution units or a loading mechanism) to create members of the circuitry in hardware via the variable connections to carry out portions of the specific operation when in operation. Accordingly, in an example, the machine-readable medium elements are part of the circuitry or are communicatively coupled to the other components of the circuitry when the device is operating. In an example, any of the physical components may be used in more than one member of more than one circuitry. For example, under operation, execution units may be used in a first circuit of a first circuitry at one point in time and reused by a second circuit in the first circuitry, or by a third circuit in a second circuitry at a different time. Additional examples of these components with respect to the device  200  follow. 
     In some embodiments, the device  200  may operate as a standalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) to other devices. In a networked deployment, the communication device  200  may operate in the capacity of a server communication device, a client communication device, or both in server-client network environments. In an example, the communication device  200  may act as a peer communication device in peer-to-peer (P2P) (or other distributed) network environment. The communication device  200  may be a UE, eNB, PC, a tablet PC, a STB, a PDA, a mobile telephone, a smartphone, a web appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any communication device capable of executing instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that communication device. Further, while only a single communication device is illustrated, the term “communication device” shall also be taken to include any collection of communication devices that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, such as cloud computing, software as a service (SaaS), and other computer cluster configurations. 
     Examples, as described herein, may include, or may operate on, logic or a number of components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules are tangible entities (e.g., hardware) capable of performing specified operations and may be configured or arranged in a certain manner. In an example, circuits may be arranged (e.g., internally or with respect to external entities such as other circuits) in a specified manner as a module. In an example, the whole or part of one or more computer systems (e.g., a standalone, client or server computer system) or one or more hardware processors may be configured by firmware or software (e.g., instructions, an application portion, or an application) as a module that operates to perform specified operations. In an example, the software may reside on a communication device-readable medium. In an example, the software, when executed by the underlying hardware of the module, causes the hardware to perform the specified operations. 
     Accordingly, the term “module” is understood to encompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physically constructed, specifically configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarily (e.g., transitorily) configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a specified manner or to perform part or all of any operation described herein. Considering examples in which modules are temporarily configured, each of the modules need not be instantiated at any one moment in time. For example, where the modules comprise a general-purpose hardware processor configured using software, the general-purpose hardware processor may be configured as respective different modules at different times. The software may accordingly configure a hardware processor, for example, to constitute a particular module at one instance of time and to constitute a different module at a different instance of time. 
     Communication device (e.g., UE)  200  may include a hardware processor  202  (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a hardware processor core, or any combination thereof), a main memory  204 , a static memory  206 , and mass storage  207  (e.g., hard drive, tape drive, flash storage, or other block or storage devices), some or all of which may communicate with each other via an interlink (e.g., bus)  208 . 
     The communication device  200  may further include a display device  210 , an alphanumeric input device  212  (e.g., a keyboard), and a user interface (UI) navigation device  214  (e.g., a mouse). In an example, the display device  210 , input device  212  and UI navigation device  214  may be a touchscreen display. The communication device  200  may additionally include a signal generation device  218  (e.g., a speaker), a network interface device  220 , and one or more sensors  221 , such as a global positioning system (GPS) sensor, compass, accelerometer, or another sensor. The communication device  200  may include an output controller  228 , such as a serial (e.g., universal serial bus (USB), parallel, or other wired or wireless (e.g., infrared (IR), near field communication (NFC), etc.) connection to communicate or control one or more peripheral devices (e.g., a printer, card reader, etc.). 
     The storage device  207  may include a communication device-readable medium  222 , on which is stored one or more sets of data structures or instructions  224  (e.g., software) embodying or utilized by any one or more of the techniques or functions described herein. In some embodiments, registers of the processor  202 , the main memory  204 , the static memory  206 , and/or the mass storage  207  may be, or include (completely or at least partially), the device-readable medium  222 , on which is stored the one or more sets of data structures or instructions  224 , embodying or utilized by any one or more of the techniques or functions described herein. In an example, one or any combination of the hardware processor  202 , the main memory  204 , the static memory  206 , or the mass storage  216  may constitute the device-readable medium  222 . 
     As used herein, the term “device-readable medium” is interchangeable with “computer-readable medium” or “machine-readable medium”. While the communication device-readable medium  222  is illustrated as a single medium, the term “communication device-readable medium” may include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) configured to store the one or more instructions  224 . 
     The term “communication device-readable medium” may include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructions (e.g., instructions  224 ) for execution by the communication device  200  and that cause the communication device  200  to perform any one or more of the techniques of the present disclosure, or that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying data structures used by or associated with such instructions. Non-limiting communication device-readable medium examples may include solid-state memories and optical and magnetic media. Specific examples of communication device-readable media may include: non-volatile memory, such as semiconductor memory devices (e.g., Electrically Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM)) and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; Random Access Memory (RAM); and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. In some examples, communication device-readable media may include non-transitory communication device-readable media. In some examples, communication device-readable media may include communication device-readable media that is not a transitory propagating signal. 
     The instructions  224  may further be transmitted or received over a communications network  226  using a transmission medium via the network interface device  220  utilizing any one of a number of transfer protocols. In an example, the network interface device  220  may include one or more physical jacks (e.g., Ethernet, coaxial, or phone jacks) or one or more antennas to connect to the communications network  226 . In an example, the network interface device  220  may include a plurality of antennas to wirelessly communicate using at least one of single-input-multiple-output (SIMO), MIMO, or multiple-input-single-output (MISO) techniques. In some examples, the network interface device  220  may wirelessly communicate using Multiple User MIMO techniques. 
     The term “transmission medium” shall be taken to include any intangible medium that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying instructions for execution by the communication device  200 , and includes digital or analog communications signals or another intangible medium to facilitate communication of such software. In this regard, a transmission medium in the context of this disclosure is a device-readable medium. 
       FIG.  3    illustrates a transmission pattern  300 , in accordance with some embodiments. Illustrated in  FIG.  3    is slot 1  302 . 1 , slot 2  302 . 2 , symbols  304 , synchronization signal block (SSB)  306 , and 1 ms  308 . Each slot  302  includes 14 symbols  304 , e.g., 0 through 13. The slots  302  are each ½ of 1 ms  308  in duration. The SSBs are four (4) symbols  304  in duration. The SSBs  306  are transmitted on the and physical broadcast channel (PBCH). In some embodiments, the SSBs  306  are transmitted is a predetermined pattern. In some embodiments, SSBs  306  are transmitted using the following groups of symbols  304 : symbols 2, 3, 4, and 5 of slot 1  302 . 1 ; symbols 8, 9, 10, and 11 of slot 1  302 . 1 ; symbols 2, 3, 4, and 5 of slot 2  302 . 2 ; and, symbols 8, 9, 10, and 11 of slot 2  302 . 2 . Different symbols  304  may be used. 
       FIG.  4    illustrates an example of a NR Discovery Reference Signal (DRS) transmission  400 , in accordance with some embodiments. Illustrated in  FIG.  4    is slot 1  402 . 1 , slot 2  402 . 2 , symbols  404 , DRS  406 , one (1) MS  408 , and SSB  410 . The slots  402  are each ½ of 1 ms  408  in duration. Each slot  402  includes 14 symbols  404 , e.g., 0 through 13. The SSB  410  is transmitted on DRS during symbols 8, 9, 10, and 11 of slot 2  402 . 2 . Different symbols  404  may be used. 
       FIG.  5    illustrates a NR DRS transmission  500 , in accordance with some embodiments. Illustrated in  FIG.  5    is slot 1  502 . 1 , slot 2  502 . 2 , symbols  504 , DRS  506 , one (1) MS  508 , SSB  510 , and channel state information (CSI)-reference signal (RS)(CSI-RS)  512 . The slots  502  are each ½ of one (1) ms  508  in duration. The SSB  510  and CSI-RS  512  are transmitted using the DRS  506  during symbols 8 through 13 of slot 2  502 . 2  with the SSB  510  being transmitted during symbols  504  8, 9, 10, and 11 of slot 2  502 . 2 , and the CSI-RS  512  being transmitted during symbols 12 and 13 of slot 2  502 . 2 . Different symbols  504  may be used. In some embodiments, the SSB  510  may be transmitted using the PBCH. 
       FIG.  6    illustrates a NR DRS transmission  600 , in accordance with some embodiments. Illustrated in  FIG.  6    is slot 1  602 . 1 , slot 2  602 . 2 , symbols  604 , DRS  606 , one (1) MS  608 , SSB  610 , and CSI-RS  612 . The slots  602  are each ½ of one (1) ms  608  in duration. The SSB  610  and CSI-RS  612  are transmitted using the DRS  606  during symbols  604  2 through 5 and 8 through 13 of slot 2  602 . 2 . The SSBs  610  are transmitted on symbols  604  2-5 and symbols 8-11 of slot 2  602 . 2 . The CSI-RS  612  is transmitted during symbols  604  12 and 13. Different symbols  604  may be used. In some embodiments, the SSB  610  may be transmitted using the PBCH. 
     Referring to  FIGS.  3 - 6   , in some embodiments a maximum time duration of a transmission  300 ,  400 ,  500 ,  600 , depends on a maximum channel occupancy time (MCOT) that may be predetermined or part of a configuration of a standard, e.g., NR. The SSB  306 ,  406 ,  506 , and  606  may be a NR Rel-15 SSB+PBCH structure that has a time duration of 4 symbols. A minimum time duration of a NR DRS (e.g.,  406 ,  506 ,  606 ) may be a fraction of a slot  402 ,  502 ,  602 , and a maximum time duration may be limited by MCOT. 
     Prior to the transmission of the NR DRS (e.g.,  406 ,  506 ,  606 ), a listen before talk (LBT) may have to be performed by a network (NW), UE and/or eNB (e.g.,  111 ,  128 ,  130 ) prior to transmitting the NR DRS. A NW may be a eNB or another NW device that transmits to a UE. The LBT requires a duration, e.g., 5 ms. NR DRS may be opportunistically transmitted based on when LBT indicates the channel is free. The time duration for LBT may vary. The duration of the DRS transmission  400 ,  500 ,  600 , may be a different duration than illustrated.  FIG.  3    is based on a subcarrier frequency spacing of 30 kHz. 
     In some embodiments, each slot is 14 Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols with each OFDM symbols including 12 subcarriers. Tables 1-5 are illustrated below. In NR Rel-15, each slot can support a maximum of 2 SSB transmission opportunities, in accordance with some embodiments. Only certain slots are allowed to transmit SSBs. Sixty-four codepoints are used to indicate a SSB index with six bits used to indicate the sixty-four codepoints. Three bits are encoded using the PBCH-DeModulation Reference Signal (DMRS). Three bits are encoded using the master information block (MIB). In some embodiments, a designated location within a designated slot is associated with a particular unique SSB index, which allows the slot/frame timing information to be discovered from the SSB index. 
     In some embodiments, LBT may indicate that a transmission may not be performed, which may make it harder for the NW to transmit SSB indexes. In some embodiments, all the slots within a certain time window (e.g., 5 ms) may be used as SSB transmissions opportunities. In some embodiments, SSB indices and slot and symbol timing information is conveyed (or encoded) jointly. For example, SSB indices and slot and symbol timing information is sent using the PBCH-DMRS sequence and PBCH payload. 
     In some embodiments, a slot and symbol location is not associated with a pre-determined SSB index, but rather the NW may chose to schedule a SSB index in a slot and symbol location. In some embodiments, different sets of SSB indexes are available to the NW to schedule for a given slot and symbol location, which may be deemed a transmission opportunity. For example, Table 1 permits the NW to schedule any of the SSB indexes in a transmission opportunity and Tables 2-5 permit the NW to schedule some subset of the SSB indexes in a transmission opportunity. Permitting the NW to select from all or a subset of the SSB indexes to schedule during a transmission opportunity, may enable the NW control the frequency of the different SSB indexes that are transmitted post-LBT over a longer term. A technical problem of scheduling SSB indexes with LBT may be solved as disclosed herein and in particular in conjunction with Tables 1-5. 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 1 
               
             
            
               
                   
               
               
                 Association of SSB index with SSB transmission 
               
               
                 opportunity 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                   
                 Slot 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 1 
                 2 
                 3 
                 4 
                 5 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 Transmission 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 opportunity 
                 0 
                 1 
                 2 
                 3 
                 4 
                 5 
                 6 
                 7 
                 8 
                 9 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 SSB index 
                 0 
                 0 
                 0 
                 0 
                 0 
                 0 
                 0 
                 0 
                 0 
                 0 
               
               
                   
                 1 
                 1 
                 1 
                 1 
                 1 
                 1 
                 1 
                 1 
                 1 
                 1 
               
               
                   
                 2 
                 2 
                 2 
                 2 
                 2 
                 2 
                 2 
                 2 
                 2 
                 2 
               
               
                   
                 3 
                 3 
                 3 
                 3 
                 3 
                 3 
                 3 
                 3 
                 3 
                 3 
               
               
                 Number of 
                 4 
                 4 
                 4 
                 4 
                 4 
                 4 
                 4 
                 4 
                 4 
                 4 
               
               
                 code points 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 Total codepoints  
                 40 (6 bits) 
               
               
                 (bits required) 
                   
               
               
                 Subcarrier frequency 
                 15 kHz 
               
               
                 spacing 
                   
               
               
                 Number of Beams 
                 4 
               
               
                 (L) 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     Table 1 illustrates an association of SSB indexes with SSB transmission opportunities. As illustrated there are five (5) slots, and two (2) SSB transmission opportunities are available per slot, in accordance with some embodiments. A transmission opportunity are symbols within the slot where a SSB may be transmitted, e.g., symbols  604  2, 3, 4, and 5 ( FIG.  6   ) of slot 2  602 . 2 . There are two (2) transmission opportunities per slot. SSB index indicates an SSB index that may be transmitted during the transmission opportunity, e.g., SSB index 0, 1, 2, or 3 may be transmitted in each of the transmission opportunities 0 through 9. Number of codepoints indicates a number of points that are encoded, e.g., whether each of SSB index is transmitted during a transmission opportunity. Total codepoints is the total number of codepoints for the transmission opportunities, i.e., which SSB index is transmitted on each transmission opportunity. Subcarrier frequency spacing 15 kHz indicates the assumption for the subcarrier frequency spacing. Number of beams (L) indicates the assumption for the number of beams. NW can schedule transmissions of the different SSB indexes that post-LBT all the SSB indexes are transmitted with approximately equal frequency over an extended period of time. This may enable better radio resource management (RRM) measurements related to cell quality where a UE may determine cell quality by linear averaging of measurements from up to N best beams above a certain threshold. 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 2 
               
             
            
               
                   
               
               
                 Association of SSB index with SSB transmission  
               
               
                 opportunity 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                   
                 Slot 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 1 
                 2 
                 3 
                 4 
                 5 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 Transmission 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 opportunity 
                 0 
                 1 
                 2 
                 3 
                 4 
                 5 
                 6 
                 7 
                 8 
                 9 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 SSB index 
                 0 
                 1 
                 2 
                 3 
                 0 
                 0 
                 0 
                 0 
                 0 
                 0 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 1 
                 1 
                 1 
                 1 
                 1 
                 1 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 2 
                 2 
                 2 
                 2 
                 2 
                 2 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 3 
                 3 
                 3 
                 3 
                 3 
                 3 
               
               
                 Number of 
                 1 
                 1 
                 1 
                 1 
                 4 
                 4 
                 4 
                 4 
                 4 
                 4 
               
               
                 code-points 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 Total codepoints 
                 28 (5 bits) 
               
               
                 Subcarrier frequency 
                 15 kHz 
               
               
                 spacing 
                   
               
               
                 Number of Beams 
                 4 
               
               
                 (L) 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     Table 2 illustrates association of SSB index with SSB transmission opportunity, in accordance with some embodiments. Table 2 illustrates subsets of SSB indexes that are available to use for different transmission opportunities. In some embodiments, transmission opportunities 0-3 are each associated with one SSB index, and then the other transmission opportunities permit any of the SSB indexes to be selected. In some embodiments, the transmission opportunities that allow a single SSB index may be different (e.g., 0, 2, 4, 6, 8). Five (5) bits may be needed to encode the codepoints of Table 2. 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 3 
               
             
            
               
                   
               
               
                 Association of SSB index with SSB transmission  
               
               
                 opportunity 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                   
                 Slot 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 1 
                 2 
                 3 
                 4 
                 5 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 Transmission 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 opportunity 
                 0 
                 1 
                 2 
                 3 
                 4 
                 5 
                 6 
                 7 
                 8 
                 9 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 SSB index 
                 0 
                 6 
                 4 
                 2 
                 0 
                 6 
                 4 
                 2 
                 0 
                 6 
               
               
                   
                 1 
                 7 
                 5 
                 3 
                 1 
                 7 
                 5 
                 3 
                 1 
                 7 
               
               
                   
                 2 
                 0 
                 6 
                 4 
                 2 
                 0 
                 6 
                 4 
                 2 
                 0 
               
               
                   
                 3 
                 1 
                 7 
                 5 
                 3 
                 1 
                 7 
                 5 
                 3 
                 1 
               
               
                   
                 4 
                 2 
                 0 
                 6 
                 4 
                 2 
                 0 
                 6 
                 4 
                 2 
               
               
                   
                 5 
                 3 
                 1 
                 7 
                 5 
                 3 
                 1 
                 7 
                 5 
                 3 
               
               
                   
                 6 
                   
                   
                   
                 7 
                 5 
                   
                   
                   
                 4 
               
               
                 Number of  
                 7 
                 6 
                 6 
                 6 
                 7 
                 7 
                 6 
                 6 
                 6 
                 7 
               
               
                 code-points 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 Total codepoints 
                 64 (6 bits) 
               
               
                 Subcarrier frequency 
                 15 kHz 
               
               
                 spacing 
                   
               
               
                 Number of Beams 
                 8 
               
               
                 (L) 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     Table 3 illustrates an association of SSB index with SSB transmission opportunity. In Table 3, the number of codepoints is kept at 64 (6 bits). The SSB indexes are each available in eight (8) out of the ten (10) transmission opportunities. Different subsets can be selected to provide the even distribution of the SSB indexes (i.e., a same number for each SSB index). 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 4 
               
             
            
               
                   
               
               
                 Association of SSB index with SSB transmission opportunity 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 Slot 
                 1 
                 2 
                 3 
                 4 
                 5 
                 6 
                 7 
                 8 
                 9 
                 10 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 Transmission  
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 opportunity 
                 0 
                 1 
                 2 
                 3 
                 4 
                 5 
                 6 
                 7 
                 8 
                 9 
                 10 
                 11 
                 12 
                 13 
                 14 
                 15 
                 16 
                 17 
                 18 
                 19 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 SSB index  
                 0 
                 1 
                 2 
                 3 
                 0 
                 1 
                 2 
                 3 
                 0 
                 1 
                 2 
                 3 
                 0 
                 1 
                 2 
                 3 
                 0 
                 1 
                 2 
                 3 
               
               
                   
                 3 
                 0 
                 1 
                 2 
                 3 
                 0 
                 1 
                 2 
                 3 
                 0 
                 1 
                 2 
                 3 
                 0 
                 1 
                 2 
                 3 
                 0 
                 1 
                 2 
               
               
                   
                 2 
                 3 
                 0 
                 1 
                 2 
                 3 
                 0 
                 1 
                 2 
                 3 
                 0 
                 1 
                 2 
                 3 
                 0 
                 1 
                 2 
                 3 
                 0 
                 1 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 0 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 1 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 2 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 3 
                   
               
               
                 Number of code-points 
                 3 
                 3 
                 3 
                 4 
                 3 
                 3 
                 3 
                 3 
                 4 
                 3 
                 3 
                 3 
                 3 
                 4 
                 3 
                 3 
                 3 
                 3 
                 4 
                 3 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 Total code-points 
                 64 (6 bits) 
               
               
                 Sub-carrier frequency 
                 30 kHz 
               
               
                 spacing 
                   
               
               
                 Number of Beams (L) 
                 4 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     Table 4 illustrates association of SSB index with SSB transmission opportunity, in accordance with some embodiments. Table 4 has 64 total codepoints that may be represented with 6 bits. SSB indexes 0-3 are each assigned a same number of the transmission opportunities, i.e., sixteen (16) out of twenty (20). 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 5 
               
             
            
               
                   
               
               
                 Association of SSB index with SSB transmission opportunity 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 Slot 
                 1 
                 2 
                 3 
                 4 
                 5 
                 6 
                 7 
                 8 
                 9 
                 10 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 Transmission  
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 opportunity 
                 0 
                 1 
                 2 
                 3 
                 4 
                 5 
                 6 
                 7 
                 8 
                 9 
                 10 
                 11 
                 12 
                 13 
                 14 
                 15 
                 16 
                 17 
                 18 
                 19 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 SSB index  
                 0 
                 3 
                 6 
                 1 
                 4 
                 7 
                 2 
                 5 
                 0 
                 3 
                 6 
                 1 
                 4 
                 7 
                 2 
                 5 
                 0 
                 3 
                 6 
                 1 
               
               
                   
                 1 
                 4 
                 7 
                 2 
                 5 
                 0 
                 3 
                 6 
                 1 
                 4 
                 7 
                 2 
                 5 
                 0 
                 3 
                 6 
                 1 
                 4 
                 7 
                 2 
               
               
                   
                 2 
                 5 
                 0 
                 3 
                 6 
                 1 
                 4 
                 7 
                 2 
                 5 
                 0 
                 3 
                 6 
                 1 
                 4 
                 7 
                 2 
                 5 
                 0 
                 3 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 7 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 6 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 5 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 4 
               
               
                 Number of code-points 
                 3 
                 3 
                 3 
                 3 
                 4 
                 3 
                 3 
                 3 
                 3 
                 4 
                 3 
                 3 
                 3 
                 3 
                 4 
                 3 
                 3 
                 3 
                 3 
                 4 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 Total code-points 
                 64 (6 bits) 
               
               
                 Sub-carrier frequency 
                 30 kHz 
               
               
                 spacing 
                   
               
               
                 Number of Beams (L) 
                 8 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     Table 5 illustrates association of SSB index with SSB transmission opportunity, in accordance with some embodiments. Table 5 has 64 total codepoints that may be represented with 6 bits. SSB indexes 0-7 are each assigned a same number of the transmission opportunities, i.e., eight (8) out of twenty (20). Different assignments of the SSB indexes may be used that result in a same number of transmission opportunities for each of the SSB indexes. 
     In some embodiments, if a number of codepoints is limited to 64, then to offer the flexibility to the NW of transmitting any SSB index in any transmission opportunity a maximum of 6 beams (L=6) can be supported with 15 kHz subcarrier frequency spacing and a maximum of 3 beam (L=3) can be supported for 30 kHz. In some embodiments, in unlicensed operation (e.g., 2.5 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz, and/or 60 GHz), equivalent isotropically radiated power (EIRP) and/or power spectrum density (PSD) limitations may limit the benefit of narrow beams, which may limit the number of beams. In some embodiments, a number of bits assigned to indicate SSB index and frame-timing (e.g., slot and symbol) may be increased in PBCH. 
       FIGS.  7  and  8    are disclosed in conjunction with one another.  FIG.  7    illustrates a remaining minimum system information (RMSI) Coreset and RMSI transmission  700  as part of DRS, in accordance with some embodiments. Illustrated in  FIG.  7    is PBCH  702 , RMSI Coreset &amp; eight (8) CCE  704 , RMSI  706 ,  48  PRB min bandwidth (BW)  708 ,  12  PRB  710 ,  20  PRB  712 ,  12  PRB  714 , primary synchronization signal (PSS), and secondary synchronization signal (SSS).  FIG.  8    illustrates a for channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) transmission  800  as part of DRS, in accordance with some embodiments. Illustrated in  FIG.  8    is PBCH  802 , CSI-RS non-fragmented  804 , CSI-RS fragmented  806 , system BW  808 , six (6) symbols  810 , PSS, and SSS. 
     CSI-RS non-fragmented  804  and/or CSI-RS fragmented is permitted as part of the DRS transmission  800 , in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, the NW may determine whether to permit CSI-RS non-fragmented  804  and/or CSI-RS fragmented as part of DRS transmission  800 . CSI-RS non-fragmented  804  and/or CSI-RS fragmented may reduce LBT overhead. CSI-RS non-fragmented  804  and/or CSI-RS fragmented  806  may enable RRM measurements as they may permit the transmission of the CSI-RS non-fragmented  804  and/or CSI-RS fragmented  806 . 
     In some embodiments, CSI-RS non-fragmented  804  and/or CSI-RS fragmented  806  are transmitted in the symbols  810  following a SSB, e.g., one or more CSI-RS non-fragmented  804  may be transmitted after an SSB is transmitted on the PBCH  802 . 
     In some embodiments, one or more CSI-RS non-fragmented  804  and/or CSI-RS fragmented  806  are configured to a UE  101 ,  102  and associated with a SSB index (not necessarily QCL). CSI-RS fragmented  806  may be fragmented in the frequency-domain due to SSB is also proposed. For example, as illustrated in  FIG.  8   , the CSI-RS fragmented  806  is transmitted above and below the PBCH  802  where a SSB is transmitted. 
     Higher layers may signal whether a CSI-RS is fragmented on not, in accordance with some embodiments. A CSI-RS resource is associated with a resource type (fragmented or non-fragmented), in accordance with some embodiments. It is also possible that a CSI-RS resource when transmitted on the same symbols as SSB (e.g., as illustrated on 3 rd  symbol of 6 symbols  810 ) is fragmented but otherwise non-fragmented. In this case, a UE  101 .  102  implicitly determines whether a particular instance of CSI-RS is fragmented or not. 
     In some embodiments, within a symbol the NW transmits over the frequency domain two fragmented portions of the CSI-RS and the legacy content of the SSB for that symbol. In some embodiments, the SSB comprises multiple channels: SSS/PSS and PBCH, and depending on the specific symbol of the SSB, one or more of the channels may be transmitted. In some embodiments, the NW transmits SSS+PBCH during the symbol where CSI-RS is also transmitted. 
     Example 1 includes subject matter (such as an apparatus, a method, a means for performing acts, or a machine readable medium including instructions that, when performed by the machine, that cause the machine to perform acts), comprising: an apparatus of a user equipment (UE), the apparatus including: processing circuitry, memory coupled to the processing circuitry, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to: decode a new radio (NR) Discovery Reference Signal (DRS) transmission, the NR DRS transmission comprising a synchronization signal block (SSB) and channel state information (CSI) reference signal (RS) (CSI-RS); and configure the UE to determine channel state based on the CSI-RS. 
     In Example 2, the subject matter of Example 1 may optionally include, where the RS-CSI is a fragmented RS-CSI comprising a first fragmented portion and a second fragmented portion, and where encode further comprises: encode a symbol of the NR DRS transmission to comprise the first fragmented portion, a symbol of the SSB, and the second fragmented portion, wherein the symbol of the SSB is encoded on a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) portion of the NR DRS transmission. 
     In Example 3, the subject matter of Example 1 or 2 may optionally include, wherein encode further comprises: encode the NR DRS transmission to comprise 14 symbols, wherein the SSB is encoded on four (4) symbols of the 14 symbols and the CSI-RS is encoded on a different 2 symbols of the 14 symbols. 
     In Example 4, the subject matter of Examples 1-3 may optionally include, where encode further comprises: encode the CSI-RS across a system bandwidth of the NR DRS transmission, and encode the SSB using the physical broadcast channel (PBCH) portion of the NR DRS transmission. 
     Although an aspect has been described with reference to specific exemplary aspects, it will be evident that various modifications and changes may be made to these aspects without departing from the broader scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. This Detailed Description, therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of various aspects is defined only by the appended claims, along with the full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20190809
Publication Date: 20240402
Grant Date: 20240402
Priority Date: 20180810
Inventors: MONDAL, BISHWARUP
TALARICO, Salvatore
LIM, SEAU S.
LEE, DAE WON
JEON, JEONGHO
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "H04L5/0048", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W72/20", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W48/16", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L5/0048", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W48/12", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L5/0048", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L5/0053", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W72/20", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 69415683