CN107852293B - Flexible CSI-RS configuration for FD-MIMO systems - Google Patents

Abstract

eNBs and UEs are described that implement a CSI-RS protocol. The eNB has: an ordered set of antenna ports for wireless communication channels with the UE; first circuitry operable to generate a CSI-RS configuration message that allocates various CSI-RS groups specifying one or more CSI-RS antenna ports to a UE; and a second circuit that establishes an ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports. The UE has: a set of antennas; a first circuit operable to receive, from an eNB, various CSI-RS configuration messages for which CSI-RS sets specifying one or more CSI-RS antenna ports are allocated; and a second circuit operable to index the CSI-RS antenna ports specified by the CSI-RS group into an ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports. The eNB may transmit the CSI-RS to the configured UE, and the UE may perform channel state information measurements on the ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports.

Description

Flexible CSI-RS configuration for FD-MIMO systems

Priority declaration

Priority of U.S. provisional patent application No.62/207,215 entitled "Flexible CSI-RS Configuration For FD-MIMO (Flexible CSI-RS Configuration For FD-MIMO)" filed 2015, 8/19/2015, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, is claimed in this application as 35u.s.c. § 119 (e).

Background

Channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS) were introduced for long term evolution Advanced (LTE-Advanced) in release 10 of the third generation partnership project (3GPP) specifications. To use this feature, an evolved node b (eNB) establishes a wireless communication channel with a User Equipment (UE) and then transmits CSI-RS symbols from the eNB to the UE. The UE performs channel state information measurements on the CSI-RS symbols in order to calculate channel state information. The UE then returns channel state information to the eNB to provide the eNB with information about the downlink signal quality of the wireless communication channel.

Meanwhile, release 8 of the 3GPP specifications provides Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) antenna configurations, and subsequent enhancements in release 10 and release 11 extend these specifications. MIMO may support beamforming to improve downlink channel quality. For release 10, the UE may support 2-port antennas, 4-port antennas, or 8-port antennas. Under release 13, the UE may support antennas including more ports (e.g., 12-port and 16-port antennas). Antennas including an even greater number of ports, e.g., 32-port and 64-port antennas, may be contemplated for release 14.

With release 11, the 3GPP specifications are designed to support MIMO antenna configurations with azimuth (i.e., radial angle in the horizontal plane relative to a reference angle) adaptation functions. However, in future releases, the 3GPP specifications may support full-dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO) antenna configurations capable of azimuth and elevation adaptation functions.

Non-precoded CSI-RS may support FD-MIMO by facilitating channel state information measurements at the UE, which may in turn facilitate precoding selection for eNB antennas. Meanwhile, release 13 will support the use of non-precoded CSI-RS with 12 and 16 port antennas.

Drawings

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be understood more fully from the detailed description given below and from the accompanying drawings of various embodiments of the disclosure. However, while the drawings are intended to aid in explanation and understanding, they are merely exemplary and should not be taken to limit the disclosure to the specific embodiments depicted therein.

Fig. 1-3 illustrate embodiments of CSI-RS antenna port allocation within a downlink Resource Block (RB), detailing which Resource Elements (REs) within a subframe are associated with which CSI-RS antenna ports.

Fig. 4-6 illustrate embodiments of eNB antenna and antenna port configurations, and corresponding CSI-RS antenna port assignments.

Fig. 7 illustrates various embodiments of antenna configurations.

Fig. 8 illustrates an embodiment in which an eNB employs FD-MIMO beamforming to communicate with multiple UEs, as well as a pair of eNB antennas that may be used for general transmissions in general and a pair of eNB antennas that may be used to transmit to a particular UE.

Fig. 9-10 illustrate embodiments of eNB antenna pairs that may be used for general transmissions and eNB antenna pairs that may be used for transmissions to a particular UE, and corresponding CSI-RS antenna ports.

Fig. 11-13 illustrate embodiments of CSI-RS groups for configuring UE antennas.

Fig. 14 illustrates an embodiment of a protocol between an eNB and a UE for configuring UE antennas using CSI-RS groups.

Fig. 15 shows an embodiment of an eNB and an embodiment of a UE.

Fig. 16 illustrates an embodiment of hardware processing circuitry for an eNB.

Fig. 17 illustrates an embodiment of hardware processing circuitry for a UE.

Fig. 18-19 illustrate embodiments of methods for configuring UE antennas using CSI-RS groups.

Fig. 20 illustrates example components of a UE device according to some embodiments.

Fig. 21 illustrates a computing device with a mechanism to provide a flexible CSI-RS protocol in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

The trend in 3GPP specification releases is to support wireless communication channels based on a higher number of antennas. In part, the trend toward higher numbers of antennas per channel is due to MIMO-capable antenna configurations and, in the future, FD-MIMO-capable antenna configurations.

The new CSI-RS protocol may advantageously support an increasing number of antennas. At the same time, the new CSI-RS protocol may advantageously support more flexible antenna port allocation, which may result in more optimal channel quality.

In the following description, numerous details are discussed to provide a more thorough explanation of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that embodiments of the present disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form, rather than in detail, in order to avoid obscuring embodiments of the present disclosure.

Note that in the respective drawings of the embodiments, signals are represented by lines. Some lines may be thicker, to indicate a greater number of constituent signal paths, and/or may have arrows at one or more ends, to indicate the direction of information flow. Such indications are not intended to be limiting. Rather, these lines are used in connection with one or more exemplary embodiments to facilitate easier understanding of a circuit or logic unit. Any represented signal may actually comprise one or more signals that may travel in either direction, as dictated by design needs or preferences, and may be implemented using any suitable type of signal scheme.

Throughout the specification and in the claims, the term "connected" means a direct electrical, mechanical, or magnetic connection between the items connected without any intervening devices. The term "coupled" means either a direct electrical, mechanical, or magnetic connection between the items connected, or an indirect connection through one or more passive or active intermediary devices. The term "circuit" or "module" may refer to one or more passive and/or active components arranged to cooperate with each other to provide a desired function. The term "signal" may refer to at least one current signal, voltage signal, magnetic signal, or data/clock signal. The meaning of "a", "an" and "the" includes plural references. The meaning of "in …" includes "in …" and "on …".

The terms "substantially", "close", "about", "near …", and "about" generally mean within +/-10% of the target value. Unless otherwise specified the use of the descriptive adjectives "first", "second", and "third", etc., to describe a common object, merely indicate that different instances of like objects are being referred to, and are not intended to imply that the objects so described must be in a given sequence, either temporally, spatially, in ranking, or in any other manner.

For the purposes of this disclosure, the phrases "a and/or B" and "a or B" mean to refer to (a), (B), or (a and B). For the purposes of this disclosure, the phrase "A, B and/or C" means (a), (B), (C), (a and B), (a and C), (B and C), or (A, B and C).

Fig. 1-3 illustrate embodiments of CSI-RS antenna port allocation within a downlink Resource Block (RB), detailing which Resource Elements (REs) within a subframe are associated with which CSI-RS antenna ports. As shown in fig. 1, a downlink resource block 100 according to release 10 of the 3GPP specifications includes a plurality of subcarriers 110 in the frequency domain and a plurality of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols 120 in the time domain. For each subcarrier k and each OFDM symbol l, the resource block 100 has resource elements 130.

As shown, a particular type of RE is defined for each resource element 130 of the downlink resource block 100 (i.e., for each subcarrier and OFDM symbol combination k & l). For example, resource elements 130 at subcarrier 0& OFDM symbol 0 of resource block 100 are defined as Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) symbols, and most of the other resource elements 130 of OFDM symbols 0 to 2 are also defined as PDCCH symbols. Meanwhile, resource elements 130 at subcarriers 2, 5, 8, and 11& OFDM symbols 0 and 1 are defined as cell-specific reference symbol (CRS) symbols for respective ports; the resource elements 130 at subcarriers 3, 7 and 11& OFDM symbol 3 are defined as demodulation reference symbol (DMRS) symbols according to release 8; and resource elements 130 at subcarriers 0-1, 5-6, and 10-11& OFDM symbols 5-6 and 12-13 are defined as DMRSs according to release 9 and release 10. Many of the remaining resource elements 130 are defined as Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) symbols.

Some resource elements 130 are defined as CSI-RS symbols. More specifically, resource elements at all subcarriers & OFDM symbols 9-10, and resource elements at subcarriers 2-3 and 8-9& OFDM symbols 5-6 and 12-13 are defined as CSI-RS symbols. Fig. 1 depicts a plurality of CSI-RS resource elements 150 defined as CSI-RS symbols for those combinations of subcarriers 110& OFDM symbols 120.

Each CSI-RS resource element 150 is listed as 0 or 1 and corresponds to an antenna port 15 or 16 of the eNB transmitting the resource block 100. Similarly, fig. 2 depicts a plurality of CSI-RS resource elements 260 enumerated as 0 through 3 and corresponding to antenna ports 15 through 18 of the transmitting eNB, and fig. 3 depicts a plurality of CSI-RS resource elements 370 enumerated as 0 through 7 and corresponding to antenna ports 15 through 22 of the transmitting eNB.

Fig. 1 depicts CSI-RS resource elements 150 having 1-port or 2-port antennas, fig. 2 depicts CSI-RS resource elements 260 associated with 4-port antennas, and fig. 3 depicts CSI-RS resource elements 370 associated with 8-port antennas. The eNB may accordingly transmit CSI-RS symbols for wireless communication channels associated with 1 eNB antenna port, 2 eNB antenna ports, 4 eNB antenna ports, or 8 eNB antenna ports to the UE.

The antenna ports are logical constructs, as opposed to physical antennas of the eNB or UE. Thus, an ordered set of antenna ports may correspond to a set of eNB antennas in various ways. Fig. 4-6 illustrate embodiments of eNB antenna and antenna port configurations, and corresponding CSI-RS antenna port assignments. (CSI reference signals may be transmitted on 1-port, 2-port, 4-port, and 8-port antennas using antenna ports numbered 15 through 22; correspondingly, in FIGS. 1-3, the associated resource elements carrying CSI-RS symbols are numbered from 0 to 7. in FIGS. 4-6, the associated eNBs are numbered from 15 through 22. the numbering of eNBs from 15 through 22 reflects the numbering of CSI-RS configurations (which will be discussed further below).

For example, fig. 4 depicts an eNB antenna configuration 410 and a corresponding antenna port configuration 416 for an 8-port eNB antenna. The antenna configuration 410 comprises a plurality of first antennas 412 having a first polarization and a plurality of second antennas 414 having a second polarization, wherein the second polarization is orthogonal to the first polarization. The first antenna 412 and the second antenna 414 are mapped to respective eNB antenna ports according to an antenna port configuration 416, the antenna port configuration 416 showing that eNB antenna ports 15-18 correspond to the first antenna 412 and eNB antenna ports 19-22 correspond to the second antenna 414. Thus, the antennas corresponding to the eNB antenna ports 15-18 have orthogonal polarizations to the antennas corresponding to the eNB antenna ports 19-22. The respective resource block 400 depicts RE pairs 420 carrying CSI-RS symbols associated with each eNB antenna port (each RE pair being two adjacent OFDM symbols on one subframe).

In fig. 4, all antenna ports associated with 8-antenna channels correspond to RE pairs 420 carrying CSI-RS symbols. The individual RE pairs 420 correspond to antennas of the same polarization. Thus, RE pair 420 will not allow CSI-RS measurements to be made for the orthogonally polarized antenna pair if used in isolation. However, since the CSI-RS for an 8-antenna channel spans antenna ports 15-22, and since the eNB antennas corresponding to antenna ports 15-18 and antenna ports 19-22 are orthogonally polarized, the RE pairs 420 carrying CSI-RS symbols will allow CSI-RS measurements to be made for orthogonally polarized antenna pairs within the 8-antenna channel. This may be advantageous because channel state information measurements of CSI-RS symbols transmitted by orthogonally polarized antennas may result in better channel performance.

In contrast, fig. 5 depicts an eNB antenna configuration 510 and a corresponding antenna port configuration 516 for a 4-port eNB antenna. However, unlike antenna configuration 410, antenna configuration 510 includes only a plurality of first antennas 512 having a first polarization, but does not include a second antenna 514 having a second polarization that is orthogonal to the first polarization. The first antenna 512 is mapped to individual antenna ports according to an antenna port configuration 516. Based on codebook design rules, the antenna ports of antenna port configuration 510 are first mapped to antennas with one polarization and then mapped to antennas with another polarization-in this case this represents antennas with only one polarization. The respective resource block 400 depicts RE pairs 520 carrying CSI-RS symbols associated with each eNB antenna port.

Since antenna ports 15-18 are mapped to only the first antenna 512, the antenna ports corresponding to the RE pairs 520 carrying CSI-RS symbols will not allow CSI-RS measurements for the orthogonally polarized antenna pairs for the 4-antenna channel. This may be disadvantageous because channel state information measurements of CSI-RS symbols transmitted by antennas that are not orthogonally polarized may result in suboptimal channel performance.

Fig. 6 depicts an embodiment having an eNB antenna configuration 610 and a corresponding antenna port configuration 616 for an alternative 4-port eNB antenna. Here, the antenna configuration 610 comprises two first antennas 612 having a first polarization and two second antennas 614 having a second polarization orthogonal to the first polarization. Since antenna ports 15-18 are mapped to both the first antenna 612 and the orthogonally polarized second antenna 614, and since the CSI-RS symbols transmitted by these antennas will be used for channel state information measurements, this embodiment may advantageously result in better performance of the wireless communication channel associated with the 4-port eNB antenna.

However, the antenna ports associated with the RE pairs 620 in the respective resource block 400 have port allocations that are inconsistent with the CSI-RS antenna port allocations for the 4-port antennas in fig. 2. Based on fig. 4-6, a new, more flexible CSI-RS protocol capable of supporting more flexible antenna port assignments may advantageously facilitate establishing higher quality wireless communication channels.

The new, more flexible CSI-RS protocol may also advantageously accommodate the allocation of more appropriate eNB antenna resources to wireless communication channels formed with particular UEs. Fig. 7 illustrates various embodiments of antenna configurations. The antenna configuration 710 is a 16 antenna array for an eNB, where all 16 antennas are mapped to antenna ports for one wireless communication channel. In contrast, in antenna configuration 720, only 12 antennas of the 16 antenna array are mapped to antenna ports of the wireless communication channel. Antenna configurations 730 and 740 illustrate two different embodiments in which 8 antennas of a 16 antenna array are mapped to antenna ports of a wireless communication channel. More specifically, in the antenna configuration 730, 8 antennas in one column of the 16 antenna array are mapped to 8 antenna ports of the wireless communication channel, while in the antenna configuration 740, 4 antennas from each of the two columns are mapped to a total of 8 antenna ports of the wireless communication channel. The new, more flexible CSI-RS protocol may facilitate allocation of the remaining antennas to one or more additional wireless communication channels based on the needs of the eNB.

The new more flexible CSI-RS protocol may also advantageously support FD-MIMO, which may require adaptation to both azimuth and elevation angles. Fig. 8 illustrates an embodiment of an eNB employing FD-MIMO beamforming to communicate with multiple UEs, as well as a pair of eNB antennas that may be used for general transmissions in general and a pair of eNB antennas that may be used to transmit to a particular UE. At the top of fig. 8, eNB 800 is depicted as having established wireless communication channels with UE822, UE 824, UE 826, and UE 828 having different azimuth and elevation angles relative to eNB 800.

At the bottom of fig. 8, a beam pattern 840 depicts various antenna pairs 842 that may be used for general transmission, i.e., various antenna pairs 842 that may be used for beamforming by eNB 800. Antenna pair 842 may be used as part of one or more 1-port, 2-port, 4-port, or 8-port, or 16-port antennas, respectively. Similarly, beam pattern 850 depicts various antenna pairs 852 that may be used for general transmissions, and also depicts various antenna pairs 854 that may be used not only for general transmissions, but more desirably for forming a wireless communication channel with a particular UE (e.g., UE 822) by eNB 800 by creating a beamformed FD-MIMO downlink. More specifically, antenna pair 854 may be more desirable for forming a wireless communication channel with UE822 based on the azimuth and elevation of UE822 relative to eNB 800. Antenna pair 854 may thus be used to form a 1-port, 2-port, 4-port, 8-port, or 16-port antenna for eNB 800 for communicating with UE 822.

Fig. 9-10 illustrate embodiments of eNB antenna pairs that may be used for general transmissions and eNB antenna pairs that may be used for transmissions to a particular UE, and corresponding CSI-RS antenna ports. Fig. 9 shows a beam pattern 840 and antenna pairs 842 that may be used for general transmission, while a corresponding resource block 900 includes RE pairs 942 that may be used to transmit CSI-RS symbols for the antenna pairs 842. In fig. 10, a beam diagram 850 illustrates a pair of antennas 852 that may be used for general transmissions, and also illustrates a pair of antennas 854 that may be more preferably used to form a wireless communication channel with a UE 822. Respective resource block 900 includes RE pairs 952 that can be used to transmit CSI-RS symbols for antenna pair 852, where RE pairs 954 correspond to antenna pair 854. The new, more flexible CSI-RS protocol may advantageously facilitate the use of antenna pairs that may be more suitable for FD-MIMO support.

New more flexible CSI-RS protocols can thus support more and more ports. The new protocol may also support more flexible allocation of antenna ports, which may result in more optimal channel performance, and may accommodate more appropriate allocation of eNB antenna resources to wireless communication channels formed with particular UEs.

Fig. 11-13 illustrate embodiments of CSI-RS groups for configuring UE antennas. In the new, more flexible CSI-RS protocol, the CSI-RS group corresponds to the CSI configuration enumerated by 3GPP TS 36.211 (V10.7.0). Section 6.10.5 of TS 36.211 discusses "CSI reference signals". Section 6.10.5.2 therein covers "mapping to resource elements" and finally provides a table mapping between CSI reference signal configurations and resource elements of a resource block. Section 6.10.5.2 begins with the following description:

reference signal sequence in a subframe configured for CSI reference signal transmission

Should be mapped to complex-valued modulation symbols used as reference symbols on antenna port p according to

Wherein the content of the first and second substances,

l′′＝0,1

the quantities (k ', l') and pairs n_sThe requirements are respectively used for the common cyclic prefix and the extended cyclic prefix

The affixes are given in tables 6.10.5.2-1 and 6.10.5.2-2.

Section 6.10.5.2 then presents a table 6.10.5.2-1, which shows the mapping between CSI reference signal configurations and resource elements of a resource block. In this table, k 'corresponds to a subcarrier, l' corresponds to an OFDM symbol, and n_smod 2 corresponds to a slot (slot), i.e., whether an OFDM symbol is in the lower or upper half of a 14-symbol subframe. Table 6.10.5.2-1 is reproduced as Table 1 below.

Table 1: mapping from CSI reference signals (k ', l') for common cyclic prefix

Referring to fig. 11-13, a resource block 1100 extends across twelve subcarriers 1110 (enumerated 0-11) in the frequency domain and fourteen OFDM symbols (enumerated 0-6 for both slots 0 and 1) in the time domain. Various RE pairs are enumerated to correspond to various CSI-RS groups of 1-port, 2-port, 4-port, and 8-port antennas, as depicted at 6.10.5.2-1. More specifically, fig. 11 lists RE pairs corresponding to CSI-RS groups for 1-port and 2-port antennas, fig. 12 lists RE pairs corresponding to CSI-RS groups for 4-port antennas, and fig. 13 lists RE pairs corresponding to CSI-RS groups for 8-port antennas.

In the CSI-RS protocol, each of the CSI reference signal configurations 0-19 listed in table 6.10.5.2-1 is mapped to one of the CSI-RS groups 1150 in FIG. 11, where k' indicates the subcarriers within the subcarriers 1110 of the resource block 1100, n_smod 2 indicates resource block 1100Lower time slot (n) within subframe/OFDM symbol 1120_s mod 2 ═ 0) or upper time slots (n)_s mod 2 ═ 1), and l' indicates OFDM symbols within the subframe/OFDM symbol. Similarly, each of the CSI reference signal configurations 0-9 listed in table 6.10.5.2-1 is mapped to one of the CSI-RS groups 1160 in FIG. 12, and each of the CSI reference signal configurations 0-4 listed in table 6.10.5.2-1 is mapped to one of the CSI-RS groups 1170 in FIG. 13.

The CSI-RS groups of fig. 11-13 may be used to specify CSI-RS antenna ports that correspond to N-port antennas as a whole. For example, referring to fig. 6 and 11, RE pairs 620 associated with antenna ports 15-18 in fig. 6 correspond (in order) to numbers 11 and 10 in CSI-RS group 1150 in fig. 11. Therefore, the CSI configurations 11 and 10 sequentially specify two RE pairs corresponding to the antenna ports 15, 16 and 17, 18 in fig. 6.

Accordingly, in the CSI-RS protocol, an eNB may transmit one or more configuration messages to a UE, and each configuration message may allocate a CSI-RS group specifying one or more CSI-RS antenna ports to the UE. The CSI-RS group corresponds to the CSI-RS configuration listed in Table 6.10.5.2-1. That is, each CSI-RS group may specify 1-port, 2-port, 4-port, or 8-port CSI-RS antenna ports. Depending on the number of eNB antennas that make up the wireless communication channel between the eNB and the UE, any number of CSI-RS groups may be allocated to the UE in any order to correspond to the number of eNB antennas to be aggregated to form the wireless communication channel.

Fig. 14 illustrates an embodiment of a protocol between an eNB and a UE for configuring UE antennas using CSI-RS groups. Under the CSI-RS protocol 1400, the eNB1410 first establishes an ordered set of eNB antenna ports to be used for wireless communication channels with the UE 1420. The eNB1410 then sends one or more CSI-RS configuration messages to the UE 1420. Each CSI-RS configuration message allocates one or more CSI-RS groups to the UE1420, and each CSI-RS group specifies one or more CSI-RS antenna ports. The UE1420 then indexes an ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports for at least a portion of the wireless communication channel based on the CSI-RS antenna ports specified by the assigned CSI-RS group. The order of the CSI-RS antenna ports within the ordered list is established by the order in which the CSI-RS configuration messages arrive at the UE 1420.

After configuring the UE1420 in this manner, the eNB1410 then transmits one or more CSI-RS symbols corresponding to CSI-RS antenna ports specified by the CSI-RS group transmitted to the UE 1420. The UE1420 then performs channel state information measurements on the indexed CSI-RS antenna ports. Based on the channel state information measurements, the UE1420 calculates channel state information and reports it to the eNB 1410.

Fig. 15 shows an embodiment of an eNB and an embodiment of a UE. More specifically, fig. 15 includes a block diagram of an eNB1510 and a UE 1530 that are operable to co-exist with each other and with other elements of an LTE network. A high-level simplified architecture of the eNB1510 and the UE 1530 is described to avoid obscuring the embodiments. It should be noted that in some embodiments, eNB1510 may be a stationary, non-mobile device.

The eNB1510 is coupled to one or more antennas 1505 and the UE 1530 is similarly coupled to one or more antennas 1525. However, in some embodiments, the eNB1510 may incorporate or include an antenna 1505 and the UE 1530 in various embodiments may incorporate or include an antenna 1525.

In some embodiments, eNB1510 may include physical layer circuitry 1512, Media Access Control (MAC) circuitry 1514, a processor 1516, memory 1518, and hardware processing circuitry 1520. Those skilled in the art will recognize that other components not shown in addition to those shown may be used to form a complete eNB.

In some embodiments, the physical layer circuitry 1512 includes a transceiver 1513 for providing signals to and from the UE 1530. The transceiver 1513 provides signals to and from the UE or other devices using one or more antennas 1505. In some embodiments, MAC circuitry 1514 controls access to the wireless medium. Memory 1518 may be or include storage media such as magnetic storage media (e.g., tape or disk), optical storage media (e.g., optical disk), electronic storage media (e.g., conventional hard disk drive, solid state drive, or flash memory based storage media), or any tangible or non-transitory storage media. The hardware processing circuitry 1520 may comprise logic devices or circuits to perform various operations. In some embodiments, the processor 1516 and the memory 1518 are arranged to perform operations of the hardware processing circuitry 1520, e.g., as described herein with reference to the logic devices and circuitry within the eNB1510 and/or the hardware processing circuitry 1520.

In some embodiments, the antennas 1505 coupled to the eNB1510 may include one or more directional or omnidirectional antennas, including: a monopole antenna, a dipole antenna, a loop antenna, a patch antenna, a microstrip antenna, a coplanar wave antenna, or other type of antenna suitable for transmission of RF signals. In some multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) embodiments, antennas 1505 are separated to exploit spatial diversity.

Fig. 15 also includes a block diagram of a UE 1530. In some embodiments, the UE 1530 may include physical layer circuitry 1532, MAC circuitry 1534, a processor 1536, memory 1538, hardware processing circuitry 1540, a wireless interface 1542, and a display 1544. Those skilled in the art will recognize that other components not shown in addition to those shown may be used to form a complete UE.

In some embodiments, the physical layer circuitry 1532 includes a transceiver 1533 for providing signals to and from the eNB1510 (and other enbs). The transceiver 1533 provides signals to and from an eNB or other device using one or more antennas 1525. In some embodiments, the MAC circuitry 1534 controls access to the wireless medium. Memory 1518 may be or include storage media such as magnetic storage media (e.g., tape or disk), optical storage media (e.g., optical disk), electronic storage media (e.g., conventional hard disk drive, solid state drive, or flash memory based storage media), or any tangible or non-transitory storage media. The wireless interface 1542 is arranged to allow the processor to communicate with another device. The display 1544 provides a visual and/or tactile display for a user to interact with the UE 1530, e.g., a touch screen display. Hardware processing circuitry 1540 may include logic devices or circuitry to perform various operations. In some embodiments, the processor 1536 and memory 1538 may be arranged to perform operations of the hardware processing circuitry 1540, e.g., as described herein with reference to logical devices and circuitry within the UE 1530 and/or the hardware processing circuitry 1540.

In some embodiments, the antenna 1525 coupled to the UE 1530 may include one or more directional or omnidirectional antennas, including: a monopole antenna, a dipole antenna, a loop antenna, a patch antenna, a microstrip antenna, a coplanar wave antenna, or other type of antenna suitable for transmission of RF signals. In some MIMO embodiments, antennas 1525 are separated to exploit spatial diversity.

elements of the eNB1510 and UE 1530, as well as elements having the same name or reference number in other figures, may operate or function in the manner described with respect to any of these figures (although the operation and function of such elements is not limited to such description). For example, fig. 8, 14, 16-17, and 20 also depict embodiments of an eNB and/or UE, and the embodiments described with respect to fig. 15 and fig. 8, 14, and 20 may operate or function in the manner described with respect to any of these figures.

Further, although the eNB1510 and the UE 1530 are each described as having several separate functional elements, one or more of the functional elements may be combined and may be implemented by combinations of software-configured elements and/or other hardware elements. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a functional element may refer to one or more processes running on one or more processing elements. Examples of software and/or hardware configured elements include: a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), one or more microprocessors, a DSP, a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Radio Frequency Integrated Circuit (RFIC), or the like.

In fig. 15, an eNB1510 and a UE 1530 are operable to communicate with each other over a network, such as a wireless network. More specifically, the eNB1510 and the UE 1530 may communicate with each other through a wireless communication channel 1550, the wireless communication channel 1550 having both a downlink path from the eNB1510 to the UE 1530 and an uplink path from the UE 1530 to the eNB 1510. The eNB1510 may transmit the CSI-RS configuration message as well as the CSI-RS symbols themselves through a downlink to the UE 1530 via the wireless communication channel 1550. In turn, the UE 1530 can send the calculated channel state information back to the eNB1510 over the wireless communication channel 1550.

Fig. 16 illustrates an embodiment of hardware processing circuitry for an eNB. Referring to fig. 15, eNB1510 (or individual elements or components thereof, or a combination of elements or components thereof) may include hardware processing circuitry 1600. Hardware processing circuit 1600 may include logic devices or circuits to perform various operations. In some embodiments, processor 1516 and memory 1518 may be arranged to perform operations of hardware processing circuit 1600, such as the operations described herein with reference to devices and circuits within hardware processing circuit 1600. For example, one or more circuits of hardware processing circuit 1600 may be implemented by combinations of software-configured elements and/or other hardware elements.

In fig. 16, and with further reference to the various aspects of fig. 11-15, in some embodiments hardware processing circuitry 1600 may include a set of antennas 1607, and may also include an ordered set of antenna ports 1605 for at least a portion of channels associated with a set of receive antennas of a UE, e.g., eNB antenna ports associated with any of antennas 1607, or antennas 1505, or any other antennas used to form wireless communication channel 1550. The hardware processing circuitry 1600 may also include first circuitry 1610 operable to generate messages to the UE 1530, and second circuitry 1620 operable to establish CSI-RS group assignments. The first circuitry 1610 and the second circuitry 1620 may be coupled to an antenna port 1605.

Some of the messages generated by the first circuitry 1610 may be configuration messages that allocate a CSI-RS group specifying one or more CSI-RS antenna ports to the UE 1530. In some embodiments, the first circuitry 1610 may generate a first CSI-RS configuration message that allocates a first CSI-RS group to the UE 1530 and may generate a second CSI-RS configuration message that allocates a second CSI-RS group to the UE 1530. In turn, the first and second assigned CSI-RS groups may each specify one or more CSI-RS antenna ports to transmit on respective downlink subframes.

The first circuitry 1610 is operable to generate more than two CSI-RS configuration messages and, in various embodiments, may generate any number of additional CSI-RS configuration messages that allocate additional CSI-RS groups to the UE 1530. In some embodiments, the first circuitry 1610 is operable to generate a single CSI-RS configuration message that allocates the first CSI-RS group, the second CSI-RS group, and any additional CSI-RS groups (as will be discussed in more detail below).

The particular number and type of CSI-RS group assignments may be established by the second circuitry 1620 and may include any number of CSI-RS groups generally corresponding to an ordered set of antenna ports 1605. The second circuitry 1620 may establish any number of 1-port or 2-port CSI-RS group assignments, any number of 4-port CSI-RS group assignments, and/or any number of 8-port CSI-RS group assignments, respectively, in any order to correspond to an ordered set of antenna ports 1605. When aggregated, the CSI-RS antenna ports specified by the allocated CSI-RS group may accordingly be an ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports corresponding to an ordered set of antenna ports 1605.

Thus, in some embodiments, the ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports may include one or more antenna ports specified by a first CSI-RS group assigned by the first CSI-RS configuration message and one or more antenna ports specified by a second CSI-RS group assigned by the second CSI-RS configuration message. In various embodiments, the ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports may also include one or more antenna ports specified by any number of additional CSI-RS configuration messages.

The CSI-RS antenna ports specified by the allocated CSI-RS group may be related to the ordered set of antenna ports 1605 in various ways. In some embodiments, the second circuitry is operable to establish the one or more antenna ports specified by the first allocated CSI-RS group as being associated with a first portion of the ordered set of antenna ports 1605 and establish the one or more antenna ports specified by the second allocated CSI-RS group as being associated with a second portion of the ordered set of antenna ports 1605, wherein the second portion is subsequent to the first portion in the ordered set of antenna ports 1605. In other words, all CSI-RS antenna ports specified by the first allocated CSI-RS group followed by all CSI-RS antenna ports specified by the second allocated CSI-RS group (and followed by all CSI-RS antenna ports specified by any additionally allocated CSI-RS group) may correspond to at least a portion of the ordered set of antenna ports 1605.

In other embodiments, the second circuitry 1620 is operable to (1) establish a first CSI-RS antenna port specified by the first allocated CSI-RS group and a first CSI-RS antenna port specified by the second allocated CSI-RS group as being associated with a first portion of the ordered set of antenna ports 1605, and (2) establish a second CSI-RS antenna port specified by the first allocated CSI-RS group and a second CSI-RS antenna port specified by the second allocated CSI-RS group as being associated with a second portion of the ordered set of antenna ports 1605, the second portion following the first portion, in the ordered set of antenna ports 1605. In other words, all CSI-RS antenna ports specified by the first allocated CSI-RS group that are interleaved (interleaved) with CSI-RS antenna ports specified by the second allocated CSI-RS group (and interleaved with CSI-RS antenna ports specified by any additional allocated CSI-RS group) may correspond to at least a portion of the ordered set of antenna ports 1605.

In further embodiments, the first and second allocated CSI-RS groups may be included in one message to the UE 1530 with an Information Element (IE) specifying each CSI-RS group as at least one asserted bit in a bit array. In other words, the first and second allocated CSI-RS groups (and any additional allocated CSI-RS groups) may be included in one CSI-RS configuration message from the eNB1510 to the UE 1530. Such a message may include a set of bits, each of which may correspond to at least one 1-port, 2-port, 4-port, or 8-port CSI reference signal configuration, e.g., as indicated by table 6.10.5.2-1.

The CSI-RS protocol discussed herein may advantageously allow a more optimal wireless communication channel to be established between the eNB1510 and the UE 1530. For example, in some embodiments, the second circuitry 1620 may establish one or more antenna ports specified by a first assigned CSI-RS group to be associated with a first antenna coupled to the eNB1510 and establish one or more antenna ports specified by a second assigned CSI-RS group to be associated with a second antenna coupled to the eNB1510, the first and second antennas having orthogonal polarizations. In other words, the polarization of the antennas of eNB1510 associated with the CSI-RS antenna ports specified by the first assigned CSI-RS group may be orthogonal to the polarization of the antennas of eNB1510 associated with the CSI-RS antenna ports specified by the second assigned CSI-RS group. Channel state information measurements of the associated CSI-RS symbols may then result in more optimal channel performance.

Fig. 17 illustrates an embodiment of hardware processing circuitry for a UE. Referring to fig. 15, a UE 1530 (or individual elements or components thereof, or a combination of elements or components thereof) may include hardware processing circuitry 1700. Hardware processing circuit 1700 may comprise a logic device or circuitry to perform various operations. In some embodiments, the processor 1536 and the memory 1538 may be arranged to perform operations of the hardware processing circuitry 1700, such as the operations described herein with reference to the devices and circuits within the hardware processing circuitry 1700. For example, one or more circuits of hardware processing circuit 1700 may be implemented by a combination of software-configured elements and/or other hardware elements.

In fig. 17, and with further reference to the various aspects of fig. 11-15, in some embodiments hardware processing circuitry 1700 may include a set of antenna ports 1705, which may be coupled to a set of antennas, for example, antenna 1707, or antenna 1525, or any other antenna used to form wireless communication channel 1550. The hardware processing circuitry 1700 may also include first circuitry 1710 and second circuitry 1720, wherein the first circuitry 1710 is operable to receive a CSI-RS configuration message from the eNB1510, and the second circuitry 1720 is operable to index the allocated CSI-RS group into an ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports. The first circuit 1710 and the second circuit 1720 may be coupled to an antenna port 1605. Further, the set of antennas 1707 may be associated with at least a portion of the ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports.

Some of the messages received by the first circuitry 1710 may be configuration messages from the eNB1510 that allocate a CSI-RS group specifying one or more CSI-RS antenna ports to the UE 1530. In some embodiments, the first circuitry 1710 may receive, from the eNB1510, a first CSI-RS configuration message allocating a first CSI-RS group and a second CSI-RS configuration message allocating a second CSI-RS group. The first circuit 1710 may also be operable to receive more than two CSI-RS configuration messages, and in various embodiments, may receive any number of additional CSI-RS configuration messages allocating additional CSI-RS groups to the UE 1530. Further, in some embodiments, the first circuit 1710 may be operable to receive a single CSI-RS configuration message that allocates both the first CSI-RS group and the second CSI-RS group, as well as any additional CSI-RS groups.

After receiving the CSI-RS configuration, the second circuit 1720 may then index the CSI-RS antenna ports specified by the first assigned CSI-RS group and the CSI-RS antenna ports specified by the second assigned CSI-RS as an ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports for at least a portion of the channels associated with the group of antennas 1707. The indexing done by the UE 1530 should therefore complement the way in which the CSI-RS groups are established by the second circuitry 1620 of the eNB1510, such that the ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports of the UE 1530 may correspond to an ordered set of antenna ports of the eNB 1510.

The second circuit 1720 is operable to index the ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports in various ways. In some embodiments, the second circuit 1720 is operable to index the ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports beginning with all antenna ports specified by the first assigned CSI-RS group and then all antenna ports specified by the second assigned CSI-RS group. That is, the second circuit 1720 may index all CSI-RS antenna ports specified by each assigned CSI-RS group in the order in which they were received.

In other embodiments, the second circuit 1720 is operable to index the ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports in the following manner: (1) first indexing a first portion of CSI-RS antenna ports specified by a first assigned CSI-RS group and a first portion of CSI-RS antenna ports specified by a second assigned CSI-RS group, (2) then indexing a second portion of CSI-RS antenna ports specified by the first assigned CSI-RS group and a second portion of CSI-RS antenna ports specified by the second assigned CSI-RS group. In other words, the first CSI-RS antenna port of each assigned CSI-RS group may be indexed, then the second CSI-RS antenna port of each assigned CSI-RS group may be indexed, and so on, until the last CSI-RS antenna port of each assigned CSI-RS group is indexed.

In further embodiments, the first and second allocated CSI-RS groups (and any additional allocated CSI-RS groups) may be included in the same message to the UE 1530 with an Information Element (IE) specifying each CSI-RS group as at least one asserted bit in the bit array. Each bit in the bit array may in turn correspond to at least one 1-port, 2-port, 4-port, or 8-port CSI reference signal configuration, e.g., as indicated by table 6.10.5.2-1.

After the UE 1530 has had an opportunity to index the CSI-RS antenna ports of the respective CSI-RS groups into the ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports, the eNB1510 may transmit CSI-RS symbols on the CSI-RS antenna ports of the ordered list. The second circuit 1720 is then operable to perform channel state information measurements on the ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports. Based on the above discussion, each CSI-RS antenna port in the ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports may correspond to a CSI-RS configuration for a 1-port, 2-port, 4-port, or 8-port antenna as defined by 3GPP TS 36.211 (V10.7.0). Furthermore, due to the flexibility of the CSI-RS protocol, the CSI-RS symbols for the ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports may all be transmitted in the same downlink subframe.

After the UE 1530 has performed channel state information measurements, the second circuit 1720 is operable to calculate channel state information based on the channel state information measurements and present the calculated channel state information to the first circuit 1710 via the calculation interface 1725. The first circuit 1710 is then operable to generate a report message to the eNB1510 that includes the calculated channel state information received via the calculation interface 1725. In a corresponding manner, the first circuitry 1610 of the eNB1510 may receive a report message from the UE 1530 that includes channel state information calculated for the channel based on channel state information measurements for the ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports. The eNB1510 may then use the channel state information to help manage its antenna resources for better performance.

Fig. 18-19 illustrate embodiments of methods of using CSI-RS groups according to a CSI-RS protocol. Referring to fig. 18, a method 1800 to be performed by an eNB may include: establishing (1810) a CSI-RS group, transmitting (1820) a CSI-RS configuration message, transmitting (1830) CSI-RS symbols, and receiving (1840) the calculated channel state information.

In various embodiments, establishing (1810) may include establishing the one or more CSI-RS antenna ports specified by the first CSI-RS group assignment and the one or more CSI-RS antenna ports specified by the second CSI-RS group assignment as an ordered set of antenna ports for the eNB 1510. The ordered set of antenna ports, in turn, can be at least a portion of a wireless communication channel associated with a respective set of receive antenna ports of the UE 1530.

In some embodiments, the method 1800 may include associating a first antenna coupled to the eNB1510 with one or more antenna ports specified by a first CSI-RS group assignment and associating a second antenna coupled to the eNB1510 with one or more antenna ports specified by a second CSI-RS group assignment, where the first antenna and the second antenna have orthogonal polarizations.

In some embodiments, the method 1800 may include associating a first portion of an ordered set of antenna ports of the eNB1510 with one or more CSI-RS antenna ports specified by the first CSI-RS group assignment, and associating a second portion of the ordered set of antenna ports of the eNB1510 with one or more CSI-RS antenna ports specified by the second CSI-RS group assignment, wherein the second portion is subsequent to the first portion in the ordered set of antenna ports of the eNB 1510. In other embodiments, method 1800 may include: (1) associate a first CSI-RS antenna port specified by the first CSI-RS group assignment and a first CSI-RS antenna port specified by the second CSI-RS group assignment with a first portion of an ordered set of antenna ports of the eNB1510, and (2) associate a second CSI-RS antenna port specified by the first CSI-RS group assignment and a second CSI-RS antenna port specified by the second CSI-RS group assignment with a second portion of the ordered set of antenna ports of the eNB1510, wherein the second portion is subsequent to the first portion in the ordered set of antenna ports of the eNB 1510.

Transmitting (1820) may include sending the first CSI-RS group assignment and the second CSI-RS group assignment to the UE 1530. Transmitting (1830) may also include sending CSI-RS symbols to the UE 1530 for making channel state information measurements and calculating channel state information. Receiving (1840) may include receiving a report message including channel state information calculated for a channel from the UE 1530.

Referring to fig. 19, a method 1900 to be performed by a UE may include: receiving (1910) a CSI-RS configuration message, indexing (1920) CS-RS antenna ports, performing (1930) channel measurements, and calculating (1940) channel state information.

For example, in various embodiments, receiving (1910) may include receiving, from the eNB1510, an assignment of a first CSI-RS group specifying one or more CSI-RS antenna ports and an assignment of a second CSI-RS group specifying one or more CSI-RS antenna ports. The index (1920) may include an ordered list of indexing, as CSI-RS antenna ports for at least a portion of a channel associated with a set of receive antennas of the UE, the one or more CSI-RS antenna ports specified by the first CSI-RS group assignment and the one or more CSI-RS antenna ports specified by the second CSI-RS group assignment.

Performing (1930) may include performing channel state information measurements for the channel, and calculating (1940) may include calculating channel state information for the channel. The method 1900 may further include generating a report message to the eNB1510 including the channel state information calculated for the channel.

In some embodiments, the indexing (1920) may begin with all antenna ports specified by the first CSI-RS group assignment, and then index all antenna ports specified by the second CSI-RS group assignment. In other embodiments, the index (1920) may interleave the one or more REs of the first CSI-RS group assignment and the one or more REs of the second CSI-RS group assignment. In other embodiments, the first CSI-RS group assignment and the second CSI-RS group assignment may be included in one message from the eNB1510 having an Information Element (IE) specifying each CSI-RS group assignment as at least one asserted bit in an array of bits.

Although the blocks in the flow diagrams with reference to fig. 18-19 are shown in a particular order, the order of the actions may be modified. Thus, the illustrated embodiments may be performed in a different order, and some actions/blocks may be performed in parallel. Some of the blocks and/or operations listed in fig. 18-19 are optional in accordance with some embodiments. The numbering of the blocks is done for the sake of clarity and is not intended to dictate the order in which the various blocks must occur. Further, operations from the various flows may be utilized in various combinations.

Further, in some embodiments, a machine-readable storage medium may have executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause eNB1510 to perform operations comprising method 1800. Similarly, in some embodiments, a machine-readable storage medium may have stored thereon executable instructions that, when executed, cause the UE 1530 to perform operations comprising the method 1900. Such machine-readable storage media may include any of a variety of storage media, such as magnetic storage media (e.g., tape or disk), optical storage media (e.g., optical disk), electronic storage media (e.g., conventional hard disk drives, solid state drives, or flash memory-based storage media), or any other tangible or non-transitory storage media.

Fig. 20 illustrates example components of a UE device 2000 in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, the UE device 2000 may include application circuitry 2002, baseband circuitry 2004, Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry 2006, Front End Module (FEM) circuitry 2008, low power wake-up receiver (LP-WUR)2050, and one or more antennas 2010 coupled together at least as shown. In some embodiments, the UE device 2000 may include additional elements, such as memory/storage, a display, a camera, sensors, and/or input/output (I/O) interfaces.

The application circuitry 2002 may include one or more application processors. For example, the application circuitry 2002 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processor(s) may include any combination of general-purpose processors and special-purpose processors (e.g., graphics processors, application processors, etc.). The processor may be coupled with and/or may include memory/storage and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory/storage to implement various applications and/or operating systems running on the system.

Baseband circuitry 2004 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The baseband circuitry 2004 may include one or more baseband processors and/or control logic to process baseband signals received from the receive signal path of the RF circuitry 2006 and to generate baseband signals for the transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 2006. Baseband processing circuitry 2004 may interface with application circuitry 2002 to generate and process baseband signals and control the operation of RF circuitry 2006. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 2004 may include a second generation (2G) baseband processor 2004a, a third (3G) baseband processor 2004b, a fourth generation (4G) baseband processor 2004c, and/or other baseband processor(s) 2004d for other existing generations, generations in development, or generations to be developed in the future (e.g., fifth generation (5G), 6G, etc.). Baseband circuitry 2004 (e.g., one or more of baseband processors 2004 a-d) may process various radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via RF circuitry 2006. The radio control functions may include, but are not limited to: signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, the modulation/demodulation circuitry of baseband circuitry 2004 may include Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), precoding, and/or constellation mapping/demapping functions. In some embodiments, the encoding/decoding circuitry of baseband circuitry 2004 may include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi (Viterbi), and/or Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder/decoder functionality. Embodiments of modulation/demodulation and encoder/decoder functions are not limited to these examples, and other suitable functions may be included in other embodiments.

In some embodiments, baseband circuitry 2004 may include elements of a protocol stack, e.g., elements of the EUTRAN protocol including, for example, Physical (PHY) elements, Medium Access Control (MAC) elements, Radio Link Control (RLC) elements, Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) elements, and/or RRC elements. A Central Processing Unit (CPU)2004e of the baseband circuitry 2004 may be configured to run elements of a protocol stack for signaling of the PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP, and/or RRC layers. In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry may include one or more audio Digital Signal Processors (DSPs) 2004 f. The audio DSP(s) 2004f may include elements for compression/decompression and echo cancellation, and may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments. In some embodiments, components of the baseband circuitry may be combined in a single chip or a single chipset, or arranged on the same circuit board, as appropriate. In some embodiments, some or all of the constituent components of the baseband circuitry 2004 and the application circuitry 2002 may be implemented together, for example, on a system on a chip (SOC).

In some embodiments, baseband circuitry 2004 may provide communications compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, baseband circuitry 2004 may support communication with an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (EUTRAN) and/or other Wireless Metropolitan Area Networks (WMANs), Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPANs). Embodiments in which the baseband circuitry 2004 is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry.

The RF circuitry 2006 may enable communication with a wireless network using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, the RF circuitry 2006 can include switches, filters, amplifiers, and the like to facilitate communication with a wireless network. RF circuitry 2006 may include a receive signal path that may include circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from FEM circuitry 2008 and provide baseband signals to baseband circuitry 2004. RF circuitry 2006 may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry to up-convert baseband signals provided by baseband circuitry 2004 and provide RF output signals to FEM circuitry 2008 for transmission.

In some embodiments, RF circuitry 2006 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the RF circuitry 2006 can include mixer circuitry 2006a, amplifier circuitry 2006b, and filter circuitry 2006 c. The transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 2006 can include filter circuitry 2006c and mixer circuitry 2006 a. The RF circuit 2006 can also include a synthesizer circuit 2006d that synthesizes frequencies for use by the mixer circuits 2006a of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 2006a of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuit 2008 based on a synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuit 2006 d. The amplifier circuit 2006b may be configured to amplify the downconverted signal, and the filter circuit 2006c may be a Low Pass Filter (LPF) or a Band Pass Filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the downconverted signal to generate an output baseband signal. The output baseband signal may be provided to baseband circuitry 2004 for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signal may be a zero frequency baseband signal, but this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, mixer circuit 2006a of the receive signal path may comprise a passive mixer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 2006a of the transmit signal path may be configured to upconvert the input baseband signal based on a synthesis frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 2006d to generate an RF output signal for the FEM circuitry 2008. The baseband signal may be provided by baseband circuitry 2004 and may be filtered by filter circuitry 2006 c. The filter circuit 2006c may include an LPF, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, mixer circuit 2006a of the receive signal path and mixer circuit 2006a of the transmit signal path may comprise two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature down-conversion and/or quadrature up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 2006a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 2006a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley (Hartley) image rejection). In some embodiments, mixer circuit 2006a and mixer circuit 2006a of the receive signal path may be arranged for direct down-conversion and/or direct up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, mixer circuit 2006a of the receive signal path and mixer circuit 2006a of the transmit signal path may be configured for superheterodyne operation.

In some embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternative embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be digital baseband signals. In these alternative embodiments, the RF circuitry 2006 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) circuitry and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry, and the baseband circuitry 2004 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RF circuitry 2006.

In some dual-mode embodiments, separate radio IC circuitry may be provided to process signals for each spectrum, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 2006d may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional-N/N +1 synthesizer, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect as other types of frequency synthesizers may be appropriate. For example, synthesizer circuit 2006d may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer including a phase locked loop with a frequency divider.

The synthesizer circuit 2006d can be configured to synthesize an output frequency based on the frequency input and the divider control input for use by the mixer circuit 2006a of the RF circuit 2006. In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 2006d can be a fractional N/N +1 synthesizer.

In some embodiments, the frequency input may be provided by a Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO), but this is not required. The divider control input may be provided by baseband circuitry 2004 or application processor 2002 depending on the desired output frequency. In some embodiments, the divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a look-up table based on the channel indicated by the application processor 2002.

Synthesizer circuit 2006d of RF circuit 2006 can include a frequency divider, a Delay Locked Loop (DLL), a multiplexer, and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the divider may be a dual-mode divider (DMD) and the phase accumulator may be a Digital Phase Accumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide an input signal by N or N +1 (e.g., based on execution) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, a DLL may include a set of cascaded tunable delay elements, a phase detector, a charge pump, and a D-type flip-flop. In these embodiments, the delay elements may be configured to decompose the VCO period into Nd equal phase groups, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this manner, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 2006d can be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in other embodiments the output frequency can be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and used in conjunction with a quadrature generator and divider circuit to generate a plurality of signals at the carrier frequency that have different phases from one another. In some embodiments, the output frequency may be the LO frequency (fLO). In some embodiments, the RF circuitry 2006 may include an IQ/polarity converter.

FEM circuitry 2008 may include a receive signal path that may include circuitry configured to manipulate received RF signals from one or more antennas 2010, amplify the received signals, and provide an amplified version of the received signals to RF circuitry 2006 for further processing. The FEM circuitry 2008 may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry configured to amplify signals provided for transmission by the RF circuitry 2006 for transmission by one or more of the one or more antennas 2010.

In some embodiments, FEM circuitry 2008 may include a TX/RX switch to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuitry may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry may include a Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) to amplify the received RF signal and provide the amplified received RF signal as an output (e.g., to the output of the RF circuitry 2006). The transmit signal path of FEM circuitry 2008 may include a Power Amplifier (PA) to amplify an input RF signal (e.g., provided by RF circuitry 2006), and may include one or more filters to generate an RF signal for subsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the one or more antennas 2010).

In some embodiments, the UE 2000 includes multiple power saving mechanisms. If the UE 2000 is in an RRC Connected (RRC _ Connected) state (where it is still Connected to the eNB because it expects to receive traffic soon), it may enter a state called discontinuous reception mode (DRX) after an inactive period. During this state, the device may be shut down for brief intervals of time, thereby saving power.

If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time, the UE 2000 may transition to an RRC Idle (RRC Idle) state in which it disconnects from the network and does not perform operations such as channel quality feedback, handover, and the like. The UE 2000 enters a very low power state and performs paging, where it periodically wakes up to listen to the network and then powers down again. The device cannot receive data in this state and in order to receive data it must transition back to the RRC connected state.

The additional power saving mode also allows the device to be unavailable to the network for periods of time longer than the paging interval (from a few seconds to a few hours). During this time, the device is completely unable to connect to the network and may be completely powered off. Any data sent during this time causes a large delay and it is assumed that the delay is acceptable.

Fig. 21 illustrates a computing device with a mechanism to provide a flexible CSI-RS protocol in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. It is pointed out that those elements of fig. 21 having the same reference numbers (or names) as the elements of any other figure can operate or function in any manner similar to that so described, but are not limited to such.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the computing device 2100 may be a smart device, a smartphone, a tablet, a SoC, or a computer system with mechanisms that provide a flexible CSI-RS protocol. FIG. 21 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a mobile device operable to use a planar interface connector. In one embodiment, the computing device 2100 may be a mobile computing device, such as a computing tablet, mobile phone or smartphone, wireless-enabled e-reader, or other wireless mobile device. It will be understood that some components are shown generally, and not all components of such a device are shown in computing device 2100.

According to some embodiments discussed, the computing device 2100 includes a first processor 2110 with mechanisms to provide a flexible CSI-RS protocol. According to other embodiments, other blocks of the computing device 2100 may also include mechanisms to provide a flexible CSI-RS protocol. Various embodiments of the present disclosure may also include a network interface (e.g., a wireless interface) within 2170 such that system embodiments may be incorporated into a wireless device, e.g., a cellular telephone or personal digital assistant.

In some embodiments, processor 2110 may include one or more physical devices, such as a microprocessor, application processor, microcontroller, programmable logic device, or other processing means. The processing operations performed by processor 2110 may include executing an operating platform or operating system on which application and/or device functions may then be executed. The processing operations may also include operations relating to one or more of the following: input/output (I/O) of a human user or with other devices; managing a power supply; connecting the computing device 2100 to another device; audio I/O; and/or display I/O.

In some embodiments, computing device 2100 includes an audio subsystem 2120 that represents hardware components (e.g., audio hardware and audio circuits) and software components (e.g., drivers and/or codecs) associated with providing audio functionality to computing device 2100. The audio functions may include speaker and/or headphone output and microphone input. Devices for such functions can be integrated into computing device 2100 or can be connected to computing device 2100. In one embodiment, a user interacts with the computing device 2100 by providing audio commands that are received and processed by the processor 2110.

In some embodiments, computing device 2100 includes a display subsystem 2130 that represents hardware components (e.g., a display device) and software components (e.g., drivers) that provide a visual and/or tactile display to a user for interacting with computing device 2100. Display subsystem 2130 may include display interface 2132, which may be a specific screen or hardware device for providing a display to a user. In one embodiment, the display interface 2132 includes logic separate from the processor 2110 to perform at least some processing related to display. In some embodiments, display subsystem 2130 includes a touch screen (or touch pad) device that provides both output and input to a user.

In some embodiments, computing device 2100 includes an I/O controller 2140 associated with hardware devices and software components related to user interaction. I/O controller 2140 is operative to manage hardware that is part of audio subsystem 2120 and/or display subsystem 2130. Further, I/O controller 2140 can be a connection point for additional devices connected to computing device 2100, through which a user can interact with the system. For example, devices that may be attached to the computing device 2100 may include: a microphone device, a speaker or stereo system, a video system or other display device, a keyboard or keypad device, or other I/O devices for a particular application, such as a card reader or other device.

As described above, the I/O controller 2140 may interact with the audio subsystem 2120 and/or the display subsystem 2130. For example, input through a microphone or other audio device can provide input or commands for one or more applications or functions of the computing device 2100. Further, audio output may be provided instead of or in addition to display output. In another example, if display subsystem 2130 includes a touch screen, the display device may also serve as an input device, which may be managed, at least in part, by I/O controller 2140. Additional buttons or switches may also be present on computing device 2100 to provide I/O functions managed by I/O controller 2140.

In some embodiments, I/O controller 2140 manages devices such as accelerometers, cameras, light sensors, or other environmental sensors, or other hardware that may be included in computing device 2100. The input may be part of direct user interaction, and may provide environmental input to the system to affect its operation (e.g., filter noise, adjust the display for brightness detection, apply a flash for the camera, or other features).

In some embodiments, computing device 2100 includes a power management component 2150 that manages battery power usage, charging of the battery, and features related to power saving operations.

Memory subsystem 2160 includes memory devices for storing information in computing device 2100. Memory subsystem 2160 may include non-volatile memory devices (whose state does not change if power to the memory device is interrupted) and/or volatile memory devices (whose state is indeterminate if power to the memory device is interrupted). Memory subsystem 2160 may store application data (long-term or temporary), user data, music, photos, documents, or other data related to the execution of the applications and functions of computing device 2100, as well as system data.

Portions of memory subsystem 2160 may also be provided as a non-transitory machine-readable medium for storing computer-executable instructions (e.g., instructions to implement any of the other processes discussed herein). The machine-readable medium may include, but is not limited to: flash memory, optical disks, CD-ROMs, DVDROMs, RAMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, Phase Change Memory (PCM), or other types of machine-readable media suitable for storing electronic or computer-executable instructions. For example, some embodiments of the present disclosure may be downloaded as a computer program (e.g., BIOS) which may be transferred from a remote computer (e.g., a server) to a requesting computer (e.g., a client) by way of data signals via a communication link (e.g., a modem or network connection).

In some embodiments, computing device 2100 includes a network interface within connection component 2170, e.g., cellular interface 2172 or wireless interface 2174, such that embodiments of computing device 2100 can be incorporated into a wireless device such as a cellular telephone or personal digital assistant. In some embodiments, connection component 2170 includes hardware devices (e.g., wireless and/or wired connectors and communication hardware) and software components (e.g., drivers and/or protocol stacks) to enable computing device 2100 to communicate with external devices. The computing device 2100 may include separate devices such as other computing devices, wireless access points or base stations, as well as peripheral devices such as headsets, printers, or other devices.

In some embodiments, connection assembly 2170 may include a number of different types of network interfaces, e.g., one or more wireless interfaces that allow processor 2110 to communicate with another device. In general terms, computing device 2100 is shown with a cellular interface 2172 and a wireless interface 2174. Cellular interface 2172 generally refers to a wireless interface to a cellular network provided by a cellular network operator, e.g., a wireless interface provided via GSM or a variant or derivative, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) or a variant or derivative, Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) or a variant or derivative, or other cellular service standard. Wireless interface 2174 generally refers to a non-cellular wireless interface and may include a personal area network (e.g., bluetooth, near field, etc.), a local area network (e.g., Wi-Fi), and/or a wide area network (e.g., WiMax), or other wireless communication.

In some embodiments, computing device 2100 has various peripheral connections 2180 that may include hardware interfaces and connectors, and software components to make peripheral connections (e.g., drivers and/or protocol stacks). It will be understood that computing device 2100 may be both a peripheral to other computing devices (via "to" 2182) and may have peripherals connected to it (via "from" 2184). Computing device 2100 can have a "docking" connector to connect to other computing devices, for example, to manage content (e.g., download and/or upload, change, synchronize) on computing device 2100. Further, a docking connector may allow the computing device 2100 to connect to some peripheral device that allows the computing device 2100 to control output, for example, to an audiovisual system or other system.

In addition to proprietary docking connectors or other proprietary connection hardware, the computing device 2100 may establish peripheral connections 2180 via public or standards-based connectors. Common types of connectors may include: a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector (which may include any of a number of different hardware interfaces), a DisplayPort (DisplayPort) or MiniDisplayPort (MDP) connector, a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) connector, a firewire connector, or other type of connector.

Reference in the specification to "an embodiment," "one embodiment," "some embodiments," or "other embodiments" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiments is included in at least some embodiments, but not necessarily all embodiments. The appearances of "an embodiment," "one embodiment," or "some embodiments" are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiments. If the specification states a component, feature, structure, or characteristic "may", "might", or "could" be included, that particular component, feature, structure, or characteristic is not required to be included. If the specification or claims refer to "a" or "an" and an element, that does not mean there is only one of the element. If the specification or claims refer to "an additional" element, that does not preclude there being more than one of the additional element.

Furthermore, the particular features, structures, functions, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. For example, the first embodiment may be combined with the second embodiment without the specific features, structures, functions, or characteristics associated with the two embodiments being mutually exclusive.

While the present disclosure has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments thereof, many alternatives, modifications, and variations of these embodiments will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in light of the foregoing description. For example, other memory architectures (e.g., dynamic ram (dram)) may use the discussed embodiments. The embodiments of the present disclosure are intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variances that fall within the broad scope of the appended claims.

Furthermore, well known power/ground connections to Integrated Circuit (IC) chips and other components may or may not be shown within the figures for simplicity of illustration and discussion, so as not to obscure the disclosure. Further, arrangements may be shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the disclosure, and also in view of the fact that specifics with respect to implementation of such block diagram arrangements is highly dependent upon the platform within which the present disclosure is to be implemented (i.e., specifics should be well within purview of one skilled in the art). Where specific details (e.g., circuits) are set forth in order to describe example embodiments of the disclosure, it should be apparent to one skilled in the art that the disclosure can be practiced without, or with variation of, these specific details. The description is thus to be regarded as illustrative instead of limiting.

The examples set forth below relate to further embodiments. The details in these examples may be used anywhere in one or more embodiments. All optional features of the apparatus described herein may also be implemented with respect to a method or process.

Example 1 provides a User Equipment (UE) operable to communicate with an evolved node b (enb) on a network. The UE may include hardware processing circuitry including a set of antennas, first circuitry, and second circuitry. The first circuitry is operable to receive, from an eNB, a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) configuration message that allocates a CSI-RS group specifying one or more CSI-RS antenna ports for a UE. The second circuitry is operable to index a first set of CSI-RS antenna ports specified by the first assigned CSI-RS group and a second set of CSI-RS antenna ports specified by the second assigned CSI-RS group into an ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports for at least a portion of channels associated with the set of antennas.

In example 2, the UE of example 1 is provided, wherein the second circuitry is operable to perform channel state information measurements on the ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports. The first allocated CSI-RS group may correspond to a CSI-RS configuration having 2, 4, or 8 antenna ports as defined in TS 36.211v.10.7.0, and CSI-RS symbols for an ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports are transmitted in the same downlink subframe.

In example 3, the UE of example 2 is provided, wherein the second circuitry is operable to calculate the channel state information based on channel state information measurements.

In example 4, the UE of example 3 is provided, wherein the first circuitry is operable to generate a report message to the eNB including the calculated channel state information.

In example 5, there is provided the UE of any one of examples 1 to 4, wherein the second circuitry is operable to index the ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports in the following manner: starting with all antenna ports specified by the first assigned CSI-RS group and then going to all antenna ports specified by the second assigned CSI-RS group.

In example 6, there is provided the UE of any one of examples 1 to 4, wherein the second circuitry is operable to index the ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports in the following manner: starting with a first portion of antenna ports specified by the first assigned CSI-RS group and a first portion of antenna ports specified by the second assigned CSI-RS group, and then to a second portion of antenna ports specified by the first assigned CSI-RS group and a second portion of antenna ports specified by the second assigned CSI-RS group.

In example 7, the UE of example 6 is provided, wherein the first portion of antenna ports may be a first half of antenna ports and the second portion of antenna ports may be a second half of antenna ports.

In example 8, the UE of any of examples 1 to 4 is provided, wherein the first and second allocated CSI-RS groups may be included in one message from the eNB with an Information Element (IE) specifying each CSI-RS group as at least one asserted bit in the bit array.

In example 9, the UE of any of examples 1 to 8 is provided, wherein the first circuitry and the second circuitry may be part of baseband circuitry of the UE.

In example 10, there is provided an apparatus comprising an application processor, a memory, one or more antennas, a wireless interface to allow the application processor to communicate with another apparatus, and a touchscreen display, the apparatus comprising the UE of any of examples 1 to 9.

Example 11 provides an apparatus of a User Equipment (UE), comprising an application processor, a memory, a set of antennas, and a wireless interface to allow the application processor to communicate with another device. The apparatus may include a first circuit and a second circuit. The first circuitry is operable to receive a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) configuration message from an eNB that allocates a CSI-RS group specifying one or more CSI-RS antenna ports for a UE. The second circuitry is operable to index a first set of CSI-RS antenna ports specified by the first assigned CSI-RS group and a second set of CSI-RS antenna ports specified by the second assigned CSI-RS group into an ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports for at least a portion of channels associated with the set of antennas.

In example 12, there is provided the apparatus of the UE of example 11, wherein the second circuitry is operable to perform channel state information measurements on the ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports. The first allocated CSI-RS group may correspond to a CSI-RS configuration having 2, 4, or 8 antenna ports as defined in TS 36.211 v.10.7.0. The CSI-RS symbols for the ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports are transmitted in the same downlink subframe.

In example 13, there is provided the apparatus of the UE of example 12, wherein the second circuitry is operable to calculate the channel state information based on channel state information measurements.

In example 14, there is provided the apparatus of the UE of example 13, wherein the first circuitry is operable to generate the report message to the eNB including the calculated channel state information.

In example 15, there is provided the apparatus of the UE of any of examples 11 to 14, wherein the second circuitry is operable to index the ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports in the following manner: starting with all antenna ports specified by the first assigned CSI-RS group and then going to all antenna ports specified by the second assigned CSI-RS group.

In example 16, there is provided the apparatus of the UE of any of examples 11 to 14, wherein the second circuitry is operable to index the ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports in the following manner: starting with a first portion of antenna ports specified by the first assigned CSI-RS group and a first portion of antenna ports specified by the second assigned CSI-RS group, and then to a second portion of antenna ports specified by the first assigned CSI-RS group and a second portion of antenna ports specified by the second assigned CSI-RS group.

In example 17, there is provided the apparatus of the UE of example 16, wherein the first portion of antenna ports may be a first half of antenna ports and the second portion of antenna ports may be a second half of antenna ports.

In example 18, the apparatus of the UE of any of examples 11 to 14 is provided, wherein the first and second allocated CSI-RS groups may be included in one message from the eNB having an Information Element (IE) specifying each CSI-RS group as at least one asserted bit in a bit array.

In example 19, there is provided the apparatus of the UE of any of examples 11 to 18, wherein the apparatus may be baseband circuitry of the UE.

Example 20 provides an evolved node b (enb) operable to communicate with a User Equipment (UE) on a network. The eNB may include hardware processing circuitry that may include an ordered set of antenna ports, first circuitry, and second circuitry. The ordered set of antenna ports may be for at least a portion of channels associated with a set of receive antennas of the UE. The first circuitry is operable to generate a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) configuration message that allocates a CSI-RS group specifying one or more CSI-RS antenna ports for a UE. The second circuitry is operable to establish a CSI-RS group assignment for an ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports corresponding to the ordered set of antenna ports of the eNB. The ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports may include one or more antenna ports specified by the first assigned CSI-RS group and one or more antenna ports specified by the second assigned CSI-RS group.

In example 21, the eNB of example 20 is provided, wherein the first circuitry is operable to receive a report message from the UE, the report message comprising channel state information calculated for the channel based on channel state information measurements on the ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports.

In example 22, the eNB of any of examples 20 or 21 is provided, wherein the second circuitry is operable to establish the one or more antenna ports specified by the first allocated CSI-RS group as being associated with a first antenna coupled to the eNB and is operable to establish the one or more antenna ports specified by the second allocated CSI-RS group as being associated with a second antenna coupled to the eNB. The first antenna and the second antenna may have orthogonal polarizations.

In example 23, the eNB of any of examples 20 to 22 is provided, wherein the second circuitry is operable to establish the one or more antenna ports specified by the first allocated CSI-RS group as being associated with a first portion of the ordered set of antenna ports of the eNB, and is operable to establish the one or more antenna ports specified by the second allocated CSI-RS group as being associated with a second portion of the ordered set of antenna ports of the eNB. The second portion may be subsequent to the first portion in the ordered set of antenna ports of the eNB.

In example 24, the eNB of example 23 is provided, wherein the first portion of antenna ports may be a first half of antenna ports and the second portion of antenna ports may be a second half of antenna ports.

In example 25, the eNB of any of examples 20 to 22 is provided, wherein the second circuitry is operable to establish a first antenna port specified by the first allocated CSI-RS group and a first antenna port specified by the second allocated CSI-RS group as being associated with a first portion of the ordered set of antenna ports of the eNB, and is operable to establish a second antenna port specified by the first allocated CSI-RS group and a second antenna port specified by the second allocated CSI-RS group as being associated with a second portion of the ordered set of antenna ports of the eNB. The second portion may be subsequent to the first portion in the ordered set of antenna ports of the eNB.

In example 26, the eNB of any of examples 20 to 22 is provided, wherein the first allocated CSI-RS group and the second allocated CSI-RS group may be included in one message to the UE with an Information Element (IE) specifying each CSI-RS group as at least one asserted bit in an array of bits.

In example 27, the eNB of any one of examples 20 to 25 is provided, wherein the first allocated CSI-RS group is transmitted to the UE in a first message and the second allocated CSI-RS group is transmitted to the UE in a second message.

Example 28 provides a machine-readable storage medium having stored thereon machine-executable instructions that, when executed, cause a User Equipment (UE) to perform operations. The operations may include receiving, in a UE from an evolved node b (enb), an allocation of a first channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) group specifying one or more CSI-RS antenna ports, and an allocation of a second CSI-RS group specifying the one or more CSI-RS antenna ports. The operations may also include indexing the one or more antenna ports specified by the first CSI-RS group assignment and the one or more antenna ports specified by the second CSI-RS group assignment as an ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports for at least a portion of channels associated with a set of receive antennas of the UE.

In example 29, the machine-readable storage medium of example 28 is provided, wherein the operations may include performing channel state information measurements for the channel. The operations may also include calculating channel state information for the channel. The operations may also include generating a report message to the eNB including the channel state information calculated for the channel.

In example 30, a machine-readable storage medium of any of examples 28 or 29 is provided, wherein the indexing may begin with all antenna ports specified by the first CSI-RS group assignment and then to all antenna ports specified by the second CSI-RS group assignment.

In example 31, a machine-readable storage medium of any of examples 28 or 29 is provided, wherein the index may interleave the one or more REs of the first CSI-RS group assignment and the one or more REs of the second CSI-RS group assignment.

In example 32, a machine-readable storage medium of any of examples 28 to 31 is provided, wherein the first CSI-RS group assignment and the second CSI-RS group assignment may be included in one message from the eNB having an Information Element (IE) specifying each CSI-RS group assignment as at least one asserted bit in an array of bits.

Example 33 provides a machine-readable storage medium having stored thereon machine-executable instructions that, when executed, cause an evolved node b (enb) to perform operations. The operations may include establishing one or more channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) antenna ports specified by a first CSI-RS group assignment and one or more CSI-RS antenna ports specified by a second CSI-RS group assignment as an ordered set of antenna ports for an eNB for at least a portion of channels associated with a set of receive antennas of a User Equipment (UE). The operations may also include transmitting the first CSI-RS group assignment and the second CSI-RS group assignment to the UE.

In example 34, the machine-readable storage medium of example 33 is provided, wherein the operations may include receiving, from the UE, a report message including channel state information computed for the channel.

In example 35, the machine-readable storage medium of any of examples 33 or 34 is provided, wherein the operations may include associating a first antenna coupled to the eNB with one or more antenna ports specified by the first CSI-RS group assignment. The operations may also include associating a second antenna coupled to the eNB with one or more antenna ports specified by the second CSI-RS group assignment, the first antenna and the second antenna having orthogonal polarizations.

In example 36, the machine-readable storage medium of any of examples 33 to 34 is provided, wherein the operations may include associating a first portion of the ordered set of antenna ports of the eNB with one or more antenna ports specified by the first CSI-RS group assignment, and may include associating a second portion of the ordered set of antenna ports of the eNB with one or more antenna ports specified by the second CSI-RS group assignment. The second portion may be subsequent to the first portion in the ordered set of antenna ports of the eNB.

In example 37, the machine-readable storage medium of any of examples 33 to 35 is provided, wherein the operations may include associating a first antenna port specified by the first CSI-RS group assignment and a first antenna port specified by the second CSI-RS group assignment with a first portion of the ordered set of antenna ports of the eNB, and may include associating a second antenna port specified by the first CSI-RS group assignment and a second antenna port specified by the second CSI-RS group assignment with a second portion of the ordered set of antenna ports of the eNB. The second portion may be subsequent to the first portion in the ordered set of antenna ports of the eNB.

Example 38 provides a method performed by a User Equipment (UE) of communicating with an evolved node b (enb) on a network. The method may include receiving, in a UE from an eNB, an allocation of a first channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) group specifying one or more CSI-RS antenna ports, and an allocation of a second CSI-RS group specifying one or more CSI-RS antenna ports. The method may also include indexing the one or more antenna ports specified by the first CSI-RS group assignment and the one or more antenna ports specified by the second CSI-RS group assignment as an ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports for at least a portion of channels associated with a set of receive antennas of the UE.

In example 39, the method of example 38 is provided. The method may include performing channel state information measurements for a channel. The method may also include calculating channel state information for the channel. The method may also include generating a report message to the eNB including the channel state information calculated for the channel.

In example 40, the method of any of examples 38 or 39 is provided, wherein the indexing may begin with all antenna ports specified by the first CSI-RS group assignment, followed by all antenna ports specified by the second CSI-RS group assignment.

In example 41, the method of any one of examples 38 or 39 is provided, wherein the index may interleave the one or more REs of the first CSI-RS group assignment with the one or more REs of the second CSI-RS group assignment.

In example 42, the method of any of examples 38 to 41 is provided, wherein the first CSI-RS group assignment and the second CSI-RS group assignment may be included in one message from the eNB having an Information Element (IE) specifying each CSI-RS group assignment as at least one asserted bit in an array of bits.

In example 43, a machine-readable storage medium is provided, wherein the medium has stored thereon machine-executable instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors (e.g., one or more processors of a UE) to perform a method according to any one of examples 38 to 42.

Example 44 provides a method performed by an evolved node b (enb) of communicating with one or more User Equipments (UEs) on a network. The method may include establishing one or more channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) antenna ports specified by a first CSI-RS group assignment and one or more CSI-RS antenna ports specified by a second CSI-RS group assignment as an ordered set of antenna ports for an eNB for at least a portion of channels associated with a set of receive antennas of a User Equipment (UE). The method may also include transmitting the first CSI-RS group assignment and the second CSI-RS group assignment to the UE.

In example 45, the method of example 44 is provided. The method may include receiving a report message including channel state information calculated for a channel from a UE.

In example 46, the method of any of examples 44 or 45 is provided. The method may include associating a first antenna coupled to the eNB with one or more antenna ports specified by the first CSI-RS group assignment, and may include associating a second antenna coupled to the eNB with one or more antenna ports specified by the second CSI-RS group assignment. The first antenna and the second antenna may have orthogonal polarizations.

In example 47, the method of any one of examples 44 to 46 is provided. The method may include associating a first portion of the ordered set of antenna ports of the eNB with one or more antenna ports specified by the first CSI-RS group assignment, and may include associating a second portion of the ordered set of antenna ports of the eNB with one or more antenna ports specified by the second CSI-RS group assignment. The second portion may be subsequent to the first portion in the ordered set of antenna ports of the eNB.

In example 48, the method of any one of examples 44 to 46 is provided. The method may include associating a first antenna port specified by a first CSI-RS group assignment and a first antenna port specified by a second CSI-RS group assignment with a first portion of the ordered set of antenna ports of the eNB, and may include associating a second antenna port specified by the first CSI-RS group assignment and a second antenna port specified by the second CSI-RS group assignment with a second portion of the ordered set of antenna ports of the eNB. The second portion may be subsequent to the first portion in the ordered set of antenna ports of the eNB.

In example 49, a machine-readable storage medium is provided, wherein the medium has stored thereon machine-executable instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors (e.g., one or more processors of an eNB) to perform a method according to any one of examples 44 to 48.

Example 50 provides a User Equipment (UE) operable to communicate with an evolved node b (eNB) on a network, the UE comprising hardware processing circuitry that may include means for receiving, in the UE, an allocation of a first channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) group specifying one or more CSI-RS antenna ports and an allocation of a second CSI-RS group specifying one or more CSI-RS antenna ports from the eNB. The hardware processing circuitry may also include means for indexing the one or more antenna ports specified by the first CSI-RS group assignment and the one or more antenna ports specified by the second CSI-RS group assignment as an ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports for at least a portion of a channel associated with a set of receive antennas of the UE.

In example 51, a UE comprising the hardware processing circuitry of example 50 is provided, wherein the hardware processing circuitry may comprise means for performing channel state information measurements for a channel. The hardware processing circuitry may also include means for calculating channel state information for the channel. The hardware processing circuitry may also include means for generating a report message to the eNB including channel state information computed for the channel.

In example 52, the UE of any of examples 50 or 51 is provided that includes hardware processing circuitry, wherein the indexing starts with all antenna ports specified by the first CSI-RS group assignment and then to all antenna ports specified by the second CSI-RS group assignment.

In example 53, the UE of any of examples 50 or 51 is provided that includes hardware processing circuitry, wherein the index interleaves the one or more REs of the first CSI-RS group assignment with the one or more REs of the second CSI-RS group assignment.

In example 54, the UE of any of examples 50 to 53 is provided that includes hardware processing circuitry, wherein the first CSI-RS group assignment and the second CSI-RS group assignment are included in one message from the eNB having an Information Element (IE) specifying each CSI-RS group assignment as at least one asserted bit in an array of bits.

In example 55, an evolved node b (eNB) operable to communicate with a User Equipment (UE) on a network is provided, the eNB comprising hardware processing circuitry that may include means for establishing one or more channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) antenna ports specified by a first CSI-RS group assignment and one or more CSI-RS antenna ports specified by a second CSI-RS group assignment as an ordered set of antenna ports of the eNB for at least a portion of channels associated with a set of receive antennas of the User Equipment (UE). The hardware processing circuitry may also include means for transmitting the first CSI-RS group assignment and the second CSI-RS group assignment to the UE.

In example 56, the eNB of example 55 is provided comprising hardware processing circuitry, wherein the hardware processing circuitry may include means for receiving a report message from the UE including channel state information computed for the channel.

In example 57, the eNB including hardware processing circuitry of example 55 or 56 is provided, which may include means for associating a first antenna coupled to the eNB with one or more antenna ports specified by the first CSI-RS group assignment. The hardware processing circuitry may also include means for associating a second antenna coupled to the eNB with one or more antenna ports specified by a second CSI-RS group assignment, the first antenna and the second antenna having orthogonal polarizations.

In example 58, the eNB of examples 55 to 57 is provided that includes hardware processing circuitry, wherein the hardware processing circuitry may include means for associating a first portion of the ordered set of antenna ports of the eNB with one or more antenna ports specified by the first CSI-RS group assignment. The hardware processing circuitry may also include means for associating a second portion of the ordered set of antenna ports of the eNB, the second portion following the first portion, with one or more antenna ports specified by the second CSI-RS group assignment.

In example 59, the eNB of any of examples 55 to 57, comprising hardware processing circuitry, wherein the hardware processing circuitry may include means for associating a first antenna port specified by the first CSI-RS group assignment and a first antenna port specified by the second CSI-RS group assignment with a first portion of the ordered set of antenna ports of the eNB. The hardware processing circuitry may also include means for associating a second antenna port specified by the first CSI-RS group assignment and a second antenna port specified by the second CSI-RS group assignment with a second portion of the ordered set of antenna ports of the eNB, the second portion following the first portion in the ordered set of antenna ports of the eNB.

The abstract is provided to allow the reader to ascertain the nature and gist of the technical disclosure. The abstract is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to limit the scope or meaning of the claims. The following claims are hereby incorporated into the detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment.

Claims (26)

1. A User Equipment (UE) operable to communicate with a base station on a network, the UE comprising hardware processing circuitry comprising:

a set of antennas:

first circuitry operable to receive a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) configuration message from the base station, the CSI-RS configuration message allocating a CSI-RS group specifying one or more CSI-RS antenna ports for the UE; and

a second circuit operable to index a first set of CSI-RS antenna ports specified by a first assigned CSI-RS group and a second set of CSI-RS antenna ports specified by a second assigned CSI-RS group as an ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports for at least a portion of a channel associated with the set of antennas, wherein the CSI-RS antenna ports within the ordered list are numbered starting from a predefined number and an order of the CSI-RS antenna ports within the ordered list is established by an order in which the CSI-RS configuration messages arrive at the UE.

2. The UE of claim 1, wherein the second circuitry is operable to perform channel state information measurements on the ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports, or wherein the first allocated CSI-RS group corresponds to a CSI-RS configuration with 2, 4, or 8 antenna ports as defined in TS 36.211v.10.7.0, or wherein CSI-RS symbols for the ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports are transmitted in a same downlink subframe.

3. The UE of any of claims 1 or 2, wherein the second circuitry is operable to index the ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports in a manner of: starting with all antenna ports specified by the first assigned CSI-RS group and then to all antenna ports specified by the second assigned CSI-RS group.

4. The UE of any of claims 1 or 2, wherein the second circuitry is operable to index the ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports in a manner of: starting with a first portion of antenna ports specified by the first assigned CSI-RS group and a first portion of antenna ports specified by the second assigned CSI-RS group, and then to a second portion of antenna ports specified by the first assigned CSI-RS group and a second portion of antenna ports specified by the second assigned CSI-RS group.

5. The UE of any of claims 1 or 2, wherein the first and second allocated CSI-RS groups are included in one message from the base station with an Information Element (IE) specifying each CSI-RS group as at least one asserted bit in an array of bits.

6. The UE of claim 1, wherein the first circuitry and the second circuitry are part of baseband circuitry of the UE.

7. The UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more CSI-RS antenna ports are mapped to one or more resource elements of a resource block.

8. A base station operable to communicate with a User Equipment (UE) on a network, the base station comprising hardware processing circuitry comprising:

an ordered set of antenna ports for at least a portion of channels associated with a set of receive antennas of the UE;

first circuitry operable to generate a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) configuration message that allocates a CSI-RS group specifying one or more CSI-RS antenna ports for the UE; and

second circuitry operable to establish a CSI-RS group assignment for an ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports corresponding to the ordered set of antenna ports of the base station, the ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports comprising one or more antenna ports specified by a first assigned CSI-RS group and comprising one or more antenna ports specified by a second assigned CSI-RS group, wherein the CSI-RS antenna ports within the ordered list are numbered starting from a predefined number and an order of the CSI-RS antenna ports within the ordered list is established by an order in which the CSI-RS configuration messages arrive at the UE.

9. The base station of claim 8, wherein the second circuitry is operable to establish one or more antenna ports specified by the first assigned CSI-RS group as being associated with a first antenna coupled to the base station, and is operable to establish one or more antenna ports specified by the second assigned CSI-RS group as being associated with a second antenna coupled to the base station, the first and second antennas having orthogonal polarizations.

10. The base station of any of claims 8 or 9, wherein the second circuitry is operable to establish one or more antenna ports specified by the first allocated CSI-RS group as being associated with a first portion of the ordered set of antenna ports of the base station, and is operable to establish one or more antenna ports specified by the second allocated CSI-RS group as being associated with a second portion of the ordered set of antenna ports of the base station, the second portion following the first portion, among the ordered set of antenna ports of the base station.

11. The base station of any of claims 8 or 9, wherein the second circuitry is operable to establish a first antenna port specified by the first allocated CSI-RS group and a first antenna port specified by the second allocated CSI-RS group as being associated with a first portion of the ordered set of antenna ports of the base station, and is operable to establish a second antenna port specified by the first allocated CSI-RS group and a second antenna port specified by the second allocated CSI-RS group as being associated with a second portion of the ordered set of antenna ports of the base station, the second portion following the first portion, among the ordered set of antenna ports of the base station.

12. The base station of any of claims 8 or 9, wherein the first and second allocated CSI-RS groups are included in one message to the UE with an Information Element (IE) specifying each CSI-RS group as at least one asserted bit in an array of bits.

13. A method performed by a User Equipment (UE) to communicate with a base station on a network, the method comprising:

receiving, in the UE from a base station, an assignment of a first channel State information reference Signal (CSI-RS) group specifying one or more CSI-RS antenna ports and an assignment of a second CSI-RS group specifying one or more CSI-RS antenna ports; and

indexing one or more antenna ports specified by the first CSI-RS group assignment and one or more antenna ports specified by the second CSI-RS group assignment as an ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports for at least a portion of a channel associated with a set of receive antennas of the UE, wherein the CSI-RS antenna ports within the ordered list are numbered starting from a predefined number and an order of the CSI-RS antenna ports within the ordered list is established by an order in which the CSI-RS configuration messages arrive at the UE.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the first and second light sources are selected from the group consisting of,

wherein the indexing starts with all antenna ports specified by the first CSI-RS group assignment and then all antenna ports specified by the second CSI-RS group assignment; or

Wherein the index interleaves the one or more REs of the first CSI-RS group assignment with the one or more REs of the second CSI-RS group assignment; or

Wherein the first CSI-RS group assignment and the second CSI-RS group assignment are included in one message from the base station having an Information Element (IE) specifying each CSI-RS group assignment as at least one asserted bit in an array of bits.

15. A machine-readable storage medium having stored thereon machine-executable instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to perform the method of any one of claims 13 or 14.

16. A method performed by a base station to communicate with one or more User Equipments (UEs) on a network, the method comprising:

establishing one or more channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) antenna ports specified by a first CSI-RS group assignment and one or more CSI-RS antenna ports specified by a second CSI-RS group assignment as an ordered set of antenna ports of the base station for at least a portion of channels associated with a set of receive antennas of a User Equipment (UE); and

transmitting a CSI-RS configuration message to the UE, the CSI-RS configuration message allocating the first CSI-RS group assignment and the second CSI-RS group assignment, wherein the CSI-RS antenna ports within the ordered list are numbered starting from a predefined number, and an order of the CSI-RS antenna ports within the ordered list is established by an order in which the CSI-RS configuration message arrives at the UE.

17. The method of claim 16, comprising:

associating a first antenna coupled to the base station with one or more antenna ports specified by the first CSI-RS group assignment; and

associating a second antenna coupled to the base station with one or more antenna ports specified by the second CSI-RS group assignment, the first antenna and the second antenna having orthogonal polarizations.

18. A machine-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause one or more processors to perform the method of any one of claims 16 or 17.

19. A User Equipment (UE) operable to communicate with a base station on a network, the UE comprising hardware processing circuitry comprising:

means for receiving, in the UE, an assignment of a first channel State information reference Signal (CSI-RS) group specifying one or more CSI-RS antenna ports and an assignment of a second CSI-RS group specifying one or more CSI-RS antenna ports from a base station; and

means for indexing one or more antenna ports specified by the first CSI-RS group assignment and one or more antenna ports specified by the second CSI-RS group assignment as an ordered list of CSI-RS antenna ports for at least a portion of a channel associated with a set of receive antennas of the UE, wherein the CSI-RS antenna ports within the ordered list are numbered starting from a predefined number and an order of the CSI-RS antenna ports within the ordered list is established by an order in which the CSI-RS configuration messages arrive at the UE.

20. The UE of claim 19, wherein the indexing starts with all antenna ports specified by the first CSI-RS group assignment and then all antenna ports specified by the second CSI-RS group assignment.

21. The UE of claim 19, wherein the index interleaves the one or more REs of the first CSI-RS group assignment with the one or more REs of the second CSI-RS group assignment.

22. The UE of claim 19, wherein the first CSI-RS group assignment and the second CSI-RS group assignment are included in one message from the base station having an Information Element (IE) specifying each CSI-RS group assignment as at least one asserted bit in an array of bits.

23. A base station operable to communicate with a User Equipment (UE) on a network, the base station comprising hardware processing circuitry comprising:

means for establishing, as an ordered set of antenna ports of the base station for at least a portion of channels associated with a set of receive antennas of a User Equipment (UE), one or more channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) antenna ports specified by a first CSI-RS group assignment and one or more CSI-RS antenna ports specified by a second CSI-RS group assignment; and

means for transmitting a CSI-RS configuration message to the UE, the CSI-RS configuration message allocating the first CSI-RS group assignment and the second CSI-RS group assignment, wherein the CSI-RS antenna ports within the ordered list are numbered starting from a predefined number and an order of the CSI-RS antenna ports within the ordered list is established by an order in which the CSI-RS configuration message arrived at the UE.

24. The base station of claim 23, comprising:

means for associating a first antenna coupled to the base station with one or more antenna ports specified by the first CSI-RS group assignment; and

means for associating a second antenna coupled to the base station with one or more antenna ports specified by the second CSI-RS group assignment, the first antenna and the second antenna having orthogonal polarizations.

25. The base station according to any of claims 23 or 24, comprising:

means for associating a first portion of the ordered set of antenna ports of the base station with one or more antenna ports specified by the first CSI-RS group assignment; and

means for associating a second portion of the ordered set of antenna ports of the base station, the second portion following the first portion, with one or more antenna ports specified by the second CSI-RS group assignment.

26. The base station according to any of claims 23 or 24, comprising:

means for associating a first antenna port specified by the first CSI-RS group assignment and a first antenna port specified by the second CSI-RS group assignment with a first portion of the ordered set of antenna ports of the base station; and

means for associating a second antenna port specified by the first CSI-RS group assignment and a second antenna port specified by the second CSI-RS group assignment with a second portion of the ordered set of antenna ports of the base station, the second portion following the first portion in the ordered set of antenna ports of the base station.

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