CN109478986B - Transmission of multi-user superimposed transmission parameters to user equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

An apparatus of an evolved node b (enb) operable to communicate with a User Equipment (UE) on a wireless network is described. The apparatus may include a first circuit and a second circuit. The first circuitry is operable to establish an index for identifying a parameter associated with a multi-user superposition transmission (MUST) from an eNB to a first UE configured as a near UE and a second UE configured as a far UE. The second circuitry is operable to generate Downlink Control Information (DCI) including the index for transmission to at least one of the first UE or the second UE.

Description

Transmission of multi-user superimposed transmission parameters to user equipment

Priority request

Priority claims are made to U.S. provisional patent application No.62/378,550 entitled "MULTIPLE USER SUPERPOSITION TRANSMISSION UE BEHAVIORS AND NETWORK SIGNALLINGS" filed on 8/23/2016 AND U.S. provisional patent application No.62/405,029 entitled "MULTIPLE USER SUPERPOSITION TRANSMISSION DETECTOR BEHAVIORS AND PARAMETER ESTIMATION" filed on 6/10/2016, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

Background

Various wireless cellular communication systems have been implemented including third generation partnership project (3GPP) universal mobile telecommunications systems, 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, and 3GPP LTE-advanced (LTE-a) systems. Next generation wireless cellular communication systems based on LTE and LTE-a systems, such as fifth generation (5G) wireless systems/5G mobile network systems, New Radio (NR) access technologies, and the like, are being developed. Next generation wireless cellular communication systems may provide support for higher bandwidths, in part, by supporting higher carrier frequencies (e.g., centimeter-and millimeter-wave frequencies).

Various techniques may be adapted to increase the bandwidth of a wireless cellular communication system. For example, a multi-user superposition transmission (MUST) scheme for multi-user (MU) communication was introduced to the 3GPP LTE system in release 14 of the 3GPP specifications (e.g., various versions of release 14). In some examples, the MUST scheme may utilize the concept of superposition coding, e.g., for multi-user transmission in LTE and LTE-a systems.

Drawings

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be understood more fully from the accompanying drawings of various embodiments of the disclosure and from the detailed description given below. However, while the drawings are intended to aid in explanation and understanding, they are merely illustrative and should not be considered as limiting the disclosure to the specific embodiments described herein.

Fig. 1 illustrates a communication system including an eNB transmitting to near and far UEs, e.g., based on non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) power multiplexing, wherein one or both of the near or far UEs may receive one or more indicators associated with NOMA transmissions from the eNB, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 2 illustrates various MU communication scenarios and key parameters associated with the MU communication scenarios, in accordance with some embodiments.

Figures 3A-3C illustrate graphs depicting the impact of NOMA presence detection on Orthogonal Multiple Access (OMA) UE performance, in accordance with some embodiments.

Figures 4A to 4C show graphs depicting the effect of NOMA presence detection on NOMA near UE performance, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 5 shows a graph depicting the effect of NOMA presence detection on NOMA far UE performance, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 6A to 6C show graphs depicting the effect of power BD (blind detection) on NOMA near UE performance, for example, at three assumed settings, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 7A to 7C show graphs depicting the effect of power BD on NOMA near UE performance, for example, at eight hypothetical settings, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 8 illustrates Downlink Control Information (DCI) including a NOMA near UE indication field that may indicate a NOMA near UE on a transmitted Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 9 illustrates DCI including a NOMA Physical Resource Block (PRB) identification field, which may identify one or more PRBs and/or PRB groups for which NOMA transmissions may be used to a near UE, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 10 illustrates DCI including a NOMA index, wherein the NOMA index may identify a NOMA transmission set of a plurality of NOMA transmission sets, and parameters of the identified NOMA transmission set may be used for transmissions from an eNB to one or more UEs, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 11A illustrates DCI including co-scheduled UE information, where the DCI may be transmitted to a first UE to inform the first UE of information associated with a second UE that is co-scheduled with the first UE for OMA spatial multiplexing transmission, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 11B illustrates DCI including a MUST modulation order field, where the DCI may be transmitted to a first UE to inform the first UE of a modulation order of a second UE that is scheduled for NOMA spatial multiplexing transmission in cooperation with the first UE, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 12A illustrates various MU communication scenarios generally and specifically non-orthogonal Spatial Multiplexing (SM) scenarios and key parameters associated with the non-orthogonal Spatial Multiplexing (SM) scenarios, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 12B through 12G illustrate link-level results for scenarios utilizing CRS-based TM and DMRS-based TM, respectively, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 13 illustrates an eNB and a UE according to some embodiments.

Fig. 14 illustrates hardware processing circuitry of an eNB for establishing and transmitting parameters associated with a MUST transmission to one or more UEs, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 15 illustrates hardware processing circuitry of a UE to receive an indication from an eNB via DCI and map the indication to a parameter associated with a MUST transmission, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 16 to 17A illustrate methods for an eNB to transmit an indicator identifying a MUST parameter to one or more UEs, according to some embodiments.

Fig. 17B illustrates a method for an eNB to transmit MU parameters to a UE, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 18 illustrates a method for a UE to receive an index identifying parameters associated with a MUST transmission, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 19A illustrates a method for a UE to receive an indicator identifying a modulation order of a co-scheduled UE, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 19B illustrates a method for a UE to receive ME parameters, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 20 illustrates a system architecture of a network according to some embodiments.

FIG. 21 illustrates example components of a device according to some embodiments.

Fig. 22 illustrates an example interface of a baseband circuit according to some embodiments.

Detailed Description

The MUST scheme for multi-user communication was introduced to the 3GPP LTE system in release 14 of the 3GPP specifications (e.g., various versions of release 14). In some examples, the MUST scheme may utilize the concept of superposition coding, e.g., for multi-user transmission in LTE and LTE-a systems. In some examples, multi-user transmission parameter estimation at the UE side may be a key issue to achieve high performance. In some embodiments, the eNB may transmit an indicator to the UE, where the UE may map the indicator to a parameter. In some embodiments, the eNB may use the parameters for a MUST transmission to the UE and one or more other UEs. The UE may use the parameters to demodulate a Downlink (DL) signal from the eNB.

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 the 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 corresponding 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 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 conjunction with one or more exemplary embodiments to facilitate easier understanding of a circuit or logic unit. Any represented signal as dictated by design needs or preferences may actually comprise one or more signals that may travel in either direction and may be implemented with any suitable type of signal scheme.

Throughout this specification, and in the claims, the term "connected" means a direct electrical, mechanical, or magnetic connection between the things that are connected, without any intermediate means. The term "coupled" means either a direct electrical, mechanical, or magnetic connection between the things that are 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", "closely", "approximately", "almost" and "about" generally refer to within +/-10% of a target value. Unless otherwise specified, the use of the ordinal 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.

It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the invention described herein are, for example, capable of operation in other orientations than those illustrated or otherwise described herein.

The terms "left," "right," "front," "back," "top," "bottom," "above … …," "below … …," and the like (if any) in this specification and in the claims are used for descriptive purposes and not necessarily for describing permanent relative positions.

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

In addition, the various elements of combinational and sequential logic discussed in this disclosure may all relate to physical structures (such as and, or exclusive or gates), or to a composite or optimized collection of devices implementing a logical structure that is a boolean equivalent of the logic discussed.

In addition, for purposes of this disclosure, the term "eNB" may refer to a legacy eNB, a next generation or NR gbb, a 5G eNB, an Access Point (AP), a base station or eNB that communicates over an unlicensed spectrum, and/or other base stations for a wireless communication system. For purposes of this disclosure, the term "UE" may refer to legacy UEs, next generation or NR UEs, 5G UEs, STAs, and/or other mobile devices for wireless communication systems.

Various embodiments of the eNB and/or UE discussed below may process various types of one or more transmissions. Some processing of the transmission may include receiving, conducting, and/or otherwise handling the transmission that has been received. In some embodiments, the eNB or UE processing the transmission may determine or recognize the type of transmission and/or conditions associated with the transmission. For some embodiments, the eNB or UE handling the transmission may act according to the type of transmission and/or may act conditionally based on the type of transmission. The eNB or UE handling the transmission may also recognize one or more values or fields of data carried by the transmission. Processing the transmission may include moving the transmission through one or more layers of a protocol stack (which may be implemented in, for example, hardware and/or software configured elements), such as by moving the transmission that has been received by the eNB or UE through one or more layers of the protocol stack.

Various embodiments of the eNB and/or UE discussed below may also generate one or more transmissions of various types. Some generation of the transmission may include receiving, conducting, and/or otherwise handling the transmission to be sent. In some embodiments, the eNB or UE generating the transmission may establish the type of transmission and/or conditions associated with the transmission. For some embodiments, the eNB or UE generating the transmission may act according to the type of transmission and/or may act conditionally based on the type of transmission. The eNB or UE generating the transmission may also determine one or more values or fields for data carried by the transmission. Generating the transmission may include moving the transmission through one or more layers of a protocol stack (which may be implemented in, for example, hardware and/or software configured elements), such as by moving the transmission to be sent by the eNB or UE via one or more layers of the protocol stack.

Some techniques may be adapted to increase the bandwidth of a wireless cellular communication system. For example, the MUST scheme for multi-user communication was introduced to the 3GPP LTE system in release 14 of the 3GPP specifications (e.g., various versions of release 14). In some examples, the MUST scheme may utilize the concept of superposition coding, e.g., for multi-user transmission in LTE and LTE-a systems. In some examples, multi-user transmission parameter estimation at the UE side may be a key issue to achieve high performance, e.g., as discussed in this disclosure.

In general, different multi-user (MU) transmission schemes are possible with different multiplexing methods. For example, users may be multiplexed in frequency domain resources, time domain resources, and/or spatial domain resources. In general, multiplexing in frequency and time domain resources can be seen as Orthogonal Multiple Access (OMA). The spatial domain multiplexing may be OMA or non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) (e.g., based on beamforming precoder design).

In some examples, NOMA power multiplexing may be applied using superposition transmission in addition to or in place of the multiplexing schemes described above (e.g., multiplexing of frequency domain resources, time domain resources, and/or spatial domain resources). For example, in the case of NOMA with power ratio multiplexing, the scheduled MU UEs may be divided (e.g., according to the transmission intent of the eNB) into two UE behaviors of "near UE" and "far UE". For example, a near UE may be located closer to the serving eNB than a far UE. The eNB may transmit information to the near UE with relatively small transmit power on a QAM constellation multiplexed with the far UE. The near UE may detect co-scheduled NOMA UEs (e.g., far UEs), together for its own demodulation processing. In one example, the multiplexed near UE information may be shown as additive noise to the far UE. For example, fig. 1 illustrates a communication system 100 in accordance with some embodiments, the communication system 100 including an eNB 102 that transmits to near and far UEs 104a, 104b, e.g., based on NOMA power multiplexing, wherein one or both of the near and far UEs 104a, 104b may receive one or more indicators associated with NOMA transmissions from the eNB 102. For example, a near UE 104a may be located closer to the serving eNB 102 within the cell boundary 106 of the eNB 102 than a far UE 104 b. Various example parameters associated with NOMA transmissions that may be received by UE 104a and/or UE 104b from eNB 102 are discussed in further detail herein subsequently.

Fig. 2 illustrates various example MU scenarios and example parameters associated with the MU scenarios, in accordance with some embodiments. For example, MU communications may be broadly classified as OMA 204 or NOMA 206. In one example, OMA 204 may be based on, for example, frequency multiplexing, time multiplexing, and/or orthogonal spatial multiplexing.

In one example, the NOMA 206 may be classified as non-orthogonal spatial multiplexing 208 or power multiplexing 210. In one example, the MU parameters of interest for the non-orthogonal spatial multiplexing 208 may be the modulation scheme used, the number of UEs, the precoder, etc. In one example, the power multiplexing 210 may include, for example, the far UE and the near UE discussed with reference to fig. 1. In some embodiments, the MU parameters of interest to the near UE 104a may be, for example, modulation, power ratio, etc. for transmissions to the near UE and/or the far UE.

In some embodiments, in a MU scenario, a UE may have better performance (e.g., better decoding of DL (downlink) signals) if the UE is aware of various critical parameters associated with MU transmissions. Examples of these key parameters are shown in fig. 2 as A, B, C, D, and E (e.g., corresponding to each letter in a circle). In some embodiments, the UE may benefit from knowing whether OMA or NOMA is used for MU transmission (shown by "a" in the circle). In some embodiments, the UE may benefit from knowing whether non-orthogonal spatial multiplexing 208 or NOMA power multiplexing 210 is being used (e.g., if NOMA is used for MU transmission) (shown by "B" in the circle). In some embodiments, the UE may benefit from knowing one or more MU parameters (shown by "C" in the circle) associated with the non-orthogonal spatial multiplexing 208, for example, where the non-orthogonal spatial multiplexing 208 is used. In some embodiments, for power multiplexed NOMA, the UE may benefit from knowing whether the UE is a near UE or a far UE (shown by "D" in the circle). In some embodiments, if the UE is a near UE in a power multiplexed NOMA, the UE may benefit from knowing one or more MU parameters such as power ratio, modulation, and the like (shown in fig. 2 by "E" in a circle).

In some embodiments, the eNB may provide network signaling to MU UEs (e.g., UEs involved in MU transmissions), where such network signaling may provide one or more indicators or parameters that provide details regarding the particular MU transmission scheme used. However, in one example, too much network signaling may result in relatively high signaling overload. Thus, in one example, it may be desirable to limit parameters associated with the MU transmission scheme that may be transmitted to the MU UE. Various embodiments of the present disclosure propose a signaling method and a UE blind parameter estimation method for a MUST scheme. For example, some embodiments propose one or more parameters associated with the used MUST scheme, which may be provided to the MU UE.

In the present disclosure, various charts are provided and are discussed later herein. For example, the graphs shown in fig. 3A-5 substantially analyze aspects of OMA detection versus NOMA detection (e.g., whether the UE must detect a transmission from the eNB is an OMA transmission or a NOMA transmission). For example, the impact of blind detection on OMA and NOMA performance may be analyzed in the graphs of fig. 3A through 5. For example, a NOMA capable UE must be able to detect, for example, whether PDSCH transmission is OMA or NOMA based.

In the example graphs of fig. 3A to 5, the impact of NOMA and NOMA UE performance with NOMA presence detection was analyzed. Assume that the eNB transmitter uses only a single power ratio combination, where the combined constellation is one of the following LTE legacy constellations: (QPSK + QPSK), uniform 16QAM, (16QAM + QPSK), uniform 64QAM, (64QAM + QPSK), or uniform 256 QAM.

In the graphs shown in fig. 3A to 3C, the impact of NOMA presence detection on OMA UE performance is analyzed, according to some embodiments. In the graphs shown in fig. 3A to 3C, various MCSs (modulation coding schemes) may be used. For example, fig. 3A-3C are graphs of SNR (signal-to-noise ratio) versus presence detection error rate for OMA UE performance (e.g., the UE is an OMA UE) and various MCSs (e.g., MCS 0, MCS10, MCS17, respectively), in accordance with some embodiments. For each of fig. 3A to 3C, two lines are shown corresponding to two detection cases, respectively: (i) "blind sum index" (e.g., blind sum index adapted for UE-side detection); (ii) "blind max-log" (e.g., blind max-log processing is adapted for UE-side detection). In fig. 3A to 3C, it is assumed that the UE receives OMA transmissions, but blind detection is applied and the NOMA signal may be detected erroneously. In the event that the UE detects the presence of NOMA, the UE may apply NOMA near UE reception processing. In the case where the UE does not detect the presence of NOMA, the UE may apply a regular OMA Minimum Mean Square Error (MMSE) -Interference Rejection Combining (IRC) (MMSE-IRC) process.

As can be seen from fig. 3A to 3C, the OMA scene can be detected relatively accurately (e.g., without substantial error) by the maximum-log blind detection method. It can also be seen that the sum-index approach degrades OMA UE performance by up to 7 dB.

In the graphs shown in fig. 4A-4C, the impact of NOMA presence detection on NOMA near UE performance is analyzed, according to some embodiments. In the graphs shown in fig. 4A to 4C, various MCSs may be used. For example, fig. 4A-4C are graphs of SNR versus presence detection error rate for NOMA near UE performance (e.g., the UE is a NOMA near UE) and various MCSs (e.g., MCS 0, MCS10, and MCS17, respectively), in accordance with some embodiments. For each of fig. 4A to 4C, two lines are shown corresponding to two detection cases, respectively: (i) "blind sum index" (e.g., blind sum index adapted for UE-side detection); (ii) "blind max-log" (e.g., blind max-log processing is adapted for UE-side detection). In fig. 4A-4C, it is assumed that the UE received a NOMA near UE transmission, but blind detection is applied and an OMA signal may be detected in error. If OMA is detected, the UE may apply OMA UE RX processing. Otherwise, the UE may apply the correct NOMA near-UE processing.

As can be seen from fig. 4A to 4C, for the NOMA scenario, for example, the sum-rate method has a relatively high detection performance compared to the max-log method. Thus, the observations of fig. 4A-4C are opposite to the observations of fig. 3A-3C (e.g., in fig. 3A-3C, the maximum-log blind detection method has better performance than the sum-exponential blind detection method).

In the graph shown in fig. 5, the impact of NOMA presence detection on NOMA far UE performance is analyzed according to some embodiments. For example, fig. 5 is a graph of SNR versus presence detection error rate for NOMA far UE performance (e.g., the UE is a NOMA far UE) and an example MCS, in accordance with some embodiments. In fig. 5, two lines are shown corresponding to two detection cases, respectively: (i) "blind sum index" (e.g., blind sum index adapted for UE-side detection), (ii) "blind max log" (e.g., blind max log processing adapted for UE-side detection). In fig. 5, it is assumed that the UE received a NOMA far UE transmission, but blind detection is applied and an OMA signal may be detected in error. For example, assume that the UE performs blind detection of NOMA presence (e.g., compare QPSK and 16QAM hypotheses). If the far UE detects the presence of NOMA, the UE may not have information about whether the UE is a near UE or a far UE, and it is assumed that the UE may attempt to apply NOMA near UE processing (e.g., which is incorrect and may result in a performance loss).

The graph of fig. 5 may show that a far UE may detect the NOMA constellation under good SNR conditions, but the UE may not know whether the UE is a near UE or a far UE. In this case, further detection processing becomes relatively less useful and can result in performance degradation.

As can be seen with reference to fig. 3A to 5, for the NOMA scenario, the far UE may not apply OMA/NOMA blind detection. Otherwise, the far UE may erroneously generate erroneous UE behavior (e.g., assuming that the far UE may erroneously detect itself as a near UE, as discussed with reference to fig. 5). In some embodiments, based on the analysis associated with fig. 3A-5, the following observations may be made:

OMA UE may not apply blind detection of NOMA presence, or may use a max-log approach for OMA/NOMA blind detection, e.g., to eliminate or reduce performance degradation in non-MUST scenarios.

NOMA far UEs may not apply blind detection of NOMA presence, e.g., to avoid or reduce performance limitations.

NOMA near UE may not use the exponent sum method (since this method is not applicable to OMA UE). Thus, NOMA near UEs may use a maximum logarithm based blind detection method, for example, at the cost of substantial performance loss.

From the above observations, therefore, the following conclusions can be drawn: to improve the performance of the UE, the network MUST provide signaling to the UE, e.g., to inform the UE whether the UE is a MUST near UE.

In some embodiments, as discussed with reference to fig. 6A-7C, a link level analysis of the impact of the power offset blind detection algorithm on NOMA near UE performance (e.g., where the UE is aware of the presence of co-scheduled UEs) may be provided. For example, for fig. 6A-7C, it may be assumed that the eNB uses a power offset that allows the legacy constellation to be generated after the two UEs are superimposed. Different sets of assumptions for power blind detection may be considered and table 1 below lists such example assumptions.

TABLE 1 hypothesis List for Power Blind detection

Assuming that the different constellation points from the combined constellation do not collide, a list of hypotheses for power blind detection may be generated (e.g., the power offset may be greater than 0.5 for the case of QPSK + QPSK; greater than 0.6429 for the case of 16QAM + QPSK; greater than 0.7 for the case of 62QAM + QPSK).

In the graphs shown in fig. 6A to 6C, the effect of power BD (blind detection) on NOMA near UE performance is analyzed under the assumption of 3 hypotheses of table 1, according to some embodiments. In the graphs shown in fig. 7A to 7C, the effect of power BD (blind detection) on NOMA near UE performance is analyzed under the assumption of 8 hypotheses of table 1, according to some embodiments.

In the graphs shown in fig. 6A to 7C, various MCSs may be used. For example, fig. 6A-6C are graphs of SNR versus average power estimation error for various MCSs (e.g., MCS 0, MCS10, and MCS17), respectively, in accordance with some embodiments; fig. 7A-7C are graphs of SNR versus average power estimation error for various MCSs (e.g., MCS 0, MCS10, and MCS17), respectively, in accordance with some embodiments. For each of fig. 6A to 7C, two lines are shown corresponding to two detection cases, respectively: (i) "blind sum index" (e.g., blind sum index adapted for UE-side detection), (ii) "blind max log" (e.g., blind max log processing adapted for UE-side detection).

As can be seen from fig. 6A to 7C, power blind detection may result in relatively small detection errors, for example, if far UE power blind detection is used in a given RAN4 research scenario with a single layer. These graphs show that in some limited cases, blind UE detection of power ratios is feasible. A reasonably acceptable or good detection performance can be achieved when the NOMA transmission structure becomes simple, e.g. such that the far UE constellation is limited to QPSK, number of layers, or a limit on the number of UEs. Thus, it can be concluded that blind UE detection of power ratio is feasible in some limited cases.

In some embodiments, for example, in a NOMA scenario, it may be desirable for a near UE to detect the power ratio and/or constellation order of a far UE. In some embodiments, the UE must be able to detect one of two assumptions:

y＝H.x_SU+ n, assume 1

Suppose 2

In assumptions 1 and 2, y is the received signal, H is the channel, x is the transmitted symbol, and n is the complex AWGN. For example, x_SUIs the transmitted symbol for the single user scenario in hypothesis 1. In one example, in hypothesis 2, x_MU-nearIs a transmitted symbol, x, for a near UE in an MU scenario_MU-farIs a transmitted symbol for a far UE in an MU scenario. Thus, assume 1 for the single user case and 2 for the MU case. The term α is the power ratio discussed later.

In one example, when applying NOMA, a constellation associated with the transmission may be determined, e.g., along with a power ratio. For example, table 2 below shows example NOMA transmission sets, wherein each NOMA transmission set includes corresponding NOMA parameters, e.g., corresponding constellation symbols, corresponding example power ratios, and the like.

Table 2: example NOMA transport set

For example, the first column of table 2 may be a NOMA transfer index, which may be used to identify various entries of the table. The second column of table 2 may identify modulation orders for near and far UEs, the third column may identify the number of QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) symbols used for MU transmissions, the fourth column may identify a lower layer unified constellation used for MU transmissions, the fifth column may identify subset selection (e.g., selection of I/Q components), and the sixth column may identify a power ratio a (e.g., discussed in hypotheses 1 and 2).

For example, if the eNB is to transmit NOMA transmission index 6, it may refer to the sixth row of the table (e.g., the sixth NOMA transmission set), corresponding to a (QPSK +16QAM) modulation pair, a 64QAM symbol number, a 64QAM lower layer unified constellation, etc.

Table 2 is merely an example of various possible sets of NOMA transmissions including example constellations, power ratios, and the like. Table 2 may be expanded or shortened, for example, according to system design.

In some embodiments, in a MUST communication setting, the network may provide signaling to the UE, e.g., to inform the UE whether the UE is a MUST near UE. For example, as discussed with reference to the diagrams of fig. 3A-7C, such information may help the UE to communicate with the eNB more efficiently. In contrast, in the NOMA power multiplexing setting, the eNB may inform the UE whether the UE is a near UE. In some embodiments, the MUST transmission may be allocated differently depending on the transmission and frequency resources. In one example, such signaling may be considered to be sent per PRB, group of PRBs, and/or transmission. For example, the eNB may periodically (or aperiodically) inform the UE that the UE is a near UE, and in some examples, such information may be sent for each PRB, each PRB group, each transmission, and/or at other suitable intervals.

In some embodiments, the network (e.g., eNB) may indicate a NOMA near UE on a per transmission basis. For example, the network may indicate to the UE that the UE is a near UE in a NOMA setting (e.g., where the UE is a near UE).

Table 3 below shows a list of example DCI formats for PDSCH (physical downlink shared channel) scheduling by PDSCH transmission mode. For example, for transmission mode 1, DCI format 1 may be used; for transmission mode 2, DCI format 1 and the like may be used. The information included in table 3 has been used in chapter 7.1 (tables 7.1-5) of the 3GPP technical specification TS 36.213. The content of each DCI format has been used in chapter 5.3.3.1 of the 3GPP technical specification ts36.212.

Table 3: example DCI formats for Transmission modes

Transmission mode	DCI format
		Transmission mode
1	DCI Format 1
		Transmission mode 2	DCI Format 1
Transmission mode 3	DCI format 2A
		Transmission mode
4	DCI format 2
		Transmission mode 5	DCI format 1D
Transmission mode
	6	DCI format 1B
Transmission mode 7			DCI Format 1
	Transmission mode 8	DCI format 2B
Transmission mode 9			DCI format 2C
	Transmission mode
10		DCI format 2D

In some embodiments, a field (e.g., an information element) comprising one or more bits may be added to the DCI (e.g., any one of the DCI formats of table 3). The newly added field may be referred to as a "NOMA near UE indication field" (although such field names are merely examples, and any other suitable field name may be used). In some embodiments, the NOMA near UE indication field may indicate a NOMA near UE on the transmitted PDSCH (e.g., may indicate to the UE whether the UE is associated with a MUST transmission and whether the UE is a NOMA near UE). For example, fig. 8 shows DCI800 including a NOMA near UE indication field 802, where the NOMA near UE indication field 802 may indicate a NOMA near UE on a transmitted PDSCH (e.g., a UE may be indicated whether the UE is associated with a MUST transmission and whether the UE is a NOMA near UE), in accordance with some embodiments.

For example only, the NOMA near UE indication field may be a single bit field. A value of "1" may indicate to the UE that the UE is associated with a MUST transmission and that the UE is an NMOA near UE. A value of "0" may indicate to the UE that the UE is not associated with a MUST transmission or that the UE is associated with a MUST transmission but is not a NOMA near UE (e.g., may be a NOMA far UE).

In some embodiments, upon receiving DCI from the eNB, the UE may access the NOMA near UE indication field 802 to determine whether the UE is a NOMA near UE. If the NOMA near UE indication field indicates that the UE is a NOMA near UE, the UE may apply appropriate (e.g., enhanced) received signal processing to demodulate the received DL signal. For example only, the UE may perform R-ML (maximum likelihood of complexity reduction) joint demodulation of NOMA DL signals to near and far UEs.

On the other hand, by way of example only, if the NOMA near UE indication field indicates that the UE is not a NOMA near UE, the UE may apply appropriate (e.g., legacy) received signal processing, e.g., perform LMMSE-IRC (linear minimum mean square error (LMMSE) -interference suppression combination (IRC)) processing.

In some embodiments, the eNB may apply NOMA transmission on all PRBs allocated by the PDSCH. In some other embodiments, the eNB may not apply NOMA transmissions on all PRBs allocated by the PDSCH. For example, NOMA may be applied to a portion of the resources of the allocated PRB.

Accordingly, in some embodiments, the eNB may add a new information element or field to the DCI format, where the new information element or field may indicate or identify resource blocks to which the NOMA scheme is applied. For example only, this information element or field may be referred to as a "NOMA resource block identification field" or a "NOMA PRB identification field" (although any other suitable name may be used for this field). In some embodiments, the NOMA PRB identification field may indicate each PRB or PRB group transmitted using MUST (e.g., NOMA). For example, fig. 9 illustrates a DCI 900 including a NOMA PRB identification field 902, wherein the NOMA PRB identification field 902 may identify one or more PRBs and/or one or more PRB groups for transmission using NOMA to a near UE, according to some embodiments.

In some embodiments, the NOMA PRB identification field may be provided to NOMA near UEs (e.g., may be provided only to NOMA near UEs). For other UEs (e.g., non-MU UEs, OMA UEs, or NOMA far UEs), the NOMA PRB identification field may be null, non-existent, or zero. For example, for other UEs (e.g., non-MU UEs, OMA UEs, or NOMA far UEs), the NOMA PRB identification field may not indicate any PRB or PRB group using the MUST (e.g., NOMA).

Thus, the NOMA PRB identification field may identify one or more PRBs and/or one or more PRB groups for transmission using NOMA to the near UE.

In some embodiments, the NOMA PRB identification field may be at least partially similar to the NOMA near UE indication field discussed above. For example, if a NOMA PRB identification field is transmitted, the transmission of the NOMA near UE indication field may be redundant.

In some embodiments, a NOMA PRB identification field in the form of a bit string may be introduced, or a method of indication with a more compact resource block (PR) may be used.

In some embodiments, the DCI may include two resource block allocation fields. A first of the two resource block allocation fields may be a legacy field and a second of the two resource block allocation fields may be used to indicate PRBs for NOMA transmissions (e.g., the second of the two resource block allocation fields may be a NOMA PRB identification field).

As shown in table 2, the NOMA transmission scheme may be constructed using a combination of one of a plurality of power ratios and one of a plurality of constellations. In some embodiments, UE blind detection may not always be feasible if many parameters and transmission assumptions are involved. In some embodiments, the network (e.g., eNB) may send or share a predetermined NOMA table (e.g., similar to table 2). Then, the network may share the index to the UE through the DCI. Thus, for example, the network may signal a plurality of predetermined NOMA transmission sets, each of which may identify a corresponding QAM modulation, a corresponding power ratio, and/or the like. In some embodiments, the transmission of the predetermined set of NOMA transmissions may be by RRC signaling. For example only, the predetermined NOMA transmission set may correspond to two or more rows (e.g., all rows, or at least some rows) of table 2. In some embodiments, the network (e.g., eNB) may also indicate to the UE an index of the NOMA transmission set for transmission to the UE. For example only, the index may be referred to as a "NOMA index," "NOMA indicator," "MUST index," "MUST power ratio index," or the like. In some embodiments, the NOMA index may be sent to the UE through DCI. For example, fig. 10 shows DCI 1000 including a NOMA index 1004, wherein the NOMA index 1004 may be used to identify a NOMA transmission set of a plurality of NOMA transmission sets, and wherein parameters of the identified NOMA transmission set may be used for transmissions from the eNB to the UE, in accordance with some embodiments.

As an example, a first value of the NOMA index 1004 may be mapped to a corresponding first value of a parameter, a second value of the NOMA index 1004 may be mapped to a corresponding second value of a parameter, and so on. The parameter may be a NOMA parameter that the eNB may use for transmission to at least two UEs in a NOMA transmission (e.g., a power ratio for NOMA power multiplexing, a modulation order of co-scheduled UEs, etc.).

In some embodiments, when the UE is configured as a near UE (e.g., configured for MUST near operation), the NOMA index 1004 may be sent to the UE. For example, when the UE is not configured as a near UE (e.g., configured as a far UE or an OMA UE, or not participating in MU transmissions), the DCI to the UE may not include the NOMA index 1004 (or the NOMA index 1004 may be present but may have a null value).

In some embodiments, NOMA index 1004 may be included in one or more DCI formats (e.g., one or more DCI formats of table 3). In some embodiments, the NOMA index 1004 may identify a NOMA transmission set of a plurality of NOMA transmission sets. For example, a UE (e.g., the UE may be configured to operate as a MUST near UE) may identify a modulation order for transmission and/or one or more other parameters associated with NOMA transmission based on NOMA index 1004. In one example, the UE may use the NOMA index 1004 to identify a power ratio for a NOMA transmission. For example, the NOMA index 1004 and parameters that identify the parameters may be used to identify a power ratio for a NOMA transmission.

In some embodiments, the UE receiving the NOMA index may be configured as a near UE. The UE may demodulate a signal received from the eNB based at least in part on a parameter derived from the NOMA index. In some embodiments, the UE may store the parameters in a memory of the UE.

Referring again to fig. 2, as indicated by information "B" and "C" (e.g., information surrounded by corresponding circles), MU UEs may be multiplexed by a non-orthogonal precoder as follows:

y＝HP_MU1x_MU1+HP_MU2x_MU2+ n equation 1

In equation 1, x_MU1And x_MU2Are signals to be transmitted to the first MU UE and the second MU UE, respectively. P_MU1And P_MU2May be precoders for transmissions to the first MU UE and the second MU UE, respectively, H may be a channel, and n may be a complex AWGN.

In some embodiments, equation 1 may be used for non-orthogonal spatial multiplexing (e.g., NOMA with spatial multiplexing), and in some cases, precoder P_MU1And P_MU2May be non-orthogonal. In some embodiments, the network may signal one or more MU parameters to the UE, e.g., for performance enhancement from advanced receivers. Such network signaling may be used, for example, when UE blind detection is not available (even when UE blind detection is available).

In some embodiments, such network signaling may be used for some or all CRS-TM (cell-specific reference signal-transmission mode). For example, for transport mode 4 and/or transport mode 5, one or more NOMA spatial multiplexing parameters may be sent to the UE using such network signaling.

In some embodiments, a network (e.g., an eNB) may signal information of co-scheduled UEs (e.g., also referred to herein as "co-scheduled UE information") to the UEs. For example, as discussed with reference to equation 1, if a first UE and a second UE are co-scheduled for NOMA spatial multiplexing transmission, the eNB may transmit co-scheduled UE information to the first UE, wherein the co-scheduled UE information for the first UE may include information of the second UE. Additionally or alternatively, the eNB may transmit the co-scheduled UE information to the second UE, wherein the co-scheduled UE information for the second UE may include information of the first UE.

In some embodiments, the co-scheduled UE information may be transmitted via DCI. For example, fig. 11A illustrates a DCI 1100 including a co-scheduled UE information field 1104, where the DCI 1100 may be transmitted to a first UE to inform the first UE of information associated with a second UE that is co-scheduled with the first UE for NOMA spatial multiplexing transmission, in accordance with some embodiments.

In some embodiments, the co-scheduled UE information 1104 may include co-scheduled UE precoder information, e.g., information associated with a precoder of a co-scheduled UE. For example, the co-scheduled UE information 1104 may include a PMI, a number of layers, a rank indicator, etc., associated with the co-scheduled UE.

In some embodiments, the co-scheduled UE information 1104 may include a modulation order of the co-scheduled UE. For example, if the eNB schedules the first UE and the second UE for NOMA transmission with spatial multiplexing, the eNB may send the modulation order of the second UE to the first UE (e.g., in the form of co-scheduled UE information 1104). In some embodiments, the first UE may use information of the modulation order of the second UE for Successive Interference Cancellation (SIC), ml (rml) detection with reduced complexity, and so on.

In one example, when the co-scheduled UE information 1104 includes a modulation order of the co-scheduled UE, the co-scheduled UE information 1104 may also be referred to as a MUST modulation order field. For example, fig. 11B illustrates DCI 1200 including a MUST modulation order field 1204, where DCI 110 may be transmitted to a first UE to inform the first UE of a modulation order of a second UE that is co-scheduled with the first UE for NOMA spatial multiplexing transmission, in accordance with some embodiments.

In some embodiments, the UE may receive the MUST modulation order field 1204 (e.g., via DCI), may determine a modulation order of the co-scheduled UE, and may demodulate a signal from the eNB based on the determined modulation order of the co-scheduled UE.

In some embodiments, to make the signaling concise and efficient, the network may reduce the number of signaling sets. For example, assuming there is a codebook subset for beamforming, the network may reduce the number of MU precoder sets by RRC, e.g., to shorten the signaling set size. This may result in shortening the bit string length in the DCI.

In some embodiments, the constellation set size may also be reduced. For example, while a UE capability may be indicated with a high modulation order (64QAM or 256QAM), the constellation order may be limited to a relatively low modulation order when the UE is served using the MU transmission scheme. In some embodiments, the constellation order may be provided to the UE by the network via RRC signaling. For example only, although the UE may support 256QAM, the network may indicate that the MU transmission is provided by up to 64QAM or 16 QAM. In some other embodiments, the network may indicate full signaling of precoder and constellation order for the co-scheduled UEs through the DCI.

Fig. 12A illustrates various MU communication scenarios generally, and in particular non-orthogonal Spatial Multiplexing (SM) scenarios and key parameters associated with the non-orthogonal Spatial Multiplexing (SM) scenarios, in accordance with some embodiments. As discussed previously with reference to fig. 2 and shown in fig. 12A, in general, there may be different MU transmission schemes utilizing different multiplexing methods. The UEs may be multiplexed in frequency and time domain resources or spatial domain resources. The multiplexing in the frequency and time domain resources may be considered as OMA. For example, the spatial domain multiplexing may be OMA or NOMA, depending on the beamforming precoder design. On a multiplexing scheme, NOMA power multiplexing may be applied using superposition transmission. In 3GPP discussions, NOMA has several approaches. For example, in a first approach, MU NOMA may be implemented using non-orthogonal precoder transmissions. Multiple users may be scheduled in non-orthogonal spatial dimensions, and the network expects MU UE implementations to handle intra-cell interference using Interference Rejection Combining (IRC) or non-linear detection. The second MU NOMA approach uses power multiplexing. Depending on the propagation channel power, the eNB or eNodeB may allocate different transmission powers. These multiplexing scenarios and parameters may be important for MU performance, and the UE may preferably know specific information. Fig. 12A shows an outline of the parameters and multiplexing scheme.

In fig. 12A, an example receiver process and receiver device for a non-orthogonal precoder use case is indicated in the thick dashed box in fig. 12A. For example, the main idea is divided into two parts, one is low complexity multi-user parameter estimation and the other is UE detector behavior for best performance.

Various embodiments discussed herein may include one or more of the following:

1. in various embodiments, the network may multiplex multiple users through Spatial Multiplexing (SM) using non-orthogonal precoders.

2. In various embodiments, MU UE demodulation may require MU parameters, e.g., depending on the transmission mode. The MU parameters may be signaled from the network or blindly detected by the UE. Example MU parameters are shown by table 4 below.

3. In various embodiments, multiple UE detection strategies (e.g., linear detection, non-linear detection, IRC strategies, etc.) may be adapted according to the performance matrix and parameter awareness of the MU UEs.

4. In various embodiments, blind detection of the parameters is possible. Embodiments provide various low complexity algorithms with reasonable estimation accuracy.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide (i) MU UE detection mechanisms for performance optimization based on UE parameter-aware assumptions, and (ii) low-complexity MU UE blind parameter estimation mechanisms.

Table 4: MU parameters for demodulation

Part 1. MU UE detection mechanism for performance optimization

In some embodiments, the MU UE detection mechanism for performance optimization may be based on one or more UE parameter awareness assumptions. MU detection performance may be improved by various schemes (e.g., interference rejection combining, non-linear detection, etc.). Various embodiments may provide a UE detection mechanism that may optimize detection performance. Various embodiments may include Minimum Mean Square Error (MMSE) based detection and maximum likelihood based detection mechanisms.

MMSE-based algorithm

For the MuST case 3 scenario, the received signal model may be written as follows:

y＝H(V_Sx_S+V_Ix_I)+n

where H is the channel transfer function, V_SAnd V_IIs a serving cell precoder matrix and an interfering cell precoder matrix, x_SAnd x_IIs the serving cell transmit signal and the interfering cell transmit signal, and n is Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN).

The MMSE scheme for service signal demodulation can be represented by the following equation:

wherein the content of the first and second substances,

is a joint covariance matrix estimate of the serving signal, the interfering signal, and the AWGN,

is the channel transfer function estimate.

Depending on the method used for joint covariance matrix estimation, different types of linear mmse (LMMSE) receivers may be used, e.g., LMMSE-IRC receivers and/or enhanced-LMMSE (E-LMMSE) -IRC receivers that utilize RS-based interference estimation.

LMMSE-IRC receiver using RS-based interference estimation

In some embodiments, it may be assumed that the LMMSE-IRC receiver performs interference covariance matrix estimation on the serving cell Reference Signal (RS) Resource Elements (REs) after subtraction of the serving cell RS signals. Depending on the scenario, cell-specific reference signals (CRS) or demodulation reference signals (DMRS) REs may be used. In particular, in these embodiments, an interference-plus-noise covariance matrix may be applied

And service covariance matrix

Wherein:

E-LMMSE-IRC receiver

In some embodiments, an intra-cell interference covariance matrix may be estimated based on detected/signaled MU multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) precoding vectors. The total signal covariance matrix can be estimated as follows:

in various embodiments, the receiver may more accurately estimate the interference covariance matrix using the co-scheduled UE channel estimates for each RE. Therefore, it may require additional information about the interference structure, including precoders and MU-MIMO signal presence for co-scheduled UEs per Physical Resource Block (PRB) granularity, compared to LMMSE-IRC receivers.

In an embodiment, the MU parameters for elmmmse-IRC detection may include:

(i) CRS-Transmission Mode (TM): MU existence, number of UEs co-scheduled, MU precoder; and

(ii) DMRS-TM: MU presence, number of co-scheduled UEs, DMRS scrambling code seed.

Non-linear detector (reduced maximum likelihood (RML) receiver)

In some embodiments, demodulation may be performed using joint detection of the serving and interfering signals using Maximum Likelihood (ML) principles, as follows:

such an embodiment may be similar or identical to a Network Assisted Interference Cancellation and Suppression (NAICS) complexity reduced ML (R-ML) receiver, except that intra-cell interference is used instead of inter-cell interference. Such an R-ML receiver may need to know the modulation, channel coefficients, precoder matrix of the two signals.

In some embodiments, the MU parameters for ML detection may include one or both of:

(i) CRS-TM: parameter + MU modulation order for ELMMSE-IRC; and

(ii) DMRS-TM: parameter + MU modulation order for elmmmse-IRC.

Other non-linear detection algorithms such as symbol-level or codeword-level successive interference cancellation may also be adapted or included for the example embodiments.

For SM using non-orthogonal precoderPerformance study of the detector

Fig. 12B-12D and 12E-12G illustrate link-level results for scenarios utilizing CRS-based TM and DMRS-based TM, respectively, in accordance with some embodiments. For MMSE-based receivers, the results are provided for scenarios with QPSK interference (since performance does not depend on co-scheduled UE interference) and for the case where different modulation is used for co-scheduled UEs. Fig. 12B-12D are associated with CRS-TM MU multi-detector performance, and fig. 12E-12G are associated with DMRS-TM MU multi-detector performance.

The following observations regarding CRS-TM MU multi-detector performance may be derived from fig. 12B through 12D:

(i) the LMMSE-IRC receiver does not provide acceptable performance for scenarios utilizing the serving UE Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS)10 and MCS 17;

(ii) the E-LMMSE-IRC receiver may have reliable performance for the scenario under consideration; and

(iii) the R-ML receiver may provide performance improvement over E-LMMSE-IRC for a limited set of scenarios.

One or more of the following observations regarding DMRS-TM MU multi-detector performance may be derived from fig. 12E to 12G:

(i) LMMSE-IRC and EMMSE-IRC show relatively stable performance; and is provided with

(ii) The R-ML receiver allows for performance improvement over E-LMMSE-IRC for a limited set of scenarios.

The R-ML detector may have a high complexity and a high computational load for non-linear detection and it does not always show advantages over the E-LMMSE-IRC detector. The distinct advantage of R-ML is observed in the specific use case when the serving UE utilizes a high MCS and the co-scheduled UEs utilize a low modulation order MCS. In summary, the UE may not have to utilize R-ML to obtain the best performance.

Adaptive MU detector mechanism selection

1. In some embodiments, the MU UE detection mechanism may be adapted between linear detection and non-linear detection.

2. In some embodiments, the E-LMMSE-IRC mechanism may be selected based on: 2a, when the service modulation order is lower or the interference modulation order is higher; and/or b, when blind detection of MU modulation order is not reliable.

3. In some embodiments, the ML mechanism (and/or R-ML mechanism) may be selected based on: 3a, when the serving modulation order is higher and the interference modulation order is medium or lower; and/or 3b when blind detection of MU parameters is reliable.

Section 2: blind parameter estimation mechanism for low complexity MU UE

In some embodiments, the interference parameters may be detected using ML principles. In particular, the embodiments may be applied to joint detection of signal presence, precoding vector and modulation format. In various embodiments, the ML-based algorithm may estimate the likelihood of receiving a signal for different transmit parameter hypotheses and find the hypothesis that provides the greatest likelihood:

wherein M is_IIs the modulation format of the interfering signal.

Section 2.1: low complexity covariance matrix comparison for CRS-based TM precoder detection

In some embodiments, co-scheduled UE signal presence (presence) and precoder may be detected using received signal covariance matrix processing through multi-hypothesis testing. In various embodiments, the UE can reconstruct the received signal covariance matrix under various Received (RX) signal hypotheses and compare the received signal covariance matrix to the actual received signal covariance matrix estimated on the data REs. For detection, we compared covariance matrices based on Euclidean distance (Euclidean distance). When the received signal is given by:

y＝H(V_sx_s+V_Ix_I)+n，

the UE may make the following assumptions:

(i) SU-MIMO precoder V_I(i) Hypothesis of 0, where i is 0

(ii) Relating to MU-MIMO + precoder V_I(i) Where i is 1, …, N,

where N is the number of precoders. With the above assumptions, the UE can reconstruct the covariance matrix

And selects the hypothesis with the least mismatch and estimated RX signal covariance matrix:

section 2.2: low complexity hybrid detection method for CRS-based TM (partial ML search and partial covariance) Difference matrix comparison)

In various embodiments, ML and covariance matrix comparison may be combined. In these embodiments, the covariance matrix may be used to detect the presence of an interfering signal and the precoder. Once these parameters are detected, the modulation format can be further detected using ML assuming the presence of a known signal and precoder.

The embodiment discussed in section 2.1 may be used for an E-LMMSE-IRC receiver and the embodiment discussed in section 2.2 may be used for an R-ML receiver (which may require information about the modulation format of the signal (see, e.g., table 4)).

Section 2.3 DMRS-TM parameter detection Using threshold testing

In some embodiments, TM9UE may detect the presence of co-scheduled UEs. And designing an actual existing scrambling code seed detection algorithm based on the channel power of the DMRS AP. AP (Access Point)_Ii(SCID_i)

Serving DMRS AP, where SCID_i∈{n_RNTI＝0or 1}。

The threshold detection may indicate the presence of co-scheduled UEs. The detection threshold is given based on the product of the noise variance and a scalar γ as an optimization factor. Embodiments may investigate Antenna Ports (AP)7, 8 or APs 7, 8, 11, 12 depending on the Orthogonal Correction Code (OCC) level.

In embodiments where electronic device 100 is implemented in or as an eNB or TRP, electronic device 100 may be used to multiplex Multiple Users (MUs) in a multi-user (MU) -MIMO system using SM with non-orthogonal precoders.

In embodiments where electronic device 100 is implemented in or as a UE, electronic device 100 may be configured to detect MU parameters for receiving signals in a MU-MIMO system using SM with non-orthogonal precoders.

Fig. 13 illustrates an eNB and a UE in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Fig. 13 includes a block diagram of an eNB 1310 and a UE 1330 that are operable to co-exist with each other and other elements of an LTE network. A high-level simplified architecture of eNB 1310 and UE 1330 is described so as not to obscure the embodiments. It should be noted that in some embodiments, eNB 1310 may be a fixed non-mobile device.

The eNB 1310 is coupled to one or more antennas 1305, and the UE 1330 is similarly coupled to one or more antennas 1325. However, in some embodiments, the eNB 1310 may incorporate or include an antenna 1305, and the UE 1330 may incorporate or include an antenna 1325 in various embodiments.

In some embodiments, antenna 1305 and/or antenna 1325 may include one or more directional or omnidirectional antennas, including monopole antennas, dipole antennas, loop antennas, patch antennas, microstrip antennas, coplanar wave antennas, or other types of antennas suitable for transmission of RF signals. In some MIMO (multiple input and multiple output) embodiments, antennas 1305 are separated to exploit spatial diversity.

The eNB 1310 and the UE 1330 are operable to communicate with each other over a network, such as a wireless network. The eNB 1310 and the UE 1330 may communicate with each other over a wireless communication channel 1350, the wireless communication channel 1350 having a downlink path from the eNB 1310 to the UE 1330 and an uplink path from the UE 1330 to the eNB 1310.

As illustrated in fig. 13, in some embodiments, eNB 1310 may include physical layer circuitry 1312, MAC (medium access control) circuitry 1314, a processor 1316, memory 1318, and hardware processing circuitry 1320. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that other components not shown may be used in addition to those shown to form a complete eNB.

In some embodiments, the physical layer circuitry 1312 includes a transceiver 1313 for providing signals to and from the UE 1330. The transceiver 1313 provides signals to and from the UE or other devices using one or more antennas 1305. In some embodiments, MAC circuitry 1314 controls access to the wireless medium. The memory 1318 may be or may include a storage medium/media such as a magnetic storage medium (e.g., tape or disk), an optical storage medium (e.g., optical disk), an electronic storage medium (e.g., conventional hard disk drive, solid state disk drive, or flash memory-based storage medium), or any tangible or non-transitory storage medium. The hardware processing circuitry 1320 may include logic devices or circuitry for performing various operations. In some embodiments, the processor 1316 and the memory 1318 are arranged to perform operations of the hardware processing circuitry 1320, such as the operations described herein with reference to the logic devices and circuitry within the eNB 1310 and/or the hardware processing circuitry 1320.

Thus, in some embodiments, the eNB 1310 may be a device that includes an application processor, a memory, one or more antenna ports, and an interface to allow the application processor to communicate with another device.

As further illustrated in fig. 13, in some embodiments, the UE 1330 may include physical layer circuitry 1332, MAC circuitry 1334, a processor 1336, memory 1338, hardware processing circuitry 1340, a wireless interface 1342, and a display 1344. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that other components not shown may be used in addition to those shown to form a complete UE.

In some embodiments, physical layer circuitry 1332 includes a transceiver 1333 for providing signals to and from eNB 1310 (and other enbs). The transceiver 1333 provides signals to and from an eNB or other apparatus using one or more antennas 1325. In some embodiments, MAC circuit 1334 controls access to the wireless medium. Memory 1338 may be or may include a storage medium/media such as a magnetic storage medium (e.g., tape or disk), an optical storage medium (e.g., optical disk), an electronic storage medium (e.g., conventional hard disk drive, solid state disk drive, or flash memory-based storage medium), or any tangible or non-transitory storage medium. The wireless interface 1342 may be arranged to allow the processor to communicate with another apparatus. The display 1344 may provide a visual and/or tactile display, such as a touch screen display, for user interaction with the UE 1330. The hardware processing circuitry 1340 may comprise logic devices or circuitry to perform various operations. In some embodiments, the processor 1336 and the memory 1338 may be arranged to perform operations of the hardware processing circuitry 1340, such as those described herein with reference to logic devices and circuitry within the UE 1330 and/or the hardware processing circuitry 1340.

Thus, in some embodiments, the UE 1330 may be a device comprising an application processor, memory, one or more antennas, a wireless interface to allow the application processor to communicate with another device, and a touchscreen display.

The elements of fig. 13 and elements of other figures having the same names or reference numbers may operate or function in the manner described herein with respect to any such figure (although the operation and function of such elements is not limited to such description). For example, fig. 13 also depicts an embodiment of an eNB, hardware processing circuitry of a UE and/or a UE, and the embodiments described with respect to fig. 13.

Additionally, although eNB 1310 and UE 1330 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 disclosure, a functional element may refer to one or more processes operating 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), and so forth.

Fig. 14 illustrates hardware processing circuitry of an eNB for establishing and transmitting parameters associated with a MUST transmission to one or more UEs, in accordance with some embodiments. Referring to fig. 13, the eNB may include various hardware processing circuitry discussed below, which in turn may include logic devices and/or circuitry operable to perform various operations. For example, in fig. 13, the eNB 1310 (or various elements or components therein, e.g., the hardware processing circuitry 1320 or a combination of elements or components therein) may include some or all of these hardware processing circuitry.

In some embodiments, one or more of these hardware processing circuits or devices may be implemented by a combination of software-configured elements and/or other hardware elements. For example, the processor 1316 (and/or one or more other processors that the eNB 1310 may include), the memory 1318, and/or other elements or components of the eNB 1310 (which may include the hardware processing circuitry 1320) may be arranged to perform operations of these hardware processing circuitry, e.g., the operations described herein with reference to the devices and circuitry therein. In some embodiments, processor 1316 (and/or one or more other processors that eNB 1310 may include) may be a baseband processor.

Returning now to fig. 14, an apparatus of an eNB 1310 (or another eNB or base station) operable to communicate with one or more UEs over a wireless network may include hardware processing circuitry 1400. In some embodiments, hardware processing circuitry 1400 may include one or more antenna ports 1405 operable to provide various transmissions over a wireless communication channel (e.g., wireless communication channel 1350). Antenna port 1405 may be coupled to one or more antennas 1407 (which may be antenna 1305). In some embodiments, the hardware processing circuitry 1400 may incorporate the antenna 1407, while in other embodiments, the hardware processing circuitry 1400 may be coupled only to the antenna 1407.

Antenna port 1405 and antenna 1407 are operable to provide signals from the eNB to the wireless communication channel and/or UE and operable to provide signals from the UE and/or wireless communication channel to the eNB. For example, antenna port 1405 and antenna 1407 may be operable to provide transmission from eNB 1310 to wireless communication channel 1350 (and from wireless communication channel to UE 1330 or another UE). Similarly, antenna 1407 and antenna port 1405 may operate to provide transmission from wireless communication channel 1350 (and from UE 1330 or another UE) to eNB 1310.

Hardware processing circuitry 1400 may include various circuitry operable to operate in accordance with various embodiments discussed herein. Referring to fig. 14, hardware processing circuitry 1400 may include first circuitry 1410 and/or second circuitry 1420.

In some embodiments, the first circuitry 1410 may be configured to establish an index for identifying the parameter. The parameter may be associated with a MUST transmission from the eNB to a first UE configured as a near UE and a second UE configured as a far UE. In some embodiments, the second circuitry 1420 may be configured to generate DCI including the index. The DCI may be for transmission to at least one of the first UE or the second UE. In some embodiments, the one or more memories of the eNB may store one or more of an index, a parameter, or DCI. In some embodiments, the eNB may include an interface to transmit DCI including the index to the transceiver circuitry for transmission to at least one of the first UE or the second UE. In some embodiments, the parameter may be a power ratio a used by the eNB to weight symbols for transmission to the near and far UEs. In some embodiments, the parameter may be one or both of a first modulation order for transmission to the first UE and a second modulation order for transmission to the second UE. In some embodiments, the DCI may be transmitted to a first UE configured as a near UE. In some embodiments, the DCI may be transmitted to a first UE configured as a near UE to enable the first UE to map the index to a first value of the parameter.

In some embodiments, the first circuitry 1410 may be configured to establish an indicator identifying a modulation order associated with a transmission from an eNB to a first UE, wherein the eNB co-schedules the transmission according to a multi-user superposition transmission (MUST) to the first UE and a second UE. In some embodiments, the second circuitry 1420 may be configured to generate DCI including the indicator for transmission to the second UE. In some embodiments, the eNB may further include an interface to output to the transceiver circuitry DCI including the indicator for transmission to the second UE. In some embodiments, the modulation order may be one of Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK), 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (16QAM), 64QAM, or 256 QAM. In some embodiments, the multi-user superposition transmission to the first UE and the second UE may be spatially multiplexed according to NOMA. In some embodiments, the DCI may be transmitted to the second UE to enable the second UE to identify a modulation order associated with the co-scheduled first UE based on the indicator.

In some embodiments, first circuitry 1410 and/or second circuitry 1420 may be implemented as distinct circuitry. In other embodiments, first circuit 1410 and second circuit 1420 may be combined and implemented together in a circuit without changing the essence of the embodiments.

Fig. 15 illustrates hardware processing circuitry of a UE for receiving an indicator from an eNB via DCI and mapping the indicator to a parameter associated with a MUST transmission, in accordance with some embodiments. Referring to fig. 13, the UE may include various hardware processing circuitry discussed below, which in turn may include logic devices and/or circuitry to perform various operations. For example, in fig. 13, the UE 1330 (or various elements or components herein, e.g., the hardware processing circuitry 1340 or components of elements or components herein) may include some or all of these hardware processing circuitry.

In some embodiments, one or more of these hardware processing circuits or devices may be implemented by combinations of software-configured elements and/or other hardware elements. For example, the processor 1336 (and/or one or more other processors that the UE 1330 may include), the memory 1338, and/or other elements or components of the UE 1330 (which may include the hardware processing circuitry 1340) may be arranged to perform operations of these hardware processing circuitry, e.g., the operations described herein with reference to the devices and circuitry therein. In some embodiments, processor 1336 (and/or one or more other processors that UE 1330 can include) can be a baseband processor.

Returning to fig. 15, an apparatus of a UE 1330 (or another UE or mobile handset) operable to communicate with one or more enbs over a wireless network may include hardware processing circuitry 1500. In some embodiments, hardware processing circuitry 1500 may include one or more antenna ports 1505 operable to provide various transmissions over a wireless communication channel (e.g., wireless communication channel 1350). The antenna port 1505 may be coupled to one or more antennas 1507 (which may be antennas 1325). In some embodiments, hardware processing circuitry 1500 may incorporate antenna 1507, while in other embodiments hardware processing circuitry 1500 may be coupled only to antenna 1507.

The antenna port 1505 and antenna 1507 are operable to provide signals from the UE to the wireless communication channel and/or eNB, and operable to provide signals from the eNB and/or wireless communication channel to the UE. For example, antenna port 1505 and antenna 1507 may be operable to provide transmissions from UE 1330 to wireless communication channel 1350 (and from wireless communication channel 1350 to eNB 1310 or another eNB). Similarly, the antennas 1507 and antenna ports 1505 may be operable to provide transmission from the wireless communication channels 1350 (and from the eNB 1310 or another eNB) to the UE 1330.

Hardware processing circuit 1500 may include various circuits operable to operate in accordance with various embodiments discussed herein. Referring to fig. 15, the hardware processing circuit 1500 may include a first circuit 1510 and/or a second circuit 1520.

In some embodiments, the first circuitry 1510 may be configured to process Downlink Control Information (DCI), the DCI including an index. In some embodiments, the second circuitry 1520 may be configured to map the index to a parameter associated with a multi-user superposition transmission (MUST) from the eNB to a first UE configured as a near UE and a second UE configured as a far UE. The first UE configured as a near UE may be the UE of fig. 15. In some embodiments, the UE may include a memory for storing parameters. In some embodiments, the UE may include an interface to receive DCI including the index from the transceiver circuitry. In some embodiments, the UE of fig. 15 may demodulate a Downlink (DL) signal received from the eNB based at least in part on the parameter. In some embodiments, the parameter may be a power ratio a used by the eNB to weight symbols for transmission to the near and far UEs. In some embodiments, the parameter may be one or both of a first modulation order for transmission to the first UE and a second modulation order for transmission to the second UE.

In some embodiments, the first circuitry 1510 may be configured to process DCI received from an eNB that includes an indicator, wherein the eNB is to co-schedule transmissions according to a multi-user superposition transmission (MUST) to the first UE and the second UE. The first UE may be, for example, the UE of fig. 15. In some embodiments, the second circuitry 1520 may be configured to identify a modulation order associated with the transmission from the eNB to the second UE based on the indicator. In some embodiments, the UE may include a memory to store modulation orders. In some embodiments, the UE of fig. 15 may be configured to process DL signals received from the eNB based on the identification of the modulation order. In some embodiments, the modulation order may be one of QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM, or 256 QAM. In some embodiments, a first UE may receive a transmission from an eNB according to NOMA spatial multiplexing with a co-scheduled second UE.

In some embodiments, first circuitry 1510 and/or second circuitry 1520 may be implemented as different circuitry. In other embodiments, the first circuit 1510 and the second circuit 1520 may be combined and implemented together in a circuit without changing the essence of the embodiments.

Fig. 16 and 17A illustrate methods 1600 and 1700, respectively, for an eNB to transmit an indicator identifying a MUST parameter to one or more UEs, in accordance with some embodiments. Fig. 17B illustrates a method 1750 for an eNB to transmit MU parameters to a UE, according to some embodiments.

Referring to fig. 13, methods 1600, 1700, and 1750 that may be related to eNB 1310 and hardware processing circuitry 1320 are discussed below. While the actions in each of methods 1600, 1700, and 1750 of fig. 16, 17A, and 17B are shown in a particular order, the order of the actions may be changed. Thus, the illustrated embodiments may be performed in a different order, and some actions may be performed in parallel. Some of the actions and/or operations listed in fig. 16, 17A, and/or 17B may be optional according to some embodiments. The numbering of the acts is given for clarity and is not intended to dictate the order in which the operations of the various acts must be performed. In addition, operations from various streams may be used in various combinations.

Additionally, in some embodiments, the machine-readable storage medium may have executable instructions that when executed cause the eNB 1310 and/or the hardware processing circuitry 1320 to perform operations comprising the methods of fig. 16, 17A, and/or 17B. Such a machine-readable storage medium 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., a conventional hard disk drive, solid state disk drive, or flash memory-based storage media), or any other tangible or non-transitory storage media.

In some embodiments, an apparatus may comprise means for performing various acts and/or operations of each of the methods of fig. 16, 17A, and/or 17B.

Returning to fig. 16, method 1600 may be in accordance with various embodiments discussed herein. The method 1600 may include, at 1604, establishing an index for identifying the parameter. In some embodiments, the parameter may be associated with a MUST from the eNB to a first UE configured as a near UE and a second UE configured as a far UE. By way of example only, the index may be any of the indices or indicators discussed with reference to fig. 8-12. The method 1600 may also include, at 1608, generating DCI including the index for transmission to at least one of the first UE or the second UE. In some embodiments, the one or more memories of the eNB may store one or more of an index, a parameter, or a generated DCI. In some embodiments, the DCI including the index may be output to transceiver circuitry for transmission to at least one of the first UE or the second UE. In some embodiments, the parameter may be a power ratio a used by the eNB to weight symbols for transmission to the near and far UEs. In some embodiments, the parameter may be one or both of a first modulation order for transmission to the first UE and a second modulation order for transmission to the second UE. In some embodiments, the DCI may be transmitted to a first UE configured as a near UE. In some embodiments, DCI may be sent to a first UE configured as a near UE to enable the first UE to map an index to a first value of a parameter.

Referring now to fig. 17A, a method 1700 may be in accordance with various embodiments discussed herein. The method 1700 may include, at 1704, establishing an indicator identifying a modulation order associated with a transmission from an eNB to a first UE, wherein the eNB cooperatively schedules the transmission according to MUST to the first UE and a second UE. The method 1700 may also include, at 1708, generating DCI including the indicator, the DCI for transmission to a second UE. In some embodiments, the DCI including the indicator may be output to transceiver circuitry for transmission to the second UE. In some embodiments, the modulation order may be one of QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM, and/or 256 QAM. In some embodiments, the multi-user superposition transmission to the first UE and the second UE may be spatially multiplexed according to NOMA. In some embodiments, the DCI may be transmitted to the second UE to enable the second UE to identify a modulation order associated with the co-scheduled first UE based on the indicator.

Returning to fig. 17B, method 1750 may be in accordance with various embodiments discussed herein. The method 1750 may include multiplexing or causing multiplexing of multiple users in a MU-MIMO system using SM with non-orthogonal precoders, at 1754. The method 1750 may also include, at 1758, transmitting (or causing to be transmitted) the MU parameters to the UE.

Fig. 18 illustrates a method 1800 by which a UE receives an index identifying parameters associated with a MUST transmission, in accordance with some embodiments. Fig. 19A illustrates a method 1900 for a UE to receive an indicator identifying a modulation order of a co-scheduled UE, in accordance with some embodiments. Fig. 19B illustrates a method 1950 for a UE to receive ME parameters, according to some embodiments.

Referring to fig. 13, methods 1800, 1900, and/or 1950 that may be related to the UE 1330 and the hardware processing circuitry 1340 are discussed below. Although the actions in methods 1800, 1900, and/or 1950 are shown in a particular order, the order of the actions may be changed. Thus, the illustrated embodiments may be performed in a different order, and some actions may be performed in parallel. Some of the actions and/or operations listed in fig. 18, 19A, and/or 19B may be optional according to some embodiments. The numbering of the acts is given for clarity and is not intended to dictate the order in which the operations of the various acts must be performed. In addition, operations from various streams may be used in various combinations.

Additionally, in some embodiments, a machine-readable storage medium may have executable instructions that when executed cause the UE 1330 and/or the hardware processing circuitry 1340 to perform operations comprising the methods 1800, 1900, and/or 1950. Such a machine-readable storage medium 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., a conventional hard disk drive, solid state disk drive, or flash memory-based storage media), or any other tangible or non-transitory storage media.

In some embodiments, an apparatus may include means for performing various acts and/or operations of each of methods 1800, 1900, and/or 1950.

Returning to fig. 18, method 1800 may be in accordance with various embodiments discussed herein. Method 1800 may include, at 1804, processing the DCI, the DCI including the index. The method 1800 may include, at 1808, mapping the index to a parameter associated with a MUST from the eNB to the UE configured as the near UE and the other UE configured as the far UE. In some embodiments, the memory of the UE may store parameters. In some embodiments, the UE may receive DCI including the index from the transceiver circuitry. In some embodiments, the UE may demodulate a DL signal received from the eNB based at least in part on the parameter. In some embodiments, the parameter may be a power ratio a used by the eNB to weight symbols for transmission to far and near UEs. In some embodiments, the parameter may be one or both of a first modulation order for transmission to the first UE and a second modulation order for transmission to the second UE.

Returning to fig. 19A, method 1900 may be in accordance with various embodiments discussed herein. Method 1900 can include, at 1904, processing DCI received from an eNB that includes an indicator, wherein the eNB is to co-schedule a transmission according to a MUST to a UE and another UE. The method 1800 may include, at 1808, identifying a modulation order associated with a transmission from the eNB to another UE based on the indicator. In some embodiments, the UE may process a Downlink (DL) signal received from the eNB based on the identification of the modulation order. In some embodiments, the modulation order may be one of Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK), 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (16QAM), 64QAM, or 256 QAM. In some embodiments, the first UE and the co-scheduled other UE together receive a transmission from the eNB according to NOMA spatial multiplexing.

Returning to fig. 19B, method 1950 can be in accordance with various embodiments discussed herein. The method 1950 may include, at 1954, detecting (or causing to be detected) MU parameters to be used for receiving signals in a MU-MIMO system using SM with a non-orthogonal precoder. The method 1950 may include, at 1958, selecting (or causing selection of) a detection mechanism for detecting MU parameters. The method 1950 may include receiving (or causing to receive) MU parameters at 1962.

Fig. 20 illustrates an architecture of a system 2000 of networks according to some embodiments. System 2000 is shown to include User Equipment (UE)2001 and UE 2002. The UEs 2001 and 2002 are shown as smart phones (e.g., handheld touch screen mobile computing devices connectable to one or more cellular networks), but may also include any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as a Personal Data Assistant (PDA), pager, laptop computer, desktop computer, wireless handset, or any computing device that includes a wireless communication interface.

In some embodiments, either of the UEs 2001 and 2002 may comprise an internet of things (IoT) UE, which may include a network access stratum designed for low power IoT applications that utilize short lived UE connections. IoT UEs may utilize technologies such as machine-to-machine (M2M) or machine-type communication (MTC), proximity services (ProSe) or device-to-device (D2D) communication, sensor networks, or IoT networks for exchanging data with MTC servers or devices via Public Land Mobile Networks (PLMNs). The M2M or MTC exchange of data may be a machine-initiated data exchange. IoT networks describe the use of short-lived connections to interconnect IoT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the internet infrastructure). The IoT UE may execute a background application (e.g., keep-alive (keep-alive) message, status update, etc.) to facilitate connection of the IoT network.

The UEs 2001 and 2002 may be configured to connect with (e.g., communicatively couple with) a Radio Access Network (RAN)2010, which in this embodiment may be an evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) terrestrial radio access network (E-UTAN). The UEs 2001 and 2002 utilize connections 2003 and 2004, respectively, each of the connections 2003 and 2004 including a physical communication interface or layer (described in further detail below); in this example, connections 2003 and 2004 are shown as air interfaces that allow for communicative coupling, and may conform to cellular communication protocols, such as global system for mobile communications (GMS) protocols, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) network protocols, push-to-talk (PTT) protocols, PTT over cellular (poc) protocols, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) protocols, 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) protocols, fifth generation (5G) protocols, New Radio (NR) protocols, and so forth.

In this embodiment, the UEs 2001 and 2002 may also exchange communication data directly via the ProSe interface 2005. The ProSe interface 2005 may alternatively be referred to as a side link interface comprising one or more logical channels including, but not limited to, a physical side link control channel (PSCCH), a physical side link shared channel (PSCCH), a physical side link discovery channel (PSDCH), and a physical side link broadcast channel (PSBCH).

The UE 2002 is shown configured to access an Access Point (AP)2006 via a connection 2007. Connection 2007 may include a local wireless connection (such as a connection conforming to any IEEE 802.11 protocol), where,AP 2006 would include Wireless Hi-Fi

A router. In this example, the AP 2006 is shown connected to the internet without being connected to the core network of the wireless system (as described in further detail below).

The E-UTRAN 2010 may include one or more access nodes that enable connections 2003 and 2004. These Access Nodes (ANs) may be referred to as Base Stations (BSs), node BS, evolved node BS (enbs), next generation node BS (gnbs), RAN nodes, etc., and may include ground stations (e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stations that provide coverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). The network devices referred to herein may include any of these APs, ANs, UEs, or any other network components. The E-UTRAN 2010 may include one or more RAN nodes (e.g., macro RAN node 2011) to provide a macro cell and one or more RAN nodes (e.g., Low Power (LP) RAN node 2012) to provide a micro or pico cell, wherein the micro or pico cell is a cell with smaller coverage area, smaller user capacity, and higher bandwidth than the macro cell.

Any of the RAN nodes 2011 and 2012 may terminate the air interface protocol and may be the first contact point for the UEs 2001 and 2002. In some embodiments, any of RAN nodes 2011 and 2012 may implement various logical functions of E-UTRAN 2010 including, but not limited to, Radio Network Controller (RNC) functions such as radio bearer management, Uplink (UL) and Downlink (DL) dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobility management.

In accordance with some embodiments, UEs 2001 and 2002 may be configured to communicate with each other using Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexed (OFDM) communication signals, or with any of RAN nodes 2011 and 2012 over a multicarrier communication channel in accordance with various communication techniques such as, but not limited to, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) communication techniques (e.g., for downlink communications) or single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) communication techniques (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communications), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. The OFDM signal may include a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers.

In some embodiments, the downlink resource grid may be used for downlink transmissions from any of the RAN nodes 2011 and 2012 to the UEs 2001 and 2002, while uplink transmissions may utilize similar techniques. The grid may be a time-frequency grid, referred to as a resource grid or a time-frequency resource grid, which is a physical resource in the downlink in each slot. Such a time-frequency plane representation is a common practice of OFDM systems, which makes the radio resource allocation more intuitive. Each column and each row of the resource grid corresponds to one OFDM symbol and one OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration of the resource grid in the time domain corresponds to one time slot in a radio frame. The smallest time-frequency unit in the resource grid is denoted as a resource element. Each resource grid includes a plurality of resource blocks that describe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements. Each resource block comprises a set of resource elements; in the frequency domain, this may represent the minimum number of resources that can currently be allocated. There are a number of different physical downlink channels delivered using these resource blocks.

The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) may carry user data and higher layer signaling to the UEs 2001 and 2002. A Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) may carry information of resource allocation and transport format, etc. related to the PDSCH channel. It may also inform the UEs 2001 and 2002 of transport format, resource allocation, and H-ARQ (hybrid automatic repeat request) information related to the uplink shared channel. In general, downlink scheduling (allocation of control and shared channel resource blocks to UEs 2002 within a cell) may be performed at any of RAN nodes 2011 and 2012 based on channel quality information fed back from any of UEs 2001 and 2002. The downlink resource allocation information may be sent on a PDCCH for (e.g., allocated to) each of the UEs 2001 and 2002.

The PDCCH may deliver control information using Control Channel Elements (CCEs). The PDCCH complex-valued symbols may first be organized into quadruplets before being mapped to resource elements, which may then be arranged using a sub-block interleaver for rate matching. Each PDCCH may be transmitted using one or more of these CCEs, where each CCE may correspond to nine groups called Resource Element Groups (REGs), each group including four physical resource elements. Four Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) symbols may be mapped to each REG. The PDCCH may be transmitted using one or more CCEs according to the size of Downlink Control Information (DCI) and channel conditions. Four or more different PDCCH formats may be defined in LTE, with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation level, L ═ 1, 2, 4, or 8).

Some embodiments may use the concept of resource allocation for control channel information as an extension of the above concept. For example, some embodiments may utilize an Enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel (EPDCCH) that uses PDSCH resources for control information transmission. The EPDCCH may be transmitted using one or more Enhanced Control Channel Elements (ECCEs). Similar to the above, each ECCE may correspond to nine groups called Enhanced Resource Element Groups (EREGs), each group including four physical resource elements. In some cases, ECCE may have other numbers of EREGs.

E-UTRAN 2010 is shown communicatively coupled to a core network, which in this embodiment may be Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network 2020, via S1 interface 2013. In the present embodiment, the S1 interface 2013 is divided into two parts: an S1-U interface 2014 carrying traffic data between RAN nodes 2011 and 2012 and a serving gateway (S-GW) 2022; and an S1 Mobility Management Entity (MME) interface 2015 as a signaling interface between the RAN nodes 2011 and 2012 and the MME 2021.

In this embodiment, EPC network 2020 includes MME 2021, S-GW 2022, Packet Data Network (PDN) gateway (P-GW)2023, and Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 2024. The MME 2021 may be similar in function to the control plane of a conventional serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) support node (SGSN). The MME 2021 may manage mobility aspects of access, such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. HSS 2024 may include a database of network users including subscription-related information that supports handling of communication sessions by network entities. Depending on the number of mobile subscribers, the capacity of the devices, the organization of the network, etc., EPC network 2020 may include one or more HSS 2024. For example, the HSS 2024 may provide support for routing/roaming, authentication, authorization, naming/addressing resolution, location dependency, and the like.

S-GW 2022 may terminate S1 interface 2013 to RAN 2010 and may route data packets between RAN 2010 and EPC network 2020. Additionally, S-GW 2022 may be a local mobility anchor for inter-RAN node handovers and may also provide an anchor for inter-3 GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful interception, billing, and some policy enforcement.

The P-GW 2023 may terminate the SGi interface to the PDN. The P-GW 2023 may route data packets between EPC network 2020 and an external network, such as a network including an application server 2030 (alternatively referred to as an Application Function (AF)), via an Internet Protocol (IP) interface 2025. In general, the application server 2030 may be an element that provides a core network (e.g., UMTS Packet Service (PS) domain, LTE PS data services, etc.) to applications using IP bearer resources. In this embodiment, the P-GW 2023 is shown communicatively coupled to the application server 2030 via an IP communications interface 2025. The application server 2030 may also be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., voice over internet protocol (VoIP) sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, social networking services, etc.) for the UEs 2001 and 2002 via the EPC network 2020.

The P-GW 2023 may also be a node for policy enforcement and charging data collection. Policy and charging enforcement function (PCRF)2026 is a policy and charging control element of EPC network 2020. In a non-roaming scenario, there may be a single PCRF in a Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) that is associated with an internet protocol connectivity access network (IP-CAN) session for a UE. In a traffic-breaking local roaming scenario, there are two PCRFs associated with an IP-CAN session of a UE in a visited (visited) public land mobile network (VPLMN): a home PCRF (H-PCRF) and a visited PCRF (V-PCRF) in the HPLMN. PCRF 2026 can be communicatively coupled to application server 2030 via P-GW 2023. Application server 2030 may signal PCRF 2026 to indicate a new service flow and may select appropriate quality of service (QoS) and charging parameters. The PCRF 2026 can set the rules in a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) (not shown) with appropriate Traffic Flow Templates (TFTs) and QoS Class Identifiers (QCIs), which starts QoS and charging as specified by the application server 2030.

Fig. 21 illustrates example components of a device 2100, according to some embodiments. In some embodiments, device 2100 may include application circuitry 2102, baseband circuitry 2104, Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry 2106, Front End Module (FEM) circuitry 2108, one or more antennas 2110, and Power Management Circuitry (PMC)2112 coupled together at least as shown. The illustrated components of the apparatus 2100 may be included in a UE or RAN node. In some embodiments, the apparatus 2100 may include fewer elements (e.g., the RAN node may not use the application circuitry 2102 and instead include a processor/controller that processes IP data received from the EPC). In some embodiments, device 2100 may include additional elements such as memory/storage, a display, a camera, sensors, or input/output (I/O) interfaces. In other embodiments, the components described below may be included in more than one device (e.g., the circuitry may be included in more than one device for a cloud RAN (C-RAN) implementation, respectively).

The application circuitry 2102 may include one or more application processors. For example, the application circuitry 2102 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The one or more processors 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 or may include memory/storage and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory/storage to enable various applications or operating systems to run on the device 2100. In some embodiments, the processor of the application circuitry 2102 may process IP data packets received from the EPC.

The baseband circuitry 2104 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. Baseband circuitry 2104 may include one or more baseband processors or control logic to process baseband signals received from a receive signal path of RF circuitry 2106 and to generate baseband signals for a transmit signal path of RF circuitry 2106. Baseband processing circuitry 2104 may interface with application circuitry 2102 for generating and processing baseband signals and for controlling operation of RF circuitry 2106. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 2104 may include a third generation (3G) baseband processor 2104A, a fourth generation (4G) baseband processor 2104B, a fifth generation (5G) baseband processor 2104C, or other baseband processors 2104D for other existing, developing, or future developed generations (e.g., second generation (2G), sixth generation (6G), etc.). The baseband circuitry 2104 (e.g., one or more baseband processors 2104A-D) may handle various radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuitry 2106. In other embodiments, some or all of the functionality of the baseband processors 2104A-D may be included in modules stored in the memory 2104G and may be performed via the Central Processing Unit (CPU) 2104E. Radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radio frequency shifting, and the like. In some embodiments, the modulation/demodulation circuitry of the baseband circuitry 2104 may include Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping/demapping functionality. In some embodiments, the encoding/decoding circuitry of baseband circuitry 2104 may include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi (Viterbi), 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, the baseband circuitry 2104 may include one or more audio signal processors (DSPs) 2104F. The audio DSP 2104F may include elements for compression/decompression and echo cancellation, and may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments. The components of the baseband circuitry may be combined as appropriate on a single chip or single chipset, or disposed on the same circuit board in some embodiments. In some embodiments, some or all of the constituent components of the baseband circuitry 2104 and the application circuitry 2102 may be implemented together, for example, on a system on a chip (SOC).

In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 2104 may provide communications compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, baseband circuitry 2104 may support communication with an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (EUTRAN) or other Wireless Metropolitan Area Network (WMAN), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN). Embodiments in which the baseband circuitry 2104 is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry.

The RF circuitry 2106 may enable communication with a wireless network using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, the RF circuitry 2106 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, and the like to facilitate communication with the wireless network. The RF circuitry 2106 may include a receive signal path that may include circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 2108 and provide baseband signals to the baseband circuitry 2104. The RF circuitry 2106 may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry to upconvert baseband signals provided by the baseband circuitry 2104 and provide an RF output signal to the FEM circuitry 2108 for transmission.

In some embodiments, the receive signal path of the RF circuitry 2106 may include mixer circuitry 2106a, amplifier circuitry 2106b, and filter circuitry 2106 c. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 2106 may include filter circuitry 2106c and mixer circuitry 2106 a. The RF circuitry 2106 may also include synthesizer circuitry 2106d for synthesizing frequencies for use by the mixer circuitry 2106a of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 2106a of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert the RF signal received from the FEM circuitry 2108 based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 2106 d. The amplifier circuit 2106b may be configured to amplify the downconverted signal, and the filter circuit 2106c 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 2104 for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signal may be a zero frequency baseband signal, although this is not required. In some embodiments, mixer circuit 2106a 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 2106a of the transmit signal path may be configured to up-convert the input baseband signal based on a synthesis frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 2106d to generate an RF output signal for the FEM circuitry 2108. The baseband signal may be provided by the baseband circuit 2104 and may be filtered by the filter circuit 2106 c.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 2106a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 2106a of the transmit signal path may comprise two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature down-conversion and up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 2106a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 2106a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 2106a and the mixer circuit 2106a of the receive signal path may be arranged for direct down-conversion and direct up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 2106a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 2106a 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, RF circuitry 2106 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry, and baseband circuitry 2104 may include a digital baseband interface in communication with RF circuitry 2106.

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

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 2106d may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional-N/N +1 synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other types of frequency synthesizers may also be suitable. The synthesizer circuit 2106d may be, for example, a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer including a phase locked loop with a frequency divider.

The synthesizer circuit 2106d may be configured to synthesize an output frequency for use by the mixer circuit 2106a of the RF circuit 2106 based on the frequency input and the divider control input. In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuit 2106d may be a fractional N/N +1 synthesizer.

In some embodiments, the frequency input may be provided by a Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO), although this is not required. The divider control input may be provided by the baseband circuitry 2104 or the application processor 2102 based on a 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 2102.

Synthesizer circuit 2106d of RF circuit 2106 may include a 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 the input signal by N or N +1 (based on the carry) 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 divide the VCO period into Nd equal phase packets, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. Thus, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuit 2106d may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and in conjunction with the quadrature generator and divider circuit generate a plurality of signals having mutually different phases at the carrier frequency. In some embodiments, the output frequency may be the LO frequency (fLO). In some embodiments, RF circuit 2106 may include an IQ/polarity converter.

The FEM circuitry 2108 may include a receive signal path that may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from the one or more antennas 2110, amplify the received signals, and provide an amplified version of the received signals to the RF circuitry 2106 for further processing. The FEM circuitry 2108 may also include a transmit signal path, which may include circuitry configured to amplify a transmit signal provided by the RF circuitry 2106 for transmission by one or more of the one or more antennas 2110. In various embodiments, amplification by the transmit or receive signal path may be performed in only the RF circuitry 2106, only the FEM 2108, or in both the RF circuitry 2106 and the FEM 2108.

In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 2108 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 an LNA that amplifies the received RF signal and provides the amplified received RF signal as an output (e.g., to the RF circuitry 2106). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuitry 2108 may include a Power Amplifier (PA) that amplifies an input RF signal (e.g., provided by the RF circuitry 2106) and one or more filters that generate the RF signal for subsequent transmission (e.g., one or more of the one or more antennas 2110).

In some embodiments, PMC 2112 may manage power provided to baseband circuitry 2104. Specifically, PMC 2112 may control power source selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-to-DC conversion. PMC 2112 may typically be included when the device 2100 is capable of being charged by a battery, for example, when the device is included in a UE. PMC 2112 may increase power conversion efficiency while providing desired implementation size and heat dissipation characteristics.

Although fig. 21 shows PMC 2112 coupled only to baseband circuitry 2104, in other embodiments, PMC 2112 may additionally or alternatively be coupled to other components, such as, but not limited to, application circuitry 2102, RF circuitry 2106, or FEM 2108, and may perform similar power management operations on these components.

In some embodiments, PMC 2112 may control, or may be part of, various power saving mechanisms of device 2100. For example, if the device 2100 is in an RRC connected state (in which it is still connected to the RAN node because it wishes to receive traffic immediately), it may enter a state referred to as discontinuous reception mode (DRX) after a period of inactivity. During this state, device 2100 can be powered down for a short interval of time to conserve power.

Device 2100 can transition to an RRC idle state if there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time. In the RRC idle state, the device 2100 may disconnect from the network and not perform operations such as channel quality feedback, handover, and the like. The device 2100 enters an ultra-low power state and it wakes up periodically to listen to the network and then powers down again to perform paging. Device 2100 may not receive data in this state and must transition back to the RRC connected state in order to receive data.

The additional power saving mode may allow the device to be unavailable to the network for a period of time longer than the paging interval (from seconds to hours). During this time, the device is completely unreachable to the network and may be completely powered down. Any data sent during this time will cause a large delay and it is assumed that the delay is acceptable.

The processor of the application circuit 2102 and the processor of the baseband circuit 2104 may be used to execute elements of one or more instances of a protocol stack. For example, the processor of the baseband circuitry 2104 may be used, alone or in combination, to perform layer 3, layer 2, or layer 1 functions, while the processor of the application circuitry 2104 may use data (e.g., packet data) received from these layers and further perform layer 4 functions (e.g., Transmission Communication Protocol (TCP) and user datagram protocol (PDCP) layers). As described in further detail below, layer 3 referred to herein may include a Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer. As described in further detail below, layer 2 referred to herein may include a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer. As described in further detail below, layer 1 referred to herein may comprise the Physical (PHY) layer of the UE/RAN node.

Fig. 22 illustrates an example interface of a baseband circuit according to some embodiments. As discussed above, the baseband circuitry 2104 of fig. 21 may include the processors 2104A-2104E and memory 2104G utilized by the processors. Each of the processors 2104A-2104E can include a memory interface 2204A-2204E that sends and/or receives data to/from the memory 2104G, respectively.

The baseband circuitry 2104 may also include one or more interfaces to communicatively couple to other circuitry/devices, for example, a memory interface 2212 (e.g., an interface to send and/or receive data to/from memory external to the baseband circuitry 2104), an application circuitry interface 2214 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from the application circuitry 2102 of fig. 21), an RF circuitry interface 2216 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from the RF circuitry 2106 of fig. 21), a wireless connectivity interface 2218 (e.g., a wireless connectivity interface to send and/or receive data to/from a Near Field Communication (NFC) component, a wireless connectivity interface 2212, a wireless connectivity interface, a wireless communication interface,

The components (e.g.,

low energy),

Interfaces for components, as well as other communication components), a power management interface 2220 (e.g., an interface that sends and/or receives power or control signals to/from PMC 2112).

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 various 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 necessarily included. If the specification or claim refers to "a" or "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, and particular features, structures, functions, or characteristics associated with the two embodiments are not mutually exclusive.

While the present disclosure has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments thereof, many alternatives, modifications, and variations to those embodiments will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in light of the foregoing description. For example, other memory architectures, such as dynamic ram (dram), may use the embodiments discussed. 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.

In addition, well-known power/ground connections to Integrated Circuit (IC) chips and other components may or may not be shown in the presented figures for simplicity of illustration and discussion without obscuring the disclosure. Additionally, arrangements may be shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the disclosure and 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., such specifics should be well within purview of one skilled in the art). Where specific details (e.g., circuits) are given 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 following examples relate to further embodiments. The details of the examples may be used anywhere in one or more embodiments. All optional features of the apparatus described herein may also be implemented in relation to the method or process.

Example 1. an apparatus of an evolved node b (enb) operable to communicate with a User Equipment (UE) on a wireless network, comprising: a memory to store instructions; and one or more processors to execute instructions to perform operations comprising: establishing an index for identifying a parameter associated with a multi-user superposition transmission (MUST) from an eNB to a first UE configured as a near UE and a second UE configured as a far UE; and generating Downlink Control Information (DCI) for transmission to at least one of the first UE or the second UE, the DCI including the index.

Example 2. the apparatus of example 1 or any other example, further comprising: an interface that outputs the DCI including the index to transceiver circuitry for transmission to at least one of the first UE or the second UE.

Example 3 the apparatus of example 1 or any other example, wherein the parameter is a power ratio, a, used by the eNB for transmission to the near UE and the far UE.

Example 4. the apparatus of example 1 or any other example, wherein the parameter is at least one of: a first modulation order for transmission to a first UE, or a second modulation order for transmission to a second UE.

Example 5 the apparatus of any one of examples 1 to 4 or any other example, wherein the MUSTs to the first UE and the second UE are multiplexed according to power.

The apparatus of any one of examples 1 to 4 or any other example, wherein the DCI is transmitted to a first UE configured as a near UE.

Example 7 the apparatus of any one of examples 1 to 4 or any other example, wherein the DCI is transmitted to a first UE configured as a near UE to enable the first UE to map the index to a first value of the parameter.

An evolved node b (eNB) device comprising an application processor, a memory, one or more antenna ports, and an interface to allow the application processor to communicate with another device, the eNB device comprising the apparatus of any one of examples 1 to 7 or any other example.

Example 9a machine-readable storage medium having machine-executable instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors of an evolved node b (enb) to perform operations comprising: establishing an index for identifying a parameter, wherein the parameter is associated with a multi-user superposition transmission (MUST) from the eNB to a first UE configured as a near UE and a second UE configured as a far UE; and generating Downlink Control Information (DCI) for transmission to at least one of the first UE or the second UE, the DCI including the index.

Example 10 the machine-readable storage medium of example 9 or any other example, wherein the operations comprise: outputting, to transceiver circuitry, the DCI including the index for transmission to at least one of the first UE or the second UE.

Example 11 the machine-readable storage medium of example 9 or any other example, wherein the parameter is a power ratio, a, used by the eNB for transmission to the near UE and the far UE.

Example 12 the machine-readable storage medium of example 9 or any other example, wherein the parameter is at least one of: a first modulation order for transmission to a first UE, or a second modulation order for transmission to a second UE.

Example 13 the machine-readable storage medium of any one of examples 9 to 12 or any other example, wherein the MUST to the first UE and the second UE are multiplexed according to power.

Example 14 the machine-readable storage medium of any one of examples 9 to 12 or any other example, wherein the DCI is transmitted to a first UE configured as a near UE.

Example 15 the machine-readable storage medium of any one of examples 9 to 12 or any other example, wherein the DCI is transmitted to a first UE configured as a near UE to enable the first UE to map the index to a first value of the parameter.

An apparatus of a first User Equipment (UE) operable to communicate with an evolved node b (enb) on a wireless network, comprising: one or more processors configured to: processing Downlink Control Information (DCI), the DCI including an index and mapping the index to a parameter associated with a multi-user superposition transmission (MUST) from an eNB to a first UE configured as a near UE and a second UE configured as a far UE; and a memory for storing the parameter.

The apparatus of example 17 or any other example, further comprising: an interface for inputting the DCI including the index from the transceiver circuit.

The apparatus of example 16 or any other example, wherein the one or more processors are to: a Downlink (DL) signal received from the eNB is demodulated based on the parameter.

Example 19 the apparatus of any one of examples 16 to 18 or any other example, wherein the multi-user superposition transmission to the first UE and the second UE is according to power multiplexing.

Example 20 the apparatus of any one of examples 16 to 18 or any other example, wherein the parameter is a power ratio, a, used by the eNB for transmission to the near UE and the far UE.

The apparatus of any one of examples 16 to 18 or any other example, wherein the parameter is at least one of: a first modulation order for transmission to a first UE or a second modulation order for transmission to a second UE.

Example 22 the apparatus of any one of examples 16 to 21 or any other example, further comprising: transceiver circuitry for generating and processing transmissions.

Example 23. a User Equipment (UE) device comprising an application processor, a memory, one or more antennas, a wireless interface to allow the application processor to communicate with another device, and a touchscreen display, the UE device comprising the apparatus of any one of examples 16 to 22 or any other example.

Example 24 a machine-readable storage medium having machine-executable instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors of a User Equipment (UE) to perform operations comprising: processing Downlink Control Information (DCI), the DCI including an index; and mapping the index to a parameter associated with a multi-user superposition transmission (MUST) from an evolved node b (enb) to a first UE configured as a near UE and a second UE configured as a far UE.

Example 25 the machine-readable storage medium of example 24 or any other example, wherein the operations comprise: the DCI including the index from the transceiver circuitry is input.

Example 26 the machine-readable storage medium of example 24 or any other example, wherein the operations comprise: a Downlink (DL) signal received from the eNB is demodulated based at least in part on the parameter.

Example 27 the machine-readable storage medium of any one of examples 24 to 26 or any other example, wherein the multi-user superposition transmission to the first UE and the second UE is according to power multiplexing.

Example 28 the machine-readable storage medium of any one of examples 24 to 26 or any other example, wherein the parameter is a power ratio, a, used by the eNB for transmission to the near UE and the far UE.

Example 29 the machine-readable storage medium of any one of examples 24 to 26 or any other example, wherein the parameter is at least one of: a first modulation order for transmission to a first UE, or a second modulation order for transmission to a second UE.

An apparatus of an evolved node b (enb) operable to communicate with a User Equipment (UE) on a wireless network, comprising: a memory to store instructions; and one or more processors to execute instructions to perform operations comprising: establishing an indicator for identifying a modulation order associated with a transmission from an eNB to a first UE, wherein the eNB co-schedules the transmission according to a multi-user superposition transmission (MUST) to the first UE and a second UE; and generating Downlink Control Information (DCI) for transmission to the second UE, the DCI comprising the indicator.

Example 31 the apparatus of example 30 or any other example, further comprising: an interface to output the DCI including the indicator to the transceiver circuitry for transmission to the second UE.

Example 32. the apparatus of example 30 or any other example, wherein the modulation order is one of Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK), 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (16QAM), 64QAM, or 256 QAM.

Example 33 the apparatus of any one of examples 30 to 32 or any other example, wherein the multi-user superposition transmissions to the first UE and the second UE are spatially multiplexed according to non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA).

Example 34 the apparatus of any one of examples 30 to 32 or any other example, wherein the DCI is transmitted to the second UE to enable the second UE to identify a modulation order associated with the co-scheduled first UE based on the indicator.

Example 35 an evolved node (eNB) device comprising an application processor, a memory, one or more antenna ports, and an interface to allow the application processor to communicate with another device, the eNB device comprising the apparatus of any one of examples 30 to 34 or any other example.

Example 36 a machine-readable storage medium having machine-executable instructions, which when executed, cause one or more processors of an evolved node b (enb) to perform operations comprising: establishing an indicator for identifying a modulation order associated with a transmission from an eNB to a first User Equipment (UE), wherein the eNB schedules the transmission in cooperation according to a multi-user superposition transmission (MUST) to the first UE and a second UE; and generating Downlink Control Information (DCI) for transmission to the second UE, the DCI including the indicator.

Example 37 the machine-readable storage medium of example 36 or any other example, wherein the operations comprise: the DCI including the indicator is output to transceiver circuitry for transmission to a second UE.

Example 38. the machine-readable storage medium of example 36 or any other example, wherein the modulation order is one of Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK), 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (16QAM), 64QAM, or 256 QAM.

Example 39 the machine-readable storage medium of any one of examples 36 to 38 or any other example, wherein the multi-user superposition transmission to the first UE and the second UE is spatially multiplexed according to non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA).

Example 40 the machine-readable storage medium of any one of examples 36 to 38 or any other example, wherein the DCI is transmitted to the second UE to enable the second UE to identify a modulation order associated with the co-scheduled first UE based on the indicator.

An apparatus of a first User Equipment (UE) operable to communicate with an evolved node b (enb) on a wireless network, comprising: one or more processors configured to: processing Downlink Control Information (DCI) received from an eNB, the DCI including an indicator, wherein a transmission is co-scheduled by the eNB according to a multi-user superposition transmission (MUST) to a first UE and a second UE, and a modulation order associated with the transmission from the eNB to the second UE is identified based on the indicator; and a memory for storing an identification of the modulation order.

Example 42 the apparatus of example 41 or any other example, wherein the one or more processors are to: processing a Downlink (DL) signal received from the eNB based on the identification of the modulation order.

Example 43. the apparatus of example 41 or any other example, wherein the modulation order is one of Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK), 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (16QAM), 64QAM, or 256 QAM.

Example 44 the apparatus of any one of examples 41 to 43 or any other example, wherein the first UE receives the transmission from the eNB with the co-scheduled second UE according to non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) spatial multiplexing.

Example 45 the apparatus of any one of examples 41 to 43 or any other example, further comprising: transceiver circuitry to generate and process transmissions.

Example 46. a User Equipment (UE) device comprising an application processor, a memory, one or more antennas, a wireless interface to allow the application processor to communicate with another device, and a touchscreen display, the UE device comprising the apparatus of any one of examples 41 to 45 or any other example.

Example 47. a machine-readable storage medium having machine-executable instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors of a first User Equipment (UE) to perform operations comprising: processing Downlink Control Information (DCI) received from an evolved node B (eNB), the DCI including an indicator, wherein transmissions are co-scheduled by the eNB according to a multi-user superposition transmission (MUST) to a first UE and a second UE; and identify a modulation order associated with the transmission from the eNB to the second UE based on the indicator.

Example 48 the machine-readable storage medium of example 47 or any other example, wherein the operations comprise: processing a Downlink (DL) signal received from the eNB based on the identification of the modulation order.

Example 49 the machine-readable storage medium of example 47 or any other example, wherein the modulation order is one of Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK), 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (16QAM), 64QAM, or 256 QAM.

Example 50 the machine-readable storage medium of any one of examples 47 to 49 or any other example, wherein the first UE receives the transmission from the eNB with the co-scheduled second UE according to non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) spatial multiplexing.

Example 51 a method performed by an evolved node b (enb), comprising: establishing an index for identifying a parameter, wherein the parameter is associated with a multi-user superposition transmission (MUST) from an eNB to a first User Equipment (UE) configured as a near UE and a second UE configured as a far UE; and generating Downlink Control Information (DCI) for transmission to at least one of the first UE or the second UE, the DCI including the index.

Example 52 the method of example 51 or any other example, wherein the parameter is a power ratio, a, used by the eNB for transmission to the near UE and the far UE.

Example 53 the method of example 51 or any other example, wherein the parameter is at least one of: a first modulation order for transmission to a first UE or a second modulation order for transmission to a second UE.

Example 54 the method of any one of examples 51 to 53 or any other example, wherein the MUSTs to the first UE and the second UE are multiplexed according to power.

Example 55 the method of any one of examples 51 to 53 or any other example, wherein the DCI is transmitted to a first UE configured as a near UE.

Example 56 the method of any one of examples 51 to 53 or any other example, wherein the DCI is transmitted to a first UE configured as a near UE to enable the first UE to map the index to a first value of the parameter.

Example 57 one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the method of any one of examples 51 to 56 or any other example.

Example 58 may include an apparatus comprising: an apparatus for multiplexing a plurality of users in a multi-user (MU) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system using Spatial Multiplexing (SM) with non-orthogonal precoders.

Example 59 may include the apparatus of example 58 and/or some other example herein, wherein the SM with the non-orthogonal precoder is based on a cell-specific reference signal (CRS) -Transmission Mode (TM) or demodulation reference signal (DMRS) -TM.

Example 60 may include the apparatus of example 58 and/or some other example herein, wherein the MU parameters for the CRS-TM include one or more of co-scheduled UE presence, number of multiple users, precoder, modulation order, and power offset; and wherein the MU parameters for the DMRS-TM include one or more of UE presence for co-scheduling, DMRS scrambling seed, number of DMRS ports, and modulation order.

Example 61 may include the apparatus of example 60 and/or some other example herein, further comprising: means for signaling the MU parameters to a User Equipment (UE).

Example 62 may include the apparatus of example 60 or 61 and/or some other example herein, wherein the UE is to detect the MU parameter based on the detection device.

Example 63 may include the apparatus of example 62 and/or some other example herein, wherein the detection device is adjusted between a linear detection device and a non-linear detection device.

Example 64 may include the apparatus of example 63 and/or some other example herein, wherein an enhanced-linear-minimum mean square error (E-LMMSE) -Interference Rejection Combination (IRC) means is selected as the detecting means when the serving modulation order is lower or the interference modulation order is higher, and/or when blind detection of the MU modulation order is unreliable; the Maximum Likelihood (ML) device is selected as the detection device when the serving modulation order is high and the interfering modulation order is low or medium, and/or when the blind detection of MU parameters is reliable.

Example 65A may include the apparatus of examples 63 to 64 and/or some other example herein, wherein, when the detection device is an ML device, the ML device is to estimate a likelihood of receiving the signal for different transmit parameter hypotheses and determine the hypothesis with a maximum of the hypotheses.

Example 65B may include the apparatus of examples 64 to 65A and/or some other example herein, wherein the ML device comprises a reduced complexity ML (R-ML) device.

Example 66 may include the apparatus of examples 63 to 64 and/or some other example herein, wherein the detecting means is to reconstruct a signal covariance matrix under various Received (RX) signal hypotheses and compare the hypotheses to an actual received signal covariance matrix estimated over one or more data Resource Elements (REs), wherein the comparison of the covariance matrices is based on euclidean distances.

Example 67 may include the apparatus of examples 65A to 66 and/or some other example herein, wherein the detecting means comprises ML means and covariance matrix comparison, wherein the covariance matrix comparison is used to detect the interfering signal presence and precoder, and the ML means is used to detect the modulation format when the MU parameters are detected using the covariance matrix comparison.

Example 68 may include the apparatus of example 67 and/or some other example herein, wherein the detecting means comprises detecting a co-scheduled UE presence based on when a channel power of a DMRS Antenna Port (AP) is above or below a threshold, and wherein the channel power of the AP is monitored based on an Orthogonal Correction Code (OCC) level.

Example 69 may include the apparatus of examples 58 to 68, wherein the apparatus is an evolved node b (eNB) or a portion of an eNB, or the apparatus is a Transmission Reception Point (TRP) or a portion of a TRP.

Example 70 may include an apparatus comprising: apparatus for detecting multi-user (MU) parameters for receiving signals in a MU multi-input multi-output (MIMO) system that uses Spatial Multiplexing (SM) with non-orthogonal precoders.

Example 71 may include the apparatus of example 70 and/or some other example herein, wherein the SM with the non-orthogonal precoder is based on a cell-specific reference signal (CRS) -Transmission Mode (TM) or demodulation reference signal (DMRS) -TM.

Example 72 may include the apparatus of example 71 and/or some other example herein, wherein the MU parameters for the CRS-TM include one or more of co-scheduled UE presence, number of multiple users, precoder, modulation order, and power offset; and wherein the MU parameters for the DMRS-TM include one or more of UE presence for co-scheduling, DMRS scrambling seed, number of DMRS ports, and modulation order.

Example 73 may include the apparatus of example 72 and/or some other example herein, further comprising: means for receiving MU parameters based on whether the SM utilizing the non-orthogonal precoder is CRS-TM based or DMRS-TM based.

Example 74 may include the apparatus of examples 72 to 73 and/or some other example herein, further comprising: means for selecting a detection means for detecting the MU parameter.

Example 75 may include the apparatus of example 74 and/or some other example herein, wherein the detection device is adjusted between a linear detection device and a non-linear detection device.

Example 76 may include the apparatus of example 75 and/or some other example herein, wherein the means for selecting the detection apparatus comprises: means for selecting an enhanced-linear minimum mean square error (E-LMMSE) -interference suppression combination (IRC) means when a serving modulation order is low or an interference modulation order is high and/or when blind detection of MU modulation orders is unreliable; and means for selecting a Maximum Likelihood (ML) device when the serving modulation order is high and the interference modulation order is medium or low and/or when blind detection of MU parameters is reliable.

Example 77 may include the apparatus of examples 75 to 76 and/or some other example herein, wherein the ML means is to estimate a likelihood of receiving the signal for different transmit parameter hypotheses and determine one of the hypotheses having a maximum value.

Example 78 may include the apparatus of example 77 and/or some other example herein, wherein the E-LMMSE-IRC apparatus comprises: means for reconstructing a received signal covariance matrix under various received (Rx) signal hypotheses; and means for comparing the hypotheses to an actual received signal covariance matrix estimated on one or more data Resource Elements (REs), wherein the comparison of the covariance matrices is based on euclidean distances.

Example 79A may include the apparatus of examples 77 to 78 and/or some other example herein, wherein the ML means comprises the ML means and means for comparing covariance matrices, wherein: the means for comparing the covariance matrix comprises means for detecting the presence of an interfering signal and the precoder, and the ML means comprises means for detecting a modulation format upon detection of the MU parameters using the covariance matrix comparison, wherein the modulation format is based on the obtained information on the modulation format.

Example 79B may include the apparatus of examples 76 to 79A and/or some other example herein, wherein the ML device comprises a reduced complexity ML (R-ML) device.

Example 80 may include the apparatus of examples 79A-79B and/or some other example herein, wherein the detection means comprises: means for detecting the presence of co-scheduled UEs, comprising: means for monitoring channel power of a DMRS Antenna Port (AP), wherein the channel power of the AP is monitored based on an Orthogonal Correction Code (OCC) level; and means for determining whether the monitored AP is above or below a threshold.

Example 81 may include the apparatus of examples 70 to 80, wherein the apparatus is a User Equipment (UE) or a part of a UE.

Example 82 may include an apparatus to: multiuser (MU) signals in MU-Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) systems are multiplexed using Spatial Multiplexing (SM) with non-orthogonal precoders.

Example 83 may include the apparatus of example 82 and/or some other example herein, wherein the SM with the non-orthogonal precoder is based on a cell-specific reference signal (CRS) -Transmission Mode (TM) or demodulation reference signal (DMRS) -TM.

Example 84 may include the apparatus of example 83 and/or some other example herein, wherein the MU parameters for the CRS-TM include one or more of co-scheduled UE presence, number of multiple users, precoder, modulation order, and power offset; and wherein the MU parameters for the DMRS-TM include one or more of UE presence for co-scheduling, DMRS scrambling seed, number of DMRS ports, and modulation order.

Example 85 may include the apparatus of example 84 and/or some other example herein, wherein the apparatus signals the MU parameters to a User Equipment (UE).

Example 86 may include the apparatus of examples 84 to 85 and/or some other example herein, wherein the UE detects the MU parameter based on a detection mechanism.

Example 87 may include the apparatus of example 86 and/or some other example herein, wherein the detection mechanism is adapted between a linear detection mechanism and a non-linear detection mechanism.

Example 88 may include the apparatus of example 30 and/or some other example herein, wherein: when the serving modulation order is low or the interference modulation order is high and/or when blind detection of MU modulation orders is unreliable, an enhanced-linear-minimum mean square error (E-LMMSE) -Interference Rejection Combination (IRC) mechanism is selected as the detection mechanism; the Maximum Likelihood (ML) mechanism is selected as the detection mechanism when the serving modulation order is high and the interference modulation order is medium or low and/or when blind detection of MU parameters is reliable.

Example 89A may include the apparatus of examples 87-88 and/or some other example herein, wherein, when the detection mechanism is an ML mechanism, the ML mechanism is to estimate a likelihood of receiving a signal for different transmit parameter hypotheses and determine a hypothesis with a maximum of the hypotheses.

Example 89B may include the apparatus of examples 88 to 89A and/or some other example herein, wherein the ML mechanism comprises a reduced complexity ML (R-ML) mechanism.

Example 90 may include the apparatus of examples 87-88 and/or some other example herein, wherein the detection mechanism is to reconstruct a received signal covariance matrix under various Received (RX) signal hypotheses and compare the hypotheses to an actual received signal covariance matrix estimated over one or more data Resource Elements (REs), wherein the comparison of the covariance matrices is based on euclidean distances.

Example 91 may include the apparatus of examples 89A to 90 and/or some other example herein, wherein the detection mechanism comprises an ML mechanism and a covariance matrix comparison, wherein the presence of the interfering signal and the precoder are detected using the covariance matrix comparison, and the modulation format is detected using the ML mechanism upon detection of the MU parameters using the covariance matrix comparison.

Example 92 may include the apparatus of example 91 and/or some other example herein, wherein the detection mechanism comprises detecting a co-scheduled UE presence based on when a channel power of a DMRS Antenna Port (AP) is above or below a threshold, and wherein the channel power of the AP is monitored based on an Orthogonal Correction Code (OCC) level.

Example 93 may include the apparatus of examples 82 to 92, wherein the apparatus is an evolved node b (eNB) or part of an eNB, or the apparatus is a Transmission Reception Point (TRP) or part of a TRP.

Example 94 may include an apparatus comprising: a multi-user (MU) parameter for receiving a signal in a MU-Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) system using Spatial Multiplexing (SM) with a non-orthogonal precoder is detected.

Example 95 may include the apparatus of example 94 and/or some other example herein, wherein the SM with the non-orthogonal precoder is based on a cell-specific reference signal (CRS) -Transmission Mode (TM) or demodulation reference signal (DMRS) -TM.

Example 96 may include the apparatus of example 38 and/or some other example herein, wherein the MU parameters for the CRS-TM include one or more of co-scheduled UE presence, number of multiple users, precoder, modulation order, and power offset; and wherein the MU parameters for the DMRS-TM include one or more of UE presence for co-scheduling, DMRS scrambling seed, number of DMRS ports, and modulation order.

Example 97 may include the apparatus of example 96 and/or some other example herein, further comprising: receiving the MU parameters in the configuration message.

Example 98 may include the apparatus of examples 96 to 97 and/or some other example herein, wherein the apparatus selects the detection mechanism to use for detecting the MU parameter.

Example 99 may include the apparatus of example 98 and/or some other example herein, wherein the selected detection mechanism is a linear detection mechanism or a non-linear detection mechanism.

Example 100 may include the apparatus of example 99 and/or some other example herein, wherein the apparatus: selecting an enhanced-linear-minimum mean square error (E-LMMSE) -interference suppression combination (IRC) mechanism when the serving modulation order is lower or the interference modulation order is higher and/or when blind detection of the MU modulation order is unreliable; and selecting a Maximum Likelihood (ML) mechanism when the serving modulation order is high and the interference modulation order is medium or low and/or when blind detection of MU parameters is reliable.

Example 101A may include the apparatus of examples 99 to 100 and/or some other example herein, wherein the ML mechanism is to estimate a likelihood of receiving the signal for different transmit parameter hypotheses and determine the hypothesis with a maximum of the hypotheses.

Example 101B may include the apparatus of examples 100 to 101A and/or some other example herein, wherein the ML mechanism comprises a reduced complexity NL (R-ML) mechanism.

Example 102 may include the apparatus of examples 101A-101B and/or some other example herein, wherein when the E-LMMSE-IRC mechanism is selected, the apparatus is to: reconstructing a received signal covariance matrix under various Received (RX) signal hypotheses; these hypotheses are compared to an actual received signal covariance matrix estimated on one or more data Resource Elements (REs), wherein the comparison of the covariance matrices is based on euclidean distances.

Example 103 may include the apparatus of examples 101A to 102 and/or some other example herein, wherein the ML mechanism includes an ML mechanism and an E-LMMSE-IRC mechanism, and wherein the apparatus: the covariance matrices are compared to detect the presence of an interfering signal and a precoder, and the modulation format is detected when MU parameters are detected using the comparison of the covariance matrices.

Example 104 may include the apparatus of example 103 and/or some other example herein, wherein the apparatus is to: detecting a presence of a co-scheduled UE, and wherein to detect the co-scheduled UE, the apparatus is to: monitoring channel power of a DMRS Antenna Port (AP), wherein the channel power of the AP is monitored based on an Orthogonal Correction Code (OCC) level, and determining whether the monitored AP is above or below a threshold.

Example 105 may include the apparatus of examples 94 to 104, wherein the apparatus is a User Equipment (UE) or a part of a UE.

Example 106 may include a method comprising: multiple users in a multi-user (MU) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system are multiplexed or caused to be multiplexed using Spatial Multiplexing (SM) with non-orthogonal precoders.

Example 107 may include the method of example 106 and/or some other example herein, wherein the SM with the non-orthogonal precoder is based on a cell-specific reference signal (CRS) -Transmission Mode (TM) or demodulation reference signal (DMRS) -TM.

Example 108 may include the method of example 107 and/or some other example herein, wherein the MU parameters for the CRS-TM include one or more of a co-scheduled UE presence, a number of multiple users, a precoder, a modulation order, and a power offset, and wherein the MU parameters for the DMRS-TM include one or more of a co-scheduled UE presence, a DMRS scrambling code seed, a number of DMRS ports, and a modulation order.

Example 109 may include the method of example 108 and/or some other example herein, further comprising: transmit or cause to transmit the MU parameters to a User Equipment (UE).

Example 110 may include the method of examples 108 to 109 and/or some other example herein, wherein the UE detects the MU parameter based on a detection mechanism.

Example 111 may include the method of example 110 and/or some other example herein, wherein the detection mechanism is adapted between a linear detection mechanism and a non-linear detection mechanism.

Example 112 may include the method of example 111 and/or some other example herein, wherein: when the serving modulation order is low or the interference modulation order is high and/or when blind detection of MU modulation orders is unreliable, an enhanced-linear-minimum mean square error (E-LMMSE) -Interference Rejection Combination (IRC) mechanism is selected as the detection mechanism; and the Maximum Likelihood (ML) mechanism is selected as the detection mechanism when the serving modulation order is high and the interference scheduling order is medium or low and/or when blind detection of MU parameters is reliable.

Example 113A may include the methods of examples 111-112 and/or some other example herein, wherein the ML mechanism is to estimate a likelihood of receiving the signal for different transmit parameter hypotheses and to determine the hypothesis with a maximum value among the hypotheses.

Example 113B may include the apparatus of examples 112 to 113A and/or some other example herein, wherein the MU mechanism comprises a reduced complexity ML (R-ML) mechanism.

Example 114 may include the method of examples 111 to 112 and/or some other example herein, wherein the detection mechanism is to RE-frame received signal covariance matrices under various Received (RX) signal hypotheses and compare the hypotheses to actual received signal covariance matrices estimated on one or more data Resource Elements (REs), wherein the comparison of covariance matrices is based on euclidean distances.

Example 115 may include the methods of examples 113A-114 and/or some other example herein, wherein the detection mechanism comprises an ML mechanism and a covariance matrix comparison, wherein the presence of the interfering signal and the precoder are detected using the covariance matrix comparison, and the modulation format is detected using the ML mechanism when the MU parameters are detected using the covariance matrix comparison.

Example 116 may include the method of example 115 and/or some other example herein, wherein the detection mechanism comprises detecting a co-scheduled UE presence based on when a channel power of a DMRS Antenna Port (AP) is above or below a threshold, and wherein the channel power of the AP is monitored based on an Orthogonal Correction Code (OCC) level.

Example 117 may include the method of examples 106 to 116, wherein the apparatus is an evolved node b (eNB) or part of an eNB, or the apparatus is a Transmission Reception Point (TRP) or part of a TRP.

Example 118 may include a method comprising: detecting or causing detection of a multi-user (MU) parameter for receiving a signal in a MU-Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) system using Spatial Multiplexing (SM) with a non-orthogonal precoder.

Example 119 may include the method of example 118 and/or some other example herein, wherein the SM with the non-orthogonal precoder is based on a cell-specific reference signal (CRS) -Transmission Mode (TM) or demodulation reference signal (DMRS) -TM.

Example 120 may include the method of example 119 and/or some other example herein, wherein the MU parameters for the CRS-TM include one or more of a co-scheduled UE presence, a number of multiple users, a precoder, a modulation order, and a power offset, and wherein the MU parameters for the DMRS-TM include one or more of a co-scheduled UE presence, a DMRS scrambling code seed, a number of DMRS ports, and a modulation order.

Example 121 may include the method of example 120 and/or some other example herein, further comprising: receiving or causing to receive the MU parameters based on whether the SM utilizing the non-orthogonal precoder is CRS-TM based or DMRS-TM based.

Example 122 may include the methods of examples 120 to 121 and/or some other example herein, further comprising: the detection mechanism is selected or caused to be selected for detecting the MU parameter.

Example 123 may include the method of example 122 and/or some other example herein, wherein the detection mechanism is adapted between a linear detection mechanism and a non-linear detection mechanism.

Example 124 may include the method of example 123 and/or some other example herein, wherein selecting the detection mechanism comprises: selecting or causing selection of an enhanced-linear-minimum mean square error (E-LMMSE) -interference suppression combination (IRC) mechanism when a serving modulation order is low or an interference modulation order is high and/or when blind detection of MU modulation orders is unreliable; and selecting or causing selection of a Maximum Likelihood (ML) mechanism when the serving modulation order is high and the interference modulation order is medium or when low and/or blind detection of MU parameters is reliable.

Example 125A may include the methods of examples 123-124 and/or some other example herein, wherein the ML mechanism is to estimate a likelihood of the received signal for different transmit parameter hypotheses and determine the hypothesis with the greatest of the hypotheses.

Example 125B may include the methods of examples 124-125A and/or some other example herein, wherein the ML mechanism comprises a low complexity ML mechanism or a reduced complexity ML (R-ML) mechanism.

Example 126 may include the method of examples 125A-125B and/or some other example herein, wherein the E-LMMSE-IRC mechanism comprises: reconstructing or causing reconstruction of a received signal covariance matrix under various Received (RX) signal hypotheses; and comparing or causing to be compared the hypotheses to an actual received signal covariance matrix estimated on one or more data Resource Elements (REs), wherein the comparison of the covariance matrix is based on euclidean distances.

Example 127 may include the method of examples 125A-126 and/or some other example herein, wherein the ML mechanism includes an ML mechanism and an E-LMMSE-IRC mechanism, the method comprising: comparing or causing to compare the covariance matrix comprises detecting an interfering signal presence and a precoder; and detecting or causing detection of the modulation format after detecting the presence of the interfering signal and the precoder.

Example 128 may include the method of example 127 and/or some other example herein, further comprising: detecting or causing to detect the presence of co-scheduled UEs comprises: monitoring or causing monitoring of channel power of a DMRS Antenna Port (AP), wherein the channel power of the AP is monitored based on an Orthogonal Correction Code (OCC) level; and determining or causing a determination of whether the monitored AP is above or below a threshold.

Example 129 may include the method of examples 118 to 1128, wherein the method is performed by a User Equipment (UE) or a portion of the UE.

Example 130 may include a network and method that may multiplex multiple users through Spatial Multiplexing (SM) using non-orthogonal precoders, where MU UEs in the network may know MU parameters for best performance.

Example 131 may include the networks and methods of example 130 and/or some other example herein, wherein the MU UE may assume multiple detection policies for optimal performance, wherein the detection policies may be adapted based on parameter awareness and performance gain of the UE.

Example 132 may include the networks and methods of examples 130 to 131 and/or some other example herein, wherein for parameter awareness of a user, network assistance signaling may be provided, the network assistance signaling comprising any combination of: for linear detection in CRS-TM, presence, number of multiple users and precoder are required; for linear detection in DMRS TM, presence, DMRS scrambling seeds, and number of DMRS ports are required; for non-linear detection in CRS-TM, the modulation order of the MU UE is also needed; for non-linear detection in DMRS-TM, the modulation order of the MU UE is also needed.

Example 133 may include the networks and methods of examples 130 to 132 and/or some other example herein, wherein the UE may blindly detect the parameter if there is no network signaling.

Example 134 may include the networks and methods of examples 130 to 133 and/or some other example herein, wherein when blind detection of the modulation order is inaccurate when the serving modulation order is low or the interference modulation order is high, the linear detection with interference suppression and combination may be effectively selected to achieve best performance.

Example 135 may include the networks and methods of examples 130 to 134 and/or of some other example herein, wherein the non-linear detection is effectively selected when the serving modulation order is high and the interfering modulation order is medium or low and blind detection of MU parameters is reliable.

Example 136 may include the networks and methods of examples 134 to 135 and/or some other example herein, wherein the networks are adapted in accordance with MU transmissions.

Example 137 may include the networks and methods of example 133 and/or some other example herein, wherein designing the low-complexity algorithm may include any combination of: for CRS-TM precoder estimation, MU UE compares the received signal covariance matrix with the reconstructed covariance matrix using precoder assumptions, using precoder detection of CRS-TM, the modulation order can be effectively searched only within one or a small number of limited precoder assumptions, and for DMRS-TM, a power threshold test on each AP channel covariance matrix is applied using the number of users and scrambling code seed assumptions.

Example 138 may include an apparatus comprising means to perform one or more elements of a method described in or relating to any of examples 58 to 137 or any other method or process described herein.

Example 139 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising one or more elements that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform the method described in or relating to any of examples 58-137 or any other method or process described herein.

Example 140 may include an apparatus comprising logic, modules, and/or circuitry to perform one or more elements of a method described in or relating to any of examples 58 to 137 or any other method or process described herein.

Example 141 may include, or portions of, methods, techniques, or processes described in or relating to any of examples 58 to 137.

Example 142 may include an apparatus comprising: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the methods, techniques, or processes, or portions thereof, described in or relating to any one of examples 58-137.

Example 143 may include the method of communication in a wireless network shown and described herein.

Example 144 may include the system for providing wireless communications shown and described herein.

Example 145 may include the apparatus for providing wireless communications shown and described herein.

An abstract is provided that allows the reader to ascertain the nature and spirit of the technical disclosure. It 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 (21)

1. An apparatus of a base station, BS, operable to communicate with a user equipment, UE, over a wireless network, comprising:

a memory for storing instructions; and

one or more processors to execute the instructions to perform operations comprising:

establishing an index for identifying a parameter, wherein the parameter is associated with a multi-user superposition transmission, MUST, from the BS to a first UE configured as a near UE and a second UE configured as a far UE, wherein the parameter comprises a modulation order, and wherein the modulation order is one of quadrature phase shift keying, QPSK, 16-quadrature amplitude modulation, 16QAM, or 64 QAM; and

generating downlink control information, DCI, that includes the index, wherein the DCI is to be transmitted to the first UE to enable the first UE to map the index to a first value of the parameter.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

an interface to output the DCI including the index to transceiver circuitry for transmission to at least one of the first UE or the second UE.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the parameter is a power ratio a that the BS uses for transmissions to the near UE and the far UE.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the parameter is at least one of: a first modulation order for transmission to the first UE, or a second modulation order for transmission to the second UE.

5. The apparatus of any of claims 1-4, wherein the MUSTs to the first UE and the second UE are multiplexed according to power.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the index is selected from a plurality of numbers corresponding to a plurality of transmission sets, and wherein each transmission set of the plurality of transmission sets comprises a corresponding set of parameters, the corresponding set of parameters comprising the parameter.

7. A method to be performed by a evolved base station, BS, comprising:

establishing an index for identifying a parameter, wherein the parameter is associated with a multi-user superposition transmission, MUST, from the BS to a first UE configured as a near user equipment, UE, and a second UE configured as a far UE, wherein the index is selected from a plurality of numbers corresponding to a plurality of transmission sets, and wherein each transmission set of the plurality of transmission sets comprises a corresponding set of parameters, the corresponding set of parameters comprising the parameter; and

generating downlink control information, DCI, that includes the index, wherein the DCI is to be transmitted to the first UE to enable the first UE to map the index to a first value of the parameter.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the parameter is a power ratio a that the BS uses for transmissions to the near UE and the far UE.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the parameter is at least one of: a first modulation order for transmission to the first UE, or a second modulation order for transmission to the second UE.

10. The method of any of claims 7-9, wherein the MUSTs to the first UE and the second UE are multiplexed according to power.

11. One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the method of any of claims 7-10.

12. An apparatus of a first user equipment, UE, operable to communicate with a base station, BS, over a wireless network, comprising:

one or more processors configured to:

processing downlink control information, DCI, the DCI including an index, and

mapping the index to a parameter associated with a multi-user superposition transmission, MUST, from the BS to the first UE configured as a near UE and a second UE configured as a far UE, wherein the index is mapped to the parameter using a transmission set indicated by the index; and

a memory for storing the parameter.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising:

an interface for inputting the DCI including the index from transceiver circuitry.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the one or more processors are to:

demodulating a downlink DL signal received from the BS based on the parameter.

15. The apparatus of any of claims 12-14, wherein the multi-user superposition transmission to the first UE and second UE is according to power multiplexing.

16. The apparatus of any of claims 12-14, wherein the parameter is a power ratio a the BS uses for transmission to the near UE and the far UE.

17. The apparatus of any of claims 12-14, wherein the parameter is at least one of: a first modulation order for transmission to the first UE, or a second modulation order for transmission to the second UE.

18. An apparatus of a base station, BS, operable to communicate with a user equipment, UE, over a wireless network, comprising:

a memory to store instructions; and

one or more processors to execute the instructions to perform operations comprising:

establishing an indicator identifying a modulation order associated with a transmission from the BS to a first UE, wherein the BS is configured to co-schedule transmissions according to a multi-user superposition transmission (MUST) to the first UE and a second UE; and

generating downlink control information, DCI, for transmission to the second UE, the DCI including the indicator, wherein the DCI is to be transmitted to the second UE to enable the second UE to identify the modulation order associated with the first UE in co-scheduling based on the indicator, wherein the second UE uses the indicator to identify the modulation order based on the indicated set of transmissions.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising:

an interface to output the DCI including the indicator to transceiver circuitry for transmission to the second UE.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the modulation order is one of Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK), 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (16QAM), 64QAM, or 256 QAM.

21. The apparatus of any of claims 18-20, wherein the multi-user superposition transmission to the first UE and second UE is spatially multiplexed according to non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA).

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