CN113302867B

CN113302867B - Common signal structure for multiple parameter sets

Info

Publication number: CN113302867B
Application number: CN201980088537.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 骆喆; 陶涛; 刘建国; 孟艳; 沈钢
Original assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy
Current assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy
Priority date: 2019-01-11
Filing date: 2019-01-11
Publication date: 2023-08-08
Anticipated expiration: 2039-01-11
Also published as: CN113302867A; WO2020143032A1

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide methods, apparatus, and computer-readable media for communication. In one aspect, a method for communication includes obtaining a data sequence and a signal structure defining a signal duration and a number of repeating portions. The method also includes determining a pattern for mapping the data sequence to a plurality of resource elements based on the subcarrier spacing and the signal structure used. The method further includes transmitting a signal carrying the data sequence based on the determined pattern such that the transmitted signal has a signal structure. Embodiments of the present disclosure simplify the transmitting operation of a transmitting side and the receiving operation of a receiving side.

Description

Common signal structure for multiple parameter sets

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communications, and more particularly, to a common signal structure for multiple parameter sets.

Background

Recently, detection of transmission bursts from network devices by terminal devices has been studied. In addition, attention has been paid to power consumption of a terminal device required to detect a transmission burst, for example, if the terminal device needs to frequently detect or monitor a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH). Proposals that have been made for these topics include existing New Radio (NR) signals with possible enhancements, channels with possible enhancements such as PDCCH, and 802.11a/802.11ax preambles with possible enhancements. No consensus is reached regarding any of these proposals.

It has been agreed in the third generation partnership project (3 GPP) Radio Access Network (RAN) 1#95 conference that preambles similar to 802.11a/802.11ax with possible enhancements will be studied as candidates for transmission burst detection in NR on the unlicensed spectrum (NR-U). For 802.11a/802.11ax, the sender may send a preamble before sending a burst, and the receiver may detect the preamble and obtain some information of the sending burst, such as the length of the sending burst.

Disclosure of Invention

In general, example embodiments of the present disclosure provide a scheme related to a common signal structure for multiple parameter sets.

In a first aspect, a method for communication is provided. The method includes obtaining a data sequence and a signal structure defining a signal duration and a number of repeating portions. The method also includes determining a pattern for mapping the data sequence to a plurality of resource elements based on the subcarrier spacing and the signal structure used. The method further includes transmitting a signal carrying the data sequence based on the determined pattern such that the transmitted signal has a signal structure.

In a second aspect, a method for communication is provided. The method includes receiving a signal carrying a data sequence. The method further includes obtaining a signal structure defining a signal duration and a number of repeating portions. The method also includes determining a pattern for mapping the data sequence to a plurality of resource elements based on the subcarrier spacing and the signal structure used. The method further includes obtaining a data sequence from the signal based on the determined pattern.

In a third aspect, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes at least one processor and at least one memory storing computer program code. The at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to obtain a data sequence and a signal structure defining a signal duration and a number of repeating portions. The at least one memory and the computer program code are also configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to determine a pattern for mapping a data sequence to a plurality of resource elements based on the subcarrier spacing and the signal structure used. The at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to transmit a signal carrying a data sequence based on the determined pattern such that the transmitted signal has a signal structure.

In a fourth aspect, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes at least one processor and at least one memory storing computer program code. The at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to receive a signal carrying a data sequence. The at least one memory and the computer program code are also configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to obtain a signal structure defining a signal duration and a number of repeating portions. The at least one memory and the computer program code are also configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to determine a pattern for mapping a data sequence to a plurality of resource elements based on the subcarrier spacing and the signal structure used. The at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to obtain a data sequence from the signal based on the determined pattern.

In a fifth aspect, an apparatus for communication is provided. The apparatus comprises means for acquiring a data sequence and a signal structure defining a signal duration and a number of repeated parts. The apparatus also includes means for determining a pattern for mapping the data sequence to a plurality of resource elements based on the subcarrier spacing and the signal structure used. The apparatus further comprises means for transmitting a signal carrying the data sequence based on the determined pattern such that the transmitted signal has a signal structure.

In a sixth aspect, an apparatus for communication is provided. The apparatus comprises means for receiving a signal carrying a data sequence. The apparatus further comprises means for obtaining a signal structure defining a signal duration and a number of repeating portions. The apparatus also includes means for determining a pattern for mapping the data sequence to a plurality of resource elements based on the subcarrier spacing and the signal structure used. The apparatus further comprises means for obtaining a data sequence from the signal based on the determined pattern.

In a seventh aspect, a non-transitory computer readable medium is provided. The computer readable medium comprises program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform the method according to the first aspect.

In an eighth aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium is provided. The computer readable medium comprises program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform the method according to the second aspect.

It should be understood that the summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the embodiments of the disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description.

Drawings

The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the disclosure will be apparent from the following more particular description of certain embodiments of the disclosure, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication environment in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented;

FIG. 2 illustrates a flow chart of an example method according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 3 illustrates different patterns associated with different subcarrier spacing values for mapping data sequences to resource elements such that transmit signals carrying the data sequences are time domain identical for the different subcarrier spacing values in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 4 illustrates various transmit or receive signals with cyclic prefixes inserted, the various transmit or receive signals carrying data sequences associated with different subcarrier spacing values, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 5 illustrates two transmit signals with cyclic prefixes inserted, the two transmit signals carrying data sequences associated with different subcarrier spacing values, the two transmit signals being identical after applying a linear phase rotation value to the data sequences, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of another example method according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 illustrates simulation results of performance of data sequence transmissions without cyclic prefix in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 8 illustrates simulation results of performance of data sequence transmission with cyclic prefix in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 illustrates simulation results of performance of data sequence transmission with cyclic prefix and phase rotation in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

fig. 10 is a simplified block diagram of an apparatus suitable for practicing embodiments of the present disclosure.

The same or similar reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like elements.

Detailed Description

Principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some example embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are described for illustrative purposes only and to assist those skilled in the art in understanding and practicing the present disclosure, and do not imply any limitation on the scope of the present disclosure. The disclosure described herein may be implemented in various ways, except as described below.

In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

References in the present disclosure to "one embodiment," "an example embodiment," etc., indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarily include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to effect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

It will be understood that, although the terms "first" and "second," etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another element. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of example embodiments. The term "and/or" as used herein includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises," "comprising," "has," "having," "includes," "including" and/or "containing," when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

The term "circuitry" as used herein may refer to one or more or all of the following: (a) A purely hardware circuit implementation (e.g., an implementation in analog and/or digital circuitry only), and (b) a combination of hardware circuitry and software, e.g., (as the case may be): (i) A combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuitry and software/firmware, and (ii) a hardware processor (including a digital signal processor) having software and any portion of memory that work together to cause a device, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions, and (c) a hardware circuit and/or processor, such as a microprocessor or portion of a microprocessor, that requires software (e.g., firmware) to operate, but when software is not required to operate, the software may not be present.

This definition of circuit applies to all uses of that term in this application, including any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also encompasses hardware-only circuitry or processor (or processors) or an implementation of a portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. For example and if applicable to the particular claim element, the term circuitry also encompasses a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device, or a similar integrated circuit in a server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

As used herein, the term "communication network" refers to a network that conforms to any suitable communication standard, such as New Radio (NR), long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-advanced (LTE-a), wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), high Speed Packet Access (HSPA), narrowband internet of things (NB-IoT), etc. The communication network may be a so-called unlicensed band network, a licensed band network, a MuLTEfire network, or the like. Furthermore, the communication between the terminal device and the network device in the communication network may be performed according to any suitable communication protocol, including, but not limited to, a first generation (1G), a second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, a third generation (3G), a fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, a future fifth generation (5G) communication protocol, and/or any other protocol currently known or developed in the future. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to various communication systems. In view of the rapid development of communications, there will of course be future types of communication techniques and systems that can implement the present disclosure. The scope of the present disclosure should not be considered limited to the foregoing system only.

The term "network device" as used herein refers to a node in a communication network through which terminal devices access the network and receive services from the network. Depending on the terminology and technology applied, a network device may refer to a Base Station (BS) or Access Point (AP), e.g., a node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved node B (eNodeB or eNB), an NR NB (also referred to as a gNB), a Remote Radio Unit (RRU), a Radio Head (RH), a Remote Radio Head (RRH), a relay, a low power node (e.g., femto base station, pico base station, etc.).

The term "terminal device" refers to any terminal device capable of wireless communication. By way of example, and not limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, a User Equipment (UE), a Subscriber Station (SS), a portable subscriber station, a Mobile Station (MS), or an Access Terminal (AT). The terminal devices may include, but are not limited to, mobile phones, cellular phones, smart phones, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, tablet computers, wearable terminal devices, personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), portable computers, desktop computers, image capture terminal devices (e.g., digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback devices, in-vehicle wireless terminal devices, autopilots, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop embedded devices (LEEs), laptop installed devices (LMEs), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless Customer Premise Equipment (CPE), internet of things (loT) devices, watches or other wearable devices, head Mounted Displays (HMDs), vehicles, drones, medical devices and applications (e.g., tele-surgery), industrial devices and applications (e.g., robots and/or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and/or automated processing chain environment), consumer electronic devices, devices operating on a commercial and/or industrial wireless network, etc.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication environment 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. Communication environment 100 may include a network device 110 that provides wireless connectivity for a plurality of terminal devices 120 and 130 within its coverage area. Terminal devices 120 and 130 may communicate with network device 110 via channels such as wireless transmit channels 115 and 125, respectively.

For transmissions from network device 110 to terminal devices 120 and 130, channels 115 and 125 may be referred to as downlink channels, while for transmissions from terminal devices 120 and 130 to network device 110, channels 115 and 125 may alternatively be referred to as uplink channels. In addition, terminal devices 120 and 130 may communicate with each other over a device-to-device (D2D) link 135, or with each other or to network device 110 over a relay link (not shown in fig. 1).

It should be understood that the number of network devices and the number of terminal devices shown in fig. 1 are for illustrative purposes only and are not meant to be limiting in any way. Communication environment 100 may include any suitable number of network devices and any suitable number of terminal devices suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. In addition, it should be understood that there may be various wireless communications as well as wired communications (if desired) between these network devices and the terminal devices.

Communication in communication environment 100 may be implemented in accordance with any suitable communication protocol including, but not limited to, first generation (1G), second generation (2G), third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), fifth generation (5G), etc. cellular communication protocols, wireless local area network communication protocols such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11, etc., and/or any other protocols currently known or to be developed in the future.

Further, the communication may utilize any suitable wireless communication technology including, but not limited to: code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), time division multiple access (time division multiple access), frequency Division Duplex (FDD), time Division Duplex (TDD), multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO), orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), and/or any other technique currently known or to be developed in the future.

In general, when wirelessly communicating with other devices, the network device 110 and the terminal devices 120, 130 may transmit wireless signals based on a subcarrier spacing (SCS) used, which is associated with a type of parameter set. For example, if the transmitting device uses two different subcarrier spacing values to transmit the same data sequence, the transmitting device may actually transmit two different signals carrying the same data sequence. In particular, the two signals may differ in terms of signal duration or the like.

However, various parameter sets are supported in the NR system (e.g., SCS 15/30/60kHz of frequency range 1 specified in the 3GPP standard, and SCS 120/240kHz of frequency range 2 specified in the 3GPP standard). In the case of transmitting a preamble, if each parameter set has its own version of the preamble, then the receiver needs to monitor multiple versions of the preamble using multiple Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) sizes at the same time, which is not possible for a single Radio Frequency (RF) chain. On the other hand, if all preambles have to be sent in predefined parameter sets, the sender/receiver needs to switch the parameter set to which it works, which adds additional delay and complexity. In the case of transmitting a data sequence, similar problems exist at both the sender and the receiver. It is therefore beneficial to design a common signal structure that can be transmitted and received regardless of the type of parameter set (subcarrier spacing). However, no solution for providing such a common signal structure is currently available for different types of parameter sets.

In view of this, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a scheme related to a common signal structure for multiple parameter sets. In some embodiments, to transmit a data sequence, different parameter sets may use different comb (comb) values in resource elements in the frequency domain and different numbers of resource elements in the time domain, thereby generating signals having a common signal structure in the time domain. In some other embodiments, to address the problem caused by the inserted cyclic prefix, a linear phase rotation is applied to the elements of the data sequence, which may vary with the index of the resource elements in the time domain (also referred to as being dependent on the OFDM symbol).

By the embodiments of the present disclosure, a transmitting operation at a transmitting side and a receiving operation at a receiving side are simplified. In particular, the sender does not need to switch its working parameter set to a predefined parameter set to perform the transmission, and the receiver does not need to monitor multiple versions of the data sequence using multiple FFT sizes at the same time. Hereinafter, some embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to fig. 2 to 9.

Fig. 2 illustrates a flow chart of an example method 200 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 200 may be implemented at a network device, such as the network device 110 shown in fig. 1. Alternatively, the method 200 may be implemented at a terminal device, such as the terminal devices 120 and 130 shown in fig. 1. In other words, the example method 200 may be used for either or both of uplink and downlink transmissions and may be performed at either or both of a network device and a terminal device that are in communication with each other. In addition, the example method 200 may also be used for D2D communication between terminal devices. For discussion purposes, the method 200 will be described with reference to fig. 1 and as being performed by the terminal device 120 without loss of generality.

At block 210, the terminal device 120 obtains a data sequence for transmission to, for example, the network device 110 or the terminal device 130. In some embodiments, the data sequence may be a sequence including a series of 0 and 1, a predefined or known sequence, such as a preamble for performing random access, a preamble before transmitting a burst, and various preambles or reference signals defined in the 3GPP standard. In some other embodiments, the element of the data sequence may be an information complex value (information complex values), which may be, for example, a modulation symbol generated from data sent from terminal device 120 to network device 110 or terminal device 130. In some embodiments, the data may include any data that can be transmitted between the network device and the terminal device, including user plane data, control plane data, and the like.

As described above, in transmitting a data sequence, it is desirable to transmit signals having the same signal structure regardless of the subcarrier spacing (or parameter set) used by the terminal apparatus 120. To this end, the terminal device 120 also acquires a signal structure defining a signal duration and a number of repeated parts, such that the terminal device 120 can transmit a signal carrying a data sequence based on the signal structure, at block 210. In particular, the signal transmitted by the terminal device 120 may have a signal duration and a number of repeated parts defined by the signal structure. In some embodiments, the signal structure may be configured by the network device 110 and notified to the terminal device 120. Alternatively, the signal structure may be predefined in the communication environment 100.

At block 220, the terminal device 120 determines a pattern for mapping the data sequence to a plurality of resource elements based on the subcarrier spacing used and the acquired signal structure. In general, before transmitting the data sequence, the terminal device 120 may map the data sequence (i.e., its elements) to a plurality of resource elements. In some embodiments, one resource element refers to one subcarrier and one OFDM symbol. Thus, a resource element may be identified by an index of the resource element in the frequency domain (e.g., an index of a subcarrier) and an index of the resource element in the time domain (e.g., an index of an OFDM symbol).

In order to map the data sequence to a plurality of resource elements, the terminal device 120 determines which resource elements the data sequence is mapped to. The pattern used to map the data sequence to the plurality of resource elements may determine the signal structure of the signal actually transmitted by the terminal device 120. Thus, to transmit signals having the same signal structure, regardless of the subcarrier spacing (or parameter set) used, the terminal equipment 120 may employ different modes associated with different subcarrier spacing values. This will be described in further detail with reference to the example shown in fig. 3.

Fig. 3 illustrates different patterns 310, 320, and 330 associated with different subcarrier spacing values for mapping data sequences to resource elements such that a transmit signal 340 carrying the data sequences is the same in the time domain for the different subcarrier spacing values in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. In the example of fig. 3, it is assumed that the data sequences { a, b, c, d } are transmitted by the terminal device 120 and mapped to resource elements. Although a data sequence of a particular length (4) is shown here, for example, it should be understood that embodiments of the present disclosure may be equally applicable to data sequences of any suitable length. Without loss of generality, the horizontal direction refers to the time domain and the vertical direction refers to the frequency domain.

The example pattern 310 is associated with a subcarrier spacing value of 15kHz and the resource element 312 is about 66.7 microseconds (μs) in the 15kHz subcarrier in the frequency domain and time domain. The example pattern 320 is associated with a subcarrier spacing value of 30kHz and the resource element 322 is about 33.3 mus in the time domain of a subcarrier of 30kHz in the frequency domain. The example pattern 330 is associated with a subcarrier spacing value of 60kHz and the resource element 332 is a subcarrier of 60kHz in the frequency domain and a time period of approximately 16.7 mus.

As shown, if the terminal device 120 uses a subcarrier spacing value of 15kHz, elements "a", "b", "c", and "d" of the data sequence are mapped to resource elements 312, 314, 316, and 318, respectively, and the other resource elements are null. If terminal device 120 uses a subcarrier spacing value of 30kHz, element "a" is mapped to two consecutive resource elements in the time domain including resource element 322, element "b" is mapped to two consecutive resource elements in the time domain including resource element 324, element "c" is mapped to two consecutive resource elements in the time domain including resource element 326, and element "d" is mapped to two consecutive resource elements in the time domain including resource element 328. The other resource elements are null.

If the terminal device 120 uses a subcarrier spacing value of 60kHz, element "a" is mapped to four consecutive resource elements in the time domain including resource element 332, element "b" is mapped to four consecutive resource elements in the time domain including resource element 334, element "c" is mapped to four consecutive resource elements in the time domain including resource element 336, and element "d" is mapped to four consecutive resource elements in the time domain including resource element 338.

In other words, for a subcarrier spacing value of 15kHz, the distance between the centers of two consecutive used resource elements (also referred to as comb value) is 4 subcarriers in the frequency domain, and the data sequence will be transmitted once in the time domain. For a subcarrier spacing value of 30kHz, the distance between the centers of two consecutive used resource elements is 2 subcarriers in the frequency domain and the data sequence will be transmitted twice in the time domain. For a subcarrier spacing value of 60kHz, the distance between the centers of two consecutive used resource elements is 1 subcarrier in the frequency domain, and the data sequence is transmitted four times in the time domain. Thus, after an Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT), the time domain signal transmitted by the terminal device 120 using the three parameter sets is the same signal 340, which includes four identical repetition portions 342, 344, 346, and 348.

It should be understood that the particular patterns 310, 320, 330 and the particular signal structure of the signal 340 shown in fig. 1 are for illustration purposes only and are not meant to be limiting. In other embodiments, the signal 340 may have any suitable signal duration and any suitable number of repeating portions, and thus the patterns 310, 320, 330 may have respective comb values in the frequency domain and respective numbers of resource elements in the time domain. In addition, it should be understood that specific values of the subcarrier spacing are merely examples and are not intended to be limiting in any way. In other embodiments, the subcarrier spacing used may be any suitable value.

Thus, in determining the mapping mode, the terminal device 120 may select a predetermined mode associated with the subcarrier spacing used to generate the desired signal. In some other embodiments, in determining the mapping mode, the terminal device 120 may determine a comb value in the frequency domain and a plurality of resource elements in the time domain, respectively. Thus, the terminal device 120 may determine the distance between two consecutive resource elements in the frequency domain for transmitting the signal carrying the data sequence based on the subcarrier spacing used and the defined number of repeated parts of the signal structure.

For example, if the terminal device 120 uses a subcarrier spacing value of 15kHz, the terminal device 120 may determine the distance as four subcarriers based on the number of repeated parts of 4 and the subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz. As another example, if the terminal device 120 uses a subcarrier spacing value of 30kHz, the terminal device 120 may determine the distance as two subcarriers based on the number of repeated parts of 4 and the subcarrier spacing of 30 kHz. As a further example, if the terminal device 120 uses a subcarrier spacing value of 60kHz, the terminal device 120 may determine the distance as one subcarrier based on the number of repeated parts of 4 and the subcarrier spacing of 60 kHz.

In the time domain, as schematically shown in fig. 3, different subcarrier spacing values correspond to different time lengths of one resource element (e.g., one OFDM symbol). This means that in case of different subcarrier spacing values, the terminal equipment 120 may need to transmit the signal 340 with defined signal duration using a different number of consecutive resource elements in the time domain. Thus, in some embodiments, in determining the pattern of mapping the data sequence to the plurality of resource elements, the terminal device 120 may determine a length of time for each of the plurality of resource elements based on the subcarrier spacing used. For example, for subcarrier spacing values of 15kHz, 30kHz and 60kHz, terminal device 120 determines the time lengths of 66.7 microseconds, 33.3 microseconds and 16.7 microseconds, respectively.

The terminal device 120 may then determine the number of consecutive resource elements in the time domain for transmitting the signal based on the time length of the signal 340 and the signal duration. In the example of fig. 3, the defined signal duration of signal 340 is assumed to be 66.7 microseconds. For subcarrier spacing values of 15kHz (one 66.7 microsecond OFDM symbol), 30kHz (one 33.3 microsecond OFDM symbol) and 60kHz (one 16.7 microsecond OFDM symbol), the terminal device 120 determines the number of consecutive resource elements in the time domain as 1, 2 and 4, respectively. By determining the comb values in the frequency domain and the number of resource elements in the time domain in separate ways, the terminal device 120 may more flexibly determine the mapping pattern.

Returning to fig. 2, at block 230, with a determined pattern for mapping the data sequence to a plurality of resource elements, the terminal device 120 transmits a signal carrying the data sequence based on the determined pattern such that the transmitted signal has a signal structure. As described above, the mapping pattern is determined according to the signal structure, and thus the signal transmitted based on the mapping pattern conforms to the desired signal structure. In this way, even if the terminal device 120 transmits the data sequence using different subcarrier spacing values, the transmitted signal carrying the data sequence remains unchanged.

As described above, in some embodiments, the terminal device 120 transmits the data sequence using a plurality of consecutive resource elements in the time domain. That is, the terminal device 120 transmits the data sequence a plurality of times in the time domain. For each transmission, the terminal device 120 may map the data sequence to the determined resource elements (e.g., subcarriers) in the frequency domain, perform IFFT on the mapped data sequence, and then transmit the transformed data sequence in the time domain. The multiple transmission data sequence constitutes a desired signal having a desired signal structure.

In some embodiments, the signal structure may include a cyclic prefix, e.g., each resource element (e.g., OFDM symbol) in the time domain in the signal structure may have a respective cyclic prefix. In this case, the transmission signals using different subcarrier spacing values are not identical, and the signal transmitted using one subcarrier spacing value cannot be correctly received using another subcarrier spacing value without interference. This will be further explained with reference to fig. 4.

Fig. 4 illustrates various transmitted or received signals 410, 420, 430, and 440 with cyclic prefixes inserted, carrying data sequences associated with different subcarrier spacing values, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Specifically, fig. 4 depicts a signal 410 transmitted at a subcarrier spacing value of 15kHz, a signal 420 received at a subcarrier spacing value of 60kHz, a signal 430 transmitted at a subcarrier spacing value of 60kHz, and a signal 440 received at a subcarrier spacing value of 15 kHz.

As shown, signals 410 and 440 have only one OFDM Symbol (OS) and corresponding associated cyclic prefixes 412 and 442. Instead, signals 420 and 430 each have four OFDM symbols and thus four associated cyclic prefixes 422, 424, 426, 428 and 432, 434, 436, 438, respectively. Due to the difference in cyclic prefix at different subcarrier spacing values, if the signal 410 transmitted at a subcarrier spacing value of 15kHz is received at a subcarrier spacing value of 60kHz, the data sequence cannot be correctly extracted from the signal 410. Also, if the signal 430 transmitted at the subcarrier spacing value of 60kHz is received at the subcarrier spacing value of 15kHz, the data sequence cannot be correctly extracted from the signal 430. To solve this problem caused by the inserted cyclic prefix, a common signal structure having the cyclic prefix in the time domain may be defined for all subcarrier spacing values, see fig. 5 in detail.

Fig. 5 illustrates two transmitted signals 410 and 510 with cyclic prefixes inserted, carrying data sequences associated with different subcarrier spacing values, the two transmitted signals 410 and 510 being identical after a linear phase rotation value is applied to the data sequences, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. In the example of fig. 5, signal 410 is typically generated using a 15kHz subcarrier spacing and has a common signal structure with a cyclic prefix 412 in the time domain.

If other subcarrier spacing values are used (e.g., 30kHz or 60 kHz), then for each resource element in the time domain (e.g., OFDM symbol), the appropriate linear phase rotation is applied to the element of the data sequence in the frequency domain so that the normally generated signal in the time domain is identical to the signal 410 of the common signal structure with the cyclic prefix. The term "linear" means that the applied phase rotation value varies linearly for different elements of the data sequence. In addition, the linear phase rotation may vary with the index of the resource elements in the time domain, also known as OS correlation. Accordingly, when receiving a data sequence using other subcarrier spacing values (e.g., 30/60 kHz), the inverse corresponding linear phase rotations are applied to the received complex values associated with the data sequence for combining.

Thus, in some embodiments, if the terminal device 120 determines that the expected signal structure includes a cyclic prefix, for each successive resource element in the time domain used to transmit the signal carrying the data sequence, the terminal device 120 may apply a linear phase rotation value to multiple elements of the data sequence prior to mapping the data sequence to the multiple resource elements such that the actually transmitted signal has a signal structure. In some embodiments, each phase rotation value may be determined based on a desired signal structure, a subcarrier spacing used, an index of resource elements in the frequency domain, an index of resource elements in the time domain, and the like, as well as any combination thereof.

Fig. 6 illustrates a flow chart of another example method 600 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Method 600 may be implemented at a network device, such as network device 110 shown in fig. 1. Alternatively, the method 600 may also be implemented at a terminal device, such as the terminal devices 120 and 130 shown in fig. 1. In other words, the example method 600 may be used for either or both of uplink and downlink transmissions and may be performed at either or both of a network device and a terminal device in communication with each other. In addition, the example method 600 may also be used for D2D communication between terminal devices. For discussion purposes, the method 600 will be described with reference to fig. 1 and as being performed by the network device 110 without loss of generality.

At block 610, the network device 110 receives a signal carrying a data sequence. In some embodiments, the signal is transmitted by the terminal device 120 according to the method 200 described with reference to fig. 2.

At block 620, network device 110 obtains a signal structure defining a signal duration and a number of repeating portions. In some embodiments, the signal structure may be configured by the network device 110 or another network device. Alternatively, the signal structure may be predefined in the communication environment 100.

At block 630, network device 110 determines a pattern for mapping the data sequence to a plurality of resource elements based on the subcarrier spacing and signal structure used. In some embodiments, network device 110 may determine the mode in a manner similar to that described with reference to fig. 2.

In some embodiments, network device 110 may determine a distance between two consecutive resource elements in the frequency domain for transmitting the signal based on the subcarrier spacing and the number of repeating portions. In some embodiments, network device 110 may determine a time length for each of the plurality of resource elements based on the subcarrier spacing. Network device 110 may then determine the number of consecutive resource elements in the time domain for transmitting the signal based on the length of time and the signal duration.

With the determined pattern, network device 110 may determine which resource elements to map to the elements of the data sequence based on subcarrier spacing used by network device 110. Thus, at block 640, the network device 110 may obtain a data sequence from the signal based on the determined pattern.

In some embodiments, network device 110 may determine whether phase rotation is required to acquire the data sequence based on the signal structure and subcarrier spacing. For example, if the time length of one resource element based on the subcarrier spacing used is different from the signal duration of the desired signal structure, network device 110 may determine that a phase rotation is required. Alternatively, in the case where the common signal structure with the cyclic prefix is determined based on the reference subcarrier spacing, the network device 110 may determine that phase rotation is required if the subcarrier spacing used is different from the reference subcarrier spacing.

If network device 110 determines that phase rotation is required, network device 110 may apply a linear phase rotation value to a plurality of complex values in a received signal in a frequency domain associated with a plurality of elements of a data sequence for each successive resource element in the time domain. In this way, the data sequence can be recovered from the received signal even if the signal has a cyclic prefix. In some embodiments, network device 110 may determine the linear phase rotation value in a manner similar to that described with reference to fig. 2.

In some embodiments, each phase rotation value may be determined based on a signal structure, a subcarrier spacing used, an index of resource elements in the frequency domain, an index of resource elements in the time domain, and the like, as well as any combination thereof.

The effectiveness and performance of embodiments of the present disclosure have been tested and verified through simulation. In the four simulations described below, it is assumed that the FFT size is 2048 for a subcarrier spacing value of 15kHz and the cyclic prefix length is 144 (if a cyclic prefix is inserted). For a subcarrier spacing value of 30kHz, the FFT size is 1024 and the cyclic prefix length is 72 (if a cyclic prefix is inserted). For a subcarrier spacing value of 60kHz, the FFT size is 512 and the cyclic prefix length is 36 (if a cyclic prefix is inserted). In addition, the sequence length of the data sequence is 300, i.e., the data sequence has 300 elements.

In the first simulation, it is assumed that the transmitting apparatus uses a subcarrier spacing value of 15kHz, the receiving apparatus uses a subcarrier spacing value of 60kHz, and no phase rotation is applied. In the second simulation, it is assumed that the transmitting apparatus uses a subcarrier spacing value of 60kHz, the receiving apparatus uses a subcarrier spacing value of 15kHz, and no phase rotation is applied. In the third simulation, it is assumed that the transmitting apparatus uses a subcarrier spacing value of 15kHz, the receiving apparatus uses a subcarrier spacing value of 60kHz, and phase rotation is applied. In the fourth simulation, it is assumed that the transmitting apparatus uses a subcarrier spacing value of 60kHz, the receiving apparatus uses a subcarrier spacing value of 15kHz, and phase rotation is applied.

Specifically, in the first simulation, at the transmitting apparatus using the subcarrier spacing value of 15kHz, the data sequence (complex value ((a) ₀ ,a ₁ ,a ₂ ,…,a ₂₉₉ ) A) is mapped to an interlace with a comb value of 4 and a comb offset of 0, i.e., d in the frequency domain _k+0 ,d _k+4 ,d _k+8 ,…,d _k+1196 Where k is a multiple of 4. Other d _n N+.k+0, k+4, k+8, …, k+1196 is set to 0. Then, resource Elements (REs) (d ₀ ,d ₁ ,d ₂ ,…,d ₂₀₄₇ ) Is IFFT-converted into a time-domain baseband signal s ₀ ,s ₁ ,s ₂ ,…,s ₂₀₄₇ Wherein

And beta is _t The transmit power factor is represented and other symbols are consistent with the 3GPP standard. Due to d _n N+.k+0, k+4, k+8, …, k+1196 is set to 0, so s can be obtained _m ＝s _m+512 ＝s _m+1024 ＝s _m+1536 For all 0.ltoreq.m.ltoreq.511. If a cyclic prefix is inserted, the final baseband signal in the time domainIs set to +.>Where mod represents modulo arithmetic, and other symbols are consistent with the 3GPP standard.

At the receiving device using the 60kHz subcarrier spacing value, if the cyclic prefix is not inserted, the four received OFDM symbols are If a cyclic prefix is inserted, four received OFDM symbols other than the cyclic prefix are +.> Then, the received u-th OFDM symbol is converted into frequency domain REs

Wherein beta is _r Indicating the received power factor, other symbols are consistent with the 3GPP standard. The final received data sequence (b ₀ ,b ₁ ,b ₂ ,…,b ₂₉₉ ) From the following componentsAnd (5) obtaining. Theoretically, by selecting an appropriate transmit/receive power factor, it is possible to derive (a) for the case of no cyclic prefix and no noise ₀ ,a ₁ ,a ₂ ,…,a ₂₉₉ )＝(b ₀ ,b ₁ ,b ₂ ,…,b ₂₉₉ )。

In the second simulation, at the transmitting device using the 60kHz subcarrier spacing values, the data sequence (complex value ((a) ₀ ,a ₁ ,a ₂ ,…,a ₂₉₉ ) D) mapped to adjacent resources, i.e. d in the frequency domain _k+0 ,d _k+1 ,d _k+2 ,…,d _k+299 Where k is the starting frequency. Other d _n N+.k+0, k+1, k+2, …, k+299 is set to 0. Then, RE in the frequency domain (d ₀ ,d ₁ ,d ₂ ,…,d ₅₁₁ ) Time-domain baseband signal s converted into OFDM symbols by IFFT ₀ ,s ₁ ,s ₂ ,…,s ₅₁₁ Wherein

And beta is _t Representation ofThe power factor is transmitted and other symbols are consistent with the 3GPP standard. If a cyclic prefix is inserted, the final baseband signal in the time domain of the OFDM symbolIs set to +.>Where mod represents modulo arithmetic and other symbols are consistent with 3GPP specifications. Final baseband signal in the time domain (s ₀ ,s ₁ ,s ₂ ,…,s ₅₁₁ ) Or (b)Are repeatedly transmitted four times, i.e., four OFDM symbols. />

At a receiving apparatus using a subcarrier spacing value of 15kHz, if a cyclic prefix is not inserted, the received OFDM symbol is (r ₀ ,r ₁ ,r ₂ ,…,r ₂₀₄₇ )＝(s ₀ ,s ₁ ,s ₂ ,…,s ₅₁₁ ,s ₀ ,s ₁ ,…,s ₅₁₁ ,s ₀ ,s ₁ ,…,s ₅₁₁ ,s ₀ ,s ₁ ,…,s ₅₁₁ ). If a cyclic prefix is inserted, the received OFDM symbols other than the cyclic prefix areThe received OFDM symbols are then converted to frequency domain REs

Wherein beta is _r Indicating the received power factor, other symbols are consistent with the 3GPP standard. The final received data sequence (b ₀ ,b ₁ ,b ₂ ,…,b ₂₉₉ ) From b _i ＝e _4(k+i) And (5) obtaining. Theoretically, by selecting an appropriate transmit/receive power factor, it is possible to derive (a) for the case of no cyclic prefix and no noise ₀ ,a ₁ ,a ₂ ,…,a ₂₉₉ )＝(b ₀ ,b ₁ ,b ₂ ,…,b ₂₉₉ )。

Fig. 7 illustrates simulation results of performance (in terms of autocorrelation peaks) of data sequence transmission without cyclic prefix, where multiple signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) levels are evaluated, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. In fig. 7, the horizontal axis represents OFDM index, the vertical axis represents Cumulative Distribution Function (CDF), curve 710 represents no signal, curve 720 represents SNR of-10 dB, curve 730 represents SNR of-5 dB, curve 740 represents SNR of 0dB, curve 750 represents SNR of 5dB, curve 760 represents SNR of 10dB, and curve 770 represents no noise. It can be observed that the detectability of the data sequence remains good even though SNR = -10 dB.

Fig. 8 illustrates simulation results of performance (in terms of autocorrelation peaks) of data sequence transmission with cyclic prefix, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In fig. 8, the horizontal axis represents OFDM index, the vertical axis represents CDF, curve 810 represents no signal, curve 820 represents-10 dB SNR, curve 830 represents-5 dB SNR, curve 840 represents 0dB SNR, curve 850 represents 5dB SNR, curve 860 represents 10dB SNR, and curve 870 represents no noise. It can be observed that the inserted cyclic prefix significantly reduces the detectability of the data sequence. However, for SNR higher than 0dB, the detectability of the preamble seems to be good.

As described below, unlike the first simulation and the second simulation, the phase rotation is applied to the third simulation and the fourth simulation. In the third simulation, at the transmitting device using the 15kHz subcarrier spacing value, it is the same as that described in the first simulation and is not repeated here.

At a receiving device using a subcarrier spacing value of 60kHz, four received OFDM symbols other than the cyclic prefix are Then, the received u-th OFDM symbol is converted into frequency domain REs

Wherein beta is _r Indicating the received power factor, other symbols are consistent with the 3GPP standard. The final received data sequence (b ₀ ,b ₁ ,b ₂ ,…,b ₂₉₉ ) From the following componentsAnd (5) obtaining. Note that phase rotation is applied to the combination. Theoretically, by selecting an appropriate transmit/receive power factor, for the case of using phase rotation, inserting a cyclic prefix and no noise, (a) can be derived ₀ ,a ₁ ,a ₂ ,…,a ₂₉₉ )＝(b ₀ ,b ₁ ,b ₂ ,…,b ₂₉₉ )。/>

In the fourth simulation, at the transmitting apparatus using the 60kHz subcarrier spacing value, the data sequence (complex value ((a) ₀ ,a ₁ ,a ₂ ,…,a ₂₉₉ ) ) can be mapped to consecutive resource elements in the frequency domain, i.e. d) _k+0 ,d _k+1 ,d _k+2 ,…,d _k+299 Where k is the starting frequency. Other d _n N+.k+0, k+1, k+2, …, k+299 is set to 0. Then, a linear phase rotation associated with the OFDM symbol is applied to the four OFDM symbols. Specifically, for the u-th OFDM symbol (1. Ltoreq.u.ltoreq.4), the n-th resource element isResource element ∈in the frequency domain>Time-domain baseband signal IFFT-converted into OFDM symbol +.>Wherein the method comprises the steps of

Wherein beta is _t Representing the transmit power factor, other symbols are consistent with the 3GPP standard. Final time domain baseband signal of OFDM symbolIs set to +.>Where mod represents modulo arithmetic and other symbols are consistent with the 3GPP standard. The final baseband signal in the time domain of four OFDM symbols is continuously transmitted.

At a receiving device using a subcarrier spacing value of 15kHz, the received OFDM symbols other than the cyclic prefix are

The received OFDM symbols are then converted into frequency domain resource elements

Wherein beta is _r Indicating the received power factor, other symbols are consistent with the 3GPP standard. The final received data sequence (b ₀ ,b ₁ ,b ₂ ,…,b ₂₉₉ ) From b _i ＝e _4(k+i) And (5) obtaining. Theoretically, by selecting an appropriate transmit/receive power factor, for the case of using phase rotation, inserting a cyclic prefix and no noise, (a) can be derived ₀ ,a ₁ ,a ₂ ,…,a ₂₉₉ )＝(b ₀ ,b ₁ ,b ₂ ,…,b ₂₉₉ )。

Fig. 9 illustrates simulation results of performance (in terms of autocorrelation peaks) of data sequence transmission with cyclic prefix and phase rotation, where multiple SNR levels are evaluated, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In fig. 9, the horizontal axis represents OFDM index, the vertical axis represents CDF, curve 910 represents no signal, curve 920 represents SNR of-10 dB, curve 930 represents SNR of-5 dB, curve 940 represents SNR of 0dB, curve 950 represents SNR of 5dB, curve 960 represents SNR of 10dB, and curve 970 represents no noise. It can be observed that the detectability of the preamble is almost equal to that shown in fig. 7. This means that the problem caused by the inserted cyclic prefix can be solved using a phase rotation that depends on the OFDM symbol.

In some embodiments, the means for performing the method 200 (e.g., the network device 110 and the terminal devices 120, 130) may comprise respective components for performing respective steps in the method 200. These components may be implemented in any suitable manner. For example, it may be implemented by a circuit or a software module or a combination thereof.

In some embodiments, the apparatus comprises: means for acquiring a data sequence and a signal structure defining a signal duration and a number of repeating portions; means for determining a pattern for mapping the data sequence to a plurality of resource elements based on the subcarrier spacing and the signal structure used; and means for transmitting a signal carrying the data sequence based on the determined pattern such that the transmitted signal has the signal structure.

In some embodiments, the means for determining the pattern comprises: means for determining a distance between two consecutive resource elements in a frequency domain for transmitting the signal based on the subcarrier spacing and the number of repeating parts.

In some embodiments, the means for determining the pattern comprises: means for determining a time length of each of the plurality of resource elements based on the subcarrier spacing; and means for determining a plurality of consecutive resource elements in a time domain for transmitting the signal based on the length of time and the signal duration.

In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises: the components used for: in response to determining that the signal structure includes a cyclic prefix, a linear phase rotation value is applied to the plurality of elements of the data sequence for each successive resource element in the time domain prior to mapping the data sequence to the plurality of resource elements such that the signal has the signal structure.

In some embodiments, each phase rotation value is determined based on at least one of: a signal structure; subcarrier spacing; index of resource elements in the frequency domain; and an index of the resource elements in the time domain.

In some embodiments, the signal structure is configured or predefined by the network device.

In some embodiments, the means for performing the method 600 (e.g., the network device 110 and the terminal devices 120, 130) may comprise respective components for performing respective steps in the method 600. These components may be implemented in any suitable manner. For example, it may be implemented by a circuit or a software module or a combination thereof.

In some embodiments, the apparatus comprises: means for receiving a signal carrying a data sequence; means for obtaining a signal structure defining a signal duration and a number of repeating portions; means for determining a pattern for mapping the data sequence to a plurality of resource elements based on the subcarrier spacing and the signal structure used; and means for obtaining a data sequence from the signal based on the determined pattern.

In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises: means for determining whether phase rotation is required for acquiring a data sequence based on the signal structure and the subcarrier spacing; and means for applying a linear phase rotation value to a plurality of complex values of the signal in a frequency domain associated with a plurality of elements of the data sequence for each successive resource element in a time domain in response to determining that phase rotation is required.

Fig. 10 is a simplified block diagram of an apparatus 1000 suitable for use in implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. Device 1000 may be considered another example embodiment of network device 110 and terminal devices 120, 130 shown in fig. 1. Thus, the device 1000 may be implemented at the network device 110 or the terminal device 120, 130 or as at least a part of the network device 110 or the terminal device 120, 130.

As shown, device 1000 includes a processor 1010, a memory 1020 coupled to processor 1010, suitable Transmitters (TX) and Receivers (RX) 1040 coupled to processor 1010, and a communication interface coupled to TX/RX 1040. Memory 1020 stores at least a portion of program 1030. TX/RX 1040 is used for two-way communication. TX/RX 1040 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication. The communication interface may represent any interface necessary for communication with other network elements, such as an X2 interface for bi-directional communication between enbs, an S1 interface for communication between a Mobility Management Entity (MME)/serving gateway (S-GW) and enbs, a Un interface for communication between enbs and Relay Nodes (RNs), or a Uu interface for communication between enbs and terminal devices.

Program 1030 is assumed to include program instructions that, when executed by associated processor 1010, enable device 1000 to operate in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, as discussed herein with reference to fig. 1-9. The embodiments herein may be implemented by computer software executable by the processor 1010 of the device 1000, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. The processor 1010 may be configured to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure. Further, the combination of the processor 1010 and the memory 1020 may form a processing component 1050 suitable for implementing various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Memory 1020 may be of any type suitable to the local technology network and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology such as, by way of non-limiting example, non-transitory computer readable storage media, semiconductor-based storage devices, magnetic storage devices and systems, optical storage devices and systems, fixed memory, and removable memory. Although only one memory 1020 is shown in device 1000, there may be several physically distinct memory modules in device 1000. As a non-limiting example, the processor 1010 may be of any type suitable for a local technology network and may include one or more of the following: general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital Signal Processors (DSPs), and processors based on a multi-core processor architecture. The device 1000 may have multiple processors, such as application specific integrated circuit chips, that are slaved in time to the clock of the synchronous master processor.

The components included in the apparatus and/or devices of the present disclosure may be implemented in various ways, including software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. In one embodiment, one or more of the units may be implemented using software and/or firmware, such as machine executable instructions stored on a storage medium. Some or all of the elements of the apparatus and/or device may be implemented, at least in part, by one or more hardware logic components in addition to or in place of machine-executable instructions. For example, but not limited to, exemplary types of hardware logic components that can be used include Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), application Specific Standard Products (ASSPs), systems on a chip (SOCs), complex Programmable Logic Devices (CPLDs), and the like.

In general, the various embodiments of the disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. While various aspects of the embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other pictorial representation, it is well understood that these blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The computer program product comprises computer executable instructions, such as instructions contained in a program module, for execution in a device on a target real or virtual processor to perform the process or method described above with reference to any one of fig. 2 and 6. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. In various embodiments, the functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired. Machine-executable instructions of program modules may be executed in local or distributed devices. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage media.

Program code for carrying out the methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program code may be provided to a processor or controller of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus such that the program code, when executed by the processor or controller, causes the functions/operations specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks to be implemented. The program code may execute entirely on the machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

The program code described above may be embodied on a machine-readable medium, which may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The machine-readable medium may be a machine-readable signal medium or a machine-readable storage medium. The machine-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of a machine-readable storage medium include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

For the purposes of the present disclosure as described above, it should be noted that,

method steps (as examples of devices, means and/or modules thereof, or as examples of entities comprising means and/or modules) possibly implemented as software code portions and run using a processor at a network element or terminal are software code independent and may be specified using any known or future developed programming language, provided that the functionality defined by the method steps is preserved;

in general, any method steps are suitable for implementation as software or hardware without altering the idea of the invention in terms of the functions implemented;

the method steps and/or devices, units or components that may be implemented as hardware components on the apparatus defined above or any of its modules (e.g. devices performing the functions of the devices according to the embodiments described above, eNode-bs, etc.) are hardware independent and may be implemented using any known or future developed hardware technology or any mixture of these technologies, such as MOS (metal oxide semiconductor), CMOS (complementary MOS), biMOS (bipolar MOS), biCMOS (bipolar CMOS), ECL (emitter coupled logic), TTL (transistor-transistor logic), etc. Using, for example, ASIC (application specific IC) components, FPGA (field programmable gate array) components, CPLD (complex programmable logic device) components or DSP (digital signal processor) components;

A device, unit or component (e.g. any of the means defined above or the respective components thereof) may be implemented as a separate device, unit or component, but this does not exclude that they are implemented in a distributed manner throughout the system, as long as the functionality of the device, unit or component is preserved;

the apparatus may be represented by a semiconductor chip, a chipset, or a (hardware) module comprising the chip or chipset; however, this does not exclude the possibility that the functionality of the device or module is implemented as software in a (software) module instead of hardware, e.g. a computer program or a computer program product comprising executable software code portions for execution/running on a processor;

an apparatus may be considered as a device or a component of more than one device, whether functionally cooperating or functionally independent from each other, but located in the same apparatus housing.

It should be noted that the above-described embodiments and examples are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the present disclosure in any way thereto. On the contrary, the invention is intended to encompass all changes and modifications that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Furthermore, although operations are described in a particular order, this should not be construed as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order or sequence illustrated, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In some cases, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Also, while the above discussion contains details of specific embodiments, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination.

Although the disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

1. A method for communication, comprising:

acquiring a data sequence and a signal structure defining a signal duration and a number of repeating portions;

determining a pattern for mapping the data sequence to a plurality of resource elements based on the used subcarrier spacing and the signal structure; and

a signal carrying the data sequence is transmitted based on the determined pattern such that the transmitted signal has the signal structure.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the pattern comprises:

a distance between two consecutive resource elements in a frequency domain for transmitting the signal is determined based on the subcarrier spacing and the number of the repeated portions.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the pattern comprises:

determining a time length of each of the plurality of resource elements based on the subcarrier spacing; and

Based on the length of time and the signal duration, a plurality of consecutive resource elements in a time domain for transmitting the signal is determined.

4. A method according to claim 3, further comprising:

in response to determining that the signal structure includes a cyclic prefix, for each of the consecutive resource elements in a time domain, a linear phase rotation value is applied to a plurality of elements of the data sequence prior to mapping the data sequence to the plurality of resource elements such that the signal has the signal structure.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein each of the phase rotation values is determined based on at least one of:

the signal structure;

the subcarrier spacing;

an index of the resource element in a frequency domain; and

index of the resource elements in the time domain.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the signal structure is configured or predefined by a network device.

7. A method for communication, comprising:

receiving a signal carrying a data sequence;

acquiring a signal structure defining a signal duration and a number of repeating portions;

The data sequence is acquired from the signal based on the determined pattern.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein determining the pattern comprises:

9. The method of claim 7, wherein determining the pattern comprises:

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

determining, based on the signal structure and the subcarrier spacing, whether phase rotation is required for acquiring the data sequence; and

in response to determining that phase rotation is required, a linear phase rotation value is applied to a plurality of complex values of the signal in a frequency domain associated with a plurality of elements of the data sequence for each of the consecutive resource elements in a time domain.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein each of the phase rotation values is determined based on at least one of:

the signal structure;

the subcarrier spacing;

an index of the resource element in a frequency domain; and

index of the resource elements in the time domain.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein the signal structure is configured or predefined by a network device.

13. An apparatus for communication, comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory storing computer program code;

the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:

15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein each of the phase rotation values is determined based on at least one of:

the signal structure;

the subcarrier spacing;

an index of the resource element in a frequency domain; and

index of the resource elements in the time domain.

18. The device of claim 13, wherein the signal structure is configured or predefined by a network device.

19. An apparatus for communication, comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory storing computer program code;

receiving a signal carrying a data sequence;

the data sequence is acquired from the signal based on the determined pattern.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:

21. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:

determining a time length of each of a plurality of resource elements based on the subcarrier spacing; and

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein each of the phase rotation values is determined based on at least one of:

the signal structure;

the subcarrier spacing;

an index of the resource element in a frequency domain; and

index of the resource elements in the time domain.

24. The device of claim 19, wherein the signal structure is configured or predefined by a network device.

25. An apparatus for communication, comprising:

means for acquiring a data sequence and a signal structure defining a signal duration and a number of repeating portions;

means for determining a pattern for mapping the data sequence to a plurality of resource elements based on the used subcarrier spacing and the signal structure; and

means for transmitting a signal carrying the data sequence based on the determined pattern such that the transmitted signal has the signal structure.

26. An apparatus for communication, comprising:

means for receiving a signal carrying a data sequence;

means for obtaining a signal structure defining a signal duration and a number of repeating portions;

Means for acquiring the data sequence from the signal based on the determined pattern.

27. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to at least:

28. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to at least:

receiving a signal carrying a data sequence;

the data sequence is acquired from the signal based on the determined pattern.