WO2025236119A1

WO2025236119A1 - Channel state reference signal design for wireless communications

Info

Publication number: WO2025236119A1
Application number: PCT/CN2024/092622
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yi Huang; Kexin XIAO; Yu Zhang; Jing Jiang
Original assignee: Qualcomm Inc
Current assignee: Qualcomm Inc
Priority date: 2024-05-11
Filing date: 2024-05-11
Publication date: 2025-11-20
Anticipated expiration: 2026-11-11

Abstract

Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications are described. For example, the described techniques provide for a user equipment (UE) receiving an indication of a configuration for a reference signal from a network entity. The configuration may indicate a comb-based reference signal pattern across multiple frequency resources. The UE may also receive an indication of a frequency gap within the frequency resources, where the frequency gap is based on a downlink signal. The UE may monitor the frequency resources for the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, based on the configuration for the reference signal and the indication of the frequency gap. In some examples, the UE may apply or reset an orthogonal cover code across one or more non-continuous frequency resources based on receiving a bit field or an indication of a frequency gap threshold from the network entity.

Description

CHANNEL STATE REFERENCE SIGNAL DESIGN FOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

The following relates to wireless communications, including channel state reference signal design for wireless communications.

BACKGROUND

Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power) . Examples of such multiple-access systems include fourth generation (4G) systems such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems, or LTE-A Pro systems, and fifth generation (5G) systems which may be referred to as New Radio (NR) systems. These systems may employ technologies such as code division multiple access (CDMA) , time division multiple access (TDMA) , frequency division multiple access (FDMA) , orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) , or discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-S-OFDM) . A wireless multiple-access communications system may include one or more base stations, each supporting wireless communication for communication devices, which may be known as user equipment (UE) .

SUMMARY

The described techniques relate to improved methods, systems, devices, and apparatuses that support channel state reference signal design for wireless communications. For example, the described techniques enable a user equipment (UE) to receive a control message indicating a configuration for a reference signal. The configuration may indicate a comb-based reference signal pattern across multiple frequency resources and a quantity of antenna ports associated with the reference signal. The UE may also receive an indication of a frequency gap within the frequency resources, where the frequency gap is based on a downlink signal multiplexed with the reference signal. The UE may monitor the frequency resources for the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, based on the configuration for the reference signal and the indication of the frequency gap. In some examples, the UE may receive a bit field indicating whether to apply or reset an orthogonal cover code (OCC) across one or more non-continuous frequency resources. Additionally, or alternatively, the UE may receive a frequency gap threshold and determine whether to apply or reset the OCC based on the frequency gap satisfying the frequency gap threshold.

A method for wireless communications by a UE is described. The method may include receiving a control message indicating a configuration for a reference signal for the UE, the configuration indicating a comb-based reference signal pattern across a set of multiple frequency resources associated with the reference signal and indicating a quantity of antenna ports associated with the reference signal, receiving an indication of a frequency gap that is within the set of multiple frequency resources based on a downlink signal multiplexed with the reference signal, the frequency gap corresponding to one or more contiguous frequency resources of the set of multiple frequency resources, where the one or more contiguous frequency resources are allocated for the downlink signal, and monitoring the set of multiple frequency resources for the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both in accordance with the configuration for the reference signal and based on the indication of the frequency gap.

A UE for wireless communications is described. The UE may include one or more memories storing processor executable code, and one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories. The one or more processors may individually or collectively be operable to execute the code to cause the UE to receive a control message indicating a configuration for a reference signal for the UE, the configuration indicating a comb-based reference signal pattern across a set of multiple frequency resources associated with the reference signal and indicating a quantity of antenna ports associated with the reference signal, receive an indication of a frequency gap that is within the set of multiple frequency resources based on a downlink signal multiplexed with the reference signal, the frequency gap corresponding to one or more contiguous frequency resources of the set of multiple frequency resources, where the one or more contiguous frequency resources are allocated for the downlink signal, and monitor the set of multiple frequency resources for the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both in accordance with the configuration for the reference signal and based on the indication of the frequency gap.

Another UE for wireless communications is described. The UE may include means for receiving a control message indicating a configuration for a reference signal for the UE, the configuration indicating a comb-based reference signal pattern across a set of multiple frequency resources associated with the reference signal and indicating a quantity of antenna ports associated with the reference signal, means for receiving an indication of a frequency gap that is within the set of multiple frequency resources based on a downlink signal multiplexed with the reference signal, the frequency gap corresponding to one or more contiguous frequency resources of the set of multiple frequency resources, where the one or more contiguous frequency resources are allocated for the downlink signal, and means for monitoring the set of multiple frequency resources for the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both in accordance with the configuration for the reference signal and based on the indication of the frequency gap.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications is described. The code may include instructions executable by one or more processors to receive a control message indicating a configuration for a reference signal for the UE, the configuration indicating a comb-based reference signal pattern across a set of multiple frequency resources associated with the reference signal and indicating a quantity of antenna ports associated with the reference signal, receive an indication of a frequency gap that is within the set of multiple frequency resources based on a downlink signal multiplexed with the reference signal, the frequency gap corresponding to one or more contiguous frequency resources of the set of multiple frequency resources, where the one or more contiguous frequency resources are allocated for the downlink signal, and monitor the set of multiple frequency resources for the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both in accordance with the configuration for the reference signal and based on the indication of the frequency gap.

In some examples of the method, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, receiving the indication of the frequency gap may include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving a bit field indicating to apply or reset an OCC across one or more non-contiguous frequency resources of the set of multiple frequency resources, where monitoring for the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, may be based on the bit field. In some examples of the method, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the OCC may be associated with a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) code in a frequency domain, a cyclic shift (CS) in a time domain, or a phase ramp in the frequency domain.

In some examples of the method, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, receiving the indication of the frequency gap may include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving an indication of a frequency gap threshold associated with a quantity of resources and determining, based on the frequency gap threshold, whether to continue or reset an OCC across one or more non-contiguous frequency resources of the set of multiple frequency resources, where monitoring for the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, may be based on the determining.

In some examples of the method, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, monitoring for the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both may include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving the reference signal in accordance with an OCC across non-contiguous frequency resources based on the frequency gap being less than a frequency gap threshold.

Some examples of the method, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving a first portion of the reference signal based on an OCC and receiving a second portion of the reference signal based on the OCC, a third portion of the reference signal including one or more non-contiguous frequency resources, and the frequency gap exceeding a frequency gap threshold.

Some examples of the method, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for dropping one or more frequency resources associated with the reference signal based on the one or more frequency resources being punctured by a second downlink signal. In some examples of the method, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the second downlink signal may be associated with a second UE and may have a higher downlink transmission priority than the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both.

In some examples of the method, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the control message includes the quantity of antenna ports, a frequency band associated with the set of multiple frequency resources, an initial orthogonal frequency domain modulated (OFDM) symbol in a time domain, an indication of a comb offset associated with the comb-based reference signal pattern, an indication of an initial CS index associated with the comb-based reference signal pattern, or any combination thereof.

Some examples of the method, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for estimating a first channel associated with a first network entity and at least a second channel associated with a second network entity based on the initial CS index, where monitoring for the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, may be based on estimating the first channel and at least the second channel.

In some examples of the method, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the frequency gap corresponds to a quantity of resource blocks (RBs) associated with one or more synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) , one or more control resource sets (CORESETs) , or both.

In some examples of the method, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the set of multiple frequency resources may be multiplexed according to the comb-based reference signal pattern and a respective quantity of frequency resources of the set of multiple frequency resources correspond to a respective antenna port of the quantity of antenna ports. In some examples of the method, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the reference signal includes a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) .

A method for wireless communications by a network entity is described. The method may include outputting a control message indicating a configuration for a reference signal for a UE, the configuration indicating a comb-based reference signal pattern across a set of multiple frequency resources associated with the reference signal and indicating a quantity of antenna ports associated with the reference signal, outputting an indication of a frequency gap that is within the set of multiple frequency resources based on a downlink signal multiplexed with the reference signal, the frequency gap corresponding to one or more contiguous frequency resources of the set of multiple frequency resources, where the one or more contiguous frequency resources are allocated for the downlink signal, and outputting, via the set of multiple frequency resources, the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both in accordance with the configuration for the reference signal and based on the indication of the frequency gap.

A network entity for wireless communications is described. The network entity may include one or more memories storing processor executable code, and one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories. The one or more processors may individually or collectively be operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to output a control message indicating a configuration for a reference signal for a UE, the configuration indicating a comb-based reference signal pattern across a set of multiple frequency resources associated with the reference signal and indicating a quantity of antenna ports associated with the reference signal, output an indication of a frequency gap that is within the set of multiple frequency resources based on a downlink signal multiplexed with the reference signal, the frequency gap corresponding to one or more contiguous frequency resources of the set of multiple frequency resources, where the one or more contiguous frequency resources are allocated for the downlink signal, and output, via the set of multiple frequency resources, the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both in accordance with the configuration for the reference signal and based on the indication of the frequency gap.

Another network entity for wireless communications is described. The network entity may include means for outputting a control message indicating a configuration for a reference signal for a UE, the configuration indicating a comb-based reference signal pattern across a set of multiple frequency resources associated with the reference signal and indicating a quantity of antenna ports associated with the reference signal, means for outputting an indication of a frequency gap that is within the set of multiple frequency resources based on a downlink signal multiplexed with the reference signal, the frequency gap corresponding to one or more contiguous frequency resources of the set of multiple frequency resources, where the one or more contiguous frequency resources are allocated for the downlink signal, and means for outputting, via the set of multiple frequency resources, the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both in accordance with the configuration for the reference signal and based on the indication of the frequency gap.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications is described. The code may include instructions executable by one or more processors to output a control message indicating a configuration for a reference signal for a UE, the configuration indicating a comb-based reference signal pattern across a set of multiple frequency resources associated with the reference signal and indicating a quantity of antenna ports associated with the reference signal, output an indication of a frequency gap that is within the set of multiple frequency resources based on a downlink signal multiplexed with the reference signal, the frequency gap corresponding to one or more contiguous frequency resources of the set of multiple frequency resources, where the one or more contiguous frequency resources are allocated for the downlink signal, and output, via the set of multiple frequency resources, the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both in accordance with the configuration for the reference signal and based on the indication of the frequency gap.

In some examples of the method, network entities, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, outputting the indication of the frequency gap may include operations, features, means, or instructions for outputting a bit field indicating a to apply or reset an OCC across one or more non-contiguous frequency resources of the set of multiple frequency resources, where outputting the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, may be based on the bit field. In some examples of the method, network entities, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the OCC may be associated with a DFT code in a frequency domain, a CS in a time domain, or a phase ramp in the frequency domain.

In some examples of the method, network entities, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, outputting the indication of the frequency gap may include operations, features, means, or instructions for outputting an indication of a frequency gap threshold associated with a quantity of resources, where an OCC across one or more non-contiguous frequency resources of the set of multiple frequency resources may be based on the frequency gap threshold, and where outputting the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, may be based on the OCC.

In some examples of the method, network entities, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, outputting the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both may include operations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting the reference signal in accordance with an OCC across non-contiguous frequency resources based on the frequency gap being less than a frequency gap threshold.

Some examples of the method, network entities, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting a first portion of the reference signal based on an OCC and transmitting a second portion of the reference signal based on the OCC, a third portion of the reference signal including one or more non-contiguous frequency resources, and the frequency gap exceeding a frequency gap threshold.

In some examples of the method, network entities, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, outputting the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both may include operations, features, means, or instructions for rate-matching the set of multiple frequency resources associated with the reference signal around the one or more contiguous frequency resources.

In some examples of the method, network entities, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, outputting the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both may include operations, features, means, or instructions for aligning one or more frequency resources associated with a second downlink signal to a granularity associated with the set of multiple frequency resources and outputting the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, in accordance with aligning the one or more frequency resources and the granularity. In some examples of the method, network entities, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the second downlink signal may be associated with a second UE and may have a higher downlink transmission priority than the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both.

Some examples of the method, network entities, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for mapping each respective antenna port of the quantity of antenna ports to a respective comb index and a respective CS index, where the respective comb index and the respective CS index may be associated with the comb-based reference signal pattern and multiplexing the set of multiple frequency resources according to the mapping.

In some examples of the method, network entities, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the control message includes the quantity of antenna ports, a frequency band associated with the set of multiple frequency resources, an initial OFDM symbol in a time domain, an indication of a comb offset associated with the comb-based reference signal pattern, an indication of an initial CS index associated with the comb-based reference signal pattern, or any combination thereof.

In some examples of the method, network entities, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the frequency gap corresponds to a quantity of RBs associated with one or more SSBs, one or more CORESETs, or both. In some examples of the method, network entities, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the reference signal includes a CSI-RS.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGs. 1 and 2 show examples of wireless communications systems that support channel state reference signal design for wireless communications in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3A shows an example of first downlink signaling with a frequency gap that supports channel state reference signal design for wireless communications in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3B shows an example of second downlink signaling with a frequency gap that supports channel state reference signal design for wireless communications in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 shows an example of punctured downlink signaling that supports channel state reference signal design for wireless communications in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a process flow that supports channel state reference signal design for wireless communications in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGs. 6 and 7 show block diagrams of devices that support channel state reference signal design for wireless communications in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 shows a block diagram of a communications manager that supports channel state reference signal design for wireless communications in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 shows a diagram of a system including a device that supports channel state reference signal design for wireless communications in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGs. 10 and 11 show block diagrams of devices that support channel state reference signal design for wireless communications in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 shows a block diagram of a communications manager that supports channel state reference signal design for wireless communications in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 13 shows a diagram of a system including a device that supports channel state reference signal design for wireless communications in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGs. 14 through 16 show flowcharts illustrating methods that support channel state reference signal design for wireless communications in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In some wireless communications systems, a quantity of supported channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) ports may exceed 32 ports (e.g., 48, 64, or 128 ports may be supported) to enable higher beamforming gain and greater downlink multi-user capacity compared to a quantity of CSI-RS ports less than 32. In some examples, the CSI-RS ports may be mapped according to a code-division multiplexing (CDM) pattern. For example, CSI-RS with 32 ports may be mapped according to CDM8, where the CSI-RS spans two subcarriers and four orthogonal frequency-division multiplexed (OFDM) symbols. In some examples, a comb-based CSI-RS pattern, as opposed a CDM-based CSI-RS pattern, may support a higher quantity of ports.

For example, a comb-based CSI-RS may enable the separation of channels of different ports that are multiplexed on a same comb via an inverse fast Fourier transform (iFFT) operation. A comb-based CSI-RS may also enable time-division multiplexing (TDM) of a CSI-RS symbol with a physical data shared channel (PDSCH) or a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) on an OFDM symbol level without performing rate matching around the CSI-RS at a resource element (RE) level. To transmit comb-based CSI-RS, a network entity may multiplex respective frequency resources (e.g., resource blocks (RBs) or REs) of different ports and apply an orthogonal cover code (OCC) to the multiplexed frequency resources. To maintain orthogonality between the different CSI-RS for different ports, the network entity may apply the OCC continuously across the frequency resources. However, in some examples, an occasion with higher priority than the CSI-RS, such as synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) , control resource sets (CORESET) , or other high priority downlink transmissions, may create a frequency gap between the CSI-RS frequency resources.

The techniques described herein may enable a network entity to rate match around SSBs or CORESETs and continue or reset the OCC based on the size of the frequency gap. For example, the network entity may continue the OCC if the frequency gap between the frequency resources is below a threshold (e.g., the frequency gap is relatively small) , and the network entity may reset the OCC if the frequency gap exceeds the threshold (e.g., the frequency gap is relatively large) . In some examples, the network entity may indicate, to a user equipment (UE) receiving the CSI-RS, whether to continue the OCC across noncontinuous frequency resources or to reset the OCC via a bit field. Additionally, or alternatively, the network entity may signal a threshold gap (e.g., in a quantity of RBs) to the UE. The UE may autonomously decide to continue or reset the OCC across non-continuous frequency resources based on the threshold gap. In some examples, the network entity may align high priority downlink transmissions with the OCC granularity to avoid partial punctures of the CSI-RS frequency resources. For example, the OCC granularity may be a first quantity of RBs, and the network entity may align the high priority transmission within the first quantity of RBs. In some other examples, the high priority transmission may partially puncture a unit of CSI-RS frequency resources, and the UE may drop the remaining CSI-RS frequency resources in the punctured unit.

Aspects of the disclosure are initially described in the context of wireless communications systems. Aspects of the disclosure are further illustrated by and described with reference to first and second downlink signaling diagrams, punctured downlink signaling diagrams, and a process flow. Aspects of the disclosure are further illustrated by and described with reference to apparatus diagrams, system diagrams, and flowcharts that relate to channel state reference signal design for wireless communications.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a wireless communications system 100 that supports channel state reference signal design for wireless communications in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The wireless communications system 100 may include one or more devices, such as one or more network devices (e.g., network entities 105) , one or more UEs 115, and a core network 130. In some examples, the wireless communications system 100 may be a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, an LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) network, an LTE-A Pro network, a New Radio (NR) network, or a network operating in accordance with other systems and radio technologies, including future systems and radio technologies not explicitly mentioned herein.

The network entities 105 may be dispersed throughout a geographic area to form the wireless communications system 100 and may include devices in different forms or having different capabilities. In various examples, a network entity 105 may be referred to as a network element, a mobility element, a radio access network (RAN) node, or network equipment, among other nomenclature. In some examples, network entities 105 and UEs 115 may wirelessly communicate via communication link (s) 125 (e.g., a radio frequency (RF) access link) . For example, a network entity 105 may support a coverage area 110 (e.g., a geographic coverage area) over which the UEs 115 and the network entity 105 may establish the communication link (s) 125. The coverage area 110 may be an example of a geographic area over which a network entity 105 and a UE 115 may support the communication of signals according to one or more radio access technologies (RATs) .

The UEs 115 may be dispersed throughout a coverage area 110 of the wireless communications system 100, and each UE 115 may be stationary, or mobile, or both at different times. The UEs 115 may be devices in different forms or having different capabilities. Some example UEs 115 are illustrated in FIG. 1. The UEs 115 described herein may be capable of supporting communications with various types of devices in the wireless communications system 100 (e.g., other wireless communication devices, including UEs 115 or network entities 105) , as shown in FIG. 1.

As described herein, a node of the wireless communications system 100, which may be referred to as a network node, or a wireless node, may be a network entity 105 (e.g., any network entity described herein) , a UE 115 (e.g., any UE described herein) , a network controller, an apparatus, a device, a computing system, one or more components, or another suitable processing entity configured to perform any of the techniques described herein. For example, a node may be a UE 115. As another example, a node may be a network entity 105. As another example, a first node may be configured to communicate with a second node or a third node. In one aspect of this example, the first node may be a UE 115, the second node may be a network entity 105, and the third node may be a UE 115. In another aspect of this example, the first node may be a UE 115, the second node may be a network entity 105, and the third node may be a network entity 105. In yet other aspects of this example, the first, second, and third nodes may be different relative to these examples. Similarly, reference to a UE 115, network entity 105, apparatus, device, computing system, or the like may include disclosure of the UE 115, network entity 105, apparatus, device, computing system, or the like being a node. For example, disclosure that a UE 115 is configured to receive information from a network entity 105 also discloses that a first node is configured to receive information from a second node.

In some examples, network entities 105 may communicate with a core network 130, or with one another, or both. For example, network entities 105 may communicate with the core network 130 via backhaul communication link (s) 120 (e.g., in accordance with an S1, N2, N3, or other interface protocol) . In some examples, network entities 105 may communicate with one another via backhaul communication link (s) 120 (e.g., in accordance with an X2, Xn, or other interface protocol) either directly (e.g., directly between network entities 105) or indirectly (e.g., via the core network 130) . In some examples, network entities 105 may communicate with one another via a midhaul communication link 162 (e.g., in accordance with a midhaul interface protocol) or a fronthaul communication link 168 (e.g., in accordance with a fronthaul interface protocol) , or any combination thereof. The backhaul communication link (s) 120, midhaul communication links 162, or fronthaul communication links 168 may be or include one or more wired links (e.g., an electrical link, an optical fiber link) or one or more wireless links (e.g., a radio link, a wireless optical link) , among other examples or various combinations thereof. A UE 115 may communicate with the core network 130 via a communication link 155.

One or more of the network entities 105 or network equipment described herein may include or may be referred to as a base station 140 (e.g., a base transceiver station, a radio base station, an NR base station, an access point, a radio transceiver, a NodeB, an eNodeB (eNB) , a next-generation NodeB or giga-NodeB (either of which may be referred to as a gNB) , a 5G NB, a next-generation eNB (ng-eNB) , a Home NodeB, a Home eNodeB, or other suitable terminology) . In some examples, a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140) may be implemented in an aggregated (e.g., monolithic, standalone) base station architecture, which may be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is physically or logically integrated within one network entity (e.g., a network entity 105 or a single RAN node, such as a base station 140) .

In some examples, a network entity 105 may be implemented in a disaggregated architecture (e.g., a disaggregated base station architecture, a disaggregated RAN architecture) , which may be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is physically or logically distributed among multiple network entities (e.g., network entities 105) , such as an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) network, an open RAN (O-RAN) (e.g., a network configuration sponsored by the O-RAN Alliance) , or a virtualized RAN (vRAN) (e.g., a cloud RAN (C-RAN) ) . For example, a network entity 105 may include one or more of a central unit (CU) , such as a CU 160, a distributed unit (DU) , such as a DU 165, a radio unit (RU) , such as an RU 170, a RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) , such as an RIC 175 (e.g., a Near-Real Time RIC (Near-RT RIC) , a Non-Real Time RIC (Non-RT RIC) ) , a Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) system, such as an SMO system 180, or any combination thereof. An RU 170 may also be referred to as a radio head, a smart radio head, a remote radio head (RRH) , a remote radio unit (RRU) , or a transmission reception point (TRP) . One or more components of the network entities 105 in a disaggregated RAN architecture may be co-located, or one or more components of the network entities 105 may be located in distributed locations (e.g., separate physical locations) . In some examples, one or more of the network entities 105 of a disaggregated RAN architecture may be implemented as virtual units (e.g., a virtual CU (VCU) , a virtual DU (VDU) , a virtual RU (VRU) ) .

The split of functionality between a CU 160, a DU 165, and an RU 170 is flexible and may support different functionalities depending on which functions (e.g., network layer functions, protocol layer functions, baseband functions, RF functions, or any combinations thereof) are performed at a CU 160, a DU 165, or an RU 170. For example, a functional split of a protocol stack may be employed between a CU 160 and a DU 165 such that the CU 160 may support one or more layers of the protocol stack and the DU 165 may support one or more different layers of the protocol stack. In some examples, the CU 160 may host upper protocol layer (e.g., layer 3 (L3) , layer 2 (L2) ) functionality and signaling (e.g., Radio Resource Control (RRC) , service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) , Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) ) . The CU 160 (e.g., one or more CUs) may be connected to a DU 165 (e.g., one or more DUs) or an RU 170 (e.g., one or more RUs) , or some combination thereof, and the DUs 165, RUs 170, or both may host lower protocol layers, such as layer 1 (L1) (e.g., physical (PHY) layer) or L2 (e.g., radio link control (RLC) layer, medium access control (MAC) layer) functionality and signaling, and may each be at least partially controlled by the CU 160. Additionally, or alternatively, a functional split of the protocol stack may be employed between a DU 165 and an RU 170 such that the DU 165 may support one or more layers of the protocol stack and the RU 170 may support one or more different layers of the protocol stack. The DU 165 may support one or multiple different cells (e.g., via one or multiple different RUs, such as an RU 170) . In some cases, a functional split between a CU 160 and a DU 165 or between a DU 165 and an RU 170 may be within a protocol layer (e.g., some functions for a protocol layer may be performed by one of a CU 160, a DU 165, or an RU 170, while other functions of the protocol layer are performed by a different one of the CU 160, the DU 165, or the RU 170) . A CU 160 may be functionally split further into CU control plane (CU-CP) and CU user plane (CU-UP) functions. A CU 160 may be connected to a DU 165 via a midhaul communication link 162 (e.g., F1, F1-c, F1-u) , and a DU 165 may be connected to an RU 170 via a fronthaul communication link 168 (e.g., open fronthaul (FH) interface) . In some examples, a midhaul communication link 162 or a fronthaul communication link 168 may be implemented in accordance with an interface (e.g., a channel) between layers of a protocol stack supported by respective network entities (e.g., one or more of the network entities 105) that are in communication via such communication links.

In some wireless communications systems (e.g., the wireless communications system 100) , infrastructure and spectral resources for radio access may support wireless backhaul link capabilities to supplement wired backhaul connections, providing an IAB network architecture (e.g., to a core network 130) . In some cases, in an IAB network, one or more of the network entities 105 (e.g., network entities 105 or IAB node (s) 104) may be partially controlled by each other. The IAB node (s) 104 may be referred to as a donor entity or an IAB donor. A DU 165 or an RU 170 may be partially controlled by a CU 160 associated with a network entity 105 or base station 140 (such as a donor network entity or a donor base station) . The one or more donor entities (e.g., IAB donors) may be in communication with one or more additional devices (e.g., IAB node (s) 104) via supported access and backhaul links (e.g., backhaul communication link (s) 120) . IAB node (s) 104 may include an IAB mobile termination (IAB-MT) controlled (e.g., scheduled) by one or more DUs (e.g., DUs 165) of a coupled IAB donor. An IAB-MT may be equipped with an independent set of antennas for relay of communications with UEs 115 or may share the same antennas (e.g., of an RU 170) of IAB node (s) 104 used for access via the DU 165 of the IAB node (s) 104 (e.g., referred to as virtual IAB-MT (vIAB-MT) ) . In some examples, the IAB node (s) 104 may include one or more DUs (e.g., DUs 165) that support communication links with additional entities (e.g., IAB node (s) 104, UEs 115) within the relay chain or configuration of the access network (e.g., downstream) . In such cases, one or more components of the disaggregated RAN architecture (e.g., the IAB node (s) 104 or components of the IAB node (s) 104) may be configured to operate according to the techniques described herein.

In the case of the techniques described herein applied in the context of a disaggregated RAN architecture, one or more components of the disaggregated RAN architecture may be configured to support test as described herein. For example, some operations described as being performed by a UE 115 or a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140) may additionally, or alternatively, be performed by one or more components of the disaggregated RAN architecture (e.g., components such as an IAB node, a DU 165, a CU 160, an RU 170, an RIC 175, an SMO system 180) .

A UE 115 may include or may be referred to as a mobile device, a wireless device, a remote device, a handheld device, or a subscriber device, or some other suitable terminology, where the “device” may also be referred to as a unit, a station, a terminal, or a client, among other examples. A UE 115 may also include or may be referred to as a personal electronic device such as a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA) , a tablet computer, a laptop computer, or a personal computer. In some examples, a UE 115 may include or be referred to as a wireless local loop (WLL) station, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, an Internet of Everything (IoE) device, or a machine type communications (MTC) device, among other examples, which may be implemented in various objects such as appliances, vehicles, or meters, among other examples.

The UEs 115 described herein may be able to communicate with various types of devices, such as UEs 115 that may sometimes operate as relays, as well as the network entities 105 and the network equipment including macro eNBs or gNBs, small cell eNBs or gNBs, or relay base stations, among other examples, as shown in FIG. 1.

The UEs 115 and the network entities 105 may wirelessly communicate with one another via the communication link (s) 125 (e.g., one or more access links) using resources associated with one or more carriers. The term “carrier” may refer to a set of RF spectrum resources having a defined PHY layer structure for supporting the communication link (s) 125. For example, a carrier used for the communication link (s) 125 may include a portion of an RF spectrum band (e.g., a bandwidth part (BWP) ) that is operated according to one or more PHY layer channels for a given RAT (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR) . Each PHY layer channel may carry acquisition signaling (e.g., synchronization signals, system information) , control signaling that coordinates operation for the carrier, user data, or other signaling. The wireless communications system 100 may support communication with a UE 115 using carrier aggregation or multi-carrier operation. A UE 115 may be configured with multiple downlink component carriers and one or more uplink component carriers according to a carrier aggregation configuration. Carrier aggregation may be used with both frequency division duplexing (FDD) and time division duplexing (TDD) component carriers. Communication between a network entity 105 and other devices may refer to communication between the devices and any portion (e.g., entity, sub-entity) of a network entity 105. For example, the terms “transmitting, ” “receiving, ” or “communicating, ” when referring to a network entity 105, may refer to any portion of a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140, a CU 160, a DU 165, a RU 170) of a RAN communicating with another device (e.g., directly or via one or more other network entities, such as one or more of the network entities 105) .

Signal waveforms transmitted via a carrier may be made up of multiple subcarriers (e.g., using multi-carrier modulation (MCM) techniques such as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) or discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM) ) . In a system employing MCM techniques, a resource element may refer to resources of one symbol period (e.g., a duration of one modulation symbol) and one subcarrier, in which case the symbol period and subcarrier spacing may be inversely related. The quantity of bits carried by each resource element may depend on the modulation scheme (e.g., the order of the modulation scheme, the coding rate of the modulation scheme, or both) , such that a relatively higher quantity of resource elements (e.g., in a transmission duration) and a relatively higher order of a modulation scheme may correspond to a relatively higher rate of communication. A wireless communications resource may refer to a combination of an RF spectrum resource, a time resource, and a spatial resource (e.g., a spatial layer, a beam) , and the use of multiple spatial resources may increase the data rate or data integrity for communications with a UE 115.

The time intervals for the network entities 105 or the UEs 115 may be expressed in multiples of a basic time unit which may, for example, refer to a sampling period of T_s=1/ (Δf_max·N_f) seconds, for which Δf_max may represent a supported subcarrier spacing, and N_f may represent a supported discrete Fourier transform (DFT) size. Time intervals of a communications resource may be organized according to radio frames each having a specified duration (e.g., 10 milliseconds (ms) ) . Each radio frame may be identified by a system frame number (SFN) (e.g., ranging from 0 to 1023) .

Each frame may include multiple consecutively-numbered subframes or slots, and each subframe or slot may have the same duration. In some examples, a frame may be divided (e.g., in the time domain) into subframes, and each subframe may be further divided into a quantity of slots. Alternatively, each frame may include a variable quantity of slots, and the quantity of slots may depend on subcarrier spacing. Each slot may include a quantity of symbol periods (e.g., depending on the length of the cyclic prefix prepended to each symbol period) . In some wireless communications systems, such as the wireless communications system 100, a slot may further be divided into multiple mini-slots associated with one or more symbols. Excluding the cyclic prefix, each symbol period may be associated with one or more (e.g., N_f) sampling periods. The duration of a symbol period may depend on the subcarrier spacing or frequency band of operation.

A subframe, a slot, a mini-slot, or a symbol may be the smallest scheduling unit (e.g., in the time domain) of the wireless communications system 100 and may be referred to as a transmission time interval (TTI) . In some examples, the TTI duration (e.g., a quantity of symbol periods in a TTI) may be variable. Additionally, or alternatively, the smallest scheduling unit of the wireless communications system 100 may be dynamically selected (e.g., in bursts of shortened TTIs (sTTIs) ) .

Physical channels may be multiplexed for communication using a carrier according to various techniques. A physical control channel and a physical data channel may be multiplexed for signaling via a downlink carrier, for example, using one or more of time division multiplexing (TDM) techniques, frequency division multiplexing (FDM) techniques, or hybrid TDM-FDM techniques. A control region (e.g., a control resource set (CORESET) ) for a physical control channel may be defined by a set of symbol periods and may extend across the system bandwidth or a subset of the system bandwidth of the carrier. One or more control regions (e.g., CORESETs) may be configured for a set of the UEs 115. For example, one or more of the UEs 115 may monitor or search control regions for control information according to one or more search space sets, and each search space set may include one or multiple control channel candidates in one or more aggregation levels arranged in a cascaded manner. An aggregation level for a control channel candidate may refer to an amount of control channel resources (e.g., control channel elements (CCEs) ) associated with encoded information for a control information format having a given payload size. Search space sets may include common search space sets configured for sending control information to UEs 115 (e.g., one or more UEs) or may include UE-specific search space sets for sending control information to a UE 115 (e.g., a specific UE) .

In some examples, a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140, an RU 170) may be movable and therefore provide communication coverage for a moving coverage area, such as the coverage area 110. In some examples, coverage areas 110 (e.g., different coverage areas) associated with different technologies may overlap, but the coverage areas 110 (e.g., different coverage areas) may be supported by the same network entity (e.g., a network entity 105) . In some other examples, overlapping coverage areas, such as a coverage area 110, associated with different technologies may be supported by different network entities (e.g., the network entities 105) . The wireless communications system 100 may include, for example, a heterogeneous network in which different types of the network entities 105 support communications for coverage areas 110 (e.g., different coverage areas) using the same or different RATs.

The wireless communications system 100 may be configured to support ultra-reliable communications or low-latency communications, or various combinations thereof. For example, the wireless communications system 100 may be configured to support ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC) . The UEs 115 may be designed to support ultra-reliable, low-latency, or critical functions. Ultra-reliable communications may include private communication or group communication and may be supported by one or more services such as push-to-talk, video, or data. Support for ultra-reliable, low-latency functions may include prioritization of services, and such services may be used for public safety or general commercial applications. The terms ultra-reliable, low-latency, and ultra-reliable low-latency may be used interchangeably herein.

In some examples, a UE 115 may be configured to support communicating directly with other UEs (e.g., one or more of the UEs 115) via a device-to-device (D2D) communication link, such as a D2D communication link 135 (e.g., in accordance with a peer-to-peer (P2P) , D2D, or sidelink protocol) . In some examples, one or more UEs 115 of a group that are performing D2D communications may be within the coverage area 110 of a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140, an RU 170) , which may support aspects of such D2D communications being configured by (e.g., scheduled by) the network entity 105. In some examples, one or more UEs 115 of such a group may be outside the coverage area 110 of a network entity 105 or may be otherwise unable to or not configured to receive transmissions from a network entity 105. In some examples, groups of the UEs 115 communicating via D2D communications may support a one-to-many (1: M) system in which each UE 115 transmits to one or more of the UEs 115 in the group. In some examples, a network entity 105 may facilitate the scheduling of resources for D2D communications. In some other examples, D2D communications may be carried out between the UEs 115 without an involvement of a network entity 105.

The core network 130 may provide user authentication, access authorization, tracking, Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity, and other access, routing, or mobility functions. The core network 130 may be an evolved packet core (EPC) or 5G core (5GC) , which may include at least one control plane entity that manages access and mobility (e.g., a mobility management entity (MME) , an access and mobility management function (AMF) ) and at least one user plane entity that routes packets or interconnects to external networks (e.g., a serving gateway (S-GW) , a Packet Data Network (PDN) gateway (P-GW) , or a user plane function (UPF) ) . The control plane entity may manage non-access stratum (NAS) functions such as mobility, authentication, and bearer management for the UEs 115 served by the network entities 105 (e.g., base stations 140) associated with the core network 130. User IP packets may be transferred through the user plane entity, which may provide IP address allocation as well as other functions. The user plane entity may be connected to IP services 150 for one or more network operators. The IP services 150 may include access to the Internet, Intranet (s) , an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) , or a Packet-Switched Streaming Service.

The wireless communications system 100 may operate using one or more frequency bands, which may be in the range of 300 megahertz (MHz) to 300 gigahertz (GHz) . Generally, the region from 300 MHz to 3 GHz is known as the ultra-high frequency (UHF) region or decimeter band because the wavelengths range from approximately one decimeter to one meter in length. UHF waves may be blocked or redirected by buildings and environmental features, which may be referred to as clusters, but the waves may penetrate structures sufficiently for a macro cell to provide service to the UEs 115 located indoors. Communications using UHF waves may be associated with smaller antennas and shorter ranges (e.g., less than one hundred kilometers) compared to communications using the smaller frequencies and longer waves of the high frequency (HF) or very high frequency (VHF) portion of the spectrum below 300 MHz.

The wireless communications system 100 may utilize both licensed and unlicensed RF spectrum bands. For example, the wireless communications system 100 may employ License Assisted Access (LAA) , LTE-Unlicensed (LTE-U) RAT, or NR technology using an unlicensed band such as the 5 GHz industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) band. While operating using unlicensed RF spectrum bands, devices such as the network entities 105 and the UEs 115 may employ carrier sensing for collision detection and avoidance. In some examples, operations using unlicensed bands may be based on a carrier aggregation configuration in conjunction with component carriers operating using a licensed band (e.g., LAA) . Operations using unlicensed spectrum may include downlink transmissions, uplink transmissions, P2P transmissions, or D2D transmissions, among other examples.

A network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140, an RU 170) or a UE 115 may be equipped with multiple antennas, which may be used to employ techniques such as transmit diversity, receive diversity, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communications, or beamforming. The antennas of a network entity 105 or a UE 115 may be located within one or more antenna arrays or antenna panels, which may support MIMO operations or transmit or receive beamforming. For example, one or more base station antennas or antenna arrays may be co-located at an antenna assembly, such as an antenna tower. In some examples, antennas or antenna arrays associated with a network entity 105 may be located at diverse geographic locations. A network entity 105 may include an antenna array with a set of rows and columns of antenna ports that the network entity 105 may use to support beamforming of communications with a UE 115. Likewise, a UE 115 may include one or more antenna arrays that may support various MIMO or beamforming operations. Additionally, or alternatively, an antenna panel may support RF beamforming for a signal transmitted via an antenna port.

Beamforming, which may also be referred to as spatial filtering, directional transmission, or directional reception, is a signal processing technique that may be used at a transmitting device or a receiving device (e.g., a network entity 105, a UE 115) to shape or steer an antenna beam (e.g., a transmit beam, a receive beam) along a spatial path between the transmitting device and the receiving device. Beamforming may be achieved by combining the signals communicated via antenna elements of an antenna array such that some signals propagating along particular orientations with respect to an antenna array experience constructive interference while others experience destructive interference. The adjustment of signals communicated via the antenna elements may include a transmitting device or a receiving device applying amplitude offsets, phase offsets, or both to signals carried via the antenna elements associated with the device. The adjustments associated with each of the antenna elements may be defined by a beamforming weight set associated with a particular orientation (e.g., with respect to the antenna array of the transmitting device or receiving device, or with respect to some other orientation) .

Some wireless communications may support CSI-RS with 32 ports or more. In some examples, the CSI-RS may be associated with a type one CSI codebook. CSI-RS with 32 ports or more may support more accurate (e.g., sharper) beamforming to increase downlink beamforming gain and more spatial dimensions to create downlink multi-user (MU) capacity. Some wireless communications systems may support CSI-RS with 48, 64, or 128 ports. A large quantity of CSI-RS ports (e.g., 128 ports or more) may benefit from a CSI-RS pattern.

In some examples, CSI-RS may be used for CSI acquisition, beam management (e.g., if CSI-RS based, as SSB-based is also possible) , or tracking (e.g., TRS is one form of single-port CSI-RS) , among other examples. CSI-RS transmission may be periodic (P-CSI-RS) , aperiodic (A-CSI-RS) , or semipersistent (SP-CSI-RS) .

In some wireless communication systems, CSI-RS patterns with {1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, 24, 32} ports may be defined based on port multiplexing, such as frequency-division multiplexing (FDM) and code-division multiplexing (CDM) . In some cases, CDM in a frequency domain may not span more than two subcarriers. Additionally, or alternatively, CDM in a time domain may span over two or four OFDM symbols. In some examples, the CSI-RS patterns for the quantity of ports may be associated with different densities (e.g., RE/RB/port) as well as CDM processes, among other examples. For example, a CSI-RS pattern for 32 ports may have a density of 1 RE/RB per port and a CDM8 pattern corresponding to FD2 (e.g., CDM over two subcarriers) and TD4 (e.g., CDM over four OFDM symbols) .

In some wireless communications systems, a quantity of supported CSI-RS ports may exceed 32 ports (e.g., 48, 64, or 128 ports may be supported) to enable higher beamforming gain and greater downlink multi-user capacity compared to a quantity of CSI-RS ports less than 32. In some examples, the CSI-RS ports may be mapped according to a CDM pattern. For example, CSI-RS with 32 ports may be mapped according to CDM8, where the CSI-RS spans two subcarriers and four OFDM symbols. In some examples, a comb-based CSI-RS pattern, as opposed a CDM-based CSI-RS pattern, may support a higher quantity of ports.

For example, a comb-based CSI-RS may enable the separation of channels of different ports that are multiplexed on a same comb via an iFFT operation. A comb-based CSI-RS may also enable TDM of a CSI-RS symbol with a PDSCH or a DMRS on an OFDM symbol level without performing rate matching around the CSI-RS at an RE level. To transmit comb-based CSI-RS, a network entity 105 may multiplex respective frequency resources (e.g., RBs or REs) of different ports and apply an OCC to the multiplexed frequency resources. To maintain orthogonality between the different CSI-RS for different ports, the network entity 105 may apply the OCC continuously across the frequency resources. However, in some examples, an occasion with higher priority than the CSI-RS, such as SSBs, CORESETs, or other high priority downlink transmissions, may create a frequency gap between the CSI-RS frequency resources.

The techniques described herein may enable a network entity 105 to rate match around SSBs or CORESETs and continue or reset the OCC based on the size of the frequency gap. For example, the network entity 105 may continue the OCC if the frequency gap between the frequency resources is below a threshold (e.g., the frequency gap is relatively small) , and the network entity 105 may reset the OCC if the frequency gap exceeds the threshold (e.g., the frequency gap is relatively large) . In some examples, the network entity 105 may indicate, to a UE 115 receiving the CSI-RS, whether to continue the OCC across noncontinuous frequency resources or to reset the OCC via a bit field. Additionally, or alternatively, the network entity 105 may signal a threshold gap (e.g., in a quantity of RBs) to the UE 115. The UE 115 may autonomously decide to continue or reset the OCC across non-continuous frequency resources based on the threshold gap. In some examples, the network entity 105 may align high priority downlink transmissions with the OCC granularity to avoid partial punctures of the CSI-RS frequency resources. For example, the OCC granularity may be a first quantity of RBs, and the network entity 105 may align the high priority transmission within the first quantity of RBs. In some other examples, the high priority transmission may partially puncture a unit of CSI-RS frequency resources, and the UE 115 may drop the remaining CSI-RS frequency resources in the punctured unit.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a wireless communications system 200 that supports channel state reference signal design for wireless communications in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The wireless communications system 200 may implement or be implemented by aspects of the wireless communications system 100, as described with reference to FIG. 1. For example, the wireless communications system 200 may include a network entity 105-a and a UE 115-a, which may be examples of the corresponding devices described herein, including with reference to FIG. 1. FIG. 2 illustrates communications 205 between the network entity 105-a and the UE 115-a. The communications 205 may include uplink transmissions and downlink transmissions. For example, the communications 205 may include one or more CSI-RS 210.

The techniques described herein may support a comb and cyclic shift (CS) based CSI-RS pattern (e.g., as opposed to CDM-based CSI-RS) . Comb and CS based CSI-RS may support separation of channels of different ports multiplexed on the same comb by an iFFT operation. Comb and CS based CSI-RS may also support applying TDM to a CSI-RS symbol with PDSCH, DMRS, or both, on an OFDM symbol level. In some examples, a PDSCH may not perform RE level rate matching around the CSI-RS.

In some examples, the network entity 105-a may map a CSI-RS port k to a combination of a comb index, x, and a CS index, y, within comb X. The network entity 105-a may map a total K ports to comb X, where each comb may support a quantity of ports equal to a ceiling function of K/X. In some examples, each comb may support a maximum CS, where the CS distance, d, is calculated based on Equation 1 below:

A port index k may map to comb index x, where x = modular (floor (k/ceil (K/X) ) +comb offset, K) , and the port index k may map to CS index y, where y = modular (k, ceil (K/X) ) *d + initial CS offset) .

For example, the network entity 105-a may output a CSI-RS 215-a associated with 48 ports. The CSI-RS 215-a may include a first comb of first REs 220-a and a second comb of second REs 225-a. The combs may include 12 first REs 220-a and 12 second REs 225-a, respectively, which may correspond to 48 ports. For example, two combs with a CS of 12, a TD of two (e.g., the combs may span two OFDM symbols) , and a density of 0.5 RE/RB/port may correspond to 48 port CSI-RS. A CS X may refer to an OCC (e.g., a DFT OCC) with a size of X, and a TD Y may refer to an OCC (e.g., a DFT or Hadamard OCC) with a size Y.

An X or Y size OCC may enable orthogonal X or Y order multiplexing without robust scrambling or complex receiver design at the UE 115-a. In some examples, the OCC may be implemented across OFDM symbols or slots. For example, the network entity 105-a may receive data symbols (e.g., corresponding to the CSI) from the output of a modulator, select an OCC for the UE 115-a, and perform an X or Y size cover coding of symbols using the OCC. The UE 115-a may receive the OCC-configured data symbols, decode the OCC (e.g., using a corresponding Hadamard matrix) , and send the decoded sequence to a demodulator for calculations. The OCC may be performed on a symbol-wise or slot-wise bases (e.g., symbol-by-symbol or slot-by-slot) . In some examples, OCC may be equivalent to a DFT code in a frequency domain, a CS in the time domain, or a phase ramp in the frequency domain.

In another example, the network entity 105-a may output a CSI-RS 215-b associated with 64 ports. For example, the CSI-RS 215-b may include four combs, where each comb includes four REs (e.g., REs 220-b, REs 225-b, REs 230-a, and REs 235-a corresponding to the first, second, third, and fourth combs) . Four combs, each with a CS of four, a TD of four, and a density of 0.75 RE/RB/port may correspond to 64 ports. In a third example, the network entity 105-a may output a CSI-RS 215-c associated with 48 ports. For example, the CSI-RS 215-c may include eight combs, where each comb includes two REs (e.g., REs 220-c, REs 225-c, REs 230-b, REs 235-b, REs 240, REs 245, REs 250, and REs 255 may correspond to combs one through eight respectively) . The eight combs, each with a CS of two, a TD of three, and a density of 0.75 RE/RB/port may correspond to 48 ports. The CSI-RS 215 are illustrative examples of the techniques herein and are non-limiting. For example, any quantity of ports may be multiplexed according to a quantity of combs, CS, TD, and density, as described herein. In some examples, the network entity 105-a may refrain from applying the comb-based pattern for a CSI interference measurement (CSI-IM) . For example, the network entity 105-a TDM a CSI-IM with a comb-based CSI-RS.

In some examples, each of the CSI-RS 215-a, CSI-RS 215-b, and the CSI-RS 215-c may include a frequency gap 260-a, a frequency gap 260-b, and a frequency gap 260-c, respectively. As described with further reference to FIG. 3, each of the frequency gaps 260 may correspond to an SSB RB or CORESET RB that the network entity 105-a may rate match around based on a threshold frequency gap distance. For example, the network entity 105-a may rate match the CSI-RS 215 around the SSB RB or CORESET RBs corresponding to the frequency gaps 260 based on the respective frequency gaps 260 satisfying a threshold (e.g., each of the frequency gaps 260 are less than the threshold) . Additionally, or alternatively, as described with further reference to FIG. 4, each of the frequency gaps 260 may correspond to a puncture in the CSI-RS 215.

FIG. 3A may illustrate an example of first downlink signaling with a frequency gap 300-a including a first segment 305, a second segment 310, and a third segment 315. In some examples, the first segment 305 and the third segment 315 may include continuous CSI-RS resources (e.g., 4 RBs with continuous DFT/CS OCC for CSI-RS) . The second segment 310 may include first CSI-RS resources 320-a, a frequency gap 325-a, and second CSI-RS resources 320-b. In some examples, the frequency gap 325-a may span a relatively small distance between the first CSI-RS resources 320-a and the second CSI-RS resources 320-b. For example, the frequency gap 325-a may span 1 RB while the first CSI-RS resources 320-a and the second CSI-RS resources 320-b may span 2 RBs, respectively.

In some examples, one or more frequency resources may have higher priority than CSI-RS resources in a comb. For example, a network entity 105 may transmit SSBs or CORESET on one or more frequency resources that would otherwise be used for CSI-RS, causing the frequency gap 325-a (e.g., the comb-based pattern of CSI-RS allocates resources for CSI-RS across a frequency spectrum) . In some examples (e.g., when rate matching around SSB or CORESET RBs) , the network entity 105 may apply an OCC across non-contiguous RBs based on a size of the frequency gap 325-a satisfying a threshold (e.g., the frequency gap 325-a may span a relatively small distance) . In such examples, the network entity 105 may rate match CSI-RS around SSB RBs, CORESET RBs, or both, and continue applying the OCC.

For example, the network entity 105 may first map the CSI-RS to one or more frequency resources not allocated for SSB or CORESET RBs and then the network entity 105 may map the SSB or CORESET RBs to the one or more unmapped frequency resources. The network entity 105 may perform the mapping such that the OCC applied to the CSI-RS with the frequency gap 325-a is unchanged compared to a CSI-RS with no frequency gap 325-a. For example, the network entity may apply the OCC across the discontinuous CSI-RS RBs 320 without resetting the OCC. As described with further reference to FIG. 5, the network entity 105 may indicate to a UE 115 whether the OCC is applied across the discontinuous CSI-RS RBs or is reset based on the frequency gap 325-a.

FIG. 3A shows an example of first downlink signaling with a frequency gap 300-a that supports channel state reference signal design for wireless communications in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The first downlink signaling with a frequency gap 300-a may implement or be implemented by aspects of the wireless communications system 100 and 200, as described with reference to FIGs. 1 and 2.

The first downlink signaling with a frequency gap 300-a may include a first segment 305, a second segment 310, and a third segment 315. In some examples, the first segment 305 and the third segment 315 may include continuous CSI-RS resources (e.g., 4 RBs with continuous DFT/CS OCC for CSI-RS) . The second segment 310 may include first CSI-RS resources 320-a, a frequency gap 325-a, and second CSI-RS resources 320-b. In some examples, the frequency gap 325-a may span a relatively small distance between the first CSI-RS resources 320-a and the second CSI-RS resources 320-b. For example, the frequency gap 325-a may span 1 RB while the first CSI-RS resources 320-a and the second CSI-RS resources 320-b may span 2 RBs, respectively.

FIG. 3B shows an example of second downlink signaling with a frequency gap 300-b that supports channel state reference signal design for wireless communications in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The second downlink signaling with a frequency gap 300-b may implement or be implemented by aspects of the wireless communications system 100 and 200, as described with reference to FIGs. 1 and 2.

The second downlink signaling with a frequency gap 300-b may include a first segment 330, a frequency gap 325-b, and a second segment 335. In some examples, the first segment 330 and the second segment 335 may include continuous CSI-RS resources (e.g., 4 RBs with continuous DFT/CS OCC for CSI-RS) . In some examples, the frequency gap 325-b may span a relatively large distance between the first segment 330 and the second segment 335. For example, the frequency gap 325-b may span more than 1 RB while the first segment 330 and the second segment 335 may span 4 or more consecutive RBs, respectively.

In some examples, one or more frequency resources may have higher priority than CSI-RS resources in a comb. For example, a network entity 105 may transmit SSBs or CORESET on one or more frequency resources that would otherwise be used for CSI-RS, causing the frequency gap 325-b. In some examples (e.g., when rate matching around SSB or CORESET RBs) , the network entity 105 may reset an OCC across non-contiguous RBs based on a size of the frequency gap 325-b exceeding a threshold (e.g., the frequency gap 325-b may span a relatively large distance) . In such examples, the network entity 105 may rate match CSI-RS around SSB RBs, CORESET RBs, or both, and reset the OCC.

For example, the network entity 105 may first map the CSI-RS to one or more frequency resources not allocated for SSB or CORESET RBs and then the network entity 105 may map the SSB or CORESET RBs to the one or more unmapped frequency resources. The network entity 105 may reset the OCC across discontinuous CSI-RS RBs within the first segment 330 and the second segment 335. For example, the network entity 105 may apply a first OCC for the first segment 330 and restart the OCC for the second segment 335. As described with further reference to FIG. 5, the network entity 105 may indicate to a UE 115 whether the OCC is applied across the discontinuous CSI-RS RBs or is reset based on the frequency gap 325-b.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a punctured downlink signaling 400 that supports channel state reference signal design for wireless communications in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The punctured downlink signaling 400 may implement or be implemented by aspects of the wireless communications system 100 and 200, as described with reference to FIGs. 1 and 2.

The punctured downlink signaling 400 may include a first segment 405, a second segment 410, and a third segment 415. In some examples, the first segment 405 and the third segment 415 may include continuous CSI-RS resources (e.g., X RBs with continuous OCC for CSI-RS) . The second segment 310 may include first CSI-RS resources 420-a, a frequency gap 425, and second CSI-RS resources 420-b.

In some examples, one or more frequency resources may have higher priority than CSI-RS resources in a comb. For example, a network entity 105 may transmit a downlink preemption indicator (DLPI) . The DLPI may indicate that some RBs are preempt or punctured by higher priority downlink transmissions. In some examples, the higher priority downlink transmissions may puncture one or more CSI-RS frequency resources, resulting in the frequency gap 425. Additionally, or alternatively, CSI-RS frequency resources may puncture phase tracking reference signals (PTRS) .

In some examples, the network entity 105 may align the frequency resources of the high priority downlink transmission with the OCC granularity applied to the CSI-RS in the first segment 405 and the third segment 415. For example, the network entity 105 may align the high priority downlink transmission granularity with the OCC granularity to X RBs to avoid partial puncture within X RBs. In such examples, the frequency gap 425 (e.g., corresponding to the puncturing high priority downlink transmission) may be aligned such that there are no CSI-RS resources 420. In some cases, a UE 115 may receive a partial puncture within X RBs. In such cases, the UE 115 may drop the partially punctured resources. For example, the UE 115 may drop the CSI-RS resources 420 based on the frequency gap 425.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a process flow 500 that supports channel state reference signal design for wireless communications in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The process flow 500 may be implemented by aspects of the wireless communications system 100 and 200. For example, a UE 115-b and a network entity 105-b, which may be examples of a UE 115 or network entity 105 as described herein, may perform aspects of the process flow 500. In the following description of the process flow 500, operations performed by the UE 115-b and the network entity 105-b may be performed in a different order than is shown. Some operations may be omitted from the process flow 500, and other operations may be added to the process flow 500. Further, although some operations or signaling may be shown to occur at different times for discussion purposes, these operations may occur at the same time.

At 505, the network entity 105-b may map a respective antenna port of a quantity of antenna ports to a respective comb index and a respective CS index. In some examples, the respective comb index and the respective CS index may be associated with a comb-based reference signal pattern. In some examples, at 510, the network entity 105-b may multiplex a group of frequency resources according to mapping the antenna ports.

In some examples, at 515, the network entity 105-b may rate match the group of frequency resources associated with the reference signal around one or more contiguous frequency resources. In other examples, at 520, the network entity 105-b may align one or more frequency resources associated with a second downlink signal (e.g., having higher priority than the reference signal) to a granularity associated with the group of frequency resources.

At 525, the UE 115-b may receive a control message indicating a configuration for a reference signal for the UE 115-b. The configuration may indicate the comb-based reference signal pattern across the group of frequency resources associated with the reference signal and the configuration may indicate the quantity of antenna ports associated with the reference signal. In some examples, the control message may include a quantity of antenna ports (e.g., NrofPorts) , a frequency band associated with the group of frequency resources (e.g., freqBand) , an initial OFDM symbol in a time domain (e.g., firstOFDMSymbolinTimeDomain) , an indication of a comb offset associated with the comb-based reference signal pattern (e.g., CombOffset) , an indication of an initial CS index associated with the comb-based reference signal pattern (e.g., InitialCSindex) , or any combination thereof. In such examples, the network entity 105-b may transmit the control message via RRC signaling. In some examples, the initial CS index may enable use of a zero power (ZP) CSI-RS for measuring neighbor cells channel and beam. For example, ZP and non-ZP CSI-RS may be interlaced in CS domain to enable the UE 115-b to measure a serving cell and neighboring cell’s channel.

At 530, the UE 115-b may receive an indication of a frequency gap that is within the group of frequency resources based on a downlink signal multiplexed with the reference signal. The frequency gap may correspond to one or more contiguous frequency resources of the group of frequency resources, where the one or more contiguous frequency resources are allocated for the downlink signal. Additionally, or alternatively, the frequency gap may correspond to a quantity of RBs associated with one or more SSBs, one or more CORESETs, or both.

In some examples, at 535, the UE 115-b may receive a bit field indicating to apply or reset an OCC across one or more non-contiguous frequency resources of the group of frequency resources. The OCC may be associated with a DFT code in a frequency domain, a CS in a time domain, or a phase ramp in the frequency domain. Additionally, or alternatively, at 540, the UE 115-b may receive an indication of a frequency gap threshold associated with a quantity of resources (e.g., in a quantity of RBs) .

At 545, the network entity 105-b may output the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both. In some cases, the network entity 105-b may output the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both in accordance with aligning the one or more frequency resources and the granularity. The UE 115-b may monitor the group of frequency resources for the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both in accordance with the configuration for the reference signal. In some examples, the UE 115-b may monitor the group of frequency resources based on the indication of the frequency gap, the bit field, or both. In some examples, the reference signal may include a CSI-RS.

At 550, the UE 115-b may receive the reference signal in accordance with an OCC across non-contiguous frequency resources based on the frequency gap being less than the frequency gap threshold. For example, at 555, the UE 115-b may determine whether to continue or reset the OCC across one or more non-contiguous frequency resources of the group of frequency resources based on the frequency gap threshold. In some examples, monitoring for the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, is based on determining whether to continue or reset. Additionally, or alternatively, the UE 115-b may receive a first portion of the reference signal based on the OCC and a second portion based on the OCC based on a third portion of the reference signal including one or more non-contiguous frequency resources and the frequency gap exceeding the frequency gap threshold.

At 560, the UE 115-b may drop one or more frequency resources associated with the reference signal based on the one or more frequency resources being punctured by the second downlink signal. In some examples, the second downlink signal is associated with a second UE 115 and has a higher downlink transmission priority than the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both.

At 565, the UE 115-b may estimate a first channel associated with the network entity 105-b and at least a second channel associated with a second network entity based on the initial CS index. In some examples, the UE 115-b may monitor for the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, based on estimating the first channel and at least the second channel.

FIG. 6 shows a block diagram 600 of a device 605 that supports channel state reference signal design for wireless communications in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The device 605 may be an example of aspects of a UE 115 as described herein. The device 605 may include a receiver 610, a transmitter 615, and a communications manager 620. The device 605, or one or more components of the device 605 (e.g., the receiver 610, the transmitter 615, the communications manager 620) , may include at least one processor, which may be coupled with at least one memory, to, individually or collectively, support or enable the described techniques. Each of these components may be in communication with one another (e.g., via one or more buses) .

The receiver 610 may provide a means for receiving information such as packets, user data, control information, or any combination thereof associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels related to channel state reference signal design for wireless communications) . Information may be passed on to other components of the device 605. The receiver 610 may utilize a single antenna or a set of multiple antennas.

The transmitter 615 may provide a means for transmitting signals generated by other components of the device 605. For example, the transmitter 615 may transmit information such as packets, user data, control information, or any combination thereof associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels related to channel state reference signal design for wireless communications) . In some examples, the transmitter 615 may be co-located with a receiver 610 in a transceiver module. The transmitter 615 may utilize a single antenna or a set of multiple antennas.

The communications manager 620, the receiver 610, the transmitter 615, or various combinations or components thereof may be examples of means for performing various aspects of channel state reference signal design for wireless communications as described herein. For example, the communications manager 620, the receiver 610, the transmitter 615, or various combinations or components thereof may be capable of performing one or more of the functions described herein.

In some examples, the communications manager 620, the receiver 610, the transmitter 615, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in hardware (e.g., in communications management circuitry) . The hardware may include at least one of a processor, a digital signal processor (DSP) , a central processing unit (CPU) , an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) , a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a microcontroller, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof configured as or otherwise supporting, individually or collectively, a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure. In some examples, at least one processor and at least one memory coupled with the at least one processor may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described herein (e.g., by one or more processors, individually or collectively, executing instructions stored in the at least one memory) .

Additionally, or alternatively, the communications manager 620, the receiver 610, the transmitter 615, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in code (e.g., as communications management software or firmware) executed by at least one processor (e.g., referred to as a processor-executable code) . If implemented in code executed by at least one processor, the functions of the communications manager 620, the receiver 610, the transmitter 615, or various combinations or components thereof may be performed by a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, an ASIC, an FPGA, a microcontroller, or any combination of these or other programmable logic devices (e.g., configured as or otherwise supporting, individually or collectively, a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure) .

In some examples, the communications manager 620 may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, obtaining, monitoring, outputting, transmitting) using or otherwise in cooperation with the receiver 610, the transmitter 615, or both. For example, the communications manager 620 may receive information from the receiver 610, send information to the transmitter 615, or be integrated in combination with the receiver 610, the transmitter 615, or both to obtain information, output information, or perform various other operations as described herein.

The communications manager 620 may support wireless communications in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. For example, the communications manager 620 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving a control message indicating a configuration for a reference signal for the UE, the configuration indicating a comb-based reference signal pattern across a set of multiple frequency resources associated with the reference signal and indicating a quantity of antenna ports associated with the reference signal. The communications manager 620 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving an indication of a frequency gap that is within the set of multiple frequency resources based on a downlink signal multiplexed with the reference signal, the frequency gap corresponding to one or more contiguous frequency resources of the set of multiple frequency resources, where the one or more contiguous frequency resources are allocated for the downlink signal. The communications manager 620 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for monitoring the set of multiple frequency resources for the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both in accordance with the configuration for the reference signal and based on the indication of the frequency gap.

By including or configuring the communications manager 620 in accordance with examples as described herein, the device 605 (e.g., at least one processor controlling or otherwise coupled with the receiver 610, the transmitter 615, the communications manager 620, or a combination thereof) may support techniques for reduced processing, reduced power consumption, and more efficient utilization of communication resources, among other examples.

FIG. 7 shows a block diagram 700 of a device 705 that supports channel state reference signal design for wireless communications in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The device 705 may be an example of aspects of a device 605 or a UE 115 as described herein. The device 705 may include a receiver 710, a transmitter 715, and a communications manager 720. The device 705, or one or more components of the device 705 (e.g., the receiver 710, the transmitter 715, the communications manager 720) , may include at least one processor, which may be coupled with at least one memory, to support the described techniques. Each of these components may be in communication with one another (e.g., via one or more buses) .

The receiver 710 may provide a means for receiving information such as packets, user data, control information, or any combination thereof associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels related to channel state reference signal design for wireless communications) . Information may be passed on to other components of the device 705. The receiver 710 may utilize a single antenna or a set of multiple antennas.

The transmitter 715 may provide a means for transmitting signals generated by other components of the device 705. For example, the transmitter 715 may transmit information such as packets, user data, control information, or any combination thereof associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels related to channel state reference signal design for wireless communications) . In some examples, the transmitter 715 may be co-located with a receiver 710 in a transceiver module. The transmitter 715 may utilize a single antenna or a set of multiple antennas.

The device 705, or various components thereof, may be an example of means for performing various aspects of channel state reference signal design for wireless communications as described herein. For example, the communications manager 720 may include a control message component 725, a frequency gap component 730, a signal monitoring component 735, or any combination thereof. The communications manager 720 may be an example of aspects of a communications manager 620 as described herein. In some examples, the communications manager 720, or various components thereof, may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, obtaining, monitoring, outputting, transmitting) using or otherwise in cooperation with the receiver 710, the transmitter 715, or both. For example, the communications manager 720 may receive information from the receiver 710, send information to the transmitter 715, or be integrated in combination with the receiver 710, the transmitter 715, or both to obtain information, output information, or perform various other operations as described herein.

The communications manager 720 may support wireless communications in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The control message component 725 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving a control message indicating a configuration for a reference signal for the UE, the configuration indicating a comb-based reference signal pattern across a set of multiple frequency resources associated with the reference signal and indicating a quantity of antenna ports associated with the reference signal. The frequency gap component 730 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving an indication of a frequency gap that is within the set of multiple frequency resources based on a downlink signal multiplexed with the reference signal, the frequency gap corresponding to one or more contiguous frequency resources of the set of multiple frequency resources, where the one or more contiguous frequency resources are allocated for the downlink signal. The signal monitoring component 735 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for monitoring the set of multiple frequency resources for the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both in accordance with the configuration for the reference signal and based on the indication of the frequency gap.

FIG. 8 shows a block diagram 800 of a communications manager 820 that supports channel state reference signal design for wireless communications in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The communications manager 820 may be an example of aspects of a communications manager 620, a communications manager 720, or both, as described herein. The communications manager 820, or various components thereof, may be an example of means for performing various aspects of channel state reference signal design for wireless communications as described herein. For example, the communications manager 820 may include a control message component 825, a frequency gap component 830, a signal monitoring component 835, a bit field indication component 840, a frequency gap threshold component 845, an orthogonal cover code component 850, a first reference signal portion component 855, a second reference signal portion component 860, a frequency resource dropping component 865, a channel estimation component 870, or any combination thereof. Each of these components, or components or subcomponents thereof (e.g., one or more processors, one or more memories) , may communicate, directly or indirectly, with one another (e.g., via one or more buses) .

The communications manager 820 may support wireless communications in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The control message component 825 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving a control message indicating a configuration for a reference signal for the UE, the configuration indicating a comb-based reference signal pattern across a set of multiple frequency resources associated with the reference signal and indicating a quantity of antenna ports associated with the reference signal. The frequency gap component 830 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving an indication of a frequency gap that is within the set of multiple frequency resources based on a downlink signal multiplexed with the reference signal, the frequency gap corresponding to one or more contiguous frequency resources of the set of multiple frequency resources, where the one or more contiguous frequency resources are allocated for the downlink signal. The signal monitoring component 835 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for monitoring the set of multiple frequency resources for the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both in accordance with the configuration for the reference signal and based on the indication of the frequency gap.

In some examples, to support receiving the indication of the frequency gap, the bit field indication component 840 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving a bit field indicating to apply or reset an orthogonal cover code across one or more non-contiguous frequency resources of the set of multiple frequency resources, where monitoring for the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, is based on the bit field. In some examples, the orthogonal cover code is associated with a discrete Fourier transform code in a frequency domain, a cyclic shift in a time domain, or a phase ramp in the frequency domain.

In some examples, to support receiving the indication of the frequency gap, the frequency gap threshold component 845 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving an indication of a frequency gap threshold associated with a quantity of resources. In some examples, to support receiving the indication of the frequency gap, the orthogonal cover code component 850 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for determining, based on the frequency gap threshold, whether to continue or reset an orthogonal cover code across one or more non-contiguous frequency resources of the set of multiple frequency resources, where monitoring for the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, is based on the determining.

In some examples, to support monitoring for the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, the signal monitoring component 835 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving the reference signal in accordance with an orthogonal cover code across non-contiguous frequency resources based on the frequency gap being less than a frequency gap threshold.

In some examples, the first reference signal portion component 855 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving a first portion of the reference signal based on an orthogonal cover code. In some examples, the second reference signal portion component 860 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving a second portion of the reference signal based on the orthogonal cover code, a third portion of the reference signal including one or more non-contiguous frequency resources, and the frequency gap exceeding a frequency gap threshold.

In some examples, the frequency resource dropping component 865 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for dropping one or more frequency resources associated with the reference signal based on the one or more frequency resources being punctured by a second downlink signal. In some examples, the second downlink signal is associated with a second UE and has a higher downlink transmission priority than the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both.

In some examples, the control message includes the quantity of antenna ports, a frequency band associated with the set of multiple frequency resources, an initial orthogonal frequency domain modulated symbol in a time domain, an indication of a comb offset associated with the comb-based reference signal pattern, an indication of an initial cyclic shift index associated with the comb-based reference signal pattern, or any combination thereof.

In some examples, the channel estimation component 870 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for estimating a first channel associated with a first network entity and at least a second channel associated with a second network entity based on the initial cyclic shift index, where monitoring for the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, is based on estimating the first channel and at least the second channel. In some examples, the frequency gap corresponds to a quantity of resource blocks associated with one or more synchronization signal blocks, one or more control resource sets, or both.

In some examples, the set of multiple frequency resources are multiplexed according to the comb-based reference signal pattern. In some examples, a respective quantity of frequency resources of the set of multiple frequency resources correspond to a respective antenna port of the quantity of antenna ports. In some examples, the reference signal includes a channel state information reference signal.

FIG. 9 shows a diagram of a system 900 including a device 905 that supports channel state reference signal design for wireless communications in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The device 905 may be an example of or include components of a device 605, a device 705, or a UE 115 as described herein. The device 905 may communicate (e.g., wirelessly) with one or more other devices (e.g., network entities 105, UEs 115, or a combination thereof) . The device 905 may include components for bi-directional voice and data communications including components for transmitting and receiving communications, such as a communications manager 920, an input/output (I/O) controller, such as an I/O controller 910, a transceiver 915, one or more antennas 925, at least one memory 930, code 935, and at least one processor 940. These components may be in electronic communication or otherwise coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more buses (e.g., a bus 945) .

The I/O controller 910 may manage input and output signals for the device 905. The I/O controller 910 may also manage peripherals not integrated into the device 905. In some cases, the I/O controller 910 may represent a physical connection or port to an external peripheral. In some cases, the I/O controller 910 may utilize an operating system such as or another known operating system. Additionally, or alternatively, the I/O controller 910 may represent or interact with a modem, a keyboard, a mouse, a touchscreen, or a similar device. In some cases, the I/O controller 910 may be implemented as part of one or more processors, such as the at least one processor 940. In some cases, a user may interact with the device 905 via the I/O controller 910 or via hardware components controlled by the I/O controller 910.

In some cases, the device 905 may include a single antenna. However, in some other cases, the device 905 may have more than one antenna, which may be capable of concurrently transmitting or receiving multiple wireless transmissions. The transceiver 915 may communicate bi-directionally via the one or more antennas 925 using wired or wireless links as described herein. For example, the transceiver 915 may represent a wireless transceiver and may communicate bi-directionally with another wireless transceiver. The transceiver 915 may also include a modem to modulate the packets, to provide the modulated packets to one or more antennas 925 for transmission, and to demodulate packets received from the one or more antennas 925. The transceiver 915, or the transceiver 915 and one or more antennas 925, may be an example of a transmitter 615, a transmitter 715, a receiver 610, a receiver 710, or any combination thereof or component thereof, as described herein.

The at least one memory 930 may include random access memory (RAM) and read-only memory (ROM) . The at least one memory 930 may store computer-readable, computer-executable, or processor-executable code, such as the code 935. The code 935 may include instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor 940, cause the device 905 to perform various functions described herein. The code 935 may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as system memory or another type of memory. In some cases, the code 935 may not be directly executable by the at least one processor 940 but may cause a computer (e.g., when compiled and executed) to perform functions described herein. In some cases, the at least one memory 930 may include, among other things, a basic I/O system (BIOS) which may control basic hardware or software operation such as the interaction with peripheral components or devices.

The at least one processor 940 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices (e.g., one or more general-purpose processors, one or more DSPs, one or more CPUs, one or more graphics processing units (GPUs) , one or more neural processing units (NPUs) (also referred to as neural network processors or deep learning processors (DLPs) ) , one or more microcontrollers, one or more ASICs, one or more FPGAs, one or more programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic, one or more discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof) . In some cases, the at least one processor 940 may be configured to operate a memory array using a memory controller. In some other cases, a memory controller may be integrated into the at least one processor 940. The at least one processor 940 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., the at least one memory 930) to cause the device 905 to perform various functions (e.g., functions or tasks supporting channel state reference signal design for wireless communications) . For example, the device 905 or a component of the device 905 may include at least one processor 940 and at least one memory 930 coupled with or to the at least one processor 940, the at least one processor 940 and the at least one memory 930 configured to perform various functions described herein.

In some examples, the at least one processor 940 may include multiple processors and the at least one memory 930 may include multiple memories. One or more of the multiple processors may be coupled with one or more of the multiple memories, which may, individually or collectively, be configured to perform various functions described herein. In some examples, the at least one processor 940 may be a component of a processing system, which may refer to a system (such as a series) of machines, circuitry (including, for example, one or both of processor circuitry (which may include the at least one processor 940) and memory circuitry (which may include the at least one memory 930) ) , or components, that receives or obtains inputs and processes the inputs to produce, generate, or obtain a set of outputs. The processing system may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described herein. For example, the at least one processor 940 or a processing system including the at least one processor 940 may be configured to, configurable to, or operable to cause the device 905 to perform one or more of the functions described herein. Further, as described herein, being “configured to, ” being “configurable to, ” and being “operable to” may be used interchangeably and may be associated with a capability, when executing code 935 (e.g., processor-executable code) stored in the at least one memory 930 or otherwise, to perform one or more of the functions described herein.

The communications manager 920 may support wireless communications in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. For example, the communications manager 920 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving a control message indicating a configuration for a reference signal for the UE, the configuration indicating a comb-based reference signal pattern across a set of multiple frequency resources associated with the reference signal and indicating a quantity of antenna ports associated with the reference signal. The communications manager 920 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving an indication of a frequency gap that is within the set of multiple frequency resources based on a downlink signal multiplexed with the reference signal, the frequency gap corresponding to one or more contiguous frequency resources of the set of multiple frequency resources, where the one or more contiguous frequency resources are allocated for the downlink signal. The communications manager 920 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for monitoring the set of multiple frequency resources for the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both in accordance with the configuration for the reference signal and based on the indication of the frequency gap.

By including or configuring the communications manager 920 in accordance with examples as described herein, the device 905 may support techniques for improved communication reliability, more efficient utilization of communication resources, and improved coordination between devices, among other examples.

In some examples, the communications manager 920 may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, monitoring, transmitting) using or otherwise in cooperation with the transceiver 915, the one or more antennas 925, or any combination thereof. Although the communications manager 920 is illustrated as a separate component, in some examples, one or more functions described with reference to the communications manager 920 may be supported by or performed by the at least one processor 940, the at least one memory 930, the code 935, or any combination thereof. For example, the code 935 may include instructions executable by the at least one processor 940 to cause the device 905 to perform various aspects of channel state reference signal design for wireless communications as described herein, or the at least one processor 940 and the at least one memory 930 may be otherwise configured to, individually or collectively, perform or support such operations.

FIG. 10 shows a block diagram 1000 of a device 1005 that supports channel state reference signal design for wireless communications in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The device 1005 may be an example of aspects of a network entity 105 as described herein. The device 1005 may include a receiver 1010, a transmitter 1015, and a communications manager 1020. The device 1005, or one or more components of the device 1005 (e.g., the receiver 1010, the transmitter 1015, the communications manager 1020) , may include at least one processor, which may be coupled with at least one memory, to, individually or collectively, support or enable the described techniques. Each of these components may be in communication with one another (e.g., via one or more buses) .

The receiver 1010 may provide a means for obtaining (e.g., receiving, determining, identifying) information such as user data, control information, or any combination thereof (e.g., I/Q samples, symbols, packets, protocol data units, service data units) associated with various channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels, channels associated with a protocol stack) . Information may be passed on to other components of the device 1005. In some examples, the receiver 1010 may support obtaining information by receiving signals via one or more antennas. Additionally, or alternatively, the receiver 1010 may support obtaining information by receiving signals via one or more wired (e.g., electrical, fiber optic) interfaces, wireless interfaces, or any combination thereof.

The transmitter 1015 may provide a means for outputting (e.g., transmitting, providing, conveying, sending) information generated by other components of the device 1005. For example, the transmitter 1015 may output information such as user data, control information, or any combination thereof (e.g., I/Q samples, symbols, packets, protocol data units, service data units) associated with various channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels, channels associated with a protocol stack) . In some examples, the transmitter 1015 may support outputting information by transmitting signals via one or more antennas. Additionally, or alternatively, the transmitter 1015 may support outputting information by transmitting signals via one or more wired (e.g., electrical, fiber optic) interfaces, wireless interfaces, or any combination thereof. In some examples, the transmitter 1015 and the receiver 1010 may be co-located in a transceiver, which may include or be coupled with a modem.

The communications manager 1020, the receiver 1010, the transmitter 1015, or various combinations or components thereof may be examples of means for performing various aspects of channel state reference signal design for wireless communications as described herein. For example, the communications manager 1020, the receiver 1010, the transmitter 1015, or various combinations or components thereof may be capable of performing one or more of the functions described herein.

In some examples, the communications manager 1020, the receiver 1010, the transmitter 1015, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in hardware (e.g., in communications management circuitry) . The hardware may include at least one of a processor, a DSP, a CPU, an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmable logic device, a microcontroller, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof configured as or otherwise supporting, individually or collectively, a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure. In some examples, at least one processor and at least one memory coupled with the at least one processor may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described herein (e.g., by one or more processors, individually or collectively, executing instructions stored in the at least one memory) .

Additionally, or alternatively, the communications manager 1020, the receiver 1010, the transmitter 1015, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in code (e.g., as communications management software or firmware) executed by at least one processor (e.g., referred to as a processor-executable code) . If implemented in code executed by at least one processor, the functions of the communications manager 1020, the receiver 1010, the transmitter 1015, or various combinations or components thereof may be performed by a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, an ASIC, an FPGA, a microcontroller, or any combination of these or other programmable logic devices (e.g., configured as or otherwise supporting, individually or collectively, a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure) .

In some examples, the communications manager 1020 may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, obtaining, monitoring, outputting, transmitting) using or otherwise in cooperation with the receiver 1010, the transmitter 1015, or both. For example, the communications manager 1020 may receive information from the receiver 1010, send information to the transmitter 1015, or be integrated in combination with the receiver 1010, the transmitter 1015, or both to obtain information, output information, or perform various other operations as described herein.

The communications manager 1020 may support wireless communications in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. For example, the communications manager 1020 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for outputting a control message indicating a configuration for a reference signal for a UE, the configuration indicating a comb-based reference signal pattern across a set of multiple frequency resources associated with the reference signal and indicating a quantity of antenna ports associated with the reference signal. The communications manager 1020 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for outputting an indication of a frequency gap that is within the set of multiple frequency resources based on a downlink signal multiplexed with the reference signal, the frequency gap corresponding to one or more contiguous frequency resources of the set of multiple frequency resources, where the one or more contiguous frequency resources are allocated for the downlink signal. The communications manager 1020 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for outputting, via the set of multiple frequency resources, the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both in accordance with the configuration for the reference signal and based on the indication of the frequency gap.

By including or configuring the communications manager 1020 in accordance with examples as described herein, the device 1005 (e.g., at least one processor controlling or otherwise coupled with the receiver 1010, the transmitter 1015, the communications manager 1020, or a combination thereof) may support techniques for reduced processing, reduced power consumption, and more efficient utilization of communication resources, among other examples.

FIG. 11 shows a block diagram 1100 of a device 1105 that supports channel state reference signal design for wireless communications in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The device 1105 may be an example of aspects of a device 1005 or a network entity 105 as described herein. The device 1105 may include a receiver 1110, a transmitter 1115, and a communications manager 1120. The device 1105, or one or more components of the device 1105 (e.g., the receiver 1110, the transmitter 1115, the communications manager 1120) , may include at least one processor, which may be coupled with at least one memory, to support the described techniques. Each of these components may be in communication with one another (e.g., via one or more buses) .

The receiver 1110 may provide a means for obtaining (e.g., receiving, determining, identifying) information such as user data, control information, or any combination thereof (e.g., I/Q samples, symbols, packets, protocol data units, service data units) associated with various channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels, channels associated with a protocol stack) . Information may be passed on to other components of the device 1105. In some examples, the receiver 1110 may support obtaining information by receiving signals via one or more antennas. Additionally, or alternatively, the receiver 1110 may support obtaining information by receiving signals via one or more wired (e.g., electrical, fiber optic) interfaces, wireless interfaces, or any combination thereof.

The transmitter 1115 may provide a means for outputting (e.g., transmitting, providing, conveying, sending) information generated by other components of the device 1105. For example, the transmitter 1115 may output information such as user data, control information, or any combination thereof (e.g., I/Q samples, symbols, packets, protocol data units, service data units) associated with various channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels, channels associated with a protocol stack) . In some examples, the transmitter 1115 may support outputting information by transmitting signals via one or more antennas. Additionally, or alternatively, the transmitter 1115 may support outputting information by transmitting signals via one or more wired (e.g., electrical, fiber optic) interfaces, wireless interfaces, or any combination thereof. In some examples, the transmitter 1115 and the receiver 1110 may be co-located in a transceiver, which may include or be coupled with a modem.

The device 1105, or various components thereof, may be an example of means for performing various aspects of channel state reference signal design for wireless communications as described herein. For example, the communications manager 1120 may include a control message component 1125, a frequency gap component 1130, a signal output component 1135, or any combination thereof. The communications manager 1120 may be an example of aspects of a communications manager 1020 as described herein. In some examples, the communications manager 1120, or various components thereof, may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, obtaining, monitoring, outputting, transmitting) using or otherwise in cooperation with the receiver 1110, the transmitter 1115, or both. For example, the communications manager 1120 may receive information from the receiver 1110, send information to the transmitter 1115, or be integrated in combination with the receiver 1110, the transmitter 1115, or both to obtain information, output information, or perform various other operations as described herein.

The communications manager 1120 may support wireless communications in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The control message component 1125 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for outputting a control message indicating a configuration for a reference signal for a UE, the configuration indicating a comb-based reference signal pattern across a set of multiple frequency resources associated with the reference signal and indicating a quantity of antenna ports associated with the reference signal. The frequency gap component 1130 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for outputting an indication of a frequency gap that is within the set of multiple frequency resources based on a downlink signal multiplexed with the reference signal, the frequency gap corresponding to one or more contiguous frequency resources of the set of multiple frequency resources, where the one or more contiguous frequency resources are allocated for the downlink signal. The signal output component 1135 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for outputting, via the set of multiple frequency resources, the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both in accordance with the configuration for the reference signal and based on the indication of the frequency gap.

FIG. 12 shows a block diagram 1200 of a communications manager 1220 that supports channel state reference signal design for wireless communications in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The communications manager 1220 may be an example of aspects of a communications manager 1020, a communications manager 1120, or both, as described herein. The communications manager 1220, or various components thereof, may be an example of means for performing various aspects of channel state reference signal design for wireless communications as described herein. For example, the communications manager 1220 may include a control message component 1225, a frequency gap component 1230, a signal output component 1235, a bit field indication component 1240, a frequency gap threshold component 1245, a first reference signal portion component 1250, a second reference signal portion component 1255, a rate matching component 1260, a frequency resource alignment component 1265, an antenna port mapping component 1270, a frequency resource multiplexing component 1275, or any combination thereof. Each of these components, or components or subcomponents thereof (e.g., one or more processors, one or more memories) , may communicate, directly or indirectly, with one another (e.g., via one or more buses) . The communications may include communications within a protocol layer of a protocol stack, communications associated with a logical channel of a protocol stack (e.g., between protocol layers of a protocol stack, within a device, component, or virtualized component associated with a network entity 105, between devices, components, or virtualized components associated with a network entity 105) , or any combination thereof.

The communications manager 1220 may support wireless communications in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The control message component 1225 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for outputting a control message indicating a configuration for a reference signal for a UE, the configuration indicating a comb-based reference signal pattern across a set of multiple frequency resources associated with the reference signal and indicating a quantity of antenna ports associated with the reference signal. The frequency gap component 1230 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for outputting an indication of a frequency gap that is within the set of multiple frequency resources based on a downlink signal multiplexed with the reference signal, the frequency gap corresponding to one or more contiguous frequency resources of the set of multiple frequency resources, where the one or more contiguous frequency resources are allocated for the downlink signal. The signal output component 1235 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for outputting, via the set of multiple frequency resources, the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both in accordance with the configuration for the reference signal and based on the indication of the frequency gap.

In some examples, to support outputting the indication of the frequency gap, the bit field indication component 1240 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for outputting a bit field indicating a to apply or reset an orthogonal cover code across one or more non-contiguous frequency resources of the set of multiple frequency resources, where outputting the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, is based on the bit field. In some examples, the orthogonal cover code is associated with a discrete Fourier transform code in a frequency domain, a cyclic shift in a time domain, or a phase ramp in the frequency domain.

In some examples, to support outputting the indication of the frequency gap, the frequency gap threshold component 1245 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for outputting an indication of a frequency gap threshold associated with a quantity of resources, where an orthogonal cover code across one or more non-contiguous frequency resources of the set of multiple frequency resources is based on the frequency gap threshold, and where outputting the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, is based on the orthogonal cover code.

In some examples, to support outputting the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, the signal output component 1235 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting the reference signal in accordance with an orthogonal cover code across non-contiguous frequency resources based on the frequency gap being less than a frequency gap threshold.

In some examples, the first reference signal portion component 1250 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting a first portion of the reference signal based on an orthogonal cover code. In some examples, the second reference signal portion component 1255 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting a second portion of the reference signal based on the orthogonal cover code, a third portion of the reference signal including one or more non-contiguous frequency resources, and the frequency gap exceeding a frequency gap threshold.

In some examples, to support outputting the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, the rate matching component 1260 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for rate-matching the set of multiple frequency resources associated with the reference signal around the one or more contiguous frequency resources.

In some examples, to support outputting the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, the frequency resource alignment component 1265 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for aligning one or more frequency resources associated with a second downlink signal to a granularity associated with the set of multiple frequency resources. In some examples, to support outputting the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, the signal output component 1235 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for outputting the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, in accordance with aligning the one or more frequency resources and the granularity. In some examples, the second downlink signal is associated with a second UE and has a higher downlink transmission priority than the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both.

In some examples, the antenna port mapping component 1270 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for mapping each respective antenna port of the quantity of antenna ports to a respective comb index and a respective cyclic shift index, where the respective comb index and the respective cyclic shift index are associated with the comb-based reference signal pattern. In some examples, the frequency resource multiplexing component 1275 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for multiplexing the set of multiple frequency resources according to the mapping.

In some examples, the control message includes the quantity of antenna ports, a frequency band associated with the set of multiple frequency resources, an initial orthogonal frequency domain modulated symbol in a time domain, an indication of a comb offset associated with the comb-based reference signal pattern, an indication of an initial cyclic shift index associated with the comb-based reference signal pattern, or any combination thereof. In some examples, the frequency gap corresponds to a quantity of resource blocks associated with one or more synchronization signal blocks, one or more control resource sets, or both. In some examples, the reference signal includes a channel state information reference signal.

FIG. 13 shows a diagram of a system 1300 including a device 1305 that supports channel state reference signal design for wireless communications in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The device 1305 may be an example of or include components of a device 1005, a device 1105, or a network entity 105 as described herein. The device 1305 may communicate with other network devices or network equipment such as one or more of the network entities 105, UEs 115, or any combination thereof. The communications may include communications over one or more wired interfaces, over one or more wireless interfaces, or any combination thereof. The device 1305 may include components that support outputting and obtaining communications, such as a communications manager 1320, a transceiver 1310, one or more antennas 1315, at least one memory 1325, code 1330, and at least one processor 1335. These components may be in electronic communication or otherwise coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more buses (e.g., a bus 1340) .

The transceiver 1310 may support bi-directional communications via wired links, wireless links, or both as described herein. In some examples, the transceiver 1310 may include a wired transceiver and may communicate bi-directionally with another wired transceiver. Additionally, or alternatively, in some examples, the transceiver 1310 may include a wireless transceiver and may communicate bi-directionally with another wireless transceiver. In some examples, the device 1305 may include one or more antennas 1315, which may be capable of transmitting or receiving wireless transmissions (e.g., concurrently) . The transceiver 1310 may also include a modem to modulate signals, to provide the modulated signals for transmission (e.g., by one or more antennas 1315, by a wired transmitter) , to receive modulated signals (e.g., from one or more antennas 1315, from a wired receiver) , and to demodulate signals. In some implementations, the transceiver 1310 may include one or more interfaces, such as one or more interfaces coupled with the one or more antennas 1315 that are configured to support various receiving or obtaining operations, or one or more interfaces coupled with the one or more antennas 1315 that are configured to support various transmitting or outputting operations, or a combination thereof. In some implementations, the transceiver 1310 may include or be configured for coupling with one or more processors or one or more memory components that are operable to perform or support operations based on received or obtained information or signals, or to generate information or other signals for transmission or other outputting, or any combination thereof. In some implementations, the transceiver 1310, or the transceiver 1310 and the one or more antennas 1315, or the transceiver 1310 and the one or more antennas 1315 and one or more processors or one or more memory components (e.g., the at least one processor 1335, the at least one memory 1325, or both) , may be included in a chip or chip assembly that is installed in the device 1305. In some examples, the transceiver 1310 may be operable to support communications via one or more communications links (e.g., communication link (s) 125, backhaul communication link (s) 120, a midhaul communication link 162, a fronthaul communication link 168) .

The at least one memory 1325 may include RAM, ROM, or any combination thereof. The at least one memory 1325 may store computer-readable, computer-executable, or processor-executable code, such as the code 1330. The code 1330 may include instructions that, when executed by one or more of the at least one processor 1335, cause the device 1305 to perform various functions described herein. The code 1330 may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as system memory or another type of memory. In some cases, the code 1330 may not be directly executable by a processor of the at least one processor 1335 but may cause a computer (e.g., when compiled and executed) to perform functions described herein. In some cases, the at least one memory 1325 may include, among other things, a BIOS which may control basic hardware or software operation such as the interaction with peripheral components or devices. In some examples, the at least one processor 1335 may include multiple processors and the at least one memory 1325 may include multiple memories. One or more of the multiple processors may be coupled with one or more of the multiple memories which may, individually or collectively, be configured to perform various functions herein (for example, as part of a processing system) .

The at least one processor 1335 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices (e.g., one or more general-purpose processors, one or more DSPs, one or more CPUs, one or more graphics processing units (GPUs) , one or more neural processing units (NPUs) (also referred to as neural network processors or deep learning processors (DLPs) ) , one or more microcontrollers, one or more ASICs, one or more FPGAs, one or more programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic, one or more discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof) . In some cases, the at least one processor 1335 may be configured to operate a memory array using a memory controller. In some other cases, a memory controller may be integrated into one or more of the at least one processor 1335. The at least one processor 1335 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., one or more of the at least one memory 1325) to cause the device 1305 to perform various functions (e.g., functions or tasks supporting channel state reference signal design for wireless communications) . For example, the device 1305 or a component of the device 1305 may include at least one processor 1335 and at least one memory 1325 coupled with one or more of the at least one processor 1335, the at least one processor 1335 and the at least one memory 1325 configured to perform various functions described herein. The at least one processor 1335 may be an example of a cloud-computing platform (e.g., one or more physical nodes and supporting software such as operating systems, virtual machines, or container instances) that may host the functions (e.g., by executing code 1330) to perform the functions of the device 1305. The at least one processor 1335 may be any one or more suitable processors capable of executing scripts or instructions of one or more software programs stored in the device 1305 (such as within one or more of the at least one memory 1325) .

In some examples, the at least one processor 1335 may include multiple processors and the at least one memory 1325 may include multiple memories. One or more of the multiple processors may be coupled with one or more of the multiple memories, which may, individually or collectively, be configured to perform various functions herein. In some examples, the at least one processor 1335 may be a component of a processing system, which may refer to a system (such as a series) of machines, circuitry (including, for example, one or both of processor circuitry (which may include the at least one processor 1335) and memory circuitry (which may include the at least one memory 1325) ) , or components, that receives or obtains inputs and processes the inputs to produce, generate, or obtain a set of outputs. The processing system may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described herein. For example, the at least one processor 1335 or a processing system including the at least one processor 1335 may be configured to, configurable to, or operable to cause the device 1305 to perform one or more of the functions described herein. Further, as described herein, being “configured to, ” being “configurable to, ” and being “operable to”may be used interchangeably and may be associated with a capability, when executing code stored in the at least one memory 1325 or otherwise, to perform one or more of the functions described herein.

In some examples, a bus 1340 may support communications of (e.g., within) a protocol layer of a protocol stack. In some examples, a bus 1340 may support communications associated with a logical channel of a protocol stack (e.g., between protocol layers of a protocol stack) , which may include communications performed within a component of the device 1305, or between different components of the device 1305 that may be co-located or located in different locations (e.g., where the device 1305 may refer to a system in which one or more of the communications manager 1320, the transceiver 1310, the at least one memory 1325, the code 1330, and the at least one processor 1335 may be located in one of the different components or divided between different components) .

In some examples, the communications manager 1320 may manage aspects of communications with a core network 130 (e.g., via one or more wired or wireless backhaul links) . For example, the communications manager 1320 may manage the transfer of data communications for client devices, such as one or more UEs 115. In some examples, the communications manager 1320 may manage communications with one or more other network entities 105, and may include a controller or scheduler for controlling communications with UEs 115 (e.g., in cooperation with the one or more other network devices) . In some examples, the communications manager 1320 may support an X2 interface within an LTE/LTE-A wireless communications network technology to provide communication between network entities 105.

The communications manager 1320 may support wireless communications in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. For example, the communications manager 1320 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for outputting a control message indicating a configuration for a reference signal for a UE, the configuration indicating a comb-based reference signal pattern across a set of multiple frequency resources associated with the reference signal and indicating a quantity of antenna ports associated with the reference signal. The communications manager 1320 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for outputting an indication of a frequency gap that is within the set of multiple frequency resources based on a downlink signal multiplexed with the reference signal, the frequency gap corresponding to one or more contiguous frequency resources of the set of multiple frequency resources, where the one or more contiguous frequency resources are allocated for the downlink signal. The communications manager 1320 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for outputting, via the set of multiple frequency resources, the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both in accordance with the configuration for the reference signal and based on the indication of the frequency gap.

By including or configuring the communications manager 1320 in accordance with examples as described herein, the device 1305 may support techniques for improved communication reliability, more efficient utilization of communication resources, and improved coordination between devices, among other examples.

In some examples, the communications manager 1320 may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, obtaining, monitoring, outputting, transmitting) using or otherwise in cooperation with the transceiver 1310, the one or more antennas 1315 (e.g., where applicable) , or any combination thereof. Although the communications manager 1320 is illustrated as a separate component, in some examples, one or more functions described with reference to the communications manager 1320 may be supported by or performed by the transceiver 1310, one or more of the at least one processor 1335, one or more of the at least one memory 1325, the code 1330, or any combination thereof (for example, by a processing system including at least a portion of the at least one processor 1335, the at least one memory 1325, the code 1330, or any combination thereof) . For example, the code 1330 may include instructions executable by one or more of the at least one processor 1335 to cause the device 1305 to perform various aspects of channel state reference signal design for wireless communications as described herein, or the at least one processor 1335 and the at least one memory 1325 may be otherwise configured to, individually or collectively, perform or support such operations.

FIG. 14 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1400 that supports channel state reference signal design for wireless communications in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 1400 may be implemented by a UE or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1400 may be performed by a UE 115 as described with reference to FIGs. 1 through 9. In some examples, a UE may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the UE to perform the described functions. Additionally, or alternatively, the UE may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware.

At 1405, the method may include receiving a control message indicating a configuration for a reference signal for the UE, the configuration indicating a comb-based reference signal pattern across a set of multiple frequency resources associated with the reference signal and indicating a quantity of antenna ports associated with the reference signal. The operations of 1405 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1405 may be performed by a control message component 825 as described with reference to FIG. 8.

At 1410, the method may include receiving an indication of a frequency gap that is within the set of multiple frequency resources based on a downlink signal multiplexed with the reference signal, the frequency gap corresponding to one or more contiguous frequency resources of the set of multiple frequency resources, where the one or more contiguous frequency resources are allocated for the downlink signal. The operations of 1410 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1410 may be performed by a frequency gap component 830 as described with reference to FIG. 8.

At 1415, the method may include monitoring the set of multiple frequency resources for the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both in accordance with the configuration for the reference signal and based on the indication of the frequency gap. The operations of 1415 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1415 may be performed by a signal monitoring component 835 as described with reference to FIG. 8.

FIG. 15 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1500 that supports channel state reference signal design for wireless communications in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 1500 may be implemented by a UE or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1500 may be performed by a UE 115 as described with reference to FIGs. 1 through 9. In some examples, a UE may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the UE to perform the described functions. Additionally, or alternatively, the UE may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware.

At 1505, the method may include receiving a control message indicating a configuration for a reference signal for the UE, the configuration indicating a comb-based reference signal pattern across a set of multiple frequency resources associated with the reference signal and indicating a quantity of antenna ports associated with the reference signal. The operations of 1505 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1505 may be performed by a control message component 825 as described with reference to FIG. 8.

At 1510, the method may include receiving an indication of a frequency gap that is within the set of multiple frequency resources based on a downlink signal multiplexed with the reference signal, the frequency gap corresponding to one or more contiguous frequency resources of the set of multiple frequency resources, where the one or more contiguous frequency resources are allocated for the downlink signal. The operations of 1510 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1510 may be performed by a frequency gap component 830 as described with reference to FIG. 8.

At 1515, the method may include monitoring the set of multiple frequency resources for the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both in accordance with the configuration for the reference signal and based on the indication of the frequency gap. The operations of 1515 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1515 may be performed by a signal monitoring component 835 as described with reference to FIG. 8.

At 1520, the method may include receiving a first portion of the reference signal based on an orthogonal cover code. The operations of 1520 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1520 may be performed by a first reference signal portion component 855 as described with reference to FIG. 8.

At 1525, the method may include receiving a second portion of the reference signal based on the orthogonal cover code, a third portion of the reference signal including one or more non-contiguous frequency resources, and the frequency gap exceeding a frequency gap threshold. The operations of 1525 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1525 may be performed by a second reference signal portion component 860 as described with reference to FIG. 8.

FIG. 16 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1600 that supports channel state reference signal design for wireless communications in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 1600 may be implemented by a network entity or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1600 may be performed by a network entity as described with reference to FIGs. 1 through 5 and 10 through 13. In some examples, a network entity may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the network entity to perform the described functions. Additionally, or alternatively, the network entity may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware.

At 1605, the method may include outputting a control message indicating a configuration for a reference signal for a UE, the configuration indicating a comb-based reference signal pattern across a set of multiple frequency resources associated with the reference signal and indicating a quantity of antenna ports associated with the reference signal. The operations of 1605 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1605 may be performed by a control message component 1225 as described with reference to FIG. 12.

At 1610, the method may include outputting an indication of a frequency gap that is within the set of multiple frequency resources based on a downlink signal multiplexed with the reference signal, the frequency gap corresponding to one or more contiguous frequency resources of the set of multiple frequency resources, where the one or more contiguous frequency resources are allocated for the downlink signal. The operations of 1610 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1610 may be performed by a frequency gap component 1230 as described with reference to FIG. 12.

At 1615, the method may include outputting, via the set of multiple frequency resources, the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both in accordance with the configuration for the reference signal and based on the indication of the frequency gap. The operations of 1615 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1615 may be performed by a signal output component 1235 as described with reference to FIG. 12.

The following provides an overview of aspects of the present disclosure:

Aspect 1: A method for wireless communications at a UE, comprising: receiving a control message indicating a configuration for a reference signal for the UE, the configuration indicating a comb-based reference signal pattern across a plurality of frequency resources associated with the reference signal and indicating a quantity of antenna ports associated with the reference signal; receiving an indication of a frequency gap that is within the plurality of frequency resources based at least in part on a downlink signal multiplexed with the reference signal, the frequency gap corresponding to one or more contiguous frequency resources of the plurality of frequency resources, wherein the one or more contiguous frequency resources are allocated for the downlink signal; and monitoring the plurality of frequency resources for the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both in accordance with the configuration for the reference signal and based at least in part on the indication of the frequency gap.

Aspect 2: The method of aspect 1, wherein receiving the indication of the frequency gap comprises: receiving a bit field indicating to apply or reset an OCC across one or more non-contiguous frequency resources of the plurality of frequency resources, wherein monitoring for the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, is based at least in part on the bit field.

Aspect 3: The method of aspect 2, wherein the OCC is associated with a DFT code in a frequency domain, a CS in a time domain, or a phase ramp in the frequency domain.

Aspect 4: The method of aspect 1, wherein receiving the indication of the frequency gap comprises: receiving an indication of a frequency gap threshold associated with a quantity of resources; and determining, based at least in part on the frequency gap threshold, whether to continue or reset an OCC across one or more non-contiguous frequency resources of the plurality of frequency resources, wherein monitoring for the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, is based at least in part on the determining.

Aspect 5: The method of any of aspects 1 through 4, wherein monitoring for the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, further comprises: receiving the reference signal in accordance with an OCC across non-contiguous frequency resources based at least in part on the frequency gap being less than a frequency gap threshold.

Aspect 6: The method of any of aspects 1 through 5, further comprising: receiving a first portion of the reference signal based at least in part on an OCC; and receiving a second portion of the reference signal based at least in part on the OCC, a third portion of the reference signal comprising one or more non-contiguous frequency resources, and the frequency gap exceeding a frequency gap threshold.

Aspect 7: The method of any of aspects 1 through 6, further comprising: dropping one or more frequency resources associated with the reference signal based at least in part on the one or more frequency resources being punctured by a second downlink signal.

Aspect 8: The method of aspect 7, wherein the second downlink signal is associated with a second UE and has a higher downlink transmission priority than the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both.

Aspect 9: The method of any of aspects 1 through 8, wherein the control message comprises the quantity of antenna ports, a frequency band associated with the plurality of frequency resources, an initial OFDM symbol in a time domain, an indication of a comb offset associated with the comb-based reference signal pattern, an indication of an initial CS index associated with the comb-based reference signal pattern, or any combination thereof.

Aspect 10: The method of aspect 9, further comprising: estimating a first channel associated with a first network entity and at least a second channel associated with a second network entity based at least in part on the initial CS index, wherein monitoring for the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, is based at least in part on estimating the first channel and at least the second channel.

Aspect 11: The method of any of aspects 1 through 10, wherein the frequency gap corresponds to a quantity of RBs associated with one or more SSBs, one or more CORESETs, or both.

Aspect 12: The method of any of aspects 1 through 11, wherein the plurality of frequency resources are multiplexed according to the comb-based reference signal pattern, a respective quantity of frequency resources of the plurality of frequency resources correspond to a respective antenna port of the quantity of antenna ports.

Aspect 13: The method of any of aspects 1 through 12, wherein the reference signal comprises a CSI-RS.

Aspect 14: A method for wireless communications at a network entity, comprising: outputting a control message indicating a configuration for a reference signal for a UE, the configuration indicating a comb-based reference signal pattern across a plurality of frequency resources associated with the reference signal and indicating a quantity of antenna ports associated with the reference signal; outputting an indication of a frequency gap that is within the plurality of frequency resources based at least in part on a downlink signal multiplexed with the reference signal, the frequency gap corresponding to one or more contiguous frequency resources of the plurality of frequency resources, wherein the one or more contiguous frequency resources are allocated for the downlink signal; and outputting, via the plurality of frequency resources, the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both in accordance with the configuration for the reference signal and based at least in part on the indication of the frequency gap.

Aspect 15: The method of aspect 14, wherein outputting the indication of the frequency gap comprises: outputting a bit field indicating a to apply or reset an OCC across one or more non-contiguous frequency resources of the plurality of frequency resources, wherein outputting the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, is based at least in part on the bit field.

Aspect 16: The method of aspect 15, wherein the OCC is associated with a DFT code in a frequency domain, a CS in a time domain, or a phase ramp in the frequency domain.

Aspect 17: The method of aspect 14, wherein outputting the indication of the frequency gap comprises: outputting an indication of a frequency gap threshold associated with a quantity of resources, wherein an OCC across one or more non-contiguous frequency resources of the plurality of frequency resources is based at least in part on the frequency gap threshold, and wherein outputting the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, is based at least in part on the OCC.

Aspect 18: The method of any of aspects 14 through 17, wherein outputting the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, further comprises: transmitting the reference signal in accordance with an OCC across non-contiguous frequency resources based at least in part on the frequency gap being less than a frequency gap threshold.

Aspect 19: The method of any of aspects 14 through 18, further comprising: transmitting a first portion of the reference signal based at least in part on an OCC; and transmitting a second portion of the reference signal based at least in part on the OCC, a third portion of the reference signal comprising one or more non-contiguous frequency resources, and the frequency gap exceeding a frequency gap threshold.

Aspect 20: The method of any of aspects 14 through 19, wherein outputting the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, further comprises: rate-matching the plurality of frequency resources associated with the reference signal around the one or more contiguous frequency resources.

Aspect 21: The method of any of aspects 14 through 20, wherein outputting the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, further comprises: aligning one or more frequency resources associated with a second downlink signal to a granularity associated with the plurality of frequency resources; and outputting the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, in accordance with aligning the one or more frequency resources and the granularity.

Aspect 22: The method of aspect 21, wherein the second downlink signal is associated with a second UE and has a higher downlink transmission priority than the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both.

Aspect 23: The method of any of aspects 14 through 22, further comprising: mapping each respective antenna port of the quantity of antenna ports to a respective comb index and a respective CS index, wherein the respective comb index and the respective CS index are associated with the comb-based reference signal pattern; and multiplexing the plurality of frequency resources according to the mapping.

Aspect 24: The method of any of aspects 14 through 23, wherein the control message comprises the quantity of antenna ports, a frequency band associated with the plurality of frequency resources, an initial OFDM symbol in a time domain, an indication of a comb offset associated with the comb-based reference signal pattern, an indication of an initial CS index associated with the comb-based reference signal pattern, or any combination thereof.

Aspect 25: The method of any of aspects 14 through 24, wherein the frequency gap corresponds to a quantity of RBs associated with one or more SSBs, one or more CORESETs, or both.

Aspect 26: The method of any of aspects 14 through 25, wherein the reference signal comprises a CSI-RS.

Aspect 27: A UE for wireless communications, comprising one or more memories storing processor-executable code, and one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories and individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the UE to perform a method of any of aspects 1 through 13.

Aspect 28: A UE for wireless communications, comprising at least one means for performing a method of any of aspects 1 through 13.

Aspect 29: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications, the code comprising instructions executable by one or more processors to perform a method of any of aspects 1 through 13.

Aspect 30: A network entity for wireless communications, comprising one or more memories storing processor-executable code, and one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories and individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to perform a method of any of aspects 14 through 26.

Aspect 31: A network entity for wireless communications, comprising at least one means for performing a method of any of aspects 14 through 26.

Aspect 32: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications, the code comprising instructions executable by one or more processors to perform a method of any of aspects 14 through 26.

It should be noted that the methods described herein describe possible implementations. The operations and the steps may be rearranged or otherwise modified and other implementations are possible. Further, aspects from two or more of the methods may be combined.

Although aspects of an LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR system may be described for purposes of example, and LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR terminology may be used in much of the description, the techniques described herein are applicable beyond LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR networks. For example, the described techniques may be applicable to various other wireless communications systems such as Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) , Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi) , IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX) , IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM, as well as other systems and radio technologies not explicitly mentioned herein.

Information and signals described herein may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

The various illustrative blocks and components described in connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented or performed using a general-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, a CPU, a graphics processing unit (GPU) , a neural processing unit (NPU) , an FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor but, in the alternative, the processor may be any processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration) . Any functions or operations described herein as being capable of being performed by a processor may be performed by multiple processors that, individually or collectively, are capable of performing the described functions or operations.

The functions described herein may be implemented using hardware, software executed by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented using software executed by a processor, the functions may be stored as or transmitted using one or more instructions or code of a computer-readable medium. Other examples and implementations are within the scope of the disclosure and appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software, functions described herein may be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, or combinations of any of these. Features implementing functions may also be physically located at various positions, including being distributed such that portions of functions are implemented at different physical locations.

Computer-readable media includes both non-transitory computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one location to another. A non-transitory storage medium may be any available medium that may be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer. By way of example, and not limitation, non-transitory computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM) , flash memory, compact disk (CD) ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other non-transitory medium that may be used to carry or store desired program code means in the form of instructions or data structures and that may be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer or a general-purpose or special-purpose processor. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL) , or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of computer-readable medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, include CD, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD) , floppy disk, and Blu-ray disc. Disks may reproduce data magnetically, and discs may reproduce data optically using lasers. Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of computer-readable media. Any functions or operations described herein as being capable of being performed by a memory may be performed by multiple memories that, individually or collectively, are capable of performing the described functions or operations.

As used herein, including in the claims, “or” as used in a list of items (e.g., a list of items prefaced by a phrase such as “at least one of” or “one or more of” ) indicates an inclusive list such that, for example, a list of at least one of A, B, or C means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C) . Also, as used herein, the phrase “based on” shall not be construed as a reference to a closed set of conditions. For example, an example step that is described as “based on condition A” may be based on both a condition A and a condition B without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In other words, as used herein, the phrase “based on” shall be construed in the same manner as the phrase “based at least in part on. ”

As used herein, including in the claims, the article “a” before a noun is open-ended and understood to refer to “at least one” of those nouns or “one or more” of those nouns. Thus, the terms “a, ” “at least one, ” “one or more, ” and “at least one of one or more” may be interchangeable. For example, if a claim recites “a component” that performs one or more functions, each of the individual functions may be performed by a single component or by any combination of multiple components. Thus, the term “a component” having characteristics or performing functions may refer to “at least one of one or more components” having a particular characteristic or performing a particular function. Subsequent reference to a component introduced with the article “a” using the terms “the” or “said” may refer to any or all of the one or more components. For example, a component introduced with the article “a” may be understood to mean “one or more components, ” and referring to “the component” subsequently in the claims may be understood to be equivalent to referring to “at least one of the one or more components. ” Similarly, subsequent reference to a component introduced as “one or more components” using the terms “the” or “said” may refer to any or all of the one or more components. For example, referring to “the one or more components” subsequently in the claims may be understood to be equivalent to referring to “at least one of the one or more components. ”

The term “determine” or “determining” encompasses a variety of actions and, therefore, “determining” can include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (such as via looking up in a table, a database, or another data structure) , ascertaining, and the like. Also, “determining” can include receiving (e.g., receiving information) , accessing (e.g., accessing data stored in memory) , and the like. Also, “determining” can include resolving, obtaining, selecting, choosing, establishing, and other such similar actions.

In the appended figures, similar components or features may have the same reference label. Further, various components of the same type may be distinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a second label that distinguishes among the similar components. If just the first reference label is used in the specification, the description is applicable to any one of the similar components having the same first reference label irrespective of the second reference label or other subsequent reference label.

The description set forth herein, in connection with the appended drawings, describes example configurations and does not represent all the examples that may be implemented or that are within the scope of the claims. The term “example” used herein means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration” and not “preferred” or “advantageous over other examples. ” The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing an understanding of the described techniques. These techniques, however, may be practiced without these specific details. In some figures, known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of the described examples.

The description herein is provided to enable a person having ordinary skill in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosure will be apparent to a person having ordinary skill in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not limited to the examples and designs described herein but is to be accorded the broadest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

A user equipment (UE) , comprising:

one or more memories storing processor-executable code; and

one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories and individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:

receive a control message indicating a configuration for a reference signal for the UE, the configuration indicating a comb-based reference signal pattern across a plurality of frequency resources associated with the reference signal and indicating a quantity of antenna ports associated with the reference signal;

receive an indication of a frequency gap that is within the plurality of frequency resources based at least in part on a downlink signal multiplexed with the reference signal, the frequency gap corresponding to one or more contiguous frequency resources of the plurality of frequency resources, wherein the one or more contiguous frequency resources are allocated for the downlink signal; and

monitor the plurality of frequency resources for the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both in accordance with the configuration for the reference signal and based at least in part on the indication of the frequency gap.
The UE of claim 1, wherein, to receive the indication of the frequency gap, the one or more processors are individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:

receive a bit field indicating to apply or reset an orthogonal cover code across one or more non-contiguous frequency resources of the plurality of frequency resources, wherein monitoring for the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, is based at least in part on the bit field.
The UE of claim 2, wherein the orthogonal cover code is associated with a discrete Fourier transform code in a frequency domain, a cyclic shift in a time domain, or a phase ramp in the frequency domain.
The UE of claim 1, wherein, to receive the indication of the frequency gap, the one or more processors are individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:

receive an indication of a frequency gap threshold associated with a quantity of resources; and

determine, based at least in part on the frequency gap threshold, whether to continue or reset an orthogonal cover code across one or more non-contiguous frequency resources of the plurality of frequency resources, wherein monitoring for the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, is based at least in part on the determining.
The UE of claim 1, wherein, to monitor for the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:

receive the reference signal in accordance with an orthogonal cover code across non-contiguous frequency resources based at least in part on the frequency gap being less than a frequency gap threshold.
The UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:

receive a first portion of the reference signal based at least in part on an orthogonal cover code; and

receive a second portion of the reference signal based at least in part on the orthogonal cover code, a third portion of the reference signal comprising one or more non-contiguous frequency resources, and the frequency gap exceeding a frequency gap threshold.
The UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:

drop one or more frequency resources associated with the reference signal based at least in part on the one or more frequency resources being punctured by a second downlink signal.
The UE of claim 7, wherein the second downlink signal is associated with a second UE and has a higher downlink transmission priority than the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both.
The UE of claim 1, wherein the control message comprises the quantity of antenna ports, a frequency band associated with the plurality of frequency resources, an initial orthogonal frequency domain modulated symbol in a time domain, an indication of a comb offset associated with the comb-based reference signal pattern, an indication of an initial cyclic shift index associated with the comb-based reference signal pattern, or any combination thereof.
The UE of claim 9, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:

estimate a first channel associated with a first network entity and at least a second channel associated with a second network entity based at least in part on the initial cyclic shift index, wherein monitoring for the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, is based at least in part on estimating the first channel and at least the second channel.
The UE of claim 1, wherein the frequency gap corresponds to a quantity of resource blocks associated with one or more synchronization signal blocks, one or more control resource sets, or both.
The UE of claim 1, wherein the plurality of frequency resources are multiplexed according to the comb-based reference signal pattern, and wherein a respective quantity of frequency resources of the plurality of frequency resources correspond to a respective antenna port of the quantity of antenna ports.
The UE of claim 1, wherein the reference signal comprises a channel state information reference signal.
A network entity, comprising:

one or more memories storing processor-executable code; and

one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories and individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to:

output a control message indicating a configuration for a reference signal for a user equipment (UE) , the configuration indicating a comb-based reference signal pattern across a plurality of frequency resources associated with the reference signal and indicating a quantity of antenna ports associated with the reference signal;

output an indication of a frequency gap that is within the plurality of frequency resources based at least in part on a downlink signal multiplexed with the reference signal, the frequency gap corresponding to one or more contiguous frequency resources of the plurality of frequency resources, wherein the one or more contiguous frequency resources are allocated for the downlink signal; and

output, via the plurality of frequency resources, the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both in accordance with the configuration for the reference signal and based at least in part on the indication of the frequency gap.
The network entity of claim 14, wherein, to output the indication of the frequency gap, the one or more processors are individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to:

output a bit field indicating a to apply or reset an orthogonal cover code across one or more non-contiguous frequency resources of the plurality of frequency resources, wherein outputting the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, is based at least in part on the bit field.
The network entity of claim 15, wherein the orthogonal cover code is associated with a discrete Fourier transform code in a frequency domain, a cyclic shift in a time domain, or a phase ramp in the frequency domain.
The network entity of claim 14, wherein, to output the indication of the frequency gap, the one or more processors are individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to:

output an indication of a frequency gap threshold associated with a quantity of resources, wherein an orthogonal cover code across one or more non-contiguous frequency resources of the plurality of frequency resources is based at least in part on the frequency gap threshold, and wherein outputting the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, is based at least in part on the orthogonal cover code.
The network entity of claim 14, wherein, to output the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to:

transmit the reference signal in accordance with an orthogonal cover code across non-contiguous frequency resources based at least in part on the frequency gap being less than a frequency gap threshold.
The network entity of claim 14, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to:

transmit a first portion of the reference signal based at least in part on an orthogonal cover code; and

transmit a second portion of the reference signal based at least in part on the orthogonal cover code, a third portion of the reference signal comprising one or more non-contiguous frequency resources, and the frequency gap exceeding a frequency gap threshold.
The network entity of claim 14, wherein, to output the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to:

rate-match the plurality of frequency resources associated with the reference signal around the one or more contiguous frequency resources.
The network entity of claim 14, wherein, to output the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to:

align one or more frequency resources associated with a second downlink signal to a granularity associated with the plurality of frequency resources; and

output the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, in accordance with aligning the one or more frequency resources and the granularity.
The network entity of claim 21, wherein the second downlink signal is associated with a second UE and has a higher downlink transmission priority than the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both.
The network entity of claim 14, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to:

map each respective antenna port of the quantity of antenna ports to a respective comb index and a respective cyclic shift index, wherein the respective comb index and the respective cyclic shift index are associated with the comb-based reference signal pattern; and

multiplex the plurality of frequency resources according to the mapping.
The network entity of claim 14, wherein the control message comprises the quantity of antenna ports, a frequency band associated with the plurality of frequency resources, an initial orthogonal frequency domain modulated symbol in a time domain, an indication of a comb offset associated with the comb-based reference signal pattern, an indication of an initial cyclic shift index associated with the comb-based reference signal pattern, or any combination thereof.
The network entity of claim 14, wherein the frequency gap corresponds to a quantity of resource blocks associated with one or more synchronization signal blocks, one or more control resource sets, or both.
The network entity of claim 14, wherein the reference signal comprises a channel state information reference signal.
A method for wireless communications at a user equipment (UE) , comprising:

receiving a control message indicating a configuration for a reference signal for the UE, the configuration indicating a comb-based reference signal pattern across a plurality of frequency resources associated with the reference signal and indicating a quantity of antenna ports associated with the reference signal;

receiving an indication of a frequency gap that is within the plurality of frequency resources based at least in part on a downlink signal multiplexed with the reference signal, the frequency gap corresponding to one or more contiguous frequency resources of the plurality of frequency resources, wherein the one or more contiguous frequency resources are allocated for the downlink signal; and

monitoring the plurality of frequency resources for the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both in accordance with the configuration for the reference signal and based at least in part on the indication of the frequency gap.
The method of claim 27, wherein receiving the indication of the frequency gap comprises:

receiving an indication of a frequency gap threshold associated with a quantity of resources; and

determining, based at least in part on the frequency gap threshold, whether to continue or reset an orthogonal cover code across one or more non-contiguous frequency resources of the plurality of frequency resources, wherein monitoring for the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, is based at least in part on the determining.
A method for wireless communications at a network entity, comprising:

outputting a control message indicating a configuration for a reference signal for a user equipment (UE) , the configuration indicating a comb-based reference signal pattern across a plurality of frequency resources associated with the reference signal and indicating a quantity of antenna ports associated with the reference signal;

outputting an indication of a frequency gap that is within the plurality of frequency resources based at least in part on a downlink signal multiplexed with the reference signal, the frequency gap corresponding to one or more contiguous frequency resources of the plurality of frequency resources, wherein the one or more contiguous frequency resources are allocated for the downlink signal; and

outputting, via the plurality of frequency resources, the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both in accordance with the configuration for the reference signal and based at least in part on the indication of the frequency gap.
The method of claim 29, wherein outputting the indication of the frequency gap comprises:

outputting a bit field indicating a to apply or reset an orthogonal cover code across one or more non-contiguous frequency resources of the plurality of frequency resources, wherein outputting the reference signal, the downlink signal, or both, is based at least in part on the bit field.