Transmission or reception of a reference signal in a wireless communication system

• US 11,070,338 B2
• Filed: 06/15/2018
• Issued: 07/20/2021
• Est. Priority Date: 06/16/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Original Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Inventors: Ernstrom, Per, Bjorkegren, Hakan, Frenne, Mattias, Lindbom, Lars
• Primary Examiner(s): Abelson, Ronald B
• Application Number:
  US16/617,551
• Publication Number:
  US 20200136767A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,131 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2027/0026 Correction of carrier offset
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/0014 Carrier regulation of chaotic carriers H04L27/001; for multicarrier receivers H04L27/2657
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/005 of common pilots, i.e. pilots destined for multiple users or terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0053 Allocation of signaling, i.e. of overhead other than pilot signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0446 Resources in time domain, e.g. slots or frames
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0453 Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA

Abstract

A radio node (12, 14) is configured to transmit or receive reference symbols (18) of a reference signal (16) on respective radio resources, including first and second sets (S1, S2) of radio resources that differ in at least one radio resource. The reference signal (16) may be for instance a tracking reference signal (16) configured for time or frequency tracking. The first set (S1) of radio resources includes a first pair of radio resources that are separated from one another in a radio resource domain by a first separation distance (D1). The second set (S2) of radio resources includes a second pair of radio resources that are separated from one another in the radio resource domain by a second separation distance (D2). The radio resource domain may be a time domain or a frequency domain. In one or more embodiments, the second separation distance (D2) is at least twice as large as the first separation distance (D1).

Claims

1. A method performed by a wireless device configured for use in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:

receiving reference symbols of a reference signal on respective radio resources, including first and second sets of radio resources that differ in at least one radio resource, wherein the first set of radio resources includes a first pair of radio resources that are separated from one another in a radio resource domain by a first separation distance, with no reference symbol of the reference signal on any radio resource between the first pair of radio resources in the radio resource domain, and wherein the second set of radio resources includes a second pair of radio resources that are separated from one another in the radio resource domain by a second separation distance, with no reference symbol of the reference signal on any radio resource between the second pair of radio resources in the radio resource domain, wherein the second separation distance is at least twice as large as the first separation distance, wherein the first set of radio resources is a subset of the second set of radio resources; and

performing frequency estimation in two steps, wherein in a first step, a first frequency is estimated based on reference symbols of the first set of radio resources, and in a second step, a second frequency is estimated based on reference symbols of the second set of radio resources and the first frequency estimate.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the reference signal is a tracking reference signal configured for use in tracking receiver frequency offset.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein radio resources on which the reference signal is transmitted or received occur in periodically recurring bursts, wherein the first and second sets of radio resources are included in the same burst.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein transmissions are performed in the wireless communication system according to a time slot structure in which each of multiple time slots includes multiple radio resources in time, wherein a burst spans multiple consecutive time slots.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein each of the consecutive time slots spanned by any given burst includes one or more pairs of radio resources on which reference symbols of the reference signal are transmitted or received, with radio resources of each pair in the time slot separated by the same separation distance, wherein any pairs of the radio resources that have different separation distances are included in different time slots of the given burst.

9. The method of claim 3, wherein the first set occurs before the second set in the same burst.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving configuration information indicating a configuration with which the reference symbols of the reference signal are to be received on the respective radio resources.

6. A radio network node configured for use in a wireless communication system, the radio network node comprising:

radio circuitry configured to transmit to a wireless device reference symbols of a reference signal on respective radio resources, including first and second sets of radio resources that differ in at least one radio resource, wherein the first set of radio resources includes a first pair of radio resources that are separated from one another in a radio resource domain by a first separation distance, with no reference symbol of the reference signal on any radio resource between the first pair of radio resources in the radio resource domain, and wherein the second set of radio resources includes a second pair of radio resources that are separated from one another in the radio resource domain by a second separation distance, with no reference symbol of the reference signal on any radio resource between the second pair of radio resources in the radio resource domain, wherein the second separation distance is at least twice as large as the first separation distance, wherein the radio resource domain is a time domain or a frequency domain, wherein the first set of radio resources is a subset of the second set of radio resources; and

processing circuitry configured to configure the wireless device to perform frequency estimation in two steps, wherein a first frequency is to be estimated based on reference symbols of the first set of radio resources, and in a second step, a second frequency is to be estimated based on reference symbols of the second set of radio resources and the first frequency estimate.

7. The radio network node of claim 6, wherein radio resources on which the reference signal is transmitted or received occur in periodically recurring bursts, wherein the first and second sets of radio resources are included in the same burst.

8. The radio network node of claim 7, wherein transmissions are performed in the wireless communication system according to a time slot structure in which each of multiple time slots includes multiple radio resources in time, wherein a burst spans multiple consecutive time slots.

11. The radio network node of claim 7, wherein the first set occurs before the second set in the same burst.

12. The radio network node of claim 8, wherein each of the consecutive time slots spanned by any given burst includes one or more pairs of radio resources on which reference symbols of the reference signal are transmitted or received, with radio resources of each pair in the time slot separated by the same separation distance, wherein any pairs of the radio resources that have different separation distances are included in different time slots of the given burst.

13. A wireless device configured for use in a wireless communication system, the wireless device comprising:

radio circuitry configured to receive reference symbols of a reference signal on respective radio resources, including first and second sets of radio resources that differ in at least one radio resource, wherein the first set of radio resources includes a first pair of radio resources that are separated from one another in a radio resource domain by a first separation distance, with no reference symbol of the reference signal on any radio resource between the first pair of radio resources in the radio resource domain, and wherein the second set of radio resources includes a second pair of radio resources that are separated from one another in the radio resource domain by a second separation distance, with no reference symbol of the reference signal on any radio resource between the second pair of radio resources in the radio resource domain, wherein the second separation distance is at least twice as large as the first separation distance, wherein the first set of radio resources is a subset of the second set of radio resources; and

processing circuitry configured to perform frequency estimation in two steps, wherein in a first step, a first frequency is estimated based on reference symbols of the first set of radio resources, and in a second step, a second frequency is estimated based on reference symbols of the second set of radio resources and the first frequency estimate.

14. The wireless device of claim 13, wherein the reference signal is a tracking reference signal configured for use in tracking receiver frequency offset.

15. The wireless device of claim 14, wherein radio resources on which the reference signal is transmitted or received occur in periodically recurring bursts, wherein the first and second sets of radio resources are included in the same burst.

16. The wireless device of claim 15, wherein transmissions are performed in the wireless communication system according to a time slot structure in which each of multiple time slots includes multiple radio resources in time, wherein a burst spans multiple consecutive time slots.

17. The wireless device of claim 16, wherein each of the consecutive time slots spanned by any given burst includes one or more pairs of radio resources on which reference symbols of the reference signal are transmitted or received, with radio resources of each pair in the time slot separated by the same separation distance, wherein any pairs of the radio resources that have different separation distances are included in different time slots of the given burst.

18. The wireless device of claim 15, wherein the first set occurs before the second set in the same burst.

19. The wireless device of claim 13, wherein the radio circuitry is further configured to receive configuration information indicating a configuration with which the reference symbols of the reference signal are to be received on the respective radio resources.

20. A method performed by a radio network node configured for use in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:

transmitting to a wireless device reference symbols of a reference signal on respective radio resources, including first and second sets of radio resources that differ in at least one radio resource, wherein the first set of radio resources includes a first pair of radio resources that are separated from one another in a radio resource domain by a first separation distance, with no reference symbol of the reference signal on any radio resource between the first pair of radio resources in the radio resource domain, and wherein the second set of radio resources includes a second pair of radio resources that are separated from one another in the radio resource domain by a second separation distance, with no reference symbol of the reference signal on any radio resource between the second pair of radio resources in the radio resource domain, wherein the second separation distance is at least twice as large as the first separation distance, wherein the radio resource domain is a time domain or a frequency domain, wherein the first set of radio resources is a subset of the second set of radio resources; and

configuring the wireless device to perform frequency estimation in two steps, wherein a first frequency is to be estimated based on reference symbols of the first set of radio resources, and in a second step, a second frequency is to be estimated based on reference symbols of the second set of radio resources and the first frequency estimate.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein radio resources on which the reference signal is transmitted or received occur in periodically recurring bursts, wherein the first and second sets of radio resources are included in the same burst.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the first set occurs before the second set in the same burst.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein transmissions are performed in the wireless communication system according to a time slot structure in which each of multiple time slots includes multiple radio resources in time, wherein a burst spans multiple consecutive time slots.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein each of the consecutive time slots spanned by any given burst includes one or more pairs of radio resources on which reference symbols of the reference signal are transmitted or received, with radio resources of each pair in the time slot separated by the same separation distance, wherein any pairs of the radio resources that have different separation distances are included in different time slots of the given burst.