TECHNICAL FIELD

The present description generally relates to wireless communications and, in particular, methods and apparatuses for reference signal puncturing within a channel block.

BACKGROUND

The so-called 5G system, from a radio perspective started to be standardized in 3GPP and the so-called New Radio (NR) is the name for the radio interface. One of the characteristics is the frequency range going to higher frequencies than LTE, e.g., above 6 GHz, where it is known to have more challenging propagation conditions such as a higher penetration loss. To mitigate some of these effects, multi-antenna technologies such as beamforming will be massively used. Yet another NR characteristic is the use of multiple numerologies in Downlink (DL) and Uplink (UL) and sidelinks in a cell or for a wireless device (WD) and/or in different frequency bands. Yet another characteristic is the possibility to enable shorter latencies.

The NR architecture is being discussed in 3 GPP and the current concept is illustrated in FIG. 1, where eNB denotes LTE eNodeB, gNB denotes NR network node (one NR network node may correspond to one or more transmission/reception points), and the lines between the nodes illustrate the corresponding interfaces which are under discussion in 3GPP. Further, FIGS. 2A-2D illustrate deployment scenarios with NR network node which are discussed in 3GPP. For example, the deployment scenarios can be non-centralized, co- sited, centralized or shared. There may also be evolved eNB connected to NR core; in the embodiments described herein, the evolved eNB may be interchangeably called herein as eNB or gNB.

Both standalone and non-standalone NR deployments will be standardized in 3GPP.

The standalone deployments may be single or multi-carrier (e.g., NR carrier aggregation (CA) or dual connectivity with NR Primary Cell (PCell) and NR Primary Secondary Cell (PSCell)). The non- standalone deployments are currently meant to describe a deployment with Long Term Evolution (LTE) PCell and NR PSCell (there may also be one or more LTE Secondary Cells (SCells) and one or more NR SCell).

The following deployment options may be aimed at supporting the following connectivity options: For single connectivity option:

-NR connected to 5G-Core Network (Option 2 in TR 38.801 section 7.1).

For Dual Connectivity (DC) options:

-Evolved-Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA)-NR DC via Evolved Packet System (EPC) where the E-UTRA is the master (Option 3/3a/3x in TR 38.801 section 10.1.2);

-E-UTRA-NR DC via 5G-CN where the E-UTRA is the master (Option 7/7a/7x in TR 38.801 section 10.1.4);

-NR-E-UTRA DC via 5G-CN where the NR is the master (Option 4/4A in TR 38.801 section 10.1.3);

- Work on Option 4/4A will be started after the work on Option 2, 3 series and 7 series are completed;

- Dual Connectivity between E-UTRA and NR, for which the priority is where E- UTRA is the master and the second priority is where NR is the master; and

- Dual Connectivity within NR.

NR numerology

NR numerology is being discussed in 3GPP. The exact values for the numerology elements in different radio access technologies are typically driven by performance targets, e.g., performance requirements impose constraints on usable subcarrier spacing sizes, e.g., the maximum acceptable phase noise and the slow decay of the spectrum (impacting filtering complexity and guard band sizes) set the minimum subcarrier bandwidth for a given carrier frequency, and the required cyclic prefix sets the maximum subcarrier bandwidth for a given carrier frequency.

However, the numerology used so far in the existing Radio Access Technologies (RATs) is rather static and typically can be trivially derived by the WD, e.g., by one-to-one mapping to RAT, carrier frequency, service type (e.g., Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services (MBMS)), etc.

In LTE downlink which is Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM)- based, the subcarrier spacing is 15 kHz for normal Cyclic Prefix (CP) and 15 kHz and 7.5 kHz (i.e., the reduced carrier spacing) for extended CP, where the latter is allowed only for MBMS-dedicated carriers.

In NR which is to be based on OFDM, multiple numerologies will be supported for general operation. A scaling approach (based on a scaling factor 2 ^A n, n _Ξ N ₀ ) is considered for deriving subcarrier spacing candidates for NR: 3.75 kHz, 7.5 kHz, 15kHz, 30 kHz, 60 kHz, etc. FIG. 3 illustrates some examples of subcarrier spacing candidate configurations for NR. It was also agreed that multiplexing different numerologies within a same NR carrier bandwidth is supported, and Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM) and/or Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) can be considered. It was further agreed that multiple frequency/time portions using different numerologies share a synchronization signal, where the

synchronization signal refers to the signal itself and the time-frequency resource used to transmit the synchronization signal. Yet another agreement is that the numerology used can be selected independently of the frequency band although it is assumed that very low subcarrier spacing will not be used at very high carrier frequencies.

According to recent 3 GPP agreements, there may be one pre-defined numerology per frequency range for Synchronization Signal (SS) blocks comprising Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS), Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS), and Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) (e.g., 15 kHz or 30 kHz subcarrier spacing for below 6 GHz and 120 kHz and 240 kHz subcarrier spacing for 6 GHz and above), but multiple numerologies are to be supported for data and control channels. Multiple numerologies may also be needed for some reference signals such as, for example, Channel State Information-Reference Signal (CSI-RS) signals. SUMMARY

Some embodiments advantageously provide methods and apparatuses for transmitting and receiving a block of resources with signals based on different numerologies. At least the following problems may be envisioned with the existing solutions. For example, in NR, WD- specific data may be based on different numerologies. Also CSI-RS may be based on different numerologies and may even be configured for different purposes (e.g., mobility, beam management, or channel quality estimation), which may require certain patterns or density of these signals, and be WD-specific or common for multiple WDs. This may lead to a situation when a block of time-frequency resources (e.g., a Resource Block (RB)) contains data based on a first numerology and CSI-RS Resource Elements (Res) based on a second numerology. However, not all WDs may be capable of such fast switching of the

numerology. Further, if the WD would have to receive both CSI-RS and data based on different numerologies in frequency-adjacent REs, the WD would experience additional inter-carrier and inter-symbol interference which may considerably degrade data channel performance and in the worst case to a loss of the entire data block. The interference can also impact quality of estimates based on CSI which may harm system performance. It should be noted that even though the teachings in this disclosure are outlined for CSI-RS and data, they are valid for other types of channels and signals as well, with a general issue that two or more numerologies are mixed at a RE level in a block of REs and then the WD may have problems with dealing with multiple numerologies within such a block.

Certain aspects and their embodiments of the present disclosure may provide solutions to these or other problems.

Embodiments of this disclosure allow for transmitting and receiving different numerologies in a wireless communication network. For example, when different numerologies are mixed on a RE-level, e.g., there are REs comprising reference signals based on a second numerology within a block of resources comprising data or control channels based on a first numerology, the resources comprising of or overlapping with the REs of the reference signals are punctured. Puncturing herein is to be understood in a broader sense, e.g., may be puncturing or rate matching. Different puncturing approaches are considered (e.g., puncturing the whole symbol or over the whole scheduled data/control channel bandwidth; puncturing of the REs overlapping with or comprising the reference signals but not necessarily over the whole scheduled data/control channel bandwidth; puncturing of the REs including some guard band in the frequency and/or time domain). One or multiple puncturing approaches may be supported by the nodes. The puncturing may also be applied selectively.

These embodiments are applicable for DL and UL transmissions and contain embodiments for WD and network nodes.

In a first aspect, a method in a network node (e.g., base station (BS), g B, e B) is provided. Embodiments of the method according to the first aspect comprise the steps of:

• Determining a puncturing pattern for a block of resources, the block of resources comprising first resource elements for mapping a first signal based on a first numerology and second resource elements for mapping a second signal based on a second numerology.

• Mapping data to the block of resources according to the determined puncturing pattern.

• Transmitting the block of resources mapped to the data, to a wireless device.

In a second aspect, a method in a wireless device (WD) or user equipment is provided. Embodiments of the method according to the second aspect comprise the steps of:

• Receiving a block of resources, in which a first signal is mapped to first resource elements within the block of resources based on a first numerology, and in which a second signal is mapped to second resource elements within the block of resources based on a second numerology.

• Determining that some of the first resource elements are punctured.

• Processing the receipt of the block of resources in accordance with the determined punctured resource elements.

According to other aspects, a network node and a WD comprising circuitry are provided. The circuitry may include one or more processors and memory. The network node and WD are operable to perform steps according to embodiments of methods disclosed herein, according to the various aspects.

According to further aspects, computer programs, computer readable media configured to process and/or store instructions for steps according to embodiments of methods disclosed herein, according to the various aspects, are also provided.

Certain embodiments of aspects of the present disclosure may provide one or more technical advantages, including:

· Avoiding unnecessary complexity of the transmitting and receiving nodes;

Avoiding performance degradation or even loss of data and control channels, due to adjacent or close REs with signals/channels based on different numerologies. According to another aspect of the disclosure, a method in a wireless device is provided. The method includes receiving a block of resources in which a first signal is mapped to first resource elements within the block of resources based on a first numerology, and in which a second signal is mapped to second resource elements within the block of resources based on a second numerology; determining that a plurality of the first resource elements which at least partly overlap with the second resources elements are punctured; and processing the receipt of the block of resources in accordance with the determined punctured resource elements.

According to yet another aspect of the disclosure, a method in a network node is provided. The method includes determining a puncturing pattern for a block of resources, the block of resources comprising first resource elements for mapping a first signal based on a first numerology and second resource elements for mapping a second signal based on a second numerology; mapping data corresponding to the first signal and the second signal to the first resource elements and the second resource elements respectively according to the determined puncturing pattern; and transmitting the data mapped to the first resource elements and the second resource elements, to a wireless device. According to another aspect of the disclosure, a wireless device comprising processing circuitry is provided. The processing circuitry is configured to receive a block of resources in which a first signal is mapped to first resource elements within the block of resources based on a first numerology, and in which a second signal is mapped to second resource elements within the block of resources based on a second numerology; determine that the plurality of the first resource elements which at least partly overlap with the second resources elements are punctured; and process the receipt of the block of resources in accordance with the determined punctured resource elements.

According to another aspect of the disclosure, a network node comprising processing circuitry is provided. The processing circuitry is configured to: determine a puncturing pattern for a block of resources, the block of resources comprising first resource elements for mapping a first signal based on a first numerology and second resource elements for mapping a second signal based on a second numerology; map data corresponding to the first signal and the second signal to the first resource elements and the second resource elements respectively according to the determined puncturing pattern; and transmit the data mapped to the first resource elements and the second resource elements, to a wireless device.

It is to be noted that any feature of any of the embodiments disclosed herein may be applied to any other embodiment, wherever appropriate. Likewise, any advantage of any of the embodiments may apply to the other embodiments, and vice versa. Certain embodiments may have some, or none of the above advantages. Other advantages will be apparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art. Other objectives, features and advantages of the enclosed embodiments will be apparent from the following description.

Generally, all terms used herein are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the technical field, unless explicitly defined otherwise herein. All references to "a/an/the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc." are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any method disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless explicitly stated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete understanding of the present embodiments, and the attendant advantages and features thereof, will be more readily understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein: FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of Next Radio (NR) architecture;

FIGS. 2A to 2D illustrate different deployment scenarios with NR network nodes (e.g.,

BS);

FIG. 3 illustrates different subcarrier spacing candidate configurations for NR;

FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic diagram of a communication network according to one embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates a schematic diagram of a wireless device according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates a schematic diagram of a network node according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 7 illustrates a schematic diagram of a network node according to another embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 8 illustrates a schematic diagram of a wireless device according to another embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 9 illustrates a cloud computing environment for performing the methods of the disclosure according to some embodiments;

FIGS. 10A-D illustrate exemplary blocks of resources before and after puncturing according to some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 11 illustrates a flow chart of an exemplary method in a wireless device, according to an embodiment of the disclosure; and

FIG. 12 illustrates a flow chart of an exemplary method in a network node, according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Before describing in detail exemplary embodiments, it is noted that the embodiments reside primarily in combinations of apparatus components and processing steps related to reference signals puncturing within a channel block. Accordingly, components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.

As used herein, relational terms, such as "first" and "second," "top" and "bottom," and the like, may be used solely to distinguish one entity or element from another entity or element without necessarily requiring or implying any physical or logical relationship or order between such entities or elements.

Various features and embodiments will now be described with reference to the figures to fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art.

Many aspects will be described in terms of sequences of actions or functions. It should be recognized that in some embodiments, some functions or actions could be performed by specialized circuits, by program instructions being executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both.

Further, some embodiments can be partially or completely embodied in the form of computer readable carrier or carrier wave containing an appropriate set of computer instructions that would cause a processor to carry out the techniques described herein.

In some alternate embodiments, the functions/actions may occur out of the order noted in the sequence of actions. Furthermore, in some illustrations, some blocks, functions or actions may be optional and may or may not be executed; these are generally illustrated with dashed lines.

Terminology

In some embodiments a non-limiting term "UE" or "WD" is used. The user equipment (UE) or wireless device (WD) herein can be any type of WD capable of communicating with a network node or another WD over radio signals. The UE or WD may also be a radio communication device, target device, device to device (D2D) WD, machine type WD or WD capable of machine to machine communication (M2M), a sensor equipped with WD, iPAD, Tablet, mobile terminals, smart phone, laptop embedded equipped (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), Universal Serial Bus (USB) dongles, Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) etc.

Also in some embodiments generic terminology "network node", is used. It can be any kind of network nodes which may comprise of a radio network node such as a base station, radio base station, base transceiver station, base station controller, network controller, multi- standard radio BS, g B, R BS, evolved Node B (eNB), eNB, Node B, Multi-cell/multicast Coordination Entity (MCE), relay node, access point, radio access point, Remote Radio Unit (RRU) Remote Radio Head (RRH), a multi - standard BS (a.k.a. MSR BS), a core network node (e.g., Mobile Management Entity (MME), Self-Optimized Network (SON) node, a coordinating node, positioning node, Evolved Serving Mobile Location Center (E-SMLC), Minimization of Driver Test (MDT) node, etc.), or even an external node (e.g., 3 ^rd party node, a node external to the current network), etc. The network node may also comprise a test equipment.

The term "radio node" used herein may be used to denote a UE or a WD or a radio network node.

The term "signaling" used herein may comprise any of: high-layer signaling (e.g., via

Radio Resource Control (RRC) or a like), lower-layer signaling (e.g., via a physical control channel or a broadcast channel), or a combination thereof. The signaling may be implicit or explicit. The signaling may further be unicast, multicast or broadcast. The signaling may also be directly to another node or via a third node.

The term "radio measurement" used herein may refer to any measurement performed on radio signals. Radio measurements can be absolute or relative. Radio measurement may be called as signal level which may be signal quality and/or signal strength. Radio measurements can be e.g. intra-frequency, inter-frequency, inter-RAT measurements, CA measurements, etc. Radio measurements can be unidirectional (e.g., DL or UL) or bidirectional (e.g., Round Trip Time (RTT), Receive-Transmit (Rx-Tx), etc.). Some examples of radio measurements: timing measurements (e.g., Time of Arrival (TO A), timing advance, RTT, Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD), Rx-Tx, propagation delay, etc.), angle measurements (e.g., angle of arrival), power-based measurements (e.g., received signal power, Reference Signals Received Power (RSRP), received signal quality, Reference Signals Received Quality (RSRQ), Signal- to-interference-plus-noise Ratio (SINR), Signal Noise Ratio (SNR), interference power, total interference plus noise, Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), noise power, etc.), cell detection or cell identification, radio link monitoring (RLM), system information (SI) reading, etc. The inter-frequency and inter-RAT measurements are carried out by the WD in measurement gaps unless the WD is capable of doing such measurement without gaps. Examples of measurement gaps are measurement gap id # 0 (each gap of 6 ms occurring every 40 ms), measurement gap id # 1 (each gap of 6 ms occurring every 80 ms), etc. The measurement gaps are configured at the WD by the network node.

The term "numerology" herein may comprise, e.g., any one or more of: frame duration, subframe or Transmission Time Interval (TTI) duration, slot or minislot duration, symbol duration and the number of symbols per slot and subframe, subcarrier spacing, sampling frequency, Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) size, number of subcarriers per Resource Block (RB) and RB bandwidth, number of RBs within a bandwidth, symbols per subframe, Cyclic Prefix (CP) length, etc. The numerology determines the grid of Resource Elements (REs) in time and/or frequency domain.

Although the solutions described in this disclosure may be implemented in any appropriate type of system using any suitable components, particular embodiments of the described solutions may be implemented in a wireless network such as the example wireless communication network illustrated in FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a wireless communication network 10 that may be used for wireless communications. Wireless communication network 10 includes wireless devices 12a and 12b (collectively "wireless device 12") (e.g., user equipments, UEs) and a plurality of network nodes 14 (e.g., 14a and 14b) (e.g., e Bs, g Bs, base stations, etc.) connected to one or more core network nodes 16 via an interconnecting network 18. Wireless devices 12 within a coverage area may each be capable of communicating directly with network nodes 14 over a wireless interface. In certain embodiments, wireless devices 12 may also be capable of communicating with each other via device-to-device (D2D) communication. In certain embodiments, network nodes 14 may also be capable of communicating with each other, e.g. via an interface (e.g. X2 in LTE or other suitable interface).

As an example, wireless device 12 may communicate with network node 14 over a wireless interface. That is, wireless device 12 may transmit wireless signals and/or receive wireless signals from network node 14. The wireless signals may contain voice traffic, data traffic, control signals, and/or any other suitable information. In some embodiments, an area of wireless signal coverage associated with a network node 14 may be referred to as a cell.

In some embodiments wireless device 12 may be interchangeably referred to by the non-limiting term user equipment (UE). Examples of the wireless device have been provided above in the Terminology section. Example embodiments of a wireless device 12 are described in more detail below with respect to FIGS. 5 and 8.

Examples of the network node 14 have been provided above in the Terminology section. Example embodiments of a network node 14 are described in more detail below with respect to FIGS. 6 and 7.

In certain embodiments, network nodes 14 may interface with a radio network controller (not shown). The radio network controller may control network nodes 14 and may provide certain radio resource management functions, mobility management functions, and/or other suitable functions. In certain embodiments, the functions of the radio network controller may be included in the network node 14. The radio network controller may interface with the core network node 16. In certain embodiments, the radio network controller may interface with the core network node 16 via the interconnecting network 18.

The interconnecting network 18 may refer to any interconnecting system capable of transmitting audio, video, signals, data, messages, or any combination of the preceding. The interconnecting network 18 may include all or a portion of a public switched telephone network (PSTN), a public or private data network, a local area network (LAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a wide area network (WAN), a local, regional, or global communication or computer network such as the Internet, a wireline or wireless network, an enterprise intranet, or any other suitable communication link, including combinations thereof.

In some embodiments, the core network node 16 may manage the establishment of communication sessions and various other functionalities for wireless devices 12. Examples of core network node 16 may include Mobile Switching Center (MSC), MME, Serving Gateway (SGW), Packet Gateway (PGW), Operation & Maintenance (O&M), Operations Support System (OSS), SON, positioning node (e.g. E-SMLC), MDT node, etc. Wireless devices 12 may exchange certain signals with the core network node 16 using the non-access stratum layer. In non-access stratum signaling, signals between wireless devices 12 and the core network node 16 may be transparently passed through the radio access network. In certain embodiments, network nodes 14 may interface with one or more other network nodes over an internode interface. For example, network nodes 14 may interface each other over an X2 interface.

Although FIG. 4 illustrates a particular arrangement of network 10, the present disclosure contemplates that the various embodiments described herein may be applied to a variety of networks having any suitable configuration. For example, network 10 may include any suitable number of wireless devices 12 and network nodes 14, as well as any additional elements suitable to support communication between wireless devices or between a wireless device and another communication device (such as a landline telephone). The embodiments may be implemented in any appropriate type of telecommunication system supporting any suitable communication standards and using any suitable components, and are applicable to any radio access technology (RAT) or multi-RAT systems in which the wireless device receives and/or transmits signals (e.g., data). While certain embodiments are described for NR and/or LTE, the embodiments may be applicable to any RAT, such as UTRA, E-UTRA, narrow band Internet of things (NB-IoT), WiFi, Bluetooth, next generation RAT (NR, NX), 4G, 5G, LTE FDD/TDD, etc. FIG. 5 illustrates a wireless device (WD) 12, which is an example wireless device. WD 12 includes an antenna 20, radio front-end circuitry 22, processing circuitry 24, and a computer- readable storage medium 26. Antenna 20 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays, and is configured to send and/or receive wireless signals, and is connected to radio front-end circuitry 22. In certain alternative embodiments, WD 12 may not include antenna 20, and antenna 20 may instead be separate from WD 12 and be connectable to WD 12 through an interface or port.

The radio front-end circuitry 22 may comprise various filters and amplifiers, is connected to antenna 20 and processing circuitry 24, and is configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 20 and processing circuitry 24. In certain alternative embodiments, WD 12 may not include radio front-end circuitry 22, and processing circuitry 24 may instead be connected to antenna 20 without radio front-end circuitry 22.

Processing circuitry 24 may include one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry, baseband processing circuitry, and application processing circuitry. In some embodiments, the RF transceiver circuitry, baseband processing circuitry, and application processing circuitry may be on separate chipsets. In alternative embodiments, part or all of the baseband processing circuitry and application processing circuitry may be combined into one chipset, and the RF transceiver circuitry may be on a separate chipset. In still alternative embodiments, part or all of the RF transceiver circuitry and baseband processing circuitry may be on the same chipset, and the application processing circuitry may be on a separate chipset. In yet other alternative embodiments, part or all of the RF transceiver circuitry, baseband processing circuitry, and application processing circuitry may be combined in the same chipset. Processing circuitry 24 may include, for example, one or more central processing units (CPUs), one or more microprocessors, one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and/or one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 24 may include a processor and the storage medium 26, for example. And the processor can include CPUs, ASICs, FPGAs, etc.

In particular embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein as being provided by a wireless device (e.g., WD 12) may be provided by the processing circuitry 24 executing instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium 26. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processing circuitry 24 without executing instructions stored on a computer-readable medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium or not, the processing circuitry can be said to be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processing circuitry 24 alone or to other components of WD 12, but are enjoyed by the wireless device or UE as a whole, and/or by end users and the wireless network generally.

Antenna 20, radio front-end circuitry 22, and/or processing circuitry 24 may be configured to perform any receiving operations described herein as being performed by a wireless device (e.g., WD 12). Any information, data and/or signals may be received from a network node 14 and/or another wireless device 12.

The processing circuitry 24 may be configured to perform any determining operations described herein as being performed by a wireless device (e.g., WD 12). Determining as performed by processing circuitry 24 may include processing information obtained by the processing circuitry 24 by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the wireless device, and/or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination.

In one aspect of the disclosure, a WD 12 comprising the processing circuitry 24 is provided. According to this aspect, the processing circuitry 24 is configured to receive a block of resources in which a first signal is mapped to first resource elements within the block of resources based on a first numerology, and in which a second signal is mapped to second resource elements within the block of resources based on a second numerology; determine that the plurality of the first resource elements which at least partly overlap with the second resources elements are punctured; and process the receipt of the block of resources in accordance with the determined punctured resource elements. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 24 is configured to determine that the plurality of the first resource elements are punctured by being further configured to determine that all resource elements from the first resource elements in a symbol, that at least partly overlap in time with the second resource elements which comprise the second signal based on the second numerology are punctured. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 24 is configured to determine that the plurality of the first resource elements are punctured by being further configured to determine that resource elements from the first resource elements that overlap with the second resource elements which comprise the second signal based on the second numerology are punctured. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 24 is configured to determine that the plurality of the first resource elements are punctured by being further configured to determine that resource elements from the first resource elements that overlap with the second resource elements and a guard band are punctured, the second resource elements comprising the second signal based on the second numerology. In some embodiments, the first signal comprises at least one of data and control information and the second signal comprises at least one of a reference signal and a broadcast channel. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 24 is configured to process the receipt of the block of resources by being further configured to depuncture the block of resources. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 24 is configured to process the receipt of the block of resources by being further configured to not receive the determined punctured resource elements. In some embodiments, puncturing comprises rate matching. In some embodiments, the first numerology is different from the second numerology. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 24 is configured to determine that the plurality of the first resource elements are punctured by being further configured to receive a signal from a network node 14 indicating a puncturing pattern of the block of resources. In some embodiments, the puncturing pattern is determined based on a selective puncturing. In some embodiments, the puncturing pattern is a pre-defined puncturing pattern. In some embodiments, the puncturing pattern is based on at least one selected from the group consisting of: a pre-defined rule, a message from another node, a capability of the wireless device 12, a capability of the network node 14, a carrier frequency, a frequency band, a number of resource elements with the second signal, a density of resource elements with the second signal, a pattern of resource elements with the second signal and a size of the block of resources. In some embodiments, the block of resources is a channel block. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 24 is configured to determine that the plurality of the first resource elements are punctured by being further configured to determine that at least one of: the wireless device 12 is configured to receive the second signal and the first numerology of the first signal is different from the second numerology of the second signal.

Antenna 20, radio front-end circuitry 22, and/or processing circuitry 24 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by a wireless device 12. Any information, data and/or signals may be transmitted to a network node 14 and/or another wireless device 12. Alternatively, the processing circuitry 24 may be connected to an input interface 28 and an output interface 30. The input interface 28 can be configured to receive signals from a network node and the output interface 30 is configured to transmit signals to a network node.

Computer-readable storage medium 26 is generally operable to store instructions, such as a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, etc. and/or other instructions capable of being executed by a processor. Examples of computer-readable storage medium 26 include computer memory (for example, Random Access Memory (RAM) or Read Only Memory (ROM)), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory computer-readable and/or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and/or instructions that may be used by processing circuitry 24. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 24 and computer-readable storage medium 26 may be considered to be integrated.

Alternative embodiments of WD 12 may include additional components beyond those shown in FIG. 5 that may be responsible for providing certain aspects of the WD's 12 functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and/or any functionality necessary to support the solution described above. As just one example, WD 12 may include input interfaces, devices and circuits, and output interfaces, devices and circuits. Input interfaces, devices, and circuits are configured to allow input of information into WD 12, and are connected to processing circuitry 24 to allow processing circuitry 24 to process the input information. For example, input interfaces, devices, and circuits may include a microphone, a proximity or other sensor, keys/buttons, a touch display, one or more cameras, a USB port, or other input elements. Output interfaces, devices, and circuits are configured to allow output of information from WD 12, and are connected to processing circuitry 24 to allow processing circuitry 24 to output information from WD 12. For example, output interfaces, devices, or circuits may include a speaker, a display, vibrating circuitry, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port, a headphone interface, or other output elements. Using one or more input and output interfaces, devices, and circuits, WD 12 may communicate with end users and/or the wireless network, and allow them to benefit from the functionality described herein.

As another example, WD 12 may include power source 32. Power source 32 may comprise power management circuitry. Power source 32 may receive power from a power supply, which may either be comprised in, or be external to, power source 32. For example, WD 12 may comprise a power supply in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power source 32. Other types of power sources, such as photovoltaic devices, may also be used. As a further example, WD 12 may be connectable to an external power supply (such as an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power supply supplies power to power source 32. Power source 32 may be connected to radio front-end circuitry 22, processing circuitry 24, and/or computer-readable storage medium 26 and be configured to supply WD 12, including processing circuitry 24, with power for performing the functionality described herein.

WD 12 may also include multiple sets of processing circuitry 24, computer-readable storage medium 26, radio circuitry 22, and/or antenna 20 for different wireless technologies integrated into wireless device 12, such as, for example, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), LTE, R, WiFi, or Bluetooth® wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chipsets and other components within wireless device or WD 12. In certain embodiments, the one or more processing circuitry 24 may comprise one or more of the modules discussed below with respect to FIG. 8.

Other embodiments of wireless device 12 may include additional components beyond those shown in FIG. 5 that may be responsible for providing certain aspects of the wireless device's functionality, including any of the functionality described above and/or any additional functionality (including any functionality necessary to support the solution described above). As just one example, wireless device 12 may include input devices and circuits, output devices, and one or more synchronization units or circuits, which may be part of the one or more processors. Input devices include mechanisms for entry of data into wireless device 12. For example, input devices may include input mechanisms, such as a microphone, input elements, a display, etc. Output devices may include mechanisms for outputting data in audio, video and/or hard copy format. For example, output devices may include a speaker, a display, etc.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an exemplary network node 14, which can be a base station, or g B, for example, in accordance with certain embodiments. The network node 14 includes processing circuitry 34, network interface 36 and one or more transceivers 38. The processing circuitry 34 may include one or more processors 40, and memory 42. In some embodiments, the transceiver 38 facilitates transmitting wireless signals to and receiving wireless signals from wireless device 12 (e.g., via an antenna), the one or more processors 40 executes instructions to provide some or all of the functionalities described above as being provided by the network node 14, the memory 42 stores the instructions for execution by the one or more processors 40, and/or the network interface 36 communicates signals to backend network components, such as a gateway, switch, router, Internet, Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), core network nodes or radio network controllers, etc.

In an aspect of the disclosure, a network node 14 comprising the processing circuitry 34 is provided. According to this aspect, the processing circuitry 34 is configured to determine a puncturing pattern for a block of resources, the block of resources comprising first resource elements for mapping a first signal based on a first numerology and second resource elements for mapping a second signal based on a second numerology; map data corresponding to the first signal and the second signal to the first resource elements and the second resource elements respectively according to the determined puncturing pattern; and transmit the data mapped to the first resource elements and the second resource elements, to a wireless device 12. In some embodiments, the puncturing pattern comprises a rate matching pattern. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 34 configured to determine the puncturing pattern by being further configured to use a pre-defined puncturing pattern. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 34 configured to determine the puncturing pattern by being further configured to puncture all resource elements from the first resource elements in a symbol, that at least partly overlap in time with the second resource elements which comprise the second signal based on the second numerology. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 34 configured to determine the puncturing pattern by being further configured to puncture resource elements from the first resource elements that overlap with the second resource elements which comprise the second signal based on the second numerology. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 34 configured to determine the puncturing pattern by being further configured to puncture resource elements from the first resource elements that overlap with the second resource elements and a guard band, the second resource elements comprising the second signal based on the second numerology. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 34 configured to determine the puncturing pattern by being further configured to select the puncturing pattern based on at least one selected from the group consisting of: a pre-defined rule, a message from another node, a capability of the wireless device 12, a capability of the network node 14, a carrier frequency, a frequency band, a number of resource elements with the second signal, a density of resource elements with the second signal, a pattern of resource elements with the second signal and a size of the block of resources. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 34 configured to determine the puncturing pattern by being further configured to determine that a guard band in at least one of a frequency and a time domain is included in the puncturing pattern. In some embodiments, the guard band comprises empty resource elements that do not comprise the second signal. In some embodiments, the first signal comprises at least one of data and control information and the second signal comprises at least one of a reference signal and a broadcast channel. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 34 is further configured to send an indication of the determined puncturing pattern to the wireless device 12. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 34 configured to determine the puncturing pattern by being further configured to determine that at least one of: the wireless device 12 is configured to receive the second signal and the first numerology of the first signal is different from the second numerology of the second signal. In some embodiments, the block of resources is a channel block.

The one or more processors 40 may include any suitable combination of hardware and software implemented in one or more modules to execute instructions and manipulate data to perform some or all of the described functions of the network node 14, such as those described above. In some embodiments, the one or more processors 40 may include, for example, one or more computers, one or more central processing units (CPUs), one or more microprocessors, one or more applications, one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and/or other logic. In certain embodiments, the one or more processors 40 may comprise one or more of the modules discussed below with respect to FIG. 7.

The memory 42 is generally operable to store instructions, such as a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, algorithms, code, tables, etc. and/or other instructions capable of being executed by one or more processors 40. Examples of memory 42 include computer memory (for example, Random Access Memory (RAM) or Read Only Memory (ROM)), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory computer-readable and/or computer-executable memory devices that store information.

In some embodiments, the network interface 36 is communicatively coupled to the one or more processors 40 and may refer to any suitable device operable to receive input for the network node 14, send output from the network node 14, perform suitable processing of the input or output or both, communicate to other devices, or any combination of the preceding. The network interface 36 may include appropriate hardware (e.g., port, modem, network interface card, etc.) and software, including protocol conversion and data processing capabilities, to communicate through a network. Other embodiments of the network node 14 may include additional components beyond those shown in FIG. 6 that may be responsible for providing certain aspects of a network node's functionality, including any of the functionality described above and/or any additional functionality (including any functionality necessary to support the solutions described above). The various different types of network nodes may include components having the same physical hardware but configured (e.g., via programming) to support different radio access technologies, or may represent partly or entirely different physical components.

Processors, interfaces, and memory similar to those described with respect to FIGS. 5- 6 may be included in other network nodes (such as core network node 16). Other network nodes may optionally include or not include a wireless interface (such as the transceiver 38 described in FIG. 6). Functionalities described may reside within the same radio node or network node 14 or may be distributed across a plurality of radios nodes and network nodes 14.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of the network node 14 in accordance with certain embodiments. The network node 14 may include a determining module 44, a mapping module 46 and a transmitting module 48.

In certain embodiments, the determining module 44 may perform a combination of steps that may include steps described below with reference to FIG. 12 described below.

In certain embodiments, the mapping module 46 may perform a combination of steps that may include steps described below with reference to FIG. 12 described below.

In certain embodiments, the transmitting module 48 may perform a combination of steps that may include steps described below with reference to FIG. 12 described below.

In certain embodiments, the determining module 44, the mapping module 46 and the transmitting module 48 may be implemented using one or more processors, such as described with respect to FIG. 6. The modules may be integrated or separated in any manner suitable for performing the described functionality.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of the WD 12 in accordance with certain embodiments. The WD 12 may include a receiving module 50, a determining module 52 and a processing module 54.

In certain embodiments, the receiving module 50 may perform a combination of steps that may include steps described below with reference to FIG. 11 described below. In certain embodiments, the determining module 52 may perform a combination of steps that may include steps described below with reference to FIG. 11 described below.

In certain embodiments, the processing module 54 may perform a combination of steps that may include steps described below with reference to FIG. 11 described below.

In certain embodiments, the receiving module 50, the determining module 52 and the processing module 54 may be implemented using one or more processors, such as described with respect to FIG. 5. The modules may be integrated or separated in any manner suitable for performing the described functionality.

It should be noted that according to some embodiments, virtualized implementations of the network node 14 of FIGS. 6 and 7, or wireless device 12 of FIGS. 5 and 8 are possible. As used herein, a "virtualized" network node (e.g., a virtualized base station or a virtualized radio access node) is an implementation of the network node in which at least a portion of the functionality of the network is implemented as a virtual component (e.g., via a virtual machine(s) executing on a physical processing node(s) in a network(s)). The functions of the wireless device 12 and network node 14 (described hereinabove) are implemented at the one or more processors 24 and 40 respectively or distributed across a cloud computing system. In some particular embodiments, some or all of the functions of the wireless device 12 and network node 14 (described herein) are implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines implemented in a virtual environment(s) hosted by processing node(s).

For example, turning to FIG. 9, there is provided an instance or a virtual appliance 56a implementing the methods or parts of the methods of some embodiments. In some embodiments, there may be more than one instance or virtual applications (e.g., 56a, 56b, 56c, 56d) (collectively referred to as "56"). The one or more instance(s) runs in a cloud computing environment 58. The cloud computing environment provides processing circuits 60a-b (collectively "60") and memory 62a-b (collectively "62) for the one or more instance(s) or virtual applications 56. The memory 62 contains instructions 66a-b (collectively "66") executable by the processing circuit 60 whereby the instance 56 is operative to execute the methods or part of the methods described herein in relation to some embodiments.

The cloud computing environment 58 comprises one or more general-purpose network devices including hardware 64a and 64b (collectively hardware "64") comprising a set of one or more processor(s) or processing circuits 60, which may be commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) processors, dedicated Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), or any other type of processing circuit including digital or analog hardware components or special purpose processors, and network interface controlled s) 68a-b (collectively "68") (NICs), also known as network interface cards, which include physical Network Interface 70a-b (collectively "70"). The general-purpose network device also includes non-transitory machine readable storage media 72a-b (collectively "72") having stored therein software and/or instructions 66 executable by the processor 60. During operation, the processor(s)/processing circuits 60 execute the software/instructions 66 to instantiate a hypervisor 74, sometimes referred to as a virtual machine monitor (VMM), and one or more virtual machines 76a-d (collectively "76") that are run by the hypervisor 74.

A virtual machine 76 is a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine; and applications generally do not know they are running on a virtual machine as opposed to running on a "bare metal" host electronic device, though some systems provide para-virtualization which allows an operating system or application to be aware of the presence of virtualization for optimization purposes. Each of the virtual machines 76, and that part of the hardware 64 that executes that virtual machine 76, be it hardware 64 dedicated to that virtual machine 76 and/or time slices of hardware 64 temporally shared by that virtual machine 76 with others of the virtual machine(s) 76, forms a separate virtual network element(s) (VNE).

The hypervisor 74 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to virtual machine 76, and the virtual machine 76 may be used to implement functionality such as control communication and configuration module(s) and forwarding table(s), this virtualization of the hardware is sometimes referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). Thus, NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in Data centers, and customer premise equipment (CPE). Different embodiments of the instance or virtual application 56 may be implemented on one or more of the virtual machine(s) 76, and the implementations may be made differently.

FIGS. 10A-D illustrate exemplary blocks of resources according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Some methods of the disclosure will be described below with reference to FIGS. 10A-D, as well as, FIGS. 11 and 12.

Methods in a WD FIG. 11 illustrates some embodiments of methods in a wireless node, such as a WD 12, in accordance with a first aspect of the present disclosure. Some embodiments of the method 100 according to this aspect comprise the following steps:

• Step 102: Receiving a block of resources, in which a first signal is mapped to resource elements within the block resources based on a first numerology, and in which a second signal is mapped to second resource elements within the block of resources based on a second numerology.

• Step 104: Determining that a plurality of the first resource elements which at least partly overlap with the second resource elements are punctured.

· Step 106: Processing the receipt of the block of resources in accordance with the determined punctured resource elements.

According to this first aspect of the method 100, in some embodiments, determining that a plurality of the first resource elements are punctured comprises determining that all resource elements from the first resource elements in a symbol that at least partly overlap in time with the second resource elements which comprise the second signal based on the second numerology are punctured. In some embodiments, determining that the plurality of the first resource elements are punctured comprises determining that resource elements from the first resource elements that overlap with the second resource elements which comprise the second signal based on the second numerology are punctured. In some embodiments, determining that the plurality of the first resource elements are punctured comprises determining that resource elements from the first resource elements that overlap with the second resource elements and a guard band are punctured, the second resource elements comprising the second signal based on the second numerology. In some embodiments, the first signal comprises at least one of data and control information and the second signal comprises at least one of a reference signal and a broadcast channel. In some embodiments, processing the receipt of the block of resources comprises depuncturing the block of resources. In some embodiments, processing the receipt of the block of resources comprises not receiving the determined punctured resource elements. In some embodiments, puncturing comprises rate matching. In some embodiments, the first numerology is different from the second numerology. In some embodiments, determining that the plurality of the first resource elements are punctured comprises receiving a signal from a network node 14 indicating a puncturing pattern of the block of resources. In some embodiments, the puncturing pattern is determined based on a selective puncturing. In some embodiments, the puncturing pattern is a pre-defined puncturing pattern. In some embodiments, the puncturing pattern is based on at least one selected from the group consisting of: a pre-defined rule, a message from another node, a capability of the wireless device 12, a capability of the network node 14, a carrier frequency, a frequency band, a number of resource elements with the second signal, a density of resource elements with the second signal, a pattern of resource elements with the second signal and a size of the block of resources. In some embodiments, the block of resources is a channel block. In some embodiments, determining that the plurality of the first resource elements are punctured comprises determining that at least one of: the wireless device 12 is configured to receive the second signal and the first numerology of the first signal is different from the second numerology of the second signal.

Having described some embodiments of the method 100, a more detailed description of some of the embodiments of the method 100 are described as follows.

Step 102

In this step, a WD 12 is configured to receive a channel or signal (e.g., a data channel or control channel) based on a first numerology on resources within a block of time-frequency resources, which is comprised within the WD 12 scheduled bandwidth and is further referred to as "channel block". A further example of a channel block may comprise, e.g., one or more RBs carrying data or a block of resources comprising a control region (e.g., like the first few symbols of a subframe in LTE). The bandwidth of the channel block may be smaller than the carrier bandwidth or the WD 12 RF bandwidth, at least in some examples. Within this channel block, there may also be resource elements comprising signals/channels based on a different (or second) numerology (e.g., reference signals such as CSI-RS or other RS or a broadcast channel). The reference signals and data (or control) channel may be transmitted from the same cell or different cells, from the same Transport Reference Point (TRP) or different TRPs, in the same beam or different beams.

For example, FIG. 10A shows a block of resources or a channel block of resources which comprises a first signal (e.g. data or control channel based on a first numerology (Numl)) and a second signal (e.g. reference signals based on a second numerology (Num2)). In some embodiments, step 102 may be performed by e.g. the receiving module 50.

Step 104 In this step, the WD 12 determines that some of the first resource elements are punctured. According to a first embodiment, the WD 12 determines that all resource elements in a symbol overlapping (or partly overlapping) with the second resource elements comprising the reference signals based on a different (or second) numerology within the scheduled bandwidth are punctured. For example, FIG. 10B shows that all the resource elements (from the first resource elements) in the 2 symbols, which overlap the second resources which comprise the reference signals based on the second numerology (Num2), are punctured. Alternatively, the WD 12 can determine that all resource elements in a symbol, which overlap with the second resource elements comprising the reference signals based on a different (or second) numerology within the scheduled bandwidth plus some guard band, are punctured.

It should be noted that that the term "puncturing" herein may be understood in a more general way and may be interchangeably used with the known terms "puncturing" or "rate matching". Generally, with puncturing, the information related to a physical channel or signal is mapped to resource elements in the normal way; and in a second step those resource elements that should be empty or carry information related to another physical channel or signal - such as CSI-RS - are set to zero and/or replaced by the other channel s/signals information. In other words, puncturing means that the transmitter deletes the modulation symbols (from a first channel) originally mapped to the punctured resource elements and replaces it with modulation symbols corresponding to the second signal.

Generally, with rate matching, the resource elements that should be empty/used by another channel/signal (such as CSI-RS) are already mapped around during the mapping operation (and by that not deleting, as with puncturing). In other words, rate matching means that the transmitter considers from the beginning that some resource elements are used for the second signal and does not put information from the first channel on these resource elements. The transmitter produces viewer coded bits corresponding to the amount of resource elements that are needed for the second signal. The transmitter puts the second signal on the resource elements that were left empty by the first channel.

According to a second embodiment, the WD 12 determines that the resource elements

(from the first resource elements) overlapping the second resource elements comprising the reference signals within the channel block are punctured. For example, FIGS. IOC and 10D show that not all the resource elements overlapping the whole symbol of the scheduled bandwidth are punctured but only the necessary parts, i.e. the resource elements (from the first resource elements) that overlap with the second resource elements that comprise the reference signals. In FIG. 10D, according to a further embodiment, the portion of the symbol that is punctured may also include a guard band between the first and second numerologies, in the frequency and/or time domain. In other words, the resource elements that overlap the second resource elements that comprise the reference signals plus a guard band are punctured. As mentioned above, puncturing also includes rate matching.

In some embodiments, the puncturing may also be selective, e.g., only when the WD 12 is configured to receive the reference signals and/or when the numerologies are not the same or not similar. For example, the WD 12 may know that there are reference signals transmitted in a neighbor cell in resource elements that fall within the channel block it's going to receive, but the WD 12 may assume no puncturing (in its general understanding) if the WD 12 is not configured to receive these reference signals.

In one example, it is pre-defined which puncturing approach is supported or which of the puncturing approaches applies in a certain scenario or conditions when multiple puncturing approaches (e.g., as in examples of FIGS. 10B, IOC, or 10D) are supported. The WD 12 may support one or more of the approaches. In another example, a network node 14 may indicate to the WD 12 that puncturing applies over some REs or some symbols. Thus, the WD 12 may determine/select the puncturing approach which is to be used, e.g., based on one or more of: a pre-defined rule, message from another node, WD 12 capability, network node 14 capability, or carrier frequency or frequency band. The selection may also depend on the number, density or pattern of the REs with the reference signals and/or the size of the channel block. For example, the approach in FIG. 10B may apply when the density of REs is high or the number of REs or the occupancy ratio of the REs by the reference signals within the symbol and the channel block bandwidth is above a threshold. The WD 12 may also determine whether a guard band in frequency and/or time domain is also included in the punctured resource elements. Then, the WD 12 may determine the guard band size, based on a pre-defined rule, message from another node, WD 12 capability, network node 14 capability, or carrier frequency or frequency band, WD 12 ability to handle the additional interference due to the second numerology, and/or the first and the second numerologies (corresponding to the channel numerology and reference signals numerology, respectively). For example, there may be a small or no guard band if the numerologies are similar (e.g., 15 kHz and 30 kHz subcarrier spacing). In a further example, the guard band size may be counted based on the numerology of the scheduled channel for the WD 12 within the channel block and thus also depend on its numerology. The WD 12 may also determine that only one of the frequency and time guard band is needed, e.g., it may be pre-defined that there should be a frequency domain guard band. A guard band may correspond to empty or unused RE or additional REs (or a margin) to be punctured which do not comprise the reference signals. Whether the puncturing is applied may be determined upon the determining that different numerologies are used for the channel to be received by the WD 12 within the channel block and the reference signals comprised within the channel block.

The WD 12 may receive a DL assignment to determine the scheduled channel resources and/or configured reference signals, may receive scheduling information via higher layer signaling or may determine the resources based on a pre-defined rule, e.g., use pre-defined resources for a channel conveying some system information or assume that certain reference signals are always or in the given conditions are present in certain REs. The numerology of the channel and/or the reference signals may be pre-defined (e.g., associated with a frequency range or be the same as the numerology of some other channel known to the WD 12) or may be received from the same or another node (e.g., a network node 14 or a WD 12). In some embodiments, step 104 may be performed by e.g. the determining module 52.

Step 106

In this step, the WD 12 receives the (scheduled time-frequency) block of resources according to the determined punctured resources elements. For example, the WD 12 may consider depuncturing of the corresponding resource elements when receiving the channel block or may choose to not receive the resource elements determined as punctured.

In some embodiments, the receiver (e.g., WD 12) may or may not be aware that puncturing has happened. If the receiver is aware, it can adopt its reception strategy, if it is not aware it just receives the first signal without any changes.

In the case of rate matching, when the receiver is aware of the resource elements used for the second signal, it will adopt its reception strategy. In some embodiments, step 106 may be performed by e.g. the processing module 54.

Methods in a network node

FIG. 12 illustrates some embodiments of methods in a network node 14, such as a g B, in accordance with a second aspect of the present disclosure. Some embodiments of the method 108 according to this aspect comprise the following steps:

• Step 110: Determining a puncturing pattern for a block of resources, the block of resources comprising first resource elements for mapping a first signal based on a first numerology and second resource elements for mapping a second signal based on a second numerology. • Step 112: Mapping data corresponding to the first signal and the second signal to the first resource elements and the second resource elements respectively according to the determined puncturing pattern.

• Step 114: Transmitting the data mapped to the first resource elements and the second resource elements to a wireless device.

According to this second aspect of the method 108, in some embodiments, the puncturing pattern comprises a rate matching pattern. In some embodiments, determining the puncturing pattern comprises using a pre-defined puncturing pattern. In some embodiments, determining the puncturing pattern comprises puncturing all resource elements from the first resource elements in a symbol, that at least partly overlap in time with the second resource elements which comprise the second signal based on the second numerology. In some embodiments, determining the puncturing pattern comprises puncturing resource elements from the first resource elements that overlap with the second resource elements which comprise the second signal based on the second numerology. In some embodiments, determining the puncturing pattern comprises puncturing resource elements from the first resource elements that overlap with the second resource elements and a guard band, the second resource elements comprising the second signal based on the second numerology. In some embodiments, determining the puncturing pattern comprises selecting the puncturing pattern based on at least one selected from the group consisting of: a pre-defined rule, a message from another node, a capability of the wireless device 12, a capability of the network node 14, a carrier frequency, a frequency band, a number of resource elements with the second signal, a density of resource elements with the second signal, a pattern of resource elements with the second signal and a size of the block of resources. In some embodiments, determining the puncturing pattern further comprises determining that a guard band in at least one of a frequency and a time domain is included in the puncturing pattern. In some embodiments, the guard band comprises empty resource elements that do not comprise the second signal. In some embodiments, the first signal comprises at least one of data and control information and the second signal comprises at least one of a reference signal and a broadcast channel. In some embodiments, the method 108 further comprises sending an indication of the determined puncturing pattern to the wireless device 12. In some embodiments, determining the puncturing pattern comprises determining that at least one of: the wireless device 12 is configured to receive the second signal and the first numerology of the first signal is different from the second numerology of the second signal. In some embodiments, the block of resources is a channel block. Having described some embodiments of the method 108, a more detailed description of some of the embodiments of the method 108 are described as follows.

Step 110

In this step, a network node 14 configures a WD 12 to receive a channel (e.g., a data channel or control channel) based on a first numerology within a "channel block", within which there may also be resource elements comprising a signal/channel based on a second numerology (e.g. reference signals such as CSI-RS or other RS or a broadcast channel). The reference signals and data (or control) channel may be transmitted from the same network node 14 or different network nodes 14 or 16, from the same cell or different cells, from the same TRP or different TRPs, in the same or different beams.

If the reference signals are transmitted by another node, the network node 14 may acquire the resource elements with the reference signals transmitted by the other node, prior to determining the puncturing pattern. The puncturing may also be selective, e.g., only when the WD 12 is configured to receive the reference signals and/or when the numerologies are not the same or not similar. Puncturing in this context should be understood in a broad sense, as outlined above, e.g., comprising puncturing, rate matching, etc.

According to a first embodiment, all the resource elements in a symbol (from the first resource elements within the channel block bandwidth), that overlap with the second resource elements comprising the reference signals, are punctured by the network node 14, see, for example see FIG. 10B

According to a second embodiment, the resource elements from the first resource elements that overlap with the second resource elements comprising the reference signals within the channel block are punctured (see FIGS. IOC and 10D) by the network node 14, i.e. not the whole symbol is punctured. In particular, in FIG. 10D, the resource elements (of the first resource elements) that overlap an additional margin or guard band (in time and frequency) can be punctured as well, along with the resource elements that overlap with the second resource elements comprising the reference signals.

In one example, it is pre-defined which puncturing approach is supported or which of the puncturing approaches applies in a certain scenario or conditions when multiple puncturing approaches (e.g., as in examples of FIGS. 10B, IOC, and 10D) are supported. In another example, a network node 14 may indicate to the WD 12 that puncturing applies over some REs or some symbols or may indicate the puncturing pattern to the WD 12. Thus, the network node 14 may determine/select the puncturing approach which is to be used, e.g., based on one or more of: a pre-defined rule, message from another node, WD 12 capability (e.g., when the WD 12 indicates which approaches it can support or this is known from a WD 12 category or more general WD 12 capability), network node 14 capability, or carrier frequency or frequency band. The selection may also depend on the number, density or pattern of the REs with the reference signals and/or the size of the channel block. For example, the approach in FIG. 10B may apply when the density of REs is high or the number of REs or the occupancy ratio of the REs by the reference signals within the symbol and the channel block bandwidth is above a threshold. The network node 14 may also determine whether a guard band in frequency and/or time domain is also included in puncturing and the network node 14 may determine the guard band size, based on a pre-defined rule, message from another node, WD 12 capability, network node 14 capability, or carrier frequency or frequency band, WD 12 ability to handle the additional interference due to the second numerology, and/or the first and the second numerologies (corresponding to the channel numerology and reference signals numerology, respectively), e.g., there may be a small or no guard band if the numerologies are similar (e.g., 15 kHz and 30 kHz subcarrier spacing). In a further example, the guard band size may be counted based on the numerology of the scheduled channel for the WD 12 within the channel block and thus also depend on its numerology. The WD 12 may also determine that only one of the frequency and time guard band is needed, e.g., it may be pre-defined that there should be a frequency domain guard band. A guard band may correspond to empty or unused RE or additional REs (or a margin) to be punctured which do not comprise the reference signals. In some embodiments, step 1 10 may be performed by e.g. the determining module 44.

Step 1 12

After determining the puncturing pattern, the network node 14 performs data encoding and mapping accordingly, based on the applied puncturing/rate matching pattern. In some embodiments, step 1 12 may be performed by e.g. the mapping module 46.

Step 1 14

Then, the network node 14 transmits the channel block or block of resources mapped to the data, to the wireless device 12. In some embodiments, step 1 14 may be performed by e.g. the transmitting module 48.

Extension to UL

Even though the above description is explained in the context of a downlink transmission punctured with reference signal transmission of a different numerology, the basic principle is also applicable for an uplink transmission punctured with an uplink reference signal, e.g. a sounding reference signal (SRS) in UL instead of CSI-RS in the DL transmission. Depending on the applicable puncturing approach (corresponding to FIGS. 10B, IOC, or 10D), the WD 12 punctures all resource elements (from the first resource elements) overlapping resource elements (from the second resource elements) in a symbol containing the reference signal or just the resource elements needed for the SRS transmission in its transmitted signal (with some guard band, in a further embodiment).

The network node 14 would receive the uplink transmission and consider the complete symbol or just the impacted resource elements as punctured.

Puncturing in this context should again be understood in a broader sense, e.g., interchangeably used with puncturing and rate matching as outlined above.

Generally speaking, the embodiments in this disclosure are applicable to a transmitter and a receiver. For DL, the network node 14 is the transmitter and the receiver is the WD 12. For the UL, the transmitter is the WD 12 and the receiver is the network node 14. The transmitter performs puncturing, while the receiver may perform depuncturing (a reverse procedure) or, depending on the puncturing approach, the receiver may choose also to not even receive the punctured REs. Either way, the receiver needs to determine which REs have been punctured.

A scheduling method in a network node

According to another embodiment in a network node 14, there is a restriction in a network node's 14 scheduling to always schedule reference signals that have to appear within a data or control channel block, e.g., within a RB carrying data or within a control channel region, based on the same numerology as the channel (i.e., data channel or control channel in this example). The same type of reference signals may be based on a different numerology outside such channel block, e.g., in different time resources or different subbands.

Correspondingly, a WD 12 determining that there are reference signals within a channel block, may assume that the reference signals are based on the same numerology as the data or control channel, without explicit signaling of the numerology of these reference signals.

Any steps or features described herein are merely illustrative of certain embodiments. It is not required that all embodiments incorporate all the steps or features disclosed nor that the steps be performed in the exact order depicted or described herein. Furthermore, some embodiments may include steps or features not illustrated or described herein, including steps inherent to one or more of the steps disclosed herein. Any two or more embodiments described in this document may be combined in any way with each other. Furthermore, the described embodiments are not limited to the described radio access technologies (e.g., LTE, R). That is, the described embodiments can be adapted to other radio access technologies.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the systems and apparatuses described herein without departing from the scope of the disclosure. The components of the systems and apparatuses may be integrated or separated. Moreover, the operations of the systems and apparatuses may be performed by more, fewer, or other components. Additionally, operations of the systems and apparatuses may be performed using any suitable logic comprising software, hardware, and/or other logic. As used in this document, "each" refers to each member of a set or each member of a subset of a set.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the methods described herein without departing from the scope of the disclosure. The methods may include more, fewer, or other steps. Additionally, steps may be performed in any suitable order. Generally, all terms used in the claims are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the technical field, unless explicitly defined otherwise herein. All references to "a/an/the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc." are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any method disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless explicitly stated.

Although this disclosure has been described in terms of certain embodiments, alterations and permutations of the embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the above description of the embodiments does not constrain this disclosure. Other changes, substitutions, and alterations are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure.

Some of the abbreviations used in this disclosure include:

3 GPP Third Generation Partnership Project

BS Base Station

CA Carrier Aggregation

CGI Cell Global Identifier

CP Cyclic Prefix

CPICH Common Pilot Channel CQI Channel Quality information

C-RNTI Cell RNTI

CSI Channel State Information

CSI-RS Channel State Information- Reference signals

DL Downlink

E-CID Enhanced Cell-ID

ECGI Evolved CGI

eNB E-UTRAN NodeB

ePDCCH enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel

E-SMLC evolved Serving Mobile Location Center

E-UTRA Evolved UTRA

E-UTRAN Evolved UTRAN

EPC Evolved Packet Core

FDD Frequency Division Duplex

FDM Frequency Division Multiplexing

FFT Fast Fourier Transform

GSM Global System for Mobile communication gNB New Radio Base Station

HARQ Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request

LTE Long Term Evolution

MIB Master Information Block

MME Mobility Management Entity

MSC Mobile Switching Center

NPDCCH Narrowband Physical Downlink Control Channel

NR New Radio

OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

OFDMA Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access

OSS Operations Support System

O&M Operation and Maintenance

PBCH Physical Broadcast Channel

P-CCPCH Primary Common Control Physical Channel

PCell Primary Cell

PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel

PLMN Public Land Mobile Network

PRS Positioning Reference Signal

PSS Primary Synchronization Signals

PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel

PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel

RE Resource Element

RB Resource Block

RF Radio Frequency

RLM Radio Link Management

RRC Radio Resource Control

RSCP Received Signal Code Power

RSRP Reference Signal Received Power

RSRQ Reference Signal Received Quality

RSSI Received Signal Strength Indicator

RSTD Reference Signal Time Difference

RTT Round Trip-Time

RACH Random Access Channel

RAT Radio Access Technology

RLM Radio Link Management

RNC Radio Network Controller

RNTI Radio Network Temporary Identifier

RRC Radio Resource Control

RRM Radio Resource Management

RS Reference Signals

RSRP Reference Signals Received Power

RSRQ Reference Signals Received Quality

RSSI Received Signal Strength indicator

Rx Receive

SCH Synchronization Channel

SCell Secondary Cell

SI System Information

SIB System Information Block SINR Signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio

SMLC Serving Mobile Location Center

S R Signal Noise Ratio

SON Self Optimized Network

SS Synchronization Signals

sss Secondary Synchronization Signals

TDD Time Division Duplex

TDM Time Division Multiplexing

TRP Transport Reference Point

TTI Transmission Time Interval

Tx Transmit

UE User Equipment

UL Uplink

UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System

UTRA Universal Terrestrial Radio Access

UTRAN Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network

WD Wireless Device

As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art, the concepts described herein may be embodied as a method, data processing system, and/or computer program product.

Accordingly, the concepts described herein may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects all generally referred to herein as a "circuit" or "module." Furthermore, the disclosure may take the form of a computer program product on a tangible computer usable storage medium having computer program code embodied in the medium that can be executed by a computer. Any suitable tangible computer readable medium may be utilized including hard disks, CD-ROMs, electronic storage devices, optical storage devices, or magnetic storage devices.

Some embodiments are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, systems and computer program products. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable memory or storage medium that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

It is to be understood that the functions/acts noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted in the operational illustrations. For example, two blocks shown in succession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/acts involved. Although some of the diagrams include arrows on communication paths to show a primary direction of

communication, it is to be understood that communication may occur in the opposite direction to the depicted arrows.

Computer program code for carrying out operations of the concepts described herein may be written in an object oriented programming language such as Java® or C++.

However, the computer program code for carrying out operations of the disclosure may also be written in conventional procedural programming languages, such as the "C" programming language. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).

Many different embodiments have been disclosed herein, in connection with the above description and the drawings. It will be understood that it would be unduly repetitious and obfuscating to literally describe and illustrate every combination and subcombination of these embodiments. Accordingly, all embodiments can be combined in any way and/or combination, and the present specification, including the drawings, shall be construed to constitute a complete written description of all combinations and subcombinations of the embodiments described herein, and of the manner and process of making and using them, and shall support claims to any such combination or subcombination.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein are not limited to what has been particularly shown and described herein above. In addition, unless mention was made above to the contrary, it should be noted that all of the accompanying drawings are not to scale. A variety of modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings without departing from the scope of the following claims.