Demodulation reference signals in a communication system

1. A method, comprising

transmitting, by communication devices, demodulation reference signals within associated cells using at least two different modes, wherein

in a first mode demodulation reference signals that are grouped into a same sequence group are communicated and separation of the demodulation reference signals across the cells and the communication devices is provided by adjusting bandwidth options on the transmitted demodulation reference signals; and

in a second mode demodulation reference signals that are grouped into different sequence groups are communicated and non-adjusted across the cells and the communication devices.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the separation in the first mode comprises orthogonalisation of the demodulation reference signals.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the separation in the first mode comprises cyclic shifting of the demodulation reference signals.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1 , comprising coordinating use of the different modes by a bandwidth tree.

5. The method as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the bandwidth tree resembles a sounding reference signal bandwidth tree.

6. The method as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the bandwidth tree is arranged to have wider bandwidths that are multiples of a narrower bandwidth or the bandwidth tree is arranged to provide different bandwidth options.

7. The method as claimed in claim 4 , comprising providing an indication for a communication device of a bandwidth tree to be used.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the separation in the first mode comprises at least one of adjusting bandwidth or applying an interleaved frequency division multiple access (IFDMA) comb to the demodulation reference signals.

9. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the first mode comprises adjusting cyclic shifting of the demodulation reference signal.

10. The method as claimed in claim 5 , comprising adjusting the bandwidth to be the same within a set of communication devices with substantially similar bandwidth allocations.

11. The method as claimed in claim 1 , comprising use of block spreading to separate demodulation reference signals.

12. The method as claimed in claim 1 , comprising providing acceptable cross-correlation properties in a system comprising a plurality of base stations by ensuring that acceptable orthogonality is maintained between the base stations when needed.

13. The method as claimed in claim 1 , comprising selecting the first mode when substantially orthogonal demodulation reference signal sequences are considered necessary and selecting the second mode where demodulation when demodulation reference signal orthogonality is not considered necessary.

14. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the separation in the first mode comprises adjusting demodulation reference signals to provide substantially orthogonal demodulation references signals in a plurality of cells.

15. The method as claimed in claim 1 , comprising selecting at a communication device one of the available modes.

16. The method as claimed in claim 15 , comprising selecting the mode based on dedicated signaling.

17. The method as claimed in claim 15 , comprising selecting the mode based on radio resource control signaling, uplink grant signaling, or both.

18. The method as claimed in claim 15 , comprising selecting the mode based on a scheduling rank and a threshold.

19. The method as claimed in claim 15 , comprising selecting the mode based on information regarding frequency location of a physical resource block allocation.

20. The method as claimed in claim 1 , comprising switching from a mode to another mode in response to detection of a predefined event.

21. The method as claimed in claim 20 , comprising using the second mode as a default mode and switching to the first mode in response to determination of a need for improved orthogonality.

22. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the sequence group of the first mode is one of the different sequence groups available for the second mode.

23. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the sequence group of the first mode is not a sequence group of the second mode.

24. The method as claimed in claim 1 , comprising assigning the first mode and second mode to different frequency regions.

25. The method as claimed in claim 1 , comprising using by at least one communication device, the at least two modes for uplink coordinated multi-point communications.

26. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein multiple communication points are provided by elements of an multiple input multiple output apparatus, the method comprising use of the at least two modes for uplink communication with the multiple input multiple output apparatus.

27. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code,

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

controlling use of at least two different modes for transmitting, by communication devices, demodulation reference signals within associated cells, wherein

in a first mode demodulation reference signals that are grouped into a same sequence group are communicated and separation of the demodulation reference signals across the cells and the communication devices is provided by adjusting bandwidth options on the transmitted demodulation reference signals, and

in a second mode demodulation reference signals that are grouped into different sequence groups are communicated and non-adjusted across the cells and the communication devices.

28. The apparatus as claimed in claim 27 , wherein the separation of the demodulation reference signals in the first mode is provided by orthogonalisation of the demodulation reference signals.

29. The apparatus as claimed in claim 27 , wherein the separation of the demodulation reference signals in the first mode is provided by cyclic shifting of the demodulation reference signals.

30. The apparatus as claimed in claim 27 , wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to perform: coordinating use of the different modes by means of a bandwidth tree.

31. The apparatus as claimed in claim 30 , wherein the bandwidth tree resembles a sounding reference signal bandwidth tree.

32. The apparatus as claimed in claim 30 , wherein the bandwidth tree is arranged to have wider bandwidths that are multiples of a narrower bandwidth or the bandwidth tree is arranged to provide different bandwidth options.

33. The apparatus as claimed in claim 30 , wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to perform: providing an indication for a communication device of a bandwidth tree to be used.

34. The apparatus as claimed in claim 27 , wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to perform: providing the separation in the first mode by at least one of adjusting bandwidth or applying an interleaved frequency division multiple access (IFDMA) comb to the demodulation reference signals.

35. The apparatus as claimed in claim 27 , wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to perform: adjusting cyclic shifting of the demodulation reference signal in the first mode.

36. The apparatus as claimed in claim 35 , wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to perform: adjusting the bandwidth to be the same within a set of communication devices with substantially similar bandwidth allocations.

37. The apparatus as claimed in claim 27 , wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to perform: using block spreading to separate demodulation reference signals.

38. The apparatus as claimed in claim 27 , wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to perform: providing acceptable cross-correlation properties in a system comprising a plurality of base stations by ensuring that acceptable orthogonality is maintained between the base stations when needed.

39. The apparatus as claimed in claim 27 , wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to perform: selecting the first mode when substantially orthogonal demodulation reference signal sequences are considered necessary and to select the second mode where demodulation when demodulation reference signal orthogonality is not considered necessary.

40. The apparatus as claimed in claim 27 , wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to perform: providing the separation in the first mode by means of adjusting demodulation reference signals to provide substantially orthogonal demodulation references signals in a plurality of cells.

41. The apparatus as claimed in claim 27 , wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to perform: providing switching from a mode to another mode in response to detection of a predefined event.

42. The apparatus as claimed in claim 41 , wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to perform: using the second mode as a default mode and to switch to the first mode in response to determination of a need for improved orthogonality.

43. The apparatus as claimed in claim 27 , wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to perform: assigning the first mode and second mode to different frequency regions.

44. The apparatus as claimed in claim 27 , wherein the multiple communication points of the system comprise stations of a cellular system, and wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to perform: using the at least two modes for uplink coordinated multi-point communications.

45. The apparatus as claimed in claim 27 , wherein the multiple communication points are provided by elements of a multiple input multiple output apparatus, and wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to perform: using the at least two modes for uplink communication with the multiple input multiple output apparatus.

46. The apparatus as claimed in claim 27 , wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to perform: selecting the mode based on radio resource control signaling, uplink grant signaling, or both.

47. The apparatus as claimed in claim 27 , wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to perform: selecting the mode based on a scheduling rank and a threshold.

48. The apparatus method as claimed in claim 27 , wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to perform: selecting the mode based on information regarding frequency location of a physical resource block allocation.

49. An apparatus in accordance with claim 27 comprising a communication device.

50. An apparatus as claimed in claim 49 , wherein the apparatus is configured to select one of the available modes based on signals from a base station.

51. An apparatus in accordance with claim 27 comprising a base station.

52. An apparatus as claimed in claim 51 , configured to communicate information regarding mode selection to a communication based on dedicated signaling, broadcasting, or both signaling and broadcasting.

53. A computer program product directly loadable into the internal memory of a digital computer comprising software code configured to perform:

transmitting, by communication devices, demodulation reference signals within associated cells using at least two different modes, wherein

in a first mode demodulation reference signals that are grouped into a same sequence group are communicated and separation of the demodulation reference signals across the cells and the communication devices is provided by adjusting bandwidth options on the transmitted demodulation reference signals; and

in a second mode demodulation reference signals that are grouped into different sequence groups are communicated and non-adjusted across the cells and the communication devices.