Radio frequency (RF) communication systems using RF switching guard periods to transmit special symbols in block symbol transmissions
An apparatus includes circuitry that processes a subframe as part of a time-domain signal frame structure used for radio frequency communications. The subframe includes a plurality of block symbols each having an associated time-domain guard period and one or more radio frequency (RF) switching guard periods. Each block symbol of the plurality of block symbols is either a common block symbol or a special block symbol. A common block symbol has a common time-domain guard period with all other common block symbols of the subframe. A special block symbol has a time-domain guard period different from the common time-domain guard period. All the special block symbols in the subframe are placed into the one or more RF switching guard periods.
1. A method, comprising:
processing a subframe as part of a time-domain signal frame structure used for radio frequency communications;
wherein the subframe includes:
a plurality of block symbols each having an associated time-domain guard period;
one or more radio frequency (RF) switching guard periods; and
wherein the time-domain guard period comprises a zero prefix, cyclic prefix or post fix;
wherein each block symbol of the plurality of block symbols is either a common block symbol or a special block symbol;
wherein the common block symbols have a common time-domain guard period;
wherein the special block symbols have a time-domain guard period different from the common time-domain guard period;
wherein all the special block symbols in the subframe are placed into the one or more RF switching guard periods; and
wherein two or more of the special block symbols have a time-domain guard period that is different from each other and that is different from the common time-domain guard period.
2. The method of claim 1 ,
wherein the subframe also includes:
one or more pilot symbols; and
wherein the one or more pilot symbols are common block symbols and precede the other common block symbols of the subframe.
3. The method of claim 1 ,
wherein the subframe begins with one of the one or more RF switching guard periods.
4. The method of claim 1 ,
wherein a number of samples within the common time-domain guard period is a positive integer multiple of a power of two.
5. The method of claim 1 ,
wherein the common time-domain guard period (t cp ) is greater than a delay spread of a channel in which the subframe is transmitted;
wherein a number of samples of the common time-domain guard period (n s _ cp ) is a ceiling function of a product of t cp and a sampling rate of the subframe (f s );
wherein a number of samples of the subframe (n s _ sf ) is a sum of P, Q and R;
wherein P is a product of a number of block symbols of the subframe (n symb ) and a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) size (n fft ) of the block symbols;
wherein Q is a product of n s _ cp and the difference of n symb minus a number of the special block symbols of the subframe (n special _ symb );
wherein R is a total number of samples to be considered for all time-domain guard periods of the subframe different from the common time-domain guard period (n s _ special _ cp _ sum );
wherein t sf is a duration of the subframe;
wherein n symb is a sum of n special _ symb and a floor function of a quotient of U and V;
wherein U is n s _ sf minus a product of n special _ symb and n fft ; and
wherein V is a sum of n fft and n s _ cp .
6. The method of claim 5 ,
wherein n s _ special _ cp _ sum is n s _ sf minus the product of n symb and n fft minus the product of n s _ cp and the difference of n symb minus n special _ symb .
7. The method of claim 5 ,
wherein
n
s_special
_cp
_sum
=
∑
i
=
1
n
special_symb
n
s_special
_cp
(
i
)
;
wherein n s _ special _ cp (i) is a number of samples of the time-domain guard period of the i-th special block symbol of the subframe.
8. The method of claim 1 ,
wherein a number of samples of the common time-domain guard period is a product of W and a ceiling function of a quotient of a product of the common time-domain guard period and a sampling rate and W;
wherein W is a width of a wide data path of digital signal processing circuitry that processes the number of samples of the common time-domain guard periods.
9. An apparatus, comprising:
circuitry that processes a subframe as part of a time-domain signal frame structure used for radio frequency communications;
wherein the subframe includes:
a plurality of block symbols each having an associated time-domain guard period;
one or more radio frequency (RF) switching guard periods; and
wherein the time-domain guard period comprises a zero prefix, cyclic prefix or post fix;
wherein each block symbol of the plurality of block symbols is either a common block symbol or a special block symbol;
wherein the common block symbols have a common time-domain guard period with all other common block symbols of the subframe;
wherein the special block symbols have a time-domain guard period different from the common time-domain guard period;
wherein all the special block symbols in the subframe are placed into the one or more RF switching guard periods; and
wherein two or more of the special block symbols have a time-domain guard period that is different from each other and that is different from the common time-domain guard period.
10. The apparatus of claim 9 ,
wherein the subframe also includes:
one or more pilot symbols; and
wherein the one or more pilot symbols are common block symbols and precede the other common block symbols of the subframe.
11. The apparatus of claim 9 ,
wherein the subframe begins with one of the one or more RF switching guard periods.
12. The apparatus of claim 9 ,
wherein a number of samples within the common time-domain guard period is a positive integer multiple of a power of two.
13. The apparatus of claim 9 ,
wherein the common time-domain guard period (t cp ) is greater than a delay spread of a channel in which the subframe is transmitted;
wherein a number of samples of the common time-domain guard period (n s _ cp ) is a ceiling function of a product of t cp and a sampling rate of the subframe (f s );
wherein a number of samples of the subframe (n s _ sf ) is a sum of P, Q and R;
wherein P is a product of a number of block symbols of the subframe (n symb ) and a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) size (n fft ) of the block symbols;
wherein Q is a product of n s _ cp and the difference of n symb minus a number of the special block symbols of the subframe (n special _ symb );
wherein R is a total number of samples to be considered for all time-domain guard periods of the subframe different from the common time-domain guard period (n s _ special _ cp _ sum );
wherein t sf is a duration of the subframe;
wherein n symb is a sum of n special _ symb and a floor function of a quotient of U and V;
wherein U is n s _ sf minus a product of n special _ symb and n fft ; and
wherein V is a sum of n fft and n s _ cp .
14. The apparatus of claim 13 ,
wherein n s _ special _ cp _ sum is n s _ sf minus the product of n symb and n fft minus the product of n s _ cp and the difference of n symb minus n special _ symb .
15. The apparatus of claim 13 ,
wherein
n
s_special
_cp
_sum
=
∑
i
=
1
n
special_symb
n
s_special
_cp
(
i
)
;
and
wherein n s _ special _ cp (i) is a number of samples of the time-domain guard period of the i-th special block symbol of the subframe.
16. The apparatus of claim 9 ,
wherein a number of samples of the common time-domain guard period is a product of W and a ceiling function of a quotient of a product of the common time-domain guard period and a sampling rate and W;
wherein W is a width of a wide data path of digital signal processing circuitry that processes the number of samples of the common time-domain guard periods.
17. The apparatus of claim 16 ,
wherein the samples of the time-domain guard periods different from the common time-domain guard periods are ignored by the digital signal processing circuitry.
18. The apparatus of claim 9 ,
wherein the apparatus is a cellular base station.
19. The apparatus of claim 9 ,
wherein the apparatus is a cellular user equipment.
20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that are capable of causing or configuring a computing system to perform operations comprising:
processing a subframe as part of a time-domain signal frame structure used for radio frequency communications;
wherein the subframe includes:
a plurality of block symbols each having an associated time-domain guard period;
one or more radio frequency (RF) switching guard periods; and
wherein the time-domain guard period comprises a zero prefix, cyclic prefix or post fix;
wherein each block symbol of the plurality of block symbols is either a common block symbol or a special block symbol;
wherein the common block symbols have a common time-domain guard period with all other common block symbols of the subframe;
wherein the special block symbols have a time-domain guard period different from the common time-domain guard period;
wherein all the special block symbols in the subframe are placed into the one or more RF switching guard periods; and
wherein two or more of the special block symbols have a time-domain guard period that is different from each other and that is different from the common time-domain guard period.
21. A method, comprising:
processing a subframe as part of a time-domain signal frame structure used for radio frequency communications;
wherein the subframe includes:
a plurality of block symbols each having an associated time-domain guard period;
one or more radio frequency (RF) switching guard periods; and
wherein the time-domain guard period comprises a zero prefix, cyclic prefix or post fix;
wherein each block symbol of the plurality of block symbols is either a common block symbol or a special block symbol;
wherein the common block symbols have a common time-domain guard period;
wherein the special block symbols have a time-domain guard period different from the common time-domain guard period;
wherein all the special block symbols in the subframe are placed into the one or more RF switching guard periods;
wherein the common time-domain guard period (t cp ) is greater than a delay spread of a channel in which the subframe is transmitted;
wherein a number of samples of the common time-domain guard period (n s _ cp ) is a ceiling function of a product of t cp and a sampling rate of the subframe (f s );
wherein a number of samples of the subframe (n s _ sf ) is a sum of P, Q and R;
wherein P is a product of a number of block symbols of the subframe (n symb ) and a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) size (n fft ) of the block symbols;
wherein Q is a product of n s _ cp and the difference of n symb minus a number of the special block symbols of the subframe (n special _ symb );
wherein R is a total number of samples to be considered for all time-domain guard periods of the subframe different from the common time-domain guard period (n s _ special _ cp _ sum );
wherein t sf is a duration of the subframe;
wherein n symb is a sum of n special _ symb and a floor function of a quotient of U and V;
wherein U is n s _ sf minus a product of n special _ symb and n fft ; and
wherein V is a sum of n fft and n s _ cp .
22. An apparatus, comprising:
circuitry that processes a subframe as part of a time-domain signal frame structure used for radio frequency communications;
wherein the subframe includes:
a plurality of block symbols each having an associated time-domain guard period;
one or more radio frequency (RF) switching guard periods; and
wherein the time-domain guard period comprises a zero prefix, cyclic prefix or post fix;
wherein each block symbol of the plurality of block symbols is either a common block symbol or a special block symbol;
wherein the common block symbols have a common time-domain guard period with all other common block symbols of the subframe;
wherein the special block symbols have a time-domain guard period different from the common time-domain guard period; and
wherein all the special block symbols in the subframe are placed into the one or more RF switching guard periods;
wherein the common time-domain guard period (t cp ) is greater than a delay spread of a channel in which the subframe is transmitted;
wherein a number of samples of the common time-domain guard period (n s _ cp ) is a ceiling function of a product of t cp and a sampling rate of the subframe (f s );
wherein a number of samples of the subframe (n s _ sf ) is a sum of P, Q and R;
wherein P is a product of a number of block symbols of the subframe (n symb ) and a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) size (n fft ) of the block symbols;
wherein Q is a product of n s _ cp and the difference of n symb minus a number of the special block symbols of the subframe (n special _ symb );
wherein R is a total number of samples to be considered for all time-domain guard periods of the subframe different from the common time-domain guard period (n s _ special _ cp _ sum );
wherein t sf is a duration of the subframe;
wherein n symb is a sum of n special _ symb and a floor function of a quotient of U and V;
wherein U is n s _ sf minus a product of n special _ symb and n fft ; and
wherein V is a sum of n fft and n s _ cp .
23. A method, comprising:
processing a subframe as part of a time-domain signal frame structure used for radio frequency communications;
wherein the subframe includes:
a plurality of block symbols each having an associated time-domain guard period;
one or more radio frequency (RF) switching guard periods; and
wherein the time-domain guard period comprises a zero prefix, cyclic prefix or post fix;
wherein each block symbol of the plurality of block symbols is either a common block symbol or a special block symbol;
wherein the common block symbols have a common time-domain guard period;
wherein the special block symbols have a time-domain guard period different from the common time-domain guard period; and
wherein all the special block symbols in the subframe are placed into the one or more RF switching guard periods;
wherein a number of samples of the common time-domain guard period is a product of W and a ceiling function of a quotient of a product of the common time-domain guard period and a sampling rate and W;
wherein W is a width of a wide data path of digital signal processing circuitry that processes the number of samples of the common time-domain guard periods.
24. An apparatus, comprising:
circuitry that processes a subframe as part of a time-domain signal frame structure used for radio frequency communications;
wherein the subframe includes:
a plurality of block symbols each having an associated time-domain guard period;
one or more radio frequency (RF) switching guard periods; and
wherein the time-domain guard period comprises a zero prefix, cyclic prefix or post fix;
wherein each block symbol of the plurality of block symbols is either a common block symbol or a special block symbol;
wherein the common block symbols have a common time-domain guard period with all other common block symbols of the subframe;
wherein the special block symbols have a time-domain guard period different from the common time-domain guard period; and
wherein all the special block symbols in the subframe are placed into the one or more RF switching guard periods;
wherein a number of samples of the common time-domain guard period is a product of W and a ceiling function of a quotient of a product of the common time-domain guard period and a sampling rate and W;
wherein W is a width of a wide data path of digital signal processing circuitry that processes the number of samples of the common time-domain guard periods.