Subframe structure for discrete Fourier transform (DFT) spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (S-OFDM) waveforms

1. An apparatus of a base station operable to encode guard interval (GI) discrete Fourier transform (DFT) spread orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) (GI-DFT-s-OFDM) data symbols for transmission to a user equipment (UE), the base station comprising:

one or more processors configured to:

identify, at the base station, GI-DFT-s-OFDM data symbols for transmission to the UE; and

encode, at the base station, the GI-DFT-s-OFDM data symbols for transmission to the UE in a subframe, wherein the subframe is in accordance with a flexible subframe structure that begins with a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) sequence followed by a GI sequence in a first symbol of the subframe, and further comprises one or more subsequent symbols in the subframe that each include a GI-DFT-s-OFDM data symbol followed by a GI sequence; and

a memory interface configured to retrieve from a memory the GI-DFT-s-OFDM data symbols for transmission to the UE.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a transceiver configured to transmit the GI-DFT-s-OFDM data symbols to the UE in the subframe.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each GI-DFT-s-OFDM data symbol in the subframe has an associated GI sequence at a head of the GI-DFT-s-OFDM data symbol and an associated GI sequence at a tail of the GI-DFT-s-OFDM data symbol to achieve circular convolution.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a subsequent symbol in the one or more subsequent symbols in the subframe corresponds to a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) window, wherein the FFT window of the subsequent symbol begins at an end of an associated GI sequence at a head of the GI-DFT-s-OFDM data symbol and the FFT window ends at an end of an associated GI sequence at a tail of the GI-DFT-s-OFDM data symbol.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to:

encode GI-DFT-s-OFDM data symbols for transmission to the UE over a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH); or

decode GI-DFT-s-OFDM data symbols received from the UE over a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to encode the GI-DFT-s-OFDM data symbols for transmission to multiple UEs that are multiplexed in the subframe using time division multiplexing (TDM), wherein the subframe includes a separate DMRS sequence for each UE multiplexed in the subframe.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the flexible subframe structure includes a first region that is time division multiplexed with a second region, wherein the first region corresponds to a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and the second region corresponds to a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), wherein the first region includes a DMRS sequence in a first symbol of the first region, and the second region includes a DMRS sequence in a first symbol of the second region.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the flexible subframe structure includes the DMRS sequence and a plurality of GI-DFT-s-OFDM data symbols, wherein each GI-DFT-s-OFDM data symbol is associated with a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) or a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the flexible subframe structure includes a first region that corresponds to a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a second region that corresponds to a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a third region that corresponds to a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) and a gap period between the second region and the third region, wherein the first region includes a DMRS sequence in a first symbol of the first region, and the second region includes a DMRS sequence in a first symbol of the second region.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the flexible subframe structure includes one or more symbols for at least one of: a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), a sounding reference signal (SRS), primary synchronization signal (PSS) or a random access channel (RACH) signal.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the base station operates in a Fifth Generation (5G) high band wireless communication system.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the base station is a next Generation NodeB (gNB).

13. An apparatus of a user equipment (UE) operable to decode guard interval (GI) discrete Fourier transform (DFT) spread orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) (GI-DFT-s-OFDM) data symbols received from a base station, the UE comprising:

one or more processors configured to:

decode, at the UE, the GI-DFT-s-OFDM data symbols received from the base station in a subframe, wherein the subframe is in accordance with a flexible subframe structure that includes a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) sequence followed by a GI sequence in a first symbol of the subframe, and further comprises one or more subsequent symbols in the subframe that each include a GI-DFT-s-OFDM data symbol followed by a GI sequence; and

perform, at the UE, a time domain channel estimation based on the DMRS sequence included in the subframe; and

a memory interface configured to send to a memory the GI-DFT-s-OFDM data symbols received from the base station.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , further comprising a transceiver configured to receive the GI-DFT-s-OFDM data symbols from the base station in the subframe.

15. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein each GI-DFT-s-OFDM data symbol in the subframe has an associated GI sequence at a head of the GI-DFT-s-OFDM data symbol and an associated GI sequence at a tail of the GI-DFT-s-OFDM data symbol to achieve circular convolution.

16. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein a subsequent symbol in the one or more subsequent symbols in the subframe corresponds to a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) window, wherein the FFT window of the subsequent symbol begins at an end of an associated GI sequence at a head of the GI-DFT-s-OFDM data symbol and the FFT window ends at an end of an associated GI sequence at a tail of the GI-DFT-s-OFDM data symbol.

17. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the first symbol of the subframe includes a first GI sequence at a head of the first symbol, a second GI sequence at a tail of the first symbol, and the DMRS sequence between the first GI sequence and the second GI sequence.

18. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to:

decode GI-DFT-s-OFDM data symbols received from the base station over a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH); or

encode GI-DFT-s-OFDM data symbols for transmission to the base station over a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).

19. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the flexible subframe structure includes GI-DFT-s-OFDM data symbols for multiple UEs that are multiplexed in the subframe using time division multiplexing (TDM), wherein the subframe includes a separate DMRS sequence for each UE multiplexed in the subframe.

20. At least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium having instructions embodied thereon for encoding discrete Fourier transform (DFT) spread orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) (DFT-s-OFDM) data symbols for transmission from a base station to a user equipment (UE), the instructions when executed by one or more processors of the base station perform the following:

identifying, at the base station, DFT-s-OFDM data symbols for transmission to the UE; and

encoding, at the base station, the DFT-s-OFDM data symbols for transmission to the UE in a subframe over a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), wherein the subframe begins with a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) sequence followed by a guard interval (GI) sequence or a zero tail (ZT) sequence in a first symbol of the subframe, wherein each subsequent symbol in the subframe includes a DFT-s-OFDM data symbol followed by a GI sequence or a ZT sequence.

21. The at least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 20 , further comprising instructions when executed perform the following: encoding the DFT-s-OFDM data symbols for transmission to multiple UEs that are multiplexed in the subframe using time division multiplexing (TDM), wherein the subframe includes a separate DMRS sequence for each UE multiplexed in the subframe.

22. The at least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 20 , wherein the flexible subframe structure includes a first region that is time division multiplexed with a second region, wherein the first region corresponds to a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and the second region corresponds to a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), wherein the first region includes a DMRS sequence in a first symbol of the first region, and the second region includes a DMRS sequence in a first symbol of the second region.

23. The at least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 20 , wherein the flexible subframe structure includes the DMRS sequence and a plurality of DFT-s-OFDM data symbols, wherein each DFT-s-OFDM data symbol is associated with a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) or a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).

24. The at least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 20 , wherein the flexible subframe structure includes a first region that corresponds to a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a second region that corresponds to a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a third region that corresponds to a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) and a gap period between the second region and the third region, wherein the first region includes a DMRS sequence in a first symbol of the first region, and the second region includes a DMRS sequence in a first symbol of the second region.

25. The at least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 20 , further comprising instructions when executed perform the following: generating a GI-DFT-s-OFDM data symbol by adding the GI sequence before a DFT spread or after a DFT spread.