System and method for phase tracking reference signal (PT-RS) multiplexing

1. An apparatus of a base station, operable to use phase tracking reference signals (PT-RSs), the apparatus comprising:

one or more processors configured to:

identify a plurality of modulation and coding schemes (MCSs) for a UE for each of a plurality of bandwidth parts (BWPs) each having a subcarrier spacing (SCS);

select a time density of a PT-RS for each of the plurality of BWPs based on the MCS of each respective BWP;

select a frequency density of the PT-RS for each of the plurality of BWPs based on an allocated bandwidth for each respective BWP; and

encode the time density and the frequency density for the PT-RS for each of the plurality of BWPs for transmission to the UE in higher layer signaling; and

a memory interface configured to send to a memory the time density for each of the plurality of BWPs based on the MCS of each respective BWP, and frequency density for each of the plurality of BWPs based on the allocated bandwidth for each respective BWP.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to encode the PT-RS for each of the plurality of BWPs for transmission to the UE in the BWP associated with the respective PT-RS, with at least one of the PT-RSs starting at a first data symbol that is not used by a demodulation reference symbol (DM-RS) in a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) allocation.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to encode the PT-RS for each of the plurality of BWPs for transmission to the UE at a resource element in each respective BWP that is not used by a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), or a synchronization signal (SS) block.

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

decode a time density of an uplink (UL) PT-RS received from the UE for a BWP based on an MCS of the BWP; and

decode a frequency density of the UL PT-RS received from the UE for the BWP based on the allocated bandwidth of the BWP.

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

decode a time density of an uplink (UL) PT-RS received from the UE, for each of the plurality of BWPs based on an MCS of each respective BWP; and

decode a frequency density of the UL PT-RS received from the UE for each of the plurality of BWPs based on the allocated bandwidth of each respective BWP.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to decode a PT-RS received from the UE in a BWP of the plurality of BWPs, with the PT-RS received from the UE starting at a first data symbol that is not used by a demodulation reference symbol (DM-RS) in a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) allocation.

7. At least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium having instructions embodied thereon for a base station, operable to use phase tracking reference signals (PT-RSs), the instructions thereon when executed by one or more processors at the base station perform the following:

select a time density of a PT-RS for each of a plurality of bandwidth parts (BWPs) based on a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) of each respective BWP;

select a frequency density of the PT-RS for each of the plurality of BWPs based on an allocated bandwidth for each respective BWP; and

encode the time density and the frequency density for the PT-RS for each of the plurality of BWPs for transmission to the UE in higher layer signaling.

8. The at least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium in claim 7 further comprising instructions, that when executed by the one or more processors at the base station, perform the following:

encode the PT-RS for each of the plurality of BWPs for transmission to the UE in the BWP associated with the respective PT-RS, with at least one of the PT-RSs starting at a first data symbol that is not used by a demodulation reference symbol (DM-RS) in a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) allocation.

9. The at least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium in claim 7 further comprising instructions, that when executed by the one or more processors at the base station, perform the following:

encode the PT-RS for each of the plurality of BWPs for transmission to the UE at a resource element in each respective BWP that is not used by a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), or a synchronization signal (SS) block.

10. The at least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium in claim 7 further comprising instructions, that when executed by the one or more processors at the base station, perform the following:

decode a time density of an uplink (UL) PT-RS received from the UE for a BWP based on an MCS of the BWP; and

decode a frequency density of the UL PT-RS received from the UE for the BWP based on an allocated bandwidth of the BWP.

11. The at least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium in claim 7 further comprising instructions, that when executed by the one or more processors at the base station, perform the following:

decode a time density of an uplink (UL) PT-RS, received from the UE, for each of the plurality of BWPs based on an MCS of each respective BWP; and

decode a frequency density of the UL PT-RS received from the UE for each of the plurality of BWPs based on an allocated bandwidth of each respective BWP.

12. The at least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium in claim 7 further comprising instructions, that when executed by the one or more processors at the base station, perform the following:

decode a PT-RS received from the UE in a BWP of the plurality of BWPs, with the PT-RS received from the UE starting at a first data symbol that is not used by a demodulation reference symbol (DM-RS) in a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) allocation.