Short control messages using index modulation on demodulation reference signals

1. A method of wireless communication performed by a base station, the method comprising:

determining, by the base station, a configuration action for a served user equipment (UE) in communication with a network node;

generating, by the base station, a short control message associated with the configuration action;

mapping, by the base station, the short control message onto a set of inactive subcarrier resource elements (REs) of a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) sequence;

transmitting, by the base station, the DMRS sequence to the served UE, wherein the DMRS sequence includes the short control message within the set of inactive subcarrier REs of the DMRS sequence; and

wherein the mapping the short control message includes:

selecting an initialization seed from a set of available initialization seeds associated with generation of the DMRS sequence;

generating the DMRS sequence, wherein the DMRS sequences generated includes the set of inactive subcarrier REs associated with the initialization seed selected; and

mapping the short control message to the set of known inactive subcarrier REs associated with the initialization seed.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein each subcarrier RE of the set of inactive subcarrier REs is spaced at a predetermined spacing.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein a first subcarrier RE of the set of inactive REs is located at an offset from a first known active subcarrier RE of the DMRS sequence.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the short control message within the set of known inactive subcarrier REs of the DMRS sequence includes a DMRS pilot signal transmitted within the set of inactive subcarrier REs.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the configuration action includes one or more of:

beam management;

power management;

adaptive DMRS management;

slot structure configuration; or

configuration of analog-to-digital converter (ADC) bits.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the short control message is represented by fewer than 10 bits.

7. A method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:

receiving, by the UE, a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) from a transmitting base station;

identifying, by the UE, a short control message within a set of expected inactive subcarrier resource elements (REs) of a known sequence of the DMRS, wherein the short control message is associated with a configuration action of a network node;

adjusting, by the UE, a configuration of the configuration action using control information from the short control message; and

wherein the identifying the short control message includes:

correlating the known sequence of the DMRS using a plurality of potential sequences associated with a set of available initialization seeds; and

identifying the short control message in response to the correlating.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein each subcarrier RE of the set of expected inactive subcarrier REs is spaced at a predetermined spacing.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein a first subcarrier RE of the set of known inactive REs is located at a predetermined offset from a first expected active subcarrier RE of the DMRS sequence.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the short control message within the set of expected inactive subcarrier REs of the known DMRS sequence includes a DMRS pilot signal transmitted within the set of expected inactive subcarrier REs.

11. The method of claim 7 , wherein the configuration action includes one or more of:

beam management;

power management;

adaptive DMRS management;

slot structure configuration; or

configuration of analog-to-digital converter (ADC) bits.

12. The method of claim 7 , wherein the short control message is represented by fewer than 10 bits.

13. A base station comprising:

a memory storing processor-readable code; and

at least one processor coupled to the memory, the at least one processor configured to execute the processor-readable code to cause the at least one processor to:

determine, by the base station, a configuration action for a served user equipment (UE) in communication with a network node;

generate, by the base station, a short control message associated with the configuration action;

map, by the base station, the short control message onto a set of inactive subcarrier resource elements (REs) of a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) sequence;

transmit, by the base station, the DMRS sequence to the served UE, wherein the DMRS sequence includes the short control message within the set of inactive subcarrier REs of the DMRS sequence; and

wherein to map the short control message the at least one processor is configured to:

select an initialization seed from a set of available initialization seeds associated with generation of the DMRS sequence;

generate the DMRS sequence, wherein the DMRS sequences generated includes the set of inactive subcarrier REs associated with the initialization seed selected; and

map the short control message to the set of known inactive subcarrier REs associated with the initialization seed.

14. The base station of claim 13 , wherein each subcarrier RE of the set of inactive subcarrier REs is spaced at a predetermined spacing.

15. The base station of claim 14 , wherein a first subcarrier RE of the set of inactive REs is located at an offset from a first known active subcarrier RE of the DMRS sequence.

16. The base station of claim 13 , wherein the short control message within the set of known inactive subcarrier REs of the DMRS sequence includes a DMRS pilot signal transmitted within the set of inactive subcarrier REs.

17. The base station of claim 13 , wherein the configuration action includes one or more of:

beam management;

power management;

adaptive DMRS management;

slot structure configuration; or

configuration of analog-to-digital converter (ADC) bits.

18. The base station of claim 13 , wherein the short control message is represented by fewer than 10 bits.

19. A user equipment (UE) comprising:

a memory storing processor-readable code; and

at least one processor coupled to the memory, the at least one processor configured to execute the processor-readable code to cause the at least one processor to:

receive, by the UE, a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) from a transmitting base station;

identify, by the UE, a short control message within a set of expected inactive subcarrier resource elements (REs) of a known sequence of the DMRS, wherein the short control message is associated with a configuration action of a network node;

adjust, by the UE, a configuration of the configuration action using control information from the short control message; and

wherein to identify the short control message the at least one processor is configured to:

correlate the known sequence of the DMRS using a plurality of potential sequences associated with a set of available initialization seeds; and

identify the short control message in response to the correlation.

20. The UE of claim 19 , wherein each subcarrier RE of the set of expected inactive subcarrier REs is spaced at a predetermined spacing.

21. The UE of claim 20 , wherein a first subcarrier RE of the set of known inactive REs is located at a predetermined offset from a first expected active subcarrier RE of the DMRS sequence.

22. The UE of claim 19 , wherein the short control message within the set of expected inactive subcarrier REs of the known DMRS sequence includes a DMRS pilot signal transmitted within the set of expected inactive subcarrier REs.

23. The UE of claim 19 , wherein the configuration action includes one or more of:

beam management;

power management;

adaptive DMRS management;

slot structure configuration; or

configuration of analog-to-digital converter (ADC) bits.

24. The UE of claim 19 , wherein the short control message is represented by fewer than 10 bits.

25. An apparatus configured for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising:

means for determining, by the base station, a configuration action for a served user equipment (UE) in communication with a network node;

means for generating, by the base station, a short control message associated with the configuration action;

means for mapping, by the base station, the short control message onto a set of inactive subcarrier resource elements (REs) of a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) sequence;

means for transmitting, by the base station, the DMRS sequence to the served UE, wherein the DMRS sequence includes the short control message within the set of inactive subcarrier REs of the DMRS sequence; and

wherein the means for mapping the short control message includes:

means for selecting an initialization seed from a set of available initialization seeds associated with generation of the DMRS sequence;

means for setting of inactive subcarrier REs associated with the initialization seed selected; and

means for mapping the short control message to the set of known inactive subcarrier REs associated with the initialization seed.

26. The apparatus of claim 25 , wherein each subcarrier RE of the set of inactive subcarrier REs is spaced at a predetermined spacing.

27. The apparatus of claim 26 , wherein a first subcarrier RE of the set of inactive REs is located at an offset from a first known active subcarrier RE of the DMRS sequence.

28. The apparatus of claim 25 , wherein the short control message within the set of known inactive subcarrier REs of the DMRS sequence includes a DMRS pilot signal transmitted within the set of inactive subcarrier REs.

29. The apparatus of claim 25 , wherein the configuration action includes one or more of:

beam management;

power management;

adaptive DMRS management;

slot structure configuration; or

configuration of analog-to-digital converter (ADC) bits.

30. The apparatus of claim 25 , wherein the short control message is represented by fewer than 10 bits.

31. An apparatus configured for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising:

means for receiving, by the UE, a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) from a transmitting base station;

means for identifying, by the UE, a short control message within a set of expected inactive subcarrier resource elements (REs) of a known sequence of the DMRS, wherein the short control message is associated with a configuration action of a network node;

means for adjusting, by the UE, a configuration of the configuration action using control information from the short control message; and

wherein the means for identifying the short control message includes:

means for correlating the known sequence of the DMRS using a plurality of potential sequences associated with a set of available initialization seeds; and

means for identifying the short control message in response to the means for correlating.

32. The apparatus of claim 31 , wherein each subcarrier RE of the set of expected inactive subcarrier REs is spaced at a predetermined spacing.

33. The apparatus of claim 32 , wherein a first subcarrier RE of the set of known inactive REs is located at a predetermined offset from a first expected active subcarrier RE of the DMRS sequence.

34. The apparatus of claim 31 , wherein the short control message within the set of expected inactive subcarrier REs of the known DMRS sequence includes a DMRS pilot signal transmitted within the set of expected inactive subcarrier REs.

35. The apparatus of claim 31 , wherein the configuration action includes one or more of:

beam management;

power management;

adaptive DMRS management;

slot structure configuration; or

configuration of analog-to-digital converter (ADC) bits.

36. The apparatus of claim 31 , wherein the short control message is represented by fewer than 10 bits.

37. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

determining, by the base station, a configuration action for a served user equipment (UE) in communication with a network node;

generating, by the base station, a short control message associated with the configuration action;

mapping, by the base station, the short control message onto a set of inactive subcarrier resource elements (REs) of a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) sequence;

transmitting, by the base station, the DMRS sequence to the served UE, wherein the DMRS sequence includes the short control message within the set of inactive subcarrier REs of the DMRS sequence; and

wherein to map the short control message the operations include:

selecting an initialization seed from a set of available initialization seeds associated with generation of the DMRS sequence;

generating the DMRS sequence, wherein the DMRS sequences generated includes the set of inactive subcarrier REs associated with the initialization seed selected; and

mapping the short control message to the set of known inactive subcarrier REs associated with the initialization seed.

38. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 37 , wherein each subcarrier RE of the set of inactive subcarrier REs is spaced at a predetermined spacing.

39. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 38 , wherein a first subcarrier RE of the set of inactive REs is located at an offset from a first known active subcarrier RE of the DMRS sequence.

40. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 37 , wherein the short control message within the set of known inactive subcarrier REs of the DMRS sequence includes a DMRS pilot signal transmitted within the set of inactive subcarrier REs.

41. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 37 , wherein the configuration action includes one or more of:

beam management;

power management;

adaptive DMRS management;

slot structure configuration; or

configuration of analog-to-digital converter (ADC) bits.

42. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 37 , wherein the short control message is represented by fewer than 10 bits.

43. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving, by the UE, a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) from a transmitting base station;

identifying, by the UE, a short control message within a set of expected inactive subcarrier resource elements (REs) of a known sequence of the DMRS, wherein the short control message is associated with a configuration action of a network node; and

adjusting, by the UE, a configuration of the configuration action using control information from the short control message; and

wherein to identify the short control message the operations include:

correlating the known sequence of the DMRS using a plurality of potential sequences associated with a set of available initialization seeds; and

identifying the short control message in response to the correlating.

44. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 43 , wherein each subcarrier RE of the set of expected inactive subcarrier REs is spaced at a predetermined spacing.

45. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 44 , wherein a first subcarrier RE of the set of known inactive REs is located at a predetermined offset from a first expected active subcarrier RE of the DMRS sequence.

46. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 43 , wherein the short control message within the set of expected inactive subcarrier REs of the known DMRS sequence includes a DMRS pilot signal transmitted within the set of expected inactive subcarrier REs.

47. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 43 , wherein the configuration action includes one or more of:

beam management;

power management;

adaptive DMRS management;

slot structure configuration; or

configuration of analog-to-digital converter (ADC) bits.

48. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 43 , wherein the short control message is represented by fewer than 10 bits.