IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,542,636
Granted Patent B2
US 12,542,636 · App. 18/455,955 · Granted Feb 3, 2026

Method for transmitting sounding reference signal for user equipment with asymmetric transmit/receive

Inventors: Yu Zhang (San Diego, CA); Wanshi Chen (San Diego, CA); Chao Wei (Beijing, CN); Peter Gaal (San Diego, CA); Timo Ville Vintola (San Diego, CA); Vishal Mahajan (Dublin, CA); Alexei Yurievitch Gorokhov (San Diego, CA); Amir Aminzadeh Gohari (Sunnyvale, CA); Alexandros Manolakos (Escondido, CA); Joseph Binamira Soriaga (San Diego, CA); Valentin Alexandru Gheorghiu (Yokohama, JP)
Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
H04L5/0048H04B7/0413H04L5/001
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,542,636
App. No.
18/455,955
Granted
Feb 3, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications are described. A user equipment (UE) may transmit a UE capability message, the UE capability message indicating a supported transmit antenna switching (TxAS) capability for each port of the UE. The UE may receive a configuration message indicating an uplink multiple-input/multiple-output (UL MIMO) configuration for the UE, the UL MIMO configuration being based at least in part on the UE capability message. The UE may identify, based at least in part on the configuration message, a sounding reference signal (SRS) configuration to use for transmitting SRSs in conjunction with the UL MIMO communications, the SRS configuration comprising a configuration for transmission by the UE of SRSs using at least one of the two or more ports of the UE, the SRSs transmitted on one or more antennas of the UE selected according to a TxAS configuration for the respective port.

Claims (70)

1 . A user equipment (UE), comprising:

one or more memories storing processor-executable code; and

one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories and individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:

transmit a UE capability message to a network device using one or more antennas of the UE, the UE capability message indicating a supported transmit antenna switching (TxAS) capability for a plurality of ports of the UE, wherein each port of the plurality of ports of the UE comprises a transmit path;

perform transmissions using some or all of the one or more antennas of the UE;

receive a trigger message from the network device indicating that the UE is to perform an aperiodic sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission;

identify, in response to the trigger message, a TxAS configuration for the UE to use to transmit the aperiodic SRS transmission; and

transmit the aperiodic SRS transmission using the one or more antennas selected based at least in part on the TxAS configuration.

2 . The UE of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:

receive a message from the network device indicating the TxAS configuration for the UE to use to transmit the aperiodic SRS transmission based at least in part on the UE capability message.

3 . The UE of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:

decode one or more bits in the trigger message to identify the TxAS configuration.

4 . The UE of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:

apply a reverse masking procedure to a field in the trigger message to identify the TxAS configuration.

5 . The UE of claim 4 , wherein the field comprises a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) field of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) signal.

6 . The UE of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:

decode one or more bits in the trigger message to identify the TxAS configuration from a plurality of possible TxAS configurations.

7 . The UE of claim 6 , wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:

receive an indication of the plurality of possible TxAS configurations from the network device during a channel connection or reconfiguration procedure.

8 . The UE of claim 6 , wherein an indication of the plurality of possible TxAS configurations is received via radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

9 . The UE of claim 6 , wherein an indication of the plurality of possible TxAS configurations is received in response to the UE capability message transmitted by the UE.

10 . The UE of claim 6 , wherein an indication of the plurality of possible TxAS configurations is received via a media access control (MAC) control element (CE).

11 . The UE of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:

select a TxAS configuration that comprises an SRS transmission using fewer ports than antennas.

12 . The UE of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the UE to: select the TxAS configuration that comprises an SRS transmission where different port and antenna pairs are transmitted during different SRS transmission instances.

13 . The UE of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:

perform, based at least in part on the TxAS configuration, the aperiodic SRS transmission using one port over two or more antennas.

14 . The UE of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:

determine that the UE has a different number of transmit paths than receive paths, wherein the TxAS configuration is selected based at least in part on the determining.

15 . A method for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising:

transmitting a UE capability message to a network device using one or more antennas of the UE, the UE capability message indicating a supported transmit antenna switching (TxAS) capability for a plurality of ports of the UE, wherein each port of the plurality of ports of the UE comprises a transmit path;

performing transmissions using some or all of the one or more antennas of the UE;

receiving a trigger message from the network device indicating that the UE is to perform an aperiodic sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission;

identifying, in response to the trigger message, a TxAS configuration for the UE to use to transmit the aperiodic SRS transmission; and

transmitting the aperiodic SRS transmission using the one or more antennas selected based at least in part on the TxAS configuration.

16 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

receiving a message from the network device indicating the TxAS configuration for the UE to use to transmit the aperiodic SRS transmission based at least in part on the UE capability message.

17 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

decoding one or more bits in the trigger message to identify the TxAS configuration.

18 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

applying a reverse masking procedure to a field in the trigger message to identify the TxAS configuration.

19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein:

the field comprises a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) field of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) signal.

20 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

decoding one or more bits in the trigger message to identify the TxAS configuration from a plurality of possible TxAS configurations.

21 . The method of claim 20 , further comprising:

receiving an indication of the plurality of possible TxAS configurations from the network device during a channel connection or reconfiguration procedure.

22 . The method of claim 20 , wherein an indication of the plurality of possible TxAS configurations is received via radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

23 . The method of claim 20 , wherein an indication of the plurality of possible TxAS configurations is received in response to the UE capability message transmitted by the UE.

24 . The method of claim 20 , wherein: an indication of the plurality of possible TxAS configurations is received via a media access control (MAC) control element (CE).

25 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

selecting a TxAS configuration that comprises an SRS transmission using fewer ports than antennas.

26 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

selecting the TxAS configuration that comprises an SRS transmission where different port and antenna pairs are transmitted during different SRS transmission instances.

27 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

performing, based at least in part on the TxAS configuration, the aperiodic SRS transmission using one port over two or more antennas.

28 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

determine that the UE has a different number of transmit paths than receive paths, wherein the TxAS configuration is selected based at least in part on the determining.

29 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication, the code comprising instructions executable by one or more processors to:

transmit, from a user equipment (UE), a UE capability message to a network device using one or more antennas of the UE, the UE capability message indicating a supported transmit antenna switching (TxAS) capability for a plurality of ports of the UE, wherein each port of the plurality of ports of the UE comprises a transmit path;

perform transmissions using some or all of the one or more antennas of the UE;

receive a trigger message from the network device indicating that the UE is to perform an aperiodic sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission;

identify, in response to the trigger message, a TxAS configuration for the UE to use to transmit the aperiodic SRS transmission; and

transmit the aperiodic SRS transmission using the one or more antennas selected based at least in part on the TxAS configuration.

30 . A user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising:

means for transmitting a UE capability message to a network device using one or more antennas of the UE, the UE capability message indicating a supported transmit antenna switching (TxAS) capability for a plurality of ports of the UE, wherein each port of the plurality of ports of the UE comprises a transmit path;

means for performing transmissions using some or all of the one or more antennas of the UE;

means for receiving a trigger message from the network device indicating that the UE is to perform an aperiodic sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission;

means for identifying, in response to the trigger message, a TxAS configuration for the UE to use to transmit the aperiodic SRS transmission; and

means for transmitting the aperiodic SRS transmission using the one or more antennas selected based at least in part on the TxAS configuration.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Sep 7, 2023
From: ZHANG, YU; CHEN, WANSHI; WEI, CHAO; GAAL, PETER; VINTOLA, TIMO VILLE; MAHAJAN, VISHAL; GOROKHOV, ALEXEI YURIEVITCH; AMINZADEH GOHARI, AMIR; MANOLAKOS, ALEXANDROS; SORIAGA, JOSEPH BINAMIRA; GHEORGHIU, VALENTIN ALEXANDRU
To: QUALCOMM INCORPORATED
Reel/Frame 064829/0923 →
Priority Claims (1)
WO PCT/CN2017/098815 · Aug 24, 2017 · international
Continuity (2)
Continuation 16641639
Related Publication 20240072963A1 · Feb 29, 2024
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