Reusing long-term evolution (LTE) reference signals for new radio (NR) system operations

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

receiving, from a first base station associated with a new radio (NR) network employing an NR radio access technology (RAT), a reference signal configuration of a long-term evolution (LTE) network employing an LTE RAT, wherein the reference signal configuration indicates at least reference signal resource mapping information and a number of antenna ports associated with a reference signal of the LTE network;

determining, based on the reference signal configuration of the LTE network, a location of the reference signal of the LTE network;

receiving, from a second base station associated with the LTE network, the reference signal of the LTE network;

receiving, from the first base station via the NR network, a data signal of the NR network, wherein the data signal is in a location that is non-overlapping with at least a portion of the location of the reference signal of the LTE network; and

decoding, at least based on the received reference signal of the LTE network, the data signal of the NR network.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining the location of the reference signal includes determining at least a frequency tone of the reference signal of the LTE network.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the receiving the data signal includes receiving the data signal based on a mapping of data tones to frequency tones that are non-overlapping with the frequency tone of the reference signal of the LTE network.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reference signal configuration indicates at least one of sequence information for the reference signal of the LTE network or a cell identifier of the LTE network.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reference signal includes an LTE common reference signal.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the receiving the reference signal configuration includes receiving a radio resource control (RRC) message including the reference signal configuration.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a measurement of the NR network based on the reference signal of the LTE network; and

transmitting, to the first base station, the determined measurement.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reference signal of the LTE network is based on a subcarrier spacing the same as the NR RAT.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the subcarrier spacing is 15 kilohertz (kHz).

10. A user equipment (UE) for wireless communications, comprising:

memory; and

a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the UE is configured to:

receive, from a first base station associated with a new radio (NR) network employing an NR radio access technology (RAT), a reference signal configuration of a long-term evolution (LTE) network employing an LTE RAT, wherein the reference signal configuration indicates at least reference signal resource mapping information and a number of antenna ports associated with a reference signal of the LTE network;

determine, based on the reference signal configuration of the LTE network, a location of the reference signal of the LTE network;

receive, from a second base station associated with the LTE network, the reference signal of the LTE network;

receive, from the first base station via the NR network, a data signal of the NR network, wherein the data signal is in a location that is non-overlapping with at least a portion of the location of the reference signal of the LTE network; and

decode, at least based on the received reference signal of the LTE network, the data signal of the NR network.

11. The UE of claim 10 , wherein the UE is further configured to determine at least a frequency tone of the reference signal of the LTE network.

12. The UE of claim 11 , wherein the UE is further configured to receive the data signal based on a mapping of data tones to frequency tones that are non-overlapping with the frequency tone of the reference signal of the LTE network.

13. The UE of claim 10 , wherein the reference signal configuration indicates at least one of sequence information for the reference signal of the LTE network or a cell identifier of the LTE network.

14. The UE of claim 10 , wherein the reference signal includes an LTE common reference signal.

15. The UE of claim 10 , wherein the UE is further configured to receive a radio resource control (RRC) message including the reference signal configuration.

16. The UE of claim 10 , wherein the UE is further configured to:

determine a measurement of the NR network based on the reference signal of the LTE network; and

transmit, to the first base station, the determined measurement.

17. The UE of claim 10 , wherein the reference signal of the LTE network is based on a subcarrier spacing the same as the NR RAT.

18. The UE of claim 17 , wherein the subcarrier spacing is 15 kilohertz (kHz).

19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications, the code comprising instructions executable by a user equipment (UE) to:

receive, from a first base station associated with a new radio (NR) network employing an NR radio access technology (RAT), a reference signal configuration of a long-term evolution (LTE) network employing an LTE RAT, wherein the reference signal configuration indicates at least reference signal resource mapping information and a number of antenna ports associated with a reference signal of the LTE network;

determine, based on the reference signal configuration of the LTE network, a location of the reference signal of the LTE network;

receive, from a second base station associated with the LTE network, the reference signal of the LTE network;

receive, from the first base station via the NR network, a data signal of the NR network, wherein the data signal is in a location that is non-overlapping with at least a portion of the location of the reference signal of the LTE network; and

decode, at least based on the received reference signal of the LTE network, the data signal of the NR network.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 , wherein the instructions executable to determine the location of the reference signal further include instructions executable to determine at least a frequency tone of the reference signal of the LTE network.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 20 , wherein the instructions executable to receive the data signal further include instructions executable to receive the data signal based on a mapping of data tones to frequency tones that are non-overlapping with the frequency tone of the reference signal of the LTE network.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 , wherein the reference signal configuration indicates at least one of sequence information for the reference signal of the LTE network or a cell identifier of the LTE network.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 , wherein the reference signal includes an LTE common reference signal.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 , wherein the instructions executable to receive the reference signal configuration further include instructions executable to receive a radio resource control (RRC) message including the reference signal configuration.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 , wherein the code further comprises instructions executable to:

determine a measurement of the NR network based on the reference signal of the LTE network; and

transmit, to the first base station, the determined measurement.

26. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 , wherein the reference signal of the LTE network is based on a subcarrier spacing the same as the NR RAT.

27. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 26 , wherein the subcarrier spacing is 15 kilohertz (kHz).