Reference signal transmission and reception method and equipment

1. A method of performing communications, the method comprising:

providing, by a network element, a first reference signal configuration corresponding to one or more first user equipments (UEs), wherein the first reference signal configuration comprises a first Channel Status Indication-Reference Signal (CSI-RS) configuration;

providing, by the network element, a second reference signal configuration corresponding to the one or more first UEs, wherein the second reference signal configuration comprises a second CSI-RS configuration different from the first CSI-RS configuration,

wherein the first reference signal configuration comprises an indication of a first scrambling code and an indication of a first time-frequency resource to the one or more first UEs, wherein the second reference signal configuration comprises an indication of a second scrambling code and an indication of a second time-frequency resource to the one or more first UEs, wherein the first scrambling code is different than the second scrambling code, and wherein the first time-frequency resource is different than the second time-frequency resource;

transmitting, by an antenna of the network element using dedicated signaling, the first reference signal configuration to the one or more first UEs; and

transmitting, by the antenna of the network element using dedicated signaling, the second reference signal configuration to the one or more first UEs, wherein the first CSI-RS configuration and the second CSI-RS configuration are different from another CSI-RS configuration transmitted by the antenna of the network element to another UE.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transmitting the first reference signal configuration and the transmitting the second reference signal configuration are performed at least in part using dedicated radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first reference signal configuration comprises the first scrambling code and the second reference signal configuration comprises the second scrambling code.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising transmitting by the network element an indication of whether a corresponding CSI-RS is to be used for Precoding Matrix Indicator/Channel Quality Indicator/Rank Indicator (PMI/CQI/RI) measurement, Radio Link Monitor/Radio Resource Management (RLM/RRM) measurement, or both PMI/CQI/RI measurement and RLM/RRM measurement.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving feedback information for Precoding Matrix Indicator/Channel Quality Indicator/Rank Indicator (PMI/CQI/RI) based upon transmitted one or more CSI-RS patterns.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving feedback information for Radio Link Monitor/Radio Resource Management (RLM/RRM) based upon transmitted CSI-RS patterns.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first reference signal configuration comprises a subframe configuration and the second reference signal configuration omits a subframe configuration.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first reference signal configuration comprises a first subframe configuration and the second reference signal configuration comprises a second subframe configuration, the first subframe configuration being different from the second subframe configuration.

9. A method of performing communications, the method comprising:

receiving, by a user equipment (UE) from an antenna of a communications controller, a first reference signal configuration using dedicated signaling, wherein the first reference signal configuration comprises a first Channel Status Indication-Reference Signal (CSI-RS) configuration for a subframe; and

receiving, by the UE from the antenna of the communications controller, a second reference signal configuration using dedicated signaling, wherein the second reference signal configuration comprises a second CSI-RS configuration for the subframe that is different than the first CSI-RS configuration for the subframe,

wherein the first reference signal configuration comprises an indication of a first scrambling code and an indication of a first time-frequency resource, wherein the second reference signal configuration comprises an indication of a second scrambling code and an indication of a second time-frequency resource, wherein the first scrambling code is different than the second scrambling code, wherein the first time-frequency resource is different than the second time-frequency resource, and wherein the first CSI-RS configuration and the second CSI-RS configuration for the subframe are different from another CSI-RS configuration for the subframe received by another UE from the antenna of the communications controller.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the first reference signal configuration and the second reference signal configuration are received using dedicated radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the first reference signal configuration comprises the first scrambling code and the second reference signal configuration comprises the second scrambling code.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the first reference signal configuration comprises an indication of whether a corresponding CSI-RS is to be used for Precoding Matrix Indicator/Channel Quality Indicator/Rank Indicator (PMI/CQI/RI) measurement, Radio Link Monitor/Radio Resource Management (RLM/RRM) measurement, or both PMI/CQI/RI measurement and RLM/RRM measurement.

13. The method of claim 9 , further comprising transmitting feedback information for Precoding Matrix Indicator/Channel Quality Indicator/Rank Indicator (PMI/CQI/RI) based upon CSI-RS patterns.

14. The method of claim 9 , wherein the first reference signal configuration comprise a first subframe configuration and the second reference signal configuration comprise a second subframe configuration, the first subframe configuration being different than the second subframe configuration.

15. The method of claim 9 , wherein the first reference signal configuration comprises a subframe configuration and the second reference signal configuration omits a subframe configuration.

16. A user equipment comprising:

a receiver configured to receive a plurality of reference signal configurations from an antenna of one communications controller using dedicated signaling, wherein each reference signal configuration comprises a Channel Status Indication-Reference Signal (CSI-RS) configuration, wherein at least two of the CSI-RS configurations are different from each other,

wherein a first one or more of the plurality of reference signal configurations comprise an indication of a first scrambling code and an indication of a first time-frequency resource, wherein a second one or more of the plurality of reference signal configurations comprise an indication of a second scrambling code and an indication of a second time-frequency resource to the UE, wherein the first scrambling code is different than the second scrambling code, wherein the first time-frequency resource is different than the second time-frequency resource, and wherein the at least two of the CSI-RS configurations are different from another CSI-RS configuration received by another user equipment from the antenna of the one communications controller;

a processor coupled to the receiver, the processor configured to process a reference signal received via the receiver in accordance with each of the plurality of reference signal configurations; and

a transmitter coupled to the processor, the transmitter configured to transmit measurement information regarding the reference signal via the transmitter.

17. The user equipment of claim 16 , wherein the plurality of reference signal configurations are received using dedicated radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

18. The user equipment of claim 16 , wherein the reference signal comprises a CSI-RS.

19. The user equipment of claim 16 , wherein the first one or more of the plurality of reference signal configurations comprise the first scrambling code and the second one or more of the plurality of reference signal configurations comprise the second scrambling code.

20. The user equipment of claim 16 , wherein the plurality of reference signal configurations comprises an indication of whether a corresponding CSI-RS is to be used for Precoding Matrix Indicator/Channel Quality Indicator/Rank Indicator (PMI/CQI/RI) measurement, Radio Link Monitor/Radio Resource Management (RLM/RRM) measurement, or both PMI/CQI/RI measurement and RLM/RRM measurement.

21. The user equipment of claim 16 , wherein the first one or more of the plurality of reference signal configurations comprise a first subframe configuration, and wherein the second one or more of the plurality of reference signal configurations comprise a second subframe configuration, the first subframe configuration being different than the second subframe configuration.

22. A communications controller comprising:

a processor configured to provide a plurality of reference signal configurations to a user equipment (UE), wherein each reference signal configuration comprises a Channel Status Indication-Reference Signal (CSI-RS) configuration, wherein at least two of the CSI-RS configurations are different from each other,

wherein a first one or more of the plurality of reference signal configurations comprise an indication of a first scrambling code and an indication of a first time-frequency resource, wherein a second one or more of the plurality of reference signal configurations comprise an indication of a second scrambling code and an indication of a second time-frequency resource to the UE, wherein the first scrambling code is different than the second scrambling code, and wherein the first time-frequency resource is different than the second time-frequency resource;

a transmitter coupled to the processor, the transmitter configured to transmit via an antenna to the UE the plurality of reference signal configurations using dedicated signaling, wherein the at least two of the CSI-RS configurations are different from another CSI-RS configuration transmitted by the transmitter via the antenna to another UE; and

a receiver coupled to the processor, the receiver configured to receive feedback measurements corresponding to the plurality of reference signal configurations.

23. The communications controller of claim 22 , wherein the transmitter is configured to transmit the plurality of reference signal configurations using dedicated radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

24. The communications controller of claim 22 , wherein the first one or more of the plurality of reference signal configurations comprise the first scrambling code, and wherein the second one or more of the plurality of reference signal configurations comprise the second scrambling code.

25. The communications controller of claim 22 , wherein one or more of the plurality of reference signal configurations comprise an indication of whether a corresponding CSI-RS is to be used for Precoding Matrix Indicator/Channel Quality Indicator/Rank Indicator (PMI/CQI/RI) measurement, Radio Link Monitor/Radio Resource Management (RLM/RRM) measurement, or both PMI/CQI/RI measurement and RLM/RRM measurement.

26. The communications controller of claim 22 , wherein the first one or more of the plurality of reference signal configurations comprise a subframe configuration, and wherein the second one or more of the plurality of reference signal configurations omit a subframe configuration.

27. The communications controller of claim 22 , wherein the first one or more of the plurality of reference signal configurations comprise a first subframe configuration, and wherein the second one or more of the plurality of reference signal configurations comprise a second subframe configuration, the first subframe configuration being different than the second subframe configuration.

28. A method of performing communications, the method comprising:

providing by a network element a first reference signal configuration corresponding to one or more first user equipments (UEs), wherein the first reference signal configuration comprises a first Channel Status Indication-Reference Signal (CSI-RS) configuration;

providing by the network element a second reference signal configuration corresponding to the one or more first UEs, wherein the second reference signal configuration comprises a second CSI-RS configuration different from the first CSI-RS configuration,

wherein the reference signal configurations comprise signaling to indicate antenna ports of the CSI-RS configurations that are within a same group of a location;

transmitting by an antenna of the network element using dedicated signaling the first reference signal configuration to the one or more first UEs; and

transmitting by the antenna of the network element using dedicated signaling the second reference signal configuration to the one or more first UEs, wherein the first CSI-RS configuration and the second CSI-RS configuration are different from another CSI-RS configuration transmitted by the antenna of the network element to another UE.

29. A method of performing communications, the method comprising:

providing by a network element a first reference signal configuration corresponding to one or more first user equipments (UEs), wherein the first reference signal configuration comprises a first Channel Status Indication-Reference Signal (CSI-RS) configuration;

providing by the network element a second reference signal configuration corresponding to the one or more first UEs, wherein the second reference signal configuration comprises a second CSI-RS configuration different from the first CSI-RS configuration,

wherein the first CSI-RS configuration is a legacy CSI-RS configuration, wherein the second CSI-RS configuration is an RS configuration of which resource elements are mutable by a legacy UE muting signaling, and wherein the second CSI-RS configuration contains CSI-RS information;

transmitting by an antenna of the network element using dedicated signaling the first reference signal configuration to the one or more first UEs; and

transmitting by the antenna of the network element using dedicated signaling the second reference signal configuration to the one or more first UEs, wherein the first CSI-RS configuration and the second CSI-RS configuration are different from another CSI-RS configuration transmitted by the antenna of the network element to another UE.