Radio frequency (RF) communication systems using RF switching guard periods to transmit special symbols in block symbol transmissions

An apparatus, comprising:

• circuitry that processes a subframe as part of a time-domain signal frame structure used for radio frequency communications;
• wherein the subframe includes:
• a plurality of block symbols each having an associated time-domain guard period;
• one or more radio frequency (RF) switching guard periods;
• and
• wherein the time-domain guard period comprises a zero prefix, cyclic prefix or post fix;
• wherein each block symbol of the plurality of block symbols is either a common block symbol or a special block symbol;
• wherein the common block symbols have a common time-domain guard period with all other common block symbols of the subframe;
• wherein the special block symbols have a time-domain guard period different from the common time-domain guard period;
• wherein all the special block symbols in the subframe are placed into the one or more RF switching guard periods;
• and
• wherein two or more of the special block symbols have a time-domain guard period that is different from each other and that is different from the common time-domain guard period.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that are capable of causing or configuring a computing system to perform operations comprising:

• processing a subframe as part of a time-domain signal frame structure used for radio frequency communications;
• wherein the subframe includes:
• a plurality of block symbols each having an associated time-domain guard period;
• one or more radio frequency (RF) switching guard periods;
• and
• wherein the time-domain guard period comprises a zero prefix, cyclic prefix or post fix;
• wherein each block symbol of the plurality of block symbols is either a common block symbol or a special block symbol;
• wherein the common block symbols have a common time-domain guard period with all other common block symbols of the subframe;
• wherein the special block symbols have a time-domain guard period different from the common time-domain guard period;
• wherein all the special block symbols in the subframe are placed into the one or more RF switching guard periods;
• and
• wherein two or more of the special block symbols have a time-domain guard period that is different from each other and that is different from the common time-domain guard period.

A method, comprising:

• processing a subframe as part of a time-domain signal frame structure used for radio frequency communications;
• wherein the subframe includes:
• a plurality of block symbols each having an associated time-domain guard period;
• one or more radio frequency (RF) switching guard periods;
• and
• wherein the time-domain guard period comprises a zero prefix, cyclic prefix or post fix;
• wherein each block symbol of the plurality of block symbols is either a common block symbol or a special block symbol;
• wherein the common block symbols have a common time-domain guard period;
• wherein the special block symbols have a time-domain guard period different from the common time-domain guard period;
• wherein all the special block symbols in the subframe are placed into the one or more RF switching guard periods;
• wherein the common time-domain guard period (tcp) is greater than a delay spread of a channel in which the subframe is transmitted;
• wherein a number of samples of the common time-domain guard period (ns_cp) is a ceiling function of a product of tcp and a sampling rate of the subframe (fs);
• wherein a number of samples of the subframe (ns_sf) is a sum of P, Q and R;
• wherein P is a product of a number of block symbols of the subframe (nsymb) and a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) size (nfft) of the block symbols;
• wherein Q is a product of ns_cp and the difference of nsymb minus a number of the special block symbols of the subframe (nspecial_symb);
• wherein R is a total number of samples to be considered for all time-domain guard periods of the subframe different from the common time-domain guard period (ns_special_cp_sum);
• wherein tsf is a duration of the subframe;
• wherein nsymb is a sum of nspecial_symb and a floor function of a quotient of U and V;
• wherein U is ns_sf minus a product of nspecial_symb and nfft;
• and
• wherein V is a sum of nfft and ns_cp.

An apparatus, comprising:

• circuitry that processes a subframe as part of a time-domain signal frame structure used for radio frequency communications;
• wherein the subframe includes:
• a plurality of block symbols each having an associated time-domain guard period;
• one or more radio frequency (RF) switching guard periods;
• and
• wherein the time-domain guard period comprises a zero prefix, cyclic prefix or post fix;
• wherein each block symbol of the plurality of block symbols is either a common block symbol or a special block symbol;
• wherein the common block symbols have a common time-domain guard period with all other common block symbols of the subframe;
• wherein the special block symbols have a time-domain guard period different from the common time-domain guard period;
• and
• wherein all the special block symbols in the subframe are placed into the one or more RF switching guard periods;
• wherein the common time-domain guard period (tcp) is greater than a delay spread of a channel in which the subframe is transmitted;
• wherein a number of samples of the common time-domain guard period (ns_cp) is a ceiling function of a product of tcp and a sampling rate of the subframe (fs);
• wherein a number of samples of the subframe (ns_sf) is a sum of P, Q and R;
• wherein P is a product of a number of block symbols of the subframe (nsymb) and a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) size (nfft) of the block symbols;
• wherein Q is a product of ns_cp and the difference of nsymb minus a number of the special block symbols of the subframe (nspecial_symb);
• wherein R is a total number of samples to be considered for all time-domain guard periods of the subframe different from the common time-domain guard period (ns_special_cp_sum);
• wherein tsf is a duration of the subframe;
• wherein nsymb is a sum of nspecial_symb and a floor function of a quotient of U and V;
• wherein U is ns_sf minus a product of nspecial_symb and nfft;
• and
• wherein V is a sum of nfft and ns_cp.

A method, comprising:

• processing a subframe as part of a time-domain signal frame structure used for radio frequency communications;
• wherein the subframe includes:
• a plurality of block symbols each having an associated time-domain guard period;
• one or more radio frequency (RF) switching guard periods;
• and
• wherein the time-domain guard period comprises a zero prefix, cyclic prefix or post fix;
• wherein each block symbol of the plurality of block symbols is either a common block symbol or a special block symbol;
• wherein the common block symbols have a common time-domain guard period;
• wherein the special block symbols have a time-domain guard period different from the common time-domain guard period;
• and
• wherein all the special block symbols in the subframe are placed into the one or more RF switching guard periods;
• wherein a number of samples of the common time-domain guard period is a product of W and a ceiling function of a quotient of a product of the common time-domain guard period and a sampling rate and W;
• wherein W is a width of a wide data path of digital signal processing circuitry that processes the number of samples of the common time-domain guard periods.

An apparatus, comprising:

• circuitry that processes a subframe as part of a time-domain signal frame structure used for radio frequency communications;
• wherein the subframe includes:
• a plurality of block symbols each having an associated time-domain guard period;
• one or more radio frequency (RF) switching guard periods;
• and
• wherein the time-domain guard period comprises a zero prefix, cyclic prefix or post fix;
• wherein each block symbol of the plurality of block symbols is either a common block symbol or a special block symbol;
• wherein the common block symbols have a common time-domain guard period with all other common block symbols of the subframe;
• wherein the special block symbols have a time-domain guard period different from the common time-domain guard period;
• and
• wherein all the special block symbols in the subframe are placed into the one or more RF switching guard periods;
• wherein a number of samples of the common time-domain guard period is a product of W and a ceiling function of a quotient of a product of the common time-domain guard period and a sampling rate and W;
• wherein W is a width of a wide data path of digital signal processing circuitry that processes the number of samples of the common time-domain guard periods.