# US 11,122,596 B2 · Multiple antennas and interruption time values for sounding reference signal (SRS) switching > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,122,596 B2 - Document ID: US11122596B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/800,233 - Filed: 2020-02-25 - Published: 2020-06-18 - Granted: 2021-09-14 - Earliest claimed: 2016-06-29 - Assignees: QUALCOMM Incorporated - Applicants: QUALCOMM Incorporated - Inventors: Alberto Rico Alvarino; Wanshi Chen; Hao Xu; Peter Gaal; Srinivas Yerramalli; Jing Sun - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11122596B2 ## CPC - H04L 5/0051: {of dedicated pilots, i.e. pilots destined for a single user or terminal} - H04L 5/0096: {Indication of changes in allocation} - H04L 9/40: Network security protocols - H04L 12/28: characterised by path configuration, e.g. LAN [Local Area Networks] or WAN [Wide Area Networks] (wireless communication networks H04W {; arrangements for dividing the transmission path H04W40/00}) - H04L 12/56: {Packet switching systems} - H04W 28/02: Traffic management, e.g. flow control or congestion control - H04W 72/1263: Mapping of traffic onto schedule, e.g. scheduled allocation or multiplexing of flows - H04L 5/0007: {the frequencies being orthogonal, e.g. OFDM(A) or DMT} - H04L 5/1469: {using time-sharing} - H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M) - H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72) ## Abstract A user equipment (UE) may transmit a sounding reference signal (SRS) on a component carrier (CC) that is otherwise configured for downlink communications. Due to a carrier aggregation configuration or UE capability, the UE may need to retune certain components to transmit on the CC. If the SRS transmission, including the retuning time, collides with another transmission the UE may drop the SRS, drop the other transmission, or puncture the other transmission to facilitate the SRS transmission. The determination about a collision may depend on the retuning time, channel, or type of control information in the other transmission. In some cases, a UE may drop the other transmission if transmitting the SRS would prevent the UE from transmitting a demodulation reference signal, hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback. In some cases, the determination may be based upon a prioritization and may also depend on a subsequent subframe. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method for wireless communication, comprising: identifying a capability of a user equipment (UE) to transmit on a first carrier of a carrier aggregation (CA) configuration and a second carrier of the CA configuration, wherein the capability comprises a retuning time of the UE for switching between carriers; transmitting, from the UE to a base station, an indication of the retuning time of the UE, and an indication of whether the retuning time impacts a downlink reception capability of the UE; determining whether a collision could occur in a subframe between a communication on the first carrier and a sounding reference signal (SRS) on the second carrier based at least in part on the retuning time of the UE; and transmitting the communication on the first carrier or the SRS on the second carrier, or both, during the subframe based at least in part on the retuning time of the UE. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the retuning time of the UE represents an amount of time it would take the UE to switch from the first carrier to the second carrier to transmit the SRS. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the communication on the first carrier or the SRS on the second carrier comprises: dropping the SRS based at least in part on the capability of the UE, and transmitting the communication on the first carrier. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the communication on the first carrier or the SRS on the second carrier comprises: dropping the communication on the first carrier based at least in part on the capability of the UE, and transmitting the SRS on the second carrier. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: puncturing the communication on the first carrier based at least in part on the capability of the UE. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The method of claim 5, further comprising: performing rate matching on the communication on the first carrier based at least in part on the puncturing. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the retuning time corresponds to a number of symbol periods, and wherein the communication on the first carrier is dropped when the number of symbol periods exceeds a predetermined threshold. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the communication on the first carrier comprises a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) communication, the method further comprising: dropping the SRS when the collision involves symbols of a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), or puncturing the PUSCH transmission when the collision does not involve symbols of the DMRS. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the communication on the first carrier comprises a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) communication, the method further comprising: dropping the SRS when the PUSCH communication comprises hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback and the collision involves symbols of the HARQ feedback. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining whether to transmit the communication on the first carrier or the SRS on the second carrier, or both, based at least in part on a content of the communication, a channel type, a cyclic prefix length, or any combination thereof. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining whether to transmit the communication on the first carrier or the SRS on the second carrier, or both, based at least in part on a radio resource control (RRC) configuration or an enhanced interference mitigation and traffic adaptation (eIMTA) configuration. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the communication and the SRS are in the same subframe. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: identifying a retuning time threshold, and determining whether to transmit the communication on the first carrier or the SRS on the second carrier, or both, based at least in part on the retuning time threshold. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining that the retuning time of the UE would collide with a demodulation reference signal, and determining whether to transmit the communication on the first carrier or the SRS on the second carrier, or both based at least in part on the determination that the retuning time of the UE would collide with the demodulation reference signal. ### Claim 15 An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: a processor; and memory coupled with the processor, wherein the memory includes instructions executable by the processor to cause a user equipment (UE) to: identify a capability of the UE to transmit on a first carrier of a carrier aggregation (CA) configuration and a second carrier of the CA configuration, wherein the capability comprises a retuning time of the UE for switching between carriers; transmit, from the UE to a base station, an indication of the retuning time of the UE, and an indication of whether the retuning time impacts a downlink reception capability of the UE; determine whether a collision could occur in a subframe between a communication on the first carrier and a sounding reference signal (SRS) on the second carrier based at least in part on the retuning time of the UE; and transmit the communication on the first carrier or the SRS on the second carrier, or both, during the subframe based at least in part on the retuning time of the UE. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the retuning time of the UE represents an amount of time it would take the UE to switch from the first carrier to the second carrier to transmit the SRS. ### Claim 17 (depends on 15) The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the UE to: drop the SRS based at least in part on the capability of the UE, and transmit the communication on the first carrier. ### Claim 18 (depends on 15) The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the UE to: drop the communication on the first carrier based at least in part on the capability of the UE, and transmit the SRS on the second carrier. ### Claim 19 (depends on 15) The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the UE to: puncture the communication on the first carrier based at least in part on the capability of the UE. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the UE to: perform rate matching on the communication on the first carrier based at least in part on the puncture of the communication. ### Claim 21 (depends on 15) The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the retuning time corresponds to a number of symbol periods, and wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the UE to drop the communication on the first carrier when the number of symbol periods exceeds a predetermined threshold. ### Claim 22 (depends on 15) The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the communication on the first carrier comprises a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) communication, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the UE to: drop the SRS when the collision involves symbols of a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), or puncture the PUSCH transmission when the collision does not involve symbols of the DMRS. ### Claim 23 (depends on 15) The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the communication on the first carrier comprises a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) communication, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the UE to: drop the SRS when the PUSCH communication comprises hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback and the collision involves symbols of the HARQ feedback. ### Claim 24 (depends on 15) The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the UE to determine whether to transmit the communication on the first carrier or the SRS on the second carrier, or both based at least in part on a content of the communication, a channel type, a cyclic prefix length, or any combination thereof. ### Claim 25 (depends on 15) The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the UE to determine whether to transmit the communication on the first carrier or the SRS on the second carrier, or both, based at least in part on a radio resource control (RRC) configuration or an enhanced interference mitigation and traffic adaptation (eIMTA) configuration. ### Claim 26 (depends on 15) The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the communication and the SRS are in the same subframe. ### Claim 27 (depends on 15) The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the UE to: identify a retuning time threshold, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the UE to determine whether to transmit the communication on the first carrier or the SRS on the second carrier, or both, based at least in part on the retuning time threshold. ### Claim 28 (depends on 15) The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the UE to: determine that the retuning time of the UE would collide with a demodulation reference signal, and determine whether to transmit the communication on the first carrier or the SRS on the second carrier, or both, based at least in part on the determination that the retuning time of the UE would collide with the demodulation reference signal.