User equipment configured for power savings during SRS antenna switching

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by processing circuitry of a user equipment (UE) configured for operation in a fifth-generation system (5GS), the UE comprising first and second array antennas for transmission of mmWave signals including a sounding-reference signal (SRS), the processing circuitry configured by the instructions to:

• in response to decoding radio-resource configuration (RRC) signalling that indicates antenna switching for SRS, initiate a countdown timer and transition the second array antenna from a low-power state to an active state;
• decode a downlink control information (DCI) indicating SRS antenna switching;
• if the DCI is not received while the countdown timer is active, generate a command to transition the second array antenna to a low-power state upon expiration of the countdown timer;
• and
• if the DCI is received while the countdown timer is active (has not expired), configure the UE for transmission of the SRS by the second array antenna and reset the countdown timer;
• if the DCI is received after expiration of the countdown timer, generate a command to transition the second array antenna from the low-power state to the active state and configure the UE for transmission of the SRS by the second active array antenna.

An apparatus of a next-generation Node B (gNB) configured for operation in a fifth-generation system (5GS), the apparatus comprising:

• processing circuitry;
• and memory, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:
• encode radio-resource configuration (RRC) signalling for transmission to a user equipment (UE), the RRC signalling indicating antenna switching for sounding-reference signal (SRS) transmission;
• encode a downlink control information (DCI) indicating SRS antenna switching for transmission to the UE,
• wherein if the DCI is transmitted to the UE within a predetermined period of time after transmission of the RRC signalling, the processing circuitry is configured to decode a first SRS within a first SRS resource set transmitted by the UE with a first array antenna, and decode a second SRS within a second SRS resource set transmitted by the UE with a second array antenna, the second SRS being received after minimum guard period (Y) after the first SRS, and
• wherein if the DCI is to be transmitted to the UE after the predetermined period of time, the processing circuitry is configured to encode another RRC signalling for transmission to the UE, the another RRC signaling to cause the UE to transition the second array antenna from a power-off mode to an active state, the another RRC signalling indicating antenna switching for SRS transmission.