# US 11,310,009 B2 · Reference signal acquisition

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- Number: US 11,310,009 B2
- Document ID: US11310009B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 15/970,816
- Filed: 2018-05-03
- Published: 2018-11-08
- Granted: 2022-04-19
- Earliest claimed: 2017-05-05
- Assignees: QUALCOMM Incorporated
- Applicants: QUALCOMM Incorporated
- Inventors: Sumeeth Nagaraja; Tao Luo; Sony Akkarakaran; Alexandros Manolakos
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11310009B2

## CPC

- H04L 5/0048: {Allocation of pilot signals, i.e. of signals known to the receiver (allocation of control signalling H04L5/0053; use of control signalling H04L5/0091)}
- H04L 5/005: {of common pilots, i.e. pilots destined for multiple users or terminals}
- H04L 5/0057: {Physical resource allocation for CQI}
- H04L 5/0098: {Signalling of the activation or deactivation of component carriers, subcarriers or frequency bands}
- H04W 36/0072: {of resource information of target access point}
- H04L 5/0053: {Allocation of signalling, i.e. of overhead other than pilot signals}
- H04L 5/0092: {Indication of how the channel is divided}
- 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

Various aspects of the disclosure relate to techniques associated with the acquisition of reference signals. In some aspects, a network may request a user equipment (UE) to measure a timing difference between neighbor cells and use that information to generate a CSI-RS configuration. The network sends the CSI-RS configuration to the UE to enable the UE to acquire a CSI-RS from a neighbor cell. In some aspects, a network may send timing-related information to a neighbor cell and the neighbor cell uses that information to transmit a CSI-RS.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method of communication for a base station, comprising:
determining that a serving cell for a user equipment (UE) is to supply timing for the UE to use to measure a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS);
determining that a neighbor cell of the serving cell is to transmit the CSI-RS;
determining a timing difference between the serving cell and the neighbor cell;
as a result of determining that the neighbor cell of the serving cell is to transmit the CSI-RS, sending to the neighbor cell an indication of the timing difference, wherein the timing difference comprises a symbol timing difference;
generating a CSI-RS configuration for the CSI-RS based on the determining that the serving cell for the UE is to supply the timing for the UE to use to measure the CSI-RS and the determining that the neighbor cell of the serving cell is to transmit the CSI-RS, wherein the CSI-RS configuration comprises an indication that the UE is to use the timing of the serving cell to measure the CSI-RS; and
transmitting the CSI-RS configuration comprising the indication to the UE.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the CSI-RS configuration comprises an indication of a sub-carrier spacing of the CSI-RS.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the timing difference further comprises a slot timing difference, a mini-slot timing difference, a system frame number timing difference, or any combination thereof.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the determination of the timing difference comprises receiving an indication of the timing difference from the UE.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4, further comprising:
sending a request to measure the timing difference to the UE.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the determination of the timing difference comprises:
receiving a first indication of the timing difference from the UE and at least one second indication of the timing difference from at least one other UE; and
generating an estimate of the timing difference based on the first indication of the timing difference and the at least one second indication of the timing difference.

### Claim 7

A base station for communication comprising:
a memory device; and
a processing circuit coupled to the memory device and configured to:
determine that a serving cell for a user equipment (UE) is to supply timing for the UE to use to measure a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS);
determine that a neighbor cell of the serving cell is to transmit the CSI-RS;
determine a timing difference between the serving cell and the neighbor cell;
as a result of determining that the neighbor cell of the serving cell is to transmit the CSI-RS, send to the neighbor cell an indication of the timing difference, wherein the timing difference comprises a symbol timing difference;
generate a CSI-RS configuration for the CSI-RS based on the determination that the serving cell for the UE is to supply the timing for the UE to use to measure the CSI-RS and the determination that the neighbor cell of the serving cell is to transmit the CSI-RS, wherein the CSI-RS configuration comprises an indication that the UE is to use the timing of the serving cell to measure the CSI-RS; and
transmit the CSI-RS configuration comprising the indication to the UE.

### Claim 8

A method of communication for a user equipment (UE), comprising:
determining a timing difference between a serving cell of the UE and a neighbor cell of the serving cell;
sending an indication of the timing difference to the serving cell, wherein the timing difference comprises a symbol timing difference;
receiving a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) configuration for a CSI-RS to be transmitted by the neighbor cell, wherein the CSI-RS configuration comprises an indication that the UE is to use timing of the serving cell to measure the CSI-RS;
determining the timing of the serving cell; and
using the timing of the serving cell to measure the CSI-RS transmitted by the neighbor cell.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The method of claim 8, further comprising:
decoding the CSI-RS based on the CSI-RS configuration.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The method of claim 9, wherein the decoding comprises:
determining a scrambling sequence based on the CSI-RS configuration; and
decoding the CSI-RS based on the scrambling sequence.

### Claim 11 (depends on 8)

The method of claim 8, wherein the CSI-RS configuration comprises an indication of a sub-carrier spacing of the CSI-RS.

### Claim 12 (depends on 8)

The method of claim 8, further comprising:
conducting a mobility operation associated with the neighbor cell based on the CSI-RS.

### Claim 13

A user equipment, comprising:
a memory device; and
a processing circuit coupled to the memory device and configured to:
determine a timing difference between a serving cell of the UE and a neighbor cell of the serving cell;
send an indication of the timing difference to the serving cell, wherein the timing difference comprises a symbol timing difference;
receive a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) configuration for a CSI-RS to be transmitted by a neighbor cell of a serving cell for the UE, wherein the CSI-RS configuration comprises an indication that the UE is to use timing of the serving cell to measure the CSI-RS;
determine the timing of the serving cell; and
use the timing of the serving cell to measure the CSI-RS transmitted by the neighbor cell.

### Claim 14 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising:
sending CSI-RS timing information to the neighbor cell.