Transmission of sounding reference signals in communication systems with carrier aggregation

A method, comprising:

• receiving a configuration for a location of first bits in a downlink control information (DCI) format, the DCI format comprising one or more blocks of bits including the first bits, wherein each of the one or more blocks of bits comprises
• one or more bits a transmit power control (TPC) command, and
• zero of more bits for a request for transmission of a sounding reference signal (SRS);
• controlling an SRS transmission power based on a value of the one or more bits for the TPC command from the first bits and, when the first bits include one or more bits for the SRS request, a value of the one or more bits for the SRS request, wherein the TPC command is used to control only the transmission power of the SRS;
• and
• transmitting the SRS, wherein:
• a power of the SRS transmission on a serving cell is determined to be a smaller value among a first value and a second value,
• the first value is a maximum transmission power, and
• the second value is determined based on power control parameters comprising a bandwidth for the SRS transmission on the serving cell, a path loss value measured on the serving cell, a transmission power control adjustment state on the serving cell determined from the TPC command, and higher layer parameters for the serving cell.

A base station (BS), comprising:

• a transceiver configured to transmit a configuration for a location of first bits in a downlink control information (DCI) format, the DCI format comprising one or more blocks of bits including the first bits, wherein each of the one or more blocks of bits comprises
• one or more bits for a transmit power control (TPC) command, and
• zero or more bits for a request for transmission of a sounding reference signal (SRS);
• and
• a processor operably coupled to the transceiver and configured to control reception of an SRS that was transmitted with an SRS transmission power based on a value of the one or more bits for the TPC command from the first bits and, when the first bits include one or more bits for the SRS request, a value of the one or more bits for the SRS request,
• wherein the TPC command is used to control only the transmission power of the SRS,
• wherein the transceiver is further configured to receive the SRS, and
• wherein:
• a power of the SRS transmission on a serving cell is determined to be a smaller value among a first value and a second value,
• the first value is a maximum transmission power, and
• the second value is determined based on power control parameters comprising a bandwidth for the SRS transmission on the serving cell, a path loss value measured on the serving cell, a transmission power control adjustment state on the serving cell determined from the TPC command, and higher layer parameters for the serving cell.

A method, comprising:

• transmitting a configuration for a location of first bits in a downlink control information (DCI) format, the DCI format comprising one or more blocks of bits including the first bits, wherein each of the one or more blocks of bits comprises
• one or more bits for a transmit power control (TPC) command, and
• zero or more bits for a request for transmission of a sounding reference signal (SRS);
• and
• receiving an SRS that was transmitted with an SRS transmission power based on a value of the bits for the TPC command from the first bits and, when the first bits include one or more bits for the SRS request, and a value of the one or more bits for the SRS request, wherein the TPC command is used to control only the transmission power of the SRS, wherein:
• a power of the SRS transmission on a serving cell is determined to be a smaller value among a first value and a second value,
• the first value is a maximum transmission power,
• the second value is determined based on power control parameters comprising a bandwidth for the SRS transmission on the serving cell, a path loss value measured on the serving cell, a transmission power control adjustment state on the serving cell determined from the TPC command, and higher layer parameters for the serving cell.