# US 12,184,570 B2 · Phase tracking reference signals (PTRSs) with zero power (ZP) tones

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- Number: US 12,184,570 B2
- Document ID: US12184570B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/446,916
- Filed: 2021-09-03
- Published: 2022-04-07
- Granted: 2024-12-31
- Earliest claimed: 2020-10-06
- Assignees: QUALCOMM Incorporated
- Applicants: QUALCOMM Incorporated
- Inventors: Ahmed Abdelaziz Ibrahim Abdelaziz Zewail; Zhifei Fan; Xiaoxia Zhang; Tao Luo; Jing Sun; Wooseok Nam
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12184570B2

## 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 5/0091: {Signalling for the administration of the divided path, e.g. signalling of configuration information}
- H04L 5/0073: {Allocation arrangements that take into account other cell interferences}
- H04L 25/0202: {Channel estimation}
- H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M)

## Abstract

Aspects of the present disclosure can be implemented in a method for wireless communication by a first wireless node. The method generally includes receiving, from a second wireless node, information regarding PTRS tones, designating one or more of the PTRS tones as ZP tones and one or more of the PTRS tones as NZP tones based, at least in part, on the information, and transmitting a PTRS on the NZP tones. In some cases, the first wireless node is a user equipment (UE) and the second wireless node is a network entity. In some cases, the first wireless node is a network entity and the second wireless node is a UE.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method for wireless communications by a first wireless node, comprising:
receiving, from a second wireless node, information regarding a block of phase tracking reference signal (PTRS) tones that are contiguous in frequency, wherein the information comprises information regarding an inter-carrier interference (ICI) filter;
designating one or more of the PTRS tones as zero power (ZP) tones and one or more of the PTRS tones as non-ZP (NZP) tones based, at least in part, on the information, wherein the designating comprises:
designating at least a first PTRS tone of the PTRS tones on a first edge of the block of PTRS tones as a ZP tone based on the information regarding the ICI filter;
designating at least a second PTRS tone of the PTRS tones on a second edge of the block of PTRS tones as a ZP tone based on the information regarding the ICI filter; and
designating the PTRS tones in the block not designated as the ZP tones as the NZP tones; and
transmitting a PTRS on the NZP tones.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the information is received via a radio resource configuration (RRC) signaling of a PTRS recommendation.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the information indicates a number of the PTRS tones to designate as the ZP tones.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The method of claim 3, wherein the number comprises a fraction of a total number of the PTRS tones.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the information comprises at least a filter type, a filter length, or a combination thereof.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein designating the one or more PTRS tones as the ZP tones and the one or more PTRS tones as the NZP tones is based on a pattern indicating which of the PTRS tones are to be designated as the ZP tones by the first wireless node.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising:
determining power boosting to be applied to the NZP tones based, at least in part, on the ZP tones; and
applying the determined power boosting when transmitting the PTRS on the NZP tones.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The method of claim 7, wherein determining the power boosting to be applied to the NZP tones comprises:
determining a total power of the PTRS, wherein the total power for the PTRS is maintained when the determined power boosting is applied to the NZP tones.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising:
applying frequency hopping to one or more of the PTRS tones across different symbols, wherein the frequency hopping is based on at least one of:
a predefined hopping pattern, or
a hopping pattern signaled via radio resource control (RRC) signaling; and
determining power boosting to be applied to the NZP tones in each of the different symbols based, at least in apart, on the ZP tones in each of the different symbols.

### Claim 10

A method for wireless communications by a first wireless node, comprising:
receiving, from a second wireless node, information regarding a block of phase tracking reference signal (PTRS) tones that are contiguous in frequency;
designating one or more of the PTRS tones as zero power (ZP) tones and one or more of the PTRS tones as non-ZP (NZP) tones based, at least in part, on the information;
preparing a PTRS for transmission on the NZP tones;
detecting that the PTRS collides with a resource block (RB) of a direct current (DC) tone; and
taking one or more actions based on the detection, wherein the one or more actions comprise at least one of:
dividing the PTRS tones into at least two sub-blocks of tones, each of the at least two sub-blocks having a contiguous set of tones;
shifting the PTRS tones by a frequency offset;
skipping transmission of the PTRS; or
skipping at least a subset of tones from the PTRS and adjusting a power boosting based on the skipped subset of tones.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10, wherein:
the one or more actions comprise dividing the PTRS tones into the at least two sub-blocks of tones;
a size of one of the at least two sub-blocks of tones is equal to or below a threshold value based on a reported filter length; and
the method further comprises:
skipping transmission of PTRSs for the one sub-block of tones; and
adjusting power boosting of the other sub-block of tones, based on the transmission being skipped.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein:
the first wireless node comprises a user equipment (UE) and the second wireless node comprises a network entity, or
the first wireless node comprises the network entity and the second wireless node comprises the UE.

### Claim 13

A method for wireless communications by a first wireless node, comprising:
transmitting, to a second wireless node, information regarding a block of phase tracking reference signal (PTRS) tones that are contiguous in frequency for use in designating one or more of the PTRS tones as zero power (ZP) tones and one or more of the PTRS tones as non-ZP (NZP) tones, wherein:
the information comprises information regarding an inter-carrier interference (ICI) filter;
at least a first PTRS tone of the PTRS tones is designated on a first edge of the block of PTRS tones as a ZP tone based on the information regarding the ICI filter;
at least a second PTRS tone of the PTRS tones is designated on a second edge of the block of PTRS tones as a ZP tone based on the information regarding the ICI filter; and
the PTRS tones in the block not designated as the ZP tones is designated as the NZP tones;
receiving a PTRS transmitted on the NZP tones of the one or more PTRS tones; and
estimating filter coefficients for the ICI filter based on the PTRS received on the NZP tones.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The method of claim 13, wherein the information comprises information regarding the ICI filter.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The method of claim 14, wherein the information is transmitted via a radio resource configuration (RRC) signaling of a PTRS recommendation.

### Claim 16 (depends on 13)

The method of claim 13, wherein the information indicates a number of the PTRS tones to designate as the ZP tones.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The method of claim 16, wherein the number comprises a fraction of a total number of the PTRS tones.

### Claim 18 (depends on 13)

The method of claim 13, wherein the information comprises at least a filter type, a filter length, or a combination thereof.

### Claim 19 (depends on 13)

The method of claim 13, wherein the second wireless node designates the one or more PTRS tones as the ZP tones and the one or more PTRS tones as the NZP tones based on a pattern indicating which of the PTRS tones are to be designated as the ZP tones by the second wireless node.

### Claim 20 (depends on 19)

The method of claim 19, wherein the received PTRS comprises a PTRS transmitted on the NZP tones, with power boosting applied to the NZP tones, wherein the power boosting applied to the NZP tones is determined by the second wireless node based, at least in part, on the ZP tones.

### Claim 21 (depends on 20)

The method claim 20, wherein the power boosting applied to the NZP tones is determined by the second wireless node by:
determining a total power of a block structure of the PTRS; and
power boosting the NZP tones such that the total power for the block structure of the PTRS is maintained.

### Claim 22 (depends on 13)

The method of claim 13, wherein the received PTRS comprises a PTRS transmitted on the NZP tones, with power boosting applied to the NZP tones, wherein the power boosting applied to the NZP tones is applied to PTRS tones designated as NZP tones across different symbols when the second wireless node applies frequency hopping of the PTRS tones across the different symbols.

### Claim 23 (depends on 22)

The method of claim 22, wherein the frequency hopping is based on at least one of: a predefined hopping pattern or a hopping pattern signaled via radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

### Claim 24 (depends on 13)

The method of claim 13, wherein:
the first wireless node comprises a network entity and the second wireless node comprises a user equipment (UE), or
the first wireless node comprises the UE and the second wireless node comprises the network entity.

### Claim 25

An apparatus for wireless communication by a first wireless node, comprising:
a memory; and
one or more processors coupled to the memory, the memory and the one or more processors being configured to:
receive, from a second wireless node, information regarding a block of phase tracking reference signal (PTRS) tones that are contiguous in frequency, wherein the information comprises information regarding an inter-carrier interference (ICI) filter;
designate one or more of the PTRS tones as zero power (ZP) tones and one or more of the PTRS tones as non-ZP (NZP) tones based, at least in part, on the information, wherein, to designate the one or more of the PTRS tones, the one or more processors are configured to:
designate at least a first PTRS tone of the PTRS tones on a first edge of the block of PTRS tones as a ZP tone based on the information regarding the ICI filter;
designate at least a second PTRS tone of the PTRS tones on a second edge of the block of PTRS tones as a ZP tone based on the information regarding the ICI filter; and
designate the PTRS tones in the block not designated as the ZP tones as the NZP tones; and
transmit a PTRS on the NZP tones.

### Claim 26 (depends on 25)

The apparatus of claim 25, wherein:
the first wireless node comprises a user equipment (UE) and the second wireless node comprises a network entity, or
the first wireless node comprises the network entity and the second wireless node comprises the UE.

### Claim 27

An apparatus for wireless communication by a first wireless node, comprising:
a memory; and
one or more processors coupled to the memory, the memory and the one or more processors being configured to:
transmit, to a second wireless node, information regarding a block of phase tracking reference signal (PTRS) tones that are contiguous in frequency for use in designating one or more of the PTRS tones as zero power (ZP) tones and one or more of the PTRS tones as non-ZP (NZP) tones, wherein:
the information comprises information regarding an inter-carrier interference (ICI) filter;
at least a first PTRS tone of the PTRS tones is designated on a first edge of the block of PTRS tones as a ZP tone based on the information regarding the ICI filter;
at least a second PTRS tone of the PTRS tones is designated on a second edge of the block of PTRS tones as a ZP tone based on the information regarding the ICI filter; and
the PTRS tones in the block not designated as the ZP tones is designated as the NZP tones;
receive a PTRS transmitted on the NZP tones of the one or more PTRS tones; and
estimate filter coefficients for an inter-carrier interference (ICI) filter based on the PTRS received on the NZP tones.

### Claim 28

An apparatus for wireless communication by a first wireless node, comprising:
a memory; and
one or more processors coupled to the memory, the memory and the one or more processors being configured to:
receive, from a second wireless node, information regarding a block of phase tracking reference signal (PTRS) tones that are contiguous in frequency;
designate one or more of the PTRS tones as zero power (ZP) tones and one or more of the PTRS tones as non-ZP (NZP) tones based, at least in part, on the information;
prepare a PTRS for transmission on the NZP tones;
detect that the PTRS collides with a resource block (RB) of a direct current (DC) tone; and
take one or more actions based on detecting that the PTRS collides with the RB of the DC tone, wherein the one or more actions comprise at least one of:
dividing the PTRS tones into at least two sub-blocks of tones, each of the at least two sub-blocks having a contiguous set of tones;
shifting the PTRS tones by a frequency offset;
skipping transmission of the PTRS; or
skipping at least a subset of tones from the PTRS and adjusting a power boosting based on the skipped subset of tones.