WO2024170060A1

WO2024170060A1 - Method, apparatus and computer program

Info

Publication number: WO2024170060A1
Application number: PCT/EP2023/053536
Authority: WO
Inventors: Majed SAAD; Oskari TERVO; Le Hang Nguyen; Arto Lehti
Original assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy
Priority date: 2023-02-13
Filing date: 2023-02-13
Publication date: 2024-08-22

Abstract

There is provided a user equipment comprising means for: sending, to an access node assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic over a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the access node; receiving, from the access node, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the access node and/or one or more signal configurations; and sending, to the access node and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising a least a part of the plurality of communication resources.

Description

METHOD, APPARATUS AND COMPUTER PROGRAM

FIELD

The present application relates to a method, apparatus, system and computer program and in particular but not exclusively to performing phase noise estimation and/or compensation.

BACKGROUND

A communication system can be seen as a facility that enables communication sessions between two or more entities such as user terminals, base stations and/or other nodes by providing carriers between the various entities involved in the communications path. A communication system can be provided for example by means of a communication network and one or more compatible communication devices. The communication sessions may comprise, for example, communication of data for carrying communications such as voice, video, electronic mail (email), text message, multimedia and/or content data and so on. Nonlimiting examples of services provided comprise two-way or multi-way calls, data communication or multimedia services and access to a data network system, such as the Internet.

In a wireless communication system at least a part of a communication session between at least two stations occurs over a wireless link. Examples of wireless systems comprise public land mobile networks (PLMN), satellite based communication systems and different wireless local networks, for example wireless local area networks (WLAN). Some wireless systems can be divided into cells, and are therefore often referred to as cellular systems.

A user can access the communication system by means of an appropriate communication device or terminal. A communication device of a user may be referred to as user equipment (UE) or user device. A communication device is provided with an appropriate signal receiving and transmitting apparatus for enabling communications, for example enabling access to a communication network or communications directly with other users. The communication device may access a carrier provided by a station, for example a base station of a cell, and transmit and/or receive communications on the carrier.

The communication system and associated devices typically operate in accordance with a given standard or specification which sets out what the various entities associated with the system are permitted to do and how that should be achieved. Communication protocols and/or parameters which shall be used for the connection are also typically defined. One example of a communications system is UTRAN (3G radio). Other examples of communication systems are the long-term evolution (LTE) of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) radio-access technology, so-called 5G or New Radio (NR) networks, and so-called 6G networks. NR is being standardized by the 3^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). It should be understood that examples of the present disclosure may apply still to as-of-yet undeveloped communication systems, and may not be limited to implementation by a specific system, such as 5G or 6G networks.

SUMMARY

According to an aspect, there is provided a user equipment comprising means for: sending, to an access node, assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic for a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the access node; receiving, from the access node, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations; and sending, to the access node and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising at least a part of the plurality of communication resources.

The means may be further configured for: receiving, from the access node, feedback information based on a result of the joint estimation and/or compensation of the phase noise at the access node; based on the feedback information, determining a reconfiguration for the signal according to one or more pre-configured configurations or pre-defined condition sets shared by the user equipment and the access node; and adapting the plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations for future joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise based on the determined reconfiguration.

The means may be further configured for: receiving, from the access node, a request for assistance information, wherein sending the assistance information is performed based on the request.

The plurality of communication resources may comprise one or more of: one or more resource elements; one or more groups of resource elements; one or more component carriers; one or more physical resource blocks; one or more transmission layers; one or more bandwidth parts; one or more physical channels; one or more symbols; and/or one or more slots.

The signal may comprise at least one reference signal. The at least one reference signal may comprise a phase tracking reference signal.

The signal may comprise at least one signal symbol transmitted at the same or different symbol periods over at least one of: a plurality of carriers, a plurality of physical channels, and/or a plurality of multiple input/multiple output layers.

The one or more indications may comprise information indicating a position and/or pattern of the at least one signal symbol within the plurality of communication resources.

The phase noise may comprise a correlated part and/or an uncorrelated part, and wherein performing the joint estimation of the phase noise may comprise at least one of: for the correlated part, performing joint estimation of the phase noise based on at least one signal symbol transmitted over two or more symbol periods using at least one of the plurality of communication resources; and/or for the uncorrelated part, performing joint estimation of the phase noise based on at least one signal symbol transmitted over a same symbol period using at least two of the plurality of carriers, plurality of physical channels, and/or plurality of multiple input/multiple output layers.

The plurality of communication resources may be transmitted using a same local oscillator and received using a same local oscillator.

According to an aspect, there is provided a user equipment comprising means for: sending, to an access node, assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic for a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the user equipment; receiving, from the access node, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations; receiving, from the access node and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising at least a part of the plurality of communication resources; and performing joint phase noise estimation and/or compensation based on the received signal and the received one or more indications.

The means may be further configured for: sending, to the access node, feedback information based on a result of the joint estimation and/or compensation of the phase noise.

The means may be further configured for: receiving, from the access node, a request for assistance information, wherein sending the assistance information is performed based on the request. The plurality of communication resources may comprise one or more of: one or more resource elements; one or more groups of resource elements; one or more component carriers; one or more physical resource blocks; one or more transmission layers; one or more bandwidth parts; one or more physical channels; one or more symbols; and/or one or more slots.

The signal may comprise at least one reference signal.

The at least one reference signal may comprise a phase tracking reference signal.

According to an aspect, there is provided an access node comprising means for: receiving, from a user equipment, assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic over a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the access node; sending, to the user equipment, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations; receiving, from the user equipment and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising at least a part of the plurality of communication resources; and performing joint phase noise estimation and/or compensation based on the received signal and the received assistance information.

The means may be further configured for: sending, to the user equipment, feedback information based on a result of the joint estimation and/or compensation of the phase noise at the access node.

The means may be further configured for: sending, to the user equipment, a request for assistance information, wherein receiving the assistance information is performed based on the request.

The means may be further configured for: scheduling the plurality of communication resources based on the one or more indications.

The signal may comprise at least one reference signal.

According to an aspect, there is provided an access node comprising means for: receiving, from a user equipment, assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic over a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the user equipment; sending, to the user equipment, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations; and sending, to the user equipment and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising at least a part of the plurality of communication resources.

The means may be further configured for: receiving, from the user equipment, feedback information based on a result of the joint estimation and/or compensation of the phase noise at the user equipment; based on the feedback information, determining a reconfiguration for the signal according to one or more pre-configured configurations or pre-defined condition sets shared by the user equipment and the access node; and adapting the plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations for future joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise based on the determined reconfiguration.

The means may be further configured for scheduling the plurality of communication resources based on the one or more indications.

The signal may comprise at least one reference signal.

The at least one reference signal may comprise a phase tracking reference signal. The signal may comprise at least one signal symbol transmitted at the same or different symbol periods over at least one of: a plurality of carriers, a plurality of physical channels, and/or a plurality of multiple input/multiple output layers.

According to an aspect, there is provided a user equipment comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the user equipment at least to: send, to an access node, assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic over a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the access node; receive, from the access node, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations; and send, to the access node and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising a least a part of the plurality of communication resources.

The at least one processor may be configured to cause the user equipment to: receive, from the access node, feedback information based on a result of the joint estimation and/or compensation of the phase noise at the access node; based on the feedback information, determine a reconfiguration for the signal according to one or more pre-configured configurations or pre-defined condition sets shared by the user equipment and the access node; and adapt the plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations for future joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise based on the determined reconfiguration.

The at least one processor may be configured to cause the user equipment to: receive, from the access node, a request for assistance information, wherein the at least one processor may be configured to cause the apparatus to send the assistance information based on the request.

The signal may comprise at least one reference signal.

The plurality of communication resources may be transmitted using a same local oscillator and received using a same local oscillator. According to an aspect, there is provided a user equipment comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the user equipment at least to: send, to an access node, assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic over a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the user equipment; receive, from the access node, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations; receive, from the access node and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising at least a part of the plurality of communication resources; and perform joint phase noise estimation and/or compensation based on the received signal and the received one or more indications.

The at least one processor may be configured to cause the user equipment to: send, to the access node, feedback information based on a result of the joint estimation and/or compensation of the phase noise.

The at least one processor may be configured to cause the user equipment to: receive, from the access node, a request for assistance information, wherein the at least one processor may be configured to cause the user equipment to send the assistance information based on the request.

The signal may comprise at least one reference signal.

The one or more indications may comprise information indicating a position and/or pattern of the at least one signal symbol within the plurality of communication resources. The phase noise may comprise a correlated part and/or an uncorrelated part, and wherein performing the joint estimation of the phase noise may comprise at least one of: for the correlated part, performing joint estimation of the phase noise based on at least one signal symbol transmitted over two or more symbol periods using at least one of the plurality of communication resources; and/or for the uncorrelated part, performing joint estimation of the phase noise based on at least one signal symbol transmitted over a same symbol period using at least two of the plurality of carriers, plurality of physical channels, and/or plurality of multiple input/multiple output layers.

According to an aspect, there is provided an access node comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the access node at least to: receive, from a user equipment, assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic over a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the access node; send, to the user equipment, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations; receive, from the user equipment and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising at least a part of the plurality of communication resources; and perform joint phase noise estimation and/or compensation based on the received signal and the received assistance information.

The at least one processor may be configured to cause the access node to: send, to the user equipment, feedback information based on a result of the joint estimation and/or compensation of the phase noise at the access node.

The at least one processor may be configured to cause the access node to: send, to the user equipment, a request for assistance information, wherein the at least one processor may be configured to cause the access node to receive the assistance information based on the request.

The at least one processor may be configured to cause the access node to: schedule the plurality of communication resources based on the one or more indications.

The signal may comprise at least one reference signal.

According to an aspect, there is provided an access node comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the access node at least to: receive, from a user equipment, assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic over a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the user equipment; send, to the user equipment, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations; and send, to the user equipment and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising at least a part of the plurality of communication resources. The at least one processor may be configured to cause the access node to: receive, from the user equipment, feedback information based on a result of the joint estimation and/or compensation of the phase noise at the user equipment; based on the feedback information, determine a reconfiguration for the signal according to one or more pre-configured configurations or pre-defined condition sets shared by the user equipment and the access node; and adapt the plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations for future joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise based on the determined reconfiguration.

The at least one processor may be configured to cause the access node to schedule the plurality of communication resources based on the one or more indications.

The signal may comprise at least one reference signal.

According to an aspect, there is provided a method performed at a user equipment, the method comprising: sending, to an access node, assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic over a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the access node; receiving, from the access node, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations; and sending, to the access node and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising a least a part of the plurality of communication resources.

The method may comprise: receiving, from the access node, feedback information based on a result of the joint estimation and/or compensation of the phase noise at the access node; based on the feedback information, determining a reconfiguration for the signal according to one or more pre-configured configurations or pre-defined condition sets shared by the user equipment and the access node; and adapting the plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations for future joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise based on the determined reconfiguration.

The method may comprise: receiving, from the access node, a request for assistance information, wherein sending the assistance information is performed based on the request.

The signal may comprise at least one reference signal.

According to an aspect, there is provided a method performed at a user equipment, the method comprising: sending, to an access node, assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic over a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the user equipment; receiving, from the access node, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations; receiving, from the access node and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising at least a part of the plurality of communication resources; and performing joint phase noise estimation and/or compensation based on the received signal and the received one or more indications.

The method may comprise: sending, to the access node, feedback information based on a result of the joint estimation and/or compensation of the phase noise.

The signal may comprise at least one reference signal.

According to an aspect, there is provided a method performed at an access node, the method comprising: receiving, from a user equipment, assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic over a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the access node; sending, to the user equipment, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations; receiving, from the user equipment and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising at least a part of the plurality of communication resources; and performing joint phase noise estimation and/or compensation based on the received signal and the received assistance information. The method may comprise: sending, to the user equipment, feedback information based on a result of the joint estimation and/or compensation of the phase noise at the access node.

The method may comprise: sending, to the user equipment, a request for assistance information, wherein receiving the assistance information is performed based on the request.

The method may comprise: scheduling the plurality of communication resources based on the one or more indications.

The signal may comprise at least one reference signal.

The plurality of communication resources may be transmitted using a same local oscillator and received using a same local oscillator. According to an aspect, there is provided a method performed at an access node, the method comprising: receiving, from a user equipment, assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic over a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the user equipment; sending, to the user equipment, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations; and sending, to the user equipment and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising at least a part of the plurality of communication resources.

The method may comprise: receiving, from the user equipment, feedback information based on a result of the joint estimation and/or compensation of the phase noise at the user equipment; based on the feedback information, determining a reconfiguration for the signal according to one or more pre-configured configurations or pre-defined condition sets shared by the user equipment and the access node; and adapting the plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations for future joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise based on the determined reconfiguration.

The method may comprise scheduling the plurality of communication resources based on the one or more indications.

The signal may comprise at least one reference signal.

According to an aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a user equipment, cause the user equipment to perform at least the following: sending, to an access node, assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic over a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the access node; receiving, from the access node, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations; and sending, to the access node and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising a least a part of the plurality of communication resources.

The instructions, when executed by the user equipment, may cause the user equipment to further perform: receiving, from the access node, feedback information based on a result of the joint estimation and/or compensation of the phase noise at the access node; based on the feedback information, determining a reconfiguration for the signal according to one or more pre-configured configurations or pre-defined condition sets shared by the user equipment and the access node; and adapting the plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations for future joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise based on the determined reconfiguration.

The instructions, when executed by the user equipment, may cause the user equipment to further perform: receiving, from the access node, a request for assistance information, wherein sending the assistance information is performed based on the request.

The signal may comprise at least one reference signal.

According to an aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a user equipment, cause the user equipment to perform at least the following: sending, to an access node, assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic over a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the user equipment; receiving, from the access node, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations; receiving, from the access node and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising at least a part of the plurality of communication resources; and performing joint phase noise estimation and/or compensation based on the received signal and the received one or more indications. The instructions, when executed by the user equipment, may cause the user equipment to further perform: sending, to the access node, feedback information based on a result of the joint estimation and/or compensation of the phase noise.

The signal may comprise at least one reference signal.

The plurality of communication resources may be transmitted using a same local oscillator and received using a same local oscillator. According to an aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by an access node, cause the access node to perform at least the following: receiving, from a user equipment, assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic over a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the access node; sending, to the user equipment, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations; receiving, from the user equipment and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising at least a part of the plurality of communication resources; and performing joint phase noise estimation and/or compensation based on the received signal and the received assistance information.

The instructions, when executed by the access node, may cause the access node to further perform: sending, to the user equipment, feedback information based on a result of the joint estimation and/or compensation of the phase noise at the access node.

The instructions, when executed by the access node, may cause the access node to further perform: sending, to the user equipment, a request for assistance information, wherein receiving the assistance information is performed based on the request.

The instructions, when executed by the access node, may cause the access node to further perform: scheduling the plurality of communication resources based on the one or more indications.

The signal may comprise at least one reference signal.

The signal may comprise at least one signal symbol transmitted at the same or different symbol periods over at least one of: a plurality of carriers, a plurality of physical channels, and/or a plurality of multiple input/multiple output layers. The one or more indications may comprise information indicating a position and/or pattern of the at least one signal symbol within the plurality of communication resources.

The plurality of communication resources may be transmitted using a same local oscillator and received using the same local oscillator.

According to an aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by an access node, cause the access node to perform at least the following: receiving, from a user equipment, assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic over a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the user equipment; sending, to the user equipment, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations; and sending, to the user equipment and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising at least a part of the plurality of communication resources.

The instructions, when executed by the access node, may cause the access node to further perform: receiving, from the user equipment, feedback information based on a result of the joint estimation and/or compensation of the phase noise at the user equipment; based on the feedback information, determining a reconfiguration for the signal according to one or more pre-configured configurations or pre-defined condition sets shared by the user equipment and the access node; and adapting the plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations for future joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise based on the determined reconfiguration.

The instructions, when executed by the access node, may cause the access node to further perform: sending, to the user equipment, a request for assistance information, wherein receiving the assistance information is performed based on the request. The instructions, when executed by the access node, may cause the access node to further perform scheduling the plurality of communication resources based on the one or more indications.

The signal may comprise at least one reference signal.

According to an aspect, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions that, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the method according to any of the preceding aspects. In the above, many different embodiments have been described. It should be appreciated that further embodiments may be provided by the combination of any two or more of the embodiments described above.

DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

Embodiments will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying Figures in which:

Figure 1 shows a representation of a network system according to some example embodiments;

Figure 2 shows a representation of a control apparatus according to some example embodiments;

Figure 3 shows a representation of an apparatus according to some example embodiments;

Figure 4 shows an example PTRS allocation;

Figure 5 shows an example PTRS symbol transmission pattern;

Figure 6 shows methods according to some examples;

Figure 7 shows an example signal bundling scheme;

Figures 8 and 9 show signalling exchanges according to some examples; and

Figure 10 shows an example of a scheme where PDCCH and PDSCH are transmitted using two carriers.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A non-exhaustive list of abbreviations used herein is provided below for reference:

ADC Analog to digital converter

BW Bandwidth

CBW Carrier Bandwidth

CC Component Carrier

CFO Carrier frequency offset

CP Cyclic Prefix

CPE Common Phase Estimation

DCI Downlink Control Information

DFTs-OFDM Discrete Fourier Transform spread Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

DL Downlink DMRS Demodulation Reference Signal

DVB Digital Video Broadcasting

FDRA Frequency-Domain resource allocation gNB 5G-NR gNodeB Base Station

ICI Inter-Carrier Interference

MAC Medium Access Control

MCS Modulation and Coding Scheme

MIMO Multiple-Input Multipe-Output

OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

OOK On-off keying

P2P Point-to-point

PA Power Amplifier

PAPR Peak to Average Power Ratio

PDCCH Physical downlink control channel

PDSCH Physical downlink shared channel

PN Phase Noise

PRB Physical Resource Block

PRS Position Reference Signal

PSD Power Spectral Density

PTRS Phase Tracking Reference Signal

PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel

PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel

RE Resource Element

RF Radio Frequency

RRC Radio Resource Control

RS Reference Signal

Rx Receiver

SC Single Carrier

SC-FDE Single Carrier with Frequency domain equalization

SCS Subcarrier Spacing

SE Spectral efficiency

SNR/SNIR Signal-to-Noise Ratio/ Signal to Noise plus interference Ration

TBoMS T ransport Block over Multiple Slots

TDRA Time Domain Resource Allocation

Tx Transmitter

UE User Equipment UL Uplink

In the following certain embodiments are explained with reference to mobile communication devices capable of communication via a wireless cellular system and mobile communication systems serving such mobile communication devices. Before explaining in detail the exemplifying embodiments, certain general principles of a wireless communication system, access systems thereof, and mobile communication devices are briefly explained with reference to Figures 1 , 2 and 3 to assist in understanding the technology underlying the described examples.

Figure 1 shows a schematic representation of a 5G system (5GS). The 5GS may be comprised by a terminal or user equipment (UE), a 5G radio access network (5GRAN) or next generation radio access network (NG-RAN), a 5G core network (5GC), one or more application function (AF) and one or more data networks (DN).

The 5G-RAN may comprise one or more gNodeB (GNB) or one or more gNodeB (GNB) distributed unit functions connected to one or more gNodeB (GNB) centralized unit functions. The 5GC may comprise the following entities: Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF); Network Exposure Function; Network Repository Function (NRF); Policy Control Function (PCF); Unified Data Management (UDM); Application Function (AF); Authentication Server Function (AUSF); an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF); and Session Management Function (SMF). Figure 1 also shows the various interfaces (N1 , N2 etc.) that may be implemented between the various elements of the system.

Figure 2 illustrates an example of a control apparatus 200 for controlling a function of the 5GRAN or the 5GC as illustrated on Figure 1. The control apparatus may comprise at least one random access memory (RAM) 211a, at least on read only memory (ROM) 211b, at least one processor 212, 213 and an input/output interface 214. The at least one processor 212, 213 may be coupled to the RAM 211a and the ROM 211 b. The at least one processor 212, 213 may be configured to execute an appropriate software code 215. The software code 215 may for example allow to perform one or more steps to perform one or more of the present aspects. The software code 215 may be stored in the ROM 211b. The control apparatus 200 may be interconnected with another control apparatus 200 controlling another function of the 5GRAN or the 5GC. In some embodiments, each function of the 5GRAN or the 5GC comprises a control apparatus 200. In alternative embodiments, two or more functions of the 5GRAN or the 5GC may share a control apparatus. Figure 3 illustrates an example of a terminal 300, such as the terminal illustrated on Figure 1. The terminal 300 may be provided by any device capable of sending and receiving radio signals. Non-limiting examples comprise a user equipment, a mobile station (MS) or mobile device such as a mobile phone or what is known as a ’smart phone’, a computer provided with a wireless interface card or other wireless interface facility (e.g., USB dongle), a personal data assistant (PDA) or a tablet provided with wireless communication capabilities, a machine-type communications (MTC) device, an Internet of things (loT) type communication device or any combinations of these or the like. The terminal 300 may provide, for example, communication of data for carrying communications. The communications may be one or more of voice, electronic mail (email), text message, multimedia, data, machine data and so on.

The terminal 300 may receive signals over an air or radio interface 307 via appropriate apparatus for receiving and may transmit signals via appropriate apparatus for transmitting radio signals. In Figure 3 transceiver apparatus is designated schematically by block 306. The transceiver apparatus 306 may be provided for example by means of a radio part and associated antenna arrangement. The antenna arrangement may be arranged internally or externally to the mobile device.

The terminal 300 may be provided with at least one processor 301 , at least one memory ROM 302a, at least one RAM 302b and other possible components 303 for use in software and hardware aided execution of tasks it is designed to perform, including control of access to and communications with access systems and other communication devices. The at least one processor 301 is coupled to the RAM 302b and the ROM 302a. The at least one processor 301 may be configured to execute an appropriate software code 308. The software code 308 may for example allow to perform one or more of the present aspects. The software code 308 may be stored in the ROM 302a.

The processor, storage and other relevant control apparatus can be provided on an appropriate circuit board and/or in chipsets. This feature is denoted by reference 304. The device may optionally have a user interface such as key pad 305, touch sensitive screen or pad, combinations thereof or the like. Optionally one or more of a display, a speaker and a microphone may be provided depending on the type of the device.

Some network implementations may utilise frequency bands or parts of frequency bands above 71 GHz (which may be referred to as W band, 75 to 110 GHz, and D band, 110 to 170 GHz) for inter-device communication (e.g. between an access node, such as a gNB or 6G node B and UE). More generally, high frequency bands, such as the 100-300 GHz range (termed ‘sub-THz’ herein) are also being considered for some future network implementations.

However, these higher frequencies may suffer from one or more problems, such as more technological limitations, severe RF impairments (which may be especially relevant for low- cost devices), and also higher attenuations/blockages/absorptions in the environment.

In particular, some implementations may suffer from high Phase Noise (PN) with a stronger uncorrelated component in wideband. That is to say, the PN may be changing dramatically from symbol to symbol, and some PN tracking algorithms may be less efficient with uncorrelated PN.

Additionally or alternatively, other problems may include medium to high Carrier frequency offset (CFO) due to hardware imprecisions and drift, and higher doppler shift even with small UE mobility at high frequencies.

System requirements, such as energy efficiency to reduce the power consumption, smaller PAPR to achieve higher transmit power, and higher robustness to RF impairments, may be especially relevant at these high frequencies. In addition, it may be desirable for the system to be able to estimate and track the fast-time varying parameters, such as uncorrelated PN, channels with high doppler shift etc.

Based on these challenges, single-carrier waveforms (e.g. DFT-s-OFDM or SC-FDE or other variants) may be considered for use in both uplink and downlink directions. Single-carrier waveforms such as SC-FDE and DFT-s-OFDM may be more power efficient than OFDM and multicarrier waveforms in general, more robust to PN and RF impairments, and less sensitive to coarse ADC quantization. Accordingly, single carrier waveforms may enable higher EIRP (e.g. 60 dBm) to be attained with smaller Power Amplifier (PA) output power backoff to achieve higher SNR. This may be particularly beneficial considering the limited transmit power available in some technologies and the high attenuations.

As mentioned previously, high PN may be a particular issue at higher frequencies. Phase noise may originate from local oscillators in up and down conversion. In some OFDM based systems (including DFT-s-OFDM) the PN may impact in a form of Common Phase Error (CPE) and Inter Carrier Interference (I Cl) . CPE may be common for all subcarriers. ICI may be unique for each carrier and may depend on the subcarrier spacing. PN compensation, e.g. CPE or ICI compensation may be beneficial to improve the communication with higher frequency bands.

The PN spectrum may depend on the used oscillators, and its effect may depend on the signal bandwidth (or symbol rate). PN can be modelled as combination of a correlated component (e.g. Wiener type of PN) and an uncorrelated component (e.g. Gaussian type of PN).

The threshold for determining the dominant factor (i.e. whether the correlated or uncorrelated component is dominant) can be approximated by:

where N is the number of symbols (samples), f_c is the oscillator corner frequency, and T is the symbol duration.

If the above condition is satisfied, PN may be appropriately modelled as Gaussian and the uncorrelated component has the dominant effect, which may be the case with larger bandwidth (e.g for a small symbol period T). Hence, the compensation of the correlated part may have minimal to no effect in the performance in such case. Instead, performance may be improved with estimation and compensation of the uncorrelated PN part. As a result, more reference signals (RS) may be required since the uncorrelated component may not be tracked (due to uncorrelated random phase variation).

Reference signals may comprise known modulation symbols occupying specific fixed resource elements. As used herein, the term “reference signal” may comprise a predefined symbol known by the receiver of the reference signal in advance (such as but not limited to 5G NR RS, Unique Word (UW), KT, etc.), and/or predictable symbols that can be deduced at the receiver and not necessarily known in advance (such as but not limited to CP symbols, detected data symbols, etc).

When transmitting reference signals over a communication system, data transmission with RS over the same RE may not be allowed, as per 3GPP TS 38.211 V17.1.0 (2022-03), section 6.1.2. Thus, the requirement for more RS to estimate the fast time varying parameters may also result overhead and spectral efficiency degradation.

Various reference signals may be used. In the following, reference is made primarily to PTRS, which may be used to estimate the phase noise. Briefly, PTRS are time multiplexed signals, and may have a configuration that provides higher time density to consider the time variation of PN which is common for all subcarriers (CPE). It should be understood that in some examples, RS other than PTRS may be used, and some of the technical advantages or benefits provided by aspects of the present disclosure may still be achieved to a similar or lesser degree than with PTRS.

High frequency carriers, such as but not limited to the 100GHz and above frequency range, may introduce additional challenges for establishing reliable communications. These include: Low SNR and poor coverage for edge users especially at higher frequencies. o Phase noise estimation accuracy may need further enhancement, especially at low SNR, to enhance the coverage.

Strong phase noise generated by local oscillators at high frequencies and uncorrelated PN may be dominant with wider bandwidth. o High frequency oscillators working at high frequency may experience high phase noise. When the system bandwidth is large compared to the oscillator corner frequency, the uncorrelated part of the PN may become more significant. o Frequent phase noise estimation may need to be performed in order to suppress the effect in particular of the uncorrelated part of the PN. A device may not perform frequent estimation of the PN without sacrificing the spectral efficiency due to inevitable RS overhead. o In some conditions, a more frequent and accurate PN estimation capability may be required to enhance the coverage, and thus a finer time-density of PTRS may be required. A possible finer PTRS time granularity may, for example, be in terms of modulated M-ary symbol or resource element within DFT-s-OFDM symbol and/or SC-FDE block. The high PTRS modulated symbol time density for uncorrelated PN may lead to significant RS overhead and, in extreme case, may not allow any data transmission. o In some examples, symbols for phase noise estimation may be allocated to resource elements either in time (DFT-s-OFDM) or frequency-domain (OFDM). Placed at regular intervals in time-domain within a DFT-s-OFDM symbol or frequency-domain within an OFDM symbol, it may be possible to estimate the phase noise at one or more PTRS positions and then use certain estimation algorithms to estimate the phase noise in other modulation symbol positions up to a certain accuracy (which may be higher when the PN is more correlated). In this case, it may be possible to even interpolate the phase noise on adjacent OFDM or DFT-s-OFDM symbols. However, at sub-THz with wider bandwidth, the uncorrelated part of the PN may be higher and dominant, and thus more frequent and ultimately independent PN estimation per symbol may be required, with minimum interpolation over time being reliably accurate in some cases. In high phase noise, PTRS may require a significantly higher time density, which may come at the cost of spectral efficiency and high RS overhead. o This high time-domain density requirement (L-ptrs=1 and potentially a finer granularity at modulation symbol level or resource element level with single carrier) may be also needed even with low MCS in sub-THz, because symbols without PTRS may not eliminate accurately the dominant uncorrelated PN component and the cancellation of the correlated part only has almost no impact on the performance when the uncorrelated PN is dominant.

One solution to handle the uncorrelated PN may be to have several PTRS on each symbol and separate PN estimation per (DFT-s-)OFDM or SC-FDE block symbol. However estimating the uncorrelated PN (which may be particularly useful where each modulated symbol or resource element for single carrier is subjected to extreme PN) may lead to higher RS overhead, and there may be some further issues such as:

While the 5G-NR PTRS configurations can be used to reasonably estimate the (DFT- s-)-OFDM symbol or SC-FDE block level PN at the lower frequencies, the PTRS density may be too low to reliably estimate PN at the modulation symbol level (especially in the low SNR) and may be too challenging in the higher frequencies for any SNR;

Some channel(s) may not have PTRS (e.g., PDCCH), and higher RS may require increasing allocation or overhead for same TBS, thereby impacting the network performance;

Using always time density Lptrs=1 with uncorrelated PN may lead to high RS overhead and less SE;

Compensating extremely high uncorrelated PN at each time instant with single carrier may not allow significant data transmission;

Higher RS overhead in time and frequency to enhance PN estimation accuracy may lead to sacrificing the spectral efficiency and impacting the motivation of sub-THz to reach extremely high data rate with wider allocation.

In summary, to address these problems, it may be beneficial for the network to perform frequent and accurate channel and RF impairments estimations, especially at low SNR, with an acceptable RS overhead to enhance the coverage. PTRS with OFDM and DFT-s-OFDM may have a coarse time density Lptrs = 1 (PTRS pattern on each OFDM/DFT-s-OFDM symbol) to compensate high PN. However, as a result the accuracy may be low, especially at low SNR, and may become too challenging for sub-THz frequencies with very high uncorrelated PN varying rapidly between modulated symbol time period. In addition, higher PTRS density in the same symbol and finer PTRS time granularity (i.e. , more PTRS groups and/or more time-samples per PTRS group in Table 1) may lead to more significant RS overhead.

The RS with SC-FDE and DFT-s-OFDM waveform may be time multiplexed and thus each modulation symbol (i.e. a resource element) may either carry data or an RS over all allocated BW like DFT-s-OFDM. Thus finer RS time-density at modulation symbol period may cause increased overhead.

For example, where the time density for PTRS (L_ptrs) = 1 and 3 symbols for each 12 modulation symbols (which may be considered to equivalent time domain PRB), are dedicated to RS, this leads to 25% RS overhead. In addition, the estimations accuracy in the sub-THz bands could be unsatisfactory especially with low and/or coarse RS time-density and small number of RS.

RF impairments in higher frequency ranges may require more RS and finer RS granularity. Considering the above example, using 6 RS for each 12 modulated symbols and L_ptrs=1 results in 50% of symbols used for RS (i.e. a 50% RS overhead). This results in a loss in spectral efficiency that may not be compensated for by raising modulation order on the data symbols, as the system becomes more vulnerable to phase noise and may suffer from low SNR.

In summary, reference signals may create a compromise between spectral efficiency and estimation quality. Using a higher number of RS with resource element granularity for better estimation may result in a lower number of resource elements used for data transmission, and therefore a less efficient system. Higher frequency bands may require more frequent estimates, thereby accentuating this issue.

Some systems may not offer frequent enough estimations to handle uncorrelated PN without greatly sacrificing spectral efficiency. In addition, the spectral efficiency may further decrease when using the finer resource element time-density in single carrier waveform. Thus, the coarse time density equal to one (possible time density in 5G-NR for PTRS : L-ptrs=1 at (DFT- s-)OFDM or SC-FDE block) may be possible with any waveform and may lead to RS overhead. However the finer time density granularity =1 at each resource element may not be possible at all with all waveforms because a slot with all RS means no data transmission and zero SE.

While increasing the number of RS within the same slot and even in the same (DFT-s-)OFDM symbol or SC-FDE block by using finer RS time-density at resource element level could be imposed to enhance the estimation accuracy especially at low SNR which is common in sub- THz, this may reduce the spectral efficiency (SE) with all waveforms.

Some examples may address one or more of these issues. Some examples may provide a system, method and apparatuses to enable adaptive reference signal and a finer RS time and frequency density capability. Some examples may provide one or more of the following benefits:

- Allow higher and finer time density at resource element level for RS, particularly for SC-FDE and 5G-NR waveforms;

Reduce/avoid the high RS overhead and impact on SE while maintaining/enhancing estimation accuracy;

- Allow the uncorrelated PN estimation on all symbols and at a finer granularity for better accuracy while transmitting data;

Enhance the PN estimation accuracy while reducing the RS overhead;

Provide a better estimation accuracy of mainly uncorrelated PN especially at low SNR; and

- Allow PN compensation on physical channels, component carriers and/or MIMO layers without any PTRS.

As mentioned previously, some examples may relate to PTRS. While different RS may be employed, PTRS may be particularly useful for higher frequency bands with high uncorrelated PN (e.g. sub-THz).

For DFT-s-OFDM, PTRS may be defined as illustrated in table 1 below.

Table 1 : Example PTRS group pattern as defined in 3GPP TS 38.214 The PTRS pattern in each symbol may depend on PRB allocation thresholds, which may be configurable for example by using the sampleDensity field. The PTRS Time-domain density (in OFDM symbol-level) may be configurable using the timeDensity-TransformPrecoding field.

For DFT-s-OFDM, when timeDensity-TransformPrecoding field is absent, the UE may assume a time density of 1.

Figure 4 shows examples of how PTRS may be allocated for DFT-s-OFDM.

In Figure 4a, an example of a single resource block allocation is shown, where a DFTsOFDM symbol has two groups of two PTRSs 400, and the time-domain symbol level density (L_ptrs) is 2 (i.e., PTRS pattern is repeated in every second equivalent OFDM symbol). It should be understood that the time-domain symbol level density can be a different number, for example 1 or 4. Also shown is a DM-RS symbol period 402

The timeDensity and timeDensity-TransformPrecoding fields described above may be similar, and may refer to coarse time density at equivalent OFDM symbol level (regardless finer density or number of PTRS within equivalent OFDM symbol of different patterns between waveforms). One of these coarse time Density parameters may be used according to configured waveform.

A fine density for a PTRS group may be defined within equivalent OFDM symbol period carrying PTRS. The fine density may depend on the actual PRB allocation (total number of allocated REs) and table 1 , for example as shown in Figure 4b. The fine density for a PTRS- group may be understood as the distance between REs corresponding to PTRS in Figure 4b, which illustrates a single DFTs-OFDM symbol using a configuration corresponding to the first row in table 1 , i.e. two groups with two samples per group.

For OFDM, the PTRS Time-density (i.e., in OFDM symbol-level) may be based on MOS. The values may be configurable. The PTRS frequency density (i.e. the RE in each OFDM symbol) may be based on PRB allocation thresholds. The threshold may be configurable. Tables 2 and 3 below show some example configurations. In some examples, when the timeDensity field is absent for CP-OFDM, the UE may assume a time density of 1.

Table 2 : Example time density of PTRS as a function of scheduled MCS

Table 3 : Example frequency density of PTRS as a function of scheduled bandwidth

Reference is made to Figure 6, which shows methods according to some examples.

With reference to Figures 6a and 6b, an example method is shown where PN estimation and/or compensation is performed at the access node. Figure 6a shows an example method performed at a UE, while Figure 6b shows an example method performed at an access node.

At 600, the method comprises sending, to an access node, assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic over a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the access node.

At 602, the method comprises receiving, from the access node, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations.

At 604, the method comprises sending, to the access node and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising a least a part of the plurality of communication resources.

At 606, a method comprises receiving, from a user equipment, assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic over a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the access node.

At 608, the method comprises sending, to the user equipment, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations. At 610, the method comprises receiving, from the user equipment and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising at least a part of the plurality of communication resources.

At 612, the method comprises performing joint phase noise estimation and/or compensation based on the received signal and the received assistance information.

With reference to Figures 6c and 6d, an example method is shown where PN estimation and/or compensation is performed at the UE. Figure 6c shows an example method performed at a UE, while Figure 6d shows an example method performed at an access node.

At 614, a method comprises sending, to an access node, assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic over a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the user equipment.

At 616, the method comprises receiving, from the access node, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations.

At 618, the method comprises receiving, from the access node and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising at least a part of the plurality of communication resources.

At 620, the method comprises performing joint phase noise estimation and/or compensation based on the received signal and the received one or more indications.

At 622, a method comprises receiving, from a user equipment, assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic over a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the user equipment.

At 624, the method comprises sending, to the user equipment, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations.

At 626, the method comprises sending, to the user equipment and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising at least a part of the plurality of communication resources.

In some examples, the access node may use the one or more indications to ask the UE to maintain a common LO for these resources indicated in previous step if UE has a reconfigurable architecture and avoid actions causing a phase dis-continuity. The one or more signal configurations may be used to configure the transmitted signal(s) over the plurality of communication resources. The received indications may adapt Tx UL signals and allow joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the access node.

Some examples may utilise signal (e.g. reference signal) bundling over multiple communication resources. Signal bundling may comprise transmitting a signal symbol at the same or different symbol periods using one or more carriers, physical channels, and/or MIMO layers. Some examples may transmit a signal symbol at the same or different symbol periods using multiple carriers, physical channels and/or MIMO layers, where the signal is passed through same tx/rx oscillators. This may allow a finer signal symbol time density at resource element with less added overhead. This may allow the PN to be estimated in one place (e.g. MIMO layer, PDSCH, CO, symbol, etc.) and used in another place without signal symbol(s) (e.g., another layer, PDCCH, CO, symbol, etc.). In some examples, the estimation may be performed according to dominant component of the PN (i.e. correlated or uncorrelated component).

A given number of signal symbols may be mapped, divided, shared or optimized over multiple component carriers (CCs), physical channels such as PDSCH/PDCCH, blocks, symbols, slots and/or MIMO layers as long as they are passed through same oscillators.

Signal bundling over the same symbol slot may aid in estimating and addressing the uncorrelated PN. Signal bundling may over multiple symbols/slots may in some examples be used with correlated PN.

In some examples, signal bundling may be performed over at least some of the available physical channels, component carriers and/or MIMO layers when different signals are available/allocated at same/different modulated symbol period and/or OFDM symbol period, provided that the signals are passed through the same Tx/Rx oscillators. Thus, some examples may be used when different physical channels between same access node and UE, aggregated channels using same oscillator, and/or different MIMO layers are used, provided that a common oscillator is used.

Some examples may adapt signal allocation over the physical channels, component carriers and/or MIMO layers sharing same Tx/Rx oscillators and symbols/slots allocation to better serve the uncorrelated PN estimation and/or the correlated PN estimation. For instance, a possible allocation may be alternating signals between symbols over the different physical channels, component carriers and/or Ml MO layers, as shown in Figure 5, where the dashed blocks indicate signal (e.g. PTRS) symbol transmission. The example pattern shown in Figure 5 may be considered at coarse equivalent OFDM symbol period and even at finer level of modulation symbol (RE). While the example of Figure 5 shows one possible pattern, it should be understood that many other patterns are also possible and fall within the scope of the present disclosure.

In some examples, when multiple physical channels or carriers or MIMO layers are multiplexed, the pattern may be mapped or aggregated so that (as one example) PN is estimated in one channel, carrier, layer, etc., and used also in another. Additionally or alternatively, the PN estimation may be enhanced by increasing the number of bundled signals with same overhead.

In some examples, for correlated PN part, signal(s) may be allocated on overlapping physical channels, component carriers and/or MIMO layers. This may result in higher accuracy using more bundled signal(s) without high PN estimation frequency. That may result in less Rx average computational complexity.

In some examples, for uncorrelated PN part, a signal may be allocated in certain pattern(s)/allocation(s) to cover more time instants for more frequent estimations.

Both strategies may be performed separately or simultaneously with larger number of resources passing through same oscillators. This may enable more accurate and frequent PN estimations.

Using PTRS at the same symbol period on other channels/carriers and/or MIMO layers may be particularly beneficial in cases where there are currently no PTRS allocation in a transmission, such as but not limited to in PDCCH, or where the number of PTRS per symbol is not sufficient for accurate PN estimation.

In some examples, signal bundling may be applicable with different transmission schemes, such as but not limited to CP-OFDM, DFT-s-OFDM, SC-FDE and any other waveform in UL and/or DL. In some examples, the PTRS bundling over the physical channels, component carriers and/or MIMO layers in the same symbol or slot and even different slots can be also applied with other RS (e.g. PRS, etc.) to enhance the estimation accuracy and/or coverage. Thus it should be understood that in the context of examples of the present disclosure, PTRS may be replaced by another RS.

Figure 7 shows an example signal bundling scheme. The example of Figure 7 may apply to CP-OFDM, and may also be applicable with DFTs-OFDM and SC-FDE where each signal occupies all frequencies. In the example of Figure 7, resource elements containing a diagonal line may represent symbol periods in which a signal is transmitted, and resource elements containing a vertical line may represent symbol periods in which DM-RS is transmitted.

It should be noted that, while Figure 7 shows an example of PRBs for same/different physical channels or CC at different frequencies passing through same oscillators, the bundled signal can in some examples also be over Ml MO layer(s) at same frequency.

In some examples, the Tx/Rx may perform the appropriate signal bundling over specific UE channels/carriers/layers. A signalling exchange for establishing signal bundling is described in more detail later. In some examples, the signal bundling may be performed according to the PN class or characteristics (e.g. low, medium, or high total PN, correlated/uncorrelated PN, dominant correlated/uncorrelated PN (and any other definition using percentage of dominancy), class based on more accurate PN model (slope indication of different correlated parts in PN PSD,...), PN variances etc.). Signal allocations may be configured jointly to allow the optimal and appropriate bundling.

Signals passing through same oscillators at same OFDM symbol period and/or modulated symbol period may be used to estimate the PN or part of the PN (e.g. the correlated part or the uncorrelated part). For example, as shown in Figure 7, signal symbols comprised in bundles 700a and/or 700b can be used to estimate the uncorrelated PN part.

In the example of Figure 7, block of REs 704 utilizes a different subcarrier spacing (SCS) to the other blocks. Signal bundling may still be performed with other blocks of REs on another bandwidth part (e.g. as shown by 700b) with different SCS, provided that they are passing through the same local oscillator.

Signals passing through same oscillators at different symbols/slots in addition can be used to estimate the correlated PN part, for example as shown in Figure 7 by bundles 702a and/or 702b. That is to say, in some examples, the signal symbol(s) transmitted at multiple symbol periods using at least one of the plurality of channels, component carriers and/or MIMO layers may be used to estimate the correlated part of the PN, and/or signal symbol(s) transmitted at the same symbol period using at least two of the plurality of channels/component carriers/MIMO layers may be used to estimate to uncorrelated part of the PN.

In some examples, the receiver (e.g. access node) may perform signal bundling based on the transmitter PN class. The receiver may determine the transmitter PN class to perform the appropriate bundling configuration.

In some examples the receiver may determine the transmitter capability and over which resources signal bundling is possible. If the receiver doesn’t know PN characteristics and which signals can be bundled according to the transmitter implementation, a simple signal bundling assumption at Rx could degrade PN estimation and coverage.

For instance, any assumption of signal bundling over multiple MIMO layers without indication where it is possible could significantly degrade the coverage, since the transmitter may not have a pre-defined hardware implementation and different oscillator/PLL architecture with MIMO may be possible (e.g. centralized oscillator for all antennas, distributed oscillators (local oscillator for each antenna), or mixed architecture).

In some examples, the receiver may perform joint signal allocation over the physical channels, component carriers and/or MIMO layers to provide one or more of:

Higher joint time-density of bundled signal using same overall signal overhead. For example, bundling signals over 2 different physical channels, component carriers and/or MIMO layers (transmitted on overlapping time resources) with alternating signal can allow to have time-density equal to 2 and reaching joint time-density equal to 1.

Lower signal overhead with similar PN estimation accuracy by reducing timedensity per slot and alternating signal between symbols over the different physical channels, component carriers and/or MIMO layers.

Better estimation accuracy especially at low SNR by using more bundled signals with correlated PN and/or uncorrelated PN.

In some examples, a signaling exchange may be implemented to enable signal bundling in LIL/DL and to adapt joint signal allocations over the different physical channels, component carriers and/or MIMO layers, or to instruct about the available signals for bundling if necessary. In case of bundled configuration, the transmitter and receiver may run the bundled configurations through the same oscillator.

Reference is made to Figure 8, which shows a signalling exchange according to some examples. In the example of Figure 8, the joint PN estimation and/or compensation is performed by the access node.

At 800, the access node may request, from the UE, assistance information.

For example, the access node may request the UE to report/indicate the UE’s capabilities for signal bundling and/or PN characteristics. The request may comprise a assistance report request.

In some examples the UE’s capability may be per physical channel, component carrier, MIMO layer, block, symbol, slot, etc. For example, a UE may have capability for signal bundling in same/different time/frequency resources and not over different layers, since the particular UE implementation may use distributed oscillators in MIMO.

In some examples, PN characteristics may be about the dominant PN type (e.g. (e.g. low, medium, or high total PN, correlated/uncorrelated PN, dominant correlated/uncorrelated PN (and any other definition using percentage of dominancy), class based on more accurate PN model (slope indication of different correlated part 1st degree, 2nd degree,... ), PN variances etc.).), or detailed PN structure according to its implementation (e.g. variance or level of correlated PN and/or of uncorrelated PN) or time or frequency correlation function. For example there could be one or more bits indicating which type of PN is dominating or the percentage of correlated/uncorrelated PN from UE oscillator.

At 802, the UE may send assistance information to the access node.

For example, the UE may report/indicate its PN characteristics and/or capabilities and/or other assistance information (e.g. implementation architecture indicating entities using a common oscillator) to the access node. This may be in response to the request from the access node at 800.

Thus the access node may determine the capabilities of a UE with respect to signal bundling for performing joint PN estimation and/or compensation, and/or PN characteristics. The PN characteristics may comprise at least one of the following: a. Explicit PN details: e.g. information related to local oscillators (LOs), such as PN class (correlated/uncorrelated/mixed/ etc.), PN PSD, PN severity (low, medium, high)), hardware architecture implementation (common/distributed/mixed LO architecture,), analogue or digital signal processing affecting PN on received signal; and/or b. Implicit PN information conveyed directly within the preferred signal configuration and/or the indication about resources that could be considered for joint PN estimation/compensation by the access node.

In some examples, the UE can directly request/indicate a specific signal configuration according to PN characteristics and capabilities with/without the access node's prior request.

For example, the UE can request the access node to enable signal bundling and implicitly/explicitly indicate the appropriate signal configuration (for example in the PRACH preamble implicitly).

The signal configuration may include one or more of: a signal pattern, time/frequency/spatial densities/patterns, dimensions of time/frequency/spatial overlapping or offset, distribution within and over different physical channels, component carriers and/or MIMO layers where signal(s) are passing through same oscillators and bundling is possible. The signal configuration may be different over different physical channels, component carriers and/or MIMO layers (e.g., density in one physical channel, carrier component and/or MIMO layer higher than the others, signal pattern change, some physical channel(s), component carriers(s) and/or MIMO layer(s) without signal etc.).

Some signal configurations may be associated with certain configuration (MOS, CBW, frequency allocation, carrier frequency etc.) and/or PN characteristics.

At 804, the access node sends, to the UE, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources (e.g. the physical channel(s), carrier component(s) and/or MIMO layer(s) etc.) that can be used for signal bundling and joint PN estimation and/or compensation, and/or one or more signal configurations.

The one or more indications may comprise information indicating one or more of:

• certain signal configuration over single and/or multiple physical channels, component carriers, slots and/or MIMO layers; • certain signal configuration, and an indication of which physical channels, component carriers, slots and/or Ml MO layers can be used for joint PN estimation; and/or

• Confirmation to use a UE requested signal configuration when it is reported/indicated to the access node in prior signalling, e.g. at 802.

In some examples, the access node may configure signal bundling and the signal(s) for same/different physical channels, component carriers and/or Ml MO layers based on PN variation estimation over previous transmissions from the same UE.

In some examples, the access node may assess the appropriate signal configuration based on the received assistance information and the scheduled transmission (SOS, CBW, carrier frequency, MCS, etc.).

The one or more signal configurations may be for a single physical channel, carrier component and/or MIMO layer and/or for multiple physical channels, carrier components and/or MIMO layers.

The signal configuration may be according to the received reports and/or access node's assessment for overall PN characteristics (PN from Tx and Rx oscillators). This configuration may be sent to the UE, for example through DCI (e.g. for RS fast adaptation with MCS), MAC signalling or higher layer (RRC) signaling to adjust its UL transmission or to give the updated joint signal allocation in DL channels.

In some examples, the one or more indications of plurality of communication resources considered for joint PN estimation may implicitly indicate to use specific pattern/rules for signal configuration on these resource groups or sub-groups. For example, there may be RRC configurations and/or hardcoded tables/rules for signal configuration that will be selected based on receiving the one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources.

In some examples, the one or more indications may comprise one or more indications of more than one group/sub-group plurality of communication resources. For example, two different group/sets of communication resources may be indicated, which can be used separately for joint PN estimation and/or compensation.

In some examples, the access node may schedule the plurality of communication resources based on the one or more indications. At 806, the UE sends one or more signals to the access node according to the signal configuration.

For example, the UE may perform scheduled uplink transmissions according to the signal configuration.

At 808, the access node performs joint PN estimation and/or compensation based on the signalling received from the UE at 806.

For example, the access node may perform joint PN estimation based on the received signal(s) and the signal configuration, and subsequently compensate for the PN based on the joint PN estimation.

PN compensation may be performed in any suitable manner, such as but not limited to:

- simple estimator(s) by the multiplication of received signal(s) by the conjugate of its corresponding known signal and then averaging these estimations over bundled signal set(s);

- least square estimator(s) (LSE), MMSE using vector(s) of bundled signal set(s);

-extended Kalman filter for correlated PN part, etc.;

- Iterative approaches based on above techniques or other Al/Neural network-based solutions;

Depending on signal configuration, these techniques could be up to some extent using some interpolation/predication that also could be based on different principle.

Thus, while the implementation of PN compensation could vary, examples of the present disclosure may enable the exchange of information between UE/ access node for the PN estimator/compensator (e.g., at least creating (sub-)groups of elements according to configurations/indications to be used in independent/joint PN estimation, selecting the algorithm itself for estimation or predication, controlling/supervising the algorithm, etc).

At 810, the access node may send feedback to the UE about PN compensation accuracy. In some examples, the UE may adapt future configurations accordingly (e.g., could reduce/increase signal overhead or use different patterns etc.) based on the feedback.

For example, the UE may, based on the feedback, determine a reconfiguration for the signal comprising the Plurality of resources. The reconfiguration may be determined according to one or more pre-configured configuration or pre-defined condition set(s) shared by the UE and access node. As an illustrative example, where the feedback indicates low accuracy, a preconfigured configuration or pre-defined condition may be to increase the signal density (e.g. from X to Y, or from X to 2X, etc.), or change the signal pattern from pattern A to pattern B, etc.

Reference is made to Figure 9, which shows a signalling exchange according to some examples. In the example of Figure 9, the joint PN estimation and/or compensation is performed by the UE.

At 900, the access node may request, from the UE, assistance information. The assistance information may be as described above with respect to Figure 8.

At 902, the UE may send assistance information to the access node. The assistance information may be as described above with respect to Figure 8.

At 904, the access node sends, to the UE, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources (e.g. the physical channel(s), carrier component(s) and/or MIMO layer(s) etc.) that can be used for signal bundling and joint PN estimation and/or compensation, and/or one or more signal configurations. The one or more indications may be as described above with respect to Figure 8.

At 906, the access node sends, to the UE and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising the plurality of communication resources.

For example, the access node may perform scheduled downlink transmissions according to the signal configuration.

At 908, the UE performs joint phase noise estimation and/or compensation based on the received signal(s) and the received one or more indications.

For example, the UE may perform joint PN estimation based on the received signal(s) and the signal configuration, and subsequently compensate for the PN based on the joint PN estimation. PN compensation may be performed as described above in relation to Figure 8. At 910, the UE may send feedback to the access node about PN compensation accuracy. In some examples, the access node may adapt future configurations accordingly (e.g., could reduce/increase signal overhead or use different patterns etc.) based on the feedback.

In some examples, the signal may comprise a reference signal, such as PTRS. However in some examples, the signal bundling may be a signal without a reference signal, or without PTRS. For example, bundling may be performed using any reference signal in the signal, and/or CP/KT/UW for joint PN estimation/compensation; or using detected data symbols from other resources to estimate PN of the next resources with sequential decoding or for all resources in next iteration with iterative decoding. In some examples, AI/ML based methods may take received signals over multiple resources and bundle them to estimate PN or recover Rx data directly.

In some of the aforementioned examples, reference is made to a gNB. However it should be understood that in other examples any suitable access node may be used in place of the gNB.

In some examples, signals may be bundled/allocated in the beginning of the slot or in the first slot(s) with each set of slots transmission or transmission period. That is to say, the signals may not appear regularly using time-density L=1 , L=2,L=4, but instead may be considered to be 'front-loaded’. In such examples, the overhead for the first symbols may be increased, but the overhead for the whole slot may remain the same.

In some examples, signals may be bundled over different physical channels. For example when there is PDSCH and PDCCH multiplexed in the same symbol, the signal pattern may be different over the symbol compared to the case without multiplexing. PDCCH may not support some signals, such as PTRS, but by bundling PDCCH with another channel (such as PDSCH) that supports those signals (e.g. PTRS), joint PN compensation may be performed for the PDCCH, regardless of whether the PDCCH and other channel are multiplexed in the same symbol or not (depending on the indicated PN characteristics, correlated/uncorrelated PN, etc.). The signal pattern may be optimized over the other channel (e.g. PDSCH) only, or for PDCCH if the PDCCH is configured to carry the signal. To illustrate further, in an example where K=4 (freq-density) for PDSCH, in some examples of the present disclosure, this K=4 might be calculated over PDSCH+PDCCH, not only PDSCH.

In other words, a signal pattern of PDCCH may depend on signal pattern of PDSCH and vice versa. Thus the signal pattern may depend on the combination of entities, such as channels/component carriers/MIMO layers etc., transmitted simultaneously. In some examples, the signal may be bundled over different Ml MO-layers with uncorrelated PN, provided that the RS are passed through same oscillator(s). That is to say, signal bundling may be performed using the same symbols over different layers for better PN estimation. Signals may also be bundled to the layers with best SNR, or weighted according to estimation reliability based on SNR, e.g. layers with highest eigenvalues. In some examples, the bundling over different layers may be subject to specific antenna ports.

In some examples, the UE can perform signal bundling for joint PN estimation/compensation over other DL channels when the RS positions and necessary information are shared by the access node with other nearby UEs or following any predetermined patterns with some fixed signal position(s) for such use case known or configured for involved UEs.

In some examples, signal bundling and signal co-optimization may be performed over communications UL and DL resources in full duplex case.

Some examples may enhance PN estimation accuracy and frequency, and may do so with the same or less signal overhead. Some examples may avoid wrong estimation when using signals over different symbols with uncorrelated dominant PN part.

In some examples, the accuracy of PN estimation may be increased by bundling the appropriate signal over indicated resources according to the received information. This may lead to efficient use of available signal without additional overhead and even the possibility for overhead reduction. The signal bundling may increase the number of signal symbols in joint PN estimation and enable PN compensation in signals without reference signals where PN is not compensated originally.

In some examples, frequent PN estimation may be enabled by signal bundling over the indicated resources when the signal patterns is allocated or co-optimized over the resources to cover more time instants with the ability to have same or less overhead compared to baseline.

For example, a 1st resource may have a signal starting in first symbol with time density at equivalent OFDM symbol level =2 (i.e. PTRS at symbol 1 ,3, 5, 7, 9, 11 ,13) while a 2nd resource may have a signal starting at 2nd symbol and the same time density (i.e. PTRS at symbol 2,4,6,8,10,12,14). By bundling signal over these 2 resources, PN can be estimated more frequently on all symbols similar to time density =1 but with half overhead. In some examples, using signal bundling over more resources may allow signal overhead to be further reduced. Even when comparing to signal time density at equivalent OFDM symbol level of 1 for a single resource in legacy systems, signal bundling over N resources may increase N times number of signals and enhance the estimation accuracy.

In some examples, the maximum frequency of PN estimation may be enhanced to provide finer granularity at each modulation symbol period - for example, by allocating a communication resource with signal at finer granularity for uncorrelated PN mainly and the data being transmitted over other communication resources (e.g., all REs or modulation symbols may be allocated with PTRS in 1 layer or CCs, and data may be transmitted over other communication resources etc. Some alternation similar to that discussed above with respect to Figure 5 may also be possible at finer granularities).

Some examples may reduce the overhead of signal multiplexing on one or several physical channels, component carriers and/or MIMO layers when the estimation accuracy is good enough with the bundled RS.

Some examples may compensate for PN on signals without reference signals when at least another resource passing through same oscillator comprising a signal is received.

For example, PN compensation in resources without any PTRS like PDCCH or PLICCH may be enabled by bundling PTRS over other resources transmitted and received through the same oscillator.

Some examples may adjust scheduled transmissions (e.g. TDRA, FDRA, ...) according to PN characteristics indication. For instance, the access node can schedule PDCCH without PTRS and PDSCH with PTRS on overlapping time instants on different resources to compensate for uncorrelated PN in PDCCH. For example, Figure 10 shows a scheme where PDCCH and PDSCH are transmitted using two carriers. PTRS may be scheduled on PDSCH, and PTRS bundling performed for example according to bundle 1000 to estimate the correlated PN and/or bundle 1002 to estimate the uncorrelated PN.

Some examples may allow bundled signals to have a higher time density and a finer time density granularity at modulated symbol period by joint signal allocation over the different physical channels, component carriers and/or MIMO layers. Some examples may allow smaller data coding rate due to the possibility of smaller signal overhead with signal bundling while maintaining/enhancing estimation accuracy. By reducing the signal overhead, more REs may be available to carry bits that can be used to use a smaller data coding rate (e.g. lower MCS that have smaller coding rate R) while maintaining a similar data throughput. Alternatively, the throughput may be increased after reducing signal overhead (e.g. by using higher MCS or providing more REs to carry more data bits with same MCS) when the estimation accuracy is sufficient.

In some examples, one or more apparatuses may be provided to perform one or more of the abovementioned steps.

In some examples, a user equipment may comprise means for: sending, to an access node, assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic over a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the access node; receiving, from the access node, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations; and sending, to the access node and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising at least a part of the plurality of communication resources.

In some examples, the user equipment may comprise at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the user equipment at least to: send, to an access node, assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic over a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the access node; receive, from the access node, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations; and send, to the access node and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising at least a part of the plurality of communication resources.

In some examples, an access node may comprise means for: receiving, from a user equipment, assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic over a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the access node; sending, to the user equipment, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations; receiving, from the user equipment and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising at least a part of the plurality of communication resources; and performing joint phase noise estimation and/or compensation based on the received signal and the received assistance information. In some examples the access node may comprise at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the access node at least to: receive, from a user equipment, assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic over a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the access node; send, to the user equipment, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations; receive, from the user equipment and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising at least a part of the plurality of communication resources; and perform joint phase noise estimation and/or compensation based on the received signal and the received assistance information.

In some examples, a user equipment may comprise means for: sending, to an access node, assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic over a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the user equipment; receiving, from the access node, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations; receiving, from the access node and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising at least a part of the plurality of communication resources; and performing joint phase noise estimation and/or compensation based on the received signal and the received one or more indications.

In some examples, the user equipment may comprise at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the user equipment at least to: send, to an access node, assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic over a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the user equipment; receive, from the access node, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations; receive, from the access node and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising at least a part of the plurality of communication resources; and perform joint phase noise estimation and/or compensation based on the received signal and the received one or more indications.

In some examples, an access node may comprise means for: receiving, from a user equipment, assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic over a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the user equipment; sending, to the user equipment, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations; and sending, to the user equipment and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising at least a part of the plurality of communication resources.

In some examples the access node may comprise at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the access node at least to: receive, from a user equipment, assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic over a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the user equipment; send, to the user equipment, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations; and send, to the user equipment and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising at least a part of the plurality of communication resources.

It should be understood that the apparatuses may comprise or be coupled to other units or modules etc., such as radio parts or radio heads, used in or for transmission and/or reception. Although the apparatuses have been described as one entity, different modules and memory may be implemented in one or more physical or logical entities.

It is noted that whilst some embodiments have been described in relation to 5G networks, similar principles can be applied in relation to other networks and communication systems. Therefore, although certain embodiments were described above by way of example with reference to certain example architectures for wireless networks, technologies and standards, embodiments may be applied to any other suitable forms of communication systems than those illustrated and described herein.

It is also noted herein that while the above describes example embodiments, there are several variations and modifications which may be made to the disclosed solution without departing from the scope of the present invention.

As used herein, “at least one of the following: <a list of two or more elements>” and “at least one of <a list of two or more elements>” and similar wording, where the list of two or more elements are joined by “and” or “or”, mean at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all the elements.

For the purposes of the present disclosure, the phrases “at least one of A or B”, “at least one of A and B”, “A and/or B” means (A), (B), or (A and B). For the purposes of the present disclosure, the phrases “A or B” and “A and/or B” means (A), (B), or (A and B). For the purposes of the present disclosure, the phrase “A, B, and/or C” means (A), (B), (C), (A and B), (A and C), (B and C), or (A, B, and C).

In general, the various embodiments may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuitry, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects of the disclosure may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device, although the disclosure is not limited thereto. While various aspects of the disclosure may be illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other pictorial representation, it is well understood that these blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

As used in this application, the term “circuitry” may refer to one or more or all of the following:

(a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and/or digital circuitry) and

(b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as (as applicable):

(i) a combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuit(s) with software/firmware and

(ii) any portions of hardware processor(s) with software (including digital signal processor(s)), software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and

(c) hardware circuit(s) and or processor(s), such as a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation.”

This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. The term circuitry also covers, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

The embodiments of this disclosure may be implemented by computer software executable by a data processor of the mobile device, such as in the processor entity, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. Computer software or program, also called program product, including software routines, applets and/or macros, may be stored in any apparatus-readable data storage medium and they comprise program instructions to perform particular tasks. A computer program product may comprise one or more computerexecutable components which, when the program is run, are configured to carry out embodiments. The one or more computer-executable components may be at least one software code or portions of it.

Further in this regard it should be noted that any blocks of the logic flow as in the Figures may represent program steps, or interconnected logic circuits, blocks and functions, or a combination of program steps and logic circuits, blocks and functions. The software may be stored on such physical media as memory chips, or memory blocks implemented within the processor, magnetic media such as hard disk or floppy disks, and optical media such as for example DVD and the data variants thereof, CD. The physical media is a non-transitory media.

The term “non-transitory,” as used herein, is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e. , tangible, not a signal ) as opposed to a limitation on data storage persistency (e.g., RAM vs. ROM).

The memory may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory. The data processors may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment, and may comprise one or more of general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), FPGA, gate level circuits and processors based on multi core processor architecture, as non-limiting examples.

Embodiments of the disclosure may be practiced in various components such as integrated circuit modules. The design of integrated circuits is by and large a highly automated process. Complex and powerful software tools are available for converting a logic level design into a semiconductor circuit design ready to be etched and formed on a semiconductor substrate.

The scope of protection sought for various embodiments of the disclosure is set out by the independent claims. The embodiments and features, if any, described in this specification that do not fall under the scope of the independent claims are to be interpreted as examples useful for understanding various embodiments of the disclosure. The foregoing description has provided by way of non-limiting examples a full and informative description of the exemplary embodiment of this disclosure. However, various modifications and adaptations may become apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts in view of the foregoing description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the appended claims. However, all such and similar modifications of the teachings of this disclosure will still fall within the scope of this invention as defined in the appended claims. Indeed, there is a further embodiment comprising a combination of one or more embodiments with any of the other embodiments previously discussed.

Claims

1 . A user equipment comprising means for: sending, to an access node, assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic over a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the access node; receiving, from the access node, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations; and sending, to the access node and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising at least a part of the plurality of communication resources.

2. The user equipment of claim 1 , wherein the means are further configured for: receiving, from the access node, feedback information based on a result of the joint estimation and/or compensation of the phase noise at the access node; based on the feedback information, determining a reconfiguration for the signal according to one or more pre-configured configurations or pre-defined condition sets shared by the user equipment and the access node; and adapting the plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations for future joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise based on the determined reconfiguration.

3. A user equipment comprising means for: sending, to an access node, assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic over a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the user equipment; receiving, from the access node, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations; receiving, from the access node and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising at least a part of the plurality of communication resources; and performing joint phase noise estimation and/or compensation based on the received signal and the received one or more indications.

4. The user equipment of claim 3, wherein the means are further configured for: sending, to the access node, feedback information based on a result of the joint estimation and/or compensation of the phase noise.

5. The user equipment of any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the means are further configured for: receiving, from the access node, a request for assistance information, wherein sending the assistance information is performed based on the request.

6. An access node comprising means for: receiving, from a user equipment, assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic over a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the access node; sending, to the user equipment, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations; receiving, from the user equipment and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising at least a part of the plurality of communication resources; and performing joint phase noise estimation and/or compensation based on the received signal and the received assistance information.

7. The access node of claim 6, wherein the means are further configured for: sending, to the user equipment, feedback information based on a result of the joint estimation and/or compensation of the phase noise at the access node.

8. An access node comprising means for: receiving, from a user equipment, assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic over a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the user equipment; sending, to the user equipment, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations; and sending, to the user equipment and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising at least a part of the plurality of communication resources.

9. The access node of claim 8, wherein the means are further configured for: receiving, from the user equipment, feedback information based on a result of the joint estimation and/or compensation of the phase noise at the user equipment; based on the feedback information, determining a reconfiguration for the signal according to one or more pre-configured configurations or pre-defined condition sets shared by the user equipment and the access node; and adapting the plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations for future joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise based on the determined reconfiguration.

10. The apparatus of any of claims 6 to 9, wherein the means are further configured for: sending, to the user equipment, a request for assistance information, wherein receiving the assistance information is performed based on the request.

11 . The access node of any of claims 6 to 10, wherein the means are further configured for: scheduling the plurality of communication resources based on the one or more indications.

12. The user equipment or access node of any preceding claim, wherein the plurality of communication resources comprises one or more of: one or more resource elements; one or more groups of resource elements; one or more component carriers; one or more physical resource blocks; one or more transmission layers; one or more bandwidth parts; one or more physical channels; one or more symbols; and/or one or more slots.

13. The user equipment or access node of any preceding claim, wherein the signal comprises at least one reference signal.

14. The user equipment or access node of claim 13, wherein the at least one reference signal comprises a phase tracking reference signal.

15. The user equipment or access node of any preceding claim, wherein the signal comprises at least one signal symbol transmitted at the same or different symbol periods over at least one of: a plurality of carriers, a plurality of physical channels, and/or a plurality of multiple input/multiple output layers.

16. The user equipment or access node of any of claims 13 to 15, wherein the one or more indications comprises information indicating a position and/or pattern of the at least one signal symbol within the plurality of communication resources.

17. The access node of any of claims 6 to 16, wherein the phase noise comprises a correlated part and/or an uncorrelated part, and wherein performing the joint estimation of the phase noise comprises at least one of: for the correlated part, performing joint estimation of the phase noise based on at least one signal symbol transmitted over two or more symbol periods using at least one of the plurality of communication resources; and/or for the uncorrelated part, performing joint estimation of the phase noise based on at least one signal symbol transmitted over a same symbol period using at least two of the plurality of carriers, plurality of physical channels, and/or plurality of multiple input/multiple output layers.

18. The user equipment or access node of any preceding claim, wherein the plurality of communication resources are transmitted using a same local oscillator.

19. A user equipment comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the user equipment at least to: send, to an access node, assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic over a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the access node; receive, from the access node, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations; and send, to the access node and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising at least a part of the plurality of communication resources.

20. A user equipment comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the user equipment at least to: send, to an access node, assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic over a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the user equipment; receive, from the access node, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations; receive, from the access node and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising at least a part of the plurality of communication resources; and perform joint phase noise estimation and/or compensation based on the received signal and the received one or more indications.

21. An access node comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the access node at least to: receive, from a user equipment, assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic over a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the access node; send, to the user equipment, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations; receive, from the user equipment and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising at least a part of the plurality of communication resources; and perform joint phase noise estimation and/or compensation based on the received signal and the received assistance information.

22. An access node comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the access node at least to: receive, from a user equipment, assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic over a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the user equipment; send, to the user equipment, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations; and send, to the user equipment and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising at least a part of the plurality of communication resources.

23. A method performed at a user equipment, the method comprising: sending, to an access node, assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic over a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the access node; receiving, from the access node, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations; and sending, to the access node and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising a least a part of the plurality of communication resources.

24. A method performed at a user equipment, the method comprising: sending, to an access node, assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic over a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the user equipment; receiving, from the access node, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations; receiving, from the access node and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising at least a part of the plurality of communication resources; and performing joint phase noise estimation and/or compensation based on the received signal and the received one or more indications.

25. A method performed at an access node, the method comprising: receiving, from a user equipment, assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic over a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the access node; sending, to the user equipment, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations; receiving, from the user equipment and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising at least a part of the plurality of communication resources; and performing joint phase noise estimation and/or compensation based on the received signal and the received assistance information.

26. A method performed at an access node, the method comprising: receiving, from a user equipment, assistance information comprising an indication of phase noise characteristic over a plurality of communication resources for performing joint estimation and/or compensation of phase noise at the user equipment; sending, to the user equipment, one or more indications of a plurality of communication resources and/or one or more signal configurations; and sending, to the user equipment and based on the one or more indications, a signal comprising at least a part of the plurality of communication resources.