WO2026008202A1

WO2026008202A1 - Pattern-based transmission opportunity

Info

Publication number: WO2026008202A1
Application number: PCT/EP2025/063490
Authority: WO
Inventors: Karri Markus Ranta-Aho; Brijesh Chander Pandey
Original assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy
Current assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy
Priority date: 2024-07-03
Filing date: 2025-05-16
Publication date: 2026-01-08
Anticipated expiration: 2027-01-03
Also published as: GB2642430A; GB202409586D0

Abstract

A user device may determine a pattern of transmission opportunities for transmitting via at least one of a first carrier and a second carrier, receive from a network node, a configuration of a sounding reference signal (SRS) configuring a set of SRS transmission occasions when the SRS is to be transmitted via the first carrier, and transmit the SRS via the first carrier based on a transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping a SRS transmission occasion of the set of SRS transmission occasions of the SRS configured by the configuration of the SRS.

Description

PATTERN-BASED TRANSMISSION OPPORTUNITY

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] This description relates to wireless communications.

BACKGROUND

[0002] A communication system may be a facility that enables communication between two or more nodes or devices, such as fixed or mobile communication devices. Signals can be carried on wired or wireless carriers.

[0003] An example of a cellular communication system is an architecture that is being standardized by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). A recent development in this field is often referred to as the long-term evolution (LTE) of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) radio-access technology. EUTRA (evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access) is the air interface of 3GPP's Long Term Evolution (LTE) upgrade path for mobile networks. In LTE, base stations or access points (APs), which are referred to as enhanced Node AP (eNBs), provide wireless access within a coverage area or cell. In LTE, mobile devices, or mobile stations are referred to as user equipments (UE). LTE has included a number of improvements or developments. Aspects of LTE are also continuing to improve.

[0004] 5G New Radio (NR) development is part of a continued mobile broadband evolution process to meet the requirements of 5G, similar to earlier evolution of 3G and 4G wireless networks. In addition, 5G is also targeted at the new emerging use cases in addition to mobile broadband. A goal of 5G is to provide significant improvement in wireless performance, which may include new levels of data rate, latency, reliability, and security. 5G NR may also scale to efficiently connect the massive Internet of Things (loT) and may offer new types of mission-critical services. For example, ultra-reliable and low- latency communications (URLLC) devices may require high reliability and very low latency. 6G and other networks are also being developed.

SUMMARY

[0005] In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to an apparatus including: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: determine a pattern of transmission opportunities for transmitting via at least one of a first carrier and a second carrier; receive from a network node, a configuration of a sounding reference signal (SRS) configuring a set of SRS transmission occasions when the SRS is to be transmitted via the first carrier; and transmit the SRS via the first carrier based on a transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping a SRS transmission occasion of the set of SRS transmission occasions of the SRS configured by the configuration of the SRS.

[0006] In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a method including: determining, by a user device a pattern of transmission opportunities for transmitting via at least one of a first carrier and a second carrier; receiving from a network node, a configuration of a sounding reference signal (SRS) configuring a set of SRS transmission occasions when the SRS is to be transmitted via the first carrier; and transmitting the SRS via the first carrier based on a transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping a SRS transmission occasion of the set of SRS transmission occasions of the SRS configured by the configuration of the SRS.

[0007] In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to an apparatus including: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: determine a pattern of transmission opportunities for transmitting via a first carrier and a second carrier; determine a transmission window for control information; transmit the control information via the first carrier based on a transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping the transmission window; and transmit the control information via the second carrier based on the transmission opportunity of the second carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping the transmission window.

[0008] In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a method including: determining, by a user device a pattern of transmission opportunities for transmitting via a first carrier and a second carrier; determining a transmission window for control information; transmitting the control information via the first carrier based on a transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping the transmission window; and transmitting the control information via the second carrier based on the transmission opportunity of the second carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping the transmission window.

[0009] In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to an apparatus including: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: transmit to a user device, a pattern of transmission opportunities for transmitting via at least one of a first carrier and a second carrier; transmit a configuration of a sounding reference signal (SRS) configuring a set of SRS transmission occasions when the SRS is to be transmitted via the first carrier; and receive the SRS via the first carrier based on a transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping a SRS transmission occasion of the set of SRS transmission occasions of the SRS configured by the configuration of the SRS.

[0010] In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to an apparatus including: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: transmit to a user device, information indicating a pattern of transmission opportunities for transmitting via a first carrier and a second carrier; transmit a configuration of resources to be used by the user device for transmission of control information via the first carrier or the second carrier; and receive the control information via the first carrier based on a transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping a transmission window of the user device; and receive the control information via the second carrier based on a transmission opportunity of the second carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping the transmission window.

[0011] In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a method including: transmitting, by a network node to a user device, a pattern of transmission opportunities for transmitting via at least one of a first carrier and a second carrier; transmitting, a configuration of a sounding reference signal (SRS) configuring a set of SRS transmission occasions when the SRS is to be transmitted via the first carrier; and receiving the SRS via the first carrier based on a transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping a SRS transmission occasion of the set of SRS transmission occasions of the SRS configured by the configuration of the SRS.

[0012] In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a method including: transmitting, by a network node to a user device, information indicating a pattern of transmission opportunities for transmitting via a first carrier and a second carrier; transmitting a configuration of resources to be used by the user device for transmission of control information via the first carrier or the second carrier; and receiving the control information via the first carrier based on transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping a transmission window of the user device; and receiving the control information via the second carrier based on a transmission opportunity of the second carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping the transmission window.

[0013] Other example embodiments are provided or described for each of the example methods, including: means for performing any of the example methods; a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions stored thereon that, when executed by at least one processor, are configured to cause a computing system to perform any of the example methods; and an apparatus including at least one processor, and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform any of the example methods.

[0014] The details of one or more examples of embodiments are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a wireless network 130.

[0016] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating deployment of carrier aggregation with dual connectivity.

[0017] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a pattern of transmission opportunities (e.g., a switching pattern) for transmitting via one or more uplink (UL) carriers (e.g., ULI, UL2), and a set of sounding reference signals (SRSs) according to an example embodiment.

[0018] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a pattern of transmission opportunities (e.g., a switching pattern) 406 for transmitting via one or more uplink (UL) carriers (e.g., ULI, UL2), a set of transmission windows (physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) ULI transmission windows) for a first carrier (ULI) for transmitting control information, and a set of transmission windows (PUCCH UL2 transmission windows) for a second carrier (UL2) for transmitting control information, according to an example embodiment.

[0019] FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating PUCCH selection in a pattern-based UL transmit switching.

[0020] FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating operation of an apparatus (e.g., which may be a UE or user device, or other apparatus) according to an example embodiment.

[0021] FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating operation of an apparatus (e.g., which may be a UE or user device, or other apparatus) according to an example embodiment. [0022] FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating operation of an apparatus (e.g., which may be a gNB or network node, or other apparatus) according to an example embodiment.

[0023] FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating operation of an apparatus (e.g., which may be a gNB or network node, or other apparatus) according to an example embodiment.

[0024] FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a wireless station or node (e.g., UE, user device, AP, BS, eNB, gNB, RAN node, network node, TRP, or other node) 1300 according to an example embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] It shall be understood that although the terms “first,” “second,”. . ., etc., in front of noun(s) and the like may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another and they do not limit the order of the noun(s). For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of example embodiments. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

[0026] As used herein, unless stated explicitly, performing a step “in response to A” does not indicate that the step is performed immediately after “A” occurs and one or more intervening steps may be included.

[0027] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a wireless network 130. In the wireless network 130 of FIG. 1, user devices 131, 132, 133 and 135, which may also be referred to as mobile stations (MSs) or user equipment (UEs), may be connected (and in communication) with a base station (BS) 134, which may also be referred to as an access point (AP), an enhanced Node B (eNB), a gNB or a network node. The terms user device and user equipment (UE) may be used interchangeably. A BS may also include or may be referred to as a RAN (radio access network) node, and may include a portion of a BS or a portion of a RAN node, such as e.g., such as a centralized unit (CU) and/or a distributed unit (DU) in the case of a split BS or split gNB. At least part of the functionalities of a BS (e.g., access point (AP), base station (BS) or (e)Node B (eNB), gNB, RAN node) may also be carried out by any node, server or host which may be operably coupled to a transceiver, such as a remote radio head. BS (or AP) 134 provides wireless coverage within a cell 136, including to user devices (or UEs) 131, 132, 133 and 135. Although only four user devices (or UEs) are shown as being connected or attached to BS 134, any number of user devices may be provided. BS 134 is also connected to a core network 150 via a SI interface 151. This is merely one simple example of a wireless network, and others may be used.

[0028] A base station (e.g., such as BS 134) is an example of a radio access network (RAN) node within a wireless network. A BS (or a RAN node) may be or may include (or may alternatively be referred to as), e.g., an access point (AP), a gNB, an eNB, or portion thereof (such as a centralized unit (CU) and/or a distributed unit (DU) in the case of a split BS or split gNB), or other network node.

[0029] Some functionalities of the communication network may be carried out, at least partly, in a central/centralized unit, CU, (e.g., server, host or node) operationally coupled to distributed unit, DU, (e.g., a radio head/node). Thus, 5G networks architecture may be based on a so-called CU-DU split. The gNB-CU (central node) may control a plurality of spatially separated gNB-DUs, acting at least as transmit/receive (Tx/Rx) nodes. In some embodiments, however, the gNB-DUs (also called DU) may comprise e.g., a radio link control (RLC), medium access control (MAC) layer and a physical (PHY) layer, whereas the gNB-CU (also called a CU) may comprise the layers above RLC layer, such as a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio resource control (RRC) and an internet protocol (IP) layers. Other functional splits are possible too.

[0030] According to an illustrative example, a BS node (e.g., BS, eNB, gNB, CU/DU, . . .) or a radio access network (RAN) may be part of a mobile telecommunication system. A RAN (radio access network) may include one or more BSs or RAN nodes that implement a radio access technology, e.g., to allow one or more UEs to have access to a network or core network (CN). Thus, for example, the RAN (RAN nodes, such as BSs or gNBs) may reside between one or more user devices or UEs and a core network. According to an example embodiment, each RAN node (e.g., BS, eNB, gNB, CU/DU, . . .) or BS may provide one or more wireless communication services for one or more UEs or user devices, e.g., to allow the UEs to have wireless access to a network, via the RAN node. Each RAN node or BS may perform or provide wireless communication services, e.g., such as allowing UEs or user devices to establish a wireless connection to the RAN node, and sending data to and/or receiving data from one or more of the UEs. For example, after establishing a connection to a UE, a RAN node or network node (e.g., BS, eNB, gNB, CU/DU, . . .) may forward data to the UE that is received from a network or the core network, and/or forward data received from the UE to the network or core network. RAN nodes or network nodes (e.g., BS, eNB, gNB, CU/DU, . . .) may perform a wide variety of other wireless functions or services, e.g., such as broadcasting control information (e.g., such as system information or on-demand system information) to UEs, paging UEs when there is data to be delivered to the UE, assisting in handover of a UE between cells, scheduling of resources for uplink data transmission from the UE(s) and downlink data transmission to UE(s), sending control information to configure one or more UEs, and the like. These are a few examples of one or more functions that a RAN node or BS may perform.

[0031] A user device or user node (user terminal, user equipment (UE), mobile terminal, handheld wireless device, etc.) may refer to a portable computing device that includes wireless mobile communication devices operating either with or without a subscriber identification module (SIM), including, but not limited to, the following types of devices: a mobile station (MS), a mobile phone, a cell phone, a smartphone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handset, a device using a wireless modem (alarm or measurement device, etc.), a laptop and/or touch screen computer, a tablet, a phablet, a game console, a notebook, a vehicle, a sensor, and a multimedia device, as examples, or any other wireless device. It should be appreciated that a user device may also be (or may include) a nearly exclusive uplink only device, of which an example is a camera or video camera loading images or video clips to a network. Also, a user node may include a user equipment (UE), a user device, a user terminal, a mobile terminal, a mobile station, a mobile node, a subscriber device, a subscriber node, a subscriber terminal, or other user node. For example, a user node may be used for wireless communications with one or more network nodes (e.g., gNB, eNB, BS, AP, CU, DU, CU/DU) and/or with one or more other user nodes, regardless of the technology or radio access technology (RAT). In LTE (as an illustrative example), core network 150 may be referred to as Evolved Packet Core (EPC), which may include a mobility management entity (MME) which may handle or assist with mobility /handover of user devices between BSs, one or more gateways that may forward data and control signals between the BSs and packet data networks or the Internet, and other control functions or blocks. Other types of wireless networks, such as 5G (which may be referred to as New Radio (NR)) may also include a core network.

[0032] In addition, the techniques described herein may be applied to various types of user devices or data service types, or may apply to user devices that may have multiple applications running thereon that may be of different data service types. New Radio (5G) development may support a number of different applications or a number of different data service types, such as for example: machine type communications (MTC), enhanced machine type communication (eMTC), Internet of Things (loT), and/or narrowband loT user devices, enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), and ultra-reliable and low-latency communications (URLLC). Many of these new 5G (NR) - related applications may require generally higher performance than previous wireless networks.

[0033] loT may refer to an ever-growing group of objects that may have Internet or network connectivity, so that these objects may send information to and receive information from other network devices. For example, many sensor type applications or devices may monitor a physical condition or a status and may send a report to a server or other network device, e.g., when an event occurs. Machine Type Communications (MTC, or Machine to Machine communications) may, for example, be characterized by fully automatic data generation, exchange, processing and actuation among intelligent machines, with or without intervention of humans. Enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) may support much higher data rates than currently available in LTE.

[0034] Ultra-reliable and low-latency communications (URLLC) is a new data service type, or new usage scenario, which may be supported for New Radio (5G) systems. This enables emerging new applications and services, such as industrial automations, autonomous driving, vehicular safety, e-health services, and so on. 3 GPP targets in providing connectivity with reliability corresponding to block error rate (BLER) of 10-5 and up to 1 ms U-Plane (user/data plane) latency, by way of illustrative example. Thus, for example, URLLC user devices/UEs may require a significantly lower block error rate than other types of user devices/UEs as well as low latency (with or without requirement for simultaneous high reliability). Thus, for example, a URLLC UE (or URLLC application on a UE) may require much shorter latency, as compared to an eMBB UE (or an eMBB application running on a UE).

[0035] The techniques described herein may be applied to a wide variety of wireless technologies or wireless networks, such as 5G (New Radio (NR)), cmWave, and/or mmWave band networks, loT, MTC, eMTC, eMBB, URLLC, 6G, etc., or any other wireless network or wireless technology. These example networks, technologies or data service types are provided only as illustrative examples.

[0036] A user device (or UE) may measure various signals and may transmit one or more measurement reports to the network. For example, a UE may measure reference signals received from one or more network nodes (e.g., gNBs or DUs), including channel state information-reference signals (CSI-RSs) and/or synchronization signal block (SSB) reference signals, demodulation references signals, and/or other reference signals. Based on received reference signals, the UE may measure various signal parameters, e.g., such as reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), received signal strength indicator (RSSI), or other signal parameter.

[0037] The PHY (physical) layer may refer to layer 1 (LI) and MAC (media access control) may refer to layer 2 (L2). RSRP, RSRQ, SINR and RSSI are signal quantities measured at layer 1 (LI). The UE may send LI measurement reports (e.g., CSLRS reports, which include measurements of one or more signal parameters for one or more cells) to a gNB, source DU or serving cell. These LI measurement reports may be sent periodically, for example, or aperiodically. L1/L2 measurement reports may include no averaging or filtering of measurement values or may include less averaging or filtering than what is performed for L3 measurement reports. LI (or L1/L2) measurement reports may be transmitted by a UE to a serving network node or source DU and may cause the network node to trigger or initiate a L1/L2 triggered mobility (LTM) handover of the UE to another cell. LI measurements (e.g., RSRP RSRQ, RSSI) may be provided or reported periodically to the DU (MAC/PHY).

[0038] In an example, an uplink transmit/transmission switching, e.g., uplink Tx switching or UL Tx switching may be a mechanism that improves uplink capacity and coverage by allowing a UE to switch its transmitting antenna frequency band. In other words, the transmitter of the UE may be able to transmit via carriers operating at different frequencies.

[0039] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating deployment of carrier aggregation with dual connectivity. In an example, in uplink carrier aggregation (CA) or in supplementary uplink (SUL), a UE may be configured with uplink transmit switching. In an example, when configured with uplink transmit switching, the UE may be able to have a transmitter dynamically switched between two links, e.g., from one uplink carrier to another uplink carrier. In an example, the uplink transmit switching may include a method for a UE to perform carrier aggregation through a first carrier and a second carrier based on switching of a UE transmission chain. [0040] In an example, the UE may be configured with a dual connectivity via evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) and new radio (NR) such as E-UTRA - NR dual connectivity (EN-DC).

[0041] In dual connectivity, a UE may be connected to two cells, or in general, two cell groups. The two cell groups may include a master cell group (MCG) and a secondary cell group (SCG). In an example, the two cell groups may be handled by different gNBs.

[0042] In an example, carrier aggregation (CA) is a technique that allows mobile operators to combine different spectrum bands to increase capacity and provide faster data rates in their networks. Carrier aggregation may be employed/implemented by configuring a UE to connect simultaneously to multiple cells of a base station (gNB), allowing the UE to operate at multiple frequencies at the same time. In an example, the configuration of carrier aggregation may be done by assigning frequency blocks, called component carriers (CCs), to the UE. For example, LTE-Advanced may allow a UE to transmit and receive on up to five CCs simultaneously, each with a maximum bandwidth of 20 MHz.

[0043] In an example as depicted in FIG. 2, carrier aggregation may be combined with dual connectivity. In an example, in addition to primary cells (PCells) and secondary cells (SCells) in the master cell group, there may be one primary cell in the secondary cell group, referred to as a primary cell of the secondary cell group (PSCell). For example, the PSCell may be used for initial access when establishing a connection with the secondary cell group. The secondary cell group may also include one or more SCells. In an example implementation, signaling messages in each of the cell groups may occur at the PCell and the PSCell.

[0044] In an example embodiment, the UE may be capable of performing uplink transmit switching. For example, the UE may indicate to a network node (e.g., by sending a message, a RRC message, and/or the like) a capability for uplink transmit switching for a frequency band combination (e.g., the capability indication may be an information element such as BandCombination-UplinkTxSwitch). In an example implementation, the capability of the UE may be for the frequency band combination of the dual connectivity. For example, the UE may be configured with a MCG using E-UTRA radio access and with a SCG using NR radio access (e.g., EN-DC).

[0045] In an example, to enable uplink channel measurements, a UE may be configured for transmission of sounding reference signals (SRS). In an example, a SRS resource may span one or more orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols. For example, the SRS resource may span one, two, or four consecutive OFDM symbols and may be located within the last six symbols of a slot. In another example implementation the SRS resource may span up to 14 consecutive symbols, or an entire slot. In an example implementation, the SRS may be located anywhere within a slot. In an example, a SRS transmission may be confined to a slot, that is, it may not cross slot boundaries.

[0046] In an example embodiment, the uplink transmit switching may enable the UE to dynamically switch the transmit chain between uplink carriers (e.g., switch from a first carrier frequency to a second carrier frequency). In an example, the uplink transmit switching may be based on transmissions that are triggered by uplink (UL) scheduling (PUSCH), DL-scheduling-triggered feedback such as a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgment (ACK) (e.g., HARQ-ACK on PUCCH), a transmission (event) that triggers an uplink transmission, and/or the like. In an example, the dynamic nature of the uplink transmit switching may be beneficial to PUSCH operations, because the UE may (dynamically) react to a request or trigger from the network. However, the uplink transmit switching may cause the UE to perform the uplink transmit switching frequently. In other words, the UE may be triggered to switch to a carrier (frequency) for transmission of control information such as physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgment (ACK) (HARQ-ACK) feedback, a channel state information (CSI) report, and/or the like. In another example, the UE may be triggered to switch uplink transmission to a carrier frequency for transmission of other configured uplink transmissions such as periodic SRS, periodic CSI reporting, and/or the like.

[0047] In an example embodiment, a carrier frequency and a bandwidth of a first carrier may be different from a carrier frequency and a bandwidth of a second carrier. As a result, it may be beneficial to switch uplink transmission (e.g., switch uplink carrier for transmission) from the first carrier to the second carrier when for example the bandwidth of the second carrier is wider than the bandwidth of the first carrier, and whenever a wider bandwidth is preferred. As an example, a time division duplex (TDD) uplink transmission may use a wider bandwidth than a frequency division duplex (FDD) uplink transmission. In an example implementation, when a TDD transmission opportunity is available, the UE may utilize the resources to enhance an overall utilization of resources. In an example implementation, the first carrier may be via a primary cell (PCell) and the second carrier may be via a secondary cell (SCell). In another example implementation, the second carrier may be via a primary cell (PCell) and the first carrier may be via a secondary cell (SCell). In an example implementation, when dual connectivity is used, the first carrier may be via a cell of a master cell group (MCG) and the second carrier may be via a cell of a secondary cell group (SCG). In an example, the MCG and the SCG may be handled by two different base stations or gNBs.

[0048] In an example embodiment, in existing technologies the UE may switch a carrier of an uplink transmission based on a triggering event. The triggering event may be determining to transmit an uplink transmission. When the uplink transmission is to be performed via a different carrier, the UE may switch carrier of the UE transmitter. As result, when an uplink transmission such as a sounding reference signal (SRS) is configured for transmission via a first carrier, the UE may be triggered to switch (from the second carrier) to the first carrier to transmit the SRS. In addition, for the case of carrier aggregation or dual connectivity, the UE switching of carriers (e.g., the UE switching of UL carriers from a first carrier to a second carrier, for UL transmission) based on a triggering event may require the network node to provide configuration of UL resources for transmission, accordingly. For example, when there are two carriers, the network node may provide configuration of resources indicating one or more physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resources for each carrier. In an example, a PUCCH resource indicator (PRI) may be included in a downlink control information (DCI). The PRI may point to (or indicate) one of the one or more PUCCH resources. In an example, the PRI may be used to select a resource (e.g., the one of the one or more resources) from the one or more resources for a carrier. Thus, a simplified mechanism is beneficial to reduce event-based uplink transmit switching as well as signaling overhead between the UE and the network (e.g., the network node, or gNB).

[0049] In an example embodiment, one or more signals for measurements such as the SRS may be configured by the network node to be transmitted by the UE to the network node via the first carrier. In existing technologies, when the transmitter of the UE is transmitting via the second carrier, the UE may switch the transmitter to transmit via the first carrier when the UE determines to transmit the SRS via the first carrier (as configured by the network node). In an example implementation, when the UE switches the transmitter from the second carrier to the first carrier, a switching gap (NTX2-T_XI or NTX1-TX2) may occur. Frequent switching between carriers may consume processing resources and cause additional switching gaps, transient times, and/or the like, and therefore cause inefficient utilization of resources. In an example, during the switching gap, the UE may not be expected to transmit on any of the two uplink carriers.

[0050] In an example implementation of dual connectivity, different carriers may be configured for the MCG and the SCG. As an example, for the case of LTE and NR dual connectivity, the LTE link may be used for the MCG for control information (such as control plane signaling). The UE may transmit and/or receive the control information via the LTE link or connection e.g., via the first carrier. The UE may transmit and/or receive data (other than the control information) via a NR link of the SCG, e.g., via the second carrier. As a result, when a transmitter chain of the UE is on the NR link and the UE determines to transmit the control information, the UE may perform an uplink transmit switching (e.g., switch uplink transmission) from the NR link to the LTE link.

[0051] In an example implementation of a carrier aggregation, the UE may employ a PCell and a SCell to operate on two different carriers. For example, the PCell connection may employ the first carrier and the SCell connection may employ the second carrier. In an example implementation when the transmitter of the UE is using the second carrier and the connection of the PCell is to be used by the UE for transmission of control information (e.g., signaling messages from the UE to the network node), the UE may perform uplink transmit switching from the second carrier to the first carrier to transmit the control information.

[0052] In an example, when transmission of the control information (PUCCH, HARQ- ACK feedback, CSI report, and/or the like) is required, the UE may be triggered to switch a carrier for transmission of the control information or the PUCCH e.g., to the PCell of the network node. In other words, when the UE is configured to perform uplink transmit switching, the UE may switch the uplink transmission from the second carrier to the first carrier, e.g., to transmit the control information (e.g., PUCCH, HARQ-ACK feedback, CSI report, and/or the like). As a result, the UE may be triggered to switch the uplink transmission from the second carrier to the first carrier based on a determination to transmit the control information even though the transmission via the second carrier is ongoing. In an example, during the uplink transmit switching, a switching gap may occur, and the resources may not be utilized efficiently.

[0053] Therefore, according to example embodiments, techniques are provided that may reduce the number or frequency of UE switching of uplink transmission carriers, and/or which may simplify procedures to configure a UE for transmit switching between carriers.

[0054] Example embodiments are directed to a UE determining a pattern of transmission opportunities for transmitting via one or more carriers, and transmitting the SRS based on the pattern of transmission opportunities, rather than switching the carrier (e.g., uplink transmission carrier) based on an event such as SRS transmission. In other words, the UE may receive or determine the pattern of transmission opportunities and transmit the SRS via the carrier (e.g., first carrier or second carrier) indicated by the pattern overlapping (or coinciding with) a SRS transmission occasion. In this manner, a more efficient transmission technique may be provided, and which may result in less frequent switching of transmission carriers. In an example, the UE may determine a pattern of transmission opportunities for transmitting via at least one of a first carrier and a second carrier. The UE may receive from a network node, a configuration of a sounding reference signal (SRS) configuring a set of SRS transmission occasions when the SRS is to be transmitted via the first carrier. In an example, the UE may transmit the SRS via the first carrier based on a transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping a SRS transmission occasion of the set of SRS transmission occasions of the SRS configured by the configuration of the SRS.

[0055] Example embodiments are also directed to configuration of an uplink transmit switching (or uplink transmission switching) of the UE based on a pattern. In other words, the UE may transmit the control information via a carrier that is active according to the pattern rather than performing uplink transmit switching based on a triggering event (e.g., determining to transmit control information or signaling messages). In an example, the pattern may indicate a pattern of switching a carrier or a transmission frequency of a transmitter of the UE between the first carrier and the second carrier. In an example, the first carrier may operate (or may utilize a frequency) at a first frequency band and the second carrier may operate (or may utilize a frequency) at a second frequency band. Example embodiments enhance the signaling procedures because the timing of the transmission occasion of the carrier is known to the network and configuration of PUCCH resources may be simplified by reduced number of bits in the PUCCH resource indicator (PRI) field. In an example, the UE may determine a pattern of transmission opportunities for transmitting via a first carrier and a second carrier. In an example, the UE may determine a transmission window for control information. In an example, the UE may transmit the control information via the first carrier based on a transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping the transmission window. In an example, the UE may transmit the control information via the second carrier based on the transmission opportunity of the second carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping the transmission window.

[0056] In an example embodiment, the UE may determine a pattern of transmission opportunities for transmitting via at least one of a first carrier and a second carrier. In an example, the UE may receive a configuration of a sounding reference signal (SRS) to configure a set of SRS transmission occasions. In an example, the SRS transmission occasions may indicate when the SRS is to be transmitted via the first carrier. In an example, when a transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlaps a SRS transmission occasion, the UE may transmit the SRS via the first carrier.

[0057] Furthermore, example embodiments are directed to configuration of transmission via one or more carriers based on a pattern. Example embodiments enhance the performance of the system by allowing the UE to transmit the control information (such as signaling messages) when the transmitter of the UE has an opportunity to transmit via the corresponding carrier (appropriate for the signaling messages), rather than performing the uplink transmit switch outside the pattern based on a triggering event (such as determining to send the control information).

[0058] For example, the UE may be configured by the network node with a pattern for transmission via at least one of the first carrier or the second carrier. For example, the UE may receive configuration information of the pattern via a RRC message. In an example, the UE may determine (e.g., based on the configuration information) a pattern for transmission via at least one of the first carrier and the second carrier. In an example, the UE may determine a pattern of transmission opportunities (or occasions) for transmitting via the first carrier and the second carrier. In an example, when transmission of the control information is required, the UE may determine a transmission window for the control information. In an example, the transmission window for the control information may include a start time associated with a transmission of the control information and a duration associated with the transmission of the control information. The UE may then transmit the control information via a carrier based on a transmission opportunity of the carrier overlapping the transmission window of the control information. As an example, the UE may transmit the control information via the first carrier based on a transmission opportunity of the first carrier (indicated by the pattern) overlapping the transmission window. Alternatively, the UE may transmit the control information via the second carrier based on the transmission opportunity of the second carrier (indicated by the pattern) overlapping the transmission window. In an example, the overlapping of the transmission opportunity and the transmission window may include overlap of at least a portion of the transmission opportunity in time with at least a portion of the transmission window.

[0059] In an example embodiment, the transmission window may be determined based on at least one of an element of a downlink control information (DCI), a configuration of PUCCH resources, and/or the like that the UE may receive from the network node. In an example, the DCI may include information for scheduling a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) that may trigger transmission of a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) for the PDSCH. In an example, the HARQ-ACK may be transmitted by the UE via a carrier for transmission of the control information e.g., a carrier for transmission of the PUCCH. In an example, the DCI may include a pointer to a slot for the transmission of the PUCCH, the configuration of PUCCH resource, e.g., information of the PUCCH resource, and/or the like. The information of the PUCCH resource may include the symbol locations (or allocation) within the slot (e.g., starting symbol, and/or number of symbols). In an example, the timing of the transmission window for the control information (PUCCH) may be determined by at least one of the DCI and/or the configuration of PUCCH resource(s).

[0060] In an example embodiment, the transmission window may be used for the transmission of the PUCCH or the control information. For example, the start of the PUCCH transmission may be equal to the beginning of the transmission window and the end of the PUCCH transmission may be equal to the end of the transmission window. In an example implementation, the UE may employ the DCI to select a PUCCH resource, which may indicate a starting symbol within a slot and a length of the PUCCH transmission. In an example implementation, the UE may employ the DCI to determine a slot in which the PUCCH transmission may start.

[0061] In an example, the network node may be aware of the pattern and may transmit the configuration of PUCCH resource or control information of resources according to (based on) the pattern. Therefore, the configuration of PUCCH resource or the control information of resources transmitted by the network may correspond to the carrier with a transmission opportunity. [0062] Thus, according to example embodiments, a pattern of transmitter switch is advantageous because the transmission of certain uplink transmissions may be assigned to a carrier based on the pattern. In other words, since the pattern of uplink carrier transmissions are known to the UE (and to the network node), the uplink transmissions may be scheduled according to the pattern to reduce (event triggered) uplink transmit switching instances.

[0063] In an example, the pattern may indicate a pattern of switching a carrier or a transmission frequency of a transmitter of the UE among multiple carries e.g., two or more. As result, the UE may be able (or capable) to switch among two, three, or more carriers. In an example, each carrier of the two or more carriers may operate (or may utilize a frequency) at a corresponding frequency band.

[0064] In an example embodiment, the UE and the network node (e.g., the gNB) may be aware of the pattern for transmission via the first carrier (e.g., ULI) and transmission via the second carrier (e.g., UL2). The network may transmit information of resources for the first carrier and the second carrier, such as a downlink control information (DCI). In an example, the DCI may include a PUCCH resource indicator (PRI). The PRI may indicate or point to one of the resources to be used by the carrier that is scheduled (e.g., having an opportunity) to transmit. As an example, the network may provide information of two resources for the first carrier (ULI) and two resources for the second carrier (UL2). In an example, when the pattern indicates that the first carrier may transmit (or has an opportunity to transmit), the UE may select one of the two resources associated with the first carrier. In an example, the UE may select the one of the two resources based on the PRI. For example, the PRI may be a single bit indicator that selects one of the two resources e.g., when the single bit is 0, resource #1 of the two resources may be selected and when the single bit is 1, resource #2 of the two resources may be selected.

[0065] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a pattern of transmission opportunities (e.g., a switching pattern) for transmitting via one or more uplink (UL) carriers (e.g., ULI, UL2), and a set of sounding reference signals (SRSs) according to an example embodiment. In FIG. 3, the pattern of transmission opportunities (or switching pattern) 306 is shown as an upper row, while SRS transmission occasions 308 for a first carrier (ULI) indicated (or configured) by a SRS configuration is shown in a lower row.

[0066] With respect to FIG. 3, in an example embodiment, the UE may receive from a network node (gNB), a configuration of a sounding reference signal (SRS) (or SRS configuration), e.g., a configuration of a periodic SRS. The configuration of the SRS may be used to configure a set of SRS transmission occasions 308 (FIG. 3). The configuration of the SRS may indicate (to the UE) SRS transmission occasions when the SRS is to be transmitted via the first carrier (e.g., ULI). For example, each of the SRS transmission occasions 308 may overlap with either a transmission opportunity of a first carrier (ULI), or a transmission opportunity of a second carrier (UL2), as indicated by the pattern of transmission opportunities (or switching pattern) 306.

[0067] As shown in FIG. 3, the pattern of transmission opportunities (or switching pattern) 306 includes transmission opportunities for one or more carriers, including transmission opportunities of a first carrier (ULI) and transmission opportunities of a second carrier (UL2). For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the pattern of transmission opportunities (or switching pattern) 306 includes first carrier (or ULI) transmission opportunities 370, 380, and 390. In an example, the configured SRS (e.g., as configured by the SRS configuration received by the UE) may be periodic, and therefore the SRS transmission occasions 308 may include periodic SRS transmission occasions 310, 320, 330, 340, 350 and 360 for a first carrier (or ULI). In accordance with an example embodiment, the SRS may be transmitted at transmission occasions 310 and 360 via the first carrier (ULI) at ULI transmission opportunity 370 and ULI transmission opportunity 390 respectively (based on the pattern), based on an overlap (at least partially) (or matching timing, or coincidence, in part or full) between UL transmission opportunities 370 and 390 for the first carrier (ULI) with transmission occasions 310 and 360, respectively (which are also for the first carrier, ULI). Thus, an overlap (or matching in timing, or coincidence) between a transmission opportunity of the pattern of transmission opportunities (or switching pattern) 306 for the first carrier (ULI) with a SRS transmission occasion 308 of the first carrier (ULI) as indicated by the SRS configuration, that causes or triggers the transmission of the SRS during the SRS transmission occasion. For example, the transmission occasion of the first carrier (ULI) may fall or occur completely within a larger duration transmission opportunity of the first carrier (ULI). Or, other types of overlap between first carrier (ULI) transmission opportunities and first carrier (ULI) transmission occasions may also be used to trigger or cause transmission of the SRS. Thus, UE transmits the SRS in SRS transmission occasion 310 for the first carrier (ULI) based on an overlap of SRS transmission occasion 310 with transmission opportunity 370 for the first carrier (ULI). Likewise, the UE transmits the SRS in SRS transmission occasion 360 for the first carrier (ULI) based on an overlap of SRS transmission occasion 360 with transmission opportunity 390 for the first carrier (ULI).

[0068] Also, as shown in FIG. 3, the SRS transmission occasions 308 for first carrier (or ULI) (indicated by the SRS configuration) do not overlap with the ULI transmission opportunity 380, and therefore, the SRS is not transmitted. In other words, the SRS configuration does not indicate a SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier (ULI) that overlaps with transmission opportunity 380. Thus, because there is no overlap between transmission opportunity 380 (for the first carrier or ULI) and the SRS transmission occasions for the first carrier (ULI), the SRS is not transmitted by the UE via the first carrier (ULI) within transmission opportunity 380.

[0069] In an example as depicted in FIG. 3, the UE may omit transmitting the SRS (e.g., at transmission occasions 320, 330, 340, and 350) via the first carrier when the transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern 306 does not overlap the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier. In other words, because SRS transmission occasions 320, 330, 340, and 350, for the first carrier (ULI) overlaps the transmission occasions of the second carrier (shown as UL2 within pattern 306), the transmitting of the SRS (via the first carrier) may be omitted, e.g., does not trigger uplink transmit switching to the second carrier for SRS transmission. In an example embodiment, when a SRS transmission is omitted, the gNB may configure the UE with an aperiodic SRS to recover the omitted SRS transmission. For example, the gNB may determine that a SRS is omitted and when a SRS is required outside of the pattern, the gNB may request the UE to transmit a SRS.

[0070] In other words, with respect to FIG. 3, the UE may determine that a transmission opportunity of the first carrier (indicated by the pattern 306) overlaps a SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier. Based on this overlap between a first carrier (ULI) transmission opportunity and a first carrier (ULI) transmission occasion (overlap in time, coincidence in time, matching in time or timing, at least partially), the UE may transmit the SRS within or during this SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier (ULI) that overlaps the transmission opportunity for the first carrier (ULI).

[0071] In an example embodiment, the overlapping of the transmission opportunity of the first carrier with the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier may include at least a portion of the transmission opportunity of the first carrier overlapping in time at least a portion of the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier. In another example embodiment, the overlapping of the transmission opportunity of the first carrier with the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier may include an entire duration of the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier occurring within a larger duration of the transmission opportunity for the first carrier.

[0072] In an example, the transmission opportunity may be provided within one time slot of the first carrier. In an example, the SRS transmission occasion may overlap one transmission opportunity. As an example, the overlapping of the transmission opportunity of the first carrier with the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier may include overlapping of an entire duration of the SRS transmission occasion, with an entire duration of the transmission opportunity. As another example, the overlapping of the transmission opportunity of the first carrier with the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier may include overlapping of an entire duration of the SRS transmission occasion, with a portion of the entire duration of the transmission opportunity.

[0073] In an example, an entire duration of the SRS transmission occasion may occur within a larger duration of the transmission opportunity. In another example the SRS transmission occasion may be larger than the transmission opportunity, and hence the SRS transmission may be omitted either completely or partially. In an example, when the SRS transmission is omitted partially, then the part of the SRS transmission that overlaps the transmission opportunity may be transmitted, and the remaining part may be omitted.

[0074] In an example embodiment, when a SRS transmission is omitted, the gNB may configure the UE with an aperiodic SRS to recover the omitted SRS transmission.

[0075] In an example embodiment, the pattern of the transmission opportunities may be provided or configured by the network node (gNB). For example, the UE may receive from the network node (gNB), a radio resource control (RRC) message. The RRC message may be a RRC configuration message and may include the pattern of the transmission opportunities for at least one of the first carrier and/or the second carrier. In an example, the UE may determine the pattern of the transmission opportunities. For example, the determining may include (or may be based on) receiving the pattern of the transmission opportunities for at least one of the first carrier and/or the second carrier via the RRC message.

[0076] In an alternative example implementation, the determining (of the pattern of the transmission opportunities) may include deriving or determining based on a time division duplex (TDD) pattern. For example, the TDD pattern may include uplink transmission opportunities and downlink transmission opportunities for the carrier. Subsequently, the pattern of the transmission opportunities may be determined based on a set of the uplink transmission opportunities of the TDD pattern.

[0077] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a pattern of transmission opportunities (e.g., a switching pattern) 406 for transmitting via one or more uplink (UL) carriers (e.g., ULI, UL2), a set of transmission windows (physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) ULI transmission windows) for a first carrier (ULI) for transmitting control information, and a set of transmission windows (PUCCH UL2 transmission windows) for a second carrier (UL2) for transmitting control information, according to an example embodiment. According to an example embodiment, the UE may determine a pattern of transmission opportunities for transmitting (e.g., for transmitting control information) via two or more carriers (e.g., via a first carrier (ULI) and a second carrier (e.g., UL2). The UE may determine a transmission window for transmitting control information. The transmission window(s) may include transmission windows (e.g., PUCCH ULI transmission windows) of a first carrier and/or transmission windows of a second carrier (e.g., PUCCH UL2 transmission windows). The UE may transmit control information via a carrier (either the first carrier or ULI, or the second carrier or UL2) based on a transmission window (PUCCH ULI transmission window, or PUCCH UL2 transmission window) of the control information overlapping (e.g., overlapping in time, or being coincident with or matching timing of, at least partially) the transmission opportunity of the corresponding carrier (ULI or UL2).

[0078] For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the UE may determine a pattern (406) of transmission opportunities for transmitting via a first carrier and a second carrier. The pattern of transmission opportunities (or switching pattern) 406 includes multiple transmission opportunities, and the carrier to be used for each transmission opportunity is indicated as either ULI (first carrier) or UL2 (second carrier). The UE may determine to transmit control information (e.g., via PUCCH) and may determine a transmission window (e.g., a PUCCH ULI transmission window, or a PUCCH UL2 transmission window) for the control information. The UE may transmit the control information via the first carrier (e.g., ULI) based on a transmission opportunity 410 of the first carrier (ULI) indicated by the pattern 406 overlapping (or that overlaps with) the transmission window 420 of the first carrier (PUCCH ULI transmission window 420). In other words, the UE may transmit the control information (e.g., PUCCH) via a transmission window having a time or timing and carrier that matches (e.g., at least overlapping transmission window and transmission opportunity, and for same carrier) a transmission window of the pattern 406. As shown in FIG. 4, the ULI transmission window 420 overlaps in time (at least partially) and is for same carrier (first carrier or ULI) with transmission opportunity 410 (which is also for the first carrier or ULI carrier). Likewise, in an example, the UE may transmit the control information via the second carrier (UL2) based on the transmission opportunity 430 of the second carrier (UL2) indicated by the pattern 406 overlapping the transmission window 440 of the second carrier (PUCCH UL2 transmission window 430). For example, transmission window 420 and transmission opportunity 410 may include or may span one resource (or one resource unit) (or few or fewer resources or resource units), while transmission window 440 and transmission opportunity 430 may include or may span multiple (or more) resource units (e.g., multiple physical resource blocks, slots, or other resources). In an example, the overlapping of the transmission opportunity and the transmission window may include overlap of at least a portion of the transmission opportunity in time with at least a portion of the transmission window. In an example, the transmission window for control information may include a start time associated with a transmission of the control information and a duration associated with the transmission of the control information.

[0079] Thus, according to an example embodiment, the UE may receive (e.g., via a RRC message) configuration of at least one of a plurality of physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resources for the first carrier, or a plurality of PUCCH resources for the second carrier. In an example, the UE may select a PUCCH resource of the plurality of PUCCH resources having a timing that matches or overlaps the transmission opportunity indicated by a PUCCH resource indicator (PRI). In an example, the UE may determine that a timing of a plurality of PUCCH resources of the first carrier matches or overlaps a timing of the transmission window. Subsequently, the UE may transmit the control information via the first carrier. In an example, the UE may transmit the control information via the selected PUCCH resource. In an example, the timing of the transmission window may be determined by at least one of a downlink control information (DCI) or the configuration of PUCCH resource. For example, the UE may receive a DCI from the gNB. The DCI may schedule a PDSCH, and the PDSCH scheduling may trigger a HARQ-ACK of the PDSCH for transmission on the PUCCH. The DCI may include a pointer or an indicator to a slot for the PUCCH transmission. In an example, the PUCCH resource may include the symbol location (or allocation) within the slot. In an example, the timing of the transmission window may be determined by at least one of the DCI, the configuration of PUCCH resource, and/or the like.

[0080] In an example, for the case of a semi persistent scheduling PDSCH (SPS- PDSCH), the HARQ-ACK timing relative to the PDSCH and the PUCCH resource to use in transmission of the HARQ-ACK may be pre-determined by a SPS activation. The SPS may include a mechanism in which the PDSCH transmission is scheduled by an RRC message. For example, the network node (gNB) may transmit the RRC message (e.g., RRC setup or RRC reconfiguration) to configure parameters necessary for PDSCH scheduling. In an example, the UE may monitor the PDCCH. In an example, when the network node (gNB) determines to start a PDSCH transmission, the gNB may transmit a DCI with a configured scheduling radio network temporary identifier (CS-RNTI) and may start PDSCH transmission.

[0081] In an example embodiment, the start of the PUCCH transmission may be equal to the beginning of the transmission window and the end of the PUCCH transmission may be equal to the end of the transmission window. In an example implementation, the UE may employ the DCI to select the PUCCH resource, which may indicate a starting symbol within a slot and a length of the PUCCH transmission. In an example implementation, the UE may employ the DCI to determine a slot in which the PUCCH transmission may start.

[0082] In an example embodiment, the UE may receive the PRI as part of the DCI for the selection of the PUCCH resource. The UE may select either the plurality of PUCCH resources of the first carrier or the plurality of PUCCH resources of the second carrier that overlap or match a timing of the transmission window. In an example, based on the PRI, the UE may select a PUCCH resource of the selected plurality of PUCCH resources. For example, the PRI may indicate or point to one of the resources to be used by the carrier that is scheduled to transmit. As an example, the network may provide information of two resources for the first carrier (ULI) and two resources for the second carrier (UL2). Therefore, when the pattern indicates that the first carrier may transmit, the UE may select one of the two resources associated with the first carrier. In an example, the UE may select one of the two resources based on the PRI. For example, the PRI may be a single bit indicator that selects one of the two resources e.g., when the single bit is 0, resource #1 of the two resources may be selected and when the single bit is 1, resource #2 of the two resources may be selected. [0083] In an example embodiment, a duration (length) of the transmission window of the control information may exceed a duration of the transmission opportunity of a carrier. In an example implementation, the UE may detect that the transmission window for the control information via the first carrier spans the transmission opportunity of the first carrier and extends (or moves/ spreads) to the transmission opportunity of the second carrier. In an example, based on the detection, the UE may omit transmitting the control information either completely or partially.

[0084] In another example, the UE may detect that a first portion of the transmission opportunity of the second carrier and a second portion of the transmission opportunity of the first carrier overlap the transmission window. In an example, based on the detecting, the UE may omit transmitting the control information via the first carrier. In another example, based on the detection, the UE may determine to transmit the control information via the second carrier.

[0085] In an example embodiment, the UE may determine that the transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlaps the transmission window in part and extends to the transmission opportunity of the second carrier. In an example, based on the determining, the UE may transmit the control information via the second carrier.

[0086] In an example implementation, the control information may be a channel state information (CSI) report. In an example, the UE may receive a configuration of a PUCCH resource for transmission of the CSI report via a carrier. The UE may select, based on the configuration, the PUCCH resource for the transmission of the CSI report. In an example, the UE may determine that a PUCCH resource is not configured for the CSI report transmission via the carrier. As a result, the UE may determine to omit transmission of the CSI report via the carrier based on the determining.

[0087] In an example embodiment, the UE may determine that a transmission of the control information overlaps a physical uplink share channel (PUSCH) transmission. In an example, the UE may omit the transmission of the control information. In an example, alternatively the UE may determine to multiplex the transmission of the control information with the PUSCH transmission.

[0088] FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating PUCCH selection in a pattern-based UL transmit switching. At step 510, if timing of PUCCH (e.g., transmission window for control information) matches UL2 transmit phase (e.g., transmission opportunity of the second carrier or UL2) of the pattern, then the UE at step 540 may select a PUCCH resource of UL2 (or second carrier) (based on the PRI). At step 570, the UE may determine to multiplex the control information e.g., HARQ-ACK on PUSCH.

[0089] If timing of PUCCH (at step 510) does not match UL2 transmit phase (e.g., transmission opportunity of the second carrier or UL2), the UE may perform step 520 of FIG. 5.

[0090] At step 520 of FIG. 5, if the timing of the transmission window of control information (PUCCH) spans across boundary of ULI and UL2 switching phase/occasions (e.g., transmission opportunities), the UE at step 550, may delay the transmission of the control information (PUCCH) and interpret the PRI to point to a PUCCH resource on UL2 (second carrier). Then, at step 570, the UE may determine to multiplex the control information e.g., HARQ-ACK on PUSCH.

[0091] With respect to step 520 of FIG. 5, if the timing of the transmission window of control information (PUCCH) does not span across boundary of ULI and UL2 switching phase/occasions, the UE may perform step 530 of FIG. 5.

[0092] At step 530 of FIG. 5, if the timing of the transmission window of control information (PUCCH) matches ULI transmit phase/occasion (transmission opportunity of the first carrier or ULI) based on the pattern, the UE at step 560, may interpret the PRI to point to a PUCCH resource on ULI or the first carrier. Then, at step 570, the UE may determine to multiplex the control information e.g., HARQ-ACK on PUSCH.

[0093] FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating operation of an apparatus (e.g., which may be a UE or user device, or other apparatus) according to an example embodiment. Operation 610 includes determining, by a user device a pattern of transmission opportunities for transmitting via at least one of a first carrier and a second carrier. Operation 620 includes receiving from a network node, a configuration of a sounding reference signal (SRS) configuring a set of SRS transmission occasions when the SRS is to be transmitted via the first carrier. Operation 630 includes transmitting the SRS via the first carrier based on a transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping a SRS transmission occasion of the set of SRS transmission occasions of the SRS configured by the configuration of the SRS.

[0094] With respect to the method of FIG. 6, the method may further include: wherein determining the pattern of the transmission opportunities includes receiving the pattern of the transmission opportunities for the first carrier and the second carrier via a radio resource control (RRC) message.

[0095] With respect to the method of FIG. 6, the method may further include: wherein determining the pattern of the transmission opportunities includes determining the pattern based on a set of uplink transmission opportunities of a time division duplex (TDD) pattern of a carrier; wherein the TDD pattern includes uplink transmission opportunities and downlink transmission opportunities for the carrier; and wherein the carrier is at least one of the first carrier or the second carrier.

[0096] With respect to the method of FIG. 6, the method may further include: wherein the pattern indicates a pattern of switching a transmission frequency of a transmitter of the user device between the first carrier and the second carrier, wherein the first carrier is included in a first frequency band and the second carrier is included in a second frequency band.

[0097] With respect to the method of FIG. 6, the method may further include: wherein the pattern of the transmission opportunities is for more than two carriers.

[0098] With respect to the method of FIG. 6, the method may further include: further including transmitting an uplink data via the second carrier based on the transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern not overlapping with transmitting the SRS via the second carrier.

[0099] With respect to the method of FIG. 6, the method may further include: wherein the uplink data is a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission.

[0100] With respect to the method of FIG. 6, the method may further include: omitting transmitting the SRS via the first carrier when the transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern does not overlap the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier.

[0101] With respect to the method of FIG. 6, the method may further include: wherein the overlapping of the transmission opportunity of the first carrier with the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier includes: at least a portion of the transmission opportunity of the first carrier overlapping in time at least a portion of the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier; or an entire duration of the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier occurs within a larger duration of the transmission opportunity for the first carrier. [0102] With respect to the method of FIG. 6, the method may further include: determining that the transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlaps the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier; and wherein the transmitting the SRS via the first carrier is based on the determining that the transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlaps the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier.

[0103] With respect to the method of FIG. 6, the method may further include: wherein the transmission opportunity is provided within one time slot of the first carrier.

[0104] With respect to the method of FIG. 6, the method may further include: wherein the SRS transmission occasion overlaps one transmission opportunity; and the overlapping of the transmission opportunity of the first carrier with the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier includes overlapping of an entire duration of the SRS transmission occasion, with at least one of: an entire duration of the transmission opportunity; or a portion of the entire duration of the transmission opportunity.

[0105] With respect to the method of FIG. 6, the method may further include: wherein the configuration of the SRS includes a configuration of a periodic SRS.

[0106] FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating operation of an apparatus (e.g., which may be a UE or user device, or other apparatus) according to an example embodiment. Operation 710 includes determining, by a user device a pattern of transmission opportunities for transmitting via a first carrier and a second carrier. Operation 720 includes determining a transmission window for control information. Operation 730 includes transmitting the control information via the first carrier based on a transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping the transmission window. Operation 740 includes transmitting the control information via the second carrier based on the transmission opportunity of the second carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping the transmission window.

[0107] With respect to the method of FIG. 7, the method may further include: receiving configuration of at least one of: a plurality of physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resources for the first carrier; or a plurality of PUCCH resources for the second carrier.

[0108] With respect to the method of FIG. 7, the method may further include: determining that the transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlaps the transmission window; and transmitting the control information via the first carrier based on the determining.

[0109] With respect to the method of FIG. 7, the method may further include: determining that the transmission opportunity of the second carrier indicated by the pattern overlaps the transmission window; and transmitting the control information via the second carrier based on the determining.

[0110] With respect to the method of FIG. 7, the method may further include: determining that a timing of a plurality of PUCCH resources of the first carrier matches or overlaps a timing of the transmission window; wherein the configuration configures a plurality of PUCCH resources for the first carrier; the method further including selecting a PUCCH resource of the plurality of PUCCH resources having a timing that matches or overlaps the transmission opportunity indicated by a PUCCH resource indicator (PRI); and wherein the transmitting the control information via the first carrier includes transmitting the control information via the selected PUCCH resource.

[OHl] With respect to the method of FIG. 7, the method may further include: wherein a timing of the transmission window is determined by at least one of: a downlink control information (DCI); or a configuration of physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource.

[0112] With respect to the method of FIG. 7, the method may further include: receiving a PUCCH resource indicator (PRI); selecting either the plurality of PUCCH resources of the first carrier or the plurality of PUCCH resources of the second carrier that overlap or match a timing of the transmission window; and selecting, for transmitting the control information, a PUCCH resource of the selected plurality of PUCCH resources based on the PRI.

[0113] With respect to the method of FIG. 7, the method may further include: selecting a PUCCH resource of a plurality of PUCCH resources associated with a transmission opportunity of a carrier overlapping the transmission window, based on an indication by a PUCCH resource indicator (PRI); and wherein the transmitting the control information via the first carrier or via second carrier includes transmitting the control information via the selected PUCCH resource.

[0114] With respect to the method of FIG. 7, the method may further include: wherein the PRI includes one or more bits indicating the PUCCH resource of the plurality of PUCCH resources associated with the carrier overlapping the transmission window. [0115] With respect to the method of FIG. 7, the method may further include: wherein the control information includes at least one of: a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgment (ACK) (HARQ-ACK) feedback; or a channel state information (CSI) report.

[0116] With respect to the method of FIG. 7, the method may further include: transmitting the control information via the second carrier based on the transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping the transmission window in part and extending to the transmission opportunity of the second carrier.

[0117] With respect to the method of FIG. 7, the method may further include: detecting that the transmission window for the control information via the first carrier spans the transmission opportunity of the first carrier and extends to the transmission opportunity of the second carrier; and omitting transmitting the control information.

[0118] With respect to the method of FIG. 7, the method may further include: detecting that the transmission window for the control information via the first carrier spans the transmission opportunity of the first carrier and extends to the transmission opportunity of the second carrier; transmitting a first portion of the control information for which the transmission window overlaps the transmission opportunity of the first carrier; and omitting transmitting a second portion of the control information for which the transmission window overlaps the transmission opportunity of the second carrier.

[0119] With respect to the method of FIG. 7, the method may further include: detecting that a first portion of the transmission opportunity of the second carrier and a second portion of the transmission opportunity of the first carrier overlap the transmission window; omitting transmitting the control information via the first carrier; and transmitting the control information via the second carrier.

[0120] With respect to the method of FIG. 7, the method may further include: determining that the transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlaps the transmission window in part and extends to the transmission opportunity of the second carrier; and transmitting based on the determining, the control information via the second carrier.

[0121] With respect to the method of FIG. 7, the method may further include: receiving a configuration of a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource for transmission of a channel state information (CSI) report via a carrier; and selecting, based on the configuration, the PUCCH resource for the transmission of the CSI report. [0122] With respect to the method of FIG. 7, the method may further include: omitting a CSI report transmission via a carrier based on a determining that a PUCCH resource is not configured for the CSI report transmission via the carrier.

[0123] With respect to the method of FIG. 7, the method may further include: determining that a transmission of the control information overlaps a physical uplink share channel (PUSCH) transmission.

[0124] With respect to the method of FIG. 7, the method may further include: omitting the transmission of the control information.

[0125] With respect to the method of FIG. 7, the method may further include: multiplexing the transmission of the control information with the PUSCH transmission.

[0126] With respect to the method of FIG. 7, the method may further include: wherein the overlapping of the transmission opportunity and the transmission window includes at least a portion of the transmission opportunity overlapping in time at least a portion of the transmission window.

[0127] With respect to the method of FIG. 7, the method may further include: wherein the determining the pattern of transmission opportunities includes receiving the pattern of the transmission opportunities via a radio resource control (RRC) configuration message.

[0128] With respect to the method of FIG. 7, the method may further include: wherein the determining the transmission window for control information includes receiving the transmission window for the control information via a radio resource control (RRC) configuration message.

[0129] With respect to the method of FIG. 7, the method may further include: wherein the transmission window for control information includes a start time associated with a transmission of the control information and a duration associated with the transmission of the control information.

[0130] FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating operation of an apparatus (e.g., which may be a gNB or network node, or other apparatus) according to an example embodiment.

Operation 810 includes transmitting, by a network node to a user device, a pattern of transmission opportunities for transmitting via at least one of a first carrier and a second carrier. Operation 820 includes transmitting, a configuration of a sounding reference signal (SRS) configuring a set of SRS transmission occasions when the SRS is to be transmitted via the first carrier. Operation 830 includes receiving the SRS via the first carrier based on a transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping a SRS transmission occasion of the set of SRS transmission occasions of the SRS configured by the configuration of the SRS.

With respect to the method of FIG. 8, the method may further include: wherein transmitting the pattern of the transmission opportunities comprises transmitting the pattern of the transmission opportunities for the first carrier and the second carrier via a radio resource control (RRC) message.

With respect to the method of FIG. 8, the method may further include: wherein the pattern indicates a pattern of switching a transmission frequency of a transmitter of the user device between the first carrier and the second carrier, wherein the first carrier is comprised in a first frequency band and the second carrier is comprised in a second frequency band.

With respect to the method of FIG. 8, the method may further include: wherein the pattern of the transmission opportunities is for more than two carriers.

With respect to the method of FIG. 8, the method may further include: receiving an uplink data via the second carrier based on the transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern not overlapping with transmitting the SRS via the second carrier.

With respect to the method of FIG. 8, the method may further include: wherein the uplink data is a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission.

With respect to the method of FIG. 8, the method may further include: wherein the overlapping of the transmission opportunity of the first carrier with the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier includes: at least a portion of the transmission opportunity of the first carrier overlapping in time at least a portion of the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier; or an entire duration of the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier occurs within a larger duration of the transmission opportunity for the first carrier.

With respect to the method of FIG. 8, the method may further include: wherein the receiving the SRS via the first carrier is based on the determining user device that the transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlaps the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier.

With respect to the method of FIG. 8, the method may further include: wherein the transmission opportunity is provided within one time slot of the first carrier. With respect to the method of FIG. 8, the method may further include: wherein the SRS transmission occasion overlaps one transmission opportunity; and the overlapping of the transmission opportunity of the first carrier with the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier comprises overlapping of an entire duration of the SRS transmission occasion, with at least one of: an entire duration of the transmission opportunity; or a portion of the entire duration of the transmission opportunity.

With respect to the method of FIG. 8, the method may further include: wherein the configuration of the SRS comprises a configuration of a periodic SRS.

[0131] FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating operation of an apparatus (e.g., which may be a gNB or network node, or other apparatus) according to an example embodiment.

Operation 910 includes transmitting, by a network node to a user device, information indicating a pattern of transmission opportunities for transmitting via a first carrier and a second carrier. Operation 920 includes transmitting a configuration of resources to be used by the user device for transmission of control information via the first carrier or the second carrier. Operation 930 includes receiving the control information via the first carrier based on a transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping a transmission window of the user device. Operation 940 includes receiving the control information via the second carrier based on a transmission opportunity of the second carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping the transmission window.

[0132] With respect to the method of FIG. 9, the method may further include: transmitting configuration of at least one of: a plurality of physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resources for the first carrier; or a plurality of PUCCH resources for the second carrier.

[0133] With respect to the method of FIG. 9, the method may further include: wherein a timing of the transmission window is determined by at least one of: a downlink control information (DCI); or a configuration of physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource.

[0134] With respect to the method of FIG. 9, the method may further include: transmitting a PUCCH resource indicator (PRI).

[0135] With respect to the method of FIG. 9, the method may further include: wherein the PRI comprises one or more bits indicating the PUCCH resource of the plurality of PUCCH resources associated with the carrier overlapping the transmission window. [0136] With respect to the method of FIG. 9, the method may further include: wherein the control information comprises at least one of: a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgment (ACK) (HARQ-ACK) feedback; or a channel state information (CSI) report.

[0137] With respect to the method of FIG. 9, the method may further include: receiving the control information via the second carrier based on the transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping the transmission window in part and extending to the transmission opportunity of the second carrier.

[0138] With respect to the method of FIG. 9, the method may further include: omitting receiving the control information based on a detecting by the user device that the transmission window for the control information via the first carrier spans the transmission opportunity of the first carrier and extends to the transmission opportunity of the second carrier.

[0139] With respect to the method of FIG. 9, the method may further include: based on a detecting by the user device that the transmission window for the control information via the first carrier spans the transmission opportunity of the first carrier and extends to the transmission opportunity of the second carrier: receiving a first portion of the control information for which the transmission window overlaps the transmission opportunity of the first carrier; and omitting receiving a second portion of the control information for which the transmission window overlaps the transmission opportunity of the second carrier.

[0140] With respect to the method of FIG. 9, the method may further include: based on a detecting by the user device that a first portion of the transmission opportunity of the second carrier and a second portion of the transmission opportunity of the first carrier overlap the transmission window: omitting receiving the control information via the first carrier; and receiving the control information via the second carrier.

[0141] With respect to the method of FIG. 9, the method may further include: based on a determining by the user deice that the transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlaps the transmission window in part and extends to the transmission opportunity of the second carrier: receiving based on the determining, the control information via the second carrier. [0142] With respect to the method of FIG. 9, the method may further include: transmitting a configuration of a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource for transmission of a channel state information (CSI) report via a carrier .

[0143] With respect to the method of FIG. 9, the method may further include: transmitting the pattern of the transmission opportunities via a radio resource control (RRC) configuration message.

[0144] With respect to the method of FIG. 9, the method may further include: wherein the transmission window for control information comprises a start time associated with a transmission of the control information and a duration associated with the transmission of the control information.

[0145] Some examples will now be described, based on the description and figures provided herein.

[0146] Example Al. An apparatus including: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: determine a pattern of transmission opportunities for transmitting via at least one of a first carrier and a second carrier; receive from a network node, a configuration of a sounding reference signal (SRS) configuring a set of SRS transmission occasions when the SRS is to be transmitted via the first carrier; and transmit the SRS via the first carrier based on a transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping a SRS transmission occasion of the set of SRS transmission occasions of the SRS configured by the configuration of the SRS.

[0147] Example A2. The apparatus of Example Al, wherein determining the pattern of the transmission opportunities includes receiving the pattern of the transmission opportunities for the first carrier and the second carrier via a radio resource control (RRC) message.

[0148] Example A3. The apparatus of Example Al, wherein determining the pattern of the transmission opportunities includes determining the pattern based on a set of uplink transmission opportunities of a time division duplex (TDD) pattern of a carrier; wherein the TDD pattern includes uplink transmission opportunities and downlink transmission opportunities for the carrier; and wherein the carrier is at least one of the first carrier or the second carrier.

[0149] Example A4. The apparatus of Example Al, wherein the pattern indicates a pattern of switching a transmission frequency of a transmitter of the apparatus between the first carrier and the second carrier, wherein the first carrier is included in a first frequency band and the second carrier is included in a second frequency band.

[0150] Example A5. The apparatus of Example Al, wherein the pattern of the transmission opportunities is for more than two carriers.

[0151] Example A6. The apparatus of Example Al, wherein the apparatus is further caused to transmit an uplink data via the second carrier based on the transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern not overlapping with transmitting the SRS via the second carrier.

[0152] Example A 7. The apparatus of Example A6, wherein the uplink data is a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission.

[0153] Example A8. The apparatus of Example Al, wherein the apparatus is further caused to omit transmitting the SRS via the first carrier when the transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern does not overlap the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier.

[0154] Example A9. The apparatus of Example Al, wherein the overlapping of the transmission opportunity of the first carrier with the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier includes: at least a portion of the transmission opportunity of the first carrier overlapping in time at least a portion of the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier; or an entire duration of the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier occurs within a larger duration of the transmission opportunity for the first carrier.

[0155] Example A10. The apparatus of Example Al, wherein the apparatus is further caused to determine that the transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlaps the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier; and wherein the transmitting the SRS via the first carrier is based on the determining that the transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlaps the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier.

[0156] Example Al 1. The apparatus of Example Al, wherein the transmission opportunity is provided within one time slot of the first carrier.

[0157] Example A12. The apparatus of Example Al, wherein the SRS transmission occasion overlaps one transmission opportunity; and the overlapping of the transmission opportunity of the first carrier with the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier includes overlapping of an entire duration of the SRS transmission occasion, with at least one of: an entire duration of the transmission opportunity; or a portion of the entire duration of the transmission opportunity.

[0158] Example A13. The apparatus of Example Al, wherein the configuration of the SRS includes a configuration of a periodic SRS.

[0159] Example B 1. A method including: determining, by a user device a pattern of transmission opportunities for transmitting via at least one of a first carrier and a second carrier; receiving from a network node, a configuration of a sounding reference signal (SRS) configuring a set of SRS transmission occasions when the SRS is to be transmitted via the first carrier; and transmitting the SRS via the first carrier based on a transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping a SRS transmission occasion of the set of SRS transmission occasions of the SRS configured by the configuration of the SRS.

[0160] Example B2. The method of Example Bl, wherein determining the pattern of the transmission opportunities includes receiving the pattern of the transmission opportunities for the first carrier and the second carrier via a radio resource control (RRC) message.

[0161] Example B3. The method of Example Bl, wherein determining the pattern of the transmission opportunities includes determining the pattern based on a set of uplink transmission opportunities of a time division duplex (TDD) pattern of a carrier; wherein the TDD pattern includes uplink transmission opportunities and downlink transmission opportunities for the carrier; and wherein the carrier is at least one of the first carrier or the second carrier.

[0162] Example B4. The method of Example Bl, wherein the pattern indicates a pattern of switching a transmission frequency of a transmitter of the user device between the first carrier and the second carrier, wherein the first carrier is included in a first frequency band and the second carrier is included in a second frequency band.

[0163] Example B5. The method of Example Bl, wherein the pattern of the transmission opportunities is for more than two carriers.

[0164] Example B6. The method of Example Bl, further including transmitting an uplink data via the second carrier based on the transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern not overlapping with transmitting the SRS via the second carrier.

[0165] Example B7. The method of Example B6, wherein the uplink data is a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission. [0166] Example B8. The method of Example Bl, further including omitting transmitting the SRS via the first carrier when the transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern does not overlap the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier.

[0167] Example B9. The method of Example Bl, wherein the overlapping of the transmission opportunity of the first carrier with the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier includes: at least a portion of the transmission opportunity of the first carrier overlapping in time at least a portion of the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier; or an entire duration of the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier occurs within a larger duration of the transmission opportunity for the first carrier.

[0168] Example B10. The method of Example Bl, further including determining that the transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlaps the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier; and wherein the transmitting the SRS via the first carrier is based on the determining that the transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlaps the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier.

[0169] Example Bl 1. The method of Example Bl, wherein the transmission opportunity is provided within one time slot of the first carrier.

[0170] Example B12. The method of Example Bl, wherein the SRS transmission occasion overlaps one transmission opportunity; and the overlapping of the transmission opportunity of the first carrier with the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier includes overlapping of an entire duration of the SRS transmission occasion, with at least one of: an entire duration of the transmission opportunity; or a portion of the entire duration of the transmission opportunity.

[0171] Example B13. The method of Example Bl, wherein the configuration of the SRS includes a configuration of a periodic SRS.

[0172] Example Cl. An apparatus including: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: determine a pattern of transmission opportunities for transmitting via a first carrier and a second carrier; determine a transmission window for control information; transmit the control information via the first carrier based on a transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping the transmission window; and transmit the control information via the second carrier based on the transmission opportunity of the second carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping the transmission window.

[0173] Example C2. The apparatus of Example Cl, wherein the apparatus is further caused to receive configuration of at least one of: a plurality of physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resources for the first carrier; or a plurality of PUCCH resources for the second carrier.

[0174] Example C3. The apparatus of Example Cl, wherein the apparatus is further caused to determine that the transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlaps the transmission window; and transmit the control information via the first carrier based on the determining.

[0175] Example C4. The apparatus of Example Cl, wherein the apparatus is further caused to determine that the transmission opportunity of the second carrier indicated by the pattern overlaps the transmission window; and transmit the control information via the second carrier based on the determining.

[0176] Example C5. The apparatus of Example C2, wherein the apparatus is further caused to: determine that a timing of a plurality of PUCCH resources of the first carrier matches or overlaps a timing of the transmission window; wherein the configuration configures a plurality of PUCCH resources for the first carrier; the apparatus is further caused to select a PUCCH resource of the plurality of PUCCH resources having a timing that matches or overlaps the transmission opportunity indicated by a PUCCH resource indicator (PRI); and wherein the transmitting the control information via the first carrier includes transmitting the control information via the selected PUCCH resource.

[0177] Example C6. The apparatus of Example C5, wherein a timing of the transmission window is determined by at least one of: a downlink control information (DCI); or a configuration of physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource.

[0178] Example C7. The apparatus of Example C2, wherein the apparatus is further caused to: receive a PUCCH resource indicator (PRI); select either the plurality of PUCCH resources of the first carrier or the plurality of PUCCH resources of the second carrier that overlap or match a timing of the transmission window; and select for transmitting the control information, a PUCCH resource of the selected plurality of PUCCH resources based on the PRI.

[0179] Example C8. The apparatus of Example Cl, wherein the apparatus is further caused to: select a PUCCH resource of a plurality of PUCCH resources associated with a transmission opportunity of a carrier overlapping the transmission window, based on an indication by a PUCCH resource indicator (PRI); and wherein the transmitting the control information via the first carrier or via second carrier includes transmitting the control information via the selected PUCCH resource.

[0180] Example C9. The apparatus of Example C8, wherein the PRI includes one or more bits indicating the PUCCH resource of the plurality of PUCCH resources associated with the carrier overlapping the transmission window.

[0181] Example CIO. The apparatus of Example Cl, wherein the control information includes at least one of: a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgment (ACK) (HARQ-ACK) feedback; or a channel state information (CSI) report.

[0182] Example Cl 1. The apparatus of Example Cl, wherein the apparatus is further caused to: transmit the control information via the second carrier based on the transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping the transmission window in part and extending to the transmission opportunity of the second carrier.

[0183] Example C12. The apparatus of Example Cl, wherein the apparatus is further caused to: detect that the transmission window for the control information via the first carrier spans the transmission opportunity of the first carrier and extends to the transmission opportunity of the second carrier; and omit transmitting the control information.

[0184] Example C13. The apparatus of Example Cl, wherein the apparatus is further caused to: detect that the transmission window for the control information via the first carrier spans the transmission opportunity of the first carrier and extends to the transmission opportunity of the second carrier; transmit a first portion of the control information for which the transmission window overlaps the transmission opportunity of the first carrier; and omit transmitting a second portion of the control information for which the transmission window overlaps the transmission opportunity of the second carrier.

[0185] Example C14. The apparatus of Example Cl, wherein the apparatus is further caused to: detect that a first portion of the transmission opportunity of the second carrier and a second portion of the transmission opportunity of the first carrier overlap the transmission window; omit transmitting the control information via the first carrier; and transmit the control information via the second carrier. [0186] Example Cl 5. The apparatus of Example Cl, wherein the apparatus is further caused to: determine that the transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlaps the transmission window in part and extends to the transmission opportunity of the second carrier; and transmit based on the determining, the control information via the second carrier.

[0187] Example Cl 6. The apparatus of Example Cl, wherein the apparatus is further caused to: receive a configuration of a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource for transmission of a channel state information (CSI) report via a carrier; and select based on the configuration, the PUCCH resource for the transmission of the CSI report.

[0188] Example Cl 7. The apparatus of Example Cl 6, wherein the apparatus is further caused to omit a CSI report transmission via a carrier based on a determining that a PUCCH resource is not configured for the CSI report transmission via the carrier.

[0189] Example C18. The apparatus of Example Cl, wherein the apparatus is further caused to determine that a transmission of the control information overlaps a physical uplink share channel (PUSCH) transmission.

[0190] Example Cl 9. The apparatus of Example Cl 8, wherein the apparatus is further caused to omit the transmission of the control information.

[0191] Example C20. The apparatus of Example Cl 8, wherein the apparatus is further caused to multiplex the transmission of the control information with the PUSCH transmission.

[0192] Example C21. The apparatus of Example Cl, wherein the overlapping of the transmission opportunity and the transmission window includes at least a portion of the transmission opportunity overlapping in time at least a portion of the transmission window.

[0193] Example C22. The apparatus of Example Cl, wherein the determining the pattern of transmission opportunities includes receiving the pattern of the transmission opportunities via a radio resource control (RRC) configuration message.

[0194] Example C23. The apparatus of Example Cl, wherein the determining the transmission window for control information includes receiving the transmission window for the control information via a radio resource control (RRC) configuration message.

[0195] Example C24. The apparatus of Example Cl, wherein the transmission window for control information includes a start time associated with a transmission of the control information and a duration associated with the transmission of the control information. [0196] Example DI . A method including: determining, by a user device a pattern of transmission opportunities for transmitting via a first carrier and a second carrier; determining a transmission window for control information; transmitting the control information via the first carrier based on a transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping the transmission window; and transmitting the control information via the second carrier based on the transmission opportunity of the second carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping the transmission window.

[0197] Example D2. The method of Example DI, further including receiving configuration of at least one of: a plurality of physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resources for the first carrier; or a plurality of PUCCH resources for the second carrier.

[0198] Example D3. The method of Example DI, further including determining that the transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlaps the transmission window; and transmitting the control information via the first carrier based on the determining.

[0199] Example D4. The method of Example DI, further including determining that the transmission opportunity of the second carrier indicated by the pattern overlaps the transmission window; and transmitting the control information via the second carrier based on the determining.

[0200] Example D5. The method of Example D2, further including: determining that a timing of a plurality of PUCCH resources of the first carrier matches or overlaps a timing of the transmission window; wherein the configuration configures a plurality of PUCCH resources for the first carrier; the method further including selecting a PUCCH resource of the plurality of PUCCH resources having a timing that matches or overlaps the transmission opportunity indicated by a PUCCH resource indicator (PRI); and wherein the transmitting the control information via the first carrier includes transmitting the control information via the selected PUCCH resource.

[0201] Example D6. The method of Example D5, wherein a timing of the transmission window is determined by at least one of: a downlink control information (DCI); or a configuration of physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource.

[0202] Example D7. The method of Example D2, further including: receiving a PUCCH resource indicator (PRI); selecting either the plurality of PUCCH resources of the first carrier or the plurality of PUCCH resources of the second carrier that overlap or match a timing of the transmission window; and selecting, for transmitting the control information, a PUCCH resource of the selected plurality of PUCCH resources based on the PRI.

[0203] Example D8. The method of Example DI, further including: selecting a PUCCH resource of a plurality of PUCCH resources associated with a transmission opportunity of a carrier overlapping the transmission window, based on an indication by a PUCCH resource indicator (PRI); and wherein the transmitting the control information via the first carrier or via second carrier includes transmitting the control information via the selected PUCCH resource.

[0204] Example D9. The method of Example D8, wherein the PRI includes one or more bits indicating the PUCCH resource of the plurality of PUCCH resources associated with the carrier overlapping the transmission window.

[0205] Example D10. The method of Example DI, wherein the control information includes at least one of: a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgment (ACK) (HARQ-ACK) feedback; or a channel state information (CSI) report.

[0206] Example Dl l. The method of Example DI, further including: transmitting the control information via the second carrier based on the transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping the transmission window in part and extending to the transmission opportunity of the second carrier.

[0207] Example D12. The method of Example DI, further including: detecting that the transmission window for the control information via the first carrier spans the transmission opportunity of the first carrier and extends to the transmission opportunity of the second carrier; and omitting transmitting the control information.

[0208] Example D13. The method of Example DI, further including: detecting that the transmission window for the control information via the first carrier spans the transmission opportunity of the first carrier and extends to the transmission opportunity of the second carrier; transmitting a first portion of the control information for which the transmission window overlaps the transmission opportunity of the first carrier; and omit transmitting a second portion of the control information for which the transmission window overlaps the transmission opportunity of the second carrier.

[0209] Example D14. The method of Example DI, further including: detecting that a first portion of the transmission opportunity of the second carrier and a second portion of the transmission opportunity of the first carrier overlap the transmission window; omitting transmitting the control information via the first carrier; and transmitting the control information via the second carrier.

[0210] Example DI 5. The method of Example DI, further including: determining that the transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlaps the transmission window in part and extends to the transmission opportunity of the second carrier; and transmitting based on the determining, the control information via the second carrier.

[0211] Example DI 6. The method of Example DI, further including: receiving a configuration of a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource for transmission of a channel state information (CSI) report via a carrier; and selecting, based on the configuration, the PUCCH resource for the transmission of the CSI report.

[0212] Example D17. The method of Example D16, further including omitting a CSI report transmission via a carrier based on a determining that a PUCCH resource is not configured for the CSI report transmission via the carrier.

[0213] Example D18. The method of Example DI, further including determining that a transmission of the control information overlaps a physical uplink share channel (PUSCH) transmission.

[0214] Example DI 9. The method of Example DI 8, further including omitting the transmission of the control information.

[0215] Example D20. The method of Example DI 8, further including multiplexing the transmission of the control information with the PUSCH transmission.

[0216] Example D21. The method of Example D 1 , wherein the overlapping of the transmission opportunity and the transmission window includes at least a portion of the transmission opportunity overlapping in time at least a portion of the transmission window.

[0217] Example D22. The method of Example DI, wherein the determining the pattern of transmission opportunities includes receiving the pattern of the transmission opportunities via a radio resource control (RRC) configuration message.

[0218] Example D23. The method of Example DI, wherein the determining the transmission window for control information includes receiving the transmission window for the control information via a radio resource control (RRC) configuration message.

[0219] Example D24. The method of Example DI, wherein the transmission window for control information includes a start time associated with a transmission of the control information and a duration associated with the transmission of the control information. [0220] Example El . An apparatus including: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: transmit to a user device, a pattern of transmission opportunities for transmitting via at least one of a first carrier and a second carrier; transmit a configuration of a sounding reference signal (SRS) configuring a set of SRS transmission occasions when the SRS is to be transmitted via the first carrier; and receive the SRS via the first carrier based on a transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping a SRS transmission occasion of the set of SRS transmission occasions of the SRS configured by the configuration of the SRS.

[0221] Example E2. The apparatus of example El, wherein transmitting the pattern of the transmission opportunities comprises transmitting the pattern of the transmission opportunities for the first carrier and the second carrier via a radio resource control (RRC) message.

[0222] Example E3. The apparatus of example El, wherein the pattern indicates a pattern of switching a transmission frequency of a transmitter of the user device between the first carrier and the second carrier, wherein the first carrier is comprised in a first frequency band and the second carrier is comprised in a second frequency band.

[0223] Example E4. The apparatus of example El, wherein the pattern of the transmission opportunities is for more than two carriers.

[0224] Example E5. The apparatus of example El, wherein the apparatus is further caused to receive an uplink data via the second carrier based on the transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern not overlapping with transmitting the SRS via the second carrier.

[0225] Example E6. The apparatus of example E5, wherein the uplink data is a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission.

[0226] Example E7. The apparatus of example E6, wherein the overlapping of the transmission opportunity of the first carrier with the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier comprises: at least a portion of the transmission opportunity of the first carrier overlapping in time at least a portion of the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier; or an entire duration of the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier occurs within a larger duration of the transmission opportunity for the first carrier.

[0227] Example E8. The apparatus of example El, wherein the receiving the SRS via the first carrier is based on the determining user device that the transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlaps the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier.

[0228] Example E9. The apparatus of example El, wherein the transmission opportunity is provided within one time slot of the first carrier.

[0229] Example E10. The apparatus of example El, wherein the SRS transmission occasion overlaps one transmission opportunity; and the overlapping of the transmission opportunity of the first carrier with the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier comprises overlapping of an entire duration of the SRS transmission occasion, with at least one of an entire duration of the transmission opportunity; or a portion of the entire duration of the transmission opportunity.

[0230] Example El l. The apparatus of example El, wherein the configuration of the SRS comprises a configuration of a periodic SRS. UE Claim

[0231] Example Fl . A method including: transmitting, by a network node to a user device, a pattern of transmission opportunities for transmitting via at least one of a first carrier and a second carrier; transmitting, a configuration of a sounding reference signal (SRS) configuring a set of SRS transmission occasions when the SRS is to be transmitted via the first carrier; and receiving the SRS via the first carrier based on a transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping a SRS transmission occasion of the set of SRS transmission occasions of the SRS configured by the configuration of the SRS.

[0232] Example Gl. An apparatus including: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: transmit to a user device, information indicating a pattern of transmission opportunities for transmitting via a first carrier and a second carrier; transmit a configuration of resources to be used by the user device for transmission of control information via the first carrier or the second carrier; and receive the control information via the first carrier based on a transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping a transmission window of the user device; and receive the control information via the second carrier based on a transmission opportunity of the second carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping the transmission window.

[0233] Example G2. The apparatus of example Gl, wherein the apparatus is further caused to transmit configuration of at least one of: a plurality of physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resources for the first carrier; or a plurality of PUCCH resources for the second carrier.

[0234] Example G3. The apparatus of example Gl, wherein a timing of the transmission window is determined by at least one of: a downlink control information (DCI); or a configuration of physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource.

[0235] Example G4. The apparatus of example G2, wherein the apparatus is further caused to transmit a PUCCH resource indicator (PRI).

[0236] Example G5. The apparatus of example G4, wherein the PRI comprises one or more bits indicating the PUCCH resource of the plurality of PUCCH resources associated with the carrier overlapping the transmission window.

[0237] Example G6. The apparatus of example Gl, wherein the control information comprises at least one of: a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgment (ACK) (HARQ-ACK) feedback; or a channel state information (CSI) report.

[0238] Example G7. The apparatus of example Gl, wherein the apparatus is further caused to: receive the control information via the second carrier based on the transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping the transmission window in part and extending to the transmission opportunity of the second carrier.

[0239] Example G8. The apparatus of example Gl, wherein the apparatus is further caused to: omit receiving the control information based on a detecting by the user device that the transmission window for the control information via the first carrier spans the transmission opportunity of the first carrier and extends to the transmission opportunity of the second carrier.

[0240] Example G9. The apparatus of example Gl, wherein the apparatus is further caused to: based on a detecting by the user device that the transmission window for the control information via the first carrier spans the transmission opportunity of the first carrier and extends to the transmission opportunity of the second carrier: receive a first portion of the control information for which the transmission window overlaps the transmission opportunity of the first carrier; and omit receiving a second portion of the control information for which the transmission window overlaps the transmission opportunity of the second carrier.

[0241] Example G10. The apparatus of example Gl, wherein the apparatus is further caused to: based on a detecting by the user device that a first portion of the transmission opportunity of the second carrier and a second portion of the transmission opportunity of the first carrier overlap the transmission window: omit receiving the control information via the first carrier; and receive the control information via the second carrier.

[0242] Example G11. The apparatus of example Gl, wherein the apparatus is further caused to: based on a determining by the user deice that the transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlaps the transmission window in part and extends to the transmission opportunity of the second carrier: receive based on the determining, the control information via the second carrier.

[0243] Example G12. The apparatus of example Gl, wherein the apparatus is further caused to: transmit a configuration of a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource for transmission of a channel state information (CSI) report via a carrier .

[0244] Example G13. The apparatus of example Gl, wherein the apparatus is further caused to: transmit the pattern of the transmission opportunities via a radio resource control (RRC) configuration message.

[0245] Example G14. The apparatus of example Gl, wherein the transmission window for control information comprises a start time associated with a transmission of the control information and a duration associated with the transmission of the control information.

[0246] Example Hl . A method including: transmitting, by a network node to a user device, information indicating a pattern of transmission opportunities for transmitting via a first carrier and a second carrier; transmitting a configuration of resources to be used by the user device for transmission of control information via the first carrier or the second carrier; and receiving the control information via the first carrier based on a transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping a transmission window of the user device; and receiving the control information via the second carrier based on a transmission opportunity of the second carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping the transmission window.

[0247] FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a wireless station or node (e.g., UE, user device, AP, BS, eNB, gNB, RAN node, network node, TRP, or other node) 1300 according to an example embodiment. The wireless station 1300 may include, for example, one or more (e.g., two as shown in FIG. 10) RF (radio frequency) or wireless transceivers 1302 A, 1302B, where each wireless transceiver includes a transmitter to transmit signals and a receiver to receive signals. The wireless station also includes a processor or control unit/entity (controller) 1304 to execute instructions or software and control transmission and receptions of signals, and a memory 1306 to store data and/or instructions. [0248] Processor 1304 may also make decisions or determinations, generate frames, packets or messages for transmission, decode received frames or messages for further processing, and other tasks or functions described herein. Processor 1304, which may be a baseband processor, for example, may generate messages, packets, frames or other signals for transmission via wireless transceiver 1302 (1302A or 1302B). Processor 1304 may control transmission of signals or messages over a wireless network, and may control the reception of signals or messages, etc., via a wireless network (e.g., after being down- converted by wireless transceiver 1302, for example). Processor 1304 may be programmable and capable of executing software or other instructions stored in memory or on other computer media to perform the various tasks and functions described above, such as one or more of the tasks or methods described above. Processor 1304 may be (or may include), for example, hardware, programmable logic, a programmable processor that executes software or firmware, and/or any combination of these. Using other terminology, processor 1304 and transceiver 1302 together may be considered as a wireless transmitter/receiver system, for example.

[0249] In addition, referring to FIG. 10, a controller (or processor) 1308 may execute software and instructions, and may provide overall control for the station 1300, and may provide control for other systems not shown in FIG. 10, such as controlling input/output devices (e.g., display, keypad), and/or may execute software for one or more applications that may be provided on wireless station 1300, such as, for example, an email program, audio/video applications, a word processor, a Voice over IP application, or other application or software.

[0250] In addition, a storage medium may be provided that includes stored instructions, which when executed by a controller or processor may result in the processor 1304, or other controller or processor, performing one or more of the functions or tasks described above.

[0251] According to another example embodiment, RF or wireless transceiver(s) 1302A/1302B may receive signals or data and/or transmit or send signals or data. Processor 1304 (and possibly transceivers 1302A/1302B) may control the RF or wireless transceiver 1302 A or 1302B to receive, send, broadcast or transmit signals or data.

[0252] Example embodiments are provided or described for each of the example methods, including: An apparatus (e.g., 1300, FIG. 10) including means (e.g., processor 1304, RF transceivers 1302A and/or 1302B, and/or memory 1306, in FIG. 10) for carrying out any of the methods; a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (e.g., memory 1306, FIG. 10) comprising instructions stored thereon that, when executed by at least one processor (processor 1304, FIG. 10), are configured to cause a computing system (e.g., 1300, FIG. 10) to perform any of the example methods; and an apparatus (e.g., 1300, FIG. 10) including at least one processor (e.g., processor 1304, FIG. 10), and at least one memory (e.g., memory 1306, FIG. 10) including computer program code, the at least one memory (1306) and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor (1304), cause the apparatus (e.g., 1300) at least to perform any of the example methods.

[0253] Embodiments of the various techniques described herein may be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, or in computer hardware, firmware, software, or in combinations of them. Embodiments may be implemented as a computer program product, i.e., a computer program tangibly embodied in an information carrier, e.g., in a machine- readable storage device or in a propagated signal, for execution by, or to control the operation of, a data processing apparatus, e.g., a programmable processor, a computer, or multiple computers. Embodiments may also be provided on a computer readable medium or computer readable storage medium, which may be a non-transitory medium. Embodiments of the various techniques may also include embodiments provided via transitory signals or media, and/or programs and/or software embodiments that are downloadable via the Internet or other network(s), either wired networks and/or wireless networks. In addition, embodiments may be provided via machine type communications (MTC), and also via an Internet of Things (IOT).

[0254] As used in this application, the term ‘circuitry’ or “circuit” refers to all of the following: (a) hardware-only circuit implementations, such as implementations in only analog and/or digital circuitry, and (b) combinations of circuits and soft-ware (and/or firmware), such as (as applicable): (i) a combination of processor(s) or (ii) portions of processor(s)/software including digital signal processor(s), software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus to perform various functions, and (c) circuits, such as a microprocessor s) or a portion of a microprocessor s), that require software or firmware for operation, even if the software or firmware is not physically present. This definition of ‘circuitry’ applies to all uses of this term in this application. As a further example, as used in this application, the term ‘circuitry’ would also cover an implementation of merely a processor (or multiple processors) or a portion of a processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. The term ‘circuitry’ would also cover, for example and if applicable to the particular element, a baseband integrated circuit or applications processor integrated circuit for a mobile phone or a similar integrated circuit in a server, a cellular network device, or another network device.

[0255] The computer program may be in source code form, object code form, or in some intermediate form, and it may be stored in some sort of carrier, distribution medium, or computer readable medium, which may be any entity or device capable of carrying the program. Such carriers include a record medium, computer memory, read-only memory, photoelectrical and/or electrical carrier signal, telecommunications signal, and software distribution package, for example. Depending on the processing power needed, the computer program may be executed in a single electronic digital computer, or it may be distributed amongst a number of computers.

[0256] Furthermore, embodiments of the various techniques described herein may use a cyber-physical system (CPS) (a system of collaborating computational elements controlling physical entities). CPS may enable the embodiment and exploitation of massive amounts of interconnected ICT devices (sensors, actuators, processors microcontrollers, ...) embedded in physical objects at different locations. Mobile cyber physical systems, in which the physical system in question has inherent mobility, are a subcategory of cyberphysical systems. Examples of mobile physical systems include mobile robotics and electronics transported by humans or animals. The rise in popularity of smartphones has increased interest in the area of mobile cyber-physical systems. Therefore, various embodiments of techniques described herein may be provided via one or more of these technologies.

[0257] A computer program, such as the computer program(s) described above, can be written in any form of programming language, including compiled or interpreted languages, and can be deployed in any form, including as a standalone program or as a module, component, subroutine, or other unit or part of it suitable for use in a computing environment. A computer program can be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiple computers at one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by a communication network.

[0258] Method steps may be performed by one or more programmable processors executing a computer program or computer program portions to perform functions by operating on input data and generating output. Method steps also may be performed by, and an apparatus may be implemented as, special purpose logic circuitry, e.g., an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit).

[0259] Processors suitable for the execution of a computer program include, by way of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors, and any one or more processors of any kind of digital computer, chip or chipset. Generally, a processor will receive instructions and data from a read-only memory or a random access memory or both. Elements of a computer may include at least one processor for executing instructions and one or more memory devices for storing instructions and data. Generally, a computer also may include, or be operatively coupled to receive data from or transfer data to, or both, one or more mass storage devices for storing data, e.g., magnetic, magnetooptical disks, or optical disks. Information carriers suitable for embodying computer program instructions and data include all forms of non-volatile memory, including by way of example semiconductor memory devices, e.g., EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, e.g., internal hard disks or removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. The processor and the memory may be supplemented by, or incorporated in, special purpose logic circuitry.

[0260] To provide for interaction with a user, embodiments may be implemented on a computer having a display device, e.g., a cathode ray tube (CRT) or liquid crystal display (LCD) monitor, for displaying information to the user and a user interface, such as a keyboard and a pointing device, e.g., a mouse or a trackball, by which the user can provide input to the computer. Other kinds of devices can be used to provide for interaction with a user as well; for example, feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback, e.g., visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback; and input from the user can be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, or tactile input.

[0261] Embodiments may be implemented in a computing system that includes a backend component, e.g., as a data server, or that includes a middleware component, e.g., an application server, or that includes a frontend component, e.g., a client computer having a graphical user interface or a Web browser through which a user can interact with an embodiment, or any combination of such backend, middleware, or frontend components. Components may be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication, e.g., a communication network. Examples of communication networks include a local area network (LAN) and a wide area network (WAN), e.g., the Internet. [0262] While certain features of the described embodiments have been illustrated as described herein, many modifications, substitutions, changes and equivalents will now occur to those skilled in the art. It is, therefore, to be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and changes as fall within the true spirit of the various embodiments.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: determine a pattern of transmission opportunities for transmitting via at least one of a first carrier and a second carrier; receive from a network node, a configuration of a sounding reference signal (SRS) configuring a set of SRS transmission occasions when the SRS is to be transmitted via the first carrier; and transmit the SRS via the first carrier based on a transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping a SRS transmission occasion of the set of SRS transmission occasions of the SRS configured by the configuration of the SRS.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein determining the pattern of the transmission opportunities comprises receiving the pattern of the transmission opportunities for the first carrier and the second carrier via a radio resource control (RRC) message.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein determining the pattern of the transmission opportunities comprises determining the pattern based on a set of uplink transmission opportunities of a time division duplex (TDD) pattern of a carrier; wherein the TDD pattern comprises uplink transmission opportunities and downlink transmission opportunities for the carrier; and wherein the carrier is at least one of the first carrier or the second carrier.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the pattern indicates a pattern of switching a transmission frequency of a transmitter of the apparatus between the first carrier and the second carrier, wherein the first carrier is comprised in a first frequency band and the second carrier is comprised in a second frequency band.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the pattern of the transmission opportunities is for more than two carriers.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is further caused to transmit an uplink data via the second carrier based on the transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern not overlapping with transmitting the SRS via the second carrier.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the uplink data is a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is further caused to omit transmitting the SRS via the first carrier when the transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern does not overlap the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the overlapping of the transmission opportunity of the first carrier with the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier comprises: at least a portion of the transmission opportunity of the first carrier overlapping in time at least a portion of the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier; or an entire duration of the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier occurs within a larger duration of the transmission opportunity for the first carrier.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is further caused to determine that the transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlaps the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier; and wherein the transmitting the SRS via the first carrier is based on the determining that the transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlaps the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transmission opportunity is provided within one time slot of the first carrier.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the SRS transmission occasion overlaps one transmission opportunity; and the overlapping of the transmission opportunity of the first carrier with the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier comprises overlapping of an entire duration of the SRS transmission occasion, with at least one of: an entire duration of the transmission opportunity; or a portion of the entire duration of the transmission opportunity.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the configuration of the SRS comprises a configuration of a periodic SRS.

14. An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: transmit to a user device, a pattern of transmission opportunities for transmitting via at least one of a first carrier and a second carrier; transmit a configuration of a sounding reference signal (SRS) configuring a set of SRS transmission occasions when the SRS is to be transmitted via the first carrier; and receive the SRS via the first carrier based on a transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping a SRS transmission occasion of the set of SRS transmission occasions of the SRS configured by the configuration of the SRS.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein transmitting the pattern of the transmission opportunities comprises transmitting the pattern of the transmission opportunities for the first carrier and the second carrier via a radio resource control (RRC) message.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the pattern indicates a pattern of switching a transmission frequency of a transmitter of the user device between the first carrier and the second carrier, wherein the first carrier is comprised in a first frequency band and the second carrier is comprised in a second frequency band.

17. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the pattern of the transmission opportunities is for more than two carriers.

18. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the apparatus is further caused to receive an uplink data via the second carrier based on the transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern not overlapping with transmitting the SRS via the second carrier.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the uplink data is a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the overlapping of the transmission opportunity of the first carrier with the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier comprises: at least a portion of the transmission opportunity of the first carrier overlapping in time at least a portion of the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier; or an entire duration of the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier occurs within a larger duration of the transmission opportunity for the first carrier.

21. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the receiving the SRS via the first carrier is based on the determining user device that the transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlaps the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier.

22. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the transmission opportunity is provided within one time slot of the first carrier.

23. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the SRS transmission occasion overlaps one transmission opportunity; and the overlapping of the transmission opportunity of the first carrier with the SRS transmission occasion for the first carrier comprises overlapping of an entire duration of the SRS transmission occasion, with at least one of: an entire duration of the transmission opportunity; or a portion of the entire duration of the transmission opportunity.

24. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the configuration of the SRS comprises a configuration of a periodic SRS.

25. A method comprising: determining, by a user device a pattern of transmission opportunities for transmitting via at least one of a first carrier and a second carrier; receiving from a network node, a configuration of a sounding reference signal (SRS) configuring a set of SRS transmission occasions when the SRS is to be transmitted via the first carrier; and transmitting the SRS via the first carrier based on a transmission opportunity of the first carrier indicated by the pattern overlapping a SRS transmission occasion of the set of SRS transmission occasions of the SRS configured by the configuration of the SRS.