WO2018032014A1

WO2018032014A1 - Uplink grant-less transmission techniques

Info

Publication number: WO2018032014A1
Application number: PCT/US2017/046809
Authority: WO
Inventors: Gang Xiong; Debdeep CHATTERJEE; Hwan-Joon Kwon; Sergey D. SOSNIN; Seunghee Han
Original assignee: Intel Corporation
Priority date: 2016-08-12
Filing date: 2017-08-14
Publication date: 2018-02-15

Abstract

Grant-less Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) uplink (UL) transmission can include User Equipment (UE) identification based on a hierarchical indication framework. The grant-less NOMA UL transmission can also include Demodulation Reference Signal (DM 5 -RS) sequence index selection, and use of the DM-RS sequence index for one or more uplink transmission generation processes including interleaving, scrambling sequence generation, data spreading, resource mapping, Cyclic Redundancy Checking (CRC) mapping, and Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and Transport Block Size (TBS) combinations.

Description

UPLINK GRANT-LESS TRANSMISSION TECHNIQUES

BACKGROUND

[0001] Wireless systems typically include multiple User Equipment (UE) devices communicatively coupled to one or more Base Stations (BS). The one or more BSs may be Long Term Evolved (LTE) evolved NodeBs (eNB) or New Radio (NR) next generation NodeBs (gNB) that can be communicatively coupled to one or more UEs by a Third-Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) network.

[0002] Next generation wireless communication systems are expected to be a unified network/system that is targeted to meet vastly different and sometimes conflicting performance dimensions and services. New Radio Access Technology (RAT) is expected to support a broad range of use cases including Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC), Mission Critical Machine Type Communication (uMTC), and similar service types operating in frequency ranges up to 100 GHz. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0003] Features and advantages of the disclosure will be apparent from the detailed description which follows, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which together illustrate, by way of example, features of the disclosure; and, wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless system, in accordance with an example;

FIG. 2 illustrates a Demodulation Reference Signal (DM-RS) partem in a Long Term Evolved (LTE) Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) for normal Cyclic Prefix (CP), in accordance with an example;

FIG. 3 illustrates a grant-less uplink transmission generation procedure, in accordance with an example;

FIG. 4 illustrates Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) Uplink (UL) transmission, in accordance with an example;

FIG. 5 illustrates Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) uplink (UL) transmission, in accordance with an example; FIG. 6 illustrates Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) Uplink (UL) transmission, in accordance with an example;

FIG. 7 illustrates Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) uplink (UL) transmission, in accordance with an example;

FIG. 8 illustrates an architecture of a wireless network with various components of the network in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 9 illustrates example components of a device in accordance with some

embodiments; and

FIG. 10 illustrates example interfaces of baseband circuitry in accordance with some embodiments.

[0004] Reference will now be made to the exemplary embodiments illustrated, and specific language will be used herein to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the technology is thereby intended.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0005] Before the present technology is disclosed and described, it is to be understood that this technology is not limited to the particular structures, process actions, or materials disclosed herein, but is extended to equivalents thereof as would be recognized by those ordinarily skilled in the relevant arts. It should also be understood that terminology employed herein is used for the purpose of describing particular examples only and is not intended to be limiting. The same reference numerals in different drawings represent the same element. Numbers provided in flow charts and processes are provided for clarity in illustrating actions and operations and do not necessarily indicate a particular order or sequence.

DEFINITIONS

[0006] As used herein, the term "User Equipment (UE)" refers to a computing device capable of wireless digital communication such as a smart phone, a tablet computing device, a laptop computer, a multimedia device such as an iPod Touch^®, or other type computing device that provides text or voice communication. The term "User Equipment (UE)" may also be refer to as a "mobile device," "wireless device," of "wireless mobile device." [0007] As used herein, the term "wireless access point" or "Wireless Local Area Network Access Point (WLAN-AP)" refers to a device or configured node on a network that allows wireless capable devices and wired networks to connect through a wireless standard, including WiFi, Bluetooth, or other wireless communication protocol.

[0008] As used herein, the term "Base Station (BS)" includes "Base

Transceiver Stations (BTS)," "NodeBs," "evolved NodeBs (eNodeB or eNB)," and/or "next generation NodeBs (gNodeB or gNB)," and refers to a device or configured node of a mobile phone network that communicates wirelessly with UEs.

[0009] As used herein, the term "cellular telephone network," "4G cellular," "Long Term Evolved (LTE)," "5G cellular" and/or "New Radio (NR)" refers to wireless broadband technology developed by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3 GPP), and will be referred to herein simply as "New Radio (NR)."

EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

[0010] An initial overview of technology embodiments is provided below and then specific technology embodiments are described in further detail later. This initial summary is intended to aid readers in understanding the technology more quickly but is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the technology nor is it intended to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

[0011] In one aspect, grant-free Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) can support massive number of User Equipment (UE) devices requesting intermittent transmission of small data packets. Multiple UEs, therefore, can share the same time and frequency resources. Grant-free (also referred to as autonomous and/or contention-based) NOMA provide transmission access for UEs without dynamic and explicit scheduling of resource grants from the Base Stations (BS). The grant-free NOMA, based on a hierarchical indication framework, includes selection and or mapping of various UE specific, UE group-specific, resource pool-specific parameters for at least partial encoding of UE identities. The grant-free NOMA can also include Demodulation Reference Signal (DM-RS) sequence index selection and application of DM-RS sequence index to grant-less uplink encoding.

[0012] FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless system, in accordance with an example. In one aspect, the wireless system 100 includes one or more Base Stations (BS) 110 and one or more User Equipment (UE) devices 120 that can be communicatively coupled by a wireless communication protocol. In one instance, the one or more BSs may be Long Term Evolved (LTE) evolved NodeBs (eNB) that can be communicatively coupled to one or more UEs by a Third-Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolved (LTE) network. In one instance, the UE can be one or more of a smart phone, a tablet computing device, a laptop computer, an internet of things (IOT) device, and/or another type of computing devices that is configured to provide digital communications. As used herein, digital communications can include data and/or voice communications, as well as control information.

[0013] FIG. 2 illustrates a Demodulation Reference Signal (DM-RS) partem in a Long Term Evolved (LTE) Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) for normal Cyclic Prefix (CP), in accordance with an example. In one aspect, the position of the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) DM-RS symbol in each uplink slot depends on whether a normal or extended Cyclic Prefix (CP) is used. For the case of the normal CP with service Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) symbols per slot as illustrated in FIG. 2, the PUSCH DM-RS can occupy the center (e.g., fourth) SC-FDMA symbol 210, 220 of each slot 230, 240. With six SC-FDMA symbols per slot in the case of the extended CP, the third SC-FDMA symbol can be used.

[0014] FIG. 3 illustrates a grant-less uplink transmission generation procedure, in accordance with an example. In one aspect, grant-less uplink transmission encoding can include channel coding 310 of received data 315. The channel coding can use a simple repetition or other low coding rate Forward Error Correction (FEC) encoding scheme. Grant-less uplink transmission can also include scrambling 320, interleaving 325, modulation 330, spreading 335, Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) 340, resource mapping 345, and Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) 350 processing. DFT 340 is typically inserted between the spreading operation and resource mapping for SC-FDMA. For OFDM waveforms, DFT 340 is not needed.

[0015] FIG. 4 illustrates Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) Uplink (UL) transmission, in accordance with an example. In one aspect, a User Equipment can access a UE identifier used for grant-less UL transmission 410. The UE identifier can include a Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) or an International mobile subscriber identity (IMSI). In one example, the UE can access a previously received UE identifier stored in a memory, or can determine the UE identifier at the time of grant-less UL transmission generation.

[0016] In one aspect, the UE can generate a first portion of the UE identifier to be carried by one or more physical layer parameters 420. The UE can generate the first portion of the UE identifier as an identity for physical layer processing. The one or more physical layer parameters can include one or more of a sequence used for a reference signal, a sequence used for a preamble, a spreading signature for a data spreading scheme, a scrambling initialization for a UE specific scrambling scheme, or an index of a UE specific interleave scheme. In one aspect, the UE can also generate a second portion of the UE identifier 430. Accordingly, part of the UE's identifier is conveyed as part of the identity for physical layer processing and the remaining bits of the UE identifier are carried as part of the payload of the encoded packet.

[0017] In one aspect, the UE can select a demodulation reference signal (DM- RS) sequence index 440. In one instance, the selected DM-RS sequence index can be based on the UE identifier or UE group identifier. In one example, the DM-RS sequence index can be given by:

IDMRS = f {UEJD)mod N

where UE ID is the UE identifier; N is the total number of DM-RS sequences and /_DMfl5is the DM-RS sequence index. In another instance, the DM-RS sequence index can be randomly selected at the UE from a set of DM-RS sequence indices. The set of DM- RS sequences can be either predefined (i.e., specified), or configured in a cell-specific or UE group specific manner, or configured on a NOMA resource pool-basis, or be defined as a function of the individual time-frequency resources, e.g., starting PRB index or starting slot or subframe index, used for transmission. In yet another instance, the DM- RS can be randomly selected at the UE from a set of predefined DM-RS sequences, a cell-specific or UE group specific configured set of DM-RS sequences, a Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access resource pool-based configured set of DM-RS sequences, or an individual time-frequency resource defined set of DM-RS sequences. In another instance, the DM-RS sequence can be determined based on a UE group identity defined as a function of one or more physical layer transmission characteristics including a resource pool used, a coverage level and an amount of coverage enhancement, a number of repetitions used for transmission of the packet, a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and Transport Block Size (TBS) used for transmission of the packet, and number of subcarriers used for transmission of the packet. Defining the DM-RS sequence based on UE-group-identity or the resource pool or the individual resource can help in reducing the space of DM-RS sequence the BS needs to perform search over, thereby, help to reduce BS receiver complexity.

[0018] In one aspect, the DM-RS sequence can also be applied for one or more processes of encoding the packets including scrambling sequence generation, interleaving, data spreading, resource mapping, Cyclic Redundancy Checking (CRC), and Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and Transport Block Size (TBS) combinations. In one instance, an initialization seed, for use of random or pseudo random interleaving, can be a function of the DM-RS sequence index. In another instance, a permutation matrix, for use of deterministic interleaving, can be a function of the DM-RS sequence index. In another instance, a scrambling seed, for use of scrambling sequence generation, can be a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier and the DM-RS sequence index. In another instance, a scrambling seed, for use of scrambling sequence generation, can be a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, a starting symbol, slot or subframe, a starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index. In another instance, for a transmission that spans multiple subframes, a scrambling seed for each subframe can be a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, a slot or subframe index, and a starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index. In another instance, a same spreading sequence, randomly selected at the UE or derived at least in part based on the DM-RS sequence index, can be applied for multiple modulated symbols. In another instance, a same spreading sequence can be defined as a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, a starting symbol, slot or subframe and a starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index, is applied for multiple modulated symbols. In another instance, a different spreading sequence can be applied for multiple modulated symbols, and a spreading sequence hopping pattern can be a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, a starting symbol, slot or subframe and a starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index. In another instance, a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) can be masked with an identifier determined at least in part based on the UE identifier or the DM-RS sequence index. In one instance, the DM-RS sequence index can indicate a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and Transport Block Size (TBS) combination selected at the UE if different MCS/TBS values are supported on a same physical resource.

[0019] In one aspect, the UE can encode a packet as an UL grant-less transmission for transmission to the BS 450. The packet can include the first portion of the UE identifier, the second portion of the UE identifier and the DM-RS sequence index. In one instance, the second portion of the UE identifier can be included as part of a payload in the encoded packet. In another instance, the second portion of the UE identifier can be included as part of a header in the encoded packet. The packet can be a Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC) packet, a Critical Machine Type Communication (cMTC), an Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) packet, or an Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) packet.

[0020] In one aspect, a time and frequency hopping pattern for the UL grant- less transmission packet can be defined as a pseudorandom or a random function, or as a combination of a deterministic and a pseudorandom or random function. In one instance, the time and frequency hopping can be enabled or disabled at a higher layer signaling. In another instance, the time and frequency hopping pattern can be defined as a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier, a starting symbol, slot or subframe and starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index, a starting subframe or starting PRB index of a Mobile Access (MA) physical resource pool, resource pool index, coverage level of the UE, MA signatures including the DM-RS signature, preamble index, or index of a sequence used for spreading of modulated symbols or data bits of a Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) scheme. In another instance, the time and frequency hopping pattern for each subframe can be defined as a function of at least one or more of a physical cell identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, a resource pool index, a coverage level of the UE, a starting subframe of a Multiple Access (MA) physical resource pool, a slot or subframe index and starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index of the MA physical resource pool in each subframe. In one instance, the UE can randomly select an initial Multiple Access (MA) resource or uses a pre-configured MA resource within a resource pool for initial transmission of the packet. In one instance, an initial Multiple Access (MA) resource can be defined as a deterministic or pseudorandom function of a MA signature randomly selected at the UE.

[0021] FIG. 5 illustrates NOMA UL transmission, in accordance with another example. In one aspect, the BS can receive, from a UE, an UL grant-less transmission based packet 510. In one aspect, the BS can detect a DM-RS signal 520. In one aspect, the BS can determine a first portion of a UE identifier carried by one or more physical layer parameters for the packet 530.

[0022] In one instance, an initial Multiple Access (MA) resource or a pre- configured MA resource within a resource pool for initial transmission of the packet can have been selected by the UE. In one instance, an initial Multiple Access (MA) resource can be defined as a deterministic or pseudorandom function of a MA signature randomly selected at the UE.

[0023] In one aspect, the BS can also decode the packet including a second portion of the UE identifier using a sequence index of the DM-RS 540. In one example, the second portion of the UE identifier can be included as part of a pay load in the encoded packet. In another example, the second portion of the UE identifier can be included as part of a header in the encoded packet.

[0024] In one aspect, the DM-RS sequence can be applied for one or more processes of decoding the packet including scrambling sequence generation, interleaving, data spreading resource mapping, cyclic redundancy checking (CRC), and Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and Transport Block Size (TBS) combinations. In one instance, an initialization seed, for use of random or pseudo random interleaving, can be a function of the DM-RS sequence index. In one instance, a permutation matrix, for use of deterministic interleaving, can be a function of the DM-RS sequence index. In one instance, a scrambling seed, for use of scrambling sequence generation, can be a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier and the DM-RS sequence index. In one instance, a scrambling seed, for use of scrambling sequence generation, can be a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, a starting symbol, slot or subframe, a starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index. In one instance, for a transmission that spans multiple subframes, a scrambling seed for each subframe can be a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, a slot or subframe index, and a starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index. In one instance, a same spreading sequence, randomly selected at the UE or derived at least in part based on the DM-RS sequence index, can be applied for multiple modulated symbols. In one instance, a same spreading sequence can be defined as a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, a starting symbol, slot or subframe and a starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index, is applied for multiple modulated symbols. In one instance, a same spreading sequence can be applied for multiple modulated symbols, and a spreading sequence hopping pattern can be a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, a starting symbol, slot or subframe and a starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index. In one instance, a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) can be masked with an identifier determined at least in part based on the UE identifier or the DM-RS sequence index. In one instance, the DM-RS sequence index can indicate a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and Transport Block Size (TBS) combination selected at the UE if different MCS/TBS values are supported on a same physical resource.

[0025] A time and frequency hopping pattern can be defined as a

pseudorandom or a random function, or as a combination of a deterministic and a pseudorandom or random function. The time and frequency hopping pattern can be defined as a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier, a starting symbol, slot or subframe and starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index, a starting subframe or starting PRB index of a Mobile Access (MA) physical resource pool, resource pool index, coverage level of the UE, MA signatures including the DM-RS signature, preamble index, or index of a sequence sued for spreading of modulated symbols or data bits of a Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) scheme. The time and frequency hopping pattern for each subframe can be defined as a function of at least one or more of a physical cell identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, a resource pool index, a coverage level of the UE, a starting subframe of a Multiple Access (MA) physical resource pool, a slot or subframe index and starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index of the MA physical resource pool in each subframe. The time and frequency hopping can be enabled or disabled at a higher layer signaling.

[0026] The DM-RS sequence can be randomly selected at the UE from a set of predefined DM-RS sequences, a cell-specific or UE group specific configured set of DM- RS sequences, a Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access resource pool-based configured set of DM-RS sequences, or an individual time-frequency resource defined set of DM-RS sequences. The DM-RS sequence can be determined based on a UE group identity defined as a function of one or more physical layer transmission characteristics including a resource pool used, a coverage level and an amount of coverage enhancement, a number of repetitions used for transmission of the packet, a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and Transport Block Size (TBS) used for transmission of the packet, and number of subcarriers used for transmission of the packet.

[0027] In one aspect, the BS can determine an identity of the UE from the decoded first and second portions of the UE identifiers 550. In one aspect, the BS can store one or more of the identity of the UE, the first portion of the UE identifier, the second portion of the UE identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, and the decoded packet in memory.

[0028] In one example, the NOMA UL transmission can be based on a combination of low coding rate spreading and short sequence-based spreading. In such case, the preamble and/or DM-RS sequence can be derived as a function of the UE identifier, and in turn the choice of the DM-RS sequence can bear a one-to-one or many- to-one mapping to the space of short UE-specific signatures used for sequence-based spreading of the data. Additionally, the complete UE identifier can be carried as part of the encoded data packet or its header. Thus, once the BS detects the correct DM-RS sequence, it can determine the signature sequence used by the given UE for the spreading of the data using short codes. This provides the BS receiver with all necessary information to demodulate and decode the packet.

[0029] FIG. 6 illustrates NOMA UL transmission, in accordance with another example. In one aspect, the UE can access a UE identifier used for grant-less UL transmission 610. The UE identifier can include a RNTI or an IMSI. In one example, the UE can access a previously received UE identifier stored in a memory, or can determine the UE identifier at the time of grant-less UL transmission generation.

[0030] In one aspect, the UE can generate a portion of the UE identifier to be carried by one or more physical layer parameters 620. The UE can generate the portion of the UE identifier as an identity for physical layer processing. The one or more physical layer parameters can include one or more of a sequence used for a reference signal, a sequence used for a preamble, a spreading signature for a data spreading scheme, a scrambling initialization for a UE specific scrambling scheme, or an index of a UE specific interleave scheme.

[0031] In one aspect, the UE can select a DM-RS sequence index 630. In one instance, the selected DM-RS sequence index can be based on the UE identifier or UE group identifier. In one example, the DM-RS sequence index can be given by:

I = f (UE_ID)mod N

where UE ID is the UE identifier; N is the total number of DM-RS sequences and

I the DM-RS sequence index. In another instance, the DM-RS sequence index can be randomly selected at the UE from a set of DM-RS sequence indices. The set of DM- RS sequences can be either predefined (i.e., specified), or configured in a cell-specific or UE group specific manner, or configured on a NOMA resource pool-basis, or be defined as a function of the individual time-frequency resources, e.g., starting PRB index or starting slot or subframe index, used for transmission. In yet another instance, the DM- RS can be randomly selected at the UE from a set of predefined DM-RS sequences, a cell-specific or UE group specific configured set of DM-RS sequences, a Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access resource pool-based configured set of DM-RS sequences, or an individual time-frequency resource defined set of DM-RS sequences. In another instance, the DM-RS sequence can be determined based on a UE group identity defined as a function of one or more physical layer transmission characteristics including a resource pool used, a coverage level and an amount of coverage enhancement, a number of repetitions used for transmission of the packet, a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and Transport Block Size (TBS) used for transmission of the packet, and number of subcarriers used for transmission of the packet. Defining the DM-RS sequence based on UE-group-identity or the resource pool or the individual resource can help in reducing the space of DM-RS sequence the BS needs to perform search over, thereby, help reduce BS receiver complexity.

[0032] In one aspect, the DM-RS sequence can also be applied for one or more processes of encoding the packets including scrambling sequence generation,

interleaving, data spreading resource mapping, Cyclic Redundancy Checking (CRC), and Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and Transport Block Size (TBS) combinations. In one instance, an initialization seed, for use of random or pseudo random interleaving, can be a function of the DM-RS sequence index. In another instance, a permutation matrix, for use of deterministic interleaving, can be a function of the DM-RS sequence index. In another instance, a scrambling seed, for use of scrambling sequence generation, can be a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier and the DM-RS sequence index. In another instance, a scrambling seed, for use of scrambling sequence generation, can be a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, a starting symbol, slot or subframe, a starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index. In another instance, for a transmission that spans multiple subframes, a scrambling seed for each subframe can be a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, a slot or subframe index, and a starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index. In another instance, a same spreading sequence, randomly selected at the UE or derived at least in part based on the DM-RS sequence index, can be applied for multiple modulated symbols. In another instance, a same spreading sequence can be defined as a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, a starting symbol, slot or subframe and a starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index, is applied for multiple modulated symbols. In another instance, a different spreading sequence can be applied for multiple modulated symbols, and a spreading sequence hopping pattern can be a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, a starting symbol, slot or subframe and a starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index. In another instance, a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) can be masked with an identifier determined at least in part based on the UE identifier or the DM-RS sequence index. In one instance, the DM-RS sequence index can indicate a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and Transport Block Size (TBS) combination selected at the UE if different MCS/TBS values are supported on a same physical resource.

[0033] In one aspect, the UE can encode a packet as an UL gran-less transmission to the BS. The packet can include the portion of the UE identifier, the complete UE identifier, and the DM-RS sequence index 640. In one instance, the complete UE identifier can be included as part of a payload in the encoded packet. In another instance, the complete UE identifier can be included as part of a header in the encoded packet. The packet can be a Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC) packet, a Critical Machine Type Communication (cMTC), an Enhanced Mobile

Broadband (eMBB) packet, or an Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) packet.

[0034] In one aspect, a time and frequency hopping pattern for the UL grant- less transmission packet can be defined as a pseudorandom or a random function, or as a combination of a deterministic and a pseudorandom or random function. In one instance, the time and frequency hopping can be enabled or disabled at a higher layer signaling. In another instance, the time and frequency hopping pattern can be defined as a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier, a starting symbol, slot or subframe and starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index, a starting subframe or starting PRB index of a Mobile Access (MA) physical resource pool, resource pool index, coverage level of the UE, MA signatures including the DM-RS signature, preamble index, or index of a sequence sued for spreading of modulated symbols or data bits of a Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) scheme. In another instance, the time and frequency hopping pattern for each subframe can be defined as a function of at least one or more of a physical cell identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, a resource pool index, a coverage level of the UE, a starting subframe of a Multiple Access (MA) physical resource pool, a slot or subframe index and starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index of the MA physical resource pool in each subframe. In one instance, the UE can randomly select an initial Multiple Access (MA) resource or uses a pre-configured MA resource within a resource pool for initial transmission of the packet. In one instance, an initial Multiple Access (MA) resource can be defined as a deterministic or pseudorandom function of a MA signature randomly selected at the UE.

[0035] FIG. 7 illustrates NOMA UL transmission, in accordance with yet another example. In one aspect, the BS can receive, from a UE, an uplink (UL) grant-less transmission based packet 710. In one aspect, the BS can detect a DM-RS signal 720. In one aspect, the BS can determine a first portion of a UE identifier carried by one or more physical layer parameters for the packet 730.

[0036] In one instance, an initial Multiple Access (MA) resource or a pre- configured MA resource within a resource pool for initial transmission of the packet can have been selected by the UE. In one instance, an initial Multiple Access (MA) resource can be defined as a deterministic or pseudorandom function of a MA signature randomly selected at the UE.

[0037] In one aspect, the BS can decode the packet including the UE identifier using a sequence index of the DM-RS signal 740. In one example, the complete UE identifier can be included as part of a payload in the encoded packet. In another example, the complete UE identifier can be included as part of a header in the encoded packet.

[0038] In one aspect, the DM-RS sequence can be applied for one or more processes of decoding the packet including scrambling sequence generation, interleaving, data spreading resource mapping, cyclic redundancy checking (CRC), and Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and Transport Block Size (TBS) combinations. In one instance, an initialization seed, for use of random or pseudo random interleaving, can be a function of the DM-RS sequence index. In one instance, a permutation matrix, for use of deterministic interleaving, can be a function of the DM-RS sequence index. In one instance, a scrambling seed, for use of scrambling sequence generation, can be a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier and the DM-RS sequence index. In one instance, a scrambling seed, for use of scrambling sequence generation, can be a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, a starting symbol, slot or subframe, a starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index. In one instance, for a transmission that spans multiple subframes, a scrambling seed for each subframe can be a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, a slot or subframe index, and a starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index. In one instance, a same spreading sequence, randomly selected at the UE or derived at least in part based on the DM-RS sequence index, can be applied for multiple modulated symbols. In one instance, a same spreading sequence can be defined as a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, a starting symbol, slot or subframe and a starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index, is applied for multiple modulated symbols. In one instance, a different spreading sequence can be applied for multiple modulated symbols, and a spreading sequence hopping pattern can be a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, a starting symbol, slot or subframe and a starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index. In one instance, a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) can be masked with an identifier determined at least in part based on the UE identifier or the DM-RS sequence index. In one instance, the DM-RS sequence index can indicate a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and Transport Block Size (TBS) combination selected at the UE if different MCS/TBS values are supported on a same physical resource.

[0039] A time and frequency hopping pattern can be defined as a

[0040] The DM-RS sequence can be randomly selected at the UE from a set of predefined DM-RS sequences, a cell-specific or UE group specific configured set of DM- RS sequences, a Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access resource pool-based configured set of DM-RS sequences, or an individual time-frequency resource defined set of DM-RS sequences. The DM-RS sequence can be determined based on a UE group identity defined as a function of one or more physical layer transmission characteristics including a resource pool used, a coverage level and an amount of coverage enhancement, a number of repetitions used for transmission of the packet, a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and Transport Block Size (TBS) used for transmission of the packet, and number of subcarriers used for transmission of the packet.

[0041] The complete UE identifier is carried as part of the encoded packet. In such case, the identity for physical layer processing can be independent of the complete UE identifier, wherein none of the physical layer parameters have any dependent on the UE identifier. Instead, the identity for physical layer processing can be mapped based on random selection and/or mapping from a resource pool, or particular resources from the resource pool.

[0042] FIG. 8 illustrates an architecture of a wireless network with various components of the network in accordance with some embodiments. A system 800 is shown to include a user equipment (UE) 801 and a UE 802. The UEs 801 and 802 are illustrated as smartphones (i.e., handheld touchscreen mobile computing devices connectable to one or more cellular networks), but may also comprise any mobile or non- mobile computing device, such as Personal Data Assistants (PDAs), pagers, laptop computers, desktop computers, wireless handsets, or any computing device including a wireless communications interface. In some embodiments, any of the UEs 801 and 802 can comprise an Internet of Things (IoT) UE, which can comprise a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applications utilizing short-lived UE connections. An IoT UE can utilize technologies such as machine-to-machine (M2M) or machine-type communications (MTC) for (machine initiated) exchanging data with an MTC server and/or device via a public land mobile network (PLMN), Proximity -Based Service (ProSe) or device-to-device (D2D) communication, sensor networks, or IoT networks. An IoT network describes interconnecting uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the internet infrastructure) having short-lived connections, in addition to background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) executed by the IoT UE.

[0043] The UEs 801 and 802 are configured to access a radio access network (RAN)— in this embodiment, an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) 810. The UEs 801 and 802 utilize connections 803 and 804, respectively, each of which comprises a physical communications interface or layer (discussed in further detail below); in this example, the connections 803 and 804 are illustrated as an air interface to enable communicative coupling, and can be consistent with cellular communications protocols, such as a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) protocol, a code-division multiple access (CDMA) network protocol, a Push-to-Talk (PTT) protocol, a PTT over Cellular (POC) protocol, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) protocol, a 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) protocol, and the like. [0044] In this embodiment, the UEs 801 and 802 may further directly exchange communication data via a ProSe interface 805. The ProSe interface 805 may alternatively be referred to as a sidelink interface comprising one or more logical channels, including but not limited to a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), a Physical Sidelink Discovery Channel (PSDCH), and a Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PBSCH).

[0045] The UE 802 is shown to be configured to access an access point (AP) 806 via connection 807. The connection 807 can comprise a local wireless connection, such as a connection consistent with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, wherein the AP 806 would comprise a wireless fidelity (WiFi) router. In this example, the AP 806 is shown to be connected to the Internet without connecting to the core network of the wireless system (described in further detail below).

[0046] The E-UTRAN 810 can include one or more access points that enable the connections 803 and 804. These access points can be referred to as access nodes, base stations (BSs), NodeBs, eNodeBs, gNodeBs, RAN nodes, RAN nodes, and so forth, and can comprise ground stations (i.e., terrestrial access points) or satellite access points providing coverage within a geographic area (i.e., a cell). The E-UTRAN 810 may include one or more RAN nodes 811 for providing macrocells and one or more RAN nodes 812 for providing femtocells or picocells (i.e., cells having smaller coverage areas, smaller user capacity, and/or higher bandwidth compared to macrocells).

[0047] Any of the RAN nodes 811 and 812 can terminate the air interface protocol and can be the first point of contact for the UEs 801 and 802. In some embodiments, any of the RAN nodes 811 and 812 can fulfill various logical functions for the E-UTRAN 810 including, but not limited to, radio network controller (RNC) functions such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobility management.

[0048] In accordance with some embodiments, the UEs 801 and 802 can be configured to communicate using Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) communication signals with each other or with any of the RAN nodes 811 and 812 over a multicarrier communication channel in accordance various communication techniques, such as an Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) communication technique (e.g., for downlink communications) or a Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) communication technique (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communications), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. The OFDM signals can comprise a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers.

[0049] In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid can be used for downlink transmissions from any of the RAN nodes 811 and 812 to the UEs 801 and 802, while uplink transmissions can utilize similar techniques. The grid can be a time- frequency grid, called a resource grid or time-frequency resource grid, which is the physical resource in the downlink in each slot. Such a time-frequency plane

representation is a common practice for OFDM systems, which makes it intuitive for radio resource allocation. Each column and each row of the resource grid corresponds to one OFDM symbol and one OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration of the resource grid in the time domain corresponds to one slot in a radio frame. The smallest time- frequency unit in a resource grid is denoted as a resource element. Each resource grid comprises a number of resource blocks, which describe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements. Each resource block comprises a collection of resource elements; in the frequency domain, this represents the smallest quantity of resources that currently can be allocated. There are several different physical downlink channels that are conveyed using such resource blocks.

[0050] The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) carries user data and higher-layer signaling to the UEs 801 and 802. The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carries information about the transport format and resource allocations related to the PDSCH channel, among other things. It also informs the UEs 801 and 802 about the transport format, resource allocation, and H-ARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request) information related to the uplink shared channel. Typically, downlink scheduling (assigning control and shared channel resource blocks to the UE 802 within a cell) is performed at any of the RAN nodes 811 and 812 based on channel quality information fed back from any of the UEs 801 and 802, and then the downlink resource assignment information is sent on the PDCCH used for (i.e., assigned to) each of the UEs 801 and 802.

[0051] The PDCCH uses control channel elements (CCEs) to convey the control information. Before being mapped to resource elements, the PDCCH complex- valued symbols are first organized into quadruplets, which are then permuted using a sub- block inter-leaver for rate matching. Each PDCCH is transmitted using one or more of these CCEs, where each CCE corresponds to nine sets of four physical resource elements known as resource element groups (REGs). Four Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) symbols are mapped to each REG. The PDCCH can be transmitted using one or more CCEs, depending on the size of the Downlink Control Information (DCI) and the channel condition. There can be four or more different PDCCH formats defined in LTE with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation level, L=l, 2, 4, or 8).

[0052] The E-UTRAN 810 is shown to be communicatively coupled to a core network— in this embodiment, an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network 820 via an SI interface 813. In this embodiment, the SI interface 813 is split into two parts: the SI -U interface 814, which carries traffic data between the RAN nodes 811 and 812 and the serving gateway (S-GW) 822, and the Sl-MME interface 815, which is a signaling interface between the RAN nodes 811 and 812 and the mobility management entities (MMEs) 821.

[0053] In this embodiment, the EPC network 820 comprises the MMEs 821, the S-GW 822, the Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (P-GW) 823, and a home subscriber server (HSS) 824. The MMEs 821 are similar in function to the control plane of legacy Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Support Nodes (SGSN). The MMEs 821 manage mobility aspects in access such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. The HSS 824 comprises a database for network users, including subscription-related information to support the network entities' handling of

communication sessions. The EPC network 820 may comprise one or several HSSs 824, depending on the number of mobile subscribers, on the capacity of the equipment, on the organization of the network, etc. For example, the HSS 824 can provide support for routing/roaming, authentication, authorization, naming/addressing resolution, location dependencies, etc.

[0054] The S-GW 822 terminates the S 1 interface 813 towards the E-UTRAN 810, and routes data packets between the E-UTRAN 810 and the EPC network 820. In addition, the S-GW 822 may be a local mobility anchor point for inter-RAN node handovers and also may provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Other

responsibilities may include lawful intercept, charging, and some policy enforcement. [0055] The P-GW 823 terminates an SGi interface toward a PDN. The P-GW 823 routes data packets between the EPC network 823 and external networks such as a network including the application server 830 (alternatively referred to as application function (AF)) via an Internet Protocol (IP) interface 825. Generally, the application server 830 is an element offering applications that use IP bearer resources with the core network (e.g., UMTS Packet Services (PS) domain, LTE PS data services, etc.). In this embodiment, the P-GW 823 is shown to be communicatively coupled to an application server 830 via an IP communications interface 825. The application server 830 can also be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, social networking services, etc.) for the UEs 801 and 802 via the EPC network 820.

[0056] The P-GW 823 may further be a node for policy enforcement and charging data collection. Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCRF) 826 is the policy and charging control element of the EPC network 820. In a non-roaming scenario, there may be a single PCRF in the Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) associated with a User Equipment's (UE) Internet Protocol Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) session. In a roaming scenario with local breakout of traffic, there may be two PCRFs associated with a UE's IP-CAN session: a Home PCRF (H-PCRF) within a HPLMN and a Visited PCRF (V-PCRF) within a Visited Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN). The PCRF 826 may be communicatively coupled to the application server

830 via the P-GW 823. The application server 830 may signal the PCRF 826 to indicate a new service flow and selecting the appropriate Quality of Service (QoS) and charging parameters. The PCRF 826 may provision this rule into a Policy and Charging

Enforcement Function (PCEF) (not shown) with the appropriate traffic flow template (TFT) and QoS class of identifier (QCI), which commences the QoS and charging as specified by the application server.

[0057] FIG. 9 illustrates example components of a device in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, the device 900 may include application circuitry 902, baseband circuitry 904, Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry 906, front-end module (FEM) circuitry 908, and one or more antennas 910, coupled together at least as shown. The components of the illustrated device 900 may be included a UE or a RAN node. In some embodiments, the device 900 may include less elements (e.g., a RAN node may not utilize application circuitry 902, and instead include a processor/controller to process IP data received from an EPC). In some embodiments, the device 900 may include additional elements such as, for example, memory /storage, display,

camera, sensor, and/or input/output (I/O) interface. In other embodiments, the components described below may be included in more than one device (e.g., said circuitries may be separately included in more than one device for Cloud-RAN (C-RAN) implementations).

[0058] The application circuitry 902 may include one or more application processors. For example, the application circuitry 902 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processor(s) may include any combination of general-purpose processors and dedicated processors (e.g., graphics processors, application processors, etc.). The processors may be coupled with and/or may include memory /storage and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory /storage to enable various applications and/or operating systems to run on the system. In some embodiments, processors of application circuitry 902 may process IP data packets received from an EPC.

[0059] The baseband circuitry 904 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The baseband circuitry 904 may include one or more baseband processors and/or control logic to process baseband signals received from a receive signal path of the RF circuitry 906 and to generate baseband signals for a transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 906. Baseband processing circuity 904 may interface with the application circuitry 902 for generation and processing of the baseband signals and for controlling operations of the RF circuitry 906. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 904 may include a second generation (2G) baseband processor 904a, third generation (3G) baseband processor 904b, fourth generation (4G) baseband processor 904c, and/or other baseband processor(s) 904d for other existing generations, generations in development or to be developed in the future (e.g., fifth generation (5G), 6G, etc.). The baseband circuitry 904 (e.g., one or more of baseband processors 904a-d) may handle various radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuitry 906. In other embodiments, some or all of the functionality of baseband processors 904a-d may be included in modules stored in the memory 904g and executed via a Central Processing Unit (CPU) 904e. The radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, modulation/demodulation circuitry of the baseband circuitry 904 may include Fast-Fourier Transform (FFT), precoding, and/or constellation mapping/demapping functionality. In some embodiments,

encoding/decoding circuitry of the baseband circuitry 904 may include convolution, tail- biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, and/or Low-Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder/decoder functionality. Embodiments of modulation/demodulation and encoder/decoder functionality are not limited to these examples and may include other suitable functionality in other embodiments.

[0060] In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry may include one or more audio digital signal processor(s) (DSP) 904f. The audio DSP(s) 904f may be include elements for compression/decompression and echo cancellation and may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments. Components of the baseband circuitry may be suitably combined in a single chip, a single chipset, or disposed on a same circuit board in some embodiments. In some embodiments, some or all of the constituent components of the baseband circuitry 904 and the application circuitry 902 may be implemented together such as, for example, on a system on a chip (SOC).

[0061] In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 904 may provide for communication compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 904 may support communication with an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) and/or other wireless metropolitan area networks (WMAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless personal area network (WPAN). Embodiments in which the baseband circuitry 904 is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry.

[0062] RF circuitry 906 may enable communication with wireless networks using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, the RF circuitry 906 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate the communication with the wireless network. RF circuitry 906 may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 908 and provide baseband signals to the baseband circuitry 904. RF circuitry 906 may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry to up-convert baseband signals provided by the baseband circuitry 904 and provide RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 908 for transmission.

[0063] In some embodiments, the RF circuitry 906 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the RF circuitry 906 may include mixer circuitry 906a, amplifier circuitry 906b and filter circuitry 906c. The transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 906 may include filter circuitry 906c and mixer circuitry 906a. RF circuitry 906 may also include synthesizer circuitry 906d for synthesizing a frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 906a of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 906a of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 908 based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry 906d. The amplifier circuitry 906b may be configured to amplify the down-converted signals and the filter circuitry 906c may be a low-pass filter (LPF) or band-pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signals to generate output baseband signals. Output baseband signals may be provided to the baseband circuitry 904 for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signals may be zero-frequency baseband signals, although this is not a necessity. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 906a of the receive signal path may comprise passive mixers, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0064] In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 906a of the transmit signal path may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 906d to generate RF output signals for the FEM circuitry 908. The baseband signals may be provided by the baseband circuitry 904 and may be filtered by filter circuitry 906c. The filter circuitry 906c may include a low- pass filter (LPF), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0065] In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 906a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 906a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature downconversion and/or upconversion respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 906a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 906a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 906a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 906a may be arranged for direct downconversion and/or direct upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 906a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 906a of the transmit signal path may be configured for super- heterodyne operation.

[0066] In some embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternate embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals may be digital baseband signals. In these alternate embodiments, the RF circuitry 906 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry and the baseband circuitry 904 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RF circuitry 906.

[0067] In some dual-mode embodiments, a separate radio IC circuitry may be provided for processing signals for each spectrum, although the scope of the

embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0068] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 906d may be a fractional -N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+l synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other types of frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuitry 906d may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider.

[0069] The synthesizer circuitry 906d may be configured to synthesize an output frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 906a of the RF circuitry 906 based on a frequency input and a divider control input. In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 906d may be a fractional N/N+l synthesizer.

[0070] In some embodiments, frequency input may be provided by a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a necessity. Divider control input may be provided by either the baseband circuitry 904 or the applications processor 902 depending on the desired output frequency. In some embodiments, a divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a look-up table based on a channel indicated by the applications processor 902. [0071] Synthesizer circuitry 906d of the RF circuitry 906 may include a divider, a delay -locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the divider may be a dual modulus divider (DMD) and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide the input signal by either N or N+l (e.g., based on a carry out) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, the DLL may include a set of cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phase detector, a charge pump and a D-type flip-flop. In these embodiments, the delay elements may be configured to break a VCO period up into Nd equal packets of phase, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

[0072] In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 906d may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and divider circuitry to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency with multiple different phases with respect to each other. In some embodiments, the output frequency may be a LO frequency (fLO). In some embodiments, the RF circuitry 906 may include an IQ/polar converter. [0073] FEM circuitry 908 may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or more antennas 910, amplify the received signals and provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the RF circuitry 906 for further processing. FEM circuitry 908 may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry configured to amplify signals for transmission provided by the RF circuitry 906 for transmission by one or more of the one or more antennas 910.

[0074] In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 908 may include a TX/RX switch to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuitry may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry may include a low-noise amplifier (LNA) to amplify received RF signals and provide the amplified received RF signals as an output (e.g., to the RF circuitry 906). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuitry 908 may include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify input RF signals (e.g., provided by RF circuitry 906), and one or more filters to generate RF signals for subsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the one or more antennas 910.

[0075] In some embodiments, the device 900 comprises a plurality of power saving mechanisms. If the device 900 is in an RRC_Connected state, where it is still connected to the RAN node as it expects to receive traffic shortly, then it may enter a state known as Discontinuous Reception Mode (DRX) after a period of inactivity. During this state, the device may power down for brief intervals of time and thus save power.

[0076] If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time, then the device 900 may transition off to an RRC Idle state, where it disconnects from the network and does not perform operations such as channel quality feedback, handover, etc. The device 900 goes into a very low power state and it performs paging where again it periodically wakes up to listen to the network and then powers down again. The device cannot receive data in this state, in order to receive data, it can transition back to

RRC Connected state.

[0077] An additional power saving mode may allow a device to be unavailable to the network for periods longer than a paging interval (ranging from seconds to a few hours). During this time, the device is totally unreachable to the network and may power down completely. Any data sent during this time incurs a large delay and it is assumed the delay is acceptable.

[0078] Processors of the application circuitry 902 and processors of the baseband circuitry 904 may be used to execute elements of one or more instances of a protocol stack. For example, processors of the baseband circuitry 904, alone or in combination, may be used execute Layer 3, Layer 2, and/or Layer 1 functionality, while processors of the application circuitry 904 may utilize data (e.g., packet data) received from these layers and further execute Layer 4 functionality (e.g., transmission

communication protocol (TCP) and user datagram protocol (UDP) layers). As referred to herein, Layer 3 may comprise a radio resource control (RRC) layer, described in further detail below. As referred to herein, Layer 2 may comprise a medium access control (MAC) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, described in further detail below. As referred to herein, Layer 1 may comprise a physical (PHY) layer of a UE/RAN node, described in further detail below. [0079] FIG. 10 illustrates example interfaces of baseband circuitry in accordance with some embodiments. As discussed above, the baseband circuitry 904 of FIG. 9 may comprise processors 904A-904E and a memory 904G utilized by said processors. Each of the processors 904A-904E may include a memory interface, 1004A- 1004E, respectively, to send/receive data to/from the memory 904G.

[0080] The baseband circuitry 904 may further include one or more interfaces to communicatively couple to other circuitries/devices, such as a memory interface 1012 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from memory external to the baseband circuitry 904), an application circuitry interface 1014 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from the application circuitry 902 of FIG. 9), an RF circuitry interface 1016 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from RF circuitry 906 of FIG. 9), and a wireless hardware connectivity interface 1018 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from Near Field Communication (NFC) components, Bluetooth® components (e.g., Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi® components, and other communication components).

EXAMPLES

[0081] The following examples pertain to specific technology embodiments and point out specific features, elements, or steps that may be used or otherwise combined in achieving such embodiments.

[0082] Embodiment 1 includes an apparatus of a User Equipment (UE) operable for Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) Uplink (UL) transmission to a Base Station (BS), the UE comprising: one or more processors configured to, access, at the UE, a UE identifier used for grant-less UL transmission; generate, at the UE, a first portion of the UE identifier to be carried by one or more physical layer parameters;

generate, at the UE, a second portion of the UE identifier; select, at the UE, a

demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) sequence index; and encode, at the UE for transmission to the BS, a packet as an UL grant-less transmission including the first portion of the UE identifier, the second portion of the UE identifier and the DM-RS sequence index; and a memory interface configured to send to a memory one or more of the UE identifier, the first portion of the UE identifier, the second portion of the UE identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, and the packet.

[0083] Embodiment 2 includes the apparatus of embodiment 1, wherein the second portion of the UE identifier is included as part of a payload in the encoded packet. [0084] Embodiment 3 includes the apparatus of embodiment 1, wherein the second portion of the UE identifier is included as part of a header in the encoded packet.

[0085] Embodiment 4 includes the apparatus of embodiment 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to generate the first portion of the UE identifier as an identity for physical layer processing, the first portion carried by the one or more physical layer parameters comprising: one or more of a sequence used for a reference signal, a sequence used for a preamble, a spreading signature for a data spreading scheme, a scrambling initialization for a UE specific scrambling scheme, or an index of a UE specific interleave scheme.

[0086] Embodiment 5 includes the apparatus of embodiments 1 or 4, wherein the UE identifier includes a Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) or an

International mobile subscriber identity (IMSI).

[0087] Embodiment 6 includes the apparatus of embodiments 1 or 4, wherein the selected DM-RS sequence index is based on the UE identifier or UE group identifier.

[0088] Embodiment 7 includes the apparatus of embodiments 1 or 4, wherein the DM-RS sequence index is randomly selected at the UE from a set of DM-RS sequence indices.

[0089] Embodiment 8 includes the apparatus of embodiments 1 or 4, wherein the DM-RS is randomly selected at the UE from a set of predefined DM-RS sequences, a cell-specific or UE group specific configured set of DM-RS sequences, a Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access resource pool-based configured set of DM-RS sequences, or an individual time-frequency resource defined set of DM-RS sequences.

[0090] Embodiment 9 includes the apparatus of embodiments 1 or 4, wherein the DM-RS sequence is determined based on a UE group identity defined as a function of one or more physical layer transmission characteristics including a resource pool used, a coverage level and an amount of coverage enhancement, a number of repetitions used for transmission of the packet, a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and Transport Block Size (TBS) used for transmission of the packet, and number of subcarriers used for transmission of the packet.

[0091] Embodiment 10 includes the apparatus of embodiments 1 or 4, wherein the DM-RS sequence is applied for one or more processes of encoding the packets including scrambling sequence generation, interleaving, data spreading, resource mapping, cyclic redundancy checking (CRC), and Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and Transport Block Size (TBS) combinations.

[0092] Embodiment 11 includes the apparatus of embodiment 10, wherein an initialization seed, for use of random or pseudo random interleaving, is a function of the DM-RS sequence index.

[0093] Embodiment 12 includes the apparatus of embodiment 10, wherein a permutation matrix, for use of deterministic interleaving, is a function of the DM-RS sequence index.

[0094] Embodiment 13 includes the apparatus of embodiment 10, wherein a scrambling seed, for use of scrambling sequence generation, is a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier and the DM-RS sequence index.

[0095] Embodiment 14 includes the apparatus of embodiment 10, wherein a scrambling seed, for use of scrambling sequence generation, is a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, a starting symbol, slot or subframe, a starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index.

[0096] Embodiment 15 includes the apparatus of embodiment 10, wherein for a transmission that spans multiple subframes, a scrambling seed for each subframe is a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, a slot or subframe index, and a starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index.

[0097] Embodiment 16 includes the apparatus of embodiment 10, wherein a same spreading sequence, randomly selected at the UE or derived at least in part based on the DM-RS sequence index, is applied for multiple modulated symbols.

[0098] Embodiment 17 includes the apparatus of embodiment 10, wherein a same spreading sequence is defined as a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, a starting symbol, slot or subframe and a starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index, is applied for multiple modulated symbols.

[0099] Embodiment 18 includes the apparatus of embodiment 10, wherein a different spreading sequence is applied for multiple modulated symbols, and a spreading sequence hopping pattern is a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, a starting symbol, slot or subframe and a starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index.

[00100] Embodiment 19 includes the apparatus of embodiment 10, wherein a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) is masked with an identifier determined at least in part based on the UE identifier or the DM-RS sequence index.

[00101] Embodiment 20 includes the apparatus of embodiment 10, wherein the DM-RS sequence index indicates a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and

Transport Block Size (TBS) combination selected at the UE if different MCS/TBS values are supported on a same physical resource.

[00102] Embodiment 21 includes the apparatus of embodiments 1 or 4, wherein a time and frequency hopping pattern is defined as a pseudorandom or a random function, or as a combination of a deterministic and a pseudorandom or random function.

[00103] Embodiment 22 includes the apparatus of embodiment 21, wherein the time and frequency hopping is enabled or disabled at a higher layer signaling.

[00104] Embodiment 23 includes the apparatus of embodiment 21, wherein the time and frequency hopping partem is defined as a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier, a starting symbol, slot or subframe and starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index, a starting subframe or starting PRB index of a Mobile Access (MA) physical resource pool, resource pool index, coverage level of the UE, MA signatures including the DM-RS signature, preamble index, or index of a sequence sued for spreading of modulated symbols or data bits of a Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) scheme.

[00105] Embodiment 24 includes the apparatus of embodiment 21, wherein the time and frequency hopping pattern for each subframe is defined as a function of at least one or more of a physical cell identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, a resource pool index, a coverage level of the UE, a starting subframe of a Multiple Access (MA) physical resource pool, a slot or subframe index and starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index of the MA physical resource pool in each subframe. [00106] Embodiment 25 includes the apparatus of embodiment 21, wherein the UE randomly selects an initial Multiple Access (MA) resource or uses a pre-configured MA resource within a resource pool for initial transmission of the packet.

[00107] Embodiment 26 includes the apparatus of embodiment 21, wherein an initial Multiple Access (MA) resource is defined as a deterministic or pseudorandom function of a MA signature randomly selected at the UE.

[00108] Embodiment 27 includes an apparatus of a User Equipment (UE) operable for Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) uplink (UL) transmission to a Base Station (BS), the UE comprising: one or more processors configured to, access, at the UE, a UE identifier used for grant-less UL transmission; generate, at the UE, a portion of the UE identifier to be carried by one or more physical layer parameters; select, at the UE, a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) sequence index; encode, at the UE for transmission to the BS, a packet as an UL grant-less transmission including the first portion of the UE identifier, the UE identifier, and the DM-RS sequence index; and a memory interface configured to send to a memory one or more of the UE identifier, the portion of the UE identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, and the packet.

[00109] Embodiment 28 includes the apparatus of embodiment 27, wherein the UE identifier is included as part of a payload in the encoded packet.

[00110] Embodiment 29 includes the apparatus of embodiment 27, wherein the UE identifier is included as part of a header in the encoded packet.

[00111] Embodiment 30 includes the apparatus of embodiment 27, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to generate the first portion of the UE identifier as an identity for physical layer processing, the first portion carried by the one or more physical layer parameters comprising: one or more of a sequence used for a reference signal, a sequence used for a preamble, a spreading signature for data spreading scheme, a scrambling initialization for a UE specific scrambling scheme, an index of a UE specific interleave scheme.

[00112] Embodiment 31 includes the apparatus of embodiments 27 or 30, wherein the UE identifier includes a Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) or an International mobile subscriber identity (IMSI). [00113] Embodiment 32 includes the apparatus of embodiments 27 or 30, wherein the selected DM-RS sequence index is based on the UE identifier or UE group identifier.

[00114] Embodiment 33 includes the apparatus of embodiments 27 or 30, wherein the DM-RS sequence index is randomly selected at the UE from a set of DM-RS sequence indices.

[00115] Embodiment 34 includes the apparatus of embodiments 27 or 30, wherein the DM-RS is randomly selected at the UE from a set of predefined DM-RS sequences, a cell-specific or UE group specific configured set of DM-RS sequences, a Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access resource pool-based configured set of DM-RS sequences, or an individual time-frequency resource defined set of DM-RS sequences.

[00116] Embodiment 35 includes the apparatus of embodiments 27 or 30, wherein the DM-RS sequence is determined based on a UE group identity defined as a function of one or more physical layer transmission characteristics including a resource pool used, a coverage level and an amount of coverage enhancement, a number of repetitions used for transmission of the packet, a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and Transport Block Size (TBS) used for transmission of the packet, and number of subcarriers used for transmission of the packet.

[00117] Embodiment 36 includes the apparatus of embodiments 27 or 30, wherein the DM-RS sequence is applied for one or more processes of encoding the packets including scramble sequence generation, interleaving, data spreading resource mapping, cyclic redundancy checking (CRC), and Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and Transport Block Size (TBS) combinations.

[00118] Embodiment 37 includes the apparatus of embodiment 36, wherein an initialization seed, for use of random or pseudo random interleaving, is a function of the DM-RS sequence index.

[00119] Embodiment 38 includes the apparatus of embodiment 36, wherein a permutation matrix, for use of deterministic interleaving, is a function of the DM-RS sequence index. [00120] Embodiment 39 includes the apparatus of embodiment 36, wherein a scrambling seed, for use of scrambling sequence generation, is a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier and the DM-RS sequence index.

[00121] Embodiment 40 includes the apparatus of embodiment 36, wherein a scrambling seed, for use of scrambling sequence generation, is a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, a starting symbol, slot or subframe, a starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index.

[00122] Embodiment 41 includes the apparatus of embodiment 36, wherein for a transmission that spans multiple subframes, a scrambling seed for each subframe is a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, a slot or subframe index, and a starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index.

[00123] Embodiment 42 includes the apparatus of embodiment 36, wherein a same spreading sequence, randomly selected at the UE or derived at least in part based on the DM-RS sequence index, is applied for multiple modulated symbols.

[00124] Embodiment 43 includes the apparatus of embodiment 36, wherein a same spreading sequence is defined as a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, a starting symbol, slot or subframe and a starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index, is applied for multiple modulated symbols.

[00125] Embodiment 44 includes the apparatus of embodiment 36, wherein a different spreading sequence is applied for multiple modulated symbols, and a spreading sequence hopping pattern is a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, a starting symbol, slot or subframe and a starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index.

[00126] Embodiment 45 includes the apparatus of embodiment 36, wherein a

Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) is masked with an identifier determined at least in part based on the UE identifier or the DM-RS sequence index.

[00127] Embodiment 46 includes the apparatus of embodiment 36, wherein the DM-RS sequence index indicates a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and

Transport Block Size (TBS) combination selected at the UE if different MCS/TBS values are supported on a same physical resource. [00128] Embodiment 47 includes the apparatus of embodiments 27 or 30, wherein a time and frequency hopping pattern is defined as a pseudorandom or a random function, or as a combination of a deterministic and a pseudorandom or random function.

[00129] Embodiment 48 includes the apparatus of embodiment 47, wherein the time and frequency hopping is enabled or disabled at a higher layer signaling.

[00130] Embodiment 48 includes the apparatus of embodiment 47, wherein the time and frequency hopping partem is defined as a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier, a starting symbol, slot or subframe and starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index, a starting subframe or starting PRB index of a Mobile Access (MA) physical resource pool, resource pool index, coverage level of the UE, MA signatures including the DM-RS signature, preamble index, or index of a sequence sued for spreading of modulated symbols or data bits of a Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) scheme.

[00131] Embodiment 50 includes the apparatus of embodiment 47, wherein the time and frequency hopping pattern for each subframe is defined as a function of at least one or more of a physical cell identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, a resource pool index, a coverage level of the UE, a starting subframe of a Multiple Access (MA) physical resource pool, a slot or subframe index and starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index of the MA physical resource pool in each subframe.

[00132] Embodiment 51 includes the apparatus of embodiment 47, wherein the

UE randomly selects an initial Multiple Access (MA) resource or uses a pre-configured MA resource within a resource pool for initial transmission of the packet.

[00133] Embodiment 52 includes the apparatus of embodiment 47, wherein an initial Multiple Access (MA) resource is defined as a deterministic or pseudorandom function of a MA signature randomly selected at the UE.

[00134] Embodiment 53 includes an apparatus of a Base Station (BS) operable for Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) uplink (UL) transmission from a User Equipment (UE), the BS comprising: one or more processors configured to, receive, at the BS from a UE, an uplink (UL) grant-less transmission based packet; detect, at the BS, a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS); determine, at the BS, a first portion of a UE identifier carried by one or more physical layer parameters for the packet; decode, at the BS, the packet including a second portion of the UE identifier using a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) sequence index; determine, at the BS, an identity of the UE from the decoded first and second portions of the UE identifiers; a memory interface configured to send to a memory one or more of the identity of the UE, the first portion of the UE identifier, the second portion of the UE identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, and the packet.

[00135] Embodiment 54 includes the apparatus of embodiment 53, wherein the second portion of the UE identifier is included as part of a payload in the encoded packet.

[00136] Embodiment 55 includes the apparatus of embodiment 53, wherein the second portion of the UE identifier is included as part of a header in the encoded packet.

[00137] Embodiment 56 includes the apparatus of embodiment 53, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to generate the first portion of the UE identifier as an identity for physical layer processing, the first portion carried by the one or more physical layer parameters comprising: one or more of a sequence used for a reference signal, a sequence used for a preamble, a spreading signature for data spreading scheme, a scrambling initialization for a UE specific scrambling scheme, an index of a UE specific interleave scheme.

[00138] Embodiment 57 includes the apparatus of embodiments 53 or 56, wherein the DM-RS is randomly selected at the UE from a set of predefined DM-RS sequences, a cell-specific or UE group specific configured set of DM-RS sequences, a Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access resource pool-based configured set of DM-RS sequences, or an individual time-frequency resource defined set of DM-RS sequences.

[00139] Embodiment 58 includes the apparatus of embodiments 53 or 56, wherein the DM-RS sequence is determined based on a UE group identity defined as a function of one or more physical layer transmission characteristics including a resource pool used, a coverage level and an amount of coverage enhancement, a number of repetitions used for transmission of the packet, a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and Transport Block Size (TBS) used for transmission of the packet, and number of subcarriers used for transmission of the packet.

[00140] Embodiment 59 includes the apparatus of embodiment 53 or 56, wherein the DM-RS sequence is applied for one or more processes of decoding the packet including scrambling sequence generation, interleaving, data spreading resource mapping, cyclic redundancy checking (CRC), and Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and Transport Block Size (TBS) combinations.

[00141] Embodiment 60 includes the apparatus of embodiment 59, wherein an initialization seed, for use of random or pseudo random interleaving, is a function of the DM-RS sequence index.

[00142] Embodiment 61 includes the apparatus of embodiment 59, wherein a permutation matrix, for use of deterministic interleaving, is a function of the DM-RS sequence index.

[00143] Embodiment 62 includes the apparatus of embodiment 59, wherein a scrambling seed, for use of scramble sequence generation, is a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier and the DM-RS sequence index.

[00144] Embodiment 63 includes the apparatus of embodiment 59, wherein a scrambling seed, for use of scrambling sequence generation, is a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, a starting symbol, slot or subframe, a starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index.

[00145] Embodiment 64 includes the apparatus of embodiment 59, wherein for a transmission that spans multiple subframes, a scrambling seed for each subframe is a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, a slot or subframe index, and a starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index.

[00146] Embodiment 65 includes the apparatus of embodiment 59, wherein a same spreading sequence, randomly selected at the UE or derived at least in part based on the DM-RS sequence index, is applied for multiple modulated symbols.

[00147] Embodiment 66 includes the apparatus of embodiment 59, wherein a same spreading sequence is defined as a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, a starting symbol, slot or subframe and a starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index, is applied for multiple modulated symbols.

[00148] Embodiment 67 includes the apparatus of embodiment 59, wherein a different spreading sequence is applied for multiple modulated symbols, and a spreading sequence hopping pattern is a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, a starting symbol, slot or subframe and a starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index.

[00149] Embodiment 68 includes the apparatus of embodiment 59, wherein a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) is masked with an identifier determined at least in part based on the UE identifier or the DM-RS sequence index.

[00150] Embodiment 69 includes the apparatus of embodiment 59, wherein the DM-RS sequence index indicates a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and

[00151] Embodiment 70 includes the apparatus of embodiments 53 or 56, wherein a time and frequency hopping pattern is defined as a pseudorandom or a random function, or as a combination of a deterministic and a pseudorandom or random function.

[00152] Embodiment 71 includes the apparatus of embodiment 70, wherein the time and frequency hopping is enabled or disabled at a higher layer signaling.

[00153] Embodiment 72 includes the apparatus of embodiment 70, wherein the time and frequency hopping partem is defined as a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier, a starting symbol, slot or subframe and starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index, a starting subframe or starting PRB index of a Mobile Access (MA) physical resource pool, resource pool index, coverage level of the UE, MA signatures including the DM-RS signature, preamble index, or index of a sequence sued for spreading of modulated symbols or data bits of a Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) scheme.

[00154] Embodiment 73 includes the apparatus of embodiment 70, wherein the time and frequency hopping pattern for each subframe is defined as a function of at least one or more of a physical cell identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, a resource pool index, a coverage level of the UE, a starting subframe of a Multiple Access (MA) physical resource pool, a slot or subframe index and starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index of the MA physical resource pool in each subframe. [00155] Embodiment 74 includes the apparatus of embodiment 70, wherein the UE randomly selects an initial Multiple Access (MA) resource or uses a pre-configured MA resource within a resource pool for initial transmission of the packet.

[00156] Embodiment 75 includes the apparatus of embodiment 70, wherein an initial Multiple Access (MA) resource is defined as a deterministic or pseudorandom function of a MA signature randomly selected at the UE.

[00157] Embodiment 76 includes an apparatus of a Base Station (BS) operable for Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) uplink (UL) transmission from a User Equipment (UE), the BS comprising: one or more processors configured to, receive, at the BS from a UE, an uplink (UL) grant-less transmission based packet; detect, at the BS, a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS); determine, at the BS, a portion of a UE identifier carried by one or more physical layer parameters for the packet; and decode, at the BS, the packet including the UE identifier using a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) sequence index; and a memory interface configured to send to a memory one or more of the UE identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, and the packet.

[00158] Embodiment 77 includes the apparatus of embodiment 76, wherein the UE identifier is included as part of a payload in the encoded packet.

[00159] Embodiment 78 includes the apparatus of embodiment 76, wherein UE identifier is included as part of a header in the encoded packet.

[00160] Embodiment 79 includes the apparatus of embodiment 76, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to generate the first portion of the UE identifier as an identity for physical layer processing, the first portion carried by the one or more physical layer parameters comprising: one or more of a sequence used for a reference signal, a sequence used for a preamble, a spreading signature for data spreading scheme, a scrambling initialization for a UE specific scrambling scheme, an index of a UE specific interleave scheme.

[00161] Embodiment 80 includes the apparatus of embodiments 76 or 79, wherein the DM-RS is randomly selected at the UE from a set of predefined DM-RS sequences, a cell-specific or UE group specific configured set of DM-RS sequences, a Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access resource pool-based configured set of DM-RS sequences, or an individual time-frequency resource defined set of DM-RS sequences. [00162] Embodiment 81 includes the apparatus of embodiments 76 or 79, wherein the DM-RS sequence is determined based on a UE group identity defined as a function of one or more physical layer transmission characteristics including a resource pool used, a coverage level and an amount of coverage enhancement, a number of repetitions used for transmission of the packet, a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and Transport Block Size (TBS) used for transmission of the packet, and number of subcarriers used for transmission of the packet.

[00163] Embodiment 82 includes the apparatus of embodiments 76 or 79, wherein the DM-RS sequence is applied for one or more processes of decoding the packet including scrambling sequence generation, interleaving, data spreading resource mapping, cyclic redundancy checking (CRC), and Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and Transport Block Size (TBS) combinations.

[00164] Embodiment 83 includes the apparatus of embodiment 82, wherein an initialization seed, for use of random or pseudo random interleaving, is a function of the DM-RS sequence index.

[00165] Embodiment 84 includes the apparatus of embodiment 82, wherein a permutation matrix, for use of deterministic interleaving, is a function of the DM-RS sequence index.

[00166] Embodiment 85 includes the apparatus of embodiment 82, wherein a scrambling seed, for use of scrambling sequence generation, is a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier and the DM-RS sequence index.

[00167] Embodiment 86 includes the apparatus of embodiment 82, wherein a scrambling seed, for use of scrambling sequence generation, is a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, a starting symbol, slot or subframe, a starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index.

[00168] Embodiment 87 includes the apparatus of embodiment 82, wherein for a transmission that spans multiple subframes, a scrambling seed for each subframe is a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, a slot or subframe index, and a starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index. [00169] Embodiment 88 includes the apparatus of embodiment 82, wherein a same spreading sequence, randomly selected at the UE or derived at least in part based on the DM-RS sequence index, is applied for multiple modulated symbols.

[00170] Embodiment 89 includes the apparatus of embodiment 82, wherein a same spreading sequence is defined as a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, a starting symbol, slot or subframe and a starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index, is applied for multiple modulated symbols.

[00171] Embodiment 90 includes the apparatus of embodiment 82, wherein a different spreading sequence is applied for multiple modulated symbols, and a spreading sequence hopping pattern is a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, a starting symbol, slot or subframe and a starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index.

[00172] Embodiment 91 includes the apparatus of embodiment 82, wherein a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) is masked with an identifier determined at least in part based on the UE identifier or the DM-RS sequence index.

[00173] Embodiment 92 includes the apparatus of embodiment 82, wherein the DM-RS sequence index indicates a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and

[00174] Embodiment 93 includes the apparatus of embodiments 76 or 79, wherein a time and frequency hopping pattern is defined as a pseudorandom or a random function, or as a combination of a deterministic and a pseudorandom or random function.

[00175] Embodiment 94 includes the apparatus of embodiment 93, wherein the time and frequency hopping is enabled or disabled at a higher layer signaling.

[00176] Embodiment 95 includes the apparatus of embodiment 93, wherein the time and frequency hopping pattern is defined as a function of one or more of a physical cell identifier, a starting symbol, slot or subframe and starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index, a starting subframe or starting PRB index of a Mobile Access (MA) physical resource pool, resource pool index, coverage level of the UE, MA signatures including the DM-RS signature, preamble index, or index of a sequence used for spreading of modulated symbols or data bits of a Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) scheme.

[00177] Embodiment 96 includes the apparatus of embodiment 93, wherein the time and frequency hopping pattern for each subframe is defined as a function of at least one or more of a physical cell identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, a resource pool index, a coverage level of the UE, a starting subframe of a Multiple Access (MA) physical resource pool, a slot or subframe index and starting subcarrier or Physical Resource Block (PRB) index of the MA physical resource pool in each subframe.

[00178] Embodiment 97 includes the apparatus of embodiment 93, wherein the UE randomly selects an initial Multiple Access (MA) resource or uses a pre-configured MA resource within a resource pool for initial transmission of the packet.

[00179] Embodiment 98 includes the apparatus of embodiment 93, wherein an initial Multiple Access (MA) resource is defined as a deterministic or pseudorandom function of a MA signature randomly selected at the UE.

[00180] Embodiment 99 includes at least one machine readable storage medium having instructions embodied thereon that when executed perform a process for Non- Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) Uplink (UL) transmission comprising: accessing, at a User Equipment (UE), a UE identifier used for grant-less UL transmission;

generating, at the UE, a first portion of the UE identifier to be carried by one or more physical layer parameters; generating, at the UE, a second portion of the UE identifier; selecting, at the UE, a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) sequence index; and encoding, at the UE for transmission to a Base Station (BS), a packet as an UL grant-less transmission including the first portion of the UE identifier, the second portion of the UE identifier and the DM-RS sequence index.

[00181] Embodiment 100 includes the at least one machine readable storage medium of embodiment 99, wherein the second portion of the UE identifier is included as part of a payload in the encoded packet.

[00182] Embodiment 101 includes the at least one machine readable storage medium of embodiment 99, wherein the second portion of the UE identifier is included as part of a header in the encoded packet. [00183] Embodiment 102 includes the at least one machine readable storage medium of embodiment 99, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to generate the first portion of the UE identifier as an identity for physical layer processing, the first portion carried by the one or more physical layer parameters comprising: one or more of a sequence used for a reference signal, a sequence used for a preamble, a spreading signature for a data spreading scheme, a scrambling initialization for a UE specific scrambling scheme, or an index of a UE specific interleave scheme.

[00184] Embodiment 103 includes the at least one machine readable storage medium of embodiments 99 or 102, wherein the selected DM-RS sequence index is based on the UE identifier or UE group identifier.

[00185] Embodiment 104 includes the at least one machine readable storage medium of embodiments 99 or 102, wherein the DM-RS sequence index is randomly selected at the UE from a set of DM-RS sequence indices.

[00186] Embodiment 105 includes the at least one machine readable storage medium of embodiments 99 or 102, wherein the DM-RS is randomly selected at the UE from a set of predefined DM-RS sequences, a cell-specific or UE group specific configured set of DM-RS sequences, a Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access resource pool- based configured set of DM-RS sequences, or an individual time-frequency resource defined set of DM-RS sequences.

[00187] Embodiment 106 includes the at least one machine readable storage medium of embodiments 99 or 102, wherein the DM-RS sequence is determined based on a UE group identity defined as a function of one or more physical layer transmission characteristics including a resource pool used, a coverage level and an amount of coverage enhancement, a number of repetitions used for transmission of the packet, a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and Transport Block Size (TBS) used for transmission of the packet, and number of subcarriers used for transmission of the packet.

[00188] Embodiment 107 includes the at least one machine readable storage medium of embodiments 99 or 102, wherein the DM-RS sequence is applied for one or more processes of encoding the packets including scrambling sequence generation, interleaving, data spreading, resource mapping, cyclic redundancy checking (CRC), and Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and Transport Block Size (TBS) combinations. [00189] Embodiment 108 includes the at least one machine readable storage medium of embodiments 99 or 102, wherein a time and frequency hopping pattern is defined as a pseudorandom or a random function, or as a combination of a deterministic and a pseudorandom or random function.

[00190] Embodiment 109 includes at least one machine readable storage medium having instructions embodied thereon that when executed perform a process for Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) uplink (UL) transmission comprising:

accessing, at a User Equipment (UE), a UE identifier used for grant-less UL transmission; generating, at the UE, a portion of the UE identifier to be carried by one or more physical layer parameters; selecting, at the UE, a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) sequence index; encoding, at the UE for transmission to a Base Station (BS), a packet as an UL grant-less transmission including the first portion of the UE identifier, the UE identifier, and the DM-RS sequence index.

[00191] Embodiment 110 includes the at least one machine readable storage medium of embodiment 109, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to generate the first portion of the UE identifier as an identity for physical layer processing, the first portion carried by the one or more physical layer parameters comprising: one or more of a sequence used for a reference signal, a sequence used for a preamble, a spreading signature for data spreading scheme, a scrambling initialization for a UE specific scrambling scheme, an index of a UE specific interleave scheme.

[00192] Embodiment 111 includes the at least one machine readable storage medium of embodiments 109 or 110, wherein the selected DM-RS sequence index is based on the UE identifier or UE group identifier.

[00193] Embodiment 112 includes the at least one machine readable storage medium of embodiments 109 or 110, wherein the DM-RS sequence index is randomly selected at the UE from a set of DM-RS sequence indices.

[00194] Embodiment 113 includes the at least one machine readable storage medium of embodiments 109 or 110, wherein the DM-RS is randomly selected at the UE from a set of predefined DM-RS sequences, a cell-specific or UE group specific configured set of DM-RS sequences, a Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access resource pool- based configured set of DM-RS sequences, or an individual time-frequency resource defined set of DM-RS sequences.

[00195] Embodiment 114 includes the at least one machine readable storage medium of embodiments 109 or 110, wherein the DM-RS sequence is determined based on a UE group identity defined as a function of one or more physical layer transmission characteristics including a resource pool used, a coverage level and an amount of coverage enhancement, a number of repetitions used for transmission of the packet, a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and Transport Block Size (TBS) used for transmission of the packet, and number of subcarriers used for transmission of the packet.

[00196] Embodiment 115 includes the at least one machine readable storage medium of embodiments 109 or 110, wherein the DM-RS sequence is applied for one or more processes of encoding the packets including scramble sequence generation, interleaving, data spreading resource mapping, cyclic redundancy checking (CRC), and Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and Transport Block Size (TBS) combinations.

[00197] Embodiment 116 includes the at least one machine readable storage medium of embodiments 109 or 110, wherein a time and frequency hopping partem is defined as a pseudorandom or a random function, or as a combination of a deterministic and a pseudorandom or random function.

[00198] Embodiment 117 includes at least one machine readable storage medium having instructions embodied thereon that when executed perform a process for Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) uplink (UL) transmission comprising:

receiving, at a Base Station (BS) from a User Equipment (UE), an uplink (UL) grant-less transmission based packet; detecting, at the BS, a demodulation reference signal (DM- RS); determining, at the BS, a first portion of a UE identifier carried by one or more physical layer parameters for the packet; decoding, at the BS, the packet including a second portion of the UE identifier using a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) sequence index; and determining, at the BS, an identity of the UE from the decoded first and second portions of the UE identifiers.

[00199] Embodiment 118 includes the at least one machine readable storage medium of embodiment 117, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to generate the first portion of the UE identifier as an identity for physical layer processing, the first portion carried by the one or more physical layer parameters comprising: one or more of a sequence used for a reference signal, a sequence used for a preamble, a spreading signature for data spreading scheme, a scrambling initialization for a UE specific scrambling scheme, an index of a UE specific interleave scheme.

[00200] Embodiment 119 includes the at least one machine readable storage medium of embodiments 117 or 118, wherein the DM-RS is randomly selected at the UE from a set of predefined DM-RS sequences, a cell-specific or UE group specific configured set of DM-RS sequences, a Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access resource pool- based configured set of DM-RS sequences, or an individual time-frequency resource defined set of DM-RS sequences.

[00201] Embodiment 120 includes the at least one machine readable storage medium of embodiments 117 or 118, wherein the DM-RS sequence is determined based on a UE group identity defined as a function of one or more physical layer transmission characteristics including a resource pool used, a coverage level and an amount of coverage enhancement, a number of repetitions used for transmission of the packet, a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and Transport Block Size (TBS) used for transmission of the packet, and number of subcarriers used for transmission of the packet.

[00202] Embodiment 121 includes the at least one machine readable storage medium of embodiments 117 or 118, wherein the DM-RS sequence is applied for one or more processes of decoding the packet including scrambling sequence generation, interleaving, data spreading resource mapping, cyclic redundancy checking (CRC), and Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and Transport Block Size (TBS) combinations.

[00203] Embodiment 122 includes the at least one machine readable storage medium of embodiments 117 or 118, wherein a time and frequency hopping partem is defined as a pseudorandom or a random function, or as a combination of a deterministic and a pseudorandom or random function.

[00204] Embodiment 123 includes at least one machine readable storage medium having instructions embodied thereon that when executed perform a process for Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) uplink (UL) transmission comprising:

receiving, at a Based Station (BS) from a User Equipment (UE), an uplink (UL) grant-less transmission based packet; detecting, at the BS, a demodulation reference signal (DM- RS); determining, at the BS, a portion of a UE identifier carried by one or more physical layer parameters for the packet; and decoding, at the BS, the packet including the UE identifier using a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) sequence index.

[00205] Embodiment 124 includes the at least one machine readable storage medium of embodiment 123, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to generate the first portion of the UE identifier as an identity for physical layer processing, the first portion carried by the one or more physical layer parameters comprising: one or more of a sequence used for a reference signal, a sequence used for a preamble, a spreading signature for data spreading scheme, a scrambling initialization for a UE specific scrambling scheme, an index of a UE specific interleave scheme.

[00206] Embodiment 125 includes the at least one machine readable storage medium of embodiments 123 or 124, wherein the DM-RS is randomly selected at the UE from a set of predefined DM-RS sequences, a cell-specific or UE group specific configured set of DM-RS sequences, a Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access resource pool- based configured set of DM-RS sequences, or an individual time-frequency resource defined set of DM-RS sequences.

[00207] Embodiment 126 includes the at least one machine readable storage medium of embodiments 123 or 124, wherein the DM-RS sequence is determined based on a UE group identity defined as a function of one or more physical layer transmission characteristics including a resource pool used, a coverage level and an amount of coverage enhancement, a number of repetitions used for transmission of the packet, a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and Transport Block Size (TBS) used for transmission of the packet, and number of subcarriers used for transmission of the packet.

[00208] Embodiment 127 includes the at least one machine readable storage medium of embodiments 123 or 124, wherein the DM-RS sequence is applied for one or more processes of decoding the packet including scrambling sequence generation, interleaving, data spreading resource mapping, cyclic redundancy checking (CRC), and Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and Transport Block Size (TBS) combinations.

[00209] Embodiment 128 includes the at least one machine readable storage medium of embodiments 123 or 124, wherein a time and frequency hopping partem is defined as a pseudorandom or a random function, or as a combination of a deterministic and a pseudorandom or random function.

[00210] As used herein, the term "circuitry" may refer to, be part of, or include an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group), and/or memory (shared, dedicated, or group) that execute one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable hardware components that provide the described functionality. In some aspects, the circuitry may be implemented in, or functions associated with the circuitry may be implemented by, one or more software or firmware modules. In some aspects, circuitry may include logic, at least partially operable in hardware.

[00211] Various techniques, or certain aspects or portions thereof, may take the form of program code (i.e., instructions) embodied in tangible media, such as floppy diskettes, compact disc-read-only memory (CD-ROMs), hard drives, transitory or non- transitory computer readable storage medium, or any other machine-readable storage medium wherein, when the program code is loaded into and executed by a machine, such as a computer, the machine becomes an apparatus for practicing the various techniques. Circuitry may include hardware, firmware, program code, executable code, computer instructions, and/or software. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium may be a computer readable storage medium that does not include signal. In the case of program code execution on programmable computers, the computing device may include a processor, a storage medium readable by the processor (including volatile and nonvolatile memory and/or storage elements), at least one input device, and at least one output device. The volatile and non-volatile memory and/or storage elements may be a random-access memory (RAM), erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), flash drive, optical drive, magnetic hard drive, solid state drive, or other medium for storing electronic data. The node and wireless device may also include a transceiver module (i.e., transceiver), a counter module (i.e., counter), a processing module (i.e., processor), and/or a clock module (i.e., clock) or timer module (i.e., timer). One or more programs that may implement or utilize the various techniques described herein may use an application programming interface (API), reusable controls, and the like. Such programs may be implemented in a high level procedural or object-oriented programming language to communicate with a computer system. However, the program(s) may be implemented in assembly or machine language, if desired. In any case, the language may be a compiled or interpreted language, and combined with hardware implementations.

[00212] As used herein, the term processor may include general purpose processors, specialized processors such as VLSI, FPGAs, or other types of specialized processors, as well as base band processors used in transceivers to send, receive, and process wireless communications.

[00213] It should be understood that many of the functional units described in this specification have been labeled as modules, in order to more particularly emphasize their implementation independence. For example, a module may be implemented as a hardware circuit comprising custom very-large-scale integration (VLSI) circuits or gate arrays, off-the-shelf semiconductors such as logic chips, transistors, or other discrete components. A module may also be implemented in programmable hardware devices such as field programmable gate arrays, programmable array logic, programmable logic devices or the like.

[00214] Modules may also be implemented in software for execution by various types of processors. An identified module of executable code may, for instance, comprise one or more physical or logical blocks of computer instructions, which may, for instance, be organized as an object, procedure, or function. Nevertheless, the executables of an identified module cannot be physically located together, but may comprise disparate instructions stored in different locations which, when joined logically together, comprise the module and achieve the stated purpose for the module.

[00215] Indeed, a module of executable code may be a single instruction, or many instructions, and may even be distributed over several different code segments, among different programs, and across several memory devices. Similarly, operational data may be identified and illustrated herein within modules, and may be embodied in any suitable form and organized within any suitable type of data structure. The operational data may be collected as a single data set, or may be distributed over different locations including over different storage devices, and may exist, at least partially, merely as electronic signals on a system or network. The modules may be passive or active, including agents operable to perform desired functions. [00216] Reference throughout this specification to "an example" or "exemplary" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the example is included in at least one embodiment of the present technology. Thus, appearances of the phrases "in an example" or the word "exemplary" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.

[00217] As used herein, a plurality of items, structural elements, compositional elements, and/or materials may be presented in a common list for convenience. However, these lists should be construed as though each member of the list is individually identified as a separate and unique member. Thus, no individual member of such list should be construed as a de facto equivalent of any other member of the same list solely based on their presentation in a common group without indications to the contrary. In addition, various embodiments and example of the present technology may be referred to herein along with alternatives for the various components thereof. It is understood that such embodiments, examples, and alternatives are not to be construed as defacto equivalents of one another, but are to be considered as separate and autonomous representations of the present technology.

[00218] Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the following description, numerous specific details are provided, such as examples of layouts, distances, network examples, etc., to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the technology. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that the technology may be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, layouts, etc. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the technology.

[00219] While the forgoing examples are illustrative of the principles of the present technology in one or more particular applications, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that numerous modifications in form, usage and details of implementation may be made without the exercise of inventive faculty, and without departing from the principles and concepts of the technology. Accordingly, it is not intended that the technology be limited, except as by the claims set forth below.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus of a User Equipment (UE) operable for Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) Uplink (UL) transmission to a Base Station (BS), the UE comprising: one or more processors configured to,

access, at the UE, a UE identifier used for grant-less UL transmission; generate, at the UE, a first portion of the UE identifier to be carried by one or more physical layer parameters;

generate, at the UE, a second portion of the UE identifier; select, at the UE, a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) sequence index; and

encode, at the UE for transmission to the BS, a packet as an UL grant-less transmission including the first portion of the UE identifier, the second portion of the UE identifier and the DM-RS sequence index; and

a memory interface configured to send to a memory one or more of the UE identifier, the first portion of the UE identifier, the second portion of the UE identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, and the packet.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second portion of the UE identifier is included as part of a payload in the encoded packet.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second portion of the UE identifier is included as part of a header in the encoded packet.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to generate the first portion of the UE identifier as an identity for physical layer processing, the first portion carried by the one or more physical layer parameters comprising: one or more of a sequence used for a reference signal, a sequence used for a preamble, a spreading signature for a data spreading scheme, a scrambling initialization for a UE specific scrambling scheme, or an index of a UE specific interleave scheme.

5. The apparatus of claims 1 or 4, wherein the selected DM-RS sequence index is based on the UE identifier or UE group identifier.

6. The apparatus of claims 1 or 4, wherein the DM-RS sequence index is randomly selected at the UE from a set of DM-RS sequence indices.

7. The apparatus of claims 1 or 4, wherein the DM-RS is randomly selected at the

UE from a set of predefined DM-RS sequences, a cell-specific or UE group specific configured set of DM-RS sequences, a Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access resource pool- based configured set of DM-RS sequences, or an individual time-frequency resource defined set of DM-RS sequences.

8. The apparatus of claims 1 or 4, wherein the DM-RS sequence is determined based on a UE group identity defined as a function of one or more physical layer transmission characteristics including a resource pool used, a coverage level and an amount of coverage enhancement, a number of repetitions used for transmission of the packet, a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and Transport Block Size (TBS) used for transmission of the packet, and number of subcarriers used for transmission of the packet.

9. The apparatus of claims 1 or 4, wherein the DM-RS sequence is applied for one or more processes of encoding the packets including scrambling sequence generation, interleaving, data spreading, resource mapping, cyclic redundancy checking (CRC), and Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and Transport Block Size (TBS) combinations.

10. The apparatus of claims 1 or 4, wherein a time and frequency hopping pattern is defined as a pseudorandom or a random function, or as a combination of a deterministic and a pseudorandom or random function.

11. An apparatus of a User Equipment (UE) operable for Non-Orthogonal

Multiple Access (NOMA) uplink (UL) transmission to a Base Station (BS), the UE comprising:

one or more processors configured to,

access, at the UE, a UE identifier used for grant-less UL transmission; generate, at the UE, a portion of the UE identifier to be carried by one or more physical layer parameters;

select, at the UE, a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) sequence index; and

encode, at the UE for transmission to the BS, a packet as an UL grant-less transmission including the first portion of the UE identifier, the UE identifier, and the DM-RS sequence index; and

a memory interface configured to send to a memory one or more of the UE identifier, the portion of the UE identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, and the packet.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to generate the first portion of the UE identifier as an identity for physical layer processing, the first portion carried by the one or more physical layer parameters comprising: one or more of a sequence used for a reference signal, a sequence used for a preamble, a spreading signature for data spreading scheme, a scrambling initialization for a UE specific scrambling scheme, an index of a UE specific interleave scheme.

13. The apparatus of claims 11 or 12, wherein the selected DM-RS sequence index is based on the UE identifier or UE group identifier.

14. The apparatus of claims 11 or 12, wherein the DM-RS sequence index is randomly selected at the UE from a set of DM-RS sequence indices.

15. The apparatus of claims 11 or 12, wherein the DM-RS is randomly selected at the UE from a set of predefined DM-RS sequences, a cell-specific or UE group specific configured set of DM-RS sequences, a Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access resource pool- based configured set of DM-RS sequences, or an individual time-frequency resource defined set of DM-RS sequences.

16. The apparatus of claims 11 or 12, wherein the DM-RS sequence is determined based on a UE group identity defined as a function of one or more physical layer transmission characteristics including a resource pool used, a coverage level and an amount of coverage enhancement, a number of repetitions used for transmission of the packet, a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and Transport Block Size (TBS) used for transmission of the packet, and number of subcarriers used for transmission of the packet.

17. The apparatus of claims 11 or 12, wherein the DM-RS sequence is applied for one or more processes of encoding the packets including scramble sequence generation, interleaving, data spreading resource mapping, cyclic redundancy checking (CRC), and Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and Transport Block Size (TBS) combinations.

18. The apparatus of claims 11 or 12, wherein a time and frequency hopping pattern is defined as a pseudorandom or a random function, or as a combination of a deterministic and a pseudorandom or random function.

19. An apparatus of a Base Station (BS) operable for Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) uplink (UL) transmission from a User Equipment (UE), the BS comprising:

one or more processors configured to, receive, at the BS from a UE, an uplink (UL) grant-less transmission based packet;

detect, at the BS, a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS); determine, at the BS, a first portion of a UE identifier carried by one or more physical layer parameters for the packet;

decode, at the BS, the packet including a second portion of the UE identifier using a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) sequence index; and determine, at the BS, an identity of the UE from the decoded first and second portions of the UE identifiers; and

a memory interface configured to send to a memory one or more of the identity of the UE, the first portion of the UE identifier, the second portion of the UE identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, and the packet.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to generate the first portion of the UE identifier as an identity for physical layer processing, the first portion carried by the one or more physical layer parameters comprising: one or more of a sequence used for a reference signal, a sequence used for a preamble, a spreading signature for data spreading scheme, a scrambling initialization for a UE specific scrambling scheme, an index of a UE specific interleave scheme.

21. The apparatus of claims 19 or 20, wherein the DM-RS is randomly selected at the UE from a set of predefined DM-RS sequences, a cell-specific or UE group specific configured set of DM-RS sequences, a Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access resource pool- based configured set of DM-RS sequences, or an individual time-frequency resource defined set of DM-RS sequences.

22. The apparatus of claims 19 or 20, wherein the DM-RS sequence is determined based on a UE group identity defined as a function of one or more physical layer transmission characteristics including a resource pool used, a coverage level and an amount of coverage enhancement, a number of repetitions used for transmission of the packet, a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and Transport Block Size (TBS) used for transmission of the packet, and number of subcarriers used for transmission of the packet.

23. The apparatus of claims 19 or 20, wherein the DM-RS sequence is applied for one or more processes of decoding the packet including scrambling sequence generation, interleaving, data spreading resource mapping, cyclic redundancy checking (CRC), and Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and Transport Block Size (TBS) combinations.

24. The apparatus of claims 19 or 22, wherein a time and frequency hopping pattern is defined as a pseudorandom or a random function, or as a combination of a deterministic and a pseudorandom or random function.

25. An apparatus of a Base Station (BS) operable for Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) uplink (UL) transmission from a User Equipment (UE), the BS comprising:

one or more processors configured to,

receive, at the BS from a UE, an uplink (UL) grant-less transmission based packet;

detect, at the BS, a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS); determine, at the BS, a portion of a UE identifier carried by one or more physical layer parameters for the packet; and

decode, at the BS, the packet including the UE identifier using a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) sequence index; and

a memory interface configured to send to a memory one or more of the UE identifier, the DM-RS sequence index, and the packet.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to generate the first portion of the UE identifier as an identity for physical layer processing, the first portion carried by the one or more physical layer parameters comprising: one or more of a sequence used for a reference signal, a sequence used for a preamble, a spreading signature for data spreading scheme, a scrambling initialization for a UE specific scrambling scheme, an index of a UE specific interleave scheme.

27. The apparatus of claims 25 or 26, wherein the DM-RS is randomly selected at the UE from a set of predefined DM-RS sequences, a cell-specific or UE group specific configured set of DM-RS sequences, a Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access resource pool- based configured set of DM-RS sequences, or an individual time-frequency resource defined set of DM-RS sequences.

28. The apparatus of claims 25 or 26, wherein the DM-RS sequence is determined based on a UE group identity defined as a function of one or more physical layer transmission characteristics including a resource pool used, a coverage level and an amount of coverage enhancement, a number of repetitions used for transmission of the packet, a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and Transport Block Size (TBS) used for transmission of the packet, and number of subcarriers used for transmission of the packet.

29. The apparatus of claims 25 or 26, wherein the DM-RS sequence is applied for one or more processes of decoding the packet including scrambling sequence generation, interleaving, data spreading resource mapping, cyclic redundancy checking (CRC), and Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and Transport Block Size (TBS) combinations.

30. The apparatus of claims 25 or 26, wherein a time and frequency hopping pattern is defined as a pseudorandom or a random function, or as a combination of a deterministic and a pseudorandom or random function.