On the Phase Tracking Reference Signal (PT-RS) Design for 5G New Radio (NR)

TL;DR

This paper investigates phase noise effects in 5G NR millimeter wave communications and proposes design solutions for phase tracking reference signals (PT-RS) to improve network performance.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of PT-RS design aspects and evaluates their effectiveness in mitigating phase noise in 5G NR mmWave systems.

Findings

PT-RS pattern design impacts phase noise tracking accuracy

Interference randomization improves PT-RS performance

Multi-TRP operation affects phase noise correction effectiveness

Abstract

The volume of mobile data traffic has been driven to an unprecedented high level due to the proliferation of smartphones/mobile devices that support a wide range of broadband applications and services, requiring a next generation mobile communication system, i.e., the fifth generation (5G). Millimeter wave (mmWave) bands can offer much larger available spectrum bandwidth and thus are considered as one of the most promising approaches to significantly boost the capacity in 5G NR. However, devices and network radio nodes operating on mmWave bands suffer from phase noise and without correction of phase noise, the performance of the network could potentially suffer significant losses. In this paper, we investigate the effects of phase noise and provide comprehensive solutions to track the phase noise by using phase tracking reference signals (PT-RS), as currently standardized in 3GPP Release 15. The design aspects such as PT-RS pattern, interference randomization, multi-TRP operation, etc., are investigated and evaluation results are also provided.