Method and apparatus for peak to average power reduction in wireless communication systems using spectral mask filling

A user equipment, apparatus, and method are provided for wireless communication with at least one base station. The user equipment includes a transceiver configured to communicate with the at least one base station by transmitting radio frequency signals to the at least one base station and by receiving radio frequency signals from the at least one base station. The user equipment also includes processing circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to identify an occupied signal bandwidth of the radio frequency signals. The processing circuitry is also configured to identify a spectral mask for the occupied signal bandwidth. The processing circuitry is also configured to identify an unused available spectrum between the occupied signal bandwidth and the spectral mask. The processing circuitry is also configured to modulate a spectral mask filling (SMF) signal in the unused available spectrum, the SMF signal configured to reduce the peak-to-average power ratio of the radio frequency signals.