Methods and apparatus for symbol-to-symbol multiplexing of control, data, and reference signals on a 5G uplink. In one aspect, a job descriptor generator is configured to calculate mapping parameters for each symbol based on high level configuration parameters. A data/UCI multiplexing job engine, which is coupled to the job descriptor generator, provides symbol-based multiplexing and mapping which includes calculating reserved locations for PTRS and DMRS based on frequency-domain mapping of both PTRS and DMRS and multiplexing of data and controls from calculated intermediate parameters. A downstream processor is coupled to the job engine and configured to modulate data and control REs and insert DMRS or PTRS. In one example, the job descriptor generator is a configurable DSP processor and the job engine is an ASIC hardware accelerator.