Systems and methods for carrier aggregation deployment and organization in unlicensed bands

• US 10,230,505 B2
• Filed: 07/01/2016
• Issued: 03/12/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 12/02/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Liang, Huarui, Tabet, Tarik, Zhang, Dawei
• Primary Examiner(s): Elliott, IV, Benjamin H
• Application Number:
  US15/200,627
• Publication Number:
  US 20160344521A1
• Time in Patent Office: 984 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 11/0093 Neighbour cell search
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/0006 Assessment of spectral gaps suitable for allocating digitally modulated signals, e.g. for carrier allocation in cognitive radio for spectrum sharing between different networks H04W16/14
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/001 the frequencies being arranged in component carriers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0032 Distributed allocation, i.e. involving a plurality of allocating devices, each making partial allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0098 Signalling of the activation or deactivation of component carriers, subcarriers or frequency bands
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/14 Spectrum sharing arrangements between different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/04 Error control
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0061 of neighbour cell information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/21 in the uplink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards the network
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/542 using measured or perceived quality

Abstract

Described herein are systems and methods for carrier aggregation deployment and organization in unlicensed bands. A method may comprise scanning, by a transceiver within a base station, channels in a band of interest, reporting, by the transceiver, signal measurement information to the base station, cell searching, by the transceiver, channels in the band of interest, determining channel information for neighboring each channel, and transmitting, by the transceiver, the channel information to the base station.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

at a base station;

determining a network topology in an area of the base station, wherein the determining includes scanning channels in an unlicensed frequency band based on a power spectral density estimation;

communicating with a user equipment (UE) on a primary component carrier served by the base station; and

performing a secondary cell add procedure to select a secondary component carrier on which a further base station can communicate with the UE, wherein the selection of the secondary component carrier is based at least in part on the network topology and wherein the secondary component carrier is served in the unlicensed frequency band.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the further base station is a small cell.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

performing a secondary cell drop procedure to drop the secondary component carrier; and

performing a further secondary cell add procedure to select a further secondary component carrier on which another base station can communicate with the UE, wherein the selection of the further secondary component carrier is based at least in part on the network topology and wherein the further secondary component carrier is served in the unlicensed frequency band.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the secondary cell add procedure includes sending a message to the UE including a cell identity of the further base station.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the scanning includes differentiating WiFi transmissions from Long Term Evolution (LTE) transmissions in the unlicensed frequency band.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the network topology includes identifying cells deployed by a network provider that deployed the base station and cells deployed by other network providers.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the network topology includes identifying cells in a plurality of radio access technologies.

8. A system, comprising:

a primary cell that determines a network topology in an area of the primary cell and communicates with a user equipment (UE) on a primary component carrier, wherein the determining includes scanning channels in an unlicensed frequency band based on a power spectral density estimation; and

a secondary cell that communicates with the UE on a secondary component carrier, wherein the secondary cell and a carrier frequency of the secondary component carrier are selected by the primary cell based at least in part on the network topology and wherein the carrier frequency is in the unlicensed frequency band.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the primary cell and the secondary cell communicate with the UE using a Long Term Evolution (LTE) radio access technology.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the primary cell is a macro cell and the secondary cell is a small cell.

11. The system of claim 8, further comprising:

a further secondary cell that communicates with the UE on a further secondary component carrier, wherein the further secondary cell and a further carrier frequency of the further secondary component carrier are selected by the primary cell based at least in part on the network topology and wherein the further carrier frequency is in the unlicensed frequency band.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein the scanning includes differentiating WiFi transmissions from Long Term Evolution (LTE) transmissions in the unlicensed frequency band.

13. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium with an executable program stored thereon, wherein the program instructs a processor to perform the following operations, comprising:

determining a network topology in an area of a base station, wherein the determining includes scanning channels in an unlicensed frequency band based on a power spectral density estimation;

communicating with a user equipment (UE) on a primary component carrier served by the base station; and

performing a secondary cell add procedure to select a secondary component carrier on which a further base station can communicate with the UE, wherein the selection of the secondary component carrier is based at least in part on the network topology and wherein the secondary component carrier is served in the unlicensed frequency band.

14. The computer readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise:

performing a secondary cell drop procedure to drop the secondary component carrier; and

performing a further secondary cell add procedure to select a further secondary component carrier on which another base station can communicate with the UE, wherein the selection of the further secondary component carrier is based at least in part on the network topology and wherein the further secondary component carrier is served in the unlicensed frequency band.

15. The computer readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the secondary cell add procedure includes sending a message to the UE including a cell identity of the further base station.

16. The computer readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the scanning includes differentiating WiFi transmissions from Long Term Evolution (LTE) transmissions in the unlicensed frequency band.

17. The computer readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein determining the network topology includes identifying cells deployed by a network provider that deployed the base station and cells deployed by other network providers.