Communications system

• US 10,542,532 B2
• Filed: 12/29/2017
• Issued: 01/21/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 04/27/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Original Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Inventors: Ahluwalia, Jagdeep Singh, Arnott, Robert
• Primary Examiner(s): Choudhry, Samina F
• Application Number:
  US15/858,889
• Publication Number:
  US 20180124759A1
• Time in Patent Office: 753 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/001 the frequencies being arranged in component carriers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0023 Time-frequency-space
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0053 Allocation of signaling, i.e. of overhead other than pilot signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0087 when data requirements change
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0098 Signalling of the activation or deactivation of component carriers, subcarriers or frequency bands
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/06 Reselecting a communication resource in the serving access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/12 using downlink control channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 68/00 User notification, e.g. alerting and paging, for incoming communication, change of service or the like
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0453 Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/23 in the downlink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards a terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/30 Resource management for broadcast services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 Access point devices
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A mobile communications system is proposed in which mobile communications devices are arranged to transmit signals to and to receive signals from a base station using one or a subset of available sub-bands, with the base station being configured to move the mobile communications devices between the sub-bands. An anchor sub-band is also provided on which idle mobile communications devices camp until they are moved to one or more other sub-bands in addition to or instead of the anchor sub-band.

Claims

1. A mobile device, comprising:

a memory storing instructions; and

one or more hardware processors configured to execute the instructions to;

communicate with a base station over a plurality of component carriers, the plurality of component carriers including a primary component carrier and at least one secondary component carrier, and

monitor a first secondary component carrier which is indicated by signaling through a MAC control element from the base station,

wherein the MAC control element includes a bitmap indication, each bit of the bitmap indication corresponding to a respective component carrier and indicating whether the corresponding component carrier should be monitored or not,

wherein the processor is configured to execute instructions to monitor each secondary component carrier during at least one time period indicated by control data, provided by the base station, comprising information indicating a duration of the at least one time period,

wherein the at least one time period indicated by the control data starts at activation of the monitoring of a corresponding secondary component carrier, and

wherein the processor is configured to deactivate the monitoring of each secondary component carrier when the duration indicated by the control data for the at least one time period has expired.

2. A method of communication executed by a mobile device, the method comprising:

communicating with a base station over a plurality of component carriers, the plurality of component carriers including a primary component carrier and at least one secondary component carrier, and

monitoring a first secondary component carrier which is indicated by signaling through a MAC control element from the base station,

wherein the MAC control element includes a bitmap, each bit of the bitmap corresponding to a respective component carrier and indicating whether the corresponding component carrier should be monitored or not,

wherein each secondary component carrier is monitored during at least one time period indicated by control data, provided by the base station, comprising information indicating a duration of the at least one time period,

wherein the at least one time period indicated by the control data starts at activation of the monitoring of a corresponding secondary component carrier, and

wherein the monitoring of each secondary component carrier is deactivated when the duration indicated by the control data for the at least one time period has expired.

3. A base station, comprising:

a memory storing instructions; and

one or more hardware processors configured to execute the instructions to;

communicate with a mobile device over a plurality of component carriers, the plurality of component carriers including a primary component carrier and at least one of secondary component carrier, and

signal through a MAC control element, which secondary component carrier the mobile device should monitor,

wherein the MAC control element includes a bitmap, each bit of the bitmap corresponding to a respective component carrier and indicating whether the corresponding component carrier should be monitored or not,

wherein each secondary component carrier is monitored during at least one time period indicated by control data, provided by the base station, comprising information indicating a duration of the at least one time period,

wherein the at least one time period indicated by the control data starts at activation of the monitoring of a corresponding secondary component carrier, and

wherein the monitoring of each secondary component carrier is deactivated when the duration indicated by the control data for the at least one time period has expired.

4. A method of communication executed by a base station, the method comprising:

communicating with a mobile device over a plurality of component carriers, the plurality of component carriers including a primary component carrier and at least one of secondary component carrier, and

signaling through a MAC control element, which secondary component carrier the mobile device should monitor,

wherein the MAC control element includes a bitmap, each bit of the bitmap corresponding to a respective component carrier and indicating whether the corresponding component carrier should be monitored or not,

wherein each secondary component carrier is monitored during at least one time period indicated by control data, provided by the base station, comprising information indicating a duration of the at least one time period,

wherein the at least one time period indicated by the control data starts at activation of the monitoring of a corresponding secondary component carrier, and

wherein the monitoring of each secondary component carrier is deactivated when the duration indicated by the control data for the at least one time period has expired.