Discontinuous reception operation for licensed-assisted access

• US 10,548,183 B2
• Filed: 08/28/2019
• Issued: 01/28/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 04/10/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Loehr, Joachim, Basu Mallick, Prateek, Suzuki, Hidetoshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Akinyemi, Ajibola A
• Application Number:
  US16/554,380
• Publication Number:
  US 20190387573A1
• Time in Patent Office: 153 Days
• Field of Search: 455282
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/14 Spectrum sharing arrangements between different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0446 Resources in time domain, e.g. slots or frames
• 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 76/28 Discontinuous transmission [DTX]; Discontinuous reception [DRX]

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a method for operating a Discontinuous Reception, DRX, function at a user equipment. The UE is configured with at least one licensed cell and at least one unlicensed cell and operates the DRX function. The UE receives, from a radio base station, a DRX-active instruction to be in DRX Active Time at least on the unlicensed cell until receiving the next downlink control information related to a downlink data transmission to be received via the unlicensed cell. Correspondingly, in response to the received DRX-active instruction, the UE is in DRX Active Time at least on the unlicensed cell, comprising continuously monitoring a downlink control channel for downlink control information.

Claims

1. An integrated circuit which, in operation, controls of a process of a radio base station for controlling a Discontinuous Reception, DRX, function at a user equipment, wherein the user equipment is configured with at least one licensed cell and at least one unlicensed cell and operates the DRX function, the process comprising:

transmitting, to the user equipment, a DRX-active instruction for the user equipment to be in DRX Active Time at least on the unlicensed cell until receiving the next downlink control information related to a downlink data transmission to be received via the unlicensed cell,

wherein the DRX-active instruction is included in a control element of a Medium Access Control, MAC, protocol,

wherein the MAC control element comprises a predetermined identification value indicating that the MAC control element is the DRX-active instruction,

wherein the DRX-active instruction is included in downlink control information, DCI, transmitted on a downlink control channel, and

wherein the DCI is of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project, 3GPP, DCI Format 1A and comprises information such that the DCI;

is processed by the user equipment as an instruction to perform a random access procedure on a licensed cell when comprising an identification of this licensed cell, and

is processed by the user equipment as the DRX-active instruction when comprising an identification of the unlicensed cell.

2. The integrated circuit according to claim 1, wherein at least a scheduling cell, on which downlink control information related to a downlink data transmission to be received via the unlicensed cell is transmitted, is not deactivated upon expiry of a cell deactivation timer configured for the scheduling cell, and

wherein the scheduling cell is deactivated upon reception of a cell deactivation instruction from the radio base station and is activated upon reception of a cell activation instruction from the radio base station.

3. The integrated circuit according to claim 1, wherein the DRX function is operated in common for the at least one licensed cell and the at least one unlicensed cell, comprising being in DRX Active Time and being not in DRX Active Time on the at least one licensed cell and the at least one unlicensed cell at the same time according to the common DRX function such that the user equipment continuously monitors downlink control channels on the at least one licensed cell and on the at least one unlicensed cell at all of the subframes in which the unlicensed cell is activated.

4. The integrated circuit according to claim 1, wherein the DRX function is operated by the radio base station on the unlicensed cell and also on a scheduling cell in case downlink control information for the unlicensed cell is transmitted via the scheduling cell, such that the user equipment monitors the downlink control channel associated with the unlicensed cell for all of the subframes in which the unlicensed cell is activated, and

wherein the DRX function is separate from at least one further DRX function according to which the radio base station operates the at least one licensed cell, comprising being in DRX Active Time and being not in DRX Active Time on the at least one licensed cell according to the further DRX function.