Communication device and method for wireless communications

• US 10,609,692 B2
• Filed: 08/31/2016
• Issued: 03/31/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Chakraborty, Soumen, Boddapati, Phani
• Primary Examiner(s): Thompson, Jr., Otis L
• Application Number:
  US15/252,242
• Publication Number:
  US 20180063817A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,308 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/14 Spectrum sharing arrangements between different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/23 in the downlink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards a terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/0816 with collision avoidance
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals

Abstract

A communication device and a method to suspend monitoring of a first radio access network (RAN) on a frequency band shared with a second RAN, comprising receiving a signal from the second RAN on the frequency band; decoding the received signal; identifying a duration during which the second RAN occupies the frequency band based on the decoded signal; and suspending monitoring of the control channel of the first RAN on the frequency band for at least the identified duration.

Claims

1. A circuit arrangement for a communication device, the circuit arrangement comprising circuitry configured to:

receive signals from a first radio access network (RAN) and a second RAN;

decode a signal from the first RAN;

identify a duration during which the first RAN will occupy a frequency band shared by the first RAN and the second RAN from the decoded signal; and

pause carrier sensing on the frequency band for at least the determined duration.

2. The circuit arrangement of claim 1, further comprising circuitry configured to resume monitoring of the first RAN on the frequency band after the completion of the duration.

3. The circuit arrangement of claim 1, wherein the carrier sensing is based on energy detection on the frequency band.

4. The circuit arrangement of claim 1, wherein the second RAN is WiFi.

5. The circuit arrangement of claim 4, wherein the decoding circuitry is configured decode a WiFi packet.

6. The circuit arrangement of claim 1, wherein the decoding circuitry is configured to decode a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) transmission from the first RAN and wherein the identifying circuitry is configured to determine the duration based on the PDCCH transmission.

7. The circuit arrangement of claim 1, wherein the decoding circuitry is configured to determine, based on the PDCCH transmission, a length of a continuous transmission, and wherein the identifying circuit is configured to determine the duration as the length of the continuous transmission.

8. A circuit arrangement for a communication device, the circuit arrangement comprising:

detecting circuitry configured to detect a first radio access network (RAN) signal on a shared frequency band based on a first threshold;

measuring circuitry configured to measure a signal strength of the first RAN signal; and

processing circuitry configured to compare the signal strength to a second threshold that is greater than the first threshold and further configured to at least one of;

pause monitoring of a control channel of the second RAN on the shared frequency band if the signal strength is greater than or equal to the second threshold, or

activate monitoring of the control channel of the second RAN on the shared frequency band if the signal strength is less than the second threshold.

9. The circuit arrangement of claim 8, the processing circuity further configured to determine if an increase in retransmissions of the second RAN in the shared frequency band occurs.

10. The circuit arrangement of claim 9, wherein if an increase in retransmissions in the shared frequency band occurs, the processing circuitry is further configured to increase the threshold by a step size.

11. The circuit arrangement of claim 10, the processing circuitry further configured to compare the signal strength of the first RAN to the increased threshold.

12. The circuit arrangement of claim 9, wherein if no increase in retransmissions in the shared frequency band occurs, the processing circuitry is further configured to decrease the threshold by a step size.

13. The circuit arrangement of claim 12, the processing circuitry further configured to compare the signal strength of the first RAN to the decreased threshold.

14. The circuit arrangement of claim 8, further comprising a determining circuit configured to determine if the control channel was received at the communication device.

15. The circuit arrangement of claim 14, wherein if the determining circuit determines that the control channel was received at the communication device, the determining circuit is configured to increase the threshold by a step size.

16. The circuit arrangement of claim 8, wherein the first RAN is a short range RAN and the second RAN is a cellular RAN.

17. A communication device adapted to pause monitoring of a control channel of a first radio access network (RAN) on a frequency band shared with a second RAN, comprising:

a first transceiver configured to receive signals from a first radio access network (RAN) on a frequency band shared with a second RAN; and

a second transceiver configured to receive signals from the second RAN on the shared frequency band;

decoding circuitry configured to decode a signal received on the first RAN;

processing circuity configured to determine a duration during which the first RAN occupies the shared frequency band based on the decoded signal and further configured to pause carrier sensing on the shared frequency band for at least the determined duration.

18. The communication device of claim 17, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to resume monitoring of the first RAN on the frequency band after the completion of the determined duration.

19. The communication device of claim 17, wherein the circuit arrangement comprises circuitry configured to monitor for a physical downlink control channel (PDDCH).

20. The communication device of claim 17, wherein the decoding circuitry is configured to decode a Network Allocation Vector (NAV) value from a WiFi packet, and wherein the identifying circuity is configured to identify the NAV value as the duration.

21. The communication device of claim 17, wherein the decoding circuitry is configured to decode Request to Send/Clear to Send (RTS/CTS) frame comprising a duration value from a WiFi packet, and wherein the identifying circuity is configured to identify the RTS/CTS frame duration value as the duration.

22. A method for pausing monitoring of a control channel of a first radio access network (RAN) on a frequency band shared with a second RAN used in a communication device, the method comprising:

monitoring a control channel for the first RAN on the frequency band;

receiving a signal from the second RAN on the frequency band;

decoding the received signal;

identifying a duration during which the second RAN occupies the frequency band based on the decoded signal; and

pausing the monitoring of the control channel of the first RAN on the frequency band for at least the identified duration.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising resuming monitoring of the control channel of the first RAN on the frequency band after the completion of the identified duration.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the control channel is a physical downlink control channel (PDDCH).

25. The method of claim 22, wherein the decoding comprises decoding a WiFi packet with a preamble, wherein the preamble comprises a Network Allocation Vector (NAV) value, and wherein identifying the duration during which the second RAN communicates on the frequency band from the decoded signal comprises extracting the NAV value from the preamble.

26. The method of claim 22, wherein the receiving and decoding of the signal on the second RAN is performed at a carrier sensor,

the method further comprising sending, from the carrier sensor, signaling to a physical layer of the first RAN that indicates the duration during which the second RAN occupies the frequency band,

and wherein the physical layer of the first RAN performs the pausing the monitoring of the control channel for the first RAN.