METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING INTERFERENCE MEASUREMENTS FOR DEVICE-TO-DEVICE COMMUNICATION

• US 20100093364A1
• Filed: 09/11/2009
• Published: 04/15/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Janis, Pekka, Wijting, Carl, Hugl, Klaus, Doppler, Klaus, Tirkkonen, Olav, Ribeiro, Cassio, Korhonen, Juha S.
• Granted Patent: US 8,554,200 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/452.2
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/20 Control channels or signalling for resource management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/541 using the level of interference

Abstract

An approach for providing interference measurements for device-to-device communication is disclosed. A logic generates a control signal to instruct a plurality of stations to perform measurement relating to interference or path loss by the stations. The logic then receives measurement information from the stations and determines, based on the measurement information, whether resources are to be scheduled to provide direct communication between two of the stations.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

generating a control signal to instruct a plurality of stations to perform measurement relating to interference or path loss by the stations;

receiving measurement information from the stations; and

determining, based on the measurement information, whether resources are to be scheduled to provide direct communication between two of the stations.

2. A method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that measurement information is not available for a station; and

instructing the station with no measurement information to use a dedicated resource to establish a direct connection to one of the plurality of stations.

3. A method of claim 1, further comprising:

requesting transmit power information from the stations; and

classifying the measurement information from the stations based on the transmit power information,

wherein the classification is used at least in part to determine whether resources are to be scheduled to provide direct communication between two of the stations.

4. A method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving identities of the stations determined from a control channel; and

transmitting, to the stations, one of a list of the identities of the stations or a list of resources on which to perform the measurement.

5. A method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining an optimal timing for the measurement based on timing advance of a measuring station and of the stations to be measured.

6. A method of claim 1, wherein the resources are associated with a common band for establishing at least one of a downlink or an uplink, and the measurement is performed over a randomly selected portion of the resources or all of the resources.

7. A method of claim 1, wherein the stations are configured to communicate over a cellular network.

8. An apparatus comprising:

a logic configured to generate a control signal to instruct a plurality of stations to perform measurement relating to interference or path loss by the stations, to receive measurement information from the stations, and to determine, based on the measurement information, whether resources are to be scheduled to provide direct communication between two of the stations.

9. An apparatus of claim 8, wherein logic is further configured to determine that measurement information is not available for a station and to instruct the station with no measurement information to use a dedicated resource to establish a direct connection to one of the plurality of stations.

10. An apparatus of claim 8, wherein the logic is further configured to request transmit power information from the stations and to classify the measurement information from the stations based on the transmit power information, and wherein the classification is used at least in part to determine whether resources are to be scheduled to provide direct communication between two of the stations.

11. An apparatus of claim 8, wherein the logic is further configured to receive identities of the stations determined from a control channel and to transmit, to the stations, one of a list of the identities of the stations or a list of resources on which to perform the measurement.

12. An apparatus of claim 8, wherein the logic is further configured to determine an optimal timing for the measurement based on timing advance of a measuring station and of the stations to be measured.

13. An apparatus of claim 8, wherein the resources are associated with a common band for establishing at least one of a downlink or an uplink, and the measurement is performed over a randomly selected portion of the resources or all of the resources.

14. An apparatus of claim 8, wherein the apparatus is a based station operating over a cellular network.

15. A method comprising:

receiving a control signal from a base station;

performing measurement of interference or path loss in response to the control signal;

initiating transmission of measurement information to the base station; and

receiving a resource allocation message specifying whether resources can be utilized to establish a direct connection to a user equipment.

16. A method of claim 15, wherein the resources are associated with a common band for establishing at least one of a downlink or an uplink, and the measurement is performed over a randomly selected portion of the resources or all of the resources.

17. A method of claim 15, wherein the measurement information includes transmit power information.

18. (canceled)

19. (canceled)

20. (canceled)