CONTROLLING CARRIER SELECTION IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

• US 20140153516A1
• Filed: 06/11/2012
• Published: 06/05/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/15/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: InterDigital Patent Holdings, Inc. (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: SCA IPLA Holdings Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Young, Philip, Darwood, Peter
• Granted Patent: US 9,713,146 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/329
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/001 the frequencies being arranged in component carriers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/12 using downlink control channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0453 Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/20 Control channels or signalling for resource management

Abstract

A mobile communications system including at least one base station configured to communicate data to/from different types of terminal devices via respective of plural logically separate carriers of a wireless access interface; first and second terminal devices operable to respectively camp-on to first and second carriers of the carriers and to subsequently communicate data with the at least one base station via the first and second carriers. The first and second carriers support compatible synchronization signalling such that the first and second terminal devices synchronize with the first and second carriers to begin a camp-on procedure, and following synchronization with one of the first or second carriers to begin a camp-on procedure. The second terminal device is configured to determine whether or not to continue with the camp-on procedure based on an aspect of physical layer signalling associated with a control channel of the carrier with which it has synchronized.

Claims

1. A terminal device for use in a mobile communications system comprising an arrangement of at least one base station configured to communicate data to and/or from different types of terminal device via respective ones of a plurality of logically separate carriers of a wireless access interface;

wherein the terminal device is operable to synchronise with one of the plurality of carriers to begin a camp-on procedure for that carrier, and wherein the terminal device is further operable to determine whether or not to continue with the camp-on procedure in dependence on an aspect of physical layer signalling associated with a control channel of the carrier with which it has synchronised.

2. A terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the control channel is a Physical Broadcast Channel.

3. A terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the aspect of physical layer signalling comprises the presence or absence of an indicator broadcast on the control channel.

4. A terminal device according to claim 3, wherein the terminal device is operable to read a Master Information Block of the carrier with which the terminal device has synchronised and wherein the presence or absence of the indicator is derivable from the Master Information Block.

5. A terminal device according to claim 4, wherein the presence or absence of the indicator is derivable from information contained within the Master Information Block.

6. A terminal device according to claim 4, wherein the presence or absence of the indicator is determined from signalling on a physical transmission resource derivable from the Master Information Block.

7. A terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the aspect of physical layer signalling comprises an indication of a carrier operating bandwidth for the carrier with which the terminal device has synchronised.

8. A terminal device according to claim 7, wherein the terminal device is configured to not continue the camp-on procedure if the carrier operating bandwidth is greater than a device operating bandwidth for the terminal device.

9. A terminal device according to claim 7, wherein the indication of the operating bandwidth of the carrier is derivable from a Master Information Block of the carrier with which the terminal device has synchronised.

10. A terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the terminal device is configured to seek to synchronise with another carrier and begin another camp-on procedure in the event the terminal device determines to not continue with a camp-on procedure with a carrier with which it has synchronised.

11. A method for assisting carrier selection performed by a terminal device in a mobile communications system comprising an arrangement of at least one base station configured to communicate data to and/or from different types of terminal device via respective ones of a plurality of logically separate carriers of a wireless access interface;

wherein the method comprises;

synchronising with one of the plurality of carriers to begin a camp-on procedure for that carrier, and

subsequently determining whether or not to continue with the camp-on procedure in dependence on an aspect of physical layer signalling associated with a control channel of the carrier with which the terminal device has synchronised.

12. A method according to claim 11, wherein the control channel is a Physical Broadcast Channel.

13. A method according to claim 11, wherein the aspect of physical layer signalling comprises the presence or absence of an indicator broadcast on the control channel.

14. A method according to claim 13, further comprising reading a Master Information Block of the carrier with which the terminal device has synchronised and deriving the presence or absence of the indicator from the Master Information Block.

15. A method according to claim 14, further comprising deriving the presence or absence of the indicator from information contained within the Master Information Block.

16. A method according to claim 14, further comprising deriving the presence or absence of the indicator from signalling on a physical transmission resource derived from the Master Information Block.

17. A method according to claim 11, wherein the aspect of physical layer signalling comprises an indication of a carrier operating bandwidth for the carrier with which the terminal device has synchronised.

18. A method according to claim 17, further comprising ceasing a camp-on procedure if the carrier operating bandwidth is greater than a device operating bandwidth for the terminal device.

19. A method according to claim 17, further comprising deriving the indication of the operating bandwidth of the carrier from a Master Information Block of the carrier with which the terminal device has synchronised.

20. A method according to claim 11, further comprising seeking to synchronise with another carrier and begin another camp-on procedure in the event the terminal device determines to not continue with a camp-on procedure with a carrier with which it has synchronised.

21. A mobile communications system comprising:

an arrangement of at least one base station configured to communicate data to and/or from different types of terminal device via respective ones of a plurality of logically separate carriers of a wireless access interface;

a first terminal device operable to camp-on to a first carrier of the plurality of carriers and to subsequently communicate data with the arrangement of at least one base station via the first carrier, and

a second terminal device operable to camp-on to a second carrier of the plurality of carriers and to subsequently communicate data with the arrangement of at least one base station via the second carrier, wherein

the first and second carriers support compatible synchronisation signalling such that the first and second terminal devices can both synchronise with the first and second carriers to begin a camp-on procedure, but wherein the first and second carriers support incompatible physical layer signalling associated with control channels of their respective camp-on procedures such that the first terminal device is unable to complete a camp-on procedure with the second carrier.

22-23. -23. (canceled)