METHOD FOR SUPPORTING DEVICE-TO-DEVICE COMMUNICATION IN A CELLULAR NETWORK, AND APPARATUS FOR SAME

• US 20140185529A1
• Filed: 08/30/2012
• Published: 07/03/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/30/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Lim, Dongguk, Jang, Jiwoong, Cho, Hangyu
• Granted Patent: US 10,038,993 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/328
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/06 Optimizing the usage of the radio link, e.g. header compression, information sizing , discarding information system modifying transmission characteristic according to link quality by modifying frame length H04L1/0007; dynamic adaptation of the packet size for flow control or congestion control H04L47/365
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/12 Wireless traffic scheduling
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 Direct-mode setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals

Abstract

Disclosed are a method for supporting device-to-device (D2D) communication in a cellular network, and an apparatus for same. The method for supporting device-to-device communication by a terminal in a cellular network comprises the steps of: the terminal receiving, from a base station, information on a D2D zone which has been set up for the D2D communication; and monitoring the D2D zone, using the information on the D2D zone, to detect a search signal transmitted by at least one D2D terminal, wherein the D2D zone may comprise: a search section for the transmission of the search signal by the at least one D2D terminal; and a connection section for transmission of a signal for requesting D2D transmission.

Claims

1. A method for supporting device-to-device (D2D) communication by a user equipment in a cellular network, the method comprising:

receiving information about a D2D zone configured for D2D communication from a base station; and

detecting a discovery signal transmitted by at least one D2D user equipment by monitoring the D2D zone using the information about the D2D zone,

wherein the D2D zone includes a discovery interval for transmitting the discovery signal and a connection interval for transmitting a D2D transmission request signal, by the at least one D2D user equipment.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the information about the D2D zone includes at least one of D2D zone configuration information, D2D zone allocation period information, D2D zone start point information, D2D zone length information, and D2D zone switch information.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the information about the D2D zone is received through a downlink broadcast channel, a common search space of a downlink control channel, an additional broadcast channel for D2D communication, or higher-layer signaling.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

acquiring at least one of received signal power information of the discovery signal, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) information, and interference level information of the discovery signal by measuring the discovery signal transmitted by the at least one D2D user equipment, detected in the D2D zone; and

generating a list of neighboring D2D user equipments based on the acquired information.

5. The method according to claim 4, further comprising:

transmitting information about the generated list of the neighboring D2D user equipments to the base station,

wherein the information about the list of the neighboring D2D user equipments includes at least one of identifiers of D2D user equipments adjacent to the user equipment, received signal power information of discovery signals transmitted by the neighbor D2D user equipments, SNR information, and interference level information of the neighbor D2D user equipments.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the neighbor D2D user equipments are neighbor D2D user equipments transmitting transmission request signals to perform D2D communication.

7. The method according to claim 5, wherein the neighbor D2D user equipments are user equipments currently performing D2D communication.

8. The method according to claim 4, further comprising:

receiving information about a threshold value of the discovery signal from the base station,

wherein the list of the neighboring D2D user equipments is generated by further considering the information about the threshold value in addition to the acquired information.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the neighbor D2D user equipments included in the information about the list of the D2D user equipments are D2D UEs having a received signal power level, an SNR, or an interference level exceeding the threshold value.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the user equipment is a D2D user equipment performing D2D communication or a cellular user equipment of a cellular network.

11. A user equipment for supporting device-to-device (D2D) communication in a cellular network, the user equipment comprising:

a receiver configured to receive information about a D2D zone configured for D2D communication from a base station; and

a processor configured to detect a discovery signal transmitted by at least one D2D user equipment by monitoring the D2D zone using the information about the D2D zone,

wherein the D2D zone includes a discovery interval for transmitting the discovery signal and a connection interval for transmitting a D2D transmission request signal, by the at least one D2D user equipment.

12. The user equipment according to claim 11, wherein the processor acquires at least one of received signal power information of the discovery signal, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) information, and interference level information of the discovery signal by measuring the discovery signal transmitted by the at least one D2D user equipment, detected in the D2D zone and generates a list of neighboring D2D user equipments based on the acquired information.

13. The user equipment according to claim 12, further comprising:

a transmitter configured to transmit information about the generated list of the neighboring D2D user equipments to the base station,

wherein the information about the list of the neighboring D2D user equipments generated by the processor includes at least one of identifiers of D2D user equipments adjacent to the user equipment, received signal power information of discovery signals transmitted by the neighbor D2D user equipments, SNR information, and interference level information of the neighbor D2D user equipments.

14. The user equipment according to claim 12, wherein the receiver is configured to further receive information about a threshold value of the discovery signal from the base station, and

the processor is configured to generate the list of the neighboring D2D user equipments by further considering the information about the threshold value in addition to the acquired information.

15. The method according to claim 11, wherein the user equipment is a D2D user equipment performing D2D communication or a cellular user equipment of a cellular network.