MULTI-CHANNEL POWER CONTROL

• US 20140233445A1
• Filed: 08/17/2012
• Published: 08/21/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/17/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Yang, Rongzhen, Fwu, Jong-Kae, Yin, Hujun
• Granted Patent: US 9,961,651 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/311
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/146 Uplink power control
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/34 TPC management, i.e. sharing limited amount of power among users or channels or data types, e.g. cell loading
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/346 distributing total power among users or channels
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/38 TPC being performed in particular situations
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/50 at the moment of starting communication in a multiple access environment
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0473 the resource being transmission power

Abstract

Embodiments of computer-implemented methods, systems, computing devices, and computer-readable media are described herein for assigning transmission power to one or more components carriers in an uplink transmission utilizing carrier aggregation. In one embodiment, power is assigned to a component carrier based on the priority level of the component carrier. In another embodiment, power is assigned based on absolute priority order. In yet another embodiment, power is assigned based on relative priority order.

Claims

1. One or more computer-readable media having instructions that, when executed, cause a mobile device to:

set a power level of a transmission of a random access channel in the mobile device at a low value;

set an occurrence threshold and a occurrence count for the random access channel;

increment the occurrence count when the mobile device transmits on the random access channel;

compare the occurrence count to the occurrence threshold; and

set the power level of the random access channel transmission in the mobile device at a high value based on comparison of the occurrence count to the occurrence threshold.

2. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 1 wherein the random access channel is a physical random access channel.

3. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 1 wherein the random access channel is on a first carrier, and a second channel is on a second carrier.

4. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 3 wherein the second channel is a physical uplink shared channel or a physical uplink control channel.

5. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 3 wherein the random access channel and the second channel are powered by a single power amplifier of the mobile device.

6. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 5 wherein the power amplifier has an available power level and the instructions, when executed, further cause the power amplifier, when the power level of the transmission is set at the low value, to:

provide a first power level to transmissions of the second channel to fulfill a desired power allocation of the second channel; and

provide a second power level to transmissions of the random access channel that is a difference between the first power level and the available power level.

7. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 5 wherein the power amplifier has an available power level and the instructions, when executed, further cause the power amplifier, when the power level of the random access channel transmission is set at a high value, to:

provide a first power level to transmissions of the random access channel to fulfill a desired power allocation of the random access channel; and

provide a second power level to transmissions of the second channel that is a difference between the first power level and the available power level.

8. A mobile device comprising:

a transmitter configured to transmit a first random access channel on a first carrier and a second random access channel on a second carrier;

a processor configured to determine a first occurrence count for the first random access channel and compare the first occurrence count to an occurrence threshold; and

a power controller configured to set a power level of transmissions of the first random access channel on the first carrier at a low value, and change the power level of the transmissions of the first random access channel to a high value based on the comparison of the first occurrence count to the occurrence threshold.

9. The mobile device of claim 8 wherein the power level of the transmissions of the first random access channel is a first power level, and a power level of transmissions of the second random access channel is a second power level;

and

the processor is further configured to determine a second occurrence count for a transmission of the second random access channel and compare the second occurrence count to the occurrence threshold; and

set the second power level at a low value and change the second power level to a high value based on the comparison of the second occurrence count to the occurrence threshold.

10. The mobile device of claim 9 wherein the first power level is higher than the second power level if the first occurrence count is higher than the second occurrence count.

11. The mobile device of claim 8 wherein the first random access channel is a physical random access channel.

12. The mobile device of claim 8 wherein the transmitter is further configured to transmit one or both of a physical uplink shared channel and a physical uplink control channel substantially simultaneously with the first random access channel.

13. The mobile device of claim 8 wherein the transmitter is configured to transmit the first random access channel substantially simultaneously with the second random access channel.

14. The mobile device of claim 8 wherein the processor is further configured to reset the first occurrence count to a minimal value based on a comparison of the first occurrence count to the occurrence threshold.

15. A method of allocating power in a transmitter of a mobile device, the method comprising:

detecting a first transmission from the mobile device of a channel on a first carrier,

detecting a second transmission from the mobile device of the channel on a second carrier,

detecting an available power level of the mobile device,

determining a first intended power level of the first transmission and a second intended power level of the second transmission that is higher than the first intended power level,

assigning a first actual power level to the first transmission, and

assigning a second actual power level that is the difference between the first actual power level and the available power level to the second transmission.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the channel is a physical random access channel, a physical uplink control channel, or a physical uplink shared channel.

17. The method of claim 15 wherein the first actual power level is equal to the first intended power level.

18. The method of claim 15 wherein the second actual power level is lower than the second intended power level.

19. A processor configured to perform the steps of:

assigning a channel to a first carrier for a first transmission of the channel and assigning the channel to a second carrier for a second transmission of the channel that at least partially overlaps the first transmission in time;

determining an available transmission power level, a first intended power level of the first transmission, and a second intended power level of the second transmission;

directing a transmitter to transmit the first transmission at the first intended power level based on a comparison of both the first intended power level and the second intended power level to the available transmission power level; and

directing a transmitter to transmit the first transmission at a first actual power level that is less than the first intended power level based on the comparison.

20. The processor of claim 19 wherein a first difference between the first actual power level and the first intended power level is proportional to a magnitude of the first intended power level.

21. The processor of claim 19 wherein the channel is a physical random access channel, a physical shared uplink channel, or a physical uplink control channel.

22. The processor of claim 19 wherein the channel is configured to transmit a sounding reference signal.

23. The processor of claim 19 wherein the processor further directs the transmitter to transmit the second channel at the second intended power level based on the comparison.

24. The processor of claim 19 wherein the processor further directs the transmitter to transmit the second transmission at a second actual power level that is less than the second intended power level based on the comparison.

25. The processor of claim 19 wherein a first difference between the first intended power level and the first actual power level is greater than a second difference between the second intended power level and the second actual power level when the first intended power level is greater than the second intended power level.