METHODS, APPARATUS AND SYSTEMS FOR PERFORMING MULTI-RADIO ACCESS TECHNOLOGY CARRIER AGGREGATION

• US 20160066364A1
• Filed: 11/09/2015
• Published: 03/03/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/03/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: InterDigital Patent Holdings, Inc. (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: InterDigital Patent Holdings, Inc. (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Inventors: MARINIER, Paul, Pani, Diana, Pelletier, Ghyslain
• Granted Patent: US 10,143,016 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/10 using broadcasted information
• 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 52/38 TPC being performed in particular situations
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0453 Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/23 in the downlink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards a terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/15 Setup of multiple wireless link connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/16 Involving different core network technologies, e.g. a packet-switched [PS] bearer in combination with a circuit-switched [CS] bearer
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/28 Discontinuous transmission [DTX]; Discontinuous reception [DRX]
• 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 method of managing carrier aggregation for a multi-radio access technology (RAT) wireless transmitter/receiver unit (WTRU) is disclosed. The method may include: receiving, by the WRTU over a primary channel associated with a RAT of a first type, provisioning information for provisioning a supplementary channel associated with a RAT of a second type; establishing the supplementary channel associated with the RAT of the second type based on the received provisioning information; and wirelessly exchanging, by the WRTU, first data associated with a communication over the primary channel via the RAT of the first type, while wireless exchanging second data associated with the communication over the supplementary channel via the RAT of the second type.

Claims

1. A method of managing a multi-radio access technology (multi-RAT) wireless transmitter/receiver unit (WTRU) using first and second state machines, the first state machine operating a RAT of a first type and the second state machine operating a RAT of the second type, the method comprising:

configuring, by the WTRU, a first radio connection that uses the RAT of the first type using the first state machine;

configuring, by the WTRU, a radio resource control (RRC) connection using the first state machine;

configuring, by the WTRU, a second radio connection that uses the RAT of the second type using the second state machine;

associating, by the WTRU, the RRC connection configured by the first state machine to the second state machine;

sending, by the WTRU, a notification over the RRC connection on condition that the second state machine has changed state.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the first type of RAT is one of;

(1) a wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) RAT;

(2) a high speed packet access (HSPA) RAT;

(3) a high speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) RAT;

(4) a high speed uplink packet access (HSUPA) RAT;

or (5) a long term evolution (LTE) RAT; and

the second type of RAT is a different one of;

(1) the WCDMA RAT;

(2) the HSPA RAT;

(3) the HSDPA RAT;

(4) the HSUPA RAT;

(5) the LTE RAT;

(6) a non-cellular RAT;

or (7) a WiFi RAT.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

configuring a primary channel associated with the RAT of the first type and a supplementary channel associated with the RAT of the second type to control radio resources of the RATs of the first and second types using the RRC connection associated with the RAT of the first type.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising concurrently and wirelessly receiving or sending, by the WTRU, a communication of data packets, the data packets being divided between or among portions including a first portion for communication via the first radio connection that uses the RAT of the first type and a second portion for communication via the second radio connection that uses the RAT of the second type, the first portion of the data packets being communicated over the primary channel concurrently with the second portion of the data packets, which is communicated over the supplementary channel.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the sending of the notification over the RRC connection on condition that the second state machine has changed state includes sending the notification on condition that:

(1) the second state machine has any of;

(i) transitioned to or from an active state;

(ii) transitioned to or from an inactive state;

or (iii) transitioned to or from a discontinuous reception (DRX);

or (2) a radio link failure has been associated with the second radio connection.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the RAT of the first type is a 3GPP RAT and the RAT of the second type is a WiFi RAT.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing parameters via the RAT of the first type for accessing a network of the second type, as a WiFi network including at least one of;

(1) a frequency band of the WiFi network;

(2) a specific channel for the WiFi network;

(3) an operation mode for the WiFi network, (4) a Serving Set Identifier (SSID) of the WiFi network;

(5) a Basic SSID (BSSID) of a WiFi access point associated with the WiFi network;

(6) a set of one or more security parameters;

or (7) an indication to activate a WiFi transceiver in the WTRU.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

communicating information associated with the first type of RAT over the single RRC connection via the first radio connection; and

communicating information associated with the second type of RAT over the single RRC connection via the second radio connection.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the WTRU over the RAT of the first type, a discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration, which is common for both the RAT of the first type and the RAT of the second type.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

triggering a transition to continuous reception on the RAT of the second type on condition that a transition to continuous reception on the RAT of the first type was triggered; and

triggering a transition to discontinuous reception on the RAT of the second type on condition that a transition to discontinuous reception on the RAT of the first type was triggered.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the first type of RAT is one of;

(1) a wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) RAT;

(2) a high speed packet access (HSPA) RAT;

(3) a high speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) RAT;

(4) a high speed uplink packet access (HSUPA) RAT;

or (5) a long term evolution (LTE) RAT; and

the second type of RAT is a different one of;

(1) the WCDMA RAT;

(2) the HSPA RAT;

(3) the HSDPA RAT;

(4) the HSUPA RAT;

(5) the LTE RAT;

(6) a non-cellular RAT;

or (7) a WiFi RAT.

11. A multi-radio access technology (RAT) wireless transmitter/receiver unit (WTRU) using first and second state machines, the first state machine operating a RAT of a first type and the second state machine operating a RAT of the second type, comprising:

a processor configured to;

control a setting of a first radio connection that uses the RAT of the first type using the first state machine, a radio resource control (RRC) connection using the first state machine, and a second radio connection that uses the RAT of the second type using the second state machine, and

associate the RRC connection configured by the first state machine to the second state machine; and

a wireless transmit/receive unit configured to send a notification over the RRC connection on condition that the second state machine has changed state.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured to control a setting of a primary channel associated with the RAT of the first type and a supplementary channel associated with the RAT of the second type to control radio resources of the RATs of the first and second types using the RRC connection associated with the RAT of the first type.

14. The multi-RAT WTRU of claim 11, wherein the wireless transmit/receive unit is configured to concurrently and wirelessly receive or send a communication of data packets, the data packets being divided between or among portions including a first portion for communication via the first radio connection that uses the RAT of the first type and a second portion for communication via the second radio connection that uses the RAT of the second type, the first portion of the data packets being communicated over the primary channel concurrently with the second portion of the data packets, which is communicated over the supplementary channel.

15. The multi-RAT WTRU of claim 11, wherein wireless transmit/receive unit is configured to send the notification on condition that:

(1) the second state machine has any of;

(i) transitioned to or from an active state;

(ii) transitioned to or from an inactive state;

or (iii) transitioned to or from a discontinuous reception (DRX);

or (4) a radio link failure has been associated with the second radio connection.

16. The multi-RAT WTRU of claim 11, wherein the wireless transmit/receive unit includes a first transceiver for a 3GPP RAT and a second transceiver for a WiFi RAT.

17. The multi-RAT WTRU of claim 11, wherein the wireless transmit/receive unit, via the RAT of the first type, provides parameters for accessing a WiFi network including at least one of:

(1) a frequency band of the WiFi network;

(2) a specific channel for the WiFi network;

(3) an operation mode for the WiFi network, (4) a Serving Set Identifier (SSID) of the WiFi network;

(5) a Basic SSID (BSSID) of a WiFi access point associated with the WiFi network;

(6) a set of one or more security parameters;

or (7) an indication to activate a WiFi transceiver in the WTRU.

18. The multi-RAT WTRU of claim 11, wherein the wireless transmit/receive unit is configured to communicate information associated with the first type of RAT over the single RRC connection via the first radio connection and information associated with the second type of RAT over the single RRC connection via the second radio connection.

19. The multi-RAT WTRU of claim 11, wherein the wireless transmit/receive unit is configured to receive, over the RAT of the first type, a discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration, which is common for both the RAT of the first type and the RAT of the second type.

20. The multi-RAT WTRU of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured to:

trigger a transition to continuous reception on the RAT of the second type on condition that a transition to continuous reception on the RAT of the first was triggered; and

trigger a transition to discontinuous reception on the RAT of the second type on condition that a transition to discontinuous reception on the RAT of the first type was triggered.