RESOURCE SELECTION IN DEVICE TO DEVICE COMMUNICATION

• US 20160234855A1
• Filed: 09/26/2014
• Published: 08/11/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Intel IP Corporation (Intel Corporation)
• Inventors: Panteleev, Sergey, Shilov, Mikhail, Khoryaev, Alexey, Chatterjee, Debdeep
• Granted Patent: US 10,142,999 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/17 Detection of non-compliance or faulty performance, e.g. response deviations H04B17/18 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/318 Received signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0413 MIMO systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 3/1694 Allocation of channels in TDM/TDMA networks, e.g. distributed multiplexers Passive Optical Networks H04Q11/0062
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0007 the frequencies being orthogonal, e.g. OFDM(A), DMT
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/001 the frequencies being arranged in component carriers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0098 Signalling of the activation or deactivation of component carriers, subcarriers or frequency bands
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/10 Scheduling measurement reports ; Arrangements for measurement reports
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0215 based on user or device properties, e.g. MTC-capable devices services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC] H04W4/70; wireless resource selection or allocation plan definition based on terminal or device properties H04W72/51
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/08 Load balancing or load distribution transferring a connection for handling the traffic H04W36/22; wireless traffic scheduling H04W72/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0069 in case of dual connectivity, e.g. decoupled uplink/downlink
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/00692 using simultaneous multiple data streams, e.g. cooperative multipoint [CoMP], carrier aggregation [CA] or multiple input multiple output [MIMO] allocation of physical resources in CoMP or in CA H04L5/0035
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/305 Handover due to radio link failure control signalling for hand-off failure H04W36/0079
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/50 Service provisioning or reconfiguring
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/60 Subscription-based services using application servers or record carriers, e.g. SIM application toolkits
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/06 based on traffic conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/08 : Access restriction or access information delivery, e.g. discovery data delivery signalling during connection H04W76/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/12 : using downlink control channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/18 : Selecting a network or a communication service
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/346 : distributing total power among users or channels
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 56/001 : Synchronization between nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 56/002 : Mutual synchronization
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 60/00 : Affiliation to network, e.g. registration; Terminating affiliation with the network, e.g. de-registration
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 60/02 : by periodical registration
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0453 : Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/51 : based on terminal or device properties
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/52 : based on load
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/542 : using measured or perceived quality
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/56 : based on priority criteria
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/004 : in the uplink, i.e. towards network
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/0833 : Random access procedures, e.g. with 4-step access
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 : Connection setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 : Direct-mode setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/15 : Setup of multiple wireless link connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/18 : Management of setup rejection or failure
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/19 : Connection re-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 : Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/04 : Registration at HLR or HSS [Home Subscriber Server]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/06 : Registration at serving network Location Register, VLR or user mobility server
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/183 : Processing at user equipment or user record carrier
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 : WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 : Terminal devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 : Access point devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/16 : Gateway arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/18 : Service support devices; Network management devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/20 : between access points
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 : in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A wireless communication device is configured to perform resource allocation of device-to-device (D2D) communication in a UE. Synchronization establishing circuitry is provided to acquire radio resource synchronization and to establish a time-frequency resource grid having resource units allocation to a D2D communication. Signal metric evaluation circuitry is provided to evaluate resource unit(s) of a received signal using a signal metric when the time-frequency resource grid has been established. Radio resource selection circuitry is provided to select a time resource of the time-frequency resource grid for allocation to a D2D communication depending upon a result of the resource unit evaluation. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.

Claims

1. Device-to-device, D2D, communication circuitry, for use in a device of a wireless communication network, the device being configured to transmit and receive device-to-device communications, the circuitry comprising:

synchronization establishing circuitry configured to acquire radio resource synchronization and to establish a time-frequency resource grid for a D2D communication, the time-frequency resource grid having a plurality of resource units for allocation to a D2D connection;

signal metric evaluation circuitry configured to evaluate at least one resource unit of a received signal using a signal metric when the time-frequency resource grid has been established; and

radio resource selection circuitry configured to select a time resource of the time-frequency resource grid for allocation to a D2D communication depending upon a result of the resource unit evaluation.

2. The device-to-device communication circuitry of claim 1, wherein the radio resource selection circuitry selects a subset of resource units of the resource grid as candidate transmission resource units by one of:

(i) selecting a predetermined number of resource units of the resource grid having a lowest value of the signal metric; and

(ii) selecting all resource units of the resource grid having a signal metric value less than a predetermined threshold.

3. The device-to-device communication circuitry of claim 2, wherein the radio resource selection circuitry is configured to select a resource unit for allocation to the D2D communication from the subset comprising the candidate transmission resource units.

4. The device-to-device communication circuitry of claim 1, wherein the radio resource selection circuitry is configured to use the resource unit evaluation to determine if a transmitter of the received signal corresponding to the at least one resource unit has a transmission range that partially overlaps a transmission range of a device containing the device-to-device communication circuitry.

5. The device-to-device communication circuitry of claim 1, wherein the radio resource selection circuitry is configured to use the resource unit evaluation to determine if a transmitter of the received signal corresponding to the at least one resource unit is located in close proximity to a device containing the device-to-device communication circuitry.

6. The device-to-device communication circuitry of claim 1, wherein the radio resource selection circuitry is configured to select the time resource by processing the signal metric for the evaluated resource unit(s) by performing a comparison of the signal metric against at least one of an upper threshold value and a lower threshold value.

7. The device-to-device communication circuitry of claim 6, wherein the radio resource selection circuitry is configured to select the time resource by selecting from at least a subset of time resources of the time-frequency resource grid currently available for allocation to a new D2D transmission, the time resource being selected to have the fewest constituent resource units for which the signal metric is evaluated to lie between the lower threshold value and the upper threshold value.

8. The device-to-device communication circuitry of claim 6, wherein the threshold value(s) are one of:

configured by an eNB;

configured by a cluster head UE; and

autonomously calculated by a device containing the device-to-device communication circuitry.

9. The device-to-device communication circuitry of claim 1, wherein the radio resource selection circuitry is configured to select a frequency sub-channel corresponding to the selected time resource by performing one of:

a random selection of a time-frequency resource unit corresponding to the selected time resource; and

selection of a time-frequency resource unit within the selected time resource based upon the corresponding signal metric value.

10. The device-to-device communication circuitry of claim 1, wherein the signal metric evaluation circuitry is configured to calculate the signal metric based on energy measurements from at least one antenna of the device.

11. The device-to-device communication circuitry of claim 1, wherein the time-frequency resource grid has a periodic structure and wherein the time resource selection is based on a signal metric evaluation in a measurement period and wherein the radio resource selection circuitry is configured to allocate to the D2D communication a time resource having a corresponding position to the selected time resource in the time resource grid in a period subsequent to the measurement period.

12. The device-to-device communication circuitry of claim 11, wherein the period is an LTE radio frame and the resource unit comprises at least one LTE physical resource block.

14. The device-to-device communication circuitry of claim 1, wherein the signal metric comprises at least one of received signal power, received signal quality and received signal strength, taken jointly and severally in any and all combinations.

15. The device-to-device communication circuitry of claim 1, wherein the device comprises one of:

a UE, a picocell, a femtocell and a relay node.

13. (canceled)

16. A method of performing resource allocation for peer-to-peer communication between wireless equipment at the same hierarchical level of a wireless communication network, the method being performed by a wireless equipment and comprising:

acquiring synchronization for D2D transmission and configuring an N by M time-frequency resource structure comprising N frequency sub-channels having a fixed sub-channel bandwidth by M time units having a fixed duration, the structure having M*N time-frequency resource entities, where M and N are integers greater than or equal to one;

measuring for at least a subset of resource entities of the time-frequency resource structure, a signal characteristic of a signal received in the corresponding resource entity; and

selecting one of the M time units of the time-frequency resource structure as a preferred time unit for allocation to a forthcoming D2D transmission by the wireless equipment, based upon an analysis of the signal characteristics of the at least a subset of the resource entities, the analysis providing an estimate of a proximity of a transmitter of the corresponding received signal to the wireless equipment performing the resource allocation.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the measuring of the signal characteristic comprises applying at least one threshold value to estimate the proximity of the transmitter of the signal received in the corresponding resource entity.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the signal characteristic is one of a signal power measurement, a signal strength measurement and a signal quality measurement and wherein the at least one threshold value comprises an upper threshold P_HT and wherein when the measured signal characteristic lies above the upper threshold P_HT, a transmitter of the received signal is assumed to be close enough to have a substantially overlapping transmission range with the wireless equipment.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the at least one threshold value comprises a lower threshold value P_LT and wherein when the measured signal characteristic has a value up to the lower threshold value, a transmitter of the received signal is assumed to be far enough from the wireless equipment to have a substantially non-overlapping transmission range with the wireless equipment.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the signal measurement analysis comprises counting a number NT of resource entities within a given time unit having a signal characteristic P_i such that P_LT<

P_i<

P_HT and wherein the time unit selected as being preferred for allocation to a D2D transmission depends upon NT.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the selected time unit is a time unit that minimizes NT.

22. The method of claim 16, comprising selecting for allocation to the D2D transmission a resource entity by selecting a frequency sub-channel within the selected time unit of the time-frequency resource structure by one of:

random selection and depending upon the signal characteristic for the corresponding resource entity.

23-25. -25. (canceled)

26. Device-to-device communication circuitry, for use in a UE of a wireless communication network, the circuitry comprising:

means for establishing synchronization configured to acquire radio resource synchronization and to establish a time-frequency resource grid for a D2D communication, the time-frequency resource grid having a plurality of resource units for allocation to a D2D connection;

means for evaluating at least one resource unit of a received signal using a signal metric when the time-frequency resource grid has been established; and

means for selecting a time resource of the time-frequency resource grid for allocation to a D2D communication depending upon a result of the resource unit evaluation.

27. The device-to-device communication circuitry of claim 26, wherein the means for selecting the time resource is configured to select for allocation to the D2D communication a frequency resource lying within the selected time resource.

28-29. -29. (canceled)