METHOD FOR OPERATING A USER EQUIPMENT IN A WIRELESS RADIO NETWORK

• US 20160316385A1
• Filed: 11/19/2014
• Published: 10/27/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/19/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Larsson, Bo, Ying, Zhinong, Ljung, Rickard, Karlsson, Peter, Bengtsson, Erik, Plicanic Samuelsson, Vanja
• Granted Patent: US 10,390,243 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/15 Active relay systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0088 Scheduling hand-off measurements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/04 adapted for relaying to or from another terminal or user

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method (300) for operating a user equipment (106) in a wireless radio network (100). The wireless radio network (100) comprises a base station (101) and at least one node (105) configured to relay communication data between the user equipment (106) and the base station (101). According to the method, a relayed communication state is determined (301) and a measurement of characteristics of further direct radio transmission links between the user equipment (106) and the wireless radio network (100) is initiated (302) depending on the relayed communication state.

Claims

1. A method for operating a user equipment in a wireless radio network, the wireless radio network comprising a base station and at least one node, the at least one node being configured to relay communication data between the user equipment and the base station, wherein the user equipment is configured to communicate directly with one node of the at least one node via a corresponding direct radio transmission link, the method comprising:

determining a relayed communication state, the relayed communication state indicating that the user equipment is communicating with the one node via the direct radio transmission link and that communication data of the user equipment is relayed via the one node, and

initiating a measurement of characteristics of a further direct radio transmission link between the user equipment and the wireless radio network depending on the relayed communication state.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the further direct radio transmission link comprises at least one of:

a direct radio transmission link between the user equipment and a further base station of the wireless radio network, and

a direct radio transmission link between the user equipment and a further node configured to relay communication data of the user equipment.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein initiating the measurement comprises:

providing by the wireless radio network a measurement gap for the measurement depending on the relayed communication state, and

requesting the user equipment to report the characteristics of the further direct radio transmission depending on the relayed communication state.

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

providing by the wireless radio network a measurement gap for the measurement independently from the relayed communication state,

wherein initiating the measurement comprises;

measuring the characteristics of the further direct radio transmission link periodically depending on the relayed communication state.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein initiating the measurement comprises:

depending on the relayed communication state, reporting from the user equipment to the radio access network a degraded transmission quality independently from an actual transmission quality.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising depending on the relayed communication state:

measuring the characteristics of the further direct radio transmission link,

comparing the measured characteristics with a threshold, and

reporting the measured characteristics depending on the comparison.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the threshold comprises at least one of a group consisting of:

a predetermined received signal strength value,

a predetermined symbol error rate value,

a predetermined time period value,

a received signal strength value derived from a received signal strength of the direct radio communication between the user equipment and the one node,

a symbol error rate value derived from a symbol error rate of the direct radio communication between the user equipment and the one node, and

a detection of a new cell.

8. The method according to claim 6, further comprising:

transmitting the threshold from the wireless radio network to the user equipment.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the characteristics of the further direct radio transmission link comprises at least one of a group consisting of:

a received signal strength, and

a symbol error rate.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one node comprises a further user equipment.

12. A user equipment for a wireless radio network, the wireless radio network comprising a base station and at least one node, the at least one node being configured to relay communication data between the user equipment and the base station, the user equipment comprising:

a wireless radio interface for communicating wirelessly with one node of the at least one node via a corresponding direct radio transmission link, and

a processing device configured

to determine a relayed communication state, the relayed communication state indicating that the user equipment is communicating with the one node via the direct radio transmission link and that communication data of the user equipment is relayed via the one node, and

to initiate a measurement of characteristics of a further direct radio transmission link between the user equipment and the wireless radio network depending on the relayed communication state,

wherein the user equipment is configured to perform the method according to claim 1.

15. A base station for a wireless radio network, the wireless radio network comprising the base station and at least one node, the at least one node being configured to relay communication data between a user equipment and the base station, wherein the user equipment is configured to communicate directly with one node of the at least one node via a corresponding direct radio transmission link, the base station comprising:

a wireless radio interface for communicating wirelessly with at least one of the user equipment and the at least one node via a direct radio transmission link, and

a processing device configured

to determine a relayed communication state, the relayed communication state indicating that the user equipment is communicating with the one node via the direct radio transmission link and that communication data of the user equipment is relayed via the one node, and

to initiate a measurement of characteristics of a further direct radio transmission link between the user equipment and the wireless radio network depending on the relayed communication state,

wherein the base station is configured to perform the method according to claim 1.

11. A user equipment for a wireless radio network, the wireless radio network comprising a base station and at least one node, the at least one node being configured to relay communication data between the user equipment and the base station, the user equipment comprising:

a wireless radio interface for communicating wirelessly with one node of the at least one node via a corresponding direct radio transmission link, and

a processing device configured

to determine a relayed communication state, the relayed communication state indicating that the user equipment is communicating with the one node via the direct radio transmission link and that communication data of the user equipment is relayed via the one node (105), and

to initiate a measurement of characteristics of a further direct radio transmission link between the user equipment and the wireless radio network depending on the relayed communication state.

13. The user equipment according to claim 11, wherein the user equipment comprises at least one mobile device from a group consisting of a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant, a tablet computer, and a mobile computer.

14. A base station for a wireless radio network, the wireless radio network comprising the base station and at least one node, the at least one node being configured to relay communication data between a user equipment and the base station, wherein the user equipment is configured to communicate directly with one node of the at least one node via a corresponding direct radio transmission link, the base station comprising:

a wireless radio interface for communicating wirelessly with at least one of the user equipment and the at least one node via a direct radio transmission link, and

a processing device configured

to determine a relayed communication state, the relayed communication state indicating that the user equipment is communicating with the one node (105) via the direct radio transmission link and that communication data of the user equipment (106) is relayed via the one node, and

to initiate a measurement of characteristics of a further direct radio transmission link between the user equipment and the wireless radio network depending on the relayed communication state.