RASTER DESIGN FOR NARROWBAND OPERATION FOR MACHINE TYPE COMMUNICATIONS

• US 20170208592A1
• Filed: 12/22/2016
• Published: 07/20/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 01/15/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: WANG, Xiaofeng, FAKOORIAN, Seyed Ali Akbar, WANG, Renqiu, LEI, Jing, RICO ALVARINO, Alberto, GAAL, Peter, CHEN, Wanshi, XU, Hao
• Granted Patent: US 10,278,180 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0044 allocation of payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0048 Allocation of pilot signals, i.e. of signals known to the receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0053 Allocation of signaling, i.e. of overhead other than pilot signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0092 Indication of how the channel is divided
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0453 Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/543 based on requested quality, e.g. QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 Access point devices

Abstract

Aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for design of channel raster for narrowband operation. One example method, performed by a base station, generally includes determining, based on one or more conditions, an exact frequency location of one channel of one or more channels to perform narrowband communications with a user equipment. The method also includes transmitting an indication of the one or more conditions to the user equipment. The method further includes communicating with the UE, based at least in part on the exact frequency location of the one channel.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communications by a base station (BS), comprising:

determining, based on one or more conditions, an exact frequency location of one channel of one or more channels to perform narrowband communications with a user equipment (UE);

transmitting an indication of the one or more conditions to the UE; and

communicating with the UE, based at least in part on the exact frequency location of the one channel.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more conditions comprise whether the exact frequency location coincides with a narrowband available for transmitting a system information block (SIB) for enhanced machine type communication (eMTC).

3. The method of claim 2, wherein a set of narrowbands available for transmitting a SIB for eMTC is reduced by one or more narrowbands available as an anchor channel location for a given operating bandwidth.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more conditions comprise an operating bandwidth of the UE;

and

determining the exact frequency location comprises selecting an anchor channel location for the given operating bandwidth.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein a number of the one or more channels is based on a cell identifier (ID).

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

signaling an indication of the exact frequency location to the UE.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the indication comprises a frequency offset with respect to a frequency grid.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the indication is provided in at least one of a master information block (MIB), a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), or a physical downlink broadcast channel (PBCH).

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more conditions involve a type of deployment for the narrowband communications.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein transmitting the indication of the one or more conditions comprises signaling a number of antenna ports used for cell-specific reference signals (CRSs) to indicate the type of deployment.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

generating one or more bits in a master information block (MIB), wherein the one or more bits indicate an operating bandwidth or a frequency offset with respect to a frequency grid; and

wherein the one or more conditions comprises the one or more bits in the MIB.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein frequency locations of the one or more channels correspond to raster frequency locations, and wherein the raster frequency locations are non-uniformly distributed.

13. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising:

at least one processor configured to;

determine, based on one or more conditions, an exact frequency location of one channel of one or more channels to perform narrowband communications with a user equipment (UE);

transmit an indication of the one or more conditions to the UE; and

communicate with the UE, based at least in part on the exact frequency location of the one channel; and

a memory coupled to the at least one processor.

14. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising:

means for determining, based on one or more conditions, an exact frequency location of one channel of one or more channels to perform narrowband communications with a user equipment (UE);

means for transmitting an indication of the one or more conditions to the UE; and

means for communicating with the UE, based at least in part on the exact frequency location of the one channel.

15. A computer-readable medium for wireless communication by a base station (BS), the computer-readable medium having computer executable code stored thereon, comprising:

code for determining, based on one or more conditions, an exact frequency location of one channel of one or more channels to perform narrowband communications with a user equipment (UE);

code for transmitting an indication of the one or more conditions to the UE; and

code for communicating with the UE, based at least in part on the exact frequency location of the one channel.

16. A method for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), comprising:

performing a cell search in one or more channels;

determining that a cell is present in one channel of the one or more channels;

determining a frequency location of the one channel, a number of antenna ports, and a deployment mode for narrowband communications with a base station of the cell; and

communicating with the base station, based at least in part on the frequency location of the one channel, the number of antenna ports, and the deployment mode.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein determining the frequency location of the one channel, the number of antenna ports, and the deployment mode comprises:

receiving a master information block (MIB);

determining the number of antenna ports based at least in part on a first field in the MIB;

determining the frequency location based at least in part on the first field in the MIB and a second field in the MIB; and

determining the deployment mode based at least in part on the first field in the MIB and the second field in the MIB.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the determining the frequency location of the one channel comprises:

receiving a master information block (MIB);

determining a physical resource block (PRB) position with respect to a center frequency of a wideband cell based on a second field in the MIB; and

determining the frequency location of the one channel based at least in part on the PRB position.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein:

the one channel is located in a narrowband region of wider system bandwidth; and

the method further comprises determining that a cell identifier (ID) for the cell is the same as a cell ID for a wideband cell that uses the wider system bandwidth.

20. The method of claim 16, further comprising receiving an indication that the cell is in unlicensed spectrum.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the indication is received in at least one of a master information block (MIB) or a physical broadcast channel (PBCH).

22. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising:

at least one processor configured to;

perform a cell search in one or more channels;

determine that a cell is present in one channel of the one or more channels;

determine a frequency location of the one channel, a number of antenna ports, and a deployment mode for narrowband communications with a base station of the cell; and

communicate with the base station, based at least in part on the frequency location of the one channel, the number of antenna ports, and the deployment mode; and

a memory coupled to the at least one processor.

23. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising:

means for performing a cell search in one or more channels;

means for determining that a cell is present in one channel of the one or more channels;

means for determining a frequency location of the one channel, a number of antenna ports, and a deployment mode for narrowband communications with a base station of the cell; and

means for communicating with the base station, based at least in part on the frequency location of the one channel, the number of antenna ports, and the deployment mode.

24. A computer-readable medium for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE), the computer-readable medium having computer executable code stored thereon, comprising:

code for performing a cell search in one or more channels;

code for determining that a cell is present in one channel of the one or more channels;

code for determining a frequency location of the one channel, a number of antenna ports, and a deployment mode for narrowband communications with a base station of the cell; and

code for communicating with the base station, based at least in part on the frequency location of the one channel, the number of antenna ports, and the deployment mode.

25. A method for wireless communications by a base station (BS), comprising:

transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), information indicative of a frequency location of a channel of one or more channels, a number of antenna ports, and a deployment mode for narrowband communications with the base station; and

communicating with the UE, based at least in part on the frequency location of the channel, the number of antenna ports, and the deployment mode.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein:

the information is provided in a master information block (MIB);

the number of antenna ports is indicated by at least a first field in the MIB;

the frequency location of the channel is indicated by at least the first field in the MIB and a second field in the MIB; and

the deployment mode is indicated by at least the first field in the MIB and the second field in the MIB.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein:

the information is provided in a master information block (MIB); and

the frequency location of the channel is indicated by a second field in the MIB that indicates a physical resource block (PRB) position with respect to a center frequency of a wideband cell.

28. The method of claim 25, wherein:

the channel of the one or more channels is located in a narrowband region of wider system bandwidth; and

the information indicates whether a cell ID for a cell comprising the BS is the same as a cell ID for a wideband cell that uses the wider system bandwidth.

29. The method of claim 25, further comprising providing an indication that a cell comprising the BS is in unlicensed spectrum.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the indication is provided in at least one of a master information block (MIB) or a physical broadcast channel (PBCH).

31. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising:

at least one processor configured to;

transmit, via at least one antenna, to a user equipment (UE), information indicative of a frequency location of a channel of one or more channels, a number of antenna ports, and a deployment mode for narrowband communications with the apparatus; and

communicate with the UE, based at least in part on the frequency location of the channel, the number of antenna ports, and the deployment mode; and

a memory coupled to the at least one processor.

32. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising:

means for transmitting to a user equipment (UE) information indicative of a frequency location of a channel of one or more channels, a number of antenna ports, and a deployment mode for narrowband communications with the apparatus; and

means for communicating with the UE, based at least in part on the frequency location of the channel, the number of antenna ports, and the deployment mode.

33. A computer-readable medium for wireless communication by a base station (BS), the computer-readable medium having computer executable code stored thereon, comprising:

code for transmitting to a user equipment (UE) information indicative of a frequency location of a channel of one or more channels, a number of antenna ports, and a deployment mode for narrowband communications with the apparatus; and

code for communicating with the UE, based at least in part on the frequency location of the channel, the number of antenna ports, and the deployment mode.