RADIO ACCESS TECHNOLOGY (RAT) AGGREGATION ON A SHARED COMMUNICATION MEDIUM

• US 20170325251A1
• Filed: 05/04/2017
• Published: 11/09/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/06/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: SADEK, Ahmed Kamel
• Granted Patent: US 10,736,125 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/14 Spectrum sharing arrangements between different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/1215 for collaboration of different radio technologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/542 using measured or perceived quality
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/28 Discontinuous transmission [DTX]; Discontinuous reception [DRX]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/042 Public Land Mobile systems, e.g. cellular systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/10 adapted for operation in multiple networks, e.g. multi-mode access points

Abstract

Techniques for managing Radio Access Technology (RAT) aggregation on a shared communication medium are disclosed. Control signaling may be sent, over a shared communication medium to an access terminal, in accordance with a first RAT. Data traffic may be scheduled for transmission to the access terminal based on one or more operating mode criteria for selecting between RATs. The scheduled data traffic may be transmitted, over the shared communication medium to the access terminal, in accordance with a second RAT.

Claims

1. A communication method, comprising:

sending, over a shared communication medium to an access terminal, control signaling in accordance with a first Radio Access Technology (RAT);

scheduling data traffic for transmission to the access terminal based on one or more operating mode criteria for selecting between RATs; and

transmitting, over the shared communication medium to the access terminal, the scheduled data traffic in accordance with a second RAT.

2. The method of claim 1,

wherein the shared communication medium comprises a common set of channels that are utilized by both the first and second RATs, or

wherein the first and second RATs utilize different sets of channels within the shared communication medium.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the control signaling is associated with system discovery, acquisition, authentication, mobility, Radio Resource Management (RRM), paging, Radio Link Failure (RLF), Discontinuous Reception (DRX), or a combination thereof.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more operating mode criteria comprises a signal quality criterion, a traffic Quality of Service (QoS) criterion, a mobility criterion, or a combination thereof.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the scheduling comprises scheduling the data traffic for transmission to the access terminal in accordance with the second RAT based on a signal quality of the access terminal being above a threshold.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the scheduling comprises scheduling the data traffic for transmission to the access terminal in accordance with the second RAT based on a traffic QoS of the access terminal being below a threshold.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the scheduling comprises scheduling the data traffic for transmission to the access terminal in accordance with the second RAT based on a mobility of the access terminal being below a threshold.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending an operating mode identifier to the access terminal to identify utilization of the second RAT for the scheduled data traffic.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the operating mode identifier is sent dynamically as part of a channel reservation message.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the operating mode identifier is sent semi-statically as part of a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, over the shared communication medium, uplink data traffic in accordance with the second RAT, wherein the transmitting and the receiving in accordance with the second RAT are performed in a common time period of a Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) scheme separating first RAT and second RAT traffic.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

scheduling uplink data traffic in accordance with the second RAT over the shared communication medium; and

transmitting downlink data traffic in accordance with the first RAT substantially concurrently with the transmitting in accordance with the second RAT, wherein the transmitting in accordance with the first RAT and the transmitting in accordance with the second RAT are Frequency Division Multiplexed (FDM).

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the transmitting in accordance with the first RAT and the transmitting in accordance with the second RAT correspond to transmissions to the same access terminal.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the transmitting in accordance with the first RAT and the transmitting in accordance with the second RAT correspond to transmissions to different access terminals.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing power control to reduce a transmission power or increase a backoff threshold associated with the transmitting in accordance with the second RAT.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising refraining from transmitting any beacon signals associated with the second RAT.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing an idle, paging, or random access procedure with the access terminal in accordance with the first RAT in response to the access terminal entering an idle mode.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending a Discontinuous Reception (DRX) mode command to the access terminal in accordance with the first RAT or the second RAT.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the DRX mode command is sent via a Medium Access Control (MAC) header Information Element (IE) defined by the second RAT.

20. A communication apparatus, comprising:

a first transceiver configured to send, over a shared communication medium to an access terminal, control signaling in accordance with a first Radio Access Technology (RAT);

at least one processor;

at least one memory coupled to the at least one processor, the at least one processor and the at least one memory being configured to schedule data traffic for transmission to the access terminal based on one or more operating mode criteria for selecting between RATs; and

a second transceiver configured to transmit, over the shared communication medium to the access terminal, the scheduled data traffic in accordance with a second RAT.

21. The apparatus of claim 20,

wherein the shared communication medium comprises a common set of channels that are utilized by both the first and second RATs, or

wherein the first and second RATs utilize different sets of channels within the shared communication medium.

22. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the control signaling is associated with system discovery, acquisition, authentication, mobility, Radio Resource Management (RRM), paging, Radio Link Failure (RLF), Discontinuous Reception (DRX), or a combination thereof.

23. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the one or more operating mode criteria comprises a signal quality criterion, a traffic Quality of Service (QoS) criterion, a mobility criterion, or a combination thereof.

24. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the first transceiver is further configured to send an operating mode identifier to the access terminal to identify utilization of the second RAT for the scheduled data traffic.

25. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the second transceiver is further configured to:

receive, over the shared communication medium, uplink data traffic in accordance with the second RAT; and

perform the transmitting and the receiving in accordance with the second RAT in a common time period of a Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) scheme separating first RAT and second RAT traffic.

26. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the at least one processor and the at least one memory are further configured to perform power control to reduce a transmission power or increase a backoff threshold associated with the second transceiver transmitting in accordance with the second RAT.

27. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the second transceiver is further configured to refrain from transmitting any beacon signals associated with the second RAT.

28. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the first transceiver is further configured to perform an idle, paging, or random access procedure with the access terminal in accordance with the first RAT in response to the access terminal entering an idle mode.

29. A communication apparatus, comprising:

means for sending, over a shared communication medium to an access terminal, control signaling in accordance with a first Radio Access Technology (RAT);

means for scheduling data traffic for transmission to the access terminal based on one or more operating mode criteria for selecting between RATs; and

means for transmitting, over the shared communication medium to the access terminal, the scheduled data traffic in accordance with a second RAT.

30. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising code, which, when executed by at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform operations for communication, the non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising:

code for sending, over a shared communication medium to an access terminal, control signaling in accordance with a first Radio Access Technology (RAT);

code for scheduling data traffic for transmission to the access terminal based on one or more operating mode criteria for selecting between RATs; and

code for transmitting, over the shared communication medium to the access terminal, the scheduled data traffic in accordance with a second RAT.