Network Architecture, Methods, and Devices for a Wireless Communications Network

• US 20170331670A1
• Filed: 05/13/2016
• Published: 11/16/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/13/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Original Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Inventors: Parkvall, Stefan, Peisa, Janne, Mildh, Gunnar, Baldemair, Robert, Wager, Stefan, Kronander, Jonas, Werner, Karl, Abrahamsson, Richard, Aktas, Ismet, Alriksson, Peter, Ansari, Junaid, Ashraf, Shehzad Ali, Asplund, Henrik, Athley, Fredrik, Axelsson, Hkan, Axmon, Joakim, Axns, Johan, Balachandran, Kumar, Bark, Gunnar, Berg, Jan-Erik, Bergstrm, Andreas, Bjrkegren, Hkan, Brahmi, Nadia, Capar, Cagatay, Carlsson, Anders, Cedergren, Andreas, Coldrey, Mikael, da Silva, Icaro L. J., Dahlman, Erik, El Essaili, Ali, Engstrm, Ulrika, Ericson, Mrten, Eriksson, Erik, Fallgren, Mikael, Fan, Rui, Fodor, Gabor, Frenger, Pl, Fridn, Jonas, Frberg Olsson, Jonas, Furuskr, Anders, Furuskog, Johan, Garcia, Virgile, Gattami, Ather, Gunnarsson, Fredrik, Gustavsson, Ulf, Hagerman, Bo, Harrysson, Fredrik, He, Ning, Hessler, Martin, Hiltunen, Kimmo, Hong, Songnam, Hui, Dennis, Huschke, Jrg, Irnich, Tim, Jacobsson, Sven, Jaldn, Niklas, Jrmyr, Simon, Jiang, Zhiyuan, Johansson, Martin, Johansson, Niklas, Kang, Du Ho, Karipidis, Eleftherios, Karlsson, Patrik, Khayrallah, Ali S., Kilinc, Caner, Klang, Gran N., Landstrm, Sara, Larsson, Christina, Li, Gen, Lincoln, Bo, Lindbom, Lars, Lindgren, Robert, Lindoff, Bengt, Lindqvist, Fredrik, Liu, Jinhua, Lohmar, Thorsten, Lu, Qianxi, Manholm, Lars, Maric, Ivana, Medbo, Jonas, Miao, Qingyu, Moosavi, Reza, Mller, Walter, Myhre, Elena, Nilsson, Johan, Norrman, Karl, Olsson, Bengt-Erik, Palenius, Torgny, Petersson, Sven, Pradas, Jose Luis, Prytz, Mikael, Queseth, Olav, Ramachandra, Pradeepa, Ramos, Edgar, Reial, Andres, Rimhagen, Thomas, Ringh, Emil, Rugeland, Patrik, Rune, Johan, Sachs, Joachim, Sahlin, Henrik, Saxena, Vidit, Seifi, Nima, Seln, Yngve, Semaan, Eliane, Sharma, Sachin, Shi, Cong, Skld, Johan, Stattin, Magnus, Stjernman, Anders, Sundman, Dennis, Sundstrm, Lars, Tercero Vargas, Miurel Isabel, Tidestav, Claes, Tombaz, Sibel, Torsner, Johan, Tullberg, Hugo, Vikberg, Jari, Von Wrycza, Peter, Walldeen, Thomas, Walln, Anders, Wallentin, Pontus, Wang, Hai, Wang Helmersson, Ke, Wang, Jianfeng, Wang, Yi-Pin Eric, Wiberg, Niclas, Wittenmark, Emma, Yilmaz, Osman Nuri Can, Zaidi, Ali, Zhang, Zhan, Zhang, Zhang, Zheng, Yanli
• Granted Patent: US 10,367,677 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0617 for beam forming
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0626 Channel coefficients, e.g. channel state information [CSI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0695 using beam selection
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 11/0056 Inter-base station aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 11/0059 Out-of-cell user aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 11/0079 Acquisition of downlink reference signals, e.g. detection of cell-ID
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0041 Arrangements at the transmitter end
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0057 Block codes H04L1/0061, H04L1/0064 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/08 by repeating transmission, e.g. Verdan system H04L1/1858 and H04L1/189 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1614 using bitmaps
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1671 the supervisory signal being transmitted together with control information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1685 the supervisory signal being transmitted in response to a specific request, e.g. to a polling signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1819 with retransmission of additional or different redundancy
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1822 involving configuration of automatic repeat request [ARQ] with parallel processes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1825 Adaptation of specific ARQ protocol parameters according to transmission conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1845 Combining techniques, e.g. code combining
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1854 Scheduling and prioritising arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/188 Time-out mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2001/0097 Relays
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0233 Object-oriented techniques, for representation of network management data, e.g. common object request broker architecture [CORBA]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0816 : the condition being an adaptation, e.g. in response to network events
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/28 : using beam steering
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/10 : Scheduling measurement reports ; Arrangements for measurement reports
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0221 : power availability or consumption
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0229 : where the received signal is a wanted signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0245 : according to signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0251 : using monitoring of local events, e.g. events related to user activity
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0274 : by switching on or off the equipment or parts thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/028 : switching on or off only a part of the equipment circuit blocks
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/00 : Reducing energy consumption in communication networks
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 : in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Methods and apparatus in a fifth-generation wireless communications network, including an example method, in a wireless device, that includes determining a reporting quality threshold for a parameter related to channel state information (CSI); performing a measurement for each of a plurality of beams from a first predetermined set of beams for evaluation; evaluating the measurement for each of the plurality of beams against the reporting quality threshold; discontinuing the performing and evaluating of measurements in response to determining that the reporting quality threshold is met for one of the beams, such that one or more beams in the first predetermined set of beams are not measured and evaluated; and reporting, to the wireless communications network, CSI for the one of the beams.

Claims

1-67. -67. (canceled)

68. A method, in a user equipment (UE), for operating in a wireless communications network, the method comprising:

operating in a dormant mode, wherein operating in the dormant mode comprises intermittently activating receiver circuitry to scan for synchronization signals and/or system information signals; and

while scanning for synchronization signals and/or system information signals;

performing a measurement on each of a plurality of resources from a predetermined set of resources or demodulating and decoding information from each of a plurality of resources from a predetermined set of resources, where the resources in the predetermined set of resources are each defined by one or more of a beam, a timing, and a frequency;

evaluating the measurement or the demodulated and decoded information for each of the plurality of resources against a predetermined criterion;

discontinuing the performing and evaluating of measurements or discontinuing the demodulating and decoding and evaluation of information, in response to determining that the predetermined criterion is met for one of the resources, such that one or more resources in the predetermined set of resources are not measured or demodulated and decoded; and

deactivating the activated receiver circuitry, further in response to determining that the predetermined criterion is met for one of the resources;

wherein the method further comprises;

receiving, in a first subframe, a first Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) transmission formatted according to a first numerology; and

receiving, in a second subframe, a second OFDM transmission formatted according to a second numerology, the second numerology differing from the first numerology.

69. The method of claim 68, wherein the method comprises operating in the dormant mode for one or more first intervals and operating in a connected mode for one or more second intervals, and wherein said operating in the dormant mode further comprises:

monitoring signals carrying tracking area identifiers;

comparing tracking area identifiers received during said monitoring with a tracking area identifier list; and

notifying the wireless communication network in response to determining that a received tracking area identifier is not on said list but otherwise refraining from notifying the wireless communication network in response to receiving changing tracking area identifiers.

70. The method of claim 68, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving a downlink signal comprising an uplink access configuration index;

using the uplink access configuration index to identify an uplink access configuration from among a predetermined plurality of uplink access configurations;

and transmitting to the wireless communications network according to the identified uplink access configuration.

71. The method of claim 68, wherein the first numerology has a first subcarrier spacing and the second numerology has a second subcarrier spacing, the first subcarrier spacing differing from the second subcarrier spacing.

72. The method of claim 68, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving and processing first Layer 2 data on a first physical data channel, wherein the receiving and processing of the first Layer 2 data comprises the use of soft HARQ combining; and

receiving and processing second Layer 2 data on a second physical data channel, wherein the receiving and processing of the second Layer 2 data comprises no soft HARQ combining.

99. The method of claim 68, wherein the first and second downlink subframes are received on the same carrier frequency.

100. The method of claim 68, wherein subframes of the first and second numerologies comprise first and second predetermined numbers of OFDM symbols, respectively.

101. The method of claim 68, wherein at least one of the first and second numerologies comprises subframes having a length of 250 microseconds or less.

105. The method of claim 68, further comprising:

receiving a downlink signal comprising an uplink access configuration index, using the uplink access configuration index to identify an uplink access configuration from among a predetermined plurality of uplink access configurations, and transmitting to the wireless communications network according to the identified uplink access configuration.

73-86. -86. (canceled)

87. A user equipment (UE), comprising radio-frequency circuitry and a processing circuit operatively connected to the radio-frequency circuitry and configured to:

operate in a dormant mode, wherein operating in the dormant mode comprises intermittently activating receiver circuitry to scan for synchronization signals and/or system information signals; and

while scanning for synchronization signals and/or system information signals;

perform a measurement on each of a plurality of resources from a predetermined set of resources or demodulate and decode information from each of a plurality of resources from a predetermined set of resources, where the resources in the predetermined set of resources are each defined by one or more of a beam, a timing, and a frequency;

evaluate the measurement or the demodulated and decoded information for each of the plurality of resources against a predetermined criterion;

discontinue the performing and evaluating of measurements or discontinuing the demodulating and decoding and evaluation of information, in response to determining that the predetermined criterion is met for one of the resources, such that one or more resources in the predetermined set of resources are not measured or demodulated and decoded; and

deactivate the activated receiver circuitry, further in response to determining that the predetermined criterion is met for one of the resources;

wherein the processing circuit is further configured to use the radio-frequency circuit to;

receive, in a first subframe, a first Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) transmission formatted according to a first numerology; and

receive, in a second subframe, a second OFDM transmission formatted according to a second numerology, the second numerology differing from the first numerology.

88. The UE of claim 87, wherein the processing circuit is configured to operate in the dormant mode for one or more first intervals and to operate in a connected mode for one or more second intervals, and wherein said operating in the dormant mode further comprises:

monitoring signals carrying tracking area identifiers;

comparing tracking area identifiers received during said monitoring with a tracking area identifier list; and

notifying the wireless communication network in response to determining that a received tracking area identifier is not on said list but otherwise refraining from notifying the wireless communication network in response to receiving changing tracking area identifiers.

89. The UE of claim 87, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

receive a downlink signal comprising an uplink access configuration index;

use the uplink access configuration index to identify an uplink access configuration from among a predetermined plurality of uplink access configurations; and

transmit to the wireless communications network according to the identified uplink access configuration.

90. The UE of claim 87, wherein the first numerology has a first subcarrier spacing and the second numerology has a second subcarrier spacing, the first subcarrier spacing differing from the second subcarrier spacing.

91. The UE of claim 87, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

receive and process first Layer 2 data on a first physical data channel, wherein the receiving and processing of the first Layer 2 data comprises the use of soft HARQ combining; and

receive and process second Layer 2 data on a second physical data channel, wherein the receiving and processing of the second Layer 2 data comprises no soft HARQ combining.

102. The UE of claim 87, wherein the first and second downlink subframes are received on the same carrier frequency.

103. The UE of claim 87, wherein subframes of the first and second numerologies comprise first and second predetermined numbers of OFDM symbols, respectively.

104. The UE of claim 87, wherein at least one of the first and second numerologies comprises subframes having a length of 250 microseconds or less.

92-97. -97. (canceled)

98. A user equipment (UE) for operating in a wireless communications network, said UE comprising:

one or more antennas configured to send and receive wireless signals;

processing circuitry;

radio front-end circuitry connected to the antenna and to the processing circuitry, and configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna and the processing circuitry;

an input interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to allow input of information into the UE to be processed by the processing circuitry;

an output interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to output information from the UE that has been processed by the processing circuitry; and

a battery connected to the processing circuitry and configured to supply power to the UE;

the processing circuitry being configured to;

operate in a dormant mode, wherein operating in the dormant mode comprises intermittently activating receiver circuitry to scan for synchronization signals and/or system information signals; and

while scanning for synchronization signals and/or system information signals;

perform a measurement on each of a plurality of resources from a predetermined set of resources or demodulate and decode information from each of a plurality of resources from a predetermined set of resources, where the resources in the predetermined set of resources are each defined by one or more of a beam, a timing, and a frequency;

evaluate the measurement or the demodulated and decoded information for each of the plurality of resources against a predetermined criterion;

discontinue the performing and evaluating of measurements or discontinuing the demodulating and decoding and evaluation of information, in response to determining that the predetermined criterion is met for one of the resources, such that one or more resources in the predetermined set of resources are not measured or demodulated and decoded; and

deactivate the activated receiver circuitry, further in response to determining that the predetermined criterion is met for one of the resources;

wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to;

receive, in a first subframe, a first Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) transmission formatted according to a first numerology; and

receive, in a second subframe, a second OFDM transmission formatted according to a second numerology, the second numerology differing from the first numerology.