UNLICENSED SPECTRUM OPERATION FOR NARROWBAND INTERNET OF THINGS AND ENHANCED MACHINE TYPE COMMUNICATION

• US 20180070243A1
• Filed: 07/07/2017
• Published: 03/08/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/02/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Liu, Chih-Hao, Yerramalli, Srinivas, Patel, Chirag, Kadous, Tamer, Xu, Hao
• Granted Patent: US 10,542,436 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• 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: H04L 5/14 Two-way operation using the same type of signal, i.e. duplex
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/1469 using time-sharing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/14 Spectrum sharing arrangements between different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/0808 using carrier sensing, e.g. carrier sense multiple access [CSMA]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/28 Discontinuous transmission [DTX]; Discontinuous reception [DRX]

Abstract

Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communication are described. A user equipment (UE) and base station may communicate using narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) techniques or enhanced machine type communication (eMTC) in unlicensed spectrum. The UE may be an eMTC device or another device capable of communication without user direction. The UE may identify a geographic region and select a communication mode that is consistent with regulatory restrictions in that region. For example, in some cases, the communication mode may be based on using time division duplexing (TDD), using frequency hopping, or performing a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure at the base station. A frame structure for TDD may include LBT subframes, uplink portions, downlink portions, and special subframes for switching. The base station may perform LBT procedures in the LBT subframes. If frequency hopping is enabled, a configurable number of TDD frames may be grouped into a hopping frame block.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication, comprising:

identifying one or more narrowband regions of an unlicensed radio frequency spectrum band for communication with a wireless device;

determining a geographic operating region for the wireless device;

selecting a communication mode from a plurality of communication modes for communication in the unlicensed radio frequency spectrum band based at least in part on the geographic operating region for the wireless device, wherein the communication mode comprises at least one of a frequency hopping configuration, a listen-before-talk (LBT) configuration, or a discontinuous transmission (DTX) duty cycle; and

communicating with the wireless device in the one or more narrowband regions of the unlicensed radio frequency spectrum band using the communication mode.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a system information broadcast in the one or more narrowband regions, wherein the communication mode or the geographic operating region is identified based at least in part on the system information broadcast.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting a system information broadcast in the one or more narrowband regions, wherein the system information broadcast identifies the communication mode or the geographic operating region.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication mode is based at least in part on a regulatory restriction of the geographic operating region.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication mode is selected based at least in part on a capability or category of the wireless device.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

transmitting an indication of the capability or category of the wireless device.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the capability or category of the wireless device comprises a narrowband internet of things (NB-IoT) or enhanced machine type communication (eMTC) capability or category.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying a number of frequency hopping channels based at least in part on the communication mode, wherein communicating in the one or more narrowband regions of the unlicensed radio frequency spectrum band is based at least in part on the number of frequency hopping channels.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying a time division duplexing (TDD) frame structure based at least in part on the LBT configuration, wherein communicating in the one or more narrowband regions of the unlicensed radio frequency spectrum band is based at least in part on the TDD frame structure.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the LBT configuration comprises an active LBT configuration, and the TDD frame structure includes at least one LBT gap.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the LBT configuration comprises an inactive LBT configuration, and the TDD frame structure includes a combination of uplink or downlink transmission time intervals (TTIs) and excludes an LBT gap.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein communicating comprises communicating in a first narrowband region of the one or more narrowband regions of the unlicensed radio frequency spectrum band during a first TDD frame having the TDD frame structure, the method further comprising:

communicating in a second narrowband region of the one or more narrowband regions of the unlicensed radio frequency spectrum band during a second TDD frame having the TDD frame structure.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the TDD frame structure comprises a downlink portion and an uplink portion separated by at least one special transmission time interval (TTI).

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying a DTX configuration based at least in part on the DTX duty cycle; and

entering an idle mode based at least in part on the DTX configuration.

15. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

means for identifying one or more narrowband regions of an unlicensed radio frequency spectrum band for communication with a wireless device;

means for determining a geographic operating region for the wireless device;

means for selecting a communication mode from a plurality of communication modes for communication in the unlicensed radio frequency spectrum band based at least in part on the geographic operating region for the wireless device, wherein the communication mode comprises at least one of a frequency hopping configuration, a listen-before-talk (LBT) configuration, or a discontinuous transmission (DTX) duty cycle; and

means for communicating with the wireless device in the one or more narrowband regions of the unlicensed radio frequency spectrum band using the communication mode.

16. An apparatus for wireless communication, in a system comprising:

a processor;

a memory in electronic communication with the processor; and

instructions stored in the memory and operable, when executed by the processor, to cause the apparatus to;

identify one or more narrowband regions of an unlicensed radio frequency spectrum band for communication with a wireless device;

determine a geographic operating region for the wireless device;

select a communication mode from a plurality of communication modes for communication in the unlicensed radio frequency spectrum band based at least in part on the geographic operating region for the wireless device, wherein the communication mode comprises at least one of a frequency hopping configuration, a listen-before-talk (LBT) configuration, or a discontinuous transmission (DTX) duty cycle; and

communicate with the wireless device in the one or more narrowband regions of the unlicensed radio frequency spectrum band using the communication mode.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:

receive a system information broadcast in the one or more narrowband regions; and

identify the communication mode or the geographic operating region based at least in part on the system information broadcast.

18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:

transmit a system information broadcast in the one or more narrowband regions, wherein the system information broadcast identifies the communication mode or the geographic operating region.

19. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the communication mode is based at least in part on a regulatory restriction of the geographic operating region.

20. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the communication mode is selected based at least in part on a capability or category of the wireless device.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:

transmit an indication of the capability or category of the wireless device.

22. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the capability or category of the wireless device comprises a narrowband internet of things (NB-IoT) or enhanced machine type communication (eMTC) capability or category.

23. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:

identify a number of frequency hopping channels based at least in part on the communication mode, wherein communicating in the one or more narrowband regions of the unlicensed radio frequency spectrum band is based at least in part on the number of frequency hopping channels.

24. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:

identify a time division duplexing (TDD) frame structure based at least in part on the LBT configuration, wherein communicating in the one or more narrowband regions of the unlicensed radio frequency spectrum band is based at least in part on the TDD frame structure.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the LBT configuration comprises an active LBT configuration, and the TDD frame structure includes at least one LBT gap.

26. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the LBT configuration comprises an inactive LBT configuration, and the TDD frame structure includes a combination of uplink or downlink transmission time intervals (TTIs) and excludes an LBT gap.

27. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein communicating comprises communicating in a first narrowband region of the one or more narrowband regions of the unlicensed radio frequency spectrum band during a first TDD frame having the TDD frame structure, the instructions further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:

communicate in a second narrowband region of the one or more narrowband regions of the unlicensed radio frequency spectrum band during a second TDD frame having the TDD frame structure.

28. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the TDD frame structure comprises a downlink portion and an uplink portion separated by at least one special transmission time interval (TTI).

29. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:

identify a DTX configuration based at least in part on the DTX duty cycle; and

enter an idle mode based at least in part on the DTX configuration.

30. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing code for wireless communication, the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to:

identify one or more narrowband regions of an unlicensed radio frequency spectrum band for communication with a wireless device;

determine a geographic operating region for the wireless device;

select a communication mode from a plurality of communication modes for communication in the unlicensed radio frequency spectrum band based at least in part on the geographic operating region for the wireless device, wherein the communication mode comprises at least one of a frequency hopping configuration, a listen-before-talk (LBT) configuration, or a discontinuous transmission (DTX) duty cycle; and

communicate with the wireless device in the one or more narrowband regions of the unlicensed radio frequency spectrum band using the communication mode.