SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR RADIO RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

• US 20180070256A1
• Filed: 12/02/2016
• Published: 03/08/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/02/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Damnjanovic, Aleksandar, Montojo, Juan
• Granted Patent: US 10,200,906 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/10 Dynamic resource partitioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/10 Scheduling measurement reports ; Arrangements for measurement reports
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/27 between access points
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/541 using the level of interference
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/04 adapted for relaying to or from another terminal or user
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/20 between access points

Abstract

Systems and methods providing radio resource management (RRM) to facilitate the co-existence of the neighboring cells, such as to manage radio resources for deployments utilizing a same frequency or overlapping frequencies, using discovery signal transmission are disclosed. Discovery signal transmission may be used to enable network elements of a wireless communication system to discover other network elements of the wireless communication system, whether such other network elements are operating with respect to a cell of a same or different operator. Transmission of discovery signals may be utilized to. detect situations of dominant interference, whereby the network elements of neighboring cells may provide protected resources for each other. The protected resources may comprise particular frequencies, time slots, channels, etc.

Claims

1. A method for providing radio resource management in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:

monitoring, by one or more network elements associated with a first cell, for transmission of a discovery signal from network elements associated with a second cell;

determining one or more protected resources when a discovery signal is detected; and

provisioning the one or more protected resources to avoid an instance of dominant interference by at least one network element associated with the first cell with respect to wireless communications in the second cell based at least in part upon the discovery signal detected.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more network elements associated with the first cell monitoring for transmission of the discovery signal comprise a base station, and wherein the provisioning the one or more protected resources is performed by the base station.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more network elements associated with the first cell monitoring for transmission of the discovery signal further comprise a user equipment (UE).

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

receiving, by the base station from a user equipment (UE) associated with the first cell, report of detecting transmission of a discovery signal from a network element associated with the second cell, wherein the provisioning the one or more protected resources based at least in part upon the discovery signal detected is based at least in part upon information provided by the report.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

configuring, by the base station, the UE for monitoring for transmission of the discovery signal and reporting detecting transmission of the discovery signal.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

determining the instance of dominant interference from information provided by the report.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the network element associated with the second cell comprises a UE served by a base station of the second cell.

8. The method of claim 4, wherein the network element associated with the second cell comprises a base station serving one or more UEs associated with the second cell.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

analyzing a detected discovery signal to identify a portion of resources shared by the first and second cells for determining the one or more protected resources and providing protection with respect to the second cell.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining one or more protected resources comprises:

accessing a database using information associated using a detected discovery signal to identify a portion of resources shared by the first and second cells for determining the one or more protected resources and providing protection with respect to the second cell.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon for providing radio resource management in a wireless communication system, the program code comprising:

program code for causing one or more computers to;

monitor, by one or more network elements associated with a first cell, for transmission of a discovery signal from network elements associated with a second cell;

determine one or more protected resources when a discovery signal is detected; and

provision the one or more protected resources to avoid an instance of dominant interference by at least one network element associated with the first cell with respect to wireless communications in the second cell based at least in part upon the discovery signal detected.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the one or more network elements associated with the first cell monitoring for transmission of the discovery signal comprise a base station, and wherein the program code for causing one or more computers to provision the one or more protected resources causes the base station to provision the one or more protected resources.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the program code further comprises program code for causing one or more computers to:

analyze a detected discovery signal to identify a portion of resources shared by the first and second cells for determining the one or more protected resources and providing protection with respect to the second cell.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the program code further comprises program code for causing the one or more computers to:

access a database using information associated with the discovery signal detected to identify a portion of resources shared by the first and second cells for determining the one or more protected resources and providing protection with respect to the second cell.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the program code further comprises program code for causing one or more computers to:

receive, by the base station from a user equipment (UE) associated with the first cell, report of detecting transmission of a discovery signal from a network element associated with the second cell, wherein the program code for causing one or more computers to provision the one or more protected resources based at least in part upon the discovery signal detected causes the one or more computers to provision the one or more protected resources based at least in part upon information provided by the report.

16. An apparatus for providing radio resource management in a wireless communication system, the apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

a memory coupled to the at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is configured;

to monitor, by one or more network elements associated with a first cell, for transmission of a discovery signal from network elements associated with a second cell;

to determine one or more protected resources when a discovery signal is detected; and

to provision the one or more protected resources to avoid an instance of dominant interference by at least one network element associated with the first cell with respect to wireless communications in the second cell based at least in part upon the discovery signal detected.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the one or more network elements associated with the first cell monitoring for transmission of the discovery signal comprise a base station, and wherein the base station is operable to provision the one or more protected resources.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the one or more network elements associated with the first cell monitoring for transmission of the discovery signal further comprise a user equipment (UE).

19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the at least one processor is further configured:

to receive, by the base station from a user equipment (UE) associated with the first cell, report of detecting transmission of a discovery signal from a network element associated with the second cell, wherein the at least one processor configured to provision the one or more protected resources based at least in part upon the discovery signal detected is configured to provision the one or more protected resources based at least in part upon information provided by the report.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the at least one processor is further configured:

to configure, by the base station, the UE for monitoring for transmission of the discovery signal and reporting detecting transmission of the discovery signal.

21. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the at least one processor is further configured:

to determine the instance of dominant interference from information provided by the report.

22. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the network element associated with the second cell comprises a UE served by a base station of the second cell.

23. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the network element associated with the second cell comprises a base station serving one or more UEs associated with the second cell.

24. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the at least one processor is further configured:

to analyze a discovery signal detected to identify a portion of resources shared by the first and second cells for determining the one or more protected resources and providing protection with respect to the second cell.

25. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the at least one processor is further configured:

to access a database using information associated with the discovery signal detected to identify a portion of resources shared by the first and second cells for determining the one or more protected resources and providing protection with respect to the second cell.

26. A method for providing information for radio resource management in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:

monitoring, by one or more user equipments (UEs) associated with a first cell, for transmission of a discovery signal from network elements associated with a second cell; and

reporting, by the one or more UEs, detecting transmission of a discovery signal from a network element associated with the second cell, wherein the reporting provides information for facilitating provisioning one or more protected resources to avoid an instance of dominant interference by the one or more UEs associated with the first cell with respect to wireless communications in the second cell.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

receiving, by the one or more UEs, provisioning of one or more protected resources to avoid the instance of dominant interference by the one or more UEs, wherein the provisioning of the one or more protected resources is based at least in part upon the information reported by the one or more UEs.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein the information reported by the one or more UEs comprises information selected from the group consisting of discovery signal identity information, signal strength information for the discovery signal, and timing offset information for the discovery signal.

29. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

receiving, by the one or more UEs, configuration information from a base station of the first cell operable to configure the one or more UEs for monitoring for transmission of the discovery signal and reporting detecting transmission of the discovery signal.

30. The method of claim 26, wherein the network element associated with the second cell comprises a base station serving one or more UEs associated with the second cell.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein each UE associated with the second cell transmits a same sequence as the discovery signal.

32. The method of claim 26, wherein the network element associated with the second cell comprises a UE served by a base station of the second cell.

33. The method of claim 26, wherein the protected resources comprise a portion of resources shared by the first and second cells identified for providing protection with respect to the second cell.

34. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon for providing information for radio resource management in a wireless communication system, the program code comprising:

program code for causing one or more computers to;

monitor, by one or more user equipments (UEs) associated with a first cell, for transmission of a discovery signal from network elements associated with a second cell; and

report, by the one or more UEs, detecting transmission of a discovery signal from a network element associated with the second cell, wherein the reporting provides information for facilitating provisioning one or more protected resources to avoid an instance of dominant interference by the one or more UEs associated with the first cell with respect to wireless communications in the second cell.

35. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 34, the program code further comprising program code for causing the one or more computers to:

receive, by the one or more UEs, provisioning of one or more protected resources to avoid the instance of dominant interference by the one or more UEs, wherein the provisioning of the one or more protected resources is based at least in part upon the information reported by the one or more UEs.

36. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 34, wherein the information reported by the one or more UEs comprises information selected from the group consisting of discovery signal identity information, signal strength information for the discovery signal, and timing offset information for the discovery signal.

37. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 34, the program code further comprising program code for causing the one or more computers to:

receive, by the one or more UEs, configuration information from a base station of the first cell operable to configure the one or more UEs for monitoring for transmission of the discovery signal and reporting detecting transmission of the discovery signal.

38. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 34, wherein each UE associated with the second cell transmits a same sequence as the discovery signal.

39. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 34, wherein the protected resources comprise a portion of resources shared by the first and second cells identified for providing protection with respect to the second cell.

40. An apparatus for providing information for radio resource management in a wireless communication system, the apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

a memory coupled to the at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is configured;

to monitor, by one or more user equipments (UEs) associated with a first cell, for transmission of a discovery signal from network elements associated with a second cell; and

to report, by the one or more UEs, detecting transmission of a discovery signal from a network element associated with the second cell, wherein the reporting provides information for facilitating provisioning one or more protected resources to avoid an instance of dominant interference by the one or more UEs associated with the first cell with respect to wireless communications in the second cell.

41. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the at least one processor is further configured:

to receive, by the one or more UEs, provisioning of one or more protected resources to avoid the instance of dominant interference by the one or more UEs, wherein the provisioning of the one or more protected resources is based at least in part upon the information reported by the one or more UEs.

42. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the information reported by the one or more UEs comprises information selected from the group consisting of discovery signal identity information, signal strength information for the discovery signal, and timing offset information for the discovery signal.

43. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the at least one processor is further configured:

to receive, by the one or more UEs, configuration information from a base station of the first cell operable to configure the one or more UEs for monitoring for transmission of the discovery signal and reporting detecting transmission of the discovery signal.

44. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the network element associated with the second cell comprises a base station serving one or more UEs associated with the second cell.

45. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein each UE associated with the second cell transmits a same sequence as the discovery signal.

46. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the network element associated with the second cell comprises a UE served by a base station of the second cell.

47. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the protected resources comprise a portion of resources shared by the first and second cells identified for providing protection with respect to the second cell.