CHANNEL QUALITY MEASUREMENT IN UNLICENSED DEPLOYMENTS

• US 20190020424A1
• Filed: 06/06/2018
• Published: 01/17/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/14/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: YERRAMALLI, Srinivas, LIU, Chih-Hao, KADOUS, Tamer
• Granted Patent: US 10,848,251 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/713 using frequency hopping
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/715 Interference-related aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/309 Measuring or estimating channel quality parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/14 Spectrum sharing arrangements between different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic

Abstract

The extension of NB-IoT and eMTC communications into the unlicensed spectrum introduces a number of problems associated with channel quality measurement and reporting. A method, apparatus, and computer readable medium are presented that provide a technique for channel quality measurement and reporting that addressed such problems. A UE apparatus measures a CQI measurement for each of a plurality of groups of hopping frequencies, wherein a set of hopping frequencies is grouped into the plurality of groups and reports a CQI for each of the plurality of groups. A base station may configure the UE for CQI reporting and may receive a CQI for each of a plurality of groups of hopping frequencies, wherein a set of hopping frequencies is grouped into the plurality of groups. The set of hopping frequencies comprise frequencies in an unlicensed spectrum.

Claims

1. A method performed at a user equipment (UE) for measuring channel quality, comprising:

measuring a channel quality indicator (CQI) measurement for each of a plurality of groups of hopping frequencies, wherein a set of hopping frequencies is grouped into the plurality of groups; and

reporting a CQI for at least one of the plurality of groups.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of hopping frequencies comprises frequencies in an unlicensed spectrum.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein hopping frequencies within each group of the plurality of groups are continuous in a hopping pattern order for the set of hopping frequencies.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein hopping frequencies within each group of the plurality of groups are discontinuous in physical frequency.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein reporting the CQI for the at least one of the plurality of groups includes reporting a CQI value based on all measured hopping frequencies of a given group in the at least one of the plurality of groups.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

skipping a frequency in which a listen before talk procedure fails when computing a wideband CQI within a corresponding group of the plurality of groups.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the CQI reported for each of the plurality of groups comprises an aperiodic CQI.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a CQI reporting configuration from a base station, wherein the UE reports the CQI for each of the plurality of groups based on the CQI reporting configuration received from the base station.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein hopping frequencies within each group of the plurality of groups span a contiguous subset of physical frequencies.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the CQI is reported based on a last frequency in a hopping pattern within each of the plurality of groups.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein a timing for reporting the CQI for each group is based on a configured number of hops in a hopping pattern within each of the plurality of groups.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein a wideband CQI is reported for the set of hopping frequencies and a group sub-band CQI is reported for each group of the plurality of groups.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the CQI measurement is measured in a narrowband within a transmission band of a base station and outside a downlink control channel search space, when the UE does not receive a downlink control channel or receives the downlink control channel that does not schedule a downlink data transmission.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the CQI measurement is measured on a downlink data channel when a downlink control channel search space is configured on multiple narrowbands within a transmission band of a base station or when the downlink data channel is scheduled to span multiple narrowbands.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the user equipment reports the CQI for measurements taken at hop frequencies within a current wake cycle.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the user equipment reports a wideband CQI for an anchor channel when the user equipment wakes up from a discontinuous reception mode or an idle mode.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the user equipment reports a partial CQI for an initial subset of hopping frequencies when the user equipment wakes up from a discontinuous reception mode or an idle mode and prior to reporting the CQI for each of the plurality of groups.

18. An apparatus for measuring channel quality at a User Equipment (UE), comprising:

means for measuring a channel quality indicator (CQI) measurement for each of a plurality of groups of hopping frequencies, wherein a set of hopping frequencies is grouped into the plurality of groups; and

means for reporting a CQI for at least one of the plurality of groups.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising:

means for skipping a frequency in which a listen before talk procedure fails when computing a wideband CQI within a corresponding group of the plurality of groups.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising:

means for receiving a CQI reporting configuration from a base station, wherein the UE reports the CQI for each of the plurality of groups based on the CQI reporting configuration received from the base station.

21. An apparatus for measuring channel quality at a User Equipment (UE), comprising:

a memory; and

at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to;

measure a channel quality indicator (CQI) measurement for each of a plurality of groups of hopping frequencies, wherein a set of hopping frequencies is grouped into the plurality of groups; and

report a CQI for at least one of the plurality of groups.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the set of hopping frequencies comprises frequencies in an unlicensed spectrum.

23. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein hopping frequencies within each group of the plurality of groups are continuous in a hopping pattern order for the set of hopping frequencies.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein hopping frequencies within each group of the plurality of groups are discontinuous in physical frequency.

25. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein reporting the CQI for the at least one of the plurality of groups includes reporting a CQI value based on all measured hopping frequencies of a given group in the at least one of the plurality of groups.

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

skip a frequency in which a listen before talk procedure fails when computing a wideband CQI within a corresponding group of the plurality of groups.

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

receive a CQI reporting configuration from a base station, wherein the UE reports the CQI for each of the plurality of groups based on the CQI reporting configuration received from the base station.

28. A computer-readable medium storing computer executable code for measuring channel quality at a User Equipment (UE), comprising code to:

measure a channel quality indicator (CQI) measurement for each of a plurality of groups of hopping frequencies, wherein a set of hopping frequencies is grouped into the plurality of groups; and

report a CQI for each of the plurality of groups.

29. The computer-readable medium of claim 28, further comprising code to:

skip a frequency in which a listen before talk procedure fails when computing a wideband CQI within a corresponding group of the plurality of groups.

30. The computer-readable medium of claim 28, further comprising code to:

receive a CQI reporting configuration from a base station, wherein the UE reports the CQI for each of the plurality of groups based on the CQI reporting configuration received from the base station.

31. A method performed at a base station for measuring channel quality, comprising:

configuring a user equipment (UE) for channel quality indicator (CQI) reporting for a plurality of groups of hopping frequencies; and

receiving a CQI for at least one group of the plurality of groups of hopping frequencies, wherein a set of hopping frequencies is grouped into the plurality of groups.

32. The method of claim 31, further comprising:

grouping the set of hopping frequencies into the plurality of groups of hopping frequencies prior to configuring the UE for the CQI reporting.

33. The method of claim 31, wherein the set of hopping frequencies comprise frequencies in an unlicensed spectrum.

34. The method of claim 31, wherein hopping frequencies within each of the plurality of groups are continuous in a hopping pattern order for the set of hopping frequencies.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the hopping frequencies within each of the plurality of groups are discontinuous in physical frequency.

36. The method of claim 31, wherein the CQI for the at least one group of the plurality of groups comprises a CQI value based on all measured hopping frequencies of a given group in the at least one group of the plurality of groups.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the CQI for the at least one group of the plurality of groups further comprises a CQI value for a subset of hop frequencies within the at least one group.

38. The method of claim 31, wherein the CQI reported for each group of the plurality of groups comprises an aperiodic CQI.

39. The method of claim 31, wherein hopping frequencies within each group of the plurality of groups span a contiguous subset of physical frequencies.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein the hopping frequencies within each group of the plurality of groups are discontinuous in a hopping pattern order for the set of hopping frequencies.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein a timing for reporting the CQI for each group is based on a configured number of hops in the hopping pattern within each group of the plurality of groups.

42. An apparatus for wireless communication at a base station, comprising:

means for configuring a user equipment (UE) for channel quality indicator (CQI) reporting for a plurality of groups of hopping frequencies; and

means for receiving a CQI for at least one group of the plurality of groups of hopping frequencies, wherein a set of hopping frequencies is grouped into the plurality of groups.

43. The apparatus of claim 42, further comprising:

means for grouping the set of hopping frequencies into the plurality of groups of hopping frequencies prior to configuring the UE for the CQI reporting.

44. An apparatus for wireless communication at a base station, comprising:

a memory; and

at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to;

configure a user equipment (UE) for channel quality indicator (CQI) reporting for a plurality of groups of hopping frequencies; and

receive a CQI for at least one group of the plurality of groups of hopping frequencies, wherein a set of hopping frequencies is grouped into the plurality of groups.

45. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

group the set of hopping frequencies into the plurality of groups of hopping frequencies prior to configuring the UE for the CQI reporting.

46. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein the set of hopping frequencies comprise frequencies in an unlicensed spectrum.

47. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein hopping frequencies within each of the plurality of groups are continuous in a hopping pattern order for the set of hopping frequencies.

48. The apparatus of claim 47, wherein the hopping frequencies within each of the plurality of groups are discontinuous in physical frequency.

49. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein the CQI for the at least one group of the plurality of groups comprises a CQI value based on all measured hopping frequencies of a given group in the at least one group of the plurality of groups.

50. The apparatus of claim 49, wherein the CQI for the at least one group of the plurality of groups further comprises a CQI value for a subset of hop frequencies within the at least one group.

51. A computer-readable medium storing computer executable code, comprising code to:

configure a user equipment (UE) for channel quality indicator (CQI) reporting for a plurality of groups of hopping frequencies; and

receive a CQI for at least one group of the plurality of groups of hopping frequencies, wherein a set of hopping frequencies is grouped into the plurality of groups.

52. The computer-readable medium of claim 51, further comprising code to:

group the set of hopping frequencies into the plurality of groups of hopping frequencies prior to configuring the UE for the CQI reporting.