PDCCH Initialization Suitable for MTC Devices

• US 20200137794A1
• Filed: 12/31/2019
• Published: 04/30/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 01/29/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Original Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Inventors: Bergman, Johan, BLANKENSHIP, Yufei
• Granted Patent: US 11,212,832 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0037 Inter-user or inter-terminal allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0044 allocation of payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0048 Allocation of pilot signals, i.e. of signals known to the receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0053 Allocation of signaling, i.e. of overhead other than pilot signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0094 Indication of how sub-channels of the path are allocated
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/02 Selection of wireless resources by user or terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/23 in the downlink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards a terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/542 using measured or perceived quality
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/006 in the downlink, i.e. towards the terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/0833 Random access procedures, e.g. with 4-step access
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/27 Transitions between radio resource control [RRC] states

Abstract

The present disclosure concerns radio communication. More particularly, the present disclosure inter alia introduces techniques to allow low-complexity UEs 120a-j, e.g. Rel-3 MTC devices, to operate in a legacy LTE system with maintained, or improved, performance.

Claims

1. A method performed by a User Equipment, UE, having a reduced UE bandwidth as compared with regular UEs, the method comprising:

receiving, from a network node, a system information block which is configured for UEs having said reduced UE bandwidth, the system information block comprising information related to a configuration of a common search space of a physical control channel for UEs having said reduced UE bandwidth.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the UE having the reduced UE bandwidth is a Rel-13 low-complexity UE and regular UEs are UEs of earlier releases.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the system information block is a low-complexity system information block, LC-SIB, and the physical control channel is a low-complexity physical downlink control channel, LC-PDCCH.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

obtaining a unicast, low-complexity physical downlink control channel, LC-PDCCH, within said common search space.

5. The method according to claim 3, wherein the LC-PDCCH is associated with a unicast physical downlink shared channel, PDSCH, carrying a dedicated Radio Resource Control, RRC, message.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the RRC message includes information related to the LC-PDCCH configuration.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the information related to the LC-PDCCH configuration comprises a UE-specific LC-PDCCH region.

8. A User Equipment, UE, having a reduced UE bandwidth as compared with regular UEs, the UE comprising:

means adapted to receive, from a network node, a system information block which is configured for UBs having said reduced UE bandwidth, the system information block comprising information related to a configuration of a common search space of a physical control channel for UEs having said reduced UE bandwidth.

9. The UE according to claim 8, wherein the UE having the reduced UE bandwidth is a Rel-13 low-complexity UE and regular UEs are UEs of earlier releases.

10. The UE according to claim 8, wherein the system information block is a low-complexity system information block, LC-SIB, and the physical control channel is a low-complexity physical downlink control channel, LC-PDCCH.

11. The UE (10) according to claim 8, further comprising:

means adapted to obtain a unicast low-complexity physical downlink control channel, LC-PDCCH, within said common search space.

12. The UE according to claim 10, wherein the LC-PDCCH is associated with a unicast physical downlink shared channel, PDSCH, carrying a dedicated Radio Resource Control, RRC, message.

13. The UE according to claim 12, wherein the RRC message includes information related to the LC-PDCCH configuration.

14. The UE according to claim 13, wherein the information related to the LC-PDCCH configuration comprises a UE-specific LC-PDCCH region.

15. A method performed by a network node, the method comprising:

transmitting, to one or several UEs, a system information block which is configured for UEs having a reduced UE bandwidth as compared with regular UEs, the system information block comprising information related to a configuration of a common search space of a physical control channel for UEs having said reduced UE bandwidth.

16-21. -21. (canceled)

22. A random access, RA, procedure based method performed by a User Equipment, UE, having a reduced UE bandwidth as compared with regular UEs, the method comprising:

receiving, from a network node, a random access response, RAR, which is configured for UEs having said reduced UE bandwidth, the random access response comprising Downlink Control Information, DCI, for the UE having said reduced UE bandwidth.

23-29. -29. (canceled)

30. A User Equipment, UE, having a reduced UE bandwidth as compared with regular UEs, the UE comprising:

means adapted to receive, from a network node, a random access response, RAR, which is configured for UEs having said reduced UE bandwidth, the random access response comprising Downlink Control Information, DCI, for the UE having said reduced UE bandwidth.

31-43. -43. (canceled)