Techniques to manage heterogenous carrier types

• US 9,137,797 B2
• Filed: 05/17/2013
• Issued: 09/15/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/30/2012
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Han, Seunghee, He, Hong, Bashar, Shafi, Fwu, Jong-Kae, Davydov, Alexei
• Primary Examiner(s): Sheikh, Ayaz
• Assistant Examiner(s): ASEFA, DEBEBE A
• Application Number:
  US13/976,442
• Publication Number:
  US 20150085833A1
• Time in Patent Office: 851 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 11/0069 Cell search, i.e. determining cell identity [cell-ID] design of multiplexing codes H04J13/00; processing access restriction or access information H04W48/16; discovery of network devices for network data management H04W8/005; sounding signals for channel estimation H04L25/0226; structure of reference signals in multicarrier modulation systems H04L27/2613; frame, time or carrier synchronisation in multicarrier modulation systems H04L27/2655
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/2603 Signal structure ensuring backward compatibility with legacy system
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/2666 Acquisition of further OFDM parameters, e.g. bandwidth, subcarrier spacing, or guard interval length
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/2692 with preamble design, i.e. with negotiation of the synchronisation sequence with transmitter or sequence linked to the algorithm used at the receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/001 the frequencies being arranged in component carriers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0035 Resource allocation in a cooperative multipoint environment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/005 of common pilots, i.e. pilots destined for multiple users or terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0051 of dedicated pilots, i.e. pilots destined for a single user or terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0053 Allocation of signaling, i.e. of overhead other than pilot signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/00 Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 56/00 Synchronisation arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0453 Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Techniques to manage heterogeneous carrier types are described. User equipment may comprise a processor circuit and a network control component for execution on the processor circuit to locate a synchronization signal (SS) and a cell-specific reference signal (CRS) in a physical resource block (PRB) pair of a long term evolution (LTE) system, the PRB pair having a physical signal pattern for a first carrier type, the physical signal pattern for the first carrier type to have a same number of defined positions between the SS and the CRS within the PRB pair as a physical signal pattern for a second carrier type. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Claims

1. User Equipment (UE), comprising:

a processor circuit; and

a network control component for execution on the processor circuit to locate a synchronization signal (SS) and a cell-specific reference signal (CRS) in a physical resource block (PRB) pair of a long term evolution (LTE) network, the PRB pair having a physical signal pattern for a first carrier type, a time location of the SS according to the physical signal pattern for the first carrier type shifted relative to a time location of the SS according to a physical signal pattern for a second carrier type by a same number of defined positions as a number of defined positions of a shift in a time location of the CRS according to the physical signal pattern for the first carrier type relative to a time location of the CRS according to the physical signal pattern for the second carrier type.

2. The UE of claim 1, the SS to comprise a primary synchronization signal (PSS) or a secondary synchronization signal (SSS).

3. The UE of claim 1, the physical signal pattern of the second carrier type to comprise the PSS to have a sixth position in the PRB pair, the SSS to have a fifth position in the PRB pair, and the CRS to have a zero, fourth, seventh or eleventh position in the PRB pair.

4. The UE of claim 1, the physical signal pattern of the first carrier type to comprise the PSS to have a second position in the PRB pair, the SSS to have a first position in the PRB pair, and the CRS to have a zero, third, seventh or tenth position in the PRB pair.

5. The UE of claim 1, comprising a cell selection component for execution on the processor circuit to determine a reference signal received power (RSRP) parameter or a reference signal received quality (RSRQ) parameter from the CRS.

6. The UE of claim 1, comprising a handoff component for execution on the processor circuit to perform handoff operations based on a reference signal received power (RSRP) parameter or a reference signal received quality (RSRQ) parameter determined from the CRS.

7. The UE of claim 1, the radio frame to comprise multiple subframes, the SS and the CRS located within a same set of subframes of the radio frame.

8. The UE of claim 1, comprising a radio-frequency (RF) transceiver to receive electromagnetic signals representing a radio frame from a downlink channel of the LTE network, the radio frame to comprise a subframe with the PRB pair.

9. The UE of claim 1, comprising a touchscreen display, an input device, and an antenna.

10. A method, comprising:

receiving a radio frame at user equipment (UE) over a downlink channel of a long term evolution (LTE) network, the radio frame to comprise a subframe with a physical resource block (PRB) pair, the PRB pair to have a physical signal pattern of a first carrier type or a physical signal pattern of a second carrier type, a time location of a synchronization signal (SS) according to the physical signal pattern of the first carrier type shifted relative to a time location of the SS according to the physical signal pattern of the second carrier type by a same number of defined positions as a number of defined positions of a shift in a time location of the CRS according to the physical signal pattern of the first carrier type relative to a time location of the CRS according to the physical signal pattern of the second carrier type;

searching for the SS within the PRB pair, the SS comprising a primary SS (PSS) or a secondary SS (SSS);

locating the CRS within the PRB pair based on the position of the SS; and

measuring a power level of the CRS.

11. The method of claim 10, the physical signal pattern of the second carrier type to comprise the PSS to have a sixth position in the PRB pair, the SSS to have a fifth position in the PRB pair, and the CRS to have a zero, fourth, seventh or eleventh position in the PRB pair.

12. The method of claim 10, the physical signal pattern of the first carrier type to comprise the PSS to have a second position in the PRB pair, the SSS to have a first position in the PRB pair, and the CRS to have a zero, third, seventh or tenth position in the PRB pair.

13. The method of claim 10, comprising determining a reference signal received power (RSRP) parameter or a reference signal received quality (RSRQ) parameter from the measured power level of the CRS.

14. The method of claim 10, comprising selecting a macro node cell or a micro node cell based on a reference signal received power (RSRP) parameter or a reference signal received quality (RSRQ) parameter derived from the measured power level of the CRS.

15. The method of claim 10, comprising performing handoff operations based on a reference signal received power (RSRP) parameter or a reference signal received quality (RSRQ) parameter determined from the measured power level of the CRS.

16. An evolved node B (eNB), comprising:

circuitry; and

a resource mapper component for execution on the circuitry to map a synchronization signal (SS) and a cell-specific reference signal (CRS) to a physical resource block (PRB) pair according to a physical signal pattern for a first carrier type, a time location of the SS according to the physical signal pattern for the first carrier type shifted relative to a time location of the SS according to a physical signal pattern for a second carrier type by a same number of defined positions as a number of defined positions of a shift in a time location of the CRS according to the physical signal pattern for the first carrier type relative to a time location of the CRS according to the physical signal pattern for the second carrier type.

17. The eNB of claim 16, the PRB pair to comprise multiple orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols.

18. The eNB of claim 16, the SS to comprise a primary synchronization signal (PSS) or a secondary synchronization signal (SSS).

19. The eNB of claim 16, the physical signal pattern of the second carrier type to comprise the PSS to have a sixth position in the PRB pair, the SSS to have a fifth position in the PRB pair, and the CRS to have a zero, fourth, seventh or eleventh position in the PRB pair.

20. The eNB of claim 16, the physical signal pattern of the first carrier type to comprise the PSS to have a second position in the PRB pair, the SSS to have a first position in the PRB pair, and the CRS to have a zero, third, seventh or tenth position in the PRB pair.

21. The eNB of claim 16, comprising a radio-frequency (RF) transceiver to transmit electromagnetic signals representing a radio frame over a downlink channel of a long term evolution (LTE) network, the radio frame to comprise multiple subframes, with one of the subframes to comprise the PRB pair.

22. The eNB of claim 16, the resource mapper component to map a SS and a CRS within a same set of subframes of a radio frame.

23. The eNB of claim 16, comprising an input device, a memory port, and an antenna.