Method of device discovery in wireless communication systems

• US 9,392,433 B2
• Filed: 05/12/2014
• Issued: 07/12/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: HTC Corporation
• Original Assignee: HTC Corporation
• Inventors: Li, Chi-Fang
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham, Chi H
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kumar, Shailendra
• Application Number:
  US14/275,818
• Publication Number:
  US 20140334337A1
• Time in Patent Office: 792 Days
• Field of Search: 370/254, 370/312, 370/328, 370/329, 370/331
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/54 Presence management, e.g. monitoring or registration for receipt of user log-on information, or the connection status of the users
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/006 in the downlink, i.e. towards the terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals

Abstract

A method of device discovery for a first communication device in a wireless communication system is disclosed. The method comprises connecting to a network of the wireless communication system, sending a discovery request to the network, receiving an allocated resource corresponding to the discovery request from the network, and sending a discovery signal on the allocated resource, whereby a second communication device of the wireless communication system interested in discovery monitors the allocated resource for receiving the discovery signal.

Claims

1. A method of device discovery for a network in a wireless communication system, comprising:

receiving a discovery request from a first communication device of the wireless communication system, wherein the discovery request includes an indication to be discovered by all communication devices, a group of communication devices or a communication device; and

in response to the discovery request, determining to broadcast, multicast, or unicast a resource for the first communication device according to the indication of the discovery request.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving at least one of a discovery signal, and a measurement result of the discovery signal from a second communication device of the wireless communication system, wherein the discovery signal is received by the second communication device on the resource; and

determining whether a communication device is discovered according to the at least one of the reception of the discovery signal and the measurement result.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein determining whether a communication device is discovered according to at least one of the reception of the discovery signal and measurement result comprises:

determining whether a communication device is discovered according to at least one of the reception of the discovery signal and measurement result, where the measurement result includes at least one of a discovery signal strength, discovery signal power density, and discovery signal quality.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein determining whether a communication device is discovered according to at least one of the reception of the discovery signal and measurement result including at least one of discovery signal strength, discovery signal power density, and discovery signal quality comprises:

determining a communication device is discovered when the reception of the discovery signal indicates the discovery signal is sent from the first communication device.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

when determining a communication device is discovered, identifying which communication device is discovered according to which device-specific discovery signal is received, which communication device is allocated on the resource, or a report from a communication device which sent a discovery signal on the resource.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein determining whether a communication device is discovered according to at least one of the reception of the discovery signal and measurement result including at least one of discovery signal strength, discovery power density, and discovery signal quality of the received discovery signal comprises:

comparing the measurement result with a threshold; and

determining the first communication device is discovered when the measurement result is larger or equal to the threshold.

7. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

when determining a communication device is discovered, identifying which communication device is discovered according to which device-specific discovery signal is received, which communication device is allocated on the resource, or a report from a communication device which sent a discovery signal on the received resource.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein the discovery signal is a Hadamard sequence, Primary Synchronization signal (PSS), secondary synchronization signal (SSS), RACH sequence, CRS sequence, MBSFN RS sequence, DMRS sequence in PDSCH, DMRS sequence in EPDCCH, CSI-RS sequence, Positioning RS sequence, DMRS sequence in PUCCH, DMRS sequence in PUSCH, or SRS sequence in LTE/LTE-Advanced systems.

9. The method of claim 3, wherein the discovery signal is associated with at least one of an identification of a cell and an identification of a communication device.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a discovery signal from the first communication device on the resource; and

notifying that the first communication device sends the discovery signal on the resource, to a second communication device of the wireless communication device interested in discovery.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the resource is dedicated for device discovery usage or overlapped with a resource for normal communication with the network.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the resource for normal communication with the network is used for one of LTE/LTE-Advanced'"'"'s RACH, PUSCH, PUCCH, SRS, or other uplink transmission.

13. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

when determining a communication device is discovered, identifying which communication device is discovered according to which device-specific discovery signal is received, which communication device is allocated on the resource, or a report from a communication device which sent a discovery signal on the resource.