Method and user equipment for transmitting uplink signal

• US 9,730,250 B2
• Filed: 03/05/2014
• Issued: 08/08/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/11/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: You, Hyangsun, Yi, Yunjung, Yang, Suckchel
• Primary Examiner(s): Ly, Anh-Vu
• Application Number:
  US14/782,736
• Publication Number:
  US 20160057784A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,252 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/002 Transmission of channel access control information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/0833 Random access procedures, e.g. with 4-step access
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/04 adapted for relaying to or from another terminal or user
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

The present invention provides a method and user equipment for transmitting an uplink signal capable of enhancing coverage while conserving energy by separating a cell for receiving a downlink from a cell for transmitting an uplink.

Claims

1. A method for transmitting an uplink signal by a user equipment, the method comprising:

accessing, by the user equipment, a first downlink operating frequency of a first cell by receiving a synchronization signal and a broadcast signal through the first downlink operating frequency of the first cell;

receiving, by the user equipment, configuration information indicating a plurality of frequencies for uplink through the first downlink operating frequency of the first cell;

performing, by the user equipment, a physical random access channel (PRACH) transmission for initial random access through at least one frequency among the plurality of frequencies;

receiving, by the user equipment, a random access response (RAR) containing frequency information indicating a second uplink operating frequency among the plurality of frequencies through the first downlink operating frequency of the first cell in response to the PRACH transmission;

performing, by the user equipment, an uplink channel transmission through the second uplink operating frequency, other than a first unlink operating frequency of the first cell, based on the frequency information; and

performing, by the user equipment, a downlink channel reception for the user equipment through the first downlink operating frequency of the first cell, other than a second downlink operating frequency of a second cell different from the first cell,

wherein the first cell is formed by the first downlink operating frequency and the first uplink operating frequency, and the second cell separate from the first cell is formed by the second downlink operating frequency and the second unlink operating frequency.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the second cell is a small cell having a coverage less than a predetermined reference value.

3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising:

receiving a timing advance (TA) value for the PRACH transmission through the first downlink operating frequency of the first cell,

wherein the TA value is ‘

0’

.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first uplink operating frequency of the first cell is not used for uplink transmission of the user equipment, and the second downlink operating frequency of the second cell is not used for downlink transmission for the user equipment.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the user equipment is configured to apply a coverage enhancement scheme.

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

receiving, by the user equipment, a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) as the downlink channel reception through the first downlink operating frequency of the first cell; and

transmitting, by the user equipment, a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) carrying acknowledgment/negative-acknowledgment (ACK/NACK) information for the PDSCH as the uplink channel transmission through the second uplink operating frequency of the second cell,

wherein if the PDSCH is received last in a subframe n, the PUCCH is transmitted in a subframe n+d,

where d is a positive integer configured to be equal to or larger than 4 by the first downlink operating frequency of the first cell.

7. The method according to claim 6, further comprising:

receiving, by the user equipment, information on a plurality of PUCCH resource candidates through the first downlink operating frequency of the first cell,

wherein the PUCCH carrying ACK/NACK information for the PDSCH is transmitted through one of the plurality of PUCCH resource candidates which is indicated by downlink control information (DCI) for the PDSCH, and

wherein the DCI for the PDSCH is received through the first downlink operating frequency of the first cell.

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

receiving, by the user equipment, semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) information indicating an uplink SPS resource as the downlink channel reception through the first downlink operating frequency of the first cell; and

transmitting, by the user equipment, a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) using the uplink SPS resource as the uplink channel transmission through the second uplink operating frequency of the second cell.

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

transmitting, by the user equipment, a scheduling request through the second uplink operating frequency of the second cell;

receiving, by the user equipment, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carrying uplink grant information as the downlink channel reception through the first downlink operating frequency of the first cell; and

transmitting, by the user equipment, a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) according to the uplink grant information through the second uplink operating frequency of the second cell.

10. The method according to claim 9, further comprising:

receiving, by the user equipment, a physical hybrid-Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ) indicator channel (PHICH) carrying acknowledgment/negative-acknowledgment (ACK/NACK) information for the PUSCH through the first downlink operating frequency of the first cell,

wherein if the PUSCH is transmitted in subframe n, the PHICH is received in subframe n+a,

where a is a positive integer configured to be equal to or larger than 4 by the downlink operating frequency of the first cell.

11. A user equipment for transmitting an uplink signal, the user equipment comprising:

a radio frequency (RF) unit and a processor configured to control the RF unit, the processor further configured to;

access a first downlink operating frequency of a first cell by receiving a synchronization signal and a broadcast signal through the first downlink operating frequency of the first cell,

control the RF unit to receive configuration information indicating a plurality of frequencies for an uplink through the first downlink operating frequency of the first cell,

control the RF unit to perform a physical random access channel (PRACH) transmission for initial random access through at least one frequency among the plurality of frequencies,

control the RF unit to receive a random access response (RAR) containing frequency information indicating a second uplink operating frequency among the plurality of frequencies through the first downlink operating frequency of the first cell in response to the PRACH transmission,

control the RF unit to perform an uplink channel transmission through the second uplink operating frequency, other than a first unlink operating frequency of the first cell, based on the frequency information, and

control the RF unit to perform a downlink channel reception for the user equipment through the first downlink operating frequency of the first cell, other than a second downlink operating frequency of a second cell different from the first cell,

wherein the first cell is formed by the first downlink operating frequency and the first uplink operating frequency, and the second cell separate from the first cell is formed by the second downlink operating frequency and the second uplink operating frequency.

12. The user equipment according to claim 11, wherein the second cell is a small cell having a coverage less than a predetermined reference value.

13. The user equipment according to claim 12, wherein the processor controls the RF unit to further receive a timing advance (TA) value for the PRACH transmission through the downlink operating frequency of the first cell and

wherein the TA value is ‘

0’

.

14. The user equipment according to claim 11, wherein the first uplink operating frequency of the first cell is not used for uplink transmission of the user equipment, and the second downlink operating frequency of the second cell is not used for downlink transmission for the user equipment.

15. The user equipment according to claim 11, wherein the user equipment is configured to apply coverage enhancement scheme.

16. The user equipment according to claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to:

control the RF unit to receive a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) as the downlink channel reception through the first downlink operating frequency of the first cell, and

control the RF unit to transmit a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) carrying ACK/NACK information for the PDSCH as the uplink channel transmission through the second uplink operating frequency of the second cell,

wherein if the PDSCH is received last in subframe n, the PUCCH is transmitted in subframe n+d,

where d is a positive integer configured to be equal to or larger than 4 by the first downlink operating frequency of the first cell.

17. The user equipment according to claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured to control the RF unit to receive information on a plurality of PUCCH resource candidates through the first downlink operating frequency of the first cell,

wherein the PUCCH carrying ACK/NACK information for the PDSCH is transmitted through one of the plurality of PUCCH resource candidates which is indicated by downlink control information (DCI) for the PDSCH, and

wherein the DCI for the PDSCH is received through the first downlink operating frequency of the first cell.

18. The user equipment according to claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to:

control the RF unit to receive semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) information indicating a uplink SPS resource as the downlink channel reception through the first downlink operating frequency of the first cell, and

control the RF unit to transmit a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) using the uplink SPS resource as the uplink channel transmission through the second uplink operating frequency of the second cell.

19. The user equipment according to claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to:

control the RF unit to transmit a scheduling request through the second uplink operating frequency of the second cell,

control the RF unit to receive a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carrying uplink grant information as the downlink channel reception through the first downlink operating frequency of the first cell, and

control the RF unit to transmit a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) according to the uplink grant information through the second uplink operating frequency of the second cell.

20. The user equipment according to claim 19, wherein the processor is configured to control the RF unit to receive a physical hybrid-Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ) indicator channel (PHICH) carrying acknowledgment/negative-acknowledgment (ACK/NACK) information for the PUSCH through the first downlink operating frequency of the first cell,

wherein if the PUSCH is transmitted in subframe n, the PHICH is received in subframe n+a,

where a is a positive integer configured to be equal to or larger than 4 by the downlink operating frequency of the first cell.