Apparatus and methods for cellular communications over unused unlicenced spectrum

• US 9,924,368 B2
• Filed: 02/27/2014
• Issued: 03/20/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/11/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Valliappan, Nachiappan, Kadous, Tamer Adel, Sadek, Ahmed Kamel, Radulescu, Andrei Dragos
• Primary Examiner(s): Lai, Andrew
• Assistant Examiner(s): Andrews, Leon
• Application Number:
  US14/192,139
• Publication Number:
  US 20150163680A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,482 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/0006 Assessment of spectral gaps suitable for allocating digitally modulated signals, e.g. for carrier allocation in cognitive radio for spectrum sharing between different networks H04W16/14
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/001 the frequencies being arranged in component carriers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0032 Distributed allocation, i.e. involving a plurality of allocating devices, each making partial allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0073 Allocation arrangements that take into account other cell interferences for intercell interference mitigation or co-ordination in orthogonal multiplex systems H04J11/005
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/14 Spectrum sharing arrangements between different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/143 Downlink power control
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/243 taking into account interferences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/244 Interferences in heterogeneous networks, e.g. among macro and femto or pico cells or other sector / system interference [OSI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/34 TPC management, i.e. sharing limited amount of power among users or channels or data types, e.g. cell loading
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/343 taking into account loading or congestion level
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/346 distributing total power among users or channels
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/38 TPC being performed in particular situations
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0453 Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA

Abstract

Apparatus and methods of wireless communications are described for determining one or more bands (e.g., guard bands in wireless local area networks (WLANs)) in unused portions of an unlicensed spectrum, positioning one or more carriers for cellular communication (e.g., long term evolution (LTE) or LTE advanced communication) in the one or more bands, and performing the cellular communication over the unlicensed spectrum using the one or more carriers. In some non-limiting example aspects, the cellular communication may be in a standalone mode and the one or more carriers may include a primary component carrier (PCC) that is positioned in a Wi-Fi guard band. In these non-limiting example aspects, the apparatus and methods may further include allocating one or more secondary component carriers (SCCs) in Wi-Fi guard bands or in Wi-Fi channels, where the one or more SCCs are opportunistically tuned or turned ON/OFF based on cell loading or backhaul constraints.

Claims

1. A method for establishing cellular communication using a first radio access technology (RAT) of wireless communication, comprising:

determining, by a network entity, one or more bands in unused portions of an unlicensed spectrum, wherein the one or more bands comprise one or more guard bands of a second RAT, the one or more guard bands comprising a band between two frequency channels of the second RAT, and wherein the determining is in response to determining that there are no channels available in the second RAT;

positioning, by the network entity, one or more carriers for the cellular communication using the first RAT in the one or more guard bands of the second RAT; and

performing, by the network entity, the cellular communication over the unlicensed spectrum using the one or more carriers.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first RAT is long term evolution (LTE) and the second RAT is wireless local area network (WLAN).

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the cellular communication comprises an LTE advanced communication over the unlicensed spectrum.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more carriers include one or more of a control channel, a primary component carrier (PCC), a secondary component carrier (SCC), a control plane, a quality of service signaling, a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), a broadcast channel (BCH), or a primary cell (PCell) cell-specific reference signal (CRS).

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the cellular communication is in a standalone mode, and wherein the one or more carriers include a primary component carrier (PCC) that is positioned in a Wi-Fi guard band, wherein the Wi-Fi guard band is one of the one or more guard bands of the second RAT, the method further comprising:

allocating one or more secondary component carriers (SCCs) in the Wi-Fi guard band or in Wi-Fi channels, wherein the one or more SCCs are opportunistically tuned or turned ON/OFF based on cell loading or backhaul constraints.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the cellular communication is in a supplemental downlink (SDL) mode or in a carrier aggregation (CA) mode, and wherein the positioning comprises:

aggregating one or more secondary component carriers (SCCs) in the one or more bands.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the positioning comprises:

performing frequency division multiplexing in the one or more bands to multiplex the one or more carriers.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

adjusting the one or more carriers based on a channel quality indicator (CQI) feedback from a user equipment.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the positioning is based on channel state measurements of a user equipment.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the positioning is based on non-uniform adjacent channel interference across the one or more bands, the method further comprising:

allocating more transmit power to a portion of the one or more bands that has a lower interference compared to other portions of the one or more bands.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the cellular communication comprises steering in a radio frequency (RF) beam pattern.

12. An apparatus for establishing cellular communication using a first radio access technology (RAT) of wireless communication, comprising:

a processing system configured to;

determine one or more bands in unused portions of an unlicensed spectrum, wherein the one or more bands comprise one or more guard bands of a second RAT, the one or more guard bands comprising a band between two frequency channels of the second RAT, and wherein the determining is in response to determining that there are no channels available in the second RAT;

position one or more carriers for the cellular communication using the first RAT in the one or more guard bands of the second RAT; and

perform the cellular communication over the unlicensed spectrum using the one or more carriers.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the first RAT is long term evolution (LTE) and the second RAT is wireless local area network (WLAN).

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the cellular communication comprises an LTE advanced communication over the unlicensed spectrum.

15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the one or more carriers include one or more of a control channel, a primary component carrier (PCC), a secondary component carrier (SCC), a control plane, a quality of service signaling, a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), a broadcast channel (BCH), or a primary cell (PCell) cell-specific reference signal (CRS).

16. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the cellular communication is in a standalone mode, wherein the one or more carriers include a primary component carrier (PCC) that is positioned in a Wi-Fi guard band, wherein the Wi-Fi guard band is one of the one or more guard bands of the second RAT, wherein the processing system is further configured to:

allocate one or more secondary component carriers (SCCs) in the Wi-Fi guard band or in Wi-Fi channels, wherein the one or more SCCs are opportunistically tuned or turned ON/OFF based on cell loading or backhaul constraints.

17. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the cellular communication is in a supplemental downlink (SDL) mode or in a carrier aggregation (CA) mode, wherein the processing system is configured to position the one or more carriers for the cellular communication in the one or more bands by:

aggregating one or more secondary component carriers (SCCs) in the one or more bands.

18. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the processing system is configured to position the one or more carriers for the cellular communication in the one or more bands by:

performing frequency division multiplexing in the one or more bands to multiplex the one or more carriers.

19. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the processing system is further configured to:

adjust the one or more carriers based on a channel quality indicator (CQI) feedback from a user equipment.

20. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the processing system is configured to position the one or more carriers for the cellular communication in the one or more bands based on channel state measurements of a user equipment.

21. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the processing system is configured to position the one or more carriers for the cellular communication in the one or more bands based on non-uniform adjacent channel interference across the one or more bands, wherein the processing system is further configured to:

allocate more transmit power to a portion of the one or more bands that has a lower interference compared to other portions of the one or more bands.

22. An apparatus for establishing cellular communication using a first radio access technology (RAT) for wireless communications, comprising:

a memory; and

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

determine one or more bands in unused portions of an unlicensed spectrum, wherein the one or more bands comprise one or more guard bands of a second RAT, the one or more guard bands comprising a band between two frequency channels of the second RAT, and wherein the determining is in response to determining that there are no channels available in the second RAT;

position one or more carriers for the cellular communication using the first RAT in the one or more guard bands of the second RAT; and

perform the cellular communication over the unlicensed spectrum using the one or more carriers.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the first RAT is long term evolution (LTE) and the second RAT is wireless local area network (WLAN).

24. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the cellular communication comprises an LTE advanced communication over the unlicensed spectrum.

25. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the one or more carriers include one or more of a control channel, a primary component carrier (PCC), a secondary component carrier (SCC), a control plane, a quality of service signaling, a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), a broadcast channel (BCH), or a primary cell (PCell) cell-specific reference signal (CRS).

26. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the cellular communication is in a standalone mode, wherein the one or more carriers include a primary component carrier (PCC) that is positioned in a Wi-Fi guard band, wherein the Wi-Fi guard band is one of the one or more guard bands of the second RAT, the at least one processor is further configured to:

allocated one or more secondary component carriers (SCCs) in the Wi-Fi guard band or in Wi-Fi channels, wherein the one or more SCCs are opportunistically tuned or turned ON/OFF based on cell loading or backhaul constraints.

27. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the cellular communication is in a supplemental downlink (SDL) mode or in a carrier aggregation (CA) mode, wherein the one or more carriers for the cellular communication are positioned in the one or more bands by:

aggregating one or more secondary component carriers (SCCs) in the one or more bands.

28. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the one or more carriers for the cellular communication are positioned in the one or more bands by:

performing frequency division multiplexing in the one or more bands to multiplex the one or more carriers.

29. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

adjust the one or more carriers based on a channel quality indicator (CQI) feedback from a user equipment.

30. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the one or more carriers for the cellular communication are positioned in the one or more bands based on non-uniform adjacent channel interference across the one or more bands, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

allocate more transmit power to a portion of the one or more bands that has a lower interference compared to other portions of the one or more bands.

31. A non-transitory computer-readable medium for establishing cellular communication using a first radio access technology (RAT) for wireless communications comprising code, which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform the steps of:

determining one or more bands in unused portions of an unlicensed spectrum, wherein the one or more bands comprise one or more guard bands of a second RAT, the one or more guard bands comprising a band between two frequency channels of the second RAT, and wherein the determining is in response to determining that there are no channels available in the second RAT;

positioning one or more carriers for cellular communication using the first RAT in the one or more guard bands of the second RAT; and

performing the cellular communication over the unlicensed spectrum using the one or more carriers.