Multiband eMBMS enhancement using carrier aggregation

• US 10,111,049 B2
• Filed: 07/08/2013
• Issued: 10/23/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 10/26/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Shauh, Jack Shyh-Hurng, Balasubramanian, Srinivasan, Lee, Kuo-Chun, Veerepalli, Sivaramakrishna, Wang, Jun
• Primary Examiner(s): Rinehart, Mark
• Assistant Examiner(s): Dewan, Sanjay K
• Application Number:
  US13/937,126
• Publication Number:
  US 20140119265A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,933 Days
• Field of Search: 370312
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/06 Selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS]; Services to user groups; One-way selective calling services

Abstract

A method, an apparatus, and a computer program product for wireless communication are provided. The apparatus may be a UE. The UE receives at least one of a unicast or a broadcast/multicast communication on a first frequency from a first cell of a serving eNB through a first receive chain. In addition, the UE receives at least one of broadcast/multicast signal, synchronization signal, or reference signal communication on a second frequency from a second cell of the serving eNB through a second receive chain without having received instruction from the serving eNB to receive the at least one of the broadcast/multicast signal, the synchronization signal, or the reference signal communication.

Claims

1. A method of wireless communication of a user equipment (UE), comprising:

receiving at least one of paging signals or a unicast communication on a first frequency from a first cell of a serving evolved Node B (eNB) through a first receive chain;

receiving, autonomously by the UE, at least one of a system information block 13 (SIB13) or a multicast control channel (MCCH) on a second frequency from a second cell of the serving eNB through a second receive chain;

determining to receive a multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) service on the second frequency through the second receive chain based on at least one of the SIB13 or the MCCH received from the second cell of the serving eNB on the second frequency;

receiving, autonomously by the UE, the MBMS service on the second frequency through the second receive chain; and

performing, after the receiving autonomously the at least one of the SIB13 or MCCH and the receiving autonomously the MBMS service, a mobility procedure from the first cell of the serving eNB to the second cell of the serving eNB, wherein the UE receives the at least one of the paging signals or the unicast communication on the second cell of the serving eNB following the mobility procedure.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the UE is in a radio resource control (RRC) idle mode prior to performing the mobility procedure, paging signals on the first frequency are received through the first receive chain, and the at least one of the SIB13 or the MCCH on the second frequency is received through the second receive chain.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the MBMS service is received on the second frequency through the second receive chain prior to performing the mobility procedure, and wherein the mobility procedure comprises an inter-frequency cell reselection from the first cell to the second cell.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

setting the second frequency to a highest priority;

performing the inter-frequency cell reselection to the second cell; and

receiving paging signals on the second frequency from the second cell through the second receive chain rather than on the first frequency from the first cell through the first receive chain upon the inter-frequency cell reselection to the second cell.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising turning off the first receive chain following the inter-frequency cell reselection from the first cell to the second cell.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein a second MBMS service is received on the first frequency through the first receive chain.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the UE is in a radio resource control (RRC) connected mode prior to performing the mobility procedure, unicast signals on the first frequency are received through the first receive chain, and the at least one of the SIB13 or the MCCH on the second frequency is received through the second receive chain.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

sending an MBMS interest indication message to the serving eNB specifying at least one frequency of interest corresponding to one of the first cell or the second cell;

receiving a message instructing to do an inter-frequency handover to the second cell when the at least one frequency of interest corresponds to the second cell; and

performing the inter-frequency handover to the second cell, wherein the mobility procedure comprises the inter-frequency handover.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the UE receives the at least one of the SIB13 or the MCCH on the second frequency from the second cell of the serving eNB through the second receive chain without having received any instruction from the serving eNB.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

monitoring for paging signals, a master information block (MIB), a SIB1, and the SIB13 on the second frequency through the second receive chain.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the UE is configured for carrier aggregation on the first carrier on the first cell of the serving eNB and the second carrier on the second cell of the serving eNB.

12. A user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising:

means for receiving at least one of paging signals or a unicast communication on a first frequency from a first cell of a serving evolved Node B (eNB) through a first receive chain;

means for receiving, autonomously by the UE, at least one of a system information block 13 (SIB13) or a multicast control channel (MCCH) on a second frequency from a second cell of the serving eNB through a second receive chain;

means for determining to receive a multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) service on the second frequency through the second receive chain based on at least one of the SIB13 or the MCCH received from the second cell of the serving eNB on the second frequency; and

means for receiving, autonomously by the UE, the MBMS service on the second frequency through the second receive chain,

wherein the UE is configured to perform, after receiving autonomously the at least one of the SIB13 or MCCH and receiving autonomously the MBMS service, a mobility procedure from the first cell of the serving eNB to the second cell of the serving eNB, and wherein the UE receives the at least one of the paging signals or the unicast communication on the second cell of the serving eNB following the mobility procedure.

13. The UE of claim 12, wherein the UE is in a radio resource control (RRC) idle mode prior to performing the mobility procedure, paging signals on the first frequency are received through the first receive chain, and the at least one of the SIB13 or the MCCH on the second frequency is received through the second receive chain.

14. The UE of claim 13, wherein the MBMS service is received on the second frequency through the second receive chain prior to performing the mobility procedure, and wherein the mobility procedure comprises an inter-frequency cell reselection from the first cell to the second cell.

15. The UE of claim 14, further comprising:

means for setting the second frequency to a highest priority;

means for performing the inter-frequency cell reselection to the second cell; and

means for receiving paging signals on the second frequency from the second cell through the second receive chain rather than on the first frequency from the first cell through the first receive chain upon the inter-frequency cell reselection to the second cell.

16. The UE of claim 15, further comprising means for turning off the first receive chain following the inter-frequency cell reselection from the first cell to the second cell.

17. The UE of claim 13, wherein a second MBMS service is received on the first frequency through the first receive chain.

18. The UE of claim 12, wherein the UE is in a radio resource control (RRC) connected mode prior to performing the mobility procedure, unicast signals on the first frequency are received through the first receive chain, and the at least one of the SIB13 or the MCCH on the second frequency is received through the second receive chain.

19. The UE of claim 18, further comprising:

means for sending an MBMS interest indication message to the serving eNB specifying at least one frequency of interest corresponding to one of the first cell or the second cell;

means for receiving a message instructing to do an inter-frequency handover to the second cell when the at least one frequency of interest corresponds to the second cell; and

means for performing the inter-frequency handover to the second cell upon receiving the message, wherein the mobility procedure comprises the inter-frequency handover.

20. A user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising:

a memory; and

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

receive at least one of paging signals or a unicast communication on a first frequency from a first cell of a serving evolved Node B (eNB) through a first receive chain;

receive, autonomously by the UE, at least one of a system information block 13 (SIB13) or a multicast control channel (MCCH) on a second frequency from a second cell of the serving eNB through a second receive chain;

determine to receive a multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) service on the second frequency through the second receive chain based on at least one of the SIB13 or the MCCH received from the second cell of the serving eNB on the second frequency;

receive, autonomously by the UE, the MBMS service on the second frequency through the second receive chain; and

perform, after the receiving autonomously the at least one of the SIB13 or MCCH and the receiving autonomously the MBMS service, a mobility procedure from the first cell of the serving eNB to the second cell of the serving eNB, and wherein the UE receives the at least one of the paging, the unicast or the broadcast/multicast communication on the second cell of the serving eNB following the mobility procedure.

21. A non-transitory computer-readable medium associated with a user equipment (UE) and storing computer executable code for wireless communication, comprising code to:

receive at least one of paging signals or a unicast communication on a first frequency from a first cell of a serving evolved Node B (eNB) through a first receive chain;

receive, autonomously by the UE, at least one of a system information block 13 (SIB13) or a multicast control channel (MCCH) on a second frequency from a second cell of the serving eNB through a second receive chain;

determine to receive a multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) service on the second frequency through the second receive chain based on at least one of the SIB13 or the MCCH received from the second cell of the serving eNB on the second frequency;

receive, autonomously by the UE, the MBMS service on the second frequency through the second receive chain; and

perform, after the receiving autonomously the at least one of the SIB13 or MCCH and the receiving autonomously the MBMS service, a mobility procedure from the first cell of the serving eNB to the second cell of the serving eNB, and wherein the UE receives the at least one of the paging signals or the unicast communication on the second cell of the serving eNB following the mobility procedure.

22. A method of wireless communication of a user equipment (UE), comprising:

receiving a first multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) service on a first frequency from a first cell of a serving evolved Node B (eNB) through a first receive chain;

receiving, autonomously by the UE, at least one of a system information block 13 (SIB13) or a multicast control channel (MCCH) on a second frequency from a second cell of the serving eNB through a second receive chain;

determining, by the UE, to receive a second MBMS service on the second frequency through the second receive chain based on the received at least one of the SIB13 or the MCCH; and

receiving, autonomously by the UE, the second MBMS service on the second frequency through the second receive chain; and

monitoring for paging signals, a master information block (MIB), a system information block 1 (SIB1), and the SIB13 on the second frequency through the second receive chain in support of the second MBMS service, wherein the first frequency and the second frequency are configured for carrier aggregation.