U.S. patent application number 13/566554 was filed with the patent office on 2014-02-06 for terminal requested base station controlled terminal transmission throttling.
This patent application is currently assigned to SONY MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS AB. The applicant listed for this patent is Rickard Ljung. Invention is credited to Rickard Ljung.
Application Number | 20140038588 13/566554 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 49354698 |
Filed Date | 2014-02-06 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140038588 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Ljung; Rickard |
February 6, 2014 |
TERMINAL REQUESTED BASE STATION CONTROLLED TERMINAL TRANSMISSION
THROTTLING
Abstract
A method for terminal requested base station controlled terminal
transmission throttling includes determining whether terminal power
consumption is to be reduced, if the terminal power consumption is
to be reduced, transmitting a throttling request signal to the base
station, the throttling request signal including data indicating to
the base station to issue a discontinuous uplink transmission grant
to the terminal, and receiving from the base station a
discontinuous uplink transmission grant.
Inventors: |
Ljung; Rickard;
(Helsingborg, SE) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Ljung; Rickard |
Helsingborg |
|
SE |
|
|
Assignee: |
SONY MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS
AB
Lund
SE
|
Family ID: |
49354698 |
Appl. No.: |
13/566554 |
Filed: |
August 3, 2012 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
455/422.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
Y02D 30/70 20200801;
H04W 52/0216 20130101; H04W 72/1289 20130101; H04W 52/0251
20130101; H04W 76/28 20180201 |
Class at
Publication: |
455/422.1 |
International
Class: |
H04W 52/04 20090101
H04W052/04 |
Claims
1. A method for terminal requested base station controlled terminal
transmission throttling, the method comprising: determining whether
terminal power consumption is to be reduced; if the terminal power
consumption is to be reduced, transmitting a throttling request
signal to the base station, the throttling request signal including
data indicating to the base station to issue a discontinuous uplink
transmission grant to the terminal; and receiving from the base
station a discontinuous uplink transmission grant.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining whether terminal
power consumption is to be reduced includes at least one of:
determining that the terminal is at risk of overheating,
determining a shortage power supply to the terminal, and
determining that the terminal is at risk of exceeding Specific
Absorption Rate (SAR) regulatory requirements.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting the throttling
request signal to the base station includes transmitting the
throttling request signal via the radio resource control (RRC)
layer.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the throttling request signal
includes data representing a maximum duty cycle for the
discontinuous uplink transmission grant.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the data representing the maximum
duty cycle corresponds to 1 bit representing two potential maximum
duty cycle levels, the maximum duty cycle levels selected from the
group consisting of: approximately 1/3 duty cycle and approximately
2/3 duty cycle; and approximately 1/2 duty cycle and approximately
100% duty cycle.
6. The method of claim 4, wherein the data representing the maximum
duty cycle corresponds to 2 bits representing four potential
maximum duty cycle levels, the maximum duty cycle levels selected
from the group consisting of: approximately 1/5 duty cycle,
approximately duty cycle, approximately 3/5 duty cycle, and
approximately 4/5 duty cycle; and approximately 1/4 duty cycle,
approximately 1/2 duty cycle, approximately 3/4 duty cycle, and
approximately 100% duty cycle.
7. The method of claim 4, wherein the data representing the maximum
duty cycle corresponds to 3 bits representing eight potential
maximum duty cycle levels, the maximum duty cycle levels selected
from the group consisting of: approximately 1/9 duty cycle,
approximately 2/9 duty cycle, approximately 1/3 duty cycle,
approximately 4/9 duty cycle, approximately 5/9 duty cycle,
approximately 6/9 duty cycle, approximately 7/9 duty cycle, and
approximately 8/9 duty cycle; and approximately 1/8 duty cycle,
approximately 1/4 duty cycle, approximately 3/8 duty cycle,
approximately 1/2 duty cycle, approximately 5/8 duty cycle,
approximately 3/8 duty cycle, approximately 7/8 duty cycle, and
approximately 100% duty cycle.
8. The method of claim 1, comprising: if the terminal power
consumption is no longer to be reduced, transmitting a second
throttling request signal to the base station, the second
throttling request signal including data indicating to the base
station to no longer issue the discontinuous uplink transmission
grant to the terminal.
9. A terminal for operation in a wireless telecommunication system
including terminal requested base station controlled terminal
transmission throttling, the terminal comprising: a power
consumption logic configured to determine whether terminal power
consumption is to be reduced; a throttling logic operatively
connected to the power consumption logic and configured to receive
from the power consumption logic an indication as to whether the
terminal power consumption is to be reduced, wherein where the
throttling logic receives from the power consumption logic the
indication that the terminal power consumption is to be reduced,
the throttling logic is configured to encode a throttling request
signal including data indicating to the base station to issue a
discontinuous uplink transmission grant to the terminal; a
transmitter configured to transmit the throttling request signal;
and a receiver configured to receive from the base station the
discontinuous uplink transmission grant.
10. The terminal of claim 9, wherein the power consumption logic is
configured to determine whether the terminal power consumption is
to be reduced by at least one of: determining that the terminal is
at risk of overheating, determining a shortage power supply to the
terminal, and determining that the terminal is at risk of exceeding
Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) regulatory requirements.
11. The terminal of claim 9, wherein the transmitter is configured
to transmit the throttling request signal via a radio resource
control (RRC) layer.
12. The terminal of claim 9, wherein the throttling request signal
includes data representing a maximum duty cycle for the
discontinuous uplink transmission grant.
13. The terminal of claim 12, wherein the data representing the
maximum duty cycle corresponds to 1 bit representing two potential
maximum duty cycle levels, the maximum duty cycle levels selected
from the group consisting of: approximately 1/3 duty cycle and
approximately 2/3 duty cycle; and approximately 1/2 duty cycle and
approximately 100% duty cycle.
14. The terminal of claim 12, wherein the data representing the
maximum duty cycle corresponds to 2 bits representing four
potential maximum duty cycle levels, the maximum duty cycle levels
selected from the group consisting of: approximately 1/5 duty
cycle, approximately duty cycle, approximately 3/5 duty cycle, and
approximately 4/5 duty cycle; and approximately 1/4 duty cycle,
approximately 1/2 duty cycle, approximately 3/4 duty cycle, and
approximately 100% duty cycle.
15. The terminal of claim 12, wherein the data representing the
maximum duty cycle corresponds to 3 bits representing eight
potential maximum duty cycle levels, the maximum duty cycle levels
selected from the group consisting of: approximately 1/9 duty
cycle, approximately 2/9 duty cycle, approximately 1/3 duty cycle,
approximately 4/9 duty cycle, approximately 5/9 duty cycle,
approximately 6/9 duty cycle, approximately 7/9 duty cycle, and
approximately 8/9 duty cycle; and approximately 1/8 duty cycle,
approximately 1/4 duty cycle, approximately 3/8 duty cycle,
approximately 1/2 duty cycle, approximately 5/8 duty cycle,
approximately 3/8 duty cycle, approximately 7/8 duty cycle, and
approximately 100% duty cycle.
16. The terminal of claim 9, wherein: the power consumption logic
is further configured to determine whether the terminal power
consumption is no longer to be reduced, the throttling logic is
further configured to receive from the power consumption logic an
indication as to whether the terminal power consumption is no
longer to be reduced, wherein where the throttling logic receives
from the power consumption logic the indication that the terminal
power consumption is no longer to be reduced, the throttling logic
is configured to encode a second throttling request signal
including data indicating to the base station to no longer issue
the discontinuous uplink transmission grant to the terminal, and
the transmitter is further configured to transmit the second
throttling request signal.
17. An electronic device for operation in a wireless
telecommunication system including terminal requested base station
controlled terminal transmission throttling, the device comprising:
a receiver configured to receive a throttling request signal from a
requesting terminal, the throttling request signal including data
indicating to issue a discontinuous uplink transmission grant to
the terminal; an uplink transmission scheduling logic operatively
connected to the receiver and configured to, upon the receiver
receiving the throttling request signal including data indicating
to issue a discontinuous uplink transmission grant to the terminal,
generate a discontinuous uplink transmission grant signal; and a
transmitter operatively connected to the uplink transmission
scheduling logic and configured to transmit the discontinuous
uplink transmission grant signal to the requesting terminal.
18. The device of claim 17, wherein the receiver is configured to
receive the throttling request signal via a radio resource control
(RRC) layer.
19. The device of claim 17, wherein the throttling request signal
includes data representing a maximum duty cycle for the
discontinuous uplink transmission grant and wherein the data
representing the maximum duty cycle corresponds to at least one of:
1 bit representing two potential maximum duty cycle levels, the
maximum duty cycle levels selected from the group consisting of:
approximately 1/3 duty cycle and approximately 2/3 duty cycle, and
approximately 1/2 duty cycle and approximately 100% duty cycle; 2
bits representing four potential maximum duty cycle levels, the
maximum duty cycle levels selected from the group consisting of:
approximately 1/5 duty cycle, approximately duty cycle,
approximately 3/5 duty cycle and approximately 4/5 duty cycle, and
approximately 1/4 duty cycle, approximately 1/2 duty cycle,
approximately 3/4 duty cycle, and approximately 100% duty cycle;
and 3 bits representing eight potential maximum duty cycle levels,
the maximum duty cycle levels selected from the group consisting
of: approximately 1/9 duty cycle, approximately 2/9 duty cycle,
approximately 1/3 duty cycle, approximately 4/9 duty cycle,
approximately 5/9 duty cycle, approximately 6/9 duty cycle,
approximately 7/9 duty cycle, and approximately 8/9 duty cycle, and
approximately 1/8 duty cycle, approximately 1/4 duty cycle,
approximately 3/8 duty cycle, approximately 1/2 duty cycle,
approximately 5/8 duty cycle, approximately 3/8 duty cycle,
approximately 7/8 duty cycle, and approximately 100% duty
cycle.
20. The device of claim 17, wherein: the receiver is further
configured to receive a second throttling request signal from the
requesting terminal, the second throttling request signal including
data indicating to no longer issue the discontinuous uplink
transmission grant to the terminal; the uplink transmission
scheduling logic is further configured to, upon the receiver
receiving the second throttling request signal, generate a
non-discontinuous uplink transmission grant signal; and the
transmitter is further configured to transmit the non-discontinuous
uplink transmission grant signal to the requesting terminal.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The technology of the present disclosure relates generally
to portable electronic devices and transmission equipment operable
in a wireless communication network and more particularly to
systems and methods for terminal requested base station controlled
terminal transmission throttling.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
[0002] Portable electronic devices that operate in a cellular
network, such as mobile telephones and smartphones, tablet
computers, cellular-connected laptop computers, and similar devices
are ever increasing in popularity. In a typical wireless
telecommunication network, terminals (also known as mobile stations
and/or user equipment (UE)) communicate via a radio access network
(RAN) to one or more core networks. The RAN covers a geographical
area which is divided into cell areas, with each cell area being
served by a base station, e.g., a radio base station (RBS), which
in some networks may also be called, for example, NodeB in UMTS or
eNodeB in LTE. A cell is a geographical area where radio coverage
is provided by the radio base station equipment at a base station
site. Each cell is identified by an identity within the local radio
area, which is broadcast in the cell. The base stations communicate
over the air interface operating on radio frequencies with the
terminals within range of the base stations.
[0003] In one example of a RAN, the Universal Mobile
Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a wireless telecommunication
system that evolved from the Global System for Mobile
Communications (GSM). In UMTS the RAN is referred to as a Universal
Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN). UTRAN is a RAN that uses,
among other radio access technologies (RAT), wideband code division
multiple access (WCDMA) for communication between the mobile
station and the terminal. Base stations in UMTS are known as NodeB,
which connect to a radio network controller (RCN) which supervises
and coordinates various activities of the NodeB connected
thereto.
[0004] In another example of a RAN, Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a
wireless telecommunication system that evolved from UMTS and
utilizes a RAN known as evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access
Network (E-UTRAN). E-UTRAN is a RAN that uses a RAT also known as
LTE for communication between the mobile station and the terminal.
In LTE, the base stations, known as eNodeB, are connected directly
to the core network rather than to an RNC. In general, in LTE the
functions of the RNC are distributed between the eNodeB in the
network.
[0005] In a wireless communication system, such as UMTS and LTE,
one of the largest power consuming elements in the terminal and the
base station is typically the power amplifier to the radio
transmitter. In these systems, the maximum available output power
is usually lower in the uplink direction (i.e., transmissions from
terminal to base station) than the downlink direction (i.e.,
transmissions from base station to terminal). The reason for such
asymmetric power balance may be that the terminal is battery
powered and thus its power amplifiers may be power limited, while
the base station connects to power lines and thus has less
constrains on the amount of power consumed by the power amplifier.
This asymmetric power balance causes the total network coverage to
generally be limited in the uplink direction as compared to the
downlink direction.
[0006] Other reasons for the uplink transmissions to be limited in
terms of maximum output power include heat generation. Unlike a
base station that may reside in, for example, an uninhabited hut,
the terminal is often intended to be used by human users. If the
terminal were to continuously transmit at its maximum specified
power, it may generate too much heat, which could make the terminal
unsafe or at least uncomfortable for a user to handle. Another
reason for the uplink transmissions to be limited in terms of
maximum output power may be the maximum instantaneous power supply
available to the terminal. For example, the terminal may be powered
by a USB 2.0 connector, whose total maximum current drain is 500 mA
@ 5V.
[0007] This asymmetric power balance limitation is particularly
acute when the terminal involved is in a limited output power
scenario that further limits terminal power.
SUMMARY
[0008] The concept of the systems and methods disclosed herein
includes the capability for a terminal in a wireless communication
system to signal the base station to effectively limit the duty
cycle of the terminal's transmitter to limit its power amplifier's
power consumption. Since the base station controls when the
terminal transmits via uplink transmission grants, the terminal
operating at low power levels may request the base station to
throttle uplink transmissions to reduce its power amplifier's power
consumption. The concept of the systems and methods disclosed
herein may include adding a control signal possibility to the
wireless communication system specification. For 3GPP standards
relating to LTE and UTMS this concept may involve the addition of a
message into the Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling for
indication of a terminal specific recommended maximum uplink
transmission duty cycle. This additional signaling message would be
intended for use by terminals that currently are in a limited
output power scenario, enabling the terminal to request
discontinuous uplink transmission grants.
[0009] Benefits of this concept include that the terminal can
maintain a connection with the network even if instantaneous output
power level is higher than what would be possible in a continuous
uplink transmission. This can help solve transmission power related
issues in the terminal including, but not limited to, providing
larger network system coverage, enabling longer terminal battery
lifetime, reducing risk for terminal overheating, and managing
regulatory requirements on maximum terminal energy emission
(SAR).
[0010] Accordingly, in one aspect of the invention a method for
terminal requested base station controlled terminal transmission
throttling includes determining whether terminal power consumption
is to be reduced, if the terminal power consumption is to be
reduced, transmitting a throttling request signal to the base
station, the throttling request signal including data indicating to
the base station to issue a discontinuous uplink transmission grant
to the terminal, and receiving from the base station a
discontinuous uplink transmission grant.
[0011] In one embodiment, the determining whether terminal power
consumption is to be reduced includes at least one of determining
that the terminal is at risk of overheating, determining a shortage
power supply to the terminal, and determining that the terminal is
at risk of exceeding Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) regulatory
requirements.
[0012] In another embodiment, the transmitting the throttling
request signal to the base station includes transmitting the
throttling request signal via the radio resource control (RRC)
layer.
[0013] In yet another embodiment, the throttling request signal
includes data representing a maximum duty cycle for the
discontinuous uplink transmission grant.
[0014] In one embodiment, the data representing the maximum duty
cycle corresponds to 1 bit representing two potential maximum duty
cycle levels, the maximum duty cycle levels selected from the group
consisting of approximately 1/3 duty cycle and approximately 2/3
duty cycle; and approximately 1/2 duty cycle and approximately 100%
duty cycle.
[0015] In another embodiment, the data representing the maximum
duty cycle corresponds to 2 bits representing four potential
maximum duty cycle levels, the maximum duty cycle levels selected
from the group consisting of approximately 1/5 duty cycle,
approximately duty cycle, approximately 3/5 duty cycle, and
approximately 4/5 duty cycle; and approximately 1/4 duty cycle,
approximately 1/2 duty cycle, approximately 3/4 duty cycle, and
approximately 100% duty cycle.
[0016] In yet another embodiment, the data representing the maximum
duty cycle corresponds to 3 bits representing eight potential
maximum duty cycle levels, the maximum duty cycle levels selected
from the group consisting of approximately 1/9 duty cycle,
approximately 2/9 duty cycle, approximately 1/3 duty cycle,
approximately 4/9 duty cycle, approximately 5/9 duty cycle,
approximately 6/9 duty cycle, approximately 7/9 duty cycle, and
approximately 8/9 duty cycle; and approximately 1/8 duty cycle,
approximately 1/4 duty cycle, approximately 3/8 duty cycle,
approximately 1/2 duty cycle, approximately 5/8 duty cycle,
approximately 3/8 duty cycle, approximately 7/8 duty cycle, and
approximately 100% duty cycle.
[0017] In one embodiment, the method includes, if the terminal
power consumption is no longer to be reduced, transmitting a second
throttling request signal to the base station, the second
throttling request signal including data indicating to the base
station to no longer issue the discontinuous uplink transmission
grant to the terminal.
[0018] In another aspect of the invention, a terminal for operation
in a wireless telecommunication system including terminal requested
base station controlled terminal transmission throttling includes a
power consumption logic configured to determine whether terminal
power consumption is to be reduced, a throttling logic operatively
connected to the power consumption logic and configured to receive
from the power consumption logic an indication as to whether the
terminal power consumption is to be reduced, wherein where the
throttling logic receives from the power consumption logic the
indication that the terminal power consumption is to be reduced,
the throttling logic is configured to encode a throttling request
signal including data indicating to the base station to issue a
discontinuous uplink transmission grant to the terminal, a
transmitter configured to transmit the throttling request signal,
and a receiver configured to receive from the base station the
discontinuous uplink transmission grant.
[0019] In one embodiment, the power consumption logic is configured
to determine whether the terminal power consumption is to be
reduced by at least one of determining that the terminal is at risk
of overheating, determining a shortage power supply to the
terminal, and determining that the terminal is at risk of exceeding
Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) regulatory requirements.
[0020] In another embodiment, the transmitter is configured to
transmit the throttling request signal via a radio resource control
(RRC) layer.
[0021] In yet another embodiment, the throttling request signal
includes data representing a maximum duty cycle for the
discontinuous uplink transmission grant.
[0022] In one embodiment, the data representing the maximum duty
cycle corresponds to 1 bit representing two potential maximum duty
cycle levels, the maximum duty cycle levels selected from the group
consisting of approximately 1/3 duty cycle and approximately 2/3
duty cycle; and approximately 1/2 duty cycle and approximately 100%
duty cycle.
[0023] In another embodiment, the data representing the maximum
duty cycle corresponds to 2 bits representing four potential
maximum duty cycle levels, the maximum duty cycle levels selected
from the group consisting of approximately 1/5 duty cycle,
approximately duty cycle, approximately 3/5 duty cycle, and
approximately 4/5 duty cycle; and approximately 1/4 duty cycle,
approximately 1/2 duty cycle, approximately 3/4 duty cycle, and
approximately 100% duty cycle.
[0024] In yet another embodiment, the data representing the maximum
duty cycle corresponds to 3 bits representing eight potential
maximum duty cycle levels, the maximum duty cycle levels selected
from the group consisting of approximately 1/9 duty cycle,
approximately 2/9 duty cycle, approximately 1/3 duty cycle,
approximately 4/9 duty cycle, approximately 5/9 duty cycle,
approximately 6/9 duty cycle, approximately 7/9 duty cycle, and
approximately 8/9 duty cycle; and approximately 1/8 duty cycle,
approximately 1/4 duty cycle, approximately 3/8 duty cycle,
approximately 1/2 duty cycle, approximately 5/8 duty cycle,
approximately 3/8 duty cycle, approximately 7/8 duty cycle, and
approximately 100% duty cycle.
[0025] In one embodiment, the power consumption logic is further
configured to determine whether the terminal power consumption is
no longer to be reduced, the throttling logic is further configured
to receive from the power consumption logic an indication as to
whether the terminal power consumption is no longer to be reduced,
wherein where the throttling logic receives from the power
consumption logic the indication that the terminal power
consumption is no longer to be reduced, the throttling logic is
configured to encode a second throttling request signal including
data indicating to the base station to no longer issue the
discontinuous uplink transmission grant to the terminal, and the
transmitter is further configured to transmit the second throttling
request signal.
[0026] In yet another aspect of the invention, an electronic device
for operation in a wireless telecommunication system including
terminal requested base station controlled terminal transmission
throttling includes a receiver configured to receive a throttling
request signal from a requesting terminal, the throttling request
signal including data indicating to issue a discontinuous uplink
transmission grant to the terminal, an uplink transmission
scheduling logic operatively connected to the receiver and
configured to, upon the receiver receiving the throttling request
signal including data indicating to issue a discontinuous uplink
transmission grant to the terminal, generate a discontinuous uplink
transmission grant signal, and a transmitter operatively connected
to the uplink transmission scheduling logic and configured to
transmit the discontinuous uplink transmission grant signal to the
requesting terminal.
[0027] In one embodiment, the receiver is configured to receive the
throttling request signal via a radio resource control (RRC)
layer.
[0028] In another embodiment, the throttling request signal
includes data representing a maximum duty cycle for the
discontinuous uplink transmission grant and wherein the data
representing the maximum duty cycle corresponds to at least one of
1 bit representing two potential maximum duty cycle levels, the
maximum duty cycle levels selected from the group consisting of
approximately 1/3 duty cycle and approximately 2/3 duty cycle, and
approximately 1/2 duty cycle and approximately 100% duty cycle; 2
bits representing four potential maximum duty cycle levels, the
maximum duty cycle levels selected from the group consisting of
approximately 1/5 duty cycle, approximately duty cycle,
approximately 3/5 duty cycle and approximately 4/5 duty cycle, and
approximately 1/4 duty cycle, approximately 1/2 duty cycle,
approximately 3/4 duty cycle, and approximately 100% duty cycle;
and 3 bits representing eight potential maximum duty cycle levels,
the maximum duty cycle levels selected from the group consisting of
approximately 1/9 duty cycle, approximately 2/9 duty cycle,
approximately 1/3 duty cycle, approximately 4/9 duty cycle,
approximately 5/9 duty cycle, approximately 6/9 duty cycle,
approximately 7/9 duty cycle, and approximately 8/9 duty cycle, and
approximately 1/8 duty cycle, approximately 1/4 duty cycle,
approximately 3/8 duty cycle, approximately 1/2 duty cycle,
approximately 5/8 duty cycle, approximately 3/8 duty cycle,
approximately 7/8 duty cycle, and approximately 100% duty
cycle.
[0029] In yet another embodiment, the receiver is further
configured to receive a second throttling request signal from the
requesting terminal, the second throttling request signal including
data indicating to no longer issue the discontinuous uplink
transmission grant to the terminal, the uplink transmission
scheduling logic is further configured to, upon the receiver
receiving the second throttling request signal, generate a
non-discontinuous uplink transmission grant signal, and the
transmitter is further configured to transmit the non-discontinuous
uplink transmission grant signal to the requesting terminal.
[0030] These and further features of the present invention will be
apparent with reference to the following description and attached
drawings. In the description and drawings, particular embodiments
of the invention have been disclosed in detail as being indicative
of some of the ways in which the principles of the invention may be
employed, but it is understood that the invention is not limited
correspondingly in scope. Rather, the invention includes all
changes, modifications and equivalents coming within the spirit and
terms of the claims appended hereto.
[0031] Features that are described and/or illustrated with respect
to one embodiment may be used in the same way or in a similar way
in one or more other embodiments and/or in combination with or
instead of the features of the other embodiments.
[0032] It should be emphasized that the terms "comprises" and
"comprising," when used in this specification, are taken to specify
the presence of stated features, integers, steps or components but
do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other
features, integers, steps, components or groups thereof.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0033] FIG. 1 illustrates a portion of a wireless
telecommunications network.
[0034] FIGS. 2A and 2B show diagrams illustrating an exemplary
potential difference in terminal transmission grants before (FIG.
2A) and after (FIG. 2B) the terminal has signaled to the base
station to issue discontinuous uplink transmission grants.
[0035] FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic diagram of a radio access
network (RAN) including exemplary block diagrams of a terminal and
a base station.
[0036] FIG. 4 illustrates a logical flow of a method for terminal
requested base station controlled terminal transmission
throttling.
[0037] FIG. 5 illustrates logical flow of a method for an
electronic device for operation in a wireless telecommunication
system including terminal requested base station controlled
terminal transmission throttling is shown.
[0038] FIG. 6 illustrates a detailed block diagram of an exemplary
terminal, which in the illustrated embodiment is represented by a
mobile phone.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
[0039] Embodiments of the present invention will now be described
with reference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are
used to refer to like elements throughout. It will be understood
that the figures are not necessarily to scale.
[0040] FIG. 1 illustrates a portion of a wireless
telecommunications network 10. The network 10 includes a radio
access network (RAN) 12. FIG. 1 illustrates the RAN 12 as an
Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (EUTRAN), the
RAN associated with LTE, as an example. However, the RAN 12 may
also be any RAN other than EUTRAN including RAN that are currently
deployed as well as RAN that are currently in development or that
will be developed in the future. The network 10 includes a core
network 19, which includes the parts of the telecommunications
network 10 that provide the various services to customers who are
connected by the RAN 12.
[0041] The RAN 12 includes terminals 14a-b. The terminals 14a-b are
what in LTE is referred to as user equipment (UE). In wireless
telecommunications networks other than LTE, including networks that
are currently deployed as well as networks that are currently in
development or that will be developed in the future, the terminals
may be referred to by terms other than terminals, mobile stations,
or user equipment. However, the term terminals as employed herein
is intended to include those terminals in wireless
telecommunications networks such as UMTS and LTE as well as
networks other than UMTS and LTE, and terminals in yet to be
developed or deployed networks where the terminals have similar
functionality as the terminals described herein in the context of
LTE.
[0042] The RAN 12 further includes a base station 16. As discussed
above, in LTE the base station 16 is known as eNodeB (evolved NodeB
or eNB). In wireless telecommunications networks other than LTE,
including networks that are currently deployed as well as networks
that are currently in development or that will be developed in the
future, the base stations may be referred to by terms other than
base stations, NodeB, or eNodeB. However, the term base station as
employed herein is intended to include those base stations in
wireless telecommunications networks such as UMTS and LTE as well
as networks other than UMTS and LTE, and base stations in yet to be
developed or deployed networks where the base stations have similar
functionality as the base stations described herein in the context
of LTE. Moreover, a base station as the term is employed herein may
include other entities in wireless telecommunications systems that
control the uplink transmissions of the terminals in a similar
manner as the base stations disclosed herein. For example, a relay
node that may be made to control the uplink transmissions of the
terminals behaves as a base station.
[0043] The base station 16 communicates with the terminals 14a-b
using radio access technologies (RAT) via an air interface. In LTE
the RAT is known as LTE and the air interface is known as LTE-Uu.
Although RAN 12 has been described as discreetly LTE, in practice,
base stations may be multi radio units, capable of transmitting in
several different RAT. Due to the reuse of infrastructure at the
cellular sites, as well as backhaul capabilities, a single base
station may be using more than one RAT and may be transmitting at
more than one carrier frequency.
[0044] In many communication systems such as LTE the base station
16 has control over when the terminals 14a-b are allowed to
transmit uplink transmissions, and for this purpose the base
station 16 provides uplink transmission grants that control when
the terminal is allowed to transmit. In this manner, the base
station 16 can control system aspects such as data transmissions
scheduling to optimize uplink transmission capacity, and to control
the total uplink interference levels. The procedure to transmit
data in the uplink direction after data has arrived to the
terminal's buffer is typically as follows: 1) in the subframe where
the base station 16 has a scheduling request (SR) resource
available, the terminal transmits an SR, which is a one-bit flag to
indicate that the terminal 14a or 14b has new data, 2) the base
station 16 receives the SR and after a processing delay, an initial
uplink transmission grant is transmitted to the terminal 14a or 14b
allocating time/frequency resources for uplink transmission, 3)
using the granted resources, the terminal 14a or 14b transmits data
as well as a Buffer Status Report (BSR) to indicate to the base
station 16 how much data it still has available in its buffer after
the transmission, 4) when the base station 16 has received the BSR,
it can continue allocating uplink resources to the terminal 14a or
14b and the terminal 14a or 14b can perform further uplink
transmissions. Decisions regarding scheduling of uplink resources
may be based on quality of service (QoS) parameters, buffer status,
uplink channel quality measurements, terminal capabilities,
etc.
[0045] In the RAN 12 the terminals 14a-b determine whether terminal
power consumption needs to be reduced. The terminal's power
consumption may need to be reduced because the terminal is at risk
of overheating, because there is a shortage of power supply to the
terminal, or because the terminal is at risk of exceeding Specific
Absorption Rate (SAR) regulatory requirements, among other
potential reasons. Whenever the terminal 14a or 14b determines that
terminal power consumption needs to be reduced, the terminal 14a or
14b signals the base station 16 (e.g., via the radio resource
control (RRC) layer) to issue a discontinuous uplink transmission
grant to the terminal 14 or 14b. The base station 16, in turn,
issues the discontinuous uplink transmission grant effectively
limiting the terminal's power consumption.
[0046] Similarly, whenever the terminal 14a or 14b determines that
terminal power consumption no longer needs to be reduced, the
terminal 14a or 14b signals the base station 16 to essentially
inform the base station 16 that throttling is no longer necessary.
The base station 16, in turn, ceases to issue the discontinuous
uplink transmission grant or issues a non-discontinuous uplink
transmission grant.
[0047] RRC signaling is specified in 3GPP TS 25.331 for UTMS and TS
36.331 for LTE. A new message bit pattern could be included in the
terminal capability update procedure. In one embodiment, the new
message includes data representing a maximum duty cycle for the
uplink transmission grant that may be signaled, for example, by
one, two or three bits, giving the possibility for two, four, or
eight duty cycle levels, respectively. Since several duty cycle
levels are specified, in one embodiment, the same RRC signaling
message can be reused by the terminal 14a or 14b currently being
throttled to request the base station 16 to conclude throttling
and/or to issue non-discontinuous uplink transmission grants.
[0048] FIGS. 2A and 2B show diagrams illustrating an exemplary
potential difference in terminal transmission grants before (FIG.
2A) and after (FIG. 2B) the terminal has signaled to the base
station to issue discontinuous uplink transmission grants. The
illustrated uplink transmission grants are merely exemplary and the
base station can provide many other different uplink transmission
grants. In the example of FIG. 2A continuous transmission is
granted before the terminal signals the base station for
discontinuous uplink transmission grants. Thus, before the terminal
signals to the base station to issue discontinuous uplink
transmission grants, the base station allows the terminal to
transmit for a time t. Once the terminal signals the base station
for discontinuous uplink transmission grants, as FIG. 2B shows,
discontinuous transmission is granted and thus uplink transmissions
are limited to transmission bursts of less than time t after the
discontinuous transmission uplink grants are received.
[0049] In one embodiment, the terminal transmits a requests signal
that includes data representing a maximum duty cycle for the
discontinuous uplink transmission grant. In one embodiment, the
data representing the maximum duty cycle corresponds to 1 bit
representing two potential maximum duty cycle levels. Possible
maximum duty cycle levels with 1 bit signaling include
approximately 1/3 duty cycle and approximately 2/3 duty cycle, and
approximately 1/2 duty cycle and approximately 100% duty cycle. In
another embodiment, the data representing the maximum duty cycle
corresponds to 2 bit representing four potential maximum duty cycle
levels. Possible maximum duty cycle levels with 2 bit signaling
include approximately 1/5 duty cycle, approximately duty cycle,
approximately 3/5 duty cycle and approximately 4/5 duty cycle, and
approximately 1/4 duty cycle, approximately 1/2 duty cycle,
approximately 3/4 duty cycle and approximately 100% duty cycle. In
yet another embodiment, the data representing the maximum duty
cycle corresponds to 3 bit representing eight potential maximum
duty cycle levels. Possible maximum duty cycle levels with 3 bits
signaling include approximately 1/9 duty cycle, approximately 2/9
duty cycle, approximately 1/3 duty cycle, approximately 4/9 duty
cycle, approximately 5/9 duty cycle, approximately 6/9 duty cycle,
approximately 7/9 duty cycle, and approximately 8/9 duty cycle; and
approximately 1/8 duty cycle, approximately 1/4 duty cycle,
approximately 3/8 duty cycle, approximately 1/2 duty cycle,
approximately 5/8 duty cycle, approximately 3/8 duty cycle,
approximately 7/8 duty cycle, and approximately 100% duty
cycle.
[0050] FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic diagram of the RAN 12
including exemplary block diagrams of the terminal 14 and the base
station 16.
[0051] The terminal 14 includes a power consumption logic 141 that
determines whether terminal power consumption is to be reduced. In
one embodiment, the power consumption logic 141 determines that
terminal power consumption is to be reduced because it determines
that the terminal 14 is overheating or at risk of overheating. In
another embodiment, the power consumption logic 141 determines that
terminal power consumption is to be reduced because it determines
that a shortage power supply to the terminal 14 exists. In yet
another embodiment, the power consumption logic 141 determines that
terminal power consumption is to be reduced because it determines
that the terminal 14 has exceeded or is at risk of exceeding
Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) regulatory requirements. When the
power consumption logic 141 determines that terminal power
consumption is to be reduced, it issues an indication.
[0052] The terminal 14 also includes a throttling logic 142 that
receives from the power consumption logic 141 the indication as to
whether the terminal power consumption is to be reduced. When the
throttling logic 142 receives from the power consumption logic 141
the indication that the terminal power consumption is to be
reduced, the throttling logic 142 encodes a throttling request
signal including data for transmission to the base station 16 and
indicating to the base station 16 to issue a discontinuous uplink
transmission grant to the terminal 14.
[0053] The terminal 14 further includes a transmitter 143 that
transmits the throttling request signal, and a receiver 144
configured to receive from the base station 16 the uplink
transmission grants. In one embodiment, the transmitter 143
transmits the throttling request signal via a radio resource
control (RRC) layer 25.
[0054] The terminal 14 further includes a terminal controller 145
operatively connected to the power consumption logic 141, the
throttling logic 142, the transmitter 143, and the receiver 144 to
thereby control the terminal 14.
[0055] The base station 16 includes a receiver 161 that receives
the throttling request signal from the terminal 14 and an uplink
transmission scheduling logic 162 connected the receiver 161 and
that generates a discontinuous uplink transmission grant signal
upon receiving of the throttling request signal. The base station
16 further includes a transmitter 163 connected to the uplink
transmission scheduling logic 162 that transmits the discontinuous
uplink transmission grant signal to the terminal 14. In one
embodiment, the transmitter 163 transmits the discontinuous uplink
transmission grant signal to the receiver 144 via the Physical
Control Channel (PDCCH) 17 as specified for LTE, while in other
embodiments other channels are used.
[0056] The base station 16 further includes a base station
controller 164 operatively connected to the receiver 161, the
uplink transmission scheduling logic 162, and the transmitter 163
to thereby control the base station 16.
[0057] In one embodiment, the power consumption logic 141 also
determines whether the terminal power consumption no longer needs
to be reduced. In one embodiment, the power consumption logic 141
determines that terminal power consumption is no longer to be
reduced because it determines that the terminal 14 is no longer at
risk of overheating, that the shortage power supply to the terminal
14 no longer exists, or that the terminal 14 is no longer at risk
of exceeding SAR regulatory requirements. When the power
consumption logic 141 determines that terminal power consumption no
longer is to be reduced, it issues another indication. The
throttling logic 142 receives from the power consumption logic 141
the indication as to whether the terminal power consumption is no
longer to be reduced and encodes a second throttling request signal
including data indicating to the base station 16 to no longer issue
the discontinuous uplink transmission grant to the terminal 14. The
transmitter 143 transmits the second throttling request signal. In
this case, the receiver 161 receives the second throttling request
signal from the requesting terminal 14 and the uplink transmission
scheduling logic 162, upon the receiving of the second throttling
request signal, generates a non-discontinuous uplink transmission
grant signal for the transmitter 163 to transmit to the requesting
terminal 14.
[0058] In accordance with the above features, FIGS. 4 and 5 show
flowcharts that illustrate logical operations to implement
exemplary methods for dynamic adaptation of one or more
communication parameters for communication between a base station
and a terminal in a wireless telecommunications network. The
exemplary methods may be carried out by executing embodiments of
the base stations, terminals, mobile telephones, flash devices or
machine-readable storage media disclosed herein, for example. Thus,
the flowcharts of FIGS. 4 and 5 may be thought of as depicting
steps of a method carried out in the above-disclosed systems or
devices by operation of hardware, software, or combinations
thereof. Although FIGS. 4 and 5 show a specific order of executing
functional logic blocks, the order of executing the blocks may be
changed relative to the order shown. Also, two or more blocks shown
in succession may be executed concurrently or with partial
concurrence. Certain blocks also may be omitted.
[0059] In reference to FIG. 4, logical flow of a method 40 for
terminal requested base station controlled terminal transmission
throttling includes, at 41, determining whether terminal power
consumption is to be reduced. At 42, if the terminal power
consumption is to be reduced, at 43, transmit a throttling request
signal to the base station for the base station to issue a
discontinuous uplink transmission grant to the terminal and return
to 41 to determining whether terminal power consumption is to be
reduced. Also, at 44, the method 40 includes receiving from the
base station a discontinuous uplink transmission grant. Back to 42,
if the terminal power consumption is not to be reduced, at 45, the
method 40 includes, transmitting the second throttling request
signal to the base station and return to 41 to determining whether
terminal power consumption is to be reduced. In one embodiment, the
transmitting the second throttling request signal to the base
station occurs only if a discontinuous uplink transmission grant
was previously received by the terminal. Also, at 46, the method 40
includes receiving from the base station a non-discontinuous uplink
transmission grant.
[0060] In reference to FIG. 5, logical flow of a method 50 for an
electronic device for operation in a wireless telecommunication
system including terminal requested base station controlled
terminal transmission throttling is shown. At 51, the method 50
includes receiving a throttling request signal from a requesting
terminal. At 52, if the throttling request signal includes data
indicating to issue a discontinuous uplink transmission grant to
the terminal, at 53, generate a discontinuous uplink transmission
grant signal, and, at 54, transmit the uplink transmission grant
signal to the requesting terminal. Back to 52, if the throttling
request signal includes data indicating to not issue the
discontinuous uplink transmission grant to the terminal, at 55,
generate a non-discontinuous uplink transmission grant signal and,
at 54, transmit the uplink transmission grant signal to the
requesting terminal.
[0061] FIG. 6 illustrates a detailed block diagram of an exemplary
terminal, which in the illustrated embodiment is represented by the
mobile phone 100. The phone 100 includes a control circuit 632 that
is responsible for overall operation of the phone 100. For this
purpose, the control circuit 632 includes the terminal controller
145 that executes various applications, including applications
related to or that form part of the phone 100 functioning as a
terminal.
[0062] In one embodiment, functionality of the phone 100 acting as
the terminal described above in reference to FIGS. 1-5 are embodied
in the form of executable logic (e.g., lines of code, software, or
a program) that is stored in the non-transitory computer readable
medium 244 (e.g., a memory, a hard drive, etc.) of the phone 100
and is executed by the control circuit 632. The described
operations may be thought of as a method that is carried out by the
phone 100. Variations to the illustrated and described techniques
are possible and, therefore, the disclosed embodiments should not
be considered the only manner of carrying out phone 100
functions.
[0063] The phone 100 further includes the GUI 110, which may be
coupled to the control circuit 632 by a video circuit 626 that
converts video data to a video signal used to drive the GUI 110.
The video circuit 626 may include any appropriate buffers,
decoders, video data processors and so forth.
[0064] The phone 100 further includes communications circuitry that
enables the phone 100 to establish communication connections such
as a telephone call. In the exemplary embodiment, the
communications circuitry includes a radio circuit 616. The radio
circuit 616 includes one or more radio frequency transceivers
including the receiver 144, the transmitter 143 and an antenna
assembly (or assemblies). Since the phone 100 is capable of
communicating using more than one standard, the radio circuit 616
including the receiver 144 and the transmitter 143 represents each
radio transceiver and antenna needed for the various supported
connection types. The radio circuit 616 including the receiver 144
and the transmitter 143 further represents any radio transceivers
and antennas used for local wireless communications directly with
an electronic device, such as over a Bluetooth interface.
[0065] As indicated, the phone 100 includes the primary control
circuit 632 that is configured to carry out overall control of the
functions and operations of the phone 100. The terminal controller
145 of the control circuit 632 may be a central processing unit
(CPU), microcontroller or microprocessor. The terminal controller
145 executes code stored in a memory (not shown) within the control
circuit 632 and/or in a separate memory, such as the
machine-readable storage medium 244, in order to carry out
operation of the phone 100. The machine-readable storage medium 244
may be, for example, one or more of a buffer, a flash memory, a
hard drive, a removable media, a volatile memory, a non-volatile
memory, a random access memory (RAM), or other suitable device. In
a typical arrangement, the machine-readable storage medium 244
includes a non-volatile memory for long term data storage and a
volatile memory that functions as system memory for the control
circuit 632. The machine-readable storage medium 244 may exchange
data with the control circuit 632 over a data bus. Accompanying
control lines and an address bus between the machine-readable
storage medium 244 and the control circuit 632 also may be present.
The machine-readable storage medium 244 is considered a
non-transitory computer readable medium. In one embodiment, data
regarding the indication is stored in the machine-readable storage
medium 244.
[0066] The phone 100 may further include a sound circuit 621 for
processing audio signals. Coupled to the sound circuit 621 are a
speaker 622 and a microphone 624 that enable a user to listen and
speak via the phone 100, and hear sounds generated in connection
with other functions of the device 100. The sound circuit 621 may
include any appropriate buffers, encoders, decoders, amplifiers and
so forth.
[0067] The phone 100 may further include a keypad 120 that provides
for a variety of user input operations as described above in
reference to FIG. 1. The phone 100 may further include one or more
input/output (I/O) interface(s) 628. The I/O interface(s) 628 may
be in the form of typical electronic device I/O interfaces and may
include one or more electrical connectors for operatively
connecting the phone 100 to another device (e.g., a computer) or an
accessory (e.g., a personal handsfree (PHF) device) via a cable.
Further, operating power may be received over the I/O interface(s)
628 and power to charge a battery of a power supply unit (PSU) 631
within the phone 100 may be received over the I/O interface(s) 628.
The PSU 631 may supply power to operate the phone 100 in the
absence of an external power source.
[0068] The phone 100 also may include various other components. For
instance, the imaging element 102 may be present for taking digital
pictures and/or movies. Image and/or video files corresponding to
the pictures and/or movies may be stored in the machine-readable
storage medium 244. As another example, a position data receiver
634, such as a global positioning system (GPS) receiver, may be
present to assist in determining the location of the phone 100.
[0069] Although the invention has been shown and described with
respect to certain preferred embodiments, it is understood that
equivalents and modifications will occur to others skilled in the
art upon the reading and understanding of the specification. The
present invention includes all such equivalents and modifications,
and is limited only by the scope of the following claims.
* * * * *