U.S. patent application number 16/684488 was filed with the patent office on 2020-03-12 for interference coordination for peer-to-peer (p2p) communication and wide area network (wan) communication.
The applicant listed for this patent is QUALCOMM Incorporated. Invention is credited to Naga BHUSHAN, Jaber BORRAN, Aleksandar DAMNJANOVIC, Stefan GEIRHOFER, Ravi PALANKI.
Application Number | 20200084774 16/684488 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 44504212 |
Filed Date | 2020-03-12 |
United States Patent
Application |
20200084774 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
GEIRHOFER; Stefan ; et
al. |
March 12, 2020 |
INTERFERENCE COORDINATION FOR PEER-TO-PEER (P2P) COMMUNICATION AND
WIDE AREA NETWORK (WAN) COMMUNICATION
Abstract
Techniques for supporting peer-to-peer (P2P) communication in a
wide area network (WAN) are disclosed. In an aspect, interference
coordination between P2P devices engaged in P2P communication and
WAN devices engaged in WAN communication may be performed based on
a network-controlled architecture. For the network-controlled
architecture, P2P devices may detect other P2P devices and/or WAN
devices and may send measurements (e.g., for pathloss,
interference, etc.) for the detected devices to the WAN (e.g.,
serving base stations). The WAN may perform resource partitioning
and/or association for the P2P devices based on the measurements.
Association may include selection of P2P communication or WAN
communication for a given P2P device. Resource partitioning may
include allocation of resources to a group of P2P devices for P2P
communication. The WAN may send the results of association and/or
resource partitioning to the P2P devices, which may communicate in
accordance with the association and/or resource partitioning
results.
Inventors: |
GEIRHOFER; Stefan;
(Washington, DC) ; BHUSHAN; Naga; (San Diego,
CA) ; PALANKI; Ravi; (Cupertino, CA) ; BORRAN;
Jaber; (San Diego, CA) ; DAMNJANOVIC; Aleksandar;
(Del Mar, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
QUALCOMM Incorporated |
San Jose |
CA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
44504212 |
Appl. No.: |
16/684488 |
Filed: |
November 14, 2019 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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13188146 |
Jul 21, 2011 |
10517098 |
|
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16684488 |
|
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61369622 |
Jul 30, 2010 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04W 52/243 20130101;
H04W 8/005 20130101; H04W 52/383 20130101; H04W 72/082 20130101;
H04W 76/14 20180201; H04W 72/0406 20130101 |
International
Class: |
H04W 72/08 20060101
H04W072/08; H04W 52/24 20060101 H04W052/24; H04W 76/14 20060101
H04W076/14; H04W 52/38 20060101 H04W052/38; H04W 8/00 20060101
H04W008/00 |
Claims
1. A method of wireless communication in a wide area network (WAN),
comprising: performing peer discovery by a first device supporting
peer-to-peer (P2P) communication and WAN communication; detecting
at least one second device by the first device via the peer
discovery; obtaining at least one measurement for the at least one
second device by the first device; sending the at least one
measurement from the first device to the WAN; receiving results of
association, or resource partitioning, or both association and
resource partitioning from the WAN, wherein association to select
P2P communication or WAN communication, or resource partitioning to
allocate resources for P2P communication, or both association and
resource partitioning are performed by the WAN for the first device
based on the at least one measurement; and communicating by the
first device based on the results of association, or resource
partitioning, or both.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the performing peer discovery
comprises transmitting a proximity detection signal by the first
device to enable at least one other device to detect the first
device.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the performing peer discovery
comprises detecting at least one proximity detection signal from
the at least one second device, and wherein the obtaining at least
one measurement comprises making the at least one measurement for
the at least one second device by the first device based on the at
least one proximity detection signal.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining at least one
measurement comprises making at least one pathloss measurement for
the at least one second device by the first device, each pathloss
measurement being indicative of pathloss between the first device
and one of the at least one second device.
5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining at least
one network address of the at least one second device by the first
device; and sending the at least one network address of the at
least one second device to the WAN.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving the results of
association, or resource partitioning, or both comprises receiving
a decision of P2P communication or WAN communication selected by
the WAN for the first device, and wherein the communicating by the
first device comprises directly communicating with the at least one
second device by the first device if P2P communication is
selected.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving the results of
association, or resource partitioning, or both comprises receiving
information indicative of the resources allocated to the first
device for P2P communication, and wherein the communicating by the
first device comprises directly communicating with the at least one
second device on the resources allocated for P2P communication by
the first device.
8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a maximum
transmit power level to be used by the first device for P2P
communication; and transmitting at the maximum transmit power level
or lower by the first device for P2P communication.
9. The method of claim 1, further comprising: detecting at least
one P2P device potentially causing strong interference to the first
device; and sending information indicative of the at least one P2P
device to the WAN.
10. The method of claim 1, further comprising: making at least one
interference measurement for at least one WAN device by the first
device, each WAN device communicating with the WAN, each
interference measurement being made on different resources and
indicative of interference detected by the first device from one of
the at least one WAN device; and sending the at least one
interference measurement for the at least one WAN device to the
WAN.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein each interference measurement
sent by the first device is further indicative of particular
resources on which strong interference is detected by the first
device.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the first device is a P2P client
in a P2P group including the first device and the at least one
second device, the method further comprising: performing a random
access procedure by the first device to establish a P2P
communication link with the at least one second device.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein the first device is a P2P server
in a P2P group including the first device and the at least one
second device, the method further comprising: scheduling the at
least one second device for data transmission for P2P communication
by the first device.
14. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: means for
performing peer discovery by a first device supporting peer-to-peer
(P2P) communication and wide area network (WAN) communication;
means for detecting at least one second device by the first device
via the peer discovery; means for obtaining at least one
measurement for the at least one second device by the first device;
means for sending the at least one measurement from the first
device to a WAN; means for receiving results of association, or
resource partitioning, or both association and resource
partitioning from the WAN, wherein association to select P2P
communication or WAN communication, or resource partitioning to
allocate resources for P2P communication, or both association and
resource partitioning are performed by the WAN for the first device
based on the at least one measurement; and means for communicating
by the first device based on the results of association, or
resource partitioning, or both.
15. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising: means for
determining at least one network address of the at least one second
device by the first device; and means for sending the at least one
network address of the at least one second device to the WAN.
16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the means for receiving the
results of association, or resource partitioning, or both comprises
means for receiving a decision of P2P communication or WAN
communication selected by the WAN for the first device, and wherein
the means for communicating by the first device comprises means for
directly communicating with the at least one second device by the
first device if P2P communication is selected.
17. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the means for receiving the
results of association, or resource partitioning, or both comprises
means for receiving information indicative of the resources
allocated to the first device for P2P communication, and wherein
the means for communicating by the first device comprises means for
directly communicating with the at least one second device on the
resources allocated for P2P communication by the first device.
18. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: at least
one processor configured to perform peer discovery by a first
device supporting peer-to-peer (P2P) communication and wide area
network (WAN) communication, to detect at least one second device
by the first device via the peer discovery, to obtain at least one
measurement for the at least one second device by the first device,
to send the at least one measurement from the first device to a
WAN, to receive results of association, or resource partitioning,
or both association and resource partitioning from the WAN, wherein
association to select P2P communication or WAN communication, or
resource partitioning to allocate resources for P2P communication,
or both association and resource partitioning are performed by the
WAN for the first device based on the at least one measurement, and
to communicate by the first device based on the results of
association, or resource partitioning, or both.
19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the at least one processor
is configured to determine at least one network address of the at
least one second device by the first device, and to send the at
least one network address of the at least one second device to the
WAN.
20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the at least one processor
is configured to receive a decision of P2P communication or WAN
communication selected by the WAN for the first device, and to
directly communicate with the at least one second device by the
first device if P2P communication is selected.
21. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the at least one processor
is configured to receive information indicative of resources
allocated to the first device for P2P communication, and to
directly communicate with the at least one second device on the
allocated resources by the first device.
22. A computer program product, comprising: a non-transitory
computer-readable medium comprising: code for causing at least one
processor to perform peer discovery by a first device supporting
peer-to-peer (P2P) communication and wide area network (WAN)
communication, code for causing the at least one processor to
detect at least one second device by the first device via the peer
discovery, code for causing the at least one processor to obtain at
least one measurement for the at least one second device by the
first device, code for causing the at least one processor to send
the at least one measurement from the first device to a WAN, code
for causing the at least one processor to receive results of
association, or resource partitioning, or both association and
resource partitioning from the WAN, wherein association to select
P2P communication or WAN communication, or resource partitioning to
allocate resources for P2P communication, or both association and
resource partitioning are performed by the WAN for the first device
based on the at least one measurement, and code for causing the at
least one processor to communicate by the first device based on the
results of association, or resource partitioning, or both.
Description
[0001] This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser.
No. 13/188,146, entitled "INTERFERENCE COORDINATION FOR
PEER-TO-PEER (P2P) COMMUNICATION AND WIDE AREA NETWORK (WAN)
COMMUNICATION" and filed on Jul. 21, 2011, which claims the benefit
of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/369,622, entitled
"INTERFERENCE COORDINATION FOR PEER-TO-PEER (P2P) COMMUNICATION AND
WIDE AREA NETWORK (WAN) COMMUNICATION" and filed on Jul. 30, 2010,
the entire contents of both of which are expressly incorporated by
reference herein in their entirety.
BACKGROUND
I. Field
[0002] The present disclosure relates generally to communication,
and more specifically to techniques for supporting peer-to-peer
(P2P) communication and wide area network (WAN) communication.
II. Background
[0003] Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to
provide various communication content such as voice, video, packet
data, messaging, broadcast, etc. These wireless networks may be
multiple-access networks capable of supporting multiple users by
sharing the available network resources. Examples of such
multiple-access networks include Code Division Multiple Access
(CDMA) networks, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) networks,
Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) networks, Orthogonal FDMA
(OFDMA) networks, and Single-Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) networks. A
wireless communication network may also be referred to as a wide
area network (WAN).
[0004] A wireless communication network may include a number of
base stations that can support communication for a number of
devices. A device may communicate with a base station via the
downlink and uplink. The downlink (or forward link) refers to the
communication link from the base station to the device, and the
uplink (or reverse link) refers to the communication link from the
device to the base station. The device may also be able to
communicate peer-to-peer with other devices. It may be desirable to
efficiently support P2P communication between devices.
SUMMARY
[0005] Techniques for supporting P2P communication in a WAN are
described herein. In an aspect, interference coordination between
P2P devices engaged in P2P communication and WAN devices engaged in
WAN communication may be performed based on a network-controlled
architecture. For the network-controlled architecture, P2P devices
may detect other P2P devices and/or WAN devices, make measurements
(e.g., for pathloss, interference, etc.) for the detected devices,
and send the measurements to the WAN (e.g., serving base stations).
The WAN may perform resource partitioning and/or association for
the P2P devices based on the measurements. Association may include
selection of P2P communication or WAN communication for a given P2P
device. Resource partitioning may include allocation or assignment
of resources to a group of P2P devices for P2P communication.
[0006] In one design, a network entity (e.g., a base station) may
receive at least one measurement from a first device, which may
support P2P communication and WAN communication. The at least one
measurement may be for at least one second device detected by the
first device. The network entity may perform association to select
P2P communication or WAN communication and/or resource partitioning
to allocate resources for P2P communication for the first device
based on the at least one measurement. The network entity may send
the results of association and/or resource partitioning to the
first device.
[0007] In one design, the first device may perform peer discovery
and may detect at least one second device via peer discovery. The
first device may obtain at least one measurement for the at least
one second device and may send the at least one measurement to a
WAN (e.g., a base station). The first device may also determine at
least one network address of the at least one second device and may
send the at least one network address of the at least one second
device to the WAN. The first device may receive the results of
association and/or resource partitioning from the WAN. The results
may indicate whether P2P communication or WAN communication is
selected for the first device and possibly resources allocated to
the first device for P2P communication. The first device may
communicate based on the results of association and/or resource
partitioning received from the WAN.
[0008] Various aspects and features of the disclosure are described
in further detail below.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] FIG. 1 shows a wireless communication network.
[0010] FIG. 2 shows a process for supporting P2P communication
based on the network-controlled architecture.
[0011] FIG. 3 shows a process for performing resource partitioning
and association based on the network-controlled architecture.
[0012] FIG. 4 shows P2P communication in a wireless network.
[0013] FIG. 5 shows a process for supporting P2P communication.
[0014] FIG. 6 shows a process for engaging in P2P
communication.
[0015] FIG. 7A shows a block diagram of a device.
[0016] FIG. 7B shows a block diagram of a base station.
[0017] FIG. 8 shows a block diagram of a base station and a
device.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0018] The techniques described herein may be used for various
wireless communication networks such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA,
SC-FDMA and other wireless networks. The terms "network" and
"system" are often used interchangeably. A CDMA network may
implement a radio technology such as Universal Terrestrial Radio
Access (UTRA), cdma2000, etc. UTRA includes Wideband CDMA (WCDMA),
Time Division Synchronous CDMA (TD-SCDMA), and other variants of
CDMA. cdma2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95 and IS-856 standards. A TDMA
network may implement a radio technology such as Global System for
Mobile Communications (GSM). An OFDMA network may implement a radio
technology such as Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband
(UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20,
Flash-OFDM.RTM., etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of Universal Mobile
Telecommunication System (UMTS). 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) and
LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), in both frequency division duplexing (FDD)
and time division duplexing (TDD), are new releases of UMTS that
use E-UTRA, which employs OFDMA on the downlink and SC-FDMA on the
uplink. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A and GSM are described in
documents from an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership
Project" (3GPP). cdma2000 and UMB are described in documents from
an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project 2"
(3GPP2). The techniques described herein may be used for the
wireless networks and radio technologies mentioned above as well as
other wireless networks and radio technologies.
[0019] FIG. 1 shows a wireless communication network or WAN 100,
which may include a number of base stations 110 and other network
entities. A base station may be an entity that communicates with
the devices and may also be referred to as a Node B, an evolved
Node B (eNB), an access point, etc. Each base station 110 may
provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area and
may support communication for the devices located within the
coverage area. To improve network capacity, the overall coverage
area of a base station may be partitioned into multiple (e.g.,
three) smaller areas. Each smaller area may be served by a
respective base station subsystem. In 3GPP, the term "cell" can
refer to a coverage area of a base station and/or a base station
subsystem serving this coverage area, depending on the context in
which the term is used.
[0020] A network controller 130 may couple to a set of base
stations and may provide coordination and control for these base
stations. Network controller 130 may be a single network entity or
a collection of network entities. Network controller 130 may
communicate with the base stations via a backhaul. The base
stations may also communicate with one another, e.g., directly or
indirectly via wireless or wireline backhaul.
[0021] Devices 120 may be dispersed throughout the wireless
network, and each device may be stationary or mobile. A device may
also be referred to as a user equipment (UE), a user device, a
mobile station, a terminal, an access terminal, a subscriber unit,
a station, etc. A device may be a cellular phone, a smart phone, a
tablet, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a
wireless communication device, a handheld device, a laptop
computer, a cordless phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a
netbook, a smartbook, a peripheral device (e.g., a printer),
etc.
[0022] A device may communicate with a base station in the wireless
network. A device may also communicate peer-to-peer with other
devices. In the example shown in FIG. 1, devices 120a and 120b may
communicate peer-to-peer, and remaining devices 120 may communicate
with base stations 110. Devices 120a and 120b may also be capable
of communicating with base stations, e.g., when not engaged in P2P
communication or possibly concurrent with P2P communication.
[0023] In the description herein, WAN communication refers to
communication between devices via at least one base station in a
wireless network. A WAN device is a device that is interested or
engaged in WAN communication. P2P communication refers to direct
communication between two or more devices, without going through
any base station. A P2P device is a device that is interested or
engaged in P2P communication, e.g., a device that has traffic data
for another device within proximity of the P2P device. Two devices
may be considered to be within proximity of one another, for
example, if each device can detect the other device. In general, a
device may communicate with another device either directly for P2P
communication or via at least one base station for WAN
communication.
[0024] In one design, direct communication between P2P devices may
be organized in P2P groups. A P2P group refers to a group of two or
more devices interested or engaged in P2P communication. For
example, a P2P group 102 in FIG. 1 includes two devices 120a and
120b interested or engaged in P2P communication.
[0025] In one design, a P2P group may include a P2P group owner (or
P2P server) and one or more P2P clients served by the P2P group
owner. In one design, P2P communication may occur only within a P2P
group and may further occur only between the P2P group owner and
its P2P clients. For example, if two P2P clients within the same
P2P group desire to exchange information, then the P2P group owner
may relay transmissions for these P2P clients. In one design, a P2P
client may belong in only one P2P group. In another design, a P2P
client may belonging in more than one P2P group and may communicate
with a P2P device in any P2P group at any given moment.
[0026] P2P communication may offer certain advantages over WAN
communication, especially for devices located close to each other.
In particular, efficiency may improve because the pathloss between
two devices may be substantially smaller than the pathloss between
either device to its serving base station. Furthermore, the two
devices may communicate directly via a single transmission "hop"
for P2P communication instead of via two transmission hops for WAN
communication--one hop for the uplink from one device to its
serving base station and another hop for the downlink from the same
or different base station to the other device. P2P communication
may thus be used to improve user capacity and also to improve
network capacity by shifting some load over to P2P
communication.
[0027] Wireless network 100 may support concurrent WAN connectivity
for a group of P2P devices engaged in P2P communication. The WAN
connectivity may be concurrent in that it may be perceived as such
by both a user and upper layers of a protocol stack. This
concurrency would typically not require a device to transmit and/or
receive for both WAN communication and P2P communication
simultaneously (e.g., in the same subframe).
[0028] In general, P2P communication may be supported (i) on the
same spectrum used by wireless network 100 in a co-channel P2P
deployment or (ii) on a different spectrum not used by wireless
network 100 in a dedicated P2P deployment. The term "spectrum" may
generically refer to a range of frequencies, which may correspond
to a frequency channel, a frequency band, a subband, a carrier,
etc. For example, P2P communication may be supported in unlicensed
spectrum or white space spectrum for a dedicated P2P deployment,
subject to any constraints governing the usage of such spectrum.
Co-channel P2P deployment may be used, for example, when a separate
spectrum is not available to support P2P communication.
Accommodating P2P communication and WAN communication on the same
spectrum may result in interference between WAN devices and P2P
devices, which may be mitigated as described below.
[0029] Wireless network 100 may utilize FDD and may operate on one
spectrum for the downlink and another spectrum for the uplink. P2P
devices may not be able to transmit on the downlink spectrum in
order to avoid causing interference to downlink transmissions from
base stations. Hence, in a co-channel P2P deployment, some
time-frequency resources on the uplink spectrum may be allocated
for P2P communication. Alternatively, wireless network 100 may
utilize TDD and may utilize the same spectrum for both the downlink
and uplink. Some subframes may be allocated for the downlink, and
the remaining subframes may be allocated for the uplink. In this
case, in a co-channel P2P deployment, some time-frequency resources
in the uplink subframes may be allocated for P2P communication.
[0030] In one design, P2P devices may communicate with one another
using TDD. For example, a P2P server in a P2P group may transmit in
some time intervals, and a P2P client in the P2P group may transmit
in other time intervals. TDD may be used for P2P communication in
both dedicated P2P deployments and co-channel P2P deployments.
[0031] For P2P communication, P2P devices may transmit on the
uplink spectrum in an FDD deployment or in uplink subframes in a
TDD deployment. The P2P devices may then cause interference to the
uplink transmissions from WAN devices at their serving base
stations. The P2P devices may also observe interference from the
WAN devices on the uplink spectrum or in the uplink subframes. The
interference may degrade the performance of the P2P devices as well
as the WAN devices.
[0032] In an aspect, interference coordination may be performed to
support P2P communication and WAN communication and may include the
following components:
[0033] 1. Resource partitioning between WAN communication and P2P
communication, and
[0034] 2. Resource partitioning between P2P devices.
Resource partitioning may also be referred to as resource
coordination, resource allocation, etc. The term "allocate" and
"assign" are synonymous and are used interchangeably herein.
[0035] The first component above may be applicable for co-channel
P2P deployments. If P2P communication occurs on the same spectrum
used for WAN communication, then P2P transmissions may cause
interference to WAN transmissions, and vice versa. The severity of
this interference may depend on various factors such as channel
conditions. Nevertheless, it may be necessary or desirable to
perform resource partitioning and allocate orthogonal resources to
interfering WAN and P2P transmissions. For example, orthogonal
resources may be defined for different frequency subbands, or
different time slots or interlaces, or different resource blocks,
etc. The orthogonal resources may relate to time, frequency, code,
transmit power, etc.
[0036] The second component above may be applicable for both
co-channel P2P deployments and dedicated P2P deployments. Resource
partitioning among P2P devices may be performed since different P2P
transmissions may strongly interfere with each other. While the
interference coordination between WAN devices and P2P devices may
be avoided by having the P2P devices operate on a dedicated
frequency band or on semi-statically configured resources on which
the WAN devices are not active, interference coordination between
the P2P devices may be pertinent regardless of spectrum usage.
[0037] A device may be either (i) a WAN-only device capable of only
WAN communication or (ii) a WAN/P2P device capable of both WAN
communication and P2P communication. For a WAN/P2P device, an
association decision (e.g., made by a base station) may determine
whether the device operates in a P2P mode or a WAN mode. Some of
the description below, except when considering association
decisions themselves, assumes that an association decision for a
device has already been made and that the device operates in either
a P2P mode or a WAN mode. Association may be another way of
performing interference coordination. Association may be different
from the two components listed above in that it changes whether a
device operates in the WAN mode or the P2P mode.
[0038] In another aspect, interference coordination between P2P
devices and WAN devices may be performed based on a
network-controlled architecture. For the network-controlled
architecture, P2P devices may report measurements (e.g., for
pathloss, interference, performance metrics, etc.) to their serving
base stations. The base stations may perform resource partitioning
and association for the P2P devices based on the measurements. The
base stations may inform the P2P devices of the association
decisions and the allocated resources.
[0039] The network-controlled architecture may differ from a
network-transparent architecture in which a wireless network may
provide connectivity but does not get involved in resource
coordination among different P2P groups (except perhaps for setting
aside an adequate amount of resources for the P2P communication).
The network-transparent architecture may be augmented with optional
network assistance in a manner that may be transparent to the P2P
groups. Nevertheless, the network-transparent architecture may be
fundamentally different from the network-controlled
architecture.
[0040] The network-controlled architecture can exploit the presence
of a wireless network to facilitate interference management between
WAN communication and P2P communication and also between P2P
groups. The network-controlled architecture may be used for (i)
co-channel P2P deployments in which P2P communication and WAN
communication occur on the same spectrum and (ii) dedicated P2P
deployments in which P2P communication and WAN communication occur
on separate spectrum. The network-controlled architecture may also
be applicable for various radio technologies (e.g., LTE, CDMA, GSM,
WiFi-direct, etc.) used for P2P communication. For clarity, certain
aspects of the techniques are described below assuming that LTE-A
is used for P2P communication.
[0041] In one design of the network-controlled architecture, a base
station may perform resource partitioning for P2P groups possibly
with some coordination among neighboring base stations that are
associated with close-by P2P groups at cell edge. Resource
partitioning between a WAN and P2P groups may be flexible. In a
first design, a base station may statically or semi-statically
perform resource partitioning and may simply reserve some resources
for P2P communication. In this design, a P2P group may be assigned
all or some of the reserved resources for P2P communication. In a
second design, a base station may dynamically perform resource
partitioning, e.g., when and as needed. In this design, a P2P group
may be assigned some of the available resources, which may be
selected at the time of the assignment. The second design may
enable a P2P group to operate on the same resources as one or more
WAN devices. For example, a P2P group near the cell edge may
operate on the same resources as one or more WAN UEs located close
to a base station or sufficiently far from the P2P group.
[0042] Resources may be shared between WAN devices and P2P devices
by addressing both (i) interference that the WAN devices may cause
to close-by P2P devices and (ii) interference that the P2P devices
may cause to reception of transmissions from the WAN devices at
base stations. In one design, interference from WAN devices to
nearby P2P devices may be addressed by first identifying which P2P
devices are close to the WAN devices and then avoiding strong
interference from the WAN devices to the P2P devices through
resource partitioning or scheduling.
[0043] Interference caused by P2P devices to WAN devices may be
mitigated in various manners. In one design, interference caused by
the P2P devices to WAN transmissions at the base stations may be
addressed via resource partitioning. The base stations may assign
resources to the P2P devices in a network-controlled fashion and
possibly with some coordination among neighboring base stations. In
another design, interference caused by the P2P devices to WAN
transmissions may be addressed via power control. For example, the
transmit power of the P2P devices may be limited to a particular
maximum transmit power level that would result in an acceptable
amount of interference to the WAN transmissions at the base
stations. This maximum transmit power level may be an upper bound
for the P2P devices. The P2P devices may use as little transmit
power as possible in order to obtain the desired performance while
minimizing interference to the WAN transmissions. A combination of
power control and resource partitioning may also be used to
mitigate interference from the P2P devices to the WAN
transmissions.
[0044] FIG. 2 shows a design of a process 200 for supporting P2P
communication based on the network-controlled architecture. In one
design, P2P devices may perform peer discovery and detect P2P group
owners based on proximity detection signals transmitted by the P2P
group owners (block 212). Peer discovery may be performed by
WAN/P2P devices operating in the P2P mode or the WAN mode but may
not be supported by WAN-only devices. A proximity detection signal
is a signal transmitted by a device to aid discovery and
measurement of the device and/or for other purposes. The P2P
devices may measure pathloss and discover network addresses of the
P2P group owners based on the proximity detection signals and/or
P2P signals (block 214). The P2P devices may report the pathloss
measurements and network addresses of the P2P group owners to a WAN
(e.g., serving base stations) (block 216).
[0045] The WAN (e.g., the base stations or some other network
entity) may determine which WAN devices, if any, cause strong
interference to specific P2P groups (block 218). The WAN may
schedule the WAN devices such that jamming of the P2P groups can be
avoided (block 220).
[0046] The WAN may perform resource partitioning and/or association
based on the measurements from the P2P devices (block 222).
Allocation of resources to P2P groups may be performed in a
network-controlled fashion and may be orchestrated by a base
station, possibly involving some coordination among neighboring
base stations. Resource partitioning and association decisions may
be communicated to the P2P devices (block 224). The P2P devices may
report their residual interference levels after dominant
interference from the WAN devices has been mitigated.
[0047] The network-controlled architecture may provide better
overall performance for WAN communication and P2P communication.
The network-controlled architecture may have access to loading and
scheduling information for WAN devices and may be able to estimate
the performance achievable by WAN communication and also the
performance achievable by P2P communication. Hence, the
network-controlled architecture may be able to more accurately
access the impact of association decisions and may also be able to
jointly make resource partitioning and association decisions that
can yield better performance.
[0048] FIG. 3 shows a design of a process 300 for performing
resource partitioning and association to support P2P communication
based on the network-controlled architecture. For clarity, much of
the description below assumes a case in which two P2P devices A and
B desire to communicate peer-to-peer. The case involving more than
two P2P devices can follow straightforwardly. P2P devices A and B
may be within the coverage of base station A, which may be a
serving base station of P2P devices A and B. P2P devices A and B
may correspond to devices 120a and 120b in FIG. 1, and base station
A may correspond to base station 110a in FIG. 1.
[0049] A trigger to initiate formation of a P2P group for P2P
devices A and B may be received (block 312). The trigger may be
provided by a discovery mechanism, which may be part of a P2P
application. The trigger may initiate an access procedure used by
P2P devices A and B to form a new P2P group. P2P device A and/or
P2P device B may then perform peer discovery to detect the presence
of one another. P2P device A may be designated as a P2P group
owner, and P2P device B may be designated as a P2P client.
[0050] In one design, P2P device B may detect a proximity detection
signal from P2P device A (block 314). P2P device B may estimate the
pathloss for P2P device A and obtain a network address of P2P
device A based on the proximity detection signal (block 314). P2P
device B may also detect proximity detection signals from
neighboring P2P group owners and may estimate pathloss for these
P2P group owners and obtain their network addresses based on the
proximity detection signals of these P2P group owners (also block
314). P2P clients in the neighboring P2P groups may also detect the
proximity detection signal from P2P device A and may estimate the
pathloss for P2P device A and obtain the network address of P2P
device A based on the proximity detection signal from P2P device A
(also block 314). Alternatively or additionally, P2P device A may
detect a proximity detection signal from P2P device B and may make
pathloss measurement for P2P device B and/or obtain a network
address of P2P device B (also block 314). In general, P2P clients
may detect proximity detection signals from P2P servers and/or
other P2P clients. Alternatively or additionally, P2P servers may
detect proximity detection signals from P2P clients and/or other
P2P servers.
[0051] A determination may be made whether to proceed with P2P
group formation (step 316). P2P group formation may be aborted for
various reasons such as high pathloss between P2P devices A and B,
etc. If a determination is made to abort P2P group formation, then
P2P devices A and B may communicate via a WAN (block 330).
Otherwise, P2P device A and/or B may report pathloss measurements
and network addresses to the WAN (e.g., to serving base station A)
(block 318). The P2P group owner and P2P clients may report
separately.
[0052] The WAN (e.g., base station A) may configure WAN devices for
transmission of sounding reference signals (SRS). A sounding
reference signal is a reference signal that is transmitted by a
transmitter to enable a receiver to estimate the quality of a
wireless channel between the transmitter and the receiver. A
sounding reference signal may include known modulation symbols
transmitted on a set of subcarriers, which may or may not vary over
time. The P2P devices may estimate interference on different
time-frequency resources and may detect strong interference on
certain time-frequency resources from WAN devices based on the
sounding reference signals transmitted by the WAN devices. Strong
interference may be quantified by interference exceeding a
particular threshold. The P2P devices may report strong
interference conditions and the time-frequency resources on which
strong interference is detected to the WAN (also block 318). The
WAN may know the SRS configurations of the WAN devices and may be
able to identify one or more nearby WAN devices for each P2P device
reporting strong interference (block 320). The WAN may mitigate the
strong interference from the WAN devices via scheduling, or
resource partitioning, or some other mechanism, as described below
(also block 320).
[0053] Network-controlled resource partitioning and association may
be performed either jointly or separately for the P2P devices
(block 322). For association, the WAN may determine whether P2P
communication or WAN communication will provide better performance
for P2P devices A and B based on the pathloss measurements from the
P2P devices. For resource partitioning, the WAN may assign
resources to P2P devices A and B for P2P communication and may also
determine a maximum transmit power level for the P2P devices. Base
station A may (i) autonomously perform resource partitioning and
association for the P2P devices or (ii) coordinate with one or more
neighboring base stations for resource partitioning and
association, depending on the location of the P2P devices.
[0054] A determination may be made whether P2P communication is
selected for P2P devices A and B (block 324). If P2P communication
is not selected, then P2P devices A and B may communicate via the
WAN (block 330). Otherwise, the WAN may inform P2P devices A and B
of the assigned resources and the maximum transmit power level
(block 326). P2P devices A and B may then communicate peer-to-peer
on the assigned resources (block 328). P2P device B may perform a
random access channel (RACH) procedure on the assigned resources to
establish a communication link with P2P device A (also block 328).
The various steps in FIG. 3 are described in further detail
below.
[0055] A new P2P client may desire to join an existing P2P group.
The new P2P client may perform an access procedure, which may be
similar to the procedure shown in FIG. 3 for P2P group formation.
The new P2P client may perform discovery for P2P devices, make
pathloss measurements for detected P2P devices, and report the
measurements to the WAN, e.g., in similar manner as for P2P group
formation described above. Furthermore, interfering WAN devices in
the vicinity of the new P2P client may be identified as described
above. The WAN may perform resource partitioning and association
for the new P2P client based on the reported measurements and the
identified interfering WAN devices. The WAN may determine changes
to the resource partitioning and association as a result of the new
P2P client joining the P2P group and may communicate the changes to
the group P2P owner, as described above.
[0056] In one design, P2P devices may perform peer discovery and
make pathloss measurements based on proximity detection signals. A
proximity detection signal may comprise a reference signal and/or
other signals and transmissions. A reference signal is a signal
that is known a priori by a transmitter and a receiver and may also
be referred to as pilot. A P2P device may occasionally (e.g.,
periodically) transmit a proximity detection signal to allow other
devices to detect the presence of the P2P device. Alternatively or
additionally, the P2P device may occasionally detect proximity
detection signals from other devices within its proximity. A
proximity detection signal may be transmitted on resources reserved
for transmitting proximity detection signals, which may have less
interference than other resources and may enable detection of the
proximity detection signal by devices farther away. A proximity
detection signal may also be transmitted on resources used for WAN
communication and/or P2P communication.
[0057] A proximity detection signal may be generated in various
manners and may include various types of information such as a
discovery identity (ID) of a transmitting P2P device, a network
address of the transmitting P2P device, a service being offered or
requested by the transmitting P2P device, and/or other information.
A discovery ID may be unique for a P2P device within a small area
(e.g., the coverage area of a base station) whereas a network
address may be unique for the P2P device over a larger area.
Different P2P devices may also transmit different information in
the proximity detection signal. In one design, a P2P group owner
may transmit its discovery ID or network address in a proximity
detection signal to enable P2P clients to obtain the network
address of the P2P group owner. In one design, the network address
may be obtained by receiving a discovery ID from the proximity
detection signal and translating the discovery ID to a network
address through a registration/discovery server. In another design,
the network address may be obtained directly from the proximity
detection signal.
[0058] In one design, P2P group owners may occasionally (e.g.,
periodically) transmit proximity detection signals to allow other
devices to detect the presence of the P2P group owners. In this
design, P2P device A in FIG. 3 may transmit a proximity detection
signal, and P2P device B may detect the proximity detection signal.
P2P device B may estimate the pathloss between P2P devices A and B
and may also determine the network address of P2P device A based on
the proximity detection signal transmitted by P2P device A.
[0059] In another design, P2P clients may occasionally transmit
proximity detection signals to allow other devices to detect the
presence of the P2P clients. In this design, P2P device B in FIG. 3
may transmit a proximity detection signal, and P2P device A may
detect the proximity detection signal. P2P device A may estimate
the pathloss and determine the network address of P2P device B
based on the proximity detection signal transmitted by device
B.
[0060] In yet another design, each P2P device may transmit a
proximity detection signal and may also detect proximity detection
signals from other P2P devices. In this design, P2P device A may
detect P2P device B and may estimate the pathloss and determine the
network address of P2P device B based on the proximity detection
signal transmitted by device B. Similarly, P2P device B may detect
P2P device A and may estimate the pathloss and may determine the
network address of P2P device A based on the proximity detection
signal transmitted by device A.
[0061] P2P devices (e.g., P2P clients) in neighboring P2P groups
that might be interfered by transmissions from P2P device A may
detect the proximity detection signal from P2P device A and
determine the pathloss to P2P device A and the network address of
P2P device A. The P2P devices in the neighboring P2P groups may
report their pathloss measurements and/or the network address of
P2P device A to their P2P group owners or to their base stations,
which may collect the feedback from existing P2P groups.
[0062] P2P devices A and/or B may also proceed in a similar manner.
In particular, P2P device A and/or B may detect proximity detection
signals from P2P devices in neighboring P2P groups, determine the
pathloss and network addresses of the neighboring P2P devices, and
report these pathloss measurements and network addresses to serving
base station A.
[0063] P2P devices A and/or B may also measure the received signal
strength and/or received signal quality of their serving base
station A and may report the measurements to base station A. These
measurements may be used to estimate the performance of P2P devices
A and B for WAN communication. This performance information may be
used, together with the other reported measurements, for
association to determine whether to select P2P communication or WAN
communication for P2P devices A and B.
[0064] Resources may be statically or semi-statically allocated for
WAN communication and P2P communication. In this case, WAN devices
may cause strong interference to P2P devices, and vice versa. To
avoid strong interference conditions that may arise if the WAN
devices and P2P devices are in close proximity, the WAN devices
that are dominant interferers to the P2P devices may be
identified.
[0065] WAN devices that cause strong interference to P2P devices
may be identified in various manners. In one design, interfering
WAN devices may be identified based on measurements by P2P devices,
as described below. In another design, interfering WAN devices may
be identified based on their locations relative to the locations of
the P2P devices. The locations of the devices may be estimated
based on received signal strength measurements, positioning, and/or
other means. In yet another design, interfering WAN devices may be
identified based on radio frequency (RF) fingerprinting. Different
devices may be assumed to be located near each other if they have
similar received signal strength measurements for a set of cells.
Interfering WAN devices may also be identified in other
manners.
[0066] In one design, to facilitate detection of interfering WAN
devices to P2P devices, the WAN devices may be configured by the
wireless network to transmit sounding reference signals. In one
design, different WAN devices may be configured to transmit their
sounding reference signals on different sets of subcarriers and/or
with other distinguishing characteristics to enable these WAN
devices to be identified based on their sounding reference
signals.
[0067] In one design, P2P devices may measure interference on
different time-frequency resources and may detect strong
interference due to the sounding reference signals from WAN
devices. The P2P devices may report strong interference conditions,
along with information on the specific resources on which the
strong interference was detected, to their serving base stations.
The base stations may be aware of which WAN devices were scheduled
to transmit on what specific resources. The base stations may then
be able to determine which WAN devices were likely to have caused
the strong interference based on the interference conditions
reported by the P2P devices.
[0068] The base stations may be able to identify WAN devices
causing strong interference to P2P devices based on the reports
from the P2P devices. Strong interference from the identified WAN
devices may be reduced in various manners. In one design, the base
stations may mitigate interference due to the interfering WAN
devices through scheduling. The base stations may schedule the
interfering WAN devices on resources not used by the P2P devices so
that strong interference to the P2P devices can be avoided.
Scheduling may be effective in mitigating strong interference.
However, some residual interference from the WAN devices may
remain. In one design, the residual interference from the WAN
devices may be measured by the P2P devices over time and may be
reported to the base stations. Information on the residual
interference may be considered when performing resource
partitioning. In another design, the residual interference may not
be reported (e.g., as part of a P2P group formation procedure). In
this case, a nominal value for interference-over-thermal (IoT) may
be used for initial resource partitioning. After completing P2P
group formation, the nominal IoT value may be refined once P2P
communication has been established.
[0069] In one design, a base station may receive measurements from
all P2P groups within its coverage and control and may perform
resource partitioning and association in a centralized fashion. The
P2P groups under the control of the base station may include
"cell-center" P2P groups and "cell-edge" P2P groups. The
cell-center P2P groups may be located near the cell center and may
observe little interference from neighboring P2P groups, which are
not under the control of the base station. The cell-edge P2P groups
may be located near the cell edge and may observe strong
interference from the neighboring P2P groups.
[0070] In one design, a base station may autonomously perform
resource partitioning and association for the cell-center P2P
groups, without having to interact with neighboring base stations.
The base station may coordinate with one or more neighboring base
stations to mitigate interference between the cell-edge P2P groups
and the neighboring P2P groups. However, the coordination between
base stations may be limited as much as possible in order to reduce
complexity.
[0071] In one design, association and resource partitioning may be
performed jointly. For example, a determination may be made whether
a P2P group would be better served with P2P communication or WAN
communication based on initial assignments of resources for P2P
communication and also for WAN communication. A communication mode
that can provide better performance may be selected. In general,
the network-control architecture can support a variety of resource
partitioning and association schemes that may have different
complexity and performance tradeoffs.
[0072] A base station may make resource partitioning and
association decisions for P2P devices, as described above. In one
design, the base station may communicate the decisions to the P2P
group owners. These decisions may include assignment of resources
to the P2P groups as well as start time at which the resource
assignments will become effective. For P2P group formation, the
base station may also inform P2P clients of resources for a random
access channel (RACH) to use to establish a connection with their
P2P group owners.
[0073] In one design, different hypotheses for appointment of P2P
group owners may be tested in order to determine which appointment
will provide better performance. In the network-controlled
architecture, testing such hypotheses may be relatively easy to
implement since most of the computations may be internal to the
base station (apart from some coordination that may be performed
for a P2P group at cell-edge).
[0074] In the network-controlled architecture, the WAN may
orchestrate resource partitioning and may have a fairly accurate
estimate of the throughput/utility that may be achievable by a
group of devices. The WAN may thus have knowledge of the
performance of P2P devices for both WAN communication and P2P
communication. The WAN may use this knowledge to make association
decisions more judiciously. As a result, it may be desirable in the
network-controlled architecture to jointly perform resource
partitioning and association, which may provide better performance
over performing resource partitioning and association
separately.
[0075] A base station may perform resource partitioning and
association for P2P groups within its coverage for the
network-controlled architecture. However, there may be some P2P
groups located at the edge of coverage of multiple base
stations.
[0076] FIG. 4 shows P2P communication in a wireless network. Two
base station 110a and 110b may support communication for WAN
devices, which are not shown in FIG. 4. Base station 110a may have
a coverage area to the left of a dashed line 410, and base station
110b may have a coverage area to the right of a dashed line 412. A
cell-edge area 414 may correspond to the overlapping portion of the
coverage area of base station 110a and the coverage area of base
station 110b.
[0077] In the example shown in FIG. 4, four P2P groups 420a through
420d may be located within the coverage of base station 110a, and
four P2P groups 422a through 422d may be located within the
coverage of base station 110b. Six cell-edge P2P groups 424a
through 424f may be located within cell-edge area 414. P2P groups
424a through 424c may be under the control of base station 110a,
and P2P groups 424d through 424f may be under the control of base
station 110b. For simplicity, FIG. 4 shows each P2P group including
two P2P devices. For each P2P group, a P2P group owner is shown by
a dark filled circle, and a P2P client is shown by an unfilled
circle. A P2P device in a given P2P group may receive interference
from P2P devices in other P2P groups. The interference between P2P
devices is represented by dashed lines between P2P clients in FIG.
4.
[0078] Each base station may autonomously perform resource
partitioning and association for cell-center P2P groups under the
control of that base station and not observing strong interference
from WAN devices communicating with neighbor base stations. In the
example shown in FIG. 4, base station 110a may perform resource
partitioning and association for P2P groups 420a through 420d, and
base station 110b may perform resource partitioning and association
for P2P groups 422a through 422d. Neighboring base stations may
coordinate to perform resource partitioning and association for
cell-edge P2P groups located at the coverage edge of these base
stations. These cell-edge P2P groups may be within close proximity
of one another and may cause strong interference. For example, base
stations 110a and 110b may coordinate to perform resource
partitioning and association for P2P groups 424a through 424f in
FIG. 4 so that good performance can be achieved for all P2P groups
422. The amount of coordination between base stations to address
cell-edge P2P groups may be limited as much as possible in order to
reduce loading on the backhaul and to leverage the fact that
cell-center P2P groups that are located closer to the cell-center
do not require such coordination.
[0079] In one design, resource partitioning for cell-edge P2P
groups and cell-center P2P groups may be performed as follows.
Initially, cell-edge P2P groups that may require coordination
between base stations may be identified. These P2P groups may be
associated with different base stations but may require
coordination by their base stations for resource partitioning. Once
the cell-edge P2P groups have been identified, one of the base
stations may be selected to determine an initial resource
partitioning for these P2P groups. The initial resource
partitioning may be fixed. Each base station may then perform
resource partitioning for the remaining cell-center P2P groups
within its coverage, with the constraint of the initial resource
partitioning for the cell-edge P2P groups. This design may limit
coordination between base stations to the initial stage of resource
partitioning.
[0080] In another design, resource partitioning for cell-edge P2P
groups and cell-center P2P groups may be performed in an iterative
manner. In this design, neighboring base stations may take turn in
evaluating resource partitioning for the cell-edge P2P groups. The
base stations may then negotiate on a particular resource
partitioning for the cell-edge P2P groups. Each base station may
then perform resource partitioning for its cell-center P2P groups,
with the constraint of the initial resource partitioning for the
cell-edge P2P groups.
[0081] In yet another design, neighboring base stations may
statically or semi-statically reserve some resources for cell-edge
P2P groups associated with each base station. Each base station may
then assign its cell-edge P2P groups with resources that have been
reserved for the cell-edge P2P groups associated with that base
station. This design may reduce coordination between base stations,
which may be limited to the static/semi-static reservation of
resources for cell-edge P2P groups.
[0082] Coordination between base stations for resource partitioning
for cell-edge P2P groups may also be performed in other manners. In
general, a specific coordination mechanism may be selected for
cell-edge P2P groups based on a tradeoff between performance and
overhead as well as the number of available resources. A small
number of available resources may necessitate more careful planning
in order to achieve good performance. A large number of available
resources may allow for more flexibility in resource partitioning
and hence may require less coordination between base stations to
achieve good performance.
[0083] FIG. 5 shows a design of a process 500 for supporting
wireless communication. Process 500 may be performed by a network
entity, which may be a base station, a network controller, or some
other entity. The network entity may receive at least one
measurement from a first device, which may support P2P
communication and WAN communication (block 512). The at least one
measurement may be for at least one second device detected by the
first device. The reporting of the at least one measurement may be
initiated by the first device, which may not be engaged in WAN
communication prior to sending the at least one measurement. The
network entity may perform association to select P2P communication
or WAN communication and/or resource partitioning to allocate
resources for P2P communication for the first device based on the
at least one measurement (block 514). The network entity may send
results of the association and/or the resource partitioning to the
first device (block 516).
[0084] In one design of block 512, at least one pathloss
measurement may be received from the first device. Each pathloss
measurement may indicate the pathloss between the first device and
one of the at least one second device. At least one network address
of the at least one second device may also be received from the
first device. A P2P group including the first device and the at
least one second device may be identified based on the at least one
network address of the at least one second device.
[0085] In one design of block 514, association may be performed,
and P2P communication or WAN communication may be selected for the
first device based on the at least one measurement. In one design,
the performance of the first device for P2P communication may be
estimated, and the performance of the first device for WAN
communication may also be estimated. P2P communication or WAN
communication may be selected for the first device based on the
estimated performance for P2P communication and the estimated
performance for WAN communication. A decision of P2P communication
or WAN communication being selected for the first device may be
sent to the first device (as shown in block 516).
[0086] In another design of block 514, resource partitioning may be
performed, and resources may be allocated to the first device for
P2P communication. Information indicative of the allocated
resources may be sent to the first device in block 516. In one
design, a maximum transmit power level for the first device for P2P
communication may be determined. Information indicative of the
maximum transmit power level may be sent to the first device. In
one design, one or more measurements may be received from a third
device desiring to join a P2P group including the first device.
Allocation of resources for the P2P group may be updated to account
for the third device joining the P2P group.
[0087] In one design, information indicative of (e.g., at least one
network address of) at least one P2P device potentially causing
strong interference to the first device may be received. Resources
may be allocated to the first device and/or the at least one P2P
device such that interference from the at least one P2P device to
the first device may be reduced.
[0088] In one design, to support inter-cell interference
coordination, measurements for one or more P2P devices may be
received from the first device, which may be located within the
coverage of a first base station. The one or more P2P devices may
be located within the coverage of a second base station. The
measurements for the one or more P2P devices may be forwarded from
the first base station to the second base station.
[0089] In one design, resource partitioning may be performed for a
first P2P group by the first base station with coordination with at
least one neighboring base station. Resource partitioning for a
second P2P group may be performed by the first base station without
coordination with the at least one neighboring base station. The
first base station and the at least one neighboring base station
may negotiate to assign resources to the first P2P group. In one
design, first resources may be assigned to the first P2P group by a
designated base station, which may be a base station designated to
support the first P2P group in a group of base stations including
the first base station and the at least one neighboring base
station. Second resources may be selected by the first base station
from among available resources that exclude the first resources and
may be assigned to the second P2P group. In another design, first
resources may be selected by the first base station from reserved
resources for cell-edge P2P groups and may be assigned to the first
P2P group. Second resources may be selected by the first base
station from available resources that exclude the reserved
resources and may be assigned to the second P2P group.
[0090] In one design, at least one interference measurement for at
least one WAN device may be received from the first device. Each
WAN device may communicate with the WAN. Each interference
measurement may indicate strong interference detected by the first
device from one WAN device. The at least one WAN device may be
scheduled on different resources to reduce interference to the
first device. Alternatively or additionally, the transmit power
level of the at least one WAN device may be reduced to mitigate
interference to the first device.
[0091] In one design, the at least one WAN device may be configured
to transmit a sounding reference signal on different resources.
Each interference measurement may indicate the particular resources
on which strong interference is detected by the first device. The
at least one WAN device causing strong interference to the first
device may be identified based on the resources on which strong
interference is detected by the first device and the resources on
which each WAN device is configured to transmit the sounding
reference signal.
[0092] FIG. 6 shows a design of a process 600 for wireless
communication in a WAN. Process 600 may be performed by a first
device (as described below) or by some other entity. The first
device may support P2P communication and WAN communication, may
perform peer discovery (block 612), and may detect at least one
second device via peer discovery (block 614). The first device may
obtain at least one measurement for the at least one second device
(block 616) and may send the at least one measurement to the WAN
(block 618). In one design, the first device may determine at least
one network address of the at least one second device and may send
the at least one network address of the at least one second device
to the WAN. The first device may receive the results of association
to select P2P communication or WAN communication and/or resource
partitioning to allocate resources for P2P communication from the
WAN (block 620). The WAN may perform association and/or resource
partitioning for the first device based on the at least one
measurement. The first device may communicate based on the results
of association and/or resource partitioning (block 622).
[0093] In one design of block 612, the first device may transmit a
proximity detection signal to enable at least one other device to
detect the first device. In another design, the first device may
detect at least one proximity detection signal from the at least
one second device. The first device may then make at least one
measurement for the at least one second device based on the at
least one proximity detection signal. In one design, the first
device may make at least one pathloss measurement for the at least
one second device, with each pathloss measurement indicating the
pathloss between the first device and one second device.
[0094] In one design of block 620, the first device may receive a
decision of P2P communication or WAN communication selected by the
WAN for the first device. The first device may communicate directly
with the at least one second device if P2P communication is
selected. In another design of block 622, the first device may
receive information indicative of resources allocated to the first
device for P2P communication. The first device may communicate
directly with the at least one second device on the allocated
resources.
[0095] In one design, the first device may receive a maximum
transmit power level to use for P2P communication. The first device
may then transmit at the maximum transmit power level or lower for
P2P communication.
[0096] In one design, the first device may detect at least one P2P
device potentially causing strong interference to the first device.
The first device may send information indicative of the at least
one P2P device to the WAN. The at least one P2P device may be
scheduled (e.g., on different resources) to mitigate interference
to the first device.
[0097] In one design, the first device may make at least one
interference measurement for at least one WAN device. Each
interference measurement may be made on different resources and may
indicate interference detected by the first device from one WAN
device. Each interference measurement may be associated with
particular resources on which the strong interference is detected
by the first device. The first device may send the at least one
interference measurement for the at least one WAN device to the
WAN. The at least one WAN device may be scheduled and/or may have
their transmit power reduced to mitigate interference to the first
device.
[0098] In one design, the first device may be a P2P client in a P2P
group including the first device and the at least one second
device. The first device may perform a random access procedure to
establish a P2P communication link with the at least one second
device. In another design, the first device may be a P2P server in
the P2P group. The first device may schedule the at least one
second device (e.g., based on resources allocated to the P2P group)
for data transmission for P2P communication.
[0099] FIG. 7A shows a block diagram of a design of a device 120x
capable of P2P communication and WAN communication. Within device
120x, a receiver 712 may receive proximity detection signals and
P2P signals transmitted by P2P devices for P2P communication and
downlink signals transmitted by base stations for WAN
communication. A transmitter 714 may transmit a proximity detection
signal and P2P signals to P2P devices for P2P communication and
uplink signals to base stations for WAN communication. A module 716
may perform peer discovery and detect P2P devices. A module 718 may
detect interfering WAN devices. A module 720 may make measurements
for received power of detected devices and base stations and may
determine pathloss based on the received power measurements. Module
720 may also measure interference on different resources that may
be used for P2P communication.
[0100] A module 722 may report the measurements, network addresses,
and/or other information to a serving base station. A module 724
may support P2P communication, e.g., generate and process signals
used for P2P communication. A module 726 may support WAN
communication, e.g., generate and process signals used for WAN
communication. The various modules within device 120x may operate
as described above. A controller/processor 728 may direct the
operation of various modules within device 120x. A memory 730 may
store data and program codes for device 120x.
[0101] FIG. 7B shows a block diagram of a design of a base station
110x supporting P2P communication and WAN communication. Within
base station 110x, a receiver 752 may receive uplink signals
transmitted by devices for WAN communication. A transmitter 754 may
transmit downlink signals to devices for WAN communication. A
module 756 may receive reports comprising measurements, network
addresses, etc., from devices. A module 758 may perform resource
partitioning to allocate some of the available resources for P2P
communication.
[0102] A module 760 may perform association and select WAN
communication or P2P communication for devices. A module 762 may
perform resource negotiation with other base stations to determine
resources to allocate for P2P communication, e.g., as described
above. A module 764 may support WAN communication for devices,
e.g., generate and process signals used for WAN communication. A
module 766 may support communication with other network entities
(e.g., other base stations) via the backhaul (e.g., for resource
partitioning). The various modules within base station 110x may
operate as described above. A controller/processor 768 may direct
the operation of various modules within base station 110x. A memory
730 may store data and program codes for base station 110x.
[0103] The modules within device 120x in FIG. 7A and the modules
within base station 110x in FIG. 7B may comprise processors,
electronic devices, hardware devices, electronic components,
logical circuits, memories, software codes, firmware codes, etc.,
or any combination thereof.
[0104] FIG. 8 shows a block diagram of a design of a base station
110y and a device 120y, which may be one of the base stations and
one of the devices in FIG. 1. Base station 110y may be equipped
with T antennas 834a through 834t, and device 120y may be equipped
with R antennas 852a through 852r, where in general T.gtoreq.1 and
R.gtoreq.1.
[0105] At base station 110y, a transmit processor 820 may receive
data from a data source 812 and control information (e.g., messages
for resource partitioning and association) from a
controller/processor 840. Processor 820 may process (e.g., encode
and modulate) the data and control information to obtain data
symbols and control symbols, respectively. Processor 820 may also
generate reference symbols for synchronization signals, reference
signals, etc. A transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO)
processor 830 may perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on
the data symbols, the control symbols, and/or the reference
symbols, if applicable, and may provide T output symbol streams to
T modulators (MODs) 832a through 832t. Each modulator 832 may
process a respective output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to
obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator 832 may further
process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and upconvert)
the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. T downlink
signals from modulators 832a through 832t may be transmitted via T
antennas 834a through 834t, respectively.
[0106] At device 120y, antennas 852a through 852r may receive the
downlink signals from base station 110y, downlink signals from
other base stations, uplink signals from WAN devices, and/or P2P
signals and proximity detection signals from other P2P devices.
Antennas 852a through 852r may provide received signals to
demodulators (DEMODs) 854a through 854r, respectively. Each
demodulator 854 may condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert,
and digitize) a respective received signal to obtain input samples.
Each demodulator 854 may further process the input samples (e.g.,
for OFDM, SC-FDMA, etc.) to obtain received symbols. A MIMO
detector 856 may obtain received symbols from all R demodulators
854a through 854r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols
if applicable, and provide detected symbols. A receive processor
858 may process (e.g., demodulate and decode) the detected symbols,
provide decoded data for device 120y to a data sink 860, and
provide decoded control information to a controller/processor
880.
[0107] On the uplink, at device 120y, a transmit processor 864 may
receive data from a data source 862 and control information (e.g.,
reports for detected P2P devices and/or WAN devices) from
controller/processor 880. Processor 864 may process (e.g., encode
and modulate) the data and control information to obtain data
symbols and control symbols, respectively. Processor 864 may also
generate reference symbols for a reference signal, a proximity
detection signal, etc. The symbols from transmit processor 864 may
be precoded by a TX MIMO processor 866 if applicable, further
processed by modulators 854a through 854r (e.g., for SC-FDMA, OFDM,
etc.), and transmitted to base station 110y, other base stations,
and/or other P2P devices. At base station 110y, the uplink signals
from device 120y and other devices may be received by antennas 834,
processed by demodulators 832, detected by a MIMO detector 836 if
applicable, and further processed by a receive processor 838 to
obtain decoded data and control information sent by device 120y and
other devices. Processor 838 may provide the decoded data to a data
sink 839 and the decoded control information to
controller/processor 840.
[0108] Controllers/processors 840 and 880 may direct the operation
at base station 110y and device 120y, respectively. Processor 840
and/or other processors and modules at base station 110y may
perform or direct all or part of process 200 in FIG. 2, process 300
in FIG. 3, process 500 in FIG. 5, and/or other processes for the
techniques described herein. Processor 880 and/or other processors
and modules at device 120y may perform or direct all or part of
process 200 in FIG. 2, process 300 in FIG. 3, process 600 in FIG.
6, and/or other processes for the techniques described herein.
Memories 842 and 882 may store data and program codes for base
station 110y and device 120y, respectively. A communication (Comm)
unit 844 may enable base station 110y to communicate with other
network entities. A scheduler 846 may schedule devices for data
transmission on the downlink and/or uplink.
[0109] FIG. 8 also shows a design of network controller 130 in FIG.
1. Within network controller 130, a controller/processor 890 may
perform various functions to support peer discovery, P2P
communication, and WAN communication. Controller/processor 890 may
also perform part of process 200 in FIG. 2, process 300 in FIG. 3,
process 500 in FIG. 5, and/or other processes for the techniques
described herein. A memory 892 may store program codes and data for
network controller 130. A storage unit 894 may store information
(e.g., network addresses) for P2P devices. A communication unit 896
may enable network controller 130 to communicate with other network
entities.
[0110] In one configuration, apparatus 110x, 110y, or 130 for
wireless communication may include means for receiving at least one
measurement from a first device supporting P2P communication and
WAN communication, the at least one measurement being for at least
one second device detected by the first device, means for
performing association and/or resource partitioning for the first
device based on the at least one measurement, and means for sending
the results of association and/or resource partitioning to the
first device.
[0111] In another configuration, apparatus 120x or 120y for
wireless communication may include means for performing peer
discovery by a first device supporting P2P communication and WAN
communication, means for detecting at least one second device by
the first device via peer discovery, means for obtaining at least
one measurement for the at least one second device by the first
device, means for sending the at least one measurement from the
first device to the WAN, means for receiving the results of
association and/or resource partitioning from the WAN, wherein
association and/or resource partitioning are performed by the WAN
for the first device based on the at least one measurement, and
means for communicating by the first device based on the results of
association and/or resource partitioning.
[0112] In an aspect, the aforementioned means for apparatus 120x or
120y may be module 716, 718, 720, 722 and/or 728 at device 120x or
processors 858, 864 and/or 880 at device 120y, which may be
configured to perform the functions recited by the aforementioned
means. The aforementioned means for apparatus 110x or 110y may be
module 756, 758, 760, 762 and/or 768 at apparatus 110x or
processors 820, 838, 840 and/or 844 at apparatus 110y, which may be
configured to perform the functions recited by the aforementioned
means. In another aspect, the aforementioned means may be one or
more modules or any apparatus configured to perform the functions
recited by the aforementioned means.
[0113] Those of skill in the art would understand that information
and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different
technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions,
commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may
be referenced throughout the above description may be represented
by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or
particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination
thereof.
[0114] Those of skill would further appreciate that the various
illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps
described in connection with the disclosure herein may be
implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or
combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability
of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks,
modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in
terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is
implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular
application and design constraints imposed on the overall system.
Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in
varying ways for each particular application, but such
implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a
departure from the scope of the present disclosure.
[0115] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and
circuits described in connection with the disclosure herein may be
implemented or performed with a general-purpose processor, a
digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated
circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other
programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic,
discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed
to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose
processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the
processor may be any conventional processor, controller,
microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be
implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a
combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of
microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a
DSP core, or any other such configuration.
[0116] The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection
with the disclosure herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in
a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of
the two. A software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory,
ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a
removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known
in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor
such that the processor can read information from, and write
information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage
medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the
storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user
terminal. In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium
may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.
[0117] In one or more exemplary designs, the functions described
may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any
combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may
be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or
code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media
includes both computer storage media and communication media
including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer
program from one place to another. A storage media may be any
available media that can be accessed by a general purpose or
special purpose computer. By way of example, and not limitation,
such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM
or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other
magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to
carry or store desired program code means in the form of
instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a
general-purpose or special-purpose computer, or a general-purpose
or special-purpose processor. Also, any connection is properly
termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is
transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a
coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber
line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and
microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair,
DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and
microwave are included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc,
as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical
disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and blu-ray disc
where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs
reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above
should also be included within the scope of computer-readable
media.
[0118] The previous description of the disclosure is provided to
enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure.
Various modifications to the disclosure will be readily apparent to
those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein
may be applied to other variations without departing from the
spirit or scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not
intended to be limited to the examples and designs described herein
but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the
principles and novel features disclosed herein.
* * * * *