U.S. patent application number 17/566225 was filed with the patent office on 2022-04-21 for signaling of full power uplink mimo capability.
The applicant listed for this patent is Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ). Invention is credited to Robert Mark Harrison, Andreas Nilsson, Niklas Wernersson.
Application Number | 20220124631 17/566225 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | |
Filed Date | 2022-04-21 |
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United States Patent
Application |
20220124631 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Harrison; Robert Mark ; et
al. |
April 21, 2022 |
Signaling of Full Power Uplink MIMO Capability
Abstract
According to some embodiments, a method performed by a wireless
device for transmitting on a plurality of antennas comprises
signaling, to a network node, a wireless device power transmission
capability. The wireless device power transmission capability
identifies a power ratio value of a plurality of power ratio values
that the wireless device supports for transmission of a physical
uplink channel Each value of the plurality of power ratio values
corresponds to a transmission power capability and to a number of
antenna ports. A power ratio refers to a ratio relative to a
maximum power the wireless device is rated to transmit. The method
further comprises transmitting a physical uplink channel using the
0 number of antenna ports with a power scaled at least by the power
ratio value.
Inventors: |
Harrison; Robert Mark;
(GRAPEVINE, TX) ; Nilsson; Andreas; (GOTEBORG,
SE) ; Wernersson; Niklas; (KUNGSANGEN, SE) |
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Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) |
Stockholm |
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SE |
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Appl. No.: |
17/566225 |
Filed: |
December 30, 2021 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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17114741 |
Dec 8, 2020 |
11228984 |
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17566225 |
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PCT/EP2020/072600 |
Aug 12, 2020 |
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17114741 |
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62887922 |
Aug 16, 2019 |
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International
Class: |
H04W 52/14 20060101
H04W052/14; H04L 25/02 20060101 H04L025/02; H04W 52/16 20060101
H04W052/16; H04W 52/36 20060101 H04W052/36 |
Claims
1. A method performed by a wireless device for transmitting on a
plurality of antennas, the method comprising: signaling, to a
network node, a wireless device power transmission capability,
wherein the wireless device power transmission capability
identifies a power ratio value of a plurality of power ratio values
that the wireless device supports for transmission of a physical
uplink channel, wherein each value of the plurality of power ratio
values corresponds to a transmission power capability and to a
number of antenna ports, and wherein a power ratio refers to a
ratio relative to a maximum power the wireless device is rated to
transmit; and transmitting a physical uplink channel using the
number of antenna ports with a power scaled at least by the power
ratio value.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising scaling a transmission
power for the physical uplink channel based on the number of
antenna ports associated with the power ratio value.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the scaling is limited so that
the scaled transmission power does not exceed the maximum value the
wireless device is rated to transmit.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the scaling is by a factor
.delta. .function. ( k ) = min .function. ( 1 , N nz .DELTA.
.function. ( k ) N STS ) , ##EQU00020## wherein .DELTA.(k) is a
power ratio value and a real positive real number, N.sub.nz is a
number of antenna ports with non-zero transmission power used to
transmit the physical uplink channel, and N.sub.SRS is a number of
antenna ports and a number of sounding reference signal (SRS) ports
in an SRS resource with index k configured to the wireless
device.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmission power capability
identifies a plurality of power ratio values, each associated with
a number of physical uplink channel layers, a precoder to be used
to transmit the physical uplink channel, and the number of antenna
ports.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmission power capability
identifies a plurality of power ratio values, each associated with
a different number of antenna ports.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmission power capability
corresponds to a codebook subset, the subset identified as
containing at least one of fully and partial and non-coherent
precoders, partial and non-coherent precoders, and non-coherent
precoders.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmission power capability
further comprises a second power ratio of the plurality of power
ratio values and a precoder that the wireless device may use for
physical uplink channel transmission with the power scaled by the
second power ratio and with the number of antenna ports.
9. A wireless device capable of transmitting on a plurality of
antennas, the wireless device comprising processing circuitry
operable to: signal, to a network node, a wireless device power
transmission capability, wherein the wireless device power
transmission capability identifies a power ratio value of a
plurality of power ratio values that the wireless device supports
for transmission of a physical uplink channel, wherein each value
of the plurality of power ratio values corresponds to a
transmission power capability and to a number of antenna ports, and
wherein a power ratio refers to a ratio relative to a maximum power
the wireless device is rated to transmit; and transmit a physical
uplink channel using the number of antenna ports with a power
scaled at least by the power ratio value.
10. The wireless device of claim 9, the processing circuitry
further operable to scale a transmission power for the physical
uplink channel based on the number of antenna ports associated with
the power ratio value.
11. The wireless device of claim 10, wherein the scaling is limited
so that the scaled transmission power does not exceed the maximum
value the wireless device is rated to transmit.
12. The wireless device of claim 11, wherein the scaling is by a
factor .delta. .function. ( k ) = min .function. ( 1 , N nz .DELTA.
.function. ( k ) N STS ) , ##EQU00021## wherein .DELTA.(k) is a
power ratio value and a real positive real number, N.sub.nz is a
number of antenna ports with non-zero transmission power used to
transmit the physical uplink channel, and N.sub.SRS is a number of
antenna ports and a number of sounding reference signal (SRS) ports
in an SRS resource with index k configured to the wireless
device.
13. The wireless device of claim 9, wherein the transmission power
capability identifies a plurality of power ratio values, each
associated with a number of physical uplink channel layers, a
precoder to be used to transmit the physical uplink channel, and
the number of antenna ports.
14. The wireless device of claim 9, wherein the transmission power
capability identifies a plurality of power ratio values, each
associated with a different number of antenna ports.
15. The wireless device of claim 9, wherein the transmission power
capability corresponds to a codebook subset, the subset identified
as containing at least one of fully and partial and non-coherent
precoders, partial and non-coherent precoders, and non-coherent
precoders.
16. The wireless device of claim 9, wherein the transmission power
capability further comprises a second power ratio of the plurality
of power ratio values and a precoder that the wireless device may
use for physical uplink channel transmission with the power scaled
by the second power ratio and with the number of antenna ports.
17. A method performed by a wireless device for transmitting on a
plurality of antennas, the method comprising: receiving an
indication of a precoder to be used to transmit a physical uplink
channel, wherein the precoder is one precoder of a set of
precoders, each precoder in the set of precoders is a matrix or
vector comprising an equal number of non-zero elements, a first
precoder in the set of precoders is able to be associated with a
first power scaling value or a second power scaling value, and a
second precoder in the set of precoders is only able to be
associated with the second power scaling value; and transmitting a
layer i of an L layer physical uplink channel at a power P.sub.i
according to the first or second power scaling value associated
with the precoder.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein: the first power scaling value
is P.sub.i=P/L, where P is the total power to be used for physical
uplink channel transmission, and the second power scaling value is
P.sub.i=PR/L, where R=M/K, M is a number of antenna ports with
non-zero physical uplink channel transmission, and K is one of: a
maximum number of physical uplink channel layers supported by the
wireless device, a number of antenna ports used in a codebook
configured for the wireless device, a maximum rank configured to
the wireless device, and a number of sounding reference signal
(SRS) ports configured to the wireless device for one or both of
codebook and non-codebook based operation.
19. The method of claim 17, wherein each precoder in the set of
precoders associated with the second power scaling value contains a
non-zero magnitude element corresponding to an antenna port shared
by the precoders associated with the second power scaling
value.
20. The method of claim 19, further comprising: transmitting a
first reference signal corresponding to the antenna port shared by
the precoders associated with the second power scaling value using
a power amplifier capable of transmitting at least at the maximum
power the wireless device is rated to transmit, and transmitting a
second reference signal corresponding to a second antenna port
using a power amplifier capable of transmitting less than maximum
power the wireless device is rated to transmit, wherein the second
antenna port is different from the antenna port shared by the
precoders associated with the second power scaling value.
21. A wireless device capable of transmitting on a plurality of
antennas, the wireless device comprising processing circuitry
operable to: receive an indication of a precoder to be used to
transmit a physical uplink channel, wherein the precoder is one
precoder of a set of precoders, each precoder in the set of
precoders is a matrix or vector comprising an equal number of
non-zero elements, a first precoder in the set of precoders is able
to be associated with a first power scaling value or a second power
scaling value, and a second precoder in the set of precoders is
only able to be associated with the second power scaling value; and
transmit a layer i of an L layer physical uplink channel at a power
P.sub.i according to the first or second power scaling value
associated with the precoder.
22. The wireless device of claim 21, wherein: the first power
scaling value is P.sub.i=P/L, where P is the total power to be used
for physical uplink channel transmission, and the second power
scaling value is P.sub.i=PR/L, where R=M/K, M is a number of
antenna ports with non-zero physical uplink channel transmission,
and K is one of: a maximum number of physical uplink channel layers
supported by the wireless device, a number of antenna ports used in
a codebook configured for the wireless device, a maximum rank
configured to the wireless device, and a number of sounding
reference signal (SRS) ports configured to the wireless device for
one or both of codebook and non-codebook based operation.
23. The wireless device of claim 21, wherein each precoder in the
set of precoders associated with the second power scaling value
contains a non-zero magnitude element corresponding to an antenna
port shared by the precoders associated with the second power
scaling value.
24. The wireless device of claim 23, the processing circuitry
further operable to: transmit a first reference signal
corresponding to the antenna port shared by the precoders
associated with the second power scaling value using a power
amplifier capable of transmitting at least at the maximum power the
wireless device is rated to transmit, and transmit a second
reference signal corresponding to a second antenna port using a
power amplifier capable of transmitting less than maximum power the
wireless device is rated to transmit, wherein the second antenna
port is different from the antenna port shared by the precoders
associated with the second power scaling value.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to
wireless communications and, more particularly, to minimizing
signaling of full power uplink multiple-input multiple-output
(MIMO) capability.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Generally, all terms used herein are to be interpreted
according to their ordinary meaning in the relevant technical
field, unless a different meaning is clearly given and/or is
implied from the context in which it is used. All references to
a/an/the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc. are to be
interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of the
element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly
stated otherwise. The steps of any methods disclosed herein do not
have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless a step is
explicitly described as following or preceding another step and/or
where it is implicit that a step must follow or precede another
step. Any feature of any of the embodiments disclosed herein may be
applied to any other embodiment, wherever appropriate. Likewise,
any advantage of any of the embodiments may apply to any other
embodiments, and vice versa. Other objectives, features, and
advantages of the enclosed embodiments will be apparent from the
following description.
[0003] The next generation mobile wireless communication system
(5G) new radio (NR) supports a diverse set of use cases and a
diverse set of deployment scenarios. The latter includes deployment
at both low frequencies (100s of MHz), similar to long term
evolution (LTE) today, and very high frequencies (mm waves in the
tens of GHz).
[0004] 5G NR also supports multiple-antenna transmission and
reception. When multiple-antenna techniques are used, it is
generally desirable to provide as much implementation freedom as
possible so that different devices can be optimized for different
use cases, form factors, construction cost, etc. Therefore,
multiple-antenna operation in NR and LTE is described in terms of
antenna ports. An antenna port is defined such that the channel
over which a symbol on the antenna port is conveyed can be inferred
from the channel over which another symbol on the same antenna port
is conveyed.
[0005] An antenna port in a multiple-antenna system can be formed
by transmitting the same reference signal on multiple transmit
chains. The received signal is a combination of the reference
signal after it travels through each radio channel corresponding to
each of the antennas of the transmit chains, as illustrated in FIG.
1. The combined signal appears as though it were transmitted by a
single antenna with combined, or "effective", channel and is
therefore described as a single "virtual" antenna. An example is
illustrated in FIG. 1.
[0006] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating antenna
virtualization. The illustrated example includes two transmit
antennas 12 and one receive antenna 14.
[0007] When transmitting on two antennas 12, there may be a
difference in relative gain or phase. The difference in relative
gain or phase is illustrated in FIG. 1 as the factor e, which can
be expressed as a complex number e=ge.sup.j.PHI., where g is a
positive real number representing gain and .PHI. is a real number
representing phase.
[0008] The effective channel may then be given by:
h.sub.c=h.sub.1+eh.sub.2, where h.sub.1 and h.sub.2 are complex
numbers identifying the channels to first antenna 12a and second
antenna 12b, respectively. The channels h.sub.1 and h.sub.2 will
vary according to the frequency on which they are measured in the
presence of multipath, and therefore vary among resource elements
of an LTE or NR signal. Similarly, e may vary across frequency,
depending on the design of the user equipment (UE) transmit chains.
Herein, channels are described as complex scalars, focusing on a
single resource element for purposes of explanation.
[0009] If the factor e can be sufficiently well controlled,
coherent transmission across the two transmit chains is possible,
and precoding or beamforming techniques can be used. Such
techniques often set e to increase the received power of the
effective channel, where the effective channel power may be
described as p.sub.c=|h.sub.c|.sup.2. Because coherent transmission
facilitates greater received power, it is possible to use power
amplifiers with lower power capability than when using a single
antenna.
[0010] For example, assuming that the magnitudes of the two
channels to the two antennas are the same and e is selected such
that received signal from the second antenna is in phase with the
first, then the power is four times higher than if the transmission
were only on the first antenna, that is:
|h.sub.1+eh.sub.2|.sup.2/|h.sub.1|.sup.2=|2h.sub.1|.sup.2/|h.sub.1|.sup.2-
=4. Therefore, it is possible to transmit on each transmit chain
with half power when using coherent transmission and still obtain
two times more power than single antenna transmission.
[0011] If the factor e cannot be sufficiently well controlled,
coherent transmission across the two transmit chains is not
possible, but non-coherent transmission may be used instead. For
non-coherent transmission, precoded transmissions on the two
antennas do not necessarily provide a power gain, and instead may
actually destructively combine to reduce the total power. The power
in the effective channel is
|h.sub.1+eh.sub.2|.sup.2=|h.sub.1|.sup.2-2Re(h*.sub.1eh.sub.2)+|eh.sub.2|-
.sup.2. If the term
2Re(h*.sub.1eh.sub.2)=|h.sub.1|.sup.2+|h.sub.2|.sup.2, then the
received power is zero, while on the other hand if
-2Re(h*.sub.1eh.sub.2)=|h.sub.1|.sup.2+|h.sub.2|.sup.2, then the
power is doubled.
[0012] Assuming again that the power in each of the channels to the
antennas is the same and that |e|.sup.2=1, the power gain over
single antenna transmission is ((2|h.sub.1|.sup.2-2Re{h*.sub.1
eh.sub.2}))/|h.sub.1|.sup.2, which has a minimum value of 0 and a
maximum value of 4. Assuming the channels are uncorrelated, the
ratio of the average power of the combined power to that of the
first antenna is
E{(2|h.sub.1|.sup.2-2Re(h*.sub.1eh.sub.2))/|h.sub.1|.sup.2}=(2|h.sub.1|.s-
up.2)/|h.sub.1|.sup.2=2. Therefore, if each antenna transmits at
half power, and the channels are uncorrelated and equal power, the
total power can be the same as when a single antenna is used. On
the other hand, if the antennas are correlated, the power could be
greater than or less than a single antenna, depending on the
relative phase set by e.
[0013] The result is that some, but not all, UE implementations can
transmit on N transmit chains with N power amplifiers whose maximum
power rating is P.sub.max/N, where P.sub.max is the total power
needed from the UE and that would need to be transmitted on a
single transmit chain. UE implementations such as those with
correlated antennas (for example those with
Re{h*.sub.1eh.sub.2}.noteq.0), that transmit on multiple transmit
chains may produce less combined power than P.sub.max and so may
require one or more of the power amplifiers on its N transmit
chains to have a maximum power rating greater than P.sub.max/N.
[0014] Multiple-antenna techniques can significantly increase the
data rates and reliability of a wireless communication system. The
performance is in particular improved if both the transmitter and
the receiver are equipped with multiple antennas, which results in
a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication channel. Such
systems and/or related techniques are commonly referred to as
MIMO.
[0015] A core component in Release 15 NR is the support of MIMO
antenna deployments and MIMO related techniques. NR supports uplink
MIMO with at least four layer spatial multiplexing using at least
four antenna ports with channel dependent precoding. The spatial
multiplexing mode is intended for high data rates in favorable
channel conditions. An illustration of the spatial multiplexing
operation is provided in FIG. 2 where cyclic prefix orthogonal
frequency division multiplexing (CP-OFDM) is used on the
uplink.
[0016] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the transmission
structure of precoded spatial multiplexing mode in NR. As
illustrated, the information carrying symbol vector s is multiplied
by an N.sub.T.times.r precoder matrix W, which serves to distribute
the transmit energy in a subspace of the N.sub.T (corresponding to
N.sub.T antenna ports) dimensional vector space.
[0017] The precoder matrix is typically selected from a codebook of
possible precoder matrices and is typically indicated by a transmit
precoder matrix indicator (TPMI), which specifies a unique precoder
matrix in the codebook for a given number of symbol streams. The r
symbols in s each correspond to a layer, and r is referred to as
the transmission rank. In this way, spatial multiplexing is
achieved because multiple symbols can be transmitted simultaneously
over the same time/frequency resource element (TFRE). The number of
symbols r is typically adapted to suit the current channel
properties.
[0018] The received N.sub.R.times.1 vector y.sub.n for a certain
TFRE on subcarrier n (or alternatively data TFRE number n) is thus
modeled by
y.sub.n=H.sub.nWs.sub.n+e.sub.n
where e.sub.n is a noise/interference vector obtained as
realizations of a random process. The precoder W can be a wideband
precoder, which is constant over frequency, or frequency
selective.
[0019] The precoder matrix W is often chosen to match the
characteristics of the N.sub.R.times..sub.NT MIMO channel matrix
H.sub.n, resulting in what is referred to as channel dependent
precoding. This is also commonly referred to as closed-loop
precoding and essentially strives for focusing the transmit energy
into a subspace which is strong in the sense of conveying much of
the transmitted energy to the UE. In addition, the precoder matrix
may also be selected to strive for orthogonalizing the channel,
meaning that after proper linear equalization at the UE, the
inter-layer interference is reduced.
[0020] One example method for a UE to select a precoder matrix W is
to select the W.sub.k that maximizes the Frobenius norm of the
hypothesized equivalent channel:
max k .times. H ^ n .times. W k F 2 ##EQU00001##
where H.sub.n is a channel estimate, possibly derived from a
sounding reference signal (SRS), W.sub.k is a hypothesized precoder
matrix with index k, and H.sub.nW.sub.k is the hypothesized
equivalent channel.
[0021] In closed-loop precoding for the NR uplink, the transmit
reception point (TRP) transmits, based on channel measurements in
the reverse link (uplink), TPMT to the UE that the UE should use on
its uplink antennas. The gNodeB configures the UE to transmit a SRS
according to the number of UE antennas it would like the UE to use
for uplink transmission to enable the channel measurements. A
single precoder that is supposed to cover a large bandwidth
(wideband precoding) may be signaled.
[0022] Other information than TPMT is generally used to determine
the uplink MTMO transmission state, such as SRS resource indicators
(SRIs) as well as transmission rank indicator (TRIs). These
parameters, as well as the modulation and coding state (MCS), and
the uplink resources where the physical uplink shared channel
(PUSCH) is to be transmitted, are also determined by channel
measurements derived from SRS transmissions from the UE. The
transmission rank, and thus the number of spatially multiplexed
layers, is reflected in the number of columns of the precoder W.
For efficient performance, selecting a transmission rank that
matches the channel properties is important.
[0023] NR also supports non-codebook based transmission/precoding
for PUSCH in addition to codebook based precoding. For non-codebook
based transmission/precoding, a set of SRS resources are
transmitted where each SRS resource corresponds to one SRS port
precoded by a precoder selected by the UE. The gNB can then measure
the transmitted SRS resources and feedback to the UE one or
multiple SRS resource indication (SRI) to instruct the UE to
perform PUSCH transmission using the precoders corresponding to the
referred SRS resources. The rank in this case is determined from
the number of SRIs fed back to the UE.
[0024] By configuring the UE with the higher layer parameter
SRS-AssocCSIRS and with the higher layer parameter ulTxConfig set
to `NonCodebook`, the UE may be configured with a non-zero power
(NZP) CSI-RS to utilize reciprocity to create the precoders used
for SRS and PUSCH transmission. Thus, by measuring on the specified
CSI-RS, the UE is able to perform gNB transparent precoding based
on reciprocity.
[0025] Another mode of operation is to instead let the UE choose
the precoders such that each SRS resource corresponds to one UE
antenna. Thus, in this case the SRS resource is transmitted from
one UE antenna at a time and the SRIs would hence correspond to
different antennas. Accordingly, by choosing the UE precoders like
this the gNB is able to perform antenna selection at the UE by
referring to the different SRIs which in turn correspond to
different antennas.
[0026] To summarize, non-codebook based precoding includes both
antenna selection and gNB transparent reciprocity based
precoding.
[0027] NR also includes coherence capabilities. Release 15 NR
defines UE capabilities for full coherence, partial coherence, and
non-coherent transmission. These correspond to where all transmit
chains, pairs of transmit chains, or none of the transmit chains
have sufficiently well controlled relative phase for codebook based
operation.
[0028] Full coherence, partial coherence, and non-coherent UE
capabilities are identified according to the terminology of Third
Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) technical specification (TS)
38.331 version 15.0.1 as `fullAndPartialAndNonCoherent`,
`partialCoherent`, and `nonCoherent`, respectively. This
terminology is used because a UE supporting fully coherent
transmission is also capable of supporting partial and non-coherent
transmission and because a UE supporting partially coherent
transmission is also capable of supporting non-coherent
transmission.
[0029] A UE can be configured to transmit using a subset of the
uplink MIMO codebook that can be supported with its coherence
capability. In 38.214 section 6.1.1, the UE can be configured with
higher layer parameter ULCodebookSubset, which can have values
`fullAndPartialAndNonCoherent`, `partialAndNonCoherent`, and
`nonCoherent`, indicating that the UE uses subsets of a codebook
that can be supported by UEs with fully coherent, partially
coherent, and non-coherent transmit chains.
[0030] Sounding reference signals are used for a variety of
purposes in LTE and are expected to serve even more purposes in NR
One primary use for SRS is for uplink channel state estimation,
facilitating channel quality estimation to enable uplink link
adaptation (including determination of which MCS state the UE
should transmit with) and/or frequency-selective scheduling. In the
context of uplink MIMO, SRS may also be used to determine precoders
and a number of layers that will provide good uplink throughput
and/or signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) when the UE
uses them for transmission on its uplink antenna array. Additional
uses include power control, uplink timing advance adjustment, beam
management, and reciprocity-based downlink precoding.
[0031] Unlike LTE Release 14, at least some NR UEs may be capable
of transmitting multiple SRS resources. This is similar
conceptually to multiple CSI-RS resources on the downlink. An SRS
resource comprises one or more antenna ports, and the UE may apply
a beamformer and/or a precoder to the antenna ports within the SRS
resource such that they are transmitted with the same effective
antenna pattern. A primary motivation for defining multiple SRS
resources in the UE is to support analog beamforming in the UE
where a UE can transmit with a variety of beam patterns, but only
one at a time. Such analog beamforming may have relatively high
directivity, especially at the higher frequencies that can be
supported by NR.
[0032] In NR, the SRS sequence is a UE-specifically configured
Zadoff-Chu based sequence and an SRS resource consists of 1, 2 or 4
antenna ports. Another feature supported by NR is repetition of
symbols within the resource with factor 1, 2 or 4. This means that
the transmission may be extended to multiple orthogonal frequency
division multiplexed (OFDM) symbols which is intended for improving
the uplink coverage of the SRS. An SRS resource always spans 1, 2
or 4 adjacent OFDM symbols and all ports are mapped to each symbol
of the resource. SRS resources are mapped within the last 6 OFDM
symbols of an uplink slot. SRS resources are mapped on either every
second or every fourth subcarrier, that is with comb levels either
2 or 4. SRS resources are configured in SRS resource sets which
contain one or multiple SRS resources.
[0033] NR also includes uplink power control. Setting output power
levels of transmitters (e.g., base stations in downlink and mobile
stations in uplink) in mobile systems is commonly referred to as
power control (PC). Objectives of power control include improved
capacity, coverage, improved system robustness, and reduced power
consumption.
[0034] In LTE, power control mechanisms can be categorized in to
the groups (i) open-loop, (ii) closed-loop, and (iii) combined
open- and closed-loop. These differ in what input is used to
determine the transmit power. In the open-loop case, the
transmitter measures a signal sent from the receiver, and sets its
output power based on the measurement. In the closed-loop case, the
receiver measures the signal from the transmitter, and based on the
measurement sends a transmit power control (TPC) command to the
transmitter, which then sets its transmit power accordingly. In a
combined open- and closed-loop scheme, both inputs are used to set
the transmit power.
[0035] In systems with multiple channels between the terminals and
the base stations (e.g., traffic and control channels) different
power control principles may be applied to the different channels.
Using different principles yields more freedom in adapting the
power control principle to the needs of individual channels. The
drawback is increased complexity of maintaining several
principles.
[0036] There currently exist certain challenges. For example, UEs
are required to transmit at their rated power, but may do so in a
variety of ways. UEs may use sufficiently large power amplifiers
(PAs) such that each transmit chain can deliver the full power.
Alternatively, UEs can virtualize their antennas, as described
above, where multiple transmit chains transmit the same PUSCH layer
to form an antenna port. The virtualization enables UEs to combine
the power of their transmit chains, facilitating use of lower power
PAs. Virtualization, however, can be more or less difficult to use
depending on how correlated or coupled the antennas are in the
transmit chains, and how similar their antenna patterns are.
[0037] In Release 15 NR and in LTE, the power that UEs are required
to transmit may vary according to the rank and according to the
precoder used. For example, some precoders that transmit on one
port will be allowed to be transmitted at a power level
P.sub.cmax/N when the UE is configured N SRS ports in uplink MIMO
operation. On the other hand, these same UEs when configured for
single antenna port operation are required to transmit at the rated
power of P.sub.cmax.
[0038] Therefore, one approach is to have one full power PA and the
remaining PAs support P.sub.cmax/N.sub.TX, where N.sub.TX is the
number of transmit chains in the UE, or equivalently in Release 15,
the maximum number of SRS ports in an SRS resource supported by the
UE. UEs that support virtualization may instead use PAs that are
all less than the rated power, for example where all transmit
chains have PAs that support P.sub.cmax/N.sub.TX. In this case,
single antenna port operation requires that all Tx chains are
virtualized together.
[0039] Still other UEs may not be able to virtualize all of their
antennas, but can virtualize antenna subsets, for example pairs of
antennas. In this case, such a UE could have transmit chains with
maximum powers 2P.sub.cmax/N.sub.TX. The cost of PAs also varies
according to how common the rated power is and according to the
maximum power, operating band, etc. Therefore, the PA powers
selected can vary for a wide variety of reasons.
[0040] It is therefore desirable to support many different PA power
combinations in NR specifications, delivering as much power as
possible for the given configuration. It is in theory possible to
specify a large list enumerating the exact power of each transmit
chain used by the UE. However, identifying a large number of
combinations requires a large amount of signaling overhead,
especially if the UE must report the power capability for each
combination of uplink carriers it supports in each band that it
supports. Furthermore, disclosing the exact power level of each
transmit chain in the UE is undesirable, because this may limit
which transmit chains the UE may virtualize, and moreover forces
the UE to use particular power amplifier configurations.
[0041] Therefore, one problem is how to indicate UE uplink MIMO
power capability using a minimal amount of signaling while
maximizing UE implementation freedom. One approach is to identify
TPMIs for which full power is supported, as shown in Table 1.
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Rank-1 Rank-2 Rank-3 Codebook subset of
nonCoherent with 2Tx [ 1 0 ] .function. [ 0 1 ] ##EQU00002## -- --
Codebook subset of nonCoherent with 4Tx [ 1 0 0 0 ] .function. [ 0
1 0 0 ] .function. [ 0 0 1 0 ] .function. [ 0 0 0 1 ] ##EQU00003##
1 2 .function. [ 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 ] .times. 1 2 .function. [ 1 0 0 0
0 1 0 0 ] .times. 1 2 .function. [ 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 ] ##EQU00004## 1
3 .function. [ 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 ] ##EQU00005## Codebook
subset of 'partialAndNonCoherent' or 'fullyAndPartialAndNon
Coherent' with 4TX 1 2 .function. [ 0 1 0 1 ] .times. 1 2
.function. [ 1 0 1 0 ] ##EQU00006## 1 2 .function. [ 1 0 0 1 0 0 0
0 ] .times. 1 2 .function. [ 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 ] .times. 1 2
.function. [ 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 ] ##EQU00007## 1 3 .function. [ 1 0 0
0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 ] ##EQU00008## [ 1 0 0 0 ] .function. [ 0 1 0 0 ]
.function. [ 0 0 1 0 ] .function. [ 0 0 0 1 ] ##EQU00009##
[0042] As one example, 10 bits is required according to this
proposal, for example, when the UE indicates if it can support full
power for each of the 10 precoders in the third row of Table 1
"Codebook subset of `partialAndNonCoherent` or
`fullyAndPartialAndNonCoherent` with 4Tx", where one bit
corresponds to each precoder. Given that UE capability for uplink
MIMO is specified per band per band combination in Release 15, 10
bits is relatively large.
[0043] A further drawback with the proposal is that it indicates
specific antenna ports that support full power. The rank 1
precoders have a single unity value which implies full power on a
specific antenna port.
[0044] Another drawback of the proposal is that UEs only identify
if a particular precoder transmits the rated power or not. If a
non-coherent UE with 4 transmit chains indicates support for a rank
2 precoder with full power, then two transmit chains may be
expected to be capable of transmitting with at least half power on
their respective ports. However, if the same UE transmits rank 1,
it is unclear which antenna ports, if any, would be able to
transmit at half power, rather than the 1/4 power expected from
Release 15. In other words, the solution described above indicates
if a TPMI can transmit with full power or not, but does not
indicate if a TPMI can transmit with other power levels, for
example, half power or a quarter of the power.
SUMMARY
[0045] Based on the description above, certain challenges currently
exist with transmitting on a plurality of antennas. Certain aspects
of the present disclosure and their embodiments may provide
solutions to these or other challenges. For example, particular
embodiments include power scaling mechanisms to support full power
uplink multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmission for user
equipment (UEs) only capable of non-coherent operation. The
supported power scaling values are signaled via UE capability
either as ratios in a power scaling equation, or as a subset of
transmit precoder matrix indicators (TPMIs) supporting full power
operation, or a combination of a power scaling value and the TPMI
that supports the power scaling value.
[0046] Some embodiments include transmission power capability using
power ratios supported by the UE. According to some embodiments, a
method performed by a wireless device for transmitting on a
plurality of antennas comprises signaling, to a network node, a
wireless device power transmission capability. The wireless device
power transmission capability identifies a power ratio value of a
plurality of power ratio values that the wireless device supports
for transmission of a physical uplink channel. Each value of the
plurality of power ratio values corresponds to a transmission power
capability and to a number of antenna ports. A power ratio refers
to a ratio relative to a maximum power the wireless device is rated
to transmit. The method further comprises transmitting a physical
uplink channel using the number of antenna ports with a power
scaled at least by the power ratio value.
[0047] Some embodiments use power scaling with a minimum function
to not transmit above P.sub.CMAX, and scales according to the
number of sounding reference signal (SRS) ports associated with the
power ratio. In particular embodiments, the method further
comprises scaling a transmission power for the physical uplink
channel based on the number of antenna ports associated with the
power ratio value. The scaling may be limited so that the scaled
transmission power does not exceed the maximum value the wireless
device is rated to transmit. The scaling may be by a factor
.delta. .function. ( k ) = min .function. ( 1 , N nz .DELTA.
.function. ( k ) N STS ) , ##EQU00010##
wherein .DELTA.(k) is a power ratio value and a real positive real
number, N.sub.nz is a number of antenna ports with non-zero
transmission power used to transmit the physical uplink channel,
and N.sub.SRS is a number of antenna ports and a number of sounding
reference signal (SRS) ports in an SRS resource with index k
configured to the wireless device.
[0048] In some embodiments, the power scaling capability identifies
a power ratio associated with rank and TPMI. In particular
embodiments, the transmission power capability identifies a
plurality of power ratio values, each associated with a number of
physical uplink channel layers, a precoder to be used to transmit
the physical uplink channel, and the number of antenna ports. In
some embodiments, power ratios are jointly encoded. The
transmission power capability may identify a plurality of power
ratio values, each associated with a different number of antenna
ports. In some embodiments, power scaling is further associated
with coherence capability of the UE. The transmission power
capability may correspond to a codebook subset. The subset is
identified as containing at least one of fully and partial and
non-coherent precoders, partial and non-coherent precoders, and
non-coherent precoders.
[0049] In some embodiments, a second power ratio may be associated
with a TPMI. In particular embodiments, the transmission power
capability further comprises a second power ratio of the plurality
of power ratio values and a precoder that the wireless device may
use for physical uplink channel transmission with the power scaled
by the second power ratio and with the number of antenna ports.
[0050] In some embodiments, only a subset of TPMIs in TPMI
capability signaling can support full power. A UE implementation
can remap its PAs to match. Rel-15 or Rel-15-like scaling may be
used for non-full power TPMIs. According to some embodiments, a
method performed by a wireless device for transmitting on a
plurality of antennas comprises receiving an indication of a
precoder to be used to transmit a physical uplink channel. The
precoder is one precoder of a set of precoders. Each precoder in
the set of precoders is a matrix or vector comprising an equal
number of non-zero elements. A first precoder in the set of
precoders is able to be associated with a first power scaling value
or a second power scaling value, and a second precoder in the set
of precoders is only able to be associated with the second power
scaling value. The method further comprises transmitting a layer i
of an L layer physical uplink channel at a power P.sub.i according
to the first or second power scaling value associated with the
precoder.
[0051] In particular embodiments, the first power scaling value is
P.sub.i=P/L, where P is the total power to be used for physical
uplink channel transmission, and the second power scaling value is
P.sub.i=PR/L, where R=M/K, M is a number of antenna ports with
non-zero physical uplink channel transmission. K is one of: a
maximum number of physical uplink channel layers supported by the
wireless device, a number of antenna ports used in a codebook
configured for the wireless device, a maximum rank configured to
the wireless device, and a number of SRS ports configured to the
wireless device for one or both of codebook and non-codebook based
operation.
[0052] In some embodiments, all TPMIs in the full power TPMIs
transmit on at least one same antenna port. In particular
embodiments, each precoder in the set of precoders associated with
the second power scaling value contains a non-zero magnitude
element corresponding to an antenna port shared by the precoders
associated with the second power scaling value.
[0053] In some embodiments, a UE maps strongest transmit chain to
the same antenna port, and a weaker transmit chain to a different
port. In particular embodiments, the method further comprises
transmitting a first reference signal corresponding to the antenna
port shared by the precoders associated with the second power
scaling value using a power amplifier capable of transmitting at
least at the maximum power the wireless device is rated to
transmit, and transmitting a second reference signal corresponding
to a second antenna port using a power amplifier capable of
transmitting less than maximum power the wireless device is rated
to transmit, wherein the second antenna port is different from the
antenna port shared by the precoders associated with the second
power scaling value.
[0054] According to some embodiments, a wireless device is capable
of transmitting on a plurality of antennas. The wireless device
comprises processing circuitry operable to perform any of the
wireless device methods described above.
[0055] Also disclosed is a computer program product comprising a
non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer readable
program code, the computer readable program code operable, when
executed by processing circuitry to perform any of the methods
performed by the wireless device described above.
[0056] Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following
technical advantages. For example, in particular embodiments the
transmission power capability signaling methods use a reduced
amount of signaling overhead as compared to other approaches, as
well as conveying more precise information of what transmission
power the UE supports. Embodiments herein may also enable a UE to
transmit higher power more often, because prior scaling mechanisms
may overly restrict when UEs may transmit at higher powers.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0057] For a more complete understanding of the disclosed
embodiments and their features and advantages, reference is now
made to the following description, taken in conjunction with the
accompanying drawings, in which:
[0058] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating antenna
virtualization;
[0059] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the transmission
structure of precoded spatial multiplexing mode in NR;
[0060] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example wireless
network;
[0061] FIG. 4 illustrates an example user equipment, according to
certain embodiments;
[0062] FIG. 5 is flowchart illustrating an example method in a
wireless device, according to certain embodiments;
[0063] FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating another example method in
a wireless device, according to certain embodiments;
[0064] FIG. 7 illustrates a schematic block diagram of a wireless
device in a wireless network, according to certain embodiments;
[0065] FIG. 8 illustrates an example virtualization environment,
according to certain embodiments;
[0066] FIG. 9 illustrates an example telecommunication network
connected via an intermediate network to a host computer, according
to certain embodiments;
[0067] FIG. 10 illustrates an example host computer communicating
via a base station with a user equipment over a partially wireless
connection, according to certain embodiments;
[0068] FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented,
according to certain embodiments;
[0069] FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in
a communication system, according to certain embodiments;
[0070] FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in
a communication system, according to certain embodiments; and
[0071] FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in
a communication system, according to certain embodiments.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0072] As described above, certain challenges currently exist with
transmitting on a plurality of antennas. For example, specifying
every possible power combination is signaling intensive, while
other mechanisms may overly restrict when user equipment (UEs) may
transmit at higher powers.
[0073] Certain aspects of the present disclosure and their
embodiments may provide solutions to these or other challenges. For
example, particular embodiments include power scaling mechanisms to
support full power uplink multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO)
transmission for UEs only capable of non-coherent operation. The
supported power scaling values are signaled via UE capability
either as ratios in a power scaling equation, or as a subset of
transmit precoder matrix indicators (TPMIs) supporting full power
operation, or a combination of a power scaling value and the TPMI
that supports the power scaling value. An advantage of particular
embodiments is that they convey uplink MIMO power transmission
capability for a UE using a minimum amount of information while
maximizing UE transmit chain and antenna implementation
flexibility.
[0074] Particular embodiments are described more fully with
reference to the accompanying drawings. Other embodiments, however,
are contained within the scope of the subject matter disclosed
herein, the disclosed subject matter should not be construed as
limited to only the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these
embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of
the subject matter to those skilled in the art.
[0075] A first set of embodiments uses the UE's ability to map
antenna ports to transmit chains. Each antenna port is identified
by the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) demodulation
reference signal (DMRS) and/or sounding reference signal (SRS)
transmitted on the antenna port. Therefore, a UE can map a transmit
chain to any of its ports by transmitting that port's corresponding
reference signal.
[0076] For example, if a UE has a 23 dBm power amplifier (PA) on
its second transmit chain, the UE can transmit antenna port 0 for
SRS and for DMRS on the second transmit chain, thereby mapping it
to antenna port 0. The other 3 ports for a 4 transmit chain UE can
be mapped in the same way, and with any combination. Therefore, the
number of PA power configurations needed to be specified can be
reduced dramatically by supporting each PA power combination with
the power sorted from greatest to least, rather than allowing
multiple PA power combinations.
[0077] For example, a 4 transmit chain UE with 2 full power and
21/4 power PAs can be represented with a capability supporting the
two full power PAs on the first and second antenna ports, as shown
in Table 2. This may be contrasted with a design where the
capability does not use a power ordering, shown in Table 3, where 6
different capabilities are needed. If a UE were to have PA powers
mapped to its transmit chains according to power capabilities 2-6,
embodiments supporting the power ordering in Table 2 map antenna
ports such that the power capability is provided.
TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 PA power capability with power ordering 0 1
2 3 Power Capability #1 1 1 1/4 1/4
TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Alternative PA power capability Antenna Port
Power Capability # 0 1 2 3 1 1 1 1/4 1/4 2 1 1/4 1 1/4 3 1 1/4 1/4
1 4 1/4 1 1 1/4 5 1/4 1 1/4 1 6 1/4 1/4 1 1
[0078] Therefore, in some embodiments, a UE indicates its uplink
MIMO transmission power capability by selecting a power
transmission capability from a set of power transmission
capabilities. A capability comprises a list of PA power value
indications, where one value indication is given for each of a
number of antenna ports supported for transmission by the UE.
[0079] A power value indication may be a power amplifier
transmission power level in dBm or in milliwatts. Alternatively, a
power value indication may be a ratio relative to the maximum power
the UE is rated to transmit. A member of the set comprises a unique
combination of power value indications, such that the combination
of power value indications is only present once in the member and
not the other members in the set of power transmission.
[0080] In some embodiments, each member may have its value
indications sorted. For example, in some embodiments each stronger
power value precedes a weaker power value indication in the list.
Alternatively, weaker values could precede stronger values in the
list.
[0081] PA powers available in the market tend to be particular
common values. Furthermore, UEs may use PAs that have higher power
capabilities than is required. Therefore, a small number of
different PA power values need to be represented by the PA power
value indications. Furthermore, the total transmission power of a
UE is generally split evenly among uplink MIMO layers and among
antenna ports that the UE is actively transmitting upon.
[0082] Therefore, in some embodiments supporting up to 4 transmit
antennas in a UE, the PA power value indications may include power
ratios that are one or more of the values in the set {1, 1/2, 1/3,
and 1/4}. Alternatively, if PA powers values are indicated as an
absolute number such as dBm or milliwatts, the power values may be
a maximum power value scaled by the ratio of one of the values of
the set {1, 1/2, 1/3, and 1/4}, such as in Table 4.
TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 4 UE Capability List with PA powers indicated
in dBm Antenna PA Power Capability Number Port 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 4 Port 0 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 20 20 20
20 17 17 Configuration 1 23 23 23 23 23 20 20 20 17 17 20 20 17 17
17 17 2 23 23 20 20 17 20 20 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 3 23 20 20
17 17 20 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 2 Port 0 23 23 23 23 23 23
23 23 23 23 23 20 20 20 20 17 Configuration 1 23 23 23 23 23 20 20
20 20 17 20 20 20 17 20 17 1 Port 0 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23
23 20 23 20 23 17 Configuration
[0083] In Table 4, the maximum power value is 23 dBm and ratios of
1/2 and 1/4 are used to produce the power values 20 and 17 dBm,
respectively. Table 4 identifies 16 UE capabilities that may be
supported, and the power values that may be transmitted on an
antenna port such as an SRS or PUSCH DMRS antenna port. An
embodiment may comprise only the rows corresponding to a 4 port
configuration in a 4 transmit antenna UE.
[0084] Additional embodiments may also support indication of power
values associated with 2 port or 2 port and 1 port configurations
in a 4 transmit antenna UE. The 2 port indications identify the
transmit power when UEs operate with a 2 port antenna configuration
rather than a 4 port configuration. In the two port configurations,
the UE may or may not virtualize transmit chains to increase power
on the antenna ports. Therefore, such embodiments may enable higher
transmission power when the UE transmits according to the 2 port
configuration rather than the 4 port configuration, as shown in
configuration 13 of Table 4, where the UE has 20 dBm power
available for two antenna ports in the 2 port configuration, but
only one 20 dBm antenna port in the 4 port configuration.
[0085] The 1 port configuration has the same property that higher
power may or may not be available according, for example, to the
UE's ability to virtualize transmit chains. In some embodiments,
the 1, 2, and 4 port configurations correspond to the number of SRS
indicated to a UE in an SRS resource indicator (SRI) in an uplink
grant to the UE, and the UE transmits with the power indicated by
its capability for the number of ports in the configuration
identified by the SRI.
[0086] Some embodiments avoid directly indicating the transmission
power of antenna ports, because it may impact the ability of the UE
to virtualize antenna ports as discussed above. An alternative to
indicating transmission power directly in UE capability is to
indicate a power level that can be transmitted as part of a power
control procedure. For example, a UE may determine a power
{circumflex over (P)}.sub.PUSCH,b,f,c(i,j,q.sub.dl) where
{circumflex over (P)}.sub.PUSCH,b,f,c is a linear value of the
total transmission power from the UE on all its transmit chains for
PUSCH, as defined in 38.213 rev 15.6.0 section 7.1.
[0087] In Rel-15, in codebook based operation with more than one
antenna port, the UE scales the linear value by the ratio of the
number of antenna ports with a non-zero PUSCH transmission power to
the maximum number of SRS ports supported by the UE in one SRS
resource, N.sub.tx. The UE then splits the power equally across the
antenna ports on which the UE transmits the PUSCH with non-zero
power. The scaling may alternatively be expressed as scaling by
.delta. = N nz N tx , ##EQU00011##
where N.sub.nz is number or antenna ports with a non-zero PUSCH
transmission power. This means, for example, that rank 1 precoders
with a single non-zero element are scaled down by a factor of
N.sub.tx, such that a transmission chain transmits at a factor of
N.sub.TX less than maximum power capability of the UE even if the
UE has greater maximum power on the transmission chain.
[0088] This can be mitigated by scaling by a smaller number factor
than N.sub.tx, such as a number of SRS ports configured to the UE
in codebook based operation. For a 4 transmit chain UE configured
with 2 SRS ports, the power could then be scaled down by 2, rather
than 4. However, transmitting with fewer antenna ports than the
maximum substantially reduces the number of different precoders
available, because uplink MIMO codebook size grows with the number
of antenna ports in the codebook. Therefore, enhanced performance
can be obtained by allowing higher transmission power in the
largest codebook size supported by the UE.
[0089] One approach to supporting larger transmission power for a
given number of antenna ports is to modify the power scaling
described above. The power {circumflex over
(P)}.sub.PUSCH,b,f,c(i,j,q.sub.dl) may instead be scaled by
.delta. .function. ( k ) = min .function. ( 1 , N nz .DELTA.
.function. ( k ) N STS ) , ##EQU00012##
where N.sub.SRS is a number of SRS transmission ports configured to
the UE, and .DELTA.(k) positive real number indicated by UE
capability signaling, and that may be associated with a k.sup.th
number of SRS ports. The purpose of the min( ) operation is to
prevent the UE from transmitting a higher power than its maximum
rated power for precoders that lead to transmission on larger
numbers of antenna ports, while still allowing .DELTA.(k) to scale
up the transmission power for precoders that lead to transmission
on a smaller numbers of antenna ports.
[0090] If .DELTA.(k)>1, the corresponding power is scaled above
the value used in Rel-15. For example, if a 4 transmit chain UE is
configured with N.sub.SRS=4 SRS ports, the Rel-15 power scaling
would set
.delta. = N nz N tx = 1 4 ##EQU00013##
for precoders with one non-zero element. However, if UE had all 1/2
power PAs, the new scaling with .DELTA.(k)=2 would be
.delta. .function. ( k ) = min .function. ( 1 , 1 2 4 ) = 1 2 ,
##EQU00014##
which allows 3 dB more power to be transmitted as compared to
Rel-15.
[0091] The value of .DELTA.(k) for a given port configuration
corresponds to the power a given precoder could produce relative to
P.sub.CMAXN.sub.nz/N.sub.SRS, where P.sub.CMAX is the maximum
transmit power capability of the UE. Considering for example
configuration 16, the power 17 dBm would be produced for any number
of ports when a precoder has a single non-zero value, which is 1/4
of P.sub.CMAX, and so .DELTA.(k)=1/4{1,2,4}={1/4,1/2,1} for
k={1,2,4} corresponding to 1, 2, and 4 port configurations. On the
other hand, in configuration 1, 23 dBm would be produced for any
number of ports when a precoder has a single non-zero value, which
is equal to P.sub.CMAX, and so at least 23 dBm can be transmitted
for any precoder, leading to .DELTA.(k)={1,2,4} for k={1,2,3}
corresponding to 1, 2, and 4 port configurations.
[0092] Moreover, suitable values of .DELTA.(k) to support the PA
power capabilities of Table 4 are .DELTA.={1/4, 1/2, 1, 2, 4}.
Therefore, in some embodiments, a UE signals a plurality of power
ratio values, each value corresponding to a transmission power
capability and to uplink transmission with a number of antenna
ports. In some embodiments, the UE may be configured with multiple
SRS resources, where at least one of the resources with the number
of antenna ports corresponds to the value. In one example
embodiment, a UE signals a power ratio .DELTA.(k).di-elect
cons.{1/4,1/2, 1, 2, 4} for k.sup.th SRS resource of 3 SRS
resources with 1, 2, and 4 SRS ports. Such embodiments would signal
555=125 different value combinations for k=1, 2, 3 corresponding to
1, 2, and 4 SRS ports, and therefore consume 7 bits if jointly
encoded.
[0093] As described above and with respect to Table 4, it is
sufficient and desirable to support a limited number of PA power
combinations in a specification. Therefore, embodiments may
determine the scale factor according to UE power combinations that
should be supported in specifications. Because the maximum power
available on each transmit chain is a fixed value, the value
.DELTA.(k) for the k.sup.th number of SRS ports, or equivalently a
total number of antenna ports available for transmission, is
dependent on power available for a greater or lesser number of SRS
ports supported by the UE. This means that certain combinations of
.DELTA.(k) values may not be needed to support the desired PA
configurations.
[0094] For example, Table 5 contains the .DELTA.(k) combinations
that are sufficient to support the PA power combinations listed in
Table 4. Therefore, a joint indication of X(k) values for different
numbers of antenna ports may reduce the overall signaling required.
Table 5 contains 9 unique values, as compared to the 125 values
that would be needed for the independent signaling of .DELTA.(k)
discussed above. This means that 4, rather than 7 bits could be
used for UE capability signaling.
[0095] Furthermore, if one of the capabilities of Table 4 could be
removed, only 8 states and 3 bits would be needed to convey
.DELTA.(k). One candidate for removal is capability 16, which has
no capability for virtualization and is low power. This would then
remove Capability 1 in Table 5, resulting in an alternative
embodiment with only capabilities 2-9. Therefore, in some such
embodiments where a UE signals a plurality of power ratio values, a
transmission capability identifies a plurality of power ratio
values, each associated with a different number of antenna
ports.
TABLE-US-00005 TABLE 5 Power scaling values suitable for UE PA
configurations in Table 4 Power Scaling Capability # .DELTA.(1)
.DELTA.(2) .DELTA.(3) 1 0.25 0.5 1 2 0.5 0.5 1 3 0.5 1 1 4 1 0.5 1
5 1 1 1 6 1 1 2 7 1 2 1 8 1 2 2 9 1 2 4
[0096] Some embodiments may use power scaling as
.delta. .function. ( k ) = min .function. ( 1 , N nz .DELTA.
.function. ( k ) N STS ) ##EQU00015##
but the UE capability signaled is based on the approach presented
in Table 4. Some embodiments may extend Table 4 as illustrated in
Table 6 below. Here, .DELTA.(k), which in turn will be used for the
power scaling, is given by the capability number. In another
embodiment .DELTA.(k) is instead derived according to some function
depending on the UE capability as given by Table 4.
TABLE-US-00006 TABLE 6 .DELTA.(k) capability set given from PA
Power Capability number Capability Number (as given by Table 4) 1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 .DELTA.(k) capability set (as 9
8 8 7 7 6 5 5 5 4 5 3 5 2 5 1 given by Table 5)
[0097] Because NR does not define a 3 port uplink MIMO codebook nor
a 3 port SRS configuration, Rel-15 NR rank 3 uplink MIMO
transmission is based on 4 port configurations. The power in Rel-15
uses the maximum number of antenna ports in an SRS configuration,
and so divides by 4 (that is, has N.sub.tx=4 in the equation for
.delta. above) for rank 3 transmission. This means that a UE with
all 1/4 power PAs would transmit at most 3/4 of its rated power for
rank 3 transmission using rank 3 TPMI #0 (where each of 3 antenna
ports transmits a MIMO layer). However, a UE with at least 3 PAs at
1/3 power will be able to deliver the full rated power for rank 3
TPMI #0. Therefore, PA configurations including those with 1/3
power may be supported by power scaling values.
[0098] Table 7 adds a number of UE PA power configurations capable
of supporting the full rated power of 23 dBm, by adding PA power
values of 1/3 the rated power (approximately 18.25 dBm). In some
embodiments, a UE may signal a PA power configuration from Table 7,
Table 8, and Table 9 to indicate its uplink MIMO power capability
for each of 4, 2, and 1 antenna ports, respectively.
TABLE-US-00007 TABLE 7 Alternative UE Capability with PA powers
indicated in dBm: 4 antenna ports Antenna Configuration # Port 1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 0 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 20 20 1 23
23 23 23 23 20 20 20 17 17 20 20 2 23 23 20 20 17 20 20 17 17 17 17
17 3 23 20 20 17 17 20 17 17 17 17 17 17 Antenna Configuration #
Port 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 0 20 20 17 17 23 23 23 23
23 23 23 23 1 17 17 17 17 23 23 23 23 23 20 20 20 2 17 17 17 17 23
23 20 20 18.25 20 20 18.25 3 17 17 17 17 23 20 20 17 18.25 20 17
18.25 Configuration # 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 0 23 23 20 20 20 20
18.25 18.25 1 18.25 18.25 20 20 18.25 18.25 18.25 18.25 2 18.25
18.25 18.25 18.25 18.25 18.25 18.25 18.25 3 18.25 18.25 18.25 18.25
18.25 18.25 18.25 18.25
TABLE-US-00008 TABLE 8 Alternative UE Capability with PA powers
indicated in dBm: 2 antenna ports Antenna Configuration # Port 1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 0 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 20 1 23
23 23 23 23 20 20 20 20 17 20 20 Configuration # 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 0 20 20 20 17 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 1 20 17 20
17 23 23 23 23 23 20 20 20 Configuration # 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32
0 23 23 23 20 20 20 20 18.25 1 20 18.25 20 20 20 18.25 20 18.25
TABLE-US-00009 TABLE 9 Alternative UE Capability with PA powers
indicated in dBm, for 1 antenna port Antenna Configuration # Port 1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 0 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 20
Configuration # 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 0 23 20 23 17
23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 Configuration # 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 0
23 23 23 20 23 20 23 18.25
[0099] Because the alternative set of UE PA power combinations in
Table 7, Table 8, and Table 9 include new PA power values, if
values of .DELTA.(k) are to support these new power values, new
.DELTA.(k) values may be needed. Examining these tables indicates
that 15 distinct combinations of .DELTA.(1), .DELTA.(2), and
.DELTA.(3) are sufficient to support the PA power combinations in
the table. The values of 0.75 and 1.25 are needed for (k) to
support the 18.25 dBm (or equivalently the 1/3 power) PAs.
[0100] Therefore, in some embodiments, a UE signals a plurality of
power ratio values, each value corresponding to a transmission
power capability for corresponding to a number of antenna ports for
which the UE can be configured. In an example embodiment a UE
signals each power ratio as .DELTA.(k).di-elect cons.{1/4, 1/2,
3/4, 1, 5/4, 2, 4}. Such embodiments signal 777=343 different value
combinations for k=1, 2, 3 corresponding to 1, 2, and 4 SRS ports,
and therefore consume 9 bits if jointly encoded. If instead the 15
different capabilities in Table 10 are signaled, then only 4 bits
are needed to indicate the (k) values enabling enhanced support for
rank 3 operation. The 15 different power ratio combinations is
roughly half the 32 PA power configurations, and so the PA power
ratio signaling is more efficient in terms of signaling
overhead.
TABLE-US-00010 TABLE 10 Power scaling values suitable for UE PA
configurations in Table 7, Table 8, and Table 9 Power Scaling
Capability # .DELTA.(1) .DELTA.(2) .DELTA.(3) 1 0.25 0.50 1 2 0.25
0.75 1.25 3 0.50 0.50 1 4 0.50 0.75 1.25 5 0.50 1 1 6 0.50 1 1.25 7
1 0.50 1 8 1 0.75 1.25 9 1 1 1 10 1 1 1.25 11 1 1 2 12 1 2 1 13 1 2
1.25 14 1 2 2 15 1 2 4
[0101] Some embodiments include full power TPMI combination
capability. For example, adjusting power by .DELTA.(k) for a
k.sup.th antenna port configuration enables the power to be scaled
up for all precoders in the codebook with the number of ports.
However, if UEs have different power capabilities for the different
transmit chains, such that some ports have different maximum
transmit power, because the UE must transmit power equally on the
non-zero transmit antenna ports, the UE is limited by the smallest
power that the UE can transmit on an antenna port. This means that
some precoders can deliver full power, while others cannot.
Therefore, it can be advantageous to signal power transmission
capability according to the precoder used.
[0102] Rather than signalling if a given precoder can be supported
with one bit per precoder, a more efficient signalling method
accounts for the supported PA power combinations and jointly
signals which TPMI combinations are supported according to the
number of configured SRS ports or alternative, the ports used in
the codebook(s) configured for the UE.
[0103] One embodiment is shown in Table 11 for UEs with
non-coherent capability. Each of the elements in the table
indicates a list of TPMIs of the form P.sub.i(N.sub.p, v) or that
no TPMI is supported with a `-` for this rank and number of antenna
ports for the given capability number. The entries are defined
according to Table 12. Note that Table 12 does not contain all the
precoders present in the Rel-15 NR codebooks, because the PA power
ordering that is to be supported does not require these TPMIs. This
reduces the number of TPMI combinations needed in the UE TPMI
capability signalling. Also, 14 distinct TPMI combination
capabilities are used to represent the PA power combinations in
Table 4. Therefore, one embodiment indicates UE PA power capability
by indicating which of a list of TPMI combination capabilities is
supported by the UE for full power transmission.
[0104] A capability comprises a combination of supported TPMI sets,
wherein a subset of the TPMIs available in a MIMO codebook may not
be indicated as a supported TPMI. In some embodiments, a TPMI
combination capability comprises a first supported TPMI set
associated with a first number of antenna ports and a second
supported TPMI set associated with a second number of antenna ports
that is different than the first number of antenna ports.
TABLE-US-00011 TABLE 11 UE TP MI combination capabilities
corresponding to Table 4 TPMI Capability # Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 4
Port Configuration 1 -- P.sub.1 (4, 1) -- P.sub.1 (4, 1) -- --
P.sub.1 (4, 1) 2 -- -- -- -- P.sub.1 (4, 2) P.sub.1 (4, 2) P.sub.1
(4, 2) 3 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 4 P.sub.1 (4, 4) P.sub.1 (4, 4)
P.sub.1 (4, 4) P.sub.1 (4, 4) P.sub.1 (4, 4) P.sub.1 (4, 4) P.sub.1
(4, 4) 2 Port Configuration 1 -- P.sub.1 (2, 1) -- P.sub.1 (2, 1)
-- P.sub.1 (2, 1) P.sub.1 (2, 1) 2 -- -- P.sub.1 (2,2) P.sub.1 (2,
2) P.sub.1 (2, 2) P.sub.1 (2, 2) P.sub.1 (2, 2) 1 Port
Configuration 0 -- P.sub.1 (1, 1) P.sub.1 (1, 1) P.sub.1 (1, 1) --
P.sub.1 (1, 1) P.sub.1 (1, 1) TPMI Capability # Rank 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 4 Port Configuration 1 P.sub.2 (4, 1) P.sub.1 (4, 4) P.sub.2
(4, 1) P.sub.1 (4, 1) P.sub.2 (4, 1) P.sub.3 (4, 1) P.sub.4 (4, 1)
2 P.sub.1 (4, 2) P.sub.2 (4, 2) P.sub.2 (4, 2) P.sub.3 (4, 2)
P.sub.3 (4, 2) P.sub.3 (4, 2) P.sub.3 (4, 2) 3 -- P.sub.1 (4, 3)
P.sub.1 (4, 3) P.sub.1 (4, 3) P.sub.1 (4, 3) P.sub.1 (4, 3) P.sub.1
(4, 3) 4 P.sub.1 (4, 4) P.sub.1 (4, 4) P.sub.1 (4, 4) P.sub.1 (4,
4) P.sub.1 (4, 4) P.sub.1 (4, 4) P.sub.1 (4, 4) 2 Port
Configuration 1 P.sub.2 (2, 1) P.sub.1 (2, 1) P.sub.2 (2, 1)
P.sub.1 (2, 1) P.sub.2 (2, 1) P.sub.2 (2, 1) P.sub.2 (2, 1) 2
P.sub.1 (2, 2) P.sub.1 (2, 2) P.sub.1 (2, 2) P.sub.1 (2, 2) P.sub.1
(2, 2) P.sub.1 (2, 2) P.sub.1 (2, 2) 1 Port Configuration 0 P.sub.1
(1, 1) P.sub.1 (1, 1) P.sub.1 (1, 1) P.sub.1 (1, 1) P.sub.1 (1, 1)
P.sub.1 (1, 1) P.sub.1 (1, 1)
[0105] As used in Table 11, P.sub.i(N.sub.p,v) is the i.sup.th list
of precoders for an N.sub.p antenna port codebook for rank v,
defined in Table 12. TPMI.sub.l is the precoder with TPMI index l
in the NR uplink MIMO codebooks for rank v and N.sub.p antenna
ports in tables 6.3.1.5-1 through 6.3.1.5-7 of 3GPP TS 38.211 rev.
15.6.0 section 6.3.1.5.
TABLE-US-00012 TABLE 12 Supported TPMI sets corresponding to Table
11 1 Port 2 Ports 4 Ports P.sub.1 (1, 1) = 1 P.sub.1 (2, 1) =
TPMI.sub.0 P.sub.1 (4, 1) = {TPMI.sub.0} P.sub.2 (2, 1) =
{TPMI.sub.0, P.sub.2 (4, 1) = {TPMI.sub.0, TPMI.sub.1} TPMI.sub.1}
P.sub.1 (2, 2) = TPMI.sub.0 P.sub.3 (4, 1) = {TPMI.sub.0,
TPMI.sub.1, TPMI.sub.2} P.sub.4 (4, 1) = {TPMI.sub.0, TPMI.sub.1,
TPM.sub.2, TPMI.sub.3} P.sub.1 (4, 2) = {TPMI.sub.0} P.sub.2 (4, 2)
= {TPMI.sub.0, TPMI.sub.1, TPMI.sub.3} P.sub.3 (4, 2)= {TPMI.sub.0,
TPMI.sub.1, TPMI.sub.2, TPMI.sub.3, TPMI.sub.4, TPMI.sub.5} P.sub.1
(4, 3) = {TPMI.sub.0} P.sub.1 (4, 4) = {TPMI.sub.0}
[0106] The power scaling used in this embodiment adjusts to full
power when TPMIs that support full power are used and uses the
Rel-15 codebook based power scaling otherwise. That is the UE
scales the linear transmission power
P ^ PUSCH , b , f , c .times. .times. by .times. .times. .delta. =
N nz N tx , ##EQU00016##
as described above when using a precoder (identified by its TPMI
index) that does not support full power. When the UE does transmit
with a precoder supporting full power, the UE transmits with the
linear transmission power {circumflex over (P)}.sub.PUSCH,b,f,c. In
both the cases where the TPMI does and does not support full power,
the power and scaled power, respectively, is divided equally among
antenna ports with non-zero transmission power.
[0107] In some embodiments, the tables presented above may be
defined per UE coherence capability. Thus, one set of tables may
exist for a coherent UE and another set of tables may exist for a
partial coherent UE. Alternatively, a single table may be used, but
some entries are only applicable to a certain UE coherence
capability. This is illustrated by one specific UE TPMI combination
capability as presented below assuming a partial coherent UE (only
the 4 port configuration is shown). The sets of used TPMI sets in
this case are different than for a coherent UE. This TPMI
capability could, for example, be realized by a 4 port partial
coherent UE with 17 dBm per PA.
TABLE-US-00013 TABLE 13 UE TPMI combination capability example for
a partial coherent UE TPMI Capability # Rank 1 4 Port Configuration
1 -- 2 P.sub.4 (4, 2) 3 P.sub.2 (4, 3) 4 P.sub.2 (4, 4)
TABLE-US-00014 TABLE 14 Additional TPMI sets for a partial coherent
UE 4 Ports P.sub.4 (4, 2) = {TPMI.sub.6, TPMI.sub.7, TPMI.sub.8,
TPMI.sub.9, TPMI.sub.10, TPMI.sub.11, TPMI.sub.12, TPMI.sub.13}
P.sub.2 (4, 3) = {TPMI.sub.1, TPMI.sub.2} P.sub.2 (4, 4) =
{TPMI.sub.1, TPMI.sub.2}
[0108] Some embodiments include per TPMI PA power ratio
capabilities. While TPMI combination capability signalling may
indicate more TPMIs that can be used to convey full power in some
situations, thereby allowing the UE to transmit full power, than
signalling .DELTA.(k) as described above, TPMI combination
capability signalling has the drawback that it does not convey the
power available for TPMIs other than the TPMIs signalled.
Therefore, in some embodiments it is desirable to combine TPMI
capability signalling with power ratio capability signalling with
.DELTA.(k).
[0109] Some embodiments associate a TPMI of a given rank and number
of ports with a power ratio, that is to define a power ratio
.DELTA.(k, TPMI.sub.l(v)) for a number of antenna ports associated
with k and where TPMI.sub.l(v) is a precoder with TPMI index l in a
codebook from section 6.3.1.5 of 3GPP TS 38.211 rev. 15.6.0 with
the number of antenna ports and for rank v. The power scaling for
PUSCH antenna transmission may be calculated according to
.delta. .function. ( k ) = min .function. ( 1 , N nz .DELTA.
.function. ( k ) N STS ) ##EQU00017##
as described above for all precoders that are not associated with a
TPMI. When a precoder is associated with a power scaling value, the
power scaling is calculated according to
.delta. .function. ( k ) = min .function. ( 1 , N nz .DELTA.
.function. ( k , TPMI l .function. ( v ) ) N STS ) .
##EQU00018##
[0110] Some embodiments include complete TPMI and PA power
capabilities dependent power scaling. In one embodiment, the power
scaling is given as .delta.(k, l, v) and is directly specified as a
function of UE capability as well as (k, l, v) where/and v gives
the precoder. .delta.(k, l, v) may for instance be given in the
form of a table as described below and the UE capability is given
according to Table 4.
TABLE-US-00015 TABLE 15 Power scaling values .delta.(k, l, v)
Capability Number k l v 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 4
Port 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/4 1/4 Configuration
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/4 1/4 1/2 1/2 1/4 1/4 1/4 1/4 2 1 1 1
1/2 1/2 1/4 1/2 1/2 1/4 1/4 1/4 1/4 1/4 1/4 1/4 1/4 1/4 3 1 1 1/2
1/2 1/4 1/4 1/2 1/4 1/4 1/4 1/4 1/4 1/4 1/4 1/4 1/4 1/4 0 2 1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1 1/2 1/2 1 1 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1 2 1 1 1 1 1/2 1 1 1/2 1/2 1/2
1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 2 2 1 1 1 1/2 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2
1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 3 2 1 1 1 1 1/2 1 1 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2
1/2 4 2 1 1 1 1 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 5 2 1
1 1 1/2 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 0 3 1 1 1 1
3/4 1 1 3/4 3/4 3/4 3/4 3/4 3/4 3/4 3/4 3/4 0 4 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1 1 1 2 Port 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/4
Configuration 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/4 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/4 1/2
1/4 0 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1/2 1 1 1 1/2 1 1/2 1 Port 0 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1 1 1 1/2 1 1/2 1 1/4 Configuration
[0111] In another embodiment the value .DELTA.(k, TPMI.sub.l(v)) is
instead specified in the table above in a similar manner. In yet
another embodiment, the capability number is instead specified
according Table 5 and the table is specified accordingly.
[0112] Some embodiments include UE coherence capability in NR. In
some embodiments, the above embodiments also depend on the UE
coherence capability for full, partial, or non-coherent uplink MIMO
transmission as identified by the pusch-TransCoherence capability
in 3GPP TS 38.331 rev. 15.5.0. For example, Table 6, Table 11,
Table 12 and Table 13 or some other table or function presented
herein may also depend on the UE coherence capability. Table 6 may,
for example, look different and also depend on if a UE supports
full, partial, or non-coherent uplink MIMO transmission. Therefore,
in some embodiments a transmission power capability corresponds to
PUSCH transmission using an uplink MIMO precoder subset identified
as one of `fullyAndPartialAndNonCoherent`, `partialCoherent`, and
`nonCoherent`, respectively, in 3GPP TSs 38.212 rev 15.6.0, 38.214
rev 15.6.0, and 38.331 rev 15.5.0.
[0113] FIG. 3 illustrates an example wireless network, according to
certain embodiments. The wireless network may comprise and/or
interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data,
cellular, and/or radio network or other similar type of system. In
some embodiments, the wireless network may be configured to operate
according to specific standards or other types of predefined rules
or procedures. Thus, particular embodiments of the wireless network
may implement communication standards, such as Global System for
Mobile Communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications
System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), and/or other suitable 2G,
3G, 4G, or 5G standards; wireless local area network (WLAN)
standards, such as the IEEE 802.11 standards; and/or any other
appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide
Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave
and/or ZigBee standards.
[0114] Network 106 may comprise one or more backhaul networks, core
networks, IP networks, public switched telephone networks (PSTNs),
packet data networks, optical networks, wide-area networks (WANs),
local area networks (LANs), wireless local area networks (WLANs),
wired networks, wireless networks, metropolitan area networks, and
other networks to enable communication between devices.
[0115] Network node 160 and WD 110 comprise various components
described in more detail below. These components work together to
provide network node and/or wireless device functionality, such as
providing wireless connections in a wireless network. In different
embodiments, the wireless network may comprise any number of wired
or wireless networks, network nodes, base stations, controllers,
wireless devices, relay stations, and/or any other components or
systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of
data and/or signals whether via wired or wireless connections.
[0116] As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable,
configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate directly or
indirectly with a wireless device and/or with other network nodes
or equipment in the wireless network to enable and/or provide
wireless access to the wireless device and/or to perform other
functions (e.g., administration) in the wireless network.
[0117] Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to,
access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations
(BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs)
and NR NodeBs (gNBs)). Base stations may be categorized based on
the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their
transmit power level) and may then also be referred to as femto
base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro
base stations.
[0118] A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node
controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more
(or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as
centralized digital units and/or remote radio units (RRUs),
sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote
radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an
antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station
may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system
(DAS). Yet further examples of network nodes include multi-standard
radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as
radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers
(BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points,
transmission nodes, multi-cell/multicast coordination entities
(MCEs), core network nodes (e.g., MSCs, MMEs), O&M nodes, OSS
nodes, SON nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., E-SMLCs), and/or
MDTs.
[0119] As another example, a network node may be a virtual network
node as described in more detail below. More generally, however,
network nodes may represent any suitable device (or group of
devices) capable, configured, arranged, and/or operable to enable
and/or provide a wireless device with access to the wireless
network or to provide some service to a wireless device that has
accessed the wireless network.
[0120] In FIG. 3, network node 160 includes processing circuitry
170, device readable medium 180, interface 190, auxiliary equipment
184, power source 186, power circuitry 187, and antenna 162.
Although network node 160 illustrated in the example wireless
network of FIG. 3 may represent a device that includes the
illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments
may comprise network nodes with different combinations of
components.
[0121] It is to be understood that a network node comprises any
suitable combination of hardware and/or software needed to perform
the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein.
Moreover, while the components of network node 160 are depicted as
single boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multiple
boxes, in practice, a network node may comprise multiple different
physical components that make up a single illustrated component
(e.g., device readable medium 180 may comprise multiple separate
hard drives as well as multiple RAM modules).
[0122] Similarly, network node 160 may be composed of multiple
physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC
component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may
each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in
which network node 160 comprises multiple separate components
(e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate
components may be shared among several network nodes. For example,
a single RNC may control multiple NodeB's. In such a scenario, each
unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a
single separate network node.
[0123] In some embodiments, network node 160 may be configured to
support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such
embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate
device readable medium 180 for the different RATs) and some
components may be reused (e.g., the same antenna 162 may be shared
by the RATs). Network node 160 may also include multiple sets of
the various illustrated components for different wireless
technologies integrated into network node 160, such as, for
example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, or Bluetooth wireless
technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into
the same or different chip or set of chips and other components
within network node 160.
[0124] Processing circuitry 170 is configured to perform any
determining, calculating, or similar operations (e.g., certain
obtaining operations) described herein as being provided by a
network node. These operations performed by processing circuitry
170 may include processing information obtained by processing
circuitry 170 by, for example, converting the obtained information
into other information, comparing the obtained information or
converted information to information stored in the network node,
and/or performing one or more operations based on the obtained
information or converted information, and as a result of said
processing making a determination.
[0125] Processing circuitry 170 may comprise a combination of one
or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central
processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific
integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other
suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware,
software and/or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or
in conjunction with other network node 160 components, such as
device readable medium 180, network node 160 functionality.
[0126] For example, processing circuitry 170 may execute
instructions stored in device readable medium 180 or in memory
within processing circuitry 170. Such functionality may include
providing any of the various wireless features, functions, or
benefits discussed herein. In some embodiments, processing
circuitry 170 may include a system on a chip (SOC).
[0127] In some embodiments, processing circuitry 170 may include
one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 172 and
baseband processing circuitry 174. In some embodiments, radio
frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 172 and baseband processing
circuitry 174 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards,
or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative
embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 172 and
baseband processing circuitry 174 may be on the same chip or set of
chips, boards, or units
[0128] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality
described herein as being provided by a network node, base station,
eNB or other such network device may be performed by processing
circuitry 170 executing instructions stored on device readable
medium 180 or memory within processing circuitry 170. In
alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be
provided by processing circuitry 170 without executing instructions
stored on a separate or discrete device readable medium, such as in
a hard-wired manner. In any of those embodiments, whether executing
instructions stored on a device readable storage medium or not,
processing circuitry 170 can be configured to perform the described
functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not
limited to processing circuitry 170 alone or to other components of
network node 160 but are enjoyed by network node 160 as a whole,
and/or by end users and the wireless network generally.
[0129] Device readable medium 180 may comprise any form of volatile
or non-volatile computer readable memory including, without
limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely
mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory
(RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a
hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a
Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or any other
volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device readable and/or
computer-executable memory devices that store information, data,
and/or instructions that may be used by processing circuitry 170.
Device readable medium 180 may store any suitable instructions,
data or information, including a computer program, software, an
application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables,
etc. and/or other instructions capable of being executed by
processing circuitry 170 and, utilized by network node 160. Device
readable medium 180 may be used to store any calculations made by
processing circuitry 170 and/or any data received via interface
190. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 170 and device
readable medium 180 may be considered to be integrated.
[0130] Interface 190 is used in the wired or wireless communication
of signaling and/or data between network node 160, network 106,
and/or WDs 110. As illustrated, interface 190 comprises
port(s)/terminal(s) 194 to send and receive data, for example to
and from network 106 over a wired connection. Interface 190 also
includes radio front end circuitry 192 that may be coupled to, or
in certain embodiments a part of, antenna 162.
[0131] Radio front end circuitry 192 comprises filters 198 and
amplifiers 196. Radio front end circuitry 192 may be connected to
antenna 162 and processing circuitry 170. Radio front end circuitry
may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna
162 and processing circuitry 170. Radio front end circuitry 192 may
receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes
or WDs via a wireless connection. Radio front end circuitry 192 may
convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate
channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 198
and/or amplifiers 196. The radio signal may then be transmitted via
antenna 162. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 162 may
collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by
radio front end circuitry 192. The digital data may be passed to
processing circuitry 170. In other embodiments, the interface may
comprise different components and/or different combinations of
components.
[0132] In certain alternative embodiments, network node 160 may not
include separate radio front end circuitry 192, instead, processing
circuitry 170 may comprise radio front end circuitry and may be
connected to antenna 162 without separate radio front end circuitry
192. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of RF transceiver
circuitry 172 may be considered a part of interface 190. In still
other embodiments, interface 190 may include one or more ports or
terminals 194, radio front end circuitry 192, and RF transceiver
circuitry 172, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and interface
190 may communicate with baseband processing circuitry 174, which
is part of a digital unit (not shown).
[0133] Antenna 162 may include one or more antennas, or antenna
arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals. Antenna
162 may be coupled to radio front end circuitry 192 and may be any
type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and/or
signals wirelessly. In some embodiments, antenna 162 may comprise
one or more omni-directional, sector or panel antennas operable to
transmit/receive radio signals between, for example, 2 GHz and 66
GHz. An omni-directional antenna may be used to transmit/receive
radio signals in any direction, a sector antenna may be used to
transmit/receive radio signals from devices within a particular
area, and a panel antenna may be a line of sight antenna used to
transmit/receive radio signals in a relatively straight line. In
some instances, the use of more than one antenna may be referred to
as MIMO. In certain embodiments, antenna 162 may be separate from
network node 160 and may be connectable to network node 160 through
an interface or port.
[0134] Antenna 162, interface 190, and/or processing circuitry 170
may be configured to perform any receiving operations and/or
certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by
a network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be
received from a wireless device, another network node and/or any
other network equipment. Similarly, antenna 162, interface 190,
and/or processing circuitry 170 may be configured to perform any
transmitting operations described herein as being performed by a
network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be
transmitted to a wireless device, another network node and/or any
other network equipment.
[0135] Power circuitry 187 may comprise, or be coupled to, power
management circuitry and is configured to supply the components of
network node 160 with power for performing the functionality
described herein. Power circuitry 187 may receive power from power
source 186. Power source 186 and/or power circuitry 187 may be
configured to provide power to the various components of network
node 160 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at
a voltage and current level needed for each respective component).
Power source 186 may either be included in, or external to, power
circuitry 187 and/or network node 160.
[0136] For example, network node 160 may be connectable to an
external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet) via an input
circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the
external power source supplies power to power circuitry 187. As a
further example, power source 186 may comprise a source of power in
the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or
integrated in, power circuitry 187. The battery may provide backup
power should the external power source fail. Other types of power
sources, such as photovoltaic devices, may also be used.
[0137] Alternative embodiments of network node 160 may include
additional components beyond those shown in FIG. 3 that may be
responsible for providing certain aspects of the network node's
functionality, including any of the functionality described herein
and/or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter
described herein. For example, network node 160 may include user
interface equipment to allow input of information into network node
160 and to allow output of information from network node 160. This
may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and
other administrative functions for network node 160.
[0138] As used herein, wireless device (WD) refers to a device
capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate
wirelessly with network nodes and/or other wireless devices. Unless
otherwise noted, the term WD may be used interchangeably herein
with user equipment (UE). Communicating wirelessly may involve
transmitting and/or receiving wireless signals using
electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and/or other
types of signals suitable for conveying information through
air.
[0139] In some embodiments, a WD may be configured to transmit
and/or receive information without direct human interaction. For
instance, a WD may be designed to transmit information to a network
on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or
external event, or in response to requests from the network.
[0140] Examples of a WD include, but are not limited to, a smart
phone, a mobile phone, a cell phone, a voice over IP (VoIP) phone,
a wireless local loop phone, a desktop computer, a personal digital
assistant (PDA), a wireless cameras, a gaming console or device, a
music storage device, a playback appliance, a wearable terminal
device, a wireless endpoint, a mobile station, a tablet, a laptop,
a laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), a laptop-mounted equipment
(LME), a smart device, a wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE).
a vehicle-mounted wireless terminal device, etc. A WD may support
device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a
3GPP standard for sidelink communication, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V),
vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) and
may in this case be referred to as a D2D communication device.
[0141] As yet another specific example, in an Internet of Things
(IoT) scenario, a WD may represent a machine or other device that
performs monitoring and/or measurements and transmits the results
of such monitoring and/or measurements to another WD and/or a
network node. The WD may in this case be a machine-to-machine (M2M)
device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC
device. As one example, the WD may be a UE implementing the 3GPP
narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) standard. Examples of such
machines or devices are sensors, metering devices such as power
meters, industrial machinery, or home or personal appliances (e.g.
refrigerators, televisions, etc.) personal wearables (e.g.,
watches, fitness trackers, etc.).
[0142] In other scenarios, a WD may represent a vehicle or other
equipment that is capable of monitoring and/or reporting on its
operational status or other functions associated with its
operation. A WD as described above may represent the endpoint of a
wireless connection, in which case the device may be referred to as
a wireless terminal. Furthermore, a WD as described above may be
mobile, in which case it may also be referred to as a mobile device
or a mobile terminal.
[0143] As illustrated, wireless device 110 includes antenna 111,
interface 114, processing circuitry 120, device readable medium
130, user interface equipment 132, auxiliary equipment 134, power
source 136 and power circuitry 137. WD 110 may include multiple
sets of one or more of the illustrated components for different
wireless technologies supported by WD 110, such as, for example,
GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, WiMAX, or Bluetooth wireless
technologies, just to mention a few. These wireless technologies
may be integrated into the same or different chips or set of chips
as other components within WD 110.
[0144] Antenna 111 may include one or more antennas or antenna
arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals, and is
connected to interface 114. In certain alternative embodiments,
antenna 111 may be separate from WD 110 and be connectable to WD
110 through an interface or port. Antenna 111, interface 114,
and/or processing circuitry 120 may be configured to perform any
receiving or transmitting operations described herein as being
performed by a WD. Any information, data and/or signals may be
received from a network node and/or another WD. In some
embodiments, radio front end circuitry and/or antenna 111 may be
considered an interface.
[0145] As illustrated, interface 114 comprises radio front end
circuitry 112 and antenna 111. Radio front end circuitry 112
comprise one or more filters 118 and amplifiers 116. Radio front
end circuitry 112 is connected to antenna 111 and processing
circuitry 120 and is configured to condition signals communicated
between antenna 111 and processing circuitry 120. Radio front end
circuitry 112 may be coupled to or a part of antenna 111. In some
embodiments, WD 110 may not include separate radio front end
circuitry 112; rather, processing circuitry 120 may comprise radio
front end circuitry and may be connected to antenna 111. Similarly,
in some embodiments, some or all of RF transceiver circuitry 122
may be considered a part of interface 114.
[0146] Radio front end circuitry 112 may receive digital data that
is to be sent out to other network nodes or WDs via a wireless
connection. Radio front end circuitry 112 may convert the digital
data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and
bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 118 and/or
amplifiers 116. The radio signal may then be transmitted via
antenna 111. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 111 may
collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by
radio front end circuitry 112. The digital data may be passed to
processing circuitry 120. In other embodiments, the interface may
comprise different components and/or different combinations of
components.
[0147] Processing circuitry 120 may comprise a combination of one
or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central
processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific
integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other
suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware,
software, and/or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or
in conjunction with other WD 110 components, such as device
readable medium 130, WD 110 functionality. Such functionality may
include providing any of the various wireless features or benefits
discussed herein. For example, processing circuitry 120 may execute
instructions stored in device readable medium 130 or in memory
within processing circuitry 120 to provide the functionality
disclosed herein.
[0148] As illustrated, processing circuitry 120 includes one or
more of RF transceiver circuitry 122, baseband processing circuitry
124, and application processing circuitry 126. In other
embodiments, the processing circuitry may comprise different
components and/or different combinations of components. In certain
embodiments processing circuitry 120 of WD 110 may comprise a SOC.
In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuitry 122, baseband
processing circuitry 124, and application processing circuitry 126
may be on separate chips or sets of chips.
[0149] In alternative embodiments, part or all of baseband
processing circuitry 124 and application processing circuitry 126
may be combined into one chip or set of chips, and RF transceiver
circuitry 122 may be on a separate chip or set of chips. In still
alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry
122 and baseband processing circuitry 124 may be on the same chip
or set of chips, and application processing circuitry 126 may be on
a separate chip or set of chips. In yet other alternative
embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 122, baseband
processing circuitry 124, and application processing circuitry 126
may be combined in the same chip or set of chips. In some
embodiments, RF transceiver circuitry 122 may be a part of
interface 114. RF transceiver circuitry 122 may condition RF
signals for processing circuitry 120.
[0150] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality
described herein as being performed by a WD may be provided by
processing circuitry 120 executing instructions stored on device
readable medium 130, which in certain embodiments may be a
computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some
or all of the functionality may be provided by processing circuitry
120 without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete
device readable storage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner.
[0151] In any of those embodiments, whether executing instructions
stored on a device readable storage medium or not, processing
circuitry 120 can be configured to perform the described
functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not
limited to processing circuitry 120 alone or to other components of
WD 110, but are enjoyed by WD 110, and/or by end users and the
wireless network generally.
[0152] Processing circuitry 120 may be configured to perform any
determining, calculating, or similar operations (e.g., certain
obtaining operations) described herein as being performed by a WD.
These operations, as performed by processing circuitry 120, may
include processing information obtained by processing circuitry 120
by, for example, converting the obtained information into other
information, comparing the obtained information or converted
information to information stored by WD 110, and/or performing one
or more operations based on the obtained information or converted
information, and as a result of said processing making a
determination.
[0153] Device readable medium 130 may be operable to store a
computer program, software, an application including one or more of
logic, rules, code, tables, etc. and/or other instructions capable
of being executed by processing circuitry 120. Device readable
medium 130 may include computer memory (e.g., Random Access Memory
(RAM) or Read Only Memory (ROM)), mass storage media (e.g., a hard
disk), removable storage media (e.g., a Compact Disk (CD) or a
Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or any other volatile or
non-volatile, non-transitory device readable and/or computer
executable memory devices that store information, data, and/or
instructions that may be used by processing circuitry 120. In some
embodiments, processing circuitry 120 and device readable medium
130 may be integrated.
[0154] User interface equipment 132 may provide components that
allow for a human user to interact with WD 110. Such interaction
may be of many forms, such as visual, audial, tactile, etc. User
interface equipment 132 may be operable to produce output to the
user and to allow the user to provide input to WD 110. The type of
interaction may vary depending on the type of user interface
equipment 132 installed in WD 110. For example, if WD 110 is a
smart phone, the interaction may be via a touch screen; if WD 110
is a smart meter, the interaction may be through a screen that
provides usage (e.g., the number of gallons used) or a speaker that
provides an audible alert (e.g., if smoke is detected).
[0155] User interface equipment 132 may include input interfaces,
devices and circuits, and output interfaces, devices and circuits.
User interface equipment 132 is configured to allow input of
information into WD 110 and is connected to processing circuitry
120 to allow processing circuitry 120 to process the input
information. User interface equipment 132 may include, for example,
a microphone, a proximity or other sensor, keys/buttons, a touch
display, one or more cameras, a USB port, or other input circuitry.
User interface equipment 132 is also configured to allow output of
information from WD 110, and to allow processing circuitry 120 to
output information from WD 110. User interface equipment 132 may
include, for example, a speaker, a display, vibrating circuitry, a
USB port, a headphone interface, or other output circuitry. Using
one or more input and output interfaces, devices, and circuits, of
user interface equipment 132, WD 110 may communicate with end users
and/or the wireless network and allow them to benefit from the
functionality described herein.
[0156] Auxiliary equipment 134 is operable to provide more specific
functionality which may not be generally performed by WDs. This may
comprise specialized sensors for doing measurements for various
purposes, interfaces for additional types of communication such as
wired communications etc. The inclusion and type of components of
auxiliary equipment 134 may vary depending on the embodiment and/or
scenario.
[0157] Power source 136 may, in some embodiments, be in the form of
a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an
external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic
devices or power cells, may also be used. WD 110 may further
comprise power circuitry 137 for delivering power from power source
136 to the various parts of WD 110 which need power from power
source 136 to carry out any functionality described or indicated
herein. Power circuitry 137 may in certain embodiments comprise
power management circuitry.
[0158] Power circuitry 137 may additionally or alternatively be
operable to receive power from an external power source; in which
case WD 110 may be connectable to the external power source (such
as an electricity outlet) via input circuitry or an interface such
as an electrical power cable. Power circuitry 137 may also in
certain embodiments be operable to deliver power from an external
power source to power source 136. This may be, for example, for the
charging of power source 136. Power circuitry 137 may perform any
formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from
power source 136 to make the power suitable for the respective
components of WD 110 to which power is supplied.
[0159] Although the subject matter described herein may be
implemented in any appropriate type of system using any suitable
components, the embodiments disclosed herein are described in
relation to a wireless network, such as the example wireless
network illustrated in FIG. 3. For simplicity, the wireless network
of FIG. 3 only depicts network 106, network nodes 160 and 160b, and
WDs 110, 110b, and 110c. In practice, a wireless network may
further include any additional elements suitable to support
communication between wireless devices or between a wireless device
and another communication device, such as a landline telephone, a
service provider, or any other network node or end device. Of the
illustrated components, network node 160 and wireless device (WD)
110 are depicted with additional detail. The wireless network may
provide communication and other types of services to one or more
wireless devices to facilitate the wireless devices' access to
and/or use of the services provided by, or via, the wireless
network.
[0160] FIG. 4 illustrates an example user equipment, according to
certain embodiments. As used herein, a user equipment or UE may not
necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns
and/or operates the relevant device. Instead, a UE may represent a
device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user
but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a
specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller).
Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended for
sale to, or operation by, an end user but which may be associated
with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power
meter). UE 200 may be any UE identified by the 3rd Generation
Partnership Project (3GPP), including a NB-IoT UE, a machine type
communication (MTC) UE, and/or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE. UE 200,
as illustrated in FIG. 4, is one example of a WD configured for
communication in accordance with one or more communication
standards promulgated by the 3.sup.rd Generation Partnership
Project (3GPP), such as 3GPP's GSM, UMTS, LTE, and/or 5G standards.
As mentioned previously, the term WD and UE may be used
interchangeable. Accordingly, although FIG. 4 is a UE, the
components discussed herein are equally applicable to a WD, and
vice-versa.
[0161] In FIG. 4, UE 200 includes processing circuitry 201 that is
operatively coupled to input/output interface 205, radio frequency
(RF) interface 209, network connection interface 211, memory 215
including random access memory (RAM) 217, read-only memory (ROM)
219, and storage medium 221 or the like, communication subsystem
231, power source 213, and/or any other component, or any
combination thereof. Storage medium 221 includes operating system
223, application program 225, and data 227. In other embodiments,
storage medium 221 may include other similar types of information.
Certain UEs may use all the components shown in FIG. 4, or only a
subset of the components. The level of integration between the
components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs
may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple
processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers,
etc.
[0162] In FIG. 4, processing circuitry 201 may be configured to
process computer instructions and data. Processing circuitry 201
may be configured to implement any sequential state machine
operative to execute machine instructions stored as
machine-readable computer programs in the memory, such as one or
more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic,
FPGA, ASIC, etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate
firmware; one or more stored program, general-purpose processors,
such as a microprocessor or Digital Signal Processor (DSP),
together with appropriate software; or any combination of the
above. For example, the processing circuitry 201 may include two
central processing units (CPUs). Data may be information in a form
suitable for use by a computer.
[0163] In the depicted embodiment, input/output interface 205 may
be configured to provide a communication interface to an input
device, output device, or input and output device. UE 200 may be
configured to use an output device via input/output interface
205.
[0164] An output device may use the same type of interface port as
an input device. For example, a USB port may be used to provide
input to and output from UE 200. The output device may be a
speaker; a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a
printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output
device, or any combination thereof.
[0165] UE 200 may be configured to use an input device via
input/output interface 205 to allow a user to capture information
into UE 200. The input device may include a touch-sensitive or
presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g.; a digital camera, a
digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor,
a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll
wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display
may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input
from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a
gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an
optical sensor, a proximity sensor, another like sensor, or any
combination thereof. For example; the input device may be an
accelerometer, a magnetometer, a digital camera, a microphone, and
an optical sensor.
[0166] In FIG. 4, RF interface 209 may be configured to provide a
communication interface to RF components such as a transmitter, a
receiver, and an antenna. Network connection interface 211 may be
configured to provide a communication interface to network 243a.
Network 243a may encompass wired and/or wireless networks such as a
local-area network (LAN), a wide-area network (WAN), a computer
network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another
like network or any combination thereof. For example, network 243a
may comprise a Wi-Fi network. Network connection interface 211 may
be configured to include a receiver and a transmitter interface
used to communicate with one or more other devices over a
communication network according to one or more communication
protocols, such as Ethernet, TCP/IP, SONET, ATM, or the like.
Network connection interface 211 may implement receiver and
transmitter functionality appropriate to the communication network
links (e.g., optical, electrical, and the like). The transmitter
and receiver functions may share circuit components, software or
firmware, or alternatively may be implemented separately.
[0167] RAM 217 may be configured to interface via bus 202 to
processing circuitry 201 to provide storage or caching of data or
computer instructions during the execution of software programs
such as the operating system, application programs, and device
drivers. ROM 219 may be configured to provide computer instructions
or data to processing circuitry 201. For example, ROM 219 may be
configured to store invariant low-level system code or data for
basic system functions such as basic input and output (I/O),
startup, or reception of keystrokes from a keyboard that are stored
in a non-volatile memory.
[0168] Storage medium 221 may be configured to include memory such
as RAM, ROM, programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable
programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable
programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical
disks, floppy disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, or flash
drives. In one example, storage medium 221 may be configured to
include operating system 223, application program 225 such as a web
browser application, a widget or gadget engine or another
application, and data file 227. Storage medium 221 may store, for
use by UE 200, any of a variety of various operating systems or
combinations of operating systems.
[0169] Storage medium 221 may be configured to include a number of
physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks
(RAID), floppy disk drive, flash memory, USB flash drive, external
hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density
digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard
disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data
storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line
memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory
(SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as a
subscriber identity module or a removable user identity (SIM/RUIM)
module, other memory, or any combination thereof. Storage medium
221 may allow UE 200 to access computer-executable instructions,
application programs or the like, stored on transitory or
non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data.
An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication
system may be tangibly embodied in storage medium 221, which may
comprise a device readable medium.
[0170] In FIG. 4, processing circuitry 201 may be configured to
communicate with network 243b using communication subsystem 231.
Network 243a and network 243b may be the same network or networks
or different network or networks. Communication subsystem 231 may
be configured to include one or more transceivers used to
communicate with network 243b. For example, communication subsystem
231 may be configured to include one or more transceivers used to
communicate with one or more remote transceivers of another device
capable of wireless communication such as another WD, UE, or base
station of a radio access network (RAN) according to one or more
communication protocols, such as IEEE 802.2, CDMA, WCDMA, GSM, LTE,
UTRAN, WiMax, or the like. Each transceiver may include transmitter
233 and/or receiver 235 to implement transmitter or receiver
functionality, respectively, appropriate to the RAN links (e.g.,
frequency allocations and the like). Further, transmitter 233 and
receiver 235 of each transceiver may share circuit components,
software or firmware, or alternatively may be implemented
separately.
[0171] In the illustrated embodiment, the communication functions
of communication subsystem 231 may include data communication,
voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range
communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication,
location-based communication such as the use of the global
positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like
communication function, or any combination thereof. For example,
communication subsystem 231 may include cellular communication,
Wi-Fi communication, Bluetooth communication, and GPS
communication. Network 243b may encompass wired and/or wireless
networks such as a local-area network (LAN), a wide-area network
(WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications
network, another like network or any combination thereof. For
example, network 243b may be a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network,
and/or a near-field network. Power source 213 may be configured to
provide alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) power to
components of UE 200.
[0172] The features, benefits and/or functions described herein may
be implemented in one of the components of UE 200 or partitioned
across multiple components of UE 200. Further, the features,
benefits, and/or functions described herein may be implemented in
any combination of hardware, software or firmware. In one example,
communication subsystem 231 may be configured to include any of the
components described herein. Further, processing circuitry 201 may
be configured to communicate with any of such components over bus
202. In another example, any of such components may be represented
by program instructions stored in memory that when executed by
processing circuitry 201 perform the corresponding functions
described herein. In another example, the functionality of any of
such components may be partitioned between processing circuitry 201
and communication subsystem 231. In another example, the
non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components
may be implemented in software or firmware and the computationally
intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.
[0173] FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example method in a
user equipment, according to certain embodiments. In particular
embodiments, one or more steps of FIG. 5 may be performed by
wireless device 110 described with respect to FIG. 3.
[0174] The method begins at step 512, where the wireless device
(e.g., wireless device 110) signals, to a network node (e.g.,
network node 160), a wireless device power transmission capability.
The wireless device power transmission capability identifies a
power ratio value of a plurality of power ratio values that the
wireless device supports for transmission of a physical uplink
channel. Each value of the plurality of power ratio values
corresponds to a transmission power capability and to a number of
antenna ports. A power ratio refers to a ratio relative to a
maximum power the wireless device is rated to transmit. The power
transmission capability may comprise any of the power transmission
capabilities described above, such as those described with respect
to Tables 2-15.
[0175] In particular embodiments, the transmission power capability
identifies a plurality of power ratio values, each associated with
a number of physical uplink channel layers, a precoder to be used
to transmit the physical uplink channel, and the number of antenna
ports. In some embodiments, power ratios are jointly encoded. The
transmission power capability may identify a plurality of power
ratio values, each associated with a different number of antenna
ports. In some embodiments, power scaling is further associated
with coherence capability of the UE. The transmission power
capability may correspond to a codebook subset. The subset is
identified as containing at least one of fully and partial and
non-coherent precoders, partial and non-coherent precoders, and
non-coherent precoders.
[0176] In some embodiments, a second power ratio may be associated
with a TPMI. In particular embodiments, the transmission power
capability further comprises a second power ratio of the plurality
of power ratio values and a precoder that the wireless device may
use for physical uplink channel transmission with the power scaled
by the second power ratio and with the number of antenna ports.
[0177] The network node receives the power transmission capability
for the wireless device and determines an appropriate configuration
for a particular uplink transmission. The network node may schedule
the wireless device for the uplink transmission.
[0178] At step 516, the wireless device transmits a physical uplink
channel using the number of antenna ports with a power scaled at
least by the power ratio value in the power transmission
capability.
[0179] Some embodiments may use power scaling with a minimum
function to not transmit above P.sub.CMAX, and scales according to
the number of SRS ports associated with the power ratio. Some
embodiments may include optional step 514, where the wireless
device scales a transmission power for the physical uplink channel
based on the number of antenna ports associated with the power
ratio value. The scaling may be limited so that the scaled
transmission power does not exceed the maximum value the wireless
device is rated to transmit. The scaling may be by a factor
.delta. .function. ( k ) = min .function. ( 1 , N nz .DELTA.
.function. ( k ) N STS ) , ##EQU00019##
wherein .DELTA.(k) is a power ratio value and a real positive real
number, N.sub.nz is a number of antenna ports with non-zero
transmission power used to transmit the physical uplink channel,
and N.sub.SRS is a number of antenna ports and a number of sounding
reference signal (SRS) ports in an SRS resource with index k
configured to the wireless device.
[0180] Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to method
500 of FIG. 5. Additionally, one or more steps in the method of
FIG. 5 may be performed in parallel or in any suitable order.
[0181] In some embodiments, only a subset of TPMIs in TPMI
capability signaling can support full power. A UE implementation
can remap its PAs to match. Rel-15 or Rel-15-like scaling may be
used for non-full power TPMIs. An example is illustrated in FIG.
6.
[0182] FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating another example method in
a wireless device, according to certain embodiments. In particular
embodiments, one or more steps of FIG. 6 may be performed by
wireless device 110 described with respect to FIG. 3.
[0183] The method begins at step 612, where the wireless device
(e.g., wireless device 110) receives an indication of a precoder to
be used to transmit a physical uplink channel. The precoder is one
precoder of a set of precoders. Each precoder in the set of
precoders is a matrix or vector comprising an equal number of
non-zero elements. A first precoder in the set of precoders is able
to be associated with a first power scaling value or a second power
scaling value, and a second precoder in the set of precoders is
only able to be associated with the second power scaling value. For
example, the wireless device may receive an indication as described
with respect to Tables 11 and/or 12 above.
[0184] At step 614, the wireless device transmits a layer i of an L
layer physical uplink channel at a power P.sub.i according to the
first or second power scaling value associated with the precoder.
For example, power scaling used in this embodiment adjusts to full
power when TPMIs that support full power are used and uses the
Rel-15 codebook based power scaling otherwise.
[0185] In particular embodiments, the first power scaling value is
P.sub.i=P/L, where P is the total power to be used for physical
uplink channel transmission, and the second power scaling value is
P.sub.i=PR/L, where R=M/K, M is a number of antenna ports with
non-zero physical uplink channel transmission. K is one of: a
maximum number of physical uplink channel layers supported by the
wireless device, a number of antenna ports used in a codebook
configured for the wireless device, a maximum rank configured to
the wireless device, and a number of SRS ports configured to the
wireless device for one or both of codebook and non-codebook based
operation.
[0186] In some embodiments, the wireless device maps strongest
transmit chain to the same antenna port, and a weaker transmit
chain to a different port. At optional step 616, the wireless
device transmits a first reference signal corresponding to the
antenna port shared by the precoders associated with the second
power scaling value using a power amplifier capable of transmitting
at least at the maximum power the wireless device is rated to
transmit. At optional step 618, the wireless device transmitting a
second reference signal corresponding to a second antenna port
using a power amplifier capable of transmitting less than maximum
power the wireless device is rated to transmit. The second antenna
port is different from the antenna port shared by the precoders
associated with the second power scaling value.
[0187] Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to method
600 of FIG. 6. Additionally, one or more steps in the method of
FIG. 6 may be performed in parallel or in any suitable order.
[0188] FIG. 7 illustrates a schematic block diagram of an apparatus
in a wireless network (for example, the wireless network
illustrated in FIG. 3). The apparatus may comprise a wireless
device (e.g., wireless device 110 in FIG. 3). Apparatus 1600 is
operable to carry out the example methods described with reference
to FIGS. 5 and 6. Apparatus 1600 may be operable to carry out other
processes or methods disclosed herein. It is also to be understood
that the methods of FIGS. 5 and 6 are not necessarily carried out
solely by apparatus 1600. At least some operations of the method
can be performed by one or more other entities.
[0189] Virtual apparatus 1600 may comprise processing circuitry,
which may include one or more microprocessor or microcontrollers,
as well as other digital hardware, which may include digital signal
processors (DSPs), special-purpose digital logic, and the like. The
processing circuitry may be configured to execute program code
stored in memory, which may include one or several types of memory
such as read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory, cache memory,
flash memory devices, optical storage devices, etc. Program code
stored in memory includes program instructions for executing one or
more telecommunications and/or data communications protocols as
well as instructions for carrying out one or more of the techniques
described herein, in several embodiments.
[0190] In some implementations, the processing circuitry may be
used to cause receiving module 1602, determining module 1604,
transmitting module 1606, and any other suitable units of apparatus
1600 to perform corresponding functions according one or more
embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0191] As illustrated in FIG. 7, apparatus 1600 includes receiving
module 1602 configured to receive configuration information for an
uplink transmission, such as an indication of a precoder to be used
to transmit a physical uplink channel, according to any of the
embodiments and examples described herein. Determining module 1604
is configured to determine transmission power capabilities,
according to any of the embodiments and examples described herein.
Apparatus 1600 also includes transmitting module 1606 configured to
signal transmission power capabilities to a network node and
transmit uplink channels based on the transmission power
capabilities, according to any of the embodiments and examples
described herein.
[0192] FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a
virtualization environment 300 in which functions implemented by
some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context,
virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or
devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage
devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization
can be applied to a node (e.g., a virtualized base station or a
virtualized radio access node) or to a device (e.g., a UE, a
wireless device or any other type of communication device) or
components thereof and relates to an implementation in which at
least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more
virtual components (e.g., via one or more applications, components,
functions, virtual machines or containers executing on one or more
physical processing nodes in one or more networks).
[0193] In some embodiments, some or all of the functions described
herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or
more virtual machines implemented in one or more virtual
environments 300 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes 330.
Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node is not a radio
access node or does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core
network node), then the network node may be entirely
virtualized.
[0194] The functions may be implemented by one or more applications
320 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual
appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network
functions, etc.) operative to implement some of the features,
functions, and/or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed
herein. Applications 320 are run in virtualization environment 300
which provides hardware 330 comprising processing circuitry 360 and
memory 390. Memory 390 contains instructions 395 executable by
processing circuitry 360 whereby application 320 is operative to
provide one or more of the features, benefits, and/or functions
disclosed herein.
[0195] Virtualization environment 300, comprises general-purpose or
special-purpose network hardware devices 330 comprising a set of
one or more processors or processing circuitry 360, which may be
commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) processors, dedicated Application
Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), or any other type of
processing circuitry including digital or analog hardware
components or special purpose processors. Each hardware device may
comprise memory 390-1 which may be non-persistent memory for
temporarily storing instructions 395 or software executed by
processing circuitry 360. Each hardware device may comprise one or
more network interface controllers (NICs) 370, also known as
network interface cards, which include physical network interface
380. Each hardware device may also include non-transitory,
persistent, machine-readable storage media 390-2 having stored
therein software 395 and/or instructions executable by processing
circuitry 360. Software 395 may include any type of software
including software for instantiating one or more virtualization
layers 350 (also referred to as hypervisors), software to execute
virtual machines 340 as well as software allowing it to execute
functions, features and/or benefits described in relation with some
embodiments described herein.
[0196] Virtual machines 340, comprise virtual processing, virtual
memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and
may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 350 or
hypervisor. Different embodiments of the instance of virtual
appliance 320 may be implemented on one or more of virtual machines
340, and the implementations may be made in different ways.
[0197] During operation, processing circuitry 360 executes software
395 to instantiate the hypervisor or virtualization layer 350,
which may sometimes be referred to as a virtual machine monitor
(VMM). Virtualization layer 350 may present a virtual operating
platform that appears like networking hardware to virtual machine
340.
[0198] As shown in FIG. 8, hardware 330 may be a standalone network
node with generic or specific components. Hardware 330 may comprise
antenna 3225 and may implement some functions via virtualization.
Alternatively, hardware 330 may be part of a larger cluster of
hardware (e.g. such as in a data center or customer premise
equipment (CPE)) where many hardware nodes work together and are
managed via management and orchestration (MANO) 3100, which, among
others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 320.
[0199] Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred
to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to
consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard
high-volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical
storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise
equipment.
[0200] In the context of NFV, virtual machine 340 may be a software
implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they
were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of
virtual machines 340, and that part of hardware 330 that executes
that virtual machine, be it hardware dedicated to that virtual
machine and/or hardware shared by that virtual machine with others
of the virtual machines 340, forms a separate virtual network
elements (VNE).
[0201] Still in the context of NFV, Virtual Network Function (VNF)
is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in
one or more virtual machines 340 on top of hardware networking
infrastructure 330 and corresponds to application 320 in FIG.
18.
[0202] In some embodiments, one or more radio units 3200 that each
include one or more transmitters 3220 and one or more receivers
3210 may be coupled to one or more antennas 3225. Radio units 3200
may communicate directly with hardware nodes 330 via one or more
appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with
the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio
capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station.
[0203] In some embodiments, some signaling can be effected with the
use of control system 3230 which may alternatively be used for
communication between the hardware nodes 330 and radio units
3200.
[0204] With reference to FIG. 9, in accordance with an embodiment,
a communication system includes telecommunication network 410, such
as a 3GPP-type cellular network, which comprises access network
411, such as a radio access network, and core network 414. Access
network 411 comprises a plurality of base stations 412a, 412b,
412c, such as NBs, eNBs, gNBs or other types of wireless access
points, each defining a corresponding coverage area 413a, 413b,
413c. Each base station 412a, 412b, 412c is connectable to core
network 414 over a wired or wireless connection 415. A first UE 491
located in coverage area 413c is configured to wirelessly connect
to, or be paged by, the corresponding base station 412c. A second
UE 492 in coverage area 413a is wirelessly connectable to the
corresponding base station 412a. While a plurality of UEs 491, 492
are illustrated in this example, the disclosed embodiments are
equally applicable to a situation where a sole UE is in the
coverage area or where a sole UE is connecting to the corresponding
base station 412.
[0205] Telecommunication network 410 is itself connected to host
computer 430, which may be embodied in the hardware and/or software
of a standalone server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed
server or as processing resources in a server farm. Host computer
430 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider or
may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service
provider. Connections 421 and 422 between telecommunication network
410 and host computer 430 may extend directly from core network 414
to host computer 430 or may go via an optional intermediate network
420. Intermediate network 420 may be one of, or a combination of
more than one of, a public, private or hosted network; intermediate
network 420, if any, may be a backbone network or the Internet; in
particular, intermediate network 420 may comprise two or more
sub-networks (not shown).
[0206] The communication system of FIG. 9 as a whole enables
connectivity between the connected UEs 491, 492 and host computer
430. The connectivity may be described as an over-the-top (OTT)
connection 450. Host computer 430 and the connected UEs 491, 492
are configured to communicate data and/or signaling via OTT
connection 450, using access network 411, core network 414, any
intermediate network 420 and possible further infrastructure (not
shown) as intermediaries. OTT connection 450 may be transparent in
the sense that the participating communication devices through
which OTT connection 450 passes are unaware of routing of uplink
and downlink communications. For example, base station 412 may not
or need not be informed about the past routing of an incoming
downlink communication with data originating from host computer 430
to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to a connected UE 491.
Similarly, base station 412 need not be aware of the future routing
of an outgoing uplink communication originating from the UE 491
towards the host computer 430.
[0207] FIG. 10 illustrates an example host computer communicating
via a base station with a user equipment over a partially wireless
connection, according to certain embodiments. Example
implementations, in accordance with an embodiment of the UE, base
station and host computer discussed in the preceding paragraphs
will now be described with reference to FIG. 10. In communication
system 500, host computer 510 comprises hardware 515 including
communication interface 516 configured to set up and maintain a
wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different
communication device of communication system 500. Host computer 510
further comprises processing circuitry 518, which may have storage
and/or processing capabilities. In particular, processing circuitry
518 may comprise one or more programmable processors,
application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate
arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute
instructions. Host computer 510 further comprises software 511,
which is stored in or accessible by host computer 510 and
executable by processing circuitry 518. Software 511 includes host
application 512. Host application 512 may be operable to provide a
service to a remote user, such as UE 530 connecting via OTT
connection 550 terminating at UE 530 and host computer 510. In
providing the service to the remote user, host application 512 may
provide user data which is transmitted using OTT connection
550.
[0208] Communication system 500 further includes base station 520
provided in a telecommunication system and comprising hardware 525
enabling it to communicate with host computer 510 and with UE 530.
Hardware 525 may include communication interface 526 for setting up
and maintaining a wired or wireless connection with an interface of
a different communication device of communication system 500, as
well as radio interface 527 for setting up and maintaining at least
wireless connection 570 with UE 530 located in a coverage area (not
shown in FIG. 10) served by base station 520. Communication
interface 526 may be configured to facilitate connection 560 to
host computer 510. Connection 560 may be direct, or it may pass
through a core network (not shown in FIG. 10) of the
telecommunication system and/or through one or more intermediate
networks outside the telecommunication system. In the embodiment
shown, hardware 525 of base station 520 further includes processing
circuitry 528, which may comprise one or more programmable
processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field
programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown)
adapted to execute instructions. Base station 520 further has
software 521 stored internally or accessible via an external
connection.
[0209] Communication system 500 further includes UE 530 already
referred to. Its hardware 535 may include radio interface 537
configured to set up and maintain wireless connection 570 with a
base station serving a coverage area in which UE 530 is currently
located. Hardware 535 of UE 530 further includes processing
circuitry 538, which may comprise one or more programmable
processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field
programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown)
adapted to execute instructions. UE 530 further comprises software
531, which is stored in or accessible by UE 530 and executable by
processing circuitry 538. Software 531 includes client application
532. Client application 532 may be operable to provide a service to
a human or non-human user via UE 530, with the support of host
computer 510. In host computer 510, an executing host application
512 may communicate with the executing client application 532 via
OTT connection 550 terminating at UE 530 and host computer 510. In
providing the service to the user, client application 532 may
receive request data from host application 512 and provide user
data in response to the request data. OTT connection 550 may
transfer both the request data and the user data. Client
application 532 may interact with the user to generate the user
data that it provides.
[0210] It is noted that host computer 510, base station 520 and UE
530 illustrated in FIG. 10 may be similar or identical to host
computer 430, one of base stations 412a, 412b, 412c and one of UEs
491, 492 of FIG. 3, respectively. This is to say, the inner
workings of these entities may be as shown in FIG. 10 and
independently, the surrounding network topology may be that of FIG.
3.
[0211] In FIG. 10, OTT connection 550 has been drawn abstractly to
illustrate the communication between host computer 510 and UE 530
via base station 520, without explicit reference to any
intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these
devices. Network infrastructure may determine the routing, which it
may be configured to hide from UE 530 or from the service provider
operating host computer 510, or both. While OTT connection 550 is
active, the network infrastructure may further take decisions by
which it dynamically changes the routing (e.g., based on load
balancing consideration or reconfiguration of the network).
[0212] Wireless connection 570 between UE 530 and base station 520
is in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described
throughout this disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments
improve the performance of OTT services provided to UE 530 using
OTT connection 550, in which wireless connection 570 forms the last
segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may
improve the signaling overhead and reduce latency, which may
provide faster internet access for users.
[0213] A measurement procedure may be provided for monitoring data
rate, latency and other factors on which the one or more
embodiments improve. There may further be an optional network
functionality for reconfiguring OTT connection 550 between host
computer 510 and UE 530, in response to variations in the
measurement results. The measurement procedure and/or the network
functionality for reconfiguring OTT connection 550 may be
implemented in software 511 and hardware 515 of host computer 510
or in software 531 and hardware 535 of UE 530, or both. In
embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in
association with communication devices through which OTT connection
550 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement
procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities
exemplified above or supplying values of other physical quantities
from which software 511, 531 may compute or estimate the monitored
quantities. The reconfiguring of OTT connection 550 may include
message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.;
the reconfiguring need not affect base station 520, and it may be
unknown or imperceptible to base station 520. Such procedures and
functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain
embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling
facilitating host computer 510's measurements of throughput,
propagation times, latency and the like. The measurements may be
implemented in that software 511 and 531 causes messages to be
transmitted, in particular empty or `dummy` messages, using OTT
connection 550 while it monitors propagation times, errors etc.
[0214] FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in
a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The
communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a
UE which may be those described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10.
For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references
to FIG. 11 will be included in this section.
[0215] In step 610, the host computer provides user data. In
substep 611 (which may be optional) of step 610, the host computer
provides the user data by executing a host application. In step
620, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user
data to the UE. In step 630 (which may be optional), the base
station transmits to the UE the user data which was carried in the
transmission that the host computer initiated, in accordance with
the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this
disclosure. In step 640 (which may also be optional), the UE
executes a client application associated with the host application
executed by the host computer.
[0216] FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in
a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The
communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a
UE which may be those described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10.
For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references
to FIG. 12 will be included in this section.
[0217] In step 710 of the method, the host computer provides user
data. In an optional substep (not shown) the host computer provides
the user data by executing a host application. In step 720, the
host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to
the UE. The transmission may pass via the base station, in
accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described
throughout this disclosure. In step 730 (which may be optional),
the UE receives the user data carried in the transmission.
[0218] FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in
a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The
communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a
UE which may be those described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10.
For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references
to FIG. 13 will be included in this section.
[0219] In step 810 (which may be optional), the UE receives input
data provided by the host computer. Additionally, or alternatively,
in step 820, the UE provides user data. In substep 821 (which may
be optional) of step 820, the UE provides the user data by
executing a client application. In substep 811 (which may be
optional) of step 810, the UE executes a client application which
provides the user data in reaction to the received input data
provided by the host computer. In providing the user data, the
executed client application may further consider user input
received from the user. Regardless of the specific manner in which
the user data was provided, the UE initiates, in substep 830 (which
may be optional), transmission of the user data to the host
computer. In step 840 of the method, the host computer receives the
user data transmitted from the UE, in accordance with the teachings
of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure.
[0220] FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in
a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The
communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a
UE which may be those described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10.
For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references
to FIG. 13 will be included in this section.
[0221] In step 910 (which may be optional), in accordance with the
teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure,
the base station receives user data from the UE. In step 920 (which
may be optional), the base station initiates transmission of the
received user data to the host computer. In step 930 (which may be
optional), the host computer receives the user data carried in the
transmission initiated by the base station.
[0222] The term unit may have conventional meaning in the field of
electronics, electrical devices and/or electronic devices and may
include, for example, electrical and/or electronic circuitry,
devices, modules, processors, memories, logic solid state and/or
discrete devices, computer programs or instructions for carrying
out respective tasks, procedures, computations, outputs, and/or
displaying functions, and so on, as such as those that are
described herein.
[0223] Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the
systems and apparatuses disclosed herein without departing from the
scope of the invention. The components of the systems and
apparatuses may be integrated or separated. Moreover, the
operations of the systems and apparatuses may be performed by more,
fewer, or other components. Additionally, operations of the systems
and apparatuses may be performed using any suitable logic
comprising software, hardware, and/or other logic. As used in this
document, "each" refers to each member of a set or each member of a
subset of a set.
[0224] Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the
methods disclosed herein without departing from the scope of the
invention. The methods may include more, fewer, or other steps.
Additionally, steps may be performed in any suitable order.
[0225] The foregoing description sets forth numerous specific
details. It is understood, however, that embodiments may be
practiced without these specific details. In other instances,
well-known circuits, structures and techniques have not been shown
in detail in order not to obscure the understanding of this
description. Those of ordinary skill in the art, with the included
descriptions, will be able to implement appropriate functionality
without undue experimentation.
[0226] References in the specification to "one embodiment," "an
embodiment," "an example embodiment," etc., indicate that the
embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure,
or characteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarily include
the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover,
such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment.
Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is
described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it
is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to implement such
feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other
embodiments, whether or not explicitly described.
[0227] Although this disclosure has been described in terms of
certain embodiments, alterations and permutations of the
embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art.
Accordingly, the above description of the embodiments does not
constrain this disclosure. Other changes, substitutions, and
alterations are possible without departing from the scope of this
disclosure, as defined by the claims below.
[0228] At least some of the following abbreviations may be used in
this disclosure. If there is an inconsistency between
abbreviations, preference should be given to how it is used above.
If listed multiple times below, the first listing should be
preferred over any subsequent listing(s). [0229] 1.times.RTT
CDMA2000 1.times.Radio Transmission Technology [0230] 3GPP 3rd
Generation Partnership Project [0231] 5G 5th Generation [0232] ABS
Almost Blank Subframe [0233] ARQ Automatic Repeat Request [0234]
AWGN Additive White Gaussian Noise [0235] BCCH Broadcast Control
Channel [0236] BCH Broadcast Channel [0237] CA Carrier Aggregation
[0238] CC Carrier Component [0239] CCCH SDU Common Control Channel
SDU [0240] CDMA Code Division Multiplexing Access [0241] CGI Cell
Global Identifier [0242] CIR Channel Impulse Response [0243] CP
Cyclic Prefix [0244] CPICH Common Pilot Channel [0245] CPICH Ec/No
CPICH Received energy per chip divided by the power density in the
band [0246] CQI Channel Quality information [0247] C-RNTI Cell RNTI
[0248] CSI Channel State Information [0249] DCCH Dedicated Control
Channel [0250] DL Downlink [0251] DM Demodulation [0252] DMRS
Demodulation Reference Signal [0253] DRX Discontinuous Reception
[0254] DTX Discontinuous Transmission [0255] DTCH Dedicated Traffic
Channel [0256] DUT Device Under Test [0257] E-CID Enhanced Cell-ID
(positioning method) [0258] E-SMLC Evolved-Serving Mobile Location
Centre [0259] ECGI Evolved CGI [0260] eNB E-UTRAN NodeB [0261]
ePDCCH enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel [0262] E-SMLC
evolved Serving Mobile Location Center [0263] E-UTRA Evolved UTRA
[0264] E-UTRAN Evolved UTRAN [0265] FDD Frequency Division Duplex
[0266] GEO Geostationary Orbit [0267] GERAN GSM EDGE Radio Access
Network [0268] gNB Base station in NR [0269] GNSS Global Navigation
Satellite System [0270] GPS Global Positioning System [0271] GSM
Global System for Mobile communication [0272] HARQ Hybrid Automatic
Repeat Request [0273] HO Handover [0274] HSPA High Speed Packet
Access [0275] HRPD High Rate Packet Data [0276] LEO Low Earth Orbit
[0277] LOS Line of Sight [0278] LPP LTE Positioning Protocol [0279]
LTE Long-Term Evolution [0280] MAC Medium Access Control [0281]
MBMS Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services [0282] MBSFN
Multimedia Broadcast multicast service Single Frequency Network
[0283] MBSFN ABS MBSFN Almost Blank Subframe [0284] MDT
Minimization of Drive Tests [0285] MEO Medium Earth Orbit [0286]
MIB Master Information Block [0287] MIMO Multiple-Input
Multiple-Output [0288] MME Mobility Management Entity [0289] MSC
Mobile Switching Center [0290] NGSO Non-Geostationary Orbit [0291]
NPDCCH Narrowband Physical Downlink Control Channel [0292] NR New
Radio [0293] NTN Non-Terrestrial Networks [0294] OCNG OFDMA Channel
Noise Generator [0295] OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division
Multiplexing [0296] OFDMA Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple
Access [0297] OSS Operations Support System [0298] OTDOA Observed
Time Difference of Arrival [0299] O&M Operation and Maintenance
[0300] PA Power Amplifier [0301] PBCH Physical Broadcast Channel
[0302] P-CCPCH Primary Common Control Physical Channel [0303] PCell
Primary Cell [0304] PCFICH Physical Control Format Indicator
Channel [0305] PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel [0306] PDP
Profile Delay Profile [0307] PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel
[0308] PGW Packet Gateway [0309] PHICH Physical Hybrid-ARQ
Indicator Channel [0310] PLMN Public Land Mobile Network [0311] PMI
Precoder Matrix Indicator [0312] PRACH Physical Random Access
Channel [0313] PRS Positioning Reference Signal [0314] PSS Primary
Synchronization Signal [0315] PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel
[0316] PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel [0317] RA Random Access
[0318] RACH Random Access Channel [0319] QAM Quadrature Amplitude
Modulation [0320] RAN Radio Access Network [0321] RAT Radio Access
Technology [0322] RLM Radio Link Management [0323] RNC Radio
Network Controller [0324] RNTI Radio Network Temporary Identifier
[0325] RRC Radio Resource Control [0326] RRM Radio Resource
Management [0327] RS Reference Signal [0328] RSCP Received Signal
Code Power [0329] RSRP Reference Symbol Received Power OR Reference
Signal Received Power [0330] RSRQ Reference Signal Received Quality
OR Reference Symbol Received Quality [0331] RSSI Received Signal
Strength Indicator [0332] RSTD Reference Signal Time Difference
[0333] SCH Synchronization Channel [0334] SCell Secondary Cell
[0335] SDU Service Data Unit [0336] SFN System Frame Number [0337]
SGW Serving Gateway [0338] SI System Information [0339] SIB System
Information Block [0340] SNR Signal to Noise Ratio [0341] SON Self
Optimized Network [0342] SRI SRS resource indicator [0343] SRS
Sounding Reference Signal [0344] SS Synchronization Signal [0345]
SSS Secondary Synchronization Signal [0346] TDD Time Division
Duplex [0347] TDOA Time Difference of Arrival [0348] TFRE Time
Frequency Resource Element [0349] TOA Time of Arrival [0350] TPC
Transmit Power Control [0351] TPMI Transmit Precoder Matrix
Indicator [0352] TRI Transmission Rank Indicator [0353] TRP
Transmit Reception Point [0354] TSS Tertiary Synchronization Signal
[0355] TTI Transmission Time Interval [0356] UE User Equipment
[0357] UL Uplink [0358] UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication
System [0359] USIM Universal Subscriber Identity Module [0360]
UTDOA Uplink Time Difference of Arrival [0361] UTRA Universal
Terrestrial Radio Access [0362] UTRAN Universal Terrestrial Radio
Access Network [0363] WCDMA Wide CDMA [0364] WLAN Wide Local Area
Network
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