U.S. patent number 9,271,281 [Application Number 13/477,487] was granted by the patent office on 2016-02-23 for method and apparatus to improve inter-band carrier aggregation (ca) in tdd (time division duplex) mode.
This patent grant is currently assigned to INNOVATION SONIC CORPORATION. The grantee listed for this patent is Richard Lee-Chee Kuo, Ko-Chiang Lin, Li-Chih Tseng. Invention is credited to Richard Lee-Chee Kuo, Ko-Chiang Lin, Li-Chih Tseng.
United States Patent |
9,271,281 |
Kuo , et al. |
February 23, 2016 |
Method and apparatus to improve inter-band carrier aggregation (CA)
in TDD (time division duplex) mode
Abstract
A method and apparatus are disclosed to improve inter-band
carrier aggregation (CA) in a UE (User Equipment) in TDD (Time
Division Duplex) mode. In one embodiment, the method includes
connecting the UE with a PCell (Primary Serving Cell). The method
further includes configuring the UE with at least one SCell
(Secondary Serving Cell), among which at least one SCell is
deactivated, wherein TDD UL-DL (Uplink-Downlink) configurations of
the PCell and the at least one SCell may be different. The method
also includes taking a TDD UL-DL configuration of an activated
serving cell into consideration for defining consecutive PDCCH
(Physical Downlink Control Channel) subframes of a
drx-InactivityTimer, and not taking a TDD UL-DL configuration of a
deactivated serving cell into consideration.
Inventors: |
Kuo; Richard Lee-Chee (Taipei,
TW), Tseng; Li-Chih (Taipei, TW), Lin;
Ko-Chiang (Taipei, TW) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Kuo; Richard Lee-Chee
Tseng; Li-Chih
Lin; Ko-Chiang |
Taipei
Taipei
Taipei |
N/A
N/A
N/A |
TW
TW
TW |
|
|
Assignee: |
INNOVATION SONIC CORPORATION
(Taipei, TW)
|
Family
ID: |
47090183 |
Appl.
No.: |
13/477,487 |
Filed: |
May 22, 2012 |
Prior Publication Data
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Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
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US 20120281601 A1 |
Nov 8, 2012 |
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Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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13464472 |
May 4, 2012 |
8797924 |
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61489003 |
May 23, 2011 |
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61483407 |
May 6, 2011 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L
5/1469 (20130101); H04W 72/042 (20130101); H04L
5/001 (20130101); H04L 1/188 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H04W
72/04 (20090101); H04L 5/00 (20060101); H04L
5/14 (20060101); H04L 1/18 (20060101) |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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2521415 |
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Nov 2012 |
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EP |
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WO 2010/126273 |
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Nov 2010 |
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KR |
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2010100966 |
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Sep 2010 |
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WO |
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2011038625 |
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Apr 2011 |
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WO |
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Other References
3GPP TS 36.321 V8.6.0 (Jul. 2009). cited by applicant .
Office Action on corresponding foreign application (EP12004024.1)
from EPO dated Jul. 4, 2013. cited by applicant .
Liu-Jingxiu et alia, "on the impact of realistic control channel
constraints in UTRAN LTE TDD system", IEEE. cited by applicant
.
3GPP TSG RAN WG2 #77, Dresden, Germany, Feb. 6-10, 2012
(R2-120465). cited by applicant .
Search Report on corresponding EP Patent Application No. 12004024.1
dated Aug. 16, 2012. cited by applicant .
Bibliographic Data Abstract of the corresponding Japanese
Application No. JP2012-116930 from Espacenet. cited by applicant
.
Bibliographic Data Abstract of the corresponding Taiwan Application
No. TW 101118283 from Espacenet. cited by applicant.
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Primary Examiner: Mesfin; Yemane
Assistant Examiner: Chen; Peter
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Blue Capital Law Firm, P.C.
Parent Case Text
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The present Application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional
Patent Application Ser. No. 61/489,003 filed on May 23, 2011, the
entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Furthermore, the present application is a continuation-in-part of
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/464,472 filed on May 4, 2012
claiming the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser.
No. 61/483,407 filed on May 6, 2011. The entire disclosure of U.S.
patent application Ser. No. 13/464,472 is incorporated herein by
reference.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A method for inter-band carrier aggregation in a UE (User
Equipment) in TDD (Time Division Duplex) mode, comprising:
connecting the UE with a PCell (Primary Serving Cell), wherein the
PCell is always activated; configuring the UE with at least one
SCell (Secondary Serving Cell), among which at least one SCell is
deactivated, wherein TDD UL-DL (Uplink-Downlink) configurations of
the PCell and the at least one SCell are different; and taking a
TDD UL-DL configuration of an activated serving cell into
consideration for defining consecutive PDCCH (Physical Downlink
Control Channel) subframes of a drx-InactivityTimer, and not taking
a TDD UL-DL configuration of a deactivated serving cell into
consideration, wherein there is only one DRX (Discontinuous
Reception) configuration applied for the PCell and the at least one
SCell, wherein the activated serving cell refers to the PCell or
the SCell that is activated, and the deactivated serving cell
refers to the SCell that is deactivated, and wherein an
Activation/Deactivation MAC (Medium Access Control) control element
(CE) is used to activate/deactivate the at least one SCell.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein PDCCH subframes for defining the
drx-InactivityTimer are equal to a union of PDCCH subframes of all
activated serving cells.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the activated serving cell taken
into consideration for defining consecutive PDCCH subframes of the
drx-InactivityTimer is configured with a PDCCH.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: defining consecutive
PDCCH subframes of an onDurationTimer based on a TDD UL-DL
configuration of the PCell.
5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: defining consecutive
PDCCH subframes of a drx-RetransmissionTimer based on a TDD UL-DL
configuration of a serving cell which owns a HARQ process
associated with the drx-Retransmission Timer, wherein the serving
cell refers to the PCell or an SCell of the at least one SCell.
6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: defining consecutive
PDCCH subframes of a drx-RetransmissionTimer based on a TDD UL-DL
configuration of a scheduling cell of a serving cell which owns a
HARQ process associated with the drx-RetransmissionTimer, wherein
the serving cell refers to the PCell or a SCell of the at least one
SCell.
7. The method of claim 5, wherein the drx-RetransmissionTimer is
stopped when the corresponding SCell is deactivated.
8. The method of claim 6, wherein the drx-RetransmissionTimer is
stopped when the corresponding scheduling cell is deactivated.
9. A communication device for inter-band carrier aggregation in a
UE (User Equipment) in TDD (Time Division Duplex) mode, the
communication device comprising: a control circuit; a processor
installed in the control circuit; a memory installed in the control
circuit and coupled to the processor; wherein the processor is
configured to execute a program code stored in memory for
inter-band carrier aggregation by: connecting the UE with a PCell
(Primary Serving Cell), wherein the PCell is always activated;
configuring the UE with at least one SCell (Secondary Serving
Cell), among which at least one SCell is deactivated, wherein TDD
UL-DL (Uplink-Downlink) configurations of the PCell and the at
least one SCell are different; and taking a TDD UL-DL configuration
of an activated serving cell into consideration for defining
consecutive PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel) subframes of
a drx-InactivityTimer, and not taking a TDD UL-DL configuration of
a deactivated serving cell into consideration, wherein there is
only one DRX (Discontinuous Reception) configuration applied for
the PCell and the at least one SCell, wherein the activated serving
cell refers to the PCell or the SCell that is activated, and the
deactivated serving cell refers to the SCell that is deactivated,
and wherein an Activation/Deactivation MAC (Medium Access Control)
control element (CE) is used to activate/deactivate the at least
one SCell.
10. The communication device of claim 9, wherein PDCCH subframes
for defining the drx-InactivityTimer are equal to a union of PDCCH
subframes of all activated serving cells.
11. The communication device of claim 9, wherein the activated
SCell taken into consideration for defining consecutive PDCCH
subframes of the drx-InactivityTimer is configured with a
PDCCH.
12. The communication device of claim 9, further comprising:
defining consecutive PDCCH subframes of an onDurationTimer based on
a TDD UL-DL configuration of the PCell.
13. The communication device of claim 9, further comprising:
defining consecutive PDCCH subframes of a drx-RetransmissionTimer
based on a TDD UL-DL configuration of a serving cell which owns a
HARQ process associated with the drx-RetransmissionTimer, wherein
the serving cell refers to the PCell or an SCell of the at least
one SCell.
14. The communication device of claim 9, further comprising:
defining consecutive PDCCH subframes of a drx-RetransmissionTimer
based on a TDD UL-DL configuration of a scheduling cell of a
serving cell which owns a HARQ process associated with the
drx-RetransmissionTimer, wherein the serving cell refers to the
PCell or a SCell of the at least one SCell.
15. The communication device of claim 13, wherein the
drx-RetransmissionTimer is stopped when the corresponding SCell is
deactivated.
16. The communication device of claim 14, wherein the
drx-RetransmissionTimer is stopped when the corresponding
scheduling cell is deactivated.
Description
FIELD
This disclosure generally relates to wireless communication
networks, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus to
improve inter-band carrier aggregation (CA) in TDD (Time Division
Duplex) mode.
BACKGROUND
With the rapid rise in demand for communication of large amounts of
data to and from mobile communication devices, traditional mobile
voice communication networks are evolving into networks that
communicate with Internet Protocol (IP) data packets. Such IP data
packet communication can provide users of mobile communication
devices with voice over IP, multimedia, multicast and on-demand
communication services.
An exemplary network structure for which standardization is
currently taking place is an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio
Access Network (E-UTRAN). The E-UTRAN system can provide high data
throughput in order to realize the above-noted voice over IP and
multimedia services. The E-UTRAN system's standardization work is
currently being performed by the 3GPP standards organization.
Accordingly, changes to the current body of 3GPP standard are
currently being submitted and considered to evolve and finalize the
3GPP standard.
SUMMARY
A method and apparatus are disclosed to improve inter-band carrier
aggregation (CA) in a UE (User Equipment) in TDD (Time Division
Duplex) mode. In one embodiment, the method includes connecting the
UE with a PCell (Primary Serving Cell). The method further includes
configuring the UE with at least one SCell (Secondary Serving
Cell), among which at least one SCell is deactivated, wherein TDD
UL-DL (Uplink-Downlink) configurations of the PCell and the at
least one SCell may be different. The method also includes taking a
TDD UL-DL configuration of an activated serving cell into
consideration for defining consecutive PDCCH (Physical Downlink
Control Channel) subframes of a drx-InactivityTimer, and not taking
a TDD UL-DL configuration of a deactivated serving cell into
consideration.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows a diagram of a wireless communication system according
to one exemplary embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a transmitter system (also known as
access network) and a receiver system (also known as user equipment
or UE) according to one exemplary embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of a communication system
according to one exemplary embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the program code of FIG. 3
according to one exemplary embodiment.
FIG. 5 illustrates a flow chart in accordance with one exemplary
embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The exemplary wireless communication systems and devices described
below employ a wireless communication system, supporting a
broadcast service. Wireless communication systems are widely
deployed to provide various types of communication such as voice,
data, and so on. These systems may be based on code division
multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA),
orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), 3GPP LTE
(Long Term Evolution) wireless access, 3GPP LTE-A or LTE-Advanced
(Long Term Evolution Advanced), 3GPP2 UMB (Ultra Mobile Broadband).
WiMax, or some other modulation techniques.
In particular, the exemplary wireless communication systems devices
described below may be designed to support one or more standards
such as the standard offered by a consortium named "3rd Generation
Partnership Project" referred to herein as 3GPP, including Document
Nos. RP-110451. "WID: LTE carrier aggregation enhancements"; TS
36.211 V10.1.0, "E-UTRA Physical channel and modulation"; TS 36.321
V10.1.0. "MAC protocol specification (Release 10)"; and TS 36.331
V10.1.0. "RRC protocol specification (Release 10)". The standards
and documents listed above are hereby expressly incorporated
herein.
FIG. 1 shows a multiple access wireless communication system
according to one embodiment of the invention. An access network 100
(AN) includes multiple antenna groups, one including 104 and 106,
another including 108 and 110, and an additional including 112 and
114. In FIG. 1, only two antennas are shown for each antenna group,
however, more or fewer antennas may be utilized for each antenna
group. Access terminal 116 (AT) is in communication with antennas
112 and 114, where antennas 112 and 114 transmit information to
access terminal 116 over forward link 120 and receive information
from access terminal 116 over reverse link 118. Access terminal
(AT) 122 is in communication with antennas 106 and 108, where
antennas 106 and 108 transmit information to access terminal (AT)
122 over forward link 126 and receive information from access
terminal (AT) 122 over reverse link 124. In a FDD system,
communication links 118, 120, 124 and 126 may use different
frequency for communication. For example, forward link 120 may use
a different frequency then that used by reverse link 118.
Each group of antennas and/or the area in which they are designed
to communicate is often referred to as a sector of the access
network. In the embodiment, antenna groups each are designed to
communicate to access terminals in a sector of the areas covered by
access network 100.
In communication over forward links 120 and 126, the transmitting
antennas of access network 100 may utilize beamforming in order to
improve the signal-to-noise ratio of forward links for the
different access terminals 116 and 122. Also, an access network
using beamforming to transmit to access terminals scattered
randomly through its coverage causes less interference to access
terminals in neighboring cells than an access network transmitting
through a single antenna to all its access terminals.
An access network (AN) may be a fixed station or base station used
for communicating with the terminals and may also be referred to as
an access point, a Node B, a base station, an enhanced base
station, an eNodeB, or some other terminology. An access terminal
(AT) may also be called user equipment (UE), a wireless
communication device, terminal, access terminal or some other
terminology.
FIG. 2 is a simplified block diagram of an embodiment of a
transmitter system 210 (also known as the access network) and a
receiver system 250 (also known as access terminal (AT) or user
equipment (UE)) in a MIMO system 200. At the transmitter system
210, traffic data for a number of data streams is provided from a
data source 212 to a transmit (TX) data processor 214.
In one embodiment, each data stream is transmitted over a
respective transmit antenna. TX data processor 214 formats, codes,
and interleaves the traffic data for each data stream based on a
particular coding scheme selected for that data stream to provide
coded data.
The coded data for each data stream may be multiplexed with pilot
data using OFDM techniques. The pilot data is typically a known
data pattern that is processed in a known manner and may be used at
the receiver system to estimate the channel response. The
multiplexed pilot and coded data for each data stream is then
modulated (i.e. symbol mapped) based on a particular modulation
scheme (e.g. BPSK, QPSK, M-PSK, or M-QAM) selected for that data
stream to provide modulation symbols. The data rate, coding, and
modulation for each data stream may be determined by instructions
performed by processor 230.
The modulation symbols for all data streams are then provided to a
TX MIMO processor 220, which may further process the modulation
symbols (e.g. for OFDM). TX MIMO processor 220 then provides
N.sub.T modulation symbol streams to N.sub.T transmitters (TMTR)
222a through 222t. In certain embodiments, TX MIMO processor 220
applies beamforming weights to the symbols of the data streams and
to the antenna from which the symbol is being transmitted.
Each transmitter 222 receives and processes a respective symbol
stream to provide one or more analog signals, and further
conditions e.g., amplifies, filters, and upconverts) the analog
signals to provide a modulated signal suitable for transmission
over the MIMO channel. N.sub.T modulated signals from transmitters
222a through 222t are then transmitted from N.sub.T antennas 224a
through 224t, respectively.
At receiver system 250, the transmitted modulated signals are
received by N.sub.R antennas 252a through 252r and the received
signal from each antenna 252 is provided to a respective receiver
(RCVR) 254a through 254r. Each receiver 254 conditions (e.g.
filters, amplifies, and downconverts) a respective received signal,
digitizes the conditioned signal to provide samples, and further
processes the samples to provide a corresponding "received" symbol
stream.
An RX data processor 260 then receives and processes the N.sub.R
received symbol streams from N.sub.R receivers 254 based on a
particular receiver processing technique to provide N.sub.T
"detected" symbol streams. The RX data processor 260 then
demodulates, deinterleaves, and decodes each detected symbol stream
to recover the traffic data for the data stream. The processing by
RX data processor 260 is complementary to that performed by TX MIMO
processor 220 and TX data processor 214 at transmitter system
210.
A processor 270 periodically determines which pre-coding matrix to
use (discussed below). Processor 270 formulates a reverse link
message comprising a matrix index portion and a rank value
portion.
The reverse link message may comprise various types of information
regarding the communication link and/or the received data stream.
The reverse link message is then processed by a TX data processor
238, which also receives traffic data for a number of data streams
from a data source 236, modulated by a modulator 280, conditioned
by transmitters 254a through 254r, and transmitted back to
transmitter system 210.
At transmitter system 210, the modulated signals from receiver
system 250 are received by antennas 224, conditioned by receivers
222, demodulated by a demodulator 240, and processed by a RX data
processor 242 to extract the reserve link message transmitted by
the receiver system 250. Processor 230 then determines which
pre-coding matrix to use for determining the beamforming weights
then processes the extracted message.
Turning to FIG. 3, this figure shows an alternative simplified
functional block diagram of a communication device according to one
embodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the communication
device 300 in a wireless communication system can be utilized for
realizing the UEs (or ATs) 116 and 122 in FIG. 1, and the wireless
communications system is preferably the LTE system. The
communication device 300 may include an input device 302, an output
device 304, a control circuit 306, a central processing unit (CPU)
308, a memory 310, a program code 312, and a transceiver 314. The
control circuit 306 executes the program code 312 in the memory 310
through the CPU 308, thereby controlling an operation of the
communications device 300. The communications device 300 can
receive signals input by a user through the input device 302, such
as a keyboard or keypad, and can output images and sounds through
the output device 304, such as a monitor or speakers. The
transceiver 314 is used to receive and transmit wireless signals,
delivering received signals to the control circuit 306, and
outputting signals generated by the control circuit 306
wirelessly.
FIG. 4 is a simplified block diagram of the program code 312 shown
in FIG. 3 in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. In
this embodiment, the program code 312 includes an application layer
400, a Layer 3 portion 402, and a Layer 2 portion 404, and is
coupled to a Layer 1 portion 406. The Layer 3 portion 402 generally
performs radio resource control. The Layer 2 portion 404 generally
performs link control. The Layer 1 portion 406 generally performs
physical connections.
As discussed in 3GPP RP-110451, a work item (WI) for LTE carrier
aggregation (CA) enhancement was agreed at RAN#51 meeting. Two
objectives of the WI are:
(i) Support of the use of multiple timing advances in case of LTE
uplink carrier aggregation; and
(ii) Support of inter-band carrier aggregation for TDD (Time
Division Duplex) DL (Downlink) and UL (Uplink) including different
uplink-downlink configurations on different bands.
As discussed in 3GPP TS 36.211, the subframe structures of TDD
uplink-downlink configurations are shown in Table 1 below.
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 TDD UL-DL configurations Downlink- to-
Uplink Uplink- Switch- downlink point Subframe number configuration
periodicity 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 5 ms D S U U U D S U U U 1 5 ms D
S U U D D S U U D 2 5 ms D S U D D D S U D D 3 10 ms D S U U U D D
D D D 4 10 ms D S U U D D D D D D 5 10 ms D S U D D D D D D D 6 5
ms D S U U U D S U U D
In Table 1 above, for each subframe in a radio frame, "D" denotes
the subframe is reserved for downlink transmissions, "U" denotes
the subframe is reserved for uplink transmissions, and "S" denotes
a special subframe with the three fields DwPTS (Downlink Pilot Time
Slot). GP (Guard Period), and UpPTS (Uplink Pilot Time Slot).
Furthermore. Section 3.1 of TS 36.321 discusses discontinuous
reception (DRX operation) as follows:
Active Time is time related to DRX operation, during which the UE
monitors the PDCCH in PDCCH-subframes.
drx-InactivityTimer specifies the number of consecutive
PDCCH-subframe(s) after successfully decoding a PDCCH indicating an
initial UL or DL user data transmission for this UE.
drx-RetransmissionTimer specifies the maximum number of consecutive
PDCCH-subframe(s) for as soon as a DL retransmission is expected by
the UE.
onDurationTimer specifies the number of consecutive
PDCCH-subframe(s) at the beginning of a DRX Cycle.
PDCCH-subframe refers to a subframe with PDCCH (Physical Downlink
Control Channel) or, for an RN (Relay Node) with R-PDCCH (Reverse
Packet Data Control Channel) configured and not suspended, to a
subframe with R-PDCCH. For FDD UE operation, this represents any
subframe; for TDD, only downlink subframes and subframes including
DwPTS (Downlink Pilot Time Slot). For RNs with an RN subframe
configuration configured and not suspended, in its communication
with the E-UTRAN, this represents all downlink subframes configured
for RN communication with the E-UTRAN.
U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/483,487 and U.S.
patent application Ser. No. 13/464,472 address an issue related to
DRX timers when different TDD UL-DL configurations are aggregated
in a UE. In general, the issue is about the definition of
consecutive PDCCH-subframes for a DRX timer (e.g. onDurationTimer,
drx-InactivityTimer, and drx-RetransmissionTimer). The applications
propose several methods for defining consecutive PDCCH-subframes of
a DRX timer when only one DRX configuration is being applied for
CA. The proposed methods did not consider the
activation/deactivation status of a SCell.
In certain cases, it may not be proper to refer to the TDD UL-DL
configuration of a deactivated SCell when defining the consecutive
PDCCH-subframes for a DRX timer because a UE would not be scheduled
in the PDCCH subframes of a deactivated SCell if there is no other
activated cell with PDCCH subframes overlapping with PDCCH
subframes of the deactivated SCell, according to TS 36.321. Thus,
taking TDD UL-DL configuration of a deactivated SCell into
consideration may reduce the scheduling opportunities for the UE
because the DRX timer is decreased during PDCCH subframes of a
deactivated SCell while these PDCCH subframes cannot be scheduled,
especially in the case of the drx-InactivityTimer. There is
probably no such concern for onDurationTimer and
drx-RetransmissionTimer.
As discussed in TS 36.321, the drx-InactivityTimer specifies, in
general, the number of consecutive PDCCH-subframes a UE needs to
monitor after successfully decoding a PDCCH indicating an initial
UL or DL user data transmission for the UE. And, it could be
expected that eNB may schedule the UE in any PDCCH subframe of any
activated serving cell which is configured with a PDCCH. Thus, it
would be reasonable to consider the TDD UL-DL configurations of all
activated serving cells with a PDCCH when defining the consecutive
PDCCH subframes for the drx-InactivityTimer.
Furthermore, the main purpose of an onDurationTimer is, in general,
for UE to monitor PDCCH periodically so that eNB can start a DL
transmission after some inactive period, as discussed in TS 36.321.
To achieve this purpose, it would be sufficient that
onDurationTimer would be defined based on the TDD UL-DL
configuration of the PCell. For most of the time only the PCell
will remain activated. Thus, this method is simple and sufficient.
A potential concern would be that eNB may not be able to send a
PDCCH transmission on an activated SCell during the On_Duration
period.
Since there is one drx-RetransmissionTimer per HARQ process and
different serving cells own different HARQ processes (as discussed
in TS 36.321), it would be reasonable for the
drx-RetransmissionTimer to refer to the TDD UL-DL configuration of
the corresponding serving cell or the scheduling cell of the
corresponding serving cell. Furthermore, it would better to stop
the drx-RetransmissionTimer when the corresponding serving cell or
the scheduling cell of the corresponding serving cell is
deactivated.
FIG. 5 illustrates a flow chart 500 in accordance with one
exemplary embodiment In step 505, the UE is being connected with a
PCell. In one embodiment, the PCell is always activated. In step
510, the UE is being configured with one or more SCell. These
SCells include at least one SCell that has been deactivated.
Furthermore, the TDD UL-DL configurations of the connected PCell
and the configured SCell may be different. In one embodiment, the
SCell(s) could be activated or deactivated via an
Activation/Deactivation MAC (Medium Access Control) control element
(CE).
Returning to FIG. 5, in step 515, TDD UL-DL configuration(s) of
activated serving cell(s) are taken into consideration in defining
consecutive PDCCH subframes of a drx-InactivityTimer. However. TDD
UL-DL configuration(s) of deactivated serving cell(s) are not taken
into consideration. In one embodiment, the activated serving
cell(s), which are considered for defining consecutive PDCCH
subframes of the drx-InactivityTimer, are configured with a PDCCH.
Furthermore, the PDCCH subframes for defining the
drx-InactivityTimer are equal to the union of PDCCH subframes of
all activated serving cells. In addition, the consecutive PDCCH
subframes of a drx-RetransmissionTimer could be defined based on a
TDD UL-DL configuration of a serving cell or a scheduling cell of a
serving cell which owns the HARQ process associated with the
drx-RetransmissionTimer. Furthermore, the dry-RetransmissionTimer
is stopped when the corresponding SCell or the corresponding
scheduling cell is deactivated. Also, the consecutive PDCCH
subframes of an onDurationTimer could be defined based on a TDD
UL-DL configuration of the connected PCell.
Referring back to FIGS. 3 and 4, the UE 300 includes a program code
312 stored in memory 310. In one embodiment, the CPU 308 could
execute the program code 312 to (i) connect the LIE with a PCell
(Primary Serving Cell), (ii) configure the UE with at least one
SCell (Secondary Serving Cell), among which at least one SCell is
deactivated, wherein TDD UL-DL (Uplink-Downlink) configurations of
the PCell and the at least one SCell may be different, and (iii) to
take a TDD UL-DL configuration of an activated serving cell into
consideration for defining consecutive PDCCH (Physical Downlink
Control Channel) subframes of a drx-InactivityTimer, and not take a
TDD UL-DL configuration of a deactivated serving, cell into
consideration.
In addition, the CPU 308 can execute the program code 312 to
perform all of the above-described actions and steps or others
described herein.
Various aspects of the disclosure have been described above. It
should be apparent that the teachings herein may be embodied in a
wide variety of forms and that any specific structure, function, or
both being disclosed herein is merely representative. Based on the
teachings herein one skilled in the art should appreciate that an
aspect disclosed herein may be implemented independently of any
other aspects and that two or more of these aspects may be combined
in various ways. For example, an apparatus may be implemented or a
method may be practiced using any number of the aspects set forth
herein. In addition, such an apparatus may be implemented or such a
method may be practiced using, other structure, functionality, or
structure and functionality in addition to or other than one or
more of the aspects set forth herein. As an example of some of the
above concepts, in some aspects concurrent channels may be
established based on pulse repetition frequencies. In some aspects
concurrent channels may be established based on pulse position or
offsets. In some aspects concurrent channels may be established
based on time hopping sequences. In some aspects concurrent
channels may be established based on pulse repetition frequencies,
pulse positions or offsets, and time hopping sequences.
Those of skill in the art would understand that information and
signals may be represented using any of a variety of different
technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions,
commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may
be referenced throughout the above description may be represented
by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or
particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination
thereof.
Those of skill would further appreciate that the various
illustrative logical blocks, modules, processors, means, circuits,
and algorithm steps described in connection with the aspects
disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware (e.g., a
digital implementation, an analog implementation, or a combination
of the two, which may be designed using source coding or some other
technique), various forms of program or design code incorporating
instructions (which may be referred to herein, for convenience, as
"software" or a "software module"), or combinations of both. To
clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and
software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules,
circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of
their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as
hardware or software depends upon the particular application and
design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans
may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each
particular application, but such implementation decisions should
not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the
present disclosure.
In addition, the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and
circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein
may be implemented within or performed by an integrated circuit
("IC"), an access terminal, or an access point. The IC may comprise
a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an
application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field
programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device,
discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components,
electrical components, optical components, mechanical components,
or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions
described herein, and may execute codes or instructions that reside
within the IC, outside of the IC, or both. A general purpose
processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the
processor may be any conventional processor, controller,
microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be
implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g. a
combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of
microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a
DSP core, or any other such configuration.
It is understood that any specific order or hierarchy of steps in
any disclosed process is an example of a sample approach. Based
upon design preferences, it is understood that the specific order
or hierarchy of steps in the processes may be rearranged while
remaining within the scope of the present disclosure. The
accompanying method claims present elements of the various steps in
a sample order, and are not meant to be limited to the specific
order or hierarchy presented.
The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with the
aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a
software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the
two. A software module (e.g., including executable instructions and
related data) and other data may reside in a data memory such as
RAM memory, flash memory. ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory,
registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other
form of computer-readable storage medium known in the art. A sample
storage medium may be coupled to a machine such as, for example, a
computer/processor (which may be referred to herein, for
convenience, as a "processor") such the processor can read
information (e.g. code) from and write information to the storage
medium. A sample storage medium may be integral to the processor.
The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The
ASIC may reside in user equipment. In the alternative, the
processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components
in user equipment. Moreover, in some aspects any suitable
computer-program product may comprise a computer-readable medium
comprising codes relating to one or more of the aspects of the
disclosure. In some aspects a computer program product may comprise
packaging materials.
While the invention has been described in connection with various
aspects, it will be understood that the invention is capable of
further modifications. This application is intended to cover any
variations, uses or adaptation of the invention following, in
general, the principles of the invention, and including such
departures from the present disclosure as come within the known and
customary practice within the art to which the invention
pertains.
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