Patent Application
20220256557
The following disclosure relates to communication apparatuses and communication methods for New Radio (NR) communications, and more particularly to communication apparatuses and communication methods for Downlink Control Information (DCI) for V2X communication apparatuses.
V2X communication allows vehicles to interact with public roads and other road users, and is thus considered a critical factor in making autonomous vehicles a reality.
To accelerate this process, 5G NR based V2X communications (interchangeably referred to as NR V2X communications) is being discussed by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) to identify technical solutions for advanced V2X services, through which vehicles (i.e. interchangeably referred to as communication apparatuses or user equipments (UEs) that support V2X applications) can exchange their own status information through sidelink (SL) with other nearby vehicles, infrastructure nodes and/or pedestrians. The status information includes information on position, speed, heading, etc.
In such V2X communications, there are at least two SL resource allocation modes being discussed by the 3GPP. In resource allocation Mode 1, SL resource(s) to be used by a UE for SL transmissions are scheduled by a base station (BS). In resource allocation Mode 2, the UE determines, i.e. the BS does not schedule, SL transmission resources within the SL resources configured by the BS/network or pre-configured SL resources. The 3GPP study on resource allocation also considers sensing and resource selection procedures for a Mode 2(a), in the context of a semi-persistent scheme where resource(s) are selected for multiple transmissions of different transmission blocks (TBs) and a dynamic scheme where resource(s) are selected for each TB transmission.
In the Work Item Description (WID) on 5G V2X with NR sidelink as discussed in document RP-190766 of the 3GPP TSG RAN Meeting #83, the following items were considered:
However, there has been no discussion on communication apparatuses and methods for DCI for V2X communication apparatuses.
There is thus a need for communication apparatuses and methods that provide feasible technical solutions for DCI for V2X communication apparatuses. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the disclosure.
Non-limiting and exemplary embodiment facilitates providing communication apparatuses and methods for DCI for V2X communication apparatuses.
According to a first embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a communication apparatus comprising: a receiver, which, in operation, receives a message indicating whether or not the communication apparatus is on a receiving mode; and a transmitter, which, in operation, transmits a signal when the communication apparatus is not on the receiving mode.
According to a second embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a base station comprising: circuitry, which, in operation, generates a message indicating whether or not a communication apparatus is on a receiving mode; and a transmitter, which, in operation, transmits the message to the communication apparatus.
According to a third embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a communication method comprising: generating a message indicating whether or not a communication apparatus is on a receiving mode; and transmitting the message to the communication apparatus.
It should be noted that general or specific embodiments may be implemented as a system, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, a storage medium, or any selective combination thereof.
Additional benefits and advantages of the disclosed embodiments will become apparent from the specification and drawings. The benefits and/or advantages may be individually obtained by the various embodiments and features of the specification and drawings, which need not all be provided in order to obtain one or more of such benefits and/or advantages.
Embodiments of the disclosure will be better understood and readily apparent to one of ordinary skilled in the art from the following written description, by way of example only, and in conjunction with the drawings, in which:
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been depicted to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the illustrations, block diagrams or flowcharts may be exaggerated in respect to other elements to help to improve understanding of the present embodiments.
Some embodiments of the present disclosure will be described, by way of example only, with reference to the drawings. Like reference numerals and characters in the drawings refer to like elements or equivalents.
5G NR System Architecture and Protocol Stacks
3GPP has been working at the next release for the 5th generation cellular technology, simply called 5G, including the development of a new radio access technology (NR) operating in frequencies ranging up to 100 GHz. The first version of the 5G standard was completed at the end of 2017, which allows proceeding to 5G NR standard-compliant trials and commercial deployments of smartphones.
Among other things, the overall system architecture assumes an NG-RAN (Next Generation-Radio Access Network) that comprises gNBs, providing the NG-radio access user plane (SDAP/PDCP/RLC/MAC/PHY) and control plane (RRC) protocol terminations towards the UE. The gNBs are interconnected with each other by means of the Xn interface. The gNBs are also connected by means of the Next Generation (NG) interface to the NGC (Next Generation Core), more specifically to the AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function) (e.g. a particular core entity performing the AMF) by means of the NG-C interface and to the UPF (User Plane Function) (e.g. a particular core entity performing the UPF) by means of the NG-U interface. The NG-RAN architecture is illustrated in
The user plane protocol stack for NR (see e.g. 3GPP TS 38.300, section 4.4.1) comprises the PDCP (Packet Data Convergence Protocol, see section 6.4 of TS 38.300), RLC (Radio Link Control, see section 6.3 of TS 38.300) and MAC (Medium Access Control, see section 6.2 of TS 38.300) sublayers, which are terminated in the gNB on the network side. Additionally, a new access stratum (AS) sublayer (SDAP, Service Data Adaptation Protocol) is introduced above PDCP (see e.g. sub-clause 6.5 of 3GPP TS 38.300). A control plane protocol stack is also defined for NR (see for instance TS 38.300, section 4.4.2). An overview of the Layer 2 functions is given in sub-clause 6 of TS 38.300. The functions of the PDCP, RLC and MAC sublayers are listed respectively in sections 6.4, 6.3, and 6.2 of TS 38.300. The functions of the RRC layer are listed in sub-clause 7 of TS 38.300.
For instance, the Medium-Access-Control layer handles logical-channel multiplexing, and scheduling and scheduling-related functions, including handling of different numerologies.
The physical layer (PHY) is for example responsible for coding, PHY HARQ processing, modulation, multi-antenna processing, and mapping of the signal to the appropriate physical time-frequency resources. It also handles mapping of transport channels to physical channels. The physical layer provides services to the MAC layer in the form of transport channels. A physical channel corresponds to the set of time-frequency resources used for transmission of a particular transport channel, and each transport channel is mapped to a corresponding physical channel. For instance, the physical channels are PRACH (Physical Random Access Channel), PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel) and PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel) for uplink and PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel), PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel) and PBCH (Physical Broadcast Channel) for downlink.
Use cases/deployment scenarios for NR could include enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC), massive machine type communication (mMTC), which have diverse requirements in terms of data rates, latency, and coverage. For example, eMBB is expected to support peak data rates (20 Gbps for downlink and 10 Gbps for uplink) and user-experienced data rates in the order of three times what is offered by IMT-Advanced. On the other hand, in case of URLLC, the tighter requirements are put on ultra-low latency (0.5 ms for UL and DL each for user plane latency) and high reliability (1-10-5 within 1 ms). Finally, mMTC may preferably require high connection density (1,000,000 devices/km2 in an urban environment), large coverage in harsh environments, and extremely long-life battery for low cost devices (15 years).
Therefore, the OFDM numerology (e.g. subcarrier spacing, OFDM symbol duration, cyclic prefix (CP) duration, number of symbols per scheduling interval) that is suitable for one use case might not work well for another. For example, low-latency services may preferably require a shorter symbol duration (and thus larger subcarrier spacing) and/or fewer symbols per scheduling interval (aka, TTI) than an mMTC service. Furthermore, deployment scenarios with large channel delay spreads may preferably require a longer CP duration than scenarios with short delay spreads. The subcarrier spacing should be optimized accordingly to retain the similar CP overhead. NR may support more than one value of subcarrier spacing. Correspondingly, subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz, 30 kHz, 60 kHz . . . are being considered at the moment. The symbol duration Tu and the subcarrier spacing Δf are directly related through the formula Δf=1/Tu. In a similar manner as in LTE systems, the term “resource element” can be used to denote a minimum resource unit being composed of one subcarrier for the length of one OFDM/SC-FDMA symbol.
In the new radio system 5G-NR for each numerology and carrier a resource grid of subcarriers and OFDM symbols is defined respectively for uplink and downlink. Each element in the resource grid is called a resource element and is identified based on the frequency index in the frequency domain and the symbol position in the time domain (see 3GPP TS 38.211 v15.6.0).
5G NR Functional Split Between NG-RAN and 5GC
In particular, the gNB and ng-eNB host the following main functions:
The Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) hosts the following main functions:
RRC Connection Setup and Reconfiguration Procedures
RRC is a higher layer signaling (protocol) used for UE and gNB configuration. In particular, this transition involves that the AMF prepares the UE context data (including e.g. PDU session context, the Security Key, UE Radio Capability and UE Security Capabilities, etc.) and sends it to the gNB with the INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST. Then, the gNB activates the AS security with the UE, which is performed by the gNB transmitting to the UE a SecurityModeCommand message and by the UE responding to the gNB with the SecurityModeComplete message. Afterwards, the gNB performs the reconfiguration to setup the Signaling Radio Bearer 2, SRB2, and Data Radio Bearer(s), DRB(s) by means of transmitting to the UE the RRCReconfiguration message and, in response, receiving by the gNB the RRCReconfigurationComplete from the UE. For a signaling-only connection, the steps relating to the RRCReconfiguration are skipped since SRB2 and DRBs are not setup. Finally, the gNB informs the AMF that the setup procedure is completed with the INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE.
In the present disclosure, thus, an entity (for example AMF, SMF, etc.) of a 5th Generation Core (5GC) is provided that comprises control circuitry which, in operation, establishes a Next Generation (NG) connection with a gNodeB, and a transmitter which, in operation, transmits an initial context setup message, via the NG connection, to the gNodeB to cause a signaling radio bearer setup between the gNodeB and a user equipment (UE). In particular, the gNodeB transmits a Radio Resource Control, RRC, signaling containing a resource allocation configuration information element to the UE via the signaling radio bearer. The UE then performs an uplink transmission or a downlink reception based on the resource allocation configuration.
Usage Scenarios of IMT for 2020 and Beyond
The URLLC use case has stringent requirements for capabilities such as throughput, latency and availability and has been envisioned as one of the enablers for future vertical applications such as wireless control of industrial manufacturing or production processes, remote medical surgery, distribution automation in a smart grid, transportation safety, etc. Ultra-reliability for URLLC is to be supported by identifying the techniques to meet the requirements set by TR 38.913. For NR URLLC in Release 15, key requirements include a target user plane latency of 0.5 ms for UL (uplink) and 0.5 ms for DL (downlink). The general URLLC requirement for one transmission of a packet is a BLER (block error rate) of 1E-5 for a packet size of 32 bytes with a user plane latency of 1 ms.
From the physical layer perspective, reliability can be improved in a number of possible ways. The current scope for improving the reliability involves defining separate CQI tables for URLLC, more compact DCI formats, repetition of PDCCH, etc. However, the scope may widen for achieving ultra-reliability as the NR becomes more stable and developed (for NR URLLC key requirements). Particular use cases of NR URLLC in Rel. 15 include Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality (AR/VR), e-health, e-safety, and mission-critical applications.
Moreover, technology enhancements targeted by NR URLLC aim at latency improvement and reliability improvement. Technology enhancements for latency improvement include configurable numerology, non slot-based scheduling with flexible mapping, grant free (configured grant) uplink, slot-level repetition for data channels, and downlink pre-emption. Pre-emption means that a transmission for which resources have already been allocated is stopped, and the already allocated resources are used for another transmission that has been requested later, but has lower latency/higher priority requirements. Accordingly, the already granted transmission is pre-empted by a later transmission. Pre-emption is applicable independent of the particular service type. For example, a transmission for a service-type A (URLLC) may be pre-empted by a transmission for a service type B (such as eMBB). Technology enhancements with respect to reliability improvement include dedicated CQI/MCS tables for the target BLER of 1E-5.
The use case of mMTC (massive machine type communication) is characterized by a very large number of connected devices typically transmitting a relatively low volume of non-delay sensitive data. Devices are required to be low cost and to have a very long battery life. From NR perspective, utilizing very narrow bandwidth parts is one possible solution to have power saving from UE perspective and enable long battery life.
As mentioned above, it is expected that the scope of reliability in NR becomes wider. One key requirement to all the cases, and especially necessary for URLLC and mMTC, is high reliability or ultra-reliability. Several mechanisms can be considered to improve the reliability from radio perspective and network perspective. In general, there are a few key potential areas that can help improve the reliability. Among these areas are compact control channel information, data/control channel repetition, and diversity with respect to frequency, time and/or the spatial domain. These areas are applicable to reliability in general, regardless of particular communication scenarios.
For NR URLLC, further use cases with tighter requirements have been identified such as factory automation, transport industry and electrical power distribution, including factory automation, transport industry, and electrical power distribution. The tighter requirements are higher reliability (up to 10−6 level), higher availability, packet sizes of up to 256 bytes, time synchronization down to the order of a few ps where the value can be one or a few ps depending on frequency range and short latency in the order of 0.5 to 1 ms in particular a target user plane latency of 0.5 ms, depending on the use cases.
Moreover, for NR URLLC, several technology enhancements from the physical layer perspective have been identified. Among these are PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel) enhancements related to compact DCI, PDCCH repetition, increased PDCCH monitoring. Moreover, UCI (Uplink Control Information) enhancements are related to enhanced HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request) and CSI feedback enhancements. Also PUSCH enhancements related to mini-slot level hopping and retransmission/repetition enhancements have been identified. The term “mini-slot” refers to a Transmission Time Interval (TTI) including a smaller number of symbols than a slot (a slot comprising fourteen symbols).
QoS Control
The 5G QoS (Quality of Service) model is based on QoS flows and supports both QoS flows that require guaranteed flow bit rate (GBR QoS flows) and QoS flows that do not require guaranteed flow bit rate (non-GBR QoS Flows). At NAS level, the QoS flow is thus the finest granularity of QoS differentiation in a PDU session. A QoS flow is identified within a PDU session by a QoS flow ID (QFI) carried in an encapsulation header over NG-U interface.
For each UE, 5GC establishes one or more PDU Sessions. For each UE, the NG-RAN establishes at least one Data Radio Bearers (DRB) together with the PDU Session, and additional DRB(s) for QoS flow(s) of that PDU session can be subsequently configured (it is up to NG-RAN when to do so), e.g. as shown above with reference to
In the present disclosure, thus, an application server (for example, AF of the 5G architecture), is provided that comprises a transmitter, which, in operation, transmits a request containing a QoS requirement for at least one of URLLC, eMMB and mMTC services to at least one of functions (for example NEF, AMF, SMF, PCF, UPF, etc) of the 5GC to establish a PDU session including a radio bearer between a gNodeB and a UE in accordance with the QoS requirement and control circuitry, which, in operation, performs the services using the established PDU session.
For the resource allocation mode 1 where both SL transmitting (Tx) UE and SL receiving (RX) UE(s) are in RRC_CONNECTED mode under coverage of a gNB/base station, the Rx UE(s) may transmit at the same time when the Tx UE is transmitting. This creates a half-duplex issue in which the Rx UE(s) may not be able to receive the transmission from the Tx UE, thus resulting in a waste of radio overhead and transmission power.
In the schematic diagram 600, the Tx UE 604 and Rx UE 606 may be subscribed to a telecommunication/PLMN operator operator (not shown) and communicates with the base station 602 of the telecommunication operator. In the present example, the base station 602 may be a next generation NodeB (gNB) 602. It can be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the base station 602 can also be a ng-eNB, and may be connected via the NG interface to a 5G core network.
As mentioned above, if the Rx UE 606 is transmitting at the same time when the Tx UE 604 is transmitting the SL TB 610 to the Rx UE 606, the Rx UE 606 is not able to receive the SL TB 610 from the Tx UE 604.
Therefore, the present invention proposes an improved communication procedure such that the Rx UE is scheduled to receive the transmission from the Tx UE.
In the following paragraphs, certain exemplifying embodiments are explained with reference to a V2X communications mechanism between a gNB/base station and one or more target communication apparatuses that advantageously allows the one or more communication apparatus to avoid missing transmissions from a Tx UE.
For a particular TB to be transmitted in sidelink mode-1, additional to the DCI_X (as DCI_5A in LTE V2X) sent by gNB or base station to the Tx UE for resource allocation, the gNB also schedules the Rx UE(s) with an independent DCI for this TB.
For the contents of DCI_X and DCI_Y, the minimum requirements may be defined as the following:
It will be appreciated that the DCI_Y 812 may be transmitted to the Rx UE 806 earlier, later or at a same time as the transmission of the DCI_X 808 from the gNB 802 to the Tx UE 804. The Tx UE 804 may transmit the TB 810 on PSSCH, with control information for the SL TB 810 being transmitted on PSCCH, to the Rx UE 806 after UE decoding is completed for DCI_X 810 and DCI_Y 812.
In various embodiments, an SL TB may be scheduled for transmission to a group of Rx UEs with groupcast.
In various embodiments, a DCI_X message may also be sent as a DCI_Y message.
In various embodiments, the SL TB may be scheduled as a broadcast transmission to the intended Rx UEs.
In various embodiments, an SL TB may be scheduled for transmission on PSSCH only.
Accordingly, as the DCI_Y 1212 already provides the full information for the resource allocation to the Rx UE(s) 1206, the SL TB 1210 may then be transmitted on PSSCH only from the Tx UE 1204 to the Rx UE(s) 1206, utilising the allocated resource as indicated in DCI_X 1208 and within the receiving window as indicated in DCI_Y 1212. Advantageously, transmission of Sidelink Control Information (SCI) on PSCCH for the SL TB 1210 may be waived to reduce sidelink overhead and transmission power. It will be appreciated that this embodiment may be applicable to unicast, groupcast and broadcast transmissions of SL TB.
The field indicating frequency domain resources may comprise information indicating, for example, one or more subchannels (i.e. SubCH_0 and SubCH_1 as shown in frequency-time resource table 1302). The granularity in the frequency domain may be in a form of resource blocks (RB) or subchannel. In the frequency domain, 3GPP may define a subchannel as several contiguous RBs, where 1 RB may comprise 12 consecutive subcarriers. Each subcarrier spacing may be 2μ*15 kHz, where μ is an integer representing numerology.
The field indicating time domain resources may comprise information indicating, for example, one or more timeslots (i.e. Slot1SL as shown in frequency-time resource table 1302). The granularity in the time domain may be in a form of subframe, slot, or Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols. In the time domain, 3GPP may define 1 frame as 10 ms, and 1 subframe as 1 ms, where there may be 2μ slots in 1 subframe. Further, there may be 14 OFDM symbols per slot for normal cyclic prefix (CP), and there may be 12 OFDM symbol for extended CP. Resource assignment in frequency or time domain may be contiguous (i.e. including a starting position+duration) or non-contiguous (i.e. in the form of a bitmap).
The information from the field indicating frequency domain resources and the field indicating time domain resources may be used for resource allocation for SL TB transmission, wherein the time-frequency resource as indicated by the field indicating frequency domain resources and the field indicating frequency domain resources (i.e. the shaded portions of the frequency-time resource table 1302) may be used for sidelink transmission, such as the transmission of the SL TB from the Tx UE to the Rx UE(s) as shown in
In various embodiments, behavior of the associated UEs when not receiving the control signaling may be specified. In an embodiment, if the Rx UE misses the transmission of the DCI_Y and regardless of whether the PSCCH transmission is received, the behavior of the Rx UE and Tx UE may be in accordance with legacy UE behavior, wherein it is up to the Tx UE to decide how to proceed with the SL TB. In another embodiment, if the Rx UE missed the PSCCH transmission but receives the DCI_Y correctly, the Rx UE may report to the gNB that an expected SL TB is missed, and the gNB may schedule the Tx UE for a retransmission of the missed SL TB. In an alternative response, the Rx UE may feedback a Non-Acknowledgement (NACK) to the Tx UE on Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel (PSFCH), but only if the Rx UE has related Tx UE information via either DCI_Y or some other source such as Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), MAC Control Element (MAC CE), RRC, etc. In another alternative response, the Rx UE may discard the DCI_Y, and it may be up to the Tx UE to decide how to proceed with the SL TB i.e. depending on the PSFCH design. In another embodiment, if the Rx UE missed both the PSCCH and the DCI_Y, the behavior of the Rx UE and Tx UE may be in accordance with legacy UE behavior, wherein it is up to the Tx UE to decide how to proceed with the SL TB.
In various embodiments, blind retransmissions may be waived for mode-1 communications. In various embodiments, the present solution may be applicable to both licensed band and Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) band. In various embodiments, the present solution may be applicable to UEs with only mode-1, or with simultaneous mode 1 and 2. In various embodiments, transmission of the DCI_Y to the Rx UE(s) may be periodic (or semi-persistent) when transmission of the DCI _X to the Tx UE is periodic (or semi-persistent). In various embodiments, the Tx UE may request the gNB whether a DCI_Y is needed to be sent to the Rx UE(s). In various embodiments, whether a DCI_Y is needed may be associated with the type of traffic, type of service, or QoS parameter/indicator such as VQI, 5QI, latency, priority, etc.
Various functions and operations of the communication apparatus 1600 are arranged into layers in accordance with a hierarchical model. In the model, lower layers report to higher layers and receive instructions therefrom in accordance with 3GPP 5G NR specifications. For the sake of simplicity, details of the hierarchical model are not discussed in the present disclosure.
As shown in
The communication apparatus 2100, when in operation, provides functions required for implementing DCI in V2X communications. For example, the communication apparatus 2100 may be a UE, and the radio receiver 2104 may, in operation, receive a message indicating whether or not the communication apparatus is on a receiving mode. The transmitter 2102 may, in operation, transmit a signal when the communication apparatus is not on the receiving mode.
The message may indicate a receiving window during which the communication apparatus 2100 is on the receiving mode, and wherein the receiver 2104 is configured to receive a transmission block (TB) when the communication apparatus 1600 is on the receiving mode. The message may be in a format of Downlink Control Information (DCI).
For example, the communication apparatus 2100 may be a base station, and the circuitry 2114 may, in operation, generate a message indicating whether or not a communication apparatus is on a receiving mode. The transmitter 2102 may, in operation, transmit the message to the communication apparatus. The message may be in a format of DCI.
The receiver 2104 may, in operation, receive scheduling information from a transmitting communication apparatus, the scheduling information identifying the communication apparatus. The scheduling information may identify a plurality of communication apparatuses, wherein the message may indicate whether or not the plurality of communication apparatuses are on a receiving mode for a groupcast, and wherein the transmitter 2102 may transmit the message to the plurality of communication apparatuses.
The receiver 2104 may, in operation, receive scheduling information from a transmitting communication apparatus, the scheduling information identifying the communication apparatus. The scheduling information may identify a plurality of communication apparatuses, wherein the message may indicate whether or not the plurality of communication apparatuses are on a receiving mode for a broadcast, and wherein the transmitter 2102 may transmit the message to the plurality of communication apparatuses.
The transmitter 2102 may be further configured to transmit a DCI to the transmitting communication apparatus, the DCI indicating that the message has been sent to the communication apparatus.
The message may indicate a receiving window during which the communication apparatus is on the receiving mode, wherein the communication apparatus is configured to receive a transmission block (TB) during the receiving window. The receiving window may comprise frequency and timing information of resource assignment for receiving the TB. The receiving window may comprise an index for receiving the TB. The receiving window may comprise resource pool configuration for receiving the TB. The receiving window may comprise full information on resource allocation, modulation and coding scheme (MCS) for receiving the TB, and wherein transmission of Sidelink control information (SCI) message on a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH) for the TB is waived.
As described above, the embodiments of the present disclosure provides an advanced communication system, communication methods and communication apparatuses that implements DCI for V2X communication apparatuses that advantageously allow the mitigation or avoidance of missed SL TB transmissions.
The present disclosure can be realized by software, hardware, or software in cooperation with hardware. Each functional block used in the description of each embodiment described above can be partly or entirely realized by an LSI such as an integrated circuit, and each process described in the each embodiment may be controlled partly or entirely by the same LSI or a combination of LSIs. The LSI may be individually formed as chips, or one chip may be formed so as to include a part or all of the functional blocks. The LSI may include a data input and output coupled thereto. The LSI here may be referred to as an IC, a system LSI, a super LSI, or an ultra LSI depending on a difference in the degree of integration. However, the technique of implementing an integrated circuit is not limited to the LSI and may be realized by using a dedicated circuit, a general-purpose processor, or a special-purpose processor. In addition, a FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) that can be programmed after the manufacture of the LSI or a reconfigurable processor in which the connections and the settings of circuit cells disposed inside the LSI can be reconfigured may be used. The present disclosure can be realized as digital processing or analogue processing. If future integrated circuit technology replaces LSIs as a result of the advancement of semiconductor technology or other derivative technology, the functional blocks could be integrated using the future integrated circuit technology. Biotechnology can also be applied.
The present disclosure can be realized by any kind of apparatus, device or system having a function of communication, which is referred as a communication apparatus.
The communication apparatus may comprise a transceiver and processing/control circuitry. The transceiver may comprise and/or function as a receiver and a transmitter. The transceiver, as the transmitter and receiver, may include an RF (radio frequency) module including amplifiers, RF modulators/demodulators and the like, and one or more antennas.
Some non-limiting examples of such communication apparatus include a phone (e.g, cellular (cell) phone, smart phone), a tablet, a personal computer (PC) (e.g, laptop, desktop, netbook), a camera (e.g, digital still/video camera), a digital player (digital audio/video player), a wearable device (e.g, wearable camera, smart watch, tracking device), a game console, a digital book reader, a telehealth/telemedicine (remote health and medicine) device, and a vehicle providing communication functionality (e.g., automotive, airplane, ship), and various combinations thereof.
The communication apparatus is not limited to be portable or movable, and may also include any kind of apparatus, device or system being non-portable or stationary, such as a smart home device (e.g, an appliance, lighting, smart meter, control panel), a vending machine, and any other “things” in a network of an “Internet of Things (IoT)”.
The communication may include exchanging data through, for example, a cellular system, a wireless LAN system, a satellite system, etc., and various combinations thereof.
The communication apparatus may comprise a device such as a controller or a sensor which is coupled to a communication device performing a function of communication described in the present disclosure. For example, the communication apparatus may comprise a controller or a sensor that generates control signals or data signals which are used by a communication device performing a communication function of the communication apparatus.
The communication apparatus also may include an infrastructure facility, such as a base station, an access point, and any other apparatus, device or system that communicates with or controls apparatuses such as those in the above non-limiting examples.
It will be understood that while some properties of the various embodiments have been described with reference to a device, corresponding properties also apply to the methods of various embodiments, and vice versa.
It will be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the present disclosure as shown in the specific embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure as broadly described. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects illustrative and not restrictive.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10201907070S | Jul 2019 | SG | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/SG2020/050358 | 6/25/2020 | WO |
