The disclosure relates generally to wireless communications and, more particularly, to systems and methods for V2X communication indicating potential sidelink slots.
Sidelink (SL) communication is a wireless radio communication directly between two or more user equipment devices (hereinafter “UE”). In this type of communication, two or more UEs that are geographically proximate to each other can directly communicate without going through an eNode or a base station (hereinafter “BS”), or a core network. Data transmission in SL communications is thus different from typical cellular network communications, which transmit data to a BS (i.e., uplink transmissions) or receive date from a BS (i.e., downlink transmissions). In SL communications, data is transmitted directly from a source UE to a target UE through the Unified Air Interface, e.g., PC5 interface, without passing through a BS
In within network coverage, all UEs are within network coverage of the BS. In partial network coverage, at least one UE is within network coverage and at least another UE is outside of network coverage. In out of network coverage, all UEs are outside of network coverage.
The example embodiments disclosed herein are directed to solving the issues relating to one or more of the problems presented in the prior art, as well as providing additional features that will become readily apparent by reference to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompany drawings. In accordance with various embodiments, example systems, methods, devices and computer program products are disclosed herein. It is understood, however, that these embodiments are presented by way of example and are not limiting, and it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art who read the present disclosure that various modifications to the disclosed embodiments can be made while remaining within the scope of this disclosure.
In some arrangements, a User Equipment (UE) determines Sidelink (SL) Discontinuous Reception (DRX) configuration using SL DRX configuration information and communicates with a peer UE based on the SL DRX configuration.
In some arrangements, a peer UE receives from another UE a SL DRX configuration and transmits a SL DRX configuration response to the other UE. The SL DRX configuration response includes one of a DRX adjustment request, which indicates that a number of packet loss exceeds a threshold, or a packet loss indication.
The above and other aspects and their implementations are described in greater detail in the drawings, the descriptions, and the claims.
Various example embodiments of the present solution are described in detail below with reference to the following figures or drawings. The drawings are provided for purposes of illustration only and merely depict example embodiments of the present solution to facilitate the reader's understanding of the present solution. Therefore, the drawings should not be considered limiting of the breadth, scope, or applicability of the present solution. It should be noted that for clarity and ease of illustration, these drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.
Various example embodiments of the present solution are described below with reference to the accompanying figures to enable a person of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the present solution. As would be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, after reading the present disclosure, various changes or modifications to the examples described herein can be made without departing from the scope of the present solution. Thus, the present solution is not limited to the example embodiments and applications described and illustrated herein. Additionally, the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods disclosed herein are merely example approaches. Based upon design preferences, the specific order or hierarchy of steps of the disclosed methods or processes can be re-arranged while remaining within the scope of the present solution. Thus, those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the methods and techniques disclosed herein present various steps or acts in a sample order, and the present solution is not limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented unless expressly stated otherwise.
Referring to
In the illustrated embodiment of
The system 150 generally includes the BS 102 and UEs 104a-b, as described in
As would be understood by persons of ordinary skill in the art, the system 150 may further include any number of modules other than the modules shown in
A wireless transmission from an antenna of one of the UEs 104a-b to an antenna of the BS 102 is known as an uplink transmission, and a wireless transmission from an antenna of the BS 102 to an antenna of one of the UEs 104a-b is known as a downlink transmission. In accordance with some embodiments, each of the UE transceiver modules 130a-b may be referred to herein as an uplink transceiver, or UE transceiver. The uplink transceiver can include a transmitter and receiver circuitry that are each coupled to the respective antenna 132a-b. A duplex switch may alternatively couple the uplink transmitter or receiver to the uplink antenna in time duplex fashion. Similarly, the BS transceiver module 110 may be herein referred to as a downlink transceiver, or BS transceiver. The downlink transceiver can include RF transmitter and receiver circuitry that are each coupled to the antenna 112. A downlink duplex switch may alternatively couple the downlink transmitter or receiver to the antenna 112 in time duplex fashion. The operations of the transceivers 110 and 130a-b are coordinated in time such that the uplink receiver is coupled to the antenna 132a-b for reception of transmissions over the wireless communication channel 150 at the same time that the downlink transmitter is coupled to the antenna 112. In some embodiments, the UEs 104a-b can use the UE transceivers 130a-b through the respective antennas 132a-b to communicate with the BS 102 via the wireless communication channel 150. The wireless communication channel 150 can be any wireless channel or other medium known in the art suitable for downlink (DL) and/or uplink (UL) transmission of data as described herein. The UEs 104a-b can communicate with each other via a wireless communication channel 170. The wireless communication channel 170 can be any wireless channel or other medium known in the art suitable for SL transmission of data as described herein.
Each of the UE transceiver 130a-b and the BS transceiver 110 are configured to communicate via the wireless data communication channel 150, and cooperate with a suitably configured antenna arrangement that can support a particular wireless communication protocol and modulation scheme. In some embodiments, the UE transceiver 130a-b and the BS transceiver 110 are configured to support industry standards such as the Long Term Evolution (LTE) and emerging 5G standards, or the like. It is understood, however, that the present disclosure is not necessarily limited in application to a particular standard and associated protocols. Rather, the UE transceiver 130a-b and the BS transceiver 110 may be configured to support alternate, or additional, wireless data communication protocols, including future standards or variations thereof.
The processor modules 136a-b and 114 may be each implemented, or realized, with a general purpose processor, a content addressable memory, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, any suitable programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof, designed to perform the functions described herein. In this manner, a processor may be realized as a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a state machine, or the like. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a digital signal processor core, or any other such configuration.
Furthermore, the steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in firmware, in a software module executed by processor modules 114 and 136a-b, respectively, or in any practical combination thereof. The memory modules 116 and 134a-b may be realized 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 storage medium known in the art. In this regard, the memory modules 116 and 134a-b may be coupled to the processor modules 114 and 136a-b, respectively, such that the processors modules 114 and 136a-b can read information from, and write information to, memory modules 116 and 134a-b, respectively. The memory modules 116 and 134a-b may also be integrated into their respective processor modules 114 and 136a-b. In some embodiments, the memory modules 116 and 134a-b may each include a cache memory for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions to be executed by processor modules 114 and 136a-b, respectively. Memory modules 116 and 134a-b may also each include non-volatile memory for storing instructions to be executed by the processor modules 114 and 136a-b, respectively.
The network interface 118 generally represents the hardware, software, firmware, processing logic, and/or other components of the BS 102 that enable bi-directional communication between BS transceiver 110 and other network components and communication nodes configured to communication with the BS 102. For example, the network interface 118 may be configured to support internet or WiMAX traffic. In a typical deployment, without limitation, the network interface 118 provides an 802.3 Ethernet interface such that BS transceiver 110 can communicate with a conventional Ethernet based computer network. In this manner, the network interface 118 may include a physical interface for connection to the computer network (e.g., Mobile Switching Center (MSC)). The terms “configured for” or “configured to” as used herein with respect to a specified operation or function refers to a device, component, circuit, structure, machine, signal, etc. that is physically constructed, programmed, formatted and/or arranged to perform the specified operation or function. The network interface 118 can allow the BS 102 to communicate with other BSs or core network over a wired or wireless connection.
In some embodiments, each of the UEs 104a-b can operate in a hybrid communication network in which the UE communicates with the BS 102, and with other UEs, e.g., between 104a and 104b. As described in further detail below, the UEs 104a-b support SL communications with other UE's as well as downlink/uplink communications between the BS 102 and the UEs 104a-b. In general, the SL communication allows the UEs 104a-b to establish a direct communication link with each other, or with other UEs from different cells, without requiring the BS 102 to relay data between UEs.
With the technological advancement and development in the automation industry, the scenarios for V2X communications are further diversified and require higher performance. These advanced V2X service include vehicle platooning, extended sensors, advanced driving (semi-automated driving and full-automated driving), and remote driving. The desire performance requirements may include supporting data packets with a size between 50 to 12,000 bytes, enabling a transmission rate between 2 and 50 messages per second, enabling a maximum end-to-end delay between 3 and 500 milliseconds, supporting a reliability between 90 and 99.999%, enabling a data rate between 0.5 and 1000 Mbps, and supporting a transmission range between 50 and 1000 meters.
Various identities can be used for New Radio (NR) SL communication. A first identity is Source Layer-2 Identity (ID), which identifies the sender of the data in NR SL communication. The Source Layer-2 ID is 24 bits long and is split in the Media Access Control (MAC) layer into two bit strings. The first bit string is the Least Significant Bit (LSB) part of Source Layer-2 ID, which is 8 bits long and forward to the physical layer of the sender. This bit string identifies the source of the intended data in sideline control information and is used for filtering packets at the physical layer of the receiver. The second bit string is the Most Significant Bit (MSB) part of the Source Layer-2 ID, which is 16 bits long and is carried within the MAC header. This bit string is used for filtering packets at the MAC layer of the receiver.
A second identity is the Destination Layer-2 ID, which identifies the target of the data in NR SL communication. For NR SL communication, the Destination Layer-2 ID is 24 bits long and is split in the MAC layer into two bit strings. The first bit string is the LSB part of Destination Layer-2 ID, which is 16 bits long and is forwarded to the physical layer of the sender. This bit string identifies the target of the intended data in SL control information and is used for filtering packets at the physical layer of the receiver. The second bit string is the MSB part of the Destination Layer-2 ID, which is 8 bits long and is carried within the MAC header. This bit string is used for filtering packets at the MAC layer of the receiver.
A third identity is the PC5 Link Identifier, which uniquely identifies the PC5 unicast link in a UE for the lifetime of the PC5 unicast link, as specified in TS 23.287 [40]. The PC5 Link Identifier is used to indicate the PC5 unicast link whose SL Radio Link Failure (RLF) declaration was made and whose PC5-RRC (Radio Resource Control) connection was released.
In order for SL communication between UE to work efficiently, a properly configured SL Discontinuous Reception (DRX) is important. Once a first UE determinates a SL DRX configuration, the first UE is able to communicate with a second UE based on the SL DRX configuration. This SL DRX configuration can be determined according to several embodiments.
In a first embodiment, the BS considers PO alignment when configuring SL DRX. By definition, the UE monitors one Paging Occasion (PO) per DRX cycle. A PO is a set of Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) monitoring occasions and can consist of multiple time slots (e.g., subframe or Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol) in which paging Downlink Control Information (DCI) can be sent. The BS can indicate whether to align with PO when configuring SL DRX of an RRC idle state UE. If the UE receives information indicating SL DRX alignment, the SL-on duration of the UE is the same as the paging occasion.
where T is a DRX cycle of the UE, N is a number of total paging frames in T, Ns could also be a number of DRX-on occasions for a DRX-on frame, PFoffset is an offset value used for PF determination, and UEID is equal to 5G-S-TMSI mod 1024. The values for N and PFoffset are derived from the parameter nAndPagingFrameOffset, while T is the length of the default DRX cycle.
Because the SL DRX alignment indication is received, the UE assumes that no DRX is used for the PO. The SL DRX alignment indication indicates that an SL-on duration of the UE is the same as the PO determined by the UE based on the DL DRX parameters. If the DRX is not activated, the UE must continuously monitor for information. The DRX enables sleep or ‘off,’ so no DRX means that the UE is not allowed to sleep. Moreover, after the UE receives the SL DRX configuration information, the UE can inform peer UE of the UE's own SL DRX configuration. The peer UE also need to know the PO, so the UE sends the PO to the peer UE at 350, which can be accomplished in one of two ways. First, the SL DRX configuration may not only include the above received DL DRX parameters (e.g., Ns, nAndPagingFrameOffset, and the length of default DRX cycle) but also includes the UE's own UEID (i.e., 5G-S-TMSI mod 1024). Second, the SL DRX configuration may include one or more of T, PFoffset, DRXoffset (which is given by Formula 1), and is (which is given by Formula 2).
In a second embodiment, the BS configures SL DRX patterns for a UE without considering alignment, as alignment is situational and depends on UE capability, meaning alignment may not be best for some UEs. In this embodiment, the BS configures SL DRX patterns for UE according to the configuration of a SL resource pool. The BS determines SL DRX configuration information, which includes slotOffset and a length of the default DRX cycle. The SL DRX configuration information is signaled in SIB1. The UE receives the SL DRX configuration information and determines the SL DRX-on duration according to one of the following formulae:
(Slotindex+Slotoffset)mod T=UEID)mod T (3)
where T is the SL DRX cycle of the UE, slotoffset is an offset used for PF determination, UED is one of 5G-S-Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity (TMSI) mod 1024, destinationID mod 1024, or sourceID mod 1024;
(Slotindex+Slotoffset)mod T=DestinationID mod T (4)
or
(Slotindex+Slotoffset)mod T=SourceID mod T (5)
where T is the SL DRX cycle of the UE and slotOffset is an offset used for PF determination. For formulae 4 and 5, the UE may configure different SL DRX configuration for different PC5 link if the UE is involved in multiple PC5 link. Different PC5 links may be associated to different SourceID and DestinationID. Moreover, once the UE has received the SL DRX configuration information, the UE can inform peer UE of the UE's own SL DRX configuration and includes the SlotOffset and the length of a default DRX cycle. The UE informs peer UE of the SL DRX configuration over PC5 RRC message or PC5 broadcast message.
In a third embodiment, the BS configures SL DRX configuration information for a UE and signals the information in SIB1. The SL DRX configuration information includes Ns, nAndDRXFrameOffset, and a length of a default SL DRX cycle. The UE receives the SL DRX configuration information and determines the SL DRX-on duration. The SFN for the SL DRX-on duration frame is determined according to the following formula:
and the SlotIndex indicating a slot of a frame is determined according to the following formula:
where T is SL DRX cycle of the UE, N is a number of total SL DRX frames in T, Ns is a number of DRX on occasions for a DRX-on frame, Foffset is an offset used for DRX-on frame determination, UEID is one of 5G-S-TMSI mod 1024, DestinationID mod 1024, SourceID mod 1024, DestinationID, or SourceID. The values of N and FOffset are derived from the parameter nAndDRXFrameOffset. T is a length of a default SL DRX Cycle. Ns can be a fixed number, such as a total number of a slot for a frame. Moreover, once the UE has received the SL DRX configuration information, the UE can inform peer UE of the UE's own SL DRX configuration and includes the Ns, nAndDRXFrameOffset, and a length of a default SL DRX Cycle. The UE informs peer UE of the SL DRX configuration over PC5 RRC message or PC5 broadcast message.
In a fourth embodiment, the BS configures SL DRX configuration information for a UE and signals the information in SIB1. The SL DRX configuration information includes DRXFrameOffset and a length of a default SL DRX Cycle. The UE receives the SL DRX configuration information and determines the SL DRX-on duration. The SFN for the SL DRX-on duration frame is determined by one of the following formulae:
(SFN+Foffset)mod T=UEID mod T (8)
SlotIndex, which indicates a slot of a frame, is determined by the following formula:
SlotIndex=UEID mod N (9)
where T is SL DRX cycle of the UE, FOffset is an offset used for PF determination, N is a fixed total number of a slot of a frame, and UEID is one of 5G-S-TMSI mod 1024, DestinationID mod 1024, SourceID mod 1024, DestinationID, or SourceID. The UE may configure different SL DRX configuration for different PC5 link if the UE is involved in multiple PC5 link. Different PC5 link may be associated with different SourceID and DestinationID. Moreover, once the UE has received the SL DRX configuration information, the UE can inform peer UE of the UE's own SL DRX configuration and includes the DRXFrameOffset and a length of a default SL DRX Cycle. The UE may also include the UE's own UEID (e.g., 5G-S-TMSI mod 1024). The UE informs peer UE of the SL DRX configuration over PC5 RRC message or PC5 broadcast message
In a fifth embodiment, the SL DRX is configured based on a bitmap that includes a SL resource pool.
(SlotIndex+SlotOffset)mod T=UEID mod T (10)
If the period is 10 units, then the calculated SlotIndex is 1, 11, 21 and the corresponding SL resource pool is 1, 11, 21. The slot corresponding to each bitmap is the slot of UE SL DRX-on. In contrast to previous embodiments, the pool of slots is discontinuous, as the bitmap maps to those of the SL resource pool. If a calculated slot index is 2, in this embodiment, the slot index is actually 3 (e.g., 1, 3). Different bitmaps result in different configurations. In this way, different values of T and offset can be configured based on different receiving resource pools. Additionally, a unified (i.e., aligned) T and offset can be configured. If the relationship between T and a period of the resource pool is not an integer multiple, starting position alignment can cause problems that complicate the determination of SL DRX configuration. As such, the relationship between T and the period of resource pool should only be considered if it is an integer multiple.
For sidelink groupcast or broadcast connection (as opposed to uni-cast connection of the first through fifth embodiments), the simplest way for UE with an energy-saving requirement is not to monitor multicast or broadcast messages, but to send multicast and broadcast messages. Because groupcast messages support feedback, even if the UE does not need to listen for groupcast messages, the UE at least needs to listen for feedback messages. If the UE is configured with SL DRX, the RTT timer of the related process can be started after the groupcast message is sent. However, considering that the position of an Acknowledgement (ACK) feedback resource is fixed, an RTT timer is not necessary. As such, SL DRX is not necessary if the receiving scenarios of broadcast and groupcast are not considered.
However, if groupcast and broadcast messages are to be considered with a goal of energy-saving, three solutions are possible. In a first solution, a UE sends the UE's own SL DRX configuration to peer UE through PC5 broadcast message. In a second solution, the UE determines multiple sets of SL DRX configurations corresponding to different destination identifier lists. These SL DRX configurations include one or more of a period (i.e., T), at least one of SlotOffset, FOffset, or DRXFrameOffset, inactivity timers, different re-transmission timers. In a third solution, the UE determines multiple sets of the SL DRX configuration, based on different SL Quality of Service (QoS). The SL QoS comprises one of Packet Delay Budgets (PDBs), priority levels, reliability levels, QoS-FLOWIDENTITY, SL-PC5 QoS Identifier (PQI), or Packet Error Rate level. In another word, the different SL QoS may be associated to different sets of the SL DRX configuration. In particular, the different SL QoS may be associated to different inactivity timers, to different re-transmission timers, or to different DRX periods. Alternatively, the different SL QoS may be associated to the same RTT timers.
If a SL DRX configuration for UE is determined network-side (i.e., by the BS) or is pre-determined, the simplest method for configuration is through the UE. After the UE determines the UE's own SL DRX configuration, the UE informs peer UE, and the peer UE can select transmission resources according to the SL DRX of the original UE. For a UE in uni-cast communication, the UE can inform peer UE of the UE's SL DRX configuration through PC5 RRC message. After obtaining the SL DRX configuration of the receiving UE, the transmitter UE can select the transmitting resource according to the SL DRX pattern of the peer UE.
In a first mode (i.e., mode1), the UE sends the SL DRX configuration information of the peer UE to the service BS so that the service BS can allocate appropriate resources to the receiving UE according to the receiving UE's DRX configuration. Specifically, the UE can report this SL DRX information per Destination ID through SL UE information. In a second mode (i.e., mode2), the UE considers the SL DRX configuration of the receiver UE when selecting resources.
If, after obtaining the SL DRX configuration of the peer UE, the peer UE determines that the available resources will cause data or Channel State Information (CSI) MAC Control Element (CE) timeout, and the SL DRX configurations are inappropriate. In response, the peer UE has two options for a SL DRX configuration response. First, the UE triggers a DRX adjustment request, which indicates a preferred amount of increment for a long DRX cycle length for the current DRX configuration and can be sent through PC5 RRC message or SL MAC CE. This DRX adjustment request may be triggered when the number of packet loss exceeds a threshold(s). If the SL DRX configuration is configured per Destination ID, the number of packet loss can be counted per Destination ID. This threshold is received prior to the SL DRX configuration response transmission. Second, the UE sends an indication of timeout packet loss due to the current DRX configuration. This indication is sent when the number of packet loss per DestinationID exceeds a threshold due to SL DRX configuration. If a value of the threshold is set to 1, then the indication is sent as soon as a single timeout pack loss occurs. This indication information can be carried by SL MAC CE or PC5 RRC transmission, and either indicates only that packet loss has occurred or directly carries the packet loss times or packet loss number level information.
Prior to transmitting the SL DRX configuration response, the peer UE determines that at least one of three conditions are met. First, the peer UE determines that a latency requirement of a data in a logical channel or SL MAC CE is not met due to the SL DRX configuration. Second, the peer UE determines that transmission(s) with a selected SL grant cannot fulfil the latency requirement of the data in a logical channel according to an associated priority due to the SL DRX configuration. Third, the peer UE determines that transmission of a pending SL MAC CE with the sidelink grant(s) cannot fulfil the latency requirement associated to the SL MAC CE due to the SL DRX configuration.
In some embodiments, the peer UE maintains a pack loss number counter. If the peer UE determines that the transmission with a selected SL grant cannot fulfill a latency requirement of data in a logical channel due to the SL DRX configuration, and the pack loss number counter does not reach the threshold, the peer UE adds one to the pack loss number counter. If the pack loss number counter reaches the threshold, the peer UE transmits the SL DRX configuration response, which may be either a DRX adjustment request or an indication of timeout packet loss due to the current DRX configuration. If the UE receives an updated SL DRX configuration of the peer UE, the peer UE either re-initializes the pack loss number counter to zero or sets the pack loss number counter to 0 or 1.
For an embodiment, the peer UE receives SL DRX configuration from the UE. If the peer UE determines that at least transmission with a selected SL grant cannot fulfill a latency requirement of data in a logical channel according to an associated priority due to the received SL DRX configuration, the peer UE may also trigger a transmission resource re-selection.
The BS 802 and the UE 801 can include components and elements configured to support known or conventional operating features that need not be described in detail herein. In one illustrative embodiment, the BS 802 and the UE 801 can be used to communicate (e.g., transmit and receive) data symbols in a wireless communication environment, as described above. For instance, the BS 802 can be a BS (e.g., gNB, eNB, and so on), a server, a node, or any suitable computing device used to implement various network functions.
The BS 802 includes a transceiver module 810, an antenna 812, a processor module 814, a memory module 816, and a network communication module 818. The module 810, 812, 814, 816, and 818 are operatively coupled to and interconnected with one another via a data communication bus 820. The UE 801 includes a UE transceiver module 830, a UE antenna 832, a UE memory module 834, and a UE processor module 836. The modules 830, 832, 834, and 836 are operatively coupled to and interconnected with one another via a data communication bus 840. The BS 802 communicates with the UE 801 or another BS via a communication channel, which can be any wireless channel or other medium suitable for transmission of data as described herein.
As would be understood by persons of ordinary skill in the art, the BS 802 and the UE 801 can further include any number of modules other than the modules shown in
In accordance with some embodiments, the UE transceiver 830 includes a radio frequency (RF) transmitter and a RF receiver each including circuitry that is coupled to the antenna 832. A duplex switch (not shown) may alternatively couple the RF transmitter or receiver to the antenna in time duplex fashion. Similarly, in accordance with some embodiments, the transceiver 810 includes an RF transmitter and a RF receiver each having circuitry that is coupled to the antenna 812 or the antenna of another BS. A duplex switch may alternatively couple the RF transmitter or receiver to the antenna 812 in time duplex fashion. The operations of the two-transceiver modules 810 and 830 can be coordinated in time such that the receiver circuitry is coupled to the antenna 832 for reception of transmissions over a wireless transmission link at the same time that the transmitter is coupled to the antenna 812. In some embodiments, there is close time synchronization with a minimal guard time between changes in duplex direction.
The UE transceiver 830 and the transceiver 810 are configured to communicate via the wireless data communication link, and cooperate with a suitably configured RF antenna arrangement 812/832 that can support a particular wireless communication protocol and modulation scheme. In some illustrative embodiments, the UE transceiver 830 and the transceiver 810 are configured to support industry standards such as the Long Term Evolution (LTE) and emerging 5G standards, and the like. It is understood, however, that the present disclosure is not necessarily limited in application to a particular standard and associated protocols. Rather, the UE transceiver 830 and the BS transceiver 810 may be configured to support alternate, or additional, wireless data communication protocols, including future standards or variations thereof.
The transceiver 810 and the transceiver of another BS (such as but not limited to, the transceiver 810) are configured to communicate via a wireless data communication link, and cooperate with a suitably configured RF antenna arrangement that can support a particular wireless communication protocol and modulation scheme. In some illustrative embodiments, the transceiver 810 and the transceiver of another BS are configured to support industry standards such as the LTE and emerging 5G standards, and the like. It is understood, however, that the present disclosure is not necessarily limited in application to a particular standard and associated protocols. Rather, the transceiver 810 and the transceiver of another BS may be configured to support alternate, or additional, wireless data communication protocols, including future standards or variations thereof.
In accordance with various embodiments, the BS 802 may be a BS such as but not limited to, an eNB, a serving eNB, a target eNB, a femto station, or a pico station, for example. The BS 802 can be an RN, a DeNB, or a gNB. In some embodiments, the UE 801 may be embodied in various types of user devices such as a mobile phone, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), tablet, laptop computer, wearable computing device, etc. The processor modules 814 and 836 may be implemented, or realized, with a general purpose processor, a content addressable memory, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, any suitable programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof, designed to perform the functions described herein. In this manner, a processor may be realized as a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a state machine, or the like. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a digital signal processor core, or any other such configuration.
Furthermore, the method or algorithm disclosed herein can be embodied directly in hardware, in firmware, in a software module executed by processor modules 814 and 836, respectively, or in any practical combination thereof. The memory modules 816 and 834 may be realized 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 storage medium known in the art. In this regard, memory modules 816 and 834 may be coupled to the processor modules 814 and 836, respectively, such that the processors modules 814 and 836 can read information from, and write information to, memory modules 816 and 834, respectively. The memory modules 816 and 834 may also be integrated into their respective processor modules 814 and 836. In some embodiments, the memory modules 816 and 834 may each include a cache memory for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions to be executed by processor modules 814 and 836, respectively. Memory modules 816 and 834 may also each include non-volatile memory for storing instructions to be executed by the processor modules 814 and 836, respectively.
The network communication module 818 generally represents the hardware, software, firmware, processing logic, and/or other components of the BS 802 that enable bi-directional communication between the transceiver 810 and other network components and communication nodes in communication with the BS 802. For example, the network communication module 818 may be configured to support internet or WiMAX traffic. In a deployment, without limitation, the network communication module 818 provides an 802.3 Ethernet interface such that the transceiver 810 can communicate with a conventional Ethernet based computer network. In this manner, the network communication module 818 may include a physical interface for connection to the computer network (e.g., Mobile Switching Center (MSC)). In some embodiments, the network communication module 818 includes a fiber transport connection configured to connect the BS 802 to a core network. The terms “configured for,” “configured to” and conjugations thereof, as used herein with respect to a specified operation or function, refer to a device, component, circuit, structure, machine, signal, etc., that is physically constructed, programmed, formatted and/or arranged to perform the specified operation or function.
While various embodiments of the present solution have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, and not by way of limitation. Likewise, the various diagrams may depict an example architectural or configuration, which are provided to enable persons of ordinary skill in the art to understand example features and functions of the present solution. Such persons would understand, however, that the solution is not restricted to the illustrated example architectures or configurations, but can be implemented using a variety of alternative architectures and configurations. Additionally, as would be understood by persons of ordinary skill in the art, one or more features of one embodiment can be combined with one or more features of another embodiment described herein. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present disclosure should not be limited by any of the above-described illustrative embodiments.
It is also understood that any reference to an element herein using a designation such as “first,” “second,” and so forth does not generally limit the quantity or order of those elements. Rather, these designations can be used herein as a convenient means of distinguishing between two or more elements or instances of an element. Thus, a reference to first and second elements does not mean that only two elements can be employed, or that the first element must precede the second element in some manner.
Additionally, a person having ordinary skill in the art would understand that information and signals can be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits and symbols, for example, which may be referenced in the above description can be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.
A person of ordinary skill in the art would further appreciate that any of the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, processors, means, circuits, methods and functions described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented by electronic hardware (e.g., a digital implementation, an analog implementation, or a combination of the two), firmware, various forms of program or design code incorporating instructions (which can be referred to herein, for convenience, as “software” or a “software module), or any combination of these techniques. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware, firmware 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, firmware or software, or a combination of these techniques, depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans can implement the described functionality in various ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions do not cause a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.
Furthermore, a person of ordinary skill in the art would understand that various illustrative logical blocks, modules, devices, components and circuits described herein can be implemented within or performed by an integrated circuit (IC) that can include 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, or any combination thereof. The logical blocks, modules, and circuits can further include antennas and/or transceivers to communicate with various components within the network or within the device. A general purpose processor can be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor can be any conventional processor, controller, or state machine. A processor can 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 suitable configuration to perform the functions described herein.
If implemented in software, the functions can be stored as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Thus, the steps of a method or algorithm disclosed herein can be implemented as software stored on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that can be enabled to transfer a computer program or code from one place to another. A storage media can be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer.
In this document, the term “module” as used herein, refers to software, firmware, hardware, and any combination of these elements for performing the associated functions described herein. Additionally, for purpose of discussion, the various modules are described as discrete modules; however, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art, two or more modules may be combined to form a single module that performs the associated functions according embodiments of the present solution.
Additionally, memory or other storage, as well as communication components, may be employed in embodiments of the present solution. It will be appreciated that, for clarity purposes, the above description has described embodiments of the present solution with reference to different functional units and processors. However, it will be apparent that any suitable distribution of functionality between different functional units, processing logic elements or domains may be used without detracting from the present solution. For example, functionality illustrated to be performed by separate processing logic elements, or controllers, may be performed by the same processing logic element, or controller. Hence, references to specific functional units are only references to a suitable means for providing the described functionality, rather than indicative of a strict logical or physical structure or organization.
Various modifications to the implementations described in this disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein can be applied to other implementations without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the implementations shown herein, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the novel features and principles disclosed herein, as recited in the claims below.
This application claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 as a continuation of International Patent Application No. PCT/CN2020/107472, filed on Aug. 6, 2020, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | PCT/CN2020/107472 | Aug 2020 | US |
Child | 18104343 | US |