Method for operating a user equipment in a wireless radio network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10390243-B2
Application number	US-201415105057-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 19, 2014
Priority date	Dec 19, 2013
Publication date	Aug 20, 2019
Grant date	Aug 20, 2019

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method (300) for operating a user equipment (106) in a wireless radio network (100). The wireless radio network (100) comprises a base station (101) and at least one node (105) configured to relay communication data between the user equipment (106) and the base station (101). According to the method, a relayed communication state is determined (301) and a measurement of characteristics of further direct radio transmission links between the user equipment (106) and the wireless radio network (100) is initiated (302) depending on the relayed communication state.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for operating a user equipment in a wireless radio network, the wireless radio network comprising a base station and at least one node, the at least one node being configured to relay communication data between the user equipment and the base station, wherein the user equipment is configured to communicate directly with one node of the at least one node via a corresponding direct radio transmission link, the method comprising:
determining, by the user equipment, a relayed communication state between the user equipment and the one node of the at least one node, the relayed communication state indicating that the user equipment is communicating with the one node of the at least one node via the direct radio transmission link and that communication data of the user equipment is relayed from the user equipment and the base station via the one node of the at least one node; and
in response to determining the relayed communication state indicating that the user equipment is communicating with the one node of the at least one node via the direct radio transmission link and that the communication data of the user equipment is relayed from the user equipment to the base station via the one node of the at least one node, initiating, by the user equipment, a measurement of characteristics of a further direct radio transmission link between the user equipment and the wireless radio network, wherein the further direct radio transmission link is a link on which the user equipment is not currently communicating,
wherein the initiating the measurement of the characteristics of the further direct radio transmission link comprises at least one of:
initiating a measurement of a characteristic of a direct radio transmission link between the user equipment and a further base station of the wireless radio network; and/or
initiating a measurement of a characteristic of a direct radio transmission link between the user equipment and a further node of the at least one node of the wireless radio network configured to relay the communication data of the user equipment from the user equipment to the base station or the further base station.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the initiating the measurement comprises:
measuring the characteristic of the further direct radio transmission link by the user equipment during a measurement qap provided by the wireless radio network for the measurement; and
reporting by the user equipment the measured characteristic of the further direct radio transmission.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the initiating the measurement of the further direct radio transmission link comprises:
measuring the characteristic of the further direct radio transmission link periodically during measurement gaps provided by the base station independently from the relayed communication state.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the initiating the measurement of the further direct radio transmission link comprises:
reporting from the user equipment to the radio access network a degraded transmission quality of the direct radio transmission link independently from an actual transmission quality of the direct radio transmission link.

5. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising in response to the determining the relayed communication state indicating that the user equipment is communicating with the one node of the at least one node via the direct radio transmission link and that communication data of the user equipment is relayed from the user equipment to the base station via the one node of the at least one node:
measuring the characteristics of the further direct radio transmission link,
comparing the measured characteristics of the further direct radio transmission link with a threshold, and
reporting the measured characteristics of the further direct radio transmission link based on a result of the comparing.

6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the comparing the measured characteristics of the further direct radio transmission link with the threshold comprises comparing the measured characteristics of the further direct radio transmission link with a threshold comprising at least one of a group consisting of:
a predetermined received signal strength value,
a predetermined symbol error rate value,
a predetermined time period value,
a received signal strength value derived from a received signal strength of the direct radio communication between the user equipment and the one node,
a symbol error rate value derived from a symbol error rate of the direct radio communication between the user equipment and the one node, and
a detection of a new cell.

7. The method according to claim 5 , further comprising:
receiving by the user equipment the threshold from the wireless radio network.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the initiating the measurement of the characteristics of the further direct radio transmission link comprises initiating the measurement of at least one of a group consisting of:
a received signal strength, and
a symbol error rate.

9. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising the user equipment communicating with a further user equipment as the further node.

10. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
in response to determining the relayed communication state indicating that the user equipment is communicating with the one node of the at least one node via the direct radio transmission link and that the communication data of the user equipment is relayed from the user equipment to the base station via the one node of the at least one node, measuring, by the user equipment, the characteristic of the further direct radio transmission link on which the user equipment is not currently communicating between the user equipment and the wireless radio network.

11. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
in response to determining the relayed communication state indicating that the user equipment is communicating with the one node of the at least one node via the direct radio transmission link and that the communication data of the user equipment is relayed from the user equipment to the base station via the one node of the at least one node, measuring, by the user equipment, the characteristic of the further direct radio transmission link between at least one of:
the user equipment and the further base station of the wireless radio network; and/or
the user equipment and the further node of the wireless radio network configured to relay the communication data of the user equipment from the user equipment to the base station or to the further base station.

12. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
in response to determining the relayed communication state indicating that the user equipment is communicating with the one node of the at least one node via the direct radio transmission link and that the communication data of the user equipment is relayed from the user equipment to the base station via the one node of the at least one node, initiating a handoff of the user equipment from the one node of the at least one node to at least one of:
the further base station of the wireless radio network; and/or
the further node of the wireless radio network configured to relay the communication data of the user equipment from the user equipment to the base station or to the further base station following the handoff.

13. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the initiating the measurement of the characteristic of the further direct radio transmission link between the user equipment and

Assignees

• Sony Corp

Inventors

• Larsson Bo
• Ying Zhinong
• Ljung Rickard
• Karlsson Peter
• Bengtsson Erik
• Plicanic Samuelsson Vanja

Classifications

• H04W88/04

  adapted for relaying to or from another terminal or user · CPC title

• H04W24/08 Primary

  Testing, {supervising or monitoring} using real traffic · CPC title

• H04W36/0088 Primary

  Scheduling hand-off measurements · CPC title

• H04B7/15

  Active relay systems · CPC title