Cell switching for discontinuous transmission (DTX) in shared spectrum

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10993151-B2
Application number	US-201515526741-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 12, 2015
Priority date	Nov 13, 2014
Publication date	Apr 27, 2021
Grant date	Apr 27, 2021

Abstract

Techniques for co-existence between wireless Radio Access Technologies (RATs) are disclosed. During an active period of a Discontinuous Transmission (DTX) communication pattern, a first signal may be transmitted during a first subframe and a second signal may be transmitted during a second subframe, while during an inactive period the first signal may be transmitted during the first subframe and the second signal may be omitted during the second subframe. Retransmission of one or more packets may take place over a subset of less than all retransmission opportunities based on the DTX communication pattern. A Secondary Cell (SCell) may be reconfigured as the Primary Cell (PCell) and the PCell may be reconfigured as the SCell for one or more access terminals based on a load balancing condition or a channel selection condition.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of communication, comprising:
exchanging, by an access point, data and control signaling over a communication medium via a Primary Cell (PCell) provided by the access point on a first component carrier;
exchanging, by the access point, data signaling over the communication medium via a Secondary Cell (SCell) provided by the access point on a second component carrier;
determining, by the access point, a load balancing condition based on a traffic imbalance between the first component carrier and one or more other component carriers that satisfies a threshold;
reconfiguring, by the access point, the SCell as the PCell and the PCell as the SCell for one or more access terminals based on the load balancing condition, wherein the reconfiguring comprises:
sending, via the first component carrier, a handover command to the one or more access terminals, the handover command instructing the one or more access terminals to reconfigure their PCell and SCell designations;
receiving, via the second component carrier, a handover confirmation from the one or more access terminals; and
switching PCell operation to the second component carrier;

adjusting one or more cell reselection parameters to bias cell reselection towards selection of a target PCell; and
signaling the one or more adjusted cell reselection parameters to an idle mode access terminal to trigger a cell reselection of the target PCell.

2. The method of claim 1 , the reconfiguring comprising switching the reconfigured PCell to a third component carrier.

3. The method of claim 2 , the reconfiguring comprising:
sending via the second component carrier a handover command;
receiving via the third component carrier a handover confirmation; and
switching PCell operation to the third component carrier.

4. The method of claim 3 , the reconfiguring further comprising:
vacating the first component carrier in response to receiving the handover confirmation; and
occupying the third component carrier in response to the vacating of the first component carrier.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a channel selection condition based on a signal quality imbalance between the first component carrier and one or more other component carriers that satisfies a threshold,
wherein the reconfiguring is further based on the channel selection condition.

6. An access point, comprising:
a memory;
at least one transceiver;
at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor configured to:
direct the at least one transceiver to exchange data and control signaling over a communication medium via a Primary Cell (PCell) provided by the access point on a first component carrier;
direct the at least one transceiver to exchange data signaling over the communication medium via a Secondary Cell (SCell) provided by the access point on a second component carrier;
determine a load balancing condition based on a traffic imbalance between the first component carrier and one or more other component carriers that satisfies a threshold;
direct the at least one transceiver to reconfigure the SCell as the PCell and the PCell as the SCell for one or more access terminals based on the load balancing condition, wherein the at least one processor being configured to direct the at least one transceiver to reconfigure comprises the at least one processor being configured to direct the at least one transceiver to:
send via the first component carrier a handover command, the handover command instructing the one or more access terminals to reconfigure their PCell and SCell designations;
receive via the second component carrier a handover confirmation; and
switch PCell operation to the second component carrier;

adjust one or more cell reselection parameters to bias cell reselection towards selection of a target PCell; and
direct the at least one transceiver to signal the one or more adjusted cell reselection parameters to an idle mode access terminal to trigger a cell reselection of the target PCell.

7. The access point of claim 6 , the at least one processor being configured to direct the at least one transceiver to reconfigure comprises the at least one processor being configured to direct the at least one transceiver to switch the reconfigured PCell to a third component carrier.

8. The access point of claim 7 , the at least one processor being configured to direct the at least one transceiver to reconfigure comprises the at least one processor being configured to direct the at least one transceiver to:
send via the second component carrier a handover command;
receive via the third component carrier a handover confirmation; and
switch PCell operation to the third component carrier.

9. The access point of claim 8 , the at least one processor being further configured to direct the at least one transceiver to reconfigure comprises the at least one processor being configured to direct the at least one transceiver to:
vacate the first component carrier in response to reception of the handover confirmation; and
occupy the third component carrier in response to the vacation of the first component carrier.

10. The access point of claim 6 , the at least one processor being further configured to:
determine a channel selection condition based on a signal quality imbalance between the first component carrier and one or more other component carriers that satisfies a threshold,
wherein the reconfiguration is further based on the 14 channel selection condition.

11. An access point, comprising:
means for storing;
means for communicating; and
means for processing communicatively coupled to the means for storing and the means for communicating, the means for processing configured to:
cause the means for communicating to exchange data and control signaling over a communication medium via a Primary Cell (PCell) provided by the access point on a first component carrier;
cause the means for communicating to exchange data signaling over the communication medium via a Secondary Cell (SCell) provided by the access point on a second component carrier;
determine a load balancing condition based on a traffic imbalance between the first component carrier and one or more other component carriers that satisfies a threshold;
cause the means for communicating to reconfigure the SCell as the PCell and the PCell as the SCell for one or more access terminals based on the load balancing condition, wherein the means for processing being configured to cause the means for communicating to reconfigure comprises the means for processing being configured to cause the means for communicating to:
send via the first component carrier a handover command, the handover command instructing the one or more access terminals to reconfigure their PCell and SCell designations;
receive via the second component carrier a handover confirmation; and
switch PCell operation to the second component carrier;

adjust one or more cell reselection parameters to bias cell reselection towards selection of a target PCell; and
cause the means for communicating to signal the one or more adjusted cell reselection parameters to an idle mode access terminal to trigger a cell reselection of the target PCell.

12. The access point of claim 11 , wherein the means for processing being configured to cause the means for communicating to reconfigure comprises the means for processing being configured to cause the means for communicating to switch the reconfigured PCell to a third component carrier.

13. The access point of claim 12 , wherein the means

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc
• Sadek Ahmed Kamel
• Kadous Tamer Adel
• Cheng Peng
• Valliappan Nachiappan
• Naghshvar Mohammad

Inventors

• Sadek Ahmed Kamel
• Kadous Tamer Adel
• Cheng Peng
• Valliappan Nachiappan
• Naghshvar Mohammad

Classifications

• H04W72/20

  Control channels or signalling for resource management · CPC title

• H04W36/0055 Primary

  Transmission or use of information for re-establishing the radio link · CPC title

• H04W36/00698

  using different RATs · CPC title

• Y02D30/70

  in wireless communication networks · CPC title

• H04W72/00

  Local resource management · CPC title