Multi-PRB operation for narrowband systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11006405-B2
Application number	US-201916577277-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 20, 2019
Priority date	Feb 11, 2016
Publication date	May 11, 2021
Grant date	May 11, 2021

Abstract

Aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques and apparatus for multiple physical resource block (PRB) operations for narrowband (NB) systems, such as NB internet-of-things (IoT). In one aspect, a method is provided which may be performed by a wireless device such as a user equipment (UE), which may be an NB-IoT device. The method generally includes performing a cell search based on one or more signals received in an anchor RB within a set of RBs available for narrowband communications with a base station (BS); determining a location of at least one additional RB available for the narrowband communications with the BS based on an indication received in the anchor RB; and performing narrowband communications with the BS using at least one of: the anchor RB or the at least one additional resource block.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), comprising:
receiving one or more signals in an anchor resource block (RB) for narrowband communications with a base station (BS);
determining at least one additional RB for the narrowband communications with the BS based on a first indication of an absolute frequency of the at least one additional RB and a second indication of whether the at least one additional RB is in at least one of: an in-band location, a guard band location, or a standalone location, the first indication and the second indication received via radio resource control (RRC) signaling in the anchor RB; and
performing the narrowband communications with the BS using at least one of: the anchor RB or the at least one additional RB.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more signals comprise at least one of a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), or a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) signal.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the UE is configured with a limited set of possible RBs for narrowband communications; and
the first indication comprises an indication of at least one of the limited set of possible RBs.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first indication is interpreted based on the second indication.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving one or more types of system information block (SIB) broadcast messages in the anchor RB; and
receiving at least one of: another type of SIB message, a random access response (RAR) message, or a paging message, in at least one of: the anchor RB or the at least one additional RB.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein performing the narrowband communications comprises receiving at least one narrowband communication from the BS on only the anchor RB.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the anchor RB is located within a first operating bandwidth; and
the at least one additional RB is located within a second operating bandwidth.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one additional RB comprises another anchor RB.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving an indication that the at least one additional RB is not an anchor RB.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a system information block (SIB) in the anchor RB having an indication of a change in a SIB received in the at least one additional RB.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second indication comprises whether the at least one additional RB is in the in-band location.

12. A method for wireless communications by a base station (BS), comprising:
transmitting one or more signals in an anchor resource block (RB) for narrowband communications with a user equipment (UE);
transmitting, via radio resource control (RRC) signaling in the anchor RB, a first indication of an absolute frequency of at least one additional RB for the narrowband communications with the UE and a second indication of whether a location of the at least one additional RB is at least one of: an in-band location, a guard band location, or a standalone location; and
performing the narrowband communications with the UE using at least one of: the anchor RB or the at least one additional RB.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the one or more signals comprise at least one of a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), or a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) signal.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein:
the UE is configured with a limited set of possible RBs for narrowband communications; and
the first indication comprises an indication of at least one of the limited set of possible RBs.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein the first indication is interpreted based on the second indication.

16. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
transmitting one or more types of system information block (SIB) broadcast messages in the anchor RB; and
transmitting at least one of: another type of SIB message, a random access response (RAR) message, or a paging message, in at least one of: the anchor RB or the at least one additional RB.

17. The method of claim 12 , wherein performing the narrowband communications comprises transmitting at least one narrowband communication to the UE on only the anchor RB.

18. The method of claim 12 , wherein:
the anchor RB is located within a first operating bandwidth; and
the at least one additional RB is located within a second operating bandwidth.

19. The method of claim 12 , wherein the at least one additional RB comprises another anchor RB.

20. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
transmitting an indication that the at least one additional RB is not an anchor RB.

21. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
transmitting a system information block (SIB) in the anchor RB having an indication of a change in a SIB transmitted in the at least one additional RB.

22. The method of claim 12 , wherein the second indication comprises whether the at least one additional RB is in the in-band location.

23. An apparatus for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), comprising:
at least one processor; and
memory coupled to the at least one processor, the memory comprising instructions executable by the at least one processor to cause the UE to:
receive one or more signals in an anchor resource block (RB) for narrowband communications with a base station (BS);
determine at least one additional RB for the narrowband communications with the BS based on a first indication of an absolute frequency of the at least one additional RB and a second indication of whether a location of the at least one additional RB is at least one of: an in-band location, a guard band location, or a standalone location, the first indication and the second indication received via radio resource control (RRC) signaling in the anchor RB; and
perform the narrowband communications with the BS using at least one of: the anchor RB or the at least one additional RB.

24. The apparatus of claim 23 , wherein the one or more signals comprise at least one of a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), or a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) signal.

25. The apparatus of claim 23 , wherein:
the UE is configured with a limited set of possible RBs for narrowband communications; and
the first indication comprises an indication of at least one of the limited set of possible RBs.

26. The apparatus of claim 23 , wherein the first indication is interpreted based on the second indication.

27. The apparatus of claim 23 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the at least one processor to cause the UE to:
receive one or more types of system information block (SIB) broadcast messages in the anchor RB; and
receive at least one of: another type of SIB message, a random access response (RAR) message, or a paging message, in at least one of: the anchor RB or the at least one additional RB.

28. The apparatus of claim 23 , wherein performing the narrowband communications comprises receiving at least one narrowband communication from the BS on only the anchor RB.

29. The apparatus of claim 23 , wherein:
the anchor RB is located within a first operating bandwidth; and
the at least one additional RB is locat

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Rico Alvarino Alberto
• Wang Xiao Feng
• Xu Hao
• Chen Wanshi
• Gaal Peter
• Montojo Juan
• Fakoorian Seyed Ali Akbar

Classifications

• H04W74/0833

  Random access procedures, e.g. with 4-step access · CPC title

• H04W72/044 Primary

  based on the type of the allocated resource · CPC title

• H04W68/005

  Transmission of information for alerting of incoming communication · CPC title

• H04W48/16

  Discovering, processing access restriction or access information · CPC title

• H04W48/12 Primary

  using downlink control channel · CPC title