Operating states for D2D discovery

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11146940-B2
Application number	US-201916354574-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 15, 2019
Priority date	Oct 8, 2013
Publication date	Oct 12, 2021
Grant date	Oct 12, 2021

Abstract

A device is configured to perform a method of device-to-device (D2D) communication in a wireless communication network in accordance with a Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard. The method includes entering an RRC-Idle state or an RRC-Connected state. The method also includes transmitting, in the RRC-Idle state or RRC-Connected state, a D2D discovery signal for receipt by at least one second device in the network. The method further includes receiving, in the RRC-Idle state or RRC-Connected state, at least one D2D discovery signal from the at least one second device in the network.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of device-to-device (D2D) communication in a wireless communication network in accordance with a Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard, the method comprising:
receiving, by a first device from the network via a base station in association with a registration process, an assignment of a D2D identifier for identification of the first device during D2D communication both when the first device is in-coverage of the base station and when the first device is out-of-coverage of the base station;
entering, by the first device, a radio resource control-idle (RRC-Idle) state or a radio resource control-connected (RRC-Connected) state;
transmitting, by the first device while operating in the RRC-Idle state or the RRC-Connected state, a D2D discovery signal for receipt by one or more second devices in the network;
receiving, by the first device while operating in the RRC-Idle state or the RRC-Connected state, at least one D2D discovery signal from at least one of the one or more second devices in the network; and
transmitting, by the first device, a D2D signal that includes the D2D identifier to the one or more second devices in the network, wherein the device transitions between states at an occurrence of a frame boundary or a subframe boundary.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting the D2D discovery signal comprises transitioning to a D2D-Connected state to transmit the D2D discovery signal, then transitioning back to the RRC-Idle or the RRC-Connected state after transmitting the D2D discovery signal.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising entering, by the first device, a D2D-Connected state prior to transmitting the D2D signal to the one or more second devices in the network.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein entering the RRC-Idle state or the RRC-Connected state comprises entering the RRC-Connected state, and wherein transmitting the D2D discovery signal comprises transmitting, by the first device, the D2D discovery signal while in the RRC-Connected state and while engaged in cellular communication with the base station.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transmitting the D2D discovery signal comprises transmitting the D2D discovery signal on resources allocated for discovery.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the receiving the at least one D2D discovery signal comprises receiving the at least one D2D discovery signal on resources allocated for discovery.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving, by the first device from the network, a configuration indicating resources allocated for discovery.

8. A device capable of device-to-device (D2D) communication in a wireless communication network in accordance with a Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard, the device comprising:
at least one antenna configured to transmit and receive signals; and
at least one processor configured to control the device to:
receive, from the network via a base station in association with a registration process, an assignment of a D2D identifier for identification of the device during D2D communication both when the device is in-coverage of the base station and when the device is out-of-coverage of the base station;
enter a radio resource control-idle (RRC-Idle) state or a radio resource control-connected (RRC-Connected) state;
transmit, while operating in the RRC-Idle state or the RRC-Connected state, a D2D discovery signal, in accordance with the D2D identifier for identification of the device, for receipt by one or more second devices in the network;
receive, in the RRC-Idle state or the RRC-Connected state, at least one D2D discovery signal from at least one of the one or more second devices in the network; and
transmit a D2D signal that includes the D2D identifier to the one or more second devices in the network, wherein the device transitions between states at an occurrence of a frame boundary or a subframe boundary.

9. The device of claim 8 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to control the device to transmit the D2D discovery signal by transitioning to a D2D-Connected state to transmit the D2D discovery signal, then transitioning back to the RRC-Idle or the RRC-Connected state after transmitting the D2D discovery signal.

10. The device of claim 8 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to control the device to enter a D2D-Connected state prior to transmitting the D2D signal to the one or more second devices in the network.

11. The device of claim 8 , wherein the at least one processor configured to control the device to enter the RRC-Idle state or the RRC-Connected state comprises the at least one processor configured to control the device to enter the RRC-Connected state, and wherein the at least one processor configured to control the device to transmit the D2D discovery signal comprises the at least one processor configured to control the device to transmit the D2D discovery signal while in the RRC-Connected state and while engaged in cellular communication with the base station.

12. The device of claim 8 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to control the device to transmit the D2D discovery signal on resources allocated for discovery.

13. The device of claim 8 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to control the device to receive the at least one D2D discovery signal on resources allocated for discovery.

14. The device of claim 8 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to control the device to receive, from the network, a configuration indicating resources allocated for discovery.

15. A system for device-to-device (D2D) communication in a wireless communication network in accordance with a Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard, the system comprising:
a first D2D device; and
one or more second D2D devices,
wherein the first D2D device is configured to:
receive, from the network via a base station in association with a registration process, an assignment of a D2D identifier for identification of the first D2D device during D2D communication both when the first D2D device is in-coverage of the base station and when the first D2D device is out-of-coverage of the base station;
enter a radio resource control-idle (RRC-Idle) state or a radio resource control-connected (RRC-Connected) state;
transmit, while operating in the RRC-Idle state or the RRC-Connected state, a D2D discovery signal, in accordance with the D2D identifier for identification of the first device, for receipt by the one or more second D2D devices;
receive, while operating in the RRC-Idle state or the RRC-Connected state, at least one D2D discovery signal from the at least one of the one or more second D2D devices; and
transmit a D2D signal that includes the D2D identifier to the one or more second devices in the network, wherein the first D2D device transitions between states at an occurrence of a frame boundary or a subframe boundary.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the first D2D device is configured to transmit the D2D discovery signal by transitioning to a D2D-Connected state to transmit the D2D discovery signal, then transitioning back to the RRC-Idle or the RRC-Connected state after transmitting the D2D discovery signal.

17. The system of claim 15 , wherein the first D2D device is configured to enter a D2D-Connected state prior to transmitting the D2D signal to the one or more second devices in the network.

18. The system of claim 15 , wherein the first D2D device configured to enter the RRC-Idle state or the RRC-Connected state comprises the first D2D device configured to e

Assignees

• Futurewei Technologies Inc

Inventors

• Sartori Philippe
• Bagheri Hossein
• Desai Vipul
• Soong Anthony C K
• Al-Shalash Mazin Ali

Classifications

• H04W76/14

  Direct-mode setup · CPC title

• H04W60/00

  Affiliation to network, e.g. registration; Terminating affiliation with the network, e.g. de-registration · CPC title

• H04W8/005 Primary

  Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals · CPC title

• H04W76/11

  Allocation or use of connection identifiers · CPC title

• H04W92/18

  between terminal devices · CPC title