System and method for device-to-device synchronization

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11330542-B2
Application number	US-201916716140-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 16, 2019
Priority date	Oct 31, 2013
Publication date	May 10, 2022
Grant date	May 10, 2022

Abstract

A method and system for including a base station that configures a first user equipment (UE) that is in a radio resource control connected state with the base station. The UE is configured to be a synchronization source and transmit a first device-to-device synchronization signal (D2DSS) by using a synchronization resource that comprises a time resource, a frequency resource or a time and frequency resource. The base station instructs the first UE to transmit the first D2DSS using the synchronization resource. The base station signals the UE to configure the UE separately from the signal to transmit the D2DSS, and both of the signals are performed with radio resource control signaling from the base station to the UE.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving, by a user equipment (UE), first radio resource control (RRC) signal from a base station serving the UE, the first RRC signaling instructing the UE to transmit a first device-to-device synchronization signal (D2DSS);
receiving, by the UE, a second RRC signal from the base station, the second RRC signal identifying a synchronization resource for transmitting the first D2DSS by the UE, wherein the first RRC signal is received independently from the second RRC signal; and
transmitting, by the UE, the first D2DSS over the synchronization resource.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the synchronization resource is a time resource.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the synchronization resource is a frequency resource.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the synchronization resource is a time-frequency resource.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first RRC signal and the second RRC signal are RRC broadcast signals.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first RRC signal and the second RRC signal are RRC dedicated signals.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
requesting, by the UE, permission from the base station to transmit the first D2DSS.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
searching, by the UE, an uplink resource to detect a second D2DSS, the UE having a higher priority than a device that transmitted the second D2DSS.

9. A user equipment (UE) comprising:
at least one processor; and
a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing programming for execution by the at least one processor, the programming including instructions that cause the UE to:
receive first radio resource control (RRC) signal from a base station serving the UE, the first RRC signaling instructing the UE to transmit a first device-to-device synchronization signal (D2DSS);
receive a second RRC signal from the base station, the second RRC signal identifying a synchronization resource for transmitting the first D2DSS by the UE, wherein the first RRC signal is received independently from the second RRC signal; and
transmit the first D2DSS over the synchronization resource.

10. The UE of claim 9 , wherein the synchronization resource is a time resource.

11. The UE of claim 9 , wherein the synchronization resource is a frequency resource.

12. The UE of claim 9 , wherein the synchronization resource is a time-frequency resource.

13. The UE of claim 9 , wherein the first RRC signal and the second RRC signal are RRC broadcast signals.

14. The UE of claim 9 , wherein the first RRC signal and the second RRC signal are RRC dedicated signals.

15. The UE of claim 9 , wherein the programming further includes instructions to:
request permission from the base station to transmit the first D2DSS.

16. The UE of claim 9 , wherein the programming further includes instructions to:
search an uplink resource to detect a second D2DSS, the UE having a higher priority than a device that transmitted the second D2DSS.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first RRC signal designates the UE as a synchronization source of a cluster of UEs in a coverage area of the base station, and wherein the synchronization resource identified in the second RRC signal is an uplink resource for transmitting the first D2DSS by the UE.

18. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to perform operations, the operations comprising:
receiving first radio resource control (RRC) signal from a base station serving the UE, the first RRC signaling instructing the UE to transmit a first device-to-device synchronization signal (D2DSS);
receiving a second RRC signal from the base station, the second RRC signal identifying a synchronization resource for transmitting the first D2DSS by the UE, wherein the first RRC signal is received independently from the second RRC signal; and
transmitting the first D2DSS over the synchronization resource.

19. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 18 , wherein the synchronization resource is a time resource.

20. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 18 , wherein the synchronization resource is a frequency resource.

21. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 18 , wherein the synchronization resource is a time-frequency resource.

Assignees

• Futurewei Technologies Inc

Inventors

• Sartori Philippe
• Liu Deping
• Classon Brian
• Li Qiang

Classifications

• H04W56/002

  Mutual synchronization · CPC title

• H04W8/005

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

• H04W56/001 Primary

  Synchronization between nodes · CPC title

• H04W76/14

  Direct-mode setup · CPC title