Discovering physical cell identifiers in wireless communications

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11570698-B2
Application number	US-202117161162-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 28, 2021
Priority date	Apr 29, 2016
Publication date	Jan 31, 2023
Grant date	Jan 31, 2023

Abstract

Aspects of the present disclosure describe receiving, from at least one cell of a zone of multiple cells, a zone-specific signal related to the zone of multiple cells, wherein the zone of multiple cells operate using synchronized timing, acquiring, based on the zone-specific signal, a timing synchronization with a cell of the zone of multiple cells, and communicating with the cell based on the timing synchronization.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for wireless communication, comprising:
receiving, from at least one cell of a zone of multiple cells, a zone-specific signal that is transmitted by the multiple cells in the zone in a single frequency network (SFN) manner, wherein the zone of multiple cells operate using synchronized timing;
acquiring, based on the zone-specific signal, a timing synchronization with a cell of the zone of multiple cells; and
communicating with the cell based on the timing synchronization.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein communicating with the cell includes receiving a cell-specific signal from the cell based on the timing synchronization, and further comprising communicating with the cell based on the cell-specific signal.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the cell-specific signal includes one or more of a measurement reference signal, a secondary synchronization signal (SSS) or a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) specific to the cell.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the zone-specific signal includes one or more of a primary synchronization signal (PSS), SSS, or PBCH corresponding to the zone of multiple cells.

5. The method of claim 2 , further comprising determining, based on the cell-specific signal, a physical cell identifier of the cell.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein determining the physical cell identifier includes determining a scrambling sequence used to scramble the cell-specific signal.

7. The method of claim 2 , wherein communicating with the cell includes communicating with the cell as a serving cell in the zone of multiple cells based on receiving the cell-specific signal from the cell.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein communicating with the cell includes transmitting communications from the cell based on the timing synchronization.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising transmitting, in the zone of multiple cells and based on acquiring the timing synchronization, a pilot signal.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising receiving, based on transmitting the pilot signal, an indication of the cell as a serving cell, wherein communicating with the cell is based on receiving the indication of the cell as the serving cell.

11. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising:
a transceiver for transmitting or receiving one or more signals via one or more antennas;
a memory configured to store instructions; and
one or more processors coupled to the transceiver and the memory, the one or more processors being configured to execute the instructions to:
receive, from at least one cell of a zone of multiple cells, a zone-specific signal that is transmitted by the multiple cells in the zone in a single frequency network (SFN) manner, wherein the zone of multiple cells operate using synchronized timing;
acquire, based on the zone-specific signal, a timing synchronization with a cell of the zone of multiple cells; and
communicate with the cell based on the timing synchronization.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to communicate with the cell at least in part by receiving a cell-specific signal from the cell based on the timing synchronization, and wherein the one or more processors are further configured to communicate with the cell based on the cell-specific signal.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the cell-specific signal includes one or more of a measurement reference signal, a secondary synchronization signal (SSS) or a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) specific to the cell.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the zone-specific signal includes one or more of a primary synchronization signal (PSS), SSS, or PBCH corresponding to the zone of multiple cells.

15. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to determine, based on the cell-specific signal, a physical cell identifier of the cell.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine the physical cell identifier at least in part by determining a scrambling sequence used to scramble the cell-specific signal.

17. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to communicate with the cell at least in part by communicating with the cell as a serving cell in the zone of multiple cells based on receiving the cell-specific signal from the cell.

18. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to communicate with the cell at least in part by transmitting communications from the cell based on the timing synchronization.

19. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to transmit, in the zone of multiple cells and based on acquiring the timing synchronization, a pilot signal.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to receive, based on transmitting the pilot signal, an indication of the cell as a serving cell, wherein the one or more processors are configured to communicate with the cell based on receiving the indication of the cell as the serving cell.

21. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising:
means for receiving, from at least one cell of a zone of multiple cells, a zone-specific signal that is transmitted by the multiple cells in the zone in a single frequency network (SFN) manner, wherein the zone of multiple cells operate using synchronized timing;
means for acquiring, based on the zone-specific signal, a timing synchronization with a cell of the zone of multiple cells; and
means for communicating with the cell based on the timing synchronization.

22. The apparatus of claim 21 , wherein the means for communicating with the cell receives a cell-specific signal from the cell based on the timing synchronization, and communicates with the cell based on the cell-specific signal.

23. The apparatus of claim 22 , wherein the cell-specific signal includes one or more of a measurement reference signal, a secondary synchronization signal (SSS) or a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) specific to the cell.

24. The apparatus of claim 23 , wherein the zone-specific signal includes one or more of a primary synchronization signal (PSS), SSS, or PBCH corresponding to the zone of multiple cells.

25. The apparatus of claim 22 , further comprising means for determining, based on the cell-specific signal, a physical cell identifier of the cell.

26. A non-transitory computer-readable medium, comprising code executable by one or more processors for wireless communication, the code comprising code for:
receiving, from at least one cell of a zone of multiple cells, a zone-specific signal that is transmitted by the multiple cells in the in a single frequency network (SFN) manner, wherein the zone of multiple cells operate using synchronized timing;
acquiring, based on the zone-specific signal, a timing synchronization with a cell of the zone of multiple cells; and
communicating with the cell based on the timing synchronization.

27. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 26 , wherein the code for communicating with the cell receives a cell-specific signal from the cell based on the timing synchronization, and communicates with the cell based on the cell-specific signal.

28. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 27 , wherein the cell-spec

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Ly Hung
• Soriaga Joseph Binamira
• Ji Tingfang
• Jiang Jing
• Yang Yang
• Namgoong June

Classifications

• H04W48/10

  using broadcasted information · CPC title

• H04L5/0048

  Allocation of pilot signals, i.e. of signals known to the receiver (allocation of control signalling H04L5/0053; use of control signalling H04L5/0091) · CPC title

• H04L5/0051

  of dedicated pilots, i.e. pilots destined for a single user or terminal · CPC title

• H04W48/16 Primary

  Discovering, processing access restriction or access information · CPC title

• H04W48/00 Primary

  Access restriction (access security to prevent unauthorised access H04W12/08); Network selection; Access point selection · CPC title