Relay link communication

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016100347-A1
Application number	US-201514693559-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 22, 2015
Priority date	Oct 2, 2014
Publication date	Apr 7, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A link based on one radio access technology (RAT) is used to supplement the operation of another RAT. For example, in a user equipment (UE) device that can access both long term evolution (LTE) and millimeter wave (mmW) networks, the UE may use an LTE network to relay information between the UE and the mmW network.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An apparatus for communication, comprising:
a memory device; and a processing circuit coupled to the memory device and configured to:
establish a communication link between an access terminal and a first base station that includes circuitry for a first radio access technology (RAT);
send a request to the first base station to establish a relay link through the first base station between the access terminal and a second base station that includes circuitry for a second RAT different from the first RAT; and
communicate with the second base station via the relay link through the first base station.

2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to communicate beamforming information via the relay link.

3 . The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the beamforming information comprises antenna amplitude information and/or antenna phase information.

4 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the second RAT comprises millimeter wave (mmW) technology.

5 . The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the first RAT comprises long term evolution (LTE) technology.

6 . The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the relay link is established via an X2 interface between the first base station and the second base station.

7 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to communicate, via the relay link, at least one of: control information, beam search results, a scheduling request, a request to switch beamforming direction, periodic control link information, on-demand control link information, beamforming training information, or handover information.

8 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:
determine whether information to be communicated is time sensitive; and determine whether to communicate with the second base station via the relay link as a result of the determination.

9 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:
send a message to the second base station via the relay link; and receive a response to the message via the relay link.

10 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:
send a message to the second base station via the relay link; establish another communication link with the second base station; and receive a response to the message via the other communication link.

11 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to communicate with the second base station via a data channel established on the communication link with the first base station.

12 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to communicate with the second base station via a control channel established on the communication link with the first base station.

13 . A method of communication, comprising:
establishing a communication link between an access terminal and a first base station that includes circuitry for a first radio access technology (RAT); sending a request to the first base station to establish a relay link through the first base station between the access terminal and a second base station that includes circuitry for a second RAT different from the first RAT; and communicating with the second base station via the relay link through the first base station.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the communicating comprises communicating beamforming information.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the beamforming information comprises antenna amplitude information and/or antenna phase information.

16 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the communicating comprises communicating at least one of: control information, beam search results, a scheduling request, a request to switch beamforming direction, periodic control link information, on-demand control link information, beamforming training information, or handover information.

17 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
determining whether information to be communicated is time sensitive; and determining whether to communicate with the second base station via the relay link as a result of the determination.

18 . The method of claim 13 , wherein:
the communicating comprises sending a message to the second base station; and the method further comprises establishing another communication link with the second base station; and the method further comprises receiving a response to the message via the other communication link.

19 . An apparatus for communication, comprising:
means for establishing a communication link between an access terminal and a first base station that includes circuitry for a first radio access technology (RAT); means for sending a request to the first base station to establish a relay link through the first base station between the access terminal and a second base station that includes circuitry for a second RAT different from the first RAT; and means for communicating with the second base station via the relay link through the first base station.

20 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable code, including code to:
establish a communication link between an access terminal and a first base station that includes circuitry for a first radio access technology (RAT); send a request to the first base station to establish a relay link through the first base station between the access terminal and a second base station that includes circuitry for a second RAT different from the first RAT; and communicate with the second base station via the relay link through the first base station.

21 . An apparatus for communication, comprising:
a memory device; and a processing circuit coupled to the memory device and configured to:
establish a first communication link between a first base station that includes circuitry for a first radio access technology (RAT) based on millimeter wave (mmW) signaling and a second base station that includes circuitry for a second radio access technology (RAT) different from the first RAT;
receive an indication that a relay link between the first base station and an access terminal is established via the first communication link;
communicate with the access terminal via the relay link; and
establish a second communication link with the access terminal via the first RAT.

22 . The apparatus of claim 21 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to communicate beamforming information via the relay link.

23 . The apparatus of claim 21 , wherein the first communication link comprises an X2 interface.

24 . The apparatus of claim 21 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to communicate, via the relay link, at least one of: control information, beam search results, a scheduling request, a request to switch beamforming direction, periodic control link information, on-demand control link information, beamforming training information, or handover information.

25 . The apparatus of claim 21 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:
determine whether information to be communicated is time sensitive; and determine whether to communicate with the access terminal via the relay link as a result of the determination.

26 . The apparatus of claim 21 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:
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Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Ryu Jung
• Subramanian Sundar
• Sampath Ashwin
• Li Junyi

Classifications

• H04L45/245

  Link aggregation, e.g. trunking · CPC title

• H04W76/16

  Involving different core network technologies, e.g. a packet-switched [PS] bearer in combination with a circuit-switched [CS] bearer · CPC title

• H04W88/06

  adapted for operation in multiple networks {or having at least two operational modes}, e.g. multi-mode terminals · CPC title

• H04W92/20

  between access points · CPC title

• H04W16/28

  using beam steering · CPC title