Enhanced carrier aggregation activation and scheduling request procedures

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016295607-A1
Application number	US-201615070990-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 15, 2016
Priority date	Apr 1, 2015
Publication date	Oct 6, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communication are described. A user equipment (UE) configured with several component carriers (CCs) may select one or more CCs for fast activation. The UE may, in various examples, autonomously select the CCs for fast activation or may receive signaling indicating such CCs. In some cases, the UE may place the selected CCs in a semi-active state by detecting and synchronizing the CCs while refraining from control channel monitoring. In other examples, the UE may identify a set of CCs that may be activated quickly based on channel conditions or that have activation interdependency, such as CCs in a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) group. The UE may then trigger an activation for one of the selected CCs, determine it is capable of fast activation, and begin monitoring, e.g., for control information, after a reduced delay period based on the fast activation.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of wireless communication, comprising:
triggering activation of one or more component carriers (CCs); determining an activation mode from a plurality of activation modes for the one or more CCs in response to the triggering; and monitoring the one or more CCs based at least in part on the activation mode.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein each activation mode of the plurality of activation modes is associated with a corresponding activation period; and wherein determining the activation mode comprises:
selecting the activation mode from a set of activation modes comprising at least one second activation mode with an activation period that is shorter than a standard activation period.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein triggering activation of the one or more CCs comprises:
receiving an activation command from a serving cell; or identifying a trigger condition comprising a channel measurement, a radio resource control (RRC) condition, or both.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
performing a detection procedure or a synchronization procedure prior to triggering activation the one or more CCs based at least in part on the activation mode.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
transmitting an indication that the one or more CCs are associated with the activation mode.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
measuring a channel quality of the one or more CCs, wherein determining the activation mode for the one or more CCs is based at least in part on the measured channel quality.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
identifying an activated CC or receiving an indication of an activation group comprising the one or more CCs, wherein determining the activation mode is based at least in part on the activated CC or the activation group.

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
triggering deactivation of the one or more CCs; determining a deactivation mode; and maintaining synchronization with the one or more CCs based at least in part on the deactivation mode.

9 . A method of wireless communication, comprising:
receiving a carrier aggregation (CA) configuration comprising a primary CC and a secondary CC with a secondary physical uplink control channel (PUCCH); and receiving a scheduling request (SR) configuration comprising an SR transmission threshold for the primary CC or the secondary CC, or both.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the SR configuration is received on the primary CC or the secondary CC.

11 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
determining that an SR counter is less than the SR transmission threshold; and transmitting an SR on the secondary CC with a PUCCH based at least in part on the determination.

12 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
determining that an SR counter is greater than the SR transmission threshold; and releasing PUCCH and sounding reference signal (SRS) resources based at least in part on the determination.

13 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
initiating a random access channel (RACH) procedure based at least in part on the determination.

14 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the SR configuration is associated with an SR counter for the primary CC or the secondary CC, or both.

15 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the SR configuration is associated with a first SR counter for the primary CC and a second SR counter for the secondary CC.

16 . An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:
a processor; memory in electronic communication with the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and operable, when executed by the processor, to cause the apparatus to:
trigger activation of one or more CCs;
determine an activation mode from a plurality of activation modes for the one or more CCs in response to the triggering; and
monitor the one or more CCs based at least in part on the activation mode.

17 . The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein each activation mode of the plurality of activation modes is associated with a corresponding activation period; and wherein determining the activation mode comprises:
select the activation mode from a set of activation modes comprising at least one second activation mode with an activation period that is shorter than a standard activation period.

18 . The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the instructions are operable to cause the apparatus to:
receive an activation command from a serving cell; or identify a trigger condition comprising a channel measurement, an RRC condition, or both.

19 . The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the instructions are operable to cause the apparatus to:
perform a detection procedure or a synchronization procedure prior to triggering activation the one or more CCs based at least in part on the activation mode.

20 . The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the instructions are operable to cause the apparatus to:
transmit an indication that the one or more CCs are associated with the activation mode.

21 . The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the instructions are operable to cause the apparatus to:
measure a channel quality of the one or more CCs, wherein determining the activation mode for the one or more CCs is based at least in part on the measured channel quality.

22 . The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the instructions are operable to cause the apparatus to:
identify an activated CC or receive an indication of an activation group comprising the one or more CCs, wherein determining the activation mode is based at least in part on the activated CC or the activation group.

23 . The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the instructions are operable to cause the apparatus to:
trigger deactivation of the one or more CCs; determine a deactivation mode; and maintain synchronization with the one or more CCs based at least in part on the deactivation mode.

24 . An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:
a processor; memory in electronic communication with the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and operable, when executed by the processor, to cause the apparatus to:
receive a carrier aggregation (CA) configuration comprising a primary CC and a secondary CC with a PUCCH; and
receive an SR configuration comprising an SR transmission threshold for the primary CC or the secondary CC, or both.

25 . The apparatus of claim 24 , wherein the instructions are operable to cause the apparatus to:
receive the SR configuration on the primary CC or the secondary CC.

26 . The apparatus of claim 24 , wherein the instructions are operable to cause the apparatus to:
determine that an SR counter is less than the SR transmission threshold; and transmit an SR on the secondary CC with a PUCCH based at least in part on the determination.

27 . The apparatus of claim 24 , wherein the instructions are operable to cause the apparatus to:
determine that an SR counter is greater than the SR transmission threshold; and release PUCCH and SRS resources based at least in part on the determination.

28 . The apparatus of claim 27 , wherein the instructions are operable to cause the apparatus to:
initiate a RACH procedure based at least in part on the determination.

29 . The apparatus of claim 24 , wherein the SR

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Vajapeyam Madhavan Srinivasan
• Chen Wanshi
• Damnjanovic Jelena
• Gohari Amir Aminzadeh
• Gaal Peter

Classifications

• H04W72/21 Primary

  in the uplink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards the network · CPC title

• H04L5/0032

  Distributed allocation, i.e. involving a plurality of allocating devices, each making partial allocation · CPC title

• H04L5/0098

  Signalling of the activation or deactivation of component carriers, subcarriers or frequency bands · CPC title

• H04L5/0053

  Allocation of signalling, i.e. of overhead other than pilot signals · CPC title

• H04W56/00

  Synchronisation arrangements · CPC title