Cell selection procedures for machine type communication devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016337931-A1
Application number	US-201615148818-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	May 6, 2016
Priority date	May 13, 2015
Publication date	Nov 17, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Cell selection techniques are provided for network access to cells that may employ one or more coverage enhancement techniques. A user equipment (UE), which may be a machine type communication (MTC) device, upon initial acquisition or upon wakeup may measure a reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), or both, and determine a cell selection value based at least in part on the RSRP, RSRQ, or a combination thereof. The cell selection value may be determined based on an offset, which may be selected based on a measurement accuracy capability of the UE. UE sequential access attempts, neighbor cell list information that may include coverage enhancement of neighboring cells transmissions, and cell re-selection measurement frequency adjustments are also described.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of wireless communication in a wireless communications network, comprising:
receiving signaling indicative of a coverage enhancement level for one or more cells; combining the coverage enhancement levels with receive power information for the one or more cells; and selecting a cell for network access based at least in part on a cell selection parameter comprising the combined coverage enhancement levels and receive power information.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more cells comprise one or both of a serving cell or a neighboring cell.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the combining further comprises:
determining an offset to apply to cell selection values for the one or more cells based at least in part on a coverage enhancement level for the one or more cells.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the cell selection parameter is based at least in part on one or both of a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement or a reference signal received quality (RSRQ) measurement.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting the cell for network access comprises:
determining that a cell selection parameter for candidate cells is less than a threshold value for cell selection.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting the cell for network access comprises:
continuing to select additional cells for network access according to a predefined criteria.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein continuing to select additional cells comprises:
attempting to decode a broadcast channel transmission of the cell; and selecting a second cell of the one or more cells for access to the wireless communications network based at least in part on unsuccessfully attempting to decode the broadcast channel transmission of the cell.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein attempting to decode the broadcast channel transmission of the first cell comprises attempting to decode a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) and system information block (SIB) of the first cell.

9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining that a reference signal density for a cell of the one or more cells is adjusted based at least in part on the coverage enhancement level for the cell; and adjusting a measurement duration associated with the reference signal based at least in part on the reference signal density.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the reference signal density is increased as a function of the coverage enhancement level.

11 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the measurement duration associated with the reference signal is increased as a function of the coverage enhancement level.

12 . A method of wireless communication in a wireless communications network, comprising:
establishing a connection with a first cell in the wireless communications network; and reducing a frequency of measurements of one or more other cells based at least in part on a use of coverage enhancement techniques of one or both of the first cell or the one or more other cells.

13 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
measuring one or more signal parameters of signals received from the one or more other cells according to the reduced frequency of measurements; and determining whether to attempt to establish a connection with a second cell of the one or more other cells based at least in part on the measured signal parameters for the second cell and a coverage enhancement level associated with the first cell and the second cell.

14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein reducing the frequency of measurements comprises:
identifying a coverage enhancement level associated with the first cell; adjusting a cell selection criteria for the first cell based at least in part on the coverage enhancement level associated with the first cell; and configuring a timer to control the frequency of measurements of signals received from the one or more other cells having at least partially overlapping frequencies based at least in part on the adjusted cell selection criteria.

15 . The method of claim 12 , wherein reducing the frequency of measurements comprises:
identifying a coverage enhancement level associated with the first cell; identifying one or more of the other cells having non-overlapping frequencies with the first cell; and adjusting the frequency of measurements for one or more of the other cells based at least in part on a priority associated with the non-overlapping frequencies of the one or more other cells.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein measurements for one or more of the other cells having a higher priority frequency are performed based at least in part on one or both of a timer or a quality threshold of the first cell.

17 . The method of claim 15 , wherein measurements for one or more of the other cells having a lower priority frequency are performed based at least in part on one or both of a timer or an offset to a cell selection criteria associated with the first cell.

18 . 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 signaling indicative of a coverage enhancement level for one or more cells;
combine the coverage enhancement levels with receive power information for the one or more cells; and
select a cell for network access based at least in part on a cell selection parameter comprising the combined coverage enhancement levels and receive power information.

19 . The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the one or more cells comprise one or both of a serving cell or a neighboring cell.

20 . The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the instructions are further executable to cause the apparatus to:
determine an offset to apply to cell selection values for the one or more cells based at least in part on a coverage enhancement level for the one or more cells.

21 . The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the cell selection parameter is based at least in part on one or both of a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement or a reference signal received quality (RSRQ) measurement.

22 . The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein selecting the cell for network access comprises:
determining that a cell selection parameter for candidate cells is less than a threshold value for cell selection.

23 . The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein selecting the cell for network access comprises:
continuing to select additional cells for network access according to a predefined criteria.

24 . The apparatus of claim 23 , wherein continuing to select additional cells comprises:
attempting to decode a broadcast channel transmission of the cell; and selecting a second cell of the one or more cells for access to the wireless communications network based at least in part on unsuccessfully attempting to decode the broadcast channel transmission of the cell.

25 . The apparatus of claim 24 , wherein attempting to decode the broadcast channel transmission of the first cell comprises attempting to decode a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) and system information block (SIB) of the first cell.

26 . The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the instructions are further executable to cause the apparatus to:
determine that a reference signal density for a ce

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Wang Renqiu
• Vajapeyam Madhavan Srinivasan
• Xu Hao
• Chen Wanshi
• Gaal Peter

Classifications

• H04W48/20 Primary

  Selecting an access point · CPC title

• H04L5/005

  of common pilots, i.e. pilots destined for multiple users or terminals · CPC title

• H04W72/0473

  the resource being transmission power · CPC title

• H04W4/70 Primary

  Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC] · CPC title

• H04H20/38

  Arrangements for distribution where lower stations, e.g. receivers, interact with the broadcast · CPC title