Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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UPLINK AND DOWNLINK GRANTS FOR NARROWBAND OPERATIONS
CROSS REFERENCE
[0001] The present Application for Patent claims priority to
International Patent
Application Number PCT/CN2017/095169, filed July 31, 2017, assigned to the
assignee
hereof.
BACKGROUND
Field of the Disclosure
[0002] Certain aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to
wireless
communications and, more particularly, to uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) grants
for
narrowband operations.
Description of Related Art
[0003] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide
various
types of communication content such as voice, data, and so on. These systems
may be
multiple-access systems capable of supporting communication with multiple
users by
sharing the available system resources (e.g., bandwidth and transmit power).
Examples
of such multiple-access systems include code division multiple access (CDMA)
systems,
time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple
access
(FDMA) systems, 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution
(LTE)/LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems and orthogonal frequency division multiple
access (OFDMA) systems.
[0004] Generally, a wireless multiple-access communication system can
simultaneously support communication for multiple wireless terminals. Each
terminal
communicates with one or more base stations (BSs) via transmissions on the
forward and
reverse links. The forward link (or downlink) refers to the communication link
from the
BSs to the terminals, and the reverse link (or uplink) refers to the
communication link
from the terminals to the BSs. This communication link may be established via
a single-
input single-output, multiple-input single-output or a multiple-input multiple-
output
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(MIMO) system.
[0005] A wireless communication network may include a number of BSs that
can
support communication for a number of wireless devices. Wireless devices may
include
user equipments (UEs). Machine type communications (MTC) may refer to
communication involving at least one remote device on at least one end of the
communication and may include forms of data communication which involve one or
more
entities that do not necessarily need human interaction. MTC UEs may include
UEs that
are capable of MTC communications with MTC servers and/or other MTC devices
through Public Land Mobile Networks (PLMN), for example. Wireless devices may
include Internet-of-Things (loT) devices (e.g., narrowband loT (NB-loT)
devices). loT
may refer to a network of physical objects, devices, or "things". loT devices
may be
embedded with, for example, electronics, software, or sensors and may have
network
connectivity, which enable these devices to collect and exchange data.
[0006] Some next generation, NR, or 5G networks may include a number of
base
stations, each simultaneously supporting communication for multiple
communication
devices, such as UEs. In LTE or LTE-A network, a set of one or more BSs may
define
an e NodeB (eNB). In other examples (e.g., in a next generation or 5G
network), a
wireless multiple access communication system may include a number of
distributed units
(e.g., edge units (EUs), edge nodes (ENs), radio heads (RHs), smart radio
heads (SRHs),
transmission reception points (TRPs), etc.) in communication with a number of
central
units (e.g., CU, central nodes (CNs), access node controllers (ANCs), etc.),
where a set
of one or more distributed units (DUs), in communication with a CU, may define
an
access node (e.g., AN, a new radio base station (NR BS), a NR NB, a network
node, a
gNB, a 5G BS, an access point (AP), etc.). A BS or DU may communicate with a
set of
UEs on downlink channels (e.g., for transmissions from a BS or to a UE) and
uplink
channels (e.g., for transmissions from a UE to a BS or DU).
[0007] These multiple access technologies have been adopted in various
telecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that enables
different
wireless devices to communicate on a municipal, national, regional, and even
global level.
NR (e.g., 5G radio access) is an example of an emerging telecommunication
standard.
NR is a set of enhancements to the LTE mobile standard promulgated by 3GPP. NR
is
designed to better support mobile broadband Internet access by improving
spectral
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efficiency, lowering costs, improving services, making use of new spectrum,
and better
integrating with other open standards using OFDMA with a cyclic prefix (CP) on
the
downlink (DL) and on the uplink (UL) as well as support beamforming. MIMO
antenna
technology, and carrier aggregation.
[0008] However, as the demand for mobile broadband access continues to
increase,
there exists a need for further improvements in LTE, MTC, IoT, and NR (new
radio)
technology. Preferably, these improvements should be applicable to other multi-
access
technologies and the telecommunication standards that employ these
technologies.
SUMMARY
[0009] The systems, methods, and devices of the disclosure each have
several aspects,
no single one of which is solely responsible for its desirable attributes.
Without limiting
the scope of this disclosure as expressed by the claims which follow, some
features will
now be discussed briefly. After considering this discussion, and particularly
after reading
the section entitled "DETAILED DESCRIPTION" one will understand how the
features
of this disclosure provide advantages that include improved communications
between
access points and stations in a wireless network.
[0010] Certain aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to
uplink and
downlink operations for narrowband operations.
[0011] Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a method,
performed by a
wireless device, such as a user equipment (UE). The method generally includes
monitoring a control channel in a narrowband of a system bandwidth for an
uplink (UL)
or a downlink (DL) grant, receiving interlaced UL and DL grants, and sending
or
receiving information in response to the received interlaced UL and DL grants.
[0012] Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a method,
performed by a
wireless device, such as a UE. The method generally includes monitoring a
control
channel in a narrowband of a system bandwidth for an uplink (UL) or a downlink
(DL)
grant, receiving two consecutive UL or DL grants, wherein the consecutive UL
or DL
grants have a same HARQ process identification (ID), and selecting one of the
grants to
use based, at least in part, on at least one of: the grant meeting an energy
metric threshold,
the grant being received first, or the grant being received second, or
selecting both grants
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to use, wherein the grants are treated as hybrid automatic repeat request
(HARQ)
retransmissions.
[0013] Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a method,
performed by a
wireless device, such as a UE. The method generally includes monitoring a
control
channel in a narrowband of a system bandwidth for an uplink (UL) or a downlink
(DL)
grant, receiving two consecutive UL or DL grants, sending or receiving
information in
response to the received two consecutive UL and DL grants, and in response to
the
sending or receiving information, identifying a collision, the collision
comprising at least
one of: collision between first DL data channel and second DL data channel,
collision
between the second DL data channel and first HARQ acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK)
signaling for the first DL data channel, collision between first HARQ-ACK
signaling for
the first DL data channel and second HARQ-ACK signaling for the second DL data
channel, or collision between first UL data channel and second UL data
channel.
[0014] Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a method,
performed by a
wireless device, such as a base station (BS). The method generally includes
transmitting
interlaced uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) grants on a control channel in a
narrowband
of a system bandwidth, and sending or receiving information in response to the
transmitted interlaced UL and DL grants.
[0015] Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a method,
performed by a
wireless device, such as a base station (BS). The method generally includes
transmitting,
to a user equipment (UE), two consecutive uplink (UL) or downlink (DL) grants
on a
control channel in a narrowband of a system bandwidth, the consecutive UL or
DL grants
having a same HARQ process identification (ID), wherein: a grant for use is
selected by
the UE based, at least in part, on at least one of: the grant meeting energy
metric threshold,
the grant being received first, or the grant being received second, or both
grants are
selected for use by the UE, wherein the grants are treated as hybrid automatic
repeat
request (HARQ) retransmissions.
[0016] Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a method,
performed by a
wireless device, such as a base station (BS). The method generally includes
transmitting,
to a user equipment (UE), two consecutive UL or DL grants on a control channel
in a
narrowband of a system bandwidth, sending or receiving information in response
to the
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transmitted two consecutive UL and DL grants, wherein, in response to the
sending or
receiving information, identifying a collision comprising at least one of:
collision between
first DL data channel and second DL data channel, collision between the second
DL data
channel and first HARQ acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) signaling for the first DL
data
channel, collision between first HARQ-ACK signaling for the first DL data
channel and
second HARQ-ACK signaling for the second DL data channel; or collision between
first
UL data channel and second UL data channel.
[0017] Numerous other aspects are provided including methods, apparatus,
systems,
computer program products, computer-readable medium, and processing systems.
To the
accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the one or more aspects
comprise the
features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the
claims. The
following description and the annexed drawings set forth in detail certain
illustrative
features of the one or more aspects. These features are indicative, however,
of but a few
of the various ways in which the principles of various aspects may be
employed, and this
description is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0018] So that the manner in which the above-recited features of the
present
disclosure can be understood in detail, a more particular description, briefly
summarized
above, may be had by reference to aspects, some of which are illustrated in
the appended
drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate
only certain
typical aspects of this disclosure and are therefore not to be considered
limiting of its
scope, for the description may admit to other equally effective aspects.
[0019] FIG. 1 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example of
a wireless
communication network, in accordance with certain aspects of the present
disclosure.
[0020] FIG. 2 shows a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example
of a base
station (BS) in communication with a user equipment (UE) in a wireless
communications
network, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.
[0021] FIG. 3 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example of
a frame
structure in a wireless communications network, in accordance with certain
aspects of the
present disclosure.
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[0022] FIG. 4 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating two exemplary
subframe
formats with the normal cyclic prefix, in accordance with certain aspects of
the present
disclosure.
[0023] FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary subframe configuration for
enhanced/evolved
machine type communications (eMTC), in accordance with certain aspects of the
present
disclosure.
[0024] FIG. 6 illustrates an example deployment of narrowband Internet-of-
Things
(NB-IoT), in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.
[0025] FIG. 7 illustrates an example logical architecture of a
distributed radio access
network (RAN), in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.
[0026] FIG. 8 illustrates an example physical architecture of a
distributed RAN, in
accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.
[0027] FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a downlink (DL)-
centric
subframe, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.
[0028] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of an uplink (UL)-
centric
subframe, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.
[0029] FIG. 11 illustrates an example of Release 13 HARQ process timing
and an
example of Release 14 HARQ process timing, in accordance with certain aspects
of the
present disclosure.
[0030] FIG. 12 illustrates example interlaced grants (DL followed by UL)
in
accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.
[0031] FIG. 13 illustrates example interlaced grants (UL followed by DL)
in
accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.
[0032] FIG. 14 illustrates example interlaced NPDCCH and NPUSCH in
accordance
with certain aspects of the present disclosure.
[0033] FIG. 15 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations for
receiving
interlaced uplink and downlink grants in a narrowband of a system bandwidth,
in
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accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.
[0034] FIG. 16 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations for UE
behavior
when receiving back to back UL grants or DL grants with same HARQ IDs, in
accordance
with certain aspects of the present disclosure.
[0035] FIG. 17 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations for UE
behavior in
connection with collisions when receiving back to back UL grants or DL grants,
in
accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.
[0036] To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have
been used,
where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the
figures. It is
contemplated that elements disclosed in one aspect may be beneficially
utilized on other
aspects without specific recitation.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0037] Aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for uplink
and downlink
operations for narrowband operations. The techniques described herein may be
used for
various wireless communication networks such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA,
SC-FDMA and other networks. The terms "network" and "system" are often used
interchangeably. A CDMA network may implement a radio technology such as
universal
terrestrial radio access (UTRA), cdma2000, etc. UTRA includes wideband CDMA
(WCDMA), time division synchronous CDMA (TD-SCDMA), and other variants of
CDMA. cdma2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95 and IS-856 standards. A TDMA network may
implement a radio technology such as global system for mobile communications
(GSM).
An OFDMA network may implement a radio technology such as evolved UTRA (E-
UTRA), ultra mobile broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX),
IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM , etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of universal mobile
telecommunication system (UMTS). 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) and
LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), in both frequency division duplex (FDD) and time
division
duplex (TDD), are new releases of UMTS that use E-UTRA, which employs OFDMA on
the downlink and SC-FDMA on the uplink. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A and
GSM are described in documents from an organization named "3rd Generation
Partnership Project" (3GPP). cdma2000 and UMB are described in documents from
an
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organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project 2" (3GPP2). NR (e.g.,
5G radio
access) is an example of an emerging telecommunication standard. NR is a set
of
enhancements to the LTE mobile standard promulgated by 3GPP. The techniques
described herein may be used for the wireless networks and radio technologies
mentioned
above as well as other wireless networks and radio technologies. For clarity,
certain
aspects of the techniques are described below for LTE/LTE-Advanced, and
LTE/LTE-
Advanced (LTE-A) terminology is used in much of the description below. LTE and
LTE-
A are referred to generally as LTE.
[0038] It is noted that while aspects may be described herein using
terminology
commonly associated with 3G and/or 4G wireless technologies, aspects of the
present
disclosure can be applied in other generation-based communication systems,
such as 5G
and later.
EXAMPLE WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK
[0039] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communication network 100,
in which
aspects of the present disclosure may be practiced. For example, techniques
presented
herein may be used for UL and DL grants for narrowband operation in wireless
communication network 100, which may be narrowband Internet-of-things (NB-IoT)
and/or an enhanced/evolved machine type communications (eMTC) network.
Wireless
communication network 100 may include base stations (BSs) 110 and user
equipment
(UEs) 120. In aspects, a BS 110 can determine at least one narrowband region
of a
wideband region for communication with a UE 120. UE 120, which may be a low
cost
device, such a NB-IoT device or an eMTC UE, can determine the narrowband
region and
receive, send, monitor, or decode information on the narrowband region for
communication with BS 110.
[0040] Wireless communication network 100 may be a long term evolution
(LTE)
network or some other wireless network, such as a new radio (NR) or 5G
network.
Wireless communication network 100 may include a number of BSs 110 and other
network entities. A BS is an entity that communicates with UEs and may also be
referred
to as a NR BS, a Node B (NB), an evolved/enhanced NB (eNB), a 5G NB, a gNB, an
access point (AP), a transmission reception point (TRP), etc. Each BS may
provide
communication coverage for a particular geographic area. In 3GPP, the term
"cell" can
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refer to a coverage area of a BS and/or a BS subsystem serving this coverage
area,
depending on the context in which the term is used.
[0041] A BS may provide communication coverage for a macro cell, a pico
cell, a
femto cell, and/or other types of cell. A macro cell may cover a relatively
large
geographic area (e.g., several kilometers in radius) and may allow
unrestricted access by
UEs with service subscription. A pico cell may cover a relatively small
geographic area
and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscription. A femto
cell may
cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home) and may allow
restricted access
by UEs having association with the femto cell (e.g., UEs in a closed
subscriber group
(CSG)). A BS for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro BS. A BS for a
pico cell
may be referred to as a pico BS. A BS for a femto cell may be referred to as a
femto BS
or a home BS. In the example shown in FIG. 1, BS 110a may be a macro BS for a
macro
cell 102a, BS 110b may be a pico BS for a pico cell 102b, and BS 110c may be a
femto
BS for a femto cell 102c. A BS may support one or multiple (e.g., three)
cells. The terms
"base station" and "cell" may be used interchangeably herein.
[0042] Wireless communication network 100 may also include relay
stations. A relay
station is an entity that can receive a transmission of data from an upstream
station (e.g.,
BS 110 or UE 120) and send a transmission of the data to a downstream station
(e.g., UE
120 or BS 110). A relay station may also be a UE that can relay transmissions
for other
UEs. In the example shown in FIG. 1, relay station 110d may communicate with
macro
BS 110a and UE 120d in order to facilitate communication between BS 110a and
UE
120d. A relay station may also be referred to as a relay BS, a relay, etc.
[0043] Wireless communication network 100 may be a heterogeneous network
that
includes BSs of different types, e.g., macro BSs, pico BSs, femto BSs, relay
BSs, etc.
These different types of BSs may have different transmit power levels,
different coverage
areas, and different impact on interference in wireless communication network
100. For
example, macro BSs may have a high transmit power level (e.g., 5 to 40 Watts)
whereas
pico BSs, femto BSs, and relay BSs may have lower transmit power levels (e.g.,
0.1 to 2
Watts).
[0044] Network controller 130 may couple to a set of BSs and may provide
coordination and control for these BSs. Network controller 130 may communicate
with
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the BSs via a backhaul. The BSs may also communicate with one another, e.g.,
directly
or indirectly via a wireless or wireline backhaul.
[0045] UEs 120 (e.g., UE 120a, UE 120b, UE 120c) may be dispersed
throughout
wireless communication network 100, and each UE may be stationary or mobile. A
UE
may also be referred to as an access terminal, a terminal, a mobile station, a
subscriber
unit, a station, a Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), etc. A UE may be a
cellular phone
(e.g., a smart phone), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a
wireless
communication device, a handheld device, a laptop computer, a cordless phone,
a wireless
local loop (WLL) station, a tablet, a camera, a drone, a robot/robotic device,
a netbook, a
smartbook, an ultrabook, a medical device, medical equipment, a healthcare
device, a
biometric sensor/device, a wearable device such as a smart watch, smart
clothing, smart
glasses, virtual reality goggles, a smart wristband, and/or smart jewelry
(e.g., a smart ring,
a smart bracelet, etc.), an entertainment device (e.g., a music device, a
video device, a
gaming device, a satellite radio, etc.), industrial manufacturing equipment, a
navigation/positioning device (e.g., GNSS (global navigation satellite system)
devices
based on, for example, GPS (global positioning system), Beidou, GLONASS,
Galileo,
terrestrial-based devices, etc.), or any other suitable device configured to
communicate
via a wireless or wired medium. Some UEs may be implemented as ToT (Internet
of
things) UEs. ToT ua include, for example, robots/robotic devices, drones,
remote
devices, sensors, meters, monitors, cameras, location tags, etc., that may
communicate
with a BS, another device (e.g., remote device), or some other entity. ToT UEs
may
include MTC/eMTC UEs, NB-ToT UEs, as well as other types of UEs. A wireless
node
may provide, for example, connectivity for or to a network (e.g., a wide area
network
such as Internet or a cellular network) via a wired or wireless communication
link.
[0046] One or more UEs 120 in the wireless communication network 100
(e.g., an
LTE network) may be a narrowband bandwidth UE. As used herein, devices with
limited
communication resources, e.g. smaller bandwidth, may be referred to generally
as
narrowband UEs. Similarly, legacy devices, such as legacy and/or advanced UEs
(e.g.,
in LTE) may be referred to generally as wideband UEs. Generally, wideband UEs
are
capable of operating on a larger amount of bandwidth than narrowband UEs.
[0047] In FIG. 1, a solid line with double arrows indicates desired
transmissions
between a UE and a serving BS, which is a BS designated to serve the UE on the
downlink
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and/or uplink. A dashed line with double arrows indicates potentially
interfering
transmissions between a UE and a BS.
[0048] In general, any number of wireless networks may be deployed in a
given
geographic area. Each wireless network may support a particular radio access
technology
(RAT) and may operate on one or more frequencies. A RAT may also be referred
to as a
radio technology, an air interface, etc. A frequency may also be referred to
as a carrier, a
frequency channel, etc. Each frequency may support a single RAT in a given
geographic
area in order to avoid interference between wireless networks of different
RATs. In some
cases, NR or 5G RAT networks may be deployed.
[0049] In some examples, access to the air interface may be scheduled,
wherein a
scheduling entity (e.g., a BS 110) allocates resources for communication among
some or
all devices and equipment within its service area or cell. The scheduling
entity may be
responsible for scheduling, assigning, reconfiguring, and releasing resources
for one or
more subordinate entities. For scheduled communication, subordinate entities
utilize
resources allocated by the scheduling entity. BSs 110 are not the only
entities that may
function as a scheduling entity. In some examples, UE 120 may function as a
scheduling
entity, scheduling resources for one or more subordinate entities (e.g., one
or more other
UEs 120). In this example, the UE is functioning as a scheduling entity, and
other UEs
utilize resources scheduled by the UE for wireless communication. A UE may
function
as a scheduling entity in a peer-to-peer (P2P) network, and/or in a mesh
network. In a
mesh network example, UEs may optionally communicate directly with one another
in
addition to conununicating with the scheduling entity.
[0050] Thus, in a wireless communication network with a scheduled access
to time¨
frequency resources and having a cellular configuration, a P2P configuration,
and a mesh
configuration, a scheduling entity and one or more subordinate entities may
communicate
utilizing the scheduled resources.
[0051] FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a design of BS 110 and UE 120,
which may
be one of the BSs 110 and one of the UEs 120 in FIG. 1. BS 110 may be equipped
with
T antennas 234a through 234t, and UE 120 may be equipped with R antennas 252a
through 252r, where in general T> 1 and R> 1.
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[0052] At BS 110, transmit processor 220 may receive data from a data
source 212
for one or more UEs, select one or more modulation and coding schemes (MCS)
for each
UE based on channel quality indicators (CQIs) received from the UE, process
(e.g.,
encode and modulate) the data for each UE based on the MCS(s) selected for the
UE, and
provide data symbols for all UEs. Transmit processor 220 may also process
system
information (e.g., for static resource partitioning information (SRPT), etc.)
and control
information (e.g., CQI requests, grants, upper layer signaling, etc.) and
provide overhead
symbols and control symbols. Processor 220 may also generate reference symbols
for
reference signals (e.g., the cell-specific reference signal (CRS)) and
synchronization
signals (e.g., the primary synchronization signal (PSS) and the secondary
synchronization
signal (SSS)). Transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor
230 may
perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on the data symbols, the control
symbols, the
overhead symbols, and/or the reference symbols, if applicable, and may provide
T output
symbol streams to T modulators (MODs) 232a through 232t. Each modulator 232
may
process a respective output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain an
output
sample stream. Each modulator 232 may further process (e.g., convert to
analog, amplify,
filter, and upconvert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. T
downlink
signals from modulators 232a through 232t may be transmitted via T antennas
234a
through 234t, respectively.
[0053] At UE 120, antennas 252a through 252r may receive the downlink
signals
from base station 110 and/or other BSs and may provide received signals to
demodulators
(DEMODs) 254a through 254r, respectively. Each demodulator 254 may condition
(e.g.,
filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) its received signal to obtain
input samples.
Each demodulator 254 may further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM,
etc.) to
obtain received symbols. MIMO detector 256 may obtain received symbols from
all R
demodulators 254a through 254r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols
if
applicable, and provide detected symbols. Receive processor 258 may process
(e.g.,
demodulate and decode) the detected symbols, provide decoded data for UE 120
to data
sink 260, and provide decoded control information and system information to
controller/processor 280. A channel processor may determine reference signal
received
power (RSRP), received signal strength indicator (RSSI), reference signal
receive quality
(RSRQ), CQI, etc.
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[0054] On the
uplink, at UE 120, transmit processor 264 may receive and process data
from data source 262 and control information (e.g., for reports comprising
RSRP, RSSI,
RSRQ, CQI, etc.) from controller/processor 280. Processor 264 may also
generate
reference symbols for one or more reference signals. The symbols from transmit
processor 264 may be precoded by TX MIMO processor 266 if applicable, further
processed by modulators 254a through 254r (e.g., for SC-FDM, OFDM, etc.), and
transmitted to BS 110. At BS 110, the uplink signals from UE 120 and other UEs
may
be received by antennas 234, processed by demodulators 232, detected by MIMO
detector
236 if applicable, and further processed by receive processor 238 to obtain
decoded data
and control information sent by UE 120. Processor 238 may provide the decoded
data to
data sink 239 and the decoded control information to controller/processor 240.
BS 110
may include communication unit 244 and communicate to network controller 130
via
communication unit 244. Network controller 130 may include communication unit
294,
controller/processor 290, and memory 292.
[0055]
Controllers/processors 240 and 280 may direct the operation at BS 110 and
UE 120, respectively, to perform techniques presented herein. For example,
processor
240 and/or other processors and modules at BS 110, and processor 280 and/or
other
processors and modules at UE 120, may perform or direct operations of BS 110
and UE
120, respectively. For
example, controller/processor 280 and/or other
controllers/processors and modules at UE 120 may perform or direct operations
1500
shown in FIG. 15, operations 1600 shown in FIG. 16, and operations 1700 shown
in FIG.
17. Memories 242 and 282 may store data and program codes for BS 110 and UE
120,
respectively. Scheduler 246 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the
downlink
and/or uplink.
[0056] FIG. 3
shows an exemplary frame structure 300 for frequency division
duplexing (FDD) in a wireless communication system (e.g., such as wireless
communication network 100). The transmission timeline for each of the downlink
and
uplink may be partitioned into units of radio frames. Each radio frame may
have a
predetermined duration (e.g., 10 milliseconds (ms)) and may be partitioned
into 10
subframes with indices of 0 through 9. Each subframe may include two slots.
Each radio
frame may thus include 20 slots with indices of 0 through 19. Each slot may
include L
symbol periods, for example, seven symbol periods for a normal cyclic prefix
(as shown
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in FIG. 3) or six symbol periods for an extended cyclic prefix. The 2L symbol
periods in
each subframe may be assigned indices of 0 through 2L-1.
[0057] In certain wireless communication systems (e.g., LTE), a BS (e.g.,
such as a
BS 110) may transmit a PSS and a SSS on the downlink in the center of the
system
bandwidth for each cell supported by the BS. The PSS and SSS may be
transmitted in
symbol periods 6 and 5, respectively, in subframes 0 and 5 of each radio frame
with the
normal cyclic prefix, as shown in FIG. 3. The PSS and SSS may be used by UEs
(e.g.,
such as UEs 120) for cell search and acquisition. The BS may transmit a CRS
across the
system bandwidth for each cell supported by the BS. The CRS may be transmitted
in
certain symbol periods of each subframe and may be used by the UEs to perform
channel
estimation, channel quality measurement, and/or other functions. The BS may
also
transmit a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) in symbol periods 0 to 3 in slot
1 of certain
radio frames. The PBCH may carry some system information. The BS may transmit
other system information such as system information blocks (SiBs) on a
physical
downlink shared channel (PDSCH) in certain subframes. The BS may transmit
control
information/data on a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) in the first B
symbol
periods of a subframe, where B may be configurable for each subframe. The BS
may
transmit traffic data and/or other data on the PDSCH in the remaining symbol
periods of
each subframe.
[0058] In certain systems (e.g., such as NR or 5G systems), a BS may
transmit these
or other signals in these locations or in different locations of the subframe.
[0059] FIG. 4 shows two exemplary subframe formats 410 and 420 with the
normal
cyclic prefix. The available time frequency resources may be partitioned into
resource
blocks (RBs). Each RB may cover 12 subcarriers in one slot and may include a
number
of resource elements (REs). Each RE may cover one subcarrier in one symbol
period and
may be used to send one modulation symbol, which may be a real or complex
value.
[0060] Subframe format 410 may be used for two antennas. A CRS may be
transmitted from antennas 0 and 1 in symbol periods 0, 4, 7 and 11. A
reference signal is
a signal that is known a priori by a transmitter and a receiver and may also
be referred to
as pilot. A CRS is a reference signal that is specific for a cell, e.g.,
generated based on a
cell identity (ID). In FIG. 4, for a given RE with label Ra, a modulation
symbol may be
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transmitted on that RE from antenna a, and no modulation symbols may be
transmitted
on that RE from other antennas. Subframe format 420 may be used with four
antennas.
A CRS may be transmitted from antennas 0 and 1 in symbol periods 0, 4, 7 and
11 and
from antennas 2 and 3 in symbol periods 1 and 8. For both subframe formats 410
and
420, a CRS may be transmitted on evenly spaced subcarriers, which may be
determined
based on cell ID. CRSs may be transmitted on the same or different subcaniers,
depending on their cell IDs. For both subframe formats 410 and 420, REs not
used for
the CRS may be used to transmit data (e.g., traffic data, control data, and/or
other data).
[0061] The PSS, SSS, CRS and PBCH in LTE are described in 3GPP TS 36.211,
entitled "Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Physical
Channels and
Modulation," which is publicly available.
[0062] An interlace structure may be used for each of the downlink and
uplink for
FDD in LTE. For example, Q interlaces with indices of 0 through Q ¨ I may be
defined,
where Q may be equal to 4, 6, 8, 10, or some other value. Each interlace may
include
subframes that are spaced apart by Q frames. In particular, interlace q may
include
subframes q, g + Q, g + 2Q, etc., where q E 10,...,Q-1}.
[0063] The wireless network may support hybrid automatic retransmission
request
(HARQ) for data transmission on the downlink and uplink. For HARQ, a
transmitter
(e.g., a BS) may send one or more transmissions of a packet until the packet
is decoded
correctly by a receiver (e.g., a UE) or some other termination condition is
encountered.
For synchronous HARQ, all transmissions of the packet may be sent in subframes
of a
single interlace. For asynchronous HARQ, each transmission of the packet may
be sent
in any subframe.
[0064] A UE may be located within the coverage of multiple BS. One of
these BSs
may be selected to serve the UE. The serving BS may be selected based on
various criteria
such as received signal strength, received signal quality, pathloss, etc.
Received signal
quality may be quantified by a signal-to-noise-and-interference ratio (SINR),
or a RSRQ,
or some other metric. The UE may operate in a dominant interference scenario
in which
the UE may observe high interference from one or more interfering BS.
[0065] The wireless communication network may support a 180 kHz
deployment for
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narrowband operation (e.g., NB-IoT) with different deployment modes. In one
example,
narrowband operations may be deployed in-band, for example, using RBs within a
wider
system bandwidth. In one case, narrowband operations may use one RB within the
wider
system bandwidth of an existing network (e.g., such as an LTE network). In
this case,
the 180 kHz bandwidth for the RB may have to be aligned with a wideband RB. In
one
example, narrowband operations may be deployed in the unused RBs within a
carrier
guard-band (e.g., LTE). In this deployment, the 180 kHz RB within the guard
band may
be aligned with a 15 kHz tone grid of wideband LTE, for example, in order to
use the
same Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and/or reduce interference in-band legacy
LTE
communications.
Example Narrowband Communications
[0066] The focus of traditional LTE design (e.g., for legacy "non MTC"
devices) is
on the improvement of spectral efficiency, ubiquitous coverage, and enhanced
quality of
service (QoS) support. Current LTE system downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) link
budgets
are designed for coverage of high end devices, such as state-of-the-art
smartphones and
tablets, which may support a relatively large DL and UL link budget.
[0067] However, as described above, one or more UEs in the wireless
communication
network (e.g., wireless communication network 100) may be devices that have
limited
communication resources, such as narrowband UEs, as compared to other
(wideband)
devices in the wireless communication network. For narrowband UEs, various
requirements may be relaxed as only a limited amount of information may need
to be
exchanged. For example, maximum bandwidth may be reduced (relative to wideband
UEs), a single receive radio frequency (RF) chain may be used, peak rate may
be reduced
(e.g., a maximum of 100 bits for a transport block size), transmit power may
be reduced,
Rank 1 transmission may be used, and half duplex operation may be performed.
[0068] In some cases, if half-duplex operation is performed, MTC UEs may
have a
relaxed switching time to transition from transmitting to receiving (or
receiving to
transmitting). For example, the switching time may be relaxed from 20us for
regular UEs
to lms for MTC UEs. Release 12 MTC UEs may still monitor downlink (DL) control
channels in the same way as regular UEs, for example, monitoring for wideband
control
channels in the first few symbols (e.g., PDCCH) as well as narrowband control
channels
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occupying a relatively narrowband, but spanning a length of a subframe (e.g.,
enhanced
PDCCH or ePDCCH).
[0069] Certain standards (e.g., LTE Release 13) may introduce support for
various
additional MTC enhancements, referred to herein as enhanced MTC (or eMTC). For
example, eMTC may provide MTC UEs with coverage enhancements up to 15dB.
[0070] As illustrated in the subframe structure 500 of FIG. 5, eMTC UEs
can support
narrowband operation while operating in a wider system bandwidth
(e.g., 1.4/3/5/10/15/20MHz). In the example illustrated in FIG. 5, a
conventional legacy
control region 510 may span system bandwidth of a first few symbols, while a
narrowband region 530 of the system bandwidth (spanning a narrow portion of a
data
region 520) may be reserved for an MTC physical downlink control channel
(referred to
herein as an M-PDCCH) and for an MTC physical downlink shared channel
(referred to
herein as an M-PDSCH). In some cases, an MTC UE monitoring the narrowband
region
may operate at 1.4MHz or 6 resource blocks (RBs).
[0071] However, as noted above, eMTC UEs may be able to operate in a cell
with a
bandwidth larger than 6 RBs. Within this larger bandwidth, each eMTC UE may
still
operate (e.g., monitor/receive/transmit) while abiding by a 6-physical
resource block
(PRB) constraint. In some cases, different eMTC UEs may be served by different
narrowband regions (e.g., with each spanning 6-PRB blocks). As the system
bandwidth
may span from 1.4 to 20 MHz, or from 6 to 100 RBs, multiple narrowband regions
may
exist within the larger bandwidth. An eMTC UE may also switch or hop between
multiple
narrowband regions in order to reduce interference.
Example Narrowband Internet-of-Things
[0072] The Internet-of-Things (IoT) may refer to a network of physical
objects,
devices, or "things". loT devices may be embedded with, for example,
electronics,
software, or sensors and may have network connectivity, which enable these
devices to
collect and exchange data. IoT devices may be sensed and controlled remotely
across
existing network infrastructure, creating opportunities for more direct
integration between
the physical world and computer-based systems and resulting in improved
efficiency,
accuracy, and economic benefit. Systems that include IoT devices augmented
with
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sensors and actuators may be referred to cyber-physical systems. Cyber-
physical systems
may include
technologies such as smart grids, smart homes, intelligent
transportation, and/or smart cities. Each "thing" (e.g., ToT device) may be
uniquely
identifiable through its embedded computing system may be able to interoperate
within
existing infrastructure, such as Internet infrastructure.
[0073] NB-IoT
may refer to a narrowband radio technology specially designed for
the ToT. NB-IoT may focus on indoor coverage, low cost, long battery life, and
large
number of devices. To reduce the complexity of UEs, NB-IoT may allow for
narrowband
deployments utilizing one PRB (e.g., 180 kHz + 20 kHz guard band). NB-IoT
deployments may utilize higher layer components of certain systems (e.g., LTE)
and
hardware to allow for reduced fragmentation and cross compatibility with, for
example,
NB-LTE/NB-IoT and/or eMTC.
[0074] FIG. 6
illustrates an example deployment 600 of NB-IoT, according to certain
aspects of the present disclosure. Three NB-IoT deployment configurations
include in-
band, guard-band, and standalone. For the in-band deployment configuration, NB-
IoT
may coexist with a legacy system (e.g., GSM, WCDMA, and/or LTE system(s))
deployed
in the same frequency band. For example, the wideband LTE channel may be
deployed
in various bandwidths between 1.4 MHz to 20 MHz. As shown in FIG. 6, a
dedicated
RB 602 within that bandwidth may be available for use by NB-IoT and/or the RBs
1204
may be dynamically allocated for NB-IoT. As shown in FIG. 6, in an in-band
deployment, one RB, or 200 kHz, of a wideband channel (e.g.. LTE) may be used
for NB-
ToT.
[0075] Certain
systems (e.g.. LTE) may include unused portions of the radio spectrum
between carriers to guard against interference between adjacent carriers. In
some
deployments, NB-IoT may be deployed in a guard band 606 of the wideband
channel.
[0076] In other
deployments, NB-IoT may be deployed standalone (not shown). In a
standalone deployment, for example, one 200 MHz carrier may be utilized to
carry NB-
ToT traffic and GSM spectrum may be reused.
[0077]
Deployments of NB-ToT may include synchronization signals such as PSS for
frequency and timing synchronization and SSS to convey system information. For
NB-
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loT operations, PSS/SSS timing boundaries may be extended as compared to the
existing
PSS/SSS frame boundaries in legacy systems (e.g., LTE), for example, from 10
ms to 40
ms. Based on the timing boundary, a UE is able to receive a PBCH transmission,
which
may be transmitted in subframe 0 of a radio frame.
Example NR/5G RAN Architecture
[0078] New radio (NR) may refer to radios configured to operate according
to a new
air interface (e.g., other than Orthogonal Frequency Divisional Multiple
Access
(OFDMA)-based air interfaces) or fixed transport layer (e.g., other than
Internet Protocol
(TP)). NR may utilize OFDM with a CP on the uplink and downlink and include
support
for half-duplex operation using TDD. NR may include Enhanced Mobile Broadband
(eMBB) service targeting wide bandwidth (e.g. 80 MHz beyond), millimeter wave
(mmW) targeting high carrier frequency (e.g. 60 GHz), massive MTC (mMTC)
targeting
non-backward compatible MTC techniques, and/or mission critical targeting
ultra reliable
low latency communications (URLLC) service.
[0079] A single component carrier (CC) bandwidth of 100 MHZ may be
supported.
NR RBs may span 12 sub-carriers with a sub-carrier bandwidth of 75 kHz over a
0.1 ms
duration. Each radio frame may consist of 50 subframes with a length of 10 ms.
Consequently, each subframe may have a length of 0.2 ms. Each subframe may
indicate
a link direction (e.g., DL or UL) for data transmission and the link direction
for each
subframe may be dynamically switched. Each subframe may include DUUL data as
well
as DL/UL control data. UL and DL subframes for NR may be as described in more
detail
below with respect to FIGs. 9 and 10.
[0080] Beamforming may be supported and beam direction may be dynamically
configured. MIMO transmissions with precoding may also be supported. MIMO
configurations in the DL may support up to 8 transmit antennas with multi-
layer DL
transmissions up to 8 streams and up to 2 streams per UE. Multi-layer
transmissions with
up to 2 streams per UE may be supported. Aggregation of multiple cells may be
supported
with up to 8 serving cells. Alternatively, NR may support a different air
interface, other
than an OFDM-based interface. NR networks may include entities such central
units
(CUs) or distributed units (DUs).
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[0081] The NR RAN may include a CU and DUs. A NR BS (e.g., a NB, an eNB,
a
gNB, a 5G NB, a TRP, an AP, etc.) may correspond to one or multiple BSs. NR
cells can
be configured as access cells (ACells) or data only cells (DCells). For
example, the RAN
(e.g., a CU or DU) can configure the cells. DCells may be cells used for
carrier
aggregation or dual connectivity, but not used for initial access, cell
selection/reselection,
or handover. In some cases DCells may not transmit synchronization signals¨in
some
case cases DCells may transmit synchronization signals.
[0082] FIG. 7 illustrates an example logical architecture 700 of a
distributed RAN,
according to aspects of the present disclosure. 5G access node 706 may include
access
node controller (ANC) 702. ANC 702 may be a CU of the distributed RAN. The
backbaul interface to the next generation core network (NG-CN) 704 may
terminate at
ANC 702. The backhaul interface to neighboring next generation access nodes
(NG-
ANs) 710 may terminate at ANC 702. ANC 702 may include one or more TRPs 708.
As
described above, TRP may be used interchangeably with "cell", BS, NR BS, NB,
eNB,
5G NB, gNB, AP, etc.
[0083] TRPs 708 may comprise a DU. TRPs 708 may be connected to one ANC
(e.g., ANC 702) or more than one ANC (not illustrated). For example, for RAN
sharing,
radio as a service (RaaS), and service specific AND deployments, TRP 708 may
be
connected to more than one ANC. TRP 708 may include one or more antenna ports.
TRPs 708 may be configured to individually (e.g., dynamic selection) or
jointly (e.g.,
joint transmission) serve traffic to a UE.
[0084] Logical architecture 700 may be used to illustrate fronthaul
definition. The
architecture may be defined that support fronthauling solutions across
different
deployment types. For example, logical architecture 700 may be based on
transmit
network capabilities (e.g., bandwidth, latency, and/or jitter). Logical
architecture 700
may share features and/or components with LTE. According to aspects, NG-AN 710
may
support dual connectivity with NR. NO-AN 710 may share a common fronthaul for
LTE
and NR. Logical architecture 700 may enable cooperation between and among TRPs
708.
For example, cooperation may be preset within a TRP and/or across TRPs via ANC
702.
In some cases, no inter-TRP interface may be needed/present.
[0085] A dynamic configuration of split logical functions may be present
within
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logical architecture 700. The packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), radio
link
control (RLC), and medium access control (MAC) protocols may be adaptably
placed at
ANC 702 or TRP 708.
[0086] FIG. 8 illustrates an example physical architecture 800 of a
distributed RAN,
according to aspects of the present disclosure. Centralized core network unit
(C-CU) 802
may host core network functions. C-CU 802 may be centrally deployed. C-CU 802
functionality may be offloaded (e.g., to advanced wireless services (AWS)), in
an effort
to handle peak capacity.
[0087] Centralized RAN unit (C-RU) 804 may host one or more ANC
functions.
Optionally, C-RU 804 may host core network functions locally. C-RU 804 may
have
distributed deployment. C-RU 804 may be closer to the network edge.
[0088] DU 806 may host one or more TRPs. DU 806 may be located at edges
of the
network with radio frequency (RF) functionality.
[0089] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a DL-centric subframe
900. DL-
centric subframe 900 may include control portion 902. Control portion 902 may
exist in
the initial or beginning portion of DL-centric subframe 900. Control portion
902 may
include various scheduling information and/or control information
corresponding to
various portions of DL-centric subframe 900. In some configurations, control
portion
902 may be a physical DL control channel (PDCCH), as shown in FIG. 9. DL-
centric
subframe 900 may also include DL data portion 904. DL data portion 904 may
sometimes
be referred to as the payload of DL-centric subframe 900. DL data portion 904
may
include the communication resources utilized to communicate DL data from the
scheduling entity (e.g., UE or BS) to the subordinate entity (e.g., UE). In
some
configurations, DL data portion 904 may be a physical DL shared channel
(PDSCH).
[0090] DL-centric subframe 900 may also include common UL portion 906.
Common UL portion 906 may sometimes be referred to as an UL burst, a common UL
burst, and/or various other suitable terms. Common UL portion 906 may include
feedback information corresponding to various other portions of DL-centric
subframe
900. For example, common UL portion 906 may include feedback information
corresponding to control portion 902. Non-limiting examples of feedback
information
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may include an acknowledgment (ACK) signal, a negative acknowledgment (NACK)
signal, a HARQ indicator, and/or various other suitable types of information.
Common
UL portion 906 may include additional or alternative information, such as
information
pertaining to random access channel (RACH) procedures, scheduling requests
(SRs), and
various other suitable types of information. As illustrated in FIG. 9, the end
of DL data
portion 904 may be separated in time from the beginning of common UL portion
906.
This time separation may sometimes be referred to as a gap, a guard period, a
guard
interval, and/or various other suitable terms. This separation provides time
for the switch-
over from DL communication (e.g., reception operation by the subordinate
entity) to UL
communication (e.g., transmission by the subordinate entity). One of ordinary
skill in the
art will understand that the foregoing is merely one example of a DL-centric
subframe
and alternative structures having similar features may exist without
necessarily deviating
from the aspects described herein.
[0091] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of an UL-centric subframe
1000.
UL-centric subframe 1000 may include control portion 1002. Control portion
1002 may
exist in the initial or beginning portion of UL-centric subframe 1000. Control
portion
1002 in FIG. 10 may be similar to control portion 1002 described above with
reference
to FIG. 9. UL-centric subframe 1000 may also include UL data portion 1004. UL
data
portion 1004 may sometimes be referred to as the payload of UL-centric
subframe 1000.
The UL portion may refer to the communication resources utilized to
communicate UL
data from the subordinate entity (e.g., UE) to the scheduling entity (e.g., UE
or BS). In
some configurations, control portion 1002 may be a PDCCH. In some
configurations,
the data portion may be a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).
[0092] As illustrated in FIG. 10, the end of control portion 1002 m.ay be
separated in
time from the beginning of UL data portion 1004. This time separation may
sometimes
be referred to as a gap, guard period, guard interval, and/or various other
suitable terms.
This separation provides time for the switch-over from DL communication (e.g.,
reception operation by the scheduling entity) to UL communication (e.g.,
transmission by
the scheduling entity). UL-centric subframe 1000 may also include common UL
portion
1006. Common UL portion 1006 in FIG. 10 may be similar to common UL portion
906
described above with reference to FIG. 9. Common UL portion 1006 may
additionally
or alternatively include information pertaining to CQI, sounding reference
signals (SRSs),
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and various other suitable types of information. One of ordinary skill in the
art will
understand that the foregoing is merely one example of an UL-centric subframe
and
alternative structures having similar features may exist without necessarily
deviating from
the aspects described herein.
[0093] In some circumstances, two or more subordinate entities (e.g.,
UEs) may
communicate with each other using sidelink signals. Real-world applications of
such
sidelink communications may include public safety, proximity services, UE-to-
network
relaying, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, Internet of Everything
(IoE)
communications, IoT communications, mission-critical mesh, and/or various
other
suitable applications. Generally, a sidelink signal may refer to a signal
communicated
from one subordinate entity (e.g., UE1) to another subordinate entity (e.g.,
UE2) without
relaying that communication through the scheduling entity (e.g.. UE or BS),
even though
the scheduling entity may be utilized for scheduling and/or control purposes.
In some
examples, the sidelink signals may be communicated using a licensed spectrum
(unlike
wireless local area networks, which typically use an unlicensed spectrum).
[0094] A UE may operate in various radio resource configurations,
including a
configuration associated with transmitting pilots using a dedicated set of
resources (e.g.,
a RRC dedicated state, etc.) or a configuration associated with transmitting
pilots using a
common set of resources (e.g., an RRC common state, etc.). When operating in
the RRC
dedicated state, the UE may select a dedicated set of resources for
transmitting a pilot
signal to a network. When operating in the RRC common state, the UE may select
a
common set of resources for transmitting a pilot signal to the network. In
either case, a
pilot signal transmitted by the UE may be received by one or more network
access
devices, such as an AN, a DU, or portions thereof. Each receiving network
access device
may be configured to receive and measure pilot signals transmitted on the
common set of
resources, and also receive and measure pilot signals transmitted on dedicated
sets of
resources allocated to the UEs for which the network access device is a member
of a
monitoring set of network access devices for the UE. One or more of the
receiving
network access devices, or a CU to which receiving network access device(s)
transmit the
measurements of the pilot signals, may use the measurements to identify
serving cells for
the UEs, or to initiate a change of serving cell for one or more of the UEs.
EXAMPLE UPLINK AND DOWNLINK GRANTS FOR NARROWBAND
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[0095] As mentioned above, certain systems (e.g., Release 13 or later
eMTC
systems), may support narrowband operation. For example, the narrowband
operation
may include support for communications on a 6 RB band and half-duplex
operation (e.g.,
capability to transmit and receive, but not both simultaneously) for up to,
e.g., 15 dB
coverage enhancements. These systems may reserve a portion of the system
bandwidth
for control, which may be an MTC physical downlink control channel (MPDCCH).
The
MPDCCH may be transmitted in a narrowband, may use at least one subframe, and
may
rely on demodulation reference signal (DMRS) demodulation for decoding of the
control
channel. Coverage may be increased by performing repetition/bundling of
signals.
[0096] Certain systems (e.g., Release 13 or later NB-IoT systems) may
support
narrowband Internet-of-things operation (NB-TOT). NB-IoT may use 180 kHz
bandwidth. NB-IoT may offer standalone, in-band, or guard band deployment
scenarios.
Standalone deployment may use new bandwidth, whereas guard band deployment may
be done using bandwidth typically reserved in the guard band of an existing
network, such
as long term evolution (LTE). In-band deployment on the other hand may use the
same
resource blocks in the LTE carrier of the existing LTE network. NB-IoT may
offer
increased coverage. NB-IoT may define a new narrowband control channel (e.g.,
Narrowband PDCCH (NPDCCH)), data, and references signals that fit in 1 RB. For
clarity, certain aspects of the techniques are described below for NB-ToT, and
NB-IoT
terminology is used in much of the description below.
[0097] Currently, in certain systems such as NB-IoT, only half-duplex
(HD) FDD
(frequency division duplex) operation is supported. A UE cannot monitor both
UL and
DL at the same time and is not required to support parallel UL and DL
transmissions.
The rules of timing limitation are defined so that the gap between NPDCCH for
UL grant
and the associated NPUSCH (narrowband PUSCH) transmission is at least 8ms
(e.g.,
exact delay is determined by a field in the UL grant) and the gap between the
NPDCCH
for DL grant and the associated NPDSCH (narrowband PDSCH) is at least 5ms
(e.g.,
exact delay is determined by a filed in the DL grant). NPUSCH and NPDSCH are
examples of shared channels or data channels. Depending on the context,
"channel" may
refer to the channel on which signaling/data/information is transmitted or
received, or to
the signaling/data/information that is transmitted or received on the channel.
In Re1-13,
only a single HARQ process is supported in NB-IoT. After receiving one NPDCCH
for
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DL grant or UL grant, UE stops monitoring the NPDCCH until finishing the data
transmission. In Re1-14, for NB-ToT, it is possible to have two DL grants back
to back or
two UL grants back to back for two HARQ processes, e.g., after receiving one
DL or UL
grant, UE may be required to continue monitoring any NPDCCH search space
containing
candidates ending at least 2 ms (xi > 2 ms) before the start of the first
NPDSCH or
NPUSCH.
[0098] Figure 11 illustrates an example of Release 13 HARQ process timing
and an
example of Release 14 HARQ process timing. As illustrated for Release 13, the
time gap
between a NPDCCH for DL grant and an associated NPDSCH is 5ms or more. After
receiving the NPDCCH, UE stops monitoring for NPDCCH, and after 5ms or more,
UE
starts receiving downlink transmission (e.g., data transmission, such as
repetition data
transmission to improve coverage) on NPDSCH. After receiving the data
transmission,
UE transmits ACK information after 12ms or more. For the uplink example, UE
receives
NPDCCH for UL grant, stops monitoring for NPDCCH, and transmits (e.g., data
transmission) on uplink on the associated NPUSCH after 8ms or more. As
illustrated for
Release 14, UE is required to continue monitor for a second NPDCCH (NPDCCH2)
after
receiving a first NPDCCH (NPDCCH1). UE monitors for the second NPDCCH until
2ms or more before the start of the NPDSCH (NPDSCH1) transmission associated
with
the first NPDCCH. As illustrated for Release 14, the two back to back NPDCCHs
are
either both for DL grant or both for UL grant. In other words, UE receives two
consecutive UL grants or two consecutive DL grants. Receiving consecutive UL
grants
comprises receiving a UL grant as the next grant after a UL grant, and
receiving
consecutive DL grants comprises receiving a DL grant as the next grant after a
DL grant.
[0099] Unlike HD-FDD, for TDD, the DL and UL subframes can interlace
during
NPUSCH/NPDSCH transmission. For supporting NB-IoT TDD DL and UL
transmission, UE may receive some DL subframes for a DL packet (e.g.,
associated with
NPDCCH for DL grant), followed by UL transmission for an UL packet (e.g.,
associated
with NPDCCH for UL grant), then followed by repetition for the same DL packet,
followed again by some repetitions of the same UL packet, and so on.
[00100] Per Rd-14 specification, an UE may only receive two DL grants back to
back
or two UL grants back to back for NB-IoT, and receiving interlaced UL and DL
grants
by a UE is not supported. For Re1-15, extending NB-IoT to TDD mode may be
discussed.
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For TDD, parallel uplink and downlink transmission means, for example, UE
receives
DL transmission of DL packet followed by UL transmission of a UL packet,
followed by
repetition of the same DL packet followed by repletion of same UL packet. To
support
this interlaced DUUL transmission, the DL/UL grants would also need to be
interlaced,
and this feature is not supported by the current standard specification.
Receiving
interlaced UL and DL grants comprises receiving a DL grant as the next grant
after an
UL grant, or receiving an UL grant as the next grant after a DL grant.
Interlacing UL and
DL grants is needed in order to support interlacing UL and DL transmission,
especially
for TDD. Interlacing UL and DL grants may also be beneficial for FDD, for
example, to
improve UL/DL transmission efficiency (e.g., for some current TDM-based
applications,
for UL data transmission, may need to finish DL data transmission first).
[00101] Interlaced UL and DL grants can be supported so that an UE can receive
two
grants, one for UL and one for DL, before the start of the corresponding
NPUSCH or
NPDSCH transmission. The rules of timing limitation between NPDCCH and
NPDSCH/NPUSCH can be unchanged. For example, the gap between the 2nd NPDCCH
to the start of NPDSCH or NPUSCH may be > 2ms. Additionally, for HD-FDD, an UE
is not required to monitor the NPDCCH (e.g., for a third grant) between the
start of
NPDSCH to HARQ-ACK. This simplifies UE implementation and conserves UE power
because otherwise the UE would need to receive DL control information in
addition to
receiving data at the same time. In an aspect, there is no restriction on the
order of
interlaced UL and DL grants, e.g., the first grant can be either UL or DL
grant.
[00102] Figure 12 illustrates example interlaced grants (DL followed by UL) in
accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. In one example,
first grant is
UL grant and second grant is DL grant. Time delay from a grant to the
associated data
transmission may be the same as described above (e.g., 8ms or more between UL
grant
and associated NPUSCH transmission, 5ms or more between DL grant and
associated
NPDSCH transmission). In this example, UL data transmission (e.g., on NPUSCH)
takes
place between DL data transmission (e.g., on NPDSCH) and the HARQ-ACK
associated
with the DL data transmission. In the second example, the order of data
transmission is
different. Here, the UL data transmission (e.g., on NPUSCH) takes place before
DL data
transmission (e.g., on NPDSCH). In the third example, UL data transmission
(e.g., on
NPUSCH) takes place after HARQ-ACK associated with the DL data transmission
(e.g.,
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on NPDSCH). Therefore, the order of data transmission is determined by, for
example,
the delay between the NPDCCH and the associated data transmission (e.g.,
determined
by a field in NPDCCH).
[00103] Figure 13 illustrates example interlaced grants (UL followed by DL) in
accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. Figure 13
illustrates similar
concepts as Figure 12.
[00104] For NB-IoT in TDD mode, NPUSCH and NPDCCH interlacing may be
supported, e.g., an UE can continue to monitor the NPDCCH search space when
doing
NPUSCH transmission. Due to TDD UL-DL configuration, there may be some DL
subframes (SFs) between UL transmission, and UE may switch from UL
transmission
(e.g., NPUSCH transmission) to monitoring NPDCCH search space during the DL
SFs.
In an aspect, if subframes are indicated as DL according to TDD UL-DL
configuration,
an UE may be required to continue to monitor the search space unless the DL
subframe
is used for NPDSCH. If a guard subframe is needed to switch from UL to DL or
from
DL to UL, then the DL or UL communication associated with the guard subframe
(e.g.,
the communication scheduled to take place during the guard subframe) may be
postponed
to a next available SF in case of interlacing DL and UL data transmission. If
a few OFDM
symbols are needed to switch from UL to DL or from DL to UL, then for example
the
associated DL or UL communication in the subframe may be punctured in the case
of
interlacing DL and UL data transmission. For example, when the switch is from
UL to
DL, then the first two symbols in a second subframe (DL) may be punctured, and
when
the switch is from DL to UL, then the last symbol in the first subframe (DL)
and the first
symbol in the second subframe (UL) may be punctured.
[00105] Figure 14 illustrates example interlaced NPDCCH and NPUSCH in
accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. In this example,
TDD UL-DL
configuration 1 is illustrated. First, NPDCCH (NPDCCH1) for UL grant is
received by
UE. Based on the UL grant, a set of repetitions of uplink data transmission
(e.g., for
enhanced coverage) may be sent on NPUSCH. As illustrated, the number of
repetitions
is 8 (e.g., 8 subframes). Due to TDD frame structure, there may be some DL
subframes
between repetitions of the uplink data on NPUSCH. Normally, UE does not
utilize these
DL subframes between NPUSCH transmissions because it would not be efficient.
In one
aspect of the present disclosure, these DL SFs may be utilized to monitor for
NPDCCH.
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in this example, a guard subframe is used for switching from UL to DL so that
a first DL
subframe may serve as a guard subframe (indicated by "G" in Figure 14) and a
second,
adjacent DL subframe may be used for NPDCCH (e.g., NPDCCH2). If a few OFDM
symbols are used for switching from UL to DL, then there is no need for guard
subframes
and the second NPDCCH (NPDCCH2) can be transmitted in the DL subframe right
after
the UL subframe.
[00106] Interlaced UL/DL grants can be supported with or without two HARQ
processes support. If interlacing UL and DL grants is supported with two HARQ
processes, up to 4 NPDCCHs can be received, e.g., two for DL and two for UL
grants. In
case of back-to-back DL grants or UL grants, the two grants could have same or
different
HARQ IDs. Same HARQ Ds may mean repetition transmission (e.g., retransmission
of
a first NPDCCH). For different HARQ IDs, the two HARQ IDs may appear in any
order,
or the first grant may always have HARQ ID 0 and second grant HARQ ID 1 (e.g.,
fixed
order). If UE detects two grants with the same HARQ ID (e.g., two NPDCCHs
associated
with the same data), UE can discard one of them; for example, A) discard the
one with
lowest energy; B) always discard either the first one or the second one; or C)
combination
of the two, e.g., always discard first one if both have energy above some
threshold. In
another aspect, an UE honors both grants treating them as HARQ
retransmissions. UE's
support of interlacing UL and DL grants can be separate, or independent from
its support
of two HARQ processes (e.g., UE can support interlacing UL and DL grants, or
two
HARQ processes, or both). The support of interlacing UL and DL grants may be
indicated separately by an UE for the support of two HARQ processes. For
example, UE
may indicate the support of interlacing UL and DL grants using capability
signaling and
indicate the support of two HARQ processes independently (e.g., using
different
capability signaling) when it attaches to a network.
[00107] As one aspect of the current disclosure, example timelines for two
HARQ
processes are shown below.
[00108] Timeline 1: NPDCCH1 NPDCCH2 NPDSCHA ACKA NPDSCHB ACKB
[00109] Timeline 2: NPDCCH1 NPDCCH2 NPDSCHA NPDSCHB ACKA ACKB
[00110] In one aspect, only one of these timelines are allowed (e.g., fixed
timing). In
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another aspect, both timelines are allowed. For NPDCCH to NPDSCH mapping, in
an
aspect, NPDSCH A may always map to NPDCCH 1 and NPDSCH B may always map to
NPDCCH2, and other mappings may be treated as error case and UE may discard
one of
the grants. In another aspect, both mappings (e.g., NPDSCHA to NPDCCH1 or
NPDCCH 2) are allowed.
[00111] Thus, techniques for uplink and downlink grants in narrowband
operations are
desirable. Accordingly, techniques presented herein may be used for uplink and
downlink
grants in narrowband operations (e.g., NB-IoT).
[00112] FIG. 15 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations 1500 for
receiving
interlaced UL and DL grants, according to aspects described herein. Operations
1500
may be performed, for example, by a UE (e.g., UE 120) which may be a low cost,
IoT
device, such as an NB-IoT device. Operations 1500 may begin, at 1502, by
monitoring a
control channel in a narrowband of a system bandwidth for an uplink (UL) or a
downlink
(DL) grant. At 1504, the UE receives interlaced UL and DL grants. At 1506, the
UE
sends or receives information in response to the received interlaced UL and DL
grants.
In an aspect, the UE may monitor control channel search space and receive a DL
grant as
the next grant after the UL grant and after start of the sending information
on an uplink
data channel in response to the UL grant. In an aspect, the uplink data
channel may be
on a different carrier as the control channel search space. In an aspect, the
uplink data
channel may be an uplink shared channel. The uplink shared channel, for
example, may
be a narrowband physical uplink shared channel (NPUSCH).
[00113] FIG. 16 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations 1600 for UE
behavior when receiving back to back UL grants or DL grants with same HARQ
IDs,
according to aspects described herein. Operations 1600 may be performed, for
example,
by a UE (e.g., UE 120) which may be a low cost, IoT device, such as an NB-loT
device.
Operations 1600 may begin, at 1602, by monitoring a control channel in a
narrowband of
a system bandwidth for an uplink (UL) or a downlink (DL) grant. At 1604, the
UE
receives two consecutive UL or DL grants, wherein the consecutive UL or DL
grants have
a same HARQ process identification (ID). At 1606, the UE selects one of the
grants to
use, based, at least in part, on at least one of: the grant meeting an energy
metric threshold;
the grant being received first; or the grant being received second. At 1608,
the UE can
alternatively select both grants to use, wherein the grants are treated as
HARQ
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retransmissions.
Example UL and/or DL Collision Handling
[00114] With two HARQ processes being configured it is possible that eNB may
schedule a UE such that there are collisions across channels, e.g., through
incorrect
scheduling. A collision may occur, e.g., when two or more sets of information
are
transmitted or received on the same resource (e.g., subframe) simultaneously.
For
example, it is possible for a UE to have two back to back NPDSCHs whose ACICs
collide
or have the second NPDSCH collide with ACK for the first NPDSCH, etc. For back
to
back NPUSCHs, there may be similar types of collisions. If interlaced UL and
DL grants
are implemented, there may also be collisions of NPUSCH with NPDSCH, NPUSCH
with ACK, etc. Example UE behavior in case of such collisions is illustrated
herein and
may be applicable to TDD and/or FDD.
Collision handling for back-to-back DL grants or UL grants
[00115] FIG. 17 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations 1700 for UE
behavior in connection with collisions when receiving back to back UL grants
or DL
grants, according to aspects described herein. Operations 1700 may be
performed, for
example, by a UE (e.g., UE 120) which may be a low cost, IoT device, such as
an NB-
IoT device. Operations 1700 may begin, at 1702, by monitoring a control
channel in a
narrowband of a system bandwidth for an uplink (UL) or a downlink (DL) grant.
At 1704,
the UE receives two consecutive UL or DL grants. At 1706, the UE sends or
receives
information in response to the received two consecutive UL and DL grants. At
1708, in
response to the sending or receiving information, the UE identifies a
collision, the
collision comprising at least one of: collision between first DL data channel
and second
DL data channel, collision between the second DL data channel and first HARQ
acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) signaling for the first DL data channel, collision
between first HARQ-ACK signaling for the first DL data channel and second HARQ-
ACK signaling for the second DL data channel, or collision between first UL
data channel
and second UL data channel.
[00116] In the case of NPDSCH to NPDSCH collision, in one aspect, even though
there are collisions, both NPDSCHs may be treated as valid NPDSCHs and attempt
may
be made to decode using 1) non-colliding subframes in both NPDSCHs (e.g., UE
decodes
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both of them) or 2) colliding SFs only for one of the NPDSCH (e.g., UE decodes
only
one of the two, the first one, the second one, or based on associated control
channel energy
metrics). In another aspect, only one of the NPDSCHs may be monitored ¨ e.g.,
the first
NPDSCH, or the second NPDSCH, or based on the corresponding NPDCCH energy
metrics (e.g., associated control channel energy detection). The first NPDSCH
may refer
to the NPDSCH starting first or whose NPDCCH started first, and the second
NPDSCH
may refer to the NPDSCH starting second or whose NPDCCH started second.
[00117] In the case of NPDSCH to ACK collision (e.g., ACK for a first NPDSCH
is
colliding with a second NPDSCH), in one aspect, treat it as incorrect grant
and drop one
of the NPDSCH and corresponding ACK (similar to NPDSCH to NPDSCH collision).
In
another aspect, ACK may be dropped. (entirely or partly, e.g., on colliding
subframes).
In another aspect, NPDSCH may be dropped (entirely or partly, e.g., on
colliding
subframes). Colliding SFs could include SFs containing ACK/NPDSCH as well as
guard
SFs for switch from UL to DL, etc.
[00118] In the case of ACK to ACK collision, in one aspect, treat it as
incorrect grant
and drop one of the NPDSCHs (similar to NPDSCH to NPDSCH collision) or ACKs.
In
another aspect, send only the first or second ACK. In another aspect, send
first ACK
fully, and puncture the second ACK, or vice-versa. If only one NPDSCH decodes
successfully, ACK corresponding to that NPDSCH may be sent, and for the failed
NPDSCH, the ACK transmission corresponding to the failed NPDSCH may be
punctured.
[00119] In the case of NPUSCH to NPUSCH collision, in one aspect, one of the
NPUSCHs may be dropped. In another aspect, one of the NPUSCHs may be punctured
and the other NPUSCH may be transmitted fully. For example, the dropped or
punctured
NPUSCH may be the first one always, the second one always, or based on NPDCCH
energy metric.
Collision handling for interlaced UL and DL grants
[00120] In the case of NPUSCH to NPDSCH collision, in one aspect, treat it as
incorrect grant and drop either NPUSCH or NPDSCH (for example, the first, or
the
second, or based on the NPDCCH energy metrics etc.). In another aspect, treat
it as valid
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32
grants but only one of them is retained in colliding SFs by prioritizing one
channel over
the other. For example, one of the NPUSCH or NPDSCH may be dropped or
punctured.
For example, the dropped or punctured channel may be the first one always, the
second
one always, or based on NPDCCH energy metrics.
[00121] In the case of NPUSCH to HARQ-ACK collision, in one aspect, only one
of
them is retained in colliding SFs by prioritizing one channel over the other
(e.g., HARQ-
ACK prioritized over NPUSCH). In another aspect, HARQ-ACK may be multiplexed
on
NPUSCH (e.g., HARQ-ACK is used to modulate the DMRS of NPUSCH in colliding
SFs).
[00122] As used herein, the term "identifying" encompasses a wide variety of
actions.
For example, "identifying" may include calculating, computing, processing,
deriving,
investigating, looking up (e.g., looking up in a table, a database or another
data structure),
ascertaining and the like. Also, "identifying" may include receiving (e.g.,
receiving
information), accessing (e.g., accessing data in a memory) and the like. Also,
"identifying" may include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing and the
like.
[00123] Moreover, the term "or" is intended to mean an inclusive "or" rather
than an
exclusive "or." That is, unless specified otherwise, or clear from the
context, the phrase,
for example, "X employs A or B" is intended to mean any of the natural
inclusive
permutations. That is, for example the phrase "X employs A or B" is satisfied
by any of
the following instances: X employs A; X employs B; or X employs both A and B.
As
used herein, reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean
"one and only
one" unless specifically so stated, but rather "one or more." For example, the
articles "a"
and "an" as used in this application and the appended claims should generally
be
construed to mean "one or more" unless specified otherwise or clear from the
context to
be directed to a singular form. Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term
"some"
refers to one or more. A phrase referring to "at least one of' a list of items
refers to any
combination of those items, including single members. As an example, "at least
one of:
a, b, or c" is intended to cover: a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, and a-b-c, as well
as any combination
with multiples of the same element (e.g., a-a, a-a-a, a-a-b, a-a-c, a-b-b, a-c-
c, b-b, b-b-b,
b-b-c, c-c, and c-c-c or any other ordering of a, b, and c). As used herein,
including in the
claims, the term "and/or," when used in a list of two or more items, means
that any one
of the listed items can be employed by itself, or any combination of two or
more of the
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33
listed items can be employed. For example, if a composition is described as
containing
components A, B, and/or C, the composition can contain A alone; B alone; C
alone; A
and B in combination; A and C in combination; B and C in combination; or A, B.
and C
in combination.
[00124] In some cases, rather than actually communicating a frame, a device
may have
an interface to communicate a frame for transmission or reception. For
example, a
processor may output a frame, via a bus interface, to an RF front end for
transmission.
Similarly, rather than actually receiving a frame, a device may have an
interface to obtain
a frame received from another device. For example, a processor may obtain (or
receive)
a frame, via a bus interface, from an RF front end for transmission.
[00125] The methods disclosed herein comprise one or more steps or actions for
achieving the described method. The method steps and/or actions may be
interchanged
with one another without departing from the scope of the claims. In other
words, unless
a specific order of steps or actions is specified, the order and/or use of
specific steps and/or
actions may be modified without departing from the scope of the claims.
[00126] The various operations of methods described above may be performed by
any
suitable means capable of performing the corresponding functions. The means
may
include various hardware and/or software component(s) and/or module(s),
including, but
not limited to a circuit, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC),
or processor.
Generally, where there are operations illustrated in Figures, those operations
may be
performed by any suitable corresponding counterpart means-plus-function
components.
[00127] For example, means for monitoring, means for identifying, means for
selecting, means for determining, means for performing, means for
transmitting, means
for receiving, means for sending, means for signaling, means for requesting,
and/or means
for deriving may include one or more processors, transmitters, receivers,
antennas, and/or
other elements of the user equipment 120 and/or the base station 110
illustrated in FIG.
2.
[00128] Those of skill in the art would understand that information and
signals may be
represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques.
For example,
data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips
that may be
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referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltages,
currents,
electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or
particles, or
combinations thereof.
[00129] Those of skill would further appreciate that the various illustrative
logical
blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with
the disclosure
herein may be implemented as hardware, software, or combinations thereof. To
clearly
illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various
illustrative
components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above
generally in
terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as
hardware or
software depends upon the particular application and design constraints
imposed on the
overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in
varying
ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should
not be
interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.
[00130] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits
described in
connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented or performed with a
general-
purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific
integrated
circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable
logic
device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or
any
combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. One or
more
aforementioned devices or processors may execute software. Software shall be
construed
broadly to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program
code,
programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications,
software
packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executables, threads of execution,
procedures,
functions, etc., whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware,
microcode,
hardware description language, or otherwise. A general-purpose processor may
be a
microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional
processor,
controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be
implemented as a
combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a
microprocessor, a
plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with
a DSP
core, or any other such configuration.
[00131] The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with the
disclosure
herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by
a
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processor, or in a combination thereof. A software module may reside in RAM
memory,
flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, phase change
memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of
storage
medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the
processor such
that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the
storage
medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the
processor. The
processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in
a user
terminal. In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside
as discrete
components in a user terminal.
[00132] In one or more exemplary designs, the functions described may be
implemented in hardware, software, or combinations thereof. If implemented in
software,
the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions
or code on
a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer
storage
media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer
of a
computer program from. one place to another. A storage media may be any
available
media that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer.
By way of
example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM,
ROM,
EEPROM, CD/DVD or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other
magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to can-y or
store desired
program code means in the form of instructions or data structures and that can
be accessed
by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer, or a general-purpose or
special-
purpose processor. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable
medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or
other
remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital
subscriber line
(DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then
the coaxial
cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as
infrared, radio,
and microwave are included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used
herein,
includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc
(DVD), floppy
disk and Blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while
discs
reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be
included
within the scope of computer-readable media.
[00133] The previous description of the disclosure is provided to enable any
person
CA 03068759 2019-12-31
WO 2019/024737
PCT/CN2018/0970 29
36
skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the
disclosure
will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic
principles defined herein
may be applied to other variations without departing from the spirit or scope
of the
disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the examples
and designs
described herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the
principles and
novel features disclosed herein.
WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:
