US 10,542,539 B2Granted

Apparatus and method for reporting system frame number (SFN) and subframe offset in dual connectivity (DC) enhancement

AssigneeApple Inc.

InventorsRui Huang, Yang Tang

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Abstract

Embodiments of a user equipment (UE) for reporting of timing offset for dual connectivity enhancement are disclosed herein. The UE can include transceiver circuitry to connect to a master cell group via a master evolved node B (eNB) and a secondary cell group via a secondary eNB. Additionally, the UE can receive a first reference signal from the master eNB and a second reference signal from a secondary eNB. Moreover, the UE can include processing circuitry to calculate a system frame number (SFN) and subframe timing difference (SSTD) based on the first reference signal and the second reference signal. Moreover, the UE can generate a measurement report having a synchronization indicator for dual connectivity based on the calculated SSTD. Subsequently, the UE can send the generated measurement report to the master eNB.

Claims20

Dependent claims

An apparatus of a user equipment (UE), the apparatus comprising:

memory;
and
processing circuitry to:
configure the UE for an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) Dual Connectivity (DC) operation, wherein during the DC operation, in a radio resource control (RRC) connected mode the UE is configured to use radio resources from a Master Evolved Node-B (MeNB) of a Master Cell Group (MCG) and a Secondary Evolved Node-B (SeNB) of a Secondary Cell Group (SCG), and wherein as part of the DC operation, the processing circuitry is configured to:
decode first signaling, received in a first subframe from the MeNB, the first signaling including a first Master Information Block (MIB);
decode second signaling, received in a second subframe from the SeNB, the second signaling including a second MIB, wherein the first MIB and the second MIB each include a system frame number information element (IE);
calculate, based on the first MIB and the second MIB, a subframe number (SFN) offset between the MeNB and the SeNB, a frame boundary offset between the MeNB and the SeNB, and a subframe boundary offset between the MeNB and the SeNB;
generate a SFN and subframe timing difference (SSTD) measurement report including the SFN offset, the frame boundary offset, and the subframe boundary offset;
encode radio resource control (RRC) signaling, for transmission to the MeNB, the RRC signaling including the SSTD measurement report;
configure transceiver circuitry to transmit the RRC signaling, including the SSTD measurement report, to the MeNB;
identify a measurement gap based on the SFN and subframe boundaries of MCG cells, the measurement gap being a number of subframes devoid of transmissions within the MCG;
perform cell measurements on cells of the SCG during the measurement gap;
and
wherein the memory is configured to store the SSTD measurement report.

11 more elements

A computer-readable hardware storage device that stores instructions for execution by one or more processors of a user equipment (UE), the instructions to configure the one or more processors to:

configure the UE for an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) Dual Connectivity (DC) operation, wherein during the DC operation, in a radio resource control (RRC) connected mode the UE is configured to use radio resources from a Master Evolved Node-B (MeNB) of a Master Cell Group (MCG) and a Secondary Evolved Node-B (SeNB) of a Secondary Cell Group (SCG), and wherein as part of the DC operation, the instructions are to configure the one or more processors to:
decode first signaling, received in a first subframe from the MeNB, the first signaling including a first Master Information Block (MIB);
decode second signaling, received in a second subframe from the SeNB, the second signaling including a second MIB, wherein the first MIB and the second MIB each include a system frame number information element (IE);
calculate, based on the first MIB and the second MIB, a subframe number (SFN) offset between the MeNB and the SeNB, a frame boundary offset between the MeNB and the SeNB, and a subframe boundary offset between the MeNB and the SeNB;
generate a SFN and subframe timing difference (SSTD) measurement report including the SFN offset, the frame boundary offset, and the subframe boundary offset;
encode radio resource control (RRC) signaling, for transmission to the MeNB, the RRC signaling including the SSTD measurement report;
and
configure transceiver circuitry to transmit the RRC signaling, including the SSTD measurement report, to the MeNB;
and
identify a measurement gap based on the SFN and subframe boundaries of MCG cells, the measurement gap being a number of subframes devoid of transmissions within the MCG;
perform cell measurements on cells of the SCG during the measurement gap.

8 more elements

An apparatus of an Master Evolved Node-B (MeNB) of a Master Cell Group (MCG), the apparatus comprising:

memory;
and processing circuitry to:
configure the MeNB for an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) Dual Connectivity (DC) operation, wherein during the DC operation, in a radio resource control (RRC) connected mode a user equipment (UE) is to use radio resources from the MeNB and a Secondary Evolved Node-B (SeNB) of a Secondary Cell Group (SCG), and wherein as part of the DC operation, the processing circuitry is configured to:
encode first signaling, for transmission to the UE in a first subframe, the first signaling including a first Master Information Block (MIB), wherein the first MIB includes a system frame number information element (IE);
decode, from radio resource control (RRC) signaling received from the UE, a subframe number and subframe timing difference (SSTD) measurement report,
wherein the SSTD measurement report includes a subframe number (SFN) offset, a frame boundary offset, and a subframe boundary offset,
wherein the SFN offset, the frame boundary offset, and the subframe boundary offset are calculated based on the first MIB and a second MIB, and
wherein the second MIB is received by the UE in a second subframe from the SeNB and includes a system frame number IE;
and
wherein the SFN and subframe boundaries of MCG cells are used by the UE to determine a measurement gap for performing cell measurements on cells of the SCG, the measurement gap being a number of subframes devoid of transmissions within the MCG, and
wherein the memory is configured to store the SSTD measurement report.

8 more elements

A computer-readable hardware storage device that stores instructions for execution by one or more processors of a Master Evolved Node-B (MeNB) of a Master Cell Group (MCG), the instructions to configure the one or more processors to:

configure the MeNB for an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) Dual Connectivity (DC) operation, wherein during the DC operation, in a radio resource control (RRC) connected mode a user equipment (UE) is to use radio resources from the MeNB and a Secondary Evolved Node-B (SeNB) of a Secondary Cell Group (SCG), and wherein as part of the DC operation, the processing circuitry is configured to:
encode first signaling, for transmission to the UE in a first subframe, the first signaling including a first Master Information Block (MIB), wherein the first MIB includes a system frame number information element (IE);
decode, from radio resource control (RRC) signaling received from the UE, a subframe number and subframe timing difference (SSTD) measurement report,
wherein the SSTD measurement report includes a subframe number (SFN) offset, a frame boundary offset, and a subframe boundary offset,
wherein the SFN offset, the frame boundary offset, and the subframe boundary offset are calculated based on the first MIB and a second MIB, and
wherein the second MIB is received by the UE in a second subframe from the SeNB and includes a system frame number IE;
and
wherein the SFN and subframe boundaries of MCG cells are used by the UE to determine a measurement gap for performing cell measurements on cells of the SCG, the measurement gap being a number of subframes devoid of transmissions within the MCG, and.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 15/755,529Filed 18 Dec 2015 · us provisional application
Priority: 27 Aug 2015
Published: US 2018/0249463 A130 Aug 2018
Granted: 21 Jan 2020
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification15 codes

H04W 72/0446
Based on the type of the allocated resource: resources in time domain, e.g. slots or frames
H04L 5/001
The frequencies being orthogonal, e.g. OFDM or DMT: the frequencies being arranged in component carriers
H04L 5/0035
Distributed allocation, i.e. involving a plurality of allocating devices, each making partial allocation: resource allocation in a cooperative…
H04L 5/0048
Arrangements for allocating sub-channels of the transmission path: allocation of pilot signals, i.e. of signals known to the receiver