# US 10,873,958 B1 · Controlling PRB allocation for dual-connectivity service > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,873,958 B1 - Document ID: US10873958B1 - Status: Granted - Kind: B1 - Application number: 16/409,003 - Filed: 2019-05-10 - Granted: 2020-12-22 - Earliest claimed: 2019-05-10 - Assignees: Sprint Spectrum L.P. - Applicants: Sprint Spectrum L.P. - Inventors: Nagi Mansour; Akin Ozozlu; Noman Alam - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10873958B1 ## CPC - H04W 72/1215: {for collaboration of different radio technologies} - H04W 52/146: {Uplink power control} - H04W 52/243: {taking into account interferences} - H04W 52/367: {Power values between minimum and maximum limits, e.g. dynamic range} - H04W 72/1268: of uplink data flows - H04W 76/16: Involving different core network technologies, e.g. a packet-switched [PS] bearer in combination with a circuit-switched [CS] bearer - H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72) ## Abstract A method and system for controlling PRB allocation in dual-connectivity service in which a first access node serves a UE on a first carrier concurrently with a second access node serving the UE on a second carrier. In an example implementation, the first and second access nodes interwork with each other to select a pair of (i) a first group of PRBs within the first carrier for uplink transmission from the UE to the first access node and (ii) a second group of PRBs within the second carrier for uplink transmission from the UE to the second access node, with the selecting being based on minimizing a maximum-power-reduction (MPR) that would be applied for concurrent transmission by the UE to the first access node and to the second access node. The access nodes could then accordingly coordinate the UE's concurrent uplink transmissions. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method for controlling physical-resource-block (PRB) allocation in dual-connectivity service, the method comprising: serving, by a first access node a user equipment device (UE) on a first carrier in accordance with a first radio access technology (RAT), the first carrier being divided per unit time into first PRBs, wherein the serving is concurrent with a second access node serving the UE on a second carrier in accordance with a second RAT, the second carrier being divided per unit time into second PRBs; during the serving of the UE by the first access node, selecting by the first access node, from within the first carrier, a group of the first PRBs to allocate for an uplink data transmission by the UE to the first access node, wherein the selecting is based on minimizing a maximum power reduction (MPR) associated with concurrent uplink transmission by the UE on (i) the selected group of the first PRBs and (ii) a group of the second PRBs selected by the second access node for an uplink data transmission by the UE to the second access node; and allocating by the first access node the selected group of first PRBs for the uplink data transmission by the UE to the first access node. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the first RAT is one of 4G LTE or 5G NR, and wherein the second RAT is the other of 4G LTE and 5G NR. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, carried out while the first access node and second access node serve the UE with EUTRA-NR Dual Connectivity (EN-DC) service. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting comprises: receiving by the first access node, from the second access node, information indicating the group of second PRBs selected by the second access node for the uplink data transmission by the UE to the second access node; determining by the first access node, by reference to correlation data that maps (i) each of various pairs of first-PRB frequency range and second-PRB frequency range with (ii) a respective MPR that should be applied for concurrent uplink transmission on the pair, which group of the first PRBs, when paired with the second group of PRBs, would have a lowest respective MPR; and selecting by the first access node the determined group of first PRBs to allocate for the uplink data transmission by the UE to the first access node. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, wherein the determining comprises: querying the correlation data to identify a plurality of candidate pairs each including the group of second PRBs selected by the second access node for the uplink transmission by the UE to the second access node, wherein the correlation data specifies for each candidate pair a respective MPR; determining which of the identified candidate pairs has the lowest respective MPR among the identified candidate pairs. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the MPR is an additional MPR (A-MPR) beyond a baseline MPR. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the MPR is based on third order intermodulation distortion resulting from the concurrent uplink transmission. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein allocating by the first access node the selected group of first PRBs for the uplink data transmission by the UE to the first access node comprises transmitting by the first access node to the UE a scheduling directive that directs the UE to engage in the uplink data transmission to the first access node in the selected group of first PRBs. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the first access node serves the UE on a plurality of carriers, and wherein the selecting of the group of first PRBs comprises selecting the group of first PRBs from within the plurality of first carriers. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, further comprising selecting by the first access node one of the carriers of the plurality to be the first carrier, wherein selecting the carrier to be the first carrier is further based on minimizing the MPR. ### Claim 11 A method for controlling physical-resource-block (PRB) allocation in dual-connectivity service in which a first access node serves a user equipment device (UE) on a first carrier concurrently with a second access node serving the UE on a second carrier, the method comprising: the first access node and second access node interworking with each other to select a pair of (i) a first group of PRBs within the first carrier for uplink transmission from the UE to the first access node and (ii) a second group of PRBs within the second carrier for uplink transmission from the UE to the second access node, wherein the selecting is based on minimizing a maximum-power-reduction (MPR) that would be applied for concurrent transmission by the UE to the first access node and to the second access node; and based on the selecting, the first access node and second access node coordinating concurrent transmission by the UE on (i) the first group of PRBs to the first access node and (ii) the second group of PRBs to the second access node. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, carried out while the first access node and second access node serve the UE with EUTRA-NR Dual Connectivity (EN-DC) service. ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein the interworking to select the pair comprises: exchanging information regarding selected PRBs; and determining, by reference to correlation data that that maps (i) each of various pairs of PRBs within the carrier and PRBs within the second carrier with (ii) a respective MPR that should be applied for concurrent uplink transmission on the pair, which pair would have a lowest respective MPR; and selecting the determined pair. ### Claim 14 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein the MPR is an additional MPR (A-MPR) beyond a baseline MPR. ### Claim 15 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein the MPR is based on third order intermodulation distortion resulting from the concurrent transmission. ### Claim 16 In a wireless communication system that includes a first access node configured to provide service on a first carrier defining a plurality of first physical resource blocks (PRBs) per unit time and a second access node configured to provide service on a second carrier defining a plurality of second PRBs per unit time, the first access node comprising: a wireless communication interface including an antenna structure through which the first access node is configured to engage in communication on the first carrier; a backhaul interface through which the first access node is configured to engage in communication with the second access node; and a controller having a processing unit programmed to carry out operations including: (a) serving a user equipment device (UE) on the first carrier in accordance with a first radio access technology (RAT) concurrently with the UE being served by second access node on the second carrier in accordance with a second RAT, (b) while serving of the UE on the first carrier, selecting, from within the first carrier, a group of the first PRBs to allocate for an uplink data transmission by the UE to the first access node, wherein the selecting is based on minimizing a maximum power reduction (MPR) associated with concurrent uplink transmission by the UE on (i) the selected group of the first PRBs and (ii) a group of the second PRBs selected by the second access node for an uplink data transmission by the UE to the second access node, and (c) allocating the selected group of first PRBs for the uplink data transmission by the UE to the first access node. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The first access node of claim 16, wherein the selecting comprises: receiving, from the second access node, information indicating the group of second PRBs selected by the second access node for the uplink data transmission by the UE to the second access node; determining, by reference to correlation data that maps (i) each of various pairs of first-PRB frequency range and second-PRB frequency range with (ii) a respective MPR that should be applied for concurrent uplink transmission on the pair, which group of the first PRBs, when paired with the second group of PRBs, would have a lowest respective MPR; and selecting the determined group of first PRBs to allocate for the uplink data transmission by the UE to the first access node. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The first access node of claim 17, wherein the determining comprises: querying the correlation data to identify a plurality of candidate pairs each including the group of second PRBs selected by the second access node for the uplink transmission by the UE to the second access node, wherein the correlation data specifies for each candidate pair a respective MPR; determining which of the identified candidate pairs has the lowest respective MPR among the identified candidate pairs. ### Claim 19 (depends on 16) The first access node of claim 16, wherein the MPR is an additional MPR (A-MPR) beyond a baseline MPR. ### Claim 20 (depends on 16) The first access node of claim 16, wherein the MPR is based on third order intermodulation distortion resulting from the concurrent uplink transmission.