Communication device, communication method, and program

A radio communication device in a base station, the radio communication device comprising:

• a radio transceiver configured to perform wireless communication in one or more serving cells operated in an unlicensed band;
• and
• circuitry configured to control the radio transceiver to transmit downlink physical signals on a cell among the one or more serving cells operated in the unlicensed band, wherein the downlink physical signals include Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS), Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS), and a downlink Demodulation Reference Signal (DMS), wherein
• the downlink physical signals are used by the user equipment to:
• measure a radio link quality of the downlink physical signals,
• evaluate the radio link quality against thresholds Qout and Qin,
• on condition that the radio link quality is worse than the threshold Qout, indicate out-of-sync to higher layers from a physical layer,
• on condition that the radio link quality is better than the threshold Qin, indicate in-sync to the higher layers than the physical layer,
• start a first timer when the out-of-sync is consecutively indicated to the higher layers from the physical layer, and
• determine that a radio link failure occurs in the wireless communication with the base station which serves the one or more serving cells in the unlicensed band in a case where the first timer expires without consecutive in-sync indications, wherein
• the first timer used to determine whether the radio link failure occurs in the wireless communication with the base station which serves the one or more serving cells in the unlicensed band is different from a second timer used to determine whether a radio link failure occurs in a wireless communication in one or more serving cells in a licensed band.

A method for a user equipment, the method comprising:

• performing wireless communication in one or more serving cells operated in an unlicensed band;
• performing, using circuitry, Radio Link Monitoring (RLM) using downlink physical signals transmitted on a cell among the one or more serving cells operated in the unlicensed band, wherein the downlink physical signals include Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS), Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS), and a downlink Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS);
• measuring a radio link quality of the downlink physical signals;
• evaluating the radio link quality against thresholds Qout and Qin;
• on condition that the radio link quality is worse than the threshold Qout, indicating out-of-sync to higher layers from a physical layer;
• on condition that the radio link quality is better than the threshold Qin, indicating in-sync to the higher layers from the physical layer;
• starting a first timer when the out-of-sync is consecutively indicated to the higher layers from the physical layer;
• and
• determining that a radio link failure occurs in the wireless communication with a base station which serves the one or more serving cells in the unlicensed band in a case where the first timer expires without consecutive in-sync indications, wherein
• the first timer used to determine whether the radio link failure occurs in the wireless communication with the base station which serves the one or more serving cells in the unlicensed band is different from a second timer used to determine whether a radio link failure occurs in a wireless communication in one or more serving cells in a licensed band.

A method for a base station, the method comprising:

• performing, using radio transceiver, wireless communication in one or more serving cells operated in an unlicensed band;
• and
• transmitting downlink physical signals on a cell among the one or more serving cells operated in the unlicensed band, wherein the downlink physical signals include Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS), Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS), and a downlink Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS), wherein
• the downlink physical signals are used by the user equipment to:
• measure a radio link quality of the downlink physical signals,
• evaluate the radio link quality against thresholds Qout and Qin,
• on condition that the radio link quality is worse than the threshold Qout, indicate out-of-sync to higher layers from a physical layer,
• on condition that the radio link quality is better than the threshold Qin, indicate in-sync to the higher layers than the physical layer,
• start a first timer when the out-of-sync is consecutively indicated to the higher layers from the physical layer, and
• determine that a radio link failure occurs in the wireless communication with the base station which serves the one or more serving cells in the unlicensed band in a case where the first timer expires without consecutive in-sync indications, wherein
• the first timer used to determine whether the radio link failure occurs in the wireless communication with the base station which serves the one or more serving cells in the unlicensed band is different from a second timer used to determine whether a radio link failure occurs in a wireless communication in one or more serving cells in a licensed band.

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a program causing a computer to perform a method in a user equipment, the method comprising:

• performing wireless communication in one or more serving cells operated in an unlicensed band;
• performing Radio Link Monitoring (RLM) using downlink physical signals transmitted on a cell among the one or more serving cells operated in the unlicensed band, wherein the downlink physical signals include Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS), Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS), and a downlink Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS),
• measuring a radio link quality of the downlink physical signals;
• evaluating the radio link quality against thresholds Qout and Qin;
• on condition that the radio link quality is worse than the threshold Qout, indicating out-of-sync to higher layers from a physical layer;
• on condition that the radio link quality is better than the threshold Qin, indicating in-sync to the higher layers than the physical layer;
• starting a first timer when the out-of-sync is consecutively indicated to the higher layers from the physical layer;
• and
• determining that a radio link failure occurs in the wireless communication with a base station which serves the one or more serving cells in the unlicensed band in a case where the first timer expires without consecutive in-sync indications, wherein
• the first timer used to determine whether the radio link failure occurs in the wireless communication with the base station which serves the one or more serving cells in the unlicensed band is different from a second timer used to determine whether a radio link failure occurs in a wireless communication in one or more serving cells in a licensed band.

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a program causing a computer to perform a method in a radio communication device in a base station, the method comprising:

• performing wireless communication in one or more serving cells operated in an unlicensed band;
• and
• transmitting downlink physical signals on a cell among the one or more serving cells operated in the unlicensed band, wherein the downlink physical signals include Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS), Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS), and a downlink Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS), wherein
• the downlink physical signals are used by the user equipment to:
• measure a radio link quality of the downlink physical signals,
• evaluate the radio link quality against thresholds Qout and Qin,
• on condition that the radio link quality is worse than the threshold Qout, indicate out-of-sync to higher layers from a physical layer,
• on condition that the radio link quality is better than the threshold Qin, indicate in-sync to the higher layers than the physical layer,
• start a first timer when the out-of-sync is consecutively indicated to the higher layers from the physical layer, and
• determine that a radio link failure occurs in the wireless communication with the base station which serves the one or more serving cells in the unlicensed band in a case where the first timer expires without consecutive in-sync indications, wherein
• the first timer used to determine whether the radio link failure occurs in the wireless communication with the base station which serves the one or more serving cells in the unlicensed band is different from a second timer used to determine whether a radio link failure occurs in a wireless communication in one or more serving cells in a licensed hand.