# US 12,763,887 B2 · Network node, terminal apparatus, control method, and computer-readable storage medium for enhancing efficiency in communication using carrier waves > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,763,887 B2 - Document ID: US12763887B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 18/442,511 - Filed: 2024-02-15 - Published: 2024-06-06 - Granted: 2026-10-13 - Earliest claimed: 2022-02-14 - Assignees: Kddi Corporation - Applicants: Kddi Corporation - Inventors: Hiroki Takeda; Mikiya Agata; Satoshi Itou; Tomohide Shimomura; Yasuki Suzuki; Yuuichi Hasegawa - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12763887B2 ## CPC - H04L 5/001: {the frequencies being arranged in component carriers} - H04L 5/0098: {Signalling of the activation or deactivation of component carriers, subcarriers or frequency bands} - H04W 76/15: Setup of multiple wireless link connections - H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M) - H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72) ## Abstract A network node obtains, from a terminal apparatus, information relating to a first received power of a first carrier wave and a second received power of a second carrier wave for the terminal apparatus, determines whether or not a difference value between the first received power and the second received power is greater than a predetermined value on a basis of the information, and controls the terminal apparatus to start communication using dual connectivity or carrier aggregation using the first carrier wave and the second carrier wave on a basis of a difference value between the first received power and the second received power being determined to be less than the predetermined value. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A network node, comprising: one or more processors; and one or more memories that store a computer-readable instruction for causing, when executed by the one or more processors, the one or more processors to function as: an obtaining unit configured to obtain, from a terminal apparatus, information relating to a first received power of a first carrier wave and a second received power of a second carrier wave for the terminal apparatus; a setting unit configured to set a first value as a predetermined value in a case where the terminal apparatus performs processing of the first carrier wave and the second carrier wave with one communication circuit and to set a second value as the predetermined value in a case where the terminal apparatus performs processing of the first carrier wave and the second carrier wave with separate communication circuits; a determination unit configured to determine whether or not a difference value between the first received power and the second received power is greater than the predetermined value on a basis of the information; and a control unit configured to control the terminal apparatus to start communication using dual connectivity or carrier aggregation using the first carrier wave and the second carrier wave on a basis of a difference value between the first received power and the second received power being determined to be less than the predetermined value, wherein the obtaining unit further obtains, from the terminal apparatus, information indicating whether the terminal apparatus is to perform processing of the first carrier wave and the second carrier wave with one communication circuit or whether the terminal apparatus is to perform processing with separate communication circuits. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The network node according to claim 1, wherein the obtaining unit further obtains, from the terminal apparatus, information relating to a third received power of a third carrier wave for the terminal apparatus, and on a basis of a difference value between the first received power and the second received power being determined to be not greater than the predetermined value and a difference value between the first received power and the third received power being determined to be not greater than the predetermined value, the control unit performs control to in a case where a load of a base station apparatus providing communication using the second carrier wave is less than a load of a base station apparatus providing communication using the third carrier wave, cause the terminal apparatus to start communication using dual connectivity or carrier aggregation using the first carrier wave and the second carrier wave, and in a case where a load of a base station apparatus providing communication using the third carrier wave is less than a load of a base station apparatus providing communication using the second carrier wave, cause the terminal apparatus to start communication using dual connectivity or carrier aggregation using the first carrier wave and the third carrier wave. ### Claim 3 A network node, comprising: one or more processors; and one or more memories that store a computer readable instruction for causing, when executed by the one or more processors, the one or more processors to function as: an obtaining unit configured to obtain, from a terminal apparatus, information relating to a first received power of a first carrier wave and a second received power of a second carrier wave for the terminal apparatus; a setting unit configured to set a first value as a predetermined value in a case where the terminal apparatus performs processing of the first carrier wave and the second carrier wave with one communication circuit and to set a second value as the predetermined value in a case where the terminal apparatus performs processing of the first carrier wave and the second carrier wave with separate communication circuits; a determination unit configured to determine whether or not a difference value between the first received power and the second received power is greater than the predetermined value on a basis of the information; and a control unit configured to, in a case where the terminal apparatus is performing communication using dual connectivity or carrier aggregation using the first carrier wave and the second carrier wave and a difference value between the first received power and the second received power is determined to be greater than the predetermined value, control the terminal apparatus to end the communication, wherein the obtaining unit further obtains, from the terminal apparatus, information indicating whether the terminal apparatus is to perform processing of the first carrier wave and the second carrier wave with one communication circuit or whether the terminal apparatus is to perform processing with separate communication circuits. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The network node according to claim 1, wherein the obtaining unit obtains, from the terminal apparatus, information indicating the first received power and information indicating the second received power as information relating to the first received power and the second received power for the terminal apparatus. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The network node according to claim 1, wherein the obtaining unit obtains, from the terminal apparatus, information indicating a difference value between the first received power and the second received power as information relating to the first received power and the second received power for the terminal apparatus. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The network node according to claim 1, wherein the obtaining unit obtains, from the terminal apparatus, information that can identify whether or not a difference value between the first received power and the second received power is greater than the predetermined value as information relating to the first received power and the second received power for the terminal apparatus. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The network node according to claim 1, wherein the computer-readable instruction causes, when executed by the one or more processors, the one or more processors to further function as: a notifying unit configured to notify the terminal apparatus of information indicating a condition for notifying of information relating to the first received power and the second received power for the terminal apparatus. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The network node according to claim 7, wherein the notifying unit, as the condition, indicates that a difference value between the first received power and the second received power for the terminal apparatus is greater than the predetermined value. ### Claim 9 (depends on 7) The network node according to claim 7, wherein the notifying unit, as the condition, indicates that a difference value between the first received power and the second received power for the terminal apparatus is not greater than the predetermined value. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The network node according to claim 1, wherein the first carrier wave is a carrier wave associated with long-term evolution (LTE) and the second carrier wave is a carrier wave associated with new radio (NR). ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The network node according to claim 1, wherein the first carrier wave and the second carrier wave are carrier waves associated with new radio (NR). ### Claim 12 A terminal apparatus that is connected to a base station apparatus, which uses first information, obtained from the terminal apparatus, for specifying a communication circuit of the terminal apparatus to perform control regarding dual connectivity or carrier aggregation, the terminal apparatus comprising: one or more processors; and one or more memories that store a computer-readable instruction for causing, when executed by the one or more processors, the one or more processors to function as: a reporting unit configured to report, to the base station apparatus, the first information and second information relating to a first received power of a first carrier wave and a second received power of a second carrier wave, wherein the first carrier wave and the second carrier wave are used for the dual connectivity or the carrier aggregation, wherein the first information is information used for determining whether processing for a plurality of carrier waves is performed by using a single communication circuit or a plurality of separate communication circuits. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The terminal apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the first information is information used for determine, even in a case where difference in power of two carrier waves is larger than a predetermined level, whether processing of a plurality of carrier waves using respective communication circuits for each carrier wave is possible or not. ### Claim 14 (depends on 12) The terminal apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the first information is information used for determine, in a case where difference in power of two carrier waves is larger than a predetermined level, whether the terminal apparatus comprises a communication circuit for preventing throughput from being reduced or not. ### Claim 15 (depends on 12) The terminal apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the terminal apparatus is connected to a base station apparatus that performs, based on the first information and difference in received power of the first received power and the second received power obtained from the terminal apparatus, determination of start or end of communication using the dual connectivity or the carrier aggregation and that instructs, based on a result of the determination, the start or the end of the communication using the dual connectivity or the carrier aggregation to the terminal apparatus. ### Claim 16 A control method executed by a network node, comprising: obtaining, from a terminal apparatus, information relating to a first received power of a first carrier wave and a second received power of a second carrier wave for the terminal apparatus; setting a first value as a predetermined value in a case where the terminal apparatus performs processing of the first carrier wave and the second carrier wave with one communication circuit and setting a second value as the predetermined value in a case where the terminal apparatus performs processing of the first carrier wave and the second carrier wave with separate communication circuits; determining whether or not a difference value between the first received power and the second received power is greater than the predetermined value on a basis of the information; and controlling the terminal apparatus to start communication using dual connectivity or carrier aggregation using the first carrier wave and the second carrier wave on a basis of the difference value between the first received power and the second received power being determined to be less than the predetermined value, wherein in the obtaining, information indicating whether the terminal apparatus is to perform processing of the first carrier wave and the second carrier wave with one communication circuit or whether the terminal apparatus is to perform processing with separate communication circuits is obtained from the terminal apparatus. ### Claim 17 A control method executed by a network node, comprising: obtaining, from a terminal apparatus, information relating to a first received power of a first carrier wave and a second received power of a second carrier wave for the terminal apparatus; setting a first value as a predetermined value in a case where the terminal apparatus performs processing of the first carrier wave and the second carrier wave with one communication circuit and setting a second value as the predetermined value in a case where the terminal apparatus performs processing of the first carrier wave and the second carrier wave with separate communication circuits; determining whether or not a difference value between the first received power and the second received power is greater than the predetermined value on a basis of the information; and in a case where the terminal apparatus is performing communication using dual connectivity or carrier aggregation using the first carrier wave and the second carrier wave and a difference value between the first received power and the second received power is determined to be greater than the predetermined value, controlling the terminal apparatus to end the communication, wherein in the obtaining, information indicating whether the terminal apparatus is to perform processing of the first carrier wave and the second carrier wave with one communication circuit or whether the terminal apparatus is to perform processing with separate communication circuits is obtained from the terminal apparatus. ### Claim 18 A control method executed by a terminal apparatus that is connected to a base station apparatus, which uses first information, obtained from the terminal apparatus, for specifying a communication circuit of the terminal apparatus to perform control regarding dual connectivity or carrier aggregation, the control method comprising: reporting, to the base station apparatus, the first information and second information relating to a first received power of a first carrier wave and a second received power of a second carrier wave, wherein the first carrier wave and the second carrier wave are used for the dual connectivity or the carrier aggregation, wherein the first information is information used for determining whether processing for a plurality of carrier waves is performed by using a single communication circuit or a plurality of separate communication circuits. ### Claim 19 A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores a program for causing, when the program is executed by a computer provided in a network node, the computer to: obtain, from a terminal apparatus, information relating to a first received power of a first carrier wave and a second received power of a second carrier wave for the terminal apparatus; set a first value as a predetermined value in a case where the terminal apparatus performs processing of the first carrier wave and the second carrier wave with one communication circuit and set a second value as the predetermined value in a case where the terminal apparatus performs processing of the first carrier wave and the second carrier wave with separate communication circuits; determine whether or not a difference value between the first received power and the second received power is greater than the predetermined value on a basis of the information; and control the terminal apparatus to start communication using dual connectivity or carrier aggregation using the first carrier wave and the second carrier wave on a basis of the difference value between the first received power and the second received power being determined to be less than the predetermined value, wherein information indicating whether the terminal apparatus is to perform processing of the first carrier wave and the second carrier wave with one communication circuit or whether the terminal apparatus is to perform processing with separate communication circuits is obtained from the terminal apparatus. ### Claim 20 A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores a program for causing, when the program is executed by a computer provided in a network node, the computer to: obtain, from a terminal apparatus, information relating to a first received power of a first carrier wave and a second received power of a second carrier wave for the terminal apparatus; setting a first value as a predetermined value in a case where the terminal apparatus performs processing of the first carrier wave and the second carrier wave with one communication circuit and setting a second value as the predetermined value in a case where the terminal apparatus performs processing of the first carrier wave and the second carrier wave with separate communication circuits; determine whether or not a difference value between the first received power and the second received power is greater than the predetermined value on a basis of the information; and in a case where the terminal apparatus is performing communication using dual connectivity or carrier aggregation using the first carrier wave and the second carrier wave and a difference value between the first received power and the second received power is determined to be greater than the predetermined value, control the terminal apparatus to end the communication, wherein information indicating whether the terminal apparatus is to perform processing of the first carrier wave and the second carrier wave with one communication circuit or whether the terminal apparatus is to perform processing with separate communication circuits is obtained from the terminal apparatus. ### Claim 21 A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores a program for causing, when the program is executed by a computer provided in a terminal apparatus, which is connected to a base station apparatus, which uses first information, obtained from the terminal apparatus, for specifying a communication circuit of the terminal apparatus to perform control regarding dual connectivity or carrier aggregation, the computer to: report, to the base station apparatus, the first information and second information relating to a first received power of a first carrier wave and a second received power of a second carrier wave, wherein the first carrier wave and the second carrier wave are used for the dual connectivity or the carrier aggregation, wherein the first information is information used for determining whether processing for a plurality of carrier waves is performed by using a single communication circuit or a plurality of separate communication circuits.