Extended Cell Range
AssigneeTelefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ)
InventorsTobias Tynderfeldt, Dirk Gerstenberger, Fredrik Huss, Daniel Larsson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A solution for extending the cell range and in particular for a solution for handling timing alignment is presented herein. The solution comprises determining a distance between user equipment and a radio access network node. User equipment located at a distance related to a pre defined timing advance value is scheduled to handle uplink communication so as to arrive at a later time slot for reducing the risk of conflicting with other transmissions towards the access node.
Claims22
A method in a radio network node for controlling uplink transmission from at least one user equipment to arrive time aligned with a time slot structure at the radio network node, wherein the time slot structure is a sequence of time slots, each time slot having a time slot period, wherein the method comprises the steps of:
- A) receiving from said at least one user equipment a timing uplink transmission;
- B) determining a timing offset based on the timing uplink transmission, wherein the timing offset is indicative of a distance in time between the radio network node and said at least one user equipment;
- C) comparing the timing offset to a threshold value for determining a timing advance value to be sent to said at least one user equipment, and performing one of steps D1) and D2):
- D1) setting the timing advance value to the timing offset, when the timing offset is less than the threshold value, whereby a time-aligned uplink transmission from said at least one user equipment is caused to arrive at the radio network node time aligned with a first uplink time slot, or
- D2) setting the timing advance value to the timing offset reduced by one or more time slot periods, when the timing offset is greater than or equal to the threshold value, whereby a time-aligned uplink transmission from said at least one user equipment is caused to arrive at the radio network node time aligned with a second uplink time slot that is later than the first uplink time slot,
- and the method further comprises a step of:
- E) sending to said at least one user equipment the timing advance value.
An arrangement in a radio network node for controlling uplink transmission from at least one user equipment to arrive time aligned with a time slot structure at the radio network node, wherein the time slot structure is a sequence of time slots, each time slot having a time slot period, wherein the arrangement comprises:
- a receiving unit configured to receive from said at least one user equipment a timing uplink transmission;
- a determining unit configured to determine a timing offset based on the timing uplink transmission, wherein the timing offset is indicative of distance in time between the radio network node and said at least one user equipment, and the arrangement;
- a comparing unit configured to compare the timing offset to a threshold value for determining a timing advance value to be sent to said at least one user equipment, and the comparing unit is further configured to:
- function in an operational mode D1 wherein the comparing unit is configured to set the timing advance value to the timing offset, when the timing offset is less than the threshold value, whereby a time-aligned uplink transmission from said at least one user equipment is caused to arrive at the radio network node time aligned with a first uplink time slot, or
- function in an operational mode D2 wherein the comparing unit is configured to set the timing advance value to the timing offset reduced by one or more time slot periods, when the timing offset is greater than or equal to the threshold value, whereby a time-aligned uplink transmission from said at least one user equipment is caused to arrive at the radio network node time aligned with a second uplink time slot that is later than the first uplink time slot,
- and the arrangement further comprises:
- a sending unit configured to send to said at least one user equipment the timing advance value.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.