# US 2014/0192686 A1 · Methods and Apparatus for Multiple Connectivity in a TDD System > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2014/0192686 A1 - Document ID: US20140192686A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 14/112,251 - Filed: 2013-07-17 - Published: 2014-07-10 - Earliest claimed: 2013-01-08 - Assignees: Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson (publ) - Applicants: Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson (publ) - Inventors: David Hammarwall; Ali Behravan; Daniel Larsson; Imadur Rahman; Eliane Semaan; Xinghua Song - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140192686A1 ## CPC - H04B 7/2656: {for structure of frame, burst} - H04L 5/14: Two-way operation using the same type of signal, i.e. duplex - H04L 5/0035: {Resource allocation in a cooperative multipoint environment} - H04L 5/0073: {Allocation arrangements that take into account other cell interferences} - H04L 5/1469: {using time-sharing} - H04W 72/00: Local resource management - H04W 72/54: based on quality criteria - H04L 5/0044: {Allocation of payload; Allocation of data channels, e.g. PDSCH or PUSCH} - H04W 72/566: of the information or information source or recipient - H04B: TRANSMISSION - 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 wireless communication system (14) comprises points that have time division duplex, TDD, configurations. Information is obtained indicating the TDD configuration of each of multiple points to which a particular wireless communication device (6) is simultaneously connected. Based on this obtained information, it is determined that one or more time-domain radio resources used by the multiple points are conflicting resources defined by the TDD configuration of one or more of the multiple points as being uplink resources and defined by the TDD configuration of one or more others of the multiple points as being downlink resources. For the device (6), each of the one or more conflicting resources are resolved as either an uplink resource to be used by the device (6), a downlink resource to be used by the device (6), or a resource not to be used by the device (6), based on one or more rules for optimizing use of conflicting resources. ## Claims ### Claim at position 1 1-21. (canceled) ### Claim 22 A method implemented in a wireless communication system comprising points that have time division duplex, TDD, configurations, wherein the method comprises: obtaining information indicating the TDD configuration of each of multiple points to which a particular wireless communication device is simultaneously connected, the particular device being incapable of simultaneous uplink and downlink communication; determining, based on the obtained information, that one or more time-domain radio resources used by the multiple points are conflicting resources defined by the TDD configuration of one or more of the multiple points as being uplink resources and defined by the TDD configuration of one or more others of the multiple points as being downlink resources; and resolving, for the particular device, each of the one or more conflicting resources as either an uplink resource to be used by the device, a downlink resource to be used by the device, or a resource not to be used by the device, based on one or more rules for optimizing use of conflicting resources. ### Claim 23 (depends on 22) The method of claim 22, wherein at least one of the one or more rules directly or indirectly specifies that each conflicting resource is to be resolved depending on a comparison of one or more attributes or characteristics of any downlink information contending for transport over that resource with one or more attributes or characteristics of any uplink information also contending for transport over that resource. ### Claim 24 (depends on 22) The method of claim 22, wherein at least one of the one or more rules directly or indirectly specifies that each conflicting resource is to be resolved as a downlink resource or as an uplink resource depending respectively on whether the content of any downlink information contending for transport over that resource or the content of any uplink information also contending for transport over that resource is defined as more important. ### Claim 25 (depends on 22) The method of claim 22, wherein at least one of the one or more rules directly or indirectly specifies that each conflicting resource is to be resolved as a downlink resource or as an uplink resource depending respectively on whether the point from which any downlink information contending for transport over that resource or the point to which any uplink information also contending for transport over that resource is defined as having a higher priority. ### Claim 26 (depends on 22) The method of claim 22, wherein at least one of the one or more rules directly or indirectly specifies that each conflicting resource is to be resolved as a downlink resource or as an uplink resource depending respectively on whether any downlink information contending for transport over that resource or any uplink information also contending for transport over that resource is more likely to be reliably transported over the resource. ### Claim 27 (depends on 22) The method of claim 22, wherein at least one of the one or more rules directly or indirectly specifies that each conflicting resource is to be resolved as a downlink resource or as an uplink resource depending respectively on whether the amount of any downlink information contending for transport over that resource or the amount of any uplink information also contending for transport over that resource is greater. ### Claim 28 (depends on 22) The method of claim 22, wherein the one or more rules govern said resolving collectively for a set of multiple conflicting resources so as to collectively optimize use of that set. ### Claim 29 (depends on 28) The method of claim 28, wherein said resolving comprises performing said resolving so as to time-multiplex resources resolved as downlink resources with resources resolved as uplink resources. ### Claim 30 (depends on 22) The method of claim 22, wherein the one or more rules directly or indirectly specify that each conflicting resource is to be unconditionally resolved as a resource not to be used by the device, such that conflicting resources remain reserved for devices not simultaneously connected to multiple points. ### Claim 31 (depends on 30) The method of claim 30, wherein the method is implemented by the device and further comprises refraining from monitoring for control information associated with data transmissions over conflicting resources. ### Claim 32 (depends on 22) The method of claim 22, wherein at least one of the points is associated with downlink transmissions to the device and at least one other of the points is associated with uplink transmissions from the device, and wherein the one or more rules condition a conflicting resource being resolved as a downlink resource on a level of device-to-device interference being below a defined threshold level. ### Claim 33 (depends on 22) The method of claim 22, further comprising constructing a window for automatic repeat request feedback from the device to exclude any conflicting resource. ### Claim 34 (depends on 22) The method of claim 22, wherein the method is implemented by the device, and wherein the one or more rules directly specify that the device is to perform resource resolution in accordance with resource-specific resolution instructions received from one or more of the multiple points to which the device is connected. ### Claim 35 (depends on 34) The method of claim 34, wherein the resource-resolution instructions for each of the one or more conflicting resources implicitly indicate how the conflicting resource is to be resolved, by indicating whether the device has been scheduled for an uplink transmission to or a downlink transmission from a given point over the conflicting resource. ### Claim 36 (depends on 22) The method of claim 22, wherein the method is implemented by a base station as one of the multiple points, and wherein the method further comprises: generating, based on said resolving, resource-specific resolution instructions for each of the one or more conflicting resources; and transmitting the generated instructions to the device. ### Claim 37 (depends on 36) The method of claim 36, wherein said resolving is performed in cooperation with resource resolution performed by one or more other base stations as one or more others of the multiple points to ensure that only one of the base stations instructs the device to resolve a given conflicting resource as either a downlink resource or as an uplink resource to be used by the device, while others of the base stations instruct the device to resolve the given conflicting resource as a resource not to be used by the device. ### Claim 38 (depends on 36) The method of claim 36, wherein the resource-resolution instructions for each of the one or more conflicting resources implicitly indicate how the conflicting resource is to be resolved, by indicating whether the device has been scheduled for an uplink transmission to or a downlink transmission from a given point over the conflicting resource. ### Claim 39 A method implemented by a base station as a point in a wireless communication system, wherein the method comprises: obtaining information directly or indirectly indicating how many wireless communication devices connected to the point are connected to multiple points in the system; and adjusting, based on the obtained information, how often the base station dynamically adapts its time division duplex, TDD, configuration to accommodate the point's uplink/downlink traffic pattern. ### Claim 40 (depends on 39) The method of claim 39, wherein said adjusting comprises switching between a dynamic TDD mode and a fixed or semi-fixed TDD mode, wherein the base station dynamically adapts its TDD configuration more often in dynamic mode than in semi-fixed mode and does not adapt its TDD configuration in fixed mode. ### Claim 41 (depends on 40) The method of claim 40, wherein said switching comprises: switching to dynamic TDD mode when there are at least a certain number of multiple-connected devices connected to the point, relative to the number of non-multiple-connected devices connected to the point; and switching to fixed or semi-fixed TDD mode when there are at least a certain number of non-multiple-connected devices connected to the point, relative to the number of multiple-connected devices connected to the point. ### Claim 42 An apparatus in a wireless communication system comprising points that have time division duplex, TDD, configurations, the apparatus comprising: one or more communication interfaces configured to communicatively connect the apparatus to a system; and one or more processing circuits configured to: obtain information indicating the TDD configuration of each of multiple points to which a particular wireless communication device is simultaneously connected, the particular device being incapable of simultaneous uplink and downlink communication; and determine, based on the obtained information, that one or more time-domain radio resources used by the multiple points are conflicting resources defined by the TDD configuration of one or more of the multiple points as being uplink resources and defined by the TDD configuration of one or more others of the multiple points as being downlink resources; and resolve, for the particular wireless communication device, each of the one or more conflicting resources as either an uplink resource to be used by the device, a downlink resource to be used by the device, or a resource not to be used by the device, based on one or more rules for optimizing use of conflicting resources. ### Claim 43 A base station as a point in a wireless communication system, wherein the base station comprises one or more processing circuits configured to: obtain information directly or indirectly indicating how many wireless communication devices connected to the point are connected to multiple points in the system; and adjust, based on the obtained information, how often the base station dynamically adapts its time division duplex, TDD, configuration to accommodate the point's uplink/downlink traffic pattern.