JP2019071654A - User apparatus, communication system, and method for controlling user apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a method of adjusting resources usable for device-to-device communication outside the coverage of a base station.SOLUTION: A method implemented by a user apparatus is configured to be able to use expansion resources for device-to-device discovery and/or device-to-device communication if all devices in a device-to-device group move to the outside of the coverage of a cellular communication network or are out of the coverage of the cellular communication network.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9

Description

  Embodiments of the present invention relate to mobile communication systems. Embodiments of the present invention particularly relate to techniques for implementing device to device discovery and / or device to device communication in a mobile communication network.

  The demand for mobile data and voice communications continues to show significant growth. Examples of mobile communication systems include cellular based wireless communication networks. Such networks include various network nodes. These network nodes may include multiple base stations that each provide coverage for the wireless cell.

  The user equipment of the mobile communication network may be a proximity service (ProSe) enabled device. Several ProSe-enabled user equipment positioned in close proximity to one another operate to perform device-to-device (D2D) communication. D2D communication allows user equipments of a mobile communication network to communicate directly with each other when the user equipments of the mobile communication network are positioned close to each other. D2D communication has a wide variety of applications, including public safety and other use cases. Emergency calling is one example of the public safety use case of D2D communication. Direct communication of data or voice between user equipment is another example for the use case of D2D communication. For illustration purposes, ProSe-enabled user equipment positioned in close proximity to one another may be involved in data or voice communication.

  In order to perform D2D communication, the user equipment must be able to detect one or several other user equipments located close to the user equipment.

  Resources, eg, subcarrier frequencies, slots and / or symbols that the user equipment may use for D2D discovery may be assigned to the user equipment by the base station. Similarly, resources, eg, subcarrier frequencies, slots and / or symbols that the user equipment may use for D2D communication may be assigned to the user equipment by the base station. Transmission of data as D2D communication may require scheduling assignments. Scheduling assignments may be used to determine on which resources, eg, on which subcarrier frequencies, slots and / or symbols, user equipment may transmit or receive data.

  The user equipment may perform D2D discovery and / or D2D communication even when it is located out of the coverage of the cellular communication network. Resources for scheduling assignment, or data resources, may be pre-configured by the cellular communication network. The pre-configured resources available for D2D discovery and / or D2D communication in out-of-coverage scenarios may be limited. The reason is in particular that the preconfigured resources have to be coordinated with the radio access network resources of several neighboring cells of the cellular telecommunication network.

  There is a need in the art for techniques to mitigate at least some of the above disadvantages. In particular, in an out-of-coverage scenario, there is a need for techniques that address the shortcoming of limitations imposed by pre-configured resources for device-to-device discovery and / or device-to-device communication. There is a need for techniques that keep the risk of device-to-device discovery and / or device-to-device communication interfering with the radio access network of the cellular communication network.

  According to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, resources for device to device discovery and / or device to device communication are dynamically adjusted. Hereinafter, these resources are referred to as device-to-device resources.

  According to an embodiment, the extension resource is for device to device discovery and / or device to device communication when one or several user equipments are out of coverage of the cellular communication network or move out of coverage. Dynamically available. When one or more user equipments exist in the coverage of the cell or in the partial coverage, the extension resources are resources reserved for communication with the radio access network of the cellular communication network It can be. Thereby, resources not needed in out-of-coverage scenarios are dynamically available for device-to-device discovery and / or device-to-device communication. The problems with device-to-device resource shortages can be mitigated. The extension resource may include a greater number of subcarrier frequencies than the number of subcarrier frequencies of the preconfigured device-to-device resource.

  The use of the extension resources may be implemented selectively depending on whether one or all devices of the device-to-device group are located out of coverage or move out of coverage. The use of the extended resources may be implemented selectively dependent on the signal to noise and interference ratio (SINR) measured by all devices of the device to device group. Extended resources may only be used if the SINR for each device is below a threshold. The threshold used to determine whether the extension resource can be used may be smaller than the further threshold for SINR, which determines whether the device is in coverage.

  The user equipment according to one embodiment comprises a wireless interface configured for communication with a cellular communication network. The user equipment comprises a processing device configured to control the wireless interface to use device to device resources for device to device discovery and / or device to device communication. Device-to-device resources depend on whether the user equipment is out of coverage of the cellular communication network.

  The user equipment is at least of extended resources for device-to-device discovery and / or device-to-device communication, if the user equipment moves out of coverage of the cellular communication network or is outside coverage of the cellular communication network. The use may be configured to be selectively enabled.

  The resources employed from the resource pool configured by the extended resources and the preconfigured device-to-devices to implement device-to-device discovery and / or device-to-device communication when the use of the extended resources is enabled Resources can be used.

  The user equipment is for device-to-device discovery and / or device-to-device communication when all devices of the device-to-device group move out of coverage of the cellular communication network or are out of coverage of the cellular communication network The use of the extension resources of may be configured to be enabled. The device-to-device group includes user equipment.

  The user equipment may be device-to-device discovery and / or device-to-device communication if at least one device of the device-to-device group moves into or is within the coverage of the cellular communication network. May be configured to disable the use of the extension resource.

  The user equipment controls the wireless interface to transmit information indicating that the user equipment has moved out of coverage of the cellular communication network or that the user equipment is out of coverage of the cellular communication network Can be configured.

  The user equipment may be configured to receive a message at the wireless interface in response to the information, the message wherein the user equipment uses the expanded resources for device to device discovery and / or device to device communication Make it possible.

  The user equipment may be configured to receive messages from the group head of the device to device group. The group head may thereby implement control signaling that causes all devices of the device-to-device group to use extended resources.

  The user equipment may be configured to receive, from the group head of the device to device group, another message that disables the use of resource expansion for device to device discovery and / or device to device communication to the user equipment. The group head may thereby implement control signaling that causes all devices in the device-to-device group to cease using the extension resource.

  The user equipment may be configured to use the extension resources for communication with the cellular communication network if the use of the extension resources for device to device discovery and / or device to device communication is not enabled.

  The user equipment may be configured to use the extension resource as a scheduling assignment resource and as a data resource. In this case, both scheduling assignment resources for sending or receiving scheduling assignments and data resources for sending or receiving data via device-to-device communication may be included in the extension resources.

  The scheduling allocation resources and data resources in the expanded resources may be associated with the initial scheduling allocation resources and the initial data resources, for example by frequency and / or time offsets. The offset information may be pre-configured or signaled by the group head.

  The user equipment may be configured to use the extension resource as a data resource and to use a resource different from the extension resource as a scheduling assignment resource. Scheduling assignments within the original pre-configured scheduling resource are then used to dynamically link data resources within the expanded resource to the original data resources within the pre-configured device-to-device resource It can be done.

  The user equipment may be configured to trigger the execution of at least one service, depending on whether device-to-device discovery and / or use of extended resources for device-to-device communication is enabled. At least one service may have a bandwidth requirement that exceeds a bandwidth threshold.

  At least one service may include a video call service.

  The user equipment may be configured to operate as a group head of device to device groups. To that end, the user equipment may monitor whether the devices of the device-to-device group are within the coverage of the cellular communication network or outside the coverage. If all devices in the device-to-device group are out of coverage, the user equipment may allow all devices in the group to use extended resources for device-to-device discovery and / or device-to-device communication It can be If any one of the devices in the device-to-device group is in coverage, the user equipment may disable the use of the expanded resources for device-to-device discovery and / or device-to-device communication.

  The user equipment may broadcast commands to enable and disable the use of extended resources for device to device discovery and / or device to device communication, respectively.

  The user equipment may implement dedicated signaling to enable and disable the use of extended resources for device to device discovery and / or device to device communication, respectively.

  According to another embodiment, there is provided user equipment configured to act as a group head of device to device groups. The user equipment comprises a wireless interface configured for communication with the cellular communication network. The user equipment is arranged to receive information from the at least one further user interface at the wireless interface indicating whether the at least one further user equipment is within the coverage of the cellular communication network or outside the coverage Configured The user equipment is at least for device-to-device discovery and / or device-to-device communication, depending on whether at least one additional user equipment is within the coverage of the cellular communication network or outside the coverage. It is configured to control device-to-device resources used by one additional user equipment.

  The user equipment is for device-to-device discovery and / or device-to-device communication by at least one further user equipment, if both the at least one further user equipment and the user equipment are out of coverage of the cellular communication network Can be configured to selectively enable the use of resource extensions.

  The user equipment is for device-to-device discovery and / or device-to-device communication by at least one further user equipment, if at least one further user equipment or user equipment is present in the coverage of the cellular communication network. It may be configured to selectively disable the use of resource extensions.

  A communication system according to one embodiment comprises a device to device group. The device to device group includes a plurality of devices configured for communication with the cellular communication network, and each device of the device to device group is further configured for device to device discovery and device to device communication. At least one device of the device-to-device group is configured as user equipment according to an embodiment.

  The device to device group may include a group head. The group head may be configured to determine whether all devices of the device-to-device group move out of coverage of the cellular communication network or are out of coverage of the cellular communication network. The group head may be configured to selectively enable multiple devices to use extended resources for device-to-device discovery and / or device-to-device communication.

  The group head is for device-to-device discovery and / or device-to-device communication if at least one device of the device-to-device group moves into or is within the coverage of the cellular communication network. Can be further configured to disable the use of extended resources for

  According to one embodiment, a method of controlling user equipment is provided. The user equipment comprises a wireless interface configured for communication with the cellular communication network. The method includes determining whether the user equipment moves out of coverage or is out of coverage of the cellular communication network. The method includes using device-to-device resources for device-to-device discovery and / or device-to-device communication through a wireless interface, wherein the device-to-device resources move user equipment out of coverage of the cellular communication network Depends on whether or not out of coverage.

  This method may be implemented by a user equipment or communication system according to one embodiment.

  In this way, the use of extended resources for device-to-device discovery and / or device-to-device communication at least when the user equipment moves out of the coverage of the cellular communication network or is out of the coverage of the cellular communication network Can be selectively enabled.

  The resources employed from the resource pool configured by the extended resources and the preconfigured device-to-devices to implement device-to-device discovery and / or device-to-device communication when the use of the extended resources is enabled Resources and can be used.

  In this method, for device-to-device discovery and / or device-to-device communication, when all devices of the device-to-device group move out of the coverage of the cellular communication network or exist outside the coverage of the cellular communication network Use of the extension resources of may be enabled. The device-to-device group includes user equipment.

  In this method, device-to-device discovery and / or device-to-device communication if at least one device of the device-to-device group moves into or is within the coverage of the cellular communication network. The use of extension resources may be disabled.

  The method may include transmitting, via the wireless interface of the user equipment, information indicating that the user equipment has moved out of coverage of the cellular communication network or that the user equipment is out of coverage of the cellular communication network. .

  The method may include receiving a message at the wireless interface in response to the information. The message may enable user equipment to use the expanded resources for device to device discovery and / or device to device communication.

  The message may be sent by the group head of the device to device group. The group head may thereby implement control signaling that causes all devices of the device-to-device group to use extended resources.

  The method may include receiving, from the group head of the device-to-device group, another message to disable user equipment from using device expansion for device-to-device discovery and / or device-to-device communication. The group head may thereby implement control signaling that causes all devices in the device-to-device group to cease using the extension resource.

  The group head is configured to disable device-to-device discovery and / or resource expansion for device-to-device communication as at least one device of the device-to-device group moves into coverage of the cellular communication network. Can be sent.

  The method may include using the extension resource for communication with the cellular communication network if the use of the extension resource for device to device discovery and / or device to device communication is not enabled.

  Extended resources may be used as scheduling assigned resources and as data resources. In this case, both scheduling assignment resources for sending or receiving scheduling assignments and data resources for sending or receiving data via device-to-device communication may be included in the extension resources.

  In this way, scheduling allocation resources and data resources in the extension resources may be associated with the initial scheduling allocation resources and the initial data resources, for example by frequency and / or time offsets. The offset information may be pre-configured or signaled by the group head.

  Extended resources may be used as data resources. Resources different from extended resources may be used as scheduling assignment resources. Scheduling assignments within the original pre-configured scheduling resource are then used to dynamically link data resources within the expanded resource to the original data resources within the pre-configured device-to-device resource It can be done.

  The method may include performing the at least one service depending on whether device-to-device discovery and / or use of extended resources for device-to-device communication is enabled. At least one service may have a bandwidth requirement that exceeds a bandwidth threshold.

  At least one service may include a video call service.

  The method may include monitoring by the user equipment if all devices of the device-to-device group are out of coverage of the cellular communication network.

  The method may include transmitting by the user equipment a message to the device-to-device group enabling the use of the extension resource if all devices of the device-to-device group are out of coverage.

  The method may include transmitting another message by the user equipment to the device-to-device group that disables use of the expansion resource when at least one device of the device-to-device group moves into coverage.

  In this way, the user equipment may broadcast commands enabling and disabling the use of extended resources for device to device discovery and / or device to device communication, respectively.

  In this way, the user equipment may implement dedicated signaling to enable and disable the use of extended resources for device to device discovery and / or device to device communication, respectively.

  In methods, devices and systems according to embodiments, user equipment may be enabled to use extended resources for device to device discovery and / or device to device communication. Device-to-device resources can thereby be dynamically increased when not only user equipment but also other devices within the same device-to-device group are out of coverage and with the radio access network of the cellular communication network. It can not cause interference problems.

  Although specific features described in the summary above and the detailed description below are set forth in the context of particular embodiments and aspects of the present invention, these features of these embodiments and aspects are particularly distinct. They may be combined with one another unless noted otherwise.

  Embodiments of the invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like or identical reference numerals indicate similar or identical elements.

FIG. 1 shows a communication system according to one embodiment. FIG. 2 shows the communication system of FIG. 1 in which all devices of the device-to-device group are out of coverage. FIG. 3 shows the communication system of FIG. 1 in which one device of the device-to-device group is in coverage. FIG. 4 is a block diagram representation of a communication system in accordance with one embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating resources for device-to-device discovery and / or device-to-device communication when the use of extension resources is not enabled. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating resources for device-to-device discovery and / or device-to-device communication when the use of extension resources is enabled. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating resources for device-to-device discovery and / or device-to-device communication when the use of extension resources is enabled. FIG. 8 is a flow chart of a method according to one embodiment. FIG. 9 is a flow chart of a method according to one embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating signaling in a communication system according to one embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating signaling in a communication system according to one embodiment. FIG. 12 is a flow chart of a method according to one embodiment. FIG. 13 is a functional block diagram of user equipment according to one embodiment. FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating quality indicators that may be monitored to selectively enable users of extension resources.

  In the following, an exemplary embodiment of the invention is described in more detail. It should be understood that the features of the various exemplary embodiments described herein may be combined with one another unless specifically noted otherwise. The same or similar reference numbers refer to the same or similar components.

  Although exemplary embodiments are described with reference to certain use cases for device-to-device (D2D) communication, it should be understood that techniques for D2D discovery and D2D communication are public safety use cases. And can be used for a wide variety of use cases, including other commercial use cases. Although exemplary embodiments are described in the context of certain cellular mobile communication networks, eg, Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks, these embodiments are not described in such mobile communication technologies.

  Although an exemplary embodiment will be described with reference to a base station preconfigured with device-to-device resources, it is to be understood that the user equipment may for example be a repeater relay or a group head for D2D communication. The information about the pre-configured device-to-device resource may also be received from another user equipment acting as.

  FIG. 1 shows a communication system 1 according to one embodiment. The communication system 1 comprises a mobile communication system configured as a cellular communication network. The cellular communication network may comprise a plurality of base stations, each serving a cell. FIG. 1 schematically shows a base station 11 and an associated cell 9. Base stations may communicate with one another via wireless radio communications or via an operator core network. The cellular communication network may be an LTE (Long Term Evolution) network. The radio access network (RAN) of the cellular communication network may be an Evolved UTRAN (E-UTRAN), and the base station 11 is an Evolved Node B (eNodeB). The base station may be connected to a mobility management entity (MME) and / or a serving gateway (S-GW) in the operator core network.

  The base station 11 provides a radio cell 9 in which the user equipments (UEs) 2, 3 and 4 may communicate directly with the base station 11 via the radio communication 8. The UEs 2, 3 and 4 may each have a wireless interface for communication with the RAN of the cellular communication network.

  At least one of UEs 2, 3, and 4 may implement D2D discovery and D2D communication. According to the terminology in the relevant art of the art, the term D2D communication refers to the wireless communication between the UEs, which is directly implemented between the UEs. The radio signals 5, 6, and 7 transmitted in D2D discovery and / or D2D communication may not be processed by the base station of the cellular communication network. The radio signals 5, 6, and 7 transmitted in D2D discovery and / or D2D communication may not pass through the RAN of the cellular communication network. The radio signals 5, 6, and 7 transmitted in D2D discovery and / or D2D communication may not be processed by the core network of the wireless cellular telecommunication network. A UE configured for D2D discovery and D2D communication may use the same wireless interface to communicate with the RAN and for D2D purposes. A UE configured for D2D discovery and D2D communication may also be referred to in the art as a proximity service (ProSe) capable UE.

  UEs 2, 3, and 4 configured for D2D discovery and / or D2D communication may use pre-configured resources for D2D discovery signaling and / or for D2D communication. For illustration purposes, at least the resources for scheduling assignment may be pre-configured by the cellular communication network. The pre-configured resources may be pre-configured at the UEs 2, 3, and 4 by the base station 11, repeater relay or another UE. Resources preconfigured for D2D discovery and / or D2D communication may be allocated by base station 11, respectively, by broadcast or multicast messages or by dedicated signaling. To illustrate, UEs 2, 3, and 4 may each receive information about allocated resources for D2D discovery signaling in System Information Blocks (SIBs) that may be transmitted by the cellular communication network. Alternatively, dedicated signaling may be used.

  In the following, resources that may be used by UEs 2, 3, and 4 for D2D discovery and / or D2D communication are also referred to as device to device resources. D2D resources may include resources preconfigured by the cellular communication network. Device-to-device resources depend on how one (s) UEs are positioned relative to the coverage area of the cellular communication network, as will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 1-14 below. Can be adjusted dynamically.

  To illustrate, if all UEs 2, 3 and 4 included in the device-to-device group are out of coverage of the cellular communication network or move out of coverage, the use of extended resources can be dynamically enabled. It can be done.

  If one or several of UEs 2, 3, and 4 move into or are located within the coverage of the cellular communication network, the use of the extension resources may be disabled. In this case, the extension resources may be placed independent of D2D discovery signaling and / or D2D communication and may be used for communication with the RAN of the cellular communication network.

  The extension resources may be out-of-coverage (OoC) extension resources that are selectively used for D2D discovery and / or D2D communication only when the UE is out of coverage of the cellular communication network. The enhanced resources are selective for D2D discovery and / or D2D communication only if all UEs are out of coverage of the cellular communication network and are not likely to cause interference with the RAN when using the enhanced resources. It can be used for

  1 to 3 illustrate various conditions of the communication system according to one embodiment. The plurality of UEs 2, 3, and 4 may form a device to device group.

  FIG. 1 illustrates the conditions under which UEs 2, 3, and 4 of the device-to-device group are all located within the coverage of the cellular communication system. Device-to-device resources may be pre-configured by the cellular communication network via wireless signaling. Device-to-device resources may be pre-configured for cases where one or several of UEs 2, 3, and 4 move out of coverage.

  FIG. 2 shows the conditions in which the UEs 2, 3, and 4 of the device-to-device group are all located out of the coverage of the cellular communication system. In this case, the use of extended resources for D2D discovery and / or D2D communication. In addition to the original pre-configured D2D resources, extended resources may be used for D2D discovery and / or D2D communication.

  Various techniques may be used to combine the expanded resources with the original pre-configured D2D resources. For the sake of illustration, extended resources may be used for both scheduling assignment and data. There may be a relationship between the resource in the extension resource and the original pre-configured D2D resource, which relates the resource in the extension resource to the original pre-configured D2D resource. Link to a resource of For further illustration, the extension resources may be used for data only, and all scheduling assignments are kept in the original pre-configured D2D resources. The scheduling assignments within the original pre-configured D2D resources then provide links to the extension resources over which the respective data is transmitted.

  FIG. 3 illustrates the conditions under which at least one of the UEs has moved into the coverage of the cellular communication network. The use of extended resources for D2D discovery and / or D2D communication may be disabled for all UEs 2, 3, and 4 in the group. D2D discovery and / or D2D communication may be limited to pre-configured resources. The extension resources are again made available for communication with the radio access network.

  The enhanced resources may include more resource blocks in the time-frequency resource grid than the number of resource blocks of the original pre-configured D2D resources. The extension resources may include more subcarrier frequencies in the time-frequency resource grid than the number of subcarrier frequencies of the original pre-configured D2D resource.

  Device-to-device group UEs 2, 3, and 4 adapt D2D resources depending on whether all UEs 2, 3 and 4 of the device-to-device group are located out of coverage of the cellular communication network Various techniques may be used to enable the

  In some implementations, the device-to-device group UE 3 may act as a group head. The UE 3 acting as a group head may receive a report from the other UEs 2 and 4 indicating whether each of the other UEs 2 and 4 in the group is within the coverage or out of the coverage. This report may include a signal quality indicator for the signal strength of the RAN. For illustration purposes, the signal to noise and interference ratio (SINR) measured by the other UEs 2 and 4 may be reported to UE3 acting as a group head.

  When all UEs are out of coverage, UE3 acting as a group head uses one-to-many or one-to-one signaling to allow other UEs 2 and 4 in the group to expand for D2D discovery and / or D2D communication It may be possible to start using resources. Additional criteria may be used to determine whether the use of extended resources for D2D discovery and / or D2D communication may be enabled. For illustration, the SINR measured by each UE 2, 3, and 4 of the device-to-device group may be compared to the activation threshold, which is smaller than the threshold at which the appropriate cell is detected. The use of extended resources for D2D discovery and / or D2D communication may be selectively enabled only if the SINR for each UE 2, 3 and 4 of the device to device group is below the activation threshold. Similarly, the use of extended resources for D2D discovery and / or D2D communication may be disabled if the SINR detected by at least one of UEs 2, 3, and 4 exceeds the activation threshold.

  Alternatively or additionally, each of the UEs 2, 3 and 4 may be in or out of coverage to enable and disable the use of the expanded resources by the group head The information on which to do may be broadcast to all other UEs 2, 3, and 4 in the same device to device group. Each of UEs 2, 3, and 4 may track the status of all other UEs 2, 3, and 4 in the device-to-device group. If all UEs of the same device-to-device group are out of coverage, each UE may start to use extended resources for D2D discovery and / or D2D communication. If one UE of the same device-to-device group comes back in coverage, all UEs of the device-to-device group may disable the use of extended resources for D2D discovery and / or D2D communication.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of a communication system 1 according to one embodiment.

  The UE 2 has a wireless interface 20. Wireless interface 20 may be configured to communicate with RAN 10. Wireless interface 20 may be configured for communication through the E-UTRA air interface.

  The UE 2 has a processing device 24 connected to the wireless interface 20. The processing device 24 may comprise one or several microprocessors, one or several microcontrollers, one or several processors, one or several controllers, one or several application specific integrated circuits (ASIC) and / or a combination of such devices.

  The processing device 24 may be configured to retrieve information about pre-configured D2D resources from the signaling received from the cellular communication network at the wireless interface 20. Processing device 24 may be configured to control which resources may be used for D2D discovery and / or D2D communication. If all UEs 2, 3 and 4 in the device-to-device group are out of coverage of the cellular communication network or move out of coverage, the processing device 24 will be D2D compared to the original pre-configured resources. It can be configured to selectively increase the amount of resources. If one of UEs 2, 3, and 4 moves into the coverage of the cellular communication network, processing device 24 may be configured to selectively limit D2D resources to original, pre-configured resources.

  The processing device 24 controls the transmitter path 23 of the wireless interface 20 to transmit a D2D discovery signal to the further UE 3 via the antenna 21 so that the UE 2 is searching for the further UE for D2D communication. It may be configured to indicate and / or indicate that UE 2 will be able to perform D2D communication. The processing device 24 may be configured to use a resource selected from D2D resources for transmission, which may be UE2 and other UEs 3 and 4 in the same group within coverage or coverage It depends on what exists outside. The processing device 24 may be coupled to the receiver path 22 of the wireless interface 20 to process messages received from the group head 3 or another UE 4 of the device to device group. For illustration purposes, the processing device 24 decodes signaling from the group head 3 and / or other UEs 4 to determine whether the use of extended resources may be enabled for D2D discovery and / or D2D communication. obtain.

  The UE 3 acting as a group head and the other UEs 4 may have configurations and operations substantially corresponding to the configurations and operations described for the UE 2. UE 3 may comprise a wireless interface 30 configured for communication with RAN and UEs 2 and 4. The wireless interface 30 may comprise an antenna 31, a receiver path 32 and a transmitter path 32. The UE 3 acting as a group head may comprise a processing device 34 coupled to the wireless interface 30.

  Processing device 34 may be configured to determine whether all UEs 2, 3, and 4 of the device-to-device group are out of coverage. The processing device 34 controls the wireless interface to make sure that UEs 2 and 4 have extended resources for D2D discovery and / or D2D communication, depending on whether all UEs 2, 3 and 4 are out of coverage. It can be configured to selectively enable use. The processing device 34 may be configured to determine whether at least one of the UEs 2, 3, and 4 of the device-to-device group is within the coverage of the cellular communication network. Processing device 34 controls the wireless interface to select the use of extended resources for D2D discovery and / or D2D communication, depending on whether at least one of UEs 2, 3 and 4 is in coverage. It can be configured to disable.

  Other UEs 4 may have configurations and operations that substantially correspond to the configurations and operations described for UE 2. UE 4 may comprise a wireless interface 25 configured for communication with RAN and UEs 3 and 4. The wireless interface 25 may comprise an antenna 26, a receiver path 27, and a transmitter path 28. The UE 4 may comprise a processing device 29 coupled to the wireless interface 25 which may be configured as described for the processing device of UE 2.

  FIG. 5 illustrates a time-frequency resource grid. The resources may be subdivided in the time domain, eg in frames 41 and 42 and in the frequency domain. In the frequency domain, multiple subcarrier frequencies may be available.

  The D2D resources 50 may be pre-configured and may be stored at the UE, for example on a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC), or may be stored by a cellular communication network. Extended resources 53 may be, for example, when all UEs of the device-to-device group are out of coverage of the cellular communication network and / or the user is in a geolocation area when predefined criteria are met. When present, it may only be used for D2D discovery and / or D2D communication. While at least one UE of the device-to-device group is in coverage or partial coverage, the extension resource 53 may be D2D discovery and / or D2D to prevent interference with the signaling and data transmission of the cellular communication network. It can be placed in a state independent of communication.

  The D2D resources 50 may include scheduling assignment (SA) resources 51. The scheduling assignment may be sent at SA resource 51. D2D resources 50 may include data resources 52 for data transmission. Data may be transmitted on subcarrier frequencies of data resource 52 and symbols 62. Subcarrier frequencies and symbols 62 may be designated by the associated scheduling assignment 61 in the SA resource 51.

  FIG. 6 illustrates one approach to using a time-frequency resource grid when all UEs in the device-to-device group are out of coverage.

  The D2D resources are dynamically expanded to include the expansion resources 53 in addition to the pre-configured original D2D resources 50. In the resource usage scheme shown in FIG. 6, extended resources 53 may be used as both SA resources and data resources. The scheduling assignment 63 may be sent on the extension resource 53. The associated data may be transmitted on subcarrier frequency and symbol 64 of the extension resource 53.

  The subcarrier frequency and / or symbols 63, 64, 65 and 66 of the extended resource 53, used for scheduling assignment transmission and data transmission, are the respective subcarrier frequencies of the original pre-configured D2D resource 50 and And / or may be linked to symbols 61 and 62. For illustration purposes, the subcarrier frequency and / or symbols 63, 64, 65 and 66 of the extended resource 53, which are used for scheduling assignment transmission and data transmission, are each in the original pre-configured D2D resource 50. It may have a frequency offset and / or a time offset with respect to the subcarrier frequency and / or the symbols 61 and 62.

  The SA resource 61 and the data resource 62 in the pre-configured original D2D resource 50 may be linked to each other by one-to-one mapping. For illustration purposes, there may be a one-to-one mapping linking data resources 62 to SA resources 61 in a pre-configured original D2D resource 50 time-frequency resource grid. This mapping may be reused for the extension resource 53, ie, the extension resource 53 is between the SA resource and the data resource in the time-frequency resource grid, which is known from the pre-configured original D2D resource 50. This mapping can be reused to take over the mapping of s. The mapping may include frequency and / or time offsets. For illustration purposes, SA resources 63 and data resources 64 may have a first offset in time and / or frequency relative to SA resources 61 and data resources 62 in the pre-configured original D2D resources 50. The SA resource 65 and the data resource 66 may have a second offset of time and / or frequency compared to the SA resource 61 and the data resource 62 in the pre-configured original D2D resource 50. This (these) offset may be pre-configured. This (these) offset may be signaled, for example, by the group head of the device to device group.

  FIG. 7 illustrates another approach to using a time-frequency resource grid when all UEs of the device-to-device group are out of coverage.

  The D2D resources are dynamically expanded to include the expansion resources 53 in addition to the original pre-configured D2D resources 50. In the resource usage scheme shown in FIG. 7, extended resources 53 may be used as data resources. The scheduling assignment is not sent on the extension resource 53 but is kept in the original pre-configured D2D resource 50. The scheduling assignment 61 may provide a link to the extension resource 53, for example by indicating the subcarrier frequency and / or the symbol 67 of the extension resource 53 used for data transmission.

  The UE according to the embodiment is for the use of extended resources 53 for SA transmission and data transmission as described with reference to FIG. 6 and for data transmission only as described with reference to FIG. 7 Can be configured for both the use of the extension resource 53 of

  Information on which scheme is used which uses the extension resource 53 may be included in the scheduling assignment. For illustration purposes, whether normal scheduling is performed where the scheduling assignment is kept in the original pre-configured D2D resource 50 is implemented, or extended scheduling where the scheduling assignment may also be included in the extended resource 53 Whether it is implemented may be indicated by one or more information bits. For example, in response to receiving such a scheduling assignment from the group head, UEs 2 and 4 may determine if further scheduling assignments are received only on the original pre-configured D2D resource 50, or It can be determined whether it can be included in the extension resource 53 as well.

  FIG. 8 is a flow chart of a method 80 according to one embodiment. Method 80 may be performed by a user equipment according to one embodiment.

  At 81, the user equipment may use pre-configured D2D resources to perform D2D discovery and / or D2D communication. The user equipment may be in coverage while using pre-configured D2D resources to perform D2D discovery and / or D2D communication.

  At 82, the user equipment may determine, in addition to the pre-configured D2D resources to implement D2D discovery and / or D2D communications, whether criteria to enable the use of extended resources are met. . Various techniques may be used to perform the determination at 82. The user equipment may monitor whether all other user equipment contained within the same device-to-device group are out of coverage of the cellular communication network. The user equipment may evaluate its own SINR or other quality indicator for network quality to determine if use of the expanded resources to perform D2D discovery and / or D2D communication may be enabled. The user equipment implements D2D discovery and / or D2D communication, evaluating SINR or other quality indicators for network quality reported to the user equipment by other user equipment, eg other user equipment in the same group It may be determined whether the use of the extension resource for can be enabled. The user equipment may evaluate whether any suitable cells around the user equipment may cause interference. The user equipment may monitor the signaling from the group head of the device to device group to determine if the use of the extension resource is selectively enabled. The user equipment may evaluate one or several predefined geolocation constraints based on their positioning. If the criteria are not met, the user equipment may continue to use only pre-configured D2D resources at 81.

  If the criteria for using the extension resources for D2D discovery and / or D2D communication are met, the user equipment may, at 83, start using the extension resources for D2D discovery and / or D2D communication. The user equipment may determine whether the scheduling assignment may also be included in the resource extension, for example based on the scheduling assignment received from the group head. The user equipment may selectively monitor the extension resources for the scheduling assignment depending on whether the scheduling assignment can also be included in the resource extension. Data may be derived from subcarrier frequencies and symbols on either the original pre-configured D2D resources or the extended resources as specified by the scheduling assignment.

  At 84, in addition to the pre-configured D2D resources to perform D2D discovery and / or D2D communication, the user equipment may determine whether the criteria for using the extension resources are still met. This may be implemented in any one of the approaches described with reference to 82. To illustrate, the user equipment may monitor whether any one of the other user equipment in the device-to-device group moves into coverage. The user equipment may listen for signaling from the group head of the device-to-device group and determine whether the extension resource is disabled. The user equipment may monitor whether the user equipment itself moves into coverage. If the criteria are not met, the user equipment may again use only pre-configured D2D resources at 81 for D2D discovery and / or D2D communication.

  If the criteria for using the expanded resources are still met, the user equipment may continue to use the expanded D2D resources at 85, including both the initial pre-configured D2D resources and the expanded resources.

  FIG. 9 is a flow chart of a method 90 according to one embodiment. Method 90 may be performed by user equipment according to one embodiment. User equipment may be included in the device to device group. The device to device group may include multiple devices capable of performing D2D communication with one another. Method 90 may be performed by user equipment that does not act as a group head for device-to-device groups, or may be performed by user equipment that acts as a group head. Devices in the device-to-device group may use the same wireless interface to perform D2D communication with each other and to communicate with the cellular communication network.

  At 91, the user equipment may monitor which devices of the device-to-device group are within coverage of the cellular communication network and which devices of the device-to-device group are outside coverage of the cellular communication network. All devices in the device-to-device group may broadcast information as to whether they are in coverage or out of coverage. Alternatively, all devices in the device-to-device group may perform one-to-one signaling to report information to the group head as to whether they are in coverage or out of coverage. The information may include signal quality indicators, eg, SINR measured by each device of the device-to-device group.

  At 92, the user equipment may determine if all devices of the device-to-device group are out of coverage of the cellular communication network. Monitoring may continue at 91 if even at least one device is not out of coverage.

  If all devices of the device-to-device group are out of coverage of the cellular communication network, then at 93, the use of extended resources is enabled. Extended resources may be used as scheduling assigned resources and data resources. Extended resources may only be used as data resources, with scheduling assignments still contained within the original pre-configured D2D resources.

  At 94, the user equipment may determine whether at least one device of the device-to-device group has returned within the coverage of the cellular communication network.

  If none of the devices of the device-to-device group return within the coverage of the cellular communication network, the extended resources may continue to be used at 95 as data resources and optionally also as SA resources. The method may return to 94.

  The use of extended resources for D2D discovery and / or D2D communication may be disabled at 96 if at least one device of the device-to-device group is back within the coverage of the cellular communication network. All scheduling assignment transmissions and data transmissions are performed using only the original, pre-configured D2D resources.

  Various techniques may be used by the user equipment to dynamically adjust device-to-device resources. Referring to the signaling diagrams of FIGS. 10 and 11, an exemplary implementation will be described in more detail.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating signaling used to control device-to-device resources for D2D discovery and / or D2D communication. The user equipment (UE) implements D2D signaling with another UE acting as a group head.

  The UE transmits out-of-coverage information 91 in response to detecting that the UE is out of coverage or moves out of coverage. Out-of-coverage information 91 may be sent via the same interface configured for communication with the RAN. Out-of-coverage information 91 may be sent directly to the group head. The out-of-coverage information 91 may be transmitted as a one-to-one message.

  The UE receives a message 92 from the group head if all other devices in the device-to-device group are also out of coverage. Message 92 enables the use of extended resources for D2D discovery and / or D2D communication. The message 92 may be selectively generated by the group head when all devices in the device-to-device group are out of coverage or move out of coverage. The out-of-coverage information 91 may be transmitted as a one-to-one message. Messages 92 may be broadcast to device-to-device groups. Message 92 may be a one-to-one message.

  The UE transmits the in-coverage information 93 in response to detecting that the UE is in the coverage or moves into the coverage. In-coverage information 93 may be sent via the same interface configured for communication with the RAN. In-coverage information 93 may be sent directly to the group head. The in-coverage information 93 may be transmitted as a one-to-one message.

  Reception of the in-coverage information 93 triggers the group head to end the use of the expanded resources for D2D communication and / or D2D discovery for the entire device-to-device group. The group head may broadcast another message 94 to the device-to-device group to disable the use of the extension resources for D2D communication and / or D2D discovery.

  Although in-coverage events for the UE are illustrated in FIG. 10, the use of the extension resources for D2D communication and / or D2D discovery means that any other device in the device-to-device group is in the cellular communication network. Moving into coverage is also terminated.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating signaling used to control device-to-device resources for D2D discovery and / or D2D communication. The user equipment (UE) implements D2D signaling with other UEs, denoted UE B and UE C in FIG.

  The UE transmits out-of-coverage information 101 in response to detecting that the UE is out of coverage or moves out of coverage. Out-of-coverage information 101 may be sent via the same interface configured for communication with the RAN. Out-of-coverage information 101 may be broadcast to all devices in the device-to-device group.

  If all other devices in the device-to-device group are also out of coverage, then detection that the last UE has moved out of coverage also triggers all devices in the group at 102, D2D Enable use of extended resources for discovery and / or D2D communication. In this case, dedicated signaling from the group head is not required. These UEs may themselves monitor whether all UEs in the group are out of coverage.

  The UE transmits the in-coverage information 103 in response to detecting that the UE is within the coverage or moving into the coverage. In-coverage information 103 may be sent via the same interface configured for communication with the RAN. Out-of-coverage information 103 may be broadcast to all devices in the device-to-device group.

  If any one of the devices in the device-to-device group moves into coverage, this triggers at 104 all devices in the group to extend the resources for D2D discovery and / or D2D communication. Disable use. In this case, dedicated signaling from the group head is not required. These UEs may themselves detect that at least one of the UEs has moved into the coverage of the cellular communication network.

  User equipment according to embodiments may support services that may be implemented using D2D communication. The set of supported services may be adapted depending on whether extension resources are available for D2D communication. For the sake of illustration, voice telephony technology via D2D communication may be supported even when extended resources are not available for D2D communication. Video telephony or high-resolution video telephony can be selectively supported only when the expanded resources are available for D2D communication, eg, when all devices in the group are out of coverage.

  FIG. 12 is a flow chart of a method 110 according to one embodiment. Method 110 may be performed by a user equipment according to one embodiment.

  At 111, a set of services that rely on D2D communication is supported. These services may include low data rate services. At 111, other services with bandwidth requirements or data rate requirements above the threshold criteria may not be supported. High resolution video telephony may be exemplary for such services with high bandwidth requirements.

  At 112, it is determined whether the use of extended resources for D2D communication is enabled. The method may return to state 111 if the use of the extension resource is not enabled for D2D communication.

  If the use of extended resources for D2D communication is enabled, at 113, the set of supported services may be adapted. The set of supported services may include other services. For purposes of illustration, the set of services to perform may include other services having bandwidth requirements or data rate requirements above the threshold criteria. At 113, the adapted set may include video telephony. At 113, the adapted set may include high resolution video telephony.

  At 114, it is determined whether the use of extended resources for D2D communication is enabled. If the use of extension resources is not disabled for D2D communication, then the adapted set of services may still be supported at 115. The method may return to monitoring 114. The method may return to 111 if the use of the extension resource is disabled for D2D communication. In this case, the extension resources are again separated from D2D discovery and D2D communication to mitigate the risk of interference with RAN.

  FIG. 13 is a block diagram 120 of user equipment according to one embodiment. These modules may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof.

  The user equipment may comprise a processing module 121 for processing the received signal. The processing module 121 may be configured to process both signals from the cellular communication network and signals from other user equipment received in D2D discovery and / or D2D communication.

  The user equipment may comprise a monitoring module 122 that monitors whether the user equipment is in coverage or out of coverage. The monitoring module may use SINR or another signal strength indicator for signals received from the RAN to determine whether the user equipment is in coverage or out of coverage.

  The monitoring module 122 may optionally monitor whether other user equipment in the device-to-device group is in coverage or out of coverage based on the message received at the wireless interface.

  The user equipment may comprise a reporting module 123. The reporting module may be coupled to the wireless interface control 125 to cause transmission of reports at least when the user equipment moves out of coverage and out of coverage and when the user equipment moves out of coverage and out of coverage .

  The user equipment may comprise a control module 124 for controlling the resources on which D2D discovery and / or D2D communication are implemented. The control module 124 adapts the resources on which D2D discovery and / or D2D communication is performed, depending on whether the user equipment and optionally other user equipment in the same group are out of coverage. Can be configured as follows. Control module 124 may enable the use of extended resources for D2D discovery and / or D2D communication when all user equipment in the group is out of coverage. Control module 124 may disable the use of extended resources for D2D discovery and / or D2D communication if at least one user equipment of the group is in coverage.

  The user equipment may comprise a management module 126 that manages the supported services that utilize D2D communication. The management module 126 may support, for example, user equipment and other user equipment in the same group, which may be out of coverage, when extended D2D resources are available. Additional services may be included in the set.

  In any one of the devices, systems, and methods disclosed herein, criteria may be utilized to trigger the extension of D2D resources dependent on signal quality indicators. To illustrate, SINR may be compared to a threshold to determine whether the enhanced resources may be used for D2D discovery and / or D2D communication.

  Various thresholds may be used when determining whether D2D resources may be extended and when determining whether the UE finds a suitable cell. To illustrate, in order to alleviate the problem of interference, the extension resource is D2D only when the network signal strength detected at the user equipment is smaller than the signal strength at which the user equipment would identify the appropriate cell. It may be selectively enabled for discovery and / or D2D communication.

  FIG. 14 illustrates operation of user equipment according to one embodiment. A signal quality indicator, eg, SINR, may be compared to at least one threshold to determine if the enhanced resources may be used for D2D discovery and / or D2D communication. The signal quality indicator may be compared to the activation threshold TH_er for the extension resource. For some user equipments in a group, of the extension resources that may be used for D2D discovery and / or D2D communication only if the signal quality indicator is in the range 131 which is a value smaller than the activation threshold TH_er Use is made possible.

  The activation threshold TH_er may be smaller than the threshold TH_ic for which the user equipment finds a suitable cell to camp on. The use of extended resources that may be used for D2D discovery and / or D2D communication in the value range 132 of the signal quality indicator has been disabled and the user equipment is still finding a suitable cell to camp on Absent.

  In any one of the various embodiments, D2D discovery and / or D2D communication may include transmission and / or reception of messages that occur over the same interface that the UE communicates with the RAN.

  In other embodiments, modifications or alterations may be implemented. For illustration, the resources may not only be pre-configured directly by the base station at the UE, but also pre-configured by another UE acting as a group head for the D2D communication group or by a repeater relay.

  Although some embodiments are described in the context of D2D communication for further illustration, these techniques are also applicable to D2D discovery.

  In an exemplary embodiment, D2D resources may be extended by adding extension resources to pre-configured D2D resources when at least two user equipments of a group move out of coverage. At least two user equipments may form an isolated user group (IUG).

  In any one of the embodiments, the information about the in-coverage state or the out-of-coverage state of the user equipment may be included in SA content or data content.

  The messages sent by the group head to enable or disable the use of extended resources for D2D discovery and / or D2D communication may be in the SA content of the group head or in the data content of the group head or It may be included in D2 DSS (D2D synchronization source) or in PD2 DSCH content.

Embodiments of the invention allow for dynamically adjusting resources available for D2D discovery and / or D2D communication. Interference with RAN communication may be suppressed or prevented.

Claims (16)

User equipment,
A wireless interface (20) configured for communication with a cellular communication network;
A processing device (24) configured to control the wireless interface (20) to use a device to device resource (50, 53) for device to device discovery and / or device to device communication.
Equipped with
The user equipment (2) uses pre-configured resources (50) when the user equipment (2) is within the coverage of the cellular communication network, and the user equipment (2) performs the cellular communication Use pre-configured resources (50) and additional extension resources (53) if they exist outside the coverage of the network,
If all devices (2, 3, 4) of the device-to-device group including the user equipment (2) move out of the coverage of the cellular communication network or are out of coverage of the cellular communication network User equipment in which the use of the extension resource (53) for the device to device discovery and / or the device to device communication is enabled.   The use of the extension resource (53) is selectively performed in response to a signal to noise plus interference ratio (SINR) measured by all devices of the device to device group, the extension resource (53) being The user equipment according to claim 1, used only when each said device is below a threshold, said threshold being smaller than a further threshold of said SINR determining whether said device is within said coverage. The device to device discovery and if at least one device (2, 3, 4) of the device to device group moves within the coverage of the cellular communication network or is within the coverage of the cellular communication network And / or the use of the extension resource (53) for the device-to-device communication is disabled.
The user equipment according to claim 1 or 2. The user equipment (2) controls the wireless interface (20) to move the user equipment (2) out of coverage of the cellular communication network, or the user equipment (2) performs the cellular communication Configured to transmit information (91; 101) indicating presence outside the coverage of the network,
The user equipment according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The user equipment (2) is configured to receive a message (92) at the wireless interface (20) in response to the information (91), the message (92) comprising the user equipment (2) Enabling the use of the extension resource (53) for the device to device discovery and / or the device to device communication,
The user equipment according to claim 4. Whether the user equipment (2) may cause interference with the radio access network of the cellular communication network, the use of the extension resource (53) for the device to device discovery and / or the device to device communication Configured to determine
The user equipment according to any one of claims 1 to 5. The user equipment (2) is configured to determine whether the positioning of the user equipment (2) meets geolocation constraints.
The use of the extension resource (53) for the device to device discovery and / or the device to device communication is enabled depending on whether the positioning meets the constraints of the geolocation.
The user equipment according to any one of claims 1 to 6. The user equipment (2) may use the extension resource for communication with the cellular communication network if the use of the extension resource for the device to device discovery and / or the device to device communication is not enabled. Configured to use (53),
The user equipment according to any one of claims 1 to 7. The user equipment (2) is configured to use the extension resource (53) as a scheduling allocation resource (63) and as a data resource (64).
The user equipment according to any one of claims 1 to 8. The mapping between the scheduling allocation resource (63) in the extension resource (53) and the data resource (64) is a scheduling allocation resource in a device-to-device resource (50) preconfigured by the cellular communication network Depends on the mapping between (61) and the data resource (62),
The user equipment according to claim 9. The user equipment (2) is configured to use the extension resource (53) as a data resource (65) and use a resource different from the extension resource (53) as a scheduling assignment resource (61) ,
11. User equipment according to any one of the preceding claims. The user equipment (2) may perform at least one of the services depending on whether the use of the extension resource (53) for the device to device discovery and / or the device to device communication is enabled. Configured to trigger execution,
12. User equipment according to any one of the preceding claims. A communication system,
A device to device group comprising a plurality of devices (2, 3, 4) configured for communication with a cellular communication network, wherein each device (2, 3, 4) of said device to device group Further configured for device discovery and device to device communication,
The at least one device (2) of the device-to-device group is configured as a user equipment according to any one of claims 1 to 12,
The device to device group includes a group head (3), the group head (3)
Determining whether all devices (2, 3, 4) of the device-to-device group move out of the coverage of the cellular communication network or are out of coverage of the cellular communication network;
Selectively enabling the plurality of devices (2, 3, 4) to use an expansion resource (53) for the device to device discovery and / or the device to device communication,
Communication system as configured. Said group head (3) if at least one device (2, 3, 4) of said device-to-device group moves within the coverage of said cellular communication network or is within the coverage of said cellular communication network Configured to disable the use of the extension resource (53) for the device to device discovery and / or the device to device communication,
The communication system according to claim 13. A method of controlling a user equipment (2), the user equipment (2) comprising a wireless interface (20) configured for communication with a cellular communication network, the method comprising
Determining whether the user equipment (2) moves out of coverage or is out of coverage of the cellular communication network;
Using device to device resources (50, 53) for device to device discovery and / or device to device communication through the wireless interface (20);
Including
Preconfigured resources (50) for device to device discovery and / or device to device communication are used when the user equipment (2) is within the coverage of the cellular communication network
The pre-configured resources (50) and additional extension resources (53) for device-to-device discovery and / or device-to-device communication, the user equipment (2) is outside the coverage of the cellular communication network Used when
If all devices (2, 3, 4) of the device-to-device group including the user equipment (2) move out of the coverage of the cellular communication network or are out of coverage of the cellular communication network The method wherein the use of the extension resource (53) for the device to device discovery and / or the device to device communication is enabled. Implemented by said user equipment (2) according to any one of the preceding claims.
The method of claim 15.

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