WO2007112762A1 - Scheduling radio resources in a multi-carrier tdma mobile communication system - Google Patents

Scheduling radio resources in a multi-carrier tdma mobile communication system Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2007112762A1
WO2007112762A1 PCT/EP2006/002973 EP2006002973W WO2007112762A1 WO 2007112762 A1 WO2007112762 A1 WO 2007112762A1 EP 2006002973 W EP2006002973 W EP 2006002973W WO 2007112762 A1 WO2007112762 A1 WO 2007112762A1
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WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
carrier
time slot
mobile terminal
downlink time
downlink
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/EP2006/002973
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
David Cooper
Martin Greaves
Robert Bristow
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Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
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Publication date
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Priority to PCT/EP2006/002973 priority Critical patent/WO2007112762A1/en
Publication of WO2007112762A1 publication Critical patent/WO2007112762A1/en

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04B—TRANSMISSION
    • H04B7/00—Radio transmission systems, i.e. using radiation field
    • H04B7/24—Radio transmission systems, i.e. using radiation field for communication between two or more posts
    • H04B7/26—Radio transmission systems, i.e. using radiation field for communication between two or more posts at least one of which is mobile
    • H04B7/2643—Radio transmission systems, i.e. using radiation field for communication between two or more posts at least one of which is mobile using time-division multiple access [TDMA]
    • H04B7/2656—Radio transmission systems, i.e. using radiation field for communication between two or more posts at least one of which is mobile using time-division multiple access [TDMA] for structure of frame, burst
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04B—TRANSMISSION
    • H04B7/00—Radio transmission systems, i.e. using radiation field
    • H04B7/24—Radio transmission systems, i.e. using radiation field for communication between two or more posts
    • H04B7/26—Radio transmission systems, i.e. using radiation field for communication between two or more posts at least one of which is mobile
    • H04B7/2615—Radio transmission systems, i.e. using radiation field for communication between two or more posts at least one of which is mobile using hybrid frequency-time division multiple access [FDMA-TDMA]
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L5/00—Arrangements affording multiple use of the transmission path
    • H04L5/02—Channels characterised by the type of signal
    • H04L5/06—Channels characterised by the type of signal the signals being represented by different frequencies
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W72/00—Local resource management
    • H04W72/12—Wireless traffic scheduling
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W28/00—Network traffic management; Network resource management
    • H04W28/02—Traffic management, e.g. flow control or congestion control
    • H04W28/06—Optimizing the usage of the radio link, e.g. header compression, information sizing, discarding information
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W72/00—Local resource management
    • H04W72/04—Wireless resource allocation
    • H04W72/044—Wireless resource allocation based on the type of the allocated resource
    • H04W72/0446—Resources in time domain, e.g. slots or frames
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W74/00—Wireless channel access

Definitions

  • the invention relates to a method for scheduling and receiving radio resources at a mo- bile terminal using at least two carriers of a multi-carrier TDMA mobile communication system.
  • the invention also relates to a corresponding base station for carrying out the scheduling operation and a mobile terminal for receiving data.
  • the known GSM/GPRS system partitions the radio spectrum resource into disjoint carri- ers, each carrier having a frequency bandwidth of 200 kHz. In turn each carrier is 'time division multiplexed' using a system of recurring time slots. This is for instance described in 3GPP TS 45.002.
  • a timeslot shall have a duration of 3/5 200 seconds (« 577 ⁇ s) with eight timeslots forming a TDMA frame ( « 4,62 ms in duration).
  • the TDMA frames on all of the radio frequency channels in the downlink shall be aligned. The same shall apply to the uplink (see 3GPP TS 45.010).
  • the start of a TDMA frame on the uplink is delayed by the fixed period of 3 timeslots from the start of the TDMA frame on the down- link.
  • FIG. 1 shows transmission on a single downlink and single uplink. This is the normal configuration used for circuit switched speech.
  • the GSM system uses frequency hopping, in which the frequencies used to transmit timeslots on both the downlink and uplink change from TDMA frame to TDMA frame. The succession of frequencies is called a hopping sequence.
  • a specific hopping sequence starting at a particular time is referred to as a carrier.
  • a carrier restricted to a particular timeslot is called a "physical channel”, hence there are 8 physical channels per carrier.
  • the GPRS system extends the permitted capabilities as compared with GSM, to allow the mobile terminal to transmit or receive more than one slot in a TDMA frame (multislot operation). This is used for data packet transfer, where (unlike speech) the transfer direction may be asymmetrical, i.e.. for example during web access it is typically the case that more data is sent in the downlink direction.
  • Figure 2 shows an illustration of GPRS multislot operation where the mobile terminal receives three slots and then transmits one slot in each TDMA frame. For simplicity monitoring is omitted.
  • the following parameters Rx, Tx, Sum, T ta , T t b, T ra , T rb are defined which define the performance of the mobile terminal transceiver. These are defined in 3GPP TS 45.002.
  • a number of valid combinations are defined, called the multislot class of a mobile terminal and by declaring its multislot class, the mobile terminal informs the network of the value of these parameters. Their meanings are as follows, where the following is an edited extract from that specification.
  • Rx Rx describes the maximum number of receive timeslots (TS) that the mobile station (MS) can use per TDMA frame.
  • the MS must be able to support all integer values of receive TS from 0 to Rx.
  • the receive TS need not be contiguous.
  • the receive TS shall be allocated within window of size Rx, and no transmit TS shall occur between receive TS within a TDMA frame.
  • Tx Tx describes the maximum number of transmit timeslots that the MS can use per
  • the MS must be able to support all integer values of transmit TS from 0 to Tx.
  • the transmit TS need not be contiguous.
  • the transmit TS shall be allocated within window of size Tx, and no receive TS shall occur between transmit TS within a TDMA frame.
  • Sum Sum is the total number of uplink and downlink TS that can actually be used by the MS per TDMA frame.
  • T ta Tta relates to the time needed for the MS to perform adjacent cell signal level measurement and get ready to transmit... It is the minimum number of timeslots that will be allowed between the end of the previous transmit or receive TS and the next transmit TS when measurement is to be performed between. It should be noted that, in practice, the minimum time allowed may be reduced by amount of timing advance.
  • T tb Ttb relates to the time needed for the MS to get ready to transmit.
  • the minimum number of timeslots that will be allowed between the end of the last previous receive TS and the first next transmit TS or between the previous transmit TS and the next transmit TS when the frequency is changed in between. It should be noted that, in practice, the minimum time allowed may be reduced by the amount of the timing advance.
  • T ra Tra relates to the time needed for the MS to perform adjacent cell signal level measurement and get ready to receive.
  • Trb Trb relates to the time needed for the MS to get ready to receive. It is the minimum number of timeslots that will be allowed between the previous transmit TS and the next receive TS or between the previous receive TS and the next receive TS when the frequency is changed in between.
  • the set of parameters T ta , T tb , T ra , T ta determine the time needed to change from transmit to receive and the time needed to perform measurements and are called turnaround parameters.
  • these parameters are related to the performance of the radio frequency components, for example the synthesizer, which requires time to achieve stabilization.
  • the parameters Rx, Tx, Sum are typically constrained by baseband performance, for example signal processor speed, and will be called throughput capability parameters.
  • downlink dual carrier An example of this is shown in the figure 3, where for simplicity monitoring is omitted.
  • Receive and transmit operations are mutually exclusive; while transmission is active, reception cannot be performed by either receive path, although operations in preparation for reception, such as retuning, can. Therefore one receive path can share tuning resources, such as the frequency synthesizer, with the transmit path and is called the dependent receive path.
  • the other receive path uses independent tuning resources and is called the independent receive path.
  • the tuning resources used by the independent receive path are not constrained by the requirements of participating in the transmit operation. Therefore they can be available for other uses.
  • the timeslots assigned on the carrier and received by an independent receive path correspond to those which are assigned on the other carrier where timeslots are received on the dependent receive path.
  • resources are wasted in particular on the carrier which could be used as far as not constrained by the transmit operation on the other carrier.
  • the object of the invention is consequently to provide a method for scheduling and re- ceiving radio resources on at least two carriers of a multi-carrier frequency hopping TDMA mobile communication system which uses the available radio resources more effectively.
  • the object is solved by a method for scheduling and receiving radio resources as set forth in the independent method claims. Further, the object is solved by a correspondingly adapted base station and mobile terminal as set forth by the independent apparatus claims.
  • the subject matter of the invention is based on the recognition that when using more than one carrier for simultaneous reception of data, there is no need to make the assignment of downlink slots on the first and second carrier in a fixed relationship as the assignment on each carrier may underlay different constraints caused by transmission of uplink timeslots on either one carrier.
  • the timeslots may be assigned in an independent manner for the first and second carrier respectively such that waste of radio resources is avoided.
  • This independent assignment has for instance the benefit that one carrier may be exclusively assigned downlink timeslots without being intermitted by assigned uplink transmit timeslots. This reduces the time required for turnaround of the components, for instance from transmit to receive and vice versa, getting more quickly ready to receive or transmit or to perform measurements.
  • a downlink timeslot may be assigned on the next con- secutive timeslot following an assigned uplink timeslot on the other carrier.
  • an adjacent cell measurement may be performed on the carrier to which exclusively downlink timeslots are assigned in a timeslot immediately preceding an uplink timeslot on the other carrier.
  • the invention provides the advantage that radio resources as well as tuning resources may be used in a fairly efficient and resource saving manner.
  • FIG. 1 shows a conventional single slot operation on downlink and uplink of a
  • Fig. 2 illustrates multislot operation in a GPRS system
  • FIG. 3 illustrates dual carrier multislot assignment for a GPRS system
  • FIG. 4 illustrates in form of a block diagram the principal operation of a mobile terminal to which the present invention may be applied
  • Fig. 5 illustrates in block diagram form the principal operation of a base station to which the present invention may be applied
  • Fig. 6 illustrates dual carrier transmit and receive paths in a mobile terminal ac- cording to an embodiment of the invention
  • Fig. 7 illustrates measurement and turnaround operation in a mobile terminal
  • Fig. 8 illustrates dual carrier measurement and turnaround operation in a class 12 mobile terminal
  • Fig. 9 illustrates the slot allocation in a single carrier versus dual carrier mobile terminal according to class 12,
  • Fig. 10 illustrates slot allocation in a single carrier versus dual carrier mobile terminal according to class 30 to 34.
  • Figure 4 is a block diagram for explaining the operation of a mobile terminal which is adapted to carry out the present invention.
  • a mobile terminal (wireless data communication terminal) 100 allows the bi-directional transfer of data between a base station 200 and an external data source and sink 130.
  • the base station 200 transmits GPRS signals to the mobile station 100.
  • the GPRS signals are received on the receive antenna 102, and are demodulated to baseband ones by a radio frequency demodulator 108.
  • the radio frequency demodulator 108 delivers the baseband signals to a baseband data receiver 106.
  • the baseband data receiver 106 delivers the received baseband data to a demultiplexer 110.
  • the demultiplexer 110 se- lects either an NCELL measurement unit 112 or a Layer 2 protocol unit 114 to process the above data, depending on its control input from a timing controller 120.
  • the downlink baseband data is destined for the NCELL measurement unit 112
  • this unit performs adjacent cell signal level measurement, and transmits the resulting information to a Layer 3 protocol unit 116.
  • the Layer 3 protocol unit 116 in turn transmits the data to the base station 200 via the uplink.
  • Downlink baseband data to be used for adjacent cell signal level measurement is routed to the Layer 3 protocol unit 116.
  • the Layer 3 protocol unit 116 separates user plane data and control plane data.
  • the user data is sent to a terminal interface unit 118.
  • the terminal interface unit 118 sends the data to an external data source and sink 130.
  • Control plane data is used to perform internal control functions.
  • any GPRS slot allocation frames sent from the base station 200 are used to send parameter data to a slot allocation calculator 128.
  • the slot allocation calculator 128 calculates which TDMA slots shall be used for data reception, data transmission, and adjacent cell signal level measurement purposes. This information is sent to a timing controller setting calculator
  • the timing controller setting calculator 126 in turn reconfigures a timing controller 120 so as to perform each operation of receive preparation, transmit preparation, and adjacent cell signal level measurement at the correct time.
  • the timing controller 120 is responsible for determining and controlling the timing of the transmission and reception of signals toward the base station 200, and the reception of measurement data. In accordance with the calculation result of the slot allocation calculator 128, the timing controller 120 controls the precise timing and behavior of the radio frequency modulator 122, radio frequency demodulator 108, baseband data receiver 106, baseband transmitter 124, and demultiplexer 110.
  • User data transmitted from an external data source and sink 130 is accepted by a terminal interface unit 118, and given to a Layer 3 protocol unit 116.
  • the Layer 3 protocol unit 116 multiplexes the data with any protocol control data, and transmits it via a Layer 2 protocol unit 114.
  • the Layer 2 protocol unit 114 in turn transmits the multiplexed data to a baseband transmitter 124. Subsequently, the multiplexed data is modulated by a radio frequency modulator 122, and then is transmitted over a transmit antenna 104.
  • Figure 5 is a block diagram for explaining the operation of a base station.
  • a wireless base station 200 allows the bi-directional transfer of data between a plurality of mobile stations 100 and an external Base Station Controller (BSC) 230.
  • BSC Base Station Controller
  • Each mobile terminal 100 transmits precisely-timed GPRS signals to the base station 200.
  • the GPRS signals are received on the receive antenna 202, and are demodulated to baseband ones by a radio frequency demodulator 208.
  • the radio frequency demodu- lator 208 delivers the baseband signals to a baseband data receiver 206. If multiple receive frequencies are used, there is one set of radio frequency demodulator 208 and baseband data receiver 206 per frequency.
  • the baseband data receiver 206 delivers the received baseband data to a multiplexer 210.
  • the multiplexer 210 marks which mobile terminal the data has arrived from depending on its control input from a timing controller 220, and forwards all data received from the mobile terminal 100 to Layer 2 protocol unit 214.
  • the Layer 2 protocol unit 214 maintains a separate context for each mobile terminal 100.
  • Downlink baseband data to be used for adjacent cell signal level measurement is routed to the Layer 3 protocol unit 216.
  • the Layer 3 protocol unit 216 maintains a separate context for each mobile terminal 100.
  • the Layer 3 protocol unit 216 separates user plane data and radio resource control plane data.
  • User data and radio resource control plane data is sent to a BSC interface unit 218.
  • the BSC. interface unit 218 sends the data to an external Base Station Controller 230.
  • Radio resource control plane data is used to perform internal control functions.
  • a slot allocation calculator 228 calculates, typically according to the required data rate, which GPRS slots are allocated for each mobile terminal 100. This information is sent to the Layer 3 protocol unit 216. The Layer 3 protocol unit 216 sends allocation in- formation to the mobile terminal 100. This information is also sent to a timing controller setting calculator 226.
  • other mobile terminal slot allocator 232 receives necessary data from the external Base Station Controller 230 via the BSC interface unit 218, and calculates allocation information for other mobile terminals. This information is also sent to the timing controller setting calculator 226. The timing controller setting calculator 226 in turn reconfigures a timing controller 220 so as to perform each of receive and transmit actions towards each mobile terminal 100 at the correct time.
  • the timing controller 220 is responsible for determining and controlling the timing of the transmission and reception of signals toward the mobile terminal 100. In accordance with the calculation result of the slot allocation calculator 228, the timing controller 220 con- trols the precise timing and behavior of the radio frequency modulator 222, radio frequency demodulator 208, baseband data receiver 206, baseband transmitter 224, multiplexer 210, and demultiplexer 234.
  • User data and control data transmitted from a base station controller 230 is accepted by a BSC interface unit 218, and given to a Layer 3 protocol unit 216.
  • the Layer 3 protocol unit 216 multiplexes the data with any radio resource control data, and transmits it via a Layer 2 protocol unit 214.
  • the Layer 2 protocol unit 214 in turn transmits the multiplexed data to the demultiplexer 234.
  • the demultiplexer 234 provides the data for each mobile terminal 100 on the correct TDMA slot to the correct baseband transmitter 224. Subsequently, the data is modulated by a radio frequency modulator 222, and then is transmitted over a transmit antenna 204. If multiple transmit frequencies are used, there is one set of radio frequency modulator 222 and baseband data transmitter 224 per frequency.
  • Figure 6 is an illustrative block diagram showing a possible implementation of the baseband receiver/transmitter 106, 124 and demodulator/modulator 108, 122 as shown in figure 4 for a dual downlink carrier mobile terminal which contains two receive paths.
  • An antenna 10 is time multiplexed to a receive or transmit path via a radio frequency switch 11.
  • the signal When connected to the receive path the signal is routed through a band filter 12 and amplified via a low noise amplifier 13 before being routed into one of two modulators/demodulators or modems 14,15.
  • Each modem contains a frequency synthesizer 16,17 and mixer 18,19.
  • the signal from the mixer is filtered, amplified and digitized for the baseband via the A/D converter 20,21.
  • the system as illustrated uses standard modem components it actually contains two transmit paths, only one of which would be active at a time.
  • the digital signal is converted from the baseband to analog via on of the D/A converters 22,23 and mixed to radio carrier frequency via mixers 24,25, before passing through a passive combining network 26, power amplifier 27 and band filter 28.
  • Only one transmit path is actually used, for example the transmit path from the D/A convertor 22, in which case one receive path shares the use of modem 14 and the other, independent receive path has exclusive use of modem 15.
  • modem 15 As illustrated in figure 7, there are two downlink timeslots that cannot be used for transmission of data on the downlink with a legacy mobile terminal.
  • the downlink slot immediately before the first transmit slot Due to timing advance, the downlink slot immediately before a transmit slot overlaps the transmit slot by up to the maximum timing advance (64 bits), so it cannot be used to receive data on the downlink timeslot.
  • the downlink slot immediately after the last transmit slot cannot be used. If the timing advance were zero, it would require instant retuning from the transmit frequency to the receive frequency. In order to overcome this constraint, it would be necessary to allow the base station to introduce an 'artificial' minimum timing offset of 31 symbol periods, i.e. 20% of a timeslot. Then, provided the mobile can switch from transmit to receive in 31 symbol periods, it can use this slot for receive.
  • this has the drawback that the usable timing offset range is halved, leading to incompatibilities with legacy networks.
  • turnaround and measurement method operation as well as the relevant turnaround parameter values used by mobile terminals are also illustrated in the figure. As apparent, it is necessary to perform a retune operation in order to prepare to receive data on a given frequency channel, perform a measurement on a given frequency channel or transmit data on a given frequency channel.
  • the requirement to reserve time for measurement and turnaround means that the number of slots that can be used to receive downlink data is restricted. For a mobile terminal which has class 12 turnaround parameters, given that 1 slot must be transmitted on the uplink, at most 4 slots can be received. For a mobile terminal which has class 30-34 tur- naround parameters at most 5 slots can be received. This restriction exists regardless of the throughput capability parameters.
  • the timeslot immediately after the transmit operation is used for reception by the independent receive path.
  • measurement can be performed by the independent receive path by using the receive timeslot just before the first transmit uplink timeslot.
  • T mon the time required to perform a measurement operation.
  • T mon can be calculated as the difference between T ta and T tb (which is 1 for these classes) since this difference represents the additional time needed to perform measurement over and above the time needed to retune to a new receive frequency.
  • T mon may be reduced by an amount equal to the timing advance.
  • Maximum downlink timeslot allocation is shown in figure 9 assuming class 12 measurement and turnaround capability, which compares single carrier operation and dual downlink carrier operation. As shown, by using the principles of the present invention, the maximum number of downlink timeslots that can be allocated is increased from 4 slots per TDMA frame to 11 slots per TDMA frame, more than doubling the peak downlink data rate.
  • the same turnaround and measurement strategy can be used by mobile stations with class 30-34 turnaround parameters.
  • the peak downlink data rate is also more than doubled, from 5 slots to 11 slots per TDMA frame. This is illustrated in figure 10.
  • T ra , T ta are redefined with the following meaning (italics show enhancements to conventional definitions):
  • T ta Tt a relates to the time needed for the MS to perform adjacent cell signal level measurement and get ready to transmit.
  • the minimum number of timeslots that will be allowed between the end of the previous transmit or receive TS and the next transmit TS when measurement is to be performed between and a shared receive path is used. It should be noted that, in practice, the minimum time allowed may be reduced by amount of timing advance.
  • T tb Ttb relates to the time needed for the MS to get ready to transmit.
  • T ra T ra relates to the time needed for the MS to perform adjacent cell signal level measurement and get ready to receive.
  • T rb T rb relates to the time needed for the MS to get ready to receive. It is the minimum number of timeslots that will be allowed between the previous transmit TS and the next receive TS of a shared receive path or between the previous receive TS and the next receive TS of a given receive path when the frequency is changed in be- tween.
  • Rx Rx describes the maximum number of receive timeslots (TS) that the MS can use per TDMA frame counting timeslots on different receive paths separately.
  • the MS must be able to support all integer values of receive TS from 0 to Rx.
  • the receive TS need not be contiguous. No transmit TS shall occur between receive TS within a TDMA frame.
  • Sum is the total number of uplink and downlink TS that can actually be used by the MS per TDMA frame counting timeslots on different receive paths separately.
  • the MS must be able to support all combinations of integer values of Rx and Tx
  • time slots allocated on each downlink carrier may be different and independent from each other. Indeed to maximize the number of downlink slots allocated, these timeslot assignments are necessarily dif- ferent from each other.

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  • Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
  • Mobile Radio Communication Systems (AREA)

Abstract

A method for scheduling radio resources on at least two carriers in a multi-carrier frequency hopping TDMA mobile communication system for simultaneous downlink reception in a TDMA frame by a mobile station comprising the steps of assigning downlink time slots on a first carrier for use by the mobile terminal, assigning downlink time slots on a second carrier for simultaneous use by said mobile terminal, wherein the assignment of downlink time slots on the first carrier is independent from the assignment of downlink time slots on the second carrier. The invention also relates to a base station for scheduling radio resources and a mobile terminal for receiving data in the mobile communication system.

Description

SCHEDULING RADIO RESOURCES IN A MULTI-CARRIER TDMA MOBILE
COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
The invention relates to a method for scheduling and receiving radio resources at a mo- bile terminal using at least two carriers of a multi-carrier TDMA mobile communication system. The invention also relates to a corresponding base station for carrying out the scheduling operation and a mobile terminal for receiving data.
Mobile communication systems have gained large popularity in recent years due to the convenient use for a mobile user. There exist several standardized systems which separate the available physical radio spectrum either by time, frequency or code or a combination thereof.
The known GSM/GPRS system partitions the radio spectrum resource into disjoint carri- ers, each carrier having a frequency bandwidth of 200 kHz. In turn each carrier is 'time division multiplexed' using a system of recurring time slots. This is for instance described in 3GPP TS 45.002.
Accordingly, in such a communication system, a timeslot shall have a duration of 3/5 200 seconds (« 577 μs) with eight timeslots forming a TDMA frame (« 4,62 ms in duration). At the base transceiver station the TDMA frames on all of the radio frequency channels in the downlink shall be aligned. The same shall apply to the uplink (see 3GPP TS 45.010).
Furthermore, at the base transceiver station the start of a TDMA frame on the uplink is delayed by the fixed period of 3 timeslots from the start of the TDMA frame on the down- link.
At the mobile station this delay will be variable to allow adjustment for signal propagation delay. The process of adjusting this advance is known as adaptive frame alignment and is detailed in 3GPP TS 45.010. The staggering of TDMA frames used in the downlink and uplink is in order to allow the same timeslot number to be used in the downlink and uplink whilst avoiding the requirement for the mobile station to transmit and receive simultaneously. The period includes time for adaptive frame alignment, transceiver tuning and receive/transmit switching. Figure 1 shows transmission on a single downlink and single uplink. This is the normal configuration used for circuit switched speech. Note that the GSM system uses frequency hopping, in which the frequencies used to transmit timeslots on both the downlink and uplink change from TDMA frame to TDMA frame. The succession of frequencies is called a hopping sequence. A specific hopping sequence starting at a particular time is referred to as a carrier. A carrier restricted to a particular timeslot is called a "physical channel", hence there are 8 physical channels per carrier.
The GPRS system extends the permitted capabilities as compared with GSM, to allow the mobile terminal to transmit or receive more than one slot in a TDMA frame (multislot operation). This is used for data packet transfer, where (unlike speech) the transfer direction may be asymmetrical, i.e.. for example during web access it is typically the case that more data is sent in the downlink direction. Figure 2 shows an illustration of GPRS multislot operation where the mobile terminal receives three slots and then transmits one slot in each TDMA frame. For simplicity monitoring is omitted.
In order to ensure that the transmitter and receiver in the mobile terminal do not function at the same time, and to allow the transceiver hardware sufficient time to re-tune between different operations, the following parameters Rx, Tx, Sum, Tta, Ttb, Tra, Trb are defined which define the performance of the mobile terminal transceiver. These are defined in 3GPP TS 45.002. A number of valid combinations are defined, called the multislot class of a mobile terminal and by declaring its multislot class, the mobile terminal informs the network of the value of these parameters. Their meanings are as follows, where the following is an edited extract from that specification.
Rx Rx describes the maximum number of receive timeslots (TS) that the mobile station (MS) can use per TDMA frame. The MS must be able to support all integer values of receive TS from 0 to Rx. The receive TS need not be contiguous. The receive TS shall be allocated within window of size Rx, and no transmit TS shall occur between receive TS within a TDMA frame.
Tx Tx describes the maximum number of transmit timeslots that the MS can use per
TDMA frame. The MS must be able to support all integer values of transmit TS from 0 to Tx. The transmit TS need not be contiguous. The transmit TS shall be allocated within window of size Tx, and no receive TS shall occur between transmit TS within a TDMA frame.
Sum Sum is the total number of uplink and downlink TS that can actually be used by the MS per TDMA frame. The MS must be able to support all combinations of integer values of Rx and Tx TS where 1 <= Rx + Tx <= Sum.
Tta Tta relates to the time needed for the MS to perform adjacent cell signal level measurement and get ready to transmit... It is the minimum number of timeslots that will be allowed between the end of the previous transmit or receive TS and the next transmit TS when measurement is to be performed between. It should be noted that, in practice, the minimum time allowed may be reduced by amount of timing advance.
Ttb Ttb relates to the time needed for the MS to get ready to transmit.
It is the minimum number of timeslots that will be allowed between the end of the last previous receive TS and the first next transmit TS or between the previous transmit TS and the next transmit TS when the frequency is changed in between. It should be noted that, in practice, the minimum time allowed may be reduced by the amount of the timing advance.
Tra Tra relates to the time needed for the MS to perform adjacent cell signal level measurement and get ready to receive.
It is the minimum number of timeslots that will be allowed between the previous transmit or receive TS and the next receive TS when measurement is to be performed between.
Trb Trb relates to the time needed for the MS to get ready to receive. It is the minimum number of timeslots that will be allowed between the previous transmit TS and the next receive TS or between the previous receive TS and the next receive TS when the frequency is changed in between.
Further restrictions are also imposed, such as receiving, transmitting, getting ready to receive and getting ready to transmit cannot take place concurrently. Existing conven- tional mobile terminals only support a single receive and transmit path and are referred to as legacy terminals. By "receive path" and "transmit path" is meant a set of components and entities by means of which receive and transmit operations are carried out in a mobile terminal.
The set of parameters Tta, Ttb, Tra, Tta determine the time needed to change from transmit to receive and the time needed to perform measurements and are called turnaround parameters. Typically these parameters are related to the performance of the radio frequency components, for example the synthesizer, which requires time to achieve stabilization. The parameters Rx, Tx, Sum are typically constrained by baseband performance, for example signal processor speed, and will be called throughput capability parameters.
Recently there have been proposals for evolving the GSM/GPRS system in which the mobile terminals supports two receive paths on the downlink, i.e. simultaneous reception by the mobile handset on two different carriers during the same slot. This is referred to as "downlink dual carrier". An example of this is shown in the figure 3, where for simplicity monitoring is omitted. Receive and transmit operations are mutually exclusive; while transmission is active, reception cannot be performed by either receive path, although operations in preparation for reception, such as retuning, can. Therefore one receive path can share tuning resources, such as the frequency synthesizer, with the transmit path and is called the dependent receive path. The other receive path uses independent tuning resources and is called the independent receive path.
The tuning resources used by the independent receive path are not constrained by the requirements of participating in the transmit operation. Therefore they can be available for other uses.
It is to be noted that according to these recent proposals, however, the timeslots assigned on the carrier and received by an independent receive path correspond to those which are assigned on the other carrier where timeslots are received on the dependent receive path. Thus, according the conventional scheduling operation, resources are wasted in particular on the carrier which could be used as far as not constrained by the transmit operation on the other carrier.
The object of the invention is consequently to provide a method for scheduling and re- ceiving radio resources on at least two carriers of a multi-carrier frequency hopping TDMA mobile communication system which uses the available radio resources more effectively.
The object is solved by a method for scheduling and receiving radio resources as set forth in the independent method claims. Further, the object is solved by a correspondingly adapted base station and mobile terminal as set forth by the independent apparatus claims.
The subject matter of the invention is based on the recognition that when using more than one carrier for simultaneous reception of data, there is no need to make the assignment of downlink slots on the first and second carrier in a fixed relationship as the assignment on each carrier may underlay different constraints caused by transmission of uplink timeslots on either one carrier.
Hence, the timeslots may be assigned in an independent manner for the first and second carrier respectively such that waste of radio resources is avoided. This independent assignment has for instance the benefit that one carrier may be exclusively assigned downlink timeslots without being intermitted by assigned uplink transmit timeslots. This reduces the time required for turnaround of the components, for instance from transmit to receive and vice versa, getting more quickly ready to receive or transmit or to perform measurements.
According to a particularly advantageous embodiment, on the carrier to which exclusively downlink timeslots are assigned, a downlink timeslot may be assigned on the next con- secutive timeslot following an assigned uplink timeslot on the other carrier.
According to a further preferred embodiment, an adjacent cell measurement may be performed on the carrier to which exclusively downlink timeslots are assigned in a timeslot immediately preceding an uplink timeslot on the other carrier.
In conclusion, the invention provides the advantage that radio resources as well as tuning resources may be used in a fairly efficient and resource saving manner.
The invention will be further appreciated from the following detailed description with ref- erence to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 shows a conventional single slot operation on downlink and uplink of a
GSM system,
Fig. 2 illustrates multislot operation in a GPRS system,
Fig. 3 illustrates dual carrier multislot assignment for a GPRS system, Fig. 4 illustrates in form of a block diagram the principal operation of a mobile terminal to which the present invention may be applied
Fig. 5, illustrates in block diagram form the principal operation of a base station to which the present invention may be applied,
Fig. 6 illustrates dual carrier transmit and receive paths in a mobile terminal ac- cording to an embodiment of the invention,
Fig. 7 illustrates measurement and turnaround operation in a mobile terminal,
Fig. 8 illustrates dual carrier measurement and turnaround operation in a class 12 mobile terminal,
Fig. 9 illustrates the slot allocation in a single carrier versus dual carrier mobile terminal according to class 12, and
Fig. 10 illustrates slot allocation in a single carrier versus dual carrier mobile terminal according to class 30 to 34.
Figure 4 is a block diagram for explaining the operation of a mobile terminal which is adapted to carry out the present invention.
A mobile terminal (wireless data communication terminal) 100 allows the bi-directional transfer of data between a base station 200 and an external data source and sink 130.
The base station 200 transmits GPRS signals to the mobile station 100. The GPRS signals are received on the receive antenna 102, and are demodulated to baseband ones by a radio frequency demodulator 108. The radio frequency demodulator 108 delivers the baseband signals to a baseband data receiver 106. The baseband data receiver 106 delivers the received baseband data to a demultiplexer 110. The demultiplexer 110 se- lects either an NCELL measurement unit 112 or a Layer 2 protocol unit 114 to process the above data, depending on its control input from a timing controller 120.
If the downlink baseband data is destined for the NCELL measurement unit 112, this unit performs adjacent cell signal level measurement, and transmits the resulting information to a Layer 3 protocol unit 116. The Layer 3 protocol unit 116 in turn transmits the data to the base station 200 via the uplink.
Downlink baseband data to be used for adjacent cell signal level measurement is routed to the Layer 3 protocol unit 116. The Layer 3 protocol unit 116 separates user plane data and control plane data. The user data is sent to a terminal interface unit 118. The terminal interface unit 118 sends the data to an external data source and sink 130.
Control plane data is used to perform internal control functions. In particular, any GPRS slot allocation frames sent from the base station 200 are used to send parameter data to a slot allocation calculator 128. The slot allocation calculator 128 calculates which TDMA slots shall be used for data reception, data transmission, and adjacent cell signal level measurement purposes. This information is sent to a timing controller setting calculator
126. The timing controller setting calculator 126 in turn reconfigures a timing controller 120 so as to perform each operation of receive preparation, transmit preparation, and adjacent cell signal level measurement at the correct time.
The timing controller 120 is responsible for determining and controlling the timing of the transmission and reception of signals toward the base station 200, and the reception of measurement data. In accordance with the calculation result of the slot allocation calculator 128, the timing controller 120 controls the precise timing and behavior of the radio frequency modulator 122, radio frequency demodulator 108, baseband data receiver 106, baseband transmitter 124, and demultiplexer 110.
User data transmitted from an external data source and sink 130 is accepted by a terminal interface unit 118, and given to a Layer 3 protocol unit 116. The Layer 3 protocol unit 116 multiplexes the data with any protocol control data, and transmits it via a Layer 2 protocol unit 114. The Layer 2 protocol unit 114 in turn transmits the multiplexed data to a baseband transmitter 124. Subsequently, the multiplexed data is modulated by a radio frequency modulator 122, and then is transmitted over a transmit antenna 104.
Figure 5 is a block diagram for explaining the operation of a base station.
A wireless base station 200 allows the bi-directional transfer of data between a plurality of mobile stations 100 and an external Base Station Controller (BSC) 230. Each mobile terminal 100 transmits precisely-timed GPRS signals to the base station 200. The GPRS signals are received on the receive antenna 202, and are demodulated to baseband ones by a radio frequency demodulator 208. The radio frequency demodu- lator 208 delivers the baseband signals to a baseband data receiver 206. If multiple receive frequencies are used, there is one set of radio frequency demodulator 208 and baseband data receiver 206 per frequency. The baseband data receiver 206 delivers the received baseband data to a multiplexer 210. The multiplexer 210 marks which mobile terminal the data has arrived from depending on its control input from a timing controller 220, and forwards all data received from the mobile terminal 100 to Layer 2 protocol unit 214. The Layer 2 protocol unit 214 maintains a separate context for each mobile terminal 100.
Downlink baseband data to be used for adjacent cell signal level measurement is routed to the Layer 3 protocol unit 216. The Layer 3 protocol unit 216 maintains a separate context for each mobile terminal 100. The Layer 3 protocol unit 216 separates user plane data and radio resource control plane data. User data and radio resource control plane data is sent to a BSC interface unit 218. The BSC. interface unit 218 sends the data to an external Base Station Controller 230.
Radio resource control plane data is used to perform internal control functions. In particular, a slot allocation calculator 228 calculates, typically according to the required data rate, which GPRS slots are allocated for each mobile terminal 100. This information is sent to the Layer 3 protocol unit 216. The Layer 3 protocol unit 216 sends allocation in- formation to the mobile terminal 100. This information is also sent to a timing controller setting calculator 226. In addition, other mobile terminal slot allocator 232 receives necessary data from the external Base Station Controller 230 via the BSC interface unit 218, and calculates allocation information for other mobile terminals. This information is also sent to the timing controller setting calculator 226. The timing controller setting calculator 226 in turn reconfigures a timing controller 220 so as to perform each of receive and transmit actions towards each mobile terminal 100 at the correct time.
The timing controller 220 is responsible for determining and controlling the timing of the transmission and reception of signals toward the mobile terminal 100. In accordance with the calculation result of the slot allocation calculator 228, the timing controller 220 con- trols the precise timing and behavior of the radio frequency modulator 222, radio frequency demodulator 208, baseband data receiver 206, baseband transmitter 224, multiplexer 210, and demultiplexer 234.
User data and control data transmitted from a base station controller 230 is accepted by a BSC interface unit 218, and given to a Layer 3 protocol unit 216. The Layer 3 protocol unit 216 multiplexes the data with any radio resource control data, and transmits it via a Layer 2 protocol unit 214. The Layer 2 protocol unit 214 in turn transmits the multiplexed data to the demultiplexer 234. The demultiplexer 234 provides the data for each mobile terminal 100 on the correct TDMA slot to the correct baseband transmitter 224. Subsequently, the data is modulated by a radio frequency modulator 222, and then is transmitted over a transmit antenna 204. If multiple transmit frequencies are used, there is one set of radio frequency modulator 222 and baseband data transmitter 224 per frequency.
Figure 6 is an illustrative block diagram showing a possible implementation of the baseband receiver/transmitter 106, 124 and demodulator/modulator 108, 122 as shown in figure 4 for a dual downlink carrier mobile terminal which contains two receive paths.
An antenna 10 is time multiplexed to a receive or transmit path via a radio frequency switch 11. When connected to the receive path the signal is routed through a band filter 12 and amplified via a low noise amplifier 13 before being routed into one of two modulators/demodulators or modems 14,15. Each modem contains a frequency synthesizer 16,17 and mixer 18,19. The signal from the mixer is filtered, amplified and digitized for the baseband via the A/D converter 20,21.
Since the system as illustrated uses standard modem components it actually contains two transmit paths, only one of which would be active at a time. In the transmit path the digital signal is converted from the baseband to analog via on of the D/A converters 22,23 and mixed to radio carrier frequency via mixers 24,25, before passing through a passive combining network 26, power amplifier 27 and band filter 28. Only one transmit path is actually used, for example the transmit path from the D/A convertor 22, in which case one receive path shares the use of modem 14 and the other, independent receive path has exclusive use of modem 15. As illustrated in figure 7, there are two downlink timeslots that cannot be used for transmission of data on the downlink with a legacy mobile terminal.
These are firstly the downlink slot immediately before the first transmit slot. Due to timing advance, the downlink slot immediately before a transmit slot overlaps the transmit slot by up to the maximum timing advance (64 bits), so it cannot be used to receive data on the downlink timeslot.
Further, the downlink slot immediately after the last transmit slot cannot be used. If the timing advance were zero, it would require instant retuning from the transmit frequency to the receive frequency. In order to overcome this constraint, it would be necessary to allow the base station to introduce an 'artificial' minimum timing offset of 31 symbol periods, i.e. 20% of a timeslot. Then, provided the mobile can switch from transmit to receive in 31 symbol periods, it can use this slot for receive. However, this has the drawback that the usable timing offset range is halved, leading to incompatibilities with legacy networks.
Although these timeslots cannot be used for downlink data transfer, in order not to waste radio resources they can be used for performing neighbour cell measurements. The specification GSM 45.008, section 8.1.3, imposes a requirement for the mobile station to perform a neighbour cell signal level measurement in each TDMA frame.
The situation is also illustrated in figure 7, where two cases, one for a tuner capable of class 12 operation and one for a tuner capable of class 30-34 operation are shown.
The turnaround and measurement method operation as well as the relevant turnaround parameter values used by mobile terminals are also illustrated in the figure. As apparent, it is necessary to perform a retune operation in order to prepare to receive data on a given frequency channel, perform a measurement on a given frequency channel or transmit data on a given frequency channel.
The requirement to reserve time for measurement and turnaround means that the number of slots that can be used to receive downlink data is restricted. For a mobile terminal which has class 12 turnaround parameters, given that 1 slot must be transmitted on the uplink, at most 4 slots can be received. For a mobile terminal which has class 30-34 tur- naround parameters at most 5 slots can be received. This restriction exists regardless of the throughput capability parameters.
Under usage of the principle of the present invention it is possible to define suitable strategies during the measurement and turnaround operation that make it possible to more than double the peak downlink data rate. It might be expected that dual carrier terminal with class 12 turnaround parameters could only double its downlink capability, i.e. from 4 to 8 slots. In fact the invention makes it possible to achieve 11 slots. Also a dual carrier terminal with class 30-34 turnaround parameters can more than double its receive capability from 5 to 11 slots. This is achieved as follows.
For a dual carrier mobile station with class 12 turnaround or class 30-34 turnaround, the timeslot immediately after the transmit operation is used for reception by the independent receive path.
Also, measurement can be performed by the independent receive path by using the receive timeslot just before the first transmit uplink timeslot.
In figure 8 a turnaround and measurement strategy is depicted for a dual downlink carrier mobile with class 12 turnaround capability. The measurement action is performed by the receive path with independent tuning resources, during the receive timeslot immediately preceding the first transmit timeslot. For convenience this time is denoted Tmon as the time required to perform a measurement operation. Tmon can be calculated as the difference between Tta and Ttb (which is 1 for these classes) since this difference represents the additional time needed to perform measurement over and above the time needed to retune to a new receive frequency. In practice Tmon may be reduced by an amount equal to the timing advance.
In addition the independent receive path has enough time to retune during the timeslot during which the transmitter is active (since Trb =1). Therefore the independent receive path can perform a receive operation on the first timeslot following the transmit timeslot.
Maximum downlink timeslot allocation is shown in figure 9 assuming class 12 measurement and turnaround capability, which compares single carrier operation and dual downlink carrier operation. As shown, by using the principles of the present invention, the maximum number of downlink timeslots that can be allocated is increased from 4 slots per TDMA frame to 11 slots per TDMA frame, more than doubling the peak downlink data rate.
The same turnaround and measurement strategy can be used by mobile stations with class 30-34 turnaround parameters. In this case the peak downlink data rate is also more than doubled, from 5 slots to 11 slots per TDMA frame. This is illustrated in figure 10.
Accordingly, using the teachings of the present invention, the parameters Tra, Tta are redefined with the following meaning (italics show enhancements to conventional definitions):
Tta Tta relates to the time needed for the MS to perform adjacent cell signal level measurement and get ready to transmit.
It is the minimum number of timeslots that will be allowed between the end of the previous transmit or receive TS and the next transmit TS when measurement is to be performed between and a shared receive path is used. It should be noted that, in practice, the minimum time allowed may be reduced by amount of timing advance.
Ttb Ttb relates to the time needed for the MS to get ready to transmit.
It is the minimum number of timeslots that will be allowed between the end of the last previous receive TS and the first next transmit TS where a shared receive path is used or between the previous transmit TS and the next transmit TS when the frequency is changed in between. It should be noted that, in practice, the minimum time allowed may be reduced by the amount of the timing advance.
Tra Tra relates to the time needed for the MS to perform adjacent cell signal level measurement and get ready to receive.
It is the minimum number of timeslots that will be allowed between the previous transmit TS and the next receive of a shared receive path TS or the previous receive TS and the next receive of a given receive path when measurement is to be performed between. Trb Trb relates to the time needed for the MS to get ready to receive. It is the minimum number of timeslots that will be allowed between the previous transmit TS and the next receive TS of a shared receive path or between the previous receive TS and the next receive TS of a given receive path when the frequency is changed in be- tween.
In addition to the values of the turnaround parameters, it is necessary to allow the mobile terminal to inform the network of its throughput capability parameters. Since downlink data can be received by more than one receive path, it is necessary to generalize the definition of these parameters from those used for conventional mobile terminals. Specifically, it is not sufficient just to limit the number of timeslots that can be used for reception. Rather, it is necessary to limit the number of timeslots totalled over each receive path. Suitably generalized definitions are as follows:
Rx Rx describes the maximum number of receive timeslots (TS) that the MS can use per TDMA frame counting timeslots on different receive paths separately. The MS must be able to support all integer values of receive TS from 0 to Rx. The receive TS need not be contiguous. No transmit TS shall occur between receive TS within a TDMA frame.
Tx (no changes from conventional definition)
Sum: Sum is the total number of uplink and downlink TS that can actually be used by the MS per TDMA frame counting timeslots on different receive paths separately. The MS must be able to support all combinations of integer values of Rx and Tx
TS where 1 <= Rx + Tx <= Sum.
The restriction that reception cannot take place on any receive path, at the same time the mobile terminal is transmitting still applies. The extensions from dual downlink receiver to the support of multi-carrier downlink receivers is obvious.
It should be noted (see figure 9 and figure 10) that the time slots allocated on each downlink carrier may be different and independent from each other. Indeed to maximize the number of downlink slots allocated, these timeslot assignments are necessarily dif- ferent from each other.

Claims

1. A method for scheduling radio resources on at least two carriers in a multi-carrier frequency hopping TDMA mobile communication system for simultaneous downlink reception in a TDMA frame by a mobile terminal comprising the steps of:
assigning downlink time slots on a first carrier for use by the mobile terminal,
assigning downlink time slots on a second carrier for simultaneous use by said mobile terminal,
wherein the assignment of downlink time slots on the first carrier is independent from the assignment of downlink time slots on the second carrier.
2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of assigning at least one uplink time slot on the first carrier for use during the same TDMA frame by the mobile terminal.
3. The method according to claim 2, wherein on the second carrier exclusively downlink time slots are assigned.
4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the step of assigning downlink time slots on the second carrier is dependent on the step of assigning an uplink time slot on the first carrier.
5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the step of assigning downlink time slots on the second carrier comprises assigning a downlink time slot on the next consecutive time slot following an assigned uplink time slot on the first carrier.
6. A method of simultaneously receiving data in a mobile terminal on at least two carriers in a multi-carrier frequency hopping TDMA mobile communication system, comprising the steps of: receiving data transmitted on at least one downlink time slot assigned to a first carrier using a first receive path in the mobile terminal,
receiving data transmitted on at least one downlink time slot assigned to a second carrier using a second receive path in the mobile terminal,
wherein the assignment of downlink time slots on the first carrier is independent from the assignment of downlink time slots on the second carrier.
7. The method according to claim 6, wherein each of the first and second receive path uses its own tuning resources for the reception of data which is only constrained by the limitation that neither receive path shall be operative during the time of an uplink data transmission.
8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the first receive path shares its tuning resources with a first transmit path for transmission of data on at least one uplink time slot assigned to the first carrier and the second receive path uses its own tuning resources exclusively for reception and monitoring.
9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the reception of data transmitted on at least one downlink time slot assigned to the second carrier using the second receive path, takes place in a time slot immediately following the time slot used for an uplink transmission using the first transmit path.
10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, further comprising the step of performing adjacent cell measurement using the second receive path in a time slot immediately preceding an uplink time slot on the first carrier.
11. A base station for scheduling radio resources on at least two carriers in a multi- carrier frequency hopping TDMA mobile communication system for simultaneous downlink reception in a TDMA frame by a mobile station comprising:
a scheduler, adapted to
assign downlink time slots on a first carrier for use by the mobile terminal, assign downlink time slots on a second carrier for simultaneous use by said mobile terminal,
wherein the assignment of downlink time slots on the first carrier is independent from the assignment of downlink time slots on the second carrier.
12. The base station according to claim 11, wherein the scheduler is further adapted to assign at least one uplink time slot on the first carrier for use during the same TDMA frame by the mobile terminal.
13. The base station according to claim 12, wherein the scheduler is further adapted to assign exclusively downlink time slots on the second carrier.
14. The base station according to claim 13, wherein the assignment of downlink time slots on the second carrier is dependent on the assignment of an uplink time slot on the first carrier.
15. The base station according to claim 14, wherein the scheduler is further adapted to assign downlink time slots on the second carrier on the next consecutive time slot following an assigned uplink time slot on the first carrier.
16. A mobile terminal for simultaneously receiving data on at least two carriers in a multi-carrier frequency hopping TDMA mobile communication system, comprising:
a first receive path for receiving data transmitted on at least one downlink time slot assigned to a first carrier, a second receive path for receiving data transmitted on at least one downlink time slot assigned to a second carrier,
wherein the assignment of downlink time slots on the first carrier is independent from the assignment of downlink time slots on the second carrier.
17. The mobile terminal according to claim 16, wherein each of the first and second receive path uses its own tuning resources for the reception of data which is only constrained by the limitation that neither receive path shall be operative during the time of an uplink data transmission.
18. The mobile terminal according to claim 17, wherein the first receive path shares its tuning resources with a first transmit path for transmission of data on at least one uplink time slot assigned to the first carrier and the second receive path uses its own tuning resources exclusively for reception and monitoring.
19. The mobile terminal according to claim 18, wherein the second receive path receives data transmitted on at least one downlink time slot assigned to the second carrier in a time slot immediately following the time slot used for an uplink transmission using the first transmit path.
20. The mobile terminal according to claim 18 or 19, further comprising a measurement unit for performing adjacent cell measurement using the second receive path in a time slot immediately preceding an uplink time slot on the first carrier.
21. The mobile terminal according to one of claims 16 to 20, wherein each receive path comprises software and/or hardware components to perform the functionality of at least one of a measurement unit, a tuning unit, a modulator/ demodulator, a frequency synthesizer, an amplifier and a baseband filter.
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