CN108124277B - Communication method and apparatus - Google Patents
Communication method and apparatus Download PDFInfo
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- CN108124277B CN108124277B CN201611076446.8A CN201611076446A CN108124277B CN 108124277 B CN108124277 B CN 108124277B CN 201611076446 A CN201611076446 A CN 201611076446A CN 108124277 B CN108124277 B CN 108124277B
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
- H04W24/00—Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
- H04W24/08—Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
- H04W24/00—Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
- H04W24/10—Scheduling measurement reports ; Arrangements for measurement reports
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
- H04W48/00—Access restriction; Network selection; Access point selection
- H04W48/17—Selecting a data network PoA [Point of Attachment]
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- 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
- H04L5/003—Arrangements for allocating sub-channels of the transmission path
- H04L5/0048—Allocation of pilot signals, i.e. of signals known to the receiver
Abstract
The embodiment of the disclosure discloses a communication method and equipment. Transmitting, at the network device, configuration information of channel measurements to a plurality of transmission points within coverage of the network device to allow the plurality of transmission points to determine channel quality with the user equipment; determining a set of transmission points for the user equipment from the plurality of transmission points based at least on the channel qualities reported by the plurality of transmission points; and transmitting configuration information about the set of transmission points to the set of transmission points and the user equipment. Embodiments of the present disclosure also disclose communication methods at the transmission point and the terminal device, respectively. Corresponding equipment is also provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure. By the embodiment of the disclosure, the method and the device have the advantages that a plurality of transmission points are efficiently selected for each user in the macro cell so as to fully utilize the intensive transmission point resources, and the network utility is improved at low computation complexity cost.
Description
Technical Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of communications, and in particular, to a communication method and apparatus in a heterogeneous network.
Background
With the ever-increasing demand for communication services, there is a higher expectation for communication networks, both in terms of overall traffic density and in terms of transmission rates demanded by individual users, which also becomes a major challenge for future mobile networks. To meet the demand, one possible solution is to deploy more Transmission Points (TPs) in a unit area for cooperative and joint transmission for a specific user, thereby improving data transmission efficiency. In order to fully utilize such a dense transmission point resource, an efficient scheme is needed to select an appropriate set or set of transmission points for a user to provide data services.
Disclosure of Invention
In general, embodiments of the present disclosure propose communication methods and devices in heterogeneous networks.
In a first aspect of the disclosure, a method of communication is provided. The method comprises the following steps: transmitting, at the network device, configuration information of channel measurements to a plurality of transmission points within coverage of the network device to allow the plurality of transmission points to determine channel quality with the user equipment; determining a set of transmission points for the user equipment from the plurality of transmission points based at least on the channel qualities reported by the plurality of transmission points; and transmitting configuration information about the set of transmission points to the set of transmission points and the user equipment.
In some embodiments, transmitting configuration information for channel measurements to a plurality of transmission points comprises: transmitting a reference signal configuration of the user equipment and information to identify the user equipment to a plurality of transmission points.
In some embodiments, determining a set of transmission points for the user equipment comprises: determining candidate transmission points based on channel quality and traffic load of the plurality of transmission points; and determining a set of transmission points from the candidate transmission points to maximize network utility.
In certain embodiments, the method further comprises: a user equipment is selected from a plurality of user equipments within coverage of a network device, the plurality of user equipments being ordered based on priority level.
In some embodiments, communicating configuration information about a set of transmission points comprises: at least group identification information of a group of transmission points and a signal transmission configuration of the transmission point are transmitted to each transmission point of a group of transmission points.
In some embodiments, communicating configuration information about a set of transmission points comprises: at least identification information of each transmission point in a set of transmission points is transmitted to the user equipment.
In a second aspect of the disclosure, a method of communication is provided. The method comprises the following steps: receiving, at a transmission point within coverage of a network device, configuration information for channel measurements from the network device, the configuration information for channel measurements allowing the transmission point to determine a channel quality with a user equipment; detecting a reference signal from the user equipment according to the configuration information; determining a channel quality based on the reference signal; and reporting the channel quality to the network device in response to the channel quality satisfying a predetermined threshold.
In certain embodiments, the method further comprises: receiving configuration information about a set of transmission points from a network device, the configuration information about the set of transmission points including group identification information of the set of transmission points and signal transmission configurations of the transmission points; and transmitting data to the user equipment in the signaling configuration.
In certain embodiments, the method further comprises: a predetermined threshold is received from a network device.
In some embodiments, receiving configuration information for channel measurements from the network device comprises: reference signal configuration of a user equipment and information to identify the user equipment are received from a network device.
In a third aspect of the present disclosure, a method of communication is provided. The method comprises the following steps: transmitting, at a user equipment, a reference signal to a plurality of transmission points within coverage of a network device to allow the plurality of transmission points to determine channel quality with the user equipment; and receiving configuration information from the network device regarding a set of transmission points, the set of transmission points determined by the network device from the plurality of transmission points based at least on the channel quality, and the configuration information including at least identification information of each of the set of transmission points.
In certain embodiments, the method further comprises: data is transmitted to each transmission point in a set of transmission points based on the configuration information.
In a fourth aspect of the disclosure, a network device is provided. The network device includes: a transceiver configured to: transmitting configuration information of channel measurements to a plurality of transmission points within coverage of a network device to allow the plurality of transmission points to determine channel quality with a user equipment; transmitting configuration information on a set of transmission points to a set of transmission points of a plurality of transmission points and a user equipment; and a controller configured to: a set of transmission points for the user equipment is determined from the plurality of transmission points based at least on the channel qualities reported by the plurality of transmission points.
In a fifth aspect of the disclosure, a transmission point within coverage of a network device is provided. The transmission point includes: a transceiver configured to: receiving configuration information of channel measurement from the network device, the configuration information of channel measurement allowing the transmission point to determine channel quality with the user equipment; and a controller configured to: detecting a reference signal from the user equipment according to the configuration information; determining a channel quality based on the reference signal; and reporting the channel quality to the network device in response to the channel quality satisfying a predetermined threshold.
In a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, a terminal device is provided. The terminal device includes a transceiver configured to: transmitting a reference signal to a plurality of transmission points within coverage of a network device to allow the plurality of transmission points to determine channel quality with a user equipment; and receiving configuration information from the network device regarding a set of transmission points, the set of transmission points determined by the network device from the plurality of transmission points based at least on the channel quality, and the configuration information including at least identification information of each of the set of transmission points.
According to the method or the equipment disclosed by the embodiment of the invention, the network utility is improved by optimizing the selection process of the transmission point so as to adapt to the increasing demand of communication service.
Drawings
The above and other features, advantages and aspects of various embodiments of the present disclosure will become more apparent by referring to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like or similar reference characters designate like or similar elements, and wherein:
FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of a communication system in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented;
fig. 2 illustrates an example flow diagram of a method that may be performed by a network device in some embodiments;
fig. 3 illustrates an example flow diagram of a method that may be performed by a transmission point in some embodiments;
fig. 4 illustrates an example flow diagram of a method that may be performed by a terminal device in some embodiments;
fig. 5 illustrates an example diagram of signaling interactions in a communication system in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure;
fig. 6 shows a schematic diagram of forming a virtual cell in a communication system;
FIG. 7 shows a block diagram of an apparatus according to one embodiment of the present disclosure;
FIG. 8 shows a block diagram of an apparatus according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;
FIG. 9 shows a block diagram of an apparatus according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure; and
fig. 10 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure.
Detailed Description
Embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the same reference numerals may be used in the drawings for similar components or functional elements. The accompanying drawings are only intended to illustrate embodiments of the present disclosure. Alternative embodiments will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.
As used herein, the term "include" and its various variants are to be understood as open-ended terms, which mean "including, but not limited to. The term "based on" may be understood as "based at least in part on". The term "one embodiment" may be understood as "at least one embodiment". The term "another embodiment" may be understood as "at least one other embodiment".
As previously mentioned, the capacity of a communication system can be improved by providing network densification, i.e. increasing the number of network devices and reducing the average distance between terminal devices and network devices. One way to promote network densification is to provide lower power secondary network devices (or referred to as secondary base stations, small cell base stations, or low power nodes) under the control of a more powerful master network device (or referred to as a macro cell base station). The secondary network device may provide increased traffic capacity to the network, while the master network device may provide service availability for the coverage area.
The term "terminal device" as used herein refers to any terminal device capable of communicating with a base station. The terminal device may be a User Equipment (UE) or any terminal with wireless communication capability, including but not limited to, a cell phone, a computer, a personal digital assistant, a game console, a wearable device, a sensor, and the like. The term UE can be used interchangeably with mobile station, subscriber station, mobile terminal, user terminal, wireless device, or the like. The term "base station" or "network equipment" may refer to a Node B (Node B, or NB), a low power Node such as a pico base station, a femto base station, etc., a Base Transceiver Station (BTS), a Base Station (BS), or a base station subsystem (BSs), a relay, a remote radio head (RRF), etc.
For convenience of discussion herein, a UE will be taken as an example of a terminal device, a master enb (menb) as an example of a macro base station, which is also referred to herein as a network device, and a small cell base station as a transmission point. In other words, the terms "MeNB", and "network device", "macro base station" may be used interchangeably in the context of the present disclosure, the terms "transmission point" and "small cell base station" may be used interchangeably, and the terms "terminal device" and "User Equipment (UE)" may be used interchangeably. It should be understood that this is merely exemplary and is not intended to limit the scope of applicability of the present disclosure in any way.
Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a communication system 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. In the figure, the communication system 100 is deployed as a heterogeneous network architecture, the coverage of the MeNB102 forms a macro cell 108, and a plurality of transmission points 104 are densely deployed in the macro cell 1081、1042…104N(N is a natural number, and for convenience of description, transmission points will be hereinafter collectively referred to as transmission points 104). The MeNB102 and the transmission points 104 can be multiple UEs 106 in a macro cell 1081、1062…106M(M is a natural number and for convenience of description, the UEs are hereinafter collectively referred to as UEs 106) wherein the MeNB102 provides coverage for all UEs 106 for signal and control channels, while the transmission point 104 transmits data channels for specific users. In embodiments of the present disclosure, the UE106 is capable of connecting to the MeNB102 and the transmission point 104 simultaneously (i.e., dual connectivity).
In communication system 100, to support coordinated and joint transmission for UEs 106, it may be considered to configure multiple transmission points 104 (a group or set of transmission points) to serve them, the multiple transmission points 104 for UEs 106 forming a "virtual cell". That is, the virtual cell is formed for a set of transmission points selected for cooperative and joint transmission for a particular user. In this case, due to the wide application of multiple antennas of the network device, it is possible that each virtual cell contains more than one transmission point and each transmission point may belong to more than one virtual cell. The number of candidate transmission point sets for each user is thus dramatically increasing, particularly in a dense communication system such as communication system 100.
According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a virtual cell formation mechanism is provided and the virtual cell selection process is optimized to maximize the utility of the entire network. Fig. 2-4 illustrate example flowcharts of a method 200 that may be performed by the MeNB102, a method 300 performed by the transmission point 104, and a method 400 performed by the UE106, respectively, in some embodiments, and various embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below in conjunction with fig. 2-4.
A method 200 is shown in fig. 2, which may be performed by a network device or MeNB. At 202, configuration information for channel measurements is transmitted at a network device to a plurality of transmission points within coverage of the network device to allow the plurality of transmission points to determine channel quality with a user equipment. In some embodiments, when the UE106 has established a connection with the MeNB102, the MeNB102 may send configuration information of channel measurement to multiple transmission points 104 so that the transmission points 104 can measure the quality or channel status of the channel between them and the UE 106.
In one embodiment, the transmission point 104 may measure the channel quality using an uplink Reference Signal such as a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS). Thus, the MeNB102 may transmit SRS configuration information for the UE106 and an identity of the UE106 to the transmission point 104. It is to be appreciated that for the MeNB102, it may send configuration information regarding channel measurements for a plurality of UEs 106 to a particular transmission point 104; likewise, it may also send configuration information regarding channel measurements for a particular UE106 to multiple transmission points 104. The MeNB102 may make decisions based on information such as the overall network load and the transmission point deployment it has.
At 204, a set of transmission points for the user equipment is determined from the plurality of transmission points based at least on the channel qualities reported by the plurality of transmission points. In certain embodiments, the MeNB102 determines a set of transmission points with which the UE106 may transmit data based at least on channel quality information for the UE106 from the plurality of transmission points 104. The set of transmission points forms a virtual cell in which the set of transmission points serves the UE 106. In some embodiments, the MeNB102 also determines the set of transmission points (i.e., virtual cells) taking into account traffic load conditions of the transmission points 104, etc.
For ease of discussion, in the embodiments below, assuming there are M UEs 106 in the macro cell 108, the MeNB102 processes the channel quality reports from the K transmission points 104 and determines for the UEs 106m(M is a natural number and M is greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to M) comprises S transmission points 104, and the MeNB102 configures the transmission points 104kThe maximum service load (K is a natural number and K is more than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to K) is L.
In one embodiment, the MeNB102 informs the plurality of transmission points 104 of a reporting condition of the channel quality, based on which the K transmission points 104 determine that the UE106 should be reportedmThe channel quality of (2). In another embodiment, the MeNB102 may require all receptions for the UE106mThe transmission point 104 of the channel measurement configuration information reports the measured channel quality, and then the MeNB102 may select K transmission points 104 meeting the conditions according to the corresponding channel quality conditions.
In one embodiment, the measurement of the Channel quality at the transmission point 104 may be based on the SRS signal from the UE106, and the transmission point 104 may estimate Channel State Information (CSI) with the UE106 from the received SRS signal. The UE106 is referred to hereinmAnd a transmission point 104kWith the CSI in between denoted as hmk. In this case, the above-mentioned reporting condition or channel quality condition may be | hmkI is greater than the threshold value T of the received power.
In certain embodiments, for the UE106mMay be different, i.e. the number S of transmission points 104 in the virtual cell may be specific to the UE106m. The size of S may be determined, for example, depending on the number of transmission points 104 in the macro cell 108, the number of antennas of the transmission points 104, the number of UEs 106 in the macro cell 108, and so on.
In some embodiments, the MeNB102 also considers traffic load conditions of the transmission points 104 to determine a virtual cell (i.e., a set of transmission points)). Thus, MeNB102 may first determine a candidate set Q of transmission points based on the transmission point 104 channel quality conditions and the transmission point's 104 traffic loadcandidateCandidate set QcandidateCan be expressed as:
Qcandidate＝{k||mk|≥T,Lk<L}
wherein L iskIs a transmission point 104kCurrent traffic load of, and candidate set QcandidateThe number of transmission points Q in (b) is greater than S.
In some embodiments, to determine a virtual cell with S transmission points from among Q candidate transmission points, MeNB102 may be directed to
A group q of transmission points arranged and combined, i.e.
One of the transmission point groups is selected according to a certain optimization algorithm to form a transmission point group for the UE106mThe virtual cell of (1). These optimization algorithms may, for example, maximize network utility (such as a minimum value of scheduled user signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR), etc.). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that network utility may be measured in different aspects or metrics, and the disclosure is not limited in this regard. For example, it may be for the UE106mThe optimized beamformers and power settings for the transmission points in the group are calculated, and the network utility can be derived. To go further from
Selecting, as the UE106, a transmission point group from the transmission point groups that maximizes network utilitymTo form a transmission point group of a virtual cell. Subsequently, the MeNB102 may also record the UE106mAnd updates the traffic load of each transmission point in the virtual cell.
In certain embodiments, the MeNB102 ranks the M UEs 106 within its coverage and determines a set of transmission points forming its virtual cell on a UE-by-UE basis based on the ranking. For example, priority levels may be set for the M UEs based on a scheduling fairness principle, or the M UEs may be ordered based on traffic types of the UEs, or priority levels in subscription information of the UEs, or various combinations thereof.
After the network device determines a set of transmission points for the user device from the plurality of transmission points, the method 200 proceeds to 206 where the network device communicates configuration information for the set of transmission points to the set of transmission points and the user device. In some embodiments, MeNB102 transmits configuration information for the virtual cell to a set of transmission points forming the virtual cell. The configuration information may include information to identify the virtual cell (i.e., group identification) and signal transmission configurations, such as beamformer and power setting configurations, etc., for each transmission point in the virtual cell. In some embodiments, MeNB102 transmits configuration information of the virtual cell determined for it, e.g., a physical cell identity of each transmission point in the virtual cell, to UE 106.
The process at the MeNB102 for forming a virtual cell for the UE106 is described above in connection with fig. 2. Fig. 3 illustrates a method 300 performed by the transmission point 104. At a transmission point within coverage of a network device, configuration information for channel measurements is received from the network device, the configuration information for channel measurements allowing the transmission point to determine a channel quality with a user equipment, at 302. In certain embodiments, the transmission point 104 receives SRS configuration information for the UE106 and identification information for the UE106 from the MeNB 102. Thus, at 304, the transmission point may detect a reference signal from the user equipment according to the received configuration information of the channel measurement. For example, the transmission point 104 may know transmission information of the SRS signal of the UE106 according to the configuration information, so as to be able to detect the SRS signal on the corresponding radio resource.
At 306, the transmission point determines a channel quality based on the reference signal. In some embodiments, transmission point 104 measures received power from the received SRS signal, estimates CSI information, e.g., obtains h as described abovemk. At 308, channel quality is reported to the network device in response to the channel quality satisfying a predetermined threshold. In one embodiment, the predetermined threshold is determined by MeNB102 and is a reporting conditionTo transmission point 104. The transmission point 104 determines whether channel quality should be reported for the UE106 based on the reporting condition. For example, when the reporting condition or the channel quality condition is | hmkIf | is greater than the threshold T of the received power, the transmission point 104 is only at | hmkAnd reporting the CSI to the MeNB102 when the | is larger than T.
In some embodiments, the transmission point 104 receives the virtual cell configuration information determined for the UE106 from the MeNB102, and thus the transmission point 104 knows that it is one of the virtual cells. The virtual cell configuration information includes an identification of the virtual cell and a signal transmission configuration of the transmission point 104. Then, the transmission point 104 can perform data transmission for the UE106 corresponding to the virtual cell according to the signal transmission configuration, such as the beamformer and the power setting. Since the virtual cells determined by the MeNB102 maximize network utility, the transmission point 104 communicates with the UE106 in a signaling configuration optimized by the MeNB102, which can maximize network utility.
Fig. 4 illustrates a method 400 performed by the UE 106. At 402, at a user equipment, a reference signal is transmitted to a plurality of transmission points within coverage of a network device to allow the plurality of transmission points to determine a channel quality with the user equipment. In some embodiments, the UE106 may transmit SRS signals to multiple transmission points 104 according to the SRS resource configuration broadcast by the MeNB102 so that the transmission points 104 can estimate CSI between them based on the SRS signals.
At 404, configuration information is received from the network device regarding a set of transmission points determined by the network device from the plurality of transmission points based at least on channel quality, and the configuration information includes at least identification information for each transmission point in the set of transmission points. In certain embodiments, the UE106 receives configuration information of the virtual cell, i.e., a set of transmission points, determined by the MeNB102 for data transmission with the transmission points in the virtual cell. As previously described, the virtual cell is determined by the MeNB102 from the plurality of transmission points based on the channel quality of the channel with the UE106 reported by the transmission points, and the virtual cell configuration information includes the physical cell identity of each of the virtual cells. Thus, the UE106 is able to transmit data with each transmission point in the virtual cell.
The operations performed at the MeNB102, the transmission point 104, and the UE106 are described in detail above, respectively. By the embodiment of the disclosure, the virtual cell is efficiently selected for each user in the macro cell so as to fully utilize the intensive transmission point resources, and the network utility is improved with low computation complexity cost. Fig. 5 illustrates an example diagram of signaling interactions in a communication system, such as communication system 100, in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure.
In this embodiment, the MeNB102 informs (502) the transmission point 104 of the SRS configuration information of the UE106 and the identification information of the UE106, so that the transmission point 104 can estimate the CSI of the channel between it and the UE 106. UE106 transmits (504) an SRS signal to transmission point 104. It is to be appreciated that the UE106 can obtain configuration information for SRS transmission from the broadcast information of the MeNB102 and transmit SRS based on the configuration information. When the transmission point 104 receives the SRS signal, CSI of the channel with the UE106 can be estimated (506). For example, the transmission point 104 may know how to detect the SRS signal transmitted by the UE106 according to the received notification information, and further estimate the channel CSI by measuring the SRS signal. The transmission point 104 may then also determine whether the CSI should be reported to the MeNB102 based on the channel quality reporting conditions, and report (508) the CSI to the MeNB102 if it is determined that reporting should be performed.
As described above, after the MeNB102 receives the respective CSI reported by each transmission point 104 for the UE106, the virtual cell of the UE106, i.e., a set of transmission points 104, may be determined (510), based at least on the information or additionally based on other information, e.g., traffic load of the transmission points 104, etc., and the beamformers and power settings of the transmission points 104 are optimized accordingly. This particular process is described above in connection with method 200.
After determining the virtual cell for the UE106, the MeNB102 transmits (512) configuration information of the virtual cell, including an identity of the virtual cell, a beamformer and power settings of the transmission point 104, etc., to the transmission point 104. The MeNB102 also transmits (514) configuration information of the virtual cell, e.g., a physical cell identity of each transmission point in the virtual cell, to the UE 106. Thus, the plurality of transmission points 104 form a virtual cell and may serve the UE106, both of which may transmit (516) data.
Fig. 6 shows a schematic diagram of forming a virtual cell in the communication system 100. As shown, the MeNB102 is a UE106, respectively, e.g., according to the method 2001And UE1062A corresponding virtual cell 601 and virtual cell 602 are determined. The transmission point 104 may be included in the virtual cell 6011、1042And 1043Three transmission points, virtual cell 602, may include 1043、1044、1045Three transmission points. It is to be appreciated that the same transmission point 104 can serve multiple UEs 106, which is particularly beneficial in a multi-antenna configuration of the transmission point 104, as network resources are fully utilized. Each UE106 is deployed according to a network, and may be configured with a virtual cell capable of serving the UE as appropriate, and multiple transmission points in the virtual cell perform cooperative and joint transmission to meet the data transmission requirement of the UE.
To verify the benefits and performance improvements brought by embodiments of the present disclosure, the present disclosure also provides simulation results. Consider an indoor office scenario with 10 m by 10 m rooms separated by walls on each floor, with the simulation conditions as in table 1 below.
TABLE 1 simulation conditions
Table 2 below shows simulation results for selection of different virtual cell sizes and compares the traffic capacity density and the user experience rate improvement.
TABLE 2 simulation results for different virtual cell sizes
In table 2, the traffic capacity density and the user experience rate are shown when the virtual cells contain different numbers of transmission points, and also the performance improvement with respect to a scheme where each virtual cell contains only one transmission point is shown when the number of transmission points in the virtual cell increases. Therefore, the embodiment of the disclosure fully utilizes network resources, effectively improves the user data transmission rate and the network utility, and meets the requirement of service demand increase.
Fig. 7 shows a block diagram of an apparatus 700 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. It is to be appreciated that apparatus 700 may be implemented at a network device. As shown in fig. 7, an apparatus 700 (e.g., MeNB 102) includes: a first transmitting unit 710 configured to transmit configuration information of channel measurement to a plurality of transmission points within coverage of a network device to allow the plurality of transmission points to determine channel quality with a user equipment; a determining unit 720 configured to determine a set of transmission points for the user equipment from the plurality of transmission points based on at least the channel qualities reported by the plurality of transmission points; and a second transmitting unit 730 configured to transmit configuration information on a set of transmission points to the set of transmission points and the user equipment.
In certain embodiments, the first transmitting unit 710 further comprises an additional transmitting unit configured to: transmitting a reference signal configuration of the user equipment and information to identify the user equipment to a plurality of transmission points.
In certain embodiments, the determination unit 720 further comprises an additional determination unit configured to: determining candidate transmission points based on channel quality and traffic load of the plurality of transmission points; and determining a set of transmission points from the candidate transmission points to maximize network utility.
In some embodiments, the apparatus 700 further comprises a sorting unit 740 configured to: a user equipment is selected from a plurality of user equipments within coverage of a network device, the plurality of user equipments being ordered based on priority level.
In certain embodiments, the second transmitting unit 730 further comprises an additional transmitting unit configured to: transmitting, to each transmission point in a set of transmission points, at least group identification information of a set of transmission points and a signal transmission configuration of the transmission point; and transmitting at least identification information of each transmission point of the set of transmission points to the user equipment.
Fig. 8 shows a block diagram of an apparatus 800 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. It is to be appreciated that the apparatus 800 may be implemented at a transmission point. As shown in fig. 8, an apparatus 800 (e.g., transmission point 104) includes: a receiving unit 810 configured to receive configuration information of channel measurement from a network device, the configuration information of channel measurement allowing a transmission point to determine channel quality with a user equipment; a detecting unit 820 configured to detect a reference signal from the user equipment according to the configuration information; a determining unit 830 configured to determine a channel quality based on the reference signal; and a reporting unit 840 configured to report the channel quality to the network device in response to the channel quality satisfying a predetermined threshold.
In certain embodiments, the receiving unit 810 further comprises an additional receiving unit configured to receive configuration information about a set of transmission points from the network device, the configuration information about the set of transmission points comprising group identification information of the set of transmission points and signal transmission configurations of the transmission points; and the apparatus 800 further comprises a transmitting unit 850 configured to transmit data to the user equipment in the signaling configuration.
In some embodiments, the receiving unit 810 further comprises another additional receiving unit configured to receive the predetermined threshold from the network device; and receiving, from the network device, a reference signal configuration of the user equipment and information to identify the user equipment.
Fig. 9 shows a block diagram of an apparatus 900 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. It is to be appreciated that apparatus 900 can be implemented at a terminal device. As shown in fig. 8, an apparatus 900 (e.g., UE 106) includes: a transmitting unit 910 configured to transmit a reference signal to a plurality of transmission points within coverage of a network device to allow the plurality of transmission points to determine channel quality with a user equipment; a receiving unit 920 configured to receive configuration information about a set of transmission points from the network device, the set of transmission points being determined by the network device from the plurality of transmission points based on at least the channel quality, and the configuration information including at least identification information of each of the set of transmission points.
In certain embodiments, the apparatus 900 further comprises a transmitting unit 930 configured to transmit data to each transmission point of a set of transmission points based on the configuration information.
Fig. 10 illustrates a block diagram of a device 1000 suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. Device 1000 can be used to implement a terminal device. As shown, the device 1000 includes a controller 1010. Controller 1010 controls the operation and functions of device 1000. For example, in certain embodiments, the controller 1010 may perform various operations under the configuration of instructions 1030 stored in memory 1020 coupled thereto. The memory 1020 may be of any suitable type suitable to the local technical environment and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, including but not limited to semiconductor-based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems. Although only one memory unit is shown in FIG. 10, there may be multiple physically distinct memory units within device 1000.
The controller 1010 may be of any suitable type suitable to the local technical environment, and may include, but is not limited to, one or more of general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microcontrollers, digital signal controllers (DSPs), and controller-based multi-core controller architectures. The device 1000 may also include a plurality of controllers 1010. The controller 1010 is coupled to a transceiver 1040, which may enable the transceiver 1040 to receive and transmit information via one or more antennas 1050 and/or other components.
When the device 1000 is acting as a network device, the controller 1010 and the transceiver 1040 may operate in cooperation to implement the method 200 described above with reference to fig. 2. When the device 1000 acts as a transmission point, the controller 1010 and the transceiver 1040 may operate in cooperation to implement the method 300 described above with reference to fig. 3. When the device 1000 is acting as a terminal device, the controller 1010 and the transceiver 1040 may operate in cooperation to implement the method 400 described above with reference to fig. 4. For example, in some embodiments, all actions described above relating to data/information transceiving may be performed by the transceiver 1040, while other actions may be performed by the controller 1010. All features described above with reference to fig. 2, 3, 4 and 5 apply to the apparatus 1000 and are not described in detail here.
In general, the various example embodiments of this disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Certain aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. While aspects of embodiments of the disclosure have been illustrated or described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other pictorial representation, it is well understood that the blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.
By way of example, implementations of the disclosure may be described in the context of machine-executable instructions, such as program modules, being included in a device executing on a target real or virtual processor. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. In various embodiments, the functionality of the program modules may be combined or divided between program modules as described. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within local or distributed devices. In a distributed facility, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage media.
Computer program code for implementing the methods of the present disclosure may be written in one or more programming languages. These computer program codes may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the program codes, when executed by the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, cause the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks to be performed. The program code may execute entirely on the computer, partly on the computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server.
In the context of this disclosure, a machine-readable medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The machine-readable medium may be a machine-readable signal medium or a machine-readable storage medium. A machine-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination thereof. More detailed examples of a machine-readable storage medium include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination thereof.
Additionally, while operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In some cases, multitasking or parallel processing may be beneficial. Likewise, while the above discussion contains certain specific implementation details, this should not be construed as limiting the scope of any invention or claims, but rather as describing particular embodiments that may be directed to particular inventions. Certain features that are described in this specification in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination.
Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.
Claims (22)
1. A method of communication, comprising:
transmitting, at a network device, configuration information of channel measurements to a plurality of transmission points within coverage of the network device to allow the plurality of transmission points to determine channel quality with a user equipment;
determining a set of transmission points for the user equipment from the plurality of transmission points based at least on the channel qualities reported by the plurality of transmission points; and
transmitting configuration information regarding the set of transmission points to the set of transmission points and the user equipment,
wherein determining the set of transmission points for the user equipment comprises:
determining candidate transmission points based on the channel quality and traffic loads of the plurality of transmission points; and
determining the set of transmission points from the candidate transmission points to maximize network utility.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting configuration information of the channel measurements to the plurality of transmission points comprises:
transmitting, to the plurality of transmission points, a reference signal configuration of the user equipment and information to identify the user equipment.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
selecting the user equipment from a plurality of user equipments within coverage of the network device, the plurality of user equipments being ordered based on priority level.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating the configuration information for the set of transmission points comprises:
transmitting, to each transmission point in the set of transmission points, at least group identification information of the set of transmission points and a signal transmission configuration of the transmission point.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating the configuration information for the set of transmission points comprises:
transmitting at least identification information of each transmission point of the set of transmission points to the user equipment.
6. A method of communication, comprising:
receiving, at a transmission point within coverage of a network device, configuration information for channel measurements from the network device, the configuration information for channel measurements allowing the transmission point to determine channel quality with a user equipment;
detecting a reference signal from the user equipment according to the configuration information;
determining the channel quality based on the reference signal; and
reporting the channel quality to the network device in response to the channel quality satisfying a predetermined threshold to enable the network device to determine candidate transmission points based on the channel quality and traffic loads of a plurality of transmission points; and determining a set of transmission points from the candidate transmission points to maximize network utility.
7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:
receiving configuration information about a set of transmission points from the network device, the configuration information about a set of transmission points including group identification information of the set of transmission points and signal transmission configurations of the transmission points; and
transmitting data to the user equipment in the signaling configuration.
8. The method of claim 6, further comprising:
receiving the predetermined threshold from the network device.
9. The method of claim 6, wherein receiving configuration information of the channel measurements from the network device comprises:
receiving, from the network device, a reference signal configuration of the user equipment and information to identify the user equipment.
10. A method of communication, comprising:
transmitting, at a user equipment, a reference signal to a plurality of transmission points within coverage of a network device to allow the plurality of transmission points to determine channel quality with the user equipment; and
receiving configuration information from the network device regarding a set of transmission points determined by the network device from the plurality of transmission points based at least on the channel quality, and the configuration information including at least identification information of each transmission point in the set of transmission points,
wherein the determining, by the network device, the set of transmission points from the plurality of transmission points based at least on the channel quality comprises:
determining candidate transmission points based on the channel quality and traffic loads of the plurality of transmission points; and
determining the set of transmission points from the candidate transmission points to maximize network utility.
11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:
transmitting data to each transmission point in the set of transmission points based on the configuration information.
12. A network device, comprising:
a transceiver configured to:
transmitting configuration information of channel measurements to a plurality of transmission points within coverage of the network device to allow the plurality of transmission points to determine channel quality with a user equipment;
transmitting configuration information regarding a set of transmission points of the plurality of transmission points and the user equipment; and
a controller configured to:
determining a set of transmission points for the user equipment from the plurality of transmission points based at least on the channel qualities reported by the plurality of transmission points,
the controller is further configured to:
determining candidate transmission points based on the channel quality and traffic loads of the plurality of transmission points; and
determining the set of transmission points from the candidate transmission points to maximize network utility.
13. The network device of claim 12, the transceiver further configured to:
transmitting, to the plurality of transmission points, a reference signal configuration of the user equipment and information to identify the user equipment.
14. The network device of claim 12, the controller further configured to:
selecting the user equipment from a plurality of user equipments within coverage of the network device, the plurality of user equipments being ordered based on priority level.
15. The network device of claim 12, the transceiver further configured to:
transmitting, to each transmission point in the set of transmission points, at least group identification information of the set of transmission points and a signal transmission configuration of the transmission point.
16. The network device of claim 12, the transceiver further configured to:
transmitting at least identification information of each transmission point of the set of transmission points to the user equipment.
17. A transmission point within coverage of a network device, comprising:
a transceiver configured to:
receiving configuration information of channel measurement from the network device, the configuration information of channel measurement allowing the transmission point to determine channel quality with a user equipment; and
a controller configured to:
detecting a reference signal from the user equipment according to the configuration information;
determining the channel quality based on the reference signal; and
reporting the channel quality to the network device in response to the channel quality satisfying a predetermined threshold to enable the network device to determine candidate transmission points based on the channel quality and traffic loads of a plurality of transmission points; and determining a set of transmission points from the candidate transmission points to maximize network utility.
18. The transmission point of claim 17, the transceiver further configured to:
receiving configuration information about a set of transmission points from the network device, the configuration information about a set of transmission points including group identification information of the set of transmission points and signal transmission configurations of the transmission points; and
transmitting data to the user equipment in the signaling configuration.
19. The transmission point of claim 17, the transceiver further configured to:
receiving the predetermined threshold from the network device.
20. The transmission point of claim 17, the transceiver further configured to:
receiving, from the network device, a reference signal configuration of the user equipment and information to identify the user equipment.
21. A terminal device, comprising:
a transceiver configured to:
transmitting a reference signal to a plurality of transmission points within coverage of a network device to allow the plurality of transmission points to determine channel quality with a user equipment; and
receiving configuration information from the network device regarding a set of transmission points determined by the network device from the plurality of transmission points based at least on the channel quality, and the configuration information including at least identification information of each transmission point in the set of transmission points,
wherein the determining, by the network device, the set of transmission points from the plurality of transmission points based at least on the channel quality comprises:
determining candidate transmission points based on the channel quality and traffic loads of the plurality of transmission points; and
determining the set of transmission points from the candidate transmission points to maximize network utility.
22. The terminal device of claim 21, the transceiver further configured to:
transmitting data to each transmission point in the set of transmission points based on the configuration information.
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