CN109716848B - LAA/Wi-Fi coexistence for 5GHz antenna sharing - Google Patents

Abstract

The wireless communication device UE includes a cellular processor configured to wirelessly communicate in accordance with a first radio access technology, RAT, in a first frequency band and in a second frequency band, wherein the first RAT is a cellular RAT, the first frequency band is in unlicensed spectrum, and the second frequency band is in licensed spectrum. In some embodiments, a wireless local area network, WLAN, processor is also included that is configured to wirelessly communicate in accordance with a second RAT in a first frequency band. In some embodiments, the cellular processor and the WLAN processor are configured to be coupled to a common antenna for communication in a first frequency band. In some embodiments, the cellular processor may notify the WLAN processor when it is scanning and/or when it is allocated a secondary component carrier in the first frequency band. In some embodiments, the WLAN processor may notify the cellular processor when it is transmitting. In some embodiments, the WLAN processor and/or cellular processor performs one or more actions in response to such notification to improve coexistence in the first frequency band.

Description

LAA/Wi-Fi coexistence for 5GHz antenna sharing

Technical Field

The present application relates to wireless communications, and more particularly to coexistence between Wi-Fi and LAA/LTE communications using shared antennas.

Description of the related Art

The use of wireless communication systems is growing rapidly. In recent years, wireless devices such as smartphones and tablets have become more sophisticated. In addition to supporting telephone calls, many mobile devices (i.e., user equipment devices or UEs) now provide access to the internet, email, text messaging, and navigation using the Global Positioning System (GPS), and are capable of operating sophisticated applications that take advantage of these functions. In addition, there are a number of different wireless communication technologies and standards. Some examples of wireless communication standards include GSM, UMTS (WCDMA, TDS-CDMA), LTE-advanced (LTE-A), HSPA, 3GPP2CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), IEEE 802.11(WLAN or Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16(WiMAX), Bluetooth^TMAnd so on.

The introduction of an ever increasing number of features and functions in wireless communication devices has also created a continuing need for improved wireless communications and improved wireless communication devices. In particular, it is important to ensure the accuracy of transmitted and received signals by User Equipment (UE) devices, for example by wireless devices such as cellular telephones, base stations and relay stations used in wireless cellular communications. Furthermore, increasing the functionality of the UE device may place significant strain on the battery life of the UE device. Therefore, it is also very important to reduce power requirements in UE device design while allowing the UE device to maintain good transmit and receive capabilities to improve communications.

The UE may be a mobile phone or smart phone, portable gaming device, laptop, wearable device, PDA, tablet, portable internet device, music player, data storage device, or other handheld device, etc., and may have multiple radio interfaces that enable support by various wireless communication standards (LTE, LTE-A, Wi-Fi, bluetooth)^TMEtc.) a plurality of Radio Access Technologies (RATs) defined. The radio interface may be used by various applications, and the presence of the multiple radio interfaces may require the UE to implement a mobility scheme to simultaneously over multiple radio interfaces (e.g., over LTE/LTE-a and bluetooth)^TMAbove) seamlessly running the application without affecting the end-to-end performance of the application. That is, the UE may need to implement a mobility scheme to operate simultaneously for multiple RATs (e.g., LTE/LTE-A, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth^TMEtc.).

In addition to the above-mentioned communication standards, there are also extended standards that aim to improve transmission coverage in certain cellular networks. For example, LTE (LTE-U) in unlicensed spectrum allows cellular carriers to boost the coverage of their cellular network by transmitting in the unlicensed 5GHz band, which is also used by many Wi-Fi devices. Licensed Assisted Access (LAA) describes a similar technique that aims to standardize LTE operation in the Wi-Fi band by using a contention protocol called Listen Before Talk (LBT), which facilitates coexistence with other Wi-Fi devices in the same band. In some cases, the coexistence of cellular and Wi-Fi communications in the same frequency band may result in degradation of data throughput and/or performance degradation of streaming applications (data streaming) when both Wi-Fi and LAA/LTE-U signals are present. Furthermore, cellular communications conducted in unlicensed frequency bands often require increased power consumption as compared to cellular communications conducted in licensed frequency bands.

Document SAMSUMG: "Extending the IDC frame for LAA", 3GPP DRAFT; r2-154370 LAA WIFI INDICATION _ FINAL,3RD GENERATION PARTNEERSHIP PROJECT (3GPP), MOBILE COMPETENCE CENTRE; 650, ROUTE DES LUCIOLES; f-06921 SOPHIA-ANTIPOLISCEDEEX; FRANCE, vol.ran WG2, No. malmo, Sweden; 20151005 201510094 October 2015(2015-11-04), XP051004946, retrieved from the Internet URL: http:// www.3gpp.org/ftp/Meetings _3GPP _ SYNC/RAN2/Docs/[ retrieved an 2015-10-04] relate to support Wi-Fi background scanning and in-device coexistence (IDC) for devices that support LAA operations.

Disclosure of Invention

Provided herein are apparatus, methods and non-transitory computer readable media according to the independent claims. Further embodiments are provided by the dependent claims. Presented herein are embodiments of techniques for Wi-Fi and LAA coexistence using a common antenna.

In some embodiments, an apparatus comprises: a cellular processor configured to wirelessly communicate in accordance with a first Radio Access Technology (RAT) in a first frequency band and in a second frequency band, wherein the first RAT is a cellular RAT, the first frequency band is in unlicensed spectrum (e.g., in a 5GHz frequency band), and the second frequency band is in licensed spectrum. In some embodiments, the first RAT is a cellular RAT, such as LTE. In some embodiments, the apparatus includes a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) processor configured to wirelessly communicate in accordance with a second RAT in a first frequency band. In some embodiments, the cellular processor and the WLAN processor are configured to be coupled to a common antenna for communication in a first frequency band.

In some embodiments, the WLAN processor is configured to indicate the one or more transmission intervals by notifying the cellular processor when the WLAN processor is transmitting via the antenna. In some embodiments, the cellular processor is configured to determine whether to request deactivation of communication via the first frequency band (e.g., from a base station) based on one or more durations of one or more transmission intervals.

In some embodiments, the cellular processor is configured to send the message to the WLAN processor in response to the cellular base station allocating one or more secondary component carriers in the first frequency band to the cellular processor. The message may list one or more secondary component carriers. The cellular processor may use similar messages to indicate one or more secondary component carriers (e.g., carriers from other neighboring base stations) on which to perform measurements. In some embodiments, the message includes a list of secondary component carriers in the first frequency band. In some embodiments, the WLAN processor is configured to avoid transmitting (e.g., cancel or delay scheduled transmissions) on some of the indicated secondary component carriers. In some embodiments, in response to the message, the WLAN processor is configured to refrain from transmitting an acknowledgement to the probe from the wireless access point in the first frequency band. In some embodiments, the WLAN processor is configured to reduce an active scanning rate in the first frequency band in response to the message. In some embodiments, the WLAN processor is configured to use incremental aggregation of media access control protocol data units (AMPDUs) in response to the message and/or use WMMs in response to the message.

In some embodiments, the cellular processor is configured to notify the WLAN processor when the cellular processor performs a scan during a scan interval in the first frequency band. In some embodiments, the WLAN processor is configured to cancel or defer one or more scheduled transmissions during the scan interval. In some embodiments, in response to a determination not to defer one or more transmissions during the interval, the WLAN processor is configured to notify the cellular processor that the WLAN processor transmits during the interval. In some embodiments, in response to the notification transmitted by the WLAN processor during the interval, the cellular processor is configured to ignore one or more scan measurements made during the interval transmitted by the WLAN processor.

It is noted that the techniques described herein may be implemented in and/or used with a plurality of different types of devices, including but not limited to base stations, access points, cellular phones, portable media players, tablets, wearable devices, and various other computing devices.

This summary is intended to provide a brief overview of some of the subject matter described in this document. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings, and the claims.

Drawings

Fig. 1 illustrates an exemplary (and simplified) wireless communication system in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 2 illustrates an example base station in communication with an example wireless User Equipment (UE) device, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 3 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a UE in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 4 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a base station in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 5 illustrates an example wireless communication system according to some embodiments.

Fig. 6 illustrates an exemplary communication system in which a plurality of different devices may communicate with each other using Wi-Fi over a particular frequency band, such as the 2.4GHz and/or 5GHz frequency bands.

Fig. 7 illustrates an example of typical LAA control and data scheduling according to some embodiments.

Figure 8 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary communication interface between the MWS and the Wi-Fi processor, according to some embodiments.

Figures 9-11 are communication diagrams illustrating exemplary communications between Wi-Fi and a cellular processor, according to some embodiments.

Fig. 12A and 12B are flow diagrams illustrating exemplary processes for determining whether Wi-Fi transmissions result in triggering an interrupt threshold, according to some embodiments.

Fig. 13 is a communication diagram illustrating an exemplary process for using IDC indication, according to some embodiments.

Fig. 14-16 are flowcharts illustrating exemplary techniques for using coexistence information, according to some embodiments.

Fig. 17A and 17B are diagrams illustrating exemplary computer-readable media according to some embodiments.

While the features described herein are susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed.

Detailed Description

Acronyms

Various acronyms are used throughout this application. The definitions of the most prominent acronyms used, which may appear throughout this application, are as follows:

ACK: confirmation

APR: application processor

BS: base station

BSR: buffering size reports

CC: component carrier

CMR: change mode request

CQI: channel quality indicator

DL: downlink (from BS to UE)

DYN: dynamic state

FDD: frequency division duplexing

FT: frame type

GPRS: general packet radio service

GSM: global mobile communication system

HARQ: hybrid automatic repeat request

IE: information element

LAN: local area network

LBT: listen before talk

LTE: long term evolution

LTE U: LTE in unlicensed spectrum

LAA: authorized assisted access

MAC: media access control

NACK: negative acknowledgement

PCell: primary cell

PDCCH: physical downlink control channel

PDSCH: physical downlink shared channel

PDN: packet data network

PDU: protocol data unit

PUCCH: physical uplink control channel

QoS: quality of service

RAT: radio access technology

RF: radio frequency

RTP: real-time transport protocol

RX: receiving

SCell: auxiliary battery

TBS: transport block size

TDD: time division duplex

TTI: transmission time interval

TX: transmission of

UCI: uplink control information

UE: user device (equipment)

UL: uplink (from UE to BS)

UMTS: universal mobile telecommunications system

VoLTE: LTE voice

WLAN: wireless local area network

Wi-Fi: wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) RAT of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)802.11 standard

Term(s) for

The following is a glossary of terms that may appear in this application:

memory mediumAny of various types of memory devices or storage devices. The term "storage medium" is intended to include mounting media, such as CD-ROM, floppy disk, or tape devices(ii) a Computer system memory or random access memory such as DRAM, DDR RAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, Rambus RAM, etc.; non-volatile memory such as flash memory, magnetic media, e.g., a hard disk drive or optical storage device; registers, or other similar types of memory elements, etc. The memory medium may also include other types of memory or combinations thereof. Further, the memory medium may be located in a first computer system executing the program, or may be located in a different second computer system connected to the first computer system through a network such as the internet. In the latter example, the second computer system may provide the program instructions to the first computer system for execution. The term "memory medium" may include two or more memory media that may reside at different locations in different computer systems, e.g., connected by a network.

Carrier mediumMemory medium as described above, as well as physical transmission media such as buses, networks and/or other physical transmission media transmitting signals such as electrical, electromagnetic or digital signals.

Computer system (or computer)Any of various types of computing systems or processing systems, including Personal Computer Systems (PCs), mainframe computer systems, workstations, network appliances, internet appliances, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), television systems, grid computing systems, or other devices or combinations of devices. In general, the term "computer system" may be broadly defined to encompass any device (or combination of devices) having at least one processor that executes instructions from a memory medium.

User Equipment (UE) (or "UE device")Any of various types of computer system devices that are mobile or portable and perform wireless communications. Also known as wireless communication devices. Examples of UE devices include mobile phones or smart phones (e.g., iphones)^TMBased on Android^TMTelephone) and tablet computers, such as ipads^TM、Samsung Galaxy^TMEtc., portable gaming devices (e.g., Nintendo DS)^TM、PlayStation Portable^TM、Gameboy Advance^TM、iPod^TM) Laptop, wearable device (e.g., Apple Watch)^TM、Google Glass^TM) A PDA, portable internet appliance, music player, data storage device or other handheld device, etc. If they include Wi-Fi or both cellular and Wi-Fi communication capabilities and/or other wireless communication capabilities, e.g., via a wireless communication link such as Bluetooth^TMAnd the like, various other types of devices may fall into this category. In general, the term "UE" or "UE device" may be broadly defined to encompass any electronic, computing, and/or telecommunications device (or combination of devices) that is readily transportable by a user and capable of wireless communication.

Base Station (BS)The term "base station" has its full scope in its ordinary meaning and includes at least a wireless communication station installed at a fixed location and used for communicating as part of a wireless telephone system or a radio system.

Processing elementRefers to various elements or combinations of elements capable of performing functions in a device, such as a user equipment device or a cellular network device. The processing elements may include, for example: a processor and associated memory, portions or circuitry of an individual processor core, an entire processor core, a processor array, circuitry such as an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit), programmable hardware elements such as Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), and any of a variety of combinations thereof.

Wireless device (or wireless communication device)Any of various types of computer system devices that perform wireless communications using WLAN communications, SRAT communications, Wi-Fi communications, and so forth. As used herein, the term "wireless device" may refer to a UE device or a fixed device such as a fixed wireless client or a wireless base station as defined above. For example, the wireless device may be a wireless station of any type of 802.11 system, such as an Access Point (AP) or a client station (UE), or a wireless station of any type of cellular communication system that communicates according to a cellular radio access technology (e.g., LTE, CDMA, GSM), such as a base station or a cellular phone, for example.

Wi-FiThe term "Wi-Fi" has its ordinary meaningAnd at least wireless communication networks or RATs, which are served by wireless lan (wlan) access points and provide connectivity to the internet through these access points. Most modern Wi-Fi networks (or WLAN networks) are based on the IEEE 802.11 standard and are marketed under the name "Wi-Fi". Wi-Fi (WLAN) networks are different from cellular networks.

AutomaticRefer to actions or operations performed by a computer system (e.g., software executed by a computer system) or device (e.g., a circuit, a programmable hardware element, an ASIC, etc.) without user input directly specifying or performing the action or operation. Thus, the term "automatically" is in contrast to a user manually performing or specifying an operation, wherein the user provides input to directly perform the operation. An automatic process may be initiated by input provided by a user, but subsequent actions performed "automatically" are not specified by the user, i.e., are not performed "manually," where the user specifies each action to be performed. For example, a user filling out an electronic form by selecting each field and providing input specifying information (e.g., by typing information, selecting a check box, radio selection, etc.) is manually filling out the form, even though the computer system must update the form in response to user action. The form may be automatically filled in by a computer system, wherein the computer system (e.g., software executing on the computer system) analyzes the fields of the form and fills in the form without any user entering answers specifying the fields. As indicated above, the user may invoke automatic filling of the form, but not participate in the actual filling of the form (e.g., the user does not manually specify answers for the fields but rather they are automatically completed). This specification provides various examples of operations that are automatically performed in response to actions that have been taken by a user.

Is configured toVarious components may be described as "configured to" perform one or more tasks. In such contexts, "configured to" is a broad expression generally meaning "having" a structure that performs one or more tasks during operation. Thus, the device can be configured to perform a task (e.g., a set of electrical conductors) even when the device is not currently performing the taskMay be configured to electrically connect a module to another module even when the two modules are not connected). In some contexts, "configured to" may be a broad expression generally representing a structure "having" circuitry to perform one or more tasks during operation. Thus, the device may be configured to perform a task even when the device is not currently on. In general, the circuitry forming the structure corresponding to "configured to" may comprise hardware circuitry.

For ease of description, various devices may be described as performing one or more tasks. Such description should be construed to include the phrase "configured to". Expressing a component configured to perform one or more tasks is expressly intended to exclude such component from reference to the interpretation of 35 u.s.c. § 112, sixth paragraph.

FIGS. 1 and 2-exemplary communication System

Fig. 1 illustrates an exemplary (and simplified) wireless communication system in accordance with some embodiments. It is noted that the system of fig. 1 is only one example of possible systems, and embodiments may be implemented in any of a variety of systems, as desired.

As shown, the exemplary wireless communication system includes a base station 102 that communicates with one or more user devices 106-1 through 106-N over a transmission medium. Each of the user equipments may be referred to herein as a "user equipment" or UE equipment. Thus, the user equipment 106 is referred to as a UE or UE device. Various ones of the UE devices may operate in accordance with the techniques detailed herein.

The base station 102 may be a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) or a cell site and may include hardware to enable wireless communication with the UEs 106A-106N. The base station 102 may also be equipped to communicate with a network 100 (e.g., a core network of a cellular service provider, a telecommunications network such as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), and/or the internet, as well as various possibilities). Accordingly, the base station 102 may facilitate communication between user equipment and/or between user equipment and the network 100. The communication area (or coverage area) of a base station may be referred to as a "cell". Also as used herein, with respect to a UE, a base station may be considered to represent a network, sometimes taking into account uplink and downlink communications for the UE. Thus, a UE communicating with one or more base stations in a network may also be interpreted as a UE communicating with the network.

The base station 102 and the user equipment may be configured to communicate by a transmission medium using any of a variety of Radio Access Technologies (RATs), also referred to as wireless communication technologies or telecommunication standards, such as GSM, UMTS (WCDMA), LTE-Advanced (LTE-a), LAA/LTE-U, 3GPP2CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), Wi-Fi, WiMAX, etc. In some embodiments, the base station 102 communicates with at least one UE with improved UL (uplink) and DL (downlink) decoupling, preferably over LTE or similar RAT standards.

The UE106 is capable of communicating using multiple wireless communication standards. For example, the UE106 may be configured to communicate using either or both of a 3GPP cellular communication standard (such as LTE) and/or a 3GPP2 cellular communication standard (such as a cellular communication standard of the CDMA2000 series of cellular communication standards). In some embodiments, the UE106 may be configured to operate at a receiver front end with reduced power consumption in accordance with at least the various methods described herein. Base station 102 and other similar base stations operating according to the same or different cellular communication standards may thus be provided as one or more cellular networks that may provide continuous or near-continuous overlapping service to UEs 106 and similar devices over a wide geographic area via one or more cellular communication standards.

UE106 may also or instead be configured to use WLAN, BLUETOOTH^TMOne or more global navigation satellite systems (GNSS, such as GPS or GLONASS), one and/or more mobile television broadcast standards (e.g., ATSC-M/H or DVB-H), and so on. Other combinations of wireless communication standards, including more than two wireless communication standards, are also possible.

Fig. 2 illustrates an example user equipment 106 (e.g., one of devices 106-1 to 106-N) in communication with a base station 102, in accordance with some embodiments. The UE106 may be a device with wireless network connectivity, such as a mobile phone, a handheld device, a computer, or a tablet, or virtually any type of wireless device. The UE106 may include a processor configured to execute program instructions stored in a memory. The UE106 may perform any of the method embodiments described herein by executing such stored instructions. Alternatively or additionally, the UE106 may include programmable hardware elements, such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array) configured to perform any of the method embodiments described herein or any portion of any of the method embodiments described herein. The UE106 may be configured to communicate using any of a number of wireless communication protocols. For example, the UE106 may be configured to communicate using two or more of CDMA2000, LTE-A, WLAN, or GNSS. Other combinations of wireless communication standards are possible.

The UE106 may include one or more antennas for communicating in accordance with one or more RAT standards using one or more wireless communication protocols. In some embodiments, the UE106 may share one or more portions of a receive chain and/or a transmit chain among multiple wireless communication standards. The shared radio may include a single antenna, or may include multiple antennas for performing wireless communication (e.g., for MIMO). Alternatively, the UE106 may include separate transmit and/or receive chains (e.g., including separate antennas and other radios) for each wireless communication protocol configured to communicate therewith. As another alternative, the UE106 may include one or more radios shared between multiple wireless communication protocols, as well as one or more radios used exclusively by a single wireless communication protocol. For example, the UE106 may include a shared radio for communicating with either LTE or CDMA 20001 xRTT, as well as for communicating with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth^TMEach of which communicates. Other configurations are also possible.

FIG. 3-block diagram of an exemplary UE

Fig. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary UE106, in accordance with some embodiments. As shown, the UE106 may include a system on a chip (SOC)300, which may include portions for various purposes. For example, as shown, SOC 300 may include one or more processors 302 that may execute program instructions for UE106, and display circuitry 304 that may perform graphics processing and provide display signals to display 360. The one or more processors 302 may also be coupled to a Memory Management Unit (MMU)340, which may be configured to receive addresses from the one or more processors 302 and translate those addresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory 306, Read Only Memory (ROM)351, NAND flash memory 310) and/or other circuits or devices, such as display circuitry 304, radio 330, connector I/F320, and/or display 360. MMU 340 may be configured to perform memory protections and page table translations or settings. In some embodiments, MMU 340 may be included as part of one or more processors 302.

As shown, the SOC 300 may be coupled to various other circuits of the UE 106. For example, the UE106 may include various types of memory (e.g., including NAND flash memory 310), a connector interface 320 (e.g., for coupling to a computer system), a display 360, and wireless communication circuitry (e.g., for LTE, LTE-A, CDMA2000, bluetooth)^TMWi-Fi, GPS, etc.). The Ue device 106 may include at least one antenna (e.g., 335a), and possibly multiple antennas (e.g., as shown by antennas 335a and 335 b) for performing wireless communications with base stations and/or other devices. Antennas 335a and 335b are shown by way of example, and UE device 106 may include fewer or more antennas. Collectively, the one or more antennas are referred to as one or more antennas 335. For example, the UE device 106 may use one or more antennas 335 for wireless communication via the radio circuitry 330. As described above, in some embodiments, a UE may be configured to wirelessly communicate using multiple wireless communication standards.

The one or more processors 302 of the UE device 106 may be configured to implement some or all of the methods described herein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). In other embodiments, the one or more processors 302 may be configured as programmable hardware elements, such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or as an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit). Further, the processor 302 can be coupled to and/or can interoperate with the other components shown in fig. 3 to implement communications by the UE106 in conjunction with mitigating potential effects of LAA/LTE imbalance of wireless communications of the UE106, in accordance with various embodiments disclosed herein. In particular, the processor 302 may be coupled to and/or interoperable with other components as shown in fig. 3 to facilitate the UE106 to communicate in a manner that seeks to minimize imbalance between LAA and LTE communications of the UE 106. The one or more processors 302 may also implement various other applications and/or end-user applications running on the UE 106.

In some embodiments, the radio 330 includes a separate controller dedicated to controlling communications for various respective RAT standards. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, radio 330 may include a Wi-Fi controller 350, a cellular controller (e.g., LTE/3GPP controller) 352, and a BLUETOOTH^TMThe controller 354, and in at least some embodiments, one or more, or all of the controllers, can be implemented as respective integrated circuits (referred to simply as ICs or chips) that communicate with each other and with the SOC 300, and more particularly with the one or more processors 302. For example, Wi-Fi controller 350 can communicate with cellular controller 352 over a cell-ISM link or a WCI interface, and/or BLUETOOTH^TMThe controller 354 may communicate with the cellular controller 352 via a cell-ISM link or the like. Although three separate controllers are shown within the radio 330, other embodiments having fewer or more similar controllers for various different RATs may be implemented in the UE device 106.

FIG. 4-block diagram of an exemplary base station

Fig. 4 illustrates a block diagram of an example base station 102, in accordance with some embodiments. It is noted that the base station of fig. 4 is only one example of possible base stations. As shown, base station 102 may include one or more processors 404 that may execute program instructions for base station 102. The one or more processors 404 may also be coupled to a Memory Management Unit (MMU)440, which may be configured to receive addresses from the one or more processors 404 and translate those addresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory 460 and Read Only Memory (ROM)450), or to other circuits or devices.

The base station 102 may include at least one network port 470. The network port 470 may be configured to couple to a telephone network and provide access to a plurality of devices, such as the UE device 106, of the telephone network as described above in fig. 1 and 2. The network port 470 (or additional network ports) may also or alternatively be configured to couple to a cellular network, e.g., a core network of a cellular service provider. The core network may provide mobility-related services and/or other services to multiple devices, such as UE device 106. In some cases, the network port 470 may be coupled to a telephone network via a core network, and/or the core network may provide the telephone network (e.g., in other UE devices served by a cellular service provider).

The base station 102 may include at least one antenna 434 and possibly multiple antennas. The at least one antenna 434 may be configured to operate as a wireless transceiver and may be further configured to communicate with the UE device 106 via the radio 430. Antenna 434 communicates with radio 430 via communication link 432. Communication chain 432 may be a receive chain, a transmit chain, or both. The radio 430 may be designed to communicate via various wireless telecommunication standards including, but not limited to, LTE-a, WCDMA, CDMA2000, and the like. The processor 404 of the base station 102 may be configured to implement some or all of the methods described herein, for example, by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium) for the base station 102 to communicate with a UE device that is capable of detecting an imbalance between LAA and LTE communications performed by the UE device and making adjustments to address such imbalance. Alternatively, the processor 404 may be configured as a programmable hardware element such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or as an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit) or a combination thereof. In the case of certain RATs (e.g., Wi-Fi), the base station 102 may be designed as an Access Point (AP), in which case the network port 470 may be implemented to provide access to a wide area network and/or one or more local area networks, e.g., it may include at least one ethernet port, and the radio 430 may be designed to communicate in accordance with the Wi-Fi standard. The base station 102 can operate in accordance with various methods disclosed herein for communicating with a mobile device capable of detecting an imbalance between LAA and LTE cellular wireless communications of the mobile device and adjusting its wireless operation accordingly, as applicable.

FIG. 5-an exemplary communication system

Fig. 5 illustrates an example wireless communication system 500 according to some embodiments. System 500 is a system implementing an LTE access network and a Wi-Fi wireless access network. The system 500 may include the UE106 and an LTE network 504 and a Wi-Fi network 506.

LTE access network 504 represents some embodiments of first RAT access and Wi-Fi access network 506 represents some embodiments of second RAT access. The LTE access network 504 may interact with a broader cellular network (e.g., an LTE network), and the Wi-Fi access network 506 may interact with the internet 514. More specifically, the LTE access network 504 may interact with a serving Base Station (BS)508, which in turn may provide access to a wider cellular network 516. The Wi-Fi access network 506 may interact with an Access Point (AP), which may in turn provide access to the internet 514. The UE106 may accordingly access the internet 514 via the AP 510 and the cellular network 516 via the LTE access network 504. In some embodiments, although not shown, the UE106 may also access the internet 514 via the LTE access network 504. More specifically, the LTE access network 504 may interact with a serving gateway, which in turn may interact with a Packet Data Network (PDN) gateway. The PDN gateway may then interact with the internet 514. Accordingly, the UE106 may access the internet 514 via one or both of the LTE access network 504 and the Wi-Fi access network 506, respectively.

FIG. 6-exemplary communication System with multiple Wi-Fi devices

Fig. 6 illustrates an example communication system in which a plurality of different devices may communicate with one another over a particular frequency band, such as 2.4GHz and/or 5GHz frequency bands, using a Wi-Fi RAT. Devices with 5GHz Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11ac/n) may become quite popular, operating in peer-to-peer and/or station mode, as shown in FIG. 6. Data communication on a particular frequency band (e.g., the 5GHz band) may include voice, video, real-time, and best effort traffic types. Exemplary devices include a camera (111), a tablet (113), a media server/mini-server (115), a portable computer (105,117), an access port/router (103), a game controller (119), a mobile device such as a smart phone (107), and a smart monitor (121) or monitor with a wireless access interface (121 and 123 together). As shown in fig. 6, many devices may communicate using Wi-Fi communication technology over the 5GHz band. In some cases, Wi-Fi communications by a device may be affected by LAA/LTE-U communications that also occur on the 5GHz band.

Presence of LAA/LTE-U signals

In LTE, Carrier Aggregation (CA) refers to two or more Component Carriers (CCs) being aggregated in order to support a wider transmission bandwidth, e.g., a bandwidth of up to 100 MHz. Depending on the capability of the UE, the UE may receive or transmit simultaneously on one or more CCs. When configured as CA, the UE may maintain an RRC connection with the network. A serving cell that manages RRC connection of the UE is referred to as a primary cell (PCell), and a secondary cell (SCell) may form a set of serving cells together with the PCell. In CA, UEs may be scheduled simultaneously via PDCCHs on multiple serving cells. Cross-carrier scheduling using a Carrier Indicator Field (CIF) allows a PDCCH of a serving cell to schedule resources on another serving cell. That is, a UE receiving a downlink assignment on one CC may receive associated data on another CC.

LAA (licensed assisted access) is a subcategory of LTE in-band carrier aggregation where one of the supplementary carriers operates in the unlicensed band of 5GHz over which communications according to another RAT, such as Wi-Fi, may also occur. The resources in the LAA carrier are scheduled in the same way as resources are scheduled in conventional Carrier Aggregation (CA). That is, the carrier scheduling and/or cross-layer scheduling for the LAA carrier is the same for the other CA carriers (PDCCH or ePDCCH). The LAA Scell may operate in a framework 3 consisting of 20 slots and may be accessed after a successful Listen Before Talk (LBT) procedure. Fig. 7 shows an example of typical LAA control and data scheduling, a corresponding example being provided for the same carrier scheduling (201) and for cross-carrier scheduling (251), assuming successful completion of the LBT procedure in the previous subframe. If the starting position of the RRC subframe indicates "s 07" and no DCI is received in slot 1, the UE may read the PDCC/ePDCCH of slot 2 to check for availability of downlink data.

Using unlicensed spectrum and LAA

Cellular traffic is expected to grow exponentially between 2015 and 2020. For example, the mobile data traffic is predicted to be from 3.7 gigabytes or EBs (-3.7 x 10) per month in 2015¹⁸Bytes) to 30.6EB per month in 2020. However, licensed spectrum is considered to be a major bottleneck that prevents operators from expanding network capacity. During the latest Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) -3/79 spectrum auction, U.S. operators spend up to 449 billion dollars on the 65MHz spectrum. The 5GHz unlicensed band on the other bands represents up to 500MHz of available bandwidth with an auction cost of zero. Thus, LAA represents at least one method suitable for solving this identical spectrum problem.

Exemplary techniques for coexistence between LAA and Wi-Fi using shared antennas

Fig. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary portion of a device 800 including a Mobile Wireless System (MWS) device 810 and a Wi-Fi controller 820. In some embodiments, the MWS device 810 corresponds to the cellular controller 352 and the Wi-Fi controller 820 corresponds to the Wi-Fi controller 350. In the illustrated embodiment, the device 800 also includes a Wi-Fi host 830 (which may correspond to the processor 302) and bus hardware 840 and 842. The MWS device 810 may also be referred to as a cellular processor.

In the illustrated embodiment, the MWS device 810 is configured to communicate with the Wi-Fi host 830 via a host interface 835, which host interface 835 may be implemented using any of a variety of protocols, such as PCIe. In the illustrated embodiment, the Wi-Fi controller 820 is configured to communicate with a Wi-Fi host 830 via a host interconnect interface (HCI) 885. In the illustrated embodiment, the MWS device 810 and the Wi-Fi controller 820 are configured to communicate with each other via the MWS coexistence transmit interface 845. In some embodiments, the interface uses the Wireless Coexistence Interface (WCI) -2 protocol, but in other embodiments, any of a variety of interfaces, such as general purpose I/o (gpio) or other interfaces, may be implemented for similar communications.

In some implementation cases, the MWS device 810 and the Wi-Fi controller 820 share antennas in the 5GHz band for LAA and Wi-Fi transmissions, respectively. Thus, in some embodiments, the MWS device 810 and the Wi-Fi controller 820 are configured to communicate via the interface 845 and take action based on various signals in order to reduce interference in transmissions. In other embodiments, similar techniques may be used to reduce interference between different antennas used for cellular and Wi-Fi communications in the same frequency band.

In various embodiments, the cellular processor and the Wi-Fi processor may be implemented on different chips or integrated circuits, or on the same chip or integrated circuit. In some embodiments, a single processor implements both the cellular processor and the Wi-Fi processor, e.g., by executing different control programs for Wi-Fi and cellular. Portions of each processor may be implemented using dedicated circuits, processing elements, programmable hardware elements or the like. The present disclosure is intended to cover all such embodiments, and the like.

In some embodiments, cellular DL transmissions are performed in the LAA band, while all cellular UL transmissions are performed using the licensed band. In some embodiments, Wi-Fi transmission and reception is performed in the 5GHz band using a shared antenna. In addition, various elements such as duplexers, low noise amplifiers, bandpass filters, etc. may be shared by the UE between Wi-Fi and LAA communications. In various embodiments, switching the antenna may involve switching whether a Wi-Fi controller or a cellular controller is using these additional shared elements.

Fig. 9 is a signaling diagram illustrating exemplary communications between an eNB 930 (e.g., a cellular base station), a UE-LTE module 910 (e.g., a cellular processor such as the MWS device 810), a UE-Wi-Fi module 920 (e.g., a Wi-Fi processor), and an application processor 940, according to some embodiments.

In the illustrated embodiment, eNB 930 is configured to communicate via a Primary Component Carrier (PCC) in a licensed band and a LAA Secondary Component Carrier (SCC) in an unlicensed band (including a 5GHz band). In some systems, the eNB 930 may be implemented according to the embodiment of fig. 4.

In the illustrated embodiment, the UE-LTE910 is configured to communicate with the eNB 930 via PCC and LAA-SCC, and is configured to communicate with the UE-Wi-Fi920 via WCI-2945. The UE-LTE910 is also configured to communicate with an application processor 940, for example, via a PCIe interface in the illustrated embodiment. In the illustrated embodiment, UE-WI-FI920 is further configured to communicate with one or more wireless access points using one or more 5GHz Component Carriers (CCs) and to communicate with application processor 940 via a PCIe/HCI interface. The signaling in fig. 9-11 is shown for purposes of explanation, but in other embodiments the type of messages, the type of interfaces, the ordering of messages, etc. may be different.

In the illustrated embodiment, the eNB 930 and the UE-LTE910 perform RRC reconfiguration to add an LAA secondary cell (SCell) for the UE. The UE-LTE910 then sends a host indication with the LAA SCC list to the application processor 940, and the application processor 940 routes the LAA channel list to the UE-Wi-Fi 920. In other embodiments, the UE-LTE910 may send the LAA channel list directly to the UE-Wi-Fi920 instead of through the application processor. In some embodiments, the LAA channel list includes channels that the eNB 930 is configured to use, but these channels may or may not be allocated to the UE.

In some embodiments, based on the list, the UE-Wi-Fi920 is configured to avoid operating in 5GHz channels (e.g., channels in the list) that the UE-LTE910 may use. In some embodiments, the LAA has a transmission opportunity (TXOP) of 8ms, so this may prevent interference between Wi-Fi transmissions and LAA reception.

In some embodiments, if the UE-Wi-Fi920 is indeed performing transmissions in the channel used by the eNB 930 for LAA (e.g., for peer-to-peer/AP mode), the UE-Wi-Fi920 is configured to use the Wi-Fi multimedia (WMM) framework for quality of service management and highest aggregation of Media Access Control (MAC) Protocol Data Units (PDUs) (this technique is commonly referred to as AMPDUs). This may help group Wi-Fi transmissions into time intervals similar to the 8ms LAA TXOP interval (e.g., -5-8 ms Wi-Fi transport blocks), which in turn may reduce interference to LAA reception via the shared antenna.

Referring again to fig. 9, in connection with performing Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), and/or received signal indicator (RSSI) determinations using shared antennas, the UE-LTE910 sends an MWS SCAN ON message to the UE-Wi-Fi920, which will follow the MWS SCAN OFF message after the SCAN is complete. In some embodiments, these measurements may be for neighboring cells and may be performed at the request of eNB 930. As shown, there may be a propagation delay of 20-200us for WCI-2 for these messages. As shown, the UE-LTE910 may then report the determined scan measurements to the eNB 930, and the eNB 930 may then send a MAC Control Element (CE) to activate the LAA secondary cell and activate the SCC allocated to the UE-LTE 910. As shown, the UE-LTE910 may also signal the start and end of the CQI measurement procedure using MMS _ SCAN _ ON and MWS _ SCAN _ OFF messages. In the illustrated embodiment, the UE-LTE910 also uses WCI-2 type-2 messages to send the index of the SCCs actually allocated and activated for the UE by the eNB 930. Similar messages may then be used to indicate SCCs that have been deactivated. Such messages may allow the UE-Wi-Fi920 to remain up-to-date on the LAA carrier currently allocated to the UE-LTE 910. In the illustrated embodiment, 24ms after the MAC CE element, the UE and eNB are ready to start communicating in LAA CA mode.

In some embodiments, the UE-Wi-Fi920 is configured to avoid UL transmissions entirely during the intervals indicated by the MWS _ SCAN _ ON and MWS _ SCAN _ OFF messages to avoid interfering with LTE measurements. In some embodiments, Wi-Fi transmissions may still be performed during this interval, e.g., in response to an explicit user request to connect to a certain access point. In these embodiments, the UE-Wi-Fi920 may inform the UE-LTE910 of the transmission, and the UE-LTE910 may be configured to discard any measurements performed during the Wi-Fi transmission. This may ensure that measurement reporting on the LAA channel is not degraded by Wi-Fi transmissions.

In some embodiments, when the UE-Wi-Fi920 has been notified of LAA activation for the UE, the UE-Wi-Fi920 is configured to reduce the active scanning rate in the 5GHz band (relative to the active scanning rate when the LAA is not used) to reduce the impact of such scanning on LAA DL reception and/or to extend the dwell time of Wi-Fi active scanning after sending the probe request. Similarly, in some embodiments, when the LAA is activated, the UE-Wi-Fi920 is configured to not send an Acknowledgement (ACK) message in response to a probe response from the access point. This may further reduce interference with LAA reception in some cases. As shown, Wi-Fi may prohibit transmissions on SCCs in the index where possible, e.g., by attempting to allocate transmissions to other channels.

In some embodiments, the eNB 930 is configured to decide whether to activate the LAA Scell based on the amount of user data buffered in the eNB 930, whether the user has voice over LTE (VoLTE) or Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR) traffic, and whether SCC activation has occurred within a timer interval. In some embodiments, eNB 930 is configured to activate the LAA SCell only when the amount of buffered data is greater than a threshold, the user has no VoLTE or GBR traffic, and no SCC activation has occurred within a threshold interval.

Fig. 10 is a signal diagram illustrating exemplary communications during LAA activation according to some embodiments. In the example shown, Wi-Fi does not cause LAA to be disabled. In contrast, fig. 11 illustrates a case where LAA is disabled based on Wi-Fi transmission, according to some embodiments.

In various embodiments, any of various metrics may be used to determine when Wi-Fi transmissions may interfere with LAA reception. This may include, for example, determining whether a given Wi-Fi transmission is longer than a threshold interval, determining whether a Wi-Fi transmission within the time interval is greater than a threshold average transmission amount over the interval, determining actual LAA packet loss within one or more intervals, and so forth.

In some embodiments, hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) and Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) may be used to recover lost LAA packets, especially if Wi-Fi transmission is relatively limited. However, at some point, the LAA may need to be disabled due to packet loss.

Referring again to fig. 10, the UE-Wi-Fi920 sends an 802.11_ TX _ ON message to the UE-LTE910 in conjunction with antenna switching to Wi-Fi for Wi-Fi transmission, and then sends an 802.11_ TX _ OFF message when the Wi-Fi transmission is complete. And then switch back to the antenna for LAA use. In the illustrated embodiment, the UE-LTE910 determines that packet loss is acceptable and maintains LAA CA active based at least in part on the WCI-2 message from the UE-Wi-Fi 920.

In some embodiments, the initial message indicating that a Wi-Fi transmission is occurring may also specify a duration of the transmission. In general, the time interval for transmission, scanning, etc. may be specified using any of a variety of codes, including start times and durations, start and end signals, start and end times (using any of a variety of suitable time codes), and so forth. The start and end messages (e.g., various "on" and "off messages) shown in fig. 9-11 are included for purposes of explanation, but are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

Referring now to fig. 11, Wi-Fi transmissions result in an interruption threshold being triggered (e.g., based on one or more metrics discussed above), and the UE-LTE910 begins the SCC deactivation procedure. In some embodiments, the UE-LTE910 starts the deactivation process a certain amount of time after receiving the TX _ ON message if the TX _ OFF message has not been received. In the illustrated embodiment, the UE-LTE910 sends a CQI report with LAA SCC CQI ═ 0 in order for the eNB 930 to deactivate the LAA SCell (using the MAC CE in the illustrated embodiment), after which the LAA is deactivated. In other embodiments, other messages may be used to request LAA deactivation from eNB 930, such as a proprietary UL MAC CE in a device coexistence (IDC) message or 3GPP release 13, for example. The UE-LTE910 may then request reactivation of the LAA SCC (not shown), e.g., in response to a reduction in Wi-Fi transmissions. In some embodiments, similar techniques are used for reactivation procedures, using the same threshold or different thresholds.

Fig. 12A and 12B are flow diagrams (e.g., within the scenario of fig. 11) illustrating an exemplary process for determining whether a Wi-Fi transmission results in an interruption threshold being triggered, according to some embodiments. The processes of fig. 12A and 12B may be implemented, for example, by the UE-LTE 910.

Referring first to fig. 12A, at 1202, the UE-LTE910 may determine whether an outage Rate (LAA _ Interrupt _ Rate) of Wi-Fi transmissions exceeds (or satisfies) a start timer Threshold (LAA _ Threshold _ In). For example, the LAA _ Interrupt _ Rate may be measured as a number or percentage of TTIs interrupted by Wi-Fi transmissions within a particular time window (e.g., within a 100ms period). As one example, LAA _ Threshold _ in may be set to 20% of the TTI within the time window. The UE-LTE910 may determine whether a given TTI within a time window is interrupted according to the above-described procedure.

At 1204, In response to determining that the LAA _ Interrupt _ Rate exceeds (or satisfies) LAA _ Threshold _ In, the UE-LTE910 may start deactivating a Timer (LAA _ Timer _ Deac). LAA _ Timer _ Deac may be configured to measure whether a high interference period from a Wi-Fi transmission exceeds (or meets) a predefined threshold. For example, LAA _ Timer _ Deac may expire after 500 ms.

At 1206, the UE-LTE910 may determine whether the LAA _ Timer _ Deac has expired. If so, at 1208, the UE-LTE910 may initiate an SCC deactivation procedure, e.g., as shown in fig. 11.

Referring now to fig. 12B, at 1252, the UE-LTE910 may determine whether the LAA _ Interrupt _ Rate does not exceed (e.g., is below) a stop timer Threshold (LAA _ Threshold _ Out). For example, LAA _ Threshold _ Out may be set to 10% of the TTI within the time window. Setting LAA _ Threshold _ Out to a value lower than LAA _ Threshold _ In may provide a hysteresis function In determining whether to initiate an SCC deactivation procedure.

In response to determining that the LAA _ Interrupt _ Rate is below LAA _ Threshold _ Out, the UE-LTE910 may determine whether LAA _ Time _ Deac is enabled at 1254. If LAA _ Time _ Deac is enabled, the UE-LTE910 may stop LAA _ Timer _ Deac such that the SCC deactivation procedure is not initiated (e.g., the determination of step 1206 is not satisfied).

In various embodiments, the disclosed techniques may reduce interference for LAA and Wi-Fi communications using shared antennas (which may in turn improve performance).

Exemplary device coexistence call flows

In some embodiments, instead of (or in addition to) deactivating LAA using CQI ═ 0 reporting, the mobile device is notified of LAA RX unavailability using new signaling in an in-device coexistence (IDC) framework. In some embodiments, this may eliminate the network's dependence on periodic CQI configurations, which may degrade the user experience in some cases. In some embodiments, the network is configured to use the IDC techniques discussed below with reference to fig. 13 unless the mobile device does not support these techniques, in which case the network may use the CQI 0 technique discussed above.

Fig. 13 is a signal diagram illustrating exemplary IDC communication in connection with LAA activation, according to some embodiments. In the illustrated embodiment, UE 1310 sends an InDeviceCoexInd-LAA (r13) message to EUTRAN 1320, based on which the network decides to configure UE 1310 with one or more LAA scells. The network then sends an RRC connection reconfiguration message to the UE 1310 that adds one or more LAA scells and indicates that the UE is configured to send IDC indications for LAA RX sharing purposes. The network also activates the LAA SCell.

Subsequently, in the illustrated example, the UE 1310 determines that WiFi LAA reception sharing is occurring or is expected to occur, and in response, sends an indevicecoexification message with a sharing problem field (laahardwareharing issue-R13) set to true. In response, the network deactivates the LAA SCell or suspends data transmission by the UE 1310 on those scells.

Subsequently, in the illustrated example, WiFi RX sharing no longer occurs and the UE 1310 sends an indevicecoxindication message with the sharing problem field set to false (which may allow the network to configure the LAA SCell for the UE and/or resume data transmission for the UE on the SCell).

In some embodiments, the UE is configured to start a timer in response to determining that transmission by the WLAN processor via the antenna during the first time period has interrupted transmission by the cellular processor via the antenna within the first frequency band at a rate that satisfies a first threshold, and to determine to request deactivation of communication via the first frequency band in response to expiration of the timer. In some embodiments, the UE is configured to stop the timer in response to determining that the WLAN processor's transmission via the antenna during the second time period has interrupted the cellular processor's transmission via the antenna within the first frequency band at a rate below a second threshold.

Exemplary method

Fig. 14 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for using coexistence information, according to some embodiments. The method shown in fig. 14 may be used, among other things, in conjunction with any of the computer circuits, systems, devices, elements, or components disclosed herein. In various embodiments, some of the method elements shown may be performed concurrently in a different order than shown, or may be omitted. Additional method elements may also be performed as desired.

At 1410, in the illustrated embodiment, a first processing element (e.g., cellular controller 352) wirelessly communicates in accordance with a first RAT in a first frequency band and in a second frequency band, wherein the first RAT is a cellular RAT, the first frequency band is unlicensed spectrum, and the second frequency band is in licensed spectrum.

At 1420, in the illustrated embodiment, a second processing element (e.g., Wi-Fi controller 350) wirelessly communicates in a first frequency band in accordance with a second RAT, wherein the second RAT is a WLAN RAT. Note that the first processing element and the second processing element may or may not be the same processing element.

At 1430, in the illustrated embodiment, the first and second processing elements performing method elements 1410 and 1420 use a common antenna for communications in the first frequency band for the first RAT and the second RAT.

At 1440, in the illustrated embodiment, the second processing element indicates the one or more transmission intervals via the second RAT.

At 1450, in the illustrated embodiment, the first processing element determines whether to request deactivation of communication via the first frequency band based on one or more durations of the one or more transmission intervals. For example, if deactivation is requested, the first processing element may communicate with the base station to make the request. For example, the first processing element may send a CQI report with CQI of zero to request deactivation. In some embodiments, the first processing element may send a DCI message to request deactivation.

The cellular communication in the first frequency band may be LAA communication. The first processing element and the second processing element may communicate over the WCI interface. The first frequency band may be a 5GHz frequency band.

Fig. 15 is a flow diagram of another method for using coexistence information, according to some embodiments. The method shown in fig. 15 may be used, among other things, in conjunction with any of the computer circuits, systems, devices, elements, or components disclosed herein. In various embodiments, some of the method elements shown may be performed concurrently in a different order than shown, or may be omitted. Additional method elements may also be performed as desired.

In the illustrated embodiment, method elements 1510-1530 correspond to method elements 1410-1430 of FIG. 14.

At 1540, in the illustrated embodiment, the cellular processor sends a message listing one or more secondary component carriers in the first frequency band that are allocated for cellular communication or for which cellular measurements are to be performed. In some embodiments, for example, one or more secondary component carriers are used by one or more neighboring base stations rather than the serving base station.

In some embodiments, based on the indication, the WLAN processor is configured to refrain from transmitting on a secondary component carrier allocated to the cellular processor in response to the message. In some embodiments, the WLAN processor is configured to refrain from transmitting an acknowledgement to one or more probes from the wireless access point in the first frequency band in response to the message. In some embodiments, the WLAN processor is configured to reduce an active scanning rate in the first frequency band in response to the message. In some embodiments, the WLAN processor is configured to use incremental aggregation of media access control protocol data units (AMPDUs) in response to the message. In some embodiments, the cellular processor is configured to send the message to the WLAN processor via the application processor.

Fig. 16 is a flow diagram of another method for using coexistence information, according to some embodiments. The method shown in fig. 16 may be used, among other things, in conjunction with any of the computer circuits, systems, devices, elements, or components disclosed herein. In various embodiments, some of the method elements shown may be performed concurrently in a different order than shown, or may be omitted. Additional method elements may also be performed as desired.

In the illustrated embodiment, method elements 1610-1630 correspond to method elements 1410-1430 of FIG. 14.

At 1640, in the illustrated embodiment, the cellular processor indicates a scan interval for cellular scanning in the first frequency band.

At 1650, in the illustrated embodiment, the WLAN processor cancels or defers one or more scheduled transmissions via the second RAT during the scan interval. In some embodiments, the WLAN processor may determine not to defer one or more transmissions during the interval (e.g., based on a duration of the scanning interval, other information regarding the scanning interval, and/or characteristics of the scheduled transmissions, for example). In some embodiments, the WLAN procedure is configured to inform the cellular processor whether it is transmitting during the interval. In some embodiments, in response to the notification transmitted by the WLAN processor during the interval, the cellular processor is configured to ignore one or more scan measurements made during the interval transmitted by the WLAN processor.

Exemplary computer readable Medium

The present disclosure has described various exemplary circuits above in detail. It is intended that the present disclosure not only encompass embodiments that include such circuitry, but also encompass computer-readable storage media that include design information that specifies such circuitry. Accordingly, the present disclosure is intended to support claims that encompass not only devices that include the disclosed circuitry, but also storage media that specify the circuitry in a format that is configured to generate a manufacturing system identification of the hardware (e.g., integrated circuit) that includes the disclosed circuitry. Claims to such a storage medium are intended to cover, for example, an entity that generates a circuit design but does not itself fabricate the design.

Fig. 17A is a block diagram illustrating an example non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing circuit design information, according to some embodiments. In the illustrated embodiment, the semiconductor manufacturing system 1720 is configured to process design information 1715 stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium 1710 and to fabricate an integrated circuit 1730 based on the design information 1715.

The non-transitory computer-readable medium 1710 may include any of a variety of suitable types of memory devices or storage devices. Media 1710 may be mounting media such as a CD-ROM, floppy disk, or tape device; computer system memory or random access memory such as DRAM, DDR RAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, Rambus RAM, etc.; non-volatile memory such as flash memory, magnetic media, e.g., a hard disk drive or optical storage; registers, or other similar types of memory elements, etc. The medium 1710 may also include other types of non-transitory memory or combinations thereof. The medium 1710 may include two or more memory media that may reside in different locations, e.g., in different computer systems connected by a network.

Design information 1715 may be specified using any of a variety of suitable computer languages, including hardware description languages such as, but not limited to: VHDL, Verilog, SystemC, SystemVerilog, RHDL, M, MyHDL, and the like. The design information 1715 may be usable by the semiconductor manufacturing system 1720 to fabricate at least a portion of an integrated circuit 1730. The format of the design information 1715 may be recognized by at least one semiconductor manufacturing system 1720. In some embodiments, design information 1715 may also include one or more cell libraries that specify the synthesis and/or layout of integrated circuit 1730. In some embodiments, the design information is specified in whole or in part in the form of a netlist that specifies the cell library elements and their connectivity.

The semiconductor manufacturing system 1720 may include any of a variety of suitable elements configured to fabricate integrated circuits. This may include, for example, elements used to deposit semiconductor material (e.g., on a wafer that may include a mask), remove material, change the shape of the deposited material, modify the material (e.g., by doping the material or modifying the dielectric constant with ultraviolet treatment), and so forth. The semiconductor manufacturing system 1720 may also be configured to perform various tests of the manufactured circuits for proper operation.

In various embodiments, integrated circuit 1730 is configured to operate in accordance with a circuit design specified by design information 1715, which may include performing any of the functionality described herein. For example, integrated circuit 1730 may include any of the various elements shown herein. Additionally, integrated circuit 1730 may be configured to perform various functions described herein in connection with other components. Further, the functionality described herein may be performed by a plurality of connected integrated circuits.

Fig. 17B is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing design information for programmable hardware elements, according to some embodiments. In the illustrated embodiment, programming device 1750 is configured to process design information 1745 stored on non-transitory computer readable medium 1740 and program programmable hardware element 1760 based on design information 1745.

As described above, medium 1740 and design information 1745 may have similar features to medium 1710 and design information 1715. The hardware description language used to design the ASIC may be similar to or different from the hardware description language used to program the programmable hardware elements. The programmable hardware element 1760 may be a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), a Programmable Logic Array (PLA), a Complex Programmable Logic Device (CPLD), or the like. The programmable hardware element 1760 may comprise logic blocks, hard blocks for common functions, configurable clock structures, memory, fuses, etc. A given programmable hardware element 1760 may be programmed differently at different times, e.g., by adjusting the functionality of logic blocks, interconnections between circuit elements, etc.

In various embodiments, programmable hardware element 1760, after being programmed, is configured to operate according to a circuit design specified by design information 1745, which design information 1745 may include performing any of the functions described herein. For example, programmable hardware element 1760 may implement any of the various elements shown herein. In addition, the programmable hardware element 1760 may be configured to perform various functions described herein in conjunction with other components. In addition, the functions described herein may be performed by a plurality of connected programmable hardware elements.

As used herein, the term "implementing a circuit according to a design" includes manufacturing an integrated circuit according to the design and programming programmable hardware elements according to the design. The semiconductor manufacturing system 1720 and the programming device 1750 are examples of computing systems configured to implement circuits according to design information. In general, implementing a circuit may include other ways of implementing a hardware circuit, depending on the design, in addition to the techniques discussed with reference to fig. 17A and 17B. The term is intended to encompass all such techniques for implementing hardware circuitry from design information stored in a computer-readable medium.

As used herein, a phrase in the form of "design information specifying the design of a circuit configured as …" does not imply that the circuit involved must be manufactured in order to satisfy the element. Rather, the phrase indicates that the design information describes a circuit that, when manufactured, is to be configured to perform the indicated action or is to include the specified component.

The disclosed embodiments may be embodied in any of various forms. For example, in some embodiments, the disclosed technology may be implemented as a computer-implemented method, a computer-readable storage medium, or a computer system. In other embodiments, the disclosed techniques may be implemented using one or more custom designed hardware devices, such as ASICs. In other embodiments, the disclosed technology may be implemented using one or more programmable hardware elements, such as FPGAs.

In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory memory element) may be configured such that it stores program instructions and/or data, wherein the program instructions, if executed by a computer system, cause the computer system to perform a method, e.g., any of the method embodiments described herein, or any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or any subset of any of the method embodiments described herein, or any combination of such subsets.

In some embodiments, a device (e.g., a UE) may be configured to include a processor (or a set of processors) and a memory medium (or memory element), wherein the memory medium stores program instructions, wherein the processor is configured to read and execute the program instructions from the memory medium, wherein the program instructions are executable to implement any of the various method embodiments described herein (or any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or any subset of any of the method embodiments described herein, or any combination of such subsets). The apparatus may be embodied in any of a variety of forms.

Although the above embodiments have been described in considerable detail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace all such variations and modifications.

Claims (17)

1. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

a cellular processor configured to wirelessly communicate in accordance with a first radio access technology, RAT, in a first frequency band and in a second frequency band, wherein the first RAT is a cellular RAT, the first frequency band is in unlicensed spectrum, and the second frequency band is in licensed spectrum;

a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) processor configured to wirelessly communicate in the first frequency band in accordance with a second RAT, wherein the second RAT is a WLAN RAT; and

one or more internal communication lines connecting the cellular processor and the WLAN processor;

wherein the cellular processor and the WLAN processor are configured to be coupled to the same antenna for communication in the first frequency band;

wherein the cellular processor is configured to notify the WLAN processor via the one or more internal communication lines when the cellular processor is beginning scanning and when the cellular processor is ending scanning in the first frequency band;

wherein the WLAN processor is configured to determine whether to cancel or defer one or more scheduled transmissions during an interval beginning at a start of the scan and ending at an end of the scan;

wherein, in response to a determination to perform one or more transmissions during the interval, the WLAN processor is configured to notify the cellular processor that the WLAN processor has made transmissions during the interval; and

wherein, in response to the notification that the WLAN processor transmitted during the interval, the cellular processor is configured to ignore one or more scan measurements made during the interval that the WLAN processor transmitted.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first and second electrodes are disposed on opposite sides of the housing,

wherein the WLAN processor is configured to indicate one or more transmission intervals by notifying the cellular processor via the one or more internal communication lines when the WLAN processor is transmitting via the antenna; and

wherein the cellular processor is configured to determine whether to request deactivation of communication via the first frequency band from a cellular network based on one or more durations of the one or more transmission intervals.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the first and second electrodes are disposed in a common plane,

wherein the cellular processor is configured to send a message to the WLAN processor in response to an allocation of one or more secondary component carriers in the first frequency band to the cellular processor by a cellular base station or in response to an indication from the base station to perform measurements on one or more secondary component carriers in the first frequency band.

4. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the cellular processor is configured to request deactivation of communication via the first frequency band by sending a channel quality indication, CQI, report to a cellular base station that CQI is zero for one or more secondary component carriers in the first frequency band.

5. An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the cellular processor is configured to request deactivation of communication via the first frequency band by sending an in-device coexistence (IDC) message to a cellular base station.

6. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the cellular communication by the cellular processor in the first frequency band is a Licensed Assisted Access (LAA) communication.

7. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the WLAN processor is configured to indicate the one or more transmission intervals using a wireless coexistence interface, WCI.

8. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein, in determining whether to request deactivation of communication via the first frequency band, the cellular processor is further configured to:

starting a timer in response to determining that transmissions by the WLAN processor via the antenna during a first time period have interrupted transmissions by the cellular processor via the antenna within the first frequency band at a rate that satisfies a first threshold; and

determining to request deactivation of communication via the first frequency band in response to the timer expiring.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein to determine whether to request deactivation of communication via the first frequency band, the cellular processor is further configured to:

stopping a timer in response to determining that transmissions by the WLAN processor via the antenna during a second time period have interrupted transmissions by the cellular processor via the antenna within the first frequency band at a rate below a second threshold.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first frequency band is an unlicensed 5GHz frequency band and the second frequency band is a licensed cellular frequency band.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a single processor executing different programs is configured to implement both the cellular processor and the WLAN processor.

12. A method for wireless communication, comprising:

wirelessly communicating, by a cellular processor, in a first frequency band and in a second frequency band in accordance with a first radio access technology, RAT, wherein the first RAT is a cellular RAT, the first frequency band is in unlicensed spectrum, and the second frequency band is in licensed spectrum;

wirelessly communicating, by a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) processor, in the first frequency band in accordance with a second RAT, wherein the second RAT is a WLAN RAT, wherein the communication by the cellular processor and the WLAN processor in the first frequency band uses a common antenna;

notifying, by the cellular processor, when the cellular processor is beginning scanning and when the cellular processor is ending scanning in a first frequency band;

notifying, by the WLAN processor, the cellular processor that the WLAN processor has transmitted during the scan in response to a determination that one or more transmissions are not to be deferred during the scan; and

discarding, by the cellular processor, one or more scan measurements made during an interval in which the WLAN processor has made transmissions.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

indicating, by the WLAN processor, one or more transmission intervals by informing the cellular processor, via one or more physical communication lines connecting the cellular processor and the WLAN processor, when the WLAN processor is transmitting via the antenna; and

determining, by the cellular processor, whether to request deactivation of communication via the first frequency band based on one or more durations of the one or more transmission intervals.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that are executable by a computing device to perform operations comprising:

wirelessly communicating, by a cellular processor, in a first frequency band and in a second frequency band in accordance with a first radio access technology, RAT, wherein the first RAT is a cellular RAT, the first frequency band is in unlicensed spectrum, and the second frequency band is in licensed spectrum;

wirelessly communicating, by a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) processor, in the first frequency band in accordance with a second RAT, wherein the second RAT is a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) RAT, wherein the communication by the cellular processor and the WLAN processor in the first frequency band uses a common antenna;

notifying, by the cellular processor, when the cellular processor is beginning scanning and when the cellular processor is ending scanning in a first frequency band;

notifying, by the WLAN processor, the cellular processor that the WLAN processor has transmitted during the scan in response to a determination that one or more transmissions are not to be deferred during the scan; and

discarding, by the cellular processor, one or more scan measurements made during an interval in which the WLAN processor has made transmissions.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the operations further comprise:

indicating, by the WLAN processor, one or more transmission intervals by informing the cellular processor, via one or more physical communication lines connecting the cellular processor and the WLAN processor, when the WLAN processor is transmitting via the antenna; and

determining, by the cellular processor, whether to request deactivation of communication via the first frequency band based on one or more durations of the one or more transmission intervals.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise:

sending, by the cellular processor, a message to the WLAN processor in response to an allocation of one or more secondary component carriers in the first frequency band to the cellular processor by a cellular base station or in response to an indication from the base station to perform measurements on one or more secondary component carriers in the first frequency band.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the requesting deactivation of communication via the first frequency band is by sending an in-device coexistence (IDC) message to a cellular base station.

Images