CN111262677B

CN111262677B - Carrier management method, system, base station and user equipment

Info

Publication number: CN111262677B
Application number: CN202010043159.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李亚娟; 张兴炜; 柴丽; 常俊仁
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2015-02-15
Filing date: 2015-02-15
Publication date: 2022-04-12
Anticipated expiration: 2035-02-15
Also published as: WO2016127428A1; CN106165485A; CN111262677A; CN106165485B

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a carrier management method, a system, a base station and user equipment, which relate to the field of communication and comprise the following steps: the base station sends a first reconfiguration message to User Equipment (UE); the first reconfiguration message is used for indicating at least two carrier groups allocated to the UE, the UE is configured with at least two carriers, the at least two carriers include at least one uplink carrier and at least one downlink carrier, the at least two carrier groups are obtained by grouping all carriers configured to the UE by a base station, both the uplink carrier number and the downlink carrier number of each carrier group do not exceed 8, the at least two carrier groups include at least one first carrier group, the first carrier group includes an activated carrier, the activated carrier in the first carrier group includes at least one first downlink carrier, the first downlink carrier is configured with a physical downlink control channel PDCCH, the PDCCH carries downlink control information DCI, and the DCI is used for scheduling the activated carrier in the carrier group where the first downlink carrier is located; the PDCCH is transmitted on a first downlink carrier.

Description

Carrier management method, system, base station and user equipment

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a carrier management method, system, base station, and user equipment.

Background

In a communication system, for example, a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, a Carrier Aggregation (CA) technology is developed. CA refers to a base station (Evolved Node B, abbreviated eNB) aggregating multiple carriers together to provide service for User Equipment (UE), so as to improve throughput of an air interface.

Currently, the LTE system introduces aggregation of 5 carriers at most, that is, one eNB can configure 5 carriers for one UE at most, each carrier has 20M bandwidth, and 5 carriers reach 100M bandwidth. For this reason, when a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) schedules a carrier configured to the UE, Downlink Control Information (DCI) carried by the PDCCH provides a 3-bit field to indicate which carrier the DCI is directed to. Since the 3-bit field can be assigned any one of the numbers 0-7, the 3-bit field can indicate the carrier index number of 8 carriers at most, and the scheduling requirement of 5 carriers is met.

In order to further improve the peak data rate and the system throughput, large-scale Carrier Aggregation (Massive Carrier Aggregation) is introduced into the 13 th version (Release-13) of the Long Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE-a) system, and the maximum number of carriers capable of being aggregated can reach 32, that is, one eNB can configure 32 carriers for one UE at most. However, the conventional carrier scheduling method can only support scheduling of 8 carriers at most, and cannot support scheduling of 32 carriers at most. The most straightforward way to achieve scheduling for a maximum of 32 carriers is to extend the length of the 3-bit field, however, this will change the structure of the Physical Layer (Physical Layer), which is too much to be acceptable for the Physical Layer.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the invention provides a carrier management method, a carrier management system, a base station and user equipment, which can meet the scheduling requirement of more than 8 carriers. The technical scheme is as follows:

in a first aspect, a carrier management method is provided, where the method includes:

the base station sends a first reconfiguration message to User Equipment (UE);

wherein the first reconfiguration message is to indicate at least two carrier groups allocated for the UE, the UE is configured with at least two carriers comprising at least one uplink carrier and at least one downlink carrier, the at least two carrier groups are obtained by grouping all carriers configured for the UE by the base station, the uplink carrier number and the downlink carrier number of each carrier group do not exceed 8, the at least two carrier groups comprising at least one first carrier group comprising activated carriers, the activated carriers in the first carrier group comprise at least one first downlink carrier configured with a physical downlink control channel, PDCCH, the PDCCH carries downlink control information DCI, and the DCI is used for scheduling activated carriers in a carrier group where the first downlink carrier is located;

transmitting a PDCCH on the first downlink carrier.

With reference to the first aspect, in a first implementation manner of the first aspect, each carrier group includes at least one first downlink carrier, where the first downlink carrier in one carrier group is a downlink primary carrier of the UE, and an uplink primary carrier and a downlink primary carrier of the UE are in the same carrier group; and the first downlink carrier in the carrier groups except the carrier group in which the main carrier is positioned is the downlink auxiliary carrier.

With reference to the first aspect and the first implementation manner of the first aspect, in a second implementation manner of the first aspect, the DCI includes a carrier index indication field CIF, where the CIF includes 3 bits, an index of a carrier indicated by the CIF is C, Cmod8 ═ x, and x is an indication value of the CIF.

With reference to the first aspect and the first to second embodiments of the first aspect, in a third embodiment of the first aspect, the method further includes:

sending a first carrier activation indication message to the UE, wherein the first carrier activation indication message is used for indicating activated and/or deactivated carriers for the UE, the activated carriers for the UE are non-activated carriers in carriers configured for the UE, and the deactivated carriers for the UE are activated carriers in the carriers configured for the UE.

With reference to the first aspect and the fifth implementation manner of the first aspect, in a fourth implementation manner of the first aspect, the first carrier activation indication message includes a secondary carrier indication bit;

the auxiliary carrier indicating bits comprise T bits, T is equal to the maximum number of aggregated carriers, the ith bit corresponds to the ith carrier, and i is 0, 1, T-2 or T-1;

or, the secondary carrier indication bits include 8 bits, where an index number of a carrier corresponding to a qth bit of the 8 bits is C ", C" mod8 ═ q, and q is 0, 1.

With reference to the first aspect and the first to fourth embodiments of the first aspect, in a fifth embodiment of the first aspect, the activated carriers in each first carrier group include at least one first uplink carrier, and a physical uplink control channel PUCCH is configured on the first uplink carrier.

With reference to the first aspect and the fifth embodiment of the first aspect, in a sixth embodiment of the first aspect, the method further includes:

and receiving, on a PUCCH of an activated first uplink carrier in each first carrier group, channel state information CSI of each activated downlink carrier in a carrier group in which the first uplink carrier is located, where the CSI is reported by the UE.

In a second aspect, a carrier management method is provided, and the method includes:

user Equipment (UE) receives a first reconfiguration message sent by a base station;

and receiving the PDCCH on the first downlink carrier, and transmitting and receiving data on the activated carrier under the indication of the DCI carried by the received PDCCH.

With reference to the second aspect, in a first implementation manner of the second aspect, each carrier group includes at least one first downlink carrier, where the first downlink carrier in one carrier group is a downlink primary carrier of the UE, and an uplink primary carrier and a downlink primary carrier of the UE are in the same carrier group; and the first downlink carrier in the carrier groups except the carrier group in which the main carrier is positioned is the downlink auxiliary carrier.

With reference to the second aspect and the first implementation manner of the second aspect, in a second implementation manner of the second aspect, the DCI includes a carrier index indication field CIF, where the CIF includes 3 bits, an index of a carrier indicated by the CIF is C, Cmod8 is x, and x is an indication value of the CIF.

With reference to the second aspect and the first to second embodiments of the second aspect, in a third embodiment of the second aspect, the method further comprises,

receiving a first carrier activation indication message sent by the base station, where the first carrier activation indication message is used to indicate carriers activated and/or deactivated for the UE, the carriers activated for the UE are inactive carriers among carriers configured to the UE by the base station, and the carriers deactivated for the UE are activated carriers among carriers configured to the UE by the base station.

With reference to the second aspect and the third implementation manner of the second aspect, in a fourth implementation manner of the second aspect, the first carrier activation indication message includes a secondary carrier indication bit;

With reference to the second aspect and the first to fourth embodiments of the second aspect, in a fifth embodiment of the second aspect, the activated carriers in each first carrier group include at least one first uplink carrier, and a physical uplink control channel PUCCH is configured on the first uplink carrier.

With reference to the second aspect and the fifth embodiment of the second aspect, in a sixth embodiment of the second aspect, the method further includes:

and reporting the channel state information CSI of each activated downlink carrier in the carrier group where the first uplink carrier is located on the PUCCH of the activated first uplink carrier in each first carrier group.

In a third aspect, a carrier management method is provided, where the method includes:

a base station receives a first carrier indication message sent by User Equipment (UE); the first carrier indication message is used for indicating an auxiliary carrier set to be scheduled to the base station, wherein the auxiliary carrier set comprises K activated auxiliary carriers, and K is an integer and is not more than 7;

the base station schedules a main carrier and at least one auxiliary carrier in the auxiliary carrier set to the UE according to the first carrier indication message; the downlink main carrier of the UE is configured with a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), and the PDCCH bears Downlink Control Information (DCI).

With reference to the third aspect, in a first embodiment of the third aspect, the method further comprises,

receiving a second carrier indication message sent by the UE, wherein the second carrier indication message is used for indicating an updated auxiliary carrier set to be scheduled to the base station;

and scheduling the main carrier and at least one auxiliary carrier in the updated auxiliary carrier set to be scheduled to the UE according to the second carrier indication message.

With reference to the third aspect and the first implementation manner of the third aspect, in a second implementation manner of the third aspect, before the base station receives the first carrier indication message sent by the user equipment UE, the method further includes,

and sending a second reconfiguration message to the UE, wherein the second reconfiguration message is used for indicating the secondary carrier configured for the UE.

With reference to the third aspect and the second embodiment of the third aspect, in a third embodiment of the third aspect, the method further includes,

sending a second carrier activation indication message to the UE; the second carrier activation indication message is used to indicate an auxiliary carrier activated and/or deactivated for the UE, where the auxiliary carrier activated for the UE is an at least partially inactivated auxiliary carrier among all the auxiliary carriers configured for the UE, and the auxiliary carrier deactivated for the UE is an at least partially activated auxiliary carrier among the activated auxiliary carriers.

In a fourth aspect, a carrier management method is provided, the method including:

the method comprises the steps that User Equipment (UE) determines an auxiliary carrier set which needs to be scheduled by a base station, wherein the auxiliary carrier set comprises K activated auxiliary carriers, and K is an integer and is not more than 7;

the UE sends a first carrier indication message to the base station, wherein the first carrier indication message is used for indicating an auxiliary carrier set needing to be scheduled to the base station;

and receiving a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) on a downlink main carrier of the UE, and transmitting and receiving data on a carrier scheduled to the UE by the base station according to Downlink Control Information (DCI) carried by the PDCCH.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in a first implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the determining a secondary carrier set to be scheduled by a base station includes:

measuring each activated auxiliary carrier respectively to obtain a measured value of each activated auxiliary carrier;

and determining an auxiliary carrier set to be scheduled by the base station according to the measured value of each activated auxiliary carrier, wherein the measured value of the carrier in the auxiliary carrier set is greater than a first preset threshold value.

With reference to the fourth aspect and the first embodiment of the fourth aspect, in a second embodiment of the fourth aspect, the method further comprises,

measuring each auxiliary carrier in the auxiliary carrier set in real time, and detecting whether the measured value of each auxiliary carrier in the auxiliary carrier set is lower than a second preset threshold value or not;

when detecting that the measured value of the auxiliary carrier in the auxiliary carrier set is lower than the second preset threshold value, deleting the auxiliary carrier from the auxiliary carrier set, and selecting an activated auxiliary carrier with the measured value higher than the first preset threshold value to be added into the auxiliary carrier set to obtain an updated auxiliary carrier set to be scheduled; wherein the first predetermined threshold value is not less than the second predetermined threshold value;

sending a second carrier indication message to the base station; the second carrier indication message is used for indicating the updated secondary carrier set to be scheduled to the base station.

With reference to the fourth aspect and the first to second embodiments of the fourth aspect, in a third embodiment of the fourth aspect, before the UE determines the secondary carrier set to be scheduled by the base station, the method further includes,

and receiving a second reconfiguration message sent by the base station, wherein the second reconfiguration message is used for indicating the secondary carrier configured for the UE.

With reference to the fourth aspect and the third embodiment of the fourth aspect, in a fourth embodiment of the fourth aspect, the method further comprises,

receiving a second carrier activation indication message sent by the base station, where the second carrier activation indication message is used to indicate an activated and/or deactivated secondary carrier for the UE, where the activated secondary carrier for the UE is an at least partially inactivated secondary carrier among all secondary carriers configured for the UE, and the deactivated secondary carrier for the UE is an at least partially activated secondary carrier among activated secondary carriers.

In a fifth aspect, a carrier management method is provided, and the method includes:

the base station sends a third carrier activation indication message to the user equipment UE;

wherein the third carrier activation indication message is used for indicating the activated carriers for the UE; the carriers activated for the UE comprise at least one second uplink carrier, and a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) resource is configured on the second uplink carrier, wherein the PUSCH resource is used periodically;

and receiving Channel State Information (CSI) of each activated downlink carrier reported by the UE on a PUSCH resource of the second uplink carrier activated for the UE.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in a first implementation manner of the fifth aspect, the receiving, on the PUSCH resource of the second uplink carrier that has been activated for the UE, channel state information CSI of each activated downlink carrier that is reported by the UE includes:

acquiring a reporting period point of the CSI of each activated downlink carrier according to a preset reporting period and offset of the CSI of the downlink carrier;

receiving, on a PUSCH resource of the second uplink carrier that has been activated for the UE, CSI of each activated downlink carrier reported by the UE according to the obtained reporting cycle point of the CSI of each activated downlink carrier;

the reporting period point of the CSI of the activated downlink carrier carried by the PUSCH resource of the current period is positioned between the sending point of the PUSCH resource of the previous period and the sending point of the PUSCH resource of the current period; or the reporting period point of the CSI of the activated downlink carrier carried by the PUSCH resource of the current period is located between the transmission point of the PUSCH resource of the current period and a predetermined number of subframes after the PUSCH resource of the previous period.

With reference to the fifth aspect and the first implementation manner of the fifth aspect, in a second implementation manner of the fifth aspect, before the base station sends the third carrier activation indication message to the user equipment UE, the method further includes:

and sending a third reconfiguration message to the UE, wherein the third reconfiguration message is used for indicating the carriers configured for the UE, and the carriers activated for the UE are the carriers which are not activated in the carriers configured for the UE.

In a sixth aspect, a carrier management method is provided, the method including:

user Equipment (UE) receives a third carrier activation indication message sent by a base station;

and sending the channel state information CSI of each activated downlink carrier on the PUSCH resource of the activated second uplink carrier.

With reference to the sixth aspect, in a first implementation manner of the sixth aspect, the sending, on the PUSCH resource of the activated second uplink carrier, the channel state information CSI of each activated downlink carrier includes:

sending the CSI of each activated downlink carrier on the PUSCH resource of the activated second uplink carrier according to the obtained reporting cycle point of the CSI of each activated downlink carrier;

With reference to the sixth aspect and the first implementation manner of the sixth aspect, in a second implementation manner of the sixth aspect, before the UE receives the third carrier activation indication message sent by the base station, the method further includes:

receiving a third reconfiguration message sent by the base station, where the third reconfiguration message is used to indicate carriers configured for the UE, and the carriers activated for the UE are inactive carriers among the carriers configured for the UE.

In a seventh aspect, a carrier management method is provided, where the method includes:

the base station determines a third uplink carrier which is activated for the UE and corresponds to each downlink carrier which is activated for the UE; each third uplink carrier activated for the UE corresponds to at least one downlink carrier activated for the UE, the downlink carriers corresponding to the third uplink carriers activated for the UE are different, each third uplink carrier is configured with a physical uplink control channel PUCCH, and the number of the third uplink carriers activated for the UE is not less than 2;

and receiving a PUCCH on a third uplink carrier which is activated for the UE and corresponds to each downlink carrier which is activated for the UE, and obtaining Channel State Information (CSI) of each downlink carrier which is activated for the UE.

With reference to the seventh aspect, in a first implementation of the seventh aspect, the method further includes:

sending a CSI reporting indication message to the UE; the CSI reporting indication message is used to indicate the determined third uplink carriers that have been activated for the UE and correspond to the downlink carriers that have been activated for the UE.

With reference to the seventh aspect, in a second implementation manner of the seventh aspect, the determining a third uplink carrier that has been activated for the UE and corresponds to each downlink carrier that has been activated for the UE includes:

and determining a third uplink carrier corresponding to each downlink carrier activated for the UE according to a preset corresponding relationship between the downlink carrier and the third uplink carrier.

With reference to the seventh aspect and the first to second implementation manners of the seventh aspect, in a third implementation manner of the seventh aspect, before the base station determines a third uplink carrier that has been activated for the user equipment UE and corresponds to each downlink carrier that has been activated for the UE, the method further includes:

and sending a fourth reconfiguration message to the UE, wherein the fourth reconfiguration message is used for indicating the carrier configured for the UE.

With reference to the seventh aspect and the third implementation manner of the seventh aspect, in a fourth implementation manner of the seventh aspect, the method further includes:

sending a fourth carrier activation indication message to the UE, where the fourth carrier activation indication message is used to indicate carriers activated and/or deactivated for the UE, the carriers activated for the UE are carriers that are at least partially inactivated among carriers configured for the UE, and the carriers deactivated for the UE are at least partial carriers among carriers activated for the UE.

In an eighth aspect, a carrier management method is provided, the method including:

user Equipment (UE) measures downlink carriers activated by a base station respectively to obtain Channel State Information (CSI) of the downlink carriers activated by the base station;

determining a third uplink carrier corresponding to each downlink carrier activated by the base station; each third uplink carrier activated by the base station corresponds to at least one downlink carrier activated by the base station, the downlink carriers corresponding to the third uplink carriers activated by the base station are different, each third uplink carrier is configured with a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), and the number of the third uplink carriers activated by the base station is not less than 2;

and sending the CSI of each obtained downlink carrier activated by the base station on a PUCCH of a third uplink carrier corresponding to each downlink carrier activated by the base station.

With reference to the eighth aspect, in a first implementation manner of the eighth aspect, the determining a third uplink carrier corresponding to each downlink carrier that has been activated by the base station includes:

the UE receives a CSI reporting indication message sent by the base station; the CSI reporting indication message is used for indicating activated third uplink carriers corresponding to the activated downlink carriers determined by the base station;

and determining a third uplink carrier corresponding to each downlink carrier activated by the base station according to the CSI reporting indication message.

With reference to the eighth aspect and the first implementation manner of the eighth aspect, in a second implementation manner of the eighth aspect, the determining a third uplink carrier corresponding to each downlink carrier that has been activated by the base station includes:

and determining a third uplink carrier corresponding to each downlink carrier activated by the base station according to a preset corresponding relation between the downlink carrier and the third uplink carrier.

With reference to the eighth aspect and the first to second embodiments of the eighth aspect, in a third embodiment of the eighth aspect, before the UE measures each downlink carrier that has been activated by the base station, the method further includes:

receiving a fourth reconfiguration message sent by the base station, where the fourth reconfiguration message is used to indicate a carrier configured for the UE.

With reference to the eighth aspect and the third embodiment of the eighth aspect, in a fourth embodiment of the eighth aspect, the method further includes:

receiving a fourth carrier activation indication message sent by the base station, where the fourth carrier activation indication message is used to indicate carriers activated and/or deactivated for the UE, where the carriers activated for the UE are carriers that are not activated for at least part of carriers configured for the UE, and the carriers deactivated for the UE are carriers that are activated for at least part of carriers of the carriers activated for the UE.

In a ninth aspect, there is provided a base station, comprising:

a first sending module, configured to send a first reconfiguration message to a user equipment UE; the first reconfiguration message is used to indicate at least two carrier groups allocated to the UE, the UE is configured with at least two carriers, the at least two carriers include at least one uplink carrier and at least one downlink carrier, the at least two carrier groups are obtained by grouping, by the base station, all carriers configured to the UE, the number of uplink carriers and the number of downlink carriers of each carrier group do not exceed 8, the at least two carrier groups include at least one first carrier group, the first carrier group includes an activated carrier, the activated carrier in the first carrier group includes at least one first downlink carrier, the first downlink carrier is configured with a physical downlink control channel PDCCH, the PDCCH carries downlink control information DCI, and the DCI is used to schedule the activated carrier in the carrier group where the first downlink carrier is located;

a first scheduling module, configured to send a PDCCH on the first downlink carrier.

With reference to the ninth aspect, in a first implementation manner of the ninth aspect, each carrier group includes at least one first downlink carrier, where the first downlink carrier in one carrier group is a downlink main carrier of the UE, and an uplink main carrier and a downlink main carrier of the UE are in the same carrier group; and the first downlink carrier in the carrier groups except the carrier group in which the main carrier is positioned is the downlink auxiliary carrier.

With reference to the ninth aspect and the first implementation manner of the ninth aspect, in a second implementation manner of the ninth aspect, the DCI includes a carrier index indication field CIF, the CIF includes 3 bits, an index of a carrier indicated by the CIF is C, Cmod8 is x, and x is an indication value of the CIF.

With reference to the ninth aspect and the first and second embodiments of the ninth aspect, in a third embodiment of the ninth aspect, the first sending module is further configured to,

With reference to the ninth aspect and the third implementation manner of the ninth aspect, in a fourth implementation manner of the ninth aspect, the first carrier activation indication message includes secondary carrier indication bits;

With reference to the ninth aspect and the first to fourth embodiments of the ninth aspect, in a fifth embodiment of the ninth aspect, the activated carriers in each first carrier group include at least one first uplink carrier, and a physical uplink control channel PUCCH is configured on the first uplink carrier.

With reference to the ninth aspect and the first to fifth implementations of the ninth aspect, in a sixth implementation of the ninth aspect, the base station further includes a first channel state information, CSI, module configured to,

In a tenth aspect, there is provided a user equipment, comprising:

a first receiving module, configured to receive a first reconfiguration message sent by a base station; wherein the first reconfiguration message is to indicate at least two carrier groups allocated for the UE, the UE is configured with at least two carriers comprising at least one uplink carrier and at least one downlink carrier, the at least two carrier groups are obtained by grouping all carriers configured for the UE by the base station, the uplink carrier number and the downlink carrier number of each carrier group do not exceed 8, the at least two carrier groups comprising at least one first carrier group comprising activated carriers, the activated carriers in the first carrier group comprise at least one first downlink carrier configured with a physical downlink control channel, PDCCH, the PDCCH carries downlink control information DCI, and the DCI is used for scheduling activated carriers in a carrier group where the first downlink carrier is located;

and a second sending module, configured to receive the PDCCH on the first downlink carrier, and send and receive data on the activated carrier under an indication of the DCI carried by the received PDCCH.

With reference to the tenth aspect, in a first implementation manner of the tenth aspect, each carrier group includes at least one first downlink carrier, where the first downlink carrier in one carrier group is a downlink main carrier of the UE, and an uplink main carrier and a downlink main carrier of the UE are in the same carrier group; and the first downlink carrier in the carrier groups except the carrier group in which the main carrier is positioned is the downlink auxiliary carrier.

With reference to the tenth aspect and the first implementation manner of the tenth aspect, in a second implementation manner of the tenth aspect, the DCI includes a carrier index indication field CIF, the CIF includes 3 bits, an index of a carrier indicated by the CIF is C, Cmod8 is x, and x is an indication value of the CIF.

With reference to the tenth aspect and the first to second embodiments of the tenth aspect, in a third embodiment of the tenth aspect, the first receiving module is further configured to,

With reference to the tenth aspect and the third implementation manner of the tenth aspect, in a fourth implementation manner of the tenth aspect, the first carrier activation indication message includes a secondary carrier indication bit;

With reference to the tenth aspect and the first to fourth embodiments of the tenth aspect, in a fifth embodiment of the tenth aspect, the activated carriers in each first carrier group include at least one first uplink carrier on which a physical uplink control channel PUCCH is configured.

With reference to the tenth aspect and the fifth embodiment of the tenth aspect, in a sixth embodiment of the tenth aspect, the second sending module is further configured to,

In an eleventh aspect, there is provided a base station comprising a processor and a memory, the processor being configured to execute the following instructions:

sending a first reconfiguration message to User Equipment (UE);

transmitting a PDCCH on the first downlink carrier.

In a twelfth aspect, a user equipment is provided, comprising a processor and a memory, the processor being configured to execute the following instructions:

receiving a first reconfiguration message sent by a base station;

wherein the first reconfiguration message is used for indicating at least two carrier groups allocated for the User Equipment (UE), the UE is configured with at least two carriers comprising at least one uplink carrier and at least one downlink carrier, the at least two carrier groups are obtained by grouping all carriers configured for the UE by the base station, the uplink carrier number and the downlink carrier number of each carrier group do not exceed 8, the at least two carrier groups comprising at least one first carrier group comprising activated carriers, the activated carriers in the first carrier group comprise at least one first downlink carrier configured with a physical downlink control channel, PDCCH, the PDCCH carries downlink control information DCI, and the DCI is used for scheduling activated carriers in a carrier group where the first downlink carrier is located;

In a thirteenth aspect, a carrier management system is provided, where the system includes a base station and a user equipment, where the base station is the foregoing base station, and the user equipment is the foregoing user equipment.

In a fourteenth aspect, a base station is provided, which includes:

a second receiving module, configured to receive a first carrier indication message sent by a user equipment UE; the first carrier indication message is used for indicating an auxiliary carrier set to be scheduled to the base station, wherein the auxiliary carrier set comprises K activated auxiliary carriers, and K is an integer and is not more than 7;

a second scheduling module, configured to schedule at least one secondary carrier in the primary carrier and the secondary carrier set to the UE according to the first carrier indication message; the downlink main carrier of the UE is configured with a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), and the PDCCH bears Downlink Control Information (DCI).

With reference to the fourteenth aspect, in a first implementation manner of the fourteenth aspect, the second receiving module is further configured to,

the second scheduling module is further configured to schedule the primary carrier and at least one secondary carrier in the updated set of secondary carriers to be scheduled to the UE according to a second carrier indication message.

With reference to the fourteenth aspect and the first implementation manner of the fourteenth aspect, in a second implementation manner of the fourteenth aspect, the base station further includes a third sending module, where the third sending module is configured to,

With reference to the fourteenth aspect and the second implementation manner of the fourteenth aspect, in a third implementation manner of the fourteenth aspect, the third sending module is further configured to,

In a fifteenth aspect, a user equipment is provided, the user equipment comprising:

a first determining module, configured to determine an auxiliary carrier set to be scheduled by a base station, where the auxiliary carrier set includes K activated auxiliary carriers, and K is an integer and is not greater than 7;

a fourth sending module, configured to send a first carrier indication message to the base station, where the first carrier indication message is used to indicate, to the base station, an auxiliary carrier set to be scheduled;

and a third receiving module, configured to receive a physical downlink control channel PDCCH on a downlink primary carrier of the UE, and send and receive data on a carrier scheduled by the base station to the UE according to downlink control information DCI carried by the PDCCH.

With reference to the fifteenth aspect, in a first implementation manner of the fifteenth aspect, the first determining module is configured to,

With reference to the fifteenth aspect and the first implementation manner of the fifteenth aspect, in a second implementation manner of the fifteenth aspect, the first determining module is further configured to,

the fourth sending module is further configured to,

With reference to the fifteenth aspect and the first and second embodiments of the fifteenth aspect, in a third embodiment of the fifteenth aspect, the third receiving module is further configured to,

With reference to the fifteenth aspect and the third implementation manner of the fifteenth aspect, in a fourth implementation manner of the fifteenth aspect, the third receiving module is further configured to,

In a sixteenth aspect, there is provided a base station comprising a processor and a memory, the processor being configured to execute the following instructions:

receiving a first carrier indication message sent by User Equipment (UE); the first carrier indication message is used for indicating an auxiliary carrier set to be scheduled to the base station, wherein the auxiliary carrier set comprises K activated auxiliary carriers, and K is an integer and is not more than 7;

scheduling a primary carrier and at least one secondary carrier in the secondary carrier set to the UE according to the first carrier indication message; the downlink main carrier of the UE is configured with a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), and the PDCCH bears Downlink Control Information (DCI).

In a seventeenth aspect, a user equipment is provided, comprising a processor and a memory, the processor being configured to execute the following instructions:

determining an auxiliary carrier set to be scheduled by a base station, wherein the auxiliary carrier set comprises K activated auxiliary carriers, and K is an integer and is not more than 7;

sending a first carrier indication message to the base station, wherein the first carrier indication message is used for indicating an auxiliary carrier set to be scheduled to the base station;

and receiving a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) on a downlink main carrier of the User Equipment (UE), and transmitting and receiving data on a carrier scheduled to the UE by the base station according to Downlink Control Information (DCI) carried by the PDCCH.

In an eighteenth aspect, a carrier management system is provided, where the system includes a base station and a user equipment, where the base station is the foregoing base station, and the user equipment is the foregoing user equipment.

In a nineteenth aspect, there is provided a base station, comprising:

a fifth sending module, configured to send a third carrier activation indication message to the UE;

a fourth receiving module, configured to receive, on a PUSCH resource of the second uplink carrier that has been activated for the UE, channel state information CSI of each activated downlink carrier that is reported by the UE.

With reference to the nineteenth aspect, in a first implementation of the nineteenth aspect, the fourth receiving module includes:

a first obtaining unit, configured to obtain a reporting period point of CSI of each activated downlink carrier according to a reporting period and offset of CSI of a preset downlink carrier;

a receiving unit, configured to receive, on the PUSCH resource of the second uplink carrier that has been activated for the UE, CSI of each activated downlink carrier that is reported by the UE according to the obtained reporting cycle point of the CSI of each activated downlink carrier;

With reference to the nineteenth aspect and the first implementation manner of the nineteenth aspect, in a second implementation manner of the nineteenth aspect, the fifth sending module is further configured to,

In a twentieth aspect, a user equipment is provided, the user equipment comprising:

a fifth receiving module, configured to receive a third carrier activation indication message sent by the base station;

and a sixth sending module, configured to send the channel state information CSI of each activated downlink carrier on the PUSCH resource of the activated second uplink carrier.

With reference to the twentieth aspect, in a first implementation manner of the twentieth aspect, the sixth transmitting module includes:

a second obtaining unit, configured to obtain a reporting period point of the CSI of each activated downlink carrier according to a reporting period and offset of a preset CSI of the downlink carrier;

a sending unit, configured to send, according to the obtained reporting cycle point of the CSI of each activated downlink carrier, the CSI of each activated downlink carrier on the PUSCH resource of the activated second uplink carrier;

With reference to the twentieth aspect and the first implementation manner of the twentieth aspect, in a second implementation manner of the twentieth aspect, the fifth receiving module is further configured to,

In a twenty-first aspect, there is provided a base station comprising a processor and a memory, the processor being configured to execute the following instructions:

sending a third carrier activation indication message to the user equipment UE;

In a twenty-second aspect, a user equipment is provided, comprising a processor and a memory, the processor being configured to execute the following instructions:

receiving a third carrier activation indication message sent by the base station;

A twenty-third aspect provides a carrier management system, where the system includes a base station and a user equipment, where the base station is the foregoing base station, and the user equipment is the foregoing user equipment.

In a twenty-fourth aspect, there is provided a base station comprising:

a second determining module, configured to determine a third uplink carrier that has been activated for the UE and corresponds to each downlink carrier that has been activated for the UE; each third uplink carrier activated for the UE corresponds to at least one downlink carrier activated for the UE, the downlink carriers corresponding to the third uplink carriers activated for the UE are different, each third uplink carrier is configured with a physical uplink control channel PUCCH, and the number of the third uplink carriers activated for the UE is not less than 2;

a sixth receiving module, configured to receive a PUCCH on a third uplink carrier that has been activated for the UE and corresponds to each downlink carrier that has been activated for the UE, and obtain channel state information CSI of each downlink carrier that has been activated for the UE.

With reference to the twenty-fourth aspect, in a first implementation manner of the twenty-fourth aspect, the base station further includes a seventh sending module, where the seventh sending module is configured to,

With reference to the twenty-fourth aspect, in a second embodiment of the twenty-fourth aspect, the second determining module is configured to,

With reference to the twenty-fourth aspect and the first and second embodiments of the twenty-fourth aspect, in a third embodiment of the twenty-fourth aspect, the seventh sending module is further configured to,

With reference to the twenty-fourth aspect and the third implementation manner of the twenty-fourth aspect, in a fourth implementation manner of the twenty-fourth aspect, the seventh sending module is further configured to,

In a twenty-fifth aspect, a user equipment is provided, the user equipment comprising:

the measurement module is used for respectively measuring each downlink carrier activated by the base station to obtain the channel state information CSI of each downlink carrier activated by the base station;

a third determining module, configured to determine a third uplink carrier corresponding to each downlink carrier that has been activated by the base station; each third uplink carrier activated by the base station corresponds to at least one downlink carrier activated by the base station, the downlink carriers corresponding to the third uplink carriers activated by the base station are different, each third uplink carrier is configured with a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), and the number of the third uplink carriers activated by the base station is not less than 2;

and an eighth sending module, configured to send, on a PUCCH of a third uplink carrier corresponding to each downlink carrier that has been activated by the base station, CSI of each obtained downlink carrier that has been activated by the base station.

With reference to the twenty-fifth aspect, in a first implementation of the twenty-fifth aspect, the third determining module is configured to,

With reference to the twenty-fifth aspect, in a second implementation of the twenty-fifth aspect, the third determining module is configured to,

With reference to the twenty-fifth aspect and the first and second embodiments of the twenty-fifth aspect, in a third embodiment of the twenty-fifth aspect, the user equipment further comprises a seventh receiving module,

the seventh receiving module is configured to receive a fourth reconfiguration message sent by the base station, where the fourth reconfiguration message is used to indicate a carrier configured for the UE.

With reference to the twenty-fifth aspect and the third implementation manner of the twenty-fifth aspect, in a fourth implementation manner of the twenty-fifth aspect, the seventh receiving module is further configured to,

In a twenty-sixth aspect, there is provided a base station comprising a processor and a memory, the processor being configured to execute the following instructions:

determining a third uplink carrier which is activated for User Equipment (UE) and corresponds to each downlink carrier which is activated for the UE; each third uplink carrier activated for the UE corresponds to at least one downlink carrier activated for the UE, the downlink carriers corresponding to the third uplink carriers activated for the UE are different, each third uplink carrier is configured with a physical uplink control channel PUCCH, and the number of the third uplink carriers activated for the UE is not less than 2;

In a twenty-seventh aspect, a user equipment is provided, comprising a processor and a memory, the processor being configured to execute the following instructions:

respectively measuring each downlink carrier activated by the base station to obtain Channel State Information (CSI) of each downlink carrier activated by the base station;

In a twenty-eighth aspect, a carrier management system is provided, where the system includes a base station and a user equipment, the base station is the foregoing base station, and the user equipment is the foregoing user equipment.

The technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention has the beneficial effects that:

allocating at least two carrier groups to the UE through the eNB, wherein the uplink carrier number and the downlink carrier number of each carrier group do not exceed 8, the at least two carrier groups comprise at least one first carrier group, the first carrier group comprises carriers which are activated for the UE, the carriers which are activated for the UE in the first carrier group comprise at least one first downlink carrier, and the first downlink carrier is configured with a PDCCH (physical Downlink control channel); an eNB configures a PDCCH on a first downlink carrier activated for UE, wherein the PDCCH carries DCI which is used for scheduling the activated carrier in a carrier group where the first downlink carrier is located; thus, the DCI in the existing protocol has a 3-bit field for indicating the carrier index number, 8 carriers can be scheduled at most, and the number of uplink carriers and the number of downlink carriers of each carrier group do not exceed 8, so that the UE and the eNB can use scheduling after aggregating a large number of carriers on the premise of maintaining the structure of the existing DCI.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings needed to be used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious for those skilled in the art to obtain other drawings based on these drawings without creative efforts.

Fig. 1 and fig. 2 are schematic diagrams of a first application scenario and a second application scenario respectively provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3-5 are flowcharts illustrating a carrier management method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 and fig. 7 are flowcharts illustrating still another carrier management method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 8 and fig. 9 are flowcharts illustrating still another carrier management method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 10-12 are flowcharts illustrating still another carrier management method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 13-fig. 15 are schematic structural diagrams of a base station according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 16-18 are schematic structural diagrams of a user equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 19 is a schematic diagram of a carrier management system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 20-22 are schematic structural diagrams of another base station according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 23-25 are schematic structural diagrams of still another user equipment provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 26 is a schematic diagram of another carrier management system provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 27-29 are schematic structural diagrams of another base station according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 30-32 are schematic structural diagrams of still another user equipment provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 33 is a schematic diagram of another carrier management system provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 34-36 are schematic structural diagrams of another base station according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 37-39 are schematic structural diagrams of still another user equipment provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 40 is a schematic diagram of another carrier management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more apparent, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

To facilitate understanding of the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present invention, a situation that a base station (Evolved Node B, eNB for short) configures a carrier for a User Equipment (User Equipment, UE for short) is first described. In the current protocol, there are three cases of configuring carriers. The first scenario is that in the initial random access process, the eNB configures a pair of primary carriers for the UE, including an uplink primary carrier and a downlink primary carrier, so that the UE and the eNB establish Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol connection. The Uplink primary carrier is configured with a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), and the Downlink primary carrier is configured with a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH). The second situation is that after the UE establishes RRC connection with the eNB, the eNB configures a large number of carriers (which may be referred to as secondary carriers) for the UE, except for the primary carrier, and schedules the UE for uplink and downlink transmission, where the configuration is referred to as reconfiguration, and the reconfiguration process may occur multiple times. The third situation is that when the base station is switched, the base station to be switched configures a large number of carriers (including a primary carrier and a secondary carrier) for the UE. The first scenario may be referred to as a configuration of carriers, and the second scenario and the third scenario may both be referred to as a reconfiguration of carriers. Carrier aggregation, which typically occurs when a carrier is reconfigured, is due to the large number of carriers that need to be configured for a UE when the carrier is reconfigured.

After carrier reconfiguration, i.e. after the eNB configures a large number of carriers for the UE, the eNB needs to activate at least some of the configured and yet inactive carriers for the UE. Only after the carriers are activated, the UE can transceive data on the activated carriers. However, there is a special case that the primary carrier configured for the UE by the eNB before the carrier reconfiguration does not need to be activated, and the primary carrier will always be in an activated state.

In addition, the application scenarios of the technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present invention include, but are not limited to, the following two scenarios. The first scenario is that the UE only receives and transmits data from one base station in a time period, and the carriers used by the UE are provided by one base station, as shown in fig. 1; the second scenario is that the UE simultaneously transmits and receives data from two or more base stations, and the carrier used by the UE is provided by multiple base stations, as shown in fig. 2. A Dual-Connectivity (DC) scenario belongs to a typical scenario in the second scenario. In a DC scenario, a UE simultaneously transmits and receives data to and from two base stations, one base station is called a Macro base station (Macro eNB) and the other base station is called a Small Cell eNB. The macro base station and the small base station can both receive and transmit data to the UE, and the difference is that the macro base station provides RRC connection management and also can provide data service transmission, and the small base station can only provide data service transmission. The base station in the embodiment of the present invention may be a base station in a first scenario, or may be any base station in a second scenario.

The embodiment of the invention provides a method for managing four sets of carriers, which comprises a first set of method, a second set of method, a third set of method and a fourth set of method. The first set of methods is as follows.

Example one

An embodiment of the present invention provides a carrier management method, and referring to fig. 3, the method includes:

step 101, the eNB sends a first reconfiguration message to the UE.

The first reconfiguration message is used to indicate at least two carrier groups allocated to the UE, the UE is configured with at least two carriers, the at least two carriers include at least one uplink carrier and at least one Downlink carrier, the at least two carrier groups are obtained by grouping all carriers configured to the UE by an eNB, both the uplink carrier number and the Downlink carrier number of each carrier group do not exceed 8, the at least two carrier groups include at least one first carrier group, the first carrier group includes an activated carrier, the activated carrier in the first carrier group includes at least one first Downlink carrier, the first Downlink carrier is configured with a PDCCH, and the PDCCH carries Downlink Control Information (DCI) used to schedule the activated carrier in the carrier group where the first Downlink carrier is located.

Wherein the carriers in each carrier group are different.

The carrier includes a primary carrier and a secondary carrier. The primary carriers generally have a pair, including an uplink primary carrier and a downlink primary carrier. The auxiliary carrier includes an uplink auxiliary carrier and a downlink auxiliary carrier. Each carrier group comprises at least one first downlink carrier, wherein the first downlink carrier in one carrier group is a downlink main carrier of the UE, and an uplink main carrier and the downlink main carrier of the UE are in the same carrier group; and the first downlink carrier in the carrier groups except the carrier group in which the main carrier is positioned is the downlink auxiliary carrier.

Besides at least one first downlink carrier, there may be other downlink carriers without a PDCCH in one carrier group, and there may be other uplink carriers without a PUCCH in addition to at least one first uplink carrier.

In an optional embodiment, the carriers that have been activated for the UE in the first carrier group include at least one first uplink carrier with a PUCCH configuration. The uplink main carrier configured for the UE is a first uplink carrier.

In the carriers activated for the UE, both the uplink primary carrier and the downlink primary carrier must exist, but the uplink secondary carrier does not necessarily exist, or only the downlink secondary carrier may not have the uplink secondary carrier, and then the number of the downlink secondary carrier and the number of the uplink secondary carrier are not necessarily equal, and generally the number of the downlink secondary carrier is greater than or equal to the number of the uplink secondary carrier.

The DCI includes a carrier index indication field (CIF), the CIF includes 3 bits, an index of a carrier indicated by the CIF is C, Cmod8 is x, and x is an indication value of the CIF.

Step 102, the eNB sends a PDCCH on the first downlink carrier that has been activated for the UE.

The DCI carried by the PDCCH is used to schedule the activated carriers in the carrier group in which the first downlink carrier is located.

Step 103, the UE receives the PDCCH on the activated first downlink carrier, and transmits and receives data on the activated carrier under the indication of the DCI carried by the received PDCCH.

In the embodiment of the invention, at least two carrier groups are configured for UE through an eNB, the number of uplink carriers and the number of downlink carriers of each carrier group do not exceed 8, the at least two carrier groups comprise at least one first carrier group, the first carrier group comprises activated carriers, and the activated carriers in the first carrier group comprise at least one first downlink carrier configured with a PDCCH. Thus, because the DCI in the existing protocol has a 3-bit field for indicating the carrier index number, 8 carriers can be scheduled at most, and the number of uplink carriers and the number of downlink carriers of each carrier group do not exceed 8, it is possible to implement scheduling after aggregation of a large number of carriers by both the UE and the eNB on the premise of maintaining the structure of the existing DCI.

Example two

An embodiment of the present invention provides a carrier management method, and referring to fig. 4, the method includes:

step 201, the eNB sends a first reconfiguration message to the UE.

Wherein the first reconfiguration message is used for indicating at least two carrier groups allocated for the UE. The eNB configures at least two carriers for the UE, wherein the at least two carriers comprise at least one uplink carrier and at least one downlink carrier, the at least two carriers are divided into at least two carrier groups, the number of the uplink carriers and the number of the downlink carriers of each carrier group are not more than 8, and each carrier group comprises at least one first downlink carrier. The first downlink carrier is configured with a PDCCH.

Wherein the carriers in each carrier group are different.

The total number of carriers configured by the eNB for the UE may be greater than 8, or may not be greater than 8.

Each carrier group comprises at least one first downlink carrier, wherein the first downlink carrier in one carrier group is a downlink main carrier of the UE, and the uplink main carrier and the downlink main carrier of the UE are in the same carrier group; and the first downlink carrier in the carrier groups except the carrier group in which the main carrier is positioned is the downlink auxiliary carrier.

In an optional embodiment, each carrier group includes at least one first uplink carrier with a PUCCH configuration. The first uplink carrier in the carrier group in which the primary carrier is located may be an uplink primary carrier configured for the UE.

As an optional implementation, each intra-carrier group carrier has the same Timing Advance (TA), but it is not limited whether the TAs of different intra-carrier groups are the same. The TA is used to indicate the timing relationship between the uplink transmission time and the downlink arrival.

The UE receives a first reconfiguration message sent by the eNB.

It should be noted that, before sending the first reconfiguration message, the eNB may configure multiple carriers for the same UE multiple times, and each time configure several carriers for the UE. When determining the carrier group to be allocated to the UE, the eNB groups all carriers allocated to the UE into carrier groups.

Wherein, the PDCCH carries DCI. The DCI is used to schedule activated carriers in a carrier group in which a first downlink carrier that has been activated for the UE is located.

The DCI includes a CIF, the CIF includes 3 bits, an index number of a carrier indicated by the CIF is C, Cmod8 is x, and x is an indication value of the CIF.

Specifically, if the value range of the carrier index is 0 to 7, the index of the carrier indicated by the CIF is the same as the indicated value of the CIF. And if the value range of the carrier index number is 0-31, the operation value of the carrier index number indicated by the CIF after being modulo 8 is the same as the indicated value of the CIF. It can be seen that the indication value of the same CIF may indicate 2 or more carriers. Therefore, when the eNB allocates the carrier group, the operation result of modulo-8 of the index number of each carrier in the same carrier group is different.

Step 202, the eNB sends a first carrier activation indication message to the UE.

The first carrier activation indication message is used for indicating an auxiliary carrier which is activated and/or deactivated for the UE, the auxiliary carrier which is activated for the UE is an inactivated carrier in carriers configured for the UE by the eNB, and the auxiliary carrier which is deactivated for the UE is an activated carrier in the carriers configured for the UE.

In the existing protocol, Activation/Deactivation (Activation/Deactivation) of a Media Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) signaling indication carrier is generally adopted. The Activation/Deactivation MAC CE signaling provides a 7-bit field as an indication bit of the secondary carrier, (counted from the right side), the 1 st bit corresponds to the 1 st secondary carrier, and the 2 nd bit corresponds to the 2 nd secondary carrier. Where the primary carrier has to be activated, there is no need for the Activation/Deactivation MAC CE to indicate Activation and/or Deactivation. And, the Activation/Deactivation MAC CE signaling also provides a 1-bit reserved bit (0 bit from the right).

The first carrier Activation indication message may be obtained by updating an Activation/Deactivation MAC CE signaling, for example, by expanding the Activation/Deactivation MAC CE and occupying a 1-bit reserved bit.

The first carrier activation indication message comprises auxiliary carrier indication bits, and the auxiliary carrier indication bits have two formats. In a first format, the secondary carrier indicator bits include T bits, T being equal to the maximum number of carriers aggregated, the ith bit corresponding to the ith carrier, i being 0, 1, 2, 1. If the T bits are not whole bytes, reserved bits may be allowed in order to make the whole bytes full. In a second format, the second auxiliary carrier indicator bit includes 8 bits, where the index number of the carrier corresponding to the jth bit of the 0 th to 7 th bits of the 8 bits is C ', C' mod8 ═ j, and j is 0, 1.

For carrier groups except the carrier group in which the primary carrier is located, the first activated carrier should be the first downlink secondary carrier with PDCCH and the first uplink secondary carrier with PUCCH. For a carrier group except the carrier group in which the main carrier is located, if the first downlink auxiliary carrier with the PDCCH is deactivated, deactivating all downlink auxiliary carriers in the carrier group; and if the first uplink auxiliary carrier with the PUCCH in the carrier group except the carrier group in which the main carrier is positioned is deactivated, deactivating all the first uplink auxiliary carriers in the carrier group.

Since the Activation/Deactivation MAC CE signaling belongs to the upper Layer signaling of the Physical Layer (PHY for short), updating the Activation/Deactivation MAC CE signaling will not affect the structure of the PHY.

In combination with the format of the first carrier activation indication message, the present embodiment provides two ways to send the first carrier activation indication message.

The first transmission mode may use a second format, and when the second format is used, the activation indication message may be transmitted only in the carrier group where the primary carrier is located. And when the carriers to be activated are distributed in a plurality of carrier groups, the eNB sequentially sends a plurality of first carrier activation indication messages according to the carrier group identification sequence to indicate the carriers to be activated in different carrier groups. Or the activation indication message in the first format is sent in the carrier group where the main carrier is located, and the activation and deactivation indication of different carrier groups can be indicated only by sending once.

In a second transmission manner, when the activated downlink carrier exists in the carrier group where the carrier to be activated is located, the eNB may transmit a first carrier activation indication message through the activated downlink carrier in the carrier group where the carrier to be activated is located, so as to activate the carrier to be activated in the carrier group. At this time, the first carrier activation indication message may take the second format.

And in the third transmission mode, when no active carrier exists in the first carrier group, the first transmission mode is adopted to transmit the carrier activation indication message, and when one active carrier exists in the first carrier group, the second transmission mode is adopted to transmit the carrier activation indication message.

The UE receives a first carrier activation indication message sent by the eNB.

Step 203, the eNB sends the PDCCH on the first downlink carrier that has been activated for the UE.

After the eNB activates the carrier for the UE, the eNB may determine DCI carried by the PDCCH according to the activated carrier. After determining the DCI, the PDCCH is transmitted on the first downlink carrier that has been activated for the UE.

Step 204, the UE receives the PDCCH on the activated first downlink carrier, and transmits and receives data on the activated carrier according to the indication of the DCI carried by the received PDCCH.

Step 205, the UE reports a Power Headroom Report (PHR for short) of each activated carrier.

This step is optional and is only reported if the PHR can report.

The UE may report the PHR of each activated carrier in three ways. In the first mode, the UE reports the PHR of each activated carrier via any activated uplink carrier. In the second way, the UE reports the PHR of each activated carrier in each first carrier group through any activated uplink carrier in the carrier group in which the primary carrier is located. In the third mode, each carrier group is responsible for reporting the PHR of the activated carriers in the carrier group. And the UE reports the PHR of each activated carrier in the first carrier group to which the UE belongs on the activated uplink carrier in each first carrier group. The three modes operate independently, one of the three modes is written by a protocol in an explicit way, or the eNB configures a PHR reporting mode adopted by each UE.

The existing reporting mode of the PHR is to report to the eNB through PHR MAC CE signaling. In the existing protocol, the format of PHR MAC CE signaling is similar to that of Activation/Deactivation MAC CE signaling, and a 7-bit field is provided as a carrier indicator bit, which can only indicate PHR of 7 secondary carriers at most. In order to meet the requirement, the format of the PHR MAC CE signaling may be updated to obtain an updated PHR indication signaling. The format of the updated PHR indication signaling may refer to the format of the first carrier activation indication message.

Wherein, the eNB receives PHR of each activated carrier reported by the UE.

Step 206, the UE reports the Channel State Information (CSI) of the activated downlink carrier.

The UE may report the CSI of the activated downlink carrier to the eNB by using an existing CSI reporting mechanism. In an Advanced Long Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE-a) system, periodic CSI reporting is actively reported by a UE, and the UE feeds back on a PUCCH configured by a primary uplink carrier.

The CSI of each downlink carrier has a reporting period and an offset (i.e., a subframe of a starting position) that are independent of each other, and a reporting period point of the CSI of each downlink carrier can be determined according to the reporting period and the offset. For example, assuming that the preset reporting period of the CSI of the downlink carrier CC1 is 5 and the preset offset is 1, the reporting period point of the CSI of the CC1 is subframes 1, 6, 11, 16, 21, 26, and. For another example, assuming that the preset reporting period of the CSI of the downlink carrier CC2 is 2 and the preset offset is 0, the reporting period point of the CSI of the CC2 is subframes 2, 4, 6, 10, 12, 14, 16,. the UE will feed back the CSI of the CC2 on subframes 2, 4, 6, 10, 12, 14, 16,. the. It can be seen that the UE needs to feed back CSI for both CC1 and CC2 carriers simultaneously on subframes 6, 16. However, the PUCCH only carries CSI of one downlink carrier at a time due to the limitation of PUCCH capacity. When two or more downlink carriers need to feed back periodic CSI in one subframe at the same time, the CSI of the downlink carriers with high priority is preferentially reported and the CSI of the downlink carriers with low priority is discarded according to the priority sequence of the downlink carriers.

Wherein the eNB receives CSI of the activated downlink carrier.

In the embodiment of the invention, an eNB configures at least two carrier groups for UE, the number of uplink carriers and the number of downlink carriers of each carrier group do not exceed 8, the at least two carrier groups comprise at least one first carrier group, the first carrier group comprises carriers which are activated for the UE, the carriers which are activated for the UE in the first carrier group comprise at least one first downlink carrier, and the first downlink carrier is configured with a PDCCH (physical Downlink control channel); the method comprises the steps that an eNB configures a PDCCH on a first downlink carrier activated for UE, wherein the PDCCH carries DCI, and the DCI is used for scheduling the activated carrier in a carrier group where the first downlink carrier activated for the UE is located; thus, because the DCI in the existing protocol has a 3-bit field for indicating the carrier index number, 8 carriers can be scheduled at most, and the number of uplink carriers and the number of downlink carriers of each carrier group do not exceed 8, it is possible to implement scheduling after aggregation of a large number of carriers by both the UE and the eNB on the premise of maintaining the structure of the existing DCI.

EXAMPLE III

An embodiment of the present invention provides a carrier management method, and referring to fig. 5, the method includes:

step 301, the eNB sends a first reconfiguration message to the UE.

Here, step 301 is the same as step 201 in the second embodiment, and is not described herein again.

Wherein the UE receives the second reconfiguration message.

Step 302, the eNB sends a first carrier activation indication message to the UE.

In an optional embodiment, the activated carriers in each first carrier group include at least one first uplink carrier, and a PUCCH is configured on the first uplink carrier.

The UE receives a first carrier activation indication message.

Step 303, the eNB sends the PDCCH on the first downlink carrier that has been activated for the UE.

This step 303 is the same as step 203 in the second embodiment, and is not described herein again.

Step 304, the UE receives the PDCCH on the activated first downlink carrier, and transmits and receives data on the activated carrier according to the indication of the DCI carried by the received PDCCH.

This step 304 is the same as step 204 in the second embodiment, and is not described herein again.

And 305, reporting the PHR of each activated carrier by the UE.

Step 305 is the same as step 205 in the second embodiment, and is not described herein again.

Step 306, the UE reports the CSI of the activated downlink carrier.

In this embodiment, the UE may report CSI of each activated downlink carrier in the carrier where the first uplink carrier is located on the PUCCH of the activated first uplink carrier in each first carrier group. The UE may report the CSI according to a preset period and offset of each activated downlink carrier. Because the number of downlink carriers in one carrier group is not more than 8, the collision probability caused by the fact that the CSI of all downlink carriers is reported through the PUCCH configured by the main uplink carrier is reduced, and more CSI of the downlink carriers can be reported.

The eNB receives CSI of the activated downlink carrier reported by the UE.

The second set of methods is as follows.

Example four

An embodiment of the present invention provides a carrier management method, and referring to fig. 6, the method includes:

step 401, the UE determines an auxiliary carrier set to be scheduled by the eNB.

The secondary carrier set comprises K activated secondary carriers, and K is an integer and not more than 7.

And the UE respectively measures each activated auxiliary carrier to obtain the measured value of each activated auxiliary carrier. The measurement method may be layer three measurement according to radio resource management, or may be Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) measurement according to each carrier. And determining an auxiliary carrier set to be scheduled by the eNB according to the measured value of each activated auxiliary carrier, wherein the measured value of the carrier in the auxiliary carrier set is greater than a first preset threshold value.

Specifically, the eNB may configure the first predetermined threshold value to the UE in advance. And if the number of the secondary carriers reaching the first preset threshold value exceeds 7, taking the best 7 secondary carriers from high to low as the secondary carriers which can be scheduled by the eNB according to the measured values.

Step 402, the UE sends a first carrier indication message to the eNB.

The first carrier indication message is used for indicating a secondary carrier set to be scheduled to the eNB.

Step 403, the eNB receives the first carrier indication message.

And step 404, the eNB schedules at least one auxiliary carrier in the main carrier and the auxiliary carrier set to the UE according to the first carrier indication message.

The downlink main carrier of the UE is configured with a PDCCH, and the PDCCH carries DCI, and the DCI is used for scheduling a carrier to the UE.

Step 405, the UE receives the PDCCH on the downlink primary carrier, and transmits and receives data on the carrier scheduled to the UE by the eNB according to the indication of the DCI carried by the received PDCCH.

Optionally, the number of the secondary carriers available for the eNB to schedule may be configured to the UE by the eNB, and then the UE selects a suitable number of secondary carriers according to the configuration of the eNB, and transmits data on the primary carriers and the secondary carriers.

The embodiment of the invention determines an auxiliary carrier set to be scheduled by an eNB through UE, wherein the auxiliary carrier set comprises no more than 7 activated auxiliary carriers; the eNB schedules the main carrier and at least part of auxiliary carriers in the auxiliary carrier set to the UE; the number of the auxiliary carriers to be scheduled by the eNB is not more than 7, and the number of the scheduled carriers is not more than 8 by adding the main carrier; a PDCCH is configured on a downlink main carrier, and DCI is configured on the PDCCH and used for scheduling all activated carriers; because the DCI in the existing protocol can schedule 8 carriers at most, and the number of the scheduled carriers is not more than 8, the UE and the eNB can schedule and use a large number of carriers after aggregating on the premise of keeping the structure of the existing DCI unchanged.

EXAMPLE five

An embodiment of the present invention provides a carrier management method, and referring to fig. 7, the method includes:

step 501, the eNB sends a second reconfiguration message to the UE.

The second reconfiguration message is used to indicate the eNB to configure the secondary carrier for the UE, where the secondary carrier configured by the eNB for the UE at least includes a plurality of downlink secondary carriers.

The eNB may send the second reconfiguration message to the UE through the primary carrier or the secondary carrier that has been activated for the UE.

Wherein the UE receives the second reconfiguration message.

Step 502, the eNB sends a second carrier activation indication message to the UE.

Wherein the second carrier activation indication message is used for indicating the eNB to activate and/or deactivate the secondary carrier for the UE.

The secondary carriers activated for the UE are at least some of all the secondary carriers configured for the UE that are not activated, and the secondary carriers deactivated for the UE are at least some of the activated secondary carriers.

The format of the second carrier activation indication message may be the same as the first format of the first carrier activation indication message, and please refer to the format of the first carrier activation indication message specifically, and the description is omitted here.

The eNB may send the second carrier activation indication message to the UE through the primary carrier or the secondary carrier that has been activated for the UE.

Wherein the UE receives a second carrier activation indication message.

Step 503, the UE measures each activated secondary carrier to obtain a measurement value of each activated secondary carrier.

The method for the UE to measure the activated secondary carrier may be at least one of a Radio Resource Management (RRM) measurement (also called layer three measurement) method and a Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) measurement method.

Step 504, the UE determines the set of auxiliary carriers to be scheduled by the eNB according to the measurement value of each activated auxiliary carrier.

The measurement value of the carriers in the secondary carrier set is greater than a first preset threshold value, the secondary carrier set comprises K activated secondary carriers, and K is an integer and is not more than 7.

If the number of the secondary carriers exceeding K is larger than a first preset threshold value, the K secondary carriers can be selected from high to low according to the measured value.

Specifically, the first predetermined threshold value may be specified by the eNB.

Through steps 503 and 504, the UE determines the secondary carrier set to be scheduled by the eNB.

Step 505, the UE sends a first carrier indication message to the eNB.

The first carrier indication message may be dedicated signaling for RRM or CQI report, and after receiving the RRM or CQI report, the eNB takes the secondary carrier whose measurement value is greater than the first predetermined threshold value in each activated secondary carrier as the secondary carrier to be scheduled. The first carrier indication message may also be RRC signaling, MAC CE, or physical layer signaling, where the index number of the secondary carrier to be scheduled is indicated in the signaling.

Wherein the eNB receives a first carrier indication message.

Step 506, the eNB schedules at least one secondary carrier in the primary carrier and the secondary carrier set to the UE according to the first carrier indication message.

The downlink main carrier is configured with a PDCCH, the PDCCH carries DCI, and the DCI is used for scheduling the carrier to the UE.

And step 507, the UE receives the PDCCH on the downlink main carrier, and transmits and receives data on the carrier scheduled to the UE by the eNB according to the indication of the DCI carried by the received PDCCH.

Step 508, the UE measures each secondary carrier in the secondary carrier set in real time, and detects whether the measured value of each secondary carrier in the secondary carrier set is lower than a second predetermined threshold.

When it is detected that the measurement value of the secondary carrier in the secondary carrier set is lower than the second predetermined threshold value, step 809 is executed. And exiting the process when the measured value of the auxiliary carrier in the auxiliary carrier set is detected to be not lower than a second preset threshold value.

Step 509, the UE deletes the secondary carrier from the secondary carrier set, and selects an activated secondary carrier with a measurement value higher than a first predetermined threshold to add to the secondary carrier set, so as to obtain an updated secondary carrier set to be scheduled.

Wherein the first predetermined threshold is not less than the second predetermined threshold.

The first predetermined threshold value and the second predetermined threshold value may both be specified by the eNB.

Step 510, the UE sends a second carrier indication message to the eNB.

The second carrier indication message is used for indicating the updated secondary carrier set to be scheduled to the eNB.

Wherein the second carrier indication message may be RRC signaling, MAC CE, or physical layer signaling. The second carrier indication message may also be an exclusive signaling of RRM or CQI report, in the exclusive signaling, the UE does not report the measurement value of the replaced carrier to the eNB any more, after receiving the RRM or CQI report, the eNB deletes the carrier without the measurement value from the auxiliary carrier set to be scheduled, and selects an activated auxiliary carrier whose measurement value is higher than the first predetermined threshold value to add to the auxiliary carrier set to be scheduled by the eNB, so as to obtain an updated auxiliary carrier set to be scheduled by the eNB.

Wherein the eNB receives a second carrier indication message.

Step 511, the eNB schedules the primary carrier and at least one secondary carrier in the updated set of secondary carriers to the UE.

The downlink main carrier is configured with a PDCCH, and the PDCCH carries DCI.

Step 512, the UE receives the PDCCH on the downlink primary carrier, and transmits and receives data on the carrier scheduled to the UE according to the indication of the DCI carried by the received PDCCH.

Step 513, the UE reports the CSI of the activated carrier.

Here, step 513 is the same as step 206 in the second embodiment, and is not described herein again.

Wherein the eNB receives CSI of the activated carrier.

The eNB configures a large number of carriers for the UE and selects K auxiliary carriers from the activated auxiliary carriers for scheduling, and because the eNB may aggregate the large number of carriers configured to the UE, the eNB may flexibly select carriers activated and scheduled for the UE from the large number of carriers configured to the UE, for example, when a channel condition of a carrier actually scheduled to the UE becomes poor, the carrier with the poor channel condition may be replaced, and other carriers configured to the UE may be scheduled to the UE.

The third set of methods is as follows.

EXAMPLE six

An embodiment of the present invention provides a carrier management method, and referring to fig. 8, the method includes:

step 601, the eNB sends a third carrier activation indication message to the UE.

The third carrier activation indication message is used for indicating carriers activated for the UE; the carriers activated for the UE include at least one second Uplink carrier, and a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) resource is configured on the second Uplink carrier. The PUSCH resources are used periodically.

Wherein the UE receives the third carrier activation indication message.

Step 602, the UE reports the CSI of each activated downlink carrier on the PUSCH resource of the activated second uplink carrier.

And the eNB receives the CSI of each activated downlink carrier reported by the UE on the PUSCH resource of the second uplink carrier activated for the UE.

In this embodiment, the CSI of the downlink carrier is reported on the PUSCH resource by the UE, and since the resource on the PUSCH is relatively abundant, the CSI of a large number of downlink carriers can be borne, so that the problem of insufficient resources caused when the CSI of up to 32 downlink carriers is reported on the PUCCH configured by the main uplink carrier can be solved, and meanwhile, collision caused when the CSI of all downlink carriers is reported on the PUCCH configured by the main uplink carrier is avoided, and more CSI of the downlink carriers can be reported.

EXAMPLE seven

An embodiment of the present invention provides a carrier management method, and referring to fig. 9, the method includes:

step 701, the eNB sends a third reconfiguration message to the UE.

The third reconfiguration message is used to indicate carriers configured for the UE, where the carriers configured for the UE include at least one second uplink carrier, and the second uplink carrier is configured with PUSCH resources. The PUSCH resources are used periodically.

Since the resources on the PUSCH are abundant, it is possible to report CSI of multiple downlink carriers in one subframe. A simple calculation of the signaling overhead is made as follows: now, the maximum number of bits of CSI reported by one downlink carrier in one subframe is 11 × 2(2 codewords), and the total number of bits of CSI reported by 32 downlink carriers is 11 × 2 × 32 ═ 704 bits. The maximum number of bits that can be transmitted in a Physical Resource Block (PRB) of 1 Physical Resource Block is 712 bits, that is, the maximum Transport Block Size (TBS). Therefore, even if only 1 PRB is reserved for each period point of the PUSCH resource, CSI of 32 downlink carriers can be released, and the number of downlink carriers does not reach the maximum 32 in most cases, so that the problem of insufficient capacity does not exist.

Wherein the UE receives the third reconfiguration message.

Step 702, the eNB sends a third carrier activation indication message to the UE.

Wherein the third carrier activation indication message is used for indicating the carriers activated for the UE; the carriers that have been activated for the UE include at least one second uplink carrier. The carriers activated for the UE are inactive carriers among the carriers configured for the UE.

The UE receives a third carrier activation indication message.

Step 703, the UE obtains the reporting period point of the CSI of each activated downlink carrier according to the reporting period and the offset of the CSI of the preset downlink carrier.

The reporting period and the offset of the CSI of each downlink carrier may be preset. The offset refers to a subframe of the starting position of the reported CSI. According to the reporting period and the offset, the reporting period point of the CSI of each downlink carrier can be determined. The reporting period point of the CSI of the downlink carrier may refer to each reporting subframe of the CSI of the downlink carrier in this embodiment.

For example, assuming that the preset reporting period of the CSI of the downlink carrier CC1 is 5 and the preset offset is 1, the reporting period point of the CSI of the CC1 is subframes 1, 6, 11, 16, 21, 26, and. For another example, assuming that the preset reporting period of the CSI of the downlink carrier CC2 is 2 and the preset offset is 0, the reporting period point of the CSI of the CC2 is subframes 2, 4, 6, 10, 12, 14, 16.

Step 704, the UE reports the CSI of each activated downlink carrier on the PUSCH resource of the second uplink carrier activated for the UE according to the obtained reporting cycle point of the CSI of each activated downlink carrier.

Therein, step 704 can be divided into two cases.

In the first case, the reporting period point of the CSI of the activated downlink carrier carried by the PUSCH resource in the current period is located between the transmission point of the PUSCH resource in the previous period and the transmission point of the PUSCH resource in the current period. That is, the UE reports the CSI of the downlink carrier with the reporting period point between the transmission point of the PUSCH resource in the previous period and the transmission point of the PUSCH resource in the current period on the PUSCH resource in the current period.

By reporting the CSI of the downlink carrier on the PUSCH through the UE, the problem of insufficient resources caused by reporting the CSI which can reach 32 downlink carriers at most on the PUCCH configured by the main uplink carrier can be solved, meanwhile, the collision brought by reporting the CSI of all the downlink carriers through the PUCCH configured by the main uplink carrier is avoided, and the CSI of each downlink carrier can be reported.

In the second case, the reporting period point of the CSI of the activated downlink carrier carried by the PUSCH resource in the current period is located between the transmission point of the PUSCH resource in the current period and a predetermined number of subframes after the PUSCH resource in the previous period. Compared with the first case, the second case reduces the number of the reported CSI of the downlink carriers, and solves the problem of insufficient resources caused by reporting the CSI which can reach 32 downlink carriers at most on the PUCCH configured by the main uplink carrier to a certain extent.

It should be noted that, when the UE reports the CSI in the manner provided in step 704, the UE reports the CSI according to the periodic point of the PUSCH resource, instead of reporting the CSI according to the reporting periodic point. In addition, when reporting the CSI by using the method provided in step 704, the UE may report the CSI on the carrier configured with the PUCCH according to the reporting cycle point of the CSI.

The fourth set of methods is as follows.

Example eight

An embodiment of the present invention provides a carrier management method, and referring to fig. 10, the method includes:

step 801, the UE measures each downlink carrier activated by the eNB to obtain CSI of each downlink carrier activated by the eNB.

The eNB configures N carriers for the UE, wherein M carriers which are activated by the eNB in the N carriers comprise P1 third uplink carriers and P2 downlink carriers; each third uplink carrier is configured with a PUCCH, P1 is more than or equal to 2, P2 is more than or equal to 2, M is more than or equal to N, and N, P1, P2 and M are integers. As an alternative embodiment, M is greater than 8.

Step 802, the UE determines a third uplink carrier corresponding to each downlink carrier that has been activated by the eNB.

Each third uplink carrier corresponds to at least one downlink carrier, and the downlink carrier corresponding to each third uplink carrier is different.

In step 803, the UE transmits CSI of each of the obtained downlink carriers activated by the eNB on a PUCCH of a third uplink carrier corresponding to each of the downlink carriers activated by the eNB.

Step 804, the eNB determines an activated third uplink carrier corresponding to the activated downlink carrier.

Step 805, the eNB receives the PUCCH on the activated third uplink carrier corresponding to each activated downlink carrier, and obtains CSI of each activated downlink carrier.

In the embodiment of the invention, each third uplink carrier corresponds to at least one downlink carrier, the downlink carriers corresponding to each third uplink carrier are different, each third uplink carrier is configured with a PUCCH, and the number of the activated third uplink carriers is not more than 2; the UE sends the CSI of each obtained downlink carrier activated by the eNB on the PUCCH of the third uplink carrier corresponding to each downlink carrier activated by the eNB; therefore, the CSI of the plurality of downlink carriers is dispersed to different third uplink carriers to be reported, the probability of collision of the CSI of all the downlink carriers when the CSI of the same uplink carrier is reported is reduced, the CSI discard is reduced, and more CSI of the downlink carriers can be reported.

Example nine

An embodiment of the present invention provides a carrier management method, and referring to fig. 11, the method includes:

step 901, the eNB sends a fourth reconfiguration message to the UE.

Wherein the fourth reconfiguration message is used for indicating the carriers configured for the UE.

Wherein the UE receives the fourth reconfiguration message. Assume that a UE is configured with N carriers, the N carriers including at least P1 third uplink carriers and P2 downlink carriers, each third uplink carrier having a PUCCH configured thereon. P1 is more than or equal to 2 and less than or equal to P2 is less than or equal to N, and N, P1 and P2 are integers. P2 may be greater than 8.

Step 902, the eNB sends a fourth carrier activation indication message to the UE.

Wherein, the fourth carrier activation indication message is used for indicating the activated and/or deactivated carrier for the UE. The carriers activated for the UE are at least partial inactivated carriers in carriers configured for the UE, and the carriers deactivated for the UE are at least partial carriers in carriers activated for the UE.

Wherein the UE receives a fourth carrier activation indication message. Assuming that there are M carriers for the carriers activated for the UE, the M carriers including P1 third uplink carriers and P2 downlink carriers; the third uplink carrier is configured with PUCCH, P1 is more than or equal to 2 and more than or equal to P2, and M is more than or equal to N. M is an integer.

Step 903, the eNB determines activated third uplink carriers corresponding to the activated downlink carriers.

Each third uplink carrier corresponds to at least one downlink carrier, and the downlink carrier corresponding to each third uplink carrier is different. That is, the eNB may divide the P2 activated downlink carriers into P1 downlink carrier groups, each downlink carrier group including at least one downlink carrier. Each activated third uplink carrier corresponds to a downlink carrier group, and the downlink carrier group corresponding to each activated third uplink carrier is different.

Step 904, the eNB sends a CSI reporting indication message to the UE.

The CSI report indication message is used to indicate the activated third uplink carrier corresponding to each activated downlink carrier determined by the eNB. In implementation, the CSI report indication message may indicate a downlink carrier group in which each activated downlink carrier is located and an activated third uplink carrier corresponding to each downlink carrier group.

The CSI reporting indication message may be a PDCCH signaling of a physical layer, a MAC CE signaling of an MAC layer, an RRC Information Element (IE) signaling of an RRC layer, or a System message, such as a Master Information Block (MIB) or a System Information Block (SIB). The signaling can be divided into common signaling and UE-specific signaling, the common signaling is signaling that all UEs can receive, the UE-specific signaling is signaling that a specific UE can receive, and the UE-specific signaling, such as RRC signaling, can be preferentially selected as CSI reporting indication message.

The CSI includes CQI information, Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI) information, Precoding Type Indicator (PTI) information, and Rank Indicator (RI) information.

The UE receives a CSI reporting indication message sent by the eNB.

Step 905, the UE measures each downlink carrier activated by the eNB to obtain CSI of each downlink carrier activated by the eNB.

In this embodiment, the execution sequence of step 905 and step 904 is not limited, and step 905 may be executed simultaneously with step 904.

Step 906, the UE determines a third uplink carrier corresponding to each downlink carrier that has been activated by the eNB according to the CSI reporting indication message.

And the UE determines the third uplink carrier corresponding to each downlink carrier activated by the eNB according to the activated third uplink carrier corresponding to the activated downlink carrier indicated by the CSI reporting indication message.

Step 907, the UE sends the CSI of each obtained downlink carrier activated by the eNB on the PUCCH of the third uplink carrier corresponding to each downlink carrier activated by the eNB.

And the UE acquires activated third uplink carriers corresponding to the activated downlink carriers determined by the eNB according to the CSI reporting indication message.

The eNB determines activated third uplink carriers corresponding to the activated downlink carriers, and then receives a PUCCH on the activated third uplink carriers corresponding to the activated downlink carriers to obtain CSI of the activated downlink carriers.

In the embodiment of the invention, each third uplink carrier corresponds to at least one downlink carrier, the downlink carriers corresponding to each third uplink carrier are different, each third uplink carrier is configured with a PUCCH, and the number of the activated third uplink carriers is not more than 2; the UE sends the CSI of each obtained downlink carrier activated by the eNB on the PUCCH of the third uplink carrier corresponding to each downlink carrier activated by the eNB; therefore, the CSI of the plurality of downlink carriers is dispersed to different uplink carriers to be reported, the probability of collision of the CSI of all the downlink carriers when the CSI of the same uplink carrier is reported is reduced, the CSI discard is reduced, and more CSI of the downlink carriers can be reported.

Example ten

An embodiment of the present invention provides a carrier management method, referring to fig. 12, where the method includes:

step 1001, the eNB sends a fourth reconfiguration message to the UE.

Step 1001 is the same as step 901 in the ninth embodiment, and is not described herein again.

Step 1002, the eNB determines a carrier activated for the UE according to a preset correspondence between a downlink carrier and a third uplink carrier.

Wherein, the number of activated carriers for the UE is assumed to be M. The M activated carriers for the UE comprise P1 third uplink carriers and P2 downlink carriers; each third uplink carrier corresponds to at least one downlink carrier, the downlink carrier group corresponding to each third uplink carrier is different, each third uplink carrier is configured with a PUCCH, P1 is greater than or equal to 2 and is greater than or equal to P2, M is greater than or equal to N, P1, P2 and M, N are integers, and P2 can be greater than 8.

The preset corresponding relationship between the downlink carrier and the third uplink carrier may be as follows.

U_i＝(D_i)modU_N

Wherein D_iIs the index number, U, of the ith downlink carrier_NIs the number of the third uplink carriers, U_N≥2，U_iAnd the index number of the third uplink carrier corresponding to the ith downlink carrier.

It should be noted that, in step 1001, that is, when the eNB configures a large number of carriers for the UE, the eNB may determine the carriers that need to be configured for the UE according to a preset corresponding relationship between the downlink carriers and the third uplink carriers, so as to ensure that each configured downlink carrier corresponds to the configured third uplink carrier.

Step 1003, the eNB sends a fourth carrier activation indication message to the UE.

Wherein the fourth carrier activation indication message is used for indicating M carriers activated for the UE.

Step 1004, the UE receives a fourth carrier activation indication message.

Step 1005, the UE measures each downlink carrier activated by the eNB to obtain CSI of each downlink carrier activated by the eNB.

Step 1006, the UE determines a third uplink carrier corresponding to each downlink carrier that has been activated by the eNB according to a preset correspondence between the downlink carrier and the third uplink carrier.

The preset corresponding relationship between the downlink carrier and the third uplink carrier may be referred to in step 1002.

Step 1007, the UE sends the CSI of each obtained downlink carrier activated by the eNB on the PUCCH of the third uplink carrier corresponding to each downlink carrier activated by the eNB.

And the eNB determines activated third uplink carriers corresponding to the activated downlink carriers, receives PUCCHs on the activated third uplink carriers corresponding to the activated downlink carriers, and obtains CSI of the activated downlink carriers.

The embodiment of the invention provides a four-set carrier management system, which comprises a first set carrier management system, a second set carrier management system, a third set carrier management system and a fourth set carrier management system. The first set of carrier management system is suitable for the first set of carrier management method, the second set of carrier management system is suitable for the second set of carrier management method, the third set of carrier management system is suitable for the third set of carrier management method, and the fourth set of carrier management system is suitable for the fourth set of carrier management method. Each set of carrier management system comprises a base station and user equipment.

The first set of carrier management system and the base station and the user equipment included in the first set of carrier management system have the following structures.

EXAMPLE eleven

Referring to fig. 13, the base station includes a first sending module 1101 and a first scheduling module 1102.

A first sending module 1101, configured to send a first reconfiguration message to the standby UE; the first reconfiguration message is used for indicating at least two carrier groups allocated to the UE, the UE is configured with at least two carriers, the at least two carriers include at least one uplink carrier and at least one downlink carrier, the at least two carrier groups are obtained by grouping all carriers configured to the UE by a base station eNB, both the uplink carrier number and the downlink carrier number of each carrier group do not exceed 8, the at least two carrier groups include at least one first carrier group, the first carrier group includes an activated carrier, the activated carrier in the first carrier group includes at least one first downlink carrier, the first downlink carrier is configured with a PDCCH, and the DCI carries the PDCCH and is used for scheduling the activated carrier in the carrier group where the first downlink carrier activated for the UE is located.

A first scheduling module 1102 for transmitting a PDCCH on a first downlink carrier that has been activated for the UE.

Example twelve

Referring to fig. 14, the base station includes a first sending module 1201 and a first scheduling module 1202. The structures of the first transmission module 1201 and the first scheduling module 1202 are the same as those of the first transmission module 1101 and the first scheduling module 1102 provided in the eleventh embodiment, except for the following.

Each carrier group comprises at least one first downlink carrier, wherein the first downlink carrier in one carrier group is a downlink main carrier of the UE, and an uplink main carrier and the downlink main carrier of the UE are in the same carrier group; and the first downlink carrier in the carrier groups except the carrier group in which the main carrier is positioned is the downlink auxiliary carrier.

Optionally, the DCI includes a CIF, the CIF includes 3 bits, an index of a carrier indicated by the CIF is C, Cmod8 is x, and x is an indication value of the CIF.

Optionally, the first sending module 1201 is further configured to send a first carrier activation indication message to the UE, where the first carrier activation indication message is used to indicate carriers activated and/or deactivated for the UE, the carriers activated for the UE are inactive carriers in carriers configured to the UE, and the carriers deactivated for the UE are activated carriers in carriers configured to the UE.

Optionally, the first carrier activation indication message includes a secondary carrier indication bit; the auxiliary carrier indicating bits comprise T bits, T is equal to the maximum carrier number of aggregation, the ith bit corresponds to the ith carrier, and i is 0, 1, 2, 1, T-2 or T-1; or, alternatively, the secondary carrier indication bits include 8 bits, where an index number of a carrier corresponding to a qth bit in the 8 bits is C ", C" mod8 ═ q, and q is 0, 1, 2, or 7.

Optionally, the activated carriers in each first carrier group include at least one first uplink carrier, and a PUCCH is configured on the first uplink carrier.

Optionally, the base station further includes a CSI module 1205, where the CSI module 1205 is configured to receive, on a PUCCH of an activated first uplink carrier in each first carrier group, CSI of each activated downlink carrier in a carrier group where the first uplink carrier is located, where the CSI is reported by the UE.

Fig. 15 shows a hardware structure of a base station, which is suitable for the carrier management method provided in any one of the first to third embodiments. Referring to fig. 15, the base station includes at least one processor 4101 (e.g., CPU), at least one receiving antenna 4102, at least one transmitting antenna 4105, memory 4103, and at least one communication bus 4104. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the configuration of the base station shown in fig. 15 does not constitute a limitation of the base station, and may include more or fewer components than those shown, or some components in combination, or a different arrangement of components.

The following describes each component of the base station in detail with reference to fig. 15:

the communication bus 4104 is used to enable connection communications between the processor 4101, memory 4103, receiving antenna 4102, and transmitting antenna 4105.

The receiving antenna 4102 and the transmitting antenna 4105 implement a communication connection between a base station and at least one terminal (e.g., MTC UE), and may use the internet, a wide area network, a local network, a metropolitan area network, etc.

The memory 4103 may be used for storing software programs and application modules, and the processor 4101 executes various functional applications of the base station and data processing by operating the software programs and application modules stored in the memory 4103. The memory 4103 may mainly include a program storage area and a data storage area, wherein the program storage area may store an operating system, an application program required for at least one function (e.g., configuring a secondary carrier), and the like; the storage data area may store data (e.g., carrier group information) created according to the use of the base station, and the like. In addition, the Memory 4103 may include a high-speed RAM (Random Access Memory) and may further include a non-volatile Memory (non-volatile Memory), such as at least one disk storage device, a flash Memory device, or other volatile solid-state storage devices.

The processor 4101 is a control center of the base station, connects various parts of the entire base station by various interfaces and lines, and performs various functions of the base station and processes data by operating or executing software programs and/or application modules stored in the memory 4103 and calling data stored in the memory 4103, thereby performing overall monitoring of the base station.

In particular, the processor 4101 may be implemented to send a first reconfiguration message to the user equipment UE by running or executing a software program and/or application module stored in the memory 4103 and invoking data stored in the memory 4103; the first reconfiguration message is used for indicating at least two carrier groups allocated to the UE, the UE is configured with at least two carriers, the at least two carriers include at least one uplink carrier and at least one downlink carrier, the at least two carrier groups are obtained by grouping all carriers configured to the UE by the eNB, both the uplink carrier number and the downlink carrier number of each carrier group do not exceed 8, the at least two carrier groups include at least one first carrier group, the first carrier group includes an activated carrier, the activated carrier in the first carrier group includes at least one first downlink carrier, the first downlink carrier is configured with a PDCCH, and the DCI carries the PDCCH and is used for scheduling the activated carrier in the carrier group where the first downlink carrier is located; the PDCCH is transmitted on a first downlink carrier that has been activated for the UE.

EXAMPLE thirteen

Referring to fig. 16, the user equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a first receiving module 1301 and a second sending module 1302.

A first receiving module 1301, configured to receive a first reconfiguration message sent by an eNB; the first reconfiguration message is used for indicating at least two carrier groups allocated to the UE, the UE is configured with at least two carriers, the at least two carriers include at least one uplink carrier and at least one downlink carrier, the at least two carrier groups are obtained by grouping all carriers configured to the UE by the eNB, both the uplink carrier number and the downlink carrier number of each carrier group do not exceed 8, the at least two carrier groups include at least one first carrier group, the first carrier group includes an activated carrier, the activated carrier in the first carrier group includes at least one first downlink carrier, the first downlink carrier is configured with a PDCCH, and the DCI carries the PDCCH and is used for scheduling the activated carrier in the carrier group where the first downlink carrier is located.

A second sending module 1302, configured to receive the PDCCH on the activated first downlink carrier, and send and receive data on the activated carrier under an indication of the DCI carried by the received PDCCH.

Example fourteen

An embodiment of the present invention provides a user equipment, and referring to fig. 17, the user equipment includes a first receiving module 1401 and a second sending module 1402. The first receiving module 1401 and the second transmitting module 1402 have the same structures as the first receiving module 1301 and the second transmitting module 1302 provided in the thirteenth embodiment, except for the following points.

Optionally, the first receiving module 1401 is further configured to receive a first carrier activation indication message sent by the eNB, where the first carrier activation indication message is used to indicate a carrier activated and/or deactivated for the UE, the carrier activated for the UE is an inactivated carrier in carriers configured by the eNB to the UE, and the carrier deactivated for the UE is an activated carrier in carriers configured by the eNB to the UE.

Optionally, the first carrier activation indication message includes a secondary carrier indication bit; the auxiliary carrier indicating bits comprise T bits, T is equal to the maximum carrier number of aggregation, the ith bit corresponds to the ith carrier, and i is 0, 1, 2, 1, T-2 or T-1; or, the secondary carrier indication bits include 8 bits, where the index number of the carrier corresponding to the qth bit in the 8 bits is C ", C" mod8 ═ q, and q is 0, 1, 2, etc.

Optionally, the second sending module 1402 is further configured to report, on a PUCCH of an activated first uplink carrier in each first carrier group, CSI of each activated downlink carrier in a carrier group where the first uplink carrier is located.

Fig. 18 shows a hardware structure of a UE, where the UE is adapted to the carrier management method provided in any one of the first to third embodiments. Referring to fig. 18, the UE includes at least one processor 4201 (e.g., CPU), at least one receive antenna 4202, at least one transmit antenna 4205, memory 4203, and at least one communication bus 4204. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the structure of the UE shown in fig. 18 does not constitute a limitation of the UE, and may include more or fewer components than those shown, or some components in combination, or a different arrangement of components.

The following specifically describes each constituent component of the UE with reference to fig. 18:

communication bus 4204 is used to facilitate connective communication between processor 4201, memory 4203, receive antenna 4202, and transmit antenna 4205.

The receiving antenna 4202 and the transmitting antenna 4205 implement a communication connection between the MTC UE and at least one server (e.g., a base station), and may use the internet, a wide area network, a local network, a metropolitan area network, etc.

The memory 4203 may be used to store software programs and application modules, and the processor 4201 executes various functional applications and data processing of the MTC UE by executing the software programs and application modules stored in the memory 4203. The memory 4203 may mainly include a program storage area and a data storage area, wherein the program storage area may store an operating system, an application program required for at least one function (e.g., storing carrier group information), and the like; the storage data region may store data (e.g., carrier group information) created according to the use of the MTC UE, and the like. In addition, the Memory 4203 may include a high-speed RAM (Random Access Memory) and may further include a non-volatile Memory, such as at least one magnetic disk storage device, a flash Memory device, or other volatile solid-state storage device.

The processor 4201 is a control center of the MTC UE, connects various parts of the entire MTC UE using various interfaces and lines, and performs various functions of the MTC UE and processes data by running or executing software programs and/or application modules stored in the memory 4203 and calling data stored in the memory 4203, thereby performing overall monitoring of the MTC UE.

Specifically, by running or executing software programs and/or application modules stored in memory 4203 and invoking data stored in memory 4203, processor 4201 may be implemented to receive a first reconfiguration message sent by an eNB; the first reconfiguration message is used for indicating at least two carrier groups allocated to User Equipment (UE), the UE is configured with at least two carriers, the at least two carriers comprise at least one uplink carrier and at least one downlink carrier, the at least two carrier groups are obtained by grouping all carriers configured to the UE by an eNB, the number of uplink carriers and the number of downlink carriers of each carrier group do not exceed 8, the at least two carrier groups comprise at least one first carrier group, the first carrier group comprises activated carriers, the activated carriers in the first carrier group comprise at least one first downlink carrier, the first downlink carrier is configured with a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), and the PDCCH carries DCI which is used for scheduling the activated carriers in the carrier group where the first downlink carrier is located; and receiving the PDCCH on the activated first downlink carrier, and transmitting and receiving data on the activated carrier under the indication of the DCI carried by the received PDCCH.

Example fifteen

An embodiment of the present invention provides a carrier management system, and referring to fig. 19, the system includes a base station 1501 and a user equipment 1502.

The base station 1501 may be the base station provided in embodiment eleven or embodiment twelve, and the user equipment 1502 may be the user equipment provided in embodiment thirteen or embodiment fourteen.

The second set of carrier management system and the base station and the user equipment included in the second set of carrier management system have the following structures.

Example sixteen

The embodiment of the present invention provides a base station, referring to fig. 20, the base station includes a second receiving module 1601 and a second scheduling module 1602.

A second receiving module 1601, configured to receive a first carrier indication message sent by the UE; the first carrier indication message is used for indicating a secondary carrier set to be scheduled to the eNB, wherein the secondary carrier set comprises K activated secondary carriers, and K is an integer and is not more than 7.

A second scheduling module 1602, configured to schedule at least one secondary carrier in the primary carrier and the secondary carrier set to the UE according to the first carrier indication message; the downlink main carrier of the UE is configured with a PDCCH, and the PDCCH bears the DCI.

Example seventeen

Referring to fig. 21, the base station includes a second receiving module 1701 and a second scheduling module 1702. The second receiving module 1701 and the second scheduling module 1702 have the same structures as those of the second receiving module 1601 and the second scheduling module 1602 provided in the sixteenth embodiment, except for the following differences.

The second receiving module 1701 is further configured to receive a second carrier indication message sent by the UE, where the second carrier indication message is used to indicate the updated secondary carrier set to be scheduled to the eNB;

the second scheduling module 1702 is further configured to schedule the UE with at least one secondary carrier in the primary carrier and the updated secondary carrier set to be scheduled by the eNB according to the second carrier indication message.

Optionally, the base station further includes a third sending module 1703, where the third sending module 1703 is configured to send a second reconfiguration message to the UE, and the second reconfiguration message is used to indicate a secondary carrier configured for the UE.

Optionally, the third sending module 1703 is further configured to send a second carrier activation indication message to the UE; the second carrier activation indication message is used for indicating the activated and/or deactivated secondary carriers for the UE, the activated secondary carriers for the UE are at least some of the inactive secondary carriers configured for the UE, and the deactivated secondary carriers for the UE are at least some of the activated secondary carriers.

Fig. 22 shows a hardware structure of a base station according to an embodiment of the present invention, where the base station is suitable for the carrier management method according to the fourth or fifth embodiment. Referring to fig. 22, the base station includes at least one processor 4301 (e.g., CPU), at least one receive antenna 4302, at least one transmit antenna 4305, memory 4303, and at least one communication bus 4304. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the configuration of the base station shown in fig. 22 does not constitute a limitation of the base station, and may include more or fewer components than those shown, or some components in combination, or a different arrangement of components.

The following describes each component of the base station in detail with reference to fig. 22:

the communication bus 4304 is used to enable communications among the processor 4301, the memory 4303, the receive antenna 4302, and the transmit antenna 4305.

The receiving antenna 4302 and the transmitting antenna 4305 implement a communication connection between a base station and at least one terminal (e.g., MTC UE), and may use the internet, a wide area network, a local network, a metropolitan area network, and the like.

The memory 4303 may be used to store software programs and application modules, and the processor 4301 executes the software programs and application modules stored in the memory 4303 to perform various functional applications and data processing of the base station. The memory 4303 may mainly include a program storage area and a data storage area, wherein the program storage area may store an operating system, an application program required for at least one function (e.g., configuring a secondary carrier), and the like; the storage data area may store data created according to the use of the base station (e.g., configuring a secondary carrier), and the like. In addition, the Memory 4303 may include a high-speed RAM (Random Access Memory) and may further include a non-volatile Memory (non-volatile Memory), such as at least one disk storage device, a flash Memory device, or other volatile solid-state storage devices.

The processor 4301 is a control center of the base station, connects various parts of the entire base station using various interfaces and lines, and performs various functions of the base station and processes data by operating or executing software programs and/or application modules stored in the memory 4303 and calling data stored in the memory 4303, thereby performing overall monitoring of the base station.

Specifically, the processor 4301 may be implemented to receive a first carrier indication message transmitted by the user equipment UE by running or executing a software program and/or application module stored in the memory 4303 and calling data stored in the memory 4303; the first carrier indication message is used for indicating an auxiliary carrier set to be scheduled to the eNB, the auxiliary carrier set comprises K activated auxiliary carriers, and K is an integer and is not more than 7; scheduling at least one auxiliary carrier in the main carrier and the auxiliary carrier set to the UE according to the first carrier indication message; the downlink main carrier of the UE is configured with a PDCCH, the PDCCH carries DCI, and the DCI is used for scheduling all carriers scheduled to the UE.

EXAMPLE eighteen

Referring to fig. 23, the user equipment includes a first determining module 1801, a fourth sending module 1802, and a third receiving module 1803.

A first determining module 1801 is configured to determine a secondary carrier set that needs to be scheduled by a base station eNB, where the secondary carrier set includes K activated secondary carriers, and K is an integer and is not greater than 7.

A fourth sending module 1802, configured to send a first carrier indication message to the eNB, where the first carrier indication message is used to indicate, to the eNB, a secondary carrier set to be scheduled.

A third receiving module 1803, configured to receive the PDCCH on the downlink primary carrier of the UE, and send and receive data on a carrier scheduled by the eNB to the UE according to the DCI carried by the PDCCH.

Example nineteen

Referring to fig. 24, the user equipment includes a first determining module 1901, a fourth sending module 1902, and a third receiving module 1903. The structures of the first determining module 1901, the fourth sending module 1902 and the third receiving module 1903 are the same as those of the first determining module 1801, the fourth sending module 1802 and the third receiving module 1803 provided in the eighteenth embodiment, except for the following points.

The first determining module 1901 is configured to measure each activated secondary carrier, to obtain a measurement value of each activated secondary carrier; and determining an auxiliary carrier set to be scheduled by the eNB according to the measured value of each activated auxiliary carrier, wherein the measured value of the carrier in the auxiliary carrier set is greater than a first preset threshold value.

Optionally, the first determining module 1901 is further configured to measure each secondary carrier in the secondary carrier set in real time, and detect whether a measured value of each secondary carrier in the secondary carrier set is lower than a second predetermined threshold; when detecting that the measured value of the auxiliary carrier in the auxiliary carrier set is lower than a second preset threshold value, deleting the auxiliary carrier from the auxiliary carrier set, and selecting an activated auxiliary carrier of which the measured value is higher than the first preset threshold value to add into the auxiliary carrier set to obtain an updated auxiliary carrier set to be scheduled; wherein the first predetermined threshold is not less than the second predetermined threshold.

The fourth sending module 1902 is further configured to send a second carrier indication message to the eNB; the second carrier indication message is used for indicating the updated secondary carrier set to be scheduled to the eNB.

Optionally, the third receiving module 1903 is further configured to receive a second reconfiguration message sent by the eNB, where the second reconfiguration message is used to indicate a secondary carrier configured for the UE.

Optionally, the third receiving module 1903 is further configured to receive a second carrier activation indication message sent by the eNB, where the second carrier activation indication message is used to indicate a secondary carrier activated and/or deactivated for the UE, where the secondary carrier activated for the UE is at least part of inactive secondary carriers in all secondary carriers configured for the UE, and the secondary carrier deactivated for the UE is at least part of active secondary carriers in the secondary carriers.

Fig. 25 shows a hardware structure of a UE according to an embodiment of the present invention, where the UE is adapted to the carrier management method according to the fourth or fifth embodiment. Referring to fig. 25, the UE includes at least one processor 4401 (e.g., a CPU), at least one receiving antenna 4402, at least one transmitting antenna 4405, memory 4403, and at least one communication bus 4404. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the structure of the UE shown in fig. 25 does not constitute a limitation of the UE, and may include more or fewer components than those shown, or some components in combination, or a different arrangement of components.

The following specifically describes each constituent component of the UE with reference to fig. 25:

the communication bus 4404 is used for implementing connection and communication among the processor 4401, the memory 4403, the receiving antenna 4402 and the transmitting antenna 4405.

Receiving antenna 4402 and transmitting antenna 4405 enable a communication connection between the UE and at least one server (e.g., base station), and may use the internet, a wide area network, a local network, a metropolitan area network, etc.

The memory 4403 may be configured to store software programs and application modules, and the processor 4401 executes various functional applications and data processing of the MTC UE by running the software programs and the application modules stored in the memory 4403. The memory 4403 may mainly include a program storage area and a data storage area, wherein the program storage area may store an operating system, an application program required by at least one function (e.g., determining a carrier set to be scheduled), and the like; the storage data region may store data (e.g., measurement values of activated carriers) created according to the use of the MTC UE, and the like. Further, the Memory 4403 may include a high-speed RAM (Random Access Memory), and may also include a non-volatile Memory, such as at least one magnetic disk storage device, a flash Memory device, or other volatile solid-state storage device.

The processor 4401 is a control center of the MTC UE, connects each part of the whole MTC UE through various interfaces and lines, and executes various functions and processes data of the MTC UE by running or executing software programs and/or application modules stored in the memory 4403 and calling data stored in the memory 4403, thereby performing overall monitoring on the MTC UE.

Specifically, the processor 4401 may determine an auxiliary carrier set to be scheduled by the eNB by running or executing a software program and/or an application module stored in the memory 4403 and calling data stored in the memory 4403, where the auxiliary carrier set includes K activated auxiliary carriers, and K is an integer and is not more than 7; sending a first carrier indication message to the eNB, wherein the first carrier indication message is used for indicating an auxiliary carrier set needing to be scheduled to the eNB; and receiving the PDCCH on a downlink main carrier of the UE, and transmitting and receiving data on the carrier scheduled to the UE by the eNB according to the DCI carried by the PDCCH.

Example twenty

An embodiment of the present invention provides a carrier management system, and referring to fig. 26, the system includes a base station 2001 and a user equipment 2002.

The base station 2001 may be the base station provided in the sixteenth embodiment or the seventeenth embodiment, and the user equipment 2002 may be the user equipment provided in the eighteenth embodiment or the nineteenth embodiment.

The third carrier management system and the base station and the user equipment included in the third carrier management system have the following configurations.

Example twenty one

Referring to fig. 27, the base station includes a fifth sending module 2101 and a fourth receiving module 2102.

The fifth sending module 2101 is configured to send a third carrier activation indication message to the UE; wherein the third carrier activation indication message is used for indicating the carriers activated for the UE; the carriers activated for the UE include at least one second uplink carrier, and the second uplink carrier is configured with PUSCH resources. The PUSCH resources are used periodically.

The fourth receiving module 2102 is configured to receive, on a PUSCH resource of a second uplink carrier that has been activated for the UE, channel state information CSI of each activated downlink carrier that is reported by the UE.

Example twenty two

Referring to fig. 28, the base station according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a fifth sending module 2201 and a fourth receiving module 2202. The fifth transmission module 2201 and the fourth reception module 2202 have the same structures as the fifth transmission module 2101 and the fourth reception module 2102 provided in the twenty-first embodiment, except for the following differences.

The fourth receiving module 2202 includes:

a first obtaining unit 2202a, configured to obtain a reporting period point of CSI of each activated downlink carrier according to a preset reporting period and offset of CSI of a downlink carrier.

A receiving unit 2202b, configured to receive, on the PUSCH resource of the second uplink carrier that has been activated for the UE, the CSI of each activated downlink carrier reported by the UE according to the obtained reporting cycle point of the CSI of each activated downlink carrier; the reporting period point of the CSI of the activated downlink carrier carried by the PUSCH resource of the current period is positioned between the sending point of the PUSCH resource of the previous period and the sending point of the PUSCH resource of the current period; or the reporting period point of the CSI of the activated downlink carrier carried by the PUSCH resource in the current period is located between the transmission point of the PUSCH resource in the current period and the transmission point of the PUSCH resource in the previous period starting from a predetermined number of subframes after the PUSCH resource in the previous period.

The fifth sending module 2201 is further configured to send a third reconfiguration message to the UE, where the third reconfiguration message is used to indicate carriers configured for the UE, and the carriers activated for the UE are inactive carriers among the carriers configured for the UE.

Fig. 29 shows a hardware structure of a base station according to an embodiment of the present invention, where the base station is suitable for the carrier management method according to the sixth or seventh embodiments. Referring to fig. 29, the base station includes at least one processor 4501 (e.g., CPU), at least one receive antenna 4502, at least one transmit antenna 4505, memory 4503, and at least one communication bus 4504. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the configuration of the base station shown in fig. 29 does not constitute a limitation of the base station, and may include more or fewer components than those shown, or some components in combination, or a different arrangement of components.

The following describes each component of the base station in detail with reference to fig. 29:

a communication bus 4504 is used to enable connective communication between the processor 4501, the memory 4503, the receive antenna 4502, and the transmit antenna 4505.

The receiving antenna 4502 and the transmitting antenna 4505 implement a communication connection between a base station and at least one terminal (e.g., MTC UE), and may use the internet, a wide area network, a local network, a metropolitan area network, and the like.

The memory 4503 may be used for storing software programs and application modules, and the processor 4501 executes various functional applications and data processing of the base station by operating the software programs and application modules stored in the memory 4503. The memory 4503 may mainly include a program storage area and a data storage area, wherein the program storage area may store an operating system, an application program required for at least one function (e.g., configuring a secondary carrier), and the like; the storage data area may store data created according to the use of the base station (e.g., configuring a secondary carrier), and the like. Further, the Memory 4503 may include a high-speed RAM (Random Access Memory) and may further include a non-volatile Memory (non-volatile Memory), such as at least one magnetic disk storage device, a flash Memory device, or other volatile solid-state storage device.

The processor 4501 is a control center of the base station, connects various parts of the entire base station using various interfaces and lines, and performs various functions of the base station and processes data by operating or executing software programs and/or application modules stored in the memory 4503 and calling data stored in the memory 4503, thereby performing overall monitoring of the base station.

Specifically, the processor 4501 may implement sending a third carrier activation indication message to the user equipment UE by running or executing a software program and/or an application module stored in the memory 4503 and calling data stored in the memory 4503; wherein the third carrier activation indication message is used for indicating the carriers activated for the UE; the carriers activated for the UE comprise at least one second uplink carrier, the second uplink carrier is configured with periodic Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) resources, the PUSCH resources are used periodically, and the CSI of each activated downlink carrier reported by the UE is received on the PUSCH resources of the second uplink carrier activated for the UE.

Example twenty three

Referring to fig. 30, the user equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a fifth receiving module 2301 and a sixth transmitting module 2302.

A fifth receiving module 2301, configured to receive a third carrier activation indication message sent by the base station eNB;

wherein the third carrier activation indication message is used for indicating the carriers activated for the UE; the carriers activated for the UE comprise at least one second uplink carrier, and PUSCH resources are configured on the second uplink carrier; the PUSCH resources are used periodically.

A sixth sending module 2302 is configured to send the CSI of each activated downlink carrier on the PUSCH resource of the activated second uplink carrier.

Example twenty-four

An embodiment of the present invention provides a user equipment, and referring to fig. 31, the user equipment includes a fifth receiving module 2401 and a sixth sending module 2402. The fifth receiving module 2401 and the sixth transmitting module 2402 have the same structure as the fifth receiving module 2301 and the sixth transmitting module 2302 provided in twenty-third embodiment, except for the following points.

The sixth transmitting module 2402 includes:

a second obtaining unit 2402a, configured to obtain, according to a preset reporting period and offset of the CSI of the downlink carrier, a reporting period point of the CSI of each activated downlink carrier.

A sending unit 2402b, configured to send, according to the obtained reporting cycle point of the CSI of each activated downlink carrier, the CSI of each activated downlink carrier on the PUSCH resource of the activated second uplink carrier. The reporting period point of the CSI of the activated downlink carrier carried by the PUSCH resource of the current period is positioned between the sending point of the PUSCH resource of the previous period and the sending point of the PUSCH resource of the current period; or the reporting period point of the CSI of the activated downlink carrier carried by the PUSCH resource in the current period is located between the transmission point of the PUSCH resource in the current period and the transmission point of the PUSCH resource in the previous period starting from a predetermined number of subframes after the PUSCH resource in the previous period.

The fifth receiving module 2401 is further configured to receive a third reconfiguration message sent by the eNB, where the third reconfiguration message is used to indicate carriers configured for the UE, and the carriers activated for the UE are inactive carriers among the carriers configured for the UE.

Fig. 32 shows a hardware structure of a user equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention, where the UE is adapted to the carrier management method according to the sixth or seventh embodiments. Referring to fig. 32, the UE includes at least one processor 4601 (e.g., a CPU), at least one receive antenna 4602, at least one transmit antenna 4605, a memory 4603, and at least one communication bus 4604. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the structure of the UE shown in fig. 32 does not constitute a limitation of the UE, and may include more or fewer components than those shown, or some components in combination, or a different arrangement of components.

The following specifically describes each constituent component of the UE with reference to fig. 32:

communication bus 4604 is used to enable communications among the processor 4601, memory 4603, receive antenna 4602, and transmit antenna 4605.

The receive antenna 4602 and the transmit antenna 4605 enable a communication connection between the UE and at least one server (e.g., a base station), and may use the internet, a wide area network, a local network, a metropolitan area network, etc.

The memory 4603 may be used to store software programs and application modules, and the processor 4601 executes various functional applications and data processing of the MTC UE by executing the software programs and application modules stored in the memory 4603. The memory 4603 may mainly include a program storage area and a data storage area, where the program storage area may store an operating system, an application program required for at least one function (e.g., determining a set of carriers to be scheduled), and the like; the storage data region may store data (e.g., measurement values of activated carriers) created according to the use of the MTC UE, and the like. Further, the Memory 4603 may include a high-speed RAM (Random Access Memory) and may also include a non-volatile Memory, such as at least one disk Memory device, a flash Memory device, or other volatile solid-state Memory devices.

The processor 4601 is a control center of the MTC UE, connects various parts of the entire MTC UE using various interfaces and lines, and executes various functions of the MTC UE and processes data by running or executing software programs and/or application modules stored in the memory 4603 and calling data stored in the memory 4603, thereby performing overall monitoring of the MTC UE.

Specifically, by running or executing software programs and/or application modules stored in the memory 4603 and invoking data stored in the memory 4603, the processor 4601 may implement receiving a third carrier activation indication message sent by the eNB; wherein the third carrier activation indication message is used for indicating the carriers activated for the UE; the carriers activated for the UE comprise at least one second uplink carrier, and PUSCH resources are configured on the second uplink carrier and are used periodically; and transmitting the CSI of each activated downlink carrier on the PUSCH resource of the activated second uplink carrier.

Example twenty-five

An embodiment of the present invention provides a carrier management system, referring to fig. 33, the system includes a base station 2501 and a user equipment 2502.

The base station 2501 may be the base station provided in the twenty-first embodiment or the twenty-second embodiment, and the user equipment 2502 may be the user equipment provided in the twenty-third embodiment or the twenty-fourth embodiment.

The fourth carrier management system and the base station and the user equipment included in the fourth carrier management system have the following configurations.

Example twenty-six

Referring to fig. 34, the base station includes a second determining module 2601 and a sixth receiving module 2602.

A second determining module 2601, configured to determine a third uplink carrier that has been activated for the UE and corresponds to each downlink carrier that has been activated for the UE; each third uplink carrier activated for the UE corresponds to at least one downlink carrier activated for the UE, the downlink carriers corresponding to the third uplink carriers activated for the UE are different, each third uplink carrier is configured with a PUCCH, and the number of the third uplink carriers activated for the UE is not less than 2.

A sixth receiving module 2602, configured to receive the PUCCH on the third uplink carrier that has been activated for the UE and corresponds to each downlink carrier that has been activated for the UE, and obtain CSI of each downlink carrier that has been activated for the UE.

Example twenty-seven

Referring to fig. 35, the base station includes a second determining module 2701 and a sixth receiving module 2702. The structures of the second determining module 2701 and the sixth receiving module 2702 are the same as those of the second determining module 2601 and the sixth receiving module 2602 provided in twenty-sixth embodiment, except as follows.

The base station further includes a seventh sending module 2703, and the seventh sending module 2703 is configured to send a CSI reporting indication message to the UE; and the CSI reporting indication message is used for indicating the determined third uplink carrier which is activated for the UE and corresponds to each downlink carrier which is activated for the UE.

Optionally, the second determining module 2701 is configured to determine, according to a preset correspondence between downlink carriers and third uplink carriers, third uplink carriers corresponding to the activated downlink carriers.

Optionally, the seventh sending module 2703 is further configured to send a fourth reconfiguration message to the UE, where the fourth reconfiguration message is used to indicate carriers configured for the UE.

Optionally, the seventh sending module 2703 is further configured to send a third carrier activation indication message to the UE, where the third carrier activation indication message is used to indicate carriers activated and/or deactivated for the UE, where the carriers activated for the UE are carriers that are at least partially inactivated among carriers configured for the UE, and the carriers deactivated for the UE are at least partial carriers among carriers activated for the UE.

In the embodiment of the invention, each third uplink carrier corresponds to at least one downlink carrier, the downlink carriers corresponding to each third uplink carrier are different, the third uplink carrier is configured with PUCCHs, and the number of the activated third uplink carriers is not more than 2; the UE sends the CSI of each obtained downlink carrier activated by the eNB on the PUCCH of the third uplink carrier corresponding to each downlink carrier activated by the eNB; therefore, the CSI of the plurality of downlink carriers is dispersed to different uplink carriers to be reported, the probability of collision of the CSI of all the downlink carriers when the CSI of the same uplink carrier is reported is reduced, the CSI discard is reduced, and more CSI of the downlink carriers can be reported.

Fig. 36 shows a hardware structure of a base station according to an embodiment of the present invention, where the base station is suitable for the carrier management methods according to the eight, nine, or ten embodiments. Referring to fig. 36, the base station includes at least one processor 4701 (e.g., CPU), at least one receiving antenna 4702, at least one transmitting antenna 4705, a memory 4703, and at least one communication bus 4704. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the configuration of the base station shown in fig. 36 does not constitute a limitation of the base station, and may include more or fewer components than those shown, or some components in combination, or a different arrangement of components.

The following describes each component of the base station in detail with reference to fig. 36:

the communication bus 4704 is used to realize connection communication between the processor 4701, the memory 4703, the receiving antenna 4702, and the transmitting antenna 4705.

The receiving antenna 4702 and the transmitting antenna 4705 implement a communication connection between a base station and at least one terminal (e.g., MTC UE), and may use the internet, a wide area network, a local network, a metropolitan area network, etc.

The memory 4703 may be used to store software programs and application modules, and the processor 4701 may execute various functional applications of the base station and data processing by operating the software programs and application modules stored in the memory 4703. The memory 4703 may mainly include a program storage area and a data storage area, wherein the program storage area may store an operating system, an application program required for at least one function (e.g., configuring a secondary carrier), and the like; the storage data area may store data created according to the use of the base station (e.g., configuring a secondary carrier), and the like. In addition, the Memory 4703 may include a high-speed RAM (Random Access Memory) and may also include a non-volatile Memory, such as at least one magnetic disk storage device, a flash Memory device, or other volatile solid-state storage device.

The processor 4701 is a control center of the base station, connects various parts of the entire base station using various interfaces and lines, and performs various functions of the base station and processes data by operating or executing software programs and/or application modules stored in the memory 4703 and calling data stored in the memory 4703, thereby integrally monitoring the base station.

Specifically, by running or executing software programs and/or application modules stored in the memory 4703 and calling data stored in the memory 4703, the processor 4701 may determine a third uplink carrier that has been activated for the UE and corresponds to each downlink carrier that has been activated for the UE; each third uplink carrier activated for the UE corresponds to at least one downlink carrier activated for the UE, the downlink carriers corresponding to the third uplink carriers activated for the UE are different, each third uplink carrier is configured with a PUCCH, and the number of the third uplink carriers activated for the UE is not less than 2; and receiving the PUCCH on the activated third uplink carrier corresponding to each activated downlink carrier to obtain CSI of each activated downlink carrier.

Example twenty-eight

Referring to fig. 37, the user equipment includes a measuring module 2801, a third determining module 2802, and an eighth sending module 2803.

A measuring module 2801, configured to measure each downlink carrier activated by the eNB, respectively, to obtain CSI of each downlink carrier activated by the eNB.

A third determining module 2802, configured to determine a third uplink carrier corresponding to each downlink carrier that has been activated by the eNB. Each third uplink carrier activated by the eNB corresponds to at least one downlink carrier activated by the eNB, the downlink carrier corresponding to each third uplink carrier activated by the eNB is different, each third uplink carrier is configured with a PUCCH, and the number of third uplink carriers activated by the eNB is not less than 2.

An eighth transmitting module 2803, configured to transmit the CSI of each obtained downlink carrier activated by the eNB on the PUCCH of the third uplink carrier corresponding to each downlink carrier activated by the eNB.

Example twenty-nine

An embodiment of the present invention provides a ue, referring to fig. 38, which includes a measurement module 2901, a third determination module 2902, and an eighth sending module 2903. The measurement module 2901, the third determination module 2902, and the eighth transmission module 2903 have the same structures as the measurement module 2801, the third determination module 2802, and the eighth transmission module 2803 provided in twenty-eight embodiments, except for the following points.

A third determining module 2902 is configured to receive a CSI reporting indication message sent by the eNB; the CSI reporting indication message is used for indicating activated third uplink carriers corresponding to the activated downlink carriers determined by the eNB; and determining a third uplink carrier corresponding to each downlink carrier activated by the eNB according to the CSI reporting indication message.

Optionally, the third determining module 2902 is configured to determine, according to a preset correspondence between the downlink carrier and the third uplink carrier, a third uplink carrier corresponding to each downlink carrier that has been activated by the eNB.

Optionally, the user equipment further includes a seventh receiving module 2904, where the seventh receiving module 2904 is configured to receive a fourth reconfiguration message sent by the eNB, where the fourth reconfiguration message is used to indicate a carrier configured for the UE.

Optionally, the seventh receiving module 2904 is further configured to receive a third carrier activation indication message sent by the eNB, where the third carrier activation indication message is used to indicate carriers activated and/or deactivated for the UE, where the carriers activated for the UE are at least part of non-activated carriers in carriers configured for the UE, and the carriers deactivated for the UE are at least part of carriers activated for the UE.

Fig. 39 shows a hardware structure of a UE according to an embodiment of the present invention, where the UE is adapted to the carrier management methods according to the eight, nine, or ten embodiments. Referring to fig. 39, the UE includes at least one processor 4801 (e.g., CPU), at least one receiving antenna 4802, at least one transmitting antenna 4805, memory 4803, and at least one communication bus 4804. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the structure of the UE shown in fig. 39 does not constitute a limitation of the UE, and may include more or fewer components than those shown, or some components in combination, or a different arrangement of components.

The following specifically describes each constituent component of the UE with reference to fig. 39:

communication bus 4804 is used to enable communications among processor 4801, memory 4803, receiving antenna 4802, and transmitting antenna 4805.

Receiving antenna 4802 and transmitting antenna 4805 enable communication connectivity between the UE and at least one server (e.g., base station), which may utilize the internet, wide area networks, local networks, metropolitan area networks, etc.

The memory 4803 may be used for storing software programs and application modules, and the processor 4801 may execute various functional applications and data processing of the MTC UE by executing the software programs and application modules stored in the memory 4803. The memory 4803 may mainly include a program storage area and a data storage area, wherein the program storage area may store an operating system, an application program required for at least one function (e.g., determining a set of carriers to be scheduled), and the like; the storage data region may store data (e.g., measurement values of activated carriers) created according to the use of the MTC UE, and the like. In addition, the Memory 4803 may include a high-speed RAM (Random Access Memory) and may further include a non-volatile Memory (non-volatile Memory), such as at least one magnetic disk storage device, a flash Memory device, or other volatile solid-state storage devices.

The processor 4801 is a control center of the MTC UE, connects various parts of the whole MTC UE by using various interfaces and lines, and performs various functions of the MTC UE and processes data by operating or executing software programs and/or application modules stored in the memory 4803 and calling data stored in the memory 4803, thereby performing overall monitoring of the MTC UE.

Specifically, the processor 4801 may implement, by running or executing the software program and/or the application module stored in the memory 4803 and calling the data stored in the memory 4803, to measure each downlink carrier that has been activated by the eNB, respectively, and obtain CSI of each downlink carrier that has been activated by the eNB; determining a third uplink carrier corresponding to each downlink carrier activated by the eNB; each third uplink carrier activated by the eNB corresponds to at least one downlink carrier activated by the eNB, the downlink carriers corresponding to the third uplink carriers activated by the eNB are different, each third uplink carrier is configured with a PUCCH, and the number of the third uplink carriers activated by the eNB is not less than 2; and transmitting the CSI of each obtained downlink carrier activated by the eNB on the PUCCH of the third uplink carrier corresponding to the downlink carrier group where each downlink carrier activated by the eNB is located.

Example thirty

Referring to fig. 40, the system includes a base station 3001 and a user equipment 3002.

The base station 3001 may be a base station provided in twenty-six or twenty-seven of the embodiments, and the user equipment 3002 may be user equipment provided in twenty-eight or twenty-nine of the embodiments.

The above-mentioned serial numbers of the embodiments of the present invention are merely for description and do not represent the merits of the embodiments.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that all or part of the steps for implementing the above embodiments may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by a program instructing relevant hardware, where the program may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, and the above-mentioned storage medium may be a read-only memory, a magnetic disk or an optical disk, etc.

The above description is only for the purpose of illustrating the preferred embodiments of the present invention and is not to be construed as limiting the invention, and any modifications, equivalents, improvements and the like that fall within the spirit and principle of the present invention are intended to be included therein.

Claims

1. A method for carrier management, the method comprising:

a base station sends an indication message to a terminal, wherein the indication message is used for indicating activated carriers for the terminal, the activated carriers comprise at least one uplink carrier, and periodic Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) resources are configured on the uplink carrier;

acquiring a reporting period point of the CSI of the activated downlink carrier according to a reporting period and offset of the CSI of the preset downlink carrier;

and receiving the CSI of the activated downlink carrier wave through the periodic PUSCH resource at the reporting period point.

2. A method for carrier management, the method comprising:

a terminal receives an indication message sent by a base station, wherein the indication message is used for indicating a carrier activated for the terminal, the activated carrier comprises at least one uplink carrier, and a periodic Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) resource is configured on the uplink carrier;

and sending the CSI of the activated downlink carrier wave through the periodic PUSCH resource at the reporting period point.

3. An apparatus for carrier management, the apparatus comprising:

a sending unit, configured to send an indication message to a terminal, where the indication message is used to indicate a carrier activated for the terminal, where the activated carrier includes at least one uplink carrier, and a periodic physical uplink shared channel PUSCH resource is configured on the uplink carrier;

the processing unit is used for acquiring the reporting period point of the CSI of the activated downlink carrier according to the reporting period and the offset of the CSI of the preset downlink carrier;

and the receiving unit is further configured to receive, at the reporting period point, the CSI of the activated downlink carrier through the periodic PUSCH resource.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the apparatus is a base station.

5. An apparatus for carrier management, the apparatus comprising:

a receiving unit, configured to receive an indication message sent by a base station, where the indication message is used to indicate a carrier activated for the apparatus, where the activated carrier includes at least one uplink carrier, and a periodic physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH, resource is configured on the uplink carrier;

a sending unit, configured to receive, at the reporting period point, the CSI of the activated downlink carrier through the periodic PUSCH resource.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, the apparatus being a terminal.

7. A communication apparatus comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the processor is configured to perform the method of claim 1.

8. A communication apparatus comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the processor is configured to perform the method of claim 2.

9. A communication system, characterized in that the system comprises a base station and a terminal, the base station being an apparatus according to claim 3 and the terminal being an apparatus according to claim 5.

10. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause the method of claim 1 to be implemented.

11. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause the method of claim 2 to be implemented.