Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04B—TRANSMISSION
  • H04B7/00—Radio transmission systems, i.e. using radiation field
  • H04B7/02—Diversity systems; Multi-antenna system, i.e. transmission or reception using multiple antennas
  • H04B7/04—Diversity systems; Multi-antenna system, i.e. transmission or reception using multiple antennas using two or more spaced independent antennas
  • H04B7/06—Diversity systems; Multi-antenna system, i.e. transmission or reception using multiple antennas using two or more spaced independent antennas at the transmitting station
  • H04B7/0686—Hybrid systems, i.e. switching and simultaneous transmission
  • H04B7/0691—Hybrid systems, i.e. switching and simultaneous transmission using subgroups of transmit antennas
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04B—TRANSMISSION
  • H04B17/00—Monitoring; Testing
  • H04B17/20—Monitoring; Testing of receivers
  • H04B17/24—Monitoring; Testing of receivers with feedback of measurements to the transmitter
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04B—TRANSMISSION
  • H04B17/00—Monitoring; Testing
  • H04B17/30—Monitoring; Testing of propagation channels
  • H04B17/309—Measuring or estimating channel quality parameters
  • H04B17/318—Received signal strength
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04B—TRANSMISSION
  • H04B17/00—Monitoring; Testing
  • H04B17/30—Monitoring; Testing of propagation channels
  • H04B17/382—Monitoring; Testing of propagation channels for resource allocation, admission control or handover
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W36/00—Hand-off or reselection arrangements
  • H04W36/0005—Control or signalling for completing the hand-off
  • H04W36/0055—Transmission or use of information for re-establishing the radio link
  • H04W36/0058—Transmission of hand-off measurement information, e.g. measurement reports
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W36/00—Hand-off or reselection arrangements
  • H04W36/0005—Control or signalling for completing the hand-off
  • H04W36/0083—Determination of parameters used for hand-off, e.g. generation or modification of neighbour cell lists
  • H04W36/0085—Hand-off measurements
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W52/00—Power management, e.g. TPC [Transmission Power Control], power saving or power classes
  • H04W52/04—TPC
  • H04W52/06—TPC algorithms
  • H04W52/14—Separate analysis of uplink or downlink
  • H04W52/146—Uplink power control
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W52/00—Power management, e.g. TPC [Transmission Power Control], power saving or power classes
  • H04W52/04—TPC
  • H04W52/18—TPC being performed according to specific parameters
  • H04W52/28—TPC being performed according to specific parameters using user profile, e.g. mobile speed, priority or network state, e.g. standby, idle or non transmission
  • H04W52/288—TPC being performed according to specific parameters using user profile, e.g. mobile speed, priority or network state, e.g. standby, idle or non transmission taking into account the usage mode, e.g. hands-free, data transmission, telephone
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W52/00—Power management, e.g. TPC [Transmission Power Control], power saving or power classes
  • H04W52/04—TPC
  • H04W52/30—TPC using constraints in the total amount of available transmission power
  • H04W52/36—TPC using constraints in the total amount of available transmission power with a discrete range or set of values, e.g. step size, ramping or offsets
  • H04W52/365—Power headroom reporting
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W52/00—Power management, e.g. TPC [Transmission Power Control], power saving or power classes
  • H04W52/04—TPC
  • H04W52/30—TPC using constraints in the total amount of available transmission power
  • H04W52/36—TPC using constraints in the total amount of available transmission power with a discrete range or set of values, e.g. step size, ramping or offsets
  • H04W52/367—Power values between minimum and maximum limits, e.g. dynamic range
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W52/00—Power management, e.g. TPC [Transmission Power Control], power saving or power classes
  • H04W52/04—TPC
  • H04W52/38—TPC being performed in particular situations
  • H04W52/42—TPC being performed in particular situations in systems with time, space, frequency or polarisation diversity

Definitions

• Various embodiments described herein relate to the field of wireless communications and, particularly, to countering adverse effects of a power backoff situation in a wireless device.
• Transmit power of a terminal device is controlled by various mechanisms.
• Uplink transmit power control procedures performed by a serving access node, e.g. a base station, are conventionally used for controlling uplink interference and power consumption of the terminal device.
• Other mechanisms for controlling the transmit power include, for example, controlling exposure of a user of the terminal device to radio frequency radiation.
• Maximum permissible exposure (MPE) and specific absorption rate (SAR) guidelines have been established to define limits for radiation of radio energy towards the user.
• MPE maximum permissible exposure
• SAR specific absorption rate
• the terminal devices may have built-in functions to limit the transmit power in order to meet such limits. Other functions that may cause a power backoff situation in the terminal device can be equally foreseen.
• an apparatus for a terminal device comprising means for performing: detecting a need for uplink transmit power reduction in an antenna panel of the terminal device; in response to said detecting, performing at least one measurement associated with: at least one non-serving cell of the terminal device and/or at least one non-serving antenna panel of the terminal device; and reporting, to an access node of a serving cell, the at least measurement and/or the need for uplink transmit power reduction.
• the means are configured to detect the need for the uplink transmit power reduction in a serving antenna panel of the terminal device.
• the at least one measurement comprises measurement of at least one of a signal strength or a signal quality of a downlink signal received from the at least one non-serving cell.
• the at least one measurement comprises measurement associated with uplink transmission power in the at least one non-serving cell and/or in the at least one non-serving antenna panel.
• the uplink power reduction comprises power backoff caused by a maximum permissible exposure limit.
• the means are further configured to report, to the access node of the serving cell, a metric associated with an uplink transmit power of the at least one non-serving cell and/or the at least one non-serving antenna panel.
• the metric indicates a power backoff associated with said maximum permissible exposure limit for said non-serving cell and/or for said non-serving antenna panel.
• the means are configured to report the metric together with a measured downlink signal strength indicator or a measured downlink signal quality indicator of the at least one non-serving cell.
• the means are configured to perform the at least one measurement and to report the at least measurement before the uplink transmit power reduction.
• an apparatus for an access node comprising means for performing: receiving, from a terminal device connected to the access node, a measurement report comprising measurement data related to at least one non-serving cell of the terminal device and/or to at least one non-serving antenna panel of the terminal device, the measurement report further comprising an indication to a need for uplink transmit power reduction in the terminal device; and performing, on the basis of the measurement data and the indication, a handover decision for the terminal device.
• the measurement data indicates a signal strength or a signal quality of a downlink signal received by the terminal device from the at least one non-serving cell.
• the indication comprises at least one information element indicating uplink transmission power of the terminal device in the at least one non-serving cell and/or in the at least one non-serving antenna panel.
• the uplink power reduction comprises power backoff caused by a maximum permissible exposure limit.
• the at least one information element indicates a power backoff associated with said maximum permissible exposure limit for said non-serving cell and/or for said non serving antenna panel.
• the means are configured to prevent handover to a non-serving cell or to a non-serving antenna panel associated with the uplink transmit power reduction.
• the means are configured to handover the terminal device to a non serving cell or to a non-serving antenna panel not associated with the uplink transmit power reduction.
• the means comprises at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the performance of the apparatus.
• a method comprising: detecting, by a terminal device, a need for uplink transmit power reduction in an antenna panel of a terminal device; in response to said detecting, performing at least one measurement associated with: at least one non-serving cell of the terminal device and/or at least one non-serving antenna panel of the terminal device; and reporting, by the terminal device to an access node of a serving cell, the at least measurement and/or the need for uplink transmit power reduction.
• the terminal device detects the need for the uplink transmit power reduction in a serving antenna panel of the terminal device.
• the at least one measurement comprises measurement of at least one of a signal strength or a signal quality of a downlink signal received from the at least one non-serving cell.
• the at least one measurement comprises measurement associated with uplink transmission power in the at least one non-serving cell and/or in the at least one non-serving antenna panel.
• the uplink power reduction comprises power backoff caused by a maximum permissible exposure limit.
• the terminal device reports, to the access node of the serving cell, a metric associated with an uplink transmit power of the at least one non-serving cell and/or the at least one non-serving antenna panel.
• the metric indicates a power backoff associated with said maximum permissible exposure limit for said non-serving cell and/or for said non-serving antenna panel.
• the terminal device reports the metric together with a measured downlink signal strength indicator or a measured downlink signal quality indicator of the at least one non-serving cell.
• the terminal device performs the at least one measurement and reports the at least measurement before the uplink transmit power reduction.
• a method comprising: receiving, by an access node from a terminal device connected to the access node, a measurement report comprising measurement data related to at least one non-serving cell of the terminal device and/or to at least one non-serving antenna panel of the terminal device, the measurement report further comprising an indication to a need for uplink transmit power reduction in the terminal device; and performing, by the access node on the basis of the measurement data and the indication, a handover decision for the terminal device.
• the measurement data indicates a signal strength or a signal quality of a downlink signal received by the terminal device from the at least one non-serving cell.
• the indication comprises at least one information element indicating uplink transmission power of the terminal device in the at least one non-serving cell and/or in the at least one non-serving antenna panel.
• the uplink power reduction comprises power backoff caused by a maximum permissible exposure limit.
• the at least one information element indicates a power backoff associated with said maximum permissible exposure limit for said non-serving cell and/or for said non serving antenna panel.
• the access node prevents handover to a non-serving cell or to a non serving antenna panel associated with the uplink transmit power reduction.
• the access node hands over the terminal device to a non-serving cell or to a non-serving antenna panel not associated with the uplink transmit power reduction.
• a computer program product embodied on a computer-readable medium and comprising a computer program code readable by a computer, wherein the computer program code configures the computer to carry out a computer process comprising: detecting, in a terminal device, a need for uplink transmit power reduction in an antenna panel of a terminal device; in response to said detecting, performing at least one measurement associated with: at least one non-serving cell of the terminal device and/or at least one non-serving antenna panel of the terminal device; and reporting, to an access node of a serving cell, the at least measurement and/or the need for uplink transmit power reduction.
• a computer program product embodied on a computer-readable medium and comprising a computer program code readable by a computer, wherein the computer program code configures the computer to carry out a computer process comprising: receiving, in an access node from a terminal device connected to the access node, a measurement report comprising measurement data related to at least one non-serving cell of the terminal device and/or to at least one non-serving antenna panel of the terminal device, the measurement report further comprising an indication to a need for uplink transmit power reduction in the terminal device; and performing, on the basis of the measurement data and the indication, a handover decision for the terminal device.
• Figure 1 illustrates a wireless communication scenario to which some embodiments of the invention may be applied
• Figure 2 illustrates an embodiment of a terminal device comprising a plurality of antenna panels directed to different spatial directions, and also illustrating effect of uplink power backoff;
• Figures 3 and 4 illustrate embodiments of processes for countering effect of a power backoff;
• Figure 5 illustrates a signalling diagram of an embodiment for reporting neighbour cell measurements upon detected a power backoff event in a serving antenna panel
• Figure 6 illustrates an effect of the embodiment of Figure 5
• Figure 7 illustrates a signalling diagram of an embodiment for reporting neighbour cell measurements upon detected a power backoff event in a non-serving antenna panel
• Figure 8 illustrates an effect of the embodiment of Figure 5.
• FIGS 9 and 10 illustrate block diagrams of structures of apparatuses according to some embodiments of the invention.
• UMTS universal mobile telecommunications system
• UTRAN radio access network
• LTE long term evolution
• WLAN wireless local area network
• WiFi worldwide interoperability for microwave access
• Bluetooth® personal communications services
• PCS personal communications services
• WCDMA wideband code division multiple access
• UWB ultra-wideband
• sensor networks mobile ad-hoc networks
• IMS Internet Protocol multimedia subsystems
• Figure 1 depicts examples of simplified system architectures only showing some elements and functional entities, all being logical units, whose implementation may differ from what is shown.
• the connections shown in Figure 1 are logical connections; the actual physical connections may be different. It is apparent to a person skilled in the art that the system typically comprises also other functions and structures than those shown in Figure 1.
• the embodiments are not, however, restricted to the system given as an example but a person skilled in the art may apply the solution to other communication systems provided with necessary properties.
• Figure 1 shows a part of an exemplifying radio access network.
• Figure 1 shows terminal devices or user devices 100 and 102 configured to be in a wireless connection on one or more communication channels in a cell with an access node (such as (e/g)NodeB) 104 providing the cell.
• (e/g)NodeB refers to an eNodeB or a gNodeB, as defined in 3GPP specifications.
• the physical link from a user device to a (e/g)NodeB is called uplink or reverse link and the physical link from the (e/g)NodeB to the user device is called downlink or forward link ft
• (e/g)NodeBs or their functionalities may be implemented by using any node, host, server or access point etc. entity suitable for such a usage.
• a communications system typically comprises more than one (e/g)NodeB in which case the (e/g)NodeBs may also be configured to communicate with one another over links, wired or wireless, designed for the purpose. These links may be used not only for signalling purposes but also for routing data from one (e/g)NodeB to another.
• the (e/g)NodeB is a computing device configured to control the radio resources of communication system it is coupled to.
• the NodeB may also be referred to as a base station, an access point, an access node, or any other type of interfacing device including a relay station capable of operating in a wireless environment.
• the (e/g)NodeB includes or is coupled to transceivers.
• the antenna unit may comprise a plurality of antennas or antenna elements.
• the (e/g)NodeB is further connected to core network 110 (CN or next generation core NGC).
• CN core network 110
• the counterpart on the CN side can be a serving gateway (S-GW, routing and forwarding user data packets), packet data network gateway (P-GW), for providing connectivity of user devices (UEs) to external packet data networks, or mobile management entity (MME), etc.
• S-GW serving gateway
• P-GW packet data network gateway
• MME mobile management entity
• the user device also called UE, user equipment, user terminal, terminal device, etc.
• UE user equipment
• user terminal terminal device
• any feature described herein with a user device may be implemented with a corresponding apparatus, such as a relay node.
• a relay node is a layer 3 relay (self-backhauling relay) towards the base station.
• the user device typically refers to a portable computing device that includes wireless mobile communication devices operating with or without a subscriber identification module (SIM), including, but not limited to, the following types of devices: a mobile station (mobile phone), smartphone, personal digital assistant (PDA), handset, device using a wireless modem (alarm or measurement device, etc.), laptop and/or touch screen computer, tablet, game console, notebook, and multimedia device ft should be appreciated that a user device may also be a nearly exclusive uplink only device, of which an example is a camera or video camera loading images or video clips to a network.
• SIM subscriber identification module
• a user device may also be a device having capability to operate in Internet of Things (IoT) network which is a scenario in which objects are provided with the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction.
• IoT Internet of Things
• the user device may also utilise cloud.
• a user device may comprise a small portable device with radio parts (such as a watch, earphones or eyeglasses) and the computation is carried out in the cloud.
• the user device (or in some embodiments a layer 3 relay node) is configured to perform one or more of user equipment functionalities.
• the user device may also be called a subscriber unit, mobile station, remote terminal, access terminal, user terminal or user equipment (UE) just to mention but a few names or apparatuses.
• CPS cyber-physical system
• ICT devices sensors, actuators, processors microcontrollers, etc.
• Mobile cyber physical systems in which the physical system in question has inherent mobility, are a subcategory of cyber-physical systems. Examples of mobile physical systems include mobile robotics and electronics transported by humans or animals.
• 5G enables using multiple input - multiple output (MIMO) antennas, many more base stations or nodes than the LTE (a so-called small cell concept), including macro sites operating in co operation with smaller stations and employing a variety of radio technologies depending on service needs, use cases and/or spectrum available.
• MIMO multiple input - multiple output
• 5G mobile communications supports a wide range of use cases and related applications including video streaming, augmented reality, different ways of data sharing and various forms of machine type applications (such as (massive) machine-type communications (mMTC), including vehicular safety, different sensors and real-time control.
• 5G is expected to have multiple radio interfaces, namely below 6GHz, cmWave and mmWave, and also being capable of being integrated with existing legacy radio access technologies, such as the LTE.
• Integration with the LTE may be implemented, at least in the early phase, as a system, where macro coverage is provided by the LTE and 5G radio interface access comes from small cells by aggregation to the LTE.
• 5G is planned to support both inter-RAT operability (such as LTE-5G) and inter-RI operability (inter-radio interface operability, such as below 6GHz - cmWave, below 6GHz - cmWave - mmWave).
• inter-RAT operability such as LTE-5G
• inter-RI operability inter-radio interface operability, such as below 6GHz - cmWave, below 6GHz - cmWave - mmWave.
• One of the concepts considered to be used in 5G networks is network slicing in which multiple independent and dedicated virtual sub-networks (network instances) may be created within the same infrastructure to run services that have different requirements on latency, reliability, throughput and mobility.
• the current architecture in LTE networks is fully distributed in the radio and typically fully centralized in the core network.
• the low-latency applications and services in 5G require to bring the content close to the radio which leads to local break out and multi-access edge computing (MEC).
• MEC multi-access edge computing
• 5G enables analytics and knowledge generation to occur at the source of the data. This approach requires leveraging resources that may not be continuously connected to a network such as laptops, smartphones, tablets and sensors.
• MEC provides a distributed computing environment for application and service hosting ft also has the ability to store and process content in close proximity to cellular subscribers for faster response time.
• Edge computing covers a wide range of technologies such as wireless sensor networks, mobile data acquisition, mobile signature analysis, cooperative distributed peer-to-peer ad hoc networking and processing also classifiable as local cloud/fog computing and grid/mesh computing, dew computing, mobile edge computing, cloudlet, distributed data storage and retrieval, autonomic self- healing networks, remote cloud services, augmented and virtual reality, data caching, Internet of Things (massive connectivity and/or latency critical), critical communications (autonomous vehicles, traffic safety, real-time analytics, time-critical control, healthcare applications).
• technologies such as wireless sensor networks, mobile data acquisition, mobile signature analysis, cooperative distributed peer-to-peer ad hoc networking and processing also classifiable as local cloud/fog computing and grid/mesh computing, dew computing, mobile edge computing, cloudlet, distributed data storage and retrieval, autonomic self- healing networks, remote cloud services, augmented and virtual reality, data caching, Internet of Things (massive connectivity and/or latency critical), critical communications (autonomous vehicles,
• the communication system is also able to communicate with other networks, such as a public switched telephone network or the Internet 112, or utilize services provided by them.
• the communication network may also be able to support the usage of cloud services, for example at least part of core network operations may be carried out as a cloud service (this is depicted in Figure 1 by “cloud” 114).
• the communication system may also comprise a central control entity, or a like, providing facilities for networks of different operators to cooperate for example in spectrum sharing.
• Edge cloud may be brought into radio access network (RAN) by utilizing network function virtualization (NVF) and software defined networking (SDN).
• RAN radio access network
• NVF network function virtualization
• SDN software defined networking
• Using edge cloud may mean access node operations to be carried out, at least partly, in a server, host or node operationally coupled to a remote radio head or base station comprising radio parts ft is also possible that node operations will be distributed among a plurality of servers, nodes or hosts.
• Application of cloudRAN architecture enables RAN real time functions being carried out at the RAN side (in a distributed unit, DU 104) and non-real time functions being carried out in a centralized manner (in a centralized unit, CU 108).
• ft should also be understood that the distribution of functions between core network operations and base station operations may differ from that of the LTE or even be non-existent. Some other technology advancements probably to be used are Big Data and all-IP, which may change the way networks are being constructed and managed. 5G (or new radio, NR) networks are being designed to support multiple hierarchies, where MEC servers can be placed between the core and the base station or node B (gNB). ft should be appreciated that MEC can be applied in 4G networks as well.
• gNB node B
• 5G may also utilize satellite communication to enhance or complement the coverage of 5G service, for example by providing backhauling.
• Possible use cases are providing service continuity for machine-to-machine (M2M) or Internet of Things (loT) devices or for passengers on board of vehicles, or ensuring service availability for critical communications, and future railway, maritime, and/or aeronautical communications.
• Satellite communication may utilise geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellite systems, but also low earth orbit (LEO) satellite systems, in particular mega-constellations (systems in which hundreds of (nano)satellites are deployed).
• GEO geostationary earth orbit
• LEO low earth orbit
• Each satellite 106 in the mega constellation may cover several satellite-enabled network entities that create on-ground cells.
• the on ground cells may be created through an on-ground relay node 104 or by a gNB located on-ground or in a satellite.
• the depicted system is only an example of a part of a radio access system and in practice, the system may comprise a plurality of (e/g)NodeBs, the user device may have an access to a plurality of radio cells and the system may comprise also other apparatuses, such as physical layer relay nodes or other network elements, etc. At least one of the (e/g)NodeBs or may be a Home(e/g)nodeB. Additionally, in a geographical area of a radio communication system a plurality of different kinds of radio cells as well as a plurality of radio cells may be provided.
• Radio cells may be macro cells (or umbrella cells) which are large cells, usually having a diameter of up to tens of kilometers, or smaller cells such as micro-, femto- or picocells.
• the (e/g)NodeBs of Figure 1 may provide any kind of these cells.
• a cellular radio system may be implemented as a multilayer network including several kinds of cells. Typically, in multilayer networks, one access node provides one kind of a cell or cells, and thus a plurality of (e/g)NodeBs are required to provide such a network structure.
• a network which is able to use “plug-and-play” (e/g)Node Bs includes, in addition to Home (e/g)NodeBs (H(e/g)nodeBs), a home node B gateway, or HNB-GW (not shown in Figure 1).
• HNB-GW HNB Gateway
• a HNB Gateway (HNB-GW) which is typically installed within an operator’s network may aggregate traffic from a large number of HNBs back to a core network.
• the terminal devices may be equipped with a higher number of antenna panels to ensure effective radiation characteristics.
• Figure 2 illustrates an embodiment where the terminal device 100 is equipped with four antenna panels 200 - 206, each directed to a different radiation direction.
• Each antenna panel may provide a spherical radiation pattern, and a combined radiation pattern of the antenna panels may provide an omni-directional radiation pattern.
• Each antenna panel 200 - 206 may comprise a plurality of antenna elements, thus providing capability for adaptive spatial directivity, beamforming or multiple-input-multiple-output transmission and reception.
• Each antenna panel may form an antenna array, and examples of possible configurations of each antenna array include an array of 8x1 antennas (eight antennas in a row), 4x2 (four antennas in two rows), 8x2, etc.
• each antenna panel may experience the environment in a different manner.
• the antenna panels may be capable of detecting different sets of access nodes and with different reception qualities.
• the antenna panel 200 may be most suitable for communicating with the access node 104 located in the radiation direction of the antenna panel 200, while the antenna panels 204, 206 may be the most suitable for communicating with the access nodes 122, 120, respectively, located in the respective radiation directions of the antenna panels 204, 206.
• the terminal device connected to a serving cell or serving access node may be configured by the serving cell to report signal strength measurements of the neighbour cells.
• An example of the reported signal strength is reference signal received power (RSRP).
• Other examples are reference signal received quality (RSRQ) and signal-to-interference ratio (SINR).
• the reporting can be event-triggered or periodic. Some triggers are described in specifications of 3 rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).
• 3GPP 3 rd Generation Partnership Project
• the terminal device may combine measurements from multiple antenna panels by selecting, for example, the strongest measurement among all antenna panel measurements with respect to a specific neighbour cell. Thus, a cell-level measurement of a certain neighbour cell may be generated by using the best measurements amongst all antenna panels.
• the neighbour cell measurements may be downlink measurements.
• MPE Maximum permissible exposure
• FCC Federal Communications Commission
• PBO power backoff
• EIRP effective isotropic radiated power
• the PBO may be triggered at different user-antenna separations, which depend on the EIRP. For example, a 4x1 antenna array exhibiting EIRP of 34 dBm may require a PBO when a user is located 14 cm away from the antenna. When the user is nearly touching the antenna (2 mm separation), the maximum allowed EIRP may be only 10 dBm, hence the power needs to be backed-off by 24 dB. The transmission range of the terminal device is thus impacted by the PBO, and 20-dB PBO may reduce the range up to 90%. PBO only applies to uplink, thus resulting in severe link imbalance when the UE is in power limitation.
• FIG. 2 This is illustrated in Figure 2 where the hand close to the antenna panels 200, 204 causes the PBO at the antenna panels and, as a result, there is the link imbalance in the communication between the antenna panels and the respective access nodes 104, 122.
• the terminal device 100 is capable of detecting the downlink signals from the access nodes 104, 122 via the respective antenna panels 200, 204 but the uplink transmission capabilities are reduced because of the PBO, resulting in the impbalance. Even if the does not block the propagation, e.g. neither uplink nor downlink path loss is affected by the hand, the PBO throttles the transmit power of the terminal device and, thereby, reduces the power received by the access node, thus reducing an uplink SINR.
• the antenna panels 202, 206 are not limited by the PBO and, thus, a link balance may be maintained between the antenna panel 206 and the access node 120.
• Handover decisions are conventionally made on the basis of downlink measurements. This combined with the link imbalance mentioned above may cause a situation where a connection of the terminal device is handed over to an access node that communicates with an antenna panel limited by the PBO. Therefore, the handover may result in degradation of uplink quality and possible radio link failures. On the other hand, a connection of the terminal device via an antenna panel limited by the PBO may fail because of the uplink failures caused by the PBO.
• Figures 3 and 4 illustrate flow diagrams of processes for managing a connection during the PBO situation.
• Figure 3 illustrates a process for the terminal device
• Figure 4 illustrates a process for a network node serving the terminal device, such as an access node performing handover decisions for the terminal device.
• the process comprises as performed by the terminal device: detecting (block 300) a need for uplink transmit power reduction in an antenna panel of the terminal device; in response to said detecting, performing (block 302) at least one measurement associated with: at least one non-serving cell of the terminal device and/or at least one non-serving antenna panel of the terminal device; and reporting (block 304), to an access node of a serving cell, the at least measurement.
• blocks 302 and 304 are performed before the uplink transmit power reduction in the terminal device.
• block 302 comprises reporting also the need for uplink transmit power reduction.
• the process comprises as performed by the network node: receiving (block 400), from the terminal device connected to the access node, the measurement report comprising measurement data related to at least one non-serving cell of the terminal device and/or to at least one non-serving antenna panel of the terminal device, the measurement report further comprising an indication to a need for uplink transmit power reduction in the terminal device; and performing (blocks 402, 404), on the basis of the measurement data and the indication, a handover decision for the terminal device.
• Block 402 may comprise determining whether or not to perform the handover. If no handover is to be performed, the process may end. Otherwise, the process may proceed to block 206 where the connection is handed over to one of the non-serving cells of the terminal device, also causing handover of the connection from one antenna panel to another antenna panel of the terminal device.
• the embodiments provide several advantages.
• the measurement report is triggered before the PBO (the uplink transmit power reduction) takes effect, thus enabling countering the effects of the PBO before the PBO realizes.
• the terminal device sends information on the PBO to the network (access node) to enable more informed handover decisions.
• the network can then redirect the connection to a cell and antenna panel not affected by the PBO.
• the network may also avoid handing the connection over to an antenna panel affected by the PBO. Accordingly, the radio link failures may be avoided or reduced.
• the terminal device detects the need for the uplink transmit power reduction in a serving antenna panel of the terminal device.
• the serving antenna panel may be understood as the antenna panel transferring radio signals of the connection between the terminal device and the serving cell.
• the at least one measurement performed and reported to the serving access node comprises measurement of at least one of a signal strength (e.g. the RSRP or SINR) or a signal quality (e.g. the RSRQ) of a downlink signal received from the at least one non-serving cell.
• a signal strength e.g. the RSRP or SINR
• a signal quality e.g. the RSRQ
• the uplink power reduction comprises the PBO caused by the MPE limit.
• the need for the PBO as a consequence of the MPE may be detected by using any proximity detection sensor for detecting the proximity of the user, e.g. user’s hand by the terminal device.
• the proximity detection may be based on an (passive) infrared proximity sensor, a short-range radar built in the antenna panel(s), etc.
• FIG. 5 illustrates a signalling diagram combining the embodiments of Figures 3 and 4 and illustrating an embodiment where a PBO even is detected in a serving antenna panel, i.e. the antenna panel used for communicating with the serving cell over the connection.
• the terminal device (UE) and the access node 104 establish a radio resource control (RRC) connection in block 500.
• the terminal device may configure the antenna panel 200 for transmitting and receiving radio signals over the RRC connection (see Figure 2).
• the access node 104 becomes the serving access node and the antenna panel 200 becomes the serving antenna panel, while the access nodes 1200 and 122 are non-serving access nodes and the antenna panels 202 to 206 are non-serving antenna panels.
• step 502 data and signalling information are transferred over the RRC connection.
• the proximity detection in the terminal device detects the proximity of the hand and triggers a PBO event for the serving antenna panel in the terminal device.
• the PBO event may be triggered for one or more non-serving antenna panels, depending on the position of the hand and the proximity measurements.
• the terminal device may trigger execution of block 302 (block 506).
• the terminal device measures downlink signals (step 508, 510) received via the non-serving antenna panels from non serving access nodes and acquires the measurement data on the basis of the measurements.
• the terminal device may establish in block 510 the following Table 1 on the basis of the measurements performed in block 302
• the terminal device may perform all the measurements indicated in Table 1, e.g. attempt to measure all the non-serving cells by using all the non-serving antenna panels. As illustrated in Table 1 , only some of the antenna panels are capable of detecting signals from a certain non-serving access node, because of the different directivities of the antenna panels. The PBO level may be incorporated only if the respective antenna panel is capable of detecting the non-serving access node. From the contents of Table 1, the terminal device may build the measurement report and transmit the measurement report to the serving access node in step 512.
• the measurement report may include the information indicated in Table 2 or Table 3, for example.
• the measurement report may thus include the cell identifier(s) of the detected non-serving cell(s), the metric measured from a downlink signal received from the respective non-serving cell(s), and a PBO metric associated with each non-serving cell.
• the PBO metric is the PBO with respect to a nominal uplink transmission power of the antenna panel capable of communicating with the reported non-serving cell.
• the PBO metric is the absolute uplink transmission power reported in terms of dBm (decibels per milliwatt), for example.
• the terminal device may filter the contents of Table 1 in the sense that, in case multiple antenna panels are capable of detecting a certain non-serving cell, the measurement report indicates the metric only for the non-serving antenna panel providing the best measured quality or signal strength.
• the granularity of the PBO metric may be determined according to the implementation. For example, eight states (three bits) may be sufficient.
• the measurement of the PBO metric may be understood as an embodiment of a measurement associated with uplink transmission power in the at least one non-serving cell and/or in the at least one non-serving antenna panel.
• the terminal device may measure the PBO metric on the basis of the proximity detection and using a mapping table mapping the proximity to the value of the PBO metric.
• the mapping table may comprise information enabling mapping each of a plurality of proximities or proximity ranges to a certain PBO metric, e.g. the degree of PBO in terms of dBm.
• the mapping table may be specific to each terminal device. For example, different cell phone models may have different radiation characteristics and, thus, different mapping tables and values of the PBO metric for various proximities.
• the PBO status may change during the warning period or while performing and reporting the measurements. Therefore, the PBO metric may be understood as an estimate of an expected PBO level or a target PBO.
• the terminal device may report to the serving access node the metric associated with the uplink transmit power of the at least one non-serving cell and/or the at least one non-serving antenna panel, e.g. the PBO metric associated with the MPE limit caused by the detected proximity of the user. And as described above, the terminal device may report the metric together with the measured downlink signal strength indicator (e.g. RSRP) or the measured downlink signal quality indicator (e.g. RSRQ) of the at least one non-serving cell.
• the measured downlink signal strength indicator e.g. RSRP
• RSRQ measured downlink signal quality indicator
• the terminal device further measures the corresponding metric for the serving access node via the serving antenna panel and/or via the non-serving antenna panels.
• the measurement report may additionally indicate the PBO metric for the serving antenna panel and the measured metric for the antenna panel providing the best connection quality with the serving cell.
• the serving access node may analyse the measurement report and determine the need for the handover.
• the access node is capable of incorporating the PBO metrics into the handover decisions and adjust the reported (RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, etc.) metric by the PBO metric.
• the access node is capable of taking into account the effect of the PBO and make a handover decision that has reduced probability for radio link failures.
• the access node may trigger a handover (block 514) to a non-serving cell not associated with the uplink transmit power reduction, e.g. the cell 120 in case of the measurement report of Table 2 or 3.
• a handover to a non-serving cell not associated with the uplink transmit power reduction, e.g. the cell 120 in case of the measurement report of Table 2 or 3.
• the RRC connection is handed over from the access node 104 to the access node 120 in block 516.
• the terminal device hands the RRC connection over from the serving antenna panel 200 to the antenna panel determined to provide the best connection quality with the access node 120 in block 518, i.e. antenna panel 206.
• the access node 120 becomes the serving access node and the antenna panel 206 the serving antenna panel.
• Steps 504 to 518 may be performed before the PBO actually takes effect in the antenna panel 200 (block 520).
• the detection of the PBO event 504 may trigger a one-time measurement report measured and reported before the PBO takes effect. Accordingly, the PBO may be prevented from hindering the connection quality.
• block 504 may trigger a monitoring interval where the terminal device operates in a mode where it measures and transmits the measurement reports including the PBO metrics periodically. The terminal device may exclude reporting the PBO metric unless operating in the particular mode.
• the trigger for the monitoring interval is detection of the proximity of the user’s hand etc. at a first distance with respect to the terminal device. The first distance may be greater than a second distance that triggers the PBO (block 520).
• warning region between the first distance and the second distance enables transmission of multiple measurement reports and monitoring the status of the terminal device for the handover.
• the warning region provides also time to combat the effect of the PBO and to take the appropriate measures.
• the periodicity and parameters included in the measurement reports during the warning region may be configured by the serving access node.
• the warning region may have a length or duration that is dependent on various characteristics such as mobility of the terminal device, state of the radio channel, etc.
• Figure 6 illustrates an effect of the embodiment of Figure 5.
• the uplink and downlink received signal level are illustrated by solid line for the antenna panel 200 and the serving access node 104, by dashed line for the non-serving antenna panel 204 and the non-serving access node 122, and by dash-dotted line for the non-serving antenna panel 206 and the non-serving access node 120.
• the terminal device may start the measurements of block 506. The measurements may be performed, for example, when the hand is detected to approach the terminal device or upon detecting the hand within a certain detection area of the proximity sensor.
• the PBO in both antenna panels 200 and 204 would result in the uplink transmit power that drops the received power level at the serving access node (gNB) below the receiver sensitivity level, thus seriously degrading uplink communication quality and resulting in a probable radio link failure.
• the access node might trigger the handover to the access node 122 because of the higher reported RSRP (see Table 1 above), thus again causing the problem with the PBO and radio link failure.
• the access node may scale the RSRP accordingly and detect that the access node 120 associated with no PBO would provide the best connection quality. As a consequence, the handover can be made to the access node that provides a satisfactory uplink performance.
• the access node uses the measurement report to prevent handover to a non-serving cell or to a non-serving antenna panel associated with the uplink transmit power reduction.
• Figure 7 illustrates such an embodiment.
• the same reference numbers as in Figure 5 represent the same or substantially similar operations or functions.
• the terminal device may detect the PBO event in one or more non-serving antenna panels in block 700.
• the serving antenna panel may also suffer from the PBO, or it may not.
• the detection of the PBO event in a non serving antenna panel may also trigger the measurements and reporting in the same manner as described in connection with Figure 5. Accordingly, the terminal device may perform blocks 506 to 512 and report the measurements in the above-described manner.
• the measurement report may include the measurements and the PBO metric of the serving antenna panel as well, or it may exclude the measurements and the PBO metric of the serving antenna panel. As described above, the measurement report may be a single PBO-event-triggered measurement report or the terminal device may transmit a series of measurement reports during the warning region.
• the access node may use the received measurement report and the PBO metric(s) when making the next handover decision. For example, if the serving antenna panel experiences no PBO, the access node may trigger the handover via conventional means, e.g. upon detecting that the downlink connection quality with the terminal device degrades below a threshold level. In such a case, the access node 104 may use the PBO metrics received in step 512 to select a target cell for the handover such that the target cell is not associated with the PBO (block 704). Accordingly, the access node may avoid a situation where an operating link is replaced by a link suffering from the PBO.
• the handover may be made in block 516 and the serving antenna panel selected in block 518 in the above-described manner.
• Figure 8 illustrates an effect of the embodiment of Figure 7.
• the terminal device may move so that the signal quality towards the serving access node 104 is degrading while the signal quality towards the other access nodes 120, 122 is increasing.
• the terminal device may trigger the reporting of the PBO metric in the measurement report(s).
• the serving access node may execute block 704 and perform the handover decision. Without the PBO metric reported, the access node might select the access node 122 as the target for the handover because of the higher reported downlink signal quality.
• the access node may take the PBO metric into account in block 704 and select the access node 120 as the target for the handover, thus resulting in reducing probability for a radio link failure after the handover.
• Figure 9 illustrates an embodiment of a structure of the above-mentioned functionalities of an apparatus executing the functions of the network node in the embodiments described above, e.g. the process of Figure 4 or any one of embodiments thereof.
• the apparatus for the network node may be configured to perform the handover decisions for terminal devices, e.g.
• the apparatus may be a circuitry or an electronic device realizing some embodiments of the invention in the network node.
• the apparatus carrying out the above-described functionalities may thus be comprised in such a device, e.g. the apparatus may comprise a circuitry such as a chip, a chipset, a processor, a micro controller, or a combination of such circuitries for the network node.
• the apparatus may comprise a communication controller 10 providing the apparatus with capability of performing the above-described functions of the network node.
• the apparatus may comprise a radio interface 25 providing the apparatus with radio communication capability, and the communication controller 10 may employ the radio interface 25.
• the radio interface 25 may enable wireless communications with terminal devices served by the network node.
• the radio interface 25 may comprise multiple antennas and associated analogue components needed for transmitting and receiving radio signals, e.g. an amplifier, filter, frequency- converter, and an analogue-to-digital converter.
• the communication controller 10 and/or the radio interface 25 may comprise a radio modem configured to carry out transmission and reception of messages in the cellular network.
• the radio interface is used for communicating with the other network nodes.
• the apparatus comprises a second communication interface 22 configured to provide the apparatus with capability of communicating towards the core network 110.
• the communication interface 22 may also be used to communicate with the other network nodes via wired connections.
• the communication interface 22 may be configured to communication over an Xn interface, FI interface, and/or an NG interface.
• the communication controller 10 may comprise at least one processor or a processing circuitry.
• the apparatus may further comprise a memory 20 storing one or more computer program products 24 configuring the operation of said processor(s) of the apparatus.
• the memory 20 may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor-based memory devices, flash memory, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory.
• the memory 20 may further store a configuration database 26 storing operational configurations of the apparatus.
• the configuration database 26 may, for example, store the rules for incorporating the uplink performance of the terminal devices in the handover decisions in the above-described manner.
• the communication controller may comprise an RRC controller 12 configured to establish, operate, and terminate RRC connections between the network node and the terminal devices connected to the network node.
• the communication controller 10 may further comprise a handover controller 14 configured to make the handover decisions (block 514 and 704).
• the handover controller may comprise, as sub-circuitries, a downlink estimation circuitry 19 and an uplink estimation circuitry 17.
• the downlink estimation circuitry 19 may be configured to process the downlink measurement data received from a terminal device for which a handover decision is being made.
• the downlink measurement data may include the RSRP, RSRQ, SINR or (an)other metric(s) measured by the terminal device from a downlink signal received from neighbour cell(s).
• the uplink estimation circuitry 17 may be configured to process the uplink transmit power metric(s) received from the terminal device, e.g. the PBO metric(s) associated with each neighbour cell.
• the handover controller may then select a target cell for the handover on the basis of outputs of both circuitries 17, 19, e.g. the combined performance of uplink and downlink for each neighbour cell that is a candidate target cell for the handover.
• the handover controller may thus select such a target cell for the handover that is capable of providing acceptable downlink and uplink performance, e.g. one not associated with the PBO in the terminal device.
• Figure 10 illustrates an apparatus comprising a processing circuitry, such as at least one processor, and at least one memory 40 including a computer program code (software) 44, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code (software) are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to carry out the process of Figure 3 or any one of its embodiments described above for the terminal device.
• the apparatus may be for the terminal device.
• the apparatus may be a circuitry or an electronic device realizing some embodiments of the invention in the terminal device.
• the apparatus carrying out the above-described functionalities may thus be comprised in such a device, e.g. the apparatus may comprise a circuitry such as a chip, a chipset, a processor, a micro controller, or a combination of such circuitries for the terminal device.
• the processing circuitry may realize a communication controller 30 controlling communications with the cellular network infrastructure in the above-described manner.
• the communication controller may be configured to establish and manage RRC connections and transfer of data over the RRC connections.
• the communication controller may comprise a proximity detection module 39 configured to perform proximity measurements during operation of the terminal device and detect, on the basis of the measurements, proximity of an object that triggers the PBO event in the above-described manner.
• the triggering may be responsive to the detection of the proximity in a serving antenna panel and/or in a non-serving antenna panel.
• the proximity detection module may issue a neighbour cell measurement circuitry 37 to perform additional neighbour cell measurements for handover of the terminal device.
• the neighbour cell measurement circuitry 37 may then measure downlink signals received from the neighbour cells detected by the antenna panels and generate the above-described measurement report comprising the neighbour cell measurement data.
• the neighbour cell measurement circuitry may include in the measurement report the PBO metric for each reported non-serving cell.
• the PBO metric may indicate the PBO for the antenna module that is capable of detecting the non-serving cell.
• the PBO event may also cause the proximity detection module 39 to issue a PBO controller 38 controlling the PBO for the uplink transmit power in the terminal device.
• the proximity detection module or the PBO controller may insert to a delay for implementing the PBO so that the neighbour cell measurement circuitry 37 has time to make and report the measurements and the serving access node has time to react to the detected PBO event by issuing a handover for the terminal device.
• the PBO controller may output a PBO command to an antenna panel controller 35 controlling selection and configuration of one or more serving antenna panels.
• the antenna panel controller 35 may then reduce the transmit power of the serving antenna panel associated with the PBO event.
• the memory 40 may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor-based memory devices, flash memory, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory.
• the memory 40 may comprise a configuration database 46 for storing configuration parameters, e.g. the characteristics of the warning region, the type of measurements to be made and reported in connection with the PBO event, etc.
• the memory 40 may further store the above-described mapping table or mapping database 48 defining the PBO metric(s) for various proximities or proximity ranges.
• the apparatus may further comprise a communication interface 42 comprising hardware and/or software for providing the apparatus with radio communication capability with one or more access nodes, as described above.
• the communication interface 42 may comprise hardware and software needed for realizing the radio communications over the radio interface, e.g. according to specifications of an LTE or 5G radio interface.
• the apparatus may further comprise an application processor 32 executing one or more computer program applications that generate a need to transmit and/or receive data through the communication controller 30.
• the application processor may form an application layer of the apparatus.
• the application processor may execute computer programs forming the primary function of the apparatus. For example, if the apparatus is a sensor device, the application processor may execute one or more signal processing applications processing measurement data acquired from one or more sensor heads. If the apparatus is a computer system of a vehicle, the application processor may execute a media application and/or an autonomous driving and navigation application.
• the application processor may generate data to be transmitted in the wireless network.
• circuitry refers to one or more of the following: (a) hardware-only circuit implementations such as implementations in only analog and/or digital circuitry; (b) combinations of circuits and software and/or firmware, such as (as applicable): (i) a combination of processor(s) or processor cores; or (ii) portions of processor(s)/software including digital signal processor(s), software, and at least one memory that work together to cause an apparatus to perform specific functions; and (c) circuits, such as a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that require software or firmware for operation, even if the software or firmware is not physically present.
• circuitry applies to uses of this term in this application.
• circuitry would also cover an implementation of merely a processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a processor, e.g. one core of a multi-core processor, and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware.
• circuitry would also cover, for example and if applicable to the particular element, a baseband integrated circuit, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and/or a field-programmable grid array (FPGA) circuit for the apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention.
• ASIC application-specific integrated circuit
• FPGA field-programmable grid array
• the processes or methods described in Figures 3 and 4 or any of the embodiments thereof may also be carried out in the form of one or more computer processes defined by one or more computer programs.
• a separate computer program may be provided in one or more apparatuses that execute functions of the processes described in connection with the Figures.
• the computer program(s) may be in source code form, object code form, or in some intermediate form, and it may be stored in some sort of carrier, which may be any entity or device capable of carrying the program.
• Such carriers include transitory and/or non-transitory computer media, e.g. a record medium, computer memory, read-only memory, electrical carrier signal, telecommunications signal, and software distribution package.
• the computer program may be executed in a single electronic digital processing unit or it may be distributed amongst a number of processing units.
• Embodiments described herein are applicable to wireless networks defined above but also to other wireless networks.
• the protocols used, the specifications of the wireless networks and their network elements develop rapidly. Such development may require extra changes to the described embodiments. Therefore, all words and expressions should be interpreted broadly and they are intended to illustrate, not to restrict, the embodiment ft will be obvious to a person skilled in the art that, as technology advances, the inventive concept can be implemented in various ways. Embodiments are not limited to the examples described above but may vary within the scope of the claims.

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• 2021
  • 2021-03-11 CN CN202180023202.6A patent/CN115336325A/zh active Pending
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