KR20220123481A - Laa/wi-fi coexistence for 5ghz antenna sharing - Google Patents

Abstract

A wireless communication device (UE) includes a cellular processor configured to perform wireless communications according to a first radio access technology (RAT) in a first frequency band and in a second frequency band, the first RAT being a cellular RAT, and a first The frequency band is in the unlicensed spectrum and the second frequency band is in the licensed spectrum. In some embodiments, the apparatus includes a wireless local area network (WLAN) processor configured to perform wireless communications according to a second RAT in a first frequency band. In some embodiments, the cellular processor and the WLAN processor are configured to couple to a common antenna for communications in the first frequency band. In some embodiments, the cellular processor may notify the WLAN processor when it is scanning and/or when it is assigned secondary component carriers in the first frequency band. In some embodiments, the WLAN processor may notify the cellular processor when it is transmitting. In some embodiments, the WLAN processor and/or cellular processor may perform one or more actions in response to such notifications to improve coexistence in the first frequency band.

Description

LAA/Wi-Fi Coexistence for 5 GHz Antenna Sharing {LAA/WI-FI COEXISTENCE FOR 5GHZ ANTENNA SHARING}

BACKGROUND This application relates to wireless communications, and more particularly, to coexistence between Wi-Fi communications and LAA/LTE communications using a shared antenna.

BACKGROUND Wireless communication systems are rapidly increasing in use. In recent years, wireless devices such as smartphones and tablet computers have become increasingly complex. Many mobile devices (ie, user equipment devices or UEs) now provide access to the Internet, email, text messaging, and navigation using a global positioning system (GPS) in addition to supporting phone calls. and run sophisticated applications that use these functions. Additionally, a number of different wireless communication technologies and standards exist. Some examples of wireless communication standards are GSM, UMTS (WCDMA, TDS-CDMA), LTE, LTE Advanced (LTE-A), HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (eg, 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), IEEE 802.11 (WLAN or Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), BLUETOOTH™, and more.

The ever-increasing number of features and functionality being introduced into wireless communications devices also creates a continuing need for improvement in both wireless communications and wireless communications devices. In particular, it is important to ensure the accuracy of transmitted and received signals via user equipment (UE) devices, for example via wireless devices such as cellular phones, base stations and relay stations used in wireless cellular communications. Additionally, increasing the functionality of a UE device can place a significant burden on the battery life of the UE device. Accordingly, it is very important to also reduce power requirements in UE device designs while allowing the UE device to maintain good transmit and receive capabilities for improved communications.

UE, which may be mobile phones or smartphones, portable gaming devices, laptops, wearable devices, PDAs, tablets, portable internet devices, music players, data storage devices, or other handheld devices, etc. may have multiple radio interfaces that enable support of multiple radio access technologies (RATs) as defined by various wireless communication standards (LTE, LTE-A, Wi-Fi, BLUETOOTH™, etc.). Radio interfaces can be used by a variety of applications, and the presence of multiple radio interfaces allows the UE to implement mobility solutions over multiple radio interfaces (e.g., without affecting the end-to-end performance of the application). For example, via LTE/LTE-A and BLUETOOTH™) it may be necessary to keep applications running concurrently. That is, the UE may need to implement a mobility solution to simultaneously operate multiple air interfaces (eg, LTE/LTE-A, Wi-Fi, BLUETOOTH™, etc.) corresponding to multiple RATs.

In addition to the communication standards mentioned above, there are also extensions aimed at increasing the transmission coverage in certain cellular networks. For example, LTE in Unlicensed spectrum (LTE-U) allows carriers to increase coverage in their cellular networks by transmitting in the unlicensed 5 GHz band, which is also used by many Wi-Fi devices. . License Assisted Access (LAA) describes a similar technology that aims to standardize the operation of LTE in Wi-Fi bands through the use of a contention protocol called listen-before-talk (LBT), which Facilitates coexistence with other Wi-Fi devices on the In some cases, coexistence of cellular communication and Wi-Fi communication within the same band may result in degradation of data throughput and/or when both Wi-Fi signals and LAA/LTE-U signals are present. It can lead to performance degradation of streaming of applications (data streaming). Moreover, cellular communications implemented in unlicensed band(s) often require increased power consumption compared to cellular communications implemented in licensed band(s).

Embodiments of techniques for Wi-Fi and LAA coexistence using a common antenna are presented herein.

In some embodiments, an apparatus includes a cellular processor configured to perform wireless communications according to a first radio access technology (RAT) in a first frequency band and in a second frequency band, wherein the first RAT is a cellular RAT; One frequency band is in the unlicensed spectrum (eg, in the 5 GHz band), and the second frequency band is in the licensed spectrum. In some embodiments, the first RAT is a cellular RAT, such as LTE. In some embodiments, the apparatus includes a wireless local area network (WLAN) processor configured to perform wireless communications according to a second RAT in a first frequency band. In some embodiments, the cellular processor and the WLAN processor are configured to couple to a common antenna for communications in the first frequency band.

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

In some embodiments, the cellular processor is configured to send a message to the WLAN processor in response to assignment by the cellular base station of the one or more secondary component carriers in the first frequency band to the cellular processor. The message may list one or more secondary component carriers. The cellular processor may use similar messages to indicate one or more secondary component carriers (eg, carriers from other neighboring base stations) on which measurements are to be performed. In some embodiments, the message includes a list of secondary component carriers in the first frequency band. In some embodiments, the WLAN processor is configured to avoid transmitting on one of the indicated secondary component carriers (eg, to cancel or delay scheduled transmissions). In some embodiments, the WLAN processor is configured to, in response to the message, refrain from sending an acknowledgment for the probe from the wireless access point in the first frequency band. In some embodiments, the WLAN processor is configured to reduce a rate of active scanning in the first frequency band in response to the message. In some embodiments, the WLAN processor is configured to use an aggregation of media access control protocol data units (AMPDU) increased in response to the message and/or a WMM in response to the message.

In some embodiments, the cellular processor is configured to notify the WLAN processor when the cellular processor is performing a scan during a scan interval in the first frequency band. In some embodiments, the WLAN processor is configured to cancel or postpone one or more scheduled transmissions during a scan interval. In some embodiments, in response to determining not to defer one or more transmissions during the interval, the WLAN processor is configured to notify the cellular processor that the WLAN processor has transmitted during the interval. In some embodiments, in response to a notification that the WLAN processor was transmitted during the interval, the cellular processor is configured to ignore one or more scan measurements taken during the interval the WLAN processor transmitted.

The techniques described herein apply to many different types of devices including, but not limited to, base stations, access points, cellular phones, portable media players, tablet computers, wearable devices, and various other computing devices. Note that it may be implemented within and/or used with them.

This disclosure is intended to provide a brief overview of some of the subject matter described herein. Accordingly, it will be understood that the features described above are exemplary only and should not be construed to limit the scope or spirit of the subject matter described herein in any way. Other features, aspects and advantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparent from the following detailed description, drawings and claims.

1 illustrates an example (and simplified) wireless communication system in accordance with some embodiments.
2 illustrates an example base station in communication with an example wireless user equipment (UE) device, in accordance with some embodiments.
3 illustrates an example block diagram of a UE in accordance with some embodiments.
4 illustrates an example block diagram of a base station in accordance with some embodiments.
5 illustrates an example wireless communication system in accordance with some embodiments.
6 shows an example communication system in which a number of different devices can communicate with each other over a specific band, such as 2.4 GHz and/or 5 GHz frequency bands, using Wi-Fi.
7 shows an example of a typical LAA control and data scheduling in accordance with some embodiments.
8 is a block diagram illustrating example communication interfaces between the MWS and Wi-Fi processors, in accordance with some embodiments.
9-11 are communication diagrams illustrating example communications between Wi-Fi and cellular processors, in accordance with some embodiments.
12A and 12B are flow diagrams illustrating an example procedure for determining whether a Wi-Fi transmission causes an interruption threshold to be triggered, in accordance with some embodiments.
13 is a communication diagram illustrating an example procedure for using IDC indications, in accordance with some embodiments.
14-16 are flow diagrams illustrating example techniques for using coexistence information, in accordance with some embodiments.
17A and 17B are diagrams illustrating an example computer-readable medium, in accordance with some embodiments.
While various modifications and alternative forms are possible to the features described herein, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and are described in detail herein. However, the drawings and detailed description thereof are not intended to limit the invention to the specific forms disclosed, and on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications falling within the spirit and scope of the subject matter as defined by the appended claims; It should be understood that the intention is to cover equivalents, and alternatives.

acronym

Various acronyms are used throughout this application. Definitions of the most prominently used acronyms that may be mentioned throughout this application are provided below:

ACK: 확인응답

ACK: Acknowledgment

APR: Applications Processor

APR: Applications Processor

BS: Base Station

BS : Base Station

BSR: Buffer Size Report

BSR: Buffer Size Report

CC: Component Carrier

CC: Component Carrier

CMR: Change Mode Request

CMR: Change Mode Request

CQI: Channel Quality Indicator

CQI: Channel Quality Indicator

DL: (BS로부터 UE로의) Downlink

DL : (BS to UE) Downlink

DYN: Dynamic

DYN: Dynamic

FDD: Frequency Division Duplexing

FDD : Frequency Division Duplexing

FT: Frame Type

FT: Frame Type

GPRS: General Packet Radio Service

GPRS: General Packet Radio Service

GSM: Global System for Mobile Communication

GSM : Global System for Mobile Communication

HARQ: Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request

HARQ: Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request

IE: Information Element

IE: Information Element

LAN: Local Area Network

LAN: Local Area Network

LBT: Listen Before Talk

LBT: Listen Before Talk

LTE: Long Term Evolution

LTE : Long Term Evolution

LTE-U: LTE in Unlicensed Spectrum

LTE-U : LTE in Unlicensed Spectrum

LAA: License Assisted Access

LAA : License Assisted Access

MAC: Media Access Control (계층)

MAC : Media Access Control (layer)

NACK: Negative Acknowledgement

NACK : Negative Acknowledgment

PCell: Primary Cell

PCell: Primary Cell

PDCCH: Physical Downlink Control Channel

PDCCH : Physical Downlink Control Channel

PDSCH: Physical Downlink Shared Channel

PDSCH : Physical Downlink Shared Channel

PDN: Packet Data Network

PDN: Packet Data Network

PDU: Protocol Data Unit

PDU: Protocol Data Unit

PUCCH: Physical Uplink Control Channel

PUCCH: Physical Uplink Control Channel

QoS: Quality of Service

QoS: Quality of Service

RAT: Radio Access Technology

RAT: Radio Access Technology

RF: Radio Frequency

RF : Radio Frequency

RTP: Real-time Transport Protocol

RTP: Real-time Transport Protocol

RX: Reception/Receive

RX : Reception/Receive

SCell: Secondary Cell

SCell : Secondary Cell

TBS: Transport Block Size

TBS: Transport Block Size

TDD: Time Division Duplexing

TDD : Time Division Duplexing

TTI: Transmission Time Interval

TTI : Transmission Time Interval

TX: Transmission/Transmit

TX : Transmission/Transmit

UCI: Uplink Control Information

UCI : Uplink Control Information

UE: User Equipment (디바이스)

UE : User Equipment (device)

UL: (UE로부터 BS로의) Uplink

UL : (UE to BS) Uplink

UMTS: Universal Mobile Telecommunication System

UMTS : Universal Mobile Telecommunication System

VoLTE: Voice over LTE

VoLTE : Voice over LTE

WLAN: Wireless LAN

WLAN: Wireless LAN

Wi-Fi: 전기 전자 기술자 협회(IEEE) 802.11 표준들에 기초한 무선 로컬 영역 네트워크(WLAN) RAT

Wi-Fi: Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) RAT based on Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards

Terms

The following is an explanation of terms that may appear in this application:

Memory medium - any of various types of memory devices or storage devices. The term “memory medium” includes an installation medium such as a CD-ROM, floppy disks, or tape device; computer system memory or random access memory, such as DRAM, DDR RAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, Rambus RAM, and the like; non-volatile memory such as flash, magnetic media, eg, a hard drive, or optical storage; registers, or other similar types of memory elements, and the like. The memory medium may also include other types of memory or combinations thereof. Additionally, the memory medium may be located in a first computer system on which the programs are executed, or it may be located in a different second computer system that connects to the first computer system via a network such as the Internet. In the latter case, the second computer system may provide the program instructions to the first computer system for execution. The term “memory medium” may include two or more memory media that may reside in different locations, eg, different computer systems that are connected via a network.

Carrier medium - a memory medium as described above, as well as a physical transmission medium such as a bus, network, and/or other physical transmission medium carrying signals such as electrical, electromagnetic, or digital signals.

Computer system (or computer) - personal computer system (PC), mainframe computer system, workstation, network appliance, Internet appliance, personal digital assistant (PDA) ), a television system, a grid computing system, or any of various types of computing or processing systems including another device or combinations of devices. In general, the term “computer system” may be broadly defined to encompass any device (or combination of devices) having at least one processor executing instructions from a memory medium.

User Equipment (UE) (or “UE Device”) —any of various types of computer system devices that are mobile or portable and that perform wireless communication. Also referred to as wireless communication devices. Examples of UE devices are mobile phones or smartphones (eg, iPhone™, Android™ based phones) and tablet computers such as iPad™, Samsung Galaxy™, etc., portable gaming devices (eg, Nintendo DS™, PlayStation Portable™, Gameboy Advance™). , iPod™), laptops, wearable devices (eg, Apple Watch™, Google Glass™), PDAs, portable Internet devices, music players, data storage devices, or other handheld devices, and the like. Various other types of devices include Wi-Fi, or both cellular and Wi-Fi communication capabilities, and/or other wireless communication capabilities, for example via short-range radio access technologies (SRATs) such as BLUETOOTH™, etc. If so, it will fall into this category. In general, the term “UE” or “UE device” shall be broadly defined to encompass any electronic, computing, and/or communication device (or combination of devices) that is readily transported by a user and capable of wireless communication. can

Base Station (BS) - The term "base station" has the full scope of its general meaning and includes, at least, a radio communication station installed in a fixed location and used to communicate as part of a radiotelephone system or radio system.

Processing Element - Refers to various elements or combinations of elements capable of performing a function in a device, such as in a user equipment device or in a cellular network device. Processing elements may include, for example, processors and associated memory, portions or circuits of individual processor cores, entire processor cores, processor arrays, circuits such as application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays ( programmable hardware elements, such as FPGAs), as well as any of various combinations of the above.

Wireless Device (or Wireless Communication Device) - Any of various types of computer system devices that perform wireless communications using WLAN communications, SRAT communications, Wi-Fi communications, and the like. As used herein, the term “wireless device” may refer to a UE device as defined above, or a fixed device, such as a fixed wireless client or wireless base station. For example, a wireless device may be a wireless station of any type of an 802.11 system, such as, for example, an access point (AP) or a client station (UE), or a cellular radio access technology (eg, a base station or cellular telephone). For example, it may be any type of wireless station in a cellular communication system that communicates in accordance with LTE, CDMA, GSM).

Wi-Fi - The term “Wi-Fi” has the full scope of its general meaning and is, at least, a wireless communication network served by and providing connectivity to the Internet via wireless LAN (WLAN) access points or via these access points Includes RAT. Most modern Wi-Fi networks (or WLAN networks) are based on IEEE 802.11 standards and are marketed under the name "Wi-Fi". A Wi-Fi (WLAN) network is different from a cellular network.

automatically —the action or action is a computer system (eg, software executed by a computer system) or device (eg, circuitry, programmable hardware element) without user input directly specifying or performing the action or operation. , ASICs, etc.). Thus, the term “automatically” is contrasted with an action that is manually performed or specified by a user, providing input for the user to perform the action directly. An automatic procedure may be initiated by input provided by the user, but subsequent actions performed "automatically" are not specified by the user, i.e. not performed "manually" specifying each action to be performed by the user. does not For example, a user fills out an electronic form by selecting each field (eg, typing information, selecting check boxes, selecting a radio, etc.) and providing input specifying the information. The thing is to manually fill out the form, even if the computer system needs to update the form in response to user actions. A form may be automatically filled by a computer system (eg, software running on the computer system) that parses the fields of the form and fills out the form without any user input specifying responses to the fields. . As indicated above, the user can invoke auto-fill of the form, but does not participate in the actual filling of the form (eg, the user does not manually specify responses to fields, rather they automatically being completed). This specification provides various examples of actions being performed automatically in response to actions taken by a user.

Configured to - Various components may be described as "configured to" perform a task or tasks. In that context, "configured to" is a broad description that generally means "having structure to" perform a task or tasks during operation. As such, a component may be configured to perform a task even when the component is not currently performing that task (eg, a set of electrical conductors may be configured to perform a task even when one module is not connected to the other module). may be configured to electrically connect them). In some contexts, “configured to” may be a broad description of a structure that generally means “having circuitry to” perform a task or tasks during operation. As such, a component may be configured to perform a task even when the component is not currently in an on state. In general, a circuit portion forming a structure corresponding to “configured to” may include hardware circuits.

Various components may be described as performing a task or tasks for convenience of description. Such descriptions should be construed as including the phrase "configured to". Reference to a component configured to perform one or more tasks is 35 U.S.C. It is expressly intended not to apply the interpretation of § 112, paragraph 6.

1 and 2 - Exemplary communication system

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

As shown, the exemplary wireless communication system includes a base station 102 that communicates with one or more user devices 106 - 1 - 106-N via a transmission medium. Each of the user devices may be referred to herein as a “user equipment” (UE) or a UE device. Accordingly, user devices 106 are referred to as UEs or UE devices. Various of the UE devices may operate in accordance with the techniques detailed herein.

Base station 102 may be a base transceiver station (BTS) or cell site, and may include hardware that enables wireless communication with UEs 106A-106N. Base station 102 may also be equipped to communicate with network 100 (eg, a cellular service provider's core network, a communications network such as a public switched telephone network (PSTN), and/or the Internet, among other possibilities). have. Accordingly, the base station 102 may facilitate communication between user devices and/or between the user devices and the network 100 . A communication area (or coverage area) of a base station may be referred to as a "cell". As also used herein, from the perspective of UEs, a base station may, at times, be considered to represent a network, so far as uplink and downlink communications of the UE are concerned. Accordingly, that the UE communicates with one or more base stations in the network may also be interpreted as the UE communicates with the network.

Base station 102 and user devices are GSM, UMTS (WCDMA), LTE, LTE-A (LTE-Advanced), LAA/LTE-U, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (eg 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), Wi - Can be configured to communicate over a transmission medium using any of a variety of radio access technologies (RATs), also referred to as wireless communication technologies or telecommunications standards, such as -Fi, WiMAX, and the like. In some embodiments, base station 102 communicates with at least one UE using improved UL (uplink) and DL (downlink) decoupling, preferably via LTE or similar RAT standard.

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

Additionally or alternatively, the UE 106 may be configured with WLAN, BLUETOOTH™, one or more global navigational satellite systems (GNSS) (eg, GPS or GLONASS), one or more mobile television broadcasting standards (eg, For example, ATSC-M/H or DVB-H) may be configured to communicate. Other combinations of wireless communication standards (including more than two wireless communication standards) are also possible.

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

The UE 106 may include one or more antennas for communicating using one or more wireless communication protocols in accordance with one or more RAT standards. In some embodiments, UE 106 may share one or more portions of a receive chain and/or a transmit chain among multiple wireless communication standards. A shared radio may include a single antenna or may include multiple antennas (eg, for MIMO) to perform wireless communications. Alternatively, the UE 106 may include separate transmit and/or receive chains (eg, including separate antennas and other radio components) for each wireless communication protocol with which it is configured to communicate. can Alternatively, UE 106 may include one or more radios shared among multiple wireless communication protocols, and one or more radios used exclusively by a single wireless communication protocol. For example, UE 106 may include a shared radio for communicating using either LTE or CDMA2000 1xRTT, and separate radios for communicating using each of Wi-Fi and BLUETOOTH™. Other configurations are also possible.

3 - Block diagram of an exemplary UE

3 shows a block diagram of an example UE 106 in accordance with some embodiments. As shown, UE 106 may include a system on chip (SOC) 300 that may include portions for various purposes. For example, as shown, the SOC 300 includes a processor(s) 302 that may execute program instructions for the UE 106 , and perform graphics processing and provide display signals to the display 360 . display circuitry 304 . The processor(s) 302 also receives addresses from the processor(s) 302 and converts those addresses into memory (eg, memory 306 , read only memory (ROM) 351 , NAND flash memory 310 ). )) in a memory management unit (MMU) 340 and/or display circuitry 304 , radio 330 , connector I/F 320 , and/or display 360 . ) may be coupled to other circuits or devices. MMU 340 may be configured to perform memory protection and page table translation or set up. In some embodiments, MMU 340 may be included as part of processor(s) 302 .

As shown, the SOC 300 may be coupled to various other circuits of the UE 106 . For example, the UE 106 may include various types of memory (eg, including NAND flash 310 ), a connector interface 320 (eg, for coupling to a computer system), a display 360 . ), and wireless communication circuitry (eg, for LTE, LTE-A, CDMA2000, BLUETOOTH™, Wi-Fi, GPS, etc.). The UE device 106 has at least one antenna (eg, 335a ) and possibly multiple antennas (eg, antennas 335a ) to perform wireless communication with base stations and/or other devices. and 335b)). Antennas 335a and 335b are shown as an example, and UE device 106 may include fewer or more antennas. Generally, one or more antennas are collectively referred to as antenna(s) 335 . For example, the UE device 106 may use the antenna(s) 335 to perform wireless communication with the aid of the radio circuitry 330 . As noted above, a UE may be configured to communicate wirelessly using multiple wireless communication standards in some embodiments.

The processor(s) 302 of the UE device 106 may use any of the methods described herein, for example, by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (eg, a non-transitory computer readable memory medium). It may be configured to implement some or all of it. In other embodiments, the processor(s) 302 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). In addition, the processor(s) 302 provide the UE 106 , which specifies mitigating the potential impact of LAA/LTE imbalance for the wireless communication of the UE 106 , in accordance with various embodiments disclosed herein. may be coupled to and/or interact with other components as shown in FIG. 3 to implement communication by Specifically, the processor(s) 302 are configured to enable the UE 106 to communicate in a manner that attempts to minimize the imbalance between the UE 106's LAA communication and LTE communication, as shown in FIG. 3 . It may be coupled to and/or interact with other components. The processor(s) 302 may also implement various other applications running on the UE 106 and/or end user applications.

In some embodiments, radio 330 includes separate controllers dedicated to controlling communications for the various respective RAT standards. For example, as shown in FIG. 3 , the radio 330 includes a Wi-Fi controller 350 , a cellular controller (eg, LTE/3GPP controller) 352 , and a BLUETOOTH™ controller 354 . may, and in at least some embodiments, one or more or all of these controllers have respective integrated circuits (for brevity) in communication with each other and with the SOC 300 (and more specifically with the processor(s) 302 ). In other words, it can be implemented as ICs or chips). For example, Wi-Fi controller 350 may communicate with cellular controller 352 over a cell-ISM link or WCI interface, and/or BLUETOOTH™ controller 354 may communicate with cellular controller 352 over a cell-ISM link ( 352), and so on. Although three separate controllers are shown within the radio 330 , other embodiments have fewer or more similar controllers for several different RATs that may be implemented in the UE device 106 .

4 - Block diagram of an exemplary base station

4 shows a block diagram of an exemplary base station 102 in accordance with some embodiments. Note that the base station of FIG. 4 is only an example of a possible base station. As shown, the base station 102 may include a processor(s) 404 capable of executing program instructions for the base station 102 . Processor(s) 404 may also be configured to receive addresses from processor(s) 404 and translate those addresses to locations in memory (eg, memory 460 and ROM 450 ). It may be coupled to the MMU 440 , or to other circuits or devices.

Base station 102 may include at least one network port 470 . The network port 470 is coupled to a telephony network and may be configured to provide a plurality of devices, such as UE devices 106 , access to the telephony network as described above in FIGS. 1 and 2 . Additionally or alternatively, network port 470 (or additional network port) may be configured to couple to a cellular network, eg, a core network of a cellular service provider. The core network may provide mobility related services and/or other services to a plurality of devices, such as UE devices 106 . In some cases, network port 470 may be coupled to a telephony network via a core network and/or the core network may be (eg, between other UE devices serviced by a cellular service provider) a telephony network. can provide

Base station 102 may include at least one antenna 434 , and possibly multiple antennas. The at least one antenna 434 may be configured to operate as a wireless transceiver, and may be further configured to communicate with the UE devices 106 via the radio 430 . The antenna 434 communicates with the wireless communication device 430 via a communication chain 432 . The communication chain 432 may be a receive chain, a transmit chain, or both. Radio 430 may be designed to communicate over a variety of wireless communication standards including, but not limited to, LTE, LTE-A WCDMA, CDMA2000, and the like. The processor 404 of the base station 102 implements some or all of the methods described herein, for example, by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (eg, a non-transitory computer readable memory medium), Base station 102 may be configured to communicate with a UE device capable of detecting imbalances between LAA communications and LTE communications performed by the UE device and making adjustments to address such imbalances. Alternatively, the processor 404 may be configured as an FPGA, or a programmable hardware element such as an ASIC, or a combination thereof. In the case of certain RATs, eg Wi-Fi, the base station 102 may be designed as an access point (AP), in which case the network port 470 is a wide area network and/or local area network(s). may be implemented to provide access to, for example, it may include at least one Ethernet port, and the radio 430 may be designed to communicate according to the Wi-Fi standard. Base station 102 is described herein to communicate with mobile devices capable of detecting an imbalance between LAA wireless communication of mobile devices and LTE cellular wireless communication, and thus, when applicable, coordinating their wireless operations. It may operate in accordance with various methods as disclosed.

5 - Exemplary communication system

5 illustrates an example wireless communication system 500 in accordance with some embodiments. System 500 is a system in which LTE access networks and Wi-Fi radio access networks are implemented. The system 500 may include a UE 106 and an LTE network 504 and a Wi-Fi network 506 .

The LTE access network 504 represents some embodiments of the first RAT access, and the Wi-Fi access network 506 represents some embodiments of the second RAT access. The LTE access network 504 may interface with a wider cellular network (eg, an LTE network), and the Wi-Fi access network 506 may interface with the Internet 514 . More specifically, LTE access network 504 may interface with a serving base station (BS) 508 , which may then provide access to wider cellular network 516 . The Wi-Fi access network 506 may interface with an access point (AP), which may in turn provide access to the Internet 514 . Accordingly, UE 106 may access Internet 514 via AP 510 and cellular network 516 via LTE access network 504 . In some embodiments, although not shown, UE 106 may also access Internet 514 via LTE access network 504 . More specifically, LTE access network 504 may interface with a serving gateway, which in turn may interface with a packet data network (PDN) gateway. The PDN gateway may in turn interface with the Internet 514 . Accordingly, the UE 106 may access the Internet 514 via either or both of the LTE access network 504 and the Wi-Fi access network 506 .

6 - Exemplary communication system with multiple Wi-Fi devices

6 illustrates an example communication system in which a number of different devices can communicate with each other over a specific band, such as 2.4 GHz and/or 5 GHz frequency bands, using Wi-Fi RAT. 5 GHz Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11 ac/n) capable devices have become very common, as shown in FIG. 6 , to operate in both peer-to-peer mode and/or station mode. Data communications over a particular frequency band, such as over the 5 GHz band, may include voice, video, real-time, and best-effort types of traffic. The devices shown are cameras 111 , tablets 113 , media servers/mini servers 115 , portable computers 105 , 117 , access ports/routers 103 , game controllers ( 119 ), mobile devices 107 , such as smartphones, and smart monitors 121 or monitors 123 with wireless access interface 121 . As shown in FIG. 6 , many of the devices can communicate over the 5 GHz band using Wi-Fi communication technology. In some cases, Wi-Fi communications performed by devices may be affected by LAA/LTE-U communications that also occur over the 5 GHz band.

Presence of LAA/LTE-U signals

In LTE, carrier aggregation (CA) refers to two or more component carriers (CC) to support wider transmission bandwidths, for example bandwidths up to 100 MHz. A UE may receive or transmit simultaneously on one or multiple CCs depending on the UE's capabilities. When CA is configured, the UE may maintain one RRC connection with the network. The serving cell managing the RRC connection of the UE is referred to as a primary cell (PCell), and a secondary cell (SCell) together with the PCell may form a set of serving cells. In CA, a UE can be scheduled on multiple serving cells simultaneously via PDCCH. Cross-carrier scheduling with a carrier indicator field (CIF) allows the serving cell's PDCCH to schedule resources on other serving cells. That is, the UE receiving the downlink assignment on one CC may receive the associated data on the other CC.

Licensed assisted access (LAA) is a subcategory of LTE inter-band carrier aggregation, where one of the secondary carriers is a 5 GHz unlicensed band in which communication according to another RAT, such as Wi-Fi, may also be taking place. operating in the band. Resources in an LAA carrier are scheduled in the same way that resources are scheduled in legacy carrier aggregation (CA). That is, carrier scheduling and/or cross-layer scheduling for LAA carriers is the same as for other CA carriers (PDCCH or ePDCCH). The LAA SCell can operate with frame structure 3 consisting of 20 slots and can be accessed following a successful listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure. 7 shows typical LAA control and data scheduling providing respective examples 201 for the same carrier scheduling and respective examples 251 for cross-carrier scheduling, assuming a successfully completed LBT procedure in the previous subframe. shows an example of If the start position of the RRC subframe indicates 's07' and no DCI is received in slot 1, the UE may read the PDCC/ePDCCH in slot 2 to check downlink data availability.

Use of Unlicensed Spectrum and LAA

Cellular traffic is expected to grow exponentially in 2015-2020. For example, mobile data traffic was 3.7 exabytes or EB per month in 2015 (~3.7 * 10 ¹⁸ bytes) is projected to increase to 30.6 EB per month in 2020. However, licensed spectrum is seen as a major bottleneck preventing operators from expanding network capacity. During the latest Advanced Wireless Services (AWS)-3/79 spectrum auction, US operators spent more than $44.9 billion on 65 MHz spectrum. On the other hand, the 5 GHz unlicensed band represents available bandwidth up to 500 MHz with zero auction cost. Thus, LAA represents at least one approach applicable to solving these very identical spectral problems.

Exemplary Techniques for Coexistence Between LAA and Wi-Fi Using Shared Antennas

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

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

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

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

In some embodiments, cellular DL transmissions are performed in LAA bands, while all cellular UL transmissions are performed using licensed bands. In some embodiments, both Wi-Fi transmission and reception are performed in the 5 GHz band using a shared antenna. Additionally, various elements such as a diplexer, low noise amplifier, band filter, etc. may be shared between Wi-Fi communication and LAA communication by the UE. In various embodiments, the switching antennas may involve switching whether these additional shared elements are being used by the Wi-Fi controller or the cellular controller.

9 illustrates an eNB 930 (eg, a cellular base station), a UE-LTE module 910 (eg, a cellular processor such as an MWS device 810 ), a UE-Wi-Fi module 920 in accordance with some embodiments. ) (eg, a Wi-Fi processor), and a signaling diagram illustrating example communications between an application processor 940 .

In the illustrated embodiment, the eNB 930 operates via both primary component carriers (PCC) in licensed frequency bands and LAA secondary component carriers (SCC) in unlicensed frequency bands including 5 GHz bandwidths. configured to communicate. The eNB 930 may be implemented according to the embodiment of FIG. 4 in some systems.

UE-LTE 910 is, in the illustrated embodiment, configured to communicate with eNB 930 via PCCs and LAA-SCCs, and communicates with UE-Wi-Fi 920 via WCI-2 945 . configured to do UE-LTE 910 is also configured to communicate with application processor 940 , such as via a PCIe interface, in the illustrated embodiment. In the illustrated embodiment, the UE-WI-FI 920 is also configured to communicate with one or more wireless access points using one or more 5 GHz component carriers (CC), and the application processor 940 via a PCIe/HCI interface. configured to communicate with The signaling in FIGS. 9-11 is shown for illustrative purposes, but the types of messages, types of interfaces, and order of messages may be different in other embodiments.

In the illustrated embodiment, the eNB 930 and UE-LTE 910 perform RRC reconfiguration to add a LAA secondary cell (SCell) for the UE. Subsequently, the UE-LTE 910 sends a host indication with the list of LAA SCCs to the application processor 940 , which routes the list of LAA channels to the UE-Wi-Fi 920 . In other embodiments, UE-LTE 910 may transmit the list of LAA channels directly to UE-Wi-Fi 920 rather than via an application processor. In some embodiments, the list of LAA channels includes channels that the eNB 930 is configured to use, although these channels may or may not be assigned to a UE.

Based on this list, UE-Wi-Fi 920 is found to operate on 5 GHz channels, which, in some embodiments, may be used by UE-LTE 910 (eg, channels in the list). designed to avoid. In some embodiments, the LAA has an 8 ms transmit opportunity (TXOP), which may prevent interference between Wi-Fi transmission and LAA reception.

UE-Wi-Fi 920 performs transmissions on a channel used by eNB 930 for LAA (eg, for peer-to-peer to station/AP mode), and in some embodiments, the UE - Wi-Fi 920 is configured to use the Wi-Fi Multimedia (WMM) framework for quality of service management and media access control (MAC) protocol top aggregation of data units (PDUs) (this technique) is often referred to as an AMPDU). This can help group Wi-Fi transmissions into time intervals similar to the 8 ms LAA TXOP interval (eg, ˜5-8 ms Wi-Fi transmission blocks), which in turn interferes with LAA reception via the shared antenna. can reduce

Referring back to FIG. 9 , UE-LTE 910 , along with performing reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ) and/or received signal indicator (RSSI) determinations using a shared antenna. sends an MWS_SCAN_ON message to the UE-Wi-Fi 920, followed by an MWS_SCAN_OFF message when the scan is complete. These measurements may be for neighboring cells and, in some embodiments, may be performed at the request of the eNB 930 . As shown, there may be a 20-200 us propagation delay across WCI-2 for these messages. As shown, the UE-LTE 910 may then report the determined scan measurements to the eNB 930 , which then sends a MAC Control Element (CE) to activate the LAA secondary cell and UE -SCCs allocated to the LTE 910 may be activated. As shown, UE-LTE 910 may also use MMS_SCAN_ON and MWS_SCAN_OFF messages to signal the start and end of the CQI measurement process. In the illustrated embodiment, the UE-LTE 910 also uses a WCI-2 Type-2 message to send an index of SCCs that are actually assigned and activated to the UE by the eNB 930 . Similar messages may subsequently be used to indicate deactivated SCCs. Such messages may allow the UE-Wi-Fi 920 to be kept up to date on the LAA carriers currently assigned to the UE-LTE 910 . In the illustrated embodiment, 24 ms after the MAC CE element, the UE and the eNB are ready to start communicating in LAA CA mode.

In some embodiments, during the intervals indicated by the MWS_SCAN_ON and MWS_SCAN_OFF messages, the UE-Wi-Fi 920 is configured to completely avoid UL transmission to avoid interference with LTE measurements. In some embodiments, Wi-Fi transmissions may still be performed during this interval, for example in response to an explicit user request to connect to a particular access point. In such embodiments, the UE-Wi-Fi 920 may notify the UE-LTE 910 of the transmission, and the UE-LTE 910 is configured to discard any measurements performed during the Wi-Fi transmission. can be This can ensure that measurement reports for LAA channels are not degraded by Wi-Fi transmissions.

In some embodiments, when the UE-Wi-Fi 920 is notified of LAA activation for the UE, the UE-Wi-Fi 920 performs (relative to the active scanning rate when LAA is not being used) 5 reduce the rate of active scanning in the GHz band to reduce the impact of such scans on LAA DL reception and/or extend the dwell time of a Wi-Fi active scan after sending a probe request. Similarly, in some embodiments when LAA is activated, UE-Wi-Fi 920 is configured not to send an acknowledgment (ACK) message in response to probe responses from the access point. This may further reduce interference with LAA reception in some situations. As shown, Wi-Fi may refrain from transmitting on SCCs in the index when possible, for example by attempting to allocate transmission to other channels.

In some embodiments, the eNB 930 determines whether to activate the LAA Scell based on the amount of user data buffered at the eNB 930 , whether the user is voice over LTE (VoLTE) or Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR) traffic. and whether SCC activation has already occurred within the timer interval. In some embodiments, the eNB 930 activates the LAA SCell only if the amount of buffered data is greater than a threshold, the user has no VoLTE or GBR traffic, and SCC activation does not occur within the threshold interval. is composed

10 is a signal diagram illustrating example communications during LAA activation, in accordance with some embodiments. In the illustrated example, Wi-Fi does not cause LAA to be disabled. In contrast, FIG. 11 illustrates a situation in which LAA is disabled based on Wi-Fi transmissions, in accordance with some embodiments.

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

In some embodiments, lost LAA packets may be recovered using Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) and Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), particularly when Wi-Fi transmissions are relatively limited. However, at some point, LAA may need to be disabled due to packet loss.

Referring back to FIG. 10 , the UE-Wi-Fi 920 sends an 802.TX_ON message to the UE-LTE 910, with the antenna switching to Wi-Fi for Wi-Fi transmission, followed by Wi-Fi. Sends the 802.11_TX_OFF message when Fi transmissions are complete. The antenna is subsequently switched back to use LAA. In the illustrated embodiment, the UE-LTE 910 determines, based at least in part on WCI-2 messages from the UE-Wi-Fi 920 , that packet loss is acceptable and keeps the LAA CA active. do.

In some embodiments, the initial message indicating that a Wi-Fi transmission is taking place may also specify the duration of the transmission. Generally speaking, various Any of the encodings may be used. The start and end messages illustrated in FIGS. 9-11 (eg, various “on” and “off” messages) are included for purposes of illustration, but are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure.

Referring now to FIG. 11 , the Wi-Fi transmission causes an interruption threshold to be triggered (eg, based on one or more of the metrics discussed above), and the UE-LTE 910 initiates the SCC deactivation procedure. In some embodiments, UE-LTE 910 initiates the deactivation procedure at a certain amount of time after receiving the TX_ON message if no TX_OFF message has been received. In the illustrated embodiment, the UE-LTE 910 sends a CQI report with LAA SCC CQI = 0, causing the eNB 930 to deactivate the LAA SCell (using the MAC CE in the illustrated embodiment) and , after that, LAA is deactivated. In other embodiments, other messages may be used to request LAA deactivation from the eNB 930 , such as, for example, a proprietary UL MAC CE or 3GPP Release 13 in a device coexistence (IDC) message. UE-LTE 910 may subsequently request to reactivate LAA SCCs (not shown), eg, in response to a decrease in Wi-Fi transmissions. In some embodiments, similar techniques are used for reactivation procedures, using the same thresholds or different thresholds.

12A and 12B are flow diagrams illustrating an example procedure for determining whether a Wi-Fi transmission causes an interruption threshold to be triggered (eg, within the scenario of FIG. 11 ), in accordance with some embodiments. The procedure of FIGS. 12A and 12B may be implemented by, for example, UE-LTE 910 .

Referring first to FIG. 12A , at 1202 , the UE-LTE 910 may determine whether an interruption rate by Wi-Fi transmission (LAA_Interrupt_Rate) exceeds (or meets) a start-timer threshold (LAA_Threshold_In). For example, LAA_Interrupt_Rate may be measured in terms of a number or percentage of TTIs interrupted by a Wi-Fi transmission within a particular time window (eg, within a 100 ms period). As an example, LAA_Threshold_in may be set as 20% of the TTIs within the time window. The UE-LTE 910 may determine whether a given TTI within a time window is suspended according to the procedures described above.

At 1204 , in response to determining that the LAA_Interrupt_Rate exceeds (or meets) LAA_Threshold_In, the UE-LTE 910 may start a deactivation timer (LAA_Timer_Deac). LAA_Timer_Deac may be configured to measure whether a period of high interference from Wi-Fi transmission exceeds (or meets) a predefined threshold. As an example, LAA_Timer_Deac may expire after 500 ms.

At 1206 , the UE-LTE 910 may determine whether the LAA_Timer_Deac has expired. If so, the UE-LTE 910 may initiate the SCC deactivation procedure, eg, as illustrated in FIG. 11 , at 1208 .

Referring now to FIG. 12B , at 1252 , UE-LTE 910 may determine whether LAA_Interrupt_Rate does not exceed (eg, falls below) a pause-timer threshold LAA_Threshold_Out. As an example, LAA_Threshold_Out may be set as 10% of the TTIs within the time window. Setting LAA_Threshold_Out to a value lower than LAA_Threshold_In may provide a hysteresis function when determining whether to initiate the SCC deactivation procedure.

In response to determining that the LAA_Interrupt_Rate is less than LAA_Threshold_Out, the UE-LTE 910 may determine at 1254 whether LAA_Time_Deac is enabled. If LAA_Time_Deac is enabled, the UE-LTE 910 may stop LAA_Timer_Deac so that the SCC deactivation procedure is not initiated (eg, the determination of step 1206 is not satisfied).

In various embodiments, the disclosed techniques may reduce interference (which may in turn increase performance) of LAA and Wi-Fi communications using a shared antenna.

Exemplary In-Device Coexistence Call Flow

In some embodiments, instead of (or in addition to) using CQI=0 reporting to deactivate LAA, new signaling is an In-Device Coexistence (IDC) frame to notify the mobile device of LAA RX unavailability. used in work. This may remove the dependency on periodic CQI configuration by the network, which in some embodiments may degrade the user experience in certain circumstances. In some embodiments, the network is configured to use the IDC technologies discussed below with reference to FIG. 13 unless the mobile device supports these technologies, in which case the network will use the CQI = 0 technologies discussed above. can

13 is a signal diagram illustrating example IDC communications regarding LAA activation, in accordance with some embodiments. In the illustrated embodiment, the UE 1310 sends an InDeviceCoexd-LAA(r13) message to the EUTRAN 1320 based on whether the network determines to configure the UE 1310 with one or more LAA SCells. The network then sends to the UE 1310 an RRC Connection Reconfiguration message adding one or more LAA SCells, indicating that the UE is configured to transmit IDC indications for LAA RX sharing purposes. The network also activates LAA SCells.

Subsequently, in the illustrated example, the UE 1310 determines that WiFi LAA receive sharing is occurring or is expected, and in response, sends an InDeviceCoexIndication message with a sharing issue field (LAAHardwareSharingIssue-R13) set to true. In response, the network either deactivates the LAA SCells or suspends data transmission to the UE 1310 via those SCells.

Subsequently, in the illustrated example, WiFi RX sharing no longer occurs and the UE 1310 sends an InDeviceCoexIndication message with the Share Issue field set to false (this causes the network to configure LAA SCells for the UE) and/or resume data transmission to the UE on the SCells).

In some embodiments, the UE determines that, during a first period of time, transmission by the WLAN processor via the antenna has ceased transmission by the cellular processor in the first frequency band via the antenna at a rate that meets the first threshold. start a timer in response to; and determine to request deactivation of communications on the first frequency band in response to expiration of the timer. In some embodiments, the UE is upon determining that, during the second period of time, transmission by the WLAN processor via the antenna has ceased transmission by the cellular processor in the first frequency band via the antenna at a rate less than a second threshold. and stop the timer in response.

Exemplary method

14 is a flowchart illustrating a method for using coexistence information, in accordance with some embodiments. The method illustrated in FIG. 14 may be used in conjunction with any of the computer circuitry, systems, devices, elements or components disclosed herein, among other things. In various embodiments, some of the method elements shown may be performed concurrently, in a different order than shown, or may be omitted. Additional method elements may also be performed as desired.

At 1410 , in the illustrated embodiment, a first processing element (eg, cellular controller 352 ) performs wireless communications according to a first RAT in a first frequency band and a second frequency band, wherein the first RAT is a cellular RAT , the first frequency band is in the unlicensed spectrum, and the second frequency band is in the applied spectrum.

At 1420 , in the illustrated embodiment, a second processing element (eg, Wi-Fi controller 350 ) performs wireless communications according to a second RAT in a first frequency band, where the second RAT is a WLAN RAT. Note that the first and second processing elements may or may not be the same processing element.

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

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

At 1450 , in the illustrated embodiment, the first processing element determines whether to request deactivation of communications over the first frequency band based on one or more durations of one or more transmission intervals. For example, when requesting deactivation, the first processing element may communicate with the base station to make the request. For example, the first processing element may send a CQI report with a CQI of 0 to request deactivation. In some embodiments, the first processing element may send a DCI message to request deactivation.

The cellular communications in the first frequency band may be LAA communications. The first and second processing elements may communicate via a WCI interface. The first frequency band may be a 5 GHz band.

15 is a flowchart of another method for using coexistence information, in accordance with some embodiments. The method illustrated in FIG. 15 may be used in conjunction with any of the computer circuitry, systems, devices, elements or components disclosed herein, among other things. In various embodiments, some of the method elements shown may be performed concurrently, in a different order than shown, or may be omitted. Additional method elements may also be performed as desired.

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

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

In some embodiments, based on this indication, the WLAN processor is configured to avoid transmitting on one of the secondary component carriers assigned to the cellular processor in response to the message. In some embodiments, the WLAN processor is configured to refrain from sending, in response to the message, acknowledgments for the one or more probes from the wireless access point in the first frequency band. In some embodiments, the WLAN processor is configured to reduce a rate of active scanning in the first frequency band in response to the message. In some embodiments, the WLAN processor is configured to use the increased Aggregation of Media Access Control Protocol Data Units (AMPDU) in response to the message. In some embodiments, the cellular processor is configured to send a message to the WLAN processor via the application processor.

16 is a flowchart of another method for using coexistence information, in accordance with some embodiments. The method illustrated in FIG. 16 may be used in conjunction with any of the computer circuitry, systems, devices, elements or components disclosed herein, among other things. In various embodiments, some of the method elements shown may be performed concurrently, in a different order than shown, or may be omitted. Additional method elements may also be performed as desired.

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

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

At 1650 , in the illustrated embodiment, the WLAN processor cancels or postpones one or more scheduled transmissions on the second RAT during the scan interval. In some embodiments, the WLAN processor determines not to defer one or more transmissions during the interval (eg, based on the duration of the scan interval, other information regarding the scan interval, and/or characteristics of the scheduled transmissions). can In some embodiments, the WLAN process is configured to notify the cellular processor whether it is transmitting during an interval. In some embodiments, in response to a notification that the WLAN processor was transmitted during the interval, the cellular processor is configured to ignore one or more scan measurements taken during the interval the WLAN processor transmitted.

Exemplary computer readable media

This disclosure has described various exemplary circuits in detail above. The present disclosure is intended to cover embodiments including such circuitry, as well as computer-readable storage media containing design information specifying such circuitry. Accordingly, the present disclosure provides claims covering storage media specifying circuitry in a format recognized by a manufacturing system configured to create hardware (eg, an integrated circuit) comprising the disclosed circuitry as well as devices including the disclosed circuitry. It is intended to support The claims to such storage media are intended to cover entities that create, for example, a circuit design but do not themselves manufacture the design.

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

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

Design information 1715 may be specified using any of a variety of suitable computer languages including, without limitation, hardware description languages such as VHDL, Verilog, SystemC, SystemVerilog, RHDL, M, MyHDL, and the like. The design information 1715 may be usable by the semiconductor manufacturing system 1720 to fabricate at least a portion of the integrated circuit 1730 . The format of the design information 1715 may be recognized by the at least one semiconductor manufacturing system 1720 . In some embodiments, design information 1715 may also include one or more cell libraries specifying the composition and/or layout of integrated circuit 1730 . In some embodiments, the design information is specified in whole or in part in the form of a netlist specifying cell library elements and their connectivity.

The semiconductor manufacturing system 1720 may include any of a variety of suitable elements configured to fabricate integrated circuits. This may include, for example, depositing semiconductor materials (eg, on a wafer, which may include masking), removing materials, changing the shape of the deposited materials (eg, doping materials or UV light). by changing the dielectric constants using processing). The semiconductor manufacturing system 1720 may also be configured to perform various tests of manufactured circuits for correct operation.

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

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

Media 1740 and design information 1745 may have similar features as media 1710 and design information 1715 as described above. The hardware description languages used to design ASICs may be similar or different from those used to program programmable hardware elements. The programmable hardware element 1760 may be a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic array (PLA), a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), or the like. Programmable hardware element 1760 may include logic blocks, hard blocks for common functions, configurable clocking structures, memories, fuses, and the like. A given programmable hardware element 1760 may be programmed differently at different times, such as by adjusting the functionality of logic blocks, interconnections between circuit elements, and the like.

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

As used herein, the term “implementing a circuit according to a design” includes both manufacturing an integrated circuit according to the design and programming a programmable hardware element according to the design. Semiconductor manufacturing system 1720 and programming device 1750 are examples of computing systems configured to implement circuits according to design information. Generally speaking, implementing a circuit according to design may include other methods for implementing hardware circuits in addition to the techniques discussed with reference to FIGS. 17A and 17B . This terminology is intended to cover all such techniques for implementing hardware circuits in accordance with design information stored on a computer-readable medium.

As used herein, a phrase in the form of “design information specifying the design of a circuit configured to” does not imply that the circuit must be manufactured for an element to be satisfied. Rather, this phrase indicates that the design information describes circuitry that, when manufactured, will include specified components or that will be configured to perform the indicated actions.

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

In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium (eg, a non-transitory memory element) may be configured such that it stores program instructions and/or data, wherein the program instructions are executed by a computer system. When done, the computer system causes a method, eg, any of the method embodiments described herein, or any combination of method embodiments described herein, or method embodiments described herein. any subset of any of, or any combination of such subsets.

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

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

Claims (1)

The device of claim 1 .

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