WO2014032261A1

WO2014032261A1 - Glitch indicator for carrier aggregation

Info

Publication number: WO2014032261A1
Application number: PCT/CN2012/080803
Authority: WO
Inventors: Wei Bai; Haiming Wang; Jing HAN; Christopher Peter Callender
Original assignee: Broadcom Corporation
Priority date: 2012-08-30
Filing date: 2012-08-30
Publication date: 2014-03-06

Abstract

An indication of a potential glitch in data packet reception after carrier aggregation is provided. When user equipment (UE) has been tuned to receive multiple frequency carriers because a network node (the serving network apparatus) configured one or more secondary cells (SCell) for carrier aggregation, UE signals the serving network apparatus that a glitch potential exists. If carrier aggregation has not required retuning UE, the indication will be set to indicate no glitch potential. The glitch indicator can be included in an RRCConflgurationComplete message or a UE Capability message in an uplink to the serving network apparatus.

Description

GLITCH INDICATOR FOR CARRIER AGGREGATION

TECHNOLOGICAL FIELD

The various embodiments described herein relate to the field of mobile wireless communications, in particular, correction of an undesirable function during carrier aggregation.

BACKGROUND

Carrier aggregation is one of the key technologies used to increase the throughput for user equipment (UE) in mobile wireless networks to meet the increasing demand of the data rate. Inter-frequency band carrier aggregation and intra-frequency band carrier aggregation are both supported by the carrier aggregation (CA) UEs. For carrier aggregation, there are two kinds of cells: Primary cell (PCell) and Secondary cell (SCell). UE first accesses the PCell by a legacy procedure already specified and after that, once the enhanced Node B (eNB) sees the need to extend the throughput for the UE, the eNB could configure one or more SCells for the UE.

An illustration of carrier aggregation for enhanced bandwidth appears in Fig. 1. eNB must configure an SCell to available frequency carriers at the time that earner aggregation is invoked. If those carriers are inter-band, the frequency allocation looks like one frequency carrier 104 in Band A and one carrier 108 in Band B. If sufficient carrier availability exists in a single frequency band, then the aggregation can be intra- band with two earners 112, 114 allocated to a UE. In either case, UE must retune its receivers) to accommodate the earner allocation. It is possible for UE to use one radio frequency (RF) chain to support this feature, especially when the two aggregated carriers are adjacent to each other (Fig. 1: 112, 1 14). For such a UE, once eNB configures an SCell for adjacent carriers, the UE must retune the RF receiver for a wider bandwidth to support carrier aggregation. For more efficient power consumption in the carrier aggregation case, an SCell activation/deactivation mechanism was introduced. During the deactivated state, UE does not monitor the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), nor transmit any uplink (UL) signal, and could even rum off or retune the RF receiver to save power. Alternatively, if UE must retune the RF receiver to a narrower bandwidth, and it needs to do a measurement for the deactivated SCell, then it also needs to retune the RF receiver to perform the measurement.

To summarize, there are three cases when UE might retune the RF receiver:

i. SCell configuration/de-configuration

ii. SCell activation/deactivation

iii. Measurement for the deactivated SCell

It has been suggested that there might be a glitch upon using the RF retuning procedure for the intra-band CA case. The problem is that once the UE does retuning, it may not be able to guarantee reception on the PCell or other activated SCell(s) at the same time. So every time there is RF retuning due to the SCell state change or configuration, there could be packet loss on PCell and possibly other SCells.

There are three cases when UE might do RF retuning for intra-band carrier aggregation thereby risking the glitch on PCell caused by RF retuning. However, for the intra-band CA case, whether to do RF retuning is mainly a UE implementation decision. Some UE vendors may like to retune the RF every time when the SCell is in use or not in use, perhaps to save power. Some UE vendors may choose to not do RF retuning every time the SCell state is changed because, from UE point of view, it is impossible to predict when UE will activate/deactivate the SCell again. Even for the UEs which choose to do retuning, the resulting glitch time on the PCell could be different.

Even if there are possibilities from the implementation point of view, eNB has to always assume the worst case to ensure that there will be no important packet losses due to the possible glitch. For the SCell configuration/de-configuration, a reasonable implementation would be that UE does RF retuning as soon as the SCell is added/removed. However, there is no such requirement. It is still possible that UE will not do RF retuning immediately but do it later when the SCell is activated by an activation command. For SCell activation/deactivation, if UE chooses to do RF retuning, then it will do it once the activation/deactivation command is received. Since there could also be slightly different UE implementations which cause slightly different starting time points of the glitch (due to the different time point when UE medium access control (MAC) decodes the activation/deactivation MAC CE, eNB has to reserve a little bit longer time for the glitch on the PCell. A measurement on a deactivated SCell is a UE implementation so eNB will not be able to predict when there will be a glitch on the PCell or other activated SCell(s).

From this analysis, if eNB has no knowledge of the UE's implementation choice, it might be difficult to handle the downlink (DL) transmission as well as the related control signaling. eNB always needs to assume the worst case, which will cause performance loss for each intra-band CA UE even if it is quite unnecessary in some cases. BRIEF SUMMARY

In one embodiment a method is provided for signaling a potential IntraBand carrier aggregation glitch to a network node in a wireless network. The method comprises a determination whether a glitch in Primary Cell (PCell) and activated Secondary Cell (SCell) packet transmission or reception is likely when a mobile terminal is configured for intra-band carrier aggregation. The method includes setting a glitch indicator to signal glitch potential to a network node, such as by setting a glitch indicator bit to one of True(l) or False(O), depending upon a potential for an IntraBand carrier aggregation glitch, and causing the glitch indicator to be signaled in an uplink message to a network node. Negative glitch potential is signaled when the mobile tenninal is not configured to retune upon Secondaiy Cell (SCell) activation and deactivation or SCell measurement. The glitch potential for SCell activation/deactivation procedure and for SCell measurement procedure could be determined and signaled separately. The method further comprises retuning the mobile tenninal when the SCell is added (configured) or removed (de-configured) for the network node to easily predict packet loss on the PCell of other activated SCell. The method may be characterized by two possible modes of signaling the glitch indicator, wherein the glitch indicator is an information element (IE) in an RRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete message to the node, or the glitch indicator is an IE in a UE Capability message to the node. The method may also include setting the glitch indicator to negative when the mobile terminal tuning capability is such that the mobile terminal can retune without disrupting packet transmission or reception.

Another embodiment is an apparatus comprising at least a processor, a memory associated with the processor having stored computer coded instructions for the processor, said instructions when executed by the processor cause the apparatus to determine whether a glitch in Primary Cell (PCell) and certain Secondary Cell (SCell) packet transmission or reception is likely when a mobile terminal is configured for intra-band carrier aggregation, set a glitch indicator to signal glitch potential to a network node, and cause the glitch indicator to be signaled in an uplink message to the node. The apparatus is configured to set the glitch indicator to signal negative glitch potential when the mobile terminal is not configured to retune upon Secondary Cell (SCell) activation and deactivation or SCell measurement. The apparatus will set the glitch indicator to signal positive glitch potential when the mobile terminal is configured to retune upon SCell activation and deactivation or SCell measurement. The instructions further cause the apparatus to determine the glitch potential for SCell activation/deactivation procedure and for SCell measurement procedure separately. And the instructions cause the apparatus to signal the glitch potential for the SCell activation/deactivation procedure and for the SCell measurement procedure separately. The apparatus will retune the radio frequency (RF) of the mobile terminal when the SCell is added (configured) or removed (de-configured) for the network node to easily predict packet loss on the PCell. The apparatus embodiment may make the glitch indicator an information element (IE) in an RRCConnectionReconflgurationComplete message to the node. Alternatively, the apparatus may make the glitch indicator an IE in a UE Capability message to the node. The apparatus may code the glitch indicator as a bit set to Boolean true or false. The instructions in the apparatus may cause it to set the glitch indicator to signal negative glitch potential when the mobile terminal tuning capability is such that the mobile terminal can retune without disrupting packet transmission or reception.

Another embodiment is a computer program product comprising a non- transitory computer readable medium with computer coded instructions stored therein, said instructions arranged to perform the process determining whether a glitch in Primary Cell (PCell) and certain Secondary Cell (SCell) packet transmission or reception is likely when a mobile terminal is configured for intra-band carrier aggregation, setting a glitch indicator to signal glitch potential to a network node, and causing the glitch indicator to be signaled in an uplink message to the node. The computer program process includes setting the glitch indicator to signal negative glitch potential when the mobile terminal is not configured to retune upon Secondary Cell (SCell) activation and deactivation or SCell measurement. The computer program process also includes setting the glitch indicator to signal positive glitch potential when the mobile terminal is configured to retune upon SCell activation and deactivation or SCell measurement. In the process, determining the glitch potential for SCell activation/deactivation procedure and for SCell measurement procedure is performed separately. The computer program product process provides retuning the mobile terminal when the SCell is added (configured) or removed (de- configured) for the network node to easily predict packet loss on the PCell. The process includes the selection option that the glitch indicator is an information element (IE) in an RRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete message to the node, or the glitch indicator is an IE in a UE Capability message to the node.

Another embodiment is a method comprising receiving a glitch indicator in a signaled information element (IE) uplink to a network node from a mobile terminal, the glitch indicator representing a potential for a glitch in PCell packet reception following intra-band earner aggregation, and determining whether the glitch indicator is positive or negative. In this method, upon receiving a negative glitch indicator the node starts monitoring uplink from the mobile terminal and transmitting downlink data without regard to glitch potential. As in the previous methods, the glitch indicator may be an information element (IE) in an RRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete uplink message from the mobile terminal to the node, or the glitch indicator is an IE in a UE Capability uplink message from the mobile terminal to the node.

A further embodiment is an apparatus comprising at least a processor, a memory associated with the processor having stored computer coded instructions for the processor, said instructions when executed by the processor cause the apparatus to receive a glitch indicator in a signaled information element (IE) uplink to a network node from a mobile terminal, said glitch indicator representing a potential for a glitch in PCell packet reception following intra-band carrier aggregation, and determine whether the glitch indicator is positive or negative. In this apparatus the glitch indicator is an infonnation element (IE) in an RRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete uplink message from the mobile tenninal to the node, or the glitch indicator is an IE in a UE Capability uplink message from the mobile tenninal to the node. The apparatus instructions also cause the apparatus, upon receiving a negative glitch indicator, to starts monitoring uplink from the mobile terminal and transmitting downlink data without regard to glitch potential.

A further embodiment is a computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium with computer coded instructions stored therein, said instructions arranged to cause an apparatus to perform the process receiving a glitch indicator in a signaled information element (IE) uplink to a network node from a mobile tenninal, said glitch indicator representing a potential for a glitch in PCell packet reception following intra-band carrier aggregation, and detennining whether the glitch indicator is positive or negative. The program product identifies the glitch indicator as an infonnation element (IE) in an RRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete uplink message from the mobile terminal to the node, or as an IE in a UE Capability uplink message from the mobile terminal to the node.

In all of the embodiments described above, although not necessarily in all embodiments possible, a negative glitch indicator signals that terminal apparatus is configured not to retune its receiver for each SCell activation/deactivation or SCell measurement, determined separately. A positive glitch indicator signals that terminal apparatus is configured to retune its receiver for each SCell activation/deactivation or SCell measurement, determined separately. Also, a negative glitch indicator for SCell activation/deactivation or SCell measurement signals that the terminal apparatus is configured to retune its receiver immediately after SCell configuration/deconfiguration.

In another embodiment, a method is provided comprising retuning a mobile terminal radio in communication with a network node when a Secondary Cell (SCell) is configured for or de-configured from cell aggregation such that the node can predict packet loss on a Primary Cell (PCell). BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS Having thus described example embodiments in general terms, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of frequency allocation in carrier aggregation.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of components of an example wireless network. Fig. 3 is a block diagram of a mobile terminal.

Fig. 4 is an example signal protocol for signaling a carrier aggregation glitch to a network node in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is an alternative signal protocol for signaling a carrier aggregation glitch to a network node in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a flowchart of the operations performed by an apparatus embodied by a temiinal apparatus in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart of the operations performed by an apparatus embodied by a serving node in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart of an operation performed by a terminal apparatus configured for carrier aggregation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present inventions now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some, but not all embodiments of the inventions are shown. Indeed, these inventions may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legal requirements. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.

The terms "data," "content," "information," and similar terms may be used interchangeably, according to some example embodiments of the present invention, to refer to data capable of being transmitted, received, operated on, displayed, and/or stored. Thus, use of any such terms should not be taken to limit the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Further, where a computing device is described herein to receive data from another computing device, it will be appreciated that the data may be received directly from the another computing device or may be received indirectly via one or more intermediary computing devices, such as, for example, one or more servers, relays, routers, network access points, base stations, and/or the like.

The term "computer-readable medium" as used herein refers to any medium configured to participate in providing information to a processor, including instructions for execution. Such a medium may take many forms, including, but not limited to a non- transitory computer-readable storage medium (for example, non- volatile media, volatile media), and transmission media. Transmission media include, for example, coaxial cables, copper wire, fiber optic cables, and carrier waves that travel through space without wires or cables, such as acoustic waves and electromagnetic waves, including radio, optical and infrared waves. Signals include man-made transient variations in amplitude, frequency, phase, polarization or other physical properties transmitted through the transmission media. Examples of non-transitory computer-readable media include a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other non-transitory magnetic medium, a compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM), compact disc compact discrewritable (CD-RW), digital versatile disc (DVD), Blu-Ray, any other non-transitory optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, optical mark sheets, any other physical medium with patterns of holes or other optically recognizable indicia, a random access memory (RAM), a programmable read only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), a FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, a carrier wave, or any other non-transitory medium from which a computer can read. The term computer-readable storage medium is used herein to refer to any computer-readable medium except transmission media. However, it will be appreciated that where embodiments are described to use a computer-readable storage medium, other types of computer-readable mediums may be substituted for or used in addition to the computer- readable storage medium in alternative embodiments.

As used herein, the term 'circuitry' refers to all of the following: (a) hardware- only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and/or digital circuitry); (b) to combinations of circuits and computer program product(s) comprising software (and/or firmware instructions stored on one or more computer readable memories), such as (as applicable): (i) to a combination of processor(s) or (ii) to portions of processor(s)/software (including digital signal processor(s)), software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perfomi various functions described herein); and (c) to circuits, such as, for example, 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.

This definition of 'circuitry' applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term "circuitry" would also cover an implementation of merely a processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. The term "circuitry" would also cover, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or applications processor integrated circuit for a mobile phone or a similar integrated circuit in a server, a cellular network device, other network device, and/or other computing device.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a wireless communications system 120 such as may be used by mobile wireless devices according to an example embodiment. It will be appreciated that the system 120 as well as the illustrations in other figures are each provided as an example of some embodiments and should not be construed to narrow the scope or spirit of the disclosure in any way. In this regard, the scope of the disclosure encompasses many potential embodiments in addition to those illustrated and described herein. As such, while FIG. 2 illustrates one example of a configuration of a system that would use carrier aggregation and benefit from the method of an embodiment of the invention, numerous other configurations may also be used to implement embodiments of the present invention.

The system 120 may include one or more terminal apparatuses 104 and one or more serving network apparatuses 102. The system 120 may further comprise a network 106. The network 106 may comprise one or more wireline networks, one or more wireless networks, or some combination thereof. The network 106 may, for example, comprise a serving network (e.g., a serving cellular network) for one or more terminal apparatuses 104. The network 106 may comprise, in certain embodiments, one or more of the terminal apparatuses 104 and serving network apparatuses 102 themselves. According to example embodiments, the network 106 may comprise the Internet. The network 106 may comprise, in some embodiments, a Content Delivery Network (CDN), which may also be referred to as a Content Distribution Network.

In various embodiments, the network 106 may comprise a wired access link connecting one or more terminal apparatuses 102 to the rest of the network 106 using, for example, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) technology. In some embodiments, the network 106 may comprise a public land mobile network (for example, a cellular network), such as may be implemented by a network operator (for example, a cellular access provider). The network 106 may operate in accordance with universal terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN) standards, evolved UTRAN (E-UTRAN) standards, current and future implementations of Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) long term evolution (LTE) (also referred to as LTE-A) standards, current and future implementations of International Telecommunications Union (ITU) International Mobile Telecommunications - Advanced (IMT-A) systems standards, and/or the like. It will be appreciated, however, that where references herein are made to a network standard and/or terminology particular to a network standard, the references are provided merely by way of example and not by way of limitation.

According to various embodiments, one or more terminal apparatuses 104 may be configured to connect directly with one or more serving network apparatuses 102 via, for example, an air interface without routing communications via one or more elements of the network 106. Alternatively, one or more of the terminal apparatuses 104 may be configured to communicate with one or more of the serving network apparatuses 102 over the network 106. In this regard, the serving network apparatuses 102 may comprise one or more nodes of the network 106. For example, in some example embodiments, the serving network apparatuses 102 may be at least partially embodied on one or more computing devices that comprise an element of a radio access network (RAN) portion of the network 106. In this regard, the serving network apparatuses 102 may, for example, be at least partially embodied on an access point of the network 106 (for example, a macrocell, microcell, picocell, femtocell, closed subscriber group (CSG) cell, base station, base transceiver station (BTS), node B, evolved node B, access point (AP), group owner, mesh station (STA), mesh point, and/or the like), which may, for example be configured to provide access to the network 106 (e.g., via a radio uplink) to one or more of the terminal apparatuses 104. Accordingly, each of the serving network apparatuses 102 may comprise a network node or a plurality of network nodes collectively configured to perform one or more operations attributed to the serving network apparatus 102 as described with respect to various example embodiments disclosed herein.

A terminal apparatus 104 (also "user equipment" (UE)) may be embodied as any computing device, whether fixed or mobile, such as, for example, a desktop computer, laptop computer, mobile terminal, mobile computer, mobile phone, mobile communication device, tablet computing device, game device, digital camera/camcorder, audio/video player, television device, radio receiver, digital video recorder, positioning device, wrist watch, portable digital assistant (PDA), fixed transceiver device (e.g., attached to traffic lights, energy meters, light bulbs, and/or the like), a chipset, an apparatus comprising a chipset, any combination thereof, and/or the like.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus 20 that may be embodied by or included within a mobile terminal 20, also known as user equipment, representative of one embodiment of a terminal apparatus 104 or may be embodied by or included within a serving network apparatus 102. It should be understood, however, that the mobile terminal illustrated and hereinafter described is merely illustrative of one type of computing device (i.e., terminal apparatus 104, such as a mobile phone, or serving network apparatus 102) that may incorporate the apparatus 20 and implement and/or benefit from various embodiments and, therefore, should not be taken to limit the scope of the disclosure. While several embodiments of the mobile terminal are illustrated and will be hereinafter described for purposes of example, other types of computing devices, such as mobile telephones, mobile computers, portable digital assistants (PDAs), pagers, laptop computers, desktop computers, gaming devices, televisions, and other types of electronic systems, may employ various embodiments of the invention.

As shown, the apparatus 20 may include an antenna 12 (or multiple antennas 12) in communication with a transmitter 14 and a receiver 16. The mobile terminal 10 may also include a processor 24 configured to provide signals to and receive signals from the transmitter and receiver, respectively. The processor 24 may, for example, be embodied as various means including circuitry, one or more microprocessors with accompanying digital signal processor(s), one or more processors) without an accompanying digital signal processor, one or more coprocessors, one or more multi-core processors, one or more controllers, processing circuitry, one or more computers, various other processing elements including integrated circuits such as, for example, an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit) or FPGA (field programmable gate array), or some combination thereof.

Accordingly, although illustrated in FIG. 3 as a single processor, in some example embodiments the processor 24 may comprise a plurality of processors. These signals sent and received by the processor 24 may include signaling information in accordance with an air interface standard of an applicable cellular system, and/or any number of different wireline or wireless networking techniques, comprising but not limited to Wi-Fi, wireless local access network (WLAN) techniques such as Bluetooth™ (BT), Ultra-wideband (UWB), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11, 802.16, and/or the like. In addition, these signals may include speech data, user generated data, user requested data, and/or the like.

In this regard, the apparatus 20 may be capable of operating with one or more air interface standards, communication protocols, modulation types, access types, and/or the like. More particularly, the apparatus may be capable of operating in accordance with various first generation (1G), second generation (2G)_} 2.5G, third-generation (3G) communication protocols, fourth-generation (4G) communication protocols, Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) communication protocols (for example, session initiation protocol (SIP)), and/or the like. For example, the apparatus may be capable of operating in accordance with 2G wireless communication protocols IS-136 (Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA)), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), IS-95 (Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)), and/or the like.

Also, for example, the apparatus may be capable of operating in accordance with 2.5G wireless communication protocols General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), and/or the like. Further, for example, the apparatus may be capable of operating in accordance with 3G wireless communication W

protocols such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Code Division Multiple Access 2000 (CDMA2000), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA), and/or the like. The apparatus may be additionally capable of operating in accordance with 3.9G wireless communication protocols such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) or Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) and/or the like. Additionally, for example, the apparatus may be capable of operating in accordance with fourth-generation (4G) wireless communication protocols such as LTE Advanced and/or the like as well as similar wireless communication protocols that may be developed in the future.

Some Narrow-band Advanced Mobile Phone System (NAMPS), as well as Total Access Communication System (TACS), mobile terminals may also benefit from embodiments of this invention, as should dual or higher mode phones (for example, digital/analog or TDMA CDMA/analog phones). Additionally, the apparatus 20 may be capable of operating according to Wi-Fi or Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX™) protocols.

It is understood that the processor 24 may comprise circuitry for implementing audio/video and logic functions of the apparatus 20. For example, the processor 24 may comprise a digital signal processor device, a microprocessor device, an analog-to-digital converter, a digital-to-analog converter, and/or the like. Control and signal processing functions of the apparatus may be allocated between these devices according to their respective capabilities. The processor may additionally comprise an internal voice coder (VC), an internal data modem (DM), and/or the like. Further, the processor may comprise functionality to operate one or more software programs, which may be stored in memory. For example, the processor 24 may be capable of operating a connectivity program, such as a web browser. The connectivity program may allow the apparatus 20 to transmit and receive web content, such as location-based content, according to a protocol, such as Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), and/or the like. The apparatus 20 may be capable of using Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) to transmit and receive web content across the internet or other networks. The apparatus 20 may also comprise a user interface 30 including, for example, an earphone or speaker, a ringer, a microphone, a display, a user input interface, and/or the like, which may be operationally coupled to the processor 24. In this regard, the processor 24 may comprise user interface circuitiy configured to control at least some functions of one or more elements of the user interface, such as, for example, the speaker, the ringer, the microphone, the display, and/or the like. The processor 24 and/or user interface circuitry comprising the processor 24 may be configured to control one or more functions of one or more elements of the user interface through computer program instructions (for example, software and/or firmware) stored on a memory 28 accessible to the processor 24 (for example, volatile memory, non- volatile memory, and/or the like). Although not shown, the apparatus may comprise a battery for powering various circuits related to the apparatus, for example, a circuit to provide mechanical vibration as a detectable output. The user input interface may comprise devices allowing the apparatus to receive data, such as a keypad, a touch display (not shown), a joystick (not shown), and/or other input device. In embodiments including a keypad, the keypad may comprise numeric (0-9) and related keys (#, *), and/or other keys for operating the apparatus.

As shown in FIG. 3, the apparatus 20 may also include one or more means for sharing and/or obtaining data. For example, the mobile terminal may comprise a short- range radio frequency (RF) transceiver and/or interrogator 14/16 so data may be shared with and/or obtained from electronic devices in accordance with RF techniques. The apparatus may comprise other short-range transceivers, such as, for example, an infrared (IR) transceiver, a Bluetooth™ (BT) transceiver operating using Bluetooth™ brand wireless technology developed by the Bluetooth™ Special Interest Group, a wireless universal serial bus (USB) transceiver and/or the like. The Bluetooth™ transceiver may be capable of operating according to low power/energy or ultra-low power/energy Bluetooth™ technology (for example, Wibree™) radio standards. In this regard, the apparatus 20 and, in particular, the short-range transceiver may be capable of transmitting data to and/or receiving data from electronic devices within a proximity of the apparatus, such as within 10 meters, for example. Although not shown, the apparatus may be capable of transmitting and/or receiving data from electronic devices according to various wireless networking techniques, including 6LoWpan, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi low power, WLAN techniques such as IEEE 802.11 techniques, IEEE 802.15 techniques, IEEE 802.16 techniques, and/or the like.

The apparatus 20 may comprise memory 28, such as a removable or nonremovable subscriber identity module (SIM), a soft SIM, a fixed SIM, a removable or non-removable universal subscriber identity module (USIM), a soft USIM, a fixed USIM, a removable user identity module (R-UIM), and/or the like, which may store information elements related to a mobile subscriber. In addition to the SIM, the apparatus may comprise other removable and/or fixed memory. The apparatus 20 may include volatile memory and/or non-volatile memory. For example, volatile memory may include Random Access Memory (RAM) including dynamic and/or static RAM, on-chip or off- chip cache memory, and/or the like. Non-volatile memory, which may be embedded and/or removable, may include, for example, read-only memory, flash memory, magnetic storage devices (for example, hard disks, floppy disk drives, magnetic tape, etc.), optical disc drives and/or media, non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM), and/or the like. Like volatile memory non- volatile memory may comprise a cache area for temporary storage of data. The memories may store one or more software programs, instructions, pieces of information, data, and/or the like which may be used by the apparatus for performing functions of the mobile terminal. For example, the memories may comprise an identifier, such as an international mobile equipment identification (IMEI) code, capable of uniquely identifying the mobile terminal 10.

In various embodiments, for example, a terminal apparatus 104 and/or a serving network apparatus 102 may be embodied as or otherwise include an apparatus 20 as generically represented by the block diagram of FIG. 3. In the example embodiment, the apparatus 20 may comprise various means for performing the various functions herein described. These means may comprise one or more of a processor 24, memory 28, communication interface 26, and a user interface 30. The means of the apparatus 20 as described herein may be embodied as, for example, circuitry, hardware elements (e.g., a suitably programmed processor, combinational logic circuit, and/or the like), a computer program product comprising computer-readable program instructions (e.g., software or firmware) stored on a computer-readable medium (e.g., memory 28) that is executable by a suitably configured processing device (e.g., the processor 24), or some combination thereof.

In some example embodiments, one or more of the means illustrated in FIG. 3 may be embodied as a chip or chip set. In other words, the apparatus 20 may comprise one or more physical packages (for example, chips) including materials, components and/or wires on a structural assembly (for example, a baseboard). The structural assembly may provide physical strength, conservation of size, and/or limitation of electrical interaction for component circuitry included thereon. In this regard, the processor 24, memory 28, communication interface 26, and user interface 30, may be embodied as a chip or chip set. The apparatus 20 may therefore, in some example embodiments, be configured to implement embodiments of the present invention on a single chip or as a single "system on a chip." As another example, in some example embodiments, the apparatus 20 may comprise component(s) configured to implement embodiments of the present invention on a single chip or as a single "system on a chip." As such, in some cases, a chip or chipset may constitute means for performing one or more operations for providing the functionalities described herein and/or for enabling user interface navigation with respect to the functionalities and/or services described herein.

Referring to the potential glitch issue and a procedure for addressing it, the serving network apparatus (eNB) must know whether the terminal apparatus (UE) has retuned its receiver so that the glitch problem can be reduced or minimized. Therefore, the terminal apparatus reports to serving network apparatus whether there could be a glitch for intra-band CA configuration. If the terminal apparatus chooses not to retune the RF receiver after the SCell is configured/de-configured, it should retune the RF receiver immediately after the SCell is added or removed.

Once the terminal apparatus is configured with intra-band CA, it could decide whether to do retuning each time that the SCell is activated/deactivated or the terminal apparatus performs SCell measurement. If the terminal apparatus does not retune, it should inform serving network apparatus that there will be no glitch on PCell due to the activation/deactivation/SCell measurement. If the terminal apparatus retunes the RF receiver, it should inform the serving network apparatus that there might be glitch on PCell due to the activation/deactivation of the given SCell or performing SCell measurement.

The terminal apparatus could determine the glitch possibility for activation/deactivation procedure and SCell measurement procedure separately, and send separate indicators to the serving network apparatus for each situation. If UE will not have a glitch for each activation/deactivation procedure, it should perform the RF retuning immediately when the SCell is added/removed, so that the serving network apparatus may easily predict the potential packet loss on PCell.

The signaling to inform the serving network apparatus that the tenninal apparatus may or may not have a glitch potential can take place one of two ways. Referring to Fig. 4, it can be embedded 410 in the RRCConnectionReconfigur tionComplete message exchanged between the tenninal apparatus and the serving network apparatus. A new information element (IE) can be added to the sequence and identified as "GlitchlndicatorForlntraBandCA." The indicator for glitch/no glitch can be a simple Boolean state True/False 412. When the serving network apparatus receives that IE it can react accordingly.

Alternatively, referring to Fig. 5, the glitch indicator can be added 502 to the terminal apparatus capability (UE Capability) information message. An additional IE can be added to indicate a glitch/no glitch potential condition. A simple Boolean True/False indication 508 can inform the serving network apparatus whether a glitch on PCell is likely to occur.

Refening to Fig. 6, a terminal apparatus 104 makes a determination 601 whether the glitch condition is likely to occur. As shown in block 602 of Figure 6, an apparatus 20 embodied by a tenninal apparatus 104 may include means, such as the processor 24 or the like, for setting a glitch indicator depending upon a potential for an IntraBand carrier aggregation glitch, such as by setting a glitch indicator bit to True(l) or False(O). The apparatus of this embodiment may also include means, such as the processor, the communications interface 26, the transmitter 14, the antenna 12 or the like, for causing the glitch indicator to be signaled in an uplink message to a network node, such as to a serving network apparatus 102. See block 604. The glitch indicator may be carried in an RRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete message 606, or in a UE Capability uplink 608. From the perspective of a network node, such as a serving network apparatus 102, an apparatus 20 embodied by the serving network apparatus may include means, such as the processor 24, the communications interface 26, the receiver 16, the antenna 12 or the like, for receiving a glitch indicator in a signaled information element (IE) representing the potential for an IntraBand glitch following carrier aggregation. See block 702 of Figure 7. The apparatus embodied by the serving network apparatus may also include means, such as the processor or the like, for determining a state of the glitch indicator 704, thereby providing the serving network apparatus with certainty and allowing the serving network apparatus to respond appropriately, such as by retransmitting the packet in the event of a glitch. The glitch indicator may be carried in an RRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete message 706, or in a UE Capability uplink 708.

The terminal apparatus accesses the network serving cell by legacy methods already specified. Referring to Fig. 8, a process relating to the terminal apparatus (UE) determination of the appropriate glitch indicator to signal is shown, a process of determining 802 the glitch likelihood. The terminal apparatus sets the glitch indicator to positive 808 or negative 804, 812 depending on whether its implementation is to retune for each SCell activation/deactivation and/or SCell measurement (positive) or not (negative). The glitch indicator is set to negative when the mobile terminal is not configured to retune (thereby disrupting data packets) during certain events in carrier aggregation mode. If the mobile terminal will not retune when the SCell is activated, or deactivated, or when an SCell measurement is necessary, the negative indicator is chosen 804. It is made positive if the mobile terminal is configured to retune on these events 808. Also, if the mobile terminal has the capability to retune without disrupting packet transmission or reception, the glitch indicator may be made negative 812. The terminal apparatus reports the glitch indicator 816 to the network in an uplink message (See Figs. 6 and 7).

Efficiency advantages flow from this solution. If the serving network apparatus could know that some terminal apparatus will not do retuning, the serving network apparatus would not handle the glitch for every activation/deactivation procedure so it could keep communication with the terminal apparatus during that time. The serving network apparatus would not have to "guess" whether there is glitch if there is packet loss on PCell because it would have the indication whether the terminal apparatus retuned or not. If there is glitch, the serving network apparatus generally only needs to retransmit the packet. If there is no glitch warning indicator from the terminal apparatus and there is still packet loss, the serving network apparatus may need to take other steps already programmed to enhance the robustness of communication. Ultimately the throughput will be better from the system point of view. From the the terminal apparatus perspective, higher throughput (TP) means a better user experience. Because there would be a way for the terminal apparatus to advise the serving network apparatus of glitch potential, the terminal apparatus would gain more flexibility on whether to choose to save power by retuning or choose to ensure the performance while saving power by other means.

The following acronyms/abbreviations appeared in the above description and may appear in the following claims:

ACK Acknowledgement

CA Carrier aggregation

CE control element

DL Downlink

eNB Evolved Node B (also "the serving network apparatus")

E-UTRAN Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network

GPRS General Packet Radio Service

GSM Global System of Mobile communication

IE Information Element

LTE Long Term Evolution

LTE-A Long Term Evolution Advanced

MAC Medium Access Control

PCell Primary Cell

PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel

RAN Radio Access Network

RF Radio Frequency

SCell Secondary Cell

TP Throughput

UE User Equipment (also "the terminal apparatus")

UL Uplink

UTRAN Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network

Many modifications and other embodiments of the inventions set forth herein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which these inventions pertain having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the inventions are not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for puiposes of limitation.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A method comprising:

determining whether a glitch in Primary Cell (PCell) and certain Secondary Cell (SCell) packet transmission or reception is likely when a mobile terminal is configured for intra-band carrier aggregation,

setting a glitch indicator to signal glitch potential to a network node, and causing the glitch indicator to be signaled in an uplink message to the node.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

setting the glitch indicator to signal negative glitch potential when the mobile tenninal is not configured to retune upon Secondary Cell (SCell) activation and deactivation or SCell measurement.

3. The method of claim 1 _} further comprising:

setting the glitch indicator to signal positive glitch potential when the mobile terminal is configured to retune upon SCell activation and deactivation or SCell measurement.

4. The method of any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising:

determining the glitch potential for SCell activation/deactivation procedure and for SCell measurement procedure separately.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

signaling the glitch potential for the SCell activation/deactivation procedure and for the SCell measurement procedure separately.

6. The method of any one of claims 1 to 2, further comprising:

retuning the mobile terminal when the SCell is added (configured) or removed (de-configured) for the network node to easily predict packet loss on the PCell and activated SCell.

7. The method of any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the glitch indicator is an information element (IE) in an RRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete message to the node.

8. The method of any one o claims 1 to 5 wherein the glitch indicator is an IE in a UE Capability message to the node.

9. The method of any one of claims 1 to 8 wherein the glitch indicator is a bit set to Boolean true or false.

10. The method of any one of claims 1 to 9 wherein the network node is an evolved Node B (eNB).

11. The method of any one of claims 1 to 10 wherein the mobile terminal is a wireless mobile telephone.

12. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

setting the glitch indicator to signal negative glitch potential when the mobile tenninal tuning capability is such that the mobile terminal can retune without disrupting packet transmission or reception.

13. An apparatus comprising at least a processor, a memory associated with the processor having stored computer coded instructions for the processor, said instructions when executed by the processor cause the apparatus to:

determine whether a glitch in Primary Cell (PCell) and certain Secondary Cell (SCell) packet transmission or reception is likely when a mobile terminal is configured for intra-band earner aggregation,

set a glitch indicator to signal glitch potential to a network node, and cause the glitch indicator to be signaled in an uplink message to the node.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising instructions that cause the processor of the apparatus to:

set the glitch indicator to signal negative glitch potential when the mobile terminal is not configured to retune upon Secondary Cell (SCell) activation and deactivation or SCell measurement.

15. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising instructions that cause the processor of the apparatus to:

set the glitch indicator to signal positive glitch potential when the mobile terminal is configured to retune upon SCell activation and deactivation or SCell measurement.

16. The apparatus of any one of claims 13 to 15, further comprising instructions that cause the processor of the apparatus to:

determine the glitch potential for SCell activation/deactivation procedure and for SCell measurement procedure separately.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, further comprising instructions that cause the processor of the apparatus to:

signal the glitch potential for the SCell activation/deactivation procedure and for the SCell measurement procedure separately.

18. The apparatus of any one of claims 13 to 14, further comprising instructions that cause the processor of the apparatus to:

retune the mobile terminal when the SCell is added (configured) or removed (de- configured) for the network node to easily predict packet loss on the PCell.

19. The apparatus of any one of claims 13 to 17 wherein the glitch indicator is an information element (IE) in an RRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete message to the node.

20. The apparatus of any one of claims 13 to 17 wherein the glitch indicator is an IE in a UE Capability message to the node.

21. The apparatus of any one of claims 13 to 20 wherein the glitch indicator is a bit set to Boolean true or false.

22. The apparatus of any one of claims 13 to 21 wherein the network node is an evolved Node B (eNB).

23. The apparatus of any one of claims 13 to 22 wherein the mobile terminal is a wireless mobile telephone.

24. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising instructions that cause the processor of the apparatus to:

set the glitch indicator to signal negative glitch potential when the mobile terminal tuning capability is such that the mobile terminal can retune without disrupting packet transmission or reception.

25. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium with computer coded instructions stored therein, said instructions arranged to perform the process:

26. The computer program product of claim 25, further comprising instructions arranged to perform the process: setting the glitch indicator to signal negative glitch potential when the mobile terminal is not configured to retime upon Secondary Cell (SCell) activation and deactivation or SCell measurement.

27. The computer program product of claim 25, further comprising instructions arranged to perform the process:

setting the glitch indicator to signal positive glitch potential when the mobile tenninal is configured to retune upon SCell activation and deactivation or SCell measurement.

28. The computer program product of any one of claims 25 to 27, further comprising instructions arranged to perform the process:

29. The computer program product of any one of claims 25 to 26, further comprising instructions arranged to perform the process:

retiming the mobile tenninal when the SCell is added (configured) or removed (de-configured) for the network node to easily predict packet loss on the PCell.

30. The computer program product of any one of claims 25 to 29, wherein the glitch indicator is an information element (IE) in an KRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete message to the node.

31. The computer program product of any one of claims 25 to 29 wherein the glitch indicator is an IE in a UE Capability message to the node.

32. The computer program product of any one of claims 25 to 30 wherein the glitch indicator is a bit set to Boolean true or false.

33. The computer program product of any one of claims 25 to 32 wherein the network node is an evolved Node B (eNB).

34. The computer program product of any one of claims 25 to 33 wherein the mobile tenninal is a wireless mobile telephone.

35. A method comprising:

receiving a glitch indicator in a signaled information element (IE) uplink to a network node from a mobile tenninal, said glitch indicator representing a potential for a glitch in PCell packet reception following intra-band earner aggregation, and

determining whether the glitch indicator is positive or negative.

36. The method of claim 35 wherein:

upon receiving a negative glitch indicator the node starts monitoring uplink from the mobile terminal and transmitting downlink data without regard to glitch potential.

37. The method of claim 35 wherein:

the glitch indicator is an information element (IE) in an

RRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete uplink message from the mobile tenninal to the node.

38. The method of claim 35 wherein:

the glitch indicator is an IE in a UE Capability uplink message from the mobile terminal to the node.

39. An apparatus comprising at least a processor, a memory associated with the processor having stored computer coded instructions for the processor, said instructions when executed by the processor cause the apparatus to: receive a glitch indicator in a signaled information element (IE) uplink to a network node from a mobile tenninal, said glitch indicator representing a potential for a glitch in PCell packet reception following intra-band canier aggregation, and

determine whether the glitch indicator is positive or negative.

40. The apparatus of claim 36 wherein,

the glitch indicator is an information element (IE) in an

RRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete uplink message from the mobile terminal to the node.

41. The apparatus of claim 36 wherein,

the glitch indicator is an IE in a UE Capability uplink message from the mobile teiminal to the node.

42. The apparatus of claim 36 wherein,

43. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium with computer coded instructions stored therein, said instructions arranged to cause an apparatus to perform the process:

receiving a glitch indicator in a signaled information element (IE) uplink to a network node from a mobile tenninal, said glitch indicator representing a potential for a glitch in PCell packet reception following intra-band carrier aggregation, and

detennining whether the glitch indicator is positive or negative.

44. The computer program product of claim 43 wherein,

the glitch indicator is an information element (IE) in an

45. The computer program product of claim 43 wherein,

46. The method, apparatus, and computer program product of any one of claims 35 to 45, wherein a negative glitch indicator signals that the mobile terminal is configured not to retune its radio frequency for each SCell activation/deactivation or SCell measurement, detei-mined separately.

47. The method, apparatus, and computer program product of any one of claims 35 to 45, wherein a positive glitch indicator signals that the mobile terminal is configured to retune its radio frequency for each SCell activation/deactivation or SCell measurement, determined separately,

48. The method, apparatus, and computer program product of claim 43, wherein a negative glitch indicator for SCell activation/deactivation or SCell measurement signals that the mobile terminal is configured to retune its radio frequency immediately after SCell configuration/de-configuration.

49. The method, apparatus, and computer program product of any of claims 35 to 45, wherein a negative glitch indicator signals that the mobile terminal retuning will not cause a glitch on PCell or activated SCell for each SCell activation/deactivation or SCell measurement, determined separately.

50. A method comprising:

retuning a mobile terminal radio in communication with a network node when a Secondary Cell (SCell) is configured for or de-configured from cell aggregation such that the node can predict packet loss on a Primary Cell (PCell).