WO2016091276A1

WO2016091276A1 - Uplink power control mechanism

Info

Publication number: WO2016091276A1
Application number: PCT/EP2014/076809
Authority: WO
Inventors: Claudio Rosa; Klaus Ingemann Pedersen; Hua Wang
Original assignee: Nokia Solutions And Networks Oy
Priority date: 2014-12-08
Filing date: 2014-12-08
Publication date: 2016-06-16

Abstract

It is provided a method, comprising monitoring if a first transmission scheduled for a transmitting device to a first cell group and a second transmission scheduled for the transmitting device to a second cell group different from the first cell group will overlap in time; selecting a first power control setting if the first transmission and the second transmission will not overlap and to select a second power control setting if the first transmission and the second transmission will overlap; controlling a first power control of the first transmission based on the selected one of the first power control setting and the second power control setting.

Description

Uplink power control mechanism

Field of the invention The present invention relates to an apparatus, a method, and a computer program product related to mobile communication. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus, a method, and a computer program product related to uplink power control. Background of the invention

Abbreviations

3GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project

CA Carrier Aggregation

CG Cell Group

CG Master Cell Group

DC Dual Connectivity

DL Downlink

EDGE Enhanced Datarate for GSM Evolution

EUTRA Evolved UTRA

eNB Enhanced node-B

GPRS Generic Packet Radio Service

GSM Global System for Mobile Communication

LTE Long Term Evolution

LTE-A LTE Advanced

MAC Medium Access Control

MCG Master Cell Group

MCS Modulation and Coding Scheme

MeNB Master eNB

PC Power Control

PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol

PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel

PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel RAN Radio Access Network

RLC Radio Link Control

RRC Radio Resource Control

SCG Secondary Cell Group

SeNB Secondary eNB

SRS Sounding Reference Signal

TS Technical Specification

TX Transmit

UCI Uplink Control Information

UE User Equipment

UL Uplink

UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System

UTRA UMTS Terrestrial RAN

U-plane User Plane

WG Working Group

WiFi Wireless Fidelity

WLAN Wireless Local Area Network

Dual connectivity (DC) is a feature currently under standardization for Release 12 of the 3GPP EUTRA specifications. A basic principle of DC is that a UE is able to simultaneously receive/transmit data from/to two or more eNBs (e.g. a macro eNB and small cell eNB) simultaneously, operating at different carrier frequencies. A main difference between DC and carrier aggregation (CA) is that, in DC, the MeNB and the SeNB are assumed to be connected via a non-ideal backhaul link (X2 interface between eNBs) while a (nearly) ideal backhaul is assumed for CA.

In DC, there is one MeNB for a UE but there may be one or more SeNBs for the UE. Unless otherwise indicated, the present description is applicable for one SeNB and for more than one SeNB, even if only one of these options is described in a specific context. Each SeNB and each MeNB may comprise one or more cells. The cells of the SeNB(s) and the cells of the MeNB form a SCG and a MCG, respectively. U-plane options for DC can be distinguished depending on whether they allow bearer split or not. Bearer split refers to the ability to split data of the same radio bearer over multiple eNBs. Without bearer split, a bearer is only transmitted by/towards one eNB, with bearer split it may be transmitted by/towards more than one eNB. Bearer split in the UL direction (from UE to eNB) is not supported in 3GPP Release 12, but is a candidate for 3GPP Release 13 DC enhancements.

Uplink power control in case of dual connectivity is very similar to CA; the UE is configured with cell specific power control parameters (e.g. P0 and alpha, which are the normalized power spectral density and the pathloss compensation factor, respectively) and receives cell-specific closed loop power control commands. In practice this means that UL power control is configured independently for different cells such as MCG cells and SCG cells. More details on UL power control with CA can be found in TS 36.213, section 5.1.

Fig. 1 shows the alternatives for U-plane supporting DC. On the left side, a layer structure not supporting bearer split is shown (lower layers only). The layer structures for MCG bearer and SCG bearer are the same and independent from each other. I.e., the signal to be transmitted on MCG bearer may be compressed by PDCP, and will then pass through RLC layer and MAC layer. The same applies correspondingly to the signal to be transmitted by SCG bearer.

On the right side of Fig. 1, the layer structure in case of DC with split bearer is shown. The MCG bearer is handled in the same way as without split bearer. However, PDCP splits U-plane data of the split bearer into a data flow to be transmitted by MeNB and a data flow to be transmitted by SeNB. On MeNB the data is passed through RLC and then to the same MAC layer as used for the MCG bearer. Thus, the transmissions of the MCG bearer and the split bearer on the MeNB are coordinated. On the SeNB, the data is passed through RLC layer and MAC layer of SeNB, which are not coordinated with the corresponding layers of the MeNB. A potential need for UL power control enhancements with the support for UL bearer split was raised by several companies in 3GPP R2-141102, though detailed solutions were neither presented nor discussed in 3GPP RAN I. Moreover, during standardization of Release-12, 3GPP RAN WG1 worked on DC power control enhancements mainly addressing the fact that, with dual connectivity, transmission towards the MeNB and SeNB may be highly unsynchronized, as well as the fact that scheduling of UL resources is done independently in the MeNB and SeNB. In summary, RAN WG1 has introduced some kind of semi-static power allocation so that the network can be sure that the UE always has available a minimum power for transmission towards a specific Cell Group (CG). Though some rules are defined so that in some deployments and/or implementations UE maximum transmission power can be entirely used for transmission towards one eNB, it is never allowed for a UE to transmit using a transmission power higher than it results from the power control formula on the corresponding cell/CG.

Furthermore, it was proposed a configuration of multiple semi-static maximum power splits to be applied depending on whether or not there are overlapping/simultaneous uplink transmissions in MCG and SCG, as well as on the uplink channels transmitted in MCG and SCG.

According to one solution, one may use different power control configurations for users with and without DC.

Summary of the invention

It is an object of the present invention to improve the prior art. According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus, comprising monitoring means adapted to monitor if a first transmission scheduled for a transmitting device to a first cell group and a second transmission scheduled for the transmitting device to a second cell group different from the first cell group will overlap in time; selecting means adapted to select a first power control setting if the first transmission and the second transmission will not overlap and to select a second power control setting if the first transmission and the second transmission will overlap; controlling means adapted to control a first power control of the first transmission based on the selected one of the first power control setting and the second power control setting.

The selecting means may be further configured to select a third power control setting if the first transmission and the second transmission will not overlap and to select a fourth power control setting if the first transmission and the second transmission will overlap; and the controlling means may be further adapted to control a second power control of the second transmission based on the selected one of the third power control setting and the fourth power control setting. The apparatus may further comprise receiving means adapted to receive the first power control setting and the second power control setting from the first cell group and/or to receive the third power control setting and the fourth power control setting from the second cell group. The apparatus may further comprise calculating means adapted to calculate one of the first power control setting and the second power control setting based on the other one of the first power control setting and the second power control setting and a difference parameter. The selecting means may be adapted to select the second power control setting if the monitoring means does not indicate if the first transmission and the second transmission will overlap.

The apparatus may further comprise supervising means adapted to supervise a type of the first transmission; wherein the selecting means may be further adapted to select the first power control setting dependent on the type of the first transmission and/or to select the second power control setting dependent on the type of the first transmission. The apparatus may further comprise choosing means adapted to choose a first modulation and coding scheme if the first transmission and the second transmission will not overlap and to choose a second modulation and coding scheme if the first transmission and the second transmission will overlap; driving means adapted to drive the transmission device to use the chosen one of the first and second modulation and coding schemes for the first transmission.

The choosing means may be adapted to chose one of the first modulation and coding scheme and the second modulation and coding scheme based on the other one of the first modulation and coding scheme and the second modulation and coding scheme and a received difference indicator.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus, comprising monitoring means adapted to monitor if a terminal is configured for dual connectivity; providing means adapted to provide a first parameter of a first power control setting and a second parameter of a second power control setting to the terminal if the terminal is configured for dual connectivity, wherein the first power control setting is different from the second power control setting.

One of the first parameter and the second parameter may indicate a difference between the first power control setting and the second power control setting.

The apparatus may further comprise supplying means adapted to supply a difference indicator indicating a difference of a first modulation and coding scheme to be used in case of an overlapping transmission and a second modulation and coding scheme to be used in case there is no overlapping transmission. According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus, comprising monitoring circuitry configured to monitor if a first transmission scheduled for a transmitting device to a first cell group and a second transmission scheduled for the transmitting device to a second cell group different from the first cell group will overlap in time; selecting circuitry configured to select a first power control setting if the first transmission and the second transmission will not overlap and to select a second power control setting if the first transmission and the second transmission will overlap; controlling circuitry configured to control a first power control of the first transmission based on the selected one of the first power control setting and the second power control setting.

The selecting circuitry may be further configured to select a third power control setting if the first transmission and the second transmission will not overlap and to select a fourth power control setting if the first transmission and the second transmission will overlap; and the controlling circuitry may be further configured to control a second power control of the second transmission based on the selected one of the third power control setting and the fourth power control setting.

The apparatus may further comprise receiving circuitry configured to receive the first power control setting and the second power control setting from the first cell group and/or to receive the third power control setting and the fourth power control setting from the second cell group.

The apparatus may further comprise calculating circuitry configured to calculate one of the first power control setting and the second power control setting based on the other one of the first power control setting and the second power control setting and a difference parameter.

The selecting circuitry may be configured to select the second power control setting if the monitoring circuitry does not indicate if the first transmission and the second transmission will overlap.

The apparatus may further comprise supervising circuitry configured to supervise a type of the first transmission; wherein the selecting circuitry may be further configured to select the first power control setting dependent on the type of the first transmission and/or to select the second power control setting dependent on the type of the first transmission.

The apparatus may further comprise choosing circuitry configured to choose a first modulation and coding scheme if the first transmission and the second transmission will not overlap and to choose a second modulation and coding scheme if the first transmission and the second transmission will overlap; driving circuitry configured to drive the transmission device to use the chosen one of the first and second modulation and coding schemes for the first transmission.

The choosing circuitry may be configured to chose one of the first modulation and coding scheme and the second modulation and coding scheme based on the other one of the first modulation and coding scheme and the second modulation and coding scheme and a received difference indicator.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus, comprising monitoring circuitry configured to monitor if a terminal is configured for dual connectivity; providing circuitry configured to provide a first parameter of a first power control setting and a second parameter of a second power control setting to the terminal if the terminal is configured for dual connectivity, wherein the first power control setting is different from the second power control setting.

The apparatus may further comprise supplying circuitry configured to supply a difference indicator indicating a difference of a first modulation and coding scheme to be used in case of an overlapping transmission and a second modulation and coding scheme to be used in case there is no overlapping transmission.

According to a fifth aspect of the invention, there is provided a method, comprising monitoring if a first transmission scheduled for a transmitting device to a first cell group and a second transmission scheduled for the transmitting device to a second cell group different from the first cell group will overlap in time; selecting a first power control setting if the first transmission and the second transmission will not overlap and to select a second power control setting if the first transmission and the second transmission will overlap; controlling a first power control of the first transmission based on the selected one of the first power control setting and the second power control setting.

The selecting may be further configured to select a third power control setting if the first transmission and the second transmission will not overlap and to select a fourth power control setting if the first transmission and the second transmission will overlap; and the controlling may be further adapted to control a second power control of the second transmission based on the selected one of the third power control setting and the fourth power control setting.

The method may further comprise receiving the first power control setting and the second power control setting from the first cell group and/or to receive the third power control setting and the fourth power control setting from the second cell group.

The method may further comprise calculating one of the first power control setting and the second power control setting based on the other one of the first power control setting and the second power control setting and a difference parameter.

The selecting may be adapted to select the second power control setting if the monitoring does not indicate if the first transmission and the second transmission will overlap. The method may further comprise supervising a type of the first transmission; wherein the selecting may be further adapted to select the first power control setting dependent on the type of the first transmission and/or to select the second power control setting dependent on the type of the first transmission. The method may further comprise choosing a first modulation and coding scheme if the first transmission and the second transmission will not overlap and to choose a second modulation and coding scheme if the first transmission and the second transmission will overlap; driving the transmission device to use the chosen one of the first and second modulation and coding schemes for the first transmission.

The choosing may be adapted to chose one of the first modulation and coding scheme and the second modulation and coding scheme based on the other one of the first modulation and coding scheme and the second modulation and coding scheme and a received difference indicator.

According to a sixth aspect of the invention, there is provided a method, comprising monitoring if a terminal is configured for dual connectivity; providing a first parameter of a first power control setting and a second parameter of a second power control setting to the terminal if the terminal is configured for dual connectivity, wherein the first power control setting is different from the second power control setting.

The method may further comprise supplying a difference indicator indicating a difference of a first modulation and coding scheme to be used in case of an overlapping transmission and a second modulation and coding scheme to be used in case there is no overlapping transmission.

Each of the methods of the fifth and sixth aspects may be a method of power control.

According to a seventh aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer program product comprising a set of instructions which, when executed on an apparatus, is configured to cause the apparatus to carry out the method according to any one of the fifth and sixth aspects. The computer program product may be embodied as a computer-readable medium or directly loadable into a computer.

According to some embodiments of the invention, at least the following advantages are provided :

- UE power allocation is made more flexible in case scheduling of UL resources is done independently in MeNB and SeNB (e.g. in DC);

- higher signal strength in uplink may be achieved;

- block error probability in uplink may be reduced;

- the area where a UE may be configured for DC may be enlarged.

It is to be understood that any of the above modifications can be applied singly or in combination to the respective aspects to which they refer, unless they are explicitly stated as excluding alternatives.

Brief description of the drawings Further details, features, objects, and advantages are apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention which is to be taken in conjunction with the appended drawings, wherein Fig. 1 shows layer models of U-plane alternatives for DC;

Fig. 2 shows a method according to an embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 3 shows an apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 4 shows a method according to an embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 5 shows an apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 6 shows a method according to an embodiment of the invention; and

Fig. 7 shows an apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention.

Detailed description of certain embodiments Herein below, certain embodiments of the present invention are described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein the features of the embodiments can be freely combined with each other unless otherwise described. However, it is to be expressly understood that the description of certain embodiments is given for by way of example only, and that it is by no way intended to be understood as limiting the invention to the disclosed details.

Moreover, it is to be understood that the apparatus is configured to perform the corresponding method, although in some cases only the apparatus or only the method are described.

The cell-specific power control settings (i.e. power control parameter and closed loop correction) may be configured taking into account whether or not the specific UE is configured with DC. Conventionally, the network may even avoid configuring DC if it estimates that (with the current cell-specific power control settings) that the UE might exceed its maximum power capabilities if configured with DC. For these decisions, the network may consider the worst case scenario, i.e. UE transmits via both MeNB and SeNB simultaneously. However, due to independent scheduling at MeNB and SeNB(s) it may happen that, during one or more subframes, the UE is only scheduled by one of MeNB and SeNB(s). In this case the UE would, in principle, be able to transmit with higher power towards the scheduling eNB. However, conventionally, the configured cell specific power control settings do not allow it.

As an example, one may consider a case that a UE is configured with dual connectivity and has one MCG cell (Cell#l) and one SCG cell (Cell#2). Also depending on own load conditions, each eNB would try to configure the power control settings of the UE so that most of the time PI + P2≤ Pmax, wherein PI and P2 denote the transmission powers that result from the respective cell- specific PC formula used in the UE which may depend on cell specific PC parameters, estimation of pathloss, allocated UE bandwidth, etc.. , respectively. Pmax denotes the maximum transmission power available at the UE. This assumes some coordination between MeNB and SeNB, which may be done even over a non-ideal backhaul. The actual powers may be equal to or less than PI and P2, respectively. E.g. if P1+P2 > Pmax at a certain time, a reduction of the transmission power to one or both of the cells will be applied by the UE, which is not always desirable.

Conventionally, when e.g. UL transmissions are not scheduled on Cell#2, the UE is still transmitting on Cell# l with a maximum power of PI only (which may be much lower than Pmax). According to some embodiments of the invention, the power control settings to be used in transmissions to MCG and to SCG may be different depending on whether or not the UE is simultaneously transmitting on multiple carriers. While with CA it is known at the scheduler whether or not simultaneous transmission takes place (and this knowledge may be taken into account e.g. in closed loop PC commands), in DC it is unknown to the schedulers whether or not simultaneous transmission takes place because the schedulers operate independently from each other.

According to some embodiments of the invention, when a UE is configured with dual connectivity, the UE is also configured with multiple (at least two) power control settings on each of the configured cells. When the UE decides on the uplink transmission power for each of the configured cells (e.g. using Release 11 PC formula), the UE uses one of the configured power control settings depending on whether or not there are simultaneous/overlapping transmissions in MCG and SCG.

The selection of the power control settings may depend on other parameters, too, as outlined further below. Instead of the Release 11 PC formula, other (standardized and non-standardized) algorithms may be used to control the uplink transmission power for each of the configured cells dependent on whether or not a simultaneous/overlapping transmission takes place. The term "overlapping" means "overlapping in time", and "simultaneous" is a special case of "overlapping". Fig. 2 shows a method according to an embodiment of the invention. The method may be performed by a terminal (UE) or a component thereof.

In SI, power control is started. In detail power control of uplink transmission to cell #i of cell group #n is started. The cell group may be MCG or SCG. A transmission to cell #i is scheduled for the next subframe.

In S2, it is checked for the next subframe, if an overlapping (or even simultaneous) transmission is scheduled to the other CG. If an overlapping transmission is scheduled (S2 = "yes"), according to S3 a first power control setting denoted as P0_{i; DU}AL TX is selected to be used. If an overlapping transmission is not scheduled (S2 = "no"), according to S4 a second power control setting denoted as P0_i; SINGLE TX is selected to be used. The power according to the first power control setting may be (but need not be) lower than the power according to the second power control setting.

In S5, the power to transmit (TX power) to cell #i is calculated based on the selected one of P0_i; DUAL TX and P0_i; SINGLE TX- E.g., a standardized formula (as shown in Fig. 2) or a non-standardized formula (not shown in Fig. 2) may be used to calculate the power based on the selected setting. In some embodiments, the calculation may be omitted because P0_i; DUAL TX and P0_i; SINGLE TX indicate directly the TX power.

Then, the calculated (selected) TX power may be applied to the transmission to cell #i (not shown in Fig. 2).

In some embodiments of the invention, different cell-specific power control settings are configured by signalling different values of power control parameter P0 for the same cell. In some embodiments of the invention, different values of the power control parameter alpha are configured. In some embodiments of the invention, different values of both the power control parameters P0 and alpha are configured. The different parameters may be configured by RRC signalling. In some embodiments of the invention, different closed loop power control corrections may be transmitted by the eNB to the UE which are to be applied in situations with and without simultaneous/overlapping uplink transmissions to two cells (e.g. MCG and SCG). In these embodiments, the physical layer signaling to transmit power control commands may be modified compared to the conventional physical layer signaling.

In some embodiments of the invention, the UE has one power control setting per cell, but is configured with at least one power offset indicating the additional power that the UE is allowed to use in case there are no simultaneous/overlapping uplink transmissions in MCG and SCG. The power offset may be cell-specific or applicable to all cells. The power offset may be configured by eNB (e.g. by RRC signaling), or it may be pre-configured. The power offset may be indicated as an absolute value or a relative value (percentage).

According to some embodiments of the invention, in case look-ahead is supported or in a synchronous case the UE selects the power control settings to be used for one subframe transmission in one CG depending on whether or not there is simultaneous/overlapping transmission in the other CG. If look-ahead is supported, even if UL transmissions towards different cell groups are not synchronized (e.g. transmission towards MeNB starts at time instant T and transmission towards SeNB starts at time instant T+X with X ≤ 500 microseconds), the UE will know when setting the power of transmission towards the MeNB if there is an overlapping transmission towards the SeNB (starting at T+X). "Synchronous case" means that UL transmission are synchronized (or at least that X≤ 35 sec, preferably X≤ 30 sec, more preferably X≤ 25 Msec). In this case, look-ahead may or may not be supported. In particular, look-ahead need not to be supported in order to detect an overlapping/simultaneous transmission.

In case look-ahead is not supported and/or the network is unsynchronized, the UE may use the most conservative power control settings (i.e. assuming simultaneous transmission in MCG and SCG) by default. Alternatively, the network may configure via higher layer signalling (RRC) which power control settings the UE should use in case look-ahead is not supported and/or the network is unsynchronized. According to some embodiments of the invention, different power control settings/power offsets are configured to be applied not only based on whether or not there are simultaneous/overlapping transmissions in MCG and SCG, but also on the type of channels (i.e. PUCCH, PUSCH with UCI, PUSCH without UCI, SRS, etc.) transmitted in MCG and SCG, respectively. For example, in order to avoid unpredictable SRS transmission power, the same (reference) power control settings may always be applied when there are SRS transmissions in one CG.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the UE may be configured with a delta MCS index to be applied together with the corresponding cell-specific power control setting. This means the UE would be allowed to e.g. transmit with a higher order MCS if the transmission power is increased. In these embodiments, eNB complexity is increased because the solution requires blind detection since the eNB does not know with certainty which MCS the UE has used for transmission.

A main advantage according to some embodiments of the invention is that it allows more flexible power allocation between MeNB and SeNB in case of dual connectivity (especially with UL bearer split) and independent scheduling at MeNB and SeNB.

More specifically, the proposed solution allows the network to configure UL bearer split and corresponding power control settings so that the UE will not exceed its maximum transmit power capabilities when scheduled for transmission in both MCG and SCG. At the same time, if only one eNB schedules transmissions by the UE (and/or if the UE only requests transmission opportunities in one eNBs), the proposed solution guarantees that also in this case the UL transmission power resources can be used optimally. On the other hand, it is noted that more transmission power may mean more interference. In some embodiments of the invention, only the power of one of the transmissions to different cells (e.g. to cell # 1) is adapted depending on whether or not there is an overlapping transmission to another cell (e.g. cell #2). For example, if the transmission to cell #2 is restricted to low power, it may be sufficient to adapt the transmission power to cell #1 depending on whether or not a transmission to cell #2 overlaps with the transmission to cell #1.

Fig. 3 shows an apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention. The apparatus may be a terminal such as a UE or an element thereof. Fig. 4 shows a method according to an embodiment of the invention. The apparatus according to Fig. 3 may perform the method of Fig. 4 but is not limited to this method. The method of Fig. 4 may be performed by the apparatus of Fig. 3 but is not limited to being performed by this apparatus. The apparatus comprises monitoring means 10, selecting means 20, and controlling means 40.

The monitoring means 10 monitors if a first transmission scheduled for a transmitting device to a first cell group and a second transmission scheduled for the same transmitting device to a second cell group will overlap in time (S10). The second cell group is different from the first cell group. Each of the first cell group and the second cell group may comprise one or more cells. In some embodiments, a cell of the first cell group may not belong to the second cell group and vice versa. The first cell group may be a MCG and the second cell group may be a SCG or vice versa.

The selecting means 20 selects a first power control setting (S20) if the first transmission and the second transmission will not overlap (i.e. S10 = "no"). On the other hand, if the first transmission and the second transmission will overlap (S10 = "yes"), the selecting means 20 selects a second power control setting (S30). The first and second power control settings may be different from each other. The controlling means 40 controls a power control of the first transmission based on the selected one of the first power control setting and the second power control setting (S40). In some embodiments, the controlling means 40 controls the power control of the first transmission, wherein the power control of the first transmission may control the transmission power of the first transmission not only based on the selected one of the first and second power control settings, but also based on other parameters. In some embodiments, the controlling means 40 comprises the power control. In these embodiments, the controlling means 40 controls directly the transmission power of the first transmission.

Fig. 5 shows an apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention. The apparatus may be a base station or a controller thereof such as a eNodeB, a NodeB, or a RNC, or an element thereof. Fig. 6 shows a method according to an embodiment of the invention. The apparatus according to Fig. 5 may perform the method of Fig. 6 but is not limited to this method. The method of Fig. 6 may be performed by the apparatus of Fig. 5 but is not limited to being performed by this apparatus.

The apparatus comprises monitoring means 110 and providing means 120.

The monitoring means 110 monitors if a terminal (such as a UE) is configured for dual connectivity (S110).

If the terminal is configured for dual connectivity (S110 = "yes"), the providing means 120 provides parameters of two power control settings to the terminal (S120). That is, the providing means 120 provides one or more parameters of a first power control setting and one or more parameters of a second power control setting to the terminal. The first power control setting may be different from the second power control setting.

Fig. 6 shows an apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention. The apparatus comprises at least one processor 210, at least one memory 220 including computer program code, and the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, being arranged to cause the apparatus to at least perform at least one of the methods according to Figs. 3 and 5. Embodiments of the invention may be employed in a 3GPP network such as an LTE-A network. They may be employed also in other 3GPP and non-3GPP mobile networks such as CDMA, EDGE, LTE, UTRAN, WiFi, WLAN networks, etc.

A terminal may be a user equipment such as a mobile phone, a smart phone, a PDA, a laptop, a tablet PC, a wearable, a machine-to-machine device, or any other device which may be connected to the respective network such as a 3GPP network.

One piece of information may be transmitted in one or plural messages from one entity to another entity. Each of these messages may comprise further (different) pieces of information.

Names of network elements, protocols, and methods are based on current standards. In other versions or other technologies, the names of these network elements and/or protocols and/or methods may be different, as long as they provide a corresponding functionality.

If not otherwise stated or otherwise made clear from the context, the statement that two entities are different means that they perform different functions. It does not necessarily mean that they are based on different hardware. That is, each of the entities described in the present description may be based on a different hardware, or some or all of the entities may be based on the same hardware. It does not necessarily mean that they are based on different software. That is, each of the entities described in the present description may be based on different software, or some or all of the entities may be based on the same software.

According to the above description, it should thus be apparent that example embodiments of the present invention provide, for example a terminal such as a UE, or a component thereof, an apparatus embodying the same, a method for controlling and/or operating the same, and computer program(s) controlling and/or operating the same as well as mediums carrying such computer program(s) and forming computer program product(s). According to the above description, it should thus be apparent that example embodiments of the present invention provide, for example a base station or a corresponding controller such as a NodeB, RNC, or eNodeB, or a component thereof, an apparatus embodying the same, a method for controlling and/or operating the same, and computer program(s) controlling and/or operating the same as well as mediums carrying such computer program(s) and forming computer program product(s).

Implementations of any of the above described blocks, apparatuses, systems, techniques or methods include, as non-limiting examples, implementations as hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

It is to be understood that what is described above is what is presently considered the preferred embodiments of the present invention. However, it should be noted that the description of the preferred embodiments is given by way of example only and that various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. Apparatus, comprising

monitoring means adapted to monitor if a first transmission scheduled for a transmitting device to a first cell group and a second transmission scheduled for the transmitting device to a second cell group different from the first cell group will overlap in time;

selecting means adapted to select a first power control setting if the first transmission and the second transmission will not overlap and to select a second power control setting if the first transmission and the second transmission will overlap;

controlling means adapted to control a first power control of the first transmission based on the selected one of the first power control setting and the second power control setting.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the selecting means is further configured to select a third power control setting if the first transmission and the second transmission will not overlap and to select a fourth power control setting if the first transmission and the second transmission will overlap; and

the controlling means is further adapted to control a second power control of the second transmission based on the selected one of the third power control setting and the fourth power control setting.

3. The apparatus according to any of claims 1 and 2, further comprising

receiving means adapted to receive the first power control setting and the second power control setting from the first cell group, and/or, if dependent on claim 2, to receive the third power control setting and the fourth power control setting from the second cell group.

4. The apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 3, further comprising

calculating means adapted to calculate one of the first power control setting and the second power control setting based on the other one of the first power control setting and the second power control setting and a difference parameter.

5. The apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein

the selecting means is adapted to select the second power control setting if the monitoring means does not indicate if the first transmission and the second transmission will overlap.

6. The apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 5, further comprising

supervising means adapted to supervise a type of the first transmission; wherein

the selecting means is further adapted to select the first power control setting dependent on the type of the first transmission and/or to select the second power control setting dependent on the type of the first transmission.

7. The apparatus according to any of claim 1 to 6, further comprising

choosing means adapted to choose a first modulation and coding scheme if the first transmission and the second transmission will not overlap and to choose a second modulation and coding scheme if the first transmission and the second transmission will overlap;

driving means adapted to drive the transmission device to use the chosen one of the first and second modulation and coding schemes for the first transmission.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein

the choosing means is adapted to chose one of the first modulation and coding scheme and the second modulation and coding scheme based on the other one of the first modulation and coding scheme and the second modulation and coding scheme and a received difference indicator.

9. Apparatus, comprising

monitoring means adapted to monitor if a terminal is configured for dual connectivity; providing means adapted to provide a first parameter of a first power control setting and a second parameter of a second power control setting to the terminal if the terminal is configured for dual connectivity, wherein the first power control setting is different from the second power control setting.

10. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein one of the first parameter and the second parameter indicates a difference between the first power control setting and the second power control setting.

11. The apparatus according to any of claims 9 to 10, further comprising

supplying means adapted to supply a difference indicator indicating a difference of a first modulation and coding scheme to be used in case of an overlapping transmission and a second modulation and coding scheme to be used in case there is no overlapping transmission.

12. Method, comprising

monitoring if a first transmission scheduled for a transmitting device to a first cell group and a second transmission scheduled for the transmitting device to a second cell group different from the first cell group will overlap in time;

selecting a first power control setting if the first transmission and the second transmission will not overlap and to select a second power control setting if the first transmission and the second transmission will overlap;

controlling a first power control of the first transmission based on the selected one of the first power control setting and the second power control setting.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein

the selecting is further configured to select a third power control setting if the first transmission and the second transmission will not overlap and to select a fourth power control setting if the first transmission and the second transmission will overlap; and the controlling is further adapted to control a second power control of the second transmission based on the selected one of the third power control setting and the fourth power control setting.

14. The method according to any of claims 12 and 13, further comprising

receiving the first power control setting and the second power control setting from the first cell group, and/or, if dependent on claim 13, to receive the third power control setting and the fourth power control setting from the second cell group.

15. The method according to any of claims 12 to 14, further comprising

calculating one of the first power control setting and the second power control setting based on the other one of the first power control setting and the second power control setting and a difference parameter.

16. The method according to any of claims 12 to 15, wherein

the selecting is adapted to select the second power control setting if the monitoring does not indicate if the first transmission and the second transmission will overlap.

17. The method according to any of claims 12 to 16, further comprising

supervising a type of the first transmission; wherein

the selecting is further adapted to select the first power control setting dependent on the type of the first transmission and/or to select the second power control setting dependent on the type of the first transmission.

18. The method according to any of claim 12 to 17, further comprising

choosing a first modulation and coding scheme if the first transmission and the second transmission will not overlap and to choose a second modulation and coding scheme if the first transmission and the second transmission will overlap; driving the transmission device to use the chosen one of the first and second modulation and coding schemes for the first transmission.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein

the choosing is adapted to chose one of the first modulation and coding scheme and the second modulation and coding scheme based on the other one of the first modulation and coding scheme and the second modulation and coding scheme and a received difference indicator.

20. Method, comprising

monitoring if a terminal is configured for dual connectivity;

providing a first parameter of a first power control setting and a second parameter of a second power control setting to the terminal if the terminal is configured for dual connectivity, wherein the first power control setting is different from the second power control setting.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein one of the first parameter and the second parameter indicates a difference between the first power control setting and the second power control setting.

22. The method according to any of claims 20 to 21, further comprising

supplying a difference indicator indicating a difference of a first modulation and coding scheme to be used in case of an overlapping transmission and a second modulation and coding scheme to be used in case there is no overlapping transmission.

23. A computer program product comprising a set of instructions which, when executed on an apparatus, is configured to cause the apparatus to carry out the method according to any one of claims 12 to 22.

24. The computer program product according to claim 23, embodied as a computer-readable medium or directly loadable into a computer.