WO2016095078A1

WO2016095078A1 - Dual active connections over single radio user equipment

Info

Publication number: WO2016095078A1
Application number: PCT/CN2014/093807
Authority: WO
Inventors: Xipeng Zhu; Gavin Bernard Horn
Original assignee: Qualcomm Incorporated
Priority date: 2014-12-15
Filing date: 2014-12-15
Publication date: 2016-06-23
Also published as: CN107113847B; US20180110088A1; US10349460B2; EP3235322A4; JP2017539164A; KR20170094204A; KR102446209B1; WO2016095582A1; JP6615203B2; EP3235322A1; CN107113847A; EP3235322B1

Abstract

A technique is disclosed to facilitate dual active connections by a UE device using a transmitter. A first connection is established with a first access node for wireless communication services. A first coexistence indicator provided/sent by the UE device to the first access node indicating that the UE device supports multiple concurrent connections. In response to providing the first coexistence indicator, the UE device receives a first transmit pattern and a first receive pattern. The transmitter may be configure to transmit according to the first transmit pattern for the first connection while sharing transmission resources with at least one other connection.

Description

DUAL ACTIVE CONNECTIONS OVER SINGLE RADIO USER EQUIPMENT

BACKGROUND

Field

Various features disclosed herein relate generally to cellular/wireless communication systems， and at least some features pertain more particularly to methods and devices for facilitating dual active connections from devices having a single radio.

Background

Mobile devices， such as mobile phones， wireless modems， tablets， or any other device with a processor that communicates with other devices through wireless signals are becoming increasingly popular and are used more frequently. Subscribers using such mobile devices in a cellular/wireless communication network are typically authenticated by the wireless communication network before being granted access to initiate and/or receive calls and transmit and/or receive data.

During use it is sometimes desirable to have two active connections (e.g.， different frequencies/channels on the same radio access technology RAT， or on different RATs) from a mobile device. However， mobile devices usually include just a single radio communication device as multiple radios increase the cost and/or complexity of the mobile device.

Therefore， there is a need for methods， apparatus， and/or systems that allow a single radio to be used to establish two or more simultaneous connections from a mobile device.

SUMMARY

Various features facilitate maintaining concurrent wireless connections by a user equipment device using a single radio. This may be accomplished， for example， by obtaining transmit patterns and receive patterns for each connection， where the transmit patterns indicate an allocation (e.g.， of time slots or radio resources) . A transmitter may then switch between two or more connections according to the transmit pattern for each connection. In one example， the transmit patterns may be distinct for each connection sharing the transmitter. Similarly， a receiver may switch between two or more connections according to a receive pattern for each connection.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary next generation communication network architecture， such as an evolved packet system (EPS) .

FIG. 2 illustrates a possible solution for dual connectivity by sharing a transmitter radio for the uplink transmissions (i.e.， from a UE device to two or more access nodes) .

FIG. 3 illustrates a first aspect in which single radio dual active may be implemented using separate discontinuous transmit (DTX) and discontinuous receive (DRX) patterns.

FIG. 4 illustrates a third aspect in which single radio dual active may be implemented using time division multiplexing (TDM) .

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary transmission of consolidated packets across different levels of a protocol stack.

FIG. 6 illustrates a functional block diagram of at least one embodiment of a user equipment (UE) device with dual active connection capabilities over a transmitter.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating an example of a method operational in a UE device to facilitate dual active connections using a transmitter.

FIG. 8 illustrates a functional block diagram of at least one embodiment of an access node adapted to facilitate dual active connection capabilities over a transmitter of a UE device.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating an example of a method operational in a access node to facilitate dual active connections by EU devices using a transmitter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description， specific details are given to provide a thorough understanding of the described implementations. However， it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the implementations may be practiced without these specific details. For example， circuits may be shown in block diagrams in order not to obscure the implementations in unnecessary detail. In other instances， well-known circuits， structures and techniques may be shown in detail in order not to obscure the implementations.

The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example， instance， or illustration. ” Any implementation or embodiment described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or implementations. Likewise， the term “embodiments” does not require that all embodiments include the discussed feature， advantage or mode of operation. The term “access terminal” as used herein is meant to be interpreted broadly. For example， an “access terminal” may include mobile phones， pagers， wireless modems， personal digital assistants， personal information managers (PIMs) ， personal media players， tablet computers， laptop computers， and/or other mobile communication/computing devices which communicate， at least partially， through a wireless or cellular network.

Exemplary Network Operating Environment

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary next generation communication network architecture， such as an evolved packet system (EPS) 100. The EPS 100 may include one or more user equipment (UE) 102， a first Radio Access Network (RAN) 104 (e.g.， Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) ) ， an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) 110， a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 120， and a Packet Switched Network 122. As shown， the EPS 100 provides packet-switched services， however， as those skilled in the art will readily appreciate， the various concepts presented throughout this disclosure may be extended to networks providing circuit-switched services.

The first RAN-A 104 may include one or more access nodes 106 and 108 (e.g.， evolved Node Bs or ENBs) . Additionally， other access nodes 109， coupled to other RANs and/or other MMEs may also serve to provide connectivity to the UE 102. In this example， a first access node 106 provides user and control planes protocol terminations toward a user equipment (UE) 102 (e.g.， mobile device， user terminal， wireless device， etc. ) .

In one example， the first access node 106 may be communicatively coupled to a second access node 108 on the same RAN 104 via a backhaul interface X2. The first access node 106 may also be referred to as an eNB， a base station， a base transceiver station， a radio base station， a radio transceiver， a transceiver function， a basic service set (BSS) ， an extended service set (ESS) ， or some other suitable terminology. The first access node 106 provides an access point to the EPC 110 for the UE 102. Examples of the UE 102 includes a cellular phone， a smart phone， a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone， a laptop， a personal digital assistant (PDA) ， a satellite radio， a global positioning system， a multimedia device， a video device， a digital audio player (e.g.， MP3 player) ， a camera， a game console， a tablet， or any other similar functioning device. The UE 102 may also be referred to by those skilled in the art as a mobile station， a subscriber station， a mobile unit， a subscriber unit， a wireless unit， a remote unit， a mobile device， a wireless device， a wireless communications device， a remote device， a mobile subscriber station， an access terminal， a mobile terminal， a wireless terminal， a remote terminal， a handset， a user agent， a mobile client， a client， or some other suitable terminology.

The first access node 106 may be connected by an interface to the EPC 110. The EPC 110 includes a Mobility Management Entity (MME) 112， other MMEs 114， a Serving Gateway 116， and a Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway 118. The MME 112 is the control node that processes the signaling between the UE 102 and the EPC 110. Generally， the MME 112 provides bearer and connection management. All user IP packets may be transferred through the Serving Gateway 116， which itself is connected to the PDN Gateway 118. The PDN Gateway 118 may provide the UE internet protocol (IP) address allocation as well as other functions. The PDN Gateway 118 is connected to the packet switched network 122. The packet switched network 122 may include the Intemet， an intranet， an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) ， and a PS Streaming Service (PSS) .

The

access nodes

106 and 108 typically communicate with each other via an “X2” interface. The

access nodes

106 and 108 communicate with the EPC 110 (including the MME 112 and SGW 116) via an “Si” interface.

In existing wireless communication networks， such as a 4G network or Long Term Evolution (LTE) network， Non-Access Stratum (NAS) protocols form the highest stratum of the control plane between the user equipment (UE) and MME. NAS protocols support the mobility of the UE and the session management procedures to establish and maintain IP connectivity between the UE and a PDN gateway.

The EPS Session Management (ESM) protocol provides procedures for the handling of EPS bearer contexts. Together with the bearer control provided by the Access Stratum， it provides the control of user plane bearers. The transmission of ESM messages is suspended during EMM procedures except for the attach procedure.

The EPS Mobility Management (EMM) protocol provides procedures for the control of mobility when the User Equipment (UE) uses the Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) . It also provides control of security for the NAS protocols.

According to one feature， the UE 102 may include a transceiver (i.e.， transmitter and receiver circuit) which is adapted to maintain two concurrent connections (known as “dual active” ) over the same first RAN-A 104 or with a different second RAN-B 105. In “dual active” operation， the UE 102 may be concurrently connected with two access nodes (e.g.， cells， eNBs， etc. ) . The two access nodes may belong to two distinct RATs or two frequencies of the same RAT. The dual active can be extended to multiple active (i.e.， more than two concurrent connections over a plurality of access nodes) .

Dual active is useful for dual connectivity as the UE 102 is able to establish a link to two cells simultaneously. Traditionally， “dual active” on a UE has been achieved by using two or more transceivers (e.g.， two transmit radio circuits) . However， concurrent transmissions of dual transmitter radios may lead to inter-modulation issue， i.e. the linear combination of multiple transmitting frequencies may fall into the receiving frequency band of a RAT in vicinity of the UE. Resolving these interference issues increase cost and size of the UE transceiver. Using dual transmitter radios also has the disadvantage of requiring additional space and a longer transmit chain.

FIG. 2 illustrates a possible solution for dual connectivity by sharing a transmitter radio for the uplink transmissions (i.e.， from the UE device 102 to two or more access nodes) . For instance， a device may include a first receiver Rx-A 202， a second receiver Rx-B 208， and a single transmitter Tx 204. The first receiver Rx-A 202 may serve to receive/listen (downlink) on every defined time slot 208 over a first connection-A. The second receiver Rx-B 202 may serve to receive/listen (downlink) on every defined time slot 208 over a second connection-B. The single transmitter Tx 204 may be shared by the first connection-A and second connection-B to transmit data (uplink) from the device. For example， the single transmitter 204 may be shared using time division multiplexing (TDM) wherein the transmitter 204 is alternatively used by the first connection-A and second connection-B during alternating periods. Transmitter sharing works so long as the uplink requirements for all connections can be satisfied by the single transmitter 204.

Sharing the transmitter 204 requires switching between the first connection A and the second connection B. The switching time between connections is critical to the performance of transmitter sharing. The switching time includes tuning the local oscillator (LO) /phase-locked loop (PLL) from one frequency to another frequency， and updating the registers of a mobile station modem (MSM) or wireless transmitter (WTR) chip. After the transmitter is tuned， the phase of the transmitter LO/PLL is not continuous with previous transmissions. This random phase impacts the channel estimation of an access node (e.g.， NodeB) . If the transmitter can have two independent LO/PLL for transmissions， the LO/PLL tuning time can be further reduced to less than 0.1 milli-seconds (ms) and the random phase issue can be avoided.

Improvements to In-Device Coexistence for Single Radio Dual Active

The 3GPP Standard defined in-device coexistence (IDC) to avoid in-device radio frequency (RF) coexistence issues between， for example， LTE and WiFi/Bluetooth by time division multiplexing (TDM) or frequency division multiplexing (FDM) . Two TDM solutions were defined： DRX and subframe pattern. If both the UE device and the serving network support IDC， in case the RF coexistence issue cannot be resolved by the UE device itself， the UE device sends a message (e.g.， RRC InDeviceCoexIndication message) to the access node (e.g.， eNB) requesting a discontinuous (DRX) or subframe pattern. The DRX or subframe pattern indicates the periods or slots of time during which a device may receive or send transmissions. For instance， rather than continuously monitoring a channel， a receiver may be configured to only listen/receive transmissions (downlink) during specified time periods， thereby conserving power.

In conventional implementations， the same DTX and DRX patterns are used by a UE device. That is， during the DRX OFF period， the DTX is also OFF (i.e.， not transmitting) .

In a two-receiver /one-transmitter UE device 304， independent DTX and DRX patterns may be used. For example， as part of setting up a first connection-A with a first Access Node-A 304 and a second connection-B with a second Access Node-B 306， the UE device 304 may send an indication of in-device coexistence to each of the access nodes. Instead of requesting a single pattern from each access node (e.g.， which would be used for both transmissions and reception) ， the in-device coexistence indications acts as a request from the UE device to each

access node

304 and 306 to provide distinct receiver patterns DRX and transmit patterns. In this example， the first Access Node-A 304 provides a first transmit pattern (DTX-A) and a first receive pattern (DRX-A) while the second Access Node-B 306 provides a second transmit pattern (DTX-B) and a second receive pattern (DRX-B) . The UE device 304 may thus set a first receiver Rx-A to listen according to the first receive pattern (DRX-A) and may set a second receiver Rx-B to listen according to the second receive pattern (DRX-B) . A shared transmitter may be configured between transmitting according to the first transmit pattern (DTX-A) over the first connection-A and transmitting according to the second transmit pattern (DTX-B) over the second connection-B. In one example， the UE device may send an access node its existing or currently used transmit/receive patterns (or a profile identifier for such pattern (s) ) to allow the access node to avoid assigning or allocating the same transmit/receive pattern for a new connection. In yet another example， as part of the in-device coexistence indication sent by the UE device， the UE device may send a proposed transmit pattern and/or a proposed receive pattern which an access node may use to assign/allocate a transmit pattern and a receive pattern to the UE device. Similarly， the UE device may request continuous and/or discontinuous receive/transmit patterns for a particular connection.

According to a second aspect， rather than specifying discontinuous transmit/receive patterns (DTX/DRX) ， separate uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) patterns may be used by the UE device 302. In this manner， the UE device may configure its the first receiver Rx-A to listen according to a first receive pattern (DL-A) and may set the second receiver Rx-B to listen according to the second receive pattern (DL-B) . The shared transmitter may be configured between transmitting according to the first transmit pattern (UL-A) over the first connection-A and transmitting according to the second transmit pattern (UL-B) over the second connection-B.

FIG. 4 illustrates a third aspect in which single radio dual active may be implemented using time division multiplexing (TDM) . In this implementation， a UE device 402 may setup connections with a first access node 404 and a second access node 406. The two-receiver /one-transmitter UE device 402 may send an indication of in-device coexistence to each of the

access nodes

404 and 406. In this example， the in-device coexistence indications acts as a request from the UE device to each

access node

404 and 406 to obtain TDM schedules/allocations according to UE capabilities and service requirements. The service requirement information provided to the

access nodes

404 and 406 may include current traffic parameters or load for the connection with the access node， traffic metrics for the connection with the access node， etc. Additionally， the service requirement information provided to the access node (s) 404 and 406 may include whether the UE device 402 requires concurrent radio access technologies (RATs) ， such as GSM Rx， LTE Rx.

The first Access Node-A 404 may provide a first transmit TDM schedule TDM-TX-A and a first receive TDM schedule TDM-RX-A while the second Access Node-B 406 provides a second transmit TDM schedule TDM-TX-B and a second receive TDM schedule TDM-RX-B. The UE device 404 may thus set a first receiver Rx-A to listen according to the first receive schedule TDM-RX-A and may set a second receiver Rx-B to listen according to the second receive schedule TDM-RX-B. A shared transmitter Tx may be configured between transmitting according to the first transmit schedule TDM-TX-A over the first connection-A and transmitting according to the second transmit schedule TDM-TX-B over the second connection-B.

According to yet another aspect， the UE device may provide the access nodes with radio access technology (RAT) information for the UE device when sending its in-device coexistence indicator. Previous in-device coexistence indicators have not informed the network (e.g.， access nodes) the type and parameters of its concurrent RAT/CC. So， the access nodes are only aware of the hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process based on the subframe pattern or DRX pattern. The time granularity in in subframe level and the DRX cycle is based on the HARQ cycle. However， the concurrent RAT/connection may have different cycles based on the type of the RAT being used by the UE device.

To support single radio dual active (SRDA) at a UE device， the length of a subframe pattern may be extended to the least common multiple of two cycles. The impact to LTE may be in the subframe level， e.g. LTE transmission resumes at middle of a subframe or LTE transmission stops at middle of a subframe. With concurrent RAT/connection specific parameters， the access node could accurately know the timing for transmission Tx sharing. The parameters may include

-RAT type： GSM， cdmalx， EVDO， UTRAN FDD， UTRAN TDD， E-UTRAN FDD， E-UTRAN TDD

-Frame offset

-Time advance

-Conflicting channel

-Tolerate puncture rate

-Switching time

According to yet another aspect， separate patterns (e.g.， DTX/DRX or UL/DL sub-frames) may be used for two RATs/connections by a UE device. In the case where multiple downlinks (DLs) are scheduled or configured by a single access node (e.g.， dual connectivity) with the UE device， the DRX/DTX or sub-frame pattern for each connection can be configured by the network and the corresponding pattern for the connection can be forwarded to the additional RATs/connections via the backhaul or via the UE device as a configuration request. In this manner， the UE device can use patterns to coordinate across access nodes based on network configuration.

For a UE device having a single receiver and single transmitter (1Rx/1Tx) ， mutually exclusive receiver patterns and transmitter patterns may be assigned for two RAT/connections to share the single receiver and single transmitter by using time division multiplexing (TDM) .

Exemplary Consolidated Uplink

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary transmission of consolidated packets across different levels of a protocol stack. Consolidating uplink transmissions from the UE device enables a two receiver and one transmitter (2Rx/1Tx) UE device to have similar downlink (DL) throughout performance as a two receiver and two transmitter (2Rx/2Tx) UE device.

The example in FIG. 5 illustrates a first connection CONN-A and a second connection CONN-B using a transmitter for the uplink connections from a UE device. The transmitter may support the first connection CONN-A and the second connection CONN-B by switching between the two supported connections. It should be clear that while the UE device may include additional transmitters； but such additional transmitters may be unavailable for the first connection CONN-A and/or second connection CONN-B. For example， the additional transmitter (s) may be in use for other connections or assigned to other radio access technologies (RATs) . While the transmitter is transmitting for the first connection CONN-A， transmission for the second connection CONN-B is placed on hold (e.g.， data to be transmitted for CONN-B is buffered) . While the transmitter is supporting the first connection， an access node supporting the second connection CONN-B may send an Uplink Grant message 502 over a receiver supporting the second connection CONN-B. Consequently， the transmitter is switched 510 from the first connection CONN-A to the second connection CONN-B. That is， the second connection CONN-B is made active over the transmitter and transmission for the first connection CONN-A is placed on hold (e.g.， data to be transmitted for CONN-A is buffered) . The transmitter may then send an uplink consolidated transmission 504 over the second connection CONN-B. The uplink consolidated transmission 504 may send all buffered transmissions for the second connection CONN-B (e.g.， packets for all protocol stack layers) .

Subsequently， while the transmitter is supporting the second connection， an access node supporting the first connection CONN-A may send an Uplink Grant message 506 over a receiver supporting the first connection CONN-A. Consequently， the transmitter is switched 512 from the second connection CONN-B to the first connection CONN-A. That is， the first connection CONN-A is made active over the transmitter and transmission for the second connection CONN-B is placed on hold (e.g.， data to be transmitted for CONN-B is buffered) . The transmitter may then send an uplink consolidated transmission 508 over the second connection CONN-B. The uplink consolidated transmission 508 may send all buffered transmissions for the first connection CONN-A (e.g.， packets for all protocol stack layers) .

In one example of a consolidated transmission within a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network， the UE device may transmit following packets on the same uplink (UL) for a particular connection：

PHY

-PUCCH： SR (scheduling request) ， CQI， ACK/NACK

-PUSCH： UL data， CQI， ACK/NACK

-SRS and DM-RS on both PUCCH and PUSCH

MAC CE

-BSR

-PHR

Upper layers： RLC， PDCP， Data Payload.

In a UE device having one receiver and one transmitter (1Rx/1Tx) and implementing dual connectivity (DC) or device coexistence， a consolidated uplink (UL) can also improve the downlink (DL) throughput. For instance， to improve the DL throughput of a UE device with 1Rx/1Tx and dual connectivity， a mechanism similar to FIG. 5 can be used in the downlink DL， i. e. a consolidated downlink. That is， for the downlink (DL) a single receiver may be shared between two connections by switching between the connections and consolidating packets at various levels of the protocol stack so they are sent together to the UE device when the corresponding connection becomes active.

Exemplary Fast Dual Channel Indicator

Existing in-device coexistence (IDC) indicators are based on an RRC message， which is too slow for scenarios which require fast time division multiplexing (TDM) partitioning for transmit/receive (Tx/Rx) ， e.g. in mobility.

To speed up the IDC indication from an UE device to an access node， either of three mechanisms may be employed.

According to a first mechanism， a new UCI format may be defined for such fast IDC indication. Due to limited capacity of the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) ， a UE device and access node (e.g.， eNB) may pre-negotiate several TDM profiles. With these profiles， the PUCCH just needs to carry the profile ID and some dynamic parameters， e.g. frame offset， time advance， conflicting channel. That is， the profiles may allow an access node to inform a UE device of the channel allocation for TDM.

A second approach may include using MAC CE (MAC Control Element) ， refer to 3GPP TS36.321 section 6.1.3. The IDC indication can be included in a MAC CE.The MAC CE is transmitted in any MAC PDU.

A third approach may be to add a new physical channel that may serve to support IDC between a UE device and an access node.

Exemplary User Equipment (UE) Device

FIG. 6 illustrates a functional block diagram of at least one embodiment of a user equipment (UE) device 600 with dual active connection capabilities over a transmitter. The UE device 600 may generally include a processing circuit 602 (e.g.， processor， processing module， etc. ) coupled to a memory device 604 (e.g.， memory module， memory， etc. ) ， and/or and a wireless communication circuit 606.

The processing circuit 602 may be configured to establish a wireless connection via the wireless communication circuit 606 to send and/or receive information from a network (e.g.， from an access node) . The processing circuit 602 may be coupled to the memory circuit 604 such that the processing circuit 602 can read information from， and write information to， the memory device 604. The processing circuit 602 may also include a network connection module/circuit 608 for establishing a network connection (via the wireless communication circuit 606) with one or more access nodes (e.g.， eNBs) . The processing circuit 602 may also include a coexistence/switching module/circuit 610 for performing the various steps of utilizing a transmitter for multiple connections over one or more networks. The processing circuit 602 may also include a packet consolidation module/circuit 612 for consolidating packets to be transmitted over a particular connection. The processing circuit 602 may also include a dual active handover module/circuit 613 for performing a handover from a first access node to a second access node while maintaining two simultaneous active connections during the handover process.

The wireless communication circuit 606 may include one or more transmitters 614 and one or more receivers 616. The one or more receiver (s) 616 may be configured to allow the user equipment device 600 to maintain two or more active connections with one or more access nodes. In one example， a transmitter 614a may be shared to transmit packets for two or more active connections. That is， while the UE device may include a plurality of transmitters， some additional transmitters may be unavailable. For example， the additional transmitter (s) may be in use for other connections or assigned to other radio access technologies (RATs) .

According to one or more features， the processing circuit 602 may be configured to perform any or all of the processes， functions， steps and/or routines related to the various UE devices described FIGS. 1-5. As used herein， the term “configured” in relation to the processing circuit 602 may refer to the processing circuit 602 being one or more of adapted， employed， implemented， or programmed to perform a particular process， function， step and/or routine according to various features described herein.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating an example of a method operational in a UE device to facilitate dual active connections using a transmitter. A first connection may be established with a first access node for wireless communication services 702. The transmitter may facilitate dual active connections including the first connection and one or more distinct connections. A first coexistence indicator may be provided/sent to the first access node indicating that the UE device supports multiple concurrent connections 704. In one example， the UE device may send an indicator to the first access node indicating that only the transmitter is available at the UE device for connections. In some implementations， the first coexistence indicator may include a proposed first transmit pattern and/or a proposed first receive pattern suggested by the UE device. In yet other implementations， the first coexistence indicator may also include an “in-use” transmit pattern and/or an “in-use” receive pattern which allows the access node to avoid such patterns when assigning or allocating patterns to the EU device.

The UE device may receive a first transmit pattern and a separate first receive pattern 706. In one example， the first transmit pattern may be distinct from the first receive pattern. In another example， the first transmit pattern and the first receive pattern may be the same. In one example， the first transmit pattern may indicate that the transmitter at the UE device should be configured to intermittently transmit on behalf of the first connection. In one example， the first receive pattern may indicate that a receiver at the UE device should be configured to always receive on behalf of the first connection.

The transmitter may be configured to transmit according to the first transmit pattern for the first connection and a receiver may be configured to receive according to the first receive pattern for the first connection 708.

A second connection may also be established with the first access node or a second access node for wireless communication services 710. A second coexistence indicator may be provided/sent by the UE device to the first access node or a second access node indicating that the UE device supports multiple concurrent connections 712.

In response to the second coexistence indicator， the UE device may receive a second transmit pattern and a second receive pattern 714. The transmitter may be configured to transmit according to the second transmit pattern for the second connection while concurrently supporting the first connection 716.

The transmitter may use time division multiplexing (TDM) to allocate time slots according to the first transmit pattern and second transmit pattern.

In one example， the first connection and second connection may be wireless connections over a single radio access network. In another example， the first connection and second connection may be wireless connections over different radio access networks.

In some implementations， packets for transmission over the first connection may be consolidated while the transmitter is not allocated to the first connection. The consolidated packets may be transmitted together when the transmitter is allocated to the first connection. The consolidated packets may include packets from multiple layers of a protocol stack.

The UE device may receive， over a first receiver， an uplink grant message for the first connection from the access node. As a result， the UE device may switch the transmitter to transmit over the first connection upon receipt of the uplink grant message.

In one example， the first connection and second connection may be established by sharing a receiver at the user equipment device.

In another example a first receiver of the UE device may be configured to receive according to the first receive pattern for the first connection and a second receiver may be configured to receive according to the second receive pattern for the second connection.

In yet another example， a first receiver may be configured to receive according to the first receive pattern for the first connection， and receive according to the second receive pattern for the second connection.

Exemplary Access Node Device

FIG. 8 illustrates a functional block diagram of at least one embodiment of an access node 800 adapted to facilitate dual active connection capabilities over a transmitter of a UE device. The access node 800 may generally include a processing circuit 802 (e.g.， processor， processing module， etc. ) coupled to a memory device 804 (e.g.， memory module， memory， etc. ) ， and/or and a wireless communication circuit 806.

The processing circuit 802 may be configured to establish a wireless connection via the wireless communication circuit 806 to send and/or receive information from a network (e.g.， from an access node) . The processing circuit 802 may be coupled to the memory circuit 804 such that the processing circuit 802 can read information from， and write information to， the memory device 804. The processing circuit 802 may also include a network connection module/circuit 808 for establishing a network connection (via the wireless communication circuit 806) with one or more access nodes (e.g.， eNBs) . The processing circuit 802 may also include a coexistence/switching module/circuit 810 for performing the various steps that allow a UE device to maintain multiple connections using a single transmitter. The processing circuit 802 may also include a transmit/receive pattern module/circuit 812 for generating and maintaining transmit/receive patterns for the UE devices served.

The wireless communication circuit 806 may include one or more transmitters 814 and one or more receivers 816. The one or more receiver (s) 816 may be configured to allow the user equipment device 800 to maintain two or more active connections with one or more access nodes. The transmitter 814 may be shared to transmit packets for two or more active connections.

According to one or more features， the processing circuit 802 may be configured to perform any or all of the processes， functions， steps and/or routines related to the various access node described FIGS. 1-5. As used herein， the term “configured” in relation to the processing circuit 802 may refer to the processing circuit 802 being one or more of adapted， employed， implemented， or programmed to perform a particular process， function， step and/or routine according to various features described herein.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating an example of a method operational in an access node to facilitate dual active connections by EU devices using a transmitter. The access node may establish a first connection with a first UE device for wireless communication services 902. Additionally， the access node may receive a first coexistence indicator from the first UE device indicating that the UE device supports multiple concurrent connections 904. In one example， the first coexistence indicator may indicate that only one transmitter is available at the first UE device for connections.

The access node may send， to the first UE device， a first transmit pattern and a first receive pattern 906. In one example， the first transmit pattern may be distinct from the first receive pattern. In another example， the first transmit pattern and the first receive pattern are the same pattern. In yet another example， the first receive pattern may indicate that a receiver at the first UE device should be configured to always receive on behalf of the first connection. In additional example， first transmit pattern may indicate that a transmitter at the first UE device should be configured to intermittently transmit on behalf of the first connection.

The access node may then configure a receiver at the access node to receive according to the first transmit pattern for the first connection 908. Similarly， the access node may also configure a transmitter at the access node to transmit according to the first receive pattern for the first connection 910.

Additionally， the access node may also establish a second connection with the first UE device for wireless communication services. A second coexistence indicator may be received from the first UE device indicating that the UE device supports multiple concurrent connections. The access node may send， to the first UE device， a second transmit pattern and a second receive pattern that. Subsequently， the access node may configure the receiver at the access node to receive according to the second transmit pattern for the second connection while also receiving according to the first transmit pattern for the first connection.

One or more of the components， steps， features and/or functions illustrated in FIGS. 1， 2， 3， 4， 5， 6， 7， 8， and/or 9 may be rearranged and/or combined into a single component， step， feature or function or embodied in several components， steps， or functions. Additional elements， components， steps， and/or functions may also be added without departing from the present disclosure.

Also， it is noted that at least some implementations have been described as a process that is depicted as a flowchart， a flow diagram， a structure diagram， or a block diagram. Although a flowchart may describe the operations as a sequential process， many of the operations can be performed in parallel or concurrently， In addition， the order of the operations may be re-arranged. A process is terminated when its operations are completed. A process may correspond to a method， a function， a procedure， a subroutine， a subprogram， etc. When a process corresponds to a function， its termination corresponds to a return of the function to the calling function or the main function.

Moreover， embodiments may be implemented by hardware， software， firmware， middleware， microcode， or any combination thereof. When implemented in software， firmware， middleware or microcode， the program code or code segments to perform the necessary tasks may be stored in a machine-readable medium such as a storage medium or other storage (s) . A processor may perform the necessary tasks. A code segment may represent a procedure， a function， a subprogram， a program， a routine， a subroutine， a module， a software package， a class， or any combination of instructions， data structures， or program statements. A code segment may be coupled to another code segment or a hardware circuit by passing and/or receiving information， data， arguments， parameters， or memory contents. Information， arguments， parameters， data， etc. may be passed， forwarded， or transmitted via any suitable means including memory sharing， message passing， token passing， network transmission， etc.

A processing circuit， as described herein (e.g.， processing

circuits

602， 802 and/or 1002) ， may comprise circuitry configured to implement desired programming provided by appropriate media in at least one embodiment. For example， a processing circuit may be implemented as one or more of a processor， a controller， a plurality of processors and/or other structure configured to execute executable instructions including， for example， software and/or firmware instructions， and/or hardware circuitry. Embodiments of a processing circuit may include a general purpose processor， a digital signal processor (DSP) ， an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) ， a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic component， discrete gate or transistor logic， discrete hardware components， or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor but， in the alternative， the processor may be any conventional processor， controller， microcontroller， or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing components， such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor， a number of microprocessors， one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core， or any other such configuration. These examples of the processing circuit are for illustration and other suitable configurations within the scope of the present disclosure are also contemplated.

As described herein above， memory circuit， such as

memory circuits

604， 804 and/or 1004， may represent one or more devices for storing programming and/or data， such as processor executable code or instructions (e.g.， software， firmware) ， electronic data， databases， or other digital information. A memory circuit may be any available media that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose processor. By way of example and not limitation， memory circuit may include read-only memory (e.g.， ROM， EPROM， EEPROM) ， random access memory (RAM) ， magnetic disk storage mediums， optical storage mediums， flash memory devices， and/or other non-transitory computer-readable mediums for storing information.

The terms “machine-readable medium” ， “computer-readable medium” ， and/or “processor-readable medium” may include， but are not limited to portable or fixed storage devices， optical storage devices， and various other non-transitory mediums capable of storing， containing or carrying instruction (s) and/or data. Thus， the various methods described herein may be partiallv or fully implemented bv instructions and/or data that may be stored in a “machine-readable medium” ， “computer-readable medium” ， and/or “processor-readable medium” and executed by one or more processors， machines and/or devices.

The methods or algorithms described in connection with the examples disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware， in a software module executable by a processor， or in a combination of both， in the form of processing unit， programming instructions， or other directions， and may be contained in a single device or distributed across multiple devices. A software module may reside in RAM memory， flash memory， ROM memory， EPROM memory， EEPROM memory， registers， hard disk， a removable disk， a CD-ROM， or any other form of non-transitory storage medium known in the art. A storage medium may be coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from， and write information to， the storage medium. In the alternative， the storage medium may be integral to the processor.

Those of skill in the art would further appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks， modules， circuits， and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware， computer software， or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software， various illustrative components， blocks， modules， circuits， and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system.

The various features of the disclosure described herein can be implemented in different systems without departing from the disclosure. It should be noted that the foregoing embodiments are merely examples and are not to be construed as limiting the disclosure. The description of the embodiments is intended to be illustrative， and not to limit the scope of the disclosure. As such， the present teachings can be readily applied to other types of apparatuses and many alternatives， modifications， and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Claims

A method operational on a user equipment (UE) device for facilitating a dual active connections， comprising：

establishing a first connection with a first access node for wireless communication services；

receiving a first transmit pattern and a separate first receive pattern； and

configuring a transmitter to transmit according to the first transmit pattern for the first connection and a receiver to receive according to the receive pattern for the first connection.
The method of claim 1， further comprising：

providing a first coexistence indicator to the first access node， wherein the first transmit pattern and/or the first receive pattern are received in response to the first coexistence indicator.
The method of claim 2， wherein the first coexistence indicator indicates that the UE device supports multiple concurrent connections.
The method of claim 2， wherein the first coexistence indicator includes a proposed first transmit pattern and/or a proposed first receive pattern.
The method of claim 1， further comprising：

configuring the transmitter to facilitate dual active connections including the first connection and one or more other distinct connections.
The method of claim 1， further comprising：

providing an indicator to the first access node indicating that only the transmitter is available at the UE device for connections.
The method of claim 1， wherein the first transmit pattern is distinct from the first receive pattern.
The method of claim 1， wherein the first transmit pattern and the first receive pattern are the same pattern.
The method of claim 1， wherein the first receive pattern indicates that a receiver at the UE device should be configured to always receive on behalf of the first connection.
The method of claim 1， wherein the first transmit pattern indicates that the transmitter at the UE device should be configured to intermittently transmit on behalf of the first connection.
The method of claim 1， further comprising：

establishing a second connection with the first access node or a second access node for wireless communication services；

providing a second coexistence indicator to the first access node or a second access node；

receiving， in response to the second coexistence indicator， a second transmit pattern and a second receive pattern； and

configuring the transmitter to transmit according to the second transmit pattern for the second connection while concurrently supporting the first connection.
The method of claim 11， wherein the second coexistence indicator includes or identifies the first transmit pattern and/or the first receive pattern.
The method of claim 1， wherein the transmitter uses time division multiplexing (TDM) to allocate time slots according to the first transmit pattern and a second transmit pattern associated with a distinct second connection.
The method of claim 13， wherein the first connection and the second connection are wireless connections over a single radio access network.
The method of claim 13， wherein the first connection and the second connection are wireless connections over different radio access networks.
The method of claim 1， further comprising：

consolidating packets for transmission over the first connection while the transmitter is not in use for the first connection； and

transmitting the consolidated packets together when the transmitter is in use for the first connection.
The method of claim 16， wherein the consolidated packets include packets from multiple layers of a protocol stack.
The method of claim 1， further comprising

receiving， over a first receiver， an uplink grant message for the first connection from the access node； and

switching the transmitter to transmit over the first connection upon receipt of the uplink grant message.
The method of claim 1， wherein the first connection and second connection are established by sharing a receiver at the user equipment device.
The method of claim 1， further comprising：

configuring a second receiver to receive according to a second receive pattern for a second connection distinct from the first connection.
The method of claim 1， further comprising：

configuring a first receiver to receive according to the first receive pattern for the first connection， and according to a second receive pattern for a second connection distinct from the first connection.
A user equipment device， comprising：

a transmitter configured to transmit over one or more wireless networks； and

a processing circuit coupled to the transmitter and configured to：

establish a first connection with a first access node for wireless communication services；

receive a first transmit pattern and a separate first receive pattern； and

configure the transmitter to transmit according to the first transmit pattern for the first connection and a receiver to receive according to the receive pattern for the first connection.
The user equipment device of claim 22， further comprising：

providing a first coexistence indicator to the first access node， wherein the first transmit pattern and/or first receive pattern are received in response to the first coexistence indicator.
The user equipment device of claim 23， wherein the first coexistence indicator indicates that the UE device supports multiple concurrent connections.
The user equipment device of claim 23， wherein the first coexistence indicator includes a proposed first transmit pattern and/or a proposed first receive pattern.
The user equipment device of claim 22， wherein the transmitter facilitates dual active connections including the first connection and one or more distinct connections.
The user equipment device of claim 22， wherein the processing circuit is further configured to：

provide an indicator to the first access node indicating that only the transmitter is available at the UE device for connections.
The user equipment device of claim 22， wherein the first transmit pattern is distinct from the first receive pattern.
The user equipment device of claim 22， wherein the first transmit pattern and the first receive pattern is the same pattern.
The user equipment device of claim 22， wherein the first receive pattern indicates that a receiver at the UE device should be configured to always receive on behalf of the first connection.
The user equipment device of claim 22， wherein the first transmit pattern indicates that the transmitter at the UE device should be configured to intermittently transmit on behalf of the first connection.
The user equipment device of claim 22， wherein the processing circuit is further configured to：

establish a second connection with the first access node or a second access node for wireless communication services；

provide a second coexistence indicator to the first access node or a second access node；

receive， in response to the second coexistence indicator， a second transmit pattern and a second receive pattern； and

configure the transmitter to transmit according to the second transmit pattern for the second connection while concurrently supporting the first connection.
The user equipment device of claim 32， wherein the second coexistence indicator includes or identifies the first transmit pattern and/or the first receive pattern.
The user equipment device of claim 22， wherein the transmitter uses time division multiplexing (TDM) to allocate time slots according to the first transmit pattern and a second transmit pattern.
The user equipment device of claim 22， wherein the processing circuit is further configured to：

consolidate packets for transmission over the first connection while the transmitter is not in use for the first connection； and

transmit the consolidated packets together when the transmitter is in use for the first connection.
The user equipment device of claim 35， wherein the consolidated packets include packets from multiple layers of a protocol stack.
The user equipment device of claim 22， further comprising

a first receiver for receiving an uplink grant message for the first connection from the access node； and

wherein the transmitter is configured to switch to transmit over the first connection upon receipt of the uplink grant message.
The user equipment device of claim 22， wherein the first connection and a distinct second connection are established by sharing a receiver at the user equipment device.
The user equipment device of claim 22， further comprising：

a first receiver configured to receive according to the first receive pattern for the first connection； and

a second receiver configured to receive according to a second receive pattern for a second connection distinct from the first connection.
The user equipment device of claim 22， further comprising：

a first receiver configured to receive according to the first receive pattern for the first connection， and according to a second receive pattern for a second connection distinct from the first connection.
A method operational at an access node that provides wireless services to one or more user equipment (UE) devices， comprising：

establishing a first connection with a first UE device for wireless communication services；

sending， to the first UE device， a first transmit pattern and a first receive pattern； and

configuring a receiver at the access node to receive according to the first transmit pattern for the first connection.
The method of claim 41， further comprising：

receiving a first coexistence indicator from the first UE device indicating that the UE device supports multiple concurrent connections.
The method of claim 42， wherein the first transmit pattern and first receive pattern are sent in response to receiving the first coexistence indicator.
The method of claim 42， wherein the first coexistence indicator comprises a proposed transmit pattern and/or a proposed receive pattern suggested by the UE device.
The method of claim 42， wherein the first coexistence indicator comprises a second transmit pattern and/or a second receive pattern already in use by the UE device， and the access node avoids using the second transmit pattern and second receive pattern as the first transmit pattern and first receive pattern， respectively.
The method of claim 41， further comprising：

configuring a transmitter at the access node to transmit according to the first receive pattern for the first connection.
The method of claim 41， further comprising：

receiving， from the first UE device， an indicator that only one transmitter is available at the first UE device for connections.
The method of claim 41， wherein the first transmit pattern is distinct from the first receive pattern.
The method of claim 41， wherein the first transmit pattern and the first receive pattern are the same pattern.
The method of claim 41， wherein the first receive pattern indicates that a receiver at the first UE device should be configured to always receive on behalf of the first connection.
The method of claim 41， wherein the first transmit pattern indicates that a transmitter at the first UE device should be configured to intermittently transmit on behalf of the first connection.
The method of claim 41， further comprising：

establishing a second connection with the first UE device for wireless communication services；

receiving a second coexistence indicator from the first UE device；

sending， to the first UE device， a second transmit pattern and a second receive pattern； and

configuring the receiver at the access node to receive according to the second transmit pattern for the second connection while also receiving according to the first transmit pattern for the first connection.
The method of claim 52， further comprising：

configuring a transmitter at the access node to transmit according to the second receive pattern for the second connection while also transmitting according to the first receive pattern for the first connection.
An access node， comprising：

a communication circuit， including a transmitter and a receiver， configured to provides wireless services to one or more user equipment (UE) devices； and

a processing circuit coupled to the transmitter and configured to：

establish a first connection with a first UE device for wireless communication services；

send， to the first UE device， a first transmit pattern and a first receive pattern； and

configure the receiver at the access node to receive according to the first transmit pattern for the first connection.
The access node of claim 54， wherein the processing circuit is further configured to：

receive a first coexistence indicator from the first UE device indicating that the UE device supports multiple concurrent connections.
The access node of claim 55， wherein the first transmit pattern and first receive pattern are sent in response to receiving the first coexistence indicator.
The access node of claim 55， wherein the first coexistence indicator includes a proposed transmit pattern and/or a proposed receive pattern suggested by the UE device.
The access node of claim 55， wherein the first coexistence indicator includes a second transmit pattern and/or a second receive pattern already in use by the UE device， and the access node avoids using the second transmit pattern and second receive pattern as the first transmit pattern and first receive pattern， respectively.
The access node of claim 54， wherein the processing circuit is further configured to：

configure the transmitter at the access node to transmit according to the first receive pattern for the first connection.
The access node of claim 54， wherein the processing circuit is further configured to：

receive， from the first UE device， an indicator that only one transmitter is available at the first UE device for connections.
The access node of claim 54， wherein the first transmit pattern is distinct from the first receive pattern.
The access node of claim 54， wherein the first transmit pattern and the first receive pattern are the same pattern.
The access node of claim 54， wherein the first receive pattern indicates that a receiver at the first UE device should be configured to always receive on behalf of the first connection.
The access node of claim 54， wherein the first transmit pattern indicates that a transmitter at the first UE device should be configured to intermittently transmit on behalf of the first connection.
The access node of claim 54， wherein the processing circuit is further configured to：

establish a second connection with the first UE device for wireless communication services；

receive a second coexistence indicator from the first UE device；

send， to the first UE device， a second transmit pattern and a second receive pattern； and

configure the receiver at the access node to receive according to the second transmit pattern for the second connection while also receiving according to the first transmit pattern for the first connection.
The access node of claim 54， wherein the processing circuit is further configured to：

configure a transmitter at the access node to transmit according to the second receive pattern for the second connection while also transmitting according to the first receive pattern for the first connection.
A user equipment (UE) device， comprising：

means for establishing a first connection with a first access node for wireless communication services；

means for receiving a first transmit pattern and a separate first receive pattern； and

means for configuring a transmitter to transmit according to the first transmit pattern for the first connection and a receiver to receive according to the receive pattern for the first connection.
The user equipment device of claim 67， further comprising：

means for providing a first coexistence indicator to the first access node， wherein the first transmit pattern and/or the first receive pattern are received in response to the first coexistence indicator.
The user equipment device of claim 67， further comprising：

means for establishing a second connection with the first access node or a second access node for wireless communication services；

means for providing a second coexistence indicator to the first access node or a second access node；

means for receiving， in response to the second coexistence indicator， a second transmit pattern and a second receive pattern； and

means for configuring the transmitter to transmit according to the second transmit pattern for the second connection while concurrently supporting the first connection.
An access node， comprising：

means for establishing a first connection with a first UE device for wireless communication services；

means for sending， to the first UE device， a first transmit pattern and a first receive pattern； and

means for configuring a receiver at the access node to receive according to the first transmit pattern for the first connection.
The access node of claim 70， further comprising：

means for receiving a first coexistence indicator from the first UE device indicating that the UE device supports multiple concurrent connections.
The access node of claim 70， further comprising：

establishing a second connection with the first UE device for wireless communication services；

means for receiving a second coexistence indicator from the first UE device；

means for sending， to the first UE device， a second transmit pattern and a second receive pattern； and

means for configuring the receiver at the access node to receive according to the second transmit pattern for the second connection while also receiving according to the first transmit pattern for the first connection.