WO2020011370A1 - Network management optimizations in radio access technology scenarios - Google Patents

Network management optimizations in radio access technology scenarios Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2020011370A1
WO2020011370A1 PCT/EP2018/069119 EP2018069119W WO2020011370A1 WO 2020011370 A1 WO2020011370 A1 WO 2020011370A1 EP 2018069119 W EP2018069119 W EP 2018069119W WO 2020011370 A1 WO2020011370 A1 WO 2020011370A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
radio
band
access technology
radio resources
radio access
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/EP2018/069119
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Frank Schaich
Thorsten Wild
Rana Ahmed Salem
Original Assignee
Nokia Solutions And Networks Oy
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Nokia Solutions And Networks Oy filed Critical Nokia Solutions And Networks Oy
Priority to PCT/EP2018/069119 priority Critical patent/WO2020011370A1/en
Publication of WO2020011370A1 publication Critical patent/WO2020011370A1/en

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W16/00—Network planning, e.g. coverage or traffic planning tools; Network deployment, e.g. resource partitioning or cells structures
    • H04W16/14—Spectrum sharing arrangements between different networks
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W24/00—Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
    • H04W24/10—Scheduling measurement reports ; Arrangements for measurement reports
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04B—TRANSMISSION
    • H04B7/00—Radio transmission systems, i.e. using radiation field
    • H04B7/02—Diversity systems; Multi-antenna system, i.e. transmission or reception using multiple antennas
    • H04B7/04—Diversity systems; Multi-antenna system, i.e. transmission or reception using multiple antennas using two or more spaced independent antennas
    • H04B7/0413—MIMO systems
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L5/00—Arrangements affording multiple use of the transmission path
    • H04L5/0001—Arrangements for dividing the transmission path
    • H04L5/0014—Three-dimensional division
    • H04L5/0023—Time-frequency-space
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W16/00—Network planning, e.g. coverage or traffic planning tools; Network deployment, e.g. resource partitioning or cells structures
    • H04W16/02—Resource partitioning among network components, e.g. reuse partitioning
    • H04W16/10—Dynamic resource partitioning
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W88/00—Devices specially adapted for wireless communication networks, e.g. terminals, base stations or access point devices
    • H04W88/08—Access point devices
    • H04W88/10—Access point devices adapted for operation in multiple networks, e.g. multi-mode access points
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W92/00—Interfaces specially adapted for wireless communication networks
    • H04W92/16—Interfaces between hierarchically similar devices
    • H04W92/20—Interfaces between hierarchically similar devices between access points

Definitions

  • LTE Long Term Evolution
  • LTE Long Term Evolution
  • LTE Long Term Evolution
  • LTE Long Term Evolution
  • LTE Long Term Evolution
  • a computer program product comprising computer-executable computer program code which, when the program is run on a computer (e.g. a computer of an apparatus according to any one of the aforementioned apparatus-related exemplary aspects of the present invention), is configured to cause the computer to carry out the method according to any one of the aforementioned method-related exemplary aspects of the present invention.
  • FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention.
  • the apparatus may be a network node
  • the deriving circuitry 52 stores first band channel state information in relation to a communication channel utilizing radio resources of said first band.
  • the deriving circuitry 52 derives, from said first band channel state information, second band channel state information in relation to radio resources of said second band.
  • the adapting circuitry 53 adapts a transmission configuration with respect to said radio resources of said second band based on said second band channel state information.
  • Such exemplary adapting operation (S103) may comprise an operation of modifying a precoder of a link corresponding to scheduled radio resources of said second band based on said second band channel state information.
  • a scheduler may target to minimize the time-frequency distance between the two allocations of different RATs.
  • the second RAT can then use the CSI extracted from the first RAT in its precoder computation.
  • DL CSI is transferred from NR- RAT to LTE-RAT such that LTE-RAT can exploit this additional information in DL MIMO transmission, i.e., Inter-RAT communication within one BS, transferring CSI from one RAT to another.
  • the LTE- RAT can benefit from the high resolution DL CSI information available at the NR-RAT
  • the mobile device i.e. UE
  • the gNB or the gNB can signal to the UE
  • the CSI knowledge at the gNB is sufficient and that thus there is no need for a further CSI feedback (in relation to the 4G LTE).
  • UL overhead can be saved.
  • the network entity may comprise further units that are necessary for its respective operation. However, a description of these units is omitted in this specification.
  • the arrangement of the functional blocks of the devices is not construed to limit the invention, and the functions may be performed by one block or further split into sub-blocks.
  • the apparatus i.e. network entity (or some other means) is configured to perform some function
  • this is to be construed to be equivalent to a description stating that a (i.e. at least one) processor or corresponding circuitry, potentially in cooperation with computer program code stored in the memory of the respective apparatus, is configured to cause the apparatus to perform at least the thus mentioned function.
  • a (i.e. at least one) processor or corresponding circuitry potentially in cooperation with computer program code stored in the memory of the respective apparatus, is configured to cause the apparatus to perform at least the thus mentioned function.
  • function is to be construed to be equivalently implementable by specifically configured circuitry or means for performing the respective function (i.e. the expression "unit configured to” is construed to be equivalent to an expression such as "means for").
  • the processor 1601/1605/1610/171 and/or the interface 1603/1607/1612/173 may also include a modem or the like to facilitate communication over a (hardwire or wireless) link, respectively.
  • the interface 1603/1607/1612/173 may include a suitable transceiver coupled to one or more antennas or communication means for (hardwire or wireless) communications with the linked or connected device(s), respectively.
  • the interface 1603/1607/1612/173 is generally configured to communicate with at least one other apparatus, i.e. the interface thereof.
  • the respective devices/apparatuses may represent means for performing respective operations and/or exhibiting respective functionalities, and/or the respective devices (and/or parts thereof) may have functions for performing respective operations and/or exhibiting respective functionalities.
  • processor or some other means
  • the processor is configured to perform some function
  • this is to be construed to be equivalent to a description stating that at least one processor, potentially in cooperation with computer program code stored in the memory of the respective apparatus, is configured to cause the apparatus to perform at least the thus mentioned function.
  • function is to be construed to be equivalently implementable by specifically configured means for performing the respective function (i.e. the expression "processor configured to [cause the apparatus to] perform xxx-ing” is construed to be equivalent to an expression such as "means for xxx-ing").
  • an apparatus representing the terminal 10 i.e. mobile station
  • a first radio cell comprises at least one processor 1601, at least one memory 1602 including computer program code, and at least one interface 1603 configured for communication with at least another apparatus.
  • the processor i.e.
  • - method steps and/or devices, units or means likely to be implemented as hardware components at the above-defined apparatuses, or any module(s) thereof, are hardware independent and can be implemented using any known or future developed hardware technology or any hybrids of these, such as MOS (Metal Oxide Semiconductor), CMOS (Complementary MOS), BiMOS (Bipolar MOS), BiCMOS (Bipolar CMOS), ECL (Emitter Coupled Logic), TTL (Transistor-Transistor Logic), etc., using for example ASIC (Application Specific IC (Integrated Circuit)) components, FPGA (Field-programmable Gate Arrays) components, CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Device) components or DSP (Digital Signal Processor) components; - devices, units or means (e.g.
  • MOS Metal Oxide Semiconductor
  • CMOS Complementary MOS
  • BiMOS Bipolar MOS
  • BiCMOS BiCMOS
  • ECL emitter Coupled Logic
  • TTL Trans
  • an apparatus like the user equipment and the network entity /network register may be represented by a semiconductor chip, a chipset, or a (hardware) module comprising such chip or chipset; this, however, does not exclude the possibility that a functionality of an apparatus or module, instead of being hardware implemented, be implemented as software in a (software) module such as a computer program or a computer program product comprising executable software code portions for execution/being run on a processor;
  • a device may be regarded as an apparatus or as an assembly of more than one apparatus, whether functionally in cooperation with each other or functionally independently of each other but in a same device housing, for example.
  • any method step is suitable to be implemented as software or by hardware without changing the idea of the present invention.
  • Devices and means can be implemented as individual devices, but this does not exclude that they are implemented in a distributed fashion throughout the system, as long as the functionality of the device is preserved. Such and similar principles are to be considered as known to a skilled person.
  • Software in the sense of the present description comprises software code as such comprising code means or portions or a computer program or a computer program product for performing the respective functions, as well as software (or a computer program or a computer program product) embodied on a tangible medium such as a computer-readable (storage) medium having stored thereon a respective data structure or code means/portions or embodied in a signal or in a chip, potentially during processing thereof.
  • the present invention also covers any conceivable combination of method steps and operations described above, and any conceivable combination of nodes, apparatuses, modules or elements described above, as long as the above-described concepts of methodology and structural arrangement are applicable.

Abstract

There are provided measures for network management optimizations in radio access technology scenarios. Such measures at a base station of a second radio cell providing second radio resources of a second radio access technology exemplarily comprise receiving information indicative of characteristics of a multi-antenna radio channel between a mobile station served with first radio resources of a first radio access technology by a first radio cell and said second radio cell neighboring said first radio cell and broadcasting a signal transmission at said second radio resources of said second radio access technology, and adapting a transmission configuration with respect to said second radio resources based on said information indicative of said characteristics. Such measures at base station of a radio cell utilizing intra-cell coexistence of the first radio access technology and the second radio access technology on one frequency carrier, wherein a frequency carrier spectrum of said frequency carrier comprises a first band including at least radio resources of said first radio access technology and a second band including radio resources of said second radio access technology, exemplarily comprise storing first band channel state information in relation to a communication channel utilizing radio resources of said first band, deriving, from said first band channel state information, second band channel state information in relation to radio resources of said second band, and adapting a transmission configuration with respect to said radio resources of said second band based on said second band channel state information.

Description

Title
Network management optimizations in radio access technology scenarios
Field
The present invention relates to network management optimizations in radio access technology scenarios. More specifically, the present invention exemplarily relates to measures (including methods, apparatuses and computer program products) for realizing network management optimizations in radio access technology scenarios.
Background
The present specification generally relates to measurements for achieving a smooth transition from one radio access technology to a subsequent radio access technology.
The adoption of a new generation for wireless cellular communications (in this context 5G New Radio (NR), which may in the present specification also be mentioned as "5G" or "NR" alone) is typically not a step function. A given fraction of the market (also named early adopters which may for example be technics enthusiasts) will start using 5G NR as soon as devices are available. However, the mass market will follow only slowly. Spectral resources (i.e. carrier frequencies that may be used to serve wireless users) on the other side are typically available in chunky fragments.
Hence, in particular as 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE), which may in the present specification also be mentioned as "4G" or "LTE" alone, and the successor 5G NR have highly compatible PHY layers, it is worth pursuing a smooth coexistence phase with allowing 4G LTE and 5G NR to be served via the same carrier instead of simply dedicating a set of carriers to any of the two generations avoiding underutilization of the 5G NR carriers and resource shortage for the 4G LTE services in the early phase of 5G NR roll out and the other way around once 5G NR excels 4G LTE.
Figure 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating a scenario with both 4G LTE users 1114, 1124 (indicated by dot-and-dashed frames of mobile stations) and 5G NR users 1115, 1125 (indicated by dashed frames of mobile stations) within the coverage area of cells 111, 112 providing 5G NR (NR functionality 1113, 1123 indicated by dashed frames of base stations 1111, 1121) and 4G LTE (LTE functionality 1112, 1122 indicated by dot-and-dashed frames of base stations 1111, 1121). Figure 11 illustrates an early phase of the radio access technology (RAT) 5G NR. Hence, only few early adopters are within the coverage of respective cells. Further, 5G NR user equipment (UE) density strongly varying between cells.
When considering such a coexistence scenario/phase, it can be assumed that spectral resources are dynamically exchanged between the two systems following the respective loads. A level of dynamicity (DT) can vary from few ms (e.g. having a shared scheduler with a shared pool of resources) to several tens of hundreds of ms with higher layer messaging ordering the distribution of resources.
Figure 12 is a schematic diagram illustrating such a scenario in which spectral resources 121 are dynamically exchanged between the two (RAT) systems following the respective loads, in particular, in which spectral resources 121 are dynamically shared between 4G LTE and 5G NR, while cells 1 and 2 are neighbors such that the respective radio traffic may cause interferences among each other. The (spectral) resources illustrated in Figure 12 (and the distribution thereof) represent logical resources. Here, zone A of the frequency dimension corresponds to pure 5G NR resources 122, while zone B corresponds to mixed setting, and while zone C corresponds to pure 4G LTE resources 123. As can be seen in Figure 12, the zone B with the mixed setting (among the cells) may change from time T to time T+ DT.
With having only a few early adopters consuming 5G NR services, the need for spectral resources typically strongly varies from one cell to another, so the scenario arises having inter-cell interference between 4G LTE and 5G NR and vice versa (zone B).
Further, during the early deployment of 5G NR systems, many frequency bands will still be occupied by 4G LTE systems. In addition, it is expected in early phases that many UEs will exist in the network which are not capable of connecting to the 5G NR network and in this case it doesn't make sense to assign a dedicated carrier for the 5G NR users. Hence, it might be beneficial in early phases to share the spectrum, within one cell, among 5G NR and 4G LTE users.
In such Intra-cell coexistence scenario, 4G LTE and 5G NR is used in one cell sharing the same carrier.
Figure 14 is a schematic diagram illustrating such Intra-cell coexistence (or Intra-site coexistence) scenario.
As can be seen in Figure 14, two kinds of users 1414, 1415 are available in the network (within the coverage area of a cell 141 providing 5G NR (NR functionality 1413 indicated by dashed frames of base station 1411) and 4G LTE (LTE functionality 1412 indicated by dot-and-dashed frames of base station 1411)).
Namely, on the one hand, 5G NR capable users 1415 (indicated by dashed frames of mobile stations) are present, which can run enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) services and ultra-reliable and low latency communications (URLLC) services and can be assigned in the 5G NR part or in the 4G LTE part of the spectrum. Further, on the other hand, 4G LTE capable users 1414 (indicated by dot- and-dashed frames of mobile stations) are present, which can run eMBB services only and can be assigned in the in the 4G LTE part of the spectrum only.
In frequency division duplex (FDD) systems, due to the absence of channel reciprocity, the UE has to feed back the downlink (DL) channel state information (CSI) to the gNB. This CSI feedback can also be carried out in time division duplexing (TDD) systems. In 4G LTE, implicit feedback is used, i.e. the UE sends back a precoder matrix indicator (PMI) to the gNB (next generation NodeB), which points to the index of a favorite codeword by the UE in a standardized codebook known at UE and gNB sides. With a limited number of antenna ports in early 4G LTE releases or with narrowband channels, implicit CSI feedback can give a satisfactory performance.
However, in order to reap benefits of the increased number of antenna ports (up to 32 antenna ports in 4G LTE Rel. 14 and 5G NR phase I), advanced precoding schemes such as non-linear precoding or multi-TRP transmission (TRP: transmission reception point, 5G NR phase II) has to be used. However, for these advanced schemes explicit CSI feedback is essential.
With respect to advanced feedback methods for multiple input multiple output (MIMO) enhancements, it is proposed to include techniques for time domain based compression of the explicit CSI feedback information. Time domain feedback can provide wideband information about the CSI.
Figure 15 is a schematic diagram illustrating two situations ((a), (b)) of a spectrum shared between 5G NR band resources and 4G LTE band resources. Each of the sub-boxes 151 illustrated in Figure 15 denotes (spectral) resources which represent logical resources. In particular, Figure 15 illustrates a user equipment UE1 moving eMBB service from 5G NR band (a) to 4G LTE band (b). In detail, in Figure 15, section (a), 5G NR 152 and 4G LTE 153 coexist on one carrier (i.e. FDMA), where UE1 is a 5G NR capable UE running two services eMBB (utilizing eMBB resources 1511) and URLLC (utilizing URLLC resources 1512) in the 5G NR part 152 of the spectrum.
Further, in Figure 15, section (b), the scheduler might decide to move the eMBB resources 1511 of UE1 into the 4G LTE part 153 of the spectrum. One reason could be because of a high user load of URLLC users (in the figure UE2 is a 5G NR user) or because there are no eMBB resources 1511 anymore in the 5G NR part 152 of the spectrum.
In such case, with no CSI available at the LTE-RAT, communication with the UE is stopped until CSI is acquired at the LTE-RAT.
Hence, the problem arises that inter-cell inter-generation-interference may occur between 4G LTE and 5G NR (and vice versa) in particular during the transition phase. Further, in the case that no CSI is available at the LTE-RAT, when eMBB resources of a mobile station are moved into the 4G LTE part of common spectrum, the communication with the UE is stopped/interrupted or has to fall back into a simpler, less spectrally efficient spatial transmission mode using e.g. an open-loop transmit diversity technique.
Hence, there is a need to provide for network management optimizations in (inter) radio access technology scenarios.
Various exemplary embodiments of the present invention aim at addressing at least part of the above issues and/or problems and drawbacks.
Various aspects of exemplary embodiments of the present invention are set out in the appended claims. According to an exemplary aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of a mobile station served with first radio resources of a first radio access technology by a first radio cell, the method comprising receiving a signal transmission at corresponding second radio resources of a second radio access technology provided by a second radio cell neighboring said first radio cell, measuring characteristics of a multi-antenna radio channel between said mobile station and said second radio cell based on said signal transmission, and transmitting information indicative of said characteristics.
According to an exemplary aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of a base station of a first radio cell providing first radio resources of a first radio access technology to a mobile station, the method comprising receiving first information indicative of characteristics of a multi-antenna radio channel between said mobile station and a second radio cell neighboring said first radio cell and broadcasting a signal transmission at corresponding second radio resources of a second radio access technology, deriving second information indicative of said characteristics from said first information, and transmitting said second information indicative of said characteristics to a base station of said second radio cell.
According to an exemplary aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of a base station of a second radio cell providing second radio resources of a second radio access technology, the method comprising receiving information indicative of characteristics of a multi-antenna radio channel between a mobile station served with first radio resources of a first radio access technology by a first radio cell and said second radio cell neighboring said first radio cell and broadcasting a signal transmission at said second radio resources of said second radio access technology, and adapting a transmission configuration with respect to said second radio resources based on said information indicative of said characteristics. According to an exemplary aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of a base station of a radio cell utilizing intra-cell coexistence of a first radio access technology and a second radio access technology on one frequency carrier, wherein a frequency carrier spectrum of said frequency carrier comprises a first band including at least radio resources of said first radio access technology and a second band including radio resources of said second radio access technology, the method comprising storing first band channel state information in relation to a communication channel utilizing radio resources of said first band, deriving, from said first band channel state information, second band channel state information in relation to radio resources of said second band, and adapting a transmission configuration with respect to said radio resources of said second band based on said second band channel state information.
According to an exemplary aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus of a mobile station served with first radio resources of a first radio access technology by a first radio cell, the apparatus comprising at least one processor, at least one memory including computer program code, and at least one interface configured for communication with at least another apparatus, the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, being configured to cause the apparatus to perform receiving a signal transmission at corresponding second radio resources of a second radio access technology provided by a second radio cell neighboring said first radio cell, measuring characteristics of a multi-antenna radio channel between said mobile station and said second radio cell based on said signal transmission, and transmitting information indicative of said characteristics.
According to an exemplary aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus of a base station of a first radio cell providing first radio resources of a first radio access technology to a mobile station, the apparatus comprising at least one processor, at least one memory including computer program code, and at least one interface configured for communication with at least another apparatus, the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, being configured to cause the apparatus to perform receiving first information indicative of characteristics of a multi-antenna radio channel between said mobile station and a second radio cell neighboring said first radio cell and broadcasting a signal transmission at corresponding second radio resources of a second radio access technology, deriving second information indicative of said characteristics from said first information, and transmitting said second information indicative of said characteristics to a base station of said second radio cell.
According to an exemplary aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus of a base station of a second radio cell providing second radio resources of a second radio access technology, the apparatus comprising at least one processor, at least one memory including computer program code, and at least one interface configured for communication with at least another apparatus, the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, being configured to cause the apparatus to perform receiving information indicative of characteristics of a multi-antenna radio channel between a mobile station served with first radio resources of a first radio access technology by a first radio cell and said second radio cell neighboring said first radio cell and broadcasting a signal transmission at said second radio resources of said second radio access technology, and adapting a transmission configuration with respect to said second radio resources based on said information indicative of said characteristics.
According to an exemplary aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus of a base station of a radio cell utilizing intra-cell coexistence of a first radio access technology and a second radio access technology on one frequency carrier, wherein a frequency carrier spectrum of said frequency carrier comprises a first band including at least radio resources of said first radio access technology and a second band including radio resources of said second radio access technology, the apparatus comprising at least one processor, at least one memory including computer program code, and at least one interface configured for communication with at least another apparatus, the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, being configured to cause the apparatus to perform storing first band channel state information in relation to a communication channel utilizing radio resources of said first band, deriving, from said first band channel state information, second band channel state information in relation to radio resources of said second band, and adapting a transmission configuration with respect to said radio resources of said second band based on said second band channel state information.
According to an exemplary aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus of a mobile station served with first radio resources of a first radio access technology by a first radio cell, the apparatus comprising receiving circuitry configured to receive a signal transmission at corresponding second radio resources of a second radio access technology provided by a second radio cell neighboring said first radio cell, measuring circuitry configured to measure characteristics of a multi-antenna radio channel between said mobile station and said second radio cell based on said signal transmission, and transmitting circuitry configured to transmit information indicative of said characteristics.
According to an exemplary aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus of a base station of a first radio cell providing first radio resources of a first radio access technology to a mobile station, the apparatus comprising receiving circuitry configured to receive first information indicative of characteristics of a multi-antenna radio channel between said mobile station and a second radio cell neighboring said first radio cell and broadcasting a signal transmission at corresponding second radio resources of a second radio access technology, deriving circuitry configured to derive second information indicative of said characteristics from said first information, and transmitting circuitry configured to transmit said second information indicative of said characteristics to a base station of said second radio cell.
According to an exemplary aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus of a base station of a second radio cell providing second radio resources of a second radio access technology, the apparatus comprising receiving circuitry configured to receive information indicative of characteristics of a multi-antenna radio channel between a mobile station served with first radio resources of a first radio access technology by a first radio cell and said second radio cell neighboring said first radio cell and broadcasting a signal transmission at said second radio resources of said second radio access technology, and adapting circuitry configured to adapt a transmission configuration with respect to said second radio resources based on said information indicative of said characteristics.
According to an exemplary aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus of a base station of a radio cell utilizing intra-cell coexistence of a first radio access technology and a second radio access technology on one frequency carrier, wherein a frequency carrier spectrum of said frequency carrier comprises a first band including at least radio resources of said first radio access technology and a second band including radio resources of said second radio access technology, the apparatus comprising storing circuitry configured to store first band channel state information in relation to a communication channel utilizing radio resources of said first band, deriving circuitry configured to derive, from said first band channel state information, second band channel state information in relation to radio resources of said second band, and adapting circuitry configured to adapt a transmission configuration with respect to said radio resources of said second band based on said second band channel state information.
According to an exemplary aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer program product comprising computer-executable computer program code which, when the program is run on a computer (e.g. a computer of an apparatus according to any one of the aforementioned apparatus-related exemplary aspects of the present invention), is configured to cause the computer to carry out the method according to any one of the aforementioned method-related exemplary aspects of the present invention.
Such computer program product may comprise (or be embodied) a (tangible) computer-readable (storage) medium or the like on which the computer- executable computer program code is stored, and/or the program may be directly loadable into an internal memory of the computer or a processor thereof.
Any one of the above aspects enables an efficient handling of mobile stations/terminals with different abilities with respect to the at least two involved radio access technologies (in particular 4G LTE and 5G NR) to thereby solve at least part of the problems and drawbacks identified in relation to the prior art.
By way of exemplary embodiments of the present invention, there is provided network management optimizations in radio access technology scenarios. More specifically, by way of exemplary embodiments of the present invention, there are provided measures and mechanisms for realizing network management optimizations in radio access technology scenarios.
Thus, improvement is achieved by methods, apparatuses and computer program products enabling/realizing network management optimizations in radio access technology scenarios.
Brief description of the drawings
In the following, the present invention will be described in greater detail by way of non-limiting examples with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention,
Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention,
Figure 3 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention,
Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention,
Figure 5 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention,
Figure 6 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention,
Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of a procedure according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention,
Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of a procedure according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention,
Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of a procedure according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention,
Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of a procedure according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention,
Figure 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating a scenario with both 4G LTE users and 5G NR users within the coverage area of cells providing 5G NR and 4G LTE according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, Figure 12 is a schematic diagram illustrating such a scenario in which spectral resources are dynamically exchanged between two RAT systems according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention,
Figure 13 shows a schematic diagram of an example of a system environment with signaling variants according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention,
Figure 14 is a schematic diagram illustrating an Intra-cell coexistence scenario according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention,
Figure 15 is a schematic diagram illustrating two situations of sharing a spectrum between 5G NR band resources and 4G LTE band resources according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention,
Figure 16 is a block diagram alternatively illustrating apparatuses according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, and
Figure 17 is a block diagram alternatively illustrating an apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention.
Detailed description of drawings and embodiments of the present invention
The present invention is described herein with reference to particular non- limiting examples and to what are presently considered to be conceivable embodiments of the present invention. A person skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention is by no means limited to these examples, and may be more broadly applied.
It is to be noted that the following description of the present invention and its embodiments mainly refers to specifications being used as non-limiting examples for certain exemplary network configurations and deployments. Namely, the present invention and its embodiments are mainly described in relation to 3GPP specifications being used as non-limiting examples for certain exemplary network configurations and deployments. As such, the description of exemplary embodiments given herein specifically refers to terminology which is directly related thereto. Such terminology is only used in the context of the presented non-limiting examples, and does naturally not limit the invention in any way. Rather, any other communication or communication related system deployment, etc. may also be utilized as long as compliant with the features described herein.
In particular, the present invention and its embodiments may be applicable in any network compound in which two (potentially succeeding) radio access technologies are served in parallel (potentially during a transition phase).
Hereinafter, various embodiments and implementations of the present invention and its aspects or embodiments are described using several variants and/or alternatives. It is generally noted that, according to certain needs and constraints, all of the described variants and/or alternatives may be provided alone or in any conceivable combination (also including combinations of individual features of the various variants and/or alternatives).
According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, in general terms, there are provided measures and mechanisms for (enabling/realizing) network management optimizations in (inter) radio access technology scenarios.
Basically, having tightly coupled systems just like the 4G LTE system and the 5G NR system opens the opportunity to mutually make use of available means from the respective counterpart (e.g. the 4G LTE system can make use of measurements made via 5G NR reference symbols, measurements from the device being capable of both generations can be applied for mutual gain, etc.). Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention. The apparatus may be a terminal 10 (e.g. UE) such as a mobile station served with first radio resources of a first radio access technology by a first radio cell, the apparatus comprising a receiving circuitry 11, a measuring circuitry 12, and a transmitting circuitry 13. The receiving circuitry 11 receives a signal transmission at corresponding second radio resources of a second radio access technology provided by a second radio cell neighboring said first radio cell. The measuring circuitry 12 measures characteristics of a multi-antenna radio channel between said mobile station and said second radio cell based on said signal transmission. The transmitting circuitry 13 transmits information indicative of said characteristics.
The characteristics of a multi-antenna radio channel between an interfering base station and a link device (i.e. a UE) (between the link device (i.e. a UE) and the interfering base station) may e.g. describe the complex-valued frequency-selective time-variant multiple input multiple output (MIMO) radio channel or a quantized variant of it which is generated by a codebook of channel vectors or preferred precoding vector sets, and may be represented by a kind of channel knowledge (CSI), impacting the interference between different users.
Here, the reference signal sent out by the secondary cell (i.e., the signal transmission at corresponding second radio resources of said second radio access technology provided by said second radio cell) is not the interference source itself, but is a means to measure spatial channel characteristics for the link towards the secondary cell for it to be able to suppress interference from later data transmissions.
Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of a procedure according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention. The apparatus according to Figure 1 may perform the method of Figure 7 but is not limited to this method. The method of Figure 7 may be performed by the apparatus of Figure 1 but is not limited to being performed by this apparatus.
As shown in Figure 7, a procedure (of a mobile station served with first radio resources of a first radio access technology by a first radio cell) according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention comprises an operation of receiving (S71) a signal transmission at corresponding second radio resources of a second radio access technology provided by a second radio cell neighboring said first radio cell, an operation of measuring (S72) characteristics of a multi-antenna radio channel between said mobile station and said second radio cell based on said signal transmission, and an operation of transmitting (S73) information indicative of said characteristics.
In an example embodiment at least some of the functionalities of the apparatus shown in Figure 1 may be shared between two physically separate devices forming one operational entity. Therefore, the apparatus may be seen to depict the operational entity comprising one or more physically separate devices for executing at least some of the described processes.
According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, said signal transmission comprises a channel state information reference signal.
According to further exemplary embodiments of the present invention, said information indicative of said characteristics comprise channel state information.
According to still further exemplary embodiments of the present invention, said first radio access technology is 5G new radio (NR) technology.
According to still further exemplary embodiments of the present invention, said second radio access technology is 4G long term evolution (LTE) technology. Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention. The apparatus may be a network node 20 such as a base station of a first radio cell providing first radio resources of a first radio access technology to a mobile station, the apparatus comprising a receiving circuitry 21, a deriving circuitry 22, and a transmitting circuitry 23. The receiving circuitry 21 receives first information indicative of characteristics of a multi-antenna radio channel between said mobile station and a second radio cell neighboring said first radio cell and broadcasting a signal transmission at corresponding second radio resources of a second radio access technology. The deriving circuitry 22 derives second information indicative of said characteristics from said first information. The transmitting circuitry 23 transmits said second information indicative of said characteristics to a base station of said second radio cell.
The characteristics of a multi-antenna radio channel between an interfering base station and a link device (i.e. a UE) (between the link device (i.e. a UE) and the interfering base station) and the information indicative thereof may e.g. describe the complex-valued frequency-selective time-variant multiple input multiple output (MIMO) radio channel or a quantized variant of it which is generated by a codebook of channel vectors or preferred precoding vector sets, and may be represented by a kind of channel knowledge (CSI), impacting the interference between different users.
Here, the reference signal sent out by the secondary cell (i.e., the broadcasted signal transmission at corresponding second radio resources of said second radio access technology provided by said second radio cell) is not the interference source itself, but is a means to measure spatial channel characteristics for the link towards the secondary cell for it to be able to suppress interference from later data transmissions.
Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of a procedure according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention. The apparatus according to Figure 2 may perform the method of Figure 8 but is not limited to this method. The method of Figure 8 may be performed by the apparatus of Figure 2 but is not limited to being performed by this apparatus.
As shown in Figure 8, a procedure (of a base station of a first radio cell providing first radio resources of a first radio access technology to a mobile station) according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention comprises an operation of receiving (S81) first information indicative of characteristics of a multi-antenna radio channel between said mobile station and a second radio cell neighboring said first radio cell and broadcasting a signal transmission at corresponding second radio resources of a second radio access technology, an operation of deriving (S82) second information indicative of said characteristics from said first information, and an operation of transmitting (S83) said second information indicative of said characteristics to a base station of said second radio cell.
In an example embodiment at least some of the functionalities of the apparatus shown in Figure 2 may be shared between two physically separate devices forming one operational entity. Therefore, the apparatus may be seen to depict the operational entity comprising one or more physically separate devices for executing at least some of the described processes.
According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, said signal transmission comprises a channel state information reference signal.
According to further exemplary embodiments of the present invention, said first information indicative of said characteristics comprise channel state information.
According to further exemplary embodiments of the present invention, said second information indicative of said characteristics comprise time domain explicit channel state information. According to further exemplary embodiments of the present invention, said second information indicative of said characteristics is transmitted to said base station of said second radio cell via a X2/Xn-connection between said base station of said first radio cell and said base station of said second radio cell.
According to still further exemplary embodiments of the present invention, said first radio access technology is 5G new radio technology.
According to still further exemplary embodiments of the present invention, said second radio access technology is 4G Long Term Evolution technology.
Figure 3 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention. The apparatus may be a network node 30 such as a base station of a second radio cell providing second radio resources of a second radio access technology, the apparatus comprising a receiving circuitry 31 and an adapting circuitry 32. The receiving circuitry 31 receives information indicative of characteristics of a multi-antenna radio channel between a mobile station served with first radio resources of a first radio access technology by a first radio cell and said second radio cell neighboring said first radio cell and broadcasting a signal transmission at said second radio resources of said second radio access technology. The adapting circuitry 32 adapts a transmission configuration with respect to said second radio resources based on said information indicative of said characteristics.
The characteristics of a multi-antenna radio channel between an interfering base station and a link device (i.e. a UE) (between the link device (i.e. a UE) and the interfering base station) and the information indicative thereof may e.g. describe the complex-valued frequency-selective time-variant multiple input multiple output (MIMO) radio channel or a quantized variant of it which is generated by a codebook of channel vectors or preferred precoding vector sets, and may be represented by a kind of channel knowledge (CSI), impacting the interference between different users. Here, the reference signal sent out by the secondary cell (i.e., the broadcasted signal transmission at corresponding second radio resources of said second radio access technology provided by said second radio cell) is not the interference source itself, but is a means to measure spatial channel characteristics for the link towards the secondary cell for it to be able to suppress interference from later data transmissions.
Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of a procedure according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention. The apparatus according to Figure 3 may perform the method of Figure 9 but is not limited to this method. The method of Figure 9 may be performed by the apparatus of Figure 3 but is not limited to being performed by this apparatus.
As shown in Figure 9, a procedure (of a base station of a second radio cell providing second radio resources of a second radio access technology) according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention comprises an operation of receiving (S91) information indicative of characteristics of a multi-antenna radio channel between a mobile station served with first radio resources of a first radio access technology by a first radio cell and said second radio cell neighboring said first radio cell and broadcasting a signal transmission at said second radio resources of said second radio access technology, and an operation of adapting (S92) a transmission configuration with respect to said second radio resources based on said information indicative of said characteristics.
Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention. In particular, Figure 4 illustrates a variation of the apparatus shown in Figure 3. The apparatus according to Figure 4 may thus further comprise modifying circuitry 41 and/or blanking circuitry 42. In an embodiment at least some of the functionalities of the apparatus shown in Figure 3 (or Figure 4) may be shared between two physically separate devices forming one operational entity. Therefore, the apparatus may be seen to depict the operational entity comprising one or more physically separate devices for executing at least some of the described processes.
According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, said signal transmission comprises a channel state information reference signal.
According to further exemplary embodiments of the present invention, said information indicative of said characteristics comprise time domain explicit channel state information.
According to further exemplary embodiments of the present invention, said information indicative of said characteristics is received from a base station of said first radio cell via a X2/Xn-connection between said base station of said first radio cell and said base station of said second radio cell.
According to a variation of the procedure shown in Figure 9, exemplary details of the adapting operation (S92) are given, which are inherently independent from each other as such.
Such exemplary adapting operation (S92) according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention may comprise an operation of modifying a precoder of a link corresponding to said second radio resources based on said information indicative of said characteristics (e.g. channel knowledge (CSI), impacting the interference between different users).
According to further exemplary embodiments of the present invention, said precoder is modified to a signal-to-leakage-plus-noise precoder, maximizing the ratio of the desired signal of the user of interest over interference caused to all other considered users plus noise. According to a variation of the procedure shown in Figure 9, exemplary details of the adapting operation (S92) are given, which are inherently independent from each other as such.
Such exemplary adapting operation (S92) according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention may comprise an operation of blanking at least a portion of said second radio resources based on said information indicative of said characteristics.
According to still further exemplary embodiments of the present invention, said first radio access technology is 5G new radio technology.
According to still further exemplary embodiments of the present invention, said second radio access technology is 4G long term evolution technology.
That is, according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, multi- antenna channel characteristics between the link device (i.e. a UE) and the interfering base station are measured and fed back for designing the precoder. Namely, the multi-antenna channel characteristics may provide a full characterization of the radio channel, which leads to a particular interference only after a precoder has been applied at the transmitter side.
In more specific terms, exemplary embodiments of the present invention enable inter-RAT cross-generation interference mitigation with exploitation of multi-cell/multi-TRP channel knowledge. In particular, the concept of the present invention targets to implement a respective functionality into the coexisting systems achieving similar means as in single-RAT interference mitigation.
In detail, according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the system is allowed to trigger dedicated inter-RAT measurements (e.g. 5G-NR- ready device having also 4G LTE being implemented measures the level of inter-cell interference), exchanging those via a backhaul, and applying them to any means improving the transmission quality (e.g. for the design of precoders, for the eventual use of resource blanking, etc.).
For the more detailed description of exemplary embodiments of the present invention, a scenario of a given device (mobile station (MS)) MSI (being 5G NR-ready) intending to transmit/ receive data on a given set of resources is assumed. The same set of resources are at the same point in time in a neighboring cell allocated to a 4G-LTE-only device.
Figure 13 shows a schematic diagram of an example of a system environment with signaling variants according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention. In particular, Figure 13 shows the mechanisms explained below to address the above discussed objectives. More specifically, Figure 13 illustrates the principles of the present invention illustrated for a two-cell/two- UE scenario, where on the left base stations BS1 1312 and BS2 1322 with X2/Xn connection 136 (X2/Xn Backpanel/backhaul Inter-RAT Information Exchange) are shown, and on the right mobile stations MSI 1313 (in cell 1 131 with 5G NR) and MS2 1323 (in cell2 132 with 4G LTE) are shown.
Namely, at least in such scenario, according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the 5G NR device MSI 1313 (which is also 4G LTE capable) measures (137: neighboring cell monitoring e.g. in 5G NR band) the inter-RAT inter-cell interference (more precise, characteristics of a multi- antenna radio channel potentially leading to the inter-RAT inter-cell interference) in DL (e.g. via CSI-RS of base station (BS) BS2 1322). In the middle of Figure 13, the downlink radio channel 133 is indicated.
Further, according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the MSI 1313 sends in uplink (UL) to base station BS1 1312 the outcomes of this measurement (134: 5G NR UL Feedback, e.g. explicit feedback), providing the channel state information at the transmitter side (CSIT). To this end, the mobile station 1313 comprises at least a channel estimation 1314 and a combiner 1315, and the outcomes of this measurement are output via an 5G NR CSI quantizer 1316 to a CSIT1 1317 on the 5G NR base station's side (BS1 1312).
Further, according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the BS1 1312 transfers this information (138: CSI from 5G NR to 4G LTE system) via the backhaul 136 (X2/Xn connection) to the neighbor cell served by BS2 1322 (5G NR CSI on inter-cell interference, e.g. using time-domain explicit CSI).
Finally, according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the neighbor cell BS2 1322 modifies the 4G LTE precoder (precoder MS2 (1328)) of the interfering link in the portions of the band which have inter-RAT interference to suppress inter-cell interference, e.g. using a signal-to-leakage plus-noise (SLNR) precoder. Alternatively, the neighbor cell BS2 1322 can blank the respective resources, etc. In particular, the information transferred from the BS1 1312 is input to a CSIT2 1327 on the 4G LTE base station's side (BS2 1322) and is used for the modified 4G LTE precoder 139 e.g. based on SLNR in order to mitigate interference to 5G NR.
For completeness reasons, the CSIT1 1317 on the 5G NR base station's side (BS1 1312) is connected to a precoder MSI (1318). Data MSI (1311) may be input to the BS1 1312.
Further, on the 4G LTE base station's side (BS2 1322), data MS2 (1321) may be input to the BS2 1322.
Furthermore, the mobile station 1323 comprises at least a channel estimation 1324 and a combiner 1325, and channel measurement outcomes are output via an 4G LTE CSI quantizer 1326 (e.g. as 4G LTE UL Feedback (PMI, RI, CQI) 135) to the CSIT2 1327 on the 4G LTE base station's side (BS2 1322). It is noted that the above scenario assumes that the given device (mobile station MSI (1313) which is 5G NR-ready (i.e. able to utilize 4G LTE and 5G NR resources) is served by the 5G NR base station BS1 (1312) and is thus assigned 5G NR resources. Summarized, the given mobile station MSI (1313), thus, measures based on 4G LTE reference signals (e.g. via CSI-RS of BS2 1322), feeds the measurement results to the 5G NR cell. This information is then transferred by the BS1 1312 via the backhaul 136 (X2/Xn connection) to the neighbor cell served by BS2 1322 (5G NR CSI on inter-cell interference, e.g. using time-domain explicit CSI).
However, exemplary embodiments of the present invention can also be applied to a scenario in which the given device (mobile station MSI (1313) which is 5G NR-ready (i.e. able to utilize 4G LTE and 5G NR resources) is assigned 4G LTE resources by the 4G LTE base station BS2 (1322).
In such scenario, analogously as described above, the 5G NR device MSI 1313 (which is also 4G LTE capable) measures the inter-RAT inter-cell interference (more precise, characteristics of a multi-antenna radio channel potentially leading to the inter-RAT inter-cell interference) in DL (e.g. via CSI- RS of base station BS1 1312) experienced from the 5G NR base station BS1 1312.
According to such exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the MSI 1313 sends in uplink (UL) to base station BS1 1312 the outcomes of this measurement, providing the channel state information at the transmitter side (CSIT). In particular, the outcomes of this measurement may be output via a CSI quantizer directly to a CSIT1 1317 on the 5G NR base station's side (BS1 1312).
Finally, according to such exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the 5G NR base station BS1 (1312) modifies the 5G NR precoder (precoder MSI (1318)) of the interfering link in the portions of the band which have inter-RAT interference to suppress inter-cell interference, e.g. using a signal- to-leakage plus-noise (SLNR) precoder. Alternatively, the 5G NR base station 1312 can blank the respective resources, etc.
It is further noted that the above two scenarios focus on the modification of transmit precoders based on channel knowledge which may be considered as indicative for an DL interference by a neighboring cell potentially experienced by a mobile device.
However, the concept of the present invention may be applied also for modification of receiving precoders (e.g. of the 5G NR base station BS1 (1312)) based on channel knowledge which may be considered as indicative for an UL interference by a mobile device (e.g. mobile station MS2 (1323)) served by a neighboring cell (e.g. 4G LTE cell 132) potentially experienced by a mobile device (e.g. 5G NR-ready mobile station MSI (1313)). This approach may be implemented in that the basestation (e.g. 5G NR base station BS1 (1312)) measures spatial characteristics of a potentially interfering device (e.g. mobile station MS2 (1323)) via UL sounding for adapting receive precoding (which may require concrete info e.g. about scheduling decisions and details about which UE does sounding when and on which resources).
Figure 5 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention. The apparatus may be a network node
50 such as a base station of a radio cell utilizing intra-cell coexistence of a first radio access technology and a second radio access technology on one frequency carrier, wherein a frequency carrier spectrum of said frequency carrier comprises a first band including at least radio resources of said first radio access technology and a second band including radio resources of said second radio access technology, the apparatus comprising a storing circuitry 51, a deriving circuitry 52, and an adapting circuitry 53. The storing circuitry
51 stores first band channel state information in relation to a communication channel utilizing radio resources of said first band. The deriving circuitry 52 derives, from said first band channel state information, second band channel state information in relation to radio resources of said second band. The adapting circuitry 53 adapts a transmission configuration with respect to said radio resources of said second band based on said second band channel state information.
Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of a procedure according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention. The apparatus according to Figure 5 may perform the method of Figure 10 but is not limited to this method. The method of Figure 10 may be performed by the apparatus of Figure 5 but is not limited to being performed by this apparatus.
As shown in Figure 10, a procedure (of a base station of a radio cell utilizing intra-cell coexistence of a first radio access technology and a second radio access technology on one frequency carrier, wherein a frequency carrier spectrum of said frequency carrier comprises a first band including at least radio resources of said first radio access technology and a second band including radio resources of said second radio access technology) according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention comprises an operation of storing (S101) first band channel state information in relation to a communication channel utilizing radio resources of said first band, an operation of deriving (S102), from said first band channel state information, second band channel state information in relation to radio resources of said second band, and an operation of adapting (S103) a transmission configuration with respect to said radio resources of said second band based on said second band channel state information.
Figure 6 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention. In particular, Figure 6 illustrates a variation of the apparatus shown in Figure 5. The apparatus according to Figure 6 may thus further comprise receiving circuitry 61, extrapolating circuitry 62, modifying circuitry 63, scheduling circuitry 64, minimizing circuitry 65, and/or allocating circuitry 66. In an embodiment at least some of the functionalities of the apparatus shown in Figure 5 (or Figure 6) may be shared between two physically separate devices forming one operational entity. Therefore, the apparatus may be seen to depict the operational entity comprising one or more physically separate devices for executing at least some of the described processes.
According to a variation of the procedure shown in Figure 10, exemplary additional operations are given, which are inherently independent from each other as such. According to such variation, an exemplary method according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention may comprise an operation of receiving, from a mobile station communicating via said communication channel utilizing radio resources of said first band, said first band channel state information.
According to further exemplary embodiments of the present invention, a resolution of said first band channel state information is higher than a resolution of said second band channel state information.
According to a variation of the procedure shown in Figure 10, exemplary details of the deriving operation (S102) are given, which are inherently independent from each other as such.
Such exemplary deriving operation (S102) according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention may comprise an operation of extrapolating said first band channel state information to said second band.
According to a variation of the procedure shown in Figure 10, exemplary details of the adapting operation (S103) are given, which are inherently independent from each other as such.
Such exemplary adapting operation (S103) according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention may comprise an operation of modifying a precoder of a link corresponding to scheduled radio resources of said second band based on said second band channel state information.
According to a variation of the procedure shown in Figure 10, exemplary additional operations are given, which are inherently independent from each other as such. According to such variation, an exemplary method according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention may comprise an operation of scheduling, for a communication channel utilizing radio resources of said second band for communicating with said mobile station, said radio resources of said second band.
According to a variation of the procedure shown in Figure 10, exemplary details of the scheduling operation are given, which are inherently independent from each other as such.
Such exemplary scheduling operation according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention may comprise an operation of minimizing a time- frequency distance between radio resources of said first band scheduled for said communication channel utilizing radio resources of said first band via which said mobile station communicates and said radio resources of said second band for said communication channel utilizing radio resources of said second band for communicating with said mobile station.
According to a variation of the procedure shown in Figure 10, exemplary details of the scheduling operation are given, which are inherently independent from each other as such.
Such exemplary scheduling operation according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention may comprise an operation of allocating said radio resources of said second band for said communication channel utilizing radio resources of said second band for communicating with said mobile station to a same symbol time as said radio resources of said first band scheduled for said communication channel utilizing radio resources of said first band via which said mobile station communicates.
According to further exemplary embodiments of the present invention, said first band includes radio resources of said first radio access technology and radio resources of said second radio access technology.
According to still further exemplary embodiments of the present invention, said first radio access technology is 5G new radio technology.
According to still further exemplary embodiments of the present invention, said second radio access technology is 4G Long Term Evolution technology.
In more specific terms, according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, a mechanism is designed, by which LTE-RAT can benefit from the high resolution DL CSI information available at the NR-RAT.
Namely, in former situations (e.g. according to standardized behavior), both systems have their independent reference symbols and CSI feedback information.
However, according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, a CSI is extracted from one system (here in particular the 5G NR system) and is provided via an inter-RAT communication interface (e.g. co-located in the same base station) from one RAT to another (e.g. here in particular the 4G LTE system), potentially involving an extrapolation step of CSI (e.g. extrapolating it to the frequency band of the second system).
According to further exemplary embodiments of the present invention, a scheduler may target to minimize the time-frequency distance between the two allocations of different RATs. The second RAT can then use the CSI extracted from the first RAT in its precoder computation.
As shown in Figure 15, in a situation where a UE is simultaneously connected to both NR- and LTE-RAT, higher resolution CSI knowledge available at NR- RAT can be shared with the LTE-RAT for the latter to exploit the information in DL MIMO transmission and interference rejection.
In 5G NR, better knowledge of DL CSI (channel state information) knowledge is available at the BS (base station) compared to 4G LTE. Higher resolution CSI feedback is already available in Rel-15, 5G NR type II CSI feedbacks scheme.
That is, according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, DL CSI is transferred from NR- RAT to LTE-RAT such that LTE-RAT can exploit this additional information in DL MIMO transmission, i.e., Inter-RAT communication within one BS, transferring CSI from one RAT to another.
As according to exemplary embodiments of by the present invention the LTE- RAT can benefit from the high resolution DL CSI information available at the NR-RAT, the mobile device (i.e. UE) can signal back to the gNB (or the gNB can signal to the UE) that the CSI knowledge at the gNB (from the previous 5G NR allocation) is sufficient and that thus there is no need for a further CSI feedback (in relation to the 4G LTE). In this way, by consequently refraining from the provision of further CSI feedback, UL overhead can be saved.
As explained above, according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, an inter-RAT interface is provided. This inter-RAT interface may further be used to transfer scheduling information back and forth with respect to which UEs are active in which system at which radio resources. Thus mutual notification of such scheduling information allows in an inter-RAT coordinated manner to mitigate inter-RAT/inter-cell interference. As an advantage of feeding back the time domain information according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the wideband CSI is provided over the whole band. In such a situation, if UE1 is not capable of exploiting the 4G LTE pilots, it can still estimate the CSI over the whole band with an acceptable accuracy.
According to still further exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the scheduler seeks to allocate the 4G LTE resources of the UE at the same symbol time as the 5G NR resources, so that the channel information obtained from NR-RAT is accurate enough to be used at the LTE-RAT, as shown in section (b) of Figure 15.
However, in case there is no wideband CSI but only extrapolated one, according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the scheduler can target to minimize the time-frequency distance between the two allocations of different RATs so as to reduce the extrapolation error.
The above-described procedures and functions may be implemented by respective functional elements, processors, or the like, as described below.
In the foregoing exemplary description of the network entity, only the units that are relevant for understanding the principles of the invention have been described using functional blocks. The network entity may comprise further units that are necessary for its respective operation. However, a description of these units is omitted in this specification. The arrangement of the functional blocks of the devices is not construed to limit the invention, and the functions may be performed by one block or further split into sub-blocks.
When in the foregoing description it is stated that the apparatus, i.e. network entity (or some other means) is configured to perform some function, this is to be construed to be equivalent to a description stating that a (i.e. at least one) processor or corresponding circuitry, potentially in cooperation with computer program code stored in the memory of the respective apparatus, is configured to cause the apparatus to perform at least the thus mentioned function. Also, such function is to be construed to be equivalently implementable by specifically configured circuitry or means for performing the respective function (i.e. the expression "unit configured to" is construed to be equivalent to an expression such as "means for").
In Figures 16 und 17, an alternative illustration of apparatuses according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention is depicted.
As indicated in Figure 16, according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the apparatus (terminal) 10' (corresponding to the terminal 10) comprises a processor 1601, a memory 1602 and an interface 1603, which are connected by a bus 1604 or the like. Further, according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the apparatus (network node) 20' (corresponding to the network node 20) comprises a processor 1605, a memory 1606 and an interface 1607, which are connected by a bus 1608 or the like, and the apparatuses 10' and 20' may be connected via link 1609, respectively. Further, according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the apparatus (network node) 30' (corresponding to the network node 30) comprises a processor 1610, a memory 1611 and an interface 1612, which are connected by a bus 1613 or the like, and the apparatuses 30' and 20' may be connected via link 1614, respectively.
As indicated in Figure 17, according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the apparatus (network node) 50' (corresponding to the network node 50) comprises a processor 171, a memory 172 and an interface 173, which are connected by a bus 174 or the like. The apparatuses 50' may be connected to other apparatuses via link 179.
The processor 1601/1605/1610/171 and/or the interface 1603/1607/1612/173 may also include a modem or the like to facilitate communication over a (hardwire or wireless) link, respectively. The interface 1603/1607/1612/173 may include a suitable transceiver coupled to one or more antennas or communication means for (hardwire or wireless) communications with the linked or connected device(s), respectively. The interface 1603/1607/1612/173 is generally configured to communicate with at least one other apparatus, i.e. the interface thereof.
The memory 1602/1606/1611/172 may store respective programs assumed to include program instructions or computer program code that, when executed by the respective processor, enables the respective electronic device or apparatus to operate in accordance with the exemplary embodiments of the present invention.
In general terms, the respective devices/apparatuses (and/or parts thereof) may represent means for performing respective operations and/or exhibiting respective functionalities, and/or the respective devices (and/or parts thereof) may have functions for performing respective operations and/or exhibiting respective functionalities.
When in the subsequent description it is stated that the processor (or some other means) is configured to perform some function, this is to be construed to be equivalent to a description stating that at least one processor, potentially in cooperation with computer program code stored in the memory of the respective apparatus, is configured to cause the apparatus to perform at least the thus mentioned function. Also, such function is to be construed to be equivalently implementable by specifically configured means for performing the respective function (i.e. the expression "processor configured to [cause the apparatus to] perform xxx-ing" is construed to be equivalent to an expression such as "means for xxx-ing").
According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, an apparatus representing the terminal 10 (i.e. mobile station) served with first radio resources of a first radio access technology by a first radio cell comprises at least one processor 1601, at least one memory 1602 including computer program code, and at least one interface 1603 configured for communication with at least another apparatus. The processor (i.e. the at least one processor 1601, with the at least one memory 1602 and the computer program code) is configured to perform receiving a signal transmission at corresponding second radio resources of a second radio access technology provided by a second radio cell neighboring said first radio cell (thus the apparatus comprising corresponding means for receiving), to perform measuring characteristics of a multi-antenna radio channel between said mobile station and said second radio cell based on said signal transmission (thus the apparatus comprising corresponding means for measuring), and to perform transmitting information indicative of said characteristics (thus the apparatus comprising corresponding means for transmitting).
According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, an apparatus representing the network node 20 (base station) of a first radio cell providing first radio resources of a first radio access technology to a mobile station comprises at least one processor 1605, at least one memory 1606 including computer program code, and at least one interface 1607 configured for communication with at least another apparatus. The processor (i.e. the at least one processor 1605, with the at least one memory 1606 and the computer program code) is configured to perform receiving first information indicative of characteristics of a multi-antenna radio channel between said mobile station and a second radio cell neighboring said first radio cell and broadcasting a signal transmission at corresponding second radio resources of a second radio access technology (thus the apparatus comprising corresponding means for receiving), to perform deriving second information indicative of said characteristics from said first information (thus the apparatus comprising corresponding means for deriving), and to perform transmitting said second information indicative of said characteristics to a base station of said second radio cell (thus the apparatus comprising corresponding means for transmitting).
According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, an apparatus representing the network node 30 (base station) of a second radio cell providing second radio resources of a second radio access technology comprises at least one processor 1610, at least one memory 1611 including computer program code, and at least one interface 1612 configured for communication with at least another apparatus. The processor (i.e. the at least one processor 1610, with the at least one memory 1611 and the computer program code) is configured to perform receiving information indicative of characteristics of a multi-antenna radio channel between a mobile station served with first radio resources of a first radio access technology by a first radio cell and said second radio cell neighboring said first radio cell and broadcasting a signal transmission at said second radio resources of said second radio access technology (thus the apparatus comprising corresponding means for receiving), and to perform adapting a transmission configuration with respect to said second radio resources based on said information indicative of said characteristics (thus the apparatus comprising corresponding means for adapting).
According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, an apparatus representing the network node 50 (base station) of a radio cell utilizing intra- cell coexistence of a first radio access technology and a second radio access technology on one frequency carrier, wherein a frequency carrier spectrum of said frequency carrier comprises a first band including at least radio resources of said first radio access technology and a second band including radio resources of said second radio access technology comprises at least one processor 171, at least one memory 172 including computer program code, and at least one interface 173 configured for communication with at least another apparatus. The processor (i.e. the at least one processor 171, with the at least one memory 172 and the computer program code) is configured to perform storing first band channel state information in relation to a communication channel utilizing radio resources of said first band (thus the apparatus comprising corresponding means for storing), to perform deriving, from said first band channel state information, second band channel state information in relation to radio resources of said second band (thus the apparatus comprising corresponding means for deriving), and to perform adapting a transmission configuration with respect to said radio resources of said second band based on said second band channel state information (thus the apparatus comprising corresponding means for adapting).
For further details regarding the operability/functionality of the individual apparatuses, reference is made to the above description in connection with any one of Figures 1 to 15, respectively.
For the purpose of the present invention as described herein above, it should be noted that
- method steps likely to be implemented as software code portions and being run using a processor at a network server or network entity (as examples of devices, apparatuses and/or modules thereof, or as examples of entities including apparatuses and/or modules therefore), are software code independent and can be specified using any known or future developed programming language as long as the functionality defined by the method steps is preserved;
- generally, any method step is suitable to be implemented as software or by hardware without changing the idea of the embodiments and its modification in terms of the functionality implemented;
- method steps and/or devices, units or means likely to be implemented as hardware components at the above-defined apparatuses, or any module(s) thereof, (e.g., devices carrying out the functions of the apparatuses according to the embodiments as described above) are hardware independent and can be implemented using any known or future developed hardware technology or any hybrids of these, such as MOS (Metal Oxide Semiconductor), CMOS (Complementary MOS), BiMOS (Bipolar MOS), BiCMOS (Bipolar CMOS), ECL (Emitter Coupled Logic), TTL (Transistor-Transistor Logic), etc., using for example ASIC (Application Specific IC (Integrated Circuit)) components, FPGA (Field-programmable Gate Arrays) components, CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Device) components or DSP (Digital Signal Processor) components; - devices, units or means (e.g. the above-defined network entity or network register, or any one of their respective units/means) can be implemented as individual devices, units or means, but this does not exclude that they are implemented in a distributed fashion throughout the system, as long as the functionality of the device, unit or means is preserved;
- an apparatus like the user equipment and the network entity /network register may be represented by a semiconductor chip, a chipset, or a (hardware) module comprising such chip or chipset; this, however, does not exclude the possibility that a functionality of an apparatus or module, instead of being hardware implemented, be implemented as software in a (software) module such as a computer program or a computer program product comprising executable software code portions for execution/being run on a processor;
- a device may be regarded as an apparatus or as an assembly of more than one apparatus, whether functionally in cooperation with each other or functionally independently of each other but in a same device housing, for example.
In general, it is to be noted that respective functional blocks or elements according to above-described aspects can be implemented by any known means, either in hardware and/or software, respectively, if it is only adapted to perform the described functions of the respective parts. The mentioned method steps can be realized in individual functional blocks or by individual devices, or one or more of the method steps can be realized in a single functional block or by a single device.
Generally, any method step is suitable to be implemented as software or by hardware without changing the idea of the present invention. Devices and means can be implemented as individual devices, but this does not exclude that they are implemented in a distributed fashion throughout the system, as long as the functionality of the device is preserved. Such and similar principles are to be considered as known to a skilled person. Software in the sense of the present description comprises software code as such comprising code means or portions or a computer program or a computer program product for performing the respective functions, as well as software (or a computer program or a computer program product) embodied on a tangible medium such as a computer-readable (storage) medium having stored thereon a respective data structure or code means/portions or embodied in a signal or in a chip, potentially during processing thereof.
The present invention also covers any conceivable combination of method steps and operations described above, and any conceivable combination of nodes, apparatuses, modules or elements described above, as long as the above-described concepts of methodology and structural arrangement are applicable.
In view of the above, there are provided measures for network management optimizations in radio access technology scenarios. Such measures at a base station of a second radio cell providing second radio resources of a second radio access technology exemplarily comprise receiving information indicative of characteristics of a multi-antenna radio channel between a mobile station served with first radio resources of a first radio access technology by a first radio cell and said second radio cell neighboring said first radio cell and broadcasting a signal transmission at said second radio resources of said second radio access technology, and adapting a transmission configuration with respect to said second radio resources based on said information indicative of said characteristics. Such measures at base station of a radio cell utilizing intra-cell coexistence of the first radio access technology and the second radio access technology on one frequency carrier, wherein a frequency carrier spectrum of said frequency carrier comprises a first band including at least radio resources of said first radio access technology and a second band including radio resources of said second radio access technology, exemplarily comprise storing first band channel state information in relation to a communication channel utilizing radio resources of said first band, deriving, from said first band channel state information, second band channel state information in relation to radio resources of said second band, and adapting a transmission configuration with respect to said radio resources of said second band based on said second band channel state information.
Even though the invention is described above with reference to the examples according to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the invention is not restricted thereto. Rather, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention can be modified in many ways without departing from the scope of the inventive idea as disclosed herein.
List of acronyms and abbreviations
3GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project
BS base station, basestation
CSI channel state information
CSIT channel state information at the transmitter
DL downlink
FDD frequency division duplex
LTE Long Term Evolution
MIMO multiple input multiple output
MS mobile station
NR new radio
PHY physical layer
PMI precoding matrix
RAT radio access technology
RS reference symbol
SLNR signal-to-leakage-and-noise-ratio
TDD time division duplexing
UE user equipment
UL uplink

Claims

Claims
1. A method of a mobile station served with first radio resources of a first radio access technology by a first radio cell, the method comprising
receiving a signal transmission at corresponding second radio resources of a second radio access technology provided by a second radio cell neighboring said first radio cell,
measuring characteristics of a multi-antenna radio channel between said mobile station and said second radio cell based on said signal transmission, and
transmitting information indicative of said characteristics.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein
said signal transmission comprises a channel state information reference signal, and/or
said information indicative of said characteristics comprise channel state information, and/or
said first radio access technology is 5G new radio technology, and/or said second radio access technology is 4G long term evolution technology.
3. A method of a base station of a first radio cell providing first radio resources of a first radio access technology to a mobile station, the method comprising receiving first information indicative of characteristics of a multi- antenna radio channel between said mobile station and a second radio cell neighboring said first radio cell and broadcasting a signal transmission at corresponding second radio resources of a second radio access technology, deriving second information indicative of said characteristics from said first information, and
transmitting said second information indicative of said characteristics to a base station of said second radio cell.
4. The method according to claim 3, wherein
said second information indicative of said characteristics comprise time domain explicit channel state information.
5. The method according to claim 3 or 4, wherein
said second information indicative of said characteristics is transmitted to said base station of said second radio cell via a X2/Xn-connection between said base station of said first radio cell and said base station of said second radio cell.
6. The method according to any of claims 3 to 5, wherein
said signal transmission comprises a channel state information reference signal, and/or
said first information indicative of said characteristics comprise channel state information, and/or
said first radio access technology is 5G new radio technology, and/or said second radio access technology is 4G long term evolution technology.
7. A method of a base station of a second radio cell providing second radio resources of a second radio access technology, the method comprising
receiving information indicative of characteristics of a multi-antenna radio channel between a mobile station served with first radio resources of a first radio access technology by a first radio cell and said second radio cell neighboring said first radio cell and broadcasting a signal transmission at said second radio resources of said second radio access technology, and
adapting a transmission configuration with respect to said second radio resources based on said information indicative of said characteristics.
8. The method according to claim 7, wherein
said information indicative of said characteristics is received from a base station of said first radio cell via a X2/Xn-connection between said base station of said first radio cell and said base station of said second radio cell.
9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, wherein
in relation to said adapting, said method further comprises
modifying a precoder of a link corresponding to said second radio resources based on said information indicative of said characteristics.
10. The method according to claim 9, wherein
said precoder is modified to a signal-to-leakage-plus-noise precoder.
11. The method according to any of claims 7 to 10, wherein
in relation to said adapting, said method further comprises
blanking at least a portion of said second radio resources based on said information indicative of said characteristics.
12. The method according to any of claims 7 to 11, wherein
said signal transmission comprises a channel state information reference signal, and/or
said information indicative of said characteristics comprise time domain explicit channel state information, and/or
said first radio access technology is 5G new radio technology, and/or said second radio access technology is 4G long term evolution technology.
13. A method of a base station of a radio cell utilizing intra-cell coexistence of a first radio access technology and a second radio access technology on one frequency carrier, wherein a frequency carrier spectrum of said frequency carrier comprises a first band including at least radio resources of said first radio access technology and a second band including radio resources of said second radio access technology, the method comprising
storing first band channel state information in relation to a communication channel utilizing radio resources of said first band, deriving, from said first band channel state information, second band channel state information in relation to radio resources of said second band, and
adapting a transmission configuration with respect to said radio resources of said second band based on said second band channel state information.
14. The method according to claim 13, further comprising
receiving, from a mobile station communicating via said communication channel utilizing radio resources of said first band, said first band channel state information.
15. The method according to claim 13 or 14, wherein
a resolution of said first band channel state information is higher than a resolution of said second band channel state information.
16. The method according to any of claims 13 to 15, wherein
in relation to said deriving, the method further comprises
extrapolating said first band channel state information to said second band.
17. The method according to any of claims 13 to 16, wherein
in relation to said adapting, said method further comprises
modifying a precoder of a link corresponding to scheduled radio resources of said second band based on said second band channel state information.
18. The method according to any of claims 13 to 17, further comprising
scheduling, for a communication channel utilizing radio resources of said second band for communicating with said mobile station, said radio resources of said second band.
19. The method according to claim 18, wherein in relation to said scheduling, the method further comprises
minimizing a time-frequency distance between radio resources of said first band scheduled for said communication channel utilizing radio resources of said first band via which said mobile station communicates and said radio resources of said second band for said communication channel utilizing radio resources of said second band for communicating with said mobile station.
20. The method according to claim 18, wherein
in relation to said scheduling, the method further comprises
allocating said radio resources of said second band for said communication channel utilizing radio resources of said second band for communicating with said mobile station to a same symbol time as said radio resources of said first band scheduled for said communication channel utilizing radio resources of said first band via which said mobile station communicates.
21. The method according to any of claims 13 to 20, wherein
said first band includes radio resources of said first radio access technology and radio resources of said second radio access technology.
22. The method according to any of claims 13 to 21, wherein
said first radio access technology is 5G new radio technology, and/or said second radio access technology is 4G long term evolution technology.
23. An apparatus of a mobile station served with first radio resources of a first radio access technology by a first radio cell, the apparatus comprising at least one processor,
at least one memory including computer program code, and
at least one interface configured for communication with at least another apparatus,
the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, being configured to cause the apparatus to perform : receiving a signal transmission at corresponding second radio resources of a second radio access technology provided by a second radio cell neighboring said first radio cell,
measuring characteristics of a multi-antenna radio channel between said mobile station and said second radio cell based on said signal transmission, and
transmitting information indicative of said characteristics.
24. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
said signal transmission comprises a channel state information reference signal, and/or
said information indicative of said characteristics comprise channel state information, and/or
said first radio access technology is 5G new radio technology, and/or said second radio access technology is 4G long term evolution technology.
25. An apparatus of a base station of a first radio cell providing first radio resources of a first radio access technology to a mobile station, the apparatus comprising
at least one processor,
at least one memory including computer program code, and
at least one interface configured for communication with at least another apparatus,
the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, being configured to cause the apparatus to perform : receiving first information indicative of characteristics of a multi- antenna radio channel between said mobile station and a second radio cell neighboring said first radio cell and broadcasting a signal transmission at corresponding second radio resources of a second radio access technology, deriving second information indicative of said characteristics from said first information, and transmitting said second information indicative of said characteristics to a base station of said second radio cell.
26. The apparatus according to claim 25, wherein
said second information indicative of said characteristics comprise time domain explicit channel state information.
27. The apparatus according to claim 25 or 26, wherein
said second information indicative of said characteristics is transmitted to said base station of said second radio cell via a X2/Xn-connection between said base station of said first radio cell and said base station of said second radio cell.
28. The apparatus according to any of claims 25 to 27, wherein
said signal transmission comprises a channel state information reference signal, and/or
said first information indicative of said characteristics comprise channel state information, and/or
said first radio access technology is 5G new radio technology, and/or said second radio access technology is 4G long term evolution technology.
29. An apparatus of a base station of a second radio cell providing second radio resources of a second radio access technology, the apparatus comprising
at least one processor,
at least one memory including computer program code, and
at least one interface configured for communication with at least another apparatus,
the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, being configured to cause the apparatus to perform : receiving information indicative of characteristics of a multi-antenna radio channel between a mobile station served with first radio resources of a first radio access technology by a first radio cell and said second radio cell neighboring said first radio cell and broadcasting a signal transmission at said second radio resources of said second radio access technology, and
adapting a transmission configuration with respect to said second radio resources based on said information indicative of said characteristics.
30. The apparatus according to claim 29, wherein
said information indicative of said characteristics is received from a base station of said first radio cell via a X2/Xn-connection between said base station of said first radio cell and said base station of said second radio cell.
31. The apparatus according to claim 29 or 30, wherein the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, being configured to, in relation to said adapting, cause the apparatus to perform :
modifying a precoder of a link corresponding to said second radio resources based on said information indicative of said characteristics.
32. The apparatus according to claim 31, wherein
said precoder is modified to a signal-to-leakage-plus-noise precoder.
33. The apparatus according to any of claims 29 to 32, wherein the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, being configured to, in relation to said adapting, cause the apparatus to perform :
blanking at least a portion of said second radio resources based on said information indicative of said characteristics.
34. The apparatus according to any of claims 29 to 33, wherein
said signal transmission comprises a channel state information reference signal, and/or
said information indicative of said characteristics comprise time domain explicit channel state information, and/or said first radio access technology is 5G new radio technology, and/or said second radio access technology is 4G long term evolution technology.
35. An apparatus of a base station of a radio cell utilizing intra-cell coexistence of a first radio access technology and a second radio access technology on one frequency carrier, wherein a frequency carrier spectrum of said frequency carrier comprises a first band including at least radio resources of said first radio access technology and a second band including radio resources of said second radio access technology, the apparatus comprising
at least one processor,
at least one memory including computer program code, and
at least one interface configured for communication with at least another apparatus,
the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, being configured to cause the apparatus to perform : storing first band channel state information in relation to a communication channel utilizing radio resources of said first band,
deriving, from said first band channel state information, second band channel state information in relation to radio resources of said second band, and
adapting a transmission configuration with respect to said radio resources of said second band based on said second band channel state information.
36. The apparatus according to claim 35, wherein the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, being configured to cause the apparatus to further perform :
receiving, from a mobile station communicating via said communication channel utilizing radio resources of said first band, said first band channel state information.
37. The apparatus according to claim 35 or 36, wherein
a resolution of said first band channel state information is higher than a resolution of said second band channel state information.
38. The apparatus according to any of claims 35 to 37, wherein the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, being configured to, in relation to said deriving, cause the apparatus to perform :
extrapolating said first band channel state information to said second band.
39. The apparatus according to any of claims 35 to 38, wherein the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, being configured to, in relation to said adapting, cause the apparatus to perform :
modifying a precoder of a link corresponding to scheduled radio resources of said second band based on said second band channel state information.
40. The apparatus according to any of claims 35 to 39, wherein the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, being configured to cause the apparatus to further perform :
scheduling, for a communication channel utilizing radio resources of said second band for communicating with said mobile station, said radio resources of said second band.
41. The apparatus according to claim 40, wherein the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, being configured to, in relation to said scheduling, cause the apparatus to perform : minimizing a time-frequency distance between radio resources of said first band scheduled for said communication channel utilizing radio resources of said first band via which said mobile station communicates and said radio resources of said second band for said communication channel utilizing radio resources of said second band for communicating with said mobile station.
42. The apparatus according to claim 40, wherein the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, being configured to, in relation to said scheduling, cause the apparatus to perform : allocating said radio resources of said second band for said communication channel utilizing radio resources of said second band for communicating with said mobile station to a same symbol time as said radio resources of said first band scheduled for said communication channel utilizing radio resources of said first band via which said mobile station communicates.
43. The apparatus according to any of claims 35 to 42, wherein
said first band includes radio resources of said first radio access technology and radio resources of said second radio access technology.
44. The apparatus according to any of claims 35 to 43, wherein
said first radio access technology is 5G new radio technology, and/or said second radio access technology is 4G long term evolution technology.
45. An apparatus of a mobile station served with first radio resources of a first radio access technology by a first radio cell, the apparatus comprising receiving circuitry configured to receive a signal transmission at corresponding second radio resources of a second radio access technology provided by a second radio cell neighboring said first radio cell,
measuring circuitry configured to measure characteristics of a multi- antenna radio channel between said mobile station and said second radio cell based on said signal transmission, and
transmitting circuitry configured to transmit information indicative of said characteristics.
46. An apparatus of a base station of a first radio cell providing first radio resources of a first radio access technology to a mobile station, the apparatus comprising
receiving circuitry configured to receive first information indicative of characteristics of a multi-antenna radio channel between said mobile station and a second radio cell neighboring said first radio cell and broadcasting a signal transmission at corresponding second radio resources of a second radio access technology,
deriving circuitry configured to derive second information indicative of said characteristics from said first information, and
transmitting circuitry configured to transmit said second information indicative of said characteristics to a base station of said second radio cell.
47. An apparatus of a base station of a second radio cell providing second radio resources of a second radio access technology, the apparatus comprising
receiving circuitry configured to receive information indicative of characteristics of a multi-antenna radio channel between a mobile station served with first radio resources of a first radio access technology by a first radio cell and said second radio cell neighboring said first radio cell and broadcasting a signal transmission at said second radio resources of said second radio access technology, and
adapting circuitry configured to adapt a transmission configuration with respect to said second radio resources based on said information indicative of said characteristics.
48. An apparatus of a base station of a radio cell utilizing intra-cell coexistence of a first radio access technology and a second radio access technology on one frequency carrier, wherein a frequency carrier spectrum of said frequency carrier comprises a first band including at least radio resources of said first radio access technology and a second band including radio resources of said second radio access technology, the apparatus comprising storing circuitry configured to store first band channel state information in relation to a communication channel utilizing radio resources of said first band,
deriving circuitry configured to derive, from said first band channel state information, second band channel state information in relation to radio resources of said second band, and
adapting circuitry configured to adapt a transmission configuration with respect to said radio resources of said second band based on said second band channel state information.
49. A computer program product comprising computer-executable computer program code which, when the program is run on a computer, is configured to cause the computer to carry out the method according to any one of claims 1 and 2, 3 to 6, 7 to 12, or 13 to 22.
50. The computer program product according to claim 49, wherein the computer program product comprises a computer-readable medium on which the computer-executable computer program code is stored, and/or wherein the program is directly loadable into an internal memory of the computer or a processor thereof.
PCT/EP2018/069119 2018-07-13 2018-07-13 Network management optimizations in radio access technology scenarios WO2020011370A1 (en)

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