Method to use common signal chain for multiple NB-IOT standalone cells

1 . A method of processing multiple consecutive Narrowband Internet of Things (NBIOT) cells by a Radio Access Network (RAN) for one of 4G or 5G mobile network, the method comprising:

one of:

a) 1) at least one first NBIOT cell is shifted relative to an adjacent second NBIOT cell to align all sub carriers of the first and second NBIOT cells to be mutually orthogonal; and

2) using a first single fast Fourier transform (FFT) or first single inverse fast Fourier transform (iFFT) by the RAN to process both the first and second NBIOT cells; or

b) 1 ) for a sequence of NBIOT cells, every third NBIOT cell is grouped into a single group, wherein all sub carriers of the NBIOT cells in the single group are mutually orthogonal; and

2) using the first single FFT or the first single iFFT by the RAN to process multiple NBIOT cells in the single group formed from the every third NBIOT cell;

wherein:

the at least one first NBIOT cell is shifted relative to an adjacent second NBIOT cell by 5 KHz to align all sub carriers of the first and second NBIOT cells to be mutually orthogonal;

a third NBIOT cell adjacent to the second NBIOT cell is provided;

the at least one first NBIOT cell is right-shifted relative to the second NBIOT cell by 5 KHz, and the third NBIOT cell is left-shifted relative to the second NBIOT cell by 5 KHz;

a fourth NBIOT cell adjacent to the third NBIOT cell is provided;

a 30 KHz common guard region is provided between the third NBIOT cell and the fourth NBIOT cell;

a first extra subcarrier provided in the 30 Khz common guard region between the third NBIOT cell and the fourth NBIOT cell is utilized; and

a second extra subcarrier provided in the 30 Khz common guard region between the third NBIOT cell and the fourth NBIOT cell is utilized as a part of the fourth NBIOT cell.

2 . A method of processing multiple consecutive Narrowband Internet of Things (NBIOT) cells by a Radio Access Network (RAN) for one of 4G or 5G mobile network, the method comprising:

one of:

c) 1) at least one first NBIOT cell is shifted relative to an adjacent second NBIOT cell to align all sub carriers of the first and second NBIOT cells to be mutually orthogonal; and

2) using a first single fast Fourier transform (FFT) or first single inverse fast Fourier transform (iFFT) by the RAN to process both the first and second NBIOT cells; or

d) 1 ) for a sequence of NBIOT cells, every third NBIOT cell is grouped into a single group, wherein all sub carriers of the NBIOT cells in the single group are mutually orthogonal; and

2) using the first single FFT or the first single iFFT by the RAN to process multiple NBIOT cells in the single group formed from the every third NBIOT cell;

wherein:

the at least one first NBIOT cell is shifted relative to an adjacent second NBIOT cell by 5 KHz to align all sub carriers of the first and second NBIOT cells to be mutually orthogonal;

a third NBIOT cell adjacent to the second NBIOT cell is provided;

the at least one first NBIOT cell is right-shifted relative to the second NBIOT cell by 5 KHz, and the third NBIOT cell is left-shifted relative to the second NBIOT cell by 5 KHz;

a fourth NBIOT cell adjacent to the third NBIOT cell is provided;

a 30 KHz common guard region is provided between the third NBIOT cell and the fourth NBIOT cell;

a fifth NBIOT cell adjacent to the fourth NBIOT cell is provided;

the fourth NBIOT cell is right-shifted relative to the fifth NBIOT cell by 5 KHz;

a 15 KHz common guard region is provided between the fourth NBIOT cell and the fifth NBIOT cell; and

an extra subcarrier provided in the 15 Khz common guard region between the fourth NBIOT cell and the fifth NBIOT cell is utilized as a part of the fourth NBIOT cell.

3 . A method of processing multiple consecutive Narrowband Internet of Things (NBIOT) cells by a Radio Access Network (RAN) for one of 4G or 5G mobile network, the method comprising:

one of:

a) 1) at least one first NBIOT cell is shifted relative to an adjacent second NBIOT cell to align all sub carriers of the first and second NBIOT cells to be mutually orthogonal; and

2) using a first single fast Fourier transform (FFT) or first single inverse fast Fourier transform (iFFT) by the RAN to process both the first and second NBIOT cells; or

b) 1 ) for a sequence of NBIOT cells, every third NBIOT cell is grouped into a single group, wherein all sub carriers of the NBIOT cells in the single group are mutually orthogonal; and

2) using the first single FFT or the first single iFFT by the RAN to process multiple NBIOT cells in the single group formed from the every third NBIOT cell;

wherein:

the at least one first NBIOT cell is shifted relative to an adjacent second NBIOT cell by 5 KHz to align all sub carriers of the first and second NBIOT cells to be mutually orthogonal;

a third NBIOT cell adjacent to the second NBIOT cell is provided;

the at least one first NBIOT cell is right-shifted relative to the second NBIOT cell by 5 KHz, and the third NBIOT cell is left-shifted relative to the second NBIOT cell by 5 KHz;

a fourth NBIOT cell adjacent to the third NBIOT cell is provided;

a 30 KHz common guard region is provided between the third NBIOT cell and the fourth NBIOT cell;

a first extra subcarrier provided in the 30 Khz common guard region between the third NBIOT cell and the fourth NBIOT cell is utilized;

a second extra subcarrier provided in the 30 Khz common guard region between the third NBIOT cell and the fourth NBIOT cell is utilized;

a fifth NBIOT cell adjacent to the fourth NBIOT cell is provided;

the fourth NBIOT cell is right-shifted relative to the fifth NBIOT cell by 5 KHz;

a 15 KHz common guard region is provided between the fourth NBIOT cell and the fifth NBIOT cell; and

an extra subcarrier provided in the 15 Khz common guard region between the fourth NBIOT cell and the fifth NBIOT cell is utilized as a part of the fourth NBIOT cell.

4 . A method of processing multiple consecutive Narrowband Internet of Things (NBIOT) cells by a Radio Access Network (RAN) for one of 4G or 5G mobile network, the method comprising:

one of:

a) 1) at least one first NBIOT cell is shifted relative to an adjacent second NBIOT cell to align all sub carriers of the first and second NBIOT cells to be mutually orthogonal; and

2) using a first single fast Fourier transform (FFT) or first single inverse fast Fourier transform (iFFT) by the RAN to process both the first and second NBIOT cells; or

b) 1) for a sequence of NBIOT cells, every third NBIOT cell is grouped into a single group, wherein all sub carriers of the NBIOT cells in the single group are mutually orthogonal; and

2) using the first single FFT or the first single iFFT by the RAN to process multiple NBIOT cells in the single group formed from the every third NBIOT cell;

wherein:

for a sequence of NBIOT cells, every third NBIOT cell is grouped into a single group, and all sub carriers of the NBIOT cells in the single group are mutually orthogonal; and

at least one of the following configurations is provided for the sequence of NBIOT cells sequentially positioned: i) a first set of NBIOT standalone cells having sequence position numbers with quotient-1 of modulo-3 operation is processed by the RAN using at least one of a first FFT and a corresponding first iFFT; ii) a second set of NBIOT standalone cells having sequence position numbers with quotient-2 of modulo-3 operation is processed by the RAN using at least one of a second FFT and a corresponding second iFFT; and iii) a third set of NBIOT standalone cells having sequence position numbers with quotient-0 of modulo-3 operation is processed by the RAN using at least one of a third FFT and a corresponding third iFFT.