Apparatus and Method for Direct Device-to-Device Communication in a Mobile Communication System

1 . A method, comprising:

receiving at a mobile node at least one synchronization signal from a base station;

determining timing at the mobile node based on the at least one synchronization signal from the base station;

transmitting an uplink radio resource reservation request to the base station from the mobile node;

receiving from the base station an assignment of a radio resource dedicated for radio transmission to a remote node, the radio resource being within a band having a transmission power upper limit; and

transmitting a first data signal to the remote node on the radio resource based on the timing determined.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , the method further comprising:

transmitting a communication set-up request from the mobile node, the request comprising an identifier of a remote party, the identifier of the remote party being associated with the remote node.

3 . The method according to claim 1 , the method further comprising:

transmitting at least one test signal between the mobile node and the remote node to determine whether the mobile node and the remote node are within a range providing sufficient radio quality for communication between the mobile node and the remote node.

4 . The method according to claim 3 , the method further comprising:

receiving from the base station a request to execute the transmission of the at least one test signal; and reporting a quality of reception of the at least one test signal to the base station.

5 . The method according to claim 1 , the method further comprising:

switching to reception on the radio resource in the mobile node; and

receiving a second data signal from the remote node to the mobile node on the radio resource.

6 . The method according to claim 1 , the method further comprising:

transmitting the first data signal and the second data signal using a orthogonal frequency division multiple access transmitter.

7 . The method according to claim 1 , the method further comprising:

transmitting the first data signal and the second data signal using a single carrier frequency division multiple access transmitter.

8 . The method according to claim 1 , the method further comprising:

receiving from the base station a request to stop using the radio resource at the mobile node.

9 . The method according to claim 8 , the method further comprising:

receiving from the base station an assignment of an uplink radio resource for communication to the base station; and

continuing communication with the remote node using the uplink radio resource.

10 . The method according to claim 1 , the method further comprising:

transmitting the first data signal in a first slot of a subframe preceding a physical broadcast channel; and

switching to receiving the physical broadcast channel from the base station during a second slot of the subframe preceding a physical broadcast channel.

11 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the mobile node comprises a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) User Equipment.

12 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the transmitting of the first data signal during a special subframe is restricted to have a duration corresponding to the length of a downlink pilot time slot.

13 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the remote node is a remote mobile node.

14 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the radio resource dedicated for radio transmission to the remote node is within a television white space band which is adjacent to an occupied television channel.

15 . A method, comprising:

transmitting at least one synchronization signal to a mobile node;

receiving a communication set-up request from the mobile node, the request comprising an identifier of a remote party, the identifier of the remote party being associated with a remote node;

determining that the remote party uses the remote node, the remote node being served by the base station;

receiving, at the base station, an uplink radio resource reservation request from the mobile node; and

transmitting from the base station an assignment of a radio resource dedicated for radio transmission to the remote node, the radio resource being within a band having a transmission power upper limit.

16 . The method according to claim 15 , wherein the step of determining that the remote party uses the remote node further comprising:

transmitting the communication set-up request to a core network node; and

receiving a indication of the communication set-up request to the base station from the core network node, the indication comprising an identifier of the remote node.

17 . The method according to claim 15 , the method further comprising:

determining that the remote node is within a transmission range of the mobile node.

18 . The method according to claim 17 , wherein the step of determining that the remote node is within the transmission range of the mobile node further comprises:

transmitting from the base station a request to execute the transmission of at least one test signal between the mobile node and the remote node; and receiving a report of a quality of reception of the at least one test signal to the base station.

19 . The method according to claim 17 , wherein the determination that the remote node is within a transmission range of the mobile node uses at least one of a satellite positioning system, a geographic positioning system of a mobile communication system, and a determination of a sector of the mobile node and the remote node.

20 . The method according to claim 15 , wherein the remote node is a remote mobile node.

21 . The method according to claim 15 , wherein the radio resource dedicated for radio transmission to the remote node is within a television white space band which is adjacent to an occupied television channel.

22 . An apparatus, comprising:

at least one radio frequency circuit configured to receive at least one synchronization signal from a base station, to determine timing based on the at least one synchronization signal from the base station, and to transmit a first data signal to a remote node on a radio resource based on the timing determined; and

at least one processor configured to transmit an uplink radio resource reservation request to the base station, to receive from the base station an assignment of the radio resource dedicated for radio transmission to the remote node, the radio resource being within a band having a transmission power upper limit.

23 . A base station, comprising:

at least one radio frequency circuit configured to

transmit at least one synchronization signal to a mobile node; and

at least one processor configured to receive a communication set-up request from the mobile node, the request comprising an identifier of a remote party, the identifier of the remote party being associated with a remote node, to determine that the remote party uses the remote node, the remote node being served by the base station, to receive an uplink radio resource reservation request from the mobile node, and to transmit an assignment of a radio resource dedicated for radio transmission to the remote node, the radio resource being within a band having a transmission power upper limit.

24 . A computer program comprising code adapted to cause the following when executed on a data-processing system:

receiving at a mobile node at least one synchronization signal from a base station;

determining timing at the mobile node based on the at least one synchronization signal from the base station;

transmitting an uplink radio resource reservation request to the base station from the mobile node;

receiving from the base station an assignment of a radio resource dedicated for radio transmission to a remote node, the radio resource being within a band having a transmission power upper limit; and

transmitting a first data signal to the remote node on the radio resource based on the timing determined.

25 . The computer program according to claim 24 , wherein said computer program is stored on a computer readable medium.

26 . A computer program comprising code adapted to cause the following when executed on a data-processing system:

transmitting at least one synchronization signal to a mobile node;

receiving a communication set-up request from the mobile node, the request comprising an identifier of a remote party, the identifier of the remote party being associated with a remote node;

determining that the remote party uses the remote node, the remote node being served by the base station;

receiving, at the base station, an uplink radio resource reservation request from the mobile node; and

transmitting from the base station an assignment of a radio resource dedicated for radio transmission to the remote node, the radio resource being within a band having a transmission power upper limit.

27 . The computer program according to claim 26 , wherein said computer program is stored on a computer readable medium.