Granted Patent B2

US 10,397,794 · App. 14/609,019 · Granted Aug 27, 2019

Abstract

Claims (37)

1. A method comprising:

sending, by a first wireless access network node to a user equipment (UE), a configuration message to add a plurality of secondary cells on at least one channel of an unlicensed spectrum;

receiving, by the first wireless access network node from the UE, a response message responsive to the configuration message, the response message comprising information accepting a first secondary cell of the plurality of secondary cells, and information rejecting a second secondary cell of the plurality of secondary cells, and the response message comprising assistance information indicating one or more channels of the unlicensed spectrum to avoid, wherein the information accepting the first secondary cell comprises information identifying the first secondary cell as being added responsive to the UE accepting the first secondary cell in response to the configuration message, and the information rejecting the second secondary cell comprises information identifying the second secondary cell as not being added responsive to the UE rejecting the second secondary cell in response to the configuration message; and

responsive to the assistance information, selecting, by the first wireless access network node, at least a first channel of the unlicensed spectrum for communicating data with the UE.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the selected at least the first channel is in addition to a second channel that is part of a licensed spectrum used to communicate data of the UE.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the assistance information comprises an indication of a channel in which a primary use entity has been detected.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the assistance information comprises information regarding a quantity of Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access points or Long-Term Evolution LTE) enhanced NodeBs detected on a particular channel.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the assistance information comprises information regarding at least one channel reserved by the UE to use for another access technology or due to a hardware restriction caused by use of a further channel used by another access technology.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the assistance information comprises information regarding a quality of a channel.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the assistance information comprises information regarding a detection of presence of another strong interference source on a channel.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the response message comprises information identifying a cause or reason for the UE accepting the first secondary cell, and a cause or reason for the UE rejecting the second secondary cell.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, by the first wireless access network node from the UE, information indicating support or lack of support for simultaneous Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) operation and Long-Term Evolution in unlicensed spectrum operation.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the information indicating support or lack of support identifies at least one frequency region in which simultaneous WLAN operation and Long-Term Evolution in unlicensed spectrum operation are supported.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the information indicating support or lack of support identifies different channels in a frequency region for respective simultaneous WLAN operation and Long-Term Evolution in unlicensed spectrum operation.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the information indicating support or lack of support further identifies a frequency separation between the different channels for the respective WLAN operation and Long-Term Evolution in unlicensed spectrum operation, wherein the frequency separation comprises a separation between edges of channels used for WLAN and Long-Term Evolution in unlicensed spectrum operations, or a distance between center frequencies of the channels used for WLAN and Long-Term Evolution in unlicensed spectrum operations.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the response message comprising the information accepting the first secondary cell and the information rejecting the second secondary cell is according to selection by the UE based on one or more factors considered by the UE in response to the configuration message, the one or more factors selected from among a preference of the UE and a hardware restriction of the UE.

14. A first wireless access network node comprising:

a communication interface comprising a transceiver to wirelessly receive assistance information transmitted by a second wireless access network node, the assistance information comprising information indicating one or more channels of an unlicensed spectrum to use or avoid, and a quantity of Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access points or base stations detected on a particular channel,

the first wireless access network node to provide a first coverage area in which user equipments (UEs) are able to communicate wirelessly with the first wireless access network node, and the second wireless access network node to provide a second coverage area in which UEs are able to communicate wirelessly with the second wireless access network node; and

at least one processor configured to, responsive to the assistance information including the information indicating one or more channels of the unlicensed spectrum to use or avoid, and the quantity of WLAN access points or base stations detected on the particular channel, select at least a first channel of the unlicensed spectrum for communicating data with a UE.

15. The first wireless access network node of claim 14 , wherein the assistance information is selected from among: utilization of channels by the second wireless access network node in the unlicensed spectrum, output power of the second wireless access network node, a measurement of a channel used by the second wireless access network node, detection of a primary use entity in a channel of the unlicensed spectrum, an indication of interference, a configuration of channels used by the second wireless access network node, information of current traffic served by the second wireless access network node, and a scheduled change of channels for operation.

16. The first wireless access network node of claim 14 , wherein the first wireless access network node is to wirelessly send, to the second wireless access network node, information relating to the first wireless access network node for use by the second wireless access network node to select at least one channel in the unlicensed spectrum.

17. The first wireless access network node of claim 14 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to further perform Proximity Service (ProSe) direct discovery with the second wireless access network node, and perform ProSe direct communication with the second wireless access network node to receive information relating to the second wireless access network node.

18. The first wireless access network node of claim 17 , wherein the ProSe direct discovery uses a ProSe application identifier and an allowed range.

19. The first wireless access network node of claim 17 , wherein the ProSe direct communication uses a ProSe user equipment (UE) identifier and a ProSe Layer 2 Group identifier, the ProSe UE identifier set to a layer 2 identifier of the second wireless access network node, and the ProSe Layer 2 Group identifier set to one of a Long-Term Evolution in unlicensed spectrum enhanced nodeB (eNB) Group identifier, a Wireless Local Access Network (WLAN) access point group identifier and the ProSe Layer 2 Group identifier defined for both the Long-Term Evolution in unlicensed spectrum eNBs and WLAN APs.

20. The first wireless access network node of claim 17 , wherein a ProSe user equipment (UE) identifier is assigned to the first and the second wireless access node, and the second wireless access network node sends the information relating to the second wireless access network node to the ProSe UE identifier assigned to the first wireless access network node and the first wireless access network node sends the information relating to the first wireless access network node to the ProSe UE identifier assigned to the second wireless access network node.

21. A method comprising:

receiving, by a user equipment (UE) from a wireless access network node, a configuration message to add a plurality of secondary cells on at least one channel of an unlicensed spectrum;

in response to the configuration message, deciding, by the UE, to accept a first secondary cell of the plurality of secondary cells, and reject a second secondary cell of the plurality of secondary cells;

sending, by the UE to the wireless access network node, a response message responsive to the configuration message, the response message comprising information identifying the first secondary cell as being added responsive to the accepting of the first secondary cell by the UE, and information identifying the second secondary cell as not being added responsive to the rejecting of the second secondary cell by the UE, and the response message comprising assistance information indicating one or more channels of the unlicensed spectrum to avoid, the response message to cause the wireless access network node to select at least a first channel of the unlicensed spectrum for communicating data of the UE; and

using, by the UE, the first channel of the unlicensed spectrum selected by the wireless access network node to communicate data.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein the assistance information includes a list of channels on which a primary use entity has been detected by the UE.

23. The method of claim 21 , further comprising:

receiving, by the UE from the wireless access network node, a reconfiguration message that configures the UE to perform measurements on channels in the unlicensed spectrum;

determining, by the UE, whether a given channel in the unlicensed spectrum is used for a particular purpose; and

in response to determining that the given channel in the unlicensed spectrum is used for the particular purpose, sending, by the UE, a response to the reconfiguration message to the wireless access network node, the response indicating to the wireless access network node that a corresponding measurement object for the given channel has not been configured.

Assignments (14)