Method and system for controlling UE operation based on TDD configuration support per location
A method and system to help address this issue. When a device is within coverage of a cell that operates with a particular TDD configuration, the device will determine based on its location a set of one or more TDD frame configurations that the device would support, which could be based on maximum uplink transmission power of the UE, permitted maximum transmission power in the location, and uplink duty cycle defined by each of the various TDD configurations. The UE will then control whether or not it will be served by the cell based on whether the TDD configuration of the cell is within the determined set.
1. A method for controlling operation of a user equipment device (UE) when the UE is within coverage of a base station's cell, wherein the cell operates with a time-division-duplex (TDD) configuration defining a specific sequence of uplink and downlink subframes, the method comprising:
determining by the UE, based on current geographic location of the UE, a set of one or more TDD configurations supported by the UE, wherein each TDD configuration of the determined set defines a respective sequence of uplink and downlink subframes; and
controlling by the UE whether the UE will be served by the cell, wherein the controlling is based on whether the TDD configuration of the cell is within the determined set of one or more TDD configurations, wherein the UE will be served by the cell only if the TDD configuration of the cell is within the determined set of one or more TDD configurations.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the UE is provisioned with data that correlates each of various geographic locations with a respective set of one or more TDD configurations supported by the UE, and wherein determining the set of one or more TDD configurations supported by the UE based on the current geographic location of the UE is based on reference to the data.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining by the UE the current geographic location of the UE, wherein determining the set of one or more TDD configurations supported by the UE is based on the determined current geographic location of the UE.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the determined current geographic location comprises a country, wherein the base station broadcasts in the cell a mobile country code (MCC) indicating the country, and wherein determining the current geographic location comprises reading the MCC broadcast by the base station in the cell.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the cell operates in a frequency band, and wherein determining the set of one or more TDD configurations supported by the UE is based further on the frequency band in which cell operates.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the UE is provisioned with data that specifies, respectively for each of various locations, a set of one or more TDD configurations supported by the UE respectively for each of one or more frequency bands, and wherein determining the set of one or more TDD configurations supported by the UE based on the current geographic location of the UE and based further on the frequency band in which the cell operates is based on reference to the data.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the base station broadcasts in the cell an indication of the TDD configuration of the cell, the method further comprising determining by the UE the TDD configuration of the cell by reading the broadcast indication of the TDD configuration of the cell.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein controlling whether the UE will be served by the cell, based on whether the TDD configuration of the cell is within the determined set of one or more TDD configurations, comprises:
responsive to the TDD configuration of the cell not being within the determined set of one or more TDD configurations, forgoing being served by the cell.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein controlling whether the UE will be served by the cell, based on whether the TDD configuration of the cell is within the determined set of one or more TDD configurations, further comprises:
determining that the TDD configuration of the cell is not within the determined set of one or more TDD configurations; and
responsive to determining that the TDD configuration of the cell is not within the determined set of one or more TDD configurations, opting to be served by another cell instead.
10. A user equipment device (UE) configured to control whether the UE will be served by a base station's cell when the UE is within coverage of the cell, wherein the cell operates with a time-division-duplex (TDD) configuration defining a specific sequence of uplink and downlink subframes, the UE comprising:
a wireless communication interface including an antenna and radio, configured to engage in air interface communication; and
a controller, wherein the controller is configured to (i) determine, based on a current geographic location of the UE, a set of one or more TDD configurations supported by the UE, wherein each TDD configuration of the determined set defines a respective sequence of uplink and downlink subframes, and (ii) control whether the UE will be served by the cell, wherein controlling whether the UE will be served by the cell is based on whether the TDD configuration of the cell is within the determined set of one or more TDD configurations, wherein the UE will be served by the cell only if the TDD configuration of the cell is within the determined set of one or more TDD configurations.
11. The UE of claim 10 , wherein the controller comprises a processing unit, non-transitory data storage, and program instructions stored in the data storage and executable by the processing unit to carry out the determining and the controlling.
12. The UE of claim 10 , further comprising data storage, wherein the data storage holds data that correlates each of various geographic locations with a respective set of one or more TDD configurations supported by the UE, and wherein determining the set of one or more TDD configurations supported by the UE based on the current geographic location of the UE is based on reference to the data.
13. The UE of claim 10 , wherein the UE is configured to determine the current geographic location of the UE, wherein determining the set of one or more TDD configurations supported by the UE is based on the determined current geographic location of the UE.
14. The UE of claim 13 , wherein the determined current geographic location comprises a country, wherein the base station broadcasts in the cell a mobile country code (MCC) indicating the country, and wherein determining the current geographic location comprises reading the MCC broadcast by the base station in the cell.
15. The UE of claim 10 , wherein the cell operates in a frequency band, and wherein determining the set of one or more TDD configurations supported by the UE is based further on the frequency band in which cell operates.
16. The UE of claim 15 , further comprising data storage, wherein the data storage holds data that specifies, respectively for each of various locations, a set of one or more TDD configurations supported by the UE respectively for each of one or more frequency bands, and wherein determining the set of one or more TDD configurations supported by the UE based on the current geographic location of the UE and based further on the frequency band in which the cell operates is based on reference to the data.
17. The UE of claim 10 , wherein the cell broadcasts an indication of the TDD configuration of the cell, and wherein the controller is further configured to determine the TDD configuration of the cell based on the broadcast indication of the TDD configuration of the cell.
18. The UE of claim 10 wherein controlling whether the UE will be served by the cell, based on whether the TDD configuration of the cell is within the determined set of one or more TDD configurations, comprises:
responsive to the TDD configuration of the cell not being within the determined set of one or more TDD configurations, causing the UE to not be served by the cell.
19. The UE of claim 18 , wherein controlling whether the UE will be served by the cell, based on whether the TDD configuration of the cell is within the determined set of one or more TDD configurations, further comprises:
determining that the TDD configuration of the cell is not within the determined set of one or more TDD configurations; and
responsive to determining that the TDD configuration of the cell is not within the determined set of one or more TDD configurations, causing the UE to be served by another cell instead.
20. A method comprising:
provisioning a user equipment device (UE) with data that correlates each of various geographic locations with a respective set of one or more time-division-duplex (TDD) configurations supported by the UE in the geographic location, wherein each TDD configuration defines a respective sequence uplink and downlink subframes, and wherein the data is based on (i) uplink transmission power of the UE and (ii) uplink transmission power permitted in the location; and
configuring the UE (a) to use the data as a basis to determine, based on a current geographic location of the UE, a set of one or more TDD configurations supported by the UE, (b) to determine a TDD configuration of a base station's cell in whose coverage the UE is positioned, and (c) to control whether the UE will be served by the cell, based on whether the determined TDD configuration of the cell is within the determined set of one or more TDD configurations supported by the UE.