Cooperative and parasitic radio access networks
A wireless user equipment (UE) device obtains uplink and/or downlink grants for control and data communications from a base station in a first network and configures a secondary network link for device-to-device (D2D) communications between the UE device and another UE device operating in a second network. The secondary network link employs a spectrum resource allocated for the uplink and/or downlink grants in the first network. The UE device can comprise a first-network controller that inserts first-network control signals into a control portion of a frame, an application-layer processor that inserts user data into a data payload portion of the frame, and a second-network controller communicatively coupled to the application-layer processor that inserts second-network control signals into the data payload portion of the frame. This can allow a transmission to be processed by networks that employ different radio access network technologies.
1. A first user equipment (UE), comprising:
a radio, comprising one or more antennas configured for wireless communication;
a processing element operably coupled to the radio;
wherein the radio and the processing element are configured to:
obtain one or more uplink and/or downlink grants from a base station in a cellular network for control and data communications;
configure a device-to-device (D2D) network between the first UE and a second UE to employ, a spectrum resource in the one or more uplink and/or downlink grants;
format a signal to be transmitted using the spectrum resource; and
transmit the signal to the base station and the second UE, wherein the signal is formatted as a cellular network transmission signal embedded with a signal formatted for transmission in the D2D network.
2. The first UE recited in claim 1 , wherein at least one of obtain one or more uplink and/or downlink grants, configure the D2D network, and format the signal is configured according to a geographical specification.
3. The first UE recited in claim 1 , further comprising a fronthaul interface that provides for communication over a fronthaul network communicatively coupled with at least one other UE.
4. The first UE recited in claim 1 , wherein the radio and the processing element are configured to measure at least one of channel conditions in the cellular network and channel conditions in the D2D network.
5. The first UE recited in claim 1 , wherein the radio and the processing element are configured to employ a radio access network technology for the D2D network that is formatted to be compatible with receiver processing in the cellular network.
6. The first UE recited in claim 1 , wherein the radio and the processing element are configured to transmit D2D communications control information in a data payload of a frame used for cellular communications.
7. A method for operating a first user equipment (UE), the method comprising:
establishing a primary link with a base station in a cellular network according to a first radio access network (RAN) technology, wherein the primary link employs one or more uplink and/or downlink grants from the base station;
configuring a device-to-device (D2D) network according to a second RAN technology between the first UE and a second UE, wherein the first UE provisions a spectrum resource in the one or more uplink and/or downlink grants for use in the D2D network;
formatting a signal to be transmitted using the spectrum resource; and
transmitting the signal to the base station and the second UE, wherein the signal is formatted as a cellular network transmission signal embedded with a signal formatted for transmission in the D2D network.
8. The method recited in claim 7 , wherein information for configuring the D2D network is received via at least one of the cellular network and the second UE.
9. The method recited in claim 7 , wherein configuring the D2D network comprises selecting at least one of an uplink and a downlink grant for the D2D network.
10. The method recited in claim 7 , wherein establishing the primary link comprises signaling to the base station to manipulate resource scheduling in the cellular network.
11. The method recited in claim 7 , wherein the formatting comprises embedding D2D network control signals in a data payload portion of a transmission frame employed for communicating in the cellular network.
12. The method recited in claim 7 , wherein configuring the D2D network comprises causing the first UE to request the one or more uplink and/or downlink grants from the base station.
13. The method recited in claim 7 , wherein establishing the primary link comprises employing a service on a backhaul side of the cellular network to cause establishing a downlink with the first UE.
14. The method recited in claim 7 , wherein at least one of establishing the primary link, configuring the D2D network, and formatting is configured according to a geographical specification.
15. A base station, comprising:
a radio, comprising one or more antennas configured for wireless communication;
a processing element operably coupled to the radio; wherein the radio and the processing element are configured to:
configure at least one of a first user equipment (UE) and a second UE to obtain an uplink grant for communicating with the base station;
transmit control information to the at least one of the first UE and the second UE to provide for concurrent use of the uplink grant for communicating with the base station and for device-to-device (D2D) communication between the first UE device and the second UE device; and
receive a signal that is transmitted by the first UE to the base station and the second UE, wherein the signal is formatted as a cellular network transmission signal embedded with a signal formatted for transmission in the D2D network.
16. The base station recited in claim 15 , wherein at least one of configure at least one of the first UE and the second UE, and transmit control information is configured according to a geographical specification.
17. The base station recited in claim 15 , further comprising a fronthaul interface that provides for communication over a fronthaul network communicatively coupled with at least one UE.
18. The base station recited in claim 15 , wherein the radio and the processing element are configured to measure channel conditions between the base station and the at least one of the first UE and the second UE.
19. The base station recited in claim 15 , wherein the radio and the processing element configure the at least one of the first UE and the second UE to employ a radio access network technology for the D2D communication that is formatted to be compatible with receiver processing in the base station.
20. The base station recited in claim 15 , wherein the radio and the processing element are configured to transmit D2D communication control information in a data payload of a user downlink shared channel.