IP Library Granted Patent US 12,160,866
Granted Patent B2
US 12,160,866 · App. 17/440,041 · Granted Dec 3, 2024

Scheduling restriction for carrier aggregation or dual connectivity

Inventors: Jie Cui (Cupertino, CA); Yuanye Wang (Cupertino, CA); Hong He (Cupertino, CA); Yang Tang (Cupertino, CA); Qiming Li (Cupertino, CA)
Assignee: Apple Inc.
H04W72/21H04L5/001H04W72/56
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,160,866
App. No.
17/440,041
Granted
Dec 3, 2024
Kind
B2
Abstract

One or more methods of operating an access node. At least one of the methods includes: detecting a capability indication that indicates a capability of a user equipment (UE) to simultaneously receive and transmit (Rx/Tx) on a first component carrier (CC1) and a second component carrier (CC2); and scheduling, based at least on the capability, a first UE activity to occur over the CC1 and a second UE activity to occur over the CC2 to avoid a collision in a time-domain by prioritizing one of the first UE activity or the second UE activity relative to the other one of the first UE activity or the second UE activity.

Claims (91)

1. A method of operating an access node, comprising:

receiving a capability indication that indicates that a user equipment (UE) cannot simultaneously receive and transmit (Rx/Tx) on a plurality of serving cells providing a first component carrier (CC1) and a second component carrier (CC2); and

prioritizing, based at least on the capability indication, a downlink (DL) transmission scheduled to be transmitted to the UE via the CC1 at a first time over an uplink (UL) transmission scheduled to be transmitted by the UE via the CC2 at the first time in order to avoid a time-domain collision;

wherein prioritizing, based at least on the capability indication, the DL transmission over the UL transmission comprises:

determining that:

(i) the UE is operating according to new radio (NR) CA protocol;

(ii) the DL transmission is associated with at least one of DL mobility measurement, radio link monitoring (RLM), beam failure detection (BFD), or candidate beam detection (CBD); and

(iii) the UL transmission comprises at least one of Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) transmission, Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission, or UL sounding referencing signal (SRS) transmission; and

responsively prioritizing the DL transmission over the UL transmission.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein prioritizing, based at least on the capability indication, the DL transmission over the UL transmission comprises scheduling the DL transmission before the UL transmission.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the DL transmission is a first DL transmission, the UL transmission is a first UL transmission, and the method further comprising prioritizing, based at least on the capability indication, a second DL transmission over a second UL transmission, wherein prioritizing the second DL transmission over the second UL transmission comprises:

determining that:

(i) the UE is operating according to an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) new radio (NR DC (EN-DC) protocol;

(ii) the second DL transmission is associated with at least one of downlink (DL Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobility measurement or DL radio link monitoring (RLM); and

(iii) the second UL transmission comprises at least one of new radio (NR) Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) transmission, Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission, UL sounding referencing signal (SRS) transmission, or Random Access Channel (RACH) transmission; and

responsively prioritizing the second DL transmission over the second UL transmission.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the DL transmission is a first DL transmission, the UL transmission is a first UL transmission, and the method further comprising prioritizing, based at least on the capability indication, a second DL transmission over a second UL transmission, wherein prioritizing the second DL transmission over the second UL transmission comprises:

determining that:

(i) the UE is operating according to an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) new radio (NR) DC (EN-DC) protocol;

(ii) the second UL transmission comprises at least one of Long Term Evolution (LTE) Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) transmission, Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission, UL sounding referencing signal (SRS) transmission, or Random Access Channel (RACH) transmission;

(iii) the second DL transmission is associated with at least one of downlink (DL) NR mobility measurement, DL radio link monitoring (RLM), DL Beam Reporting (BR), DL beam failure detection (BFD), or DL candidate beam detection (CBD); and

responsively prioritizing the second DL transmission over the second UL transmission.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the DL transmission is a first DL transmission, the UL transmission is a first UL transmission, and the method further comprising prioritizing, based at least on the capability indication, a second_DL transmission over a second UL transmission, wherein prioritizing the second DL transmission over the second UL transmission comprises:

determining that:

(i) the UE is operating according to a new radio-new radio (NR-NR) DC protocol;

(ii) the second DL transmission is associated with at least one of downlink (DL) mobility measurement, radio link monitoring (RLM), Beam Reporting (BR), beam failure detection (BFD), or DL candidate beam detection (CBD); and

(iii) the second UL transmission comprises at least one of Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) transmission, Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission, UL sounding referencing signal (SRS) transmission, or Random Access Channel (RACH) transmission; and

responsively prioritizing the second DL transmission over the second UL transmission.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the DL transmission is a first DL transmission, the UL transmission is a first UL transmission, and the method further comprising prioritizing, based at least on the capability indication, a second DL transmission over a second UL transmission, wherein prioritizing the second DL transmission over the second UL transmission comprises:

determining that:

(i) the UE is operating according to a new radio (NR) Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) DC (NE-DC) protocol;

(ii) the second UL transmission comprise at least one of NR Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) transmission, Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission, UL sounding referencing signal (SRS) transmission, or Random Access Channel (RACH) transmission;

(iii) the second DL transmission is associated with at least one of downlink (DL) Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobility measurement or DL radio link monitoring (RLM); and

responsively prioritizing the second DL transmission over the second UL transmission.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the DL transmission is a first DL transmission, the UL transmission is a first UL transmission, and the method further comprising prioritizing, based at least on the capability indication, a second DL transmission over a second UL transmission, wherein prioritizing the second DL transmission over the second UL transmission comprises:

determining that:

(i) the UE is operating according to a new radio (NR) Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) DC (NE-DC) protocol;

(ii) the second DL transmission is associated with at least one of downlink (DL) NR mobility measurement, radio link monitoring (RLM), Beam Reporting (BR), beam failure detection (BFD), or candidate beam detection (CBD);

(iii) the second UL transmission comprises at least one of Long Term Evolution (LTE) Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) transmission, Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission, UL sounding referencing signal (SRS) transmission, or Random Access Channel (RACH) transmission; and

responsively prioritizing the second DL transmission over the second UL transmission.

8. A method of operating a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:

receiving an indication to operate in a carrier aggregation or a dual-connectivity mode, wherein operating in the carrier aggregation or the dual-connectivity mode involves communicating with a plurality of serving cells on a plurality of component carriers (CCs);

determining that a downlink (DL) measurement is scheduled on a first CC (CC1) at a first time, wherein the CC1 is provided by a first serving cell of the plurality; and

in response to the determination and based on an indication that the UE does not support simultaneous transmission and reception on the plurality of serving cells, determining not to transmit an UL transmission at the first time via any of the plurality of serving cells,

wherein determining not to transmit an UL transmission at the first time comprises:

determining that:

(i) the UE is operating according to a new radio (NR) CA;

(ii) the DL measurement comprises at least one of a DL mobility measurement, a radio link monitoring (RLM), a beam failure detection (BFD), or a candidate beam detection (CBD);

(iii) the UL transmission comprises at least one of Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) transmission, Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission, or UL sounding referencing signal (SRS) transmission; and

responsively determining not to perform the UL transmission.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising interrupting the UL transmission to perform the DL measurement.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the DL measurement is a first DL measurement, the UL transmission is a first UL transmission, and the method further comprising:

determining that a second DL measurement is scheduled on the CC1 at a second time;

determining not to transmit a second UL transmission at the first the second time, wherein determining not to transmit the second UL transmission comprises:

determining that:

(i) the UE is operating according to a new radio (NR) Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) DC (NE-DC) protocol;

(ii) the second DL measurement is at least one of a DL NR mobility measurement, a radio link monitoring (RLM), a Beam Reporting (BR), a beam failure detection (BFD), or a candidate beam detection (CBD);

(iii) the second UL transmission comprises at least one of Long Term Evolution (LTE) Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) transmission, Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission, UL sounding referencing signal (SRS) transmission, or Random Access Channel (RACH) transmission; and

responsively determining not to perform the second UL transmission.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the DL measurement is a first DL measurement, the UL transmission is a first UL transmission, and the method further comprising:

determining that a second DL measurement is scheduled on the CC1 at a second time;

determining not to transmit a second UL transmission at the first the second time, wherein determining not to transmit the second UL transmission comprises:

determining that:

(i) the UE is operating according to an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) new radio (NR) DC (EN-DC) protocol;

(ii) the second DL measurement is at least one of a DL Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobility measurement or a DL radio link monitoring (RLM); and

(iii) the second UL transmission comprises at least one of a new radio (NR) Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) transmission, a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission, an UL sounding referencing signal (SRS) transmission, or a Random Access Channel (RACH) transmission; and

responsively determining not to perform the second UL transmission.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein the DL measurement is a first DL measurement, the UL transmission is a first UL transmission, and the method further comprising:

determining that a second DL measurement is scheduled on the CC1 at a second time;

determining not to transmit a second UL transmission at the first the second time, wherein determining not to transmit the second UL transmission comprises:

determining that:

(i) the UE is operating according to an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) new radio (NR) DC (EN-DC) protocol;

(ii) the second UL transmission comprises at least one of Long Term Evolution (LTE) Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) transmission, Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission, UL sounding referencing signal (SRS) transmission, or Random Access Channel (RACH) transmission;

(iii) the second DL measurement is at least one of a DL NR mobility measurement, a DL radio link monitoring (RLM), a DL Beam Reporting (BR), a DL beam failure detection (BFD), or a DL candidate beam detection (CBD); and

responsively determining not to perform the second UL transmission.

13. The method of claim 8 , wherein the DL measurement is a first DL measurement, the UL transmission is a first UL transmission, and the method further comprising:

determining that a second DL measurement is scheduled on the CC1 at a second time;

determining not to transmit a second UL transmission at the first the second time, wherein determining not to transmit the second UL transmission comprises:

determining that:

(i) the UE is operating according to a new radio-new radio (NR-NR) DC protocol;

(ii) the second DL measurement is at least one of a DL mobility measurement, a radio link monitoring (RLM), a Beam Reporting (BR), beam failure detection (BFD), or a DL candidate beam detection (CBD); and

(iii) the second UL transmission comprises at least one of Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) transmission, Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission, UL sounding referencing signal (SRS) transmission, or Random Access Channel (RACH) transmission; and

responsively determining not to perform the second UL transmission.

14. The method of claim 8 , wherein the DL measurement is a first DL measurement, the UL transmission is a first UL transmission, and the method further comprising:

determining that a second DL measurement is scheduled on the CC1 at a second time;

determining not to transmit a second UL transmission at the first the second time, wherein determining not to transmit the second UL transmission comprises:

determining that:

(i) the UE is operating according to a new radio (NR) Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) DC (NE-DC) protocol;

(ii) the second UL transmission comprises at least one of NR Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) transmission, Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission, UL sounding referencing signal (SRS) transmission, or Random Access Channel (RACH) transmission;

(iii) the second DL measurement is at least one of a DL Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobility measurement or a DL radio link monitoring (RLM); and

responsively determining not to perform the second UL transmission.

Assignments (2)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Sep 22, 2022
From: INTEL CORPORATION
To: APPLE INC.
Reel/Frame 061554/0001 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Sep 16, 2022
From: CUI, JIE; WANG, YUANYE; HE, HONG; TANG, YANG; LI, QIMING
To: INTEL CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 061123/0355 →