Granted Patent B2

US 12,244,397 · App. 18/252,500 · Granted Mar 4, 2025

Inventors: Jibing Wang (San Jose, CA); Erik Richard Stauffer (Sunnyvale, CA); Aamir Akram (San Jose, CA); Sharath Ananth (Cupertino, CA)

Assignee: Google LLC

H04B7/18513H04B7/18563H04L1/08H04L5/0016H04B7/18532

Abstract

Claims (80)

1. A method performed by a non-terrestrial communication system for communicating with a user equipment (UE) the method comprising:

determining, by a ground station of the non-terrestrial communication system, a repetition configuration for repetitive communications with the UE, the determining of the repetition configuration including at least one of:

(i) obtaining a satellite location; and

determining the repetition configuration using the satellite location; or

(ii) receiving assistance information from the UE; and

determining the repetition configuration for repetitive communications using the assistance information;

indicating the repetition configuration to the UE; and

communicating with the UE using the repetitive communications in accordance with the repetition configuration.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein determining the repetition configuration comprises at least one of:

determining a frequency-domain repetition factor by partitioning a first frequency bandwidth into multiple, smaller bandwidth segments and selecting at least two bandwidth segments from the multiple, smaller bandwidth segments, for the repetitive communications;

determining a code-domain repetition factor by selecting at least two channel codes for the repetitive communications; or

determining a time-domain repetition factor by selecting at least two transmission time intervals (TTIs) for the repetitive communications.

3. The method as recited in claim 2 , wherein communicating with the UE using the non-terrestrial communication system and the repetitive communications in accordance with the repetition configuration comprises:

repeating transmission of a downlink communication in accordance with the repetition configuration; or

receiving an uplink communication in accordance with the repetition configuration.

4. The method as recited in claim 3 , wherein the repetition configuration includes the frequency-domain repetition factor, and,

wherein communicating with the UE using the repetitive communications further comprises:

repeating transmission of the downlink communication in each bandwidth segment of the at least two bandwidth segments.

5. The method as recited in claim 3 , wherein receiving the uplink communication from the UE further comprises:

monitoring the at least two bandwidth segments for the uplink communication.

6. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the determining of the repetition configuration further comprises:

selecting the repetition configuration based upon a current radio resource control (RRC) state of the UE.

7. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein determining the repetition configuration comprises receiving the assistance information from the UE, and

wherein receiving the assistance information further comprises one of:

receiving a first indication to turn off the repetitive communications;

receiving a second indication to reduce a repetition factor; or

receiving a third indication to increase the repetition factor.

8. The method as recited in claim 7 , wherein determining the repetition configuration using the assistance information comprises:

obtaining at least a first UE-selected repetition factor from the assistance information; and

determining the repetition configuration using the first UE-selected repetition factor.

9. A method performed by a user equipment (UE) for communicating with a non-terrestrial communication system using repetitive communications, the method comprising:

transmitting assistance information to the non-terrestrial communication system;

receiving, from the non-terrestrial communication system, a repetition configuration for communicating with the non-terrestrial communication system using repetitive transmissions, the repetition configuration based on the assistance information; and

communicating with the non-terrestrial communication system using the repetitive transmissions in accordance with the repetition configuration.

10. The method as recited in claim 9 , wherein receiving the repetition configuration comprises:

receiving one or more repetition factors for performing the repetitive communications, the repetition factors comprising at least one of:

a frequency-domain repetition factor that specifies at least two bandwidth segments of a partitioned frequency bandwidth;

a code-domain repetition factor that specifies at least two channel codes; or

a time-domain repetition factor that indicates at least two transmission time intervals (TTIs).

11. The method as recited in claim 10 , wherein communicating with the non-terrestrial communication system using the repetitive transmissions in accordance with the repetition configuration comprises:

transmitting the repetitive transmissions to the non-terrestrial communication system in accordance with the one or more repetition factors, the repetitive transmissions comprising repeated transmission of an uplink communication; or

receiving the repetitive transmissions from the non-terrestrial communication system in accordance with the one or more repetition factors, the repetitive transmissions comprising repeated transmission of a downlink communication.

12. The method as recited in claim 11 , wherein the one or more repetition factors includes the time-domain repetition factor, and

wherein communicating with the non-terrestrial communication system comprises:

repeating transmission of the uplink communication in at least one bandwidth segment of the at least two bandwidth segments; or

receiving the downlink communication in at least one bandwidth segment of the at least two bandwidth segments.

13. The method as recited in claim 9 , wherein the transmitting comprises:

generating the assistance information which includes one or more UE-selected repetition factors, the one or more UE-selected repetition factors comprising at least one of:

a UE-selected frequency repetition factor;

a UE-selected code-domain repetition factor; or

a UE-selected time-domain repetition factor.

14. The method as recited in claim 9 , further comprising:

determining to disable repetitive communications, and

communicating, to the non-terrestrial communication system, a request to disable repetitive communications.

15. The method as recited in claim 9 , wherein the receiving, from the non-terrestrial communication system, the repetition configuration comprises:

receiving the repetition configuration for communicating on a data channel; or

receiving the repetition configuration for communicating on a control channel.

16. A non-terrestrial communication system comprising:

at least one processor; and

computer-readable storage media comprising instructions, responsive to execution by the at least one processor, for directing a ground station of the non-terrestrial communication system to:

determine a repetition configuration for repetitive communications with a user equipment (UE), the determination of the repetition configuration including at least one of:

(i) obtain a satellite location; and

determine the repetition configuration using the satellite location; or

(ii) receive assistance information from the UE; and

determine the repetition configuration for repetitive communications using the assistance information;

indicate the repetition configuration to the UE; and

communicate with the UE using the repetitive communications in accordance with the repetition configuration.

17. The non-terrestrial communication system of claim 16 , wherein the instructions to determine the repetition configuration are executable to:

determine a frequency-domain repetition factor by partitioning a first frequency bandwidth into multiple, smaller bandwidth segments and selecting at least two bandwidth segments from the multiple, smaller bandwidth segments, for the repetitive communications;

determine a code-domain repetition factor by selecting at least two channel codes for the repetitive communications; or

determine a time-domain repetition factor by selecting at least two transmission time intervals (TTIs) for the repetitive communications.

18. The non-terrestrial communication system of claim 17 , wherein the repetition configuration includes the frequency-domain repetition factor, and,

wherein the communication with the UE using the repetitive communications further directs the UE to:

repeat transmission of an uplink communication in each bandwidth segment of the at least two bandwidth segments; or

receive a downlink communication in at least one bandwidth segment of the at least two bandwidth segments.

19. The non-terrestrial communication system of claim 18 , wherein the instructions to receive the uplink communication from the UE are further executable to:

monitor the at least two bandwidth segments for the uplink communication.

20. The method as recited in claim 13 , further comprising:

transmitting a request for repetitive communication of control channel communications to the non-terrestrial communication system; or

transmitting a request for repetitive communication of data channel communications to the non-terrestrial communication system.

Continuity (3)

References Cited (40)

Cited By (1)

US 12,439,296