Inter-site carrier aggregation

1. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor and at least one memory including a computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:

convey, by a primary cell node, a radio resource reconfiguration message to a user device for carrying out secondary cell configuration for downlink data conveyance using inter-site carrier aggregation functionality, wherein the inter-site aggregation functionality comprises the user device being provided with a frequency carrier by the primary cell node and with another frequency carrier by a secondary cell node; and

obtain and/or convey information on completion of the secondary cell configuration and/or

activate downlink data forwarding to the secondary cell node.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising causing the apparatus to:

provide an umbrella cell operating as a primary cell supporting X2 interface-based inter-site carrier aggregation.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the radio resource reconfiguration message is a radio resource control (RRC) message comprising at least one of secondary cell system information, pico(micro/femto)-macro cell switching pattern for uplink, cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) used by pico/slave node, primary cell physical uplink control channel configuration and secondary cell physical uplink control channel configuration.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the radio resource reconfiguration message is an activation message of radio resource control or medium access control type.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising causing the apparatus to:

convey as a part of the radio resource reconfiguration message primary cell and/or secondary cell physical uplink control channel configurations to be used after the secondary cell configuration.

6. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor and at least one memory including a computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:

obtain information on completion of a secondary cell configuration from a primary cell node or a user device and/or downlink data from the primary cell node for downlink data conveyance using inter-site carrier aggregation functionality, wherein the inter-site aggregation functionality comprises the user device being provided with a frequency carrier by the primary cell node and with another frequency carrier by a secondary cell node; and

carry out a random access channel procedure for enabling switching to the configured secondary cell.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 , further comprising causing the apparatus to:

provide a small cell operating under a macro cell as a secondary cell supporting X2 interface -based inter-site carrier aggregation.

8. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the information on the completion of the secondary cell configuration is a radio resource reconfiguration complete message.

9. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the random access channel (RACH) procedure comprises a random access preamble and a random access response (RAR).

10. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the random access channel (RACH) procedure comprises a random access preamble and a random access response (RAR) and wherein the random access procedure is used to switch to a physical layer (PHY) configuration supporting the usage of the secondary cell.

11. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the information on completion of a secondary cell configuration is obtained from the primary cell node or a user device.

12. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor and at least one memory including a computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:

carry out a random access channel procedure for enabling switching from a primary cell node to a configured secondary cell for downlink data conveyance using inter-site carrier aggregation functionality, wherein the inter-site aggregation functionality comprises the user device being provided with a frequency carrier by the primary cell node and with another frequency carrier by a secondary cell node; and/or

carry out a non-contention based random access channel procedure for obtaining uplink timing for downlink data conveyance using inter-site carrier aggregation functionality.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the random access channel (RACH) procedure comprises a random access preamble and a random access response (RAR).

14. The apparatus of claim 12 , further comprising causing the apparatus to:

clear hybrid adaptive repeat and request (HARD) buffers at least partly.

15. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the uplink timing is obtained by using a random access channel preamble or via a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) order.

16. The apparatus of claim 12 , further comprising causing the apparatus to:

obtain a radio resource reconfiguration message from the primary cell node, the radio resource reconfiguration message being a radio resource control (RRC) message comprising at least one of secondary cell system information, pico(micro/femto)-macro cell switching pattern for uplink, cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) used by pico/slave node, primary cell physical uplink control channel configuration and secondary cell physical uplink control channel configuration.

17. A method comprising:

conveying, by a primary cell node, a radio resource reconfiguration message to a user device for carrying out secondary cell configuration for downlink data conveyance using inter-site carrier aggregation functionality, wherein the inter-site aggregation functionality comprises the user device being provided with a frequency carrier by the primary cell node and with another frequency carrier by a secondary cell node; and

obtaining and/or convey information on completion of the secondary cell configuration and/or

activating downlink data forwarding to the secondary cell node.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:

providing an umbrella cell operating as a primary cell supporting X2 interface-based inter-site carrier aggregation.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein the radio resource reconfiguration message is a radio resource control (RRC) message comprising at least one of: secondary cell system information, pico(micro/femto)-macro cell switching pattern for uplink, cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) used by pico/slave node, primary cell physical uplink control channel configuration and secondary cell physical uplink control channel configuration.

20. The method of claim 17 , wherein the radio resource reconfiguration message is an activation message of radio resource control or medium access control type.

21. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:

conveying as a part of the radio resource reconfiguration message primary cell and/or secondary cell physical uplink control channel configurations to be used after the secondary cell configuration.

22. A method comprising:

obtaining information on completion of a secondary cell configuration from a primary cell node or a user device and/or downlink data from the primary cell node for downlink data conveyance using inter-site carrier aggregation functionality, wherein the inter-site aggregation functionality comprises the user device being provided with a frequency carrier by the primary cell node and with another frequency carrier by a secondary cell node; and

carrying out a random access channel procedure for enabling switching to the configured secondary cell.

23. The method of claim 19 , further comprising:

providing a small cell operating under a macro cell as a secondary cell supporting X2 interface -based inter-site carrier aggregation.

24. The method of claim 22 , wherein the information on the completion of the secondary cell configuration is a radio resource reconfiguration complete message.

25. The method of claim 22 , wherein the random access channel (RACH) procedure comprises a random access preamble and a random access response (RAR).

26. The method of claim 22 , wherein the random access channel (RACH) procedure comprises a random access preamble and a random access response (RAR) and wherein the random access procedure is used to switch to a physical layer (PHY) configuration supporting the usage of the secondary cell.

27. The method of claim 22 , wherein the information on completion of a secondary cell configuration is obtained from the primary cell node or a user device.

28. A method comprising:

carrying out a random access channel procedure for enabling switching from a primary cell node to a configured secondary cell for downlink data conveyance using inter-site carrier aggregation functionality, wherein the inter-site aggregation functionality comprises the user device being provided with a frequency carrier by the primary cell node and with another frequency carrier by a secondary cell node; and/or

carrying out a non-contention based random access channel procedure for obtaining uplink timing for downlink data conveyance using inter-site carrier aggregation functionality.

29. The method of claim 28 , wherein the random access channel (RACH) procedure comprises a random access preamble and a random access response (RAR).

30. The method of claim 28 , further comprising:

clearing hybrid adaptive repeat and request (HARQ) buffers at least partly.

31. The method of claim 28 , wherein the uplink timing is obtained by using a random access channel preamble or via a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) order.

32. The method of any claim 28 , further comprising:

obtaining a radio resource reconfiguration message from a primary cell, the radio resource reconfiguration message being a radio resource control (RRC) message comprising at least one of: secondary cell system information, pico(micro/femto)-macro cell switching pattern for uplink, cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) used by pico/slave node, primary cell physical uplink control channel configuration and secondary cell physical uplink control channel configuration.