HK1228161A1 - Systems, methods and devices for opportunistic networking - Google Patents

Abstract

Opportunistic networking systems can utilize one or multiple bands/channels that are shared with other radio access technologies (RATs) (such as wireless local area networks (WLAN, such as Wi-Fi) and mmWave). An unconventional carrier type (UCT) can be defined to support opportunistic networking in licensed and/or unlicensed spectrum. For example, a primary base station can determine a secondary base station activated for use with user equipment (UE). The primary base station can schedule data to be sent to the UE via the secondary base station. The secondary base station can provide discovery information, reserve a wireless channel, transmit the data and/or release the channel (implicitly, explicitly, or by reservation).

Description

Systems, methods, and devices for opportunistic networking

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application No.61/953,634 entitled "internet of chance SUPPORT FOR LTE cellular systems" (opportable NETWORKING SUPPORT FOR LTE cellular system) "filed 3/14/2014, entitled" 35 u.s.c. § 119(e), the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to wireless transmission systems, including systems for sharing wireless spectrum.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating an opportunistic networking system consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a use case of an opportunistic networking system consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

Fig. 3 is an illustration of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) frame consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

Fig. 4 is a diagram illustrating synchronization of transmissions using alignment gaps consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating synchronization of transmissions using a preamble within an alignment gap consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

Fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating the use of super-subframes to synchronize transmissions consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

Fig. 7 is a diagram illustrating synchronization of transmissions using reduced length subframes consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

Fig. 8 is a diagram illustrating the use of primary and/or secondary synchronization signals (PSS/SSS) consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

Fig. 9 is a diagram illustrating a discovery subframe using periodic transmissions consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

Fig. 10 is a diagram illustrating a non-aligned subframe with channel reservation consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

Fig. 11 is a diagram illustrating non-aligned subframes with channel reservation and discovery subframes consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

Fig. 12 is a flow chart illustrating a method for cross-carrier transmission consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a computing system consistent with embodiments disclosed herein.

Detailed Description

The following provides a detailed description of systems and methods consistent with embodiments of the present disclosure. While several embodiments are described, it should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to any one embodiment, but encompasses numerous alternatives, modifications, and equivalents. In addition, while numerous specific details are set forth in the following description in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments disclosed herein, some embodiments can be practiced without some or all of these details. Moreover, for the purpose of clarity, certain technical material that is known in the related art has not been described in detail in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present disclosure.

Techniques, apparatuses, and methods are disclosed to implement opportunistic networking that utilizes one or more frequency bands/channels used by or shared with other Radio Access Technologies (RATs), such as wireless local area networks (WLANs, e.g., WiFi) and millimeter waves (mmWave). Conventional Long Term Evolution (LTE) uses one or more frequency bands exclusively allocated to LTE (e.g., LTE carrier aggregation or New Carrier Type (NCT)). An irregular carrier type (UCT) may be defined to support opportunistic networking in licensed and/or unlicensed spectrum. LTE in licensed carriers will be referred to as LCT (licensed carrier type).

For example, a primary base station (which may provide a primary carrier and a primary cell (PCell), and may transmit over a primary medium, a set of primary frequencies, a primary spectrum, a primary band of frequencies, etc.) may determine a secondary base station (which may provide a secondary carrier and a secondary cell (SCell), and may transmit over a secondary medium, a set of secondary frequencies, a secondary spectrum, a secondary band of frequencies, etc.) to activate for use by a User Equipment (UE). The primary base station may schedule data to be transmitted to the UE via the secondary base station. The secondary base station may provide discovery information, reserve a wireless channel, transmit data, and/or release a channel (implicitly, explicitly, or by reservation).

In one embodiment, fast cell switching is used to opportunistically use the available spectrum. For example, mmWave technology may have limited availability under adverse channel conditions (e.g., due to high frequency effects). Ultra-fast cell switching may allow opportunistic use of mmWave when it is available.

In another embodiment, more efficient sharing of frequency bands may be supported by rapidly switching between a dormant (e.g., OFF) state and an active (e.g., ON) state. During the dormant state, the UCT system will suppress transmissions to reduce interference to other RAT technologies using the spectrum. During the active state, the UCT system may perform Downlink (DL) and/or Uplink (UL) LTE operations.

In one embodiment, the sleep subframes may be used to implement a protocol to help share the spectrum. For example, the UCT system may perform listen-before-talk (LBT) protocols and/or channel reservation techniques. The UCT may transition to an active state once spectrum is reserved and/or available.

In another embodiment, the UCT system may reduce periodic transmission of signals compared to the LCT system. A discovery signal and/or a synchronization signal may be used instead of the typical LCT signal. The discovery signal may be periodically transmitted even when the UCT system is in a sleep state (e.g., during a sleep subframe).

The demand for wireless broadband data in cellular networks is expected to increase. By considering the user's desire for high data rates and seamless mobility, more spectrum can be used for macro cell and small cell deployments. To support the increasing demand for wireless broadband data, opportunistic use of the additional available spectrum may be used. Such opportunistic network/offload opportunities can be used in the following three scenarios to take advantage of the extra available spectrum in either the licensed or unlicensed bands.

In scenario (1), LTE-a technology may use unlicensed bands, which are referred to as unlicensed LTE (LTE-U) or Licensed Assisted Access (LAA). LTE-U may extend LTE technology into unlicensed deployments to enable operators and vendors to leverage existing or planned investments in LTE/Evolved Packet Core (EPC) hardware in radio and core networks. LTE-U may also be considered a supplemental downlink Component Carrier (CC) in an LTE Carrier Aggregation (CA) configuration. The use of LTE in unlicensed bands may be the coexistence of LTE with other active technologies deployed in unlicensed bands. Self-coexistence (self-coexistence) problems between different LTE operators in the same frequency band may also be encountered due to the presence of multiple LTE operators using the same unlicensed spectrum.

In scenario (2), the opportunistic networking embodiment uses the LTE licensed band along with another Radio Access Technology (RAT) used in the high spectrum, such as millimeter wave (mmWave). Due to the restrictive beamforming requirements and potentially high path loss to achieve reasonable link/channel quality, the option of opportunistically using mmWave channels cannot always be guaranteed. Designs that include support for opportunistic networking and use of mmWave (when channel conditions are favorable) may be beneficial to ensure basic quality of service (QoS), which may improve user experience. Cell densification may be of interest to apply mmWave spectrum in densely populated areas in order to provide local coverage without causing excessive inter-cell interference. The use of highly directional antenna arrays and beamforming for mmWave communications may provide additional coverage and capacity boost. In some embodiments, the mmWave band may be considered as an additional secondary carrier and SCell to improve existing LTE system performance.

In case (3), a device-to-device (D2D) service may be used for unlicensed spectrum in which a conventional LTE service is used. D2D service in unlicensed spectrum may be used to opportunistically offload traffic demand for licensed band LTE services and improve overall data rates and user experience.

The use of additional spectrum in the above example may enable coexistence of frequency bands with different propagation characteristics within the same system. Architecture can be built on the concept of Unconventional Carrier Type (UCT) together with the concept of fast on/off cell operation to support opportunistic networking options and to address coexistence. Several concepts may be used in an opportunistic networking design, including: (A) concept of utilizing a licensed assisted (LTE-assisted) spectrum sharing scheme; (B) utilizing the carrier aggregation concept and (C) utilizing a fast cell on/off mechanism to support opportunistic use of spectrum and networking.

These opportunistic networking concepts will be further discussed in the description of the "unconventional carrier type design" heading. However, to aid in understanding the design, a brief introduction will first be made to a system that is capable of using opportunistic networking.

Wireless mobile communication technology uses various standards and protocols to transfer data between base stations and wireless mobile devices. Wireless communication system standards and protocols may include the 3 rd generation partnership project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard; the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)802.16 standard, commonly known by the industry community as WiMAX (worldwide interoperability for microwave access); and the IEEE 802.11 standard (which is commonly referred to by the industry community as WiFi). The mobile broadband network may include various high speed data technologies, such as a 3GPP LTE system. In a 3GPP Radio Access Network (RAN) of an LTE system, a base station may include an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN) node B (also commonly referred to as an evolved node B, enhanced node B, eNodeB, or eNB) and/or a Radio Network Controller (RNC) in an E-UTRAN, which communicates with a wireless communication device known as User Equipment (UE).

Turning to fig. 1, an example of a portion of a Radio Access Network (RAN) system 100 includes a single cellular air interface (e.g., an LTE/LTE upgraded access link) provided between a primary base station 104 and a UE 102 (i.e., over access link a) and an air interface (a supplemental network interface, e.g., an LTE-U based interface) provided between a secondary base station 106 and the UE 102 (i.e., over access link B). The UE 102 is located within a macro cell coverage area 108. The UE 102 determines that a connection with the secondary base station 106 would be beneficial to a user of the UE 102. In some embodiments, the UE 102 maintains access link a to the primary base station 104. The UE 102 may offload some or part of the wireless service onto access link a. In other embodiments, UE 102 disconnects from access link a and moves all wireless services to access link B. In some embodiments, access link a and access link B use the same frequency and technology. In other embodiments, access link a and access link B use different frequencies (e.g., LTE licensed and unlicensed frequencies) and different link technologies (e.g., LTE and WiFi). In other embodiments, access link a and access link B use different frequencies and similar link technologies (e.g., LTE over LTE and mmWave).

Fig. 2 presents a diagram 200 of different application scenarios 202 for UCT. The UCT carrier design provides a general architecture that enables LTE to be deployed in scenarios where existing LTE/LTE-a may not fit, while still meeting the above target requirements. Although enhancements to unlicensed band deployment are an advantage of UCT, UCT may also be used for licensed bands. It may be used as a DL supplemental secondary carrier (DSC) or to support both DL and UL. UCT may be supported in both Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) and Time Division Duplex (TDD) modes.

When the UCT is used for single carrier operation 204, it may operate as a standalone carrier (e.g., as a primary carrier) in either the licensed band or the unlicensed band.

The application of UCT may be (1) as a secondary carrier providing SCell 212 on an unlicensed band in a Carrier Aggregation (CA)206 scenario, or (2) as a secondary carrier providing SCell 224 in a primary enb (menb) group 218 in a Dual Connectivity (DC)208 scenario, or providing a secondary carrier of SCell 232 in a SeNB group 220. In some embodiments of CA 206 (and see long term evolution release 12 specification (LTE Rel-12)), it is assumed that the secondary carrier providing SCell 212 is synchronized with the primary cell providing PCell 210. However, due to the use of UCT in unlicensed bands, further CA 206 scenarios may be described in future LTE releases (LTE Rel-13 and beyond) where the secondary carrier providing SCell 212 is not synchronized with the primary cell providing PCell 210. In addition, in DC 208, the UCT may also serve as a supplemental primary carrier that provides the sPCell 230 in the SeNB group 220.

It is also feasible to use the UCT as the primary carrier providing the PCell 210 in the CA 206 scenario and/or as the primary carrier providing the PCell 222 in the MeNB group 218 in case of dual connectivity 208.

Fig. 3 is a diagram 300 illustrating a Long Term Evolution (LTE) communication frame 304 having a duration 302 of 10 ms. In one embodiment, each frequency allocation (carrier) may be in increments of 180 kHz. In the illustrated figure, a minimum number of six carriers is shown. This allows a bandwidth of 1.08MHz (six carriers times 180kHz to 1.08MHz bandwidth). In some embodiments, the carriers may be extended to 110 blocks (110 carriers by 180 kHz-19.8 MHz). Frame 304 may be 10ms, with 0.5ms per slot 308 (and 1ms per subframe 306).

The slot 308 at a carrier is a resource block 310, the resource block 310 comprising 7 symbols each at 12 Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) subcarriers. Resource element 312 is one OFDM subcarrier corresponding to the duration of one OFDM symbol. When using a normal Cyclic Prefix (CP), a resource block 310 may include 84 resource elements 312. The OFDM spacing between individual subcarriers in LTE may be 15 kHz. The guard period of the CP may be used in the time domain to help prevent multipath inter-symbol interference (ISI) between subcarriers. The CP may be a guard period before each OFDM symbol in each subcarrier to prevent ISI (e.g., caused by multipath).

The LTE frame may be changed for use by the UCT architecture. Fig. 4-11 illustrate various embodiments of the UCT architecture using LTE frames. Fig. 4 shows an alignment gap for synchronization with a primary carrier. Fig. 5 shows channel reservation in conjunction with UCT. Fig. 6 illustrates an extended subframe or super-subframe for synchronization. Fig. 7 shows a reduced length subframe for synchronization. Fig. 8 illustrates an example of an unsynchronized frame transmitted using PSS/SSS. Fig. 9 illustrates an example of a synchronization frame using a periodically transmitted discovery subframe and channel reservation. Fig. 10 shows a non-synchronized subframe using channel reservation. Fig. 11 illustrates non-synchronized subframes using channel reservation and discovery subframes. These figures will be described in connection with a UCT design that includes UCT types and variants.

Unconventional Carrier Type (UCT) design

Opportunistic networking utilizes one or more frequency bands/channels used by or shared with other Radio Access Technologies (RATs), such as WLAN and mmWave, while conventional LTE (or simply LTE) uses one or more frequency bands exclusively allocated to LTE (e.g., LTE carrier aggregation or New Carrier Type (NCT)). The irregular carrier types may support opportunistic networking in licensed spectrum and/or unlicensed spectrum. In this specification, such a carrier is referred to as an Unconventional Carrier Type (UCT), and LTE in a licensed carrier is referred to as LCT (licensed carrier type).

In some embodiments, design goals for a UCT may include: (1) opportunistically use additional available spectrum using LTE and other RATs (e.g., WLAN, mmWave, etc.) (which may be considered a spectrum sharing mechanism in conjunction with the use of LTE technology, e.g., a licensed-assisted (LTE-assisted) spectrum sharing scheme); (2) efficiently share spectrum with other active RATs in additional spectrum; (3) compliance with legal limits on additional available spectrum for licensed or unlicensed bands; and (4) lower interference to other RATs or LTE in the same or adjacent frequency bands.

Target 1: opportunistic use using LTE and other RATs (e.g., WLAN, mmWave, etc.) Additional available spectrum

Some challenges for RATs used in high frequency bands (e.g., mmWave communications) include a large amount of path loss (especially for non-line-of-sight scenarios) and signal blocking/absorption caused by various objects in the environment. Advanced antenna arrays with intelligent beam selection/tracking algorithms can be used to address signal attenuation or path loss issues. This may result in limited availability when the high frequency (e.g., mmWave) band is in adverse channel conditions. Thus, the additional mmWave resources may be utilized using ultra-fast cell switching or fast opportunistic use of mmWave channels.

Target 2: efficient sharing of spectrum with other RATs in additional spectrum

Some embodiments facilitate efficient sharing of unlicensed bands by rapidly switching UCTs ON the unlicensed bands between a dormant (or OFF) and an active (or ON) state. The UCT subframe during the sleep state may be referred to as a sleep (OFF) subframe, and the UCT subframe during the active state may be referred to as an active (ON) subframe. The UCT activity during the sleep and active states can be classified into two separate tasks: active subframe design and dormant subframe design.

During active state/subframes, the UCT may perform DL and/or UL LTE operations, while during dormant subframes, the UCT will suppress transmissions in order to reduce interference, thereby enabling other active RATs to use unlicensed frequency bands. Thus, the active state/subframe and the sleep state/subframe may be considered as an ON state/subframe and an OFF state/subframe, respectively.

In one embodiment, when there is no LTE traffic, the UCT may be in a sleep state, where all subframes are sleep subframes. Although this state is marked OFF or dormant, some signaling or control channels may be sent on the UCT secondary carrier during this state for special purposes (e.g., synchronization, signal strength/quality measurements, etc.). Subframes in which these signals/channels are transmitted may still be referred to as OFF subframes (or OFF state) because there is no data (traffic) transmission (e.g., Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH)) during these subframes.

Target 3: compliance with legal limits on additional available spectrum for licensed or unlicensed bands

To comply with the restrictions (e.g., legal restrictions) of the unlicensed frequency band, OFF/sleep subframes may be used to perform a protocol such as listen-before-transmit (LBT) to scan out whether the wireless medium (also referred to as wireless spectrum, radio frequency, channel, etc.) is busy or idle. In addition, the UCT may also reserve the medium from other RATs (e.g., by performing a spoofing mechanism to reserve a channel for its own transmissions). Once the medium is reserved (or sensed as idle in a situation where reservation is not required depending ON the LBT protocol), the UCT may transition from the OFF/sleep state to the ON/active state and the active subframes are used to transmit data (e.g., PDSCH).

Target 4: lower for other Radio Access Technologies (RAT) or LTE in the same or adjacent frequency bands Interference

In some embodiments, to help minimize transmission overhead and reduce interference, the UCT design may minimize periodic transmission of normally transmitted signals in the LCT. For example, in DL LCT designs, the following signals are transmitted periodically in Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) and Time Division Duplex (TDD).

In some embodiments of FDD DL, several signals are transmitted periodically. Cell-specific reference signals (CRSs) are transmitted in each subframe except for a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) portion of a Multicast Broadcast Single Frequency Network (MBSFN) subframe. PSS and SSS are sent in subframes 0 and 5. A Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) is transmitted in subframe 0. SIB-1 is transmitted in subframe 5 on a System Frame Number (SFN) that satisfies the condition SFN mod 2 ═ 0 (i.e., every other frame). Paging in subframes 0, 4, 5, and 9 over a frame satisfies the formula SFN mod T, where T is the Discontinuous Reception (DRX) period of the UE.

In some embodiments of TDD DL, several signals are transmitted periodically. The CRS is transmitted in every downlink subframe except for the PDSCH portion of the MBSFN subframe. The PSS is transmitted in subframes 0 and 5. SSS is transmitted in subframes 1 and 6. PBCH is transmitted in subframe O. SIB-1 is transmitted in subframe 5 on SFN that satisfies the condition SFN mod 2 being 0 (i.e., every other frame). Paging in subframes 0, 1, 5, and 6 over a frame satisfies the formula SFN modT, where T is the DRX cycle of the UE.

In addition, CRS transmission may be reduced. CRS transmission provides reference signal received power/reference signal received quality (RSRP/RSRQ) measurement, fine frequency tracking, and channel estimation. However, CRS transmission on empty subframes (e.g., in OFF/sleep subframes) may cause interference to other RATs and/or LTE-U systems using the spectrum. If the CRS transmission power exceeds a certain threshold, the active WLAN network may sense the medium as busy and refrain from transmitting. Reducing or eliminating CRS transmission on the UCT may improve medium usage efficiency of other RATs.

Reduced CRS transmission may be achieved in several possible ways. In a first embodiment, CRS transmission may be restricted to active subframes. In the dormant subframe, the UCT may suppress CRS transmission. In a second embodiment, CRS is eliminated from both active and dormant subframes. These tasks for CRS may be performed using alternative signals (e.g., channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), demodulation reference signals (DM-RS), etc.), making CRS transmission potentially superfluous. In a third embodiment, a cell on/off mechanism may be introduced whereby the UCT will be turned off when no data is being transmitted and turned on when there is data available for transmission.

In some embodiments, the transmission frames may be synchronized. In some embodiments of LCT, PSS/SSS is used for initial coarse time and frequency synchronization. In addition, the PSS/SSS may also be used for cell selection purposes during initial access. Similar to CRS transmissions, periodic transmission of PSS/SSS may cause additional interference to other RAT/LTE networks in the unlicensed band. In an embodiment, whether PSS/SSS transmissions are provided on the UCT depends on the spectral and geographical location of the UCT secondary base station relative to the licensed primary base station. The PSS/SSS transmitted on the primary base station may be used for secondary base station synchronization if both the primary and secondary base stations are co-located and the secondary base station frequency band is adjacent to the primary base station frequency band (i.e., inter-band CA). PSS/SSS transmissions may be considered redundant at the secondary base station. In a second example where the secondary base station is not co-located with the primary base station, or in the case of intra-band CA, the primary base station synchronization may not be as efficient when reused for UCT secondary base station synchronization purposes.

Several different design embodiments may be considered for this type of PSS/SSS signal transmission. In a first embodiment, in the case of co-located inter-band CA as described above, PSS/SSS transmissions may be eliminated on the UCT secondary base station.

In a second embodiment, the PSS/SSS may be in transmission timing in the LCT primary carrier (e.g., in case of FDD, PSS and SSS may be sent in subframes 0 and 5 of a frame). The actual transmission may be limited to the time instants when subframes 0 and 5 are active subframes. PSS/SSS transmission will not occur in the case of dormant subframes.

In a third embodiment, the PSS/SSS transmission may be at a new timing different from the LCT primary carrier. For example, PSS/SSS transmissions may occur in the kth active subframe in a frame on the UCT (i.e., every k active subframes).

In a fourth embodiment, instead of transmitting the legacy PSS/SSS for synchronization purposes, a new synchronization or discovery signal may be used. In addition, the new subframe structure may be designed for transmitting only a discovery signal (e.g., a subframe including a discovery signal, which is referred to as a discovery subframe). Discovery signals may be transmitted during the OFF state and may be used for cell identification, Radio Resource Management (RRM) measurements, and other purposes.

In some embodiments, transmission of PBCH/paging and other system information may be eliminated from the UCT secondary base station. Such information may be implemented on the licensed primary base station carrier. However, in the case of a separate application of UCT, such discovery signals may still be necessary. The conventional scheme may not be easily applicable if the independent UCT is operated on an unlicensed band. Similar to the PSS/SSS mechanism described above, new timing may be defined for such signaling on the UCT.

With the above description, embodiments of the UCT system will be described below.

Type 1UCT

In fig. 4, an example of a type 1UCT is shown. In this example, the subframe/frame boundaries of the UCT secondary eNB 404 are aligned with the subframe/frame boundaries of the legacy master eNB 402. In this example, in OFF/sleep subframes 418, the UCT secondary eNB 404 suppresses transmissions. Prior to transitioning/switching to the active state, the UCT secondary eNB 404 may perform LBT, which may include a channel reservation mechanism 412 with timing. Once the UCT secondary eNB 404 reserves the medium or senses that the channel is free, the UCT secondary eNB 404 may transmit data in the active subframe 416, i.e., transition to the ON/active state. To maintain alignment with the primary carrier 402 subframes (406, 408, and 410), a portion of the active state immediately preceding the first active subframe is left unused. This gap is referred to as the alignment gap 414.

In some embodiments, during the alignment gap 414, if the LAA eNB or UE is not transmitting signals, other active RATs (e.g., WLAN) and other LAA operators may determine that the medium is empty (empty) due to no transmissions being made. The active RAT or LAA operator may attempt to transmit during the vacant medium. To keep the medium reserved for transmission in the first active subframe, the LAA eNB or UE may send a signal before the first subframe to keep the medium occupied. Several mechanisms may be used to solve this medium reservation problem.

In fig. 5, a diagram 500 illustrates a mechanism that may be used for channel reservation during an alignment gap 502. A signal (shown here as WLAN preambles 504 and 506) may be sent during the alignment gap 502 to keep the medium busy before transmitting the subframe 508. In the embodiment shown in fig. 5, the transmitted signal is an 802.11a preamble signal consisting of an 8 μ s long STF (short training field), an 8 μ s LTF (long training field) and a 4 μ s long signal field, with a total duration of 20 μ s. Multiple copies of the signal may be sent during the alignment gap to keep the medium occupied. Other alternative signals are also conceivable. In various embodiments, the signal may take the form of a noise signal (e.g., white noise, a pseudo-random sequence, etc.), a null (if less than a duration), a reservation message, and/or a discovery signal. In a first exemplary embodiment, the form of the noise signal (such as a pseudo random noise sequence) may be broadcast throughout the transmission bandwidth. In a second embodiment, the alignment gap may remain empty 510 if the alignment gap is less than a particular duration. A WLAN access point/station (AP/STA) may wait/scan for a duration of at least a short interframe space (SIFS), a Packet Coordination Function (PCF) interframe space (PIFS), or a Distributed Coordination Function (DCF) interframe space (DIFS) before sending Acknowledgement (ACK) information, beacons, and data frames, respectively. If the alignment gap is less than one of these values (e.g., less than SIFS), the alignment gap may remain empty.

In a third example, the secondary base station may send some form of signal understood by the WLAN (e.g., a Physical (PHY) layer spoofing signal based on the WLAN preambles 504 and 506, an RTS message or a CTS message, etc.). In fig. 5, one example of transmitting WLAN preambles 504 and 506 is shown. In the illustrated embodiment, the alignment gap is 50 microseconds (μ β). The LTE symbol without CP duration is 66.7 μ s, an alignment gap greater than 50 μ s. In contrast, the transmission of the Short Training Field (STF), the Long Training Field (LTF), and the signal field (SIG) is part of the WLAN preamble, such that the WLAN device sees the medium as busy. Another benefit is that the WLAN AP/STA can decode the SIG portion of the signal and update their Network Allocation Vector (NAV) for the duration specified in preambles 504 and 506. One or more copies of the reservation message may be sent. Because the WLAN AP/STA waits/scans for at least the duration of SIFS, PIFS, or DIFS before transmitting the ACK information, beacon, and data frames, respectively, the additional gaps 510 may be left empty if the alignment gap 510 remaining after transmitting one or more such preambles 504 and 506 is less than the duration. In some embodiments, a Clear To Send (CTS) message, a Request To Send (RTS) message, or an RTS-CTS message may also be used in place of preamble(s) 504 and 506.

In a fourth example, an LTE discovery signal may be transmitted if the duration is greater than the LTE symbol length. Depending on the duration, one or more symbols of the LTE signal may be transmitted. Some examples of discovery signals include PSS/SSS, one or more symbols in CRS, CSI-RS, SRS, DMRS, PRS, etc., or enhanced versions of these signals.

The alignment gap may be greater than one subframe. During the gap, UE scheduling (including selection of a target UE, Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS), Resource Block (RB) allocation, etc.) and coding (e.g., PDSCH) may be performed at the eNB.

In fig. 6, a second mechanism 600 that may be used for channel reservation is shown. Master eNB602 transmits data via frames 606, 608, and 610. The UCT secondary eNB 604 is scheduled to transmit data during active subframes 616 and transition to a sleep state during sleep subframes 618. To synchronize transmissions by primary eNB602 and secondary eNB 604, LBT protocols and/or reservation mechanisms 612 may be used to reserve channels. The alignment gap after mechanism 612 is incorporated into the first active subframe to create a super-subframe 614. Alternatively, the alignment gap may be used to transmit a discovery signal as described above.

In another embodiment shown in fig. 7, discovery subframe 714 is transmitted after channel reservation 712 is performed. As previously described, discovery subframe 714 may contain signals for synchronization and RSRP measurement. To accommodate the discovery subframe 714, the first active subframe immediately following the discovery subframe 714 may be shortened to a reduced length subframe 720. For example, master eNB 702 transmits data via frames 706, 708, and 710. The UCT secondary eNB704 is scheduled to transmit data during active subframes 716 and transition to the sleep state during sleep subframes 718. To synchronize transmissions by primary eNB 702 and secondary eNB704, LBT protocol and/or reservation mechanism 712 may be used to reserve the channel. Discovery subframe 714 is transmitted after LBT/reservation mechanism 712. The first active subframe is shortened to create a reduced length subframe 720.

In fig. 8, the legacy PSS/SSS 808 may be used as a discovery signal. The legacy PSS/SSS 808 signals may be considered as a special case of discovery signals. Additional discovery subframes may not be needed if the PSS/SSS 808 is transmitted. Instead, an existing subframe (shown as subframe 0) may accommodate such a signal. One such example is illustrated in fig. 8. Here, the PSS/SSS signal 808 is transmitted in the first subframe (i.e., subframe 0). For example, the UCT may perform LBT and channel reservation 806 before transitioning to the active state. The PSS/SSS signals 808 are transmitted during active subframes 810. After transmitting the active subframe 810, the UCT transitions to the sleep state 812.

In fig. 9, another embodiment of a type 1UCT frame is shown, where discovery subframes 914 are transmitted periodically in both sleep subframes 918 and active subframes 916. The transmission of subframe 914 is found in this example not to be preceded by LBT or a channel reservation mechanism. The UCT transmits a discovery subframe 914 (or signal) regardless of whether the medium is busy. In another embodiment, the transmission of each discovery subframe 914 may be preceded by an LBT scheme. To facilitate LBT, the transmission power of discovery subframe 914 may be limited according to legal requirements. For example, the UCT may perform LBT and channel reservation 912 prior to transitioning to an active state (which may include alignment gap 922). Discovery subframe 914 is transmitted during active subframe 916. This may change the subframe to a reduced length subframe 920. Following transmission of the active subframe 916, the UCT transitions to a sleep state during the sleep subframe 918. During sleep subframe 918, discovery subframe 914 may be transmitted with or without LBT.

Type 2UCT

In fig. 10, an embodiment 1000 of type 2UCT is shown in primary eNB1002 subframes 1006, 1008, and 1010, and a UCT secondary eNB 1004 subframe 1016 is not synchronized (or aligned). In this example, the subframe/frame boundaries of the UCT secondary eNB 1004 are not aligned with the subframe/frame boundaries of the legacy master eNB 1002. During the sleep state 1018, the UCT refrains from transmitting. To move to the active state, the UCT performs LBT and channel reservation mechanism 1012. Unlike type 1UCT, no alignment gap is defined since the primary eNB subframe boundary is not required to align with the secondary eNB subframe boundary for type 2 UCT. Once the medium is reserved, the LAA may start transmission. The active subframes 1016 in the type 2UCT are not aligned with the respective master eNB subframes 1006, 1008, or 1010.

In another embodiment 1100 of type 2UCT shown in fig. 11, discovery subframe 1114 may be sent after LBT and channel reservation protocol 1112 and before the first of active subframes 1116. For example, the UCT may perform LBT and channel reservation 1112 and transmit discovery subframe 1114 before transitioning to the active state. Data is transmitted (including transmitted and/or received) during active subframe 1116. Following transmission active subframe 1116, the UCT transitions to the sleep state during sleep subframe 1118. During sleep subframe 1118, discovery subframe 1114 may be transmitted with or without LBT.

Alternatively, discovery signals similar to PSS/SSS may be transmitted in the first subframe, similar to fig. 8, instead of being transmitted before the first subframe.

Fig. 12 illustrates an embodiment of a method 1200 of LTE transmission in an unlicensed frequency band in accordance with the present invention. In this embodiment, LTE-U transmission may be based on the following operations. It should be noted that some of these operations may be omitted in some deployment scenarios. The method 1200 may be implemented by a system 100 such as that shown in fig. 1 (including a primary base station 104, a secondary base station 106, and a UE 102).

In this embodiment, there is a PCell 1202, two UCT secondary base stations 1204 and 1206, and a UE 1208. However, it should be noted that the system may include more computing resources than shown (e.g., UE 1208 is one of many UEs connected to the primary base station 1202, and UCT secondary base stations 1204 and 1206 are two of many secondary base stations serving these UEs). Each secondary base station 1204 and 1206 transmits a discovery signal 1210 in an ON subframe or an OFF subframe.

Then, optionally, the UE 1208 reports 1214 the measurement results 1212 to the master base station 1202 (e.g., over the licensed frequency band). The measurement reports 1214 may include RSRP/RSRQ for each secondary base station 1204 and 1206, as well as other interference conditions. Optionally, each secondary base station 1204 and 1206 may also measure the interference power and report to the primary base station 1202 (1216).

The primary base station 1202 selects one or more frequency bands/channels to be used for PDSCH transmission (e.g., based on measurement reports from one or more UEs and/or from a secondary base station). The band/channel selection may be UE-specific, UE-specific group, or primary base station-specific. Once one or more bands/channels are selected, band/channel selection information may be sent (1220) to UE(s) 1208 (e.g., using a licensed band for one or more of a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), an enhanced physical downlink control channel (ePDCCH), and a PDSCH).

The selected secondary base station may transmit reference signal 1222 (e.g., CSI-RS), which reference signal 1222 may be used by UE 1208 as CSI feedback. The CSI-RS transmission may be preceded by an LBT or may be sent using only a predetermined set of resources. The UE 1208 then reports 1224 CSI (e.g., Rank Indicator (RI), Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI), and Channel Quality Indicator (CQI)) for all or part of the selected secondary base station(s) 1204 and 1206 to the master base station 1202 (in this case secondary base station 2 (1206)). In an embodiment, CSI may be measured based on discovery signal 1210.

The primary base station 1202 schedules (1226) PDSCH transmissions for each selected secondary base station 1206 based on CSI reports and measurement reports from the UE 1208 (typically multiple UEs at a time). Scheduling for each secondary base station 1204 and 1206 may include decisions on Tx power, target UE, amount of resources (i.e., number of RBs), data rate (modulation and coding scheme), rank, precoding matrix, etc. The scheduling of secondary base stations 1204 and 1206 by primary base station 1202 is referred to as cross-carrier scheduling.

When a particular subframe of the secondary base station 1206 is scheduled (i.e., the secondary base station 1206 transmits one or more PDSCHs in the particular subframe), the secondary base station 1206 transitions 1228 from the OFF state to the ON state (i.e., the secondary base station 1206 is turned ON) and transmits PDSCH(s) 1232. At the same subframe (or at predefined times), the master base station 1202 sends to each target UE (e.g., UE 1208) PDCCH(s) 1230 conveying at least the UE identity, the secondary base station identity (indicating which secondary base station 1206 sent the PDSCH 1232 and other information needed for PDCSH decoding). Each PDCCH 1230 transmitted by the primary base station 1202 is associated with a PDSCH 1232 transmitted by the secondary base station 1206. The PDSCH 1232 transmitted by the secondary base station 1206 may be preceded by LBT (and/or channel reservation).

After transmitting PDSCH 1232 to UE 1208, UE 1208 may report PDSCH 1232 transmission to the primary base station 1202 via hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) report 1234. If the scheduling data is no longer needed, the secondary base station 1206 may be turned off (1236).

If the secondary base station 1204 is not scheduled, i.e., does not transmit the PDSCH, the secondary base station 1204 remains in the OFF state (or transitions from the ON state to the OFF state). The transition between ON/OFF states within the UCT secondary base station 1204 may be based ON a subframe or a group of subframes.

The discovery signals may be one or a combination of various signals in LTE (e.g., PSS, SSS, CRS, CSI-RS, etc.), which may include modulation of these signals. The discovery signal transmission 1210 may be periodic or aperiodic. In case the discovery signal transmission 1210 is aperiodic, it may be preceded by an LBT scheme, which may include a channel reservation for the discovery signal transmission 1210. In another embodiment, the discovery signal 1210 may be transmitted without going through the sensing channel, i.e., they may be transmitted regardless of whether other operators are engaged in other RAT or LTE-U transmissions. The UE 1208 may acquire at least coarse frequency/time synchronization using the discovery signal 1210 (or subframe). The UE 1208 may use the discovery signal 1210 to measure the quality of the UCT signals, such as RSRP/RSRQ. The UE 1208 may also use the discovery signal 1210 (or other schemes such as total received power) to measure interference power.

The principles of the above embodiments may also be used for opportunistic networking that supports high frequency (e.g., mmWave) communications by the following four operations.

(1) The UCT transmits a discovery signal (or discovery subframe or synchronization) on the mmWave spectrum. The discovery signal transmission may be periodic or aperiodic. In the case of aperiodic transmission of the discovery signal, the UE may acquire at least coarse frequency/time synchronization using the discovery signal (or subframe). Optionally, the UE may use the discovery signal to measure the quality of the UCT signals, such as RSRP/RSRQ. The UE may also measure the interference power using the discovery signal (or other schemes such as total received power).

(2) The UE then reports the measurement results to the primary base station (e.g., over the licensed band). The measurement report may include RSRP/RSRQ and other interference conditions.

(3) The primary base station selects one or more frequency bands/channels to be used for PDSCH transmission (e.g., based on measurement reports from one or more UEs or other information related to mmWave beamforming). If channel conditions are favorable, one or more bands/channels may be selected for opportunistic data transmission in the mmWave band.

(4) The primary base station turns on the secondary base station and schedules PDSCH transmissions (e.g., via cross-carrier scheduling) of the secondary base station UCT to one or more UEs. Scheduling (self-scheduling or non-cross-carrier scheduling) may also be implemented in the secondary base station. In one embodiment, scheduling is only implemented in the secondary base station if the control channel or schedule can be reliably transmitted in the secondary base station.

Although for ease of understanding, UEs, primary base stations, secondary base stations, and other systems are discussed in the singular, it should be recognized that embodiments may include multiple such systems and operate in a parallel manner (e.g., scheduling multiple UEs during transmission timing).

Fig. 13 is an exemplary illustration of a mobile device, such as a UE, Mobile Station (MS), mobile wireless device, mobile communication device, tablet, handset, or other type of mobile wireless device. A mobile device may include one or more antennas configured to communicate with a transmission station (e.g., a Base Station (BS), an eNB, a baseband unit (BBU), a Remote Radio Head (RRH), a Remote Radio Equipment (RRE), a Relay Station (RS), a Radio Equipment (RE), or other type of Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN) access point). The mobile device may be configured to communicate using at least one wireless communication standard, including 3GPP LTE, WiMAX, HSPA, bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. The mobile device may use a separate antenna for each wireless communication standard or a shared antenna for multiple wireless communication standards. The mobile device may communicate in a WLAN, a Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN), and/or a WWAN.

Fig. 13 also provides an illustration of a microphone and one or more speakers that may be used for audio input and audio output of the mobile device. The display screen may be a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) screen, or other type of display screen, such as an Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) display. The display screen may be configured as a touch screen. The touch screen may use capacitive touch screen technology, resistive touch screen technology, or other types of touch screen technology. The application processor and the image processor may be coupled to internal memory to provide processing and display capabilities. The non-volatile memory port may also be used to provide data input/output options to a user. The non-volatile memory port may also be used to extend the memory capacity of the mobile device. The keyboard may be integrated with the mobile device or wirelessly connected to the mobile device to provide additional user input. A touch screen may also be used to provide a virtual keyboard.

Many of the systems described include computing resources and systems. A computing system may be viewed as an information delivery bus connecting various components. A computing system includes a processor having logic to process instructions. The instructions may be stored in and/or retrieved from memory and storage devices, including computer-readable storage media. The instructions and/or data may be obtained from a network interface, which may include wired or wireless capabilities. The instructions and/or data may also come from an I/O interface, which may include things like expansion cards, secondary buses (e.g., USB, etc.), devices, and so forth. A user may interact with the computing system through a user interface device and a presentation system that allows the computer to receive feedback and provide the feedback to the user.

Embodiments and implementations of the systems and methods described herein may include various operations that may be embodied in machine-executable instructions executed by a computer system. The computer system may include one or more general purpose or special purpose computers (or other electronic devices). The computer system may include hardware components that contain specific logic for performing operations, or may include a combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware.

The computer system and the computers in the computer system may be connected via a network. Suitable networks for the configurations and/or uses described herein include one or more local area networks, wide area networks, metropolitan area networks, and/or the internet or IP networks, e.g., the world wide web, proprietary internet, secure internet, value added network, virtual private network, extranet, intranet, or even standalone machines that communicate with other machines through physical transmission of a medium. In particular, a suitable network may be formed by portions or the entirety of two or more other networks, including networks using different hardware and network communication technologies.

One suitable network includes a server and one or more clients; other suitable networks may include other combinations of servers, clients, and/or peer nodes, and a given computer system may operate as both a client and a server. Each network includes at least two computers or computer systems, e.g., servers and/or clients. The computer system may include a workstation, laptop, disconnectable mobile computer, server, mainframe, cluster, so-called "network computer" or "thin client," tablet, smartphone, personal digital assistant or other handheld computing device, "smart" consumer electronic device or appliance, medical device, or a combination thereof.

Suitable networks may include communications or networking software, e.g., available fromAnd software available from other suppliers, and suitable networks may use TCP/IP, SPX, IPX, and other protocols over twisted pair, coaxial or fiber optic cables, telephone lines, radio waves, or the like,Satellite, microwave relay, modulated AC power lines, physical media transmission, and/or other data transmission "lines" known to those skilled in the art. The network may encompass a smaller network and/or may be connected to other networks through a gateway or similar mechanism.

Various techniques, or certain aspects or portions thereof, may take the form of program code (i.e., instructions) embodied in tangible media, such as floppy diskettes, CD-ROMs, hard drives, magnetic or optical cards, solid-state memory devices, non-transitory computer-readable storage media, or any other machine-readable storage medium, wherein, when the program code is loaded into and executed by a machine, such as a computer, the machine becomes an apparatus for practicing the various techniques. In the case of program code execution on programmable computers, the computing device can include a processor, a storage medium readable by the processor (including volatile and non-volatile memory and/or storage elements), at least one input device, and at least one output device. The volatile and non-volatile memory and/or storage elements can be RAM, EPROM, flash drives, optical drives, magnetic hard drives, or other media for storing electronic data. The eNB (or other base station) and UE (or other mobile station) may also include transceiver components, counter components, processing components, and/or clock components or timer components. One or more programs that may implement or utilize the various techniques described herein may use an Application Programming Interface (API), reusable controls, and the like. Such programs may be implemented in a high level procedural or object oriented programming language to communicate with a computer system. However, the program(s) can be implemented in assembly or machine language, if desired. In any case, the language may be a compiled or interpreted language, and combined with hardware implementations.

Each computer system includes one or more processors and/or memories; the computer system may also include various input devices and/or output devices. The processor may comprise a general-purpose device such as, for example,or other "off-the-shelf" microprocessor. The processor may comprise a dedicated processing device, such as an ASIC, SoC, SiP, FPGA, PAL, PLA, FPLA, PLD or other custom or programmable device. The memory may include static RAM, dynamic RAM, flash memory, one or more flip-flops, ROM, CD-ROM, DVD, disk, tape, or magnetic storage media, optical storage media, or other computer storage media. The input device(s) may include a keyboard, mouse, touch screen, light pen, tablet, microphone, sensor, or other hardware with accompanying firmware and/or software. The output device(s) may include a monitor or other display, a printer, a voice or text synthesizer, a switch, a signal line, or other hardware with accompanying firmware and/or software.

It should be understood that many of the functional units described in this specification may be implemented as one or more components, which are terms used to particularly emphasize their implementation independence. For example, a component may be implemented as a hardware circuit comprising custom Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) circuits or gate arrays, or off-the-shelf semiconductors such as logic chips, transistors, or other discrete components. A component may also be implemented in programmable hardware devices such as field programmable gate arrays, programmable array logic, programmable logic devices or the like.

The components may also be implemented in software for execution by various types of processors. An identified component of executable code may, for instance, comprise one or more physical or logical blocks of computer instructions which may, for instance, be organized as an object, procedure, or function. Nevertheless, the executables of an identified component need not be physically located together, but may comprise disparate instructions stored in different locations which, when joined logically together, comprise the component and achieve the stated purpose for the component.

Indeed, a component of executable code may be a single instruction, or many instructions, and may even be distributed over several different code segments, among different programs, and across several memory devices. Similarly, operational data may be identified and illustrated herein within components, and may be embodied in any suitable manner and organized within any suitable type of data structure. The operational data may be collected as a single data set, or may be distributed over different locations including over different storage devices, and may exist, at least partially, merely as electronic signals on a system or network. The components may be passive or active, including agents operable to perform desired functions.

Aspects of the described embodiments will be described as software modules or components. As used herein, a software module or component may include any type of computer instruction or computer executable code located in a memory device. A software module may, for instance, comprise one or more physical or logical blocks of computer instructions which may be organized as a routine, program, object, component, data structure, etc., that performs one or more tasks or implements particular data types. It should be understood that software modules may be implemented in hardware and/or firmware instead of or in addition to software. One or more of the functional modules described herein may be separated into sub-modules and/or combined into a single or smaller number of modules.

In some embodiments, particular software modules may include different instructions stored in different locations of a memory device, different memory devices, or different computers, which together implement the described functionality of the module. Indeed, a module may comprise a single instruction, or many instructions, and may be distributed over several different code segments, among different programs, and across several memory devices. Some embodiments may be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, software modules may be located in local and/or remote memory storage devices. Further, data bundled or presented together in a database record may reside in the same memory device or in several memory devices, and may be linked together in record fields in the database on the network.

Reference throughout this specification to "an example" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the example is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, the appearances of the phrase "in an example" appearing in various places throughout the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.

As used herein, a plurality of items, structural elements, compositional elements, and/or materials may be presented in a common list for convenience. However, these lists should be construed as though each member of the list is individually identified as a separate and unique member. Thus, no individual member of such list should be construed as a de facto equivalent of any other member of the same list solely based on their presentation in a common group without indications to the contrary. Furthermore, various embodiments and examples of the present invention may be referred to herein along with alternatives for the various components thereof. It should be understood that such embodiments, examples, and alternatives are not to be construed as actual equivalents to each other, but are to be considered as independent and autonomous representations of the present invention.

Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the above description, numerous specific details are provided (e.g., examples of materials, frequencies, sizes, lengths, widths, shapes, etc.) to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the invention. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that the invention can be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, and so forth. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the invention.

Although the foregoing has been described in some detail for purposes of clarity of understanding, it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications may be made without departing from the principles thereof. It should be noted that there are many alternative ways of implementing the processes and apparatuses described herein. Accordingly, the present embodiments are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the invention is not to be limited to the details given herein, but may be modified within the scope and equivalents of the appended claims.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that many changes could be made to the details of the above-described embodiments without departing from the underlying principles of the invention. The scope of the invention should, therefore, be determined only by the following claims.

Examples of the invention

The following examples relate to further embodiments.

Example 1 is a master base station for cross-carrier scheduling, the master base station configured to: a secondary base station for cross-carrier scheduling is selected to communicate with a mobile device over a set of frequencies shared with another Radio Access Technology (RAT). The primary base station is further configured to transmit a request for cross-carrier scheduling to the secondary base station. The primary base station is further configured to provide a scheduling plan for transmitting data to the mobile device to the secondary base station. The primary base station is further configured to cause the secondary base station to transmit data in a portion of a second frame aligned with the primary frame of the primary base station.

In example 2, the primary base station of example 1 may optionally be configured to receive, from a User Equipment (UE), a transmission quality report describing transmission quality measurements between the UE and the secondary base station.

In example 3, the primary base station of examples 1-2 is optionally configured to receive, from the secondary base station, a transmission quality report describing transmission quality measurements between the secondary base station and a User Equipment (UE).

In example 4, the primary base station in examples 1-3 may optionally be configured to receive a report indicating that the user equipment CUE) received data from the secondary base station.

In example 5, the report of example 4 is optionally a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) message.

Example 6 is an enhanced node b (enb) for cross-carrier transmission, comprising a first network interface, a second network interface, and a processor. The first network interface is configured to communicate with a User Equipment (UE) over a first set of wireless spectrum. The second network interface is configured to communicate with a network infrastructure comprising a non-legacy carrier type (UCT). The processor is configured to receive a report from the UE, the report including measurements of a UCT discovery signal transmitted over a second set of radio spectrum from the UCT. The processor is also configured to select a UCT for data transmission to the UE, and schedule the data transmission by the UCT.

In example 7, the UCT of example 6 may optionally provide a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) to the UE.

In example 8, the eNB of example 6 may optionally provide a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) to the UE.

In example 9, the eNB of examples 6-8 may optionally include receiving a report from the UE, the report including measurements for periodic UCT discovery signals from the UCT.

In example 10, the UE of examples 6-8 may optionally be configured to: receiving a report from the UE, the report including a measurement result for an aperiodic UCT discovery signal from the UCT.

Example 11 is a method of transmitting data comprising providing a primary medium for communicating with a User Equipment (UE) using a first frequency band. The method may also include receiving a report describing a transmission quality of a secondary base station transmitting with the UE over a secondary medium using a second frequency band shared with at least one Radio Access Technology (RAT). The method may also include selecting a secondary base station for cross-carrier transmission with the UE. The method may also include reserving a secondary medium for communication with the UE. The method may also include scheduling a set of data for transmission by the secondary base station to the UE over the secondary medium. The method may include causing at least a subset of the set of data to be transmitted over a secondary medium using a third generation partnership project (3GPP) compatible protocol.

In example 12, the method of example 11 may optionally include performing a listen before talk protocol.

In example 13, the method of examples 11-12 may optionally use a set of unlicensed frequencies as the secondary medium.

In example 14, the method of examples 11-12 may optionally use a set of licensed frequencies as the secondary medium.

In example 15, the method of example 14 may optionally include transmitting, over the primary medium, a control channel that schedules the set of data.

In example 16, the method of example 11 may optionally comprise: executing a listen-before-talk protocol; transmitting a control channel scheduling a set of data over a primary medium; transmitting a channel reservation signal through an auxiliary medium to reserve the auxiliary medium; transmitting a subset of the set of data asynchronously over the secondary medium as compared to the primary medium; aligning the subframes of the secondary medium with the subframes of the primary medium; using an unlicensed set of frequencies as a secondary medium; or use a licensed set of frequencies as a secondary medium.

In example 17, the method of example 11 may optionally include aligning the subframes of the secondary medium with the subframes of the primary medium.

In example 18, the method of example 17 may optionally transmit a channel reservation signal over the secondary medium to reserve the secondary medium.

In example 19, the method of example 18, further comprising forming an alignment gap between the channel reservation signal transmitted over the secondary medium and the aligned subframes of the secondary medium.

In example 20, the method of example 19 may optionally include transmitting at least a portion of a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) preamble during at least a portion of the alignment gap.

In example 21, the method of example 19 may optionally include transmitting at least a noise signal during at least a portion of the alignment gap.

In example 22, the method of example 19 may selectively transmit at least a portion of the discovery signal during at least a portion of the alignment gap.

In example 23, the method of example 19 may optionally determine that a duration of the alignment gap is less than a threshold amount, and refrain from transmitting during the alignment gap.

In example 24, the method of example 19 may optionally include one or more of: transmitting at least a portion of a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) preamble during at least a portion of an alignment gap; transmitting at least a noise signal during at least a portion of the alignment gap; transmitting at least a portion of a discovery signal during at least a portion of an alignment gap; or determining that a duration of the alignment gap is less than a threshold amount and refraining from transmitting during the alignment gap.

In example 25, the method of example 17 may include constructing the super-subframe to include the alignment gap.

In example 26, the method of example 17 may optionally comprise forming the reduced length subframe for transmission over the secondary medium.

In example 27, the method of example 11 may optionally transmit a subset of the set of data asynchronously over the secondary medium as compared to the primary medium.

Example 28 is an apparatus comprising means for performing a method as recited in any of claims 11-27.

Example 29 is a machine-readable storage device comprising machine-readable instructions that, when executed, implement a method as claimed in any of claims 11-27 or implement an apparatus as claimed in any of claims 11-27.

Claims (25)

1. A master base station for cross-carrier scheduling, the master base station configured to:

selecting a secondary base station for cross-carrier scheduling to communicate with a mobile device over a set of frequencies shared with another Radio Access Technology (RAT);

transmitting a request for cross-carrier scheduling to the secondary base station;

providing a scheduling plan for transmitting data to a mobile device to the secondary base station; and

causing the secondary base station to transmit the data in a portion of a second frame aligned with a first frame of the primary base station.

2. The master base station of claim 1, wherein the master base station is further configured to receive, from a User Equipment (UE), a transmission quality report describing transmission quality measurements between the UE and the secondary base station.

3. The master base station of claim 1, wherein the master base station is further configured to receive a transmission quality report from the secondary base station describing transmission quality measurements between the secondary base station and a User Equipment (UE).

4. The primary base station of claim 1, wherein the primary base station is further configured to receive a report indicating that a User Equipment (UE) received data from the secondary base station.

5. The master base station of claim 4, wherein the report is a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) message.

6. An enhanced node b (enb) for cross-carrier transmission, comprising:

a first network interface configured to communicate with a User Equipment (UE) over a first set of wireless spectrum;

a second network interface configured to communicate with a network infrastructure comprising an Unconventional Carrier Type (UCT);

a processor configured to:

receiving, from the UE, a report comprising measurements for UCT discovery signals transmitted over a second set of wireless spectrum from UCT;

selecting a UCT for data transmission to the UE; and

scheduling the data transmission by the UCT.

7. The eNB of claim 6, wherein the UCT provides a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) to the UE.

8. The eNB of claim 6, wherein the eNB provides a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) to the UE.

9. The eNB of claim 6, wherein to receive a report from the UE including measurements of UCT discovery signals from the UCT further comprises to: receiving, from the UE, a report including measurements on a periodic UCT discovery signal from the UCT.

10. A method of transmitting data, comprising:

providing a primary medium for communicating with a User Equipment (UE) using a first frequency band;

receiving a report describing a transmission quality of a secondary base station transmitting with the UE over a secondary medium using a second frequency band shared with at least one Radio Access Technology (RAT);

selecting the secondary base station for cross-carrier transmission with the UE;

reserving the secondary medium for communication with the UE;

scheduling a set of data for transmission by the secondary base station to the UE over the secondary medium; and

causing at least a subset of the set of data to be transmitted over the secondary medium using a third generation partnership project (3GPP) compatible protocol.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises performing a listen before talk protocol.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the secondary medium comprises an unlicensed set of frequencies.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the secondary medium comprises a set of licensed frequencies.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein causing at least a subset of the set of data to be transmitted over the secondary medium further comprises: transmitting a control channel scheduling the set of data over the primary medium.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein causing at least a subset of the set of data to be transmitted over the secondary medium further comprises aligning subframes of the secondary medium with subframes of the primary medium.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein reserving the secondary medium further comprises transmitting a channel reservation signal over the secondary medium to reserve the secondary medium.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein aligning the subframes of the secondary medium with the subframes of the primary medium further comprises: an alignment gap is formed between a channel reservation signal transmitted through the secondary medium and the subframe in which the secondary medium is aligned.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising transmitting at least a portion of a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) preamble during at least a portion of the alignment gap.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising transmitting at least a noise signal during at least a portion of the alignment gap.

20. The method of claim 17, further comprising transmitting at least a portion of a discovery signal during at least a portion of the alignment gap.

21. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

determining that a duration of the alignment gap is less than a threshold amount;

suppressing transmission during the alignment gap.

22. The method of claim 15, wherein aligning the subframes of the secondary medium with the subframes of the primary medium further comprises: a super-subframe is formed that includes an alignment gap.

23. The method of claim 15, wherein aligning the subframes of the secondary medium with the subframes of the primary medium further comprises: forming a reduced length subframe for transmission over the secondary medium.

24. The method of claim 10, wherein causing at least a subset of the set of data to be transmitted over the secondary medium further comprises: transmitting a subset of the set of data asynchronously over the secondary medium as compared to the primary medium.

25. A machine readable storage device comprising machine readable instructions which, when executed, implement the method of any one of claims 10 to 24 or an apparatus for performing the same.