TWI867689B - Method to resolve imd generated in-device coexistence issue - Google Patents

Abstract

An apparatus may be configured to: detect in-band interference; determine that intermodulation distortion caused the detected in-band interference; determine at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion; and transmit, to a network, an indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion. An apparatus may be configured to: configure a user equipment to provide an indication of at least one interfered frequency affected by intermodulation distortion; receive, from the user equipment, the indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion; determine a decision as to whether a network triggered solution would resolve the intermodulation distortion for the user equipment; and transmit, to the user equipment, a message based, at least partially, on the decision.

Description

Method for solving the coexistence problem in devices caused by intermodulation distortion

Exemplary and non-limiting embodiments relate generally to RF interference and, more particularly, to intra-device coexistence issues.

In RF performance enhancement, it is known to measure and detect in-band undesired signals as well as desired received signals.

The following [invention content] is intended to be illustrative only. The invention content is not intended to limit the scope of the patent application.

According to one aspect, a device includes: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the device to perform at least the following actions: detect in-band interference; determine that intermodulation distortion causes the detected in-band interference; determine at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion; and transmit an indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion to a network.

According to one aspect, a method includes: detecting in-band interference with a user equipment; determining that intermodulation distortion causes the detected in-band interference; determining at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion; and transmitting an indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion to a network.

According to one aspect, an apparatus includes components for detecting in-band interference; determining that intermodulation distortion causes the detected in-band interference; determining at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion; and transmitting an indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion to a network.

According to one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium includes program instructions stored thereon for performing at least the following actions: causing detection of in-band interference; determining that intermodulation distortion causes the detected in-band interference; determining at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion; and causing an indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion to be transmitted to a network.

According to one aspect, a device includes: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the device to perform at least the following actions: assemble a user equipment to provide an indication of at least one interfered frequency affected by intermodulation distortion; receive the indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion from the user equipment; determine a decision as to whether a network-triggered solution will resolve the intermodulation distortion for the user equipment; and send a message to the user equipment based at least in part on the decision.

According to one aspect, a method includes configuring a user device via a network to provide an indication of at least one interfered frequency affected by intermodulation distortion; receiving the indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion from the user device; determining a decision as to whether a network-triggered solution will resolve the intermodulation distortion for the user device; and transmitting a message to the user device based at least in part on the decision.

According to one aspect, an apparatus includes components for: configuring a user device to provide an indication of at least one interfered frequency affected by intermodulation distortion; receiving the indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion from the user device; determining a decision as to whether a network-triggered solution will resolve the intermodulation distortion for the user device; and transmitting a message to the user device based at least in part on the decision.

According to one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium includes program instructions stored thereon for performing at least the following actions: causing a user device to be assembled to provide an indication of at least one interfered frequency affected by intermodulation distortion; causing the indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion to be received from the user device; determining a decision as to whether a network-triggered solution will resolve the intermodulation distortion for the user device; and causing a message to be sent to the user device based at least in part on the decision.

According to some aspects, the subject matter of the independent claim items is provided. Some further aspects are defined in the dependent claims.

The following abbreviations that may be seen in this specification and/or drawings are defined as follows: 3GPP Third Generation Partnership Project 5G Fifth Generation 5GC 5G Core Network ACLR Adjacent Channel Leakage Ratio AMF Access and Mobility Function CA Carrier Aggregation cRAN Cloud Radio Access Network CU Central Unit dB decibel dBm decibel milliwatt DU Distributed Unit eNB (or eNodeB) Evolved Node B (e.g. an LTE base station) EN-DC E-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity en-gNB or En-gNB A node that provides NR user plane and control plane protocol terminations to the UE and acts as a secondary node in EN-DC E-UTRA Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access, i.e. LTE Radio Access Technology gNB (or gNodeB) A node used in 5G/NR base stations, that is, providing NR user plane and control plane protocol terminals to UE and connected to 5GC via NG interface HW   Hardware IDC   Intra-Device Coexistence I/F  Interface IF   Intermediate Frequency IIP3   Input Intercept Point (IMD)  Intermodulation Distortion ISM Band  Industrial Scientific and Medical Band L1  Layer 1 LNA  Low Noise Amplifier LTE   Long Term Evolution MAC Media Access Control MME Mobility Management Entity NF Noise Factor ng or NG   New Generation ng-eNB or NG-eNB    New Generation eNB NR New Radio N/W or NW  Network OIP3 Output Intercept Point (OoB)  Out of Band O-RAN Open Radio Access Network PDCP  Packet Data Convergence Protocol PHY Physical Layer RAN Radio Access Network RF Radio Frequency RLC Radio Link Control RRC Radio Resource Control RRH Remote Radio Head RS Reference Signal RSRP Reference Signal Received Power RSRQ Reference Signal Received Quality RSSI Received Signal Strength Index RU Radio Unit Rx Receiver SDAP Service Data Adaptation Protocol SGW Serving Gateway SIC Self-Interference Cancellation SINR Signal-to-Interference Noise Ratio SMF Session Management Function Tx Transmitter UE User Equipment (e.g. a wireless, typical mobile device) UPF User Plane Function VNR Virtualized Network Function

1 , a block diagram of one possible and non-limiting example of an embodiment of the present invention is shown. A user equipment (UE) 110, a radio access network (RAN) node 170, and network element(s) 190 are shown. In the example of FIG. 1 , the user equipment (UE) 110 is in wireless communication with a wireless network 100. A UE is a wireless device that can access the wireless network 100. The UE 110 includes one or more processors 120, one or more memories 125, and one or more transceivers 130 interconnected via one or more buses 127. The one or more transceivers 130 each include a receiver Rx 132 and a transmitter Tx 133. One or more buses 127 may be address, data, or control buses and may include any interconnection mechanism, such as a series of lines on a motherboard or integrated circuit, optical fiber or other optical communication equipment, and the like. A "circuit" may include dedicated hardware or hardware associated with software that can be executed thereon. One or more transceivers 130 are connected to one or more antennas 128. One or more memories 125 include computer program code 123. UE 110 includes a module 140, which includes one or both of portions 140-1 and/or 140-2 that can be implemented in a number of ways. Module 140 can be implemented as module 140-1 using hardware, such as being implemented as part of one or more processors 120. Module 140-1 may also be implemented as an integrated circuit, or may be implemented by other hardware such as a programmable gate array. In another example, module 140 may be implemented as module 140-2, which is implemented as computer program code 123 and executed by one or more processors 120. For example, one or more memories 125 and computer program code 123 may be configured to use one or more processors 120 to cause user equipment 110 to perform one or more of the operations described herein. UE 110 communicates with RAN node 170 via a wireless link 111.

In this example, RAN node 170 is a base station that provides access to wireless network 100 via wireless devices such as UE 110. RAN node 170 may be, for example, a base station for 5G, also known as New Radio (NR). In 5G, RAN node 170 may be a NG-RAN node, which is defined as a gNB or an ng-eNB. A gNB is a node that provides NR user plane and control plane protocol terminations to UEs and is connected to a 5GC (such as network element(s) 190) via NG interfaces. An ng-eNB is a node that provides E-UTRA user plane and control plane protocol terminations to UEs and is connected to a 5GC via NG interfaces. The NG-RAN nodes may include multiple gNBs, which may also include a central unit (CU) (gNB-CU) 196 and distributed unit(s) (gNB-DU), of which DU 195 is shown. Note that the DU may include or be coupled to and control a radio unit (RU). The gNB-CU is a logical node that hosts the RRC, SDAP and PDCP protocols of the gNB or the RRC and PDCP protocols of the en-gNB and controls the operation of one or more gNB-DUs. The gNB-CU terminates the F1 interface connected to the gNB-DU. The F1 interface is shown as reference 198, but reference 198 also shows a link between remote elements of the RAN node 170 and centralized elements of the RAN node 170, such as a link between the gNB-CU 196 and the gNB-DU 195. The gNB-DU is a logical node that hosts the RLC, MAC, and PHY layers of the gNB or en-gNB, and its operation is partially controlled by the gNB-CU. A gNB-CU supports one or more cells. A cell is supported by only one gNB-DU. The gNB-DU terminates the F1 interface 198 connected to the gNB-CU. Note that DU 195 is shown as including transceiver 160, for example, as part of a RU, but some examples of this may have transceiver 160 as part of a separate RU, for example, controlled by and connected to DU 195. RAN node 170 may also be an eNB (evolved NodeB) base station for LTE (Long Term Evolution), or any other suitable base station, access point, access node, or node.

The RAN node 170 includes one or more processors 152, one or more memories 155, one or more network interfaces (N/W I/F) 161, and one or more transceivers 160 interconnected through one or more buses 157. The one or more transceivers 160 each include a receiver Rx 162 and a transmitter Tx 163. The one or more transceivers 160 are connected to one or more antennas 158. The one or more memories 155 include computer program codes 153. The CU 196 may include the processor(s) 152, the memory 155, and the network interface 161. Note that DU 195 may also contain its own memory/memory and processor(s), and/or other hardware, but these are not shown.

The RAN node 170 includes a module 150, which includes one or both of the parts 150-1 and/or 150-2, which can be implemented in a number of ways. The module 150 can be implemented as module 150-1 using hardware, such as being implemented as part of one or more processors 152. The module 150-1 can also be implemented as an integrated circuit, or can be implemented through other hardware such as a programmable gate array. In another example, the module 150 can be implemented as module 150-2, which is implemented as computer program code 153 and executed by one or more processors 152. For example, one or more memories 155 and computer program code 153 are configured to cooperate with one or more processors 152 to cause RAN node 170 to perform one or more of the operations described herein. Note that the functionality of module 150 can be distributed, such as distributed between DU 195 and CU 196, or implemented only in DU 195.

One or more network interfaces 161 communicate over a network, such as via links 176 and 131. Two or more gNBs 170 may communicate using, for example, link 176. Link 176 may be wired or wireless, or both, and may implement, for example, an Xn interface for 5G, an X2 interface for LTE, or other suitable interfaces for other standards.

The one or more buses 157 may be address, data, or control buses and may include any interconnection mechanism, such as a series of wires on a motherboard or integrated circuit, fiber optic or other optical communication equipment, wireless channels, and the like. For example, one or more transceivers 160 may be implemented as a remote radio head (RRH) 195 for LTE or a distributed unit (DU) 195 for a gNB implementation of 5G, and other elements of the RAN node 170 may be physically located at different locations from the RRH/DU, and one or more buses 157 may be partially implemented as fiber optic cables or other suitable network connections to connect other elements of the RAN node 170 (e.g., a central unit (CU), gNB-CU) to the RRH/DU 195. Reference 198 also indicates those suitable network links.

Please note that the descriptions herein refer to "cells" performing functions, but it should be clear that the equipment that forms those cells will perform those functions. Cells make up part of a base station. That is, each base station can have multiple cells. For example, a single carrier frequency and associated bandwidth may have three cells, each covering one-third of a 360 degree area, so that the coverage area of a single base station covers an approximate elliptical or circular shape. Furthermore, each cell may correspond to a single carrier, and a base station may use multiple carriers. So, if there are three 120 degree cells per carrier and every two carriers, the base station has a total of 6 cells.

The wireless network 100 may include one or more network elements 190, which may include core network functions and which provide connectivity to another network, such as a telephone network and/or a data communication network (e.g., the Internet), via one or more links 181. Such core network functions for 5G may include access and mobility management function(s) (AMF) and/or user plane function (UPF) and/or session management function(s) (SMF). Such core network functions for LTE may include MME (mobility management entity)/SGW (server gateway) functions. These are merely illustrative functions that may be supported by the network element(s) 190, and please note that both 5G and LTE functions may be supported. The RAN node 170 is coupled to a network element 190 via a link 131. The link 131 may be implemented as, for example, an NG interface for 5G, an S1 interface for LTE, or other suitable interfaces for other standards. The network element 190 includes one or more processors 175, one or more memories 171, and one or more network interfaces (N/W I/Fs) 180 interconnected via one or more buses 185. The one or more memories 171 include computer program code 173. The one or more memories 171 and the computer program code 173 may be combined to cooperate with the one or more processors 175 to cause the network element 190 to perform one or more operations.

Wireless network 100 may implement network virtualization, which is the process of combining hardware and software network resources and network functions into a single, software-based managed entity, a virtual network. Network virtualization involves platform virtualization, often combined with resource virtualization. Network virtualization is classified as external, combining many networks, or parts of networks, into a virtual unit, or internal, providing similar network functions to software containers on a single system. For example, a network may be deployed in a telecommunications cloud and have virtualized network functions (VNFs) running on, for example, data center servers. For example, network core functions and/or radio access network(s) (e.g., CloudRAN, O-RAN, edge cloud) may be virtualized. Note that the virtualized entities resulting from network virtualization are still implemented at some levels using hardware such as processors 152 or 175 and memories 155 and 171, and similarly, such virtualized entities establish technical functionality.

It should also be noted that the operations of the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may be performed by a plurality of cooperating devices (eg, cRAN).

Computer readable memory 125, 155 and 171 can be of any type suitable for the area technology environment and can be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor-based memory devices, flash memory, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory. Computer readable memory 125, 155 and 171 can be a component used for storage functions. Processors 120, 152, and 175 may be of any type suitable for a regional technology environment, and may include, by way of non-limiting example, one or more of a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), and a processor based on a multi-core processor architecture. Processors 120, 152, and 175 may be components for performing functions such as controlling UE 110, RAN node 170, and other functions, as well as other functions described herein.

In general, various embodiments of user device 110 may include, but are not limited to, cellular phones such as smart phones, tablet computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs) with wireless communication capabilities, portable computers with wireless communication capabilities, image capture devices such as digital cameras with wireless communication capabilities, gaming devices with wireless communication capabilities, music storage and playback devices with wireless communication capabilities, Internet appliances that allow wireless Internet access and browsing, tablet computers with wireless communication capabilities, and portable units or terminals that incorporate a combination of such functions.

Having thus introduced a suitable but non-limiting technical context for practicing exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the exemplary embodiments will now be described in a more specific manner.

The features as described in this article are generally related to the detection and correction of receiver interference. The radio frequency (RF) performance of a UE is related to its robustness to interference (e.g., interference due to intermodulation) and is based on 3GPP testing with an undesired signal level of -46 dBm, while the desired signal for some bands is set at approximately -91 dBm. Therefore, legacy devices are not expected to function properly if the adjacent signal power is within a few dB above -46 dBm. Other 3GPP requirements seem to imply that if a -25 dBm signal level is present at the receiver, linearity can be expected; however, if the nature of such a signal causes third-order intermodulation products, the expected sensitivity degradation can be at a high level, such as in excess of 60 dB.

In the present disclosure, the terms "desired signal", "desired received signal", "used channel", "desired spectrum", "desired spectrum", "desired frequency", and "desired frequency band" are used to refer to the frequency band, and/or time and/or frequency resources that a UE is allocated for reception. These terms may be used interchangeably in the present disclosure.

In the present disclosure, the terms "unwanted signal", "adjacent signal", "interferer signal", "adjacent spectrum", "adjacent frequency", "interference frequency", "out-of-band spectrum", and "interference source" are used to refer to signals, frequency bands, and/or time and/or frequency resources outside the spectrum of a desired signal that affect the reception of a UE. These terms may be used interchangeably in the present disclosure.

In this disclosure, the terms "interference", "noise", and "distortion" are used to refer to the effect of an undesired signal on a desired signal. These terms are used interchangeably in this disclosure.

In this disclosure, the term "in-band signal" may refer to any signal within the frequency band of a desired received signal, including the desired signal(s) as well as interference and/or noise (which may be received at an antenna or generated as intermodulation products).

RF components such as mixers and amplifiers typically have a third-order input intercept point (IIP3) that is much higher than the compression point. This is reflected in the 3GPP test cases: the maximum desired input level used for testing UE receiver linearity is around -25 dBm, and the undesired signal level during intermodulation testing is -46 dBm, while the input level is quite low in one case: -91 dBm. Referring now to Figure 2, an example of IIP3 and a 1 dB compression point is shown.

The linear response (210) may increase with a slope of 1 until it approaches IP _1dB (230) and OP _1dB (220). The cubic response (250) may increase with a slope of 3 until it approaches IIP ₃ (270) and OIP _3. The slopes of the linear response (210) and the cubic response (250) may meet at an intercept point IP ₃ (240). The compression (280) between the linear response (210) and the cubic response (250) may occur between IP _1dB (230) and IIP ₃ (270) and may be a 1 dB compression.

The trade-offs between parameters such as linearity, gain, noise figure, and power consumption in RF front-end hardware design lead to the fact that these requirements can only be achieved with a small margin.

A UE's baseband receive circuitry only measures and detects in-band signals. As such, it is impossible to determine whether received in-band noise and distortion is caused by: high-order intermodulation products due to strong RF signals in adjacent spectrums; in-band noise from co-channel and/or adjacent systems; and/or adjacent channel leakage ratio (ACLR) contributions from transmitters using adjacent spectrums. Linear reception may not be possible in such conditions, and the baseband circuitry and RF driver may not be able to tell if the RF front-end circuitry is being driven in compression, causing compression of the gain and noise figures, or if the problem is caused by strong RF signals in adjacent spectrum causing intermodulation distortion (IMD) products to be folded directly into the desired band.

In-device coexistence (IDC) requirements imply that we need to deal with interferers between -10 dBm and +10 dBm, assuming 15 to 25 dB antenna isolation, which in turn implies that the IMD products caused by such strong interferers can cause more than 80 dB of desensitization (i.e., desensitization of an antenna/receiver due to noise, intermodulation products, gain compression, or noise figure compression). There is no obvious way to determine whether such noise or distortion is caused only by in-band noise or by intermodulation products caused by strong RF power in the adjacent spectrum.

Analog tuning and RF isolation techniques can be used to address RF isolation; however, intelligent metering for tuning does not yet exist. Tuning an adaptable antenna system or analog tunable self-interference cancellation (SIC) hardware requires an accurate understanding of the root cause of the interference causing the problem.

In an exemplary embodiment, changes to the HW may be implemented/assembled. A technical effect of exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may be to allow for the differentiation of noise generated in the receiver itself from out-of-band (OoB) interferers, which may generate undesired signals in the receive band due to intermodulation products.

A wideband receiver with high linearity can be implemented by adding an attenuator or an RF coupler in front of a normal receive chain and used in parallel with the normal receiver. Only signals above about -50 dBm (e.g. IMD threshold) need to be detected, because the intermodulation requirements [3GPP TS 38.101-1 V17.6.0 (2022-06)] are measured with interfering signals at a power level of -46 dBm, and sufficient suppression should naturally occur for potential interferer signals below about -46 dBm that cause intermodulation. 30 to 40 dB of attenuation can therefore be easily added to the hardware and switched in some way, because only signals above -46 dBm need to be detected. For this auxiliary receive path, a higher noise figure can therefore be tolerated. This can be implemented as an auxiliary RF path connected to a coupler placed directly at the antenna port. An RF coupler can be connected directly at the antenna port, or at the LNA input. The same antenna can be connected to both receivers, since a spatial tuning approach can be used to suppress the interference generated by IMD.

This can have the technical effect of enabling the system to accurately distinguish between co-channel noise generated by the LNA itself, and adjacent channel noise from other systems or from a nearby interferer. In this way, the out-of-band spectrum causing the noise can be measured simultaneously with the signal being detected or measured in the channel. In this way, the root cause of the co-channel interference can be determined, which in turn enables the system to select the best and/or optimal means to suppress it. Intermodulation can be tested with a desired signal level of 6 to 9 dB higher than the REFSENSE requirement; therefore, if good intermodulation performance close to the typical sensitivity threshold is desired, potential strong IMD interferers can be measured below -46 dBm (IMD threshold).

Referring now to FIG. 3, a non-limiting example of a wideband linear auxiliary receive circuit system (310) connected to a normal receive chain (305) that can be used in parallel is shown. The desired signal W (315) may not be detected by the baseband if it is covered by noise and interference. The two receivers (305, 310) can be turned on simultaneously or sequentially, depending on the exact HW implementation components and system requirements. The reference signal received signal power level (RSRP) and signal quality (RSRQ) can be determined at the desired/determined channel by measuring the reference signal. Additionally, a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) may be measured as a total received signal level corresponding to all signals in the desired spectrum, including the effects of neighboring frequencies detected in the spectrum, which may cause intermodulation (e.g., 345, 350) by using a linear receiver.

A table may be formed and continuously updated with the RSRP, RSRQ and/or RSSI of the desired channel and the interference level and frequency, all as a function of the spatial setting or any other cancellation setting(s), adaptive filter, filter set, and/or other linearization means.

In the schematic diagram of FIG3 , a wideband linear auxiliary receiver circuit (310) is shown along with the normal receiver (305). A coupler (320) may be located between the filter (325) and the antenna (330) as shown. As mentioned above, a coupling loss of 20 to 30 dB may be within tolerance because the noise figure (NF) may not be critical. An additional coupler may not be needed because a coupler is often used for transmit packet tracking, predistortion, and/or other transmit closed loop tuning or control means.

A tunable filter (335) may typically be used in front of an ADC (340) or other baseband input circuitry, and may be implemented as a bandpass filter or lowpass filter, depending on the exact RF architecture: low IF, zero IF, or direct RF sampling of the RF carrier frequency. Some receive selectivity may typically be implemented in this filter, which in turn means that it may be adapted to the various bandwidths that the system needs to support. Additionally, the filter may need to be tuned to a bandwidth large enough to achieve the above features.

In one example, if the ADC and baseband (340) used in the auxiliary linear receiver (310) are intended for use in the FR2 band, a 400 MHz or 800 MHz bandwidth may be supported. In this case, the entire spectrum covering 3GPP bands B7, B38, B40 and B41 and the 2.4 GHz ISM band can be monitored.

The desired signal W (315) may not be detected via the baseband. "UW" (345) refers to the undesired strong signal that causes strong IMD3 products. For the auxiliary receiver (310), the IMD3 products (350) may not be detected, and only two undesired signals (345) may be detected due to the high noise figure introduced by the high coupling loss (30 dB in this example). Two-tone intermodulation and IIP3 are illustrated with reference to Figure 2, but this is not limiting; any number of tones may cause similar problems, including but not limited to: one tone (IMD1), IMD3...IMDn. For practical systems, it is expected that fourth or fifth order may be the highest order intermodulation products that may cause problems.

FIG4 illustrates a high level flow chart illustrating exemplary embodiment(s) of the present disclosure. At 405, it may be detected whether reception may be affected by nonlinearity issues. If RSRP and/or RSSI are high, but signal quality RSRQ and/or signal to noise ratio (SINR) are poor/low, this may be considered as a clear indication that there may be problems with linearity and that IMD issues may exist. This assessment may be based on thresholds defined in/by a UE, as they may depend on the UE's receiver implementation and its sensitivity to noise (e.g., a characteristic of the receiver). The threshold(s) for the received wanted signal is denoted "Th-wanted". The threshold(s) for the level of IMD is denoted "Th-imd". It may be noted that these threshold labels are not intended to be limiting.

At 410, a wide linear receiver may be enabled and used in parallel with the normal receive process and used to detect and measure the spectrum also outside of the used channel.

At 415, the out-of-band signal level may be detected and a determination may be made as to whether it is strong enough to cause intermodulation problems. This may be done based on an "IMD threshold" parameter/value. If not, the source contributing to the low SINR/RSRQ may be co-channel noise from the network or adjacent power from a nearby transmitter or an "in-device" transmitter using the ISM band. In other words, an interference signal below the IMD threshold may indicate that linearity problems are not present or are not significant because the interference signal level is low. Therefore, at 420, the only solution may be to facilitate handover of different resources in the time domain and/or frequency domain. This may be done by sending an "affectedCarrierFreqList" parameter [36.331, Section 5.6.9.3] to the NW, in response the NW may or may not perform handover of the UE to different resources in the time or frequency domain, or some other possible solution.

At 425, combinations of spectral components/signals that may cause in-band interference may be calculated. Based on these calculated combinations, an update may be applied to a newly defined parameter IMDaffectedCarrierFreqList, which may contain a list of interfering signal and interfered frequency (interferees) combinations that may cause intermodulation products that result in poor co-channel performance. IMDaffectedCarrierFreqList may be at least partially different from affectedCarrierFreqList, for example, because IMDaffectedCarrierFreqList may be specifically configured to indicate resources that contribute to IMD problem(s). This means that carriers affected by IMD may be different from normally affected carriers and may require different mitigation. The IMDaffectedCarrierFreqList parameter may be sent to the NW. Messages such as the InDeviceCoexInduction message (which has been introduced for E-UTRAN and may be introduced for NR (r18)) may be modified to include the IMDaffectedCarrierFreqList parameter.

Below is an example of the proposed format of the new parameter IMDaffectedCarrierFreqList. Note that the number of frequencies can be more than two to cover higher order intermodulation products. IMDaffectedCarrierFreqList = Used_bandwidth (interfered carrier frequency1(victim), IMD11frequency, IMD21frequency) …. (Interfered carrier frequencyN(victim), IMD1Nfrequency, IMD2Nfrequency) Frequency resolution of the reported frequencies = Used_bandwidth

The frequencies can be any part of the spectrum including the ISM band; the interfered frequency can also be the ISM band. The key is to move any of the following: any or all of the interfering frequencies can have a technical effect on solving the IMD problem.

At 430, it may be determined, for example at the NW, whether the spectral component of the interferer causing the in-band interference is at least partially within the 3GPP licensed spectrum. If it is within the 3GPP licensed spectrum, then at 435, the network may evaluate whether a possible solution can be provided taking both the interferer and the desired signal into consideration. In an exemplary embodiment, several different possible solutions may be determined by the network in response to the IMDaffectedCarrierFreqList (e.g., moving one of the carriers and/or other possible responses/solutions). If a solution from the network is determined to be possible, then at 440, the NW may be able to resolve the problem by, for example, triggering a switch of the UE's active BWP to a BWP in another frequency in the same cell, a reconfiguration of the UE's BWP (e.g., the UE may be directed to turn on the BWP(s), or an inter-frequency cell handover (e.g., by moving the desired signal by handover), or one of the interferers may be moved by the network. The NW may initiate movement of the interferer or interferer signal on its own, such as moving the interferer or interferer signal to another at least partially different carrier or frequency band. Alternatively, the NW may move the interferer or interferer signal based on a request from the UE. Moving an interferer may include removing the interferer or interferer signal from its operating carrier or frequency band. An example of removal is turning off the interferer or interferer signal. In an exemplary embodiment using carrier aggregation, in order to solve the problem, the NW may determine to trigger one or more of the following: the UE's SCell may be stopped, the SCell's BWP may be changed, the SCell may be changed, and/or the SCell may be removed. The network may thereby solve the problem. If a solution from the network is determined to be impossible, then at 455, the network may notify the UE that there is no available NW solution.

If the spectral component of the interferer causing the in-band interference is not within the 3GPP licensed spectrum (i.e., not under network control), then at 445, the network may evaluate whether to move the desired signal by handover to resolve the problem. At 455, the NW may notify the UE, for example in a new RRCReconfiguration message, that a resolution by the network is not possible. In this case, at 460, the UE may tune its RF front end to resolve the problem. For example, the "problem" may be the result of IMD, such as noise, interference, and/or decreased sensitivity. If the UE is capable, RF front end tuning may be initiated to resolve the problem, or the UE application processor may request to move the interferer (e.g., move the Wi-Fi channel).

At 450, if handoff of the desired signal is possible, then the handoff may be triggered by the network.

Some or all of the steps in FIG. 4 may be repeated as needed.

The power levels defined above may be UE specific and should not be interpreted as if the same absolute level is the same for all UEs, as UE designs may perform better or slightly worse than implied above. This is related to Th-wanted, Th-imd and IMD thresholds. In an exemplary embodiment, these parameters may be band and/or frequency dependent.

In an exemplary embodiment, a UE may include a proposed HW change/combination, which may have the technical effect of enabling the UE to detect undesired frequencies, which may generate noise in the form of intermodulation products in the UE's receiver along with other undesired signals and/or desired received signals.

In an exemplary embodiment, the UE may generate a list of problematic frequencies and provide this information to the network so that the NW can resolve the problem by removing the undesired signals (if they are under 3GPP control) and/or shifting the frequency of the desired signals (using intra-band or inter-band HO).

In an exemplary embodiment, new signaling may be introduced for information exchange between UE and network nodes.

Referring now to FIG. 5 , an example of RRC communication is shown according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. At 515 , the UE (505) may have been configured with HW, including but not limited to a newly added linear WB receiver in parallel with the above-mentioned "normal" receiver (i.e., a receiver sufficient to receive the intended 3GPP frequency band), or may be planned to be processed to achieve the same results as the parallel receiver. At 520 , the UE (505) may further define thresholds for received signals, tolerable IMD, and/or other necessary threshold values. These thresholds may be used to evaluate the noise generated by problematic IMD at the receiver. In an exemplary embodiment, the threshold value may be specific to the UE and may depend on the receiver implementation of the UE. In an exemplary embodiment, the threshold value may be different based on the carrier frequency of the desired signal. In an exemplary embodiment, the threshold may be changed dynamically based on the radio channel conditions observed by the UE.

At 525, the UE (505) may be in an RRC_CONNECTED state relative to a network node (e.g., gNB) (510), and at 530, the UE may have received an RRC configuration; the network node may be configured to provide an IDC configuration. This configuration may be added to the 5G-NR RRC configuration in Rel-18.

At 535, the UE (505) may determine a list of problematic frequencies based on the noise generated in the receive frequency band due to IMD.

At 540, the RRC message InDeviceCoexInduction may (e.g., in 5G-NR) be supplemented with a parameter, of which IMDaffectedCarrierFreqList is shown as an example. In an exemplary embodiment, the UE may use this new message and parameter to notify the network node of problematic frequencies. This parameter may be at least partially different from affectedCarrierFreqList. IMDaffectedCarrierFreqList may enable the gNB to determine a different solution than affectedCarrierFreqList.

Two alternative cases 545 and 560 may be encountered, illustrated in dashed lines in FIG5. In the first case (545), the network (510) can resolve the problem by, for example, selecting another cell with a different carrier frequency, may prepare a target cell with a different frequency (550), and may send a HO command to the UE (555), for example, as part of an RRCReconfiguration message with synchronization. Additionally or alternatively, the problem may be resolved by switching the UE's active BWP to another intra-frequency BWP in the same cell, reconfiguring the UE's BWP, deactivating the UE's SCell, changing the SCell's BWP, changing the SCell's BWP, changing the SCell's BWP, and/or removing the SCell. Additionally or alternatively, if the out-of-band interference source comes from a 3GPP application, the NW may be able to resolve the IDC problem by removing the interference source (not shown in FIG. 5 ). In an exemplary embodiment, the NW may select a solution from several available solutions in view of the received IMDaffectedCarrierFreqList. One solution or a combination of solutions may be selected.

In the second case (560), the network node (510) may not be able to successfully resolve the problem by removing the source of interference or finding a suitable target cell for HO, and may notify the UE of the inability to resolve the problem (565). In an exemplary embodiment, the NW may notify the UE of a new flag added for this purpose or a newly introduced message in an RRC reconfiguration message. In an exemplary embodiment, some UEs may be able to resolve the problem (at least partially) on their own. If the UE has this capability, the UE may perform its own solution (e.g., RF tuning) (570), which may improve performance, but may not completely eliminate the problem.

The technical performance of the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may be a 20 dB reduction in IMD3 products for a 10 dB increase in the IIP3 point, as shown in FIG2. For actual bi-tonal intermodulation performance across a large dynamic range, the slope may vary and may be higher or lower as higher order intermodulation products may begin to dominate and become stronger than third order intermodulation products. The following describes different RF hardware embodiments that may be used to support the above signaling and system aspects. Many more different hardware embodiments may be used to support this, and the ideas described here are not limited to the RF HW embodiments listed below.

Referring now to FIG. 6 , a hardware embodiment is shown which may be an alternative to FIG. 3 . In the example of FIG. 6 , the coupler ( 610 ) may be located directly at the antenna port ( 620 ). In an exemplary embodiment, an auxiliary receive path ( 630 ) may be inherent in the system. In an exemplary embodiment, the auxiliary receive path ( 630 ) may also be a 5G mmWave path that naturally supports a wider bandwidth and may therefore be well suited because it may be possible to measure a greater bandwidth that potentially covers several 3GPP bands at FR1 .

Referring now to FIG. 7 , a hardware implementation similar to FIG. 6 is shown with additional information included. For simplicity, overlapping features are not discussed. Using the numerical notation shown in FIG. 7 (710: IP3: +26 dBm, Gain: -14 dB, NF: 15; 720: IP3: +6 dBm, Gain: 12 dB, NF: 1.5; 730: IP3: +6 dBm, Gain: 12 dB, NF: 1.5; 740: IP3: +26 dBm: Gain: -14 dB, NF: 15), the cascaded IIP3 of the AUX path (310) is calculated to be 35 dBm and NF = 36 dB, while the normal path (305) IIP3 is calculated to be 5.4 dBm and NF = 6.3.

Referring now to FIG. 8, an example of programmable linearity achieved by switching an attenuator (810) into the chain instead of a low noise amplifier (LNA) (820) is shown. With the LNA (820) turned on, the cascade performance may be, for example, IIP3 = 6.3 dBm and noise index = 6.3. For the LNA (820), the gain may be 12 dBm and the NF may be 1.5. If the attenuator (810) is switched in, the cascade performance may be, for example, IIP3 = 36 dBm and noise index = 46 dB. A technical benefit of this exemplary embodiment may be that desired and undesired signals may be measured only sequentially rather than simultaneously. Compared to some other solutions, this solution can result in a higher noise index.

Referring now to Figure 9, another example of cascade performance is shown. In this example, the resulting cascade performance of the RF FE results in a NF change from 2.3 dB to 7.3 dB, and an IIP3 change from -6.4 dBm to +5.4 dBm. The feedback receiver inherent in all RF front ends and typically used primarily for transmit circuitry in various closed-loop control systems can be used for the purposes described here.

One technical benefit of an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure may be that up to three or more solutions may be used to help mitigate interference issues, rather than just one solution.

10 illustrates possible steps of an example method 1000. The example method 1000 may include the following actions: detecting in-band interference 1010; determining that intermodulation distortion causes the detected in-band interference 1020; determining at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion 1030; and transmitting an indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion to a network 1040. The example method 1000 may be performed, for example, by a user device.

FIG11 illustrates possible steps of an example method 1100. The example method 1100 may include the following actions: configuring a user equipment to provide an indication of at least one interfered frequency affected by intermodulation distortion 1110; receiving the indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion from the user equipment 1120; determining a decision 1130 as to whether a network-triggered solution will resolve the intermodulation distortion for the user equipment; and transmitting a message 1140 to the user equipment based at least in part on the decision. The example method 1100 may be performed, for example, by a network node, such as a base station, eNB, and/or gNB.

According to an exemplary embodiment, a device may include: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the device to perform at least the following actions: detect in-band interference; determine that intermodulation distortion causes the detected in-band interference; determine at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion; and transmit an indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion to a network.

Detecting in-band interference may include exemplary apparatus configured to: determine at least one of a reference signal received power or a received signal strength indicator is above a first threshold; and determine at least one of a reference signal received quality or a signal to interference noise ratio is below a second threshold.

The exemplary apparatus may be further configured to determine at least one of the first threshold or the second threshold based on a characteristic of the apparatus.

Determining that the intermodulation distortion causes the detected in-band interference may include the exemplary apparatus being further configured to: determine that a level of the intermodulation distortion is above a third threshold.

The indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion may be sent as part of an in-device coexistence indication message.

The indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion may include a carrier frequency list parameter affected by the intermodulation distortion.

The exemplary apparatus may be further configured to: determine at least one signal combination causing the intermodulation distortion, wherein the at least one signal combination may include at least one of: at least one desired signal, or at least one interferer signal; and transmit an indication of the at least one signal combination to the network.

At least one of the at least one desired signal or the at least one interferer signal may include at least a portion of an industrial scientific and medical frequency band.

The exemplary apparatus may be further configured to receive a message from the network, wherein the message may include one of: an indication that an intra-device coexistence issue has not been resolved at the network, an indication to switch an active bandwidth portion, a reconfiguration for the active bandwidth portion, a reconfiguration for a serving cell, or a handover configuration.

The message may include a radio resource control reconfiguration message.

The exemplary apparatus may be further configured to perform RF front end tuning in response to receiving the message including the indication that the coexistence issue has not been resolved at the network.

The detected in-band interferer may further include at least one of: in-band noise, or noise that is a result of an intermodulation product from at least one out-of-band interferer.

According to one aspect, an example method may be provided that includes: detecting in-band interference with a user equipment; determining that intermodulation distortion causes the detected in-band interference; determining at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion; and transmitting an indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion to a network.

The detection of the in-band interference may include: determining that at least one of a reference signal received power or a received signal strength indicator is above a first threshold; and determining that at least one of a reference signal received quality or a signal to interference noise ratio is below a second threshold.

The example method may further include determining at least one of the first threshold or the second threshold based on a characteristic of the user equipment.

The determining that the intermodulation distortion causes the detected in-band interference may include determining that a level of the intermodulation distortion is above a third threshold.

The indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion may be sent as part of an in-device coexistence indication message.

The indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion may include a carrier frequency list parameter affected by the intermodulation distortion.

The example method may further include: determining at least one signal combination that causes the intermodulation distortion, wherein the at least one signal combination may include at least one of: at least one desired signal, or at least one interferer signal; and transmitting an indication of the at least one signal combination to the network.

At least one of the at least one desired signal or the at least one interferer signal may include at least a portion of an industrial scientific and medical frequency band.

The example method may further include: receiving a message from the network, wherein the message may include one of: an indication that an intra-device coexistence issue is not resolved at the network, an indication to switch an active bandwidth portion, a reconfiguration for the active bandwidth portion, a reconfiguration for a serving cell, or a handover configuration.

The message may include a radio resource control reconfiguration message.

The example method may further include performing RF front-end tuning in response to receiving the message including the indication that the coexistence issue has not been resolved at the network.

The detected in-band interferer may further include at least one of: in-band noise, or noise that is a result of an intermodulation product from at least one out-of-band interferer.

According to an exemplary embodiment, an apparatus may include: a circuit system configured to detect in-band interference with a user device; a circuit system configured to determine that intermodulation distortion causes the detected in-band interference; a circuit system configured to determine at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion; and a circuit system configured to transmit an indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion to a network.

According to an exemplary embodiment, a device may include: a processing circuit system; a memory circuit system including a computer program code, the memory circuit system and the computer program code are configured to cooperate with the processing circuit system to enable the device to perform the following actions: detect in-band interference; determine that intermodulation distortion causes the detected in-band interference; determine at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion; and transmit an indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion to a network.

The term "circuitry" as used in this application may mean one or more or all of the following: (a) hardware circuit implementations only (such as implementations only in analog and/or digital circuit systems), and (b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as (as applicable): (i) a combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuits and software/firmware, and (ii) any portion of hardware processor(s) with software (including digital signal processor(s), software, and memory(s) that operate together to enable a device such as a mobile phone or server to perform various functions), and (c) Hardware circuit(s) and/or processor(s), such as a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but need not be present when the software is not required for operation. The definition of circuit system applies to all uses of the term in this application, including all uses of the term in any claim of the application. By way of further example, the term "circuit system," when used in this application, also covers an implementation of only a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors), or a portion of a hardware circuit or processor, and its accompanying software and/or firmware. The term "circuitry" also covers, by way of example and if applicable to the particular claimed element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit used in a mobile device, or a similar integrated circuit in a server, a cellular network device, or other computing or networking device.

According to an exemplary embodiment, an apparatus may include components for detecting in-band interference; determining that intermodulation distortion causes the detected in-band interference; determining at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion; and transmitting an indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion to a network.

The component configured to detect the in-band interference may include a component configured to: determine that at least one of a reference signal received power or a received signal strength indicator is above a first threshold; and determine that at least one of a reference signal received quality or a signal to interference noise ratio is below a second threshold.

The component may be further configured to determine at least one of the first threshold or the second threshold based on a characteristic of the device.

The means configured to determine that the intermodulation distortion causes the detected in-band interference may include means configured to determine that a level of the intermodulation distortion is above a third threshold.

The indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion may be sent as part of an in-device coexistence indication message.

The indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion may include a carrier frequency list parameter affected by the intermodulation distortion.

The component may be further configured to: determine at least one signal combination causing the intermodulation distortion, wherein the at least one signal combination may include at least one of: at least one desired signal, or at least one interferer signal; and transmit an indication of the at least one signal combination to the network.

At least one of the at least one desired signal or the at least one interferer signal may include at least a portion of an industrial scientific and medical frequency band.

The component may be further configured to perform the following actions: receive a message from the network, wherein the message may include one of the following: an indication that an intra-device coexistence problem has not been resolved at the network, an indication to switch an active bandwidth portion, a reconfiguration for the active bandwidth portion, a reconfiguration for a servo cell, or a handover configuration.

The message may include a radio resource control reconfiguration message.

The component may be further configured to perform RF front end tuning in response to receiving the message including the indication that the coexistence issue has not been resolved at the network.

The detected in-band interferer may further include at least one of: in-band noise, or noise that is a result of an intermodulation product from at least one out-of-band interferer.

A processor, memory, and/or exemplary algorithms (which may be encoded as instructions, programs, or codes) may be provided as exemplary components for providing or causing the performance of operations.

According to an exemplary embodiment, a non-transitory computer-readable medium includes instructions stored thereon, which, when executed in conjunction with at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform the following actions: cause detection of in-band interference; determine that intermodulation distortion causes the detected in-band interference; determine at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion; and cause an indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion to be transmitted to a network.

According to another exemplary embodiment, a non-transitory program storage device readable by a machine may be provided, which uses instructions executable by the machine in a tangible manner to perform operations, the operations including: detecting in-band interference; determining that intermodulation distortion causes the detected in-band interference; determining at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion; and transmitting an indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion to a network.

According to another exemplary embodiment, a non-transitory computer-readable medium includes program instructions stored thereon for performing at least the following actions: causing detection of in-band interference; determining that intermodulation distortion causes the detected in-band interference; determining at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion; and causing an indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion to be transmitted to a network.

According to another exemplary embodiment, a non-transitory computer-readable medium includes instructions that, when executed by a device, cause the device to perform at least the following actions: detect in-band interference; determine that intermodulation distortion causes the detected in-band interference; determine at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion; and transmit an indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion to a network.

A computer-implemented system comprising: at least one processor, and at least one non-transitory memory storing instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to perform at least the following actions: detect in-band interference; determine that intermodulation distortion causes the detected in-band interference; determine at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion; and transmit an indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion to a network.

A computer-implemented system includes: means for detecting in-band interference; means for determining that intermodulation distortion causes the detected in-band interference; means for determining at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion; and means for transmitting an indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion to a network.

According to an exemplary embodiment, a device may include: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the device to perform at least the following actions: assemble a user equipment to provide an indication of at least one interfered frequency affected by intermodulation distortion; receive the indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion from the user equipment; determine a decision as to whether a network-triggered solution will resolve the intermodulation distortion for the user equipment; and send a message to the user equipment based at least in part on the decision.

The message may include at least one of: an indication that an intra-device coexistence issue is not resolved by the network-triggered solution, an indication to switch an active bandwidth portion of the user equipment, a reconfiguration of the active bandwidth portion for the user equipment, a reconfiguration of a servo cell for the user equipment, or a handover configuration for the user equipment.

The exemplary apparatus may be further configured to perform the following actions: perform a handover of the user equipment from a source serving cell to a target cell.

The exemplary apparatus may be further configured to receive from the user equipment an indication of at least one signal combination causing the intermodulation distortion, wherein the at least one signal combination may include at least one of: at least one desired signal, or at least one interferer signal.

The exemplary apparatus may be further configured to determine that the at least one interferer signal may be within a permitted frequency spectrum.

The exemplary apparatus may be further configured to perform the following actions: determining that the network-triggered solution will resolve the intermodulation distortion for the user equipment, wherein the network-triggered solution may include at least one of the following: handover of the user equipment to another cell, switching of an operating bandwidth portion of the user equipment, reconfiguration of the operating bandwidth portion of the user equipment, reconfiguration of a servo cell of the user equipment, or moving at least one interference source.

The exemplary apparatus may be further configured to perform the following actions: triggering at least one of: the handover of the user equipment to another cell, the switching of the operating bandwidth portion of the user equipment, the reconfiguration of the operating bandwidth portion of the user equipment, the reconfiguration of the servo cell of the user equipment, or the movement of the at least one interference source.

The exemplary apparatus may be further configured to determine that the at least one interferer signal is outside of an authorized frequency spectrum.

The exemplary apparatus may be further configured to perform the following actions: determining that the network-triggered solution will resolve the intermodulation distortion for the user equipment, wherein the network-triggered solution may include at least one of the following: handover of the user equipment to another cell, switching of an operating bandwidth portion of the user equipment, reconfiguration of the operating bandwidth portion of the user equipment, or reconfiguration of a servo cell of the user equipment.

The exemplary apparatus may be further configured to perform the following actions: triggering at least one of: the handover of the user equipment to another cell, the switching of the operating bandwidth portion of the user equipment, the reconfiguration of the operating bandwidth portion of the user equipment, or the reconfiguration of the servo cell of the user equipment.

The exemplary apparatus may be further configured to determine that a network-triggered solution does not resolve the intermodulation distortion for the user equipment, wherein the message may include an indication that an in-device coexistence issue is not resolved for the user equipment.

The message may include a radio resource control reconfiguration message.

According to one aspect, an exemplary method may be provided that includes configuring a user device via a network to provide an indication of at least one interfered frequency affected by intermodulation distortion; receiving the indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion from the user device; determining a decision as to whether a network-triggered solution will resolve the intermodulation distortion for the user device; and transmitting a message to the user device based at least in part on the decision.

The message may include at least one of: an indication that an intra-device coexistence issue is not resolved by the network-triggered solution, an indication to switch an active bandwidth portion of the user equipment, a reconfiguration of the active bandwidth portion for the user equipment, a reconfiguration of a servo cell for the user equipment, or a handover configuration for the user equipment.

The exemplary method may further include performing a handoff of the user equipment from a source serving cell to a target cell.

The example method may further include receiving an indication of at least one signal combination causing the intermodulation distortion from the user equipment, wherein the at least one signal combination may include at least one of: at least one desired signal, or at least one interferer signal.

The example method may further include determining that the at least one interferer signal may be within a permitted frequency spectrum.

The exemplary method may further include determining that the network-triggered solution will resolve the intermodulation distortion for the user equipment, wherein the network-triggered solution may include at least one of: handover of the user equipment to another cell, switching of an operating bandwidth portion of the user equipment, reconfiguration of the operating bandwidth portion of the user equipment, reconfiguration of a servo cell of the user equipment, or moving at least one interference source.

The exemplary method may further include: triggering at least one of: the handover of the user equipment to another cell, the switching of the operating bandwidth portion of the user equipment, the reconfiguration of the operating bandwidth portion of the user equipment, the reconfiguration of the servo cell of the user equipment, or the movement of the at least one interference source.

The example method may further include determining that the at least one interferer signal may be outside of an allowed frequency spectrum.

The exemplary method may further include determining that the network-triggered solution will resolve the intermodulation distortion for the user equipment, wherein the network-triggered solution may include at least one of: handover of the user equipment to another cell, switching of an operating bandwidth portion of the user equipment, reconfiguration of the operating bandwidth portion of the user equipment, or reconfiguration of a servo cell of the user equipment.

The exemplary method may further include: triggering at least one of: the handover of the user equipment to another cell, the switching of the operating bandwidth portion of the user equipment, the reconfiguration of the operating bandwidth portion of the user equipment, or the reconfiguration of the servo cell of the user equipment.

The example method may further include determining that a network-triggered solution does not resolve the intermodulation distortion for the user equipment, wherein the message may include an indication that an in-device coexistence issue is not resolved for the user equipment.

The message may include a radio resource control reconfiguration message.

According to an exemplary embodiment, an apparatus may include: a circuit system configured to: configure a user device via a network to provide an indication of at least one interfered frequency affected by intermodulation distortion; a circuit system configured to: receive the indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion from the user device; a circuit system configured to: determine a decision as to whether a network-triggered solution will resolve the intermodulation distortion for the user device; and a circuit system configured to: send a message to the user device based at least in part on the decision.

According to an exemplary embodiment, a device may include: a processing circuit system; a memory circuit system including a computer program code, the memory circuit system and the computer program code being configured to cooperate with the processing circuit system to enable the device to perform the following actions: configure a user device to provide an indication of at least one interfered frequency affected by intermodulation distortion; receive the indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion from the user device; determine a decision as to whether a network-triggered solution will resolve the intermodulation distortion for the user device; and send a message to the user device based at least in part on the decision.

According to an exemplary embodiment, an apparatus may include components for: configuring a user device to provide an indication of at least one interfered frequency affected by intermodulation distortion; receiving the indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion from the user device; determining a decision as to whether a network-triggered solution will resolve the intermodulation distortion for the user device; and transmitting a message to the user device based at least in part on the decision.

The message may include at least one of: an indication that an intra-device coexistence issue is not resolved by the network-triggered solution, an indication to switch an active bandwidth portion of the user equipment, a reconfiguration of the active bandwidth portion for the user equipment, a reconfiguration of a servo cell for the user equipment, or a handover configuration for the user equipment.

The component may be further configured to perform the following actions: handover of the user equipment from a source server cell to a target cell.

The component may be further configured to receive an indication of at least one signal combination causing the intermodulation distortion from the user equipment, wherein the at least one signal combination may include at least one of: at least one desired signal, or at least one interferer signal.

The component may be further configured to perform the following actions: determine that the at least one interferer signal may be within an allowed frequency spectrum.

The component may be further configured to perform the following actions: determine that the network-triggered solution will resolve the intermodulation distortion for the user equipment, wherein the network-triggered solution may include at least one of the following: handover of the user equipment to another cell, switching of an operating bandwidth portion of the user equipment, reconfiguration of the operating bandwidth portion of the user equipment, reconfiguration of a servo cell of the user equipment, or moving at least one interference source.

The component may be further configured to trigger at least one of: the handover of the user equipment to another cell, the switching of the operating bandwidth portion of the user equipment, the reconfiguration of the operating bandwidth portion of the user equipment, the reconfiguration of the servo cell of the user equipment, or the movement of the at least one interference source.

The component may be further configured to perform the following actions: determine that the at least one interferer signal may be outside an allowed frequency spectrum.

The component may be further configured to perform the following actions: determine that the network-triggered solution will resolve the intermodulation distortion for the user equipment, wherein the network-triggered solution may include at least one of the following: handover of the user equipment to another cell, switching of an operating bandwidth portion of the user equipment, reconfiguration of the operating bandwidth portion of the user equipment, or reconfiguration of a servo cell of the user equipment.

The component may be further configured to trigger at least one of: the handover of the user equipment to another cell, the switching of the operating bandwidth portion of the user equipment, the reconfiguration of the operating bandwidth portion of the user equipment, or the reconfiguration of the servo cell of the user equipment.

The component may be further configured to determine that a network triggered solution does not resolve the intermodulation distortion for the user equipment, wherein the message may include an indication that an intra-device coexistence issue is not resolved for the user equipment.

The message may include a radio resource control reconfiguration message.

According to an exemplary embodiment, a non-transitory computer-readable medium includes instructions stored thereon, which, when executed in conjunction with at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform the following actions: cause a user device to be assembled to provide an indication of at least one interfered frequency affected by intermodulation distortion; cause the indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion to be received from the user device; determine a decision as to whether a network-triggered solution will resolve the intermodulation distortion for the user device; and cause a message to be sent to the user device based at least in part on the decision.

According to another exemplary embodiment, a non-transitory program storage device readable by a machine may be provided, which tangibly stores instructions executable by the machine for performing operations, the operations comprising: configuring a user device to provide an indication of at least one interfered frequency affected by intermodulation distortion; receiving the indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion from the user device; determining a decision as to whether a network-triggered solution will resolve the intermodulation distortion for the user device; and sending a message to the user device based at least in part on the decision.

According to another exemplary embodiment, a non-transitory computer-readable medium includes instructions that, when executed by a device, cause the device to perform at least the following actions: assemble a user device to provide an indication of at least one interfered frequency affected by intermodulation distortion; receive the indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion from the user device; determine a decision as to whether a network-triggered solution will resolve the intermodulation distortion for the user device; and send a message to the user device based at least in part on the decision.

According to another exemplary embodiment, a non-transitory computer-readable medium includes program instructions stored thereon for performing at least the following actions: causing a user device to be assembled to provide an indication of at least one interfered frequency affected by intermodulation distortion; causing the indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion to be received from the user device; determining a decision as to whether a network-triggered solution will resolve the intermodulation distortion for the user device; and causing a message to be sent to the user device based at least in part on the decision.

A computer-implemented system comprising: at least one processor, and at least one non-transitory memory storing instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to perform at least the following actions: assemble a user device to provide an indication of at least one interfered frequency affected by intermodulation distortion; receive the indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion from the user device; determine a decision as to whether a network-triggered solution will resolve the intermodulation distortion for the user device; and transmit a message to the user device based at least in part on the decision.

A computer-implemented system includes: means for configuring a user device to provide an indication of at least one interfered frequency affected by intermodulation distortion; means for receiving the indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion from the user device; means for determining a decision as to whether a network-triggered solution will resolve the intermodulation distortion for the user device; and means for transmitting a message to the user device based at least in part on the decision.

The term "non-transitory" as used in this article refers to a limitation of the medium itself (ie, tangible, not a signal), as opposed to a limitation on the persistence of data storage (eg, RAM versus ROM).

It should be understood that the foregoing description is illustrative only. A person skilled in the art may propose various alternatives and modifications. For example, the features specified in each appendix may be combined with each other in any suitable combination. In addition, the features proposed in the above different embodiments may be selectively combined into a new embodiment. Therefore, this description is intended to include all such alternatives, modifications and variations that fall within the scope of the attached patent application.

100: Wireless network 110,505: UE 111: Wireless link 120,152,175: Processor 123,153,173: Computer code 125,155,171: Memory 127,157,185: Bus 128,158,330: Antenna 130,160: Transceiver 131,176,181: Link 132,162: Receiver 133,163: Transmitter 140-1,140-2,150-1,150-2: Module 161,180: Network interface 170: RAN node 190: Network element 195: DU 196: gNB-CU 198: F1 interface 210: Linear response 220: OP _1dB 230:IP _1dB 240:IP ₃ 250:Third response 260:OIP ₃ 270:IIP ₃ 280:Compression 305:Normal receiving chain 310:Wideband linear auxiliary receiving circuit system 315:Desired signal W 320,610:Coupler 325:Filter 335:Adjustable filter 340:ADC 345:UW 350:IMD3 product 405,410,415,420,425,430,435,440,445,450,455,460,515,520,525,530,535,540:Step 510:Network node 545:First case 550:Prepare a target cell with a different frequency 555:Send HO command to UE 560:Second case 565:Notify UE that the problem cannot be solved 570:UE can perform its own solution (e.g. RF tuning) 620:Antenna port 630:Auxiliary receive path 710:IP3: +26 dBm, gain: -14 dB, NF: 15 720:IP3: +6 dBm, gain: 12 dB, NF: 1.5 730: IP3: +6 dBm, Gain: 12 dB, NF: 1.5 740: IP3: +26 dBm, Gain: -14 dB, NF: 15 810: Attenuator 820: LNA 1000, 1100: Method 1010: Detecting in-band interference 1020: Determining that intermodulation distortion causes the detected in-band interference 1030: Determining at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion 1040: Transmitting an indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion to a network 1110: Assembling a user device to provide an intermodulation distortion receiving, from the user equipment, an indication of at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion; 1120: receiving, from the user equipment, the indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion; 1130: determining a decision as to whether a network-triggered solution will resolve the intermodulation distortion for the user equipment; 1140: transmitting, at least in part based on the decision, a message to the user equipment;

The above-mentioned aspects and other characteristics are explained in the following description with accompanying pictures, among which:

FIG1 is a block diagram of one possible and non-limiting exemplary system in which exemplary embodiments may be practiced;

FIG. 2 is a simplified diagram illustrating the features described herein;

FIG3 is a simplified diagram illustrating the features as described herein;

FIG4 is a flow chart illustrating the steps described herein;

FIG5 is a flow chart illustrating the steps described herein;

FIG6 is a simplified diagram illustrating the features as described herein;

FIG. 7 is a simplified diagram illustrating the features as described herein;

FIG8 is a simplified diagram illustrating the features as described herein;

FIG. 9 is a simplified diagram illustrating the features as described herein;

FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating the steps as described herein; and

FIG. 11 is a flow chart illustrating the steps as described herein.

1000:Method

1010: Detect in-band interference

1020: It was determined that intermodulation distortion caused the in-band interference detected by the institute

1030: Determine at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion

1040: Sending an indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion to a network

Claims (26)

A communication device, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the device to perform at least the following actions: detecting in-band interference; determining that intermodulation distortion causes the detected in-band interference; determining at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion; and transmitting an indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion to a network, wherein detecting the in-band interference comprises: determining that at least one of a reference signal received power or a received signal strength indicator is higher than a first threshold; and determining that at least one of a reference signal received quality or a signal to interference noise ratio is lower than a second threshold. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one memory storing the instructions causes the device to perform the following actions when the instructions are executed by the at least one processor: determine at least one of the first threshold or the second threshold based on a characteristic of the device. The device of claim 1, wherein determining that the intermodulation distortion causes the detected in-band interference includes causing the at least one memory storing the instructions to perform the following actions when the instructions are executed by the at least one processor: determining that a level of the intermodulation distortion is higher than a third threshold. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion is transmitted as part of an intra-device coexistence indication message. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion comprises a carrier frequency list parameter affected by the intermodulation distortion. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one memory storing the instructions causes the device to perform the following actions when the instructions are executed by the at least one processor: determining at least one signal combination that causes the intermodulation distortion, wherein the at least one signal combination includes at least one of the following: at least one desired signal, or at least one interference source signal; and transmitting an indication of the at least one signal combination to the network. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein at least one of the at least one desired signal or the at least one interferer signal comprises at least a portion of an industrial, scientific and medical frequency band. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one memory storing the instructions causes the device to perform the following actions when the instructions are executed by the at least one processor: receiving a message from the network, wherein the message includes one of the following: an indication that an intra-device coexistence problem has not been resolved at the network, an indication to switch an active bandwidth portion, a reconfiguration of the active bandwidth portion, a reconfiguration of a servo cell, or a handover configuration. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the message includes a radio resource control reconfiguration message. The device of claim 8, wherein the at least one memory storing the instructions causes the device to perform RF front-end tuning in response to receiving the message including the indication that the coexistence issue has not been resolved at the network when the instructions are executed by the at least one processor. An apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the detected in-band interference further comprises at least one of the following: in-band noise, or noise that is a result of an intermodulation product from at least one out-of-band interferer. A communication method, comprising: detecting in-band interference by means of a user device; determining that intermodulation distortion causes the detected in-band interference; determining at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion; and transmitting an indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion to a network, wherein detecting the in-band interference comprises: determining that at least one of a reference signal received power or a received signal strength indicator is higher than a first threshold; and determining that at least one of a reference signal received quality or a signal to interference noise ratio is lower than a second threshold. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions stored thereon for performing at least the following actions: causing detection of in-band interference; determining that intermodulation distortion causes the detected in-band interference; determining at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion; and causing an indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion to be transmitted to a network, wherein detecting the in-band interference comprises: determining that at least one of a reference signal received power or a received signal strength indicator is above a first threshold; and determining that at least one of a reference signal received quality or a signal to interference noise ratio is below a second threshold. A communication device, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the device to perform at least the following actions: assemble a user equipment to provide an indication of at least one interfered frequency affected by intermodulation distortion; receive the indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion from the user equipment; determine whether a network triggering solution will be suitable for the user equipment; A decision of the device to resolve the intermodulation distortion; and a message is sent to the user device based at least in part on the decision, wherein the intermodulation distortion causes in-band interference at the user device, and wherein the in-band interference is detected based on: at least one of a reference signal received power or a received signal strength indicator is higher than a first threshold; and at least one of a reference signal received quality or a signal to interference ratio is lower than a second threshold. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the message comprises at least one of: an indication that an intra-device coexistence problem is not resolved by the network-triggered solution, an indication to switch an active bandwidth portion of the user equipment, a reconfiguration of the active bandwidth portion of the user equipment, a reconfiguration of a serving cell of the user equipment, or a handover configuration of the user equipment. The device of claim 14, wherein the at least one memory storing the instructions causes the device to perform the following actions when the instructions are executed by the at least one processor: receiving an indication of at least one signal combination causing the intermodulation distortion from the user equipment, wherein the at least one signal combination includes at least one of the following: at least one desired signal, or at least one interference source signal. The device of claim 16, wherein the at least one memory storing the instructions causes the device to perform the following actions when the instructions are executed by the at least one processor: determine that the at least one interference source signal is within a permitted frequency spectrum. The device of claim 14, wherein the at least one memory storing the instructions causes the device to perform the following actions when the instructions are executed by the at least one processor: determining that the network triggering solution will solve the intermodulation distortion for the user equipment, wherein the network triggering solution includes at least one of the following: handover of the user equipment to another cell, switching of an active bandwidth portion of the user equipment, reconfiguration of the active bandwidth portion of the user equipment, reconfiguration of a servo cell of the user equipment, or moving at least one interference source signal. The device of claim 18, wherein the at least one memory storing the instructions causes the device to trigger at least one of the following when the instructions are executed by the at least one processor: the handover of the user equipment to the other cell, the switching of the operating bandwidth portion of the user equipment, the reconfiguration of the operating bandwidth portion of the user equipment, the reconfiguration of the servo cell of the user equipment, or the movement of the at least one interference source signal. The device of claim 16, wherein the at least one memory storing the instructions causes the device to perform the following actions when the instructions are executed by the at least one processor: determining that the at least one interference source signal is outside a permitted frequency spectrum. The device of claim 20, wherein the at least one memory storing the instructions causes the device to perform the following actions when the instructions are executed by the at least one processor: determining that the network triggering solution will resolve the intermodulation distortion for the user equipment, wherein the network triggering solution includes at least one of the following: handover of the user equipment to another cell, switching of an operating bandwidth portion of the user equipment, reconfiguration of the operating bandwidth portion of the user equipment, or reconfiguration of a serving cell of the user equipment. The device of claim 21, wherein the at least one memory storing the instructions causes the device to trigger at least one of the following when the instructions are executed by the at least one processor: the handover of the user equipment to the other cell, the switching of the operating bandwidth portion of the user equipment, the reconfiguration of the operating bandwidth portion of the user equipment, or the reconfiguration of the servo cell of the user equipment. The device of claim 14, wherein the at least one memory storing the instructions causes the device to perform the following actions when the instructions are executed by the at least one processor: determine that the network-triggered solution does not resolve the intermodulation distortion for the user equipment, wherein the message includes an indication that an in-device coexistence problem is not resolved for the user equipment. An apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 14 to 23, wherein the message comprises a radio resource control reconfiguration message. A communication method, comprising: providing an indication of at least one interfered frequency affected by intermodulation distortion by a user equipment via a network; receiving the indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion from the user equipment; determining a decision as to whether a network-triggered solution will resolve the intermodulation distortion for the user equipment; and determining, at least in part based on the decision A message is transmitted to the user equipment, wherein the intermodulation distortion causes in-band interference at the user equipment, and wherein the in-band interference is detected based on: at least one of a reference signal received power or a received signal strength indicator is higher than a first threshold; and at least one of a reference signal received quality or a signal to interference noise ratio is lower than a second threshold. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions stored thereon for performing at least the following actions: causing a user device to be assembled to provide an indication of at least one interfered frequency affected by intermodulation distortion; causing the indication of the at least one interfered frequency affected by the intermodulation distortion to be received from the user device; determining a decision as to whether a network-triggered solution will resolve the intermodulation distortion for the user device; and causing a message to be transmitted to the user equipment based at least in part on the decision, wherein the intermodulation distortion causes in-band interference at the user equipment, and wherein the in-band interference is detected based on: at least one of a reference signal received power or a received signal strength indicator being above a first threshold; and at least one of a reference signal received quality or a signal to interference noise ratio being below a second threshold.