Time Division Multiplexing Mode for Antenna Configuration

Abstract

A wireless communication method for use in a wireless terminal connected to a primary wireless network node and a secondary wireless network node. The wireless communication method includes: configuring a first antenna to the first wireless network node during a first period of a time pattern; and configuring the first antenna and the second antenna to the second wireless network node during a second period of the time pattern, wherein the first wireless network node is one of the primary wireless network node and the secondary wireless network node, and the second wireless network node is the other of the primary wireless network node and the secondary wireless network node.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This document relates generally to wireless communications. Background Art

[0002] In a wireless network, a user equipment (UE) can operate in a single connection or dual connection (DC), such as DC within Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (within E-UTRA) and multi-radio DC (MR-DC). When the UE operates in DC, the UE is configured to utilize resources provided by two different network nodes (e.g., a base station, an evolved Node B (eNB) and / or a next generation Node B (gNB)), wherein one of the network nodes acts as a master node (MN) and the other of the network nodes acts as a secondary node (SN). In MR-DC, the MN acts as a control entity and uses the SN for additional data capacity. MR-DC configurations may include: DC within Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) (DC within E-UTRA), E-UTRA New Air Interface (NR) DC (EN-DC), NR-E-UTRA DC (NE-DC), and NR-NR DC. In an embodiment of DC within E-UTRA, both MN and SN provide E-UTRA access. In an embodiment of EN-DC or NE-DC, one of the MN and the SN provides NR access, and the other of the MN and the SN provides E-UTRA access. Summary of the invention

[0003] This document relates to methods, systems and devices for configuring antenna configurations of wireless terminals, and more particularly to methods, systems and devices for configuring antenna configurations of wireless terminals operating in EN-DC and / or NE-DC.

[0004] The present disclosure relates to a wireless communication method for use in a wireless terminal connected to a primary wireless network node and a secondary wireless network node. The wireless communication method comprises:

[0005] configuring the first antenna to the first wireless network node during a first period of the time pattern, and

[0006] configuring the first antenna and the second antenna to the second wireless network node during a second period of the time pattern,

[0007] The first radio network node is one of the primary radio network node and the secondary radio network node, and the second radio network node is the other of the primary radio network node and the secondary radio network node.

[0008] Various embodiments may preferably implement the following features:

[0009] Preferably, the first time period does not overlap with the second time period.

[0010] Preferably, the time mode is a time division duplex (TDD) configuration.

[0011] Preferably, one of the first time period and the second time period is configured within an uplink subframe.

[0012] Preferably, the wireless communication method further comprises: receiving pattern information indicating a time pattern from the first wireless network node.

[0013] Preferably, the first radio network node supports Long Term Evolution (LTE), and the second radio network node supports New Radio (NR).

[0014] Preferably, the wireless terminal does not support dynamic power sharing.

[0015] Preferably, the wireless communication method also includes: receiving first scheduling information from a first wireless network node for a first transmission to the first wireless network node; receiving second scheduling information from a second wireless network node for a second transmission to the second wireless network node; and when it is determined that the first transmission overlaps with the second transmission, performing at least one of the first transmission or the second transmission.

[0016] Preferably, the wireless terminal performs at least one of the first transmission or the second transmission based on an overlap period in which the first transmission overlaps with the second transmission.

[0017] Preferably, the wireless terminal performs the first transmission when the overlapping period is within the uplink subframe.

[0018] Preferably, the wireless terminal abandons the second transmission.

[0019] Preferably, when it is determined that the second transmission requires one antenna, the wireless terminal performs the second transmission.

[0020] Preferably, the wireless terminal performs the second transmission when the overlapping period is within one of a downlink subframe or a special subframe.

[0021] Preferably, the wireless terminal does not support dynamic power sharing.

[0022] Preferably, when determining that the first transmission overlaps with the second transmission, the wireless terminal performs at least one of the first transmission or the second transmission based on scheduling information indicating maximum power for the first transmission and the second transmission.

[0023] Preferably, when the scheduling information indicates that the maximum power for the first transmission is the first power and the maximum power for the second transmission is the second power, the wireless terminal abandons the second transmission and performs the first transmission.

[0024] Preferably, when the scheduling information indicates that the maximum power for the first transmission is the first power and the maximum power for the second transmission is the first power, the wireless terminal performs the first transmission and the second transmission.

[0025] Preferably, when it is determined that the first transmission overlaps with the second transmission, the wireless terminal performs at least one of the first transmission or the second transmission based on scheduling information indicating the number of ports configured for the second transmission.

[0026] Preferably, when the scheduling information indicates that the number of ports configured for the second transmission is greater than 1, the wireless terminal abandons the second transmission and performs the first transmission.

[0027] Preferably, when the scheduling information indicates that the number of ports configured for the second transmission is 1, the wireless terminal performs the first transmission and the second transmission.

[0028] Preferably, when it is determined that the first transmission overlaps with the second transmission, the wireless terminal performs at least one of the first transmission or the second transmission based on scheduling information indicating the number of ports of the sounding reference signal SRS resource configured for the second transmission.

[0029] Preferably, when the scheduling information indicates that the number of ports of the SRS resources configured for the second transmission is greater than 1, the wireless terminal abandons the second transmission and performs the first transmission.

[0030] Preferably, when the scheduling information indicates that the number of ports of the SRS resource configured for the second transmission is 1, the wireless terminal performs the first transmission and the second transmission.

[0031] Preferably, the period during which the first transmission overlaps with the second transmission is within an uplink subframe.

[0032] Preferably, when the scheduling information indicates that the maximum power for the first transmission is the first power and the maximum power for the second transmission is the second power, the wireless terminal abandons the first transmission and performs the second transmission.

[0033] Preferably, when the scheduling information indicates that the number of ports configured for the second transmission is greater than 1, the wireless terminal abandons the first transmission and performs the second transmission.

[0034] Preferably, when the scheduling information indicates that the number of ports of the SRS resources configured for the second transmission is greater than 1, the wireless terminal abandons the first transmission and performs the second transmission.

[0035] Preferably, the wireless communication performs at least one of the first transmission or the second transmission based on the timing of receiving the first scheduling information and the second scheduling information.

[0036] Preferably, the wireless terminal performs the first transmission when the timing of receiving the first scheduling information is no later than the timing of receiving the second scheduling information.

[0037] Preferably, when it is determined that the maximum power for the second transmission is the first power, the number of ports configured for the second transmission is 1, or the number of ports of the sounding reference signal SRS resources configured for the second transmission is 1, the wireless terminal performs the second transmission.

[0038] Preferably, when it is determined that the maximum power used for the second transmission is the second power, the number of ports configured for the second transmission is greater than 1, or the number of ports of the sounding reference signal SRS resources configured for the second transmission is greater than 1, the wireless terminal abandons the second transmission.

[0039] Preferably, when the timing of receiving the first scheduling information is after the timing of receiving the second scheduling information, the wireless terminal performs the second transmission.

[0040] Preferably, when it is determined that the maximum power for the second transmission is the first power, the number of ports configured for the second transmission is 1, or the number of ports of the sounding reference signal SRS resources configured for the second transmission is 1, the wireless terminal performs the first transmission.

[0041] Preferably, when it is determined that the maximum power used for the second transmission is the second power, the number of ports configured for the second transmission is greater than 1, or the number of ports of the sounding reference signal SRS resources configured for the second transmission is greater than 1, the wireless terminal abandons the first transmission.

[0042] Preferably, the period during which the first transmission overlaps with the second transmission is within one of a downlink subframe or a special subframe.

[0043] Preferably, the wireless terminal supports dynamic power sharing.

[0044] The present disclosure also relates to a wireless communication method for use in a first wireless network node. The wireless communication method includes: transmitting mode information to wireless terminals connected to the first wireless network node and the second wireless network node to indicate a time mode for configuring a first antenna and a second antenna of the wireless terminal.

[0045] Various embodiments may preferably implement the following features:

[0046] Preferably, the first radio network node supports Long Term Evolution (LTE), and the second radio network node supports New Radio (NR).

[0047] The present disclosure also relates to a wireless terminal, comprising a processor and a storage unit, wherein the processor is configured to read a program code from the storage unit and implement a method according to any one of the aforementioned methods.

[0048] The present disclosure also relates to a wireless network node, comprising a processor and a storage unit, wherein the processor is configured to read a program code from the storage unit and implement a method according to any one of the aforementioned methods.

[0049] The present disclosure also relates to a computer program product, comprising a computer-readable program medium code stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to implement a method according to any one of the aforementioned methods.

[0050] The exemplary embodiments disclosed herein are intended to provide additional features that will become apparent by reference to the following description when combined with the accompanying drawings. According to various embodiments, exemplary systems, methods, devices, and computer program products are disclosed herein. However, it will be understood that these embodiments are presented by way of example and not limitation, and it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art who have read this disclosure that various modifications may be made to the disclosed embodiments while remaining within the scope of this disclosure. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0051] The above and other aspects and embodiments thereof are described in more detail in the drawings, the description and the claims.

[0052] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0053] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a wireless network node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0054] Figure 3 A schematic diagram showing a time mode according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0055] Figure 4 An example of a time division duplex (TDD) configuration table according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0056] Figure 5 A schematic diagram showing a time mode according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0057] Figure 1A schematic diagram of a wireless terminal 10 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is provided. The wireless terminal 10 may be a user equipment (UE), a mobile phone, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, an e-book, or a portable computer system, and is not limited herein. The wireless terminal 10 may include a processor 100 (such as a microprocessor or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), a storage unit 110, and a communication unit 120. The storage unit 110 may be any data storage device that stores program code 112 accessed and executed by the processor 100. Embodiments of the storage unit 112 include, but are not limited to, a subscriber identity module (SIM), a read-only memory (ROM), a flash memory, a random access memory (RAM), a hard disk, and an optical data storage device. The communication unit 120 may be a transceiver, and is used to transmit and receive signals (e.g., messages or packets) according to the processing results of the processor 100. In an embodiment, the communication unit 120 communicates with the communication unit 120 via Figure 1 At least one antenna 122 is shown for transmitting and receiving signals.

[0058] In an embodiment, the storage unit 110 and the program code 112 may be omitted, and the processor 100 may include a storage unit storing the program code.

[0059] The processor 100 may implement any of the steps in the exemplary embodiments on the wireless terminal 10 .

[0060] The communication unit 120 may be a transceiver. The communication unit 120 may alternatively or additionally combine a transmitting unit and a receiving unit, which are respectively configured to transmit and receive signals to and from a wireless network node (eg, a base station (BS)).

[0061] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a radio network node 20 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is provided. The radio network node 20 may be a base station (BS), a network entity, a mobility management entity (MME), a serving gateway (S-GW), a packet data network (PDN) gateway (P-GW), a radio access network (RAN), a next generation RAN (NG-RAN), a data network, a core network, or a radio network controller (RNC), and is not limited herein. The radio network node 20 may include a processor 200 (such as a microprocessor or an ASIC), a storage unit 210, and a communication unit 220. The storage unit 210 may be any data storage device that stores program code 212 accessed and executed by the processor 200. Examples of the storage unit 212 include, but are not limited to, a SIM, a ROM, a flash memory, a RAM, a hard disk, and an optical data storage device. The communication unit 220 may be a transceiver, and is used to transmit and receive signals (e.g., messages or packets) according to the processing results of the processor 200. In an example, the communication unit 220 transmits and receives a program code 212 via a processor 200. Figure 2At least one antenna 222 is shown for transmitting and receiving signals.

[0062] In an embodiment, the storage unit 210 and the program code 212 may be omitted. The processor 200 may include a storage unit in which the program code is stored.

[0063] The processor 200 may implement any steps described in the exemplary embodiments on the radio network node 20 .

[0064] The communication unit 220 may be a transceiver. The communication unit 220 may alternatively or additionally combine a transmitting unit and a receiving unit, which are respectively configured to transmit signals to and receive signals from a wireless terminal (eg, a user equipment (UE)).

[0065] In an embodiment, a wireless terminal (e.g., UE) is connected to a master node (MN) and a secondary node (SN) (i.e., operating in MR-DC). In this embodiment, one of the MN and the SN supports long term evolution (LTE), and the other of the MN and the SN supports new radio (NR). For example, one of the MN and the SN is an eNB, and the other of the MN and the SN is a gNB. In other words, the wireless terminal operates in EN-DC or NE-DC.

[0066] In general, carriers configured for LTE are in a lower frequency band than carriers configured for NR. In an embodiment, because the transmission loss in the lower frequency band is less than the transmission loss in the higher frequency band, one antenna is sufficient to transmit the carrier configured for LTE. In contrast, carriers configured for NR may encounter worse air channel conditions and higher transmission losses because they operate in higher frequency bands. In order to improve the quality of communication, the wireless terminal may adopt multiple input multiple output (MIMO), that is, increase the number of antennas used for transmission in higher frequency bands. For example, the wireless terminal may use two antennas for carriers in higher frequency bands (e.g., carriers configured for NR). Since one antenna is used for carriers in lower frequency bands (e.g., carriers configured for LTE), and two antennas are used for carriers in higher frequency bands (e.g., carriers configured for NR), when operating in DC or NE-DC, the wireless terminal may require three antennas in its communication unit (e.g., the wireless terminal 10 has three antennas 122) for performing two concurrent transmissions. However, three antennas will significantly increase the power consumption of the wireless terminal. In addition, due to cost and appearance requirements, the wireless terminal may not be able to introduce three antennas in its structural design. In order to reduce the cost and power consumption of the wireless terminal, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, the carriers of LTE and NR can share one antenna. That is, the wireless terminal of the present disclosure requires two antennas instead of three. As a result, not only the cost and power consumption of the wireless terminal are reduced, but also the structural design of the wireless terminal is simplified.

[0067] In an embodiment, a wireless terminal has two antennas (e.g., transmit (TX) antennas) and their corresponding radio frequency (RF) components for supporting EN-DC / NE-DC with two carriers (e.g., uplink (UL) carriers), wherein one of the two carriers is configured for a wireless network node supporting LTE and the other of the two carriers is configured for a wireless network node supporting NR. Note that each antenna and its RF components are reserved for one carrier.

[0068] In an embodiment of a wireless terminal equipped with two antennas ANT1 and ANT2, the wireless terminal can configure antenna ANT1 to a carrier of LTE or NR based on a time mode (e.g., a time division multiplexing (TDM) mode), and when operating in NE-DC or EN-DC, antenna ANT2 can be continuously configured to a carrier of NR. In other words, the wireless terminal configures antenna ANT1 to a wireless network node supporting LTE or a wireless network node supporting NR based on a time mode, and continuously configures antenna ANT2 to a wireless network node supporting NR, wherein the wireless network node supporting LTE is one of MN and SN, and the wireless terminal node supporting NR is the other of MN and SN.

[0069] For example, the wireless terminal may configure antenna ANT1 to a carrier of LTE during time period P1 of the time mode, and configure antenna ANT1 to a carrier of NR during time period P2 of the time mode. In an embodiment, time period P1 does not overlap with time period P2. During time period P1, the wireless terminal is able to transmit signals to a wireless network node supporting LTE via antenna ANT1. During time period P2, because both antennas ANT1 and ANT2 are configured to a carrier of NR, the wireless terminal can only transmit signals to a wireless network node supporting NR. In addition to reducing the cost and power consumption of the wireless terminal, the resource allocation of wireless communications can be balanced, and the scheduling complexity of wireless communications can be simplified.

[0070] Figure 3A schematic diagram of a time mode according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. In this embodiment, the wireless terminal includes antennas ANT1 and ANT2, and operates in an operation mode OP1 or another operation mode OP2 for communicating with a radio network node N1 supporting LTE and a radio network node N2 supporting NR. The wireless terminal operates in the operation mode OP1 during the P1 period, and operates in the operation mode OP2 during the P2 period. When operating in the operation mode OP1, the wireless terminal reserves the antenna ANT1 for the carrier CAR1 of the radio network node N1, and reserves the antenna ANT2 for the carrier CAR2 of the radio network node N2. When operating in the operation mode OP2, the wireless terminal reserves both antennas ANT1 and ANT2 for the carrier CAR2 of the radio network node N2. Figure 3 As shown, the wireless terminal switches between the operation modes OP1 and OP2 based on the time pattern. During the period P1 of the time pattern, the wireless terminal operates in the operation mode OP1. During the period P2 of the time pattern, the wireless terminal operates in the operation mode OP2.

[0071] Notice, Figure 3 The time pattern shown in FIG. 1 is for illustration only, and the time periods P1 and P2 do not need to be the same. Figure 3 Staggered as shown.

[0072] exist Figure 3 There is a switching period between the time periods P1 and P2, allowing the wireless terminal to complete the switching between the operation modes OP1 and OP2.

[0073] In an embodiment, the time pattern of the antenna of the wireless terminal can be a time division duplex (TDD) configuration. For example, the time pattern can be a reference TDD configuration with a radio resource control (RRC) configuration. In an embodiment, the TDD configuration can allocate time units to uplink (UL) subframes, downlink (DL) subframes, and special subframes. In an embodiment, time period P1 is configured within a time unit (e.g., a time period) allocated to a UL subframe, and time period P2 is configured within a time unit allocated to a DL subframe and a special subframe (i.e., a subframe other than a UL subframe). In another embodiment, time period P1 is configured within a time unit allocated to a subframe other than a UL subframe, and time period P2 is configured within a time unit allocated to a UL subframe. Figure 4 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a TDD configuration table according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 4 , 7 TDD configurations 1 to 7 are illustrated, where "U" represents a time unit configured for a UL subframe, "D" represents a time unit configured for a DL subframe, and "S" represents a time unit configured for a special subframe. In addition, each TDD configuration includes 10 subframes numbered from 0 to 9. Based on Figure 4In the TDD configuration shown, the wireless terminal is able to determine the timing of switching between operating modes OP1 and OP2 (ie, changing the antenna configuration).

[0074] Figure 5 An example of a time pattern as a TDD configuration according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. In this embodiment, the time pattern is Figure 4 The TDD configuration 1 shown is shown, and the wireless terminal operates in operation mode OP1 in UL subframes, and operates in operation mode OP2 in subframes other than UL subframes (i.e., DL subframes and special subframes). Therefore, the wireless terminal configures antenna ANT1 to carrier CAR1 of LTE and antenna ANT2 to carrier CAR2 of NR in subframes numbered 2, 3, 4, 7, and 8, and configures antennas ANT1 and ANT2 to carrier CAR2 of NR in subframes numbered 0, 1, 5, 6, and 9. In this case, the wireless terminal can share antenna ANT1 to reduce cost and power consumption. In addition, resource allocation of wireless communication is balanced, and scheduling complexity of wireless communication is simplified.

[0075] In an embodiment, the time pattern is configured from the LTE-capable radio network node, for example via RRC signaling to the wireless terminal.For example, the LTE-capable radio network node may indicate the time pattern via transmitting pattern information to the wireless terminal.

[0076] In an embodiment, after the wireless terminal indicates to the wireless terminal's wireless network (e.g., a wireless network node supporting LTE) that the wireless terminal can switch between operation modes OP1 and OP2, the time mode is configured (e.g., indicated) to the wireless terminal. In other words, the wireless terminal can indicate to the wireless network that the UE can share the antenna, and is accordingly indicated the time mode for configuring the antenna.

[0077] In an embodiment, a wireless terminal operating under NE-DC or EN-DC receives scheduling information SI_LTE (e.g., UL signaling) that configures (UL) transmission to a wireless network node supporting LTE (i.e., LTE transmission), and receives scheduling information SL_NR (e.g., UL signaling) that configures (UL) transmission to a wireless network node supporting NR (i.e., NR transmission). When a time mode of configuring the antenna of the wireless terminal is adopted, if the wireless network nodes supporting LTE and NR have close coordination, the wireless network of the wireless terminal can ensure that LTE transmission does not overlap with NR transmission. However, in actual network deployment, since the wireless network nodes supporting LTE and NR have separate schedulers, close coordination between wireless network nodes supporting LTE and NR in EN-DC and / or NR-DC is not always guaranteed. In the absence of such close coordination between wireless network nodes supporting LTE and NR, LTE transmission may overlap with NR transmission. When it is determined that LTE transmission overlaps with NR transmission, the wireless terminal can perform at least one of LTE transmission or NR transmission in different scenarios. In the following, various embodiments of how the wireless terminal determines to perform at least one of LTE transmission or NR transmission are described.

[0078] In an embodiment, the behavior of the wireless terminal in determining to perform at least one of LTE transmission or NR transmission when determining that LTE transmission overlaps with NR transmission can be changed according to whether the wireless terminal supports dynamic power sharing. Note that a wireless terminal that supports dynamic power sharing can dynamically share transmission power between LTE transmission and NR transmission according to scheduling information SI_LTE and SI_NR. In addition, a wireless terminal that does not support dynamic power sharing can only semi-statically separate UL transmission power.

[0079] To simplify the explanation, the wireless terminal in the following embodiments operates in operation mode OP1 (i.e., one antenna is configured to LTE and the other antenna is configured to NR) within the UL subframes specified by the adopted TDD configuration, and operates in operation mode OP2 (i.e., both antennas are configured to NR) within the DL subframes and special subframes specified by the adopted TDD configuration. If the wireless terminal is changed to operate in operation mode OP2 within the UL subframes specified by the adopted TDD configuration, and to operate in operation mode OP1 within the DL subframes and special subframes specified by the adopted TDD configuration, the technician should be able to apply the necessary changes.

[0080] In an embodiment where the wireless terminal does not support dynamic power sharing, the wireless terminal supports the time mode. In other words, the wireless terminal that does not support dynamic power sharing configures its antenna based on the time mode (e.g., TDD configuration) and / or switches between operation modes OP1 and OP2.

[0081] In an embodiment where the wireless terminal does not support dynamic power sharing and determines that LTE transmission overlaps with NR transmission, the wireless terminal determines to perform LTE transmission and / or NR transmission based on the overlapping period in which LTE transmission overlaps with NR transmission. For example, when the wireless terminal supports TDD configuration, the wireless terminal may determine to perform LTE transmission and / or NR transmission based on determining that the overlapping period is within a UL subframe or a subframe other than a UL subframe in the adopted TDD configuration. When the overlapping period is within the UL subframe, the wireless terminal may perform LTE transmission. In the example, if it is determined that NR transmission requires two antennas, the wireless terminal may abandon NR transmission. In this example, when it is determined that NR transmission does not require two antennas, the wireless terminal may perform both LTE transmission and NR transmission.

[0082] In an embodiment, the wireless terminal determines the number of antennas required for NR transmission based on the scheduling information SI_NR.

[0083] In an embodiment where the wireless terminal does not support dynamic power sharing and determines that the overlapping period between LTE transmission and NR transmission is within a subframe other than the UL subframe in the adopted TDD configuration, the wireless terminal performs NR transmission and abandons LTE transmission.

[0084] In an embodiment, the wireless terminal does not support dynamic power sharing and determines that the overlapping period between LTE transmission and NR transmission is not within the UL subframe but within the period of operation mode OP1 (i.e., one antenna is configured for LTE and the other antenna is configured for NR). Under this condition, the wireless terminal extends the period of operation in operation mode OP2 to perform NR transmission.

[0085] In an embodiment, the wireless terminal supports dynamic power sharing and operates under EN-DC or NE-DC. The wireless terminal can adjust the UL transmission power for NR transmission based on the scheduling information SI_LTE of LTE transmission. However, the wireless terminal cannot adjust the UL transmission power for LTE transmission based on the scheduling information SI_NR of NR transmission.

[0086] In an embodiment in which the wireless terminal supports dynamic power sharing, operates under EN-DC or NE-DC, and determines that LTE transmission overlaps with NR transmission in the UL subframe of the adopted TDD configuration, the wireless terminal determines to perform LTE transmission and / or NR transmission based on the maximum power for LTE transmission and NR transmission. In the example, the wireless terminal determines the maximum power for LTE transmission and NR transmission based on scheduling information (e.g., scheduling information SI_LTE for LTE transmission and scheduling information SI_NR for NR transmission). In the example, the wireless terminal determines that the maximum power for LTE transmission is power PT1 (e.g., 23dBM) and the maximum power for NR transmission is power PT2 (e.g., 26dBM). During the UL subframe specified by the adopted TDD configuration, one antenna is reserved for LTE and another antenna is reserved for NR. In addition, when the maximum power for NR transmission is power PT2, two antennas are required for NR transmission. Therefore, since only one antenna can be used for NR transmission, the wireless terminal abandons NR transmission and performs LTE transmission. In the example, the wireless terminal determines that the maximum power for LTE transmission is power PT1 and the maximum power for NR transmission is also power PT1. The wireless terminal transmits both LTE transmissions and NR uplink transmissions because the total power of transmitting both LTE transmissions and NR uplink transmissions can still be supported by the wireless terminal.

[0087] In an embodiment in which the wireless terminal supports dynamic power sharing, operates under EN-DC or NE-DC, and determines that LTE transmission overlaps with NR transmission in the UL subframe of the adopted TDD configuration, the wireless terminal determines to perform LTE transmission and / or NR transmission based on the number of antenna ports configured for NR transmission. When the number of antenna ports configured for NR transmission is greater than 1 (e.g., 2), the maximum power for NR transmission can be power PT2, and two antennas may be required for NR transmission. Therefore, when the number of antenna ports configured for NR transmission is greater than 1, since only one antenna can be used for NR transmission, the wireless terminal abandons NR transmission and performs LTE transmission. When the number of antenna ports configured for NR transmission is 1, the wireless terminal transmits both LTE transmission and NR uplink transmission.

[0088] In an embodiment where the wireless terminal supports dynamic power sharing, operates under EN-DC or NE-DC, and determines that LTE transmission overlaps with NR transmission in a UL subframe of the adopted TDD configuration, the wireless terminal determines to perform LTE transmission and / or NR transmission based on the number of ports configured for the sounding reference signal (SRS) resource for NR transmission. In an embodiment, the number of ports configured for SRS resources is indicated by an SRS resource indicator in the downlink control information (DCI), for example, configured by a wireless node supporting LTE. When the number of ports configured for SRS resources for NR transmission is greater than 1 (e.g., 2), the maximum power for NR transmission can be power PT2, and two antennas may be required for NR transmission. Therefore, when the number of antenna ports configured for NR transmission is greater than 1, since only one antenna can be used for NR transmission, the wireless terminal abandons NR transmission and performs LTE transmission. When the number of antenna ports configured for NR transmission is 1, the wireless terminal transmits both LTE transmission and NR transmission.

[0089] In an embodiment where the wireless terminal supports dynamic power sharing, operates under EN-DC or NE-DC, and determines that LTE transmission overlaps with NR transmission in a subframe other than the UL subframe of the adopted TDD configuration, the wireless terminal determines to perform LTE transmission and / or NR transmission based on the maximum power for LTE transmission and NR transmission. When the wireless terminal determines that the maximum power for LTE transmission is power PT1 (e.g., 23dBM) and the maximum power for NR transmission is power PT2 (e.g., 26dBM), the wireless terminal abandons LTE transmission and performs NR transmission because two antennas are reserved for NR in subframes other than the UL subframe. In this embodiment, when the wireless terminal determines that the maximum power for LTE transmission is power PT1 (e.g., 23dBM) and the maximum power for NR transmission is also power PT1, since there may be sufficient transmission power for both LTE transmission and NR transmission, the wireless terminal switches back to operation mode OP1 and transmits both LTE transmission and NR transmission. However, since the scheduling delay of LTE is greater than the scheduling delay of NR, the wireless terminal may not have enough time to cancel the LTE transmission. In an embodiment, the scheduling delay of the physical shared channel (PUSCH) of LTE is 4ms. That is, the wireless network node supporting LTE indicates the UL authorization to the UE 4ms before the PUSCH transmission scheduled by the UL authorization. On the other hand, the scheduling delay of NR is less than 4ms (for example, 1ms or 2ms). After receiving the UL authorization (i.e., scheduling information SI_LTE), the wireless terminal starts to prepare for LTE transmission. If the wireless terminal receives the NR UL authorization (i.e., scheduling information SI_NR) after the wireless terminal has started to prepare for LTE transmission, the wireless terminal cannot cancel the ongoing process. In this case, the wireless terminal can transmit LTE transmission and abandon NR transmission. In other words, in an embodiment in which the wireless terminal supports dynamic power sharing, operates under EN-DC or NE-DC, and determines that LTE transmission overlaps with NR transmission in a subframe other than the UL subframe of the adopted TDD configuration, if the receiving scheduling information SI_LTE is before receiving the scheduling information SI_NR and / or the receiving scheduling information SI_LTE is not later than receiving the scheduling information SI_NR, the wireless terminal can transmit LTE transmission and abandon NR transmission.

[0090] In an embodiment where the wireless terminal supports dynamic power sharing, operates under EN-DC or NE-DC, and determines that LTE transmission overlaps with NR transmission in a subframe other than the UL subframe of the adopted TDD configuration, the wireless terminal determines to perform LTE transmission and / or NR transmission based on the number of antenna ports configured for NR transmission. During subframes other than the UL subframe specified by the reference TDD configuration, the wireless terminal operates in operating mode OP2 (i.e., two antennas are reserved for NR transmission). In order to reduce the impact of switching, when it is determined that the number of antenna ports configured for NR transmission is greater than 1 (e.g., 2), the wireless terminal transmits NR transmission and abandons LTE transmission. In addition, when it is determined that the number of antenna ports configured for NR transmission is 1, since there may be sufficient transmission power for both LTE transmission and NR transmission, the wireless terminal can switch back to operating mode OP1 and perform both LTE transmission and NR transmission. However, since the scheduling delay of LTE is greater than the scheduling delay of NR, the wireless terminal may not have enough time to cancel the LTE transmission. Therefore, if the receiving scheduling information SI_LTE is before the receiving scheduling information SI_NR and / or the receiving scheduling information SI_LTE is not later than the receiving scheduling information SI_NR, the wireless terminal can transmit LTE transmission and abandon NR transmission.

[0091] In an embodiment where the wireless terminal supports dynamic power sharing, operates under EN-DC or NE-DC, and determines that LTE transmission overlaps with NR transmission in a subframe other than the UL subframe of the adopted TDD configuration, the wireless terminal determines to perform LTE transmission and / or NR transmission based on the number of ports configured for SRS resources for NR transmission. In an embodiment, the number of ports configured for SRS resources is indicated by an SRS resource indicator (SRI) in the downlink control information (DCI). When the number of ports configured for SRS resources for NR transmission is greater than 1 (e.g., 2), the maximum power for NR transmission may be power PT2, and NR transmission may require two antennas. Therefore, when the number of antenna ports configured for NR transmission is greater than 1, the wireless terminal abandons LTE transmission and performs NR transmission. When the number of antenna ports configured for NR transmission is 1, since NR transmission may only require one antenna, the wireless terminal transmits both LTE transmission and NR transmission. Therefore, the wireless terminal is able to use the remaining antennas and transmission power for LTE transmission, and LTE system performance is enhanced.

[0092] In an embodiment in which the wireless terminal supports dynamic power sharing, operates under EN-DC or NE-DC, and determines that LTE transmission overlaps with NR transmission in a subframe other than the UL subframe of the adopted TDD configuration, the wireless terminal determines to perform LTE transmission and / or NR transmission based on the timing of receiving scheduling information SI_LTE and SI_NR. Once the UE receives an uplink grant, the UE begins to prepare for uplink transmission. Once the wireless terminal begins to prepare for transmission, the wireless terminal may not be able to cancel the transmission being prepared. Therefore, the wireless terminal can transmit a transmission whose scheduling information is received earlier. If scheduling information SI_NR for NR uplink transmission is received before scheduling information SI_LTE for LTE uplink transmission is received, the wireless terminal transmits NR transmission. Note that when scheduling information SI_NR is received before scheduling information SI_LTE is received, the wireless terminal can abandon LTE transmission based on at least one of the maximum power for NR transmission, the number of antenna ports configured for NR transmission, or the number of ports of SRS resources configured for NR transmission. If the corresponding maximum power for NR transmission is power PT2 (for example, 26dBm), the wireless terminal abandons LTE uplink transmission because there is no uplink transmission power for LTE transmission; otherwise, the wireless terminal can also transmit LTE transmission. If the number of antenna ports configured for NR transmission is greater than 1, the wireless terminal abandons LTE uplink transmission because there may not be enough uplink transmission power for LTE transmission; otherwise, the wireless terminal can also transmit LTE transmission. If the number of antenna ports configured for SRS resources for NR transmission, the wireless terminal abandons LTE uplink transmission because there is no uplink transmission power for LTE transmission; otherwise, the wireless terminal can also transmit LTE transmission.

[0093] Various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings to enable technicians to make and use the present disclosure. It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that, after reading this disclosure, various changes or modifications may be made to the examples described herein without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0094] Therefore, the present disclosure is not limited to the exemplary embodiments and applications described and illustrated herein. In addition, the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods disclosed herein are merely exemplary approaches. Based on design preferences, the specific order or hierarchy of steps of the disclosed methods or processes can be rearranged while remaining within the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the methods and techniques disclosed herein present various steps or actions in a sample order, and unless otherwise expressly stated, the present disclosure is not limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented.

[0095] Although various embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, it should be understood that they are presented only by way of example rather than by way of limitation. Similarly, various figures may depict example architectures or configurations, which are provided to enable those of ordinary skill in the art to understand the exemplary features and functions of the present disclosure. However, these personnel will understand that the present disclosure is not limited to the illustrated example architectures or configurations, but may be implemented using a variety of alternative architectures and configurations. In addition, as will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art, one or more features of an embodiment may be combined with one or more features of another embodiment described herein. Therefore, the breadth and scope of the present disclosure should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments.

[0096] It should also be understood that any reference to an element herein using names such as "first," "second," etc. does not generally limit the number or order of those elements. Rather, these names may be used herein as a convenient means of distinguishing between two or more elements or instances of an element. Thus, a reference to a first and a second element does not mean that only two elements are employed, or that the first element must precede the second element in some manner.

[0097] In addition, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, signals, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, and symbols that may be referenced in the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0098] The skilled person will also understand that any of the various illustrative logical blocks, units, processors, devices, circuits, methods, and functions described in conjunction with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented by electronic hardware (e.g., digital implementations, analog implementations, or a combination of the two), firmware, various forms of programs or design codes containing instructions (for convenience, may be referred to herein as "software" or "software units"), or any combination of these technologies.

[0099] In order to clearly illustrate the interchangeability of this hardware, firmware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, units, circuits and steps have been generally described above according to their functionality. Whether this functionality is implemented as hardware, firmware or software or a combination of these technologies depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the entire system. Skilled technicians can implement the described functionality in different ways for each specific application, but this implementation decision does not lead to deviations from the scope of this disclosure. According to various embodiments, processors, devices, components, circuits, structures, machines, units, etc. can be configured to perform one or more of the functions described herein. As used herein with respect to a specific operation or function, the term "configured to ..." or "configured for ..." refers to a processor, device, component, circuit, structure, machine, unit, etc. that is physically constructed, programmed and / or arranged to perform a specific operation or function.

[0100] In addition, the technician will understand that the various illustrative logic blocks, units, devices, components and circuits described herein can be implemented or performed in an integrated circuit (IC), which includes a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, or any combination thereof. The logic blocks, units and circuits may also include antennas and / or transceivers for communicating with various components within a network or within a device. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in an alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices for performing the functions described herein, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a combination of multiple microprocessors, a combination of one or more microprocessors combined with a DSP core, or a combination of any other suitable configuration. If implemented in software, the function may be stored as one or more instructions or codes on a computer-readable medium. Therefore, the steps of the method or algorithm disclosed herein may be implemented as software stored on a computer-readable medium.

[0101] Computer-readable media include both computer storage media and communication media, including any medium that enables the transfer of a computer program or code from one place to another. Storage media can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example and not limitation, such computer-readable media can include: RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or signal structures and can be accessed by a computer.

[0102] In this document, the term "unit" as used herein refers to software, firmware, hardware, and any combination of these elements for performing the associated functions described herein. In addition, for the purpose of discussion, various units are described as discrete units; however, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that two or more units can be combined to form a single unit that performs associated functions according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0103] In addition, in the embodiments of the present disclosure, memory or other storage devices and communication components may be used. It will be understood that, for the sake of clarity, the above description has described the embodiments of the present disclosure with reference to different functional units and processors. However, it will be apparent that any suitable functional distribution between different functional units, processing logic elements or domains may be used without departing from the present disclosure. For example, functionality described as being performed by a separate processing logic element or controller may be performed by the same processing logic element or controller. Therefore, references to specific functional units are only references to suitable devices for providing the functionality, rather than indications of a strict logical or physical structure or organization.

[0104] Various modifications to the embodiments described in the present disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but should be given the widest scope consistent with the novel features and principles disclosed herein, as set forth in the claims below.

Claims

1. A wireless communication method for use in a wireless terminal connected to a primary wireless network node and a secondary wireless network node, comprising: configuring the first antenna to the first wireless network node during a first period of the time pattern, and configuring the first antenna and the second antenna to the second wireless network node during a second time period of the time pattern, The first radio network node is one of a primary radio network node and a secondary radio network node, and the second radio network node is the other of the primary radio network node and the secondary radio network node, and The first radio network node supports Long Term Evolution (LTE), and the second radio network node supports New Radio (NR).

2. The wireless communication method according to claim 1, wherein: The first time period does not overlap with the second time period.

3. The wireless communication method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The time mode is a time division duplex TDD configuration.

4. The wireless communication method according to claim 3, wherein: One of the first time period and the second time period is configured within an uplink subframe.

5. The wireless communication method according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: Pattern information indicative of the temporal pattern is received from the first radio network node.

6. The wireless communication method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The wireless terminal does not support dynamic power sharing.

7. The wireless communication method according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: receiving, from the first radio network node, first scheduling information for performing a first transmission to the first radio network node, receiving, from the second radio network node, second scheduling information for a second transmission to the second radio network node, and When it is determined that the first transmission overlaps with the second transmission, at least one of the first transmission or the second transmission is performed.

8. The wireless communication method according to claim 7, wherein: The wireless terminal performs at least one of the first transmission or the second transmission based on an overlap period in which the first transmission overlaps with the second transmission.

9. The wireless communication method according to claim 8, wherein: When the overlapping period is within an uplink subframe, the wireless terminal performs the first transmission.

10. The wireless communication method according to claim 9, wherein: The wireless terminal abandons the second transmission.

11. The wireless communication method according to claim 10, wherein: When it is determined that the second transmission requires one antenna, the wireless terminal performs the second transmission.

12. The wireless communication method according to claim 8, wherein: When the overlapping period is within one of a downlink subframe or a special subframe, the wireless terminal performs the second transmission.

13. The wireless communication method according to any one of claims 8 to 12, wherein: The wireless terminal does not support dynamic power sharing.

14. The wireless communication method according to claim 7, wherein: When it is determined that the first transmission overlaps with the second transmission, the wireless terminal performs at least one of the first transmission and the second transmission based on scheduling information indicating maximum power for the first transmission and the second transmission.

15. The wireless communication method according to claim 14, wherein: When the scheduling information indicates that the maximum power for the first transmission is a first power and the maximum power for the second transmission is a second power, the wireless terminal abandons the second transmission and performs the first transmission.

16. The wireless communication method according to claim 14, wherein: When the scheduling information indicates that the maximum power for the first transmission is a first power and the maximum power for the second transmission is the first power, the wireless terminal performs the first transmission and the second transmission.

17. The wireless communication method according to claim 7, wherein: When it is determined that the first transmission overlaps with the second transmission, the wireless terminal performs at least one of the first transmission and the second transmission based on scheduling information of the number of ports configured for the second transmission.

18. The wireless communication method according to claim 17, wherein: When the scheduling information indicates that the number of ports configured for the second transmission is greater than 1, the wireless terminal abandons the second transmission and performs the first transmission.

19. The wireless communication method according to claim 17, wherein: When the scheduling information indicates that the number of ports configured for the second transmission is 1, the wireless terminal performs the first transmission and the second transmission.

20. The wireless communication method according to claim 7, wherein: When it is determined that the first transmission overlaps with the second transmission, the wireless terminal performs at least one of the first transmission and the second transmission based on scheduling information indicating the number of ports of a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource configured for the second transmission.

21. The wireless communication method according to claim 20, wherein: When the scheduling information indicates that the number of ports of the SRS resources configured for the second transmission is greater than 1, the wireless terminal abandons the second transmission and performs the first transmission.

22. The wireless communication method according to claim 20, wherein: When the scheduling information indicates that the number of ports of the SRS resource configured for the second transmission is 1, the wireless terminal performs the first transmission and the second transmission.

23. The wireless communication method according to any one of claims 14 to 22, wherein: A period during which the first transmission overlaps with the second transmission is within an uplink subframe.

24. The wireless communication method according to claim 14, wherein: When the scheduling information indicates that the maximum power for the first transmission is a first power and the maximum power for the second transmission is a second power, the wireless terminal abandons the first transmission and performs the second transmission.

25. The wireless communication method according to claim 17, wherein: When the scheduling information indicates that the number of ports configured for the second transmission is greater than 1, the wireless terminal abandons the first transmission and performs the second transmission.

26. The wireless communication method according to claim 20, wherein: When the scheduling information indicates that the number of ports of the SRS resources configured for the second transmission is greater than 1, the wireless terminal abandons the first transmission and performs the second transmission.

27. The wireless communication method according to claim 7, wherein: The wireless communication performs at least one of the first transmission or the second transmission based on a timing of receiving the first scheduling information and the second scheduling information.

28. The wireless communication method according to claim 27, wherein: The wireless terminal performs the first transmission when the timing of receiving the first scheduling information is not later than the timing of receiving the second scheduling information.

29. The wireless communication method according to claim 28, wherein: When it is determined that the maximum power used for the second transmission is the first power, the number of ports configured for the second transmission is 1, and the number of ports of the sounding reference signal SRS resources configured for the second transmission is 1, the wireless terminal performs the second transmission.

30. The wireless communication method according to claim 28 or 29, wherein: When it is determined that the maximum power used for the second transmission is the second power, the number of ports configured for the second transmission is greater than 1, and the number of ports of the sounding reference signal SRS resources configured for the second transmission is greater than 1, the wireless terminal abandons the second transmission.

31. The wireless communication method according to claim 27, wherein: When the timing of receiving the first scheduling information is after the timing of receiving the second scheduling information, the wireless terminal performs the second transmission.

32. The wireless communication method according to claim 31, wherein: When it is determined that the maximum power of the second transmission is the first power, the number of ports configured for the second transmission is 1, and the number of ports of the sounding reference signal SRS resources configured for the second transmission is 1, the wireless terminal performs the first transmission.

33. The wireless communication method according to claim 31 or 32, wherein: When it is determined that the maximum power of the second transmission is the second power, the number of ports configured for the second transmission is greater than 1, and the number of ports of the sounding reference signal SRS resources configured for the second transmission is greater than 1, the wireless terminal abandons the first transmission.

34. The wireless communication method according to any one of claims 14 to 22, 24 to 29, 31 to 32, wherein: A period during which the first transmission overlaps with the second transmission is within one of a downlink subframe or a special subframe.

35. The wireless communication method according to any one of claims 14 to 22, 24 to 29, 31 to 32, wherein: The wireless terminal supports dynamic power sharing.

36. A wireless communication method for use in a first wireless network node, comprising: transmitting pattern information to a wireless terminal connected to the first wireless network node and the second wireless network node, the pattern information being used to indicate a time pattern for configuring a first antenna and a second antenna of the wireless terminal, The first radio network node supports Long Term Evolution (LTE), and the second radio network node supports New Radio (NR).

37. A wireless terminal comprising a processor and a storage unit, wherein: The processor is configured to read code from the storage unit and implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 35.

38. A wireless network node, comprising a processor and a storage unit, wherein: The processor is configured to read the code from the storage unit and implement the method according to claim 36.

39. A computer program product comprising computer readable program medium code stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 36.

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