Ue signal to interference power ratio detection for network scheduling assistance

Abstract

Embodiments disclosed herein relate to techniques for measuring and / or detecting a signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) of a received signal at a user equipment (UE). The received signal can include a desired signal, co-channel interference, adjacent channel interference, and in-band blocking. The UE can filter (e.g., remove) various interferences and in-band blocking. Since the desired signal and the co-channel interference overlap in frequency, the UE can determine or measure a power (or received signal strength indicator (RSSI)) of the desired signal and a power (or RSSI) of the co-channel interference, respectively. To do so, the UE can determine a total power of the received signal that includes the desired signal and the co-channel interference. The UE can receive the desired signal again when uplink transmissions are deactivated (and thus no interference). The UE can then calculate the SIR based on the total power and the power of the desired signal.

Description

[0001] Cross-references to related applications

[0002] This application claims priority and benefit to U.S. Provisional Application 63 / 248,046, filed on September 24, 2021, entitled “UE SIGNAL TO INTERFERENCE POWERRATIO DETECTION FOR NETWORK SCHEDULING ASSISTANCE”, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. Background Technology

[0003] This disclosure relates in general to wireless communication, and more specifically to improvements in wireless communication with networks.

[0004] Wireless communication networks (such as cellular networks) can determine whether and how to schedule uplink and / or downlink communication with user equipment (UE) based on estimated interference that may be present when UE operates on a particular combination of frequency bands. However, this estimated interference (e.g., maximum sensitivity degradation (MSD) value) may be a "worst-case scenario," meaning that in at least some cases, the estimated interference may not actually exist. Thus, even if the UE may not actually exhibit the estimated interference, the network can still de-prioritize UE, schedule UEs with fewer operational characteristics, or even not schedule UEs at all. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The following outlines some of the embodiments disclosed herein. It should be understood that these aspects are presented merely to provide the reader with a concise overview of these particular embodiments, and are not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. In fact, this disclosure may cover many aspects not set forth below.

[0006] In one embodiment, a method is proposed that includes disabling uplink transmission by processing circuitry of user equipment. The method also includes receiving a signal at an antenna of the user equipment. The method further includes activating the uplink transmission by the processing circuitry. The method also includes receiving interference at the antenna. The method further includes determining a signal-to-interference ratio by the processing circuitry based on the signal and the interference.

[0007] In another embodiment, one or more tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media are provided. The medium stores instructions that cause one or more processors to perform operations including receiving a signal having a known symbol. The operations also include determining a power in the signal corresponding to a portion of the known symbol. The operations further include determining an interference power in the signal corresponding to interference in the signal. The operations also include determining a signal-to-interference ratio based on the power in the portion of the signal corresponding to the known symbol and the interference power.

[0008] In another embodiment, a communication system is proposed. The communication system includes a base station configured to configure frequency band combinations for user equipment. The base station is also configured to enable the user equipment to determine the signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) of the frequency band combination. The base station is further configured to schedule the operation of the user equipment based on the SIR. The user equipment is configured to determine the SIR of the frequency band combination and transmit an indication of the SIR to the base station.

[0009] Various modifications to the above-described features may exist with respect to various aspects of the invention. Other features may also be incorporated into these aspects. These modifications and additional features may exist individually or in any combination. For example, various features discussed below relating to one or more illustrated embodiments may be incorporated individually or in any combination into any of the above aspects of the invention. The brief summary presented above is intended only to familiarize the reader with specific aspects and context of the embodiments disclosed herein and does not limit the claimed subject matter. Attached Figure Description

[0010] Various aspects of this disclosure can be better understood by reading the following detailed description and referring to the accompanying drawings, wherein similar figures refer to similar parts.

[0011] Figure 1 This is a block diagram of user equipment (e.g., electronic devices) according to an embodiment of this disclosure.

[0012] Figure 2 It is based on the implementation scheme of this disclosure. Figure 1 Functional block diagram of user equipment.

[0013] Figure 3 It shows the result of Figure 1 The user equipment receives wireless signals, which include target signals, noise, and interference.

[0014] Figure 4 It is based on the implementation scheme of this disclosure. Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the receiver for the user's equipment.

[0015] Figure 5It is an embodiment of the present disclosure supported by one or more base stations and including Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the communication network for user equipment.

[0016] Figure 6 This is a flowchart of an operation for determining the power of the desired signal and co-channel interference, according to an embodiment of this disclosure.

[0017] Figure 7 This illustrates an embodiment of the present disclosure for determining in Figure 1 A table of exemplary parameters for whether self-interference exists in user equipment.

[0018] Figure 8 It is based on the embodiments of this disclosure for the purpose of estimation Figure 1 The flowchart for the operation of the signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) of user equipment.

[0019] Figure 9 A graph illustrating the relationship between reference signal reception quality (RSRQ) and signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) when the interference power density is uniformly distributed over the carrier channel bandwidth according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Detailed Implementation

[0020] One or more specific implementations will be described below. To provide a brief description of these implementations, not all characteristics of the actual implementations are described in this specification. It should be understood that in the development of any such actual implementation, as in any engineering or design project, decisions must be made specific to many implementations to achieve the developer's specific objectives, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints that may vary from one implementation to another. Furthermore, it should be understood that such development work can be complex and time-consuming, but will still be routine work of design, fabrication, and manufacturing for those skilled in the art who benefit from this disclosure.

[0021] When describing elements of various embodiments of this disclosure, the articles “an” and “the” are intended to refer to the presence of one or more of the elements. The terms “comprising,” “including,” and “having” are intended to be included and to indicate the presence of additional elements besides those listed. Additionally, it should be understood that reference to “an embodiment” or “an embodiment” of this disclosure is not intended to be construed as excluding the existence of additional embodiments also incorporating the cited features. Furthermore, specific features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in one or more embodiments in any suitable manner. The use of the terms “generally,” “approximately,” “about,” “close to,” and / or “substantially” should be understood to mean including close to the target (e.g., design, value, quantity), such as within any suitable or conceivable tolerance of error (e.g., within 0.1% of the target, within 1% of the target, within 5% of the target, within 10% of the target, within 25% of the target, etc.). Furthermore, it should be understood that any precise values, figures, measurements, etc. provided herein should be assumed to be approximate values ​​(e.g., within a suitable or conceivable tolerance of error).

[0022] Figure 1 This is a block diagram of a user equipment 10 (e.g., an electronic device) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Among other things, the user equipment 10 may include one or more processors 12 (collectively referred to herein as a single processor, which may be implemented in any suitable form of processing circuitry), memory 14, non-volatile storage device 16, display 18, input structure 22, input / output (I / O) interface 24, network interface 26, and power supply 29. Figure 1 The various functional blocks shown may include hardware elements (including circuitry), software elements (including machine-executable instructions), or combinations of hardware and software elements (which may be referred to as logic). Processor 12, memory 14, non-volatile storage device 16, display 18, input structure 22, input / output (I / O) interface 24, network interface 26, and / or power supply 29 may each be directly or indirectly communicatively coupled to each other (e.g., via another component, communication bus, network) to transmit and / or receive data between them. It should be noted that... Figure 1 This is merely an example of a specific implementation and is intended to illustrate the types of components that may exist in user equipment 10.

[0023] For example, user equipment 10 may include any suitable computing device, including user equipment, desktop or laptop computers (e.g., those available from Apple Inc. in Cupertino, California). Pro, MacBook mini or Mac (in the form of) portable or handheld electronic devices such as wireless electronic devices or smartphones (e.g., those available from Apple Inc. in Cupertino, California). (Model form factor), tablet computers (e.g., those available from Apple Inc. in Cupertino, California) (in the form of a model), wearable electronic devices (e.g., Apple Inc., available from Cupertino, California) (in the form of) or other similar equipment. It should be noted that Figure 1 The processor 12 and other related items may be embodied, in whole or in part, as software, hardware, or both. Furthermore, the processor 12 and Figure 1 Other related items may be a single, independent processing module, or may be fully or partially integrated into any of the other elements within user equipment 10. Processor 12 may be implemented using a combination of a general-purpose microprocessor, microcontroller, digital signal processor (DSP), field-programmable gate array (FPGA), programmable logic device (PLD), controller, state machine, gated logic, discrete hardware components, dedicated hardware finite state machine, or any other suitable entity capable of performing computational or other manipulations of information. Processor 12 may include one or more application processors, one or more baseband processors, or both, and performs the various functions described herein.

[0024] exist Figure 1 In user equipment 10, processor 12 may be operatively coupled to memory 14 and non-volatile storage device 16 to execute various algorithms. Such programs or instructions executed by processor 12 may be stored in any suitable article of writing comprising one or more tangible computer-readable media. The tangible computer-readable media may include memory 14 and / or non-volatile storage device 16, individually or jointly, to store instructions or routines. Memory 14 and non-volatile storage device 16 may include any suitable article of writing for storing data and executable instructions, such as random access memory, read-only memory, rewritable flash memory, hard disk drive, and optical disk. Furthermore, programs (e.g., operating systems) encoded on such computer program products may also include instructions executable by processor 12 to enable user equipment 10 to provide various functions.

[0025] In some embodiments, display 18 may facilitate a user's viewing of images generated on user equipment 10. In some embodiments, display 18 may include a touchscreen that facilitates user interaction with the user interface of user equipment 10. Furthermore, it should be understood that in some embodiments, display 18 may include one or more liquid crystal displays (LCDs), light-emitting diode (LED) displays, organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays, active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) displays, or some combination of these and / or other display technologies.

[0026] The input structure 22 of user equipment 10 enables a user to interact with user equipment 10 (e.g., pressing a button to increase or decrease the volume level). Like network interface 26, I / O interface 24 enables user equipment 10 to interact with a variety of other electronic devices. In some embodiments, I / O interface 24 may include I / O ports for hardwired connections for charging and / or content manipulation using standard connectors and protocols such as the Lightning connector supplied by Apple Inc. of Cupertino, California, Universal Serial Bus (USB), or other similar connectors and protocols. Network interface 26 may include, for example, one or more interfaces for personal area networks (PANs) such as Ultra Wideband (UWB) or... Networks, local area networks (LANs), or wireless local area networks (WLANs) such as those employing a protocol from the IEEE 802.11x family of protocols (e.g., Networks and / or wide area networks (WANs) such as any standards related to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including, for example, 3rd generation (3G) cellular networks, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), 4th generation (4G) cellular networks, Long Term Evolution (LTE) Cellular networks, Long Term Evolution License Assisted Access (LTE-LAA) cellular networks, 5G cellular networks and / or New Radio (NR) cellular networks, satellite networks, non-terrestrial networks, etc. Specifically, network interface 26 may include, for example, one or more interfaces for using the version 15 cellular communication standard of the 5G specification, which includes millimeter-wave (mmWave) frequency ranges (e.g., 24.25–300 GHz), and / or any other version of the cellular communication standard (e.g., version 16, version 17, any future version) that defines and / or implements frequency ranges for wireless communication. The network interface 26 of user equipment 10 may allow communication via the aforementioned networks (e.g., 5G, Wi-Fi, LTE-LAA, etc.).

[0027] Network interface 26 may also include one or more interfaces for, for example, a broadband fixed wireless access network (e.g., Mobile broadband wireless network (mobile) Asynchronous digital subscriber lines (e.g., ADSL, VDSL) and digital video terrestrial broadcasting Network and its extensions DVB handheld Networks, ultra-wideband (UWB) networks, AC power lines, etc. The power supply 29 of the user equipment 10 may include any suitable power source, such as a rechargeable lithium polymer (Li-poly) battery and / or an AC power converter.

[0028] Figure 2 It is based on the implementation scheme of this disclosure. Figure 1 The functional block diagram of user equipment 10 is shown. As shown, processor 12, memory 14, transceiver 30, transmitter 52, receiver 54 and / or antenna 55 (shown as 55A-55N, collectively referred to as antenna 55) may be directly or indirectly communicatively coupled to each other (e.g., through or via another component, communication bus, network) to transmit and / or receive data between each other.

[0029] User equipment 10 may include transmitter 52 and / or receiver 54, which respectively enable the user equipment 10 to transmit and receive data with external devices via, for example, a network (e.g., including a base station) or a direct connection. As shown, transmitter 52 and receiver 54 may be combined into transceiver 30. User equipment 10 may also have one or more antennas 55A-55N electrically coupled to transceiver 30. Antennas 55A-55N may be configured in omnidirectional or directional configurations, single-beam, dual-beam, or multi-beam arrangements, etc. Each antenna 55 may be associated with one or more beams and various configurations. In some embodiments, multiple antennas in antennas 55A-55N (e.g., antenna groups or modules) may be communicatively coupled to their respective transceivers 30 and each transmit radio frequency signals that can be cancelively and / or cancelively combined to form a beam. User equipment 10 may include multiple transmitters, multiple receivers, multiple transceivers, and / or multiple antennas suitable for various communication standards. In some implementations, transmitter 52 and receiver 54 may transmit and receive information via other wired or wired systems or devices.

[0030] As shown in the figure, various components of user equipment 10 can be coupled together via bus system 56. Bus system 56 may include, for example, a data bus, as well as power buses, control signal buses, and status signal buses in addition to the data bus. Components of user equipment 10 can be coupled together or use some other mechanism to accept or provide input to each other.

[0031] For this reason, in wireless communication, the signal-to-noise ratio (or SNR) is a parameter that helps determine the degree to which a wireless signal (e.g., received at receiver 54) can be demodulated and the amount of data that can be packed into a fixed channel bandwidth of a digitally modulated signal. Additionally, noise affecting the quality of the demodulated signal can also include interference, so this parameter can include this interference and can then be defined as the signal-to-interference-noise ratio (or SINR). SINR is discussed below. Figure 3 It is conceptually shown in the middle.

[0032] Figure 3 A wireless signal 60 received by user equipment 10 is shown, which includes a target signal 62, noise 64, and interference 66 in the frequency domain. In some cases, interference 66 may at least partially overlap with signal 62 (e.g., the desired signal or data signal) (e.g., fall within the signal; fall on top of the signal), and may therefore be referred to as co-channel interference. Interference 66 may be generated by an external source (e.g., outside of user equipment 10) or may be self-generated within transceiver 30 (e.g., by one or more uplink attackers via various mechanisms in the band combination, such as uplink (e.g., UL) harmonics, intermodulation between two uplink signals (e.g., 2UL intermodulation), crossband interference due to uplink and downlink band proximity, harmonic mixing, etc.).

[0033] An “uplink attacker” may involve radio transmissions performed by transmitter 52 of user equipment 10, which may interfere with (e.g., modulate) radio reception performed by receiver 54 of user equipment 10. While this disclosure may relate to self-interference generated by an uplink attacker, it should be understood that, at least in some cases, such self-interference may be generated by a downlink attacker (e.g., radio reception performed by one or more receivers 54 of user equipment 10), which may interfere with (e.g., modulate) radio reception performed by receiver 54 of user equipment 10. In 3GPP, the effect of self-interference on reference sensitivity (or REFSENS) degradation is defined as maximum sensitivity degradation (or MSD), in decibels (dB). MSD may be the difference between reference sensitivity and interference. That is, MSD may indicate an increase in transmission power applied to the downlink signal for demodulation of the downlink signal (e.g., when interference affecting the downlink signal is present). The increment or difference between the normal reference and interference is MSD. REFSENS can be defined as the minimum received signal power level, which can be demodulated by receiver 54 to achieve a certain percentage of data throughput under a specific digital signal modulation scheme (such as quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK)).

[0034] Depending on carrier configuration and interference mechanisms, and based on the linearity and isolation performance of the radio frequency (RF) front-end components, MSD values ​​can range from low single-digit dB (e.g., 2 dB) to 30+ dB. For certain band combinations with MSDs higher than 20 dB, network operators may worry that such high sensitivity degradation may not be useful enough and therefore limit the use of these combinations in certain carrier configurations. For example, network operators may store (e.g., in a data structure such as a table) band combinations and their associated MSD values ​​as a reference for carrier configuration scheduling decisions. If a band combination is associated with an MSD higher than 20 dB, the network operator may become less interested in configuring those band combinations for user equipment 10. That is, the network operator may not schedule any uplink and / or downlink communication for that user equipment 10.

[0035] However, the MSD value associated with various frequency band configurations can be defined as the minimum requirement under a specific worst-case test configuration. That is, the MSD value is not intended for network scheduling, nor is it intended as a standard for whether a frequency band combination can be configured for or used by User Equipment 10. Specifically, and in fact in most cases, even for the same test configuration, the performance of User Equipment 10 may be better than the MSD value specified for a specific frequency band combination (e.g., the specified MSD value may represent the high tail of the statistical distribution of UE MSD performance). Furthermore, the MSD value can decrease significantly when the interference is misaligned with the victim carrier (e.g., the victim downlink (DL) carrier) (e.g., the interference frequency is misaligned with the frequency of the target signal 62). Additionally, when the uplink attacker power (e.g., the transmit power of transmitter 52) decreases, the MSD caused by second-order or higher interference may decrease faster than the uplink power decrease.

[0036] Because the MSD of frequency band combinations can vary significantly, if there is no SNR, SINR, or signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) detection mechanism on the user equipment 10 side, the communication network may simply assume (e.g., incorrectly) that user equipment 10 is subject to the MSD (e.g., worst-case MSD) defined in the specification (e.g., 3GPP technical specifications), and the scheduling of frequency band combinations may become inefficient. In fact, in the worst-case scenario, under any circumstances, these frequency band combinations may never be scheduled for any user equipment 10, even if their actual MSD performance may be much better than the performance defined (e.g., specified) in the specification (in many operating conditions).

[0037] The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the wireless signal 60 can refer to a measure of the power level of the target signal 62 relative to the power level of the background noise. The signal-to-noise-to-interference ratio (SIR) can refer to a measure of the average power of the received modulated signal 62 relative to the average power of the interference 66. The signal-to-noise-to-interference ratio (SNIR) (e.g., signal-to-noise-plus-interference ratio) or SINR can refer to a measure of the power level of the target signal 62 relative to the power levels of interference and noise (e.g., interference power plus noise power). The disclosed embodiments enable user equipment 10 to determine, detect, and / or measure the SIR of a band combination (under many or all operating conditions). User equipment 10 can report (e.g., transmit) the SIR to a communication network to help schedule the band combination.

[0038] Figure 4 It is based on the implementation scheme of this disclosure. Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the receiver 54 of the user equipment (UE) 10 is shown. As illustrated, the receiver 54 includes an antenna 70, a bandpass filter (BPF) 72, a low-noise amplifier (LNA) 74, a mixer 76, a low-pass filter (LPF) 80, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) 82, a digital channel selection filter 84, and a power detector 86. In some embodiments, the receiver's antenna 70 may represent... Figure 2 The user equipment 10 has an antenna 55. In some embodiments, the antenna 70 may be a separate and additional antenna for the user equipment 10.

[0039] The antenna 70 of receiver 54 can receive a received signal 90, which may include a desired or wanted signal 92 (which may have f). RF The received signal 90 includes the center radio frequency 94, as well as unwanted interference or noise, such as adjacent channel interference 96, co-channel interference 98, and in-band blocking 100. In some cases, the received signal 90 may also include out-of-band blocking (not shown). The received signal 90 is passed through various components of the receiver 54 to remove (or reduce) out-of-band blocking, in-band blocking 100, and / or adjacent channel interference 96.

[0040] For example, the received signal 90 is passed through a bandpass filter 72 (BPF), which filters unwanted frequencies or bands from the received signal 90, and then through an LNA 74, which amplifies the bandpass-filtered signal. This amplified signal can be mixed using a mixer 76 with a local oscillator signal provided by a local oscillator 78 (LO), and then passed through an LPF 80. As shown, the signal output from the LPF 80 (e.g., LPF-fed signal 102) may include a reduced amplitude relative to adjacent channel interference 96 and / or in-band blocking 100, allowing the ADC 82 to have sufficient dynamic range to convert the LPF-fed signal 102. The ADC 82 can then convert the signal to a digital format, and the digital signal can then be input to a digital channel selection filter 84, which can be implemented as a finite impulse response (FIR) filter. The digital channel selection filter 84 can filter the remaining adjacent channel interference 96 and / or in-band blocking 100 from the LPF signal 102, thereby producing an output signal with the remaining desired signal 92 and co-channel interference 98.

[0041] Power detector 86 can determine or measure the power (or Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI)) of the signal output by digital channel selection filter 84, including the desired signal 92 and co-channel interference 98. That is, power detector 86 can determine or measure the total power (or RSSI) of the desired signal 92 and co-channel interference 98, if both are present. To determine or measure the signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) of the received signal 90, power detector 86 can determine or measure the power (or RSSI) of the desired signal 92 (e.g., at antenna 55) and, separately (e.g., independently), the power (or RSSI) of the co-channel interference 98 (e.g., at antenna 55), which then allows the processor 12 of user equipment 10 to determine the SIR of the received signal 90 based on the power of the desired signal 92 and the power of the co-channel interference 98. Advantageously, power detector 86 can measure or determine the power (or RSSI) of the desired signal 92 independently of the power (or RSSI) of the co-channel interference 98. In this way, user equipment 10 can calculate the SIR of the received signal 90 and report the SIR to the communication network to help with the scheduling of frequency band combinations.

[0042] Figure 5 It is supported by one or more base stations 114 according to the embodiments of this disclosure and includes Figure 1A schematic diagram 110 of the wireless communication network 112 of the user equipment 10 is shown. Specifically, one or more base stations 114 may include evolved NodeB (eNodeB) base stations and may provide 4G / LTE coverage to the user equipment 10 via the wireless communication network 112. In some embodiments, one or more base stations 114 may include next-generation NodeB (gNodeB or gNB) base stations and may provide 5G / New Radio (NR) coverage to the user equipment 10 via the wireless communication network 112. Each of the user equipment 10 and the one or more base stations 114 may include Figure 1 and Figure 2 The illustrated electronic device 10 includes at least some components, including one or more processors 12, memory 14, storage device 16, transmitter 52, receiver 54, and... Figure 4 The associated circuitry is shown. It should be understood that while this disclosure may use 4G / LTE as an exemplary specification or standard, the embodiments disclosed herein may also be applied to other suitable specifications or standards (e.g., such as 5G / NR specifications).

[0043] Figure 6 This is a flowchart of operation 150 for determining the power of the desired signal and co-channel interference, respectively. User equipment (UE) 10 may request to establish communication on network 112 (e.g., a cellular network, such as a 4G / LTE or 5G / NR network). Network 112 may be implemented as at least one communication hub or base station, such as... Figure 5 The base station 114 under discussion (e.g., eNodeB or gNodeB). Operation 150 begins with operation 154, in which network 112 can configure a frequency band combination for UE 10. This frequency band combination may include any suitable combination of frequency bands for uplink and / or downlink, as well as any suitable frequency bands (e.g., Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access (EUTRA) / NR bands 20, n8, etc.).

[0044] At operation 156, network 112 can determine whether there is potential interference (e.g., self-interference, such as intermodulation) between frequency bands if UE 10 will operate on a frequency band (e.g., perform downlink or uplink operation). For example, for a 2-band combination, network 112 can base its determination on the following equations and... Figure 7 Table 200 shown is used to determine whether potential interference exists:

[0045] f INT =a×f TX1 +b×f RX1 +c×f TX2 +d×f RX2 (Equation 1)

[0046] BWINT =|a|×CBW TX1 +|c|×CBW TX2 (Equation 2)

[0047]

[0048]

[0049] Here, it is assumed that the interference is limited to up to 5th-order mixed products:

[0050] • “a” is an integer between -5 and +5;

[0051] • “b” can be -1, 0, or +1;

[0052] • “c” is an integer in the range of -5 to +5;

[0053] • “d” can be -1, 0, or +1;

[0054] ·f INT The interference center frequency after down-conversion by the receiver;

[0055] ·BW INT The effective bandwidth (BW) for interference (INT);

[0056] ·CBW TX1 The uplink carrier channel BW is component carrier (CC)1;

[0057] • CBW is the channel bandwidth;

[0058] ·CBW TX2 The uplink carrier channel BW is for CC2;

[0059] ·CBW RX1 For CC1, the downlink carrier channel BW; and

[0060] ·CBW RX2 BW is the downlink carrier channel of CC2.

[0061] Network 112 can use Table 200 and equations (1) to (4) above to determine the uplink and downlink carrier frequencies for a specific frequency band configuration. Based on the uplink and / or downlink carrier frequencies, network 112 can determine whether there is interference generated from the uplink side that affects the downlink carrier (e.g., falls on the downlink carrier). Before configuring UE 10 for a frequency band combination, the network can determine some coefficients 204 and 206 for the uplink and downlink respectively for each frequency band combination. Network 112 can use equations (3) and (4) to determine when co-channel interference overlaps with the downlink carrier channels of CC1 and CC2 respectively. For example, if equation (3) is true, the interference overlaps with the downlink carrier channel BW of component carrier 1 (e.g., falls within the downlink carrier channel BW). Similarly, if equation (4) is true, the interference overlaps with the downlink carrier channel BW of component carrier 2.

[0062] As shown in Table 200, the network can also determine interference type 212, such as intermodulation (IMD) interference or harmonic interference. Coefficients 204 and 206 can be associated with the type of interference 212. The network can also determine the harmonic order 208 of the interference. Advantageously, the information in Table 200 can be determined by the network before configuring UE 10 for a specific frequency band combination.

[0063] If inequality 3 is satisfied, then there is potential interference affecting downlink carrier 1. If inequality 4 is satisfied, then there is potential interference affecting downlink carrier 2. Return Figure 6 If no potential interference is found at operation 156, network 112 can schedule the operation of UE 10 on the frequency band combination at operation 158. If network 112 determines that there is potential interference affecting downlink carrier 1, downlink carrier 2, or both, network 112 determines the SIR of downlink carrier 1, downlink carrier 2, or both. Specifically, network 112 sends a command to UE 10 at operation 160 to disable the uplink.

[0064] At operation 162, UE 10 disables uplink transmissions. In some implementations, UE 10 may disable uplink transmissions that cross band combinations or may affect operation of the band combination, while in other implementations, UE 10 may disable all uplink transmissions. At operation 164, network 112 then sends a test signal to UE 10 (e.g., on downlink carrier 1, downlink carrier 2, or both). The test signal may mimic or replicate a “real” signal or a signal that would typically be sent from network 112 to UE 10 using the band combination. Since at least cross-band uplink transmissions are disabled on UE 10, at operation 166, UE 10 can receive the test signal without interference (e.g., at least from uplink transmissions or attackers or downlink receivers or self-interference caused by attackers).

[0065] At operation 168, UE 10 then determines (e.g., using a power detector) the power or RSSI of the test signal (e.g., on downlink carrier 1, downlink carrier 2, or both). At operation 170, network 112 then sends an instruction to UE 10 to activate an uplink transmission that may cause self-interference (e.g., self-generated) (e.g., an uplink attacker), and UE 10 activates the uplink transmission at operation 172. While this disclosure may relate to activating uplink transmissions, it should be understood that, at least in some cases, the instruction to UE 10 may additionally or alternatively include activating a downlink reception that may cause self-interference (e.g., a downlink attacker).

[0066] At operation 174, network 112 stops transmitting test signals. Since UE 10 is performing an uplink transmission and UE 10 is not receiving a signal on the band combination, UE 10 effectively receives interference at its antenna 55 in the absence of a test signal. At operation 176, UE 10 then determines (e.g., using a power detector) the power of the interference or RSSI (e.g., on downlink carrier 1, downlink carrier 2, or both). At operation 178, UE 10 (e.g., UE 10's processor 12) determines the SIR based on the power of the test signal and the power of the interference (e.g., by dividing the power of the test signal by the power of the interference) and sends the SIR to network 112. At operation 180, network 112 may determine whether the SIR is acceptable. For example, network 112 may compare the SIR to a threshold. If the SIR is acceptable (e.g., greater than the threshold), network 112 may schedule UE 10's operation on the band combination at operation 158. If not, network 112 may perform one or more mitigation measures at operation 182.

[0067] In some cases, at least some interference (e.g., co-channel interference) may not be self-generated and may originate from external interference sources. Therefore, in some implementations, this interference may be determined or measured during idle mode (e.g., when the UE is not performing downlink or uplink operation), while the UE 10 is configured with a carrier frequency of the band combination as instructed by network 112.

[0068] In another or alternative implementation, when network 112 determines at operation 156 that there is interference affecting downlink carrier 1, downlink carrier 2, or both, network 112 may enable UE 10 to determine the SIR of downlink carrier 1, downlink carrier 2, or both, such as... Figure 8 The flowchart 220 is shown. Specifically, at operation 226, network 112 may send a SIR estimation signal to UE 10. The SIR estimation signal may have a symbol known to UE 10 (e.g., predetermined and / or normalizable). The statistical characteristics of the SIR estimation signal may mimic a typical downlink signal. At operation 228, UE 10 receives a received signal including the SIR estimation signal and any interference that may be received at antenna 55. Network 112 may cause UE 10 to activate uplink transmission (e.g., an uplink attacker that may cause self-interference) by sending instructions at operations 222 and 224. Additionally or alternatively, network 112 may cause UE 10 to activate downlink transmission (e.g., a downlink attacker that may cause self-interference).

[0069] At operation 230, UE 10 then determines the power of the received signal (e.g., RSSI) (e.g., using a power detector). In some embodiments, the power may be detected after channel equalization is performed. At operation 232, UE 10 (e.g., processor 12 of UE 10) determines the power of the SIR estimated signal by cross-correlating the received signal with known symbols in the SIR estimated signal. Specifically, UE 10 may determine a measure of association and / or similarity between the received signal and known symbols in the SIR estimated signal by performing cross-correlation. In some cases, cross-correlation may generate additional signals that UE 10 uses to determine the power of the SIR estimated signal.

[0070] At operation 234, UE 10 (e.g., processor 12 of UE 10) determines the power of the interference by removing the SIR estimate signal from the received signal. At operation 236, UE 10 (e.g., processor 12 of UE 10) determines the SIR based on the power of the test signal and the power of the interference (e.g., by dividing the power of the test signal by the power of the interference) and sends the SIR to network 112. At operation 238, network 112 can then determine whether the SIR is acceptable.

[0071] In any disclosed implementation, network 112 may periodically check SIR performance. Advantageously, for Figure 8 The implementation scheme described herein allows network 112 to seamlessly switch between downlink data transmission and transmission of SIR-estimated downlink signals, provided UE 10 is aware of the SIR estimation schedule. That is, as... Figure 6 As shown, the transition between uplink and downlink operations can be avoided to determine SIR performance. Furthermore, during the SIR estimation process, UE 10 can continue transmitting data and performing uplink procedures (e.g., to network 112) because there is no time for uplink transmission to stop (even temporarily). That is, Figure 8 The SIR estimation process does not interrupt UE 10 uplink transmission. For example, UE 10 may transmit pseudo-random data in cases where it may not have an uplink procedure to perform. Furthermore, external noise and / or interference can be estimated by pausing uplink transmission during the estimation process. Any implementation disclosed herein can be applied to a single frequency division duplex band to determine the extent to which various uplink configurations affect uplink transmission of the downlink carrier under full-duplex operation.

[0072] like Figure 5 and Figure 7 As mentioned above, if the SIR is acceptable for downlink signal demodulation (e.g., greater than a threshold) (e.g., at operations 180, 218), network 112 can schedule normal operation for band combination. Furthermore, if the SIR meets a (higher) performance threshold, network 112 can increase the transmission or reception throughput or modulation order. For example, network 112 can increase the modulation order from QPSK to higher modulation orders, such as 8-quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), 16QAM, 32QAM, 64QAM, 128QAM, 256QAM, etc. If the SIR is unacceptable for downlink signal demodulation (e.g., less than or equal to a threshold), network 112 can perform mitigation measures at operations 182, 240. The mitigation measures may include degrading data transmission or reception by actions such as: scheduling only the primary cell group in dual connectivity (DC) combinations; scheduling only primary cell (PCell) operations in carrier aggregation (CA) combinations; disabling secondary cell (SCell) uplink transmissions in 2-uplink (2UL) CA combinations; disabling SCell downlink reception if SCell downlink reception is affected by both PCell uplink or PCell and SCell uplink intermodulation products; or even not scheduling any operations for UE 10.

[0073] In some implementations, Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) and / or Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ) values ​​or measurements (as implemented or defined in LTE and / or NR specifications) can be used as signal quality indicators to assist network scheduling. That is, as discussed above, the SIR value or measurement is a more direct or accurate indication of the MSD caused by uplink interference compared to RSRP and / or RSRQ. However, at least in some cases, RSRP and / or RSRQ can be used by network 112 as estimates or approximations of the SIR value. In fact, Figure 9 This is a graph 250 showing the relationship between RSRQ 252 and SIR 254 when the interference power density is uniformly distributed across the carrier channel bandwidth (e.g., most or all of the carrier channel bandwidth). Additionally, RSRQ measurements can be combined with activating / deactivating uplink transmissions to isolate interference from external noise and / or interference. For example, it can be performed... Figure 6 or Figure 8 Either of the methods shown, wherein the SIR value is replaced by RSRP and / or RSRQ.

[0074] As an example, network 112 may instruct UE 10 to disable uplink transmission, causing UE 10 to disable uplink transmission and send a signal (e.g., a test signal) to be received at antenna 55 of UE 10. UE 10 may determine the RSRP and / or RSRQ (and / or RSSI) of the signal. Network 112 may then instruct UE 10 to activate uplink transmission, causing UE 10 to activate uplink transmission. UE 10 may receive interference (e.g., self-interference caused by uplink and / or downlink attackers of UE 10) at antenna 55 of UE 10 and determine the RSSI (and / or RSRP and / or RSRQ) of the interference. UE 10 may then send an indication of the RSSI (and / or RSRP and / or RSRQ) of the interference to network 112. Then, network 112 may schedule the operation of UE 10 and / or perform mitigation procedures based on RSSI (and / or RSRP and / or RSRQ) (e.g., based on threshold comparisons as previously described).

[0075] The specific embodiments described above have been illustrated by way of example, and it should be understood that various modifications and alternatives are permissible. It should also be understood that the claims are not intended to limit us to the specific forms disclosed, but rather to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the substance and scope of this disclosure.

[0076] The techniques described herein and protected by the claims are referenced and applied to specific examples of physical and practical nature, which significantly improve the technical field and are therefore not abstract, intangible, or purely theoretical. Furthermore, if any claim appended to the end of this specification contains one or more elements designated as "means for [performing] [function]..." or "steps for [performing] [function]...", those elements shall be interpreted in accordance with 35U.SC112(f). However, for any claim containing elements designated in any other manner, those elements shall not be interpreted in accordance with 35U.SC112(f).

[0077] As is widely recognized, the use of personally identifiable information should comply with privacy policies and practices that are generally accepted to meet or exceed industry or governmental requirements for protecting user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly explained to users.

Claims

1. A method for communication, the method comprising: The user equipment's processing circuitry disables uplink transmission; Signals are received at the antenna of the user equipment when the uplink transmission of the user equipment is disabled. The uplink transmission is activated by the processing circuit. Interference is received via the antenna when the uplink transmission is activated; The processing circuit determines the signal-to-interference ratio based on the signal and the interference. as well as The signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) is transmitted to the network via the transmitter of the user equipment, wherein the SIR is configured to cause the network to perform mitigation measures based on the network’s SIR being less than or equal to a threshold, the mitigation measures including disabling secondary cell uplink transmissions in a 2-uplink carrier aggregation combination.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the interference is caused by the uplink transmission.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method includes determining the signal power of the signal and the interference power of the interference by the processing circuit, and the signal-to-interference ratio is determined based on the signal power and the interference power.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the network allocates a first frequency band and a second frequency band to the user equipment, the signal is received on the first frequency band, the uplink transmission is transmitted on the second frequency band, and the interference received on the first frequency band is caused by the uplink transmission on the second frequency band.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method includes determining the reference signal received power RSRP and the reference signal received quality RSRQ of the signal by the processing circuit.

6. The method of claim 5, comprising: The processing circuit determines the Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) of the interference. as well as The transmitter of the user equipment sends to the network an indication of the RSRP of the signal, the RSRQ of the signal, and the RSSI of the interference.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the signal-to-interference ratio determined by the processing circuit is based on the RSRQ.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the mitigation measures further include disabling the downlink reception capability of the secondary cell.

9. An electronic device, the electronic device comprising: Transmitter; as well as A processing circuit, communicatively coupled to the transmitter, and configured to: Disabling uplink transmission; Receive a signal when the uplink transmission of the electronic device is disabled; Activate the uplink transmission; Interference is received when the uplink transmission is activated; The signal-to-interference ratio is determined based on the signal and the interference. as well as The transmitter sends an indication of the signal-to-interference ratio to the network, wherein the indication is configured to cause the network to perform mitigation measures based on the network's signal-to-interference ratio being less than or equal to a threshold, the mitigation measures including disabling secondary cell uplink transmissions in a 2-uplink carrier aggregation combination.

10. The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to determine the signal-to-interference ratio of the frequency band combination based on potential interference associated with the frequency band combination.

11. The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to determine the reference signal received power RSRP of the band combination and the reference signal received quality RSRQ of the band combination.

12. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to determine a Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) of the interference and to transmit to the network an indication of the RSRP of the signal, the RSRQ of the signal, and the RSSI of the interference.

13. The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the processing circuit is configured to: measure the signal power of the signal and the interference power of the interference, and determine the signal-to-interference ratio based on the signal power and the interference power.

14. The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the interference is caused by the uplink transmission.

15. The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the mitigation measures further include disabling the secondary cell downlink receiving capability.

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