Systems and methods for high power operation in user equipment

Abstract

The disclosure relates to systems and methods for high power operation in user equipment. The present disclosure relates generally to systems and methods for high power operation in user equipment. The user equipment may indicate a high power capability of the user equipment to a network. Based on the uplink signal strength of the user equipment, the network may send a command to the user equipment to transmit using high power user equipment (HPUE) operation in half-duplex frequency division duplex (HD-FDD) mode. The network may also send a signal for the user equipment to return to a default power mode based on the uplink signal strength. The user equipment may then reconfigure to a default power in a full duplex frequency division duplex (FD-FDD) mode. The user equipment may also send an indication of an uplink duty cycle indicating a ratio of an uplink allocation corresponding to an uplink transmission relative to all uplink and downlink allocations.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of the application number 202210472595.5 filed on April 29, 2022, and the invention name is “System and method for high power operation in user equipment”.

[0002] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0003] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 185,099, filed on May 6, 2021, entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR HIGHWER OPERATION IN USER EQUIPMENT,” which is incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes. Background Art

[0004] The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, and particularly to user equipment using high power transmissions.

[0005] The transmitter and receiver of the electronic device can each be coupled to one or more antennas so that the electronic device can transmit and receive wireless signals respectively. The electronic device may include a duplexer that isolates the transmitter from the received signal of the first frequency range and isolates the receiver from the transmission signal of the second frequency range. In this way, when the electronic device is used for communication, the interference between the transmitted signal and the received signal can be reduced. However, when the electronic device implements high-power transmission, the isolation may be negatively affected. That is, the use of high-power transmission signals may cause unnecessary transmissions outside the allocated transmission channel (for example, entering the allocated receiving channel), and these unnecessary transmissions may interfere with reception. In addition, due to high-power transmission, the duplexer may experience thermal degradation effects. Summary of the invention

[0006] The following is a summary of certain embodiments disclosed herein. It should be understood that these aspects are presented only to provide the reader with a concise summary of these specific embodiments, and these aspects are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. In fact, the present disclosure may cover a number of aspects that may not be described below.

[0007] In one embodiment, the base station includes a transmitter for transmitting data and a receiver for receiving data. The base station can receive an indication from the user equipment indicating that the user equipment can use high power for transmission. The base station can then determine that the user equipment signal strength is below a threshold. Based on determining that the signal strength is below the threshold, the transmitter of the base station can send an indication to the user equipment to use high power to transmit data in a half-duplex frequency division duplex (HD-FDD) mode.

[0008] In another embodiment, the user equipment includes a transmitter for transmitting data and a receiver for receiving data. The user equipment may send a notification to the network that the user equipment can use a high power higher than a threshold to transmit data. Then, the user equipment may receive an indication from the network that the high power is used for transmission in a half-duplex frequency division duplex (HD-FDD) mode. The receiver of the user equipment may receive an indication from the network that a default power lower than a threshold is used for transmission in a full-duplex frequency division duplex (FD-FDD) mode, and the user equipment may cause the transmitter to use the default power to transmit a second set of data in the FD-FDD mode.

[0009] In another embodiment, a method includes sending a notification from a user equipment to a network that the user equipment can transmit data using a high power above a threshold. The user equipment may then receive an indication from the network to transmit using high power in a half-duplex frequency division duplex (HD-FDD) mode. The user equipment may transmit first data using high power in the HD-FDD mode, receive an indication from the network to transmit using a default mode below a threshold in a full-duplex frequency division duplex (FD-FDD) mode, and transmit second data using the FD-FDD mode.

[0010] Various improvements to the above features may exist with respect to various aspects of the present invention. Other features may also be added to these various aspects. These improvements and additional features may exist alone or in any combination. For example, the various features associated with one or more of the illustrated embodiments discussed below may be incorporated into any of the above aspects of the present invention alone or in any combination. The brief summary presented above is intended only to familiarize the reader with the specific aspects and context of the disclosed embodiments and does not limit the claimed subject matter. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] Various aspects of the present disclosure may be better understood upon reading the following detailed description and referring to the drawings described hereinafter, wherein like numerals refer to like parts.

[0012] Figure 1 is a block diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0013] Figure 2 According to the embodiments of the present disclosure Figure 1 Functional diagram of electronic equipment;

[0014] Figure 3 According to the embodiments of the present disclosure Figure 1 A block diagram of a transceiver of an electronic device;

[0015] Figure 4 is supported by a base station and communicatively coupled to an embodiment of the present disclosure Figure 1 Schematic diagram of a wireless communication network of an electronic device (e.g., user equipment (UE));

[0016] Figure 5 is a timing diagram of high power user equipment (HPUE) operation using static configuration according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0017] Figure 6 is a timing diagram of HPUE operation using dynamic configuration according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0018] Figure 7 According to the embodiments of the present disclosure Figure 1 An electronic device (eg, user equipment (UE)) performs Figure 5 and Figure 6 A flowchart of the HPUE operation;

[0019] Figure 8 According to the embodiments of the present disclosure Figure 4 Base station execution Figure 5 and Figure 6 A flowchart of the HPUE operation;

[0020] Fig. 9 According to the embodiments of the present disclosure Figure 1 A flowchart of an electronic device (e.g., user equipment (UE)) performing HPUE operations based on an uplink duty cycle;

[0021] Fig.10 According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, Fig. 9 A flowchart of network scheduling of HPUE operation with uplink duty cycle;

[0022] Fig.11 is a timing diagram for performing HPUE operations using a first exemplary uplink duty cycle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0023] Fig.12 is a timing diagram for performing HPUE operations using a second exemplary uplink duty cycle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0024] Fig.13 is a timing diagram for performing HPUE operations using a third exemplary uplink duty cycle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0025] Fig.14 is a device that can perform the HPUE operations discussed herein according to an embodiment of the present disclosure Figure 3 a schematic diagram of a first example of a transceiver;

[0026] Fig.15is a device that can perform the HPUE operations discussed herein according to an embodiment of the present disclosure Figure 3 a schematic diagram of a second example of a transceiver; and

[0027] Fig.16 is a device that can perform the HPUE operations discussed herein according to an embodiment of the present disclosure Figure 3 A schematic diagram of a third example of a transceiver. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] One or more specific embodiments will be described below. In order to provide a brief description of these embodiments, not all features of the actual implementation 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 specific to many implementations must be made to achieve the developer's specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints that may change from one implementation to another. In addition, it should be understood that such development work may be complex and time-consuming, but it will still be a routine task of design, processing and manufacturing for those of ordinary skill in the art who benefit from this disclosure.

[0029] When introducing the elements of various embodiments of the present disclosure, the articles "one / a kind of" and "the / said" are intended to mean one or more of the elements present. The terms "comprise", "comprising" and "having" are intended to be included, and mean that there may be additional elements other than the listed elements. Additionally, it should be understood that reference to "one embodiment" or "embodiment" of the present disclosure is not intended to be interpreted as excluding the existence of additional embodiments that also combine the quoted features. In addition, specific features, structures or characteristics can be combined in one or more embodiments in any appropriate manner. The use of the terms "roughly", "close to", "approximately" and / or "substantially" should be understood to mean including close to a target (e.g., design, value, amount), such as within the limits of any suitable or conceivable error (e.g., within 0.1% of a target, within 1% of a target, within 5% of a target, within 10% of a target, within 25% of a target, etc.).

[0030] The present disclosure relates to a user equipment (UE) that performs uplink (UL) transmission using high power user equipment (HPUE) operation. In some embodiments, the HPUE operation may correspond to power class 2 as defined by 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), which is an organization that formulates cellular communication standards. Specifically, power class 2 may refer to a transmission power level greater than 23 decibel milliwatts (dBm). This contrasts with the 3GPP standard for default power operation (e.g., power class 3), which may refer to a maximum transmission power level less than or equal to 23dBm. Although the larger transmission power of the HPUE operation can produce a larger transmission range, the user equipment may also experience temperature rise during transmission. This temperature rise may cause components and / or performance degradation in the user equipment. For example, a duplexer that isolates the transmitter of the user equipment from a received signal of a first frequency range and isolates the receiver of the user equipment from a transmitted signal of a second frequency range may degrade due to a higher temperature, resulting in a frequency shift when performing isolation. This may cause the isolation performance to deteriorate and cause interference of the transmitted signal at the receiver. Furthermore, HPUE operation may result in unnecessary transmissions outside of the allocated uplink channel, which may cause interference to the receiver or impair the receiver's sensitivity (eg, reference sensitivity (REFSENS)).

[0031] Additionally, regulatory entities (e.g., the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC), etc.) may limit the default or "normal" power operation of user equipment to a specific absorption rate (SAR) limit. That is, SAR refers to the amount of radio frequency (RF) energy absorbed by a user (e.g., the user's head) when operating the user equipment. However, current SAR limits may not be relevant to the operation of user equipment operating with HPUEs.

[0032] Embodiments herein provide various devices and techniques for mitigating the effects of duplexer thermal degradation and reference sensitivity (REFSENS) impairment. In particular, embodiments disclosed herein perform HPUE half-duplex operation in a paired spectrum (e.g., a frequency division duplex (FDD) band). That is, while a transmitter of a user equipment uses HPUE operation to transmit data within a first frequency range, a receiver of the user equipment may not receive the data. When the transmitter is not using HPUE operation to transmit data, the transmitter may transmit data within the first frequency range (e.g., using a default or "normal" power that is less than the power of the HPUE) and the receiver may receive data within a second frequency range.

[0033] The user equipment may implement HPUE operation using a static scheme or a dynamic scheme (e.g., in response to determining that the strength of the uplink transmission signal is less than a threshold strength). For example, the user equipment may notify the network of its HPUE operation capabilities. In a static configuration, the network may instruct the user equipment to configure its transmitter to perform HPUE operation for the duration of a radio resource control (RRC) session (e.g., in half-duplex frequency division duplex (HD-FDD) mode). In particular, the network may send an RRC reconfiguration message to the user equipment to configure its transmitter for HPUE operation for the duration of the RRC session. In a dynamic configuration, the network may instruct the user equipment to configure its transmitter to perform HPUE operation and / or default power operation for one or more desired time periods within the duration of the RRC session. In particular, the network may send a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) to perform HPUE operation or return to default power operation for the duration of the RRC session. In this way, the network can prevent or mitigate thermal degradation and / or impaired sensitivity of the duplexer of the user equipment, thereby ensuring better communication performance.

[0034] Additionally or alternatively, the user equipment may determine a duration or uplink duty cycle for performing HPUE operations that complies with SAR regulations and send the uplink duty cycle to the network. The network may then generate a schedule with times to perform HPUE operations based on the uplink duty cycle and send instructions to the user equipment to perform HPUE operations based on the schedule, thereby complying with SAR regulations.

[0035] In order to reduce the long-term thermal stress of the duplexer of the user equipment caused by HPUE operation, the user equipment can implement a transceiver architecture that can use a signal path that does not pass through the duplexer for HPUE transmission. In some embodiments, the signal path separated and separated from the duplexer may include a bandpass filter that only passes the frequencies of the desired transmission frequency range. The HPUE signal path can avoid the signal transmitted at high power from passing through the duplexer, thereby reducing the thermal stress of the duplexer during HPUE operation.

[0036] In view of the above, Figure 1 is a block diagram of an electronic device 10 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The electronic device 10 may include, among other things, one or more processors 12 (collectively referred to herein as a single processor for convenience, which may be implemented in any suitable form of processing circuitry), a memory 14, a non-volatile storage device 16, a display 18, input structures 22, an input / output (I / O) interface 24, a network interface 26, and a power supply 29. Figure 1The various functional blocks shown may include hardware elements (including circuits), software elements (including machine executable instructions), or a combination of both hardware elements and software elements. The 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., through or via another component, a communication bus, a network) to transmit and / or receive data between each other. It should be noted that Figure 1 It is merely one example of a particular implementation and is intended to illustrate the types of components that may be present in electronic device 10 .

[0037] By way of example, electronic device 10 may represent a block diagram of any suitable computing device, including a desktop or laptop computer (e.g., a computer such as the Apple Computer available from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, California). Pro, mini or ), a portable electronic device or a handheld electronic device such as a wireless electronic device or a smart phone (e.g., a device available from Apple Inc. in Cupertino, California models), tablet computers (e.g., in the form of the Apple models), wearable electronic devices (e.g., in the form of of the form) and other similar devices. It should be noted that Figure 1 The processor 12 and other related items in the system may be generally referred to herein as "data processing circuitry". Such data processing circuitry may be implemented in whole or in part in software, hardware, or both. Figure 1 Other related items in the electronic device 10 may be single independent processing modules, or may be fully or partially integrated into any of the other elements in the electronic device 10. The processor 12 may be implemented with a combination of a general-purpose microprocessor, a microcontroller, a digital signal processor (DSP), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic device (PLD), a controller, a state machine, a gated logic, a discrete hardware component, a dedicated hardware finite state machine, or any other suitable entity that can perform calculations or other manipulations of information. The processor 12 may perform various functions described herein and below.

[0038] exist Figure 1In the electronic device 10, the processor 12 may be operably coupled to the memory 14 and the non-volatile storage device 16 to execute various algorithms. Such programs or instructions executed by the processor 12 may be stored in any suitable article including one or more tangible computer-readable media. The tangible computer-readable medium may include the memory 14 and / or the non-volatile storage device 16, individually or collectively, to store instructions or routines. The memory 14 and the non-volatile storage device 16 may include any suitable article for storing data and executable instructions, such as random access memory, read-only memory, rewritable flash memory, hard drive, and optical disk. In addition, the program (e.g., operating system) encoded on such a computer program product may also include instructions that can be executed by the processor 12 to enable the electronic device 10 to provide various functions.

[0039] In some embodiments, display 18 may facilitate a user viewing images generated on electronic device 10. In some embodiments, display 18 may include a touch screen that may facilitate a user interacting with a user interface of electronic device 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.

[0040] The input structures 22 of the electronic device 10 may enable a user to interact with the electronic device 10 (e.g., press a button to increase or decrease the volume level). As with the network interface 26, the I / O interface 24 may enable the electronic device 10 to interact with various other electronic devices. In some embodiments, the I / O interface 24 may include an I / O port for a hardwired connection for charging and / or content manipulation using a standard connector and protocol such as the Lightning connector provided by Apple Inc. of Cupertino, California, a universal serial bus (USB), or other similar connectors and protocols. The network interface 26 may, for example, include one or more interfaces for: a personal area network (PAN) such as A network, a local area network (LAN) or a wireless local area network (WLAN) such as one of the IEEE 802.11x family of protocols (e.g., ) networks and / or wide area networks (WANs) such as any standards associated with the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) including, for example, third generation (3G) cellular networks, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), fourth generation (4G) cellular networks, Long Term Evolution (LET), and / or Wide Area Networks (WANs). Cellular network, Long Term Evolution Licensed Assisted Access (LTE-LAA) cellular network, fifth generation (5G) cellular network and / or new radio (NR) cellular network, satellite network, etc. Specifically, the network interface 26 may include, for example, one or more interfaces for the Release-15 cellular communication standard of the 5G specification using a millimeter wave (mmWave) frequency range (e.g., 24.25-300 gigahertz (GHz)). The network interface 26 of the electronic device 10 may allow communication through the aforementioned networks (e.g., 5G, Wi-Fi, LTE-LAA, etc.).

[0041] The network interface 26 may also include, for example, one or more interfaces for broadband fixed wireless access networks (eg, ), mobile broadband wireless network (mobile ), asynchronous digital subscriber line (e.g., ADSL, VDSL), digital video terrestrial broadcasting Network and its extension DVB Handheld Networks, ultra-wideband (UWB) networks, alternating current (AC) power lines, etc.

[0042] As shown, the network interface 26 may include a transceiver 30. In some embodiments, all or part of the transceiver 30 may be disposed within the processor 12. The transceiver 30 may support the transmission and reception of various wireless signals via one or more antennas. The power supply 29 of the electronic device 10 may include any suitable power supply, such as a rechargeable lithium polymer (Li-poly) battery and / or an alternating current (AC) power converter. In some embodiments, the electronic device 10 may take the form of a computer, a portable electronic device, a wearable electronic device, or other types of electronic devices.

[0043] Figure 2 According to the embodiments of the present disclosure Figure 1 1 is a functional diagram of an electronic device 10. As shown, the processor 12, memory 14, transceiver 30, transmitter 52, receiver 54 and / or antenna 55 (shown as 55A-55N) may be communicatively coupled to each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through or via another component, a communication bus, a network) to transmit and / or receive data between each other.

[0044] The electronic device 10 may include a transmitter 52 and / or a receiver 54, which respectively enable data to be transmitted and received between the electronic device 10 and a remote location via, for example, a network associated with the electronic device 10 or a direct connection and an external transceiver (e.g., in the form of a cell, an eNB (E-UTRAN Node B or Evolved Node B), a base station, etc.). As shown, the transmitter 52 and the receiver 54 may be combined into a transceiver 30. The electronic device 10 may also have one or more antennas 55A to 55N, which are electrically coupled to the transceiver 30. The antennas 55A-55N may be configured in an omnidirectional or directional configuration, a single beam, a dual beam or a multi-beam arrangement, etc. Each antenna 55 may be associated with one or more beams and various configurations. In some embodiments, multiple antennas in the antennas 55A-55N of the antenna group or module may be communicatively coupled to the corresponding transceiver 30 and each transmits a radio frequency signal that can be advantageously and / or destructively combined to form a beam. The electronic device 10 may include (not shown) multiple transmitters, multiple receivers, multiple transceivers, and / or multiple antennas, as applicable, depending on the various communication standards.

[0045] The transmitter 52 may wirelessly transmit packets having different packet types or functions. For example, the transmitter 52 may transmit packets of different types generated by the processor 12. The receiver 54 may wirelessly receive packets having different packet types. In some examples, the receiver 54 may detect the type of packet used and process the packet accordingly. In some embodiments, the transmitter 52 and the receiver 54 may transmit and receive information via other wired or wired systems or devices.

[0046] As shown, the various components of the electronic device 10 can be coupled together via a bus system 56. The bus system 56 may include, for example, a data bus and, in addition to the data bus, a power bus, a control signal bus, and a status signal bus. The components of the electronic device 10 may be coupled together or use some other mechanism to receive or provide input to each other.

[0047] As described above, the transceiver 30 of the electronic device 10 may include a transmitter and a receiver coupled to at least one antenna to enable the electronic device 10 to transmit and receive wireless signals. The electronic device 10 may include an isolation circuit that isolates the transmitter from the received signal and isolates the receiver from the transmitted signal, thereby reducing interference when communicating.

[0048] Figure 31 is a block diagram of a transceiver 30 (e.g., a transceiver circuit) of an electronic device 10 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown, the transceiver circuit 30 includes an isolation circuit 58 (e.g., including a duplexer), which is disposed between a transmitter 52 (e.g., a transmitting circuit) and a receiver 54 (e.g., a receiving circuit) and coupled to the transmitter and the receiver. In some embodiments, the isolation circuit 58 is coupled to one or more antennas 55. In an alternative embodiment, one or more antennas 55 may be disposed within the isolation circuit 58. The isolation circuit 58 enables a signal (e.g., a transmitting signal) of a first frequency range from the transmitter 52 to pass through to the one or more antennas 55, and prevents the signal of the first frequency range from passing through to the receiver 54. The isolation circuit 58 also enables a signal (e.g., a receiving signal) of a second frequency range received via one or more antennas 55 to pass through to the receiver 54, and prevents the signal of the second frequency range from passing through to the transmitter 52. Each frequency range can be any suitable bandwidth such as between 0 megahertz and 100 gigahertz (GHz) (e.g., 10 megahertz (MHz)), and includes any suitable frequency. For example, the first frequency range (eg, the transmit frequency range) may be between 880 MHz and 890 MHz, and the second frequency range (eg, the receive frequency range) may be between 925 MHz and 935 MHz.

[0049] As described above, when high power user equipment (HPUE) operation is performed within the transmission range (such that the transmitter 52 uses a transmit power level greater than 23 decibel milliwatts (dBm)), the electronic device 10 (e.g., user equipment) may experience a temperature rise. This temperature rise may cause components and / or performance in the electronic device 10 to degrade. For example, the isolation circuit 58 (e.g., including a duplexer) may degrade due to the higher temperature, resulting in frequency shifts when performing isolation. This may cause the isolation performance to deteriorate and cause interference with the transmitted signal at the receiver 54. In addition, the HPUE operation may cause unnecessary transmissions outside the allocated uplink channel, which may cause interference to the receiver 54 or damage the sensitivity of the receiver (e.g., reference sensitivity (REFSENS)). The reference sensitivity may refer to the minimum average power received at the antenna connector of the user equipment at which the throughput specification or requirement can be met for the reference measurement channel (e.g., the allocated uplink channel).

[0050] In view of the foregoing, Figure 46 is a diagram (e.g., showing a portion of a network) of a wireless communication network 60 including a base station 62 and a user equipment (UE) 64 (e.g., such as an electronic device 10) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The base station 62 can provide coverage of the network 60 (e.g., a cellular network) for devices (including the user equipment 64) in a geographic area or network 60. The base station 62 and / or the user equipment 64 can have one or more components similar to the electronic device 10, and thus can include control circuits (such as a processor 12, a memory 14, and / or a non-volatile storage device 16) that can operate together to cause the base station 62 and / or the user equipment 64 to perform corresponding operations. In particular, the processor 12 of the base station 62 can perform the operations of the network 60. It is noted that the user equipment 64 can include any of various types of computer systems or computing devices capable of communicating with the base station 62. Examples of the user equipment 64 are any suitable portable electronic device, mobile phone, smart phone, portable gaming device, laptop computer, wearable device, etc.

[0051] To establish a connection to the network 60, the user equipment 64 may establish a radio resource control (RRC) session with the network 60 via the transmitter 52 and / or the receiver 54. The network 60 and the base station 62 may implement any suitable network technology or standard, such as a long term evolution (LTE) or 4th generation (4G) network implemented by an eNodeB (eNB) base station, a new radio (NR) or 5th generation (5G) network implemented by a next generation NodeB (gNB) base station, and the like.

[0052] The network 60 may generate a schedule based on information related to user equipment capabilities (e.g., HPUE operations) received from the user equipment 64, which includes time periods for performing uplink (UL) operations and downlink (DL) operations. The base station 62 may then instruct the user equipment 64 to configure its transmitter 52 and / or receiver 54 according to the schedule. It should be understood that uplink data or signals refer to transmissions from the transmitter 52 of the user equipment 64 to the base station 62 of the network 60, and downlink data or signals refer to transmissions from the base station 62 of the network 60 to the receiver 54 of the user equipment 64. In some embodiments, the base station 62 may transmit a command to reconfigure the communication hardware components (e.g., transmitter 52 and / or receiver 54) of the user equipment 64 based on multiple factors (e.g., signal strength, user equipment capabilities, and / or the ability of the user equipment 64 to perform HPUE operations). The command may be in the form of, for example, an RRC reconfiguration message, which may enable the user equipment 64 to configure its transmitter 52 to perform HPUE operations or default power operations for the duration of the RRC session. As another example, the command may be in the form of a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) that may cause the user equipment 64 to configure its transmitter 52 to perform HPUE operation or return to default power operation for the duration of the RRC session. As used herein, default power or "normal" power may refer to a power level that is less than the power of a high power level. In particular, the default power level and the high power level may be defined by a standards body or regulatory body, such as 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project). For example, the default power may refer to power class 3 as defined by 3GPP, which includes a maximum transmit power level of less than or equal to 23 decibel milliwatts (dBm). The HPUE power level may correspond to power class 2 as defined by 3GPP, which includes a maximum transmit power level equal to 26 dBm.

[0053] In view of the foregoing, Figure 5 is a timing diagram for implementing high power operation in a statically configured HD-FDD mode 76 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The user equipment 64 may statically configure its communication hardware to transmit using high power operation in the HD-FDD mode 76 throughout an RRC session (e.g., 77).

[0054] The timing diagram depicts time on the horizontal axis and frequency on the vertical axis. In particular, a downlink (DL) allocation 70 indicates a time at which data or a signal can be sent from a base station 62 on a downlink frequency channel and received by a user equipment 64, and an uplink (UL) allocation 72 indicates a time at which data or a signal can be sent to a base station 62 by a user equipment 64 on an uplink frequency channel. The downlink frequency channel, the uplink frequency channel, and the time at which the downlink allocation 70 and the uplink allocation 72 are allocated can each be specified or limited by the base station 62. For example, the time at which the downlink allocation 70 and the uplink allocation 72 are allocated can be according to a scheduling generated by the network 60 as described in detail above. As shown, the downlink allocation 70 and the uplink allocation 72 are frequency division duplex (FDD), and the allocations 70, 72 are each allocated to a corresponding frequency band.

[0055] In particular, each uplink allocation in the uplink allocation 72 corresponds to a HPUE operation. That is, the user equipment 64 can configure its transmitter 52 to perform HPUE operation during the uplink allocation 72 based on, for example, receiving an RRC reconfiguration message from the base station 62. In particular, the RRC stack is initialized for HPUE operation at the beginning of the RRC session 77, and the receiver 54 of the user equipment 64 can receive a request to configure the transmitter 52 for HPUE operation from the base station 62 / network 60. Upon receiving the request, the processor 12 of the user equipment 64 can configure the transmitter 52 for HPUE operation. Therefore, during the RRC session 77, the transmitter 52 can be statically configured to perform HPUE operation and may not perform default power operation. As shown, the transmitter 52 may perform HPUE operations during the uplink allocation 72 in a half-duplex (HD) FDD mode 76, such that during the time when the transmitter 52 performs HPUE operations, the receiver 54 does not receive data (e.g., the downlink allocation 70 is not scheduled simultaneously with the uplink allocation 72, and the uplink allocation 72 is not scheduled simultaneously with the downlink allocation 70). The receiver 54 may perform downlink operations at a default power during the downlink allocation 70. As described above, the network 60 may schedule the downlink allocation 70 and the uplink allocation 72. Because there is a delay when switching between uplink transmission (performed by the transmitter 52) and downlink transmission (performed by the receiver 54) when operating in the HD-FDD mode 76, the network 60 may also schedule these switching times 74. In some embodiments, the network 60 may allocate approximately 100 milliseconds (ms) for the switching time 74, although any suitable time is contemplated (e.g., between 1 picosecond and 60 seconds, between 1 nanosecond and 10 seconds, between 1 millisecond and 1 second, etc.).

[0056] For example, the user equipment 64 may transmit a notification to the base station 62 of the network 60 that the user equipment 64 includes high power operation capabilities. Upon receiving the notification, the network 60 may transmit to the user equipment 64, via the base station 62, a command to transmit using a high power mode (e.g., 3GPP power class 2) or a default power mode (e.g., 3GPP power class 3) according to the strength of the uplink transmission signal sent from the user equipment 64 to the base station 62. That is, if the uplink transmission signal sent from the user equipment 64 is weak (e.g., less than a threshold signal strength level), the network 60 may determine that the user equipment 64 should increase the power level of its transmitter 52. The signal strength may include any suitable parameter indicating the signal strength or quality of the user equipment 64, such as reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), received signal strength indicator (RSSI), signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR), channel quality index (CQI), physical cell identity (PCI), block error rate (BLER), downlink throughput, uplink throughput, etc. Additionally, the threshold signal strength level may include any suitable signal strength level that may indicate that uplink transmit signals sent from user equipment 64 are weak or should be increased.

[0057] In some embodiments, the threshold signal strength level may be related to the user equipment 64 (e.g., whether the user equipment 64 can further increase the transmission power). For example, 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.331 defines a cell-specific (e.g., common to all user equipment (including the user equipment 64) camped on a cell such as the cell 66) target value for the power spectral density of the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) and the physical uplink shared channel (PUSH) received by a base station (such as the base station 62) as a power control parameter (P0-nominal). During the power control process, the power headroom (PHR) of the user equipment 64 is determined as the maximum configured power (P cmax ) and the power control parameter (P0-nominal). Therefore, if the user equipment 64 can no longer increase its transmit power or uplink power, the power headroom is less than or equal to 0. If the user equipment 64 can increase its transmit power or uplink power, the power headroom is greater than 0. The power headroom can then be compared to a positive threshold signal strength level (P1) and a negative threshold signal strength level (-P1). In particular, when the power headroom is less than the negative threshold signal strength level (-P1), the base station 62 can instruct the user equipment 64 to configure its transmitter 52 to operate in HPUE mode, as reflected in the following formula 1:

[0058] PHR < -P1 (Formula 1)

[0059] Additionally, when the power headroom is greater than the positive threshold signal strength level (P1), the base station 62 may instruct the user equipment 64 to configure its transmitter 52 to operate in a default power mode, as reflected in the following Equation 2:

[0060] PHR > P1 (Formula 2)

[0061] The positive threshold signal strength level (P1) and the negative threshold signal strength level (-P1) may be any suitable value indicating that the user equipment 64 should configure its transmitter 52 to operate in the HPUE mode or the default power mode, including between 0 and 100, such as 3, 6, etc. In some embodiments, P1 may be equal to zero, so that the above formula 1 and formula 2 may apply. In such embodiments, when PHR is equal to zero, then the user equipment 64 may maintain the current power mode operation.

[0062] Both the positive threshold signal strength level (P1) and the negative threshold signal strength level (-P1) may correspond to non-zero values, such that there is a range of values ​​between the positive threshold signal strength value and the negative signal strength value that do not correspond to instructions for user equipment 64 to configure its transmitter to operate in a high power mode or a default power mode. That is, for these ranges of values, base station 62 may not send an instruction to user equipment 64 to enter a high power mode or a default power mode, such that user equipment 64 may maintain its current power mode (e.g., either a high power mode or a default power mode).

[0063] For example, the value corresponding to the positive threshold signal strength level (P1) may be 3, and the value corresponding to the negative signal strength level (-P1) may be -3. Thus, the range of values ​​greater than -3 and less than 3 does not correspond to the base station 62 sending an instruction to the transmitter 52 to operate in the HPUE mode or the default power mode. For example, the power headroom value 2 is not less than the negative signal strength level (-P1) or greater than the positive signal strength level (P1). Thus, in this example, the transmitter 52 may maintain its current power operating mode. Thus, if the transmitter 52 is currently operating in the HPUE mode, the transmitter 52 will remain in the HPUE mode for the duration that the PHR value is greater than -3 and less than 3, as reflected in the following Formula 3:

[0064] -P1 < PHR < P1 (Formula 3)

[0065] Based on whether the user equipment 64 should operate in a high power mode or a default power mode (as determined by the network 60), the network 60 may schedule downlink allocations 70 and uplink allocations 72 for the user equipment 64. In particular, the base station 62 may send a command to the user equipment 64 to statically configure its transmitter 52 to perform high power operation under HD-FDD 76 throughout the RRC session 77 in response to determining a weak uplink transmit signal strength or a low uplink transmit signal strength of the user equipment 64. In particular, the network 60 may schedule uplink allocations 72 for the user equipment 64 to transmit signals in the high power mode at different times than downlink allocations 70 for the user equipment 64 to receive signals. In this way, high power uplink transmissions may be limited to time slots in which downlink resources are not scheduled. The network 60 may also schedule switching times 74 between downlink allocations 70 and uplink allocations 72 to account for reconfiguration times for user equipment communication hardware (e.g., transmitter 52 and receiver 54) to switch between downlink operation and uplink operation. For example, the user equipment 64 may be reconfigured (enable / activate receiver 54 and disable / deactivate transmitter 52) to receive downlink transmissions instead of sending uplink transmissions (e.g., perform HPUE operations). In some embodiments, the base station 62 may also schedule or account for the time when the user equipment 64 reconfigures the transmitter 52 for HPUE operation at the start of the RRC session 77. Depending on the hardware configuration corresponding to the user equipment 64, one or more switching times 74 scheduled for various communication hardware reconfigurations may be for similar amounts of time or different amounts of time. The base station 62 may then allocate downlink allocations 70 and uplink allocations 72 according to the schedule and allow for hardware reconfiguration to enable HPUE operation and / or the scheduled one or more switching times 74 for switching between uplink operation and downlink operation. The mode switching boundary may be set to the power class 3 maximum output power and / or determined by the network for throughput and performance optimization of the user equipment 64. Below the mode switching boundary, the user equipment 64 will operate in FDD band full duplex operation, and above the mode switching boundary, half duplex operation is scheduled.

[0066] In this way, Figure 5 As shown in the timing diagram of , scheduling high power uplink transmissions and downlink transmissions at different times and frequencies can mitigate or reduce interference from the high power transmit signal into the assigned receive channel (e.g., due to either the high power itself or frequency offsets in the duplexer of the isolation circuit 58), thereby improving communication quality.

[0067] In additional or alternative embodiments, the network 60 may dynamically reconfigure the user equipment 64 to transition between HD-FDD mode 76 (which enables HPUE operation) and full-duplex FDD (FD-FDD) 78 mode within an RRC session 77, as shown in FIG. Figure 6 , which is a timing diagram of HPUE operation in HD-FDD mode 76 using dynamic configuration according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In particular, the user equipment 64 can be dynamically reconfigured between high power operation and default power operation within an RRC session 77 by utilizing a MAC control element (MAC-CE).

[0068] The timing diagram depicts time on the horizontal axis and frequency on the vertical axis, and depicts uplink allocations 72 and downlink allocations 70 for user equipment 64 according to a schedule generated by the network 60, as described in detail above. In particular, the timing diagram depicts dynamically configured HPUE operation of the transmitter 52 in HD-FDD mode 76, and default power operation of the transmitter 52 and receiver 54 in FD-FDD mode 78. The network 60 may cause the base station 62 to send one or more RRC messages to the user equipment, which may cause the user equipment 64 to enter the HD-FDD mode 76 and / or enter the FD-FDD mode 78. In addition, the network 60 may cause the base station 62 to send one or more MAC-CEs to the user equipment, which may cause the user equipment 64 to perform one or more high power operations and / or one or more default power operations in the HD-FDD mode 76 during the RRC session 77. That is, the base station 62 may send multiple MAC-CEs to cause the user equipment 64 to perform multiple high power operations and multiple default power operations without establishing a new RRC session 77.

[0069] For example, user equipment 64 may initially transmit a notification to base station 62 to inform network 60 that user equipment 64 includes high power operation capabilities, as described above. Figure 5 . The network 60 may schedule uplink allocations 72 and downlink allocations 70 for the RRC session 77, including for default power operation and high power operation. The network 60 may also schedule one or more switching times 74 for reconfiguring the user equipment 64 to perform HPUE operation and / or switch between uplink operation and downlink operation. The network 60 may schedule HPUE operation based on determining that the signal strength of the user equipment 64 is weak (e.g., below a threshold) over time (e.g., within the RRC session 77). For example, the base station 62 may monitor the signal strength of the user equipment 64 throughout the RRC session 77 and dynamically update the power mode based on the monitored signal strength.

[0070] That is, at an initial time, the base station 62 may determine that the signal strength of the user equipment signal is above a threshold indicating sufficient signal strength (e.g., determining that the power headroom of the transmitter 52 is greater than a positive threshold, as shown in Formula 2 above). Therefore, the base station 62 may transmit an instruction (e.g., an RRC message) to the user equipment 64 to perform default power operation in the FD-FDD mode 78. In other words, the network 60 may configure the user equipment 64 to transmit and / or receive signals using the default power mode 78 by allocating the downlink allocation 70 and the uplink allocation 72 during the same time period. At a subsequent time, the base station 62 may determine that the signal quality of the user equipment 64 has decreased to below a threshold signal strength value (e.g., determining that the power headroom of the transmitter 52 is less than a negative threshold, as shown in Formula 1 above). In response, the base station 62 may transmit an instruction (e.g., an RRC message) to the user equipment 64 to perform in the HD-FDD mode 76. The RRC message (or MAC-CE) may include a defined switching time 79 to reconfigure the user equipment hardware (e.g., transmitter 52 and / or receiver 54) from default power operation to HPUE operation. In some embodiments, the network 60 may allocate approximately 100 ms for the switching time 79, although any suitable time is contemplated (e.g., between 1 picosecond and 60 seconds, between 1 nanosecond and 10 seconds, between 1 millisecond and 1 second, etc.). The user equipment 64 may then receive the RRC message (or MAC-CE), reconfigure the transmitter 52 and / or receiver 54 for HPUE operation, and perform uplink transmissions using the high power mode during the uplink allocation 72. During the same RRC session 77, the network 60 may also schedule downlink allocations 70 at times when there are no uplink allocations 72 (e.g., performed at high power), schedule uplink allocations 72 at times when there are no downlink allocations 70, and schedule one or more switching times 74 between the downlink allocations 70 and the uplink allocations 72 to allow the user equipment 64 to reconfigure the communication hardware (e.g., the transmitter 52 and / or the receiver 54) from uplink operation to downlink operation. Specifically, in response to receiving a subsequent MAC-CE, the user equipment 64 may reconfigure the user equipment hardware (e.g., the transmitter 52 and / or the receiver 54) to default power operation (e.g., within the one or more switching times 74 scheduled to reconfigure the user equipment 64 from uplink operation to downlink operation), and use the receiver 54 to receive signals during the downlink allocations 70 corresponding to times when the user equipment 64 is not transmitting using high power.

[0071] During the same RRC session 77, the network 60 may then determine that the signal quality of the user equipment 64 signal has improved to above a threshold. In response, the base station 62 may instruct the user equipment 64 to reconfigure to the FD-FDD mode 78 with a scheduled switching time 79 that causes the user equipment 64 to reconfigure from the HPUE mode to the default power mode. The user equipment 64 may receive the base station 62 command and implement the hardware reconfiguration of the user equipment 64 to the default power mode. Then, in the FD-FDD mode 78, during the same time period, the user equipment 64 may send uplink signals during the uplink allocation 72 and receive downlink signals during the downlink allocation 70. In additional or alternative embodiments, instead of or in addition to RRC messages and / or MAC-CE, the base station 62 may also use physical layer signaling (e.g., via a downlink control indication (DCI)) to cause the user equipment to perform HPUE operations.

[0072] In view of the foregoing, Figure 7 is a method for user equipment 64 to perform according to an embodiment of the present disclosure Figure 5 and / or Figure 6 80. The method 80 may be performed by any suitable device (e.g., a controller) that may control components of the user equipment 64 (such as the processor 12). In some embodiments, the method 80 may be implemented by using the processor 12 to execute instructions stored in a tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium such as the memory 14 or the storage device 16. For example, the method 80 may be performed at least in part by one or more software components (such as an operating system of the user equipment 64, one or more software applications of the user equipment 64, etc.). Although the method 80 is described using a particular order of steps, it should be understood that the present disclosure contemplates that the described steps may be performed in an order different from that shown, and that certain described steps may be skipped or not performed at all.

[0073] In process block 82, the processor 12 of the user equipment 64 may transmit to the base station 62 of the network 60 an indication that the user equipment 64 is capable of HPUE operation in HD-FDD mode (e.g., transmitting using 3GPP power class 2). In some embodiments, the indication may be sent each time the user equipment 64 is connected to the network 60.

[0074] In process block 84, processor 12 receives an indication from network 60 to perform uplink transmissions utilizing HPUE operation in HD-FDD mode 76. In some embodiments, the indication may also include one or more scheduled times (e.g., Figure 5 and Figure 6The indication may also include a scheduled switching time 74, where the uplink allocation 72 or the downlink allocation 70 is not scheduled. The switching time 74 may be utilized by the user equipment 64 to reconfigure the hardware circuitry to the HPUE operating capability and / or to transition the hardware circuitry between uplink operation and downlink operation. Figure 5 As discussed in , the configuration may be specified for the entire RRC session 77, or as described above Figure 6 As discussed in , the configuration may be updated by the user equipment 64 throughout the RRC session 77 by utilizing MAC-CE.

[0075] In process block 86, the processor 12 may configure the user equipment 64 (e.g., the transmitter 52) to transmit data using HPUE operation in the HD-FDD mode 76. In particular, the user equipment 64 may perform uplink transmissions in the HD-FDD mode during the uplink allocation 72. Later, in process block 88, the processor 12 may receive an indication from the network to transmit uplink signals and receive downlink signals using a default power mode (e.g., 3GPP power class 3) in the FD-FDD mode 78. In particular, the indication may include the uplink allocation 72 scheduled during the downlink allocation 70. In some embodiments, the indication may include a switching time 74 for the user equipment 64 to reconfigure the hardware to the FD-FDD mode 78.

[0076] In process block 89, the processor 12 may enable the user equipment 64 to utilize default power operation in the FD-FDD mode 78 to simultaneously transmit or uplink data (e.g., during the uplink assignment 72) and receive or downlink data (e.g., during the downlink assignment 70). In this way, the method 80 enables the user equipment 64 to reconfigure between performing HPUE operation in the HD-FDD mode 76 and performing default power operation in the FD-FDD mode 78. Because reception does not occur when the transmitter 52 may be performing HPUE operation, unnecessary emissions outside of the uplink channel caused by uplink transmissions in the high power mode may be avoided or mitigated, thereby improving communication quality.

[0077] In view of the foregoing, Figure 8 is a method for enabling the base station 62 of the network 60 to execute Figure 5 and / or Figure 6Flowchart of a method 90 for HPUE operation of a base station 62. Any suitable device (e.g., a controller) that can control components of the base station 62 and / or network 60 (such as the processor 12) can perform the method 90. In some embodiments, the method 90 can be implemented by using the processor 12 to execute instructions stored in a tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium such as the memory 14 or the storage device 16. For example, the method 90 can be performed at least in part by one or more software components such as an operating system of the base station 62, one or more software applications of the base station 62, etc. Although the method 90 is described using a particular order of steps, it should be understood that the present disclosure contemplates that the described steps can be performed in an order different from the order shown, and that certain described steps can be skipped or not performed at all.

[0078] In process block 92, processor 12 of base station 62 may receive an indication from user equipment 64 that user equipment 64 is capable of transmitting using HPUE operation in HD-FDD mode 76. Network 60 may schedule uplink allocations 72 and downlink allocations 70 and power modes (e.g., HD-FDD mode 76, FD-FDD mode 78) for uplink transmissions of user equipment 64 based on user equipment 64 capabilities.

[0079] At process block 94, processor 12 determines whether the uplink transmission signal is above a threshold corresponding to the signal strength based on the uplink transmission signal of user equipment 64. For example, processor 12 may determine whether the power headroom of transmitter 52 is greater than a positive threshold, as shown in Formula 2 above. If base station 62 determines that the uplink transmission strength is below the threshold (e.g., the power headroom of transmitter 52 is less than the negative threshold, as shown in Formula 1 above), then at process block 96, base station 62 sends an indication to user equipment 64 to configure its communication hardware (e.g., transmitter 52) to transmit using HPUE operation in HD-FDD 76 mode. If at process block 98, processor 12 determines that the uplink transmission received from user equipment 64 is above a threshold signal strength value (e.g., the power headroom of transmitter 52 is greater than the positive threshold, as shown in Formula 2 above), then base station 62 may send an indication to user equipment 64 to configure its communication hardware (e.g., transmitter 52) to transmit using a default power mode in FD-FDD mode 78. In some embodiments, the configuration may be specified for the entire RRC session 77, as described above. Figure 5 In additional or alternative embodiments, the processor 12 may monitor the signal strength of the user equipment 64 transmissions so that the base station 62 may dynamically schedule the power mode based on the signal strength (eg, using MAC-CE) throughout the RRC session 77.

[0080] In this way, the method 90 causes the base station 62 and the network 60 to reconfigure the user equipment 64 between performing HPUE operation in the HD-FDD mode 76 and performing default power operation in the FD-FDD mode 78. Because reception does not occur when the transmitter 52 may perform HPUE operation, unnecessary emissions outside the uplink channel caused by uplink transmissions in the high power mode may be avoided or mitigated, thereby improving communication quality.

[0081] As described above, regulatory entities (e.g., the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC), etc.) may limit the default power operation of the user equipment 64 to a specific absorption rate (SAR) limit, or the amount of radio frequency (RF) energy absorbed by a user (e.g., the user's head) when operating the user equipment 64. However, current SAR limits may not be relevant to the operation of the user equipment 64 when operating using a HPUE.

[0082] In view of this content, Fig. 9 1 is a flow chart of a method 100 for user equipment 64 to perform HPUE operations based on an uplink duty cycle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Any suitable device (e.g., a controller) that can control components of user equipment 64 (such as processor 12) can perform method 100. In some embodiments, method 100 can be implemented by using processor 12 to execute instructions stored in a tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium such as memory 14 or storage device 16. For example, method 90 can be performed at least in part by one or more software components (such as an operating system of user equipment 64, one or more software applications of user equipment 64, etc.). Although method 100 is described using a particular order of steps, it should be understood that the present disclosure contemplates that the described steps can be performed in an order different from the order shown, and that certain described steps can be skipped or not performed at all.

[0083] In process block 102, processor 12 indicates a duty cycle for high power transmissions to network 60. In particular, processor 12 may determine an uplink duty cycle (e.g., a frequency of an uplink allocation relative to a downlink allocation) for HPUE operation in HD-FDD mode 76 based on the SAR regulatory requirements discussed above. User equipment 64 may then transmit to base station 62 of network 60 an indication that user equipment 64 is capable of HPUE operation in HD-FDD mode 76 (e.g., transmitting using 3GPP power class 2), and a corresponding uplink duty cycle for performing HPUE operation in HD-FDD mode 76 based on the SAR regulatory requirements.

[0084] In process block 104, processor 12 receives an indication from base station 62 to reconfigure transmitter 52 of user equipment 64 to transmit data (e.g., perform uplink transmission) utilizing HPUE operation in HD-FDD mode 76 based on the uplink duty cycle. In some embodiments, the indication may include a switching time 74 where uplink allocation 72 or downlink allocation 70 is not scheduled. Switching time 74 may be utilized by user equipment 64 to reconfigure hardware circuitry to HPUE operation capabilities and / or to transition hardware circuitry between uplink operation and downlink operation. As described above Figure 5 As discussed in the above, RRCC messages may be used to specify configuration for the entire RRC session 77, or as described above Figure 6 As discussed in , the configuration may be updated by the user equipment 64 throughout the RRC session 77 by utilizing the MAC-CE. The processor 12 may receive one or more subsequent instructions from the network 60 to perform uplink transmissions utilizing HPUE operation in the HD-FDD mode 76 (e.g., instructions for the user equipment 64 to reconfigure the transmitter 52 to operate in the HPUE operation) based on an uplink duty cycle transmitted by the user equipment 64 to the network 60 for performing HPUE operation in the HD-FDD mode 76. In particular, the processor 12 may receive multiple instructions from a base station 62 of the network 60 to perform uplink transmissions utilizing HPUE operation in the HD-FDD mode 76 at multiple times corresponding to multiple uplink allocations 72 scheduled by the network 60 based on the duty cycle. The processor 12 may also receive one or more subsequent instructions from the network 60 to perform uplink transmissions at a default power in the FD-FDD mode 78 (e.g., instructions for the user equipment 64 to reconfigure the transmitter 52 to operate in the default power mode).

[0085] In response to receiving the indication to transmit data utilizing HPUE operation in HD-FDD mode 76, at process block 106, processor 12 transmits data using high power in accordance with uplink allocation 72 indicated by network 60. Thus, by adjusting the frequency of uplink allocations relative to downlink allocations, method 100 enables user equipment 64 to meet SAR regulatory requirements when performing HPUE operation.

[0086] Based on the above, Fig.10A flow chart of a method 110 for enabling a base station 62 of a network 60 to manage user equipment HPUE operations based on an uplink duty cycle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Any suitable device (e.g., a controller) that can control components of the base station 62 (such as the processor 12) can perform the method 110. In some embodiments, the method 110 can be implemented by using the processor 12 to execute instructions stored in a tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium such as a memory 14 or a storage device 16. For example, the method 110 can be performed at least in part by one or more software components such as an operating system of the base station 62, one or more software applications of the base station 62, and the like. Although the method 110 is described using a particular order of steps, it should be understood that the present disclosure contemplates that the described steps can be performed in an order different from the order shown, and that certain described steps can be skipped or not performed at all.

[0087] In process block 112, processor 12 of base station 62 may receive from user equipment 64 an indication that user equipment 64 is capable of transmitting using HPUE operation in HD-FDD mode 76 and a corresponding uplink duty cycle for HPUE operation.

[0088] In process block 114, the network 60 generates a schedule for the user equipment 64 to transmit using high power based on the uplink duty cycle. In particular, the network 60 may schedule uplink allocations 72 and downlink allocations 70, power modes (e.g., HPUE mode or default power mode) and / or duplex modes (e.g., HD-FDD mode 76, FD-FDD mode 78) for the uplink allocations 72 and downlink allocations 70 based on the user equipment 64 capabilities and the uplink duty cycle. That is, the network 60 may schedule uplink allocations 72 and downlink allocations 70 corresponding to the HD-FDD mode 76 based on the frequency of the uplink allocations relative to the downlink allocations specified in the uplink duty cycle. In process block 116, the processor 12 sends one or more indications to the user equipment 64 to transmit data according to the uplink allocations 72 for high power transmission. The indication to perform uplink transmissions using HPUE operation may include instructions for the user equipment 64 to reconfigure the transmitter 52 to operate in HPUE operation. The processor 12 may also receive one or more subsequent instructions from the network 60 to perform uplink transmissions from the network 60 at a default power in the FD-FDD mode 78 (e.g., instructions for the user equipment 64 to reconfigure the transmitter 52 to operate in the default power mode). The processor 12 may determine whether the uplink transmission signal is above a threshold corresponding to the signal strength based on the user equipment 64 uplink transmission signal. For example, the processor 12 may determine whether the power headroom of the transmitter 52 is greater than a positive threshold, as shown in Formula 2 above. If the network 60 determines that the uplink transmission strength is below the threshold (e.g., the power headroom of the transmitter 52 is less than a negative threshold, as shown in Formula 1 above), then at process block 96, the base station 62 of the network 60 sends an indication to the user equipment 64 to configure its communication hardware (e.g., the transmitter 52) to transmit using HPUE operation in the HD-FDD 76 mode. The base station 62 may transmit to the user equipment 64 an indication to reconfigure the transmitter 52 to transmit using HPUE operation in the HD-FDD 76 mode at the first time. The network 60 may determine at a subsequent time based on the scheduled uplink allocation and downlink allocation that the time corresponds to the downlink allocation 70 for the HD-FDD 76 mode. The base station 62 may then transmit to the user equipment 64 at a second time an indication not to transmit HPUE operation in the HD-FDD 76 mode. The network 60 may then determine at a subsequent time that the uplink allocation 72 corresponding to the HD-FDD mode 76 is scheduled. The base station 62 may transmit to the network at a subsequent time an indication to transmit in the HPUE under HD-FDD 76 based on the uplink allocation schedule.The base station 62 may send one or more indications to the user equipment 64 during HPUE operation that specify uplink transmissions of the user equipment 64 based on the scheduled uplink allocations and downlink allocations (based on the uplink duty cycle).

[0089] In this manner, the method 110 enables the base station 62 to manage user equipment 64 uplink transmissions to meet SAR regulatory requirements on RF output by averaging the transmissions over a period of time corresponding to the duty cycle when performing HPUE operations.

[0090] As an illustrative example, Fig.11 is a timing diagram 120 of performing HPUE operation based on a first exemplary uplink duty cycle for HPUE operation in HD-FDD mode 76 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In particular, the user equipment 64 may transmit an uplink duty cycle that specifies an HPUE uplink allocation frequency relative to a downlink allocation frequency for an RRC session (e.g., 77).

[0091] The timing diagram depicts time on the horizontal axis and frequency on the vertical axis. In particular, a downlink (DL) allocation 70 indicates a time at which data or a signal can be sent from a base station 62 on a downlink frequency channel and received by a receiver 54 of a user equipment 64, and an uplink (UL) allocation 72 indicates a time at which data or a signal can be sent to a base station 62 on an uplink frequency channel by a transmitter 52 of a user equipment 64 that performs HPUE operations. The downlink frequency channel, the uplink frequency channel, and the time at which the downlink allocation 70 and the uplink allocation 72 are allocated can each be specified or limited by the network 60. For example, the downlink allocation 70 and the uplink allocation 72 can be scheduled by the network 60. As shown, the downlink allocation 70 and the uplink allocation 72 are frequency division duplex (FDD) because the allocations 70, 72 are each allocated to different frequency bands.

[0092] For example, when the user equipment 64 transmits the uplink duty cycle for HPUE operation to the base station 62 of the network 60, a Fig.11 The network 60 may then schedule uplink allocations 72 and downlink allocations 70 during HPUE operation according to the uplink duty cycle. As shown, the user equipment 64 may transmit to the network 60 an indication of a 25% uplink duty cycle for HPUE operation. The network 60 may then limit the uplink allocations 72 in the schedule to 25% of the total uplink allocations 72 and downlink allocations 70 scheduled. In this way, the user equipment 64 may schedule uplink allocations 72 and downlink allocations 70 according to the uplink duty cycle determined by the network 60. Figure 5 and Figure 6Transmissions are performed using HPUE operation in HD-FDD mode 76 during an uplink allocation 72 corresponding to the signal strength of the uplink transmission discussed in .

[0093] Fig.12 1 is a timing diagram 122 for performing HPUE operation based on a second exemplary uplink duty cycle of high power operation in HD-FDD mode 76 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The timing diagram is similar to the above Fig.11 , but depicts a different uplink duty cycle. As shown, the user equipment 64 can transmit an indication of the HPUE operating capability and a corresponding uplink duty cycle of 20% for HPUE operation to the base station 62 of the network 60. The network 60 can limit the scheduled uplink allocation 72 to 20% of the scheduled total uplink allocation 72 and downlink allocation 70. In this way, the user equipment 64 can operate in accordance with the schedule determined by the network 60 and the downlink allocation 70. Figure 5 and Figure 6 Transmissions are performed using HPUE operation in FD-FDD mode 78 during an uplink allocation 72 corresponding to the signal strength of the uplink transmission discussed in .

[0094] in addition, Fig.13 1 is a timing diagram 124 for performing HPUE operation based on a third exemplary uplink duty cycle for high power operation in HD-FDD mode 76 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The timing diagram is similar to the above Fig.11 and Fig.12 , but depicts a different uplink duty cycle. For example, the user equipment 64 may transmit an indication of the HPUE operating capability and a corresponding uplink duty cycle of 17% for HPUE operation. For the uplink duty cycle of 17%, the network 60 may limit the scheduled uplink allocations 72 to 17% of the scheduled total uplink allocations 72 and downlink allocations 70. In this way, the user equipment 64 may operate in accordance with the schedule determined by the network 60 and the downlink allocations 70. Figure 5 and Figure 6 7 and 8. It should be appreciated that the user equipment 64 may implement the above percentages or any other suitable percentages for uplink duty cycle percentages to maintain transmit levels that meet SAR regulatory requirements.

[0095] Additionally, as described above, a greater transmit power for HPUE operation of user equipment 64 may result in Figure 3 The temperature of the duplexer of the isolation circuit 58 rises. This temperature rise may cause a frequency offset in the duplexer when performing isolation, resulting in poor isolation performance and interference with the transmitted signal at the receiver 54.

[0096] In view of the foregoing, Fig.14 is a schematic diagram of a first example of a transceiver 30 that can perform the HPUE operations discussed herein according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As described above, the transceiver circuit 30 of the user equipment 64 may include a duplexer (e.g., 128). The duplexer 128 may enable bidirectional communication on a single path while separating signals traveling in each direction from each other. For example, the duplexer 128 may enable frequency division duplexing (FDD) so that the duplexer can isolate the transmitter 52 of the user equipment 64 from the received signal of the first frequency band while isolating the receiver 54 of the user equipment 64 from the transmitted signal of the second frequency band (e.g., isolating the transmitter from the receiver and vice versa). In some embodiments, the duplexer 128 may include a plurality of variable impedance devices that isolate the transmitter 52 from the received signal and / or isolate the receiver 54 from the transmitted signal. The duplexer may include an electrically balanced duplexer, a double balanced duplexer, or any other suitable form of duplexer. In some embodiments, the duplexer may also include a dual-bandpass filter that allows independent filtering operations on the transmitted signal and the received signal.

[0097] The duplexer 128 can switch between the FD-FDD 78 mode and the HD-FDD 76 mode based on network scheduling. The user equipment 64 can transmit uplink signals by sending signals from the transmitter 52 to one or more antennas 55 through the duplexer 128. The user equipment 64 can also receive downlink signals via one or more antennas 55. The downlink signals can then pass through the duplexer 128 to the receiver 54 for processing. In some embodiments, the transceiver 30 can implement other hardware arrangements and / or architectures to mitigate the effects of thermal degradation.

[0098] For example, Fig.15 is a schematic diagram of a second example of a transceiver 30 that can perform the HPUE operations discussed herein according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The transceiver 30 architecture can utilize multiple switching devices to redirect uplink transmit signals transmitted from the duplexer 128 in HPUE operation in HD-FDD 76 mode, thereby mitigating the effects of thermal duplexer degradation that may be caused by high power transmissions.

[0099] The transceiver circuit 30 may include a transmitter switch 138 (e.g., a single pole double throw (SPDT) switch) coupled to the transmitter 52 at a single input of the transmitter switch 138. A first output of the transmitter switch 138 may be coupled to an additional bandpass filter input 140 (e.g., which may filter signals below a desired frequency), and a second output of the transmitter switch 138 may be coupled to the duplexer 128. Additionally, an antenna switch 142 (e.g., another SPDT switch) may be coupled to one or more antennas 55 at a single input of the antenna switch 142. A first output of the antenna switch 142 may be coupled to the additional bandpass filter 140, and a second output of the antenna switch 142 may be coupled to the duplexer 128.

[0100] To perform HPUE operation in HD-FDD 76 mode, the processor 12 may transmit a signal to the transmitter switch 138 to couple the transmitter 52 to the additional bandpass filter 140. Thus, the transmitter 52 may transmit the HPUE uplink signal to the additional bandpass filter 140, which may filter the HPUE uplink signal at frequencies outside the desired transmission frequency range. In this way, the HPUE uplink signal is routed via the transmitter switch 138 to bypass the duplexer 128. Therefore, the duplexer 128 may not suffer from the thermal degradation effects caused by the HPUE uplink signal. The processor 12 may transmit an additional signal to the antenna switch 142 to couple the bandpass filter 140 to one or more antennas 55. This enables the HPUE uplink signal to be transmitted from the bandpass filter 140 to the one or more antennas 55 for transmission. In default power operation, the processor 12 of the user equipment 64 may send a signal to the transmitter switching device 138 to couple the transmitter circuit 52 to the duplexer 128, and send an additional signal to the antenna switching device 142 to couple the duplexer 128 to one or more antennas 55. This enables the user equipment 64 to utilize the duplexer 128 during default power operation. The transceiver circuit 30 may also utilize additional or alternative hardware components and / or architectures to enable the HPUE uplink signals to bypass the duplexer 128.

[0101] In view of the foregoing, Fig.16 is a schematic diagram of a third example of a transceiver 30 that can perform the HPUE operations discussed herein according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The transceiver 30 architecture can utilize multiple switching devices to redirect uplink transmit signals transmitted from the duplexer 128 in HPUE operation in HD-FDD 76 mode, thereby mitigating the effects of thermal duplexer degradation that may be caused by high power transmissions.

[0102] The transceiver circuit 30 may include a transmitter switch 138 (e.g., a single pole double throw (SPDT) switch) coupled to the transmitter 52 at a single input of the transmitter switch 138. A first output of the transmitter switch 138 may be coupled to a first output 146 of an antenna switch 142 (e.g., another SPDT switch), and a second output of the transmitter switch 138 may be coupled to the duplexer 128. Additionally, the antenna switch 142 may be coupled to one or more antennas 55 at a single input of the antenna switch 142. A first output 146 of the antenna switch 142 may be coupled to the transmitter 52 as described above, and a second output of the antenna switch 142 may be coupled to the duplexer 128.

[0103] To perform HPUE operation in HD-FDD 76 mode, the processor 12 may transmit a signal to the transmitter switch 138 coupling the transmitter 52 to the first output 146 of the antenna switch 142. Thus, the transmitter 52 may transmit the HPUE uplink signal to the first output 146 of the antenna switch 142. In this way, the HPUE uplink signal is routed via the transmitter switch 138 to bypass the duplexer 128. Thus, the duplexer 128 may not suffer from the effects of thermal degradation caused by the HPUE uplink signal. The processor 12 may transmit an additional signal to the antenna switch 142 coupling the transmitter 52 output to one or more antennas 55. This enables the HPUE uplink signal to be directly transmitted from the transmitter 52 to the one or more antennas 55 for transmission. In such cases, it is possible that the HPUE uplink signal is relatively unaffected by noise or transmissions outside the desired transmit frequency range (e.g., transmit channel), so that a filter (such as the additional bandpass filter 140) may be unnecessary.

[0104] In default power operation, the processor 12 of the user equipment 64 may send a signal to the transmitter switching device 138 to couple the transmitter circuit 52 to the duplexer 128, and send an additional signal to the antenna switching device 142 to couple the duplexer 128 to one or more antennas 55. This enables the user equipment 64 to utilize the duplexer 128 during default power operation. The transceiver circuit 30 may also utilize additional or alternative hardware components and / or architectures to enable the HPUE uplink signals to bypass the duplexer 128.

[0105] The above specific embodiments have been shown by way of example, and it should be understood that these embodiments are susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms. It should also be understood that the claims are not intended to be limited to the specific forms disclosed, but are intended to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives that fall within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

[0106] The technology described and claimed herein is cited and applied to specific examples of a physical and practical nature that significantly improves the art and is therefore not abstract, intangible, or purely theoretical. In addition, if any claim appended to the end of this specification contains one or more elements designated as "means for [performing] [the function] ..." or "steps for [performing] [the function] ...", then those elements will be interpreted in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f). However, for any claim containing elements designated in any other manner, those elements will not be interpreted in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f).

[0107] It is understood that the use of personally identifiable information should be subject to privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized to meet or exceed industry or government requirements for maintaining 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 the authorized use should be clearly stated to users.

Claims

1. An electronic device, comprising: one or more antennas; and Transceivers, including filter, Duplexer, and An antenna switching device is configured to couple the one or more antennas to the filter and is configured to couple to the duplexer. 2 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the filter comprises a bandpass filter. 3 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the transceiver comprises a receiver coupled to the duplexer. 4 . The electronic device of claim 3 , wherein the transceiver comprises a transmitter switch coupled to the duplexer.

5. The electronic device of claim 4, wherein the transmitter switching device is connected to a transmitter.

6. The electronic device of claim 5, wherein the transmitter switching device is coupled to the filter. 7 . The electronic device of claim 6 , wherein the transmitter switching device is configured to couple the transmitter to the filter and is configured to couple the transmitter to the duplexer.

8. A transceiver comprising: a first switching device; a duplexer coupled to the first switching device; a receiver coupled to the duplexer; a second switching device coupled to the first switching device and the duplexer; as well as A transmitter coupled to the second switching device.

9. The transceiver of claim 8, wherein the first switching device is configured to couple the duplexer to one or more antennas and is configured to connect the second switching device to the one or more antennas.

10. The transceiver of claim 8, wherein the second switching device is configured to couple the transmitter to one or more antennas and to couple the transmitter to the duplexer.

11. The transceiver of claim 8, wherein the duplexer is configured to isolate the transmitter from receive signals and to isolate the receiver from transmitter signals.

12. The transceiver of claim 8, wherein the first switching device is configured to couple the second switching device to one or more antennas to transmit using a first power above a threshold.

13. The transceiver of claim 12, wherein the first switching device is configured to couple the duplexer to the one or more antennas to transmit using a second power below the threshold.

14. The transceiver of claim 8, wherein the second switching device is configured to couple the transmitter to one or more antennas to transmit using a first power above a threshold.

15. The transceiver of claim 14, wherein the second switching device is configured to couple the transmitter to the duplexer to transmit using a second power below the threshold.

16. A user equipment comprising: one or more antennas; a first switching device coupled to the one or more antennas; A receiver connected to the duplexer; and a transmitter configured to be coupled to a second switching device; and The processing circuit is configured to control the first switching device and the second switching device.

17. The user equipment of claim 16, wherein the processing circuit is configured to control the first switching device to couple the one or more antennas to the duplexer when operating in full-duplex mode.

18. The user equipment of claim 16, wherein the processing circuit is configured to control the second switching device to couple the transmitter to the duplexer when operating in full-duplex mode.

19. The user equipment of claim 16, wherein the processing circuit is configured to control the first switching device to couple the one or more antennas to the second switching device when operating in half-duplex mode.

20. The user equipment of claim 16, wherein the processing circuit is configured to control the second switching device to couple the transmitter to the first switching device when operating in half-duplex mode.

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