Base Station Feature Indication for Legacy UE Resource Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
In wireless communication systems, particularly in New Radio (NR) systems, it is challenging to efficiently manage communication resources when 'legacy' user equipment (UEs) do not support advanced features, leading to inefficient resource utilization and increased processing costs.
Innovation Solution
A method where a base station transmits an indication of the features required for communication on specific resources to UEs, allowing unsupported UEs to ignore these resources, thereby reducing processing costs and saving power by determining if the UE supports the indicated features based on its wireless standard release or type.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a base station schedules communication with all UEs on all available resources, then resource utilization is maximized, but legacy UEs that do not support advanced features incur increased processing costs and power consumption
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the resource pool into multiple resource pools, each associated with specific features. The base station transmits indications that divide resources based on feature support, allowing legacy UEs to ignore resources they cannot utilize while enabling advanced UEs to access specialized resources. This segmentation resolves the contradiction by preventing legacy UEs from processing irrelevant resource allocations.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of having UEs actively determine which resources to process, the system inverts the approach by having the base station explicitly indicate which resources should be ignored or which features are required. Legacy UEs simply follow the indication to ignore certain resources, reducing their processing burden while maintaining overall system resource utilization.
2Productivity
If a base station transmits feature indications to all UEs, then resource allocation efficiency is improved, but system complexity increases due to additional signaling
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a universal indication mechanism that serves multiple functions: it identifies required features, specifies resource pool associations, and enables legacy UE compatibility all through the same signaling structure. This multi-functionality reduces overall system complexity compared to implementing separate signaling for each function.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameter of resource allocation by introducing feature-based resource pool associations. Instead of uniform resource allocation, the base station dynamically adjusts resource distribution based on UE capability parameters, transmitting compact indications that encode feature requirements and resource pool mappings, thereby improving efficiency without proportionally increasing complexity.
3Productivity
If legacy UEs process all resource allocations, then no resources are left unused, but processing costs and power consumption increase unnecessarily
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and separates resources that are not relevant to legacy UEs by transmitting indications that explicitly identify which resource pools require advanced features. This extraction allows legacy UEs to ignore specific resource allocations without affecting overall system resource utilization, as the base station continues to schedule advanced UEs on those resources.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent converts the limitation of legacy UEs (inability to support advanced features) into a benefit by using feature-based resource pool associations. The indication mechanism transforms what would be wasted processing power into an opportunity for efficient resource segmentation, where legacy UEs naturally skip resources they cannot use, and the system gains improved overall efficiency through targeted resource allocation.
Data Source
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AI summary
Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communication are described. In some wireless communications systems, a base station may communicate with multiple user equipment (UEs) that support different features. As described herein, a base station may schedule communications on a set of resources with UEs that support a particular feature. The base station may transmit an indication (e.g., to one or more UEs) of the feature that is to be supported for a UE to communicate on the set of resources, and the UE may receive the indication and determine whether to communicate on the set of resources based on determining if the particular feature is supported. Accordingly, a UE that fails to support the feature may reduce processing costs and save power by ignoring the set of resources.