Carrier Aggregation During Connection Setup to Reduce Transition Delay
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wireless communication systems experience delays in transitioning from idle or inactive mode to connected mode with carrier aggregation, which can be undesirably long, especially for machine-type nodes requiring immediate data transmission.
Innovation Solution
User equipment transmits signals to potential secondary cells during the connection establishment procedure, allowing simultaneous establishment of a primary cell connection and carrier aggregation, using uplink and downlink signals to determine suitable secondary cells for aggregation based on signal quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If carrier aggregation is established after connection establishment procedure is complete, then connection stability is ensured, but transition delay from idle to connected mode becomes excessively long
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by performing carrier aggregation establishment actions during the connection establishment procedure itself, rather than waiting for it to complete. The user equipment transmits signals to potential secondary cells and receives signals from them during the connection establishment procedure, enabling carrier aggregation to be established in advance or simultaneously with the connection setup, thereby reducing transition delay while maintaining connection stability.
2Loss of time
If carrier aggregation establishment actions are performed during connection establishment procedure, then transition delay is reduced, but procedure complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the carrier aggregation establishment procedure with the connection establishment procedure. The user equipment performs both functions by transmitting signals to potential secondary cells and receiving signals from them during the connection establishment procedure. This combining of procedures allows carrier aggregation to be established without requiring a separate, additional procedure, thereby reducing overall complexity despite the increased functionality.
3Productivity
If multiple potential secondary cells are evaluated during connection establishment, then carrier aggregation performance is optimized, but signal transmission and processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies partial action by having the user equipment transmit signals to only those potential secondary cells that are identified as suitable candidates during the connection establishment procedure, rather than evaluating all possible cells. The network also selectively receives and evaluates signals from potential secondary cells based on their suitability. This partial evaluation approach optimizes carrier aggregation performance by focusing on the most promising cells while reducing the total signal transmission and processing energy requirements compared to evaluating all possible secondary cells.
Data Source
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AI summary
According to an example aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus comprising at least one processing core, at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to, with the at least one processing core, cause the apparatus at least to obtain an uplink transmission configuration comprising information on at least one secondary cell candidate frequency, transmit a signal in the uplink in accordance with the uplink transmission configuration on the at least one secondary cell candidate frequency, during a connection establishment procedure which transitions the apparatus from an idle mode to a connected mode, and receive a resource aggregation configuration from a network.