Downlink Control Information Overhead Reduction via Interference Prioritization

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current LTE wireless communication systems face challenges in reducing downlink overhead information while maintaining demodulation performance, particularly in managing interfering signals, which increases with the number of interfering users and can degrade UE performance.

Innovation Solution

A method where a base station sends DCI via a downlink control channel with X bits indicating M sets of downlink reference information of other UEs, adjusting overhead based on the UE's downlink data processing capability, allowing the UE to focus on strongly interfering signals and reducing unnecessary overhead.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If the base station sends information on interfering signals to the UE, then the UE can acquire more accurate information on interfering signals and improve demodulation performance, but the downlink overhead information increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveaccuracy of interfering signal informationVSAvoiddownlink overhead information
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts only the most critical interfering signal information (strong interferers) from the complete set of interfering signals and sends this subset to the UE. This selective extraction approach maintains accurate interference suppression for dominant interferers while minimizing downlink overhead by excluding less significant interference information.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent applies different quality levels of interference information to different interferers based on their impact. Strong interferers receive detailed information transmission to the UE, while weak interferers are handled differently. This local differentiation optimizes the balance between demodulation performance and overhead by allocating information resources where they provide the most benefit.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

2Quantity of substance

If the base station sends downlink overhead information on a downlink shared channel, then the downlink overhead can be reduced, but the delay in acquiring downlink overhead information by the UE increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedownlink overhead informationVSAvoiddelay in acquiring downlink overhead information
Core Design Contradiction:
Quantity of substanceVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments downlink overhead information into two parts: critical interfering signal information sent on the downlink control channel for immediate UE access, and other overhead information sent on the downlink shared channel. This segmentation allows time-sensitive interference information to be delivered quickly while non-critical information follows the standard shared channel timeline.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent performs preliminary transmission of critical interfering signal information on the downlink control channel before the UE needs to demodulate data. This preliminary action ensures the UE has necessary interference information ready in advance, reducing processing delay and enabling faster demodulation when data arrives on the shared channel.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

3Object-affected harmful factors

If the base station sends information on all interfering signals, then the UE can suppress more interference, but the downlink control channel overhead increases significantly

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveinterference suppression capabilityVSAvoiddownlink control channel overhead
Core Design Contradiction:
Object-affected harmful factorsVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts and identifies only the strong interferers from the complete set of interfering signals and transmits information only about these extracted interferers to the UE. This extraction approach enables effective interference suppression for dominant sources while keeping downlink control channel overhead manageable by excluding information about weaker interferers.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent applies partial action by sending information on only the most critical portion of interferers (strong interferers) rather than all interferers. This partial information transmission provides sufficient interference suppression capability for the most harmful signals while avoiding the excessive overhead that would result from transmitting complete interference information.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #16Partial or excessive action

Data Source

PatentEP3086495B1Overhead information transmission method, base station and terminal.
Publication Date: 2019.02.27 ZTE CORP
  • EP3086495B1 patent drawingFigure 1~3
  • EP3086495B1 patent drawingFigure 4~5

AI summary

Disclosed is an overhead information transmission method. The method comprises: sending, by a base station, downlink control information (DCI) to a terminal through a downlink control channel, X bits in the DCI being used for indicating M sets of downlink reference information about other terminals except the terminal, where X is a positive integer, and M is a positive integer which is less than a numerical value expressed by a downlink data processing capability parameter of the terminal. Also disclosed at the same time are a base station, a terminal and a system corresponding to the method.