Discrete Cell Carrier Aggregation for Lower DCI Overhead
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current carrier aggregation frameworks in mobile communications, such as LTE and NR, face issues like increased blind decoding complexity, downlink control information overhead, long CC activation times, complicated measurement gaps, and long hybrid automatic repeat request latency due to the 1-to-1 association between component carriers and cells, which impact user-perceived throughput and quality of service, especially in extended reality applications.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a discrete cell structure where multiple component carriers are associated with one cell, allowing for frequency and spatial domain decoupling, supporting bandwidth parts with multiple radio resource clusters, and utilizing multiple timing advance groups to enhance spectrum aggregation, thereby reducing complexity and latency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the number of configured CCs/cells is increased to enhance spectrum aggregation, then the system capacity and transmission efficiency are improved, but the blind decoding complexity and DCI overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple CCs into a single cell entity, allowing multiple component carriers to be associated with one cell. This consolidation reduces the number of independent entities that require separate blind decoding operations, thereby lowering UE complexity while maintaining the aggregated spectrum capacity for improved system productivity.
2Productivity
If the number of configured CCs/cells is increased to enhance spectrum aggregation, then the transmission efficiency is improved, but the DCI overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
By merging multiple CCs under a single cell, the patent reduces the number of separate DCI messages that need to be transmitted. Instead of sending individual DCI for each CC, the system can use a single cell-associated DCI structure, thereby reducing downlink control information overhead while preserving the transmission efficiency benefits of spectrum aggregation.
3Productivity
If CC activation is implemented to utilize additional carriers, then the spectrum utilization is improved, but the CC activation time becomes long
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables preliminary configuration of multiple CCs as part of a single cell setup, so that when activation is needed, the UE already has the necessary configuration information ready. This preliminary preparation reduces the activation time by eliminating the need for lengthy configuration procedures during activation, while still achieving high spectrum utilization when carriers are brought online.
4Measurement precision
If measurement gaps are configured for CA to support frequency measurements, then the measurement accuracy is improved, but the XR capability and QoS are degraded
Solution Approach 1:
By associating multiple CCs with a single cell, the patent reduces the number of independent measurement gap requirements. The UE can perform measurements more efficiently within unified measurement configurations, reducing the time and resources dedicated to measurement gaps while maintaining measurement accuracy. This preserves more resources for XR applications and maintains QoS.
Data Source
AI summary
Various solutions for efficient spectrum aggregation in mobile communications are described. An apparatus may receive a cell configuration from a network node of a wireless network. The cell configuration may include a plurality of component carrier (CC) configurations, each of which is corresponding to a respective one of a plurality of CCs associated with a cell. The apparatus may perform a carrier aggregation within the cell based on the CC configurations. The apparatus may communicate data signals with the wireless network based on the carrier aggregation.