Dynamic Timing Advance Indication in DCI for Faster Uplink Adjustment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current wireless communication systems lack a defined method to include timing advance (TA) commands in downlink control information (DCI) messages, leading to inflexible and latency-prone TA adjustments.
Innovation Solution
Repurpose fields in DCI messages, such as the time domain resource allocation and hybrid automatic repeat request process number fields, to indicate TA commands, along with a cyclic redundancy check scrambled by a configured scheduling radio network temporary identifier, allowing for flexible and faster TA adjustments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If timing advance commands are transmitted using traditional separate signaling methods, then the system maintains current protocol simplicity, but the timing adjustment latency increases and flexibility decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies multi-functionality by enabling DCI messages to serve dual purposes: traditional downlink scheduling and timing advance command transmission. The DCI format is configured to indicate whether it contains scheduling information or TA command through specific field configurations, allowing the same message structure to perform multiple functions without requiring separate dedicated signaling channels for TA commands.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamics by making the DCI message structure adaptable through configuration. The network entity can dynamically determine whether a DCI message contains scheduling information or TA command based on configured parameters. This dynamic configuration allows the system to switch between different message types without changing the fundamental DCI structure, thereby reducing latency while managing complexity through flexible configuration rather than rigid separate structures.
2Reliability
If dedicated TA command signaling is implemented, then TA command transmission becomes more reliable, but the control information overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses multi-functionality to convey TA commands within existing DCI message structures that are already part of the standard scheduling control information. By configuring DCI messages to indicate TA commands using the same channel and message framework as scheduling information, the system achieves reliable TA command transmission without requiring separate dedicated signaling channels, thereby avoiding additional overhead.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies the principle of discarding and recovering by reusing existing DCI message structures and fields for TA command transmission instead of creating entirely new dedicated signaling messages. The system discards the need for separate TA command signaling infrastructure and recovers the flexibility of using standard DCI formats, thereby maintaining reliability while avoiding increased overhead through resource reuse.
3Productivity
If TA commands are included in DCI messages, then the system achieves faster and more flexible TA adjustments, but the DCI message processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamics through configurable DCI message interpretation. The network entity and UE dynamically determine whether a DCI message contains scheduling information or TA command based on configured parameters. This dynamic configuration enables fast TA adjustments by utilizing the rapid DCI processing already in place for scheduling, without requiring separate slower TA command processing paths, thereby improving productivity while managing complexity through unified processing logic.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies multi-functionality by enabling the same DCI processing mechanism to handle both scheduling information and TA commands. The UE processes both types of information using the same decoding and interpretation framework, which avoids the need for separate processing paths. This unified approach achieves fast TA adjustments by leveraging existing fast DCI processing while preventing processing complexity from increasing significantly, as the same processing logic handles both message types.
Data Source
AI summary
This disclosure provides systems, methods and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for dynamic timing advance (TA) indication in downlink control information (DCI). Described techniques relate to indicating a TA command in a DCI message. For a DCI message configured to schedule an uplink or downlink communication, one or more fields of the DCI message may be repurposed and populated with values that indicate that the DCI message includes a TA command and the TA command itself. A user equipment (UE) may communicate an uplink message to the network in accordance with the indicated TA command. The TA command may indicate a timing adjustment value relative to a previous TA or an absolute TA value. The DCI message may indicate whether the TA command is a relative or absolute TA adjustment.