Narrowband System Information Segmentation for UE Reception
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current mechanisms for delivering system information in narrowband user equipment (UEs) and extended coverage in 5G new radio (NR) systems face inefficiencies due to additional transmission overhead and complexity, as they are not compatible with narrowband reception and lack a unified framework for both wideband and narrowband UEs.
Innovation Solution
The solution involves dividing system information or synchronization signals into multiple transmission blocks across subframes, allowing UEs to combine these blocks in the frequency or time domain to decode the information, even when the bandwidth exceeds the UE's capabilities, using techniques like time domain repetitions and frequency hopping.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If system information is transmitted over a wider bandwidth than narrowband UE supports, then system information delivery efficiency is improved, but narrowband UE cannot receive the information directly
Solution Approach 1:
The system information transmission is segmented into multiple time-domain repetitions. Each repetition contains the complete system information, allowing narrowband UEs to accumulate signals across multiple subframes to achieve the required bandwidth coverage, while wideband UEs can decode from a single subframe.
Solution Approach 2:
The solution transitions from a single-frequency-band transmission approach to a time-domain accumulation approach. By repeating transmissions across multiple time instances, the system enables narrowband UEs to synthesize wider bandwidth coverage through time-domain signal combining without requiring physical bandwidth expansion.
2Reliability
If separate mechanisms are used for narrowband and wideband system information delivery, then specific needs are met, but device complexity and transmission overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The same system information structure and transmission resources are used for both narrowband and wideband UEs. The repetition mechanism serves dual purposes: enabling narrowband UE reception through time-domain accumulation while maintaining efficient wideband UE reception through single-subframe decoding, eliminating the need for separate transmission mechanisms.
3Reliability
If system information is repeated multiple times in time domain, then narrowband UE can accumulate signals, but transmission resources are consumed
Solution Approach 1:
System information is transmitted periodically with multiple repetitions within a defined window. This periodic repetition structure allows narrowband UEs to accumulate signals across multiple instances while enabling the network to manage transmission resources efficiently by controlling the repetition count and timing.
Data Source
AI summary
According to some embodiments, a method for use in a user equipment (UE) of acquiring system information or a synchronization signal comprises receiving, from a network node, a plurality of subframes. Each subframe includes a repetition of either system information or a synchronization signal. The repetition is divided into a number (N) of transmission blocks in a frequency domain of a first bandwidth (N>1). The method further comprises combining N transmission blocks from one or more repetitions of the respective received plurality of subframes to decode the system information or synchronization signal. The UE may comprise a narrowband wireless device operable to receive a bandwidth less than the first bandwidth, and combining N transmission blocks to decode the system information or synchronization signal may comprise combining at least one transmission block from two or more repetitions of two or more respective subframes of the plurality of subframes.