Physical Layer Carrier Configuration for Low Latency
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Solution Overview
Problem
In LTE systems, the activation or deactivation of carriers in cellular communication systems leads to significant latency and increased power consumption due to the need for continuous monitoring of the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), which is inefficient for managing traffic demand changes.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus for carrier configuration that determines a target carrier based on traffic transmission demand information, using physical layer information to instruct terminals to activate or deactivate carriers, with the base station sending target information in a variable or preset format within downlink control information, allowing terminals to quickly perform operations with reduced latency and energy consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If MAC CE or deactivation timer is used for carrier activation or deactivation, then carrier management can be performed, but significant latency occurs which increases power consumption
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the traditional MAC CE (Layer 2) and deactivation timer (Layer 3) mechanisms with physical layer signaling. The base station sends carrier activation/deactivation instructions through physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) using downlink control information (DCI), which is transmitted at the physical layer instead of higher protocol layers. This substitution reduces processing time and latency significantly, as physical layer operations are faster than MAC or RRC layer operations, thereby reducing the time terminals spend in active state and lowering power consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent configures multiple candidate carriers in advance for terminals before actual activation is needed. When traffic demand changes, the base station can quickly activate or deactivate pre-configured carriers using physical layer signaling without needing to first configure them through slower higher-layer protocols. This preliminary configuration allows for rapid carrier management responses to traffic changes, reducing latency and avoiding unnecessary power consumption during carrier setup processes.
2Power
If carriers are activated to support higher data transmission rates, then data rate increases, but terminal power consumption increases due to continuous PDCCH monitoring
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic carrier activation and deactivation based on real-time traffic demand. The base station monitors uplink traffic from terminals and dynamically adjusts the number of active carriers by sending activation or deactivation instructions through physical layer signaling. When traffic is high, multiple carriers are activated to increase data transmission rates; when traffic is low, carriers are deactivated to reduce power consumption. This dynamic adjustment allows the system to adapt carrier resources to actual needs, optimizing the balance between data rate and power consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the operational state parameter of carriers (active/inactive) based on traffic conditions. By using physical layer signaling to rapidly switch carrier states, the system can quickly respond to traffic demand changes. The base station determines whether to activate or deactivate carriers based on uplink traffic volume, and this parameter change is communicated to terminals through physical downlink control information, enabling fast adaptation of the radio resource configuration to match current network conditions and user demands.
Data Source
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AI summary
A method and an apparatus for carrier configuration, wherein the method includes: determining a target carrier, wherein the target carrier is a carrier on which a terminal is instructed to perform a target operation; and sending target information to the terminal for the terminal to perform the target operation on the target carrier after the terminal determines the target carrier according to the target information, wherein the target information is physical layer information and at least indicates carrier information of the target carrier. The present disclosure can enable the terminal to quickly perform a target operation on the target carrier through the physical layer information, which can have a less time delay and reduce energy consumption of the terminal.