Timing Advance Group Assignment for Carrier Aggregation

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

In LTE communication systems, assigning the correct component carrier group for uplink transmissions is challenging, leading to difficulties in compensating for propagation delays and reducing interference, which affects the quality of service.

Innovation Solution

A method where a communication device initiates an access procedure by making an uplink transmission on one component carrier, receives group information specifying the group sharing uplink transmission timing, and adjusts subsequent transmissions accordingly, using timing advance information to synchronize with the specified group.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If multiple component carriers are aggregated for uplink transmissions, then transmission bandwidth and data rate are improved, but timing alignment becomes more complex and propagation delay compensation becomes difficult

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetransmission bandwidthVSAvoidtiming alignment complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the plurality of component carriers into multiple timing advance groups, where each group shares a common timing advance value. This segmentation allows independent timing management for each group, simplifying the overall timing alignment complexity while maintaining support for multiple aggregated component carriers.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces a new dimension of organization by grouping component carriers along the group dimension rather than managing each carrier individually. This dimensional change from carrier-level to group-level management reduces timing alignment complexity while preserving the bandwidth benefits of carrier aggregation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

2Measurement precision

If timing advance values are adjusted for each component carrier individually, then propagation delay compensation is accurate, but signaling overhead and system complexity increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvepropagation delay compensation accuracyVSAvoidsignaling overhead

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges multiple component carriers into timing advance groups, where carriers within the same group share a common timing advance value. This merging reduces signaling overhead by avoiding individual timing advance assignments while maintaining adequate propagation delay compensation through group-level timing management.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Data Source

PatentUS10778400B2Determination of the timing advance group

Publication Date: 2020.09.15 NOKIA SOLUTIONS & NETWORKS OY

AI summary

A technique, including initiating an access procedure by making from a communication device an uplink transmission on one component carrier of a plurality of component carriers associated with an access node; thereafter receiving at said communication device group information specifying a group of said plurality of component carriers sharing uplink transmission timing information as a group to which said one component carrier belongs; and making from said communication device a further uplink transmission on said one component carrier using uplink transmission timing information for said group specified in said group information.