UE Capability Reporting for Carrier Aggregation

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Solution Overview

Problem

In wireless communication systems, particularly in 5G NR, the reporting of UE capabilities for carrier aggregation becomes inefficient due to the exponential increase in downgraded band combinations, leading to large capability information messages and resource wastage.

Innovation Solution

A method where the UE indicates the existence of additional capabilities beyond DL-MIMO for supported band combinations and only reports specific downgraded band combinations in response to a subsequent enquiry from the base station, allowing for a more compact and efficient reporting mechanism.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Loss of information

If the UE reports all downgraded band combinations and their associated capabilities, then the base station obtains complete capability information, but the capability information message size increases exponentially leading to resource wastage

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecapability information completenessVSAvoidmessage size
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of informationVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The capability reporting is divided into two segments: first, the UE reports a compact indication of which parent band combinations support additional capabilities; second, the base station requests detailed information only for specific downgraded band combinations. This segmentation reduces the initial message size while preserving the ability to obtain complete information when needed.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The UE performs preliminary filtering by indicating only those parent band combinations that have associated downgraded band combinations with additional capabilities. This preliminary action allows the base station to identify which combinations require detailed reporting, avoiding transmission of unnecessary capability information and reducing overall message size.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

2Productivity

If the UE reports detailed capability information for all band combinations, then the base station can make optimal scheduling decisions, but the processing overhead and resource consumption increase significantly

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvescheduling efficiencyVSAvoidprocessing time
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system implements partial reporting where the UE provides detailed capability information only for specific downgraded band combinations upon base station request, rather than reporting all possible combinations. This partial action maintains sufficient scheduling efficiency while significantly reducing processing overhead and resource consumption.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #16Partial or excessive action

3Loss of information

If the UE indicates additional capabilities for all parent band combinations, then the base station knows all possible capabilities, but the capability information message becomes excessively large

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecapability indication completenessVSAvoidmessage size
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of informationVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts only the essential information needed for initial capability assessment - the indication of which parent band combinations support additional capabilities. Detailed capability information for specific downgraded band combinations is taken out and reported separately only when the base station requests it, minimizing the size of the initial capability information message while preserving complete information availability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Data Source

PatentEP3954077B1Radio resource control signaling of different user equipment capability of parent band combinations
Publication Date: 2023.03.22 QUALCOMM INC
  • EP3954077B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3954077B1 patent drawingFigure 2A~2D
  • EP3954077B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

Aspects are provided which allow an apparatus to efficiently indicate downgraded band combinations associated with carrier aggregation (CA) to a base station, in which one or more UE capabilities such as the DL MIMO of certain supported band combinations may be downgraded in exchange for other UE capabilities such as FD-MIMO and 256/1024QAM. The apparatus, which may be a UE, receives a request from a base station for information associated with downgraded band combinations and for information corresponding to at least one UE capability associated with each of the downgraded band combinations. After receiving the request, the UE sends, to the base station, information indicating the downgraded band combinations and the at least one UE capability. The UE may thus report downgraded band combinations for a subset of supported band combinations as requested by the base station, thereby minimizing capability reporting of the UE.