CN108243497B

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Info

Publication number: CN108243497B
Application number: CN201611208634.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 陶涛; 刘建国; 骆喆; 沈钢; 孟艳
Original assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd
Current assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd
Priority date: 2016-12-23
Filing date: 2016-12-23
Publication date: 2020-09-04
Anticipated expiration: 2036-12-23
Also published as: WO2018115967A1; CN108243497A

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to methods for autonomous uplink signal transmission and corresponding terminal devices and network devices. For example, on the terminal device side in a communication network, an indication of a resource configuration for transmitting an autonomous uplink signal to a network device is received from the network device, and a subframe for transmission of the autonomous uplink signal is determined based on the received indication of the resource configuration. The terminal device then transmits an autonomous uplink signal to the network device in the determined subframe. A corresponding method implemented at a network device is also disclosed, as well as a terminal device and a network device capable of implementing the above method.

Description

Method for autonomous uplink signal transmission, and corresponding terminal device and network device

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to communication technology and, more particularly, relate to a method for autonomous uplink signal transmission and a corresponding terminal device and network device.

Background

In current cellular communication systems, such as enhanced Licensed-Assisted Access (eLAA) systems or multefire (mf) systems, unlicensed spectrum has become a beneficial complement to Licensed spectrum to meet the increasing traffic demands in the network. When a cellular system, such as an eLAA or MF system, coexists with a system using only unlicensed spectrum (e.g., a Wi-Fi system), channel access of the cellular system in the unlicensed spectrum may be greatly limited, especially in high-load situations.

To this end, an autonomous Uplink (UL) transmission technique has been proposed for, e.g., the eLAA or MF systems. With this technique, a terminal device (e.g., UE) can autonomously initiate UL transmissions without network device (e.g., eNB) scheduling. In the context of the present disclosure, autonomous uplink (or UL) transmission refers to the process by which a terminal device initiates UL transmission when needed without network scheduling. With such autonomous UL transmission, the chance of a terminal device accessing the UL channel increases significantly. Moreover, under the condition of low load in the network, the terminal device performs the autonomous UL transmission, and the delay of the UL transmission can be effectively reduced.

For autonomous UL transmission by a terminal device, a key aspect is how to allocate resource locations for autonomous UL transmission that can determine how much performance gain can be achieved. For example, frame structures for use in unlicensed spectrum are typically very flexible. Any subframe may be used as a Downlink (DL) subframe or an UL subframe. Thus, if a terminal device autonomously initiates an UL transmission, there is a high probability that it will interfere with an ongoing DL transmission or an UL transmission from other terminal devices. In addition, a Listen-Before-Talk (LBT) procedure is typically performed prior to UL transmission, which may result in additional DL-to-UL or UL-to-DL transitions, thereby reducing the actual contention of the terminal device for the channel. Therefore, there is a need to design a more flexible resource allocation scheme for autonomous UL transmission in unlicensed spectrum.

Disclosure of Invention

In general, embodiments of the present disclosure propose methods for autonomous uplink signal transmission and corresponding terminal devices and network devices.

In a first aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method implemented at a terminal device in a communication network. The method comprises the following steps: receiving, from a network device in a communication network, an indication of a resource configuration for transmitting an autonomous uplink signal to the network device; determining a subframe for transmission of an autonomous uplink signal based on the received indication of the resource configuration; and transmitting an autonomous uplink signal to the network device in the determined subframe.

In a second aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method implemented at a network device in a communication network. The method comprises the following steps: determining a resource configuration associated with a subframe in which an autonomous uplink signal is to be received from a terminal device in a communication network; and indicating the resource configuration to the terminal device.

In a third aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a terminal device. The terminal device includes: a transceiver configured to receive, from a network device in a communication network, an indication of a resource configuration for transmitting autonomous uplink signals to the network device; and a controller configured to determine a subframe for transmission of an autonomous uplink signal based on the received indication of the resource configuration; wherein the transceiver is further configured to transmit an autonomous uplink signal to the network device in the determined subframe.

In a fourth aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a network device. The network device includes: a controller configured to determine a resource configuration associated with a subframe that is to receive autonomous uplink signals from a terminal device in a communication network; and a transceiver configured to indicate the resource configuration to the terminal device.

As will be understood from the following description, according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, a terminal device transmits an autonomous UL signal to a network device using configured resources in a communication network, so that interference of autonomous UL transmission with scheduled DL/UL transmission can be effectively reduced.

It should be understood that the statements herein reciting aspects are not intended to limit the critical or essential features of the embodiments of the present disclosure, nor are they intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description.

Drawings

The above and other features, advantages and aspects of various embodiments of the present disclosure will become more apparent by referring to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like or similar reference characters designate like or similar elements, and wherein:

fig. 1 illustrates an example scenario in which a network device and a terminal device contend for a channel simultaneously;

fig. 2 illustrates an example impact of a conventional resource configuration approach for autonomous UL transmission on scheduled UL transmission;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example communication network in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented;

fig. 4 illustrates a flow chart of an example method of embodiments at a terminal device, in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 5 illustrates an example periodic subframe configuration according to certain other embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 6 illustrates an example of a scheduled DL subframe as a reference subframe according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 7 illustrates an example of a scheduled UL subframe as a reference subframe according to certain other embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 8 illustrates a flowchart of an example method of embodiments at a network device, in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 10 shows a block diagram of an apparatus according to certain other embodiments of the present disclosure; and

fig. 11 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numbers refer to the same or similar elements.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. While certain embodiments of the present disclosure are shown in the drawings, it is to be understood that the present disclosure may be embodied in various forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein, but rather are provided for a more thorough and complete understanding of the present disclosure. It should be understood that the drawings and embodiments of the disclosure are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure.

The term "network device" as used herein refers to a base station or other entity or device having the function of transceiving information in a communication network through which a terminal device can access the network or receive services therefrom. A "base station" (BS) may represent a node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved node B (eNodeB or eNB), a Remote Radio Unit (RRU), a Radio Head (RH), a Remote Radio Head (RRH), a relay, or a low power node such as a pico base station, a femto base station, or the like. In the context of the present disclosure, the terms "network device" and "base station" may be used interchangeably for purposes of discussion convenience, and may primarily be referred to as an eNB as an example of a network device.

The term "terminal equipment" or "user equipment" (UE) as used herein refers to any terminal equipment capable of wireless communication with a base station or with each other. As an example, the terminal device may include a Mobile Terminal (MT), a Subscriber Station (SS), a Portable Subscriber Station (PSS), a Mobile Station (MS), or an Access Terminal (AT), and the above-described devices in a vehicle. In the context of the present disclosure, the terms "terminal device" and "user equipment" may be used interchangeably for purposes of discussion convenience.

The term "autonomous Uplink (UL) signal" as used herein refers to a UL signal that a terminal device transmits to a network device in an autonomous UL transmission, i.e., a UL signal that the terminal device transmits to the network device without network device scheduling.

The terms "include" and variations thereof as used herein are inclusive and open-ended, i.e., "including but not limited to. The term "based on" is "based, at least in part, on". The term "one embodiment" means "at least one embodiment"; the term "another embodiment" means "at least one additional embodiment". Relevant definitions for other terms will be given in the following description.

As described above, for autonomous UL transmission in unlicensed spectrum, a more flexible resource configuration should be designed. One conventional approach is to add a deferral mechanism based on the random selection of the terminal device. For example, the terminal device may randomly select resources for autonomous UL transmission in the unlicensed spectrum, e.g., including time and frequency resources. As described above, the manner in which resources are randomly selected may cause autonomous UL transmissions to collide with DL or UL transmissions scheduled by the network device. According to this approach, the terminal device adds a deferral mechanism on the basis of randomly selecting resources for autonomous UL transmission to avoid using scheduled DL or UL resources for autonomous UL transmission.

For example, the terminal device may learn that there is scheduled DL transmission by detecting a downlink reference signal or decoding downlink transmission configuration signaling in a Common physical downlink control channel (Common-PDCCH) sent by the network device. The terminal device may also obtain the timing offset and duration of the scheduled UL burst by detecting or decoding the C-PDCCH, thereby knowing the scheduled UL resources. The terminal device may then avoid scheduled DL/UL transmissions when performing autonomous UL transmissions.

However, the above-described conventional manner causes the following problems. First, there is still a possibility of collision with the scheduled DL transmission. For example, if the terminal device and the network device acquire the channel at the same time, the terminal device cannot detect the scheduled DL transmission and back off it. In this case, autonomous UL transmissions may collide with scheduled DL transmissions since the time timing (e.g., frame/subframe timing) tends to be aligned, i.e., the UL and DL transmission time boundaries are the same.

Second, the above conventional approach may cause DL transmission delay. Fig. 1 shows a situation where a network device (e.g., eNB) and a terminal device (e.g., UE) contend for a channel simultaneously. In this example, both the network device and the terminal device detect a Clear Channel through Clear Channel Assessment (CCA). The terminal device completes the LBT procedure prior to the network device. Then, the terminal device performs autonomous UL transmission on a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) for aperiod 106 in the frame # N + 1102 and the frame # N + 2104. As shown, the CCA procedure of the network device fails until the terminal device ends the autonomous PUSCH transmission. In frame # N + 3108, the network device can transmit on the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH). It follows that the gain of autonomous UL transmission at this time is at the expense of a decrease in DL throughput and an increase in transmission delay.

Third, the above conventional approach may also have an impact on scheduled UL transmissions. Fig. 2 shows an example of this effect. As shown, atime gap 202 may be set between DL subframes and UL subframes scheduled by the network device in consideration of scheduling delay. If the terminal device selects these resources (e.g.,time intervals 204 and 206) for autonomous UL transmission, the scheduled DL-UL frame structure will be corrupted. For example, the scheduled

UL subframes

208 and 210 may be caused to fall outside a Maximum Channel Occupancy Time (MCOT) 212 required by the network device. This means that some terminal devices need to perform a longer duration LBT Cat4 (category 4) before making UL transmissions, resulting in a reduced chance of these terminal devices accessing the channel. Therefore, autonomous UL transmission should avoid using blank resources introduced in consideration of scheduling delay.

To address, at least in part, the above problems, and other potential problems, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a resource allocation scheme for autonomous UL transmissions. According to the scheme, the terminal equipment uses the resources configured in the communication network to send the autonomous UL signal to the network equipment, so that the interference of the autonomous UL transmission on the scheduled DL/UL transmission can be effectively reduced.

Fig. 3 illustrates anexample communication network 300 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented.Communication network 300 includes two terminal devices 310-1 and 310-2 (collectively, "terminal devices 310") and anetwork device 320.Network device 320 may communicate with terminal device 310 and terminal devices 310-1 and 310-2 may communicate with each other throughnetwork device 320. It should be understood that the number of network devices and terminal devices shown in fig. 3 is for illustration purposes only and is not intended to be limiting.Network 300 may include any suitable number of network devices and terminal devices.

The communications innetwork 300 may conform to any suitable wireless communication technology and corresponding communication standard. Examples of communication technologies include, but are not limited to, Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-advanced (LTE-a), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), global system for mobile communications (GSM), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), bluetooth, Zigbee technologies, and so forth. Moreover, the communication may be performed according to any suitable communication protocol, including, but not limited to, Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)/Internet Protocol (IP), Hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP), Session Description Protocol (SDP), and the like.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the resources for transmitting the autonomous UL signal from the terminal device 310 to thenetwork device 320 are configured on the network side. The resources may include subframes in the time domain and frequency resource blocks in the licensed or unlicensed spectrum in the frequency domain. By way of example, the resource may be predefined by thenetwork 300 or configured by thenetwork device 320. Specific embodiments will be described later. In this way, interference of autonomous UL transmissions on scheduled DL/UL transmissions can be effectively avoided.

The principles and specific embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to fig. 4-8 from the perspective of terminal device 310 andnetwork device 320, respectively. Referring first to fig. 4, a flowchart of anexample method 400 implemented at a terminal device is shown, in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure. Themethod 400 may be implemented at a terminal device 310 in acommunication network 300 as shown in fig. 3.

As shown, atblock 405, terminal device 310 receives an indication of a resource configuration for transmitting an autonomous UL signal to a network device fromnetwork device 320. Atblock 410, the terminal device 310 determines a subframe for transmission of the autonomous UL signal based on the received indication of the resource configuration. Atblock 415, the terminal device 310 transmits an autonomous UL signal to thenetwork device 320 in a subframe.

As described above, the resource may be predefined by thenetwork 300. For example,network 300 may periodically predefine each frame or several subframes out of every few frames to be dedicated to autonomous UL transmission based on frame/subframe timing. Accordingly, the terminal device 310 may determine a subframe in a frame that is periodically predefined for transmitting an autonomous UL signal when transmitting the UL signal to thenetwork device 320 in an autonomous manner.

As described above, the frame/subframe timing is typically aligned. That is, the subframe for autonomous UL transmission has the same boundary as the subframe for scheduled DL transmission. In this case, to further avoid the autonomous UL transmission from interfering with the scheduled DL transmission, in some embodiments, the autonomous UL transmission may be delayed by several time slots (referred to as "first plurality of time slots") in a predefined periodic subframe. The time duration of the time slot for the delay may be any suitable time duration. As an example, a slot having a time length of one symbol period may be delayed.

Accordingly, terminal device 310 may detect a DL signal from network device 310 in a first plurality of slots within a subframe. If no DL signal is detected, terminal device 310 transmits an autonomous UL signal to network device 320 a plurality of time slots (referred to as a "second plurality of time slots") after the first plurality of time slots within the subframe. If a DL signal is detected, the terminal device 310 may determine that the channel sensing result is busy and thus will not make autonomous UL transmission at a predefined occasion, thereby avoiding interference with the DL signal.

Fig. 5 shows one specific example of a periodic subframe configuration. In this example, two subframes (e.g., subframe # 7508 and subframe # 8510) per frame (e.g., frame # 1502, frame # 2504, and frame # 3506) are predefined for autonomous UL transmission. Terminal device 310 also detects the DL transmission fromnetwork device 320 during the first symbol period (not shown) of subframe # 7508 in each frame. As shown in fig. 5, the terminal device 310 detects no DL transmission in subframe # 7508 of frame # 1502, but detects DL transmission in the first symbol period of subframe # 7508 of frame # 2504. Accordingly, the terminal device 310 does not perform UL transmission in frame # 2504, but transmits an autonomous UL signal to thenetwork device 320 at the next autonomous UL transmission occasion (e.g., subframe # 7508 and subframe # 8510 in frame # 3506).

In addition to predefining subframes as time resources,network 300 may also predefine frequency resources for autonomous UL transmissions. For example, the frequency resource blocks for autonomous UL transmission may be predefined. The frequency resource blocks may be in an unlicensed spectrum or a licensed spectrum. In the example shown in fig. 5, for subframe # 7508,

bands

512 and 514 are predefined for autonomous UL transmission; while for subframe # 8510,

bands

516 and 518 are predefined for autonomous UL transmission. Accordingly,terminal device 510 may transmit autonomous UL signals to network device 520 on these frequency bands.

In addition to the subframe being predefined by the network for autonomous UL transmission, the subframe may also be configured by thenetwork device 320, as described above.Network device 320 may perform this configuration based on any suitable factors. For example,network device 320 may configure the location of the subframe according to traffic levels and/or interference conditions, and so on. Alternatively, thenetwork device 320 may also configure the location of the subframes based on the scheduled DL-UL frame structure such that autonomous UL transmissions do not corrupt the scheduled UL frame structure. The specific implementation atnetwork device 320 is described in detail below in conjunction with fig. 8.

Accordingly, terminal device 310 may receive an indication of a resource configuration fromnetwork device 320. Terminal device 310 may obtain the indication from any suitable message sent fromnetwork device 320. For example, terminal device 310 may obtain the indication from broadcast signaling fromnetwork device 320, Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer or layer 3(L3) signaling, or physical layer or layer 1(L1) signaling. The indication may be explicit or implicit, as will be described in more detail below.

The indication of the resource configuration may be implemented in any suitable form in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, an indication of a location of a reference subframe associated with a subframe may be taken as an indication of a resource configuration. Accordingly, terminal device 310 may determine the location of the subframe based on the indication of the location of the reference subframe received fromnetwork device 320.

The reference subframe may be any suitable subframe associated with a subframe. In embodiments wherenetwork device 320 configures subframes based on the scheduled DL-UL frame structure, the last DL subframe scheduled bynetwork device 320 for DL transmission may be taken as a reference subframe, and subframes subsequent to the reference subframe may be configured for autonomous UL transmission by terminal device 310. Accordingly, terminal device 310 may determine, after receiving an indication of the location of the scheduled last DL subframe fromnetwork device 320, that the subframe after the location is a subframe for autonomous UL transmission. Subframes at any suitable position after the last DL subframe may be determined as subframes for autonomous UL transmission. In this way, it may be avoided that the transmission of autonomous UL signals occupies the invoked DL subframe, thereby avoiding disruption of the scheduled DL-UL frame structure.

One specific example of using the last scheduled DL subframe as a reference subframe is discussed below with reference to fig. 6. As shown, in frame # 1602, eightsubframes 604 through 618 are obtained for transmission afternetwork device 320 successfully performs LBT. Of these eight subframes, thenetwork device 320 schedules the first fivesubframes 604 to 612 for DL transmissions and the last three subframes 614 to 618 for UL transmissions.

In this example, the last scheduled DL subframe (e.g., DL subframe 612) is configured as a reference subframe and the subframes subsequent to this subframe (e.g., UL subframe 614) are configured as subframes for autonomous UL transmissions by terminal device 310. Accordingly, the terminal device 310 may receive an indication of the location of the last scheduled DL subframe 612 from thenetwork device 320 and then determine that the first UL subframe 614 after the location is a subframe. In this way, terminal device 310 can use the UL subframe scheduled bynetwork device 320 for autonomous UL signal transmission without disrupting the DL-UL frame structure scheduled bynetwork device 320.

In addition to configuring the last DL subframe scheduled as a reference subframe, in some embodiments, the UL subframe scheduled for UL transmission bynetwork device 320 may be configured as a reference subframe. For example, a certain UL subframe among the scheduled UL subframes may be used as a reference subframe, and the UL subframe, or a subframe at any appropriate position after the UL subframe, may be used as a subframe for autonomous UL transmission. Alternatively, thenetwork device 320 may also take all scheduled UL subframes as reference subframes and indicate them to the terminal device 310. Accordingly, the terminal device 310 may select a subframe for autonomous UL transmission from the scheduled UL subframes.

Fig. 7 shows a specific example of such a subframe configuration. In this example, the last UL subframe 702 (orsubframes 704 or 706) scheduled bynetwork device 320 serves as a reference subframe, andsubframe 708 followingsubframe 702 serves as a subframe for autonomous UL transmission. It should be understood that other scheduled UL subframes may also be used as reference subframes. For example, the penultimate scheduledUL subframe 710 in each frame may be taken as the reference subframe followed by thepenultimate UL subframe 702 as the subframe. In the example shown in fig. 7, for frequency resources,network device 320 configures theentire frequency band 712 for autonomous UL transmissions.

As described above, the indication of the resource configuration received by the terminal device 310 from thenetwork device 320 may be explicit or implicit. Accordingly, the indication of the position of the reference subframe received by the terminal device 310 from thenetwork device 320 as an indication of the subframe may also be explicit or implicit. For example, the explicit indication of the location of the reference subframe may be included in broadcast signaling, RRC layer (or L3) signaling, or physical layer (or L1) signaling transmitted by thenetwork device 320. Terminal device 310 may obtain an explicit indication of the location of the reference subframe by receiving these signaling.

In embodiments where a scheduled DL or UL subframe is used as a reference subframe, the location of the reference subframe may be implicitly indicated by a C-PDCCH transmitted from thenetwork device 320. For example, the C-DPCCH may include position information of a scheduled DL-end subframe, a timing offset of a scheduled UL burst, a duration of the scheduled UL burst, and the like. The terminal device 310 can obtain location information of the last scheduled DL subframe or the scheduled UL subframe as a reference subframe by detecting or decoding the C-PDCCH.

By determining the location of the sub-frame based on the scheduled DL-UL frame structure, the sub-frame may be enabled to dynamically float according to the ongoing DL and UL transmission bursts. This subframe configuration is better suited for high load environments where scheduled DL and UL bursts occur frequently, because the subframes configured in this way can better match the flexibly scheduled DL-UL frame structure and have less impact on the LBT procedure for scheduled transmissions.

In case scheduled transmissions occur less frequently due to low traffic load or channel congestion, it may be advantageous for the network to predefine the periodic subframes. This is because the scheduled DL or UL subframe serving as the reference subframe rarely occurs at this time, resulting in an insufficient number of corresponding subframes, causing a large delay in autonomous UL transmission; while a periodically configured subframe may effectively reduce the delay of autonomous UL transmission in such low load situations.

In view of further improvements in overall performance of the system, in some embodiments, the manner in which subframes are periodically and dynamically configured may be used in combination. As an example, a variety of subframe configurations may be predefined in thenetwork 300, including periodically configured subframes and dynamically configured subframes. These configurations are known to devices in network 300 (e.g., including terminal device 310 and network device 320). Thenetwork device 320 may select which subframe configuration to use based on actual traffic and interference, etc., and indicate the selected subframe configuration to the terminal device 310.

In addition to subframes being time resources, associated frequency resources, Modulation and Coding Schemes (MCS), periods, etc. may also be predefined in thenetwork 300. For example, resource configurations including subframes, frequencies, MCSs and/or periods, etc. may be predefined. One specific example is given in table 1 below.

TABLE 1

In this example, eight resource configurations are predefined in thenetwork 300, each resource configuration including a dynamically configured subframe (denoted as "type 1") or a periodically configured subframe (denoted as "type 2"). Each resource configuration includes, among other things, frequency resources and an MSC. These resource configurations are known to the terminal device 310 and thenetwork device 320.

Network device 320 may select one resource configuration from the eight resource configurations and indicate to terminal device 310. Accordingly, terminal device 310, upon receiving an indication of a predefined resource configuration fromnetwork device 320, may determine a subframe for transmission of an autonomous UL signal according to an association between the predefined resource configuration and the subframe. Additionally, the terminal device 310 may also determine a modulation coding scheme according to the association between the predefined resource configuration and the modulation coding scheme, and then use the modulation coding scheme to transmit the autonomous UL signal to thenetwork device 320 in the subframe.

Fig. 8 illustrates a flow diagram of anexample method 800 implemented at a network device in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure. Themethod 800 may be implemented at anetwork device 320 in thenetwork 300 shown in fig. 1.

As shown,network device 320 determines a resource configuration associated with a subframe that is to receive a primary UL signal from terminal device 310 atblock 805. Atblock 810,network device 320 indicates the resource configuration to terminal device 310.

As described above,network device 320 may perform the resource configuration determination described above based on any suitable factors. In some embodiments,network device 320 may dynamically configure the location of the subframe based on traffic levels and/or interference conditions, among other things. In this way, interference of autonomous UL transmissions on scheduled DL/UL transmissions may be reduced. Alternatively,network device 320 may also configure the location of the subframes based on the scheduled DL-UL frame structure such that autonomous UL transmissions do not corrupt the scheduled UL frame structure; specific embodiments of this aspect will be described in detail later.

The indication of the resource configuration may be sent to the terminal device 310 in any suitable message. As described above, examples of these messages include, but are not limited to, broadcast signaling, RRC layer (or L3) signaling, or physical layer (or L1) signaling.

Moreover, the indication of the resource configuration may be implemented in any suitable form. In some embodiments, thenetwork device 320 may determine a reference subframe associated with the subframe and then send an indication of the location of the reference subframe to the terminal device 310 as an indication of the resource configuration.

As described above, the reference subframe may be implemented as any suitable subframe associated with a subframe. In embodiments where subframes are configured based on a scheduled DL-UL frame structure, in order for autonomous UL transmissions by terminal device 310 to not disrupt the UL frame structure,network device 320 may take the last DL subframe scheduled for DL transmissions as a reference subframe and determine a subframe anywhere appropriate after the DL subframe as the subframe for transmission of autonomous UL signals. Alternatively, thenetwork device 320 may also configure the scheduled UL subframe for UL transmission as a reference subframe and take this UL subframe or any suitable position of the subframe thereafter as a subframe.

The indication of the location of the reference subframe may be implemented by thenetwork device 320 in any suitable manner. In some embodiments, thenetwork device 320 may include an explicit indication of the location of the reference subframe in broadcast signaling, RRC layer (or L3) signaling, or physical layer (or L1) signaling. In embodiments where the DL or UL subframe scheduled bynetwork device 320 is used as the reference subframe,network device 320 may implicitly indicate the location of the reference subframe to terminal device 310 by including information in the C-DPCCH such as location information of the scheduled DL-end subframe, timing offset of the scheduled UL burst, duration of the scheduled UL burst, etc.

As described above, the dynamic subframe configuration is more suitable for the case of higher traffic load in the network, and the periodic subframe configuration is more suitable for the case of lower traffic load. Accordingly, to improve the overall performance of the system, in some embodiments, thenetwork device 320 may consider both the periodic configuration and the dynamic configuration together when determining resources for transmission of the autonomous UL signal. For example, as described above, a variety of resource configurations may be predefined in thenetwork 300, including periodically configured subframes and dynamically configured subframes. These configurations are known to the terminal device 310 and the network devices in thenetwork 300.Network device 320 may indicate a selected resource configuration to terminal device 310 after selecting a resource configuration based on, for example, actual traffic and interference.

In addition to subframes that are time resources, as shown in table 1, associated frequency resources, Modulation and Coding Schemes (MCSs), periods, and the like may be predefined, and a variety of resource configurations including various predefined resource combinations are correspondingly predefined. Thenetwork device 320 may select one or more resource configurations from these resource configurations according to actual needs. For example,network device 320 may select one or more resource configurations including periodically configured subframes when the load is low and one or more resource configurations including dynamically configured subframes when the load is high.

In case thenetwork device 320 selects a periodically configured subframe, in order to further avoid that the autonomous UL transmission interferes with the scheduled DL transmission, as described above, in some embodiments the autonomous UL transmission may be delayed by a first plurality of time slots, e.g. one symbol period, in a predefined periodic subframe. Accordingly,network device 320 may receive the autonomous UL signal from terminal device 310 in a second plurality of time slots subsequent to the first plurality of time slots in the subframe.

Alternatively, the network device 310 may also select a resource configuration including a periodically configured subframe and a resource configuration including a dynamically configured subframe at the same time. For example, network device 310 may allocate periodic subframes for terminal devices within the MCOT and dynamic subframes for terminal devices outside the MCOT to further improve the overall performance of the system.

After determining the resource configuration,network device 320 may indicate the selected resource configuration to terminal device 310. For example, thenetwork device 320 sends the terminal device 310 a corresponding resource configuration index as shown in table 1 as an indication of the resource configuration.

It should be understood that the operations and related features performed by the terminal device 310 described above in conjunction with the schematic diagrams of fig. 4 to fig. 7 are also applicable to themethod 800 performed by thenetwork device 320, and have the same effects, and detailed details are not repeated.

Fig. 9 illustrates a block diagram of anapparatus 900 according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure. It is to be appreciated thatapparatus 900 can be implemented on the side of terminal device 310 shown in fig. 3. As shown in fig. 9, apparatus 900 (e.g., terminal device 310) includes: a receivingunit 905 configured to receive, from a network device in a communication network, an indication of a resource configuration for transmitting an autonomous uplink signal to the network device; a first determiningunit 910 configured to determine a subframe for transmission of an autonomous uplink signal based on the received indication of the resource configuration; and a transmittingunit 915 configured to transmit the autonomous uplink signal to the network device in the determined subframe.

It should be understood that means (not shown) for performing each step of themethod 400 described with reference to fig. 4-7 may also be included in theapparatus 900. The operations and features described above in conjunction with fig. 4-7 are also applicable to theapparatus 900 and the units included therein, and have the same effects, and detailed description is omitted here.

Fig. 10 illustrates a block diagram of anapparatus 1000 in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure. It is to be appreciated thatapparatus 1000 may be implemented on the side ofnetwork device 320 shown in fig. 3. As shown, apparatus 1000 (e.g., network device 320) includes: a second determiningunit 1005 configured to determine a resource configuration associated with a subframe that is to receive an autonomous uplink signal from a terminal device in the communication network; and an indicatingunit 1010 configured to indicate the resource configuration to the terminal device.

It should also be understood that means (not shown) for performing each step of themethod 800 described with reference to fig. 8 may also be included in theapparatus 1000. The operations and features described above in connection with fig. 8 are equally applicable to theapparatus 1000 and the units included therein, and have the same effects, and detailed description is omitted here.

The units included in theapparatus 900 and theapparatus 1000 may be implemented in various ways, including software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. In one embodiment, one or more of the units may be implemented using software and/or firmware, such as machine executable instructions stored on a storage medium. In addition to, or in the alternative to, machine-executable instructions, some or all of the elements inapparatus 900 andapparatus 1000 may be implemented at least in part by one or more hardware logic components. By way of example, and not limitation, exemplary types of hardware logic components that may be used include Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Application Specific Standards (ASSPs), systems on a chip (SOCs), Complex Programmable Logic Devices (CPLDs), and so forth.

The elements shown in fig. 9 and 10 may be implemented partially or wholly as hardware modules, software modules, firmware modules, or any combination thereof. In particular, in some embodiments, the procedures, methods, or processes described above may be implemented by hardware in a terminal device or a network device. For example, a terminal device or a network device may implement

methods

400 and 800 using its transmitter, receiver, transceiver, and/or processor or controller.

Fig. 11 illustrates a block diagram of adevice 1100 suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure.Device 1100 can be used to implement a terminal device, such as terminal device 310 shown in FIG. 3; and/or to implement a network device, such asnetwork device 320 shown in fig. 3.

As shown, thedevice 1100 includes acontroller 1110. Acontroller 1110 controls the operation and functions of thedevice 1100. For example, in certain embodiments, thecontroller 1110 may perform various operations by way ofinstructions 1130 stored inmemory 1120 coupled thereto. Thememory 1120 may be of any suitable type suitable to the local technical environment and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, including but not limited to semiconductor-based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems. Although only one memory unit is shown in FIG. 11, there may be multiple physically distinct memory units withindevice 1100.

Thecontroller 1110 may be of any suitable type suitable to the local technical environment and may include, but is not limited to, one or more of general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microcontrollers, digital signal controllers (DSPs), and controller-based multi-core controller architectures. Thedevice 1100 may also include a plurality ofcontrollers 1110. Thecontroller 1110 is coupled to atransceiver 1140, which transceiver 1140 may enable the reception and transmission of information via one ormore antennas 1150 and/or other components.

When thedevice 1100 is acting as a terminal device 310, thecontroller 1110 and thetransceiver 1140 may operate in cooperation to implement themethod 400 described above with reference to fig. 4-7. When thedevice 1100 is acting as thenetwork device 320, thecontroller 1110 and thetransceiver 1140 may operate in conjunction to implement themethod 800 described above with reference to fig. 8. All of the features described above with reference to fig. 4-8 apply to theapparatus 1100 and are not described in detail herein.

In general, the various example embodiments of this disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Certain aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. While aspects of embodiments of the disclosure have been illustrated or described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other pictorial representation, it is well understood that the blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

By way of example, embodiments of the disclosure may be described in the context of machine-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, being executed in a device on a target real or virtual processor. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. In various embodiments, the functionality of the program modules may be combined or divided between program modules as described. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within local or distributed devices. In a distributed facility, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage media.

Computer program code for implementing the methods of the present disclosure may be written in one or more programming languages. These computer program codes may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the program codes, when executed by the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, cause the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks to be performed. The program code may execute entirely on the computer, partly on the computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server.

In the context of this disclosure, a machine-readable medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The machine-readable medium may be a machine-readable signal medium or a machine-readable storage medium. A machine-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination thereof. More detailed examples of a machine-readable storage medium include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination thereof.

Additionally, while operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In some cases, multitasking or parallel processing may be beneficial. Likewise, while the above discussion contains certain specific implementation details, this should not be construed as limiting the scope of any invention or claims, but rather as describing particular embodiments that may be directed to particular inventions. Certain features that are described in this specification in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

1. A method implemented at a terminal device in a communication network, comprising:

receiving, from a network device in the communication network, an indication of a resource configuration for transmitting autonomous uplink signals to the network device;

determining a subframe for transmission of the autonomous uplink signal based on the received indication of the resource configuration; and

transmitting the autonomous uplink signal to the network device in the determined subframe,

wherein receiving the indication of the resource configuration comprises:

receiving, from the network device, an indication of a location of a reference subframe associated with the subframe, the reference subframe being associated with a downlink subframe scheduled by the network device for downlink transmission or an uplink subframe for uplink transmission, to enable the terminal device to determine the location of the subframe based on the indication of the location of the reference subframe.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the subframe comprises:

determining a subframe subsequent to the reference subframe as the subframe for transmission of the autonomous uplink signal if the reference subframe comprises a last of the downlink subframes scheduled by the network device for the downlink transmission.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the subframe comprises:

determining the reference subframe or a subframe subsequent to the reference subframe as the subframe for transmission of the autonomous uplink signal if the reference subframe comprises the uplink subframe scheduled by the network device for the uplink transmission.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the indication of the resource configuration comprises:

receiving, from the network device, an indication of a subframe that is periodically predefined for transmitting the autonomous uplink signal to the network device.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the predefined subframe comprises a first plurality of slots and a second plurality of slots, the second plurality of slots following the first plurality of slots, and wherein transmitting the autonomous uplink signal comprises:

detecting a downlink signal from the network device in the first plurality of slots in the predefined subframe in the frame; and

in response to not detecting the downlink signal, transmitting the autonomous uplink signal to the network device in the second plurality of time slots.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the autonomous uplink signal comprises:

determining a frequency resource block for transmitting the autonomous uplink signal based on the received indication of resource configuration; and

transmitting the autonomous uplink signal to the network device in the subframe and on the frequency resource block.

7. A method implemented at a network device in a communication network, comprising:

determining a resource configuration associated with a subframe in which an autonomous uplink signal is to be received from a terminal device in the communication network; and

indicating the resource configuration to the terminal device,

wherein determining the resource configuration comprises:

determining a reference subframe associated with the subframe, the reference subframe being associated with a downlink subframe scheduled by the network device for downlink transmission or an uplink subframe for uplink transmission,

wherein indicating the resource configuration comprises:

sending an indication of the location of the reference subframe to the terminal device to enable the terminal device to determine the location of the subframe based on the indication of the location of the reference subframe.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein determining the reference subframe comprises:

determining a last of the downlink subframes scheduled by the network device for the downlink transmission as the reference subframe and subframes subsequent to the reference subframe as the subframes for reception of the autonomous uplink signal.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein determining the reference subframe comprises:

determining the uplink subframe scheduled by the network device for the uplink transmission as the reference subframe and the reference subframe or a subframe subsequent to the reference subframe as the subframe for reception of the autonomous uplink signal.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein determining the resource configuration comprises:

determining subframes that are periodically predefined within a predefined period for receiving the autonomous uplink signal from the terminal device.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the predefined subframe comprises a first plurality of slots and a second plurality of slots, the second plurality of slots following the first plurality of slots, and further comprising:

receiving the autonomous uplink signal from the terminal device in the second plurality of slots in the predefined subframe in the frame.

12. The method of claim 7, determining the resource configuration comprises:

determining a frequency resource block for receiving the autonomous uplink signal.

13. The method of claim 7, wherein determining the resource configuration comprises:

selecting the resource configuration associated with the subframe from a plurality of predefined resource configurations.

14. A terminal device in a communication network, comprising:

a transceiver configured to receive, from a network device in the communication network, an indication of a resource configuration for transmitting autonomous uplink signals to the network device; and

a controller configured to determine a subframe for transmission of the autonomous uplink signal based on the received indication of the resource configuration;

wherein the transceiver is further configured to:

transmitting the autonomous uplink signal to the network device in the determined subframe, wherein the transceiver is further configured to:

15. The terminal device of claim 14, wherein the controller is configured to: determining a subframe subsequent to the reference subframe as the subframe for transmission of the autonomous uplink signal if the reference subframe comprises a last of the downlink subframes scheduled by the network device for the downlink transmission.

16. The terminal device of claim 14, wherein the controller is configured to: determining the reference subframe or a subframe subsequent to the reference subframe as the subframe for transmission of the autonomous uplink signal if the reference subframe comprises the uplink subframe scheduled by the network device for the uplink transmission.

17. The terminal device of claim 14, wherein the transceiver is configured to: receiving, from the network device, an indication of a subframe that is periodically predefined for transmitting the autonomous uplink signal to the network device.

18. The terminal device of claim 17, wherein the predefined subframe comprises a first plurality of slots and a second plurality of slots, the second plurality of slots following the first plurality of slots, and the transceiver is configured to:

19. The terminal device of claim 14, wherein the controller is further configured to: determining a frequency resource block for transmitting the autonomous uplink signal based on the received indication of resource configuration; and is

Wherein the transceiver is configured to: transmitting the autonomous uplink signal to the network device in the subframe and on the frequency resource block.

20. A network device in a communication network, comprising:

a controller configured to determine a resource configuration associated with a subframe that is to receive autonomous uplink signals from a terminal device in the communication network; and

a transceiver configured to indicate the resource configuration to the terminal device,

wherein the controller is configured to:

wherein the transceiver is further configured to:

21. The network device of claim 20, wherein the controller is configured to: determining a last of the downlink subframes scheduled by the network device for the downlink transmission as the reference subframe and subframes subsequent to the reference subframe as the subframes for reception of the autonomous uplink signal.

22. The network device of claim 20, wherein the controller is configured to: determining the uplink subframe scheduled by the network device for the uplink transmission as the reference subframe and the reference subframe or a subframe subsequent to the reference subframe as the subframe for reception of the autonomous uplink signal.

23. The network device of claim 20, wherein the controller is configured to: determining a subframe of a frame that is periodically predefined for receiving the autonomous uplink signal from the terminal device.

24. The network device of claim 23, wherein the predefined subframe comprises a first plurality of slots and a second plurality of slots, the second plurality of slots following the first plurality of slots, and the transceiver is further configured to:

25. The network device of claim 20, wherein the controller is configured to: determining a frequency resource block for receiving the autonomous uplink signal.

26. The network device of claim 20, wherein the controller is configured to: selecting the predefined resource configuration associated with the subframe from a plurality of predefined resource configurations.