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EP-4164317-B1 - NETWORK-MANAGED DIRECT DEVICE TO DEVICE COMMUNICATIONS

EP4164317B1EP 4164317 B1EP4164317 B1EP 4164317B1EP-4164317-B1

Inventors

  • NOVAK, ROBERT
  • GAGE, WILLIAM ANTHONY
  • MUKHERJEE, BISWAROOP

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20131220

Claims (13)

  1. A method performed by a first user equipment, UE, (102a, 410a, 610a) the method comprising: signaling, by the first UE, capabilities that indicate whether the first UE is able to receive inter-device session, IDS, data and downlink data from a network node (112a, 112b, 405, 605) in one subframe, wherein the signaled capabilities cause the network node to schedule the IDS data and the downlink data from the network node in the one subframe; receiving configuration information for the first UE, UE1 configuration information, for an IDS between the first UE and a second UE (102b, 410b, 610b), the UE1 configuration information including a radio network identifier; and receiving a control message configured with the radio network identifier and a radio resource identifier, the radio resource identifier corresponding to an IDS radio resource for transmitting data directly from the first UE to the second UE, characterised in that the signaled capabilities comprise a received signal level from the second UE when the second UE is transmitting, and wherein the UE1 configuration information comprises an IDS power level, the IDS power level being managed by the network node based on the received signal level.
  2. The method of claim 1, wherein transmission timing for the IDS radio resource is based on a timing alignment for an uplink resource from the first UE to the network node.
  3. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting a request, to the network node, for a transmission resource to send data from the first UE to the second UE.
  4. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting data directly to the second UE during the IDS.
  5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a set-up message, the set-up message including an IDS physical uplink control channel, IDS-PUCCH, that is associated with the IDS and configured for use with the radio network identifier; and transmitting an uplink control message using an uplink resource provided by the IDS-PUCCH.
  6. The method of claim 5, wherein the uplink control message includes one or more of: an IDS schedule request, IDS channel state reporting, or IDS acknowledgement/negative acknowledgement, ACK/NACK, feedback.
  7. The method of claim 1, further comprising measuring signals received from the second UE based at least partly upon the UE1 configuration information, and using a measurement to determine the IDS channel quality.
  8. A first user equipment, UE, (102a, 410a, 610a) comprising: a transceiver configured to: signal capabilities that indicate whether the first UE is able to receive inter-device session, IDS, data and downlink data from a network node (112a, 112b, 405, 605) in one subframe, wherein the signaled capabilities cause the network node to schedule the IDS data and the downlink data from the network node in the one subframe; receive configuration information for the first UE, UE1 configuration information, for an IDS between the first UE and a second UE (102b, 410b, 610b), the UE1 configuration information including a radio network identifier; and receive a control message configured with the radio network identifier and a radio resource identifier, the radio resource identifier corresponding to an IDS radio resource for transmitting data directly from the first UE to the second UE, characterised in that the signaled capabilities comprise a received signal level from the second UE when the second UE is transmitting, and wherein the UE1 configuration information comprises an IDS power level, the IDS power level being managed by the network node based on the received signal level.
  9. The UE of claim 8, wherein transmission timing for the IDS radio resource is based on a timing alignment for an uplink resource from the first UE to the network node.
  10. The UE of claim 8, wherein the transceiver is further configured to transmit a request, to the network node, for a transmission resource to send data from the first UE to the second UE.
  11. The UE of claim 8, wherein the transceiver is further configured to transmit data directly to the second UE during the IDS.
  12. A method performed by a network node (112a, 112b, 405, 605), the method comprising: receiving, from a first user equipment, UE, (102a, 410a, 610a) capabilities that indicate whether the first UE is able to receive inter-device session, IDS, data and downlink data from a network node in one subframe, wherein the received capabilities cause the network node to schedule the IDS data and the downlink data from the network node in the one subframe; sending configuration information for the first UE, UE1 configuration information, for an IDS between the first UE and a second UE (102b, 410b, 610b), the UE1 configuration information including a radio network identifier; and sending a control message configured with the radio network identifier and a radio resource identifier, the radio resource identifier corresponding to an IDS radio resource for transmitting data directly from the first UE to the second UE, characterised in that the signaled capabilities comprise a received signal level from the second UE when the second UE is transmitting, and wherein the UE1 configuration information comprises an IDS power level, the IDS power level being managed by the network node based on the received signal level.
  13. A network node (112a, 112b, 405, 605), configured to perform the steps of claim 12.

Description

CLAIM OF PRIORITY This application claims priority to U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 13/724,020 filed on December 21, 2012. FIELD This application relates to direct device-to-device (DD2D) communications in a mobile communications network. BACKGROUND Communication networks include wired and wireless networks. Example wired networks include the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and Ethernet local area networks. Example wireless networks include licensed cellular networks as well as unlicensed wireless networks that connect to wired networks. Calls and other communications may be connected across wired and wireless networks. In wireless cellular networks, mobile devices generally communicate with each other by transmitting and receiving data traffic through base stations or other similar network nodes, even when the mobile devices are in close proximity. Direct communications between mobile devices in a licensed band without network control can cause interference to other mobile devices operating in the network. With the proliferation of devices equipped with a cellular modem, direct device-to-device communication offers itself as a potential feature that may significantly enhance the performance of wireless communications technology. Furthermore proximity-based applications and services represent a recent and enormous social-technological trend. The introduction of a direct communication capability would allow the wireless communications industry to promote this important trend. Additionally, there is also interest in the ability to offload the network in some cases via direct device-to-device communication. WO2010082084 discloses a network-assisted framework for scheduling radio resources for device-to-device communications. CN102395160 describes LTE-based control of data transmission between user equipments. US2012113904 discloses techniques for releasing or implicitly releasing wireless resources. WO2012091420 discloses establishing a device-to-device link and scheduling D2D resources. WO2012129806 discloses facilitating device-to-device communication, including mechanisms for link setup and channel-quality related signaling under network coordination DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an example mobile communication system.FIG. 2 is a schematic illustrating an example network node.FIG. 3 is a schematic illustrating an example user equipment device.FIG. 4 is a schematic illustrating an example of signaling and traffic for an inter-device session (IDS), where user equipment (UE) communicates signaling feedback to a network node (e.g. an evolved Node B (eNB)).FIG. 5 is a message sequence diagram illustrating example signal flow and traffic for an inter-device session.FIG. 6 is a message sequence diagram illustrating an example network operation for an inter-device session.FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating an example process of IDS communications performed by a network node.FIG. 8 is a graphical diagram showing the sub-band allocation of IDS resources for an inter-device session physical uplink control channel.FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating a second example process of IDS communications performed by a user equipment. Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Certain aspects of the disclosure are directed to systems, methods, and apparatuses for providing an inter-device session where the devices can communicate directly, and where the network and the network operator maintain an acceptable level of control over the device to device communication. In the present application, the term "directly" is used to indicate communications between devices and/or communications between a device and a network element without intervening devices. For example, a first UE can transmit data and feedback signaling directly to a second UE without having to transmit the data and feedback signaling to a network element. In the interest of consistency, certain examples in this disclosure may be described in relation to Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology. However, similar device-to-device communications aspects described in this disclosure may also be applied to other wireless communications technologies. In this disclosure, direct device-to-device communications may be referenced as an inter-device session (IDS). An inter-device session (IDS) may include configuration to allow communication between two or more UEs. For a given IDS resource allocation, one UE in the session may be transmitting in an allotted resource, and other UEs in the session are expected to be receiving in that allotted resource. It should be understood that the IDS resource may be allocated in resources that may previously be considered "uplink" or "downlink" resources. A first UE may transmit over the IDS resource and one or more other UEs will receive the transmission over the IDS resource. Therefore, in some implementations, the IDS resource may be allocated f