User device, base station, and measurement method

The signal transmitting unit 101 has a function of generating various signals of a physical layer from a signal of an upper layer to be transmitted from the user equipment UE and wirelessly transmitting the generated signals. The signal receiving unit 102 has a function of wirelessly receiving various signals from the base station eNB and acquiring a signal of an upper layer from the received signals of the physical layer. The signal receiving unit 102 receives measurement band information indicating a frequency range in which a received quality is measured in a system bandwidth from the base station eNB and stores the received measurement band information in the storage unit 103. The measurement band information may include plural frequency ranges. The signal receiving unit 102 may receive the measurement band information from the base station eNB using an RRC message in an RRC connected state and may receive the measurement band information from the base station eNB using broadcast information in an RRC idle state.

The storage unit 103 has a function of storing the measurement band information received from the base station eNB.

The measurement unit 104 has a function of measuring a received quality in the frequency range indicated by the measurement band information. The measurement unit 104 may measure the received quality using one of a reference signal and a synchronization signal which is mapped on the frequency range indicated by the measurement band information. When signals transmitted using plural beams (specific antenna ports) are received in the frequency range indicated by the measurement band information and the cell IDs included in the received signals are the same, the measurement unit 104 may consider a signal having the highest received quality among the signals having the same cell ID as the measured received quality.

Base Station

Fig. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a base station according to the embodiment. As illustrated in Fig. 11, the base station eNB includes a signal transmitting unit 201, a signal receiving unit 202, and a broadcast unit 203. Fig. 11 illustrates only functional units, which are particularly associated with the invention, in the base station eNB, and the base station eNB has at least a function, which is not illustrated, for performing operations based on the LTE (including the 5G).

The signal transmitting unit 201 has a function of generating various signals of a physical layer from a signal of an upper layer to be transmitted from the base station eNB and wirelessly transmitting the generated signals. The signal receiving unit 202 has a function of receiving various radio signals from the user equipment UE and acquiring a signal of an upper layer from the received signals of the physical layer. The signal transmitting unit 201 has a function of transmitting a synchronization signal in the frequency range indicated by the measurement band information in a system bandwidth and transmitting an MIB including information indicating the system bandwidth and/or information indicating a center frequency of a carrier. The signal transmitting unit 201 may transmit the synchronization signal in the frequency range indicated by the measurement band information in the system band and may transmit the MIB including information indicating the system bandwidth and an SIB including information indicating the center frequency of the carrier. The signal transmitting unit 201 may transmit the synchronization signal in the frequency range indicated by the measurement band information in the system band and may transmit the MIB including information indicating the center frequency of the carrier and the SIB including information indicating the system bandwidth.

The broadcast unit 203 has a function of broadcasting the measurement band information indicating the frequency range in which the user equipment UE measures the received quality in the system bandwidth to the user equipment UE.

Hardware Configuration

The block diagrams (Figs. 10 and 11) which are used above to describe the embodiment illustrate blocks in the units of functions. The functional blocks (constituent units) are embodied in an arbitrary combination of hardware and/or software. Means for embodying the functional blocks is not particularly limited. That is, the functional blocks may be embodied by one unit which is physically and/or logically coupled or may be embodied by two or more units which are physically and/or logically separated and which are connected directly and/or indirectly (for example, in a wired and/or wireless manner).

For example, the user equipment UE and the base station eNB in the embodiment may function as computers that perform the processes of the measurement method according to the invention. Fig. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the user equipment and the base station according to the invention. The user equipment UE and the base station eNB may be physically configured as a computer device including a processor 1001, a memory 1002, a storage 1003, a communication unit 1004, an input unit 1005, an output unit 1006, and a bus 1007.

In the following description, a word “unit” may be referred to as a circuit, a device, a unit, or the like. The hardware configurations of the user equipment UE and the base station eNB may include one or more units illustrated in the drawing or may not include some units.

The functions of the user equipment UE and the base station eNB are realized by causing hardware such as the processor 1001 and the memory 1002 to read predetermined software (a program) and causing the processor 1001 to perform computation and to control communication of the communication unit 1004 and reading and/or writing of data in the memory 1002 and the storage 1003.

The processor 1001 controls the computer as a whole, for example, by operating an operating system. The processor 1001 may be constituted by a central processing unit (CPU) including an interface with peripherals, a control unit, a calculation unit, a register, and the like. For example, the signal transmitting unit 101, the signal receiving unit 102, the storage unit 103, and the measurement unit 104 of the user equipment UE and the signal transmitting unit 201, the signal receiving unit 202, and the broadcast unit 203 of the base station eNB may be embodied by the processor 1001.

The processor 1001 reads a program (program codes), a software module, or data from the storage 1003 and/or the communication unit 1004 to the memory 1002 and performs various processes in accordance therewith. As the program, a program causing a computer to perform at least a part of the operations described above in the embodiment is used. For example, the signal transmitting unit 101, the signal receiving unit 102, the storage unit 103, and the measurement unit 104 of the user equipment UE and the signal transmitting unit 201, the signal receiving unit 202, and the broadcast unit 203 of the base station eNB may be embodied by a control program which is stored in the memory 1002 and operated by the processor 1001 or the other functional blocks may be similarly embodied. Various processes described above have been described to be performed by a single processor 1001, but may be simultaneously or sequentially performed by two or more processors 1001. The processor 1001 may be mounted as one or more chips. The program may be transmitted from a network via an electric communication line.

The memory 1002 is a computer-readable recording medium and may be constituted, for example, by at least one of a read only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), and a random access memory (RAM). The memory 1002 may be referred to as a register, a cache, or a main memory (a main storage unit). The memory 1002 can store a program (program codes), a software module, or the like which can be executed to perform the measurement method according to the embodiment.

The storage 1003 is a computer-readable recording medium and may be constituted, for example, by at least one of an optical disc such as a compact disc ROM (CD-ROM), a hard disk drive, a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk (such as a compact disk, a digital versatile disk, or a Blu-ray (registered trademark) disk), a smart card, a flash memory (such as a card, a stick, or a key drive), a floppy (registered trademark) disk, and a magnetic strip. The storage 1003 may be referred to as an auxiliary storage unit. Examples of the recording medium may include a database including the memory 1002 and/or the storage 1003, a server, and another appropriate medium.

The communication unit 1004 is hardware (a transceiver device) that allows communication between computers via a wired and/or wireless network and is referred to as, for example, a network device, a network controller, a network card, or a communication module. For example, the signal transmitting unit 101 and the signal receiving unit 102 of the user equipment UE and the signal transmitting unit 201 and the signal receiving unit 202 of the base station eNB may be embodied by the communication unit 1004.

The input unit 1005 is an input device (such as a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone, a switch, a button, or a sensor) that receives an input from the outside. The output unit 1006 is an output device (such as a display, a speaker, or an LED lamp) that performs outputting to the outside. The input unit 1005 and the output unit 1006 may be configured as a unified body (such as a touch panel).

The units such as the processor 1001 and the memory 1002 are connected to each other via the bus 1007 for transmitting and receiving information. The bus 1007 may be constituted by a single bus or may be configured by different buses for the units.

The user equipment UE and the base station eNB may be configured to include hardware such as a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), or a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or a part or all of the functional blocks may be embodied by the hardware. For example, the processor 1001 may be mounted as at least one hardware module.

Conclusion

According to the above-described embodiment, there is provided user equipment of a radio communication system including a base station and the user equipment, the user equipment including a receiver that receives, from the base station, measurement band information indicating a frequency range in which received quality is measured in a system bandwidth; and a measurer that measures the received quality in the frequency range indicated by the measurement band information. With this user equipment UE, a received quality measuring method can be flexibly configured in the user equipment, and, thus, interference caused by an adjacent cell can be accurately measured for each cell.

The measurement band information may include plural frequency ranges. Accordingly, even when the system band is wide and the interference of an adjacent cell varies depending on the frequency, it is possible to suppress power consumption of the user equipment UE and to appropriately measure the received quality.

The receiver may receive the measurement band information from the base station using an RRC message in an RRC connected state and may receive the measurement band information from the base station using broadcast information in an RRC idle state. Accordingly, the user equipment UE can change the method of acquiring the measurement band information depending on the RRC state.

The measurer may measure received quality using any one of a reference signal or a synchronization signal which are mapped on the frequency range indicated by the measurement band information. Accordingly, the user equipment UE can measure the received quality using the reference signal or the synchronization signal.

The measurer may consider received quality of a signal having highest received quality among signals having the same cell ID as measured received quality when the signals transmitted from a plurality of specific antenna ports are received in the frequency range indicated by the measurement band information and the cell IDs included in the received signals are the same. Accordingly, the user equipment UE can appropriately measure the received quality even when beam sweeping is performed.

According to the embodiment, there is provided a base station of a radio communication system including the base station and user equipment, the base station including a communicator that broadcasts, to the user equipment, measurement band information indicating a frequency range in which the user equipment measures received quality in a system bandwidth; and a transmitter that transmits a synchronization signal in the frequency range and that transmits a Master Information Block, MIB, including information indicating the system bandwidth or information indicating a center frequency of a carrier, wherein the transmitter transmits the MIB in the same frequency range as the frequency range or a frequency range deviated by a predetermined offset from the frequency range. With this base station eNB, a received quality measuring method can be flexibly configured in the user equipment, and, thus, interference caused by an adjacent cell can be accurately measured for each cell.

According to the embodiment, there is provided a measurement method which is performed by a user equipment of a radio communication system including a base station and the user equipment, the measurement method including: receiving, from the base station, measurement band information indicating a frequency range in which received quality is measured in a system bandwidth; and measuring the received quality in the frequency range indicated by the measurement band information. With this measurement method, a received quality measuring method can be flexibly configured in the user equipment, and, thus, interference caused by an adjacent cell can be accurately measured for each cell.

Complement of Embodiment

The base station eNB may be referred to as a NodeB (NB), a base station, a gNB, or several other appropriate terms by those skilled in the art.

Transmission of the measurement band information is not limited to the aspect/embodiment described in this specification, and may be performed by other methods. For example, transmission of the measurement band information may be performed by physical layer signaling (such as downlink control information (DCI) or uplink control information (UCI)), medium access control (MAC) signaling, other signaling, or a combination thereof. Examples of the RRC message may be referred to as RRC signaling. The RRC message includes an RRC connection setup message and an RRC connection reconfiguration message.

The embodiment described in this specification may be applied to a system employing long term evolution (LTE), LTE-advanced (LTE-A), SUPER 3G, IMTAdvanced, 4G, 5G, future radio access (FRA), W-CDMA (registered trademark), GSM (registered trademark), CDMA2000, ultra mobile broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, ultra-wideband (UWB), Bluetooth (registered trademark), or other appropriate systems and/or a next generation system which is extended on the basis thereof.

Determination or decision may be made by a value (0 or 1) represented by one bit, may be made by a Boolean value (Boolean: true or false), and may be made by comparison of numerical values (comparison with a predetermined value, for example).

Note that the terms described in this specification and/or the terms necessary for understanding of this specification may be replaced with terms having the same or similar meaning. For example, the channel and/or symbol may be signaling (signal). Furthermore, a signal may be a message.

The UE may be referred to, by a person ordinarily skilled in the art, as a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a wireless communication device, a remote device, a mobile subscriber station, an access terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, a handset, a user agent, a mobile client, a client, or it may also be called by some other suitable terms.

Each aspect/embodiment described in this specification may be used alone, may be used in combination, or may be used while being switched during the execution. Furthermore, notification of predetermined information (e.g., notification of “being X”) is not limited to notification that is made explicitly, and the notification may be made implicitly (e.g., notification of the predetermined information is not performed).

The terms “determining” and “deciding” used in this specification may include various types of operations. For example, “determining” and “deciding” may include deeming that a result of calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (e.g., search in a table, a database, or another data structure), or ascertaining is determined or decided. Furthermore, “determining” and “deciding” may include, for example, deeming that a result of receiving (e.g., reception of information), transmitting (e.g., transmission of information), input, output, or accessing (e.g., accessing data in memory) is determined or decided. Furthermore, “determining” and “deciding” may include deeming that a result of resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, or comparing is determined or decided. Namely, “determining” and “deciding” may include deeming that some operation is determined or decided.

The expression “on the basis of” used in the present specification does not mean “on the basis of only” unless otherwise stated particularly. In other words, the expression “on the basis of” means both “on the basis of only” and “on the basis of at least.”

The processing sequences, the sequences, the flowcharts, and the like of the embodiment described above in this specification may be changed in the order as long as they are not incompatible with each other. For example, in the method described in this specification, elements of various steps are described in an exemplary order and the method is not limited to the described order.

Input and output information and the like may be stored in a specific location (for example, a memory) and may be managed by a management table. The input and output information and the like may be overwritten, updated, or rewritten. The output information and the like may be erased. The input information and the like may be transmitted to other apparatuses.

Notification of predetermined information (e.g., notification of “being X”) is not limited to notification that is made explicitly, and the notification may be made implicitly (e.g., notification of the predetermined information is not performed).

Information, signals, and the like described in the present specification may be represented using any of various other techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, chips, and the like mentioned in the entire description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic field or magnetic particles, optical field or photons, or any combination thereof.

While the invention has been described above in detail, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention is not limited to the embodiment described in the specification. The invention can be modified and embodied as a changed aspect without departing from the concept and scope of the invention which are defined by the appended claims. Accordingly, description in this specification is made for illustrative description and does not have any restrictive meaning.