CN114342507A

CN114342507A - Multi-band interference suppression

Info

Publication number: CN114342507A
Application number: CN201980099891.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 苏磊; K·科迪巴赫
Original assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy
Current assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy
Priority date: 2019-07-31
Filing date: 2019-07-31
Publication date: 2022-04-12
Also published as: WO2021016934A1

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention relate to apparatuses, methods, devices and computer-readable storage media for proactive handover for multiband interference suppression. In an example embodiment, a first network device receives a request from a second network device to reduce a number of interfering resource units allocated for a first communication between the first network device and a terminal device that is dual connected with the first network device and the second network device. In response to receiving the request, the first network device continuously reduces the number of interfering resource units allocated for the first communication until an event occurs. The events include at least one of: a request for coordinated scheduling by the first network device and the second network device is received from the terminal device, and the number of interfering resource units is below a threshold number.

Description

Multi-band interference suppression

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of communications, and more particularly, to an apparatus, method, apparatus, and computer-readable storage medium for multi-band interference suppression.

Background

In the fifth generation (5G), non-standard individual (NSA) technology requires that a User Equipment (UE) will support at least two modes, including a Long Term Evolution (LTE) mode and a New Radio (NR) mode. In a 5G-LTE dual connection, interference will occur within the UE when LTE and NR modes operate simultaneously at the UE. For example, mutual interference of an LTE transceiver and a 5G NR transceiver operating simultaneously in a UE may occur at multiple frequency bands. As a result, the sensitivity of the transceiver may be degraded and even these frequency bands cannot be used in a communication network.

The 3.3GHz-4.2GHz band (hereinafter referred to as 3.5GHz band) is a 5G deployment band. Generally, the second harmonic or third harmonic generated by a low frequency signal, for example, in LTE band 3(B3), may cause severe interference, which may also be caused by second order intermodulation or third order intermodulation of the signal, etc.

One conventional approach for suppressing interference is to use separate antenna structures for LTE and 5G NR transceivers. The independent antenna can only reduce the conducted interference of the main receiving chain and can not reduce the interference of the auxiliary receiving chain. Some harmonic rejection filters may also be used for interference cancellation. However, neither the separate antenna nor the harmonic rejection filter can completely eliminate the second harmonic interference from the LTE band 3(B3) to 5G 3.5 GHz. As a result, interference caused by Printed Circuit Board (PCB) leakage may cause severe degradation of the terminal sensitivity.

In third generation partnership project (3GPP) specifications, such as 3GPP TS 37.340, for Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (EUTRA) NR dual connectivity (EN-DC) operation, a primary node (MN) and a Secondary Node (SN) may coordinate their UL and DL radio resources in a semi-static manner. In this case, for example, even a poorly isolated PCB in the overlapping band allows the UE to use only one transmitter (1 Tx).

Disclosure of Invention

In general, example embodiments of the present disclosure provide devices, methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable storage media for multi-band interference mitigation, e.g., in dual connectivity.

In a first aspect, a first network device is provided that includes at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code. The at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the first network device to receive a request from a second network device to reduce a number of interfering resource units allocated for a first communication between the first network device and a terminal device that is dual connected with the first network device and the second network device. The first network device is further caused to, in response to receiving the request, successively reduce a number of interfering resource units allocated for the first communication until an event occurs. The events include at least one of: a request for coordinated scheduling by the first network device and the second network device is received from the terminal device, and the number of interfering resource units is below a threshold number.

In a second aspect, a second network device is provided that includes at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code. The at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the second network device to determine that at least one interfering resource unit is allocated for a second communication, the second communication being between the second network device and a terminal device, the terminal device being dually connected with the first network device and the second network device. The second network device is further caused to successively lower the modulation order of the second communication, in case the second communication is degraded, until the modulation order is lower than the threshold order. The second network device is then caused to send a request to the first network device to reduce the number of interfering resource units allocated for a first communication between the first network device and the terminal device.

In a third aspect, a terminal device is provided that includes at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code. The at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause a terminal device dually connected with the first network device and the second network device to determine that a second communication with the second network device is degraded and that a modulation order for the second communication is below a threshold order. The terminal device is further caused to detect a successive reduction in a number of interfering resource units allocated for the first communication with the first network device. The terminal device is then caused to determine an action to be performed. The actions include sending a request to a first network device for coordinated scheduling by the first network device and a second network device, or performing a first communication with the first network device using non-interfering resource units in a first set of resources allocated by the first network device for the first communication.

In a fourth aspect, a method is provided. In a method, a first network device receives a request from a second network device to reduce a number of interfering resource units allocated for a first communication between the first network device and a terminal device that is dual-connected with the first network device and the second network device. In response to receiving the request, the first network device continuously reduces the number of interfering resource units allocated to the first communication until an event occurs. The events include at least one of: a request for coordinated scheduling by the first network device and the second network device is received from the terminal device, and the number of interfering resource units is below a threshold number.

In a fifth aspect, a method is provided. In the method, the second network device determines that at least one interfering resource unit is allocated for a second communication between the second network device and a terminal device that is dual connected with the first network device and the second network device. If the second communication is degraded, the second network device continues to decrease the modulation order of the second communication until the modulation order is below the threshold order. The second network device then sends a request to the first network device to reduce the number of interfering resource units allocated for a first communication between the first network device and the terminal device.

In a sixth aspect, a method is provided. In the method, a terminal device is dually connected with a first network device and a second network device. The terminal device determines that the second communication with the second network device is degraded and that a modulation order for the second communication is below a threshold order. The terminal device detects a continuous reduction in the number of interfering resource units allocated for the first communication with the first network device. The terminal device then determines an action to be performed. The actions include sending a request to a first network device for coordinated scheduling by the first network device and a second network device, or performing a first communication with the first network device using non-interfering resource units in a first set of resources allocated by the first network device for the first communication.

In a seventh aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising means for performing the method according to the fourth, fifth or sixth aspect.

In an eighth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided that stores a computer program thereon. The computer program, when executed by a processor of an apparatus, causes the apparatus to perform the method according to the fourth, fifth or sixth aspect.

It should be understood that the summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the embodiments of the disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become readily apparent from the following description.

Drawings

Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented;

figure 2 illustrates a signaling flow between two network devices and a terminal device, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 3 illustrates a signaling flow between two network devices and a terminal device, according to some other example embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 4 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 5 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method according to some other example embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 6 illustrates a flow chart of an example method in accordance with still other example embodiments of the present disclosure; and

fig. 7 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a device suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure.

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

Detailed Description

The principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to a few exemplary embodiments. It is to be understood that these examples are described merely to illustrate and assist those skilled in the art in understanding and practicing the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention in any way. The disclosure described herein may be implemented in various ways other than those described below.

In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

As used herein, the term "network device" refers to a device via which services may be provided to terminal devices in a communication network. Examples of network devices include relays, Access Points (APs), transmission points (TRPs), node bs (NodeB or NB), evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), New Radio (NR) NodeB (gnb), remote radio modules (RRUs), Radio Headers (RH), Remote Radio Headers (RRHs), low power nodes such as femto, pico, etc. As another example, a network device may be a unit or function within a network entity. For example, the network device may include a Central Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU) within the gNB.

As used herein, the term "terminal device" or "user equipment" (UE) refers to any terminal device capable of wireless communication with each other or a base station. Communication may involve the transmission and/or reception of wireless signals using electromagnetic signals, radio waves, infrared signals, and/or other types of signals suitable for conveying information over the air. In some example embodiments, the UE may be configured to transmit and/or receive information without direct human-machine interaction. For example, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to a request from the network side, the UE may transmit information to the network device according to a predetermined schedule.

Examples of UEs include, but are not limited to, User Equipment (UE), such as a smartphone, wireless-enabled tablet, Laptop Embedded Equipment (LEE), laptop installation equipment (LME), and/or wireless Customer Premise Equipment (CPE). For purposes of discussion, some example embodiments will be described with reference to a UE as an example of a terminal device, and the terms "terminal device" and "user equipment" (UE) may be used interchangeably within the context of this disclosure.

As used herein, the term "resource unit" refers to a basic unit for resource scheduling. The resource units may be of any suitable size or comprise any suitable number of resources, such as time and/or frequency resources. As an example, a resource unit may include a Physical Resource Block (PRB).

As used herein, the term "interfering resource unit" refers to a resource unit that may cause interference, such as harmonic interference or intermodulation interference, in the dual-connection communication of a terminal device. For example, the interfering resource elements may comprise resource elements available to two network devices that are dual-connected with the terminal device in DC operation.

As used herein, the term "circuitry" may refer to one or more or all of the following:

(a) a purely hardware circuit implementation (such as an implementation in analog and/or digital circuitry only); and

(b) a combination of hardware circuitry and software, such as (as required): (i) a combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuit(s) and software/firmware, and (ii) any portion of hardware processor(s) with software (including digital signal processor (s)), software, and memory(s) that work in concert to cause an apparatus (such as a mobile phone or server) to perform various functions; and

(c) software (e.g., firmware) is required for operation, but software may not be present in hardware circuit(s) and/or processor(s), such as microprocessor(s) or a portion of microprocessor(s), when operation is not required.

This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of the term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also encompasses implementations of only a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. For example, the term circuitry, if applicable to a particular claim element, also encompasses a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in a server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The term "include" and variations thereof should be understood as an open term meaning "including, but not limited to". The term "based on" is to be understood as "based at least in part on". The terms "one embodiment" and "an embodiment" should be understood as "at least one embodiment". The term "another embodiment" should be understood as "at least one other embodiment". Other explicit and implicit definitions may be included below.

As used herein, the terms "first," "second," and the like may be used herein to describe various elements, which should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element may be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element may be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of example embodiments. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

NAS networking is widely used for deployment of 5G networks, considering 5G product maturity, deployment cost and existing LTE/future 5G coverage. In DC operation, interference and throughput are a big problem. Taking the mutual interference of LTE B3 and 5G 3.5GHz at the UE as an example, the second harmonic of LTE B3 in the uplink may cause second harmonic interference to 5G 3.5GHz in the downlink. Additionally, there are also high order intermodulation interference such as fourth order intermodulation and fifth order intermodulation interference.

The conventional approach to reducing interference is to limit the transmit power of the UE in LTE and 5G. The inventors have noted that a decrease in the UE transmit power will affect the received signal strength at the network side. Another conventional approach is to increase PCB isolation as much as possible in the UE design. For example, wiring and equipment that may generate mutual interference should be far apart to increase isolation, and shielding may be added for critical components to reduce radiated interference. In addition, harmonic filters may be used to suppress harmonic interference. The improvement of PCB isolation or the use of harmonic filters may reduce interference but may result in significant increases in cost and design complexity for the UE.

In 3GPP specifications such as 3GPP TS 37.340, UE-specific and UE-associated X2-AP signaling is specified for use in semi-static time and frequency patterns to indicate expected reception/transmission on LTE UL and NR DL carriers at non-overlapping frequencies. As another example, to dynamically avoid generation of harmonic interference, evolved lte (enb) and NR NodeB (gNR) may coordinate UE DC Radio Bearer (RB) scheduling without UE-related signaling. Coordination may be implemented on the Medium Access Control (MAC) packet schedulers in the eNB and the gNB. During frequency domain scheduling, the use of interfering frequency combining should be avoided by allocating dynamic Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs) for the UE.

However, the inventors have noted that LTE UL and 5G DL throughput at the UE will be affected separately, since PRBs on overlapping frequencies cannot be used by the 5G-EN DC UE for serving Transmission Time Intervals (TTIs).

Example embodiments of the present disclosure propose schemes for suppressing interference between two network devices and a terminal device in DC and communications of the two network devices. The scheme involves three stages, where the first stage reduces the modulation order, such as the modulation order (MCS) of one communication with one network device, to improve the probability of success for decoding with low order modulation. In a second phase, a reduced number of interfering resource units, such as Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs), are allocated or granted by another network device to another communication. In the third phase, there are two options for the terminal device to select. The terminal device may request coordinated scheduling of the two network devices or communicate with other network devices on non-interfering ones of the allocated or granted resource units.

In this way, the first two phases provide network assisted interference suppression and the terminal device can decide on the preferred interference cancellation approach at the final phase. In this way, harmonic interference to interfering resource elements can be effectively and efficiently suppressed and cancelled.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. The environment 100, which is part of a communication network, includes two

network devices

105 and 110 and a terminal device 115. For purposes of discussion, the two

network devices

105 and 110 will be referred to as the first network device 105 and the second network device 110, respectively.

It should be understood that two network devices and one terminal device are shown in environment 100 for purposes of illustration only and are not meant to imply any limitations. Any suitable number of network devices and terminal devices may be included in environment 100.

Terminal device 115 is dually connected to first and

second network devices

105 and 110. As shown, the terminal device 115 performs a communication 120 with the first network device 105 (referred to as a first communication 120) and performs a communication 125 with the second network device 110 (referred to as a second communication 125). Either of the two

communications

120 and 125 may be uplink or downlink communications. In environment 100, terminal device 115 may also communicate with additional terminal devices (not shown) directly or via first network device 105 and/or second network device 110.

Communications in environment 100 may follow any suitable communication standard or protocol, such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-advanced (LTE-a), fifth generation (5G) NR, wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi), and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) standards, and employ any suitable communication technology including, for example, Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), Time Division Multiplexing (TDM), Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM), Code Division Multiplexing (CDM), bluetooth, ZigBee, Machine Type Communication (MTC), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), mass Machine Type Communication (MTC), ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC), Carrier Aggregation (CA), Dual Connectivity (DC), new radio unlicensed (NR-U), and V2X technologies.

First and

second network devices

105 and 110 may conform to any suitable standard or protocol. In some example embodiments, the first network device 105 may be implemented by an eNB in an LTE network and the second network device 110 may be implemented by a gNB in a 5G NR network. In some other example embodiments, the first and

second network devices

105 and 110 may be implemented by primary or primary and secondary nodes, respectively, that are dually connected with the terminal device 115. In some other example embodiments, the first and

second network devices

105 and 110 may be implemented by different units or functions within a network entity, such as a Central Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU) with a gNB.

In various example embodiments of the present disclosure, resources, such as time and/or frequency resources available to the first and

second network devices

105 and 110, are partially overlapping. In the context of the present disclosure, resource units included in overlapping resources are referred to as interfering resource units. If the first and

second network devices

105 and 110 both use interfering resource elements for

communications

120 and 125 with the terminal device 115, interference, such as harmonic interference and intermodulation interference, between the two

communications

120 and 125 may be caused at the terminal device 115.

Fig. 2 illustrates a signaling flow 200 for suppressing interference between two

communications

120 and 125 between two

network devices

105 and 110 and a terminal device 115, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

As shown, the first network device 105 and the terminal device 115 perform (205) a first communication 120. At the same time, the second network device 110 and the terminal device 115 perform (210) a second communication 125. For example, the first communication 120 may be an uplink communication from the terminal device 115 to the first network device 105. The second communication 125 may be a downlink communication from the second network device 110 to the terminal device 115.

The second network device 110 determines (215) that at least one interfering resource element (e.g., at least one interfering PRB) is allocated to the second communication 125. In some example embodiments, the second network device 110 may be aware of the plurality of interfering resource units available to both the first and

second network devices

105 and 110. Thus, the second network device 110 can determine whether any interfering resource units have been allocated for the second communication 125.

The second network device 110 may obtain the plurality of interfering resource units in any suitable manner. As an example, the second network device 110 may receive an indication of a plurality of interfering resource units from the first network device 105. The indication may be received from the first network device 105 in any suitable opportunity. In example embodiments where the first and

second network devices

105 and 110 are implemented by an eNB and a gNB, respectively, the interference resource element bitmap as an indication may be received by the second network device 110 from the first network device 105 during 5G eNB DC Radio Block (RB) setup. For example, the second network device 110 may receive an SGNB MODIFICATION REQUEST (MODIFICATION REQUEST) message from the first network device 105 that includes an indication of a plurality of interfering resource elements. The indication may also be transmitted via other X2 Application Protocol (AP) signaling.

If the second communication 120 degrades, the second network device 110 continuously decreases (220) the modulation order of the second communication until the modulation order is below the threshold order. For example, the MCS level for the second communication may be continuously decreased until the MSC level is below the threshold level. The second network device 110 can determine the degradation of the second communication 125 in any suitable way. For example, where the second communication 125 is a downlink communication, the second network device 110 may determine that the second communication 125 is degraded if the second network device 110 detects one or more non-acknowledgements (NACKs) from the terminal device 115 for the second communication 125.

In some example embodiments, the second network device 110 may determine whether the level of degradation of the second communication 125 is below a threshold level. As an example, the threshold level may be represented by a certain number of NACKs. If a certain number of NACKs are detected, the second network device 110 may determine that the second communication 125 has fallen below a certain degradation level.

In some example embodiments, determining the degradation of the second communication 125 may be accomplished prior to determining whether interfering resource units have been allocated for the second communication 125. For example, if the second network device 110 determines that the second communication 125 is degraded, the second network device 110 determines whether one or more interfering resource units have been allocated for the second communication 125.

When the second communication 125 is degraded, the second network device 110 continuously decreases the modulation order of the second communication 125 to avoid interference and improve the decoding success probability. For example, where 256-Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) is used for the second communication 125, the second network device 110 may first reduce the 256-QAM to 64-QAM. If the second communication 125 is still degraded, the second network device 110 continuously reduces 64-QAM to 16-QAM or the like until some low order modulation, such as Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) modulation, is used. The threshold modulation that ends the reduction of the modulation order may be set or configured according to the specific implementation. It is also possible that the modulation order is reduced to a lower order of order 2 or 3. For example, 256-QAM can be reduced directly to 16-QAM.

If the second network device 110 determines that the second communication 125 is still degraded after applying the low order threshold modulation, the second network device 110 sends (225) a request to the first network device 105 to reduce the interference resource units allocated for the first communication 120 between the first network device 105 and the terminal device 110.

After receiving the request, the first network device 105 continuously reduces (230) the number of interference resource units allocated for the first communication 120. For example, the first network device 105 may reallocate resource units for the first communication 120. The reallocated resource units comprise a reduced number of interfering resource units. The reduction of the number of interfering resources may be performed continuously until the number of interfering resource units is below a threshold number, e.g., zero or any other number, depending on the implementation.

At the same time, the terminal device 115 monitors (235) the grant of resources for the first communication 120 from the first network device 105 to determine whether the number of interfering resource units allocated to the first communication 120 is continuously decreasing. In some example embodiments, the terminal device 115 may be aware of the interfering resource units available to both the first and

second network devices

105 and 110. For example, the terminal device 115 may receive an indication of a plurality of interfering resource units from the first network device 105 in a Handover (HO) command message, e.g., during DC RB setup. Thus, the terminal device 115 may determine which interfering resource units are allocated for the first communication 120 and whether the number of allocated interfering resource units is reduced.

The terminal device 115 determines (240) an action to be performed if the number of interfering resource units decreases continuously and the second communication 125 is still degraded after the used modulation order is below the threshold order. One option for the action is that the terminal device 115 may send 245 a request to the first network device 105 for coordinated scheduling by the first and

second network devices

105 and 110. In some example embodiments, the receipt of the request may be an event in which the first network device 105 ends the reduction in the number of interfering resources allocated to the first communication 120.

When the second communication 125 is still degraded after a certain number of Transmission Time Intervals (TTIs) has elapsed, a request for coordinated scheduling may be sent by the terminal device 115. In some example embodiments, the request may be sent in a Buffer Status Report (BSR) message. For example, the request may be sent via a new flag of the BSR.

After receiving the request for coordinated scheduling, the first network device 105 may send (250) an indication to the second network device 110 to allocate a set of resource units, referred to as a first set, for the first communication 120. In addition to the indication of the allocation of resource units, the first network device 105 may also transmit a grant time indication and other scheduling information.

The indication or other scheduling information may be sent in any suitable signaling, such as Control Plane (CP) and User Plane (UP) signaling. In some example embodiments, to expedite communication between the first and

second network devices

105 and 110, the UP tunnel is established between the MAC layer of the first network device 105 and the MAC layer of the second network device 110. The request is sent by the second network device 110 to the first network device 105 via the UP tunnel.

For UP tunneling, the existing UP frame protocol defined in 3GPP specifications (such as 3GPP TS 38.425) may be reused. As an example, the UP tunnel may comprise a general packet radio service tunneling protocol user plane (GTP-U) tunnel. Existing messages or even new messages containing auxiliary or additional information may be used to send scheduling information over the UP tunnel. For example, messages of up to 1018 octets may be transmitted in a dedicated NR Radio Access Network (RAN) container in the GTP packet header. In some example embodiments, a new PDU may be needed in the NR UP frame protocol. The new frame protocol may also be used for UP tunneling.

The UP protocol may be used to implement flow control for single bearer user data transported in a GTP-U tunnel over interfaces associated with the first and

second network devices

105 and 110. For example, in EN-DC operation, the interfaces may include an X2 interface between two enbs, an Xn interface between a gNB and an eNB, and an F1 interface between a Central Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU) of the gNB. With the tunnel, the auxiliary network device may connect with a network device that hosts a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) entity in the DC.

The UP tunnel may be established when an interface associated with at least one of the two

network devices

105 and 110 is established. As another example, the UP tunnel may be established during bearer addition. The UP tunnel may be independent of any bearer or UE. With this tunnel of the MAC entity connecting the two

network devices

105 and 110 in DC operation, the UP protocol can thus be used directly for event communication between the two

network devices

105 and 110.

Indeed, in example embodiments where the first and

second network devices

105 and 110 are implemented by an eNB and a gNB, respectively, when X2/Xn is about to be established (from the eNB or gNB side), the CUs of the gNB may request a new tunnel endpoint ip (teid) from the DU of the gNB using F1AP CP signaling. Once the TEID is allocated at the DU, the CU provides the TEID to the eNB, which in turn provides the CU with its TEID for the DU. The CU forwards the TEID of the eNB to the DU. Then, direct fast communication between the enbs and the DUs of the gNB is possible. In this case, the TEID may need to be exchanged during the X2/Xn setup and modification process, and may also need to be acquired through F1. If either side needs to change the TEID, an appropriate modification procedure may be employed.

For backward compatibility purposes, in some example embodiments, the UP tunnel may be used only for each user/bearer. In this case, the dedicated link may be preferentially used for transmission of the scheduling information. To further improve system performance, communication over the existing tunnel is maintained until the first message on the new UP tunnel arrives. In some example embodiments, the scheduling information may be replicated. In this case, if scheduling information of UP tunneling is lost, the influence may be reduced in the subsequent TTI.

In some example embodiments, the request to reduce the number of interfering resource units allocated for the first communication 120 may also be sent from the second network device 110 to the first network device 105 via the UP tunnel. Thus, the exchange of information between the two

network devices

105 and 110 may be further expedited.

Alternatively or additionally, the UP tunnel may not be used. In some example embodiments, the indication of the allocated resource units or other scheduling information may be forwarded between

network devices

105 and 110 via a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer. For example, at the first network device 105, the MAC entity may forward the indication or scheduling information to the PDCP entity. The PDCP entity of the first network device 105 then sends the indication or scheduling information to the PDCP entity of the second network device 110 via the X2-U interface. At the second network device 110, the indication or scheduling information is also forwarded from the PDCP layer to the MAC layer. Such forwarding via the PDCP layer may also reduce latency.

After the second network device 110 receives the indication of the first set of resource units allocated to the first communication 120, the second network device 110 may allocate 255 a set of resource units, referred to as a second set, for the second communication 125. The second set of resource units does not include the interfering resource unit(s) in the first set of resource units.

Transmitting (245) a request for coordinated scheduling and transmitting (250) an indication of the first set of resource units is optional. As another option, the terminal device 115 may determine (240) to perform the first communication 105 using non-interfering resource elements in a first set of resources allocated by the first network device 105 for the first communication 120. In this case, the terminal device 115 will autonomously not perform the first communication 120 on interfering resource units, but these resource units are allocated or granted by the first network device 105. Thus, the first network device 105 also uses non-interfering resource elements for the first communication 120.

In some example embodiments, the first network device 105 may detect transmissions from the terminal device 115 using all allocated resource units in the first set of resources and using non-interfering resource units in the first set of resources. For example, at the first network device 105, the uplink PHY channelizer may receive two grant modes of resource units (such as PRBs) from the MAC packet scheduler, where one mode indicates all granted PRBs and the other mode indicates non-interfering PRBs. All granted resource units may be used for channel estimation and decoding first. If decoding fails, the PHY channelizer can then perform channel estimation using non-interfering resource elements to avoid decoding failure or errors due to low signal-to-noise (SNR) ratios.

Fig. 3 illustrates a signaling flow 300 between two network devices and a terminal device, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

In this example, the first network device 105 in fig. 1 is implemented by an eNB 305 in LTE, the second network device 110 in fig. 1 is implemented by a gNB 310 in 5G, and the terminal device 115 in fig. 1 is implemented by a UE 315. The first communication 120 is implemented by LTE Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmissions and the second communication 125 is implemented by 5G Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) transmissions.

As shown, the eNB 305 sends (320) an X2 SETUP REQUEST (SETUP REQUEST) message to the gNB 310 requesting a GTP U-Plane signaling tunnel. The gNB 310 sends (322) an X2 SETUP RESPONSE (SETUP RESPONSE) message to the eNB 305.

During 5G-ENB DC RB setup by the UE 315, the ENB 305 may transmit interference resource element (such as PRB) information to the gNB 310. As shown, eNB 305 sends (324) an SGNB MODIFICATION REQUEST (MODIFICATION REQUEST) message to the gNB 310 using X2 AP signaling. The SGNB modification request message contains an interfering PRB bitmap to indicate the locations of interfering PRBs. The gNB 310 sends 326 an SGNB MODIFICATION REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGE (MODIFICATION REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGE) message to the eNB 305.

The eNB 305 may also signal interfering PRB information to the UE 315 via a HO command message. As shown, the eNB 305 sends (328) an RRC connection reconfiguration (handover command) message to the UE 315, the RRC connection reconfiguration (handover command) message including an interfering PRB bitmap to indicate interfering PRBs. The UE 315 sends (330) an RRC Connection Reconfiguration Complete (Connection Reconfiguration Complete) message to the eNB 305. eNB 305 sends (332) an SGNB reconfiguration complete message to the gNB 310. As a result, after the DC RB is set, each party knows the interfering PRB.

The UE 315 starts (334) data transmission on the DC RB. Meanwhile, the gNB 310 detects (336) that PDSCH transmission to the UE 310 is unacknowledged (NACKed) and LTE interfering PRBs are used for PDSCH transmission. For example, the gNB 310 (such as its MAC entity) should check whether the allocated PRBs will be interfered with by interfering PRBs. When the next PDSCH scheduling is in the same case, the gNB 310 continuously decreases (338) the PDSCH modulation orders instead of the MCS indices. When QPSK modulation is used, PDSCH modulation order reduction ends (340).

After applying low order modulation such as QPSK, it is still possible for the gNB 310 to detect NACK to PDSCH transmission. In this case, the gNB 310 signals 342 the eNB 305 to request interference PRB reduction on LTE PUSCH, e.g., using UP fast signaling. The eNB 305 reduces (344) the allocated PUSCH interfering PRBs. At the same time, the UE 315 determines (346) that QPSK modulation is applied to the 5G PDSCH and that it needs to monitor the licensed LTE PUSCH PRB. The UE 315 then monitors (348) the number of interfering PRBs in the LTE PUSCH transmission.

The interfering PUSCH PRBs granted by the eNB 305 are continuously reduced, but decoding errors of the 5G PDSCH transmission still occur. After a certain TTI, if the UE 315 determines (350) that the interfering PUSCH PRB is granted LTE PUSCH, the UE 315 has two options to cancel the interference between LTE PUSCH and 5G PDSCH.

In option 1, the UE 315 sends (352) an LTE BSR message to the eNB 305. The BSR message includes a cancel harmonic interference (ELIMINATING HARMONIC INTERFERENCE) request bit for requesting 5G-ENB coordinated scheduling. After the coordinated scheduling request in the BSR message is received, the eNB 305 sends (354) an LTE UL grant to the UE 315. eNB 305 sends (356) the PRB bitmap for the LTE PUSCH grant to gNB 310 to inform the LTE UL grant time and the PUSCH PRB frequency for grant 5G gNB 310. The granted PRB bitmap may be transmitted via the UP tunnel.

Considering that LTE PUSCH transmission will occur 4 milliseconds later than LTE UL grant transmission, the gNB 310 performs (358) PDSCH PRB allocation to avoid harmonic interference. For example, the gNB 310 may allocate non-multiplied frequency PRBs to PDSCH at the high-band DL packet scheduler at LTE PUSCH transmission.

In option 2, when the UE 315 determines that the interfering PUSCH PRBs granted by the eNB 305 are continuously reduced for certain TTIs but decoding of the 5G PDSCH still fails, the UE 310 will not use the interfering PRBs to perform PUSCH transmission, but the interfering PRBs are granted by the eNB 305. As shown, after the UE 315 receives (360) an LTE UL grant from the eNB 305, the UE 315 performs (362) a PUSCH transmission on non-interfering PRBs of the PRBs indicated in the LTE UL grant. Thus, the eNB 305 may use both all the granted PRBs and the non-interfering PRBs for channel estimation and further decoding. For example, the grant patterns for two granted PRBs may be indicated from the MAC packet scheduler to the uplink PHY channelizer in the eNB 305, including one for all granted PRBs and another for non-interfering PRBs. In the event of decoding failure on all authorized PRBs, the PHY channelizer may perform channel estimation on non-interfering PRBs to avoid decoding errors due to low SNR.

Fig. 4 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method 400 in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 400 may be implemented by the first network device 105 shown in fig. 1. For discussion purposes, the method 400 will be described with reference to fig. 1.

At block 405, the first network device 105 receives a request from the second network device 110 to reduce a number of interfering resource units to be allocated for the first communication 120. At block 410, in response to receiving the request, the first network device 105 continuously reduces the number of interfering resource units allocated to the first communication 120 until an event occurs. The event includes a number of interfering resource units being below a threshold number. The event also includes receiving a request from the terminal device 115 for coordinated scheduling by the first and

second network devices

105 and 110 or the number of interfering resource units being below a threshold number. In some example embodiments, the request to coordinate scheduling may be received by the first network device 105 from the terminal device 115 in a BSR message.

In some example embodiments, after receiving the request to coordinate scheduling from the terminal device 115, the first network device 105 may send an indication to the second network device 110 to allocate the first set of resource units for the first communication 120. In some example embodiments, the indication of the first set of resource units may be sent via a user plane tunnel between the MAC layer of the first network device 105 and the MAC layer of the second network device 110. In some example embodiments, the request to reduce the number of interfering resource units may also be received by the first network device 105 from the second network device 110 via an UP tunnel.

In some example embodiments, the UP tunnel may be established by the first network device 105 with the second network device 110 when establishing an interface associated with at least one of the first and

second network devices

105 and 110. In some example embodiments, the UP tunnel comprises a GTP-U tunnel.

In some example embodiments, the first network device 105 may send an indication of the plurality of interfering resource elements to the second network device 110 in an SGNB modification request message. In some example embodiments, the first network device 105 may send an indication of the plurality of interfering resource elements to the terminal device 115 in a handover command message. In this way all devices involved in the DC can be aware of the interfering resource units.

Fig. 5 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method 500, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. Method 500 may be implemented by second network device 110 shown in fig. 1. For discussion purposes, the method 500 will be described with reference to fig. 1.

At block 505, the second network device 110 determines that at least one interfering resource unit is allocated for the second communication 125. At block 510, if the second communication 125 is degraded, the second network device 110 continuously decreases the modulation order for the second communication 125 until the modulation order is below the threshold order. At block 515, the second network device 110 sends a request to the first network device 105 to reduce a number of interfering resource units to be allocated for the first communication 120.

In some example embodiments, the request is sent via a UP tunnel. The UP tunnel may be established by the second network device 110 with the first network device 105 upon establishment of an interface associated with at least one of the first and

second network devices

105 and 110. The UP tunnel may include, but is not limited to, a GTP-U tunnel.

In some example embodiments, the second network device 110 may receive an indication of the plurality of interfering resource elements in the SGNB modification request message from the first network device 105. Based on the received indication, the second network device 110 may determine that at least one of the plurality of interfering resource units is allocated for the second communication 125.

In some example embodiments, the second network device 110 may receive an indication of the first set of resource units allocated to the first communication 120 from the first network device 105. The indication may also be received via an UP tunnel. The second network device 110 may determine that the at least one interfering resource unit is included in the first set of resource units. The second network device 110 can then allocate a second set of resource units for the second communication 125. The second set of resource units does not include at least one interfering resource unit in the first set of resource units.

Fig. 6 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method 600, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. Method 600 may be implemented by terminal device 115 as shown in fig. 1. For discussion purposes, the method 600 will be described with reference to fig. 1.

At block 605, the terminal device 115 determines that the second communication 125 is degraded and that the modulation order for the second communication 125 is below a threshold order. At block 610, the terminal device 115 detects that the number of interfering resource units allocated to the first communication 120 is continuously decreasing. At block 615, terminal device 115 determines an action to be performed. The actions include sending a request to the first network device 105 for coordinated scheduling by the first and

second network devices

105 and 110. In some example embodiments, the request may be sent in a BSR message.

In some example embodiments, the terminal device 115 receives an indication of the plurality of interfering resource units from the first network device 105 in a handover command message.

All operations and features as described above with reference to fig. 1-3 are equally applicable to the methods 400-600 and have similar effects. Details will be omitted for simplicity.

Fig. 7 is a simplified block diagram of a device 700 suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. Device 700 may be implemented at first network device 105, second network device 110, or terminal device 115 as shown in fig. 1.

As shown, device 700 includes a processor 710, a memory 720 coupled to processor 710, a communication module 730 coupled to processor 710, and a communication interface (not shown) coupled to communication module 730. The memory 720 stores at least a program 740. The communication module 730 is used for bi-directional communication, e.g., via multiple antennas. The communication interface may represent any interface required for communication.

The program 740 is assumed to include program instructions that, when executed by the associated processor 710, enable the device 700 to operate in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure as discussed herein with reference to fig. 2-5. Embodiments herein may be implemented by computer software executable by the processor 710 of the device 700 or by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware. The processor 710 may be configured to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure.

The memory 720 may be of any type suitable for local technology networks and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as, by way of non-limiting example, non-transitory computer-readable storage media, semiconductor-based memory devices, magnetic storage devices and systems, optical storage devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory. Although only one memory 720 is shown in device 700, there may be several physically distinct memory modules in device 700. The processor 710 may be of any type suitable to the local technology network, and may include one or more of general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, Digital Signal Processors (DSPs) and processors based on a multi-core processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. Device 700 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is time dependent from a clock synchronized to the main processor.

When device 700 is acting as, or part of, first network device 105, processor 710 and communication module 730 may cooperate to implement method 400 as described above with reference to fig. 4. When device 700 is acting as second network device 110 or part of second network device 110, processor 710 and communication module 730 may cooperate to implement method 500 as described above with reference to fig. 5. When device 700 is acting as a terminal device 115 or part of a terminal device 115, processor 710 and communication module 730 may cooperate to implement method 600 as described above with reference to fig. 6.

All of the operations and features described above with reference to fig. 1-6 are equally applicable to the device 700 and have similar effects. Details will be omitted for simplicity.

In general, the various embodiments of the disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some 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 various aspects of the embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and 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 device, or some combination thereof.

The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The computer program product comprises computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, that are executed in a device on a target real or virtual processor to perform the methods 400 to 600 described above with reference to fig. 4 to 6. 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 split between program modules as desired. Machine-executable instructions of 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.

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

In the context of the present disclosure, computer program code or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable a device, apparatus or processor to perform various processes and operations as described above. Examples of a carrier include a signal, computer readable medium, and the like.

The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer 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 of the foregoing. More specific examples of a computer-readable storage medium would 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 fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a Digital Versatile Disc (DVD), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

Further, while operations are described 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 and parallel processing may be advantageous. Also, while several specific implementation details are included in the above discussion, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Certain features that are described 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 disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily 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.

Various embodiments of these techniques have been described. The following examples are described in addition to or in the alternative to the foregoing. Features described in any of the examples below may be used with any of the other examples described herein.

In some aspects, a first network device includes: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code; the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the first network device to: receiving a request from a second network device to reduce a number of interfering resource units to be allocated to a first communication between the first network device and a terminal device that is dual connected with the first network device and the second network device; and in response to receiving the request, continuously reducing the number of interfering resource units allocated to the first communication until an event occurs, the event comprising at least one of: a request for coordinated scheduling by the first network device and the second network device is received from the terminal device, and the number of interfering resource units is below a threshold number.

In some example embodiments, the first network device is further caused to: in response to receiving a request from a terminal device to coordinate scheduling, an indication of a first set of resource units allocated for a first communication is transmitted to a second network device.

In some example embodiments, the indication of the first set of resource units is sent to the second network device via a user plane tunnel between a media access control layer of the first network device and a media access control layer of the second network device.

In some example embodiments, the first network device is caused to receive the request to reduce the number of interfering resource units by: the request from the second network device is received via a user plane tunnel between a media access control layer of the first network device and a media access control layer of the second network device.

In some example embodiments, the first network device is further caused to: the method further includes establishing a user plane tunnel with the second network device upon establishing an interface associated with at least one of the first network device and the second network device.

In some example embodiments, the user plane tunnel comprises a general packet radio service tunneling protocol user plane tunnel.

In some example embodiments, the number of interfering resource units is included in a plurality of interfering resource units, and the first network device is further caused to: the method further includes transmitting, in the SGNB modification request message, an indication of the plurality of interfering resource elements to the second network device.

In some example embodiments, the first network device is further caused to: in the handover command message, an indication of a plurality of interfering resource units is sent to the terminal device.

In some example embodiments, the request to coordinate scheduling is received from the terminal device in a buffer status report message.

In some aspects, the second network device comprises: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code; the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the second network device to: determining that at least one interfering resource unit is allocated for a second communication between a second network device and a terminal device, the terminal device being dually connected to the first network device and the second network device; if the second communication is degraded, continuously reducing the modulation order of the second communication until the modulation order is lower than the threshold order; and sending a request to the first network device to reduce a number of interfering resource units allocated for the first communication between the first network device and the terminal device.

In some example embodiments, the at least one interfering resource unit is comprised in a plurality of interfering resource units, and the second network device is caused to determine that the at least one interfering resource unit is allocated for the second communication by: receiving, in an SGNB modification request message, an indication of a plurality of interfering resource elements from a first network device; and determining, based on the received indication, that at least one of the plurality of interfering resource units is allocated for the second communication.

In some example embodiments, the second network device is caused to send the request to the first network device by: the request is sent to the first network device via a user plane tunnel between a media access control layer of the second network device and a media access control layer of the first network device.

In some example embodiments, the second network device is further caused to: receiving, from a first network device, an indication of a first set of resource units allocated for a first communication; determining that at least one interfering resource unit is included in a first set of resource units; and allocating a second set of resource units for the second communication, the second set of resource units excluding at least one interfering resource unit in the first set of resource units.

In some example embodiments, the indication of the first set of resource units is received from the first network device via a user plane tunnel between a media access control layer of the first network device and a media access control layer of the second network device.

In some example embodiments, the second network device is further caused to: the user-plane tunnel is established with the first network device upon establishing an interface associated with at least one of the first network device and the second network device.

In some aspects, a terminal device includes: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code; the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause a terminal device in dual connectivity with a first network device and a second network device to: determining that a second communication with a second network device is degraded and that a modulation order for the second communication is below a threshold order; detecting a successive reduction in a number of interfering resource units allocated for a first communication with a first network device; and determining an action to be performed, the action comprising: the method further includes sending a request to the first network device for coordinated scheduling by the first network device and the second network device, or performing a first communication with the first network device using non-interfering resource elements in a first set of resources allocated by the first network device for the first communication.

In some example embodiments, the request is sent to the first network device in a buffer status report message.

In some example embodiments, the number of interfering resource units is comprised in a plurality of interfering resource units, and the terminal device is further caused to: in the handover command message, an indication of a plurality of interfering resource units is received from the first network device.

In some aspects, a method implemented by a first network device includes: receiving, from a second network device, a request to reduce a number of interfering resource units allocated for a first communication between the first network device and a terminal device, the terminal device being dually connected to the first network device and the second network device; and in response to receiving the request, continuously reducing the number of interfering resource units allocated for the first communication until an event occurs, the event comprising at least one of: a request for coordinated scheduling by the first network device and the second network device is received from the terminal device and the number of interfering resource units is below a threshold number.

In some example embodiments, the method further comprises: in response to receiving a request from a terminal device to coordinate scheduling, an indication of a first set of resource units allocated for a first communication is transmitted to a second network device.

In some example embodiments, receiving the request to reduce the number of interfering resource units comprises: the request from the second network device is received via a user plane tunnel between a media access control layer of the first network device and a media access control layer of the second network device.

In some example embodiments, the method further comprises: the method further includes establishing a user plane tunnel with the second network device upon establishing an interface associated with at least one of the first network device and the second network device.

In some example embodiments, the number of interfering resource units is comprised in a plurality of interfering resource units, and the method further comprises: the method further includes transmitting, in the SGNB modification request message, an indication of the plurality of interfering resource elements to the second network device.

In some example embodiments, the method further comprises: in the handover command message, an indication of a plurality of interfering resource units is sent to the terminal device.

In some aspects, a method implemented by a second network device includes: determining that at least one interfering resource unit is allocated for a second communication between a second network device and a terminal device, the terminal device being dually connected to the first network device and the second network device; if the second communication is degraded, continuously reducing the modulation order of the second communication until the modulation order is lower than the threshold order; and sending a request to the first network device to reduce a number of interfering resource units allocated for the first communication between the first network device and the terminal device.

In some example embodiments, the at least one interfering resource unit is included in a plurality of interfering resource units, and determining to allocate the at least one interfering resource unit for the second communication comprises: receiving, in an SGNB modification request message, an indication of a plurality of interfering resource elements from a first network device; and determining, based on the received indication, that at least one of the plurality of interfering resource units is allocated for the second communication.

In some example embodiments, sending the request to the first network device comprises: the request is sent to the first network device via a user plane tunnel between a media access control layer of the second network device and a media access control layer of the first network device.

In some example embodiments, the method further comprises: receiving, from a first network device, an indication of a first set of resource units allocated for a first communication; determining that at least one interfering resource unit is included in a first set of resource units; and allocating a second set of resource units for the second communication, the second set of resource units excluding at least one interfering resource unit in the first set of resource units.

In some example embodiments, the method further comprises: the user-plane tunnel is established with the first network device upon establishing an interface associated with at least one of the first network device and the second network device.

In some aspects, a method implemented by a terminal device dually connected to a first network device and a second network device includes: determining that a second communication with a second network device is degraded and that a modulation order for the second communication is below a threshold order; detecting a successive reduction in a number of interfering resource units allocated for a first communication with a first network device; and determining an action to be performed, the action comprising: the method further includes sending a request to the first network device for coordinated scheduling by the first network device and the second network device, or performing a first communication with the first network device using non-interfering resource elements in a first set of resources allocated by the first network device for the first communication.

In some example embodiments, the number of interfering resource units is comprised in a plurality of interfering resource units, and the method further comprises: in the handover command message, an indication of a plurality of interfering resource units is received from the first network device.

In some aspects, an apparatus comprises: means for receiving, by a first network device, a request from a second network device, a request to reduce a number of interfering resource units allocated for a first communication between the first network device and a terminal device, the terminal device being dually connected with the first network device and the second network device; and means for, in response to receiving the request, successively reducing the number of interfering resource units allocated for the first communication until an event occurs, the event comprising at least one of: a request for coordinated scheduling by the first network device and the second network device is received from the terminal device, and the number of interfering resource units is below a threshold number.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus further comprises: means for transmitting, to the second network device, an indication of allocation of the first set of resource units for the first communication in response to receiving a request from the terminal device to coordinate scheduling.

In some example embodiments, the means for receiving a request to reduce the number of interfering resource units comprises: the request is received from the second network device via a user plane tunnel between a media access control layer of the first network device and a media access control layer of the second network device.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus further comprises: means for establishing a user plane tunnel with a second network device when establishing an interface associated with at least one of the first network device and the second network device.

In some example embodiments, the number of interfering resource units is comprised in a plurality of interfering resource units, and the apparatus further comprises: means for transmitting, in the SGNB modification request message, an indication of the plurality of interfering resource units to the second network device.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus further comprises: means for transmitting an indication of the plurality of interfering resource units to the terminal device in a handover command message.

In some aspects, an apparatus comprises: means for determining, by a second network device, that at least one interfering resource unit is allocated for a second communication between the second network device and a terminal device, the terminal device being dually connected with the first network device and the second network device; means for, if the second communication is degraded, successively lowering the modulation order of the second communication until the modulation order is below a threshold order; and means for sending a request to the first network device to reduce a number of interfering resource units allocated for the first communication between the first network device and the terminal device.

In some example embodiments, the at least one interfering resource unit is comprised in a plurality of interfering resource units, and the means for determining that the at least one interfering resource unit is allocated for the second communication comprises: means for receiving, in an SGNB modification request message, an indication of a plurality of interfering resource units from a first network device; and means for determining, based on the received indication, that at least one of the plurality of interfering resource units is allocated for the second communication.

In some example embodiments, the means for sending the request to the first network device comprises: means for sending the request to the first network device via a user plane tunnel between a media access control layer of the second network device and a media access control layer of the first network device.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus further comprises: means for receiving, from a first network device, an indication of a first set of resource units allocated for a first communication; means for determining that at least one interfering resource unit is included in a first set of resource units; and means for allocating a second set of resource units for the second communication, the second set of resource units excluding at least one interfering resource unit in the first set of resource units.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus further comprises: means for establishing a user plane tunnel with a first network device when establishing an interface associated with at least one of the first network device and a second network device.

In some aspects, an apparatus comprises: means for determining, by a terminal device in dual connectivity with a first network device and a second network device, that second communication with the second network device is degraded and that a modulation order for the second communication is below a threshold order; means for detecting a successively decreasing number of interfering resource units allocated for a first communication with a first network device; and means for determining an action to be performed, the action comprising: the method further includes sending a request to the first network device for coordinated scheduling by the first network device and the second network device, or performing a first communication with the first network device using non-interfering resource elements in a first set of resources allocated by the first network device for the first communication.

In some example embodiments, the number of interfering resource units is comprised in a plurality of interfering resource units, and the apparatus further comprises: means for receiving, in a handover command message, an indication of a plurality of interfering resource units from a first network device.

In some aspects, a computer-readable storage medium includes program instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processor of a device, cause the device to perform a method according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A first network device, comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code;

the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the first network device to:

receiving a request from a second network device to reduce a number of interfering resource units to be allocated for a first communication between the first network device and a terminal device that is dual-connected with the first network device and the second network device; and

continuously reducing the number of the interfering resource units allocated for the first communication in response to receiving the request until an event occurs, the event comprising at least one of:

receiving a request from the terminal device for coordinated scheduling by the first network device and the second network device, an

The number of interfering resource units is below a threshold number.

2. The first network device of claim 1, wherein the first network device is further caused to:

in response to receiving the request for the coordinated scheduling from the terminal device, sending an indication to the second network device to allocate a first set of resource units for the first communication.

3. The first network device of claim 2, wherein the indication of the first set of resource elements is sent to the second network device via a user plane tunnel between a media access control layer of the first network device and a media access control layer of the second network device.

4. The first network device of claim 1, wherein the first network device is caused to receive the request to reduce the number of interfering resource units by:

receiving the request from the second network device via a user plane tunnel between a media access control layer of the first network device and a media access control layer of the second network device.

5. The first network device of claim 3 or 4, wherein the first network device is further caused to:

establishing the user plane tunnel with the second network device upon establishing an interface associated with at least one of the first network device and the second network device.

6. The first network device of claim 3 or 4, wherein the user plane tunnel comprises a general packet radio service tunneling protocol user plane tunnel.

7. The first network device of claim 1, wherein the number of interfering resource units is included in a plurality of interfering resource units, and the first network device is further caused to:

transmitting, in an SGNB modification request message, an indication of the plurality of interfering resource units to the second network device.

8. The first network device of claim 7, wherein the first network device is further caused to: transmitting an indication of the plurality of interfering resource units to the terminal device in a handover command message.

9. The first network device of claim 1, wherein the request for the coordinated scheduling is received from the terminal device in a buffer status report message.

10. A second network device, comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code;

the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the second network device to:

determining that at least one interfering resource unit is allocated for a second communication between the second network device and a terminal device that is dual-connected to the first network device and the second network device;

if the second communication is degraded, continuously reducing a modulation order for the second communication until the modulation order is below a threshold order; and

sending a request to the first network device to reduce a number of interfering resource units allocated for a first communication between the first network device and the terminal device.

11. The second network device of claim 10, wherein the at least one interfering resource unit is included in a plurality of interfering resource units, and the second network device is caused to determine that the at least one interfering resource unit is allocated for the second communication by:

receiving, in an SGNB modification request message, an indication of the plurality of interfering resource elements from the first network device; and

determining, based on the received indication, that the at least one of the plurality of interfering resource units is allocated for the second communication.

12. The second network device of claim 10, wherein the second network device is caused to send the request to the first network device by:

sending the request to the first network device via a user plane tunnel between a media access control layer of the second network device and a media access control layer of the first network device.

13. The second network device of claim 10, wherein the second network device is further caused to:

receiving, from the first network device, an indication of a first set of resource units allocated for the first communication;

determining that the at least one interfering resource unit is included in the first set of resource units; and

allocating a second set of resource elements for the second communication, the second set of resource elements not including the at least one interfering resource element in the first set of resource elements.

14. The second network device of claim 13, wherein the indication of the first set of resource elements is received from the first network device via a user plane tunnel between a media access control layer of the first network device and a media access control layer of the second network device.

15. A second network device according to claim 12 or 14, wherein the second network device is further caused to:

establishing the user plane tunnel with the first network device upon establishing an interface associated with at least one of the first network device and the second network device.

16. The second network device of claim 12 or 14, wherein the user plane tunnel comprises a general packet radio service tunneling protocol user plane tunnel.

17. A terminal device, comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code;

the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the terminal device in dual connectivity with a first network device and a second network device to:

determining that a second communication with the second network device is degraded and that a modulation order for the second communication is below a threshold order;

detecting a successive reduction in a number of interfering resource units allocated for a first communication with the first network device;

determining an action to be performed, the action comprising:

sending a request for coordinated scheduling by the first network device and the second network device to the first network device, or

Performing the first communication with the first network device using non-interfering resource elements in a first set of resources allocated by the first network device for the first communication.

18. The terminal device of claim 17, wherein the request is sent to the first network device in a buffer status report message.

19. The terminal device of claim 17, wherein the number of interfering resource units is included in a plurality of interfering resource units, and the terminal device is further caused to:

receiving, in a handover command message, an indication of the plurality of interfering resource units from the first network device.

20. A method implemented by a first network device, the method comprising:

receiving a request from a second network device to reduce a number of interfering resource units allocated for a first communication between the first network device and a terminal device that is dual-connected with the first network device and the second network device; and

in response to receiving the request, continuously reducing a number of interfering resource units allocated for the first communication until an event occurs, the event comprising at least one of:

a request for coordinated scheduling by the first network device and the second network device is received from the terminal device, an

The number of interfering resource units is below a threshold number.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

in response to receiving the request for the coordinated scheduling from the terminal device, sending an indication of a first set of resource units allocation for the first communication to the second network device.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the indication of the first set of resource units is sent to the second network device via a user plane tunnel between a media access control layer of the first network device and a media access control layer of the second network device.

23. The method of claim 20, wherein receiving the request to reduce the number of interfering resource units comprises:

24. The method of claim 22 or 23, further comprising:

25. The method according to claim 22 or 23, wherein the user plane tunnel comprises a general packet radio service tunneling protocol user plane tunnel.

26. The method of claim 20, wherein the number of interfering resource units is included in a plurality of interfering resource units, and the method further comprises:

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

transmitting an indication of the plurality of interfering resource units to the terminal device in a handover command message.

28. The method of claim 20, wherein the request for the coordinated scheduling is received from the terminal device in a buffer status report message.

29. A method implemented by a second network device, the method comprising:

determining that at least one interfering resource unit is allocated for a second communication between the second network device and a terminal device that is dual-connected with the first network device and the second network device;

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the at least one interfering resource unit is included in a plurality of interfering resource units, and determining that the at least one interfering resource unit is allocated for the second communication comprises:

determining, based on the received indication, that at least one of the plurality of interfering resource units is allocated for the second communication.

31. The method of claim 29, wherein sending the request to the first network device comprises:

32. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

determining that at least one interfering resource unit is included in the first set of resource units; and

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the indication of the first set of resource units is received from the first network device via a user plane tunnel between a media access control layer of the first network device and a media access control layer of the second network device.

34. The method of claim 31 or 33, further comprising:

establishing the user plane tunnel with the first network device while establishing an interface associated with at least one of the first network device and the second network device.

35. The method according to claim 31 or 33, wherein the user plane tunnel comprises a general packet radio service tunneling protocol user plane tunnel.

36. A method implemented by a terminal device in dual connectivity with a first network device and a second network device, the method comprising:

detecting a successive reduction in a number of interfering resource units allocated for a first communication with the first network device; and

determining an action to be performed, the action comprising:

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the request is sent to the first network device in a buffer status report message.

38. The method of claim 36, wherein the number of interfering resource units is included in a plurality of interfering resource units, and the method further comprises:

39. An apparatus, comprising:

means for receiving, by a first network device, a request from a second network device, the request to reduce a number of interfering resource units allocated for a first communication between the first network device and a terminal device that is dual-connected with the first network device and the second network device; and

means for, in response to receiving the request, continuously reducing a number of interfering resource units allocated for the first communication until an event occurs, the event comprising at least one of:

The number of interfering resource units is below a threshold number.

40. An apparatus, comprising:

means for determining, by a second network device, that at least one interfering resource unit is allocated for a second communication between the second network device and a terminal device that is dual-connected with a first network device and the second network device;

means for, if the second communication is degraded, successively decreasing the modulation order of the second communication until the modulation order is below a threshold order; and

means for transmitting a request to the first network device to reduce a number of interfering resource units allocated for a first communication between the first network device and the terminal device.

41. An apparatus, comprising:

means for determining, by a terminal device in dual connectivity with a first network device and a second network device, that a second communication with the second network device is degraded and that a modulation order for the second communication is below a threshold order;

means for detecting a successively decreasing number of interfering resource units allocated for a first communication with the first network device; and

means for determining an action to be performed, the action comprising:

42. A computer readable storage medium comprising program instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 20 to 28.

43. A computer readable storage medium comprising program instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 29 to 35.

44. A computer readable storage medium comprising program instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 36 to 38.