CN114342507A - Multi-band interference suppression - Google Patents

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 devices, methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable storage media for multi-band interference mitigation.

Background technique

In the fifth generation (5G), non-standard standalone (NSA) technologies require that user equipment (UE) will support at least two modes, including Long Term Evolution (LTE) mode and New Radio (NR) mode. In 5G-LTE dual connectivity, when LTE and NR modes operate at the UE simultaneously, interference will occur within the UE. For example, mutual interference of LTE transceivers and 5G NR transceivers operating simultaneously in the UE may occur in multiple frequency bands. Therefore, the sensitivity of the transceiver may degrade and even these frequency bands cannot be used in communication networks.

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

A conventional approach to 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, but cannot reduce the interference of the auxiliary receiving chain. Some harmonic suppression filters can also be used for interference cancellation. However, neither the split antenna nor the harmonic suppression filter can completely eliminate the second harmonic interference from LTE Band 3 (B3) to 5G 3.5GHz. As a result, interference caused by printed circuit board (PCB) leakage can cause severe degradation of terminal sensitivity.

In 3rd 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 Master Node (MN) and a Secondary Node (SN) are required ) can coordinate their UL and DL radio resources in a semi-static manner. In this case, for example, even PCBs with poor isolation in overlapping frequency bands allow the UE to use only one transmitter (1Tx).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

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

In a first aspect, a first network device is provided comprising 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, with the at least one processor, to cause the first network device to receive a request from the second network device to reduce the number of interference resource units allocated for the first communication, the first communication being Between a network device and a terminal device, the terminal device is dual-connected with the first network device and the second network device. The first network device is also caused, in response to receiving the request, to continuously decrease the number of interference resource units allocated for the first communication until the event occurs. The event includes at least one of the following: receiving a request from the terminal device for coordinated scheduling by the first network device and the second network device, and the number of interfering resource units is below a threshold number.

In a second aspect, there is provided a second network device comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code. at least one memory and computer program code are configured, together with the at least one processor, to cause the second network device to determine that at least one interference resource unit is allocated for a second communication between the second network device and the terminal device, The terminal device is dual-connected to the first network device and the second network device. The second network device is also caused to continuously reduce the modulation order of the second communication in the event that 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 interference resource units allocated for the first communication between the first network device and the terminal device.

In a third aspect, a terminal device is provided, comprising at least one processor and at least one memory, the 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 terminal device dual-connected to the first network device and the second network device to determine that the second communication with the second network device is degraded and for the second communication The modulation order of is lower than the threshold order. The terminal device is also caused to detect a continuous decrease in the number of interference resource units allocated for the first communication with the first network device. The terminal device is then made to determine the action to be performed. The action includes sending a request for coordinated scheduling by the first network device and the second network device to the first network device, or using a non-interfering resource unit in the first resource set allocated by the first network device for the first communication to perform a communication with the first network device. A first communication of a network device.

In a fourth aspect, methods are provided. In the method, a first network device receives a request from a second network device to reduce the number of interference resource units allocated for a first communication, the first communication being between the first network device and a terminal device, the terminal device and the first communication A network device and a second network device are dual-connected. In response to receiving the request, the first network device continuously reduces the number of interference resource units allocated to the first communication until the event occurs. The event includes at least one of the following: receiving a request from the terminal device for coordinated scheduling by the first network device and the second network device, and the number of interference resource units is lower than a threshold number.

In a fifth aspect, methods are provided. In the method, the second network device determines that at least one interference resource unit is allocated for the second communication, the second communication is between the second network device and the terminal device, the terminal device is dual with the first network device and the second network device connect. If the second communication is degraded, the second network device continuously reduces the modulation order of the second communication until the modulation order is lower than the threshold order. Then, the second network device sends a request to the first network device to reduce the number of interference resource units allocated for the first communication between the first network device and the terminal device.

In a sixth aspect, methods are provided. In the method, the terminal device is dual-connected with the first network device and the second network device. The terminal device determines that the second communication with the second network device is degraded and the modulation order for the second communication is below a threshold order. The terminal device detects a continuous decrease in the number of interference resource units allocated for the first communication with the first network device. The terminal device then determines the action to be performed. The action includes sending a request for coordinated scheduling by the first network device and the second network device to the first network device, or using non-interfering resource units in the first resource set allocated by the first network device for the first communication to perform a A first communication of a network device.

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, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon. The computer program, when executed by the processor of the device, causes the device to perform the method according to the fourth aspect, the fifth aspect or the sixth aspect.

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

Description of drawings

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

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

Figure 2 illustrates the signaling flow between two network devices and a terminal device in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

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

4 illustrates a flowchart of an example method in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

5 illustrates a flowchart of an example method according to some other example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of an example method in accordance with still other example embodiments of the present disclosure; and

7 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an apparatus 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 ways

The principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some example embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are described only to illustrate and help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. The disclosure described herein may be implemented in various ways in addition to 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 can be provided to terminal devices in a communication network. Examples of network equipment include repeaters, access points (APs), transmission points (TRPs), NodeBs (NodeB or NB), evolved NodeBs (eNodeB or eNB), new radio (NR) NodeBs (gNB), remote Radio Module (RRU), Radio Head (RH), Remote Radio Head (RRH), 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, network equipment may include a central unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU) within a gNB.

As used herein, the term "terminal device" or "user equipment" (UE) refers to any terminal device capable of wirelessly communicating with each other or with a base station. Communication may involve transmitting and/or receiving 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 smartphones, wireless-enabled tablets, laptop embedded equipment (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), and/or wireless customer premises equipment (CPE) ). For discussion purposes, 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 in the context of this disclosure.

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

As used herein, the term "interfering resource element" refers to a resource element that may cause interference, such as harmonic interference or intermodulation interference, in dual-connectivity communications of a terminal device. For example, interfering resource units may include resource units available to two network devices dual-connected to the terminal device in DC operation.

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

(a) pure hardware circuit implementations (such as implementations in analog and/or digital circuitry only); and

(b) a combination of hardware circuits and software, such as (as required): (i) a combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuit(s) and software/firmware, and (ii) a combination of software (including ( Any portion of hardware processors of digital signal processors), software, and memory(s) that work together to cause a device (such as a mobile phone or server) to perform various functions; and

(c) hardware circuit(s) and/or processor(s) that require software (eg, firmware) for operation, but software may not be present when operation is not required, such as microprocessor(s) or part of (multiple) microprocessors.

This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also encompasses only a hardware circuit or processor (or processors) or a portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and and/or firmware implementation. For example, if applicable to a particular claim element, the term circuit also covers a baseband integrated circuit or a processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or similar integrated circuit in a server, 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 dictates otherwise. The term "including" and variations thereof should be understood as open-ended terms meaning "including but not limited to". The term "based on" should be understood as "based at least in part on". The terms "one embodiment" and "an embodiment" should be understood to mean "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," etc. may be used herein to describe various elements and should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could 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 items.

Considering 5G product maturity, deployment cost, and existing LTE/future 5G coverage, NAS networking is widely used for 5G network deployment. In DC operation, interference and throughput are a big issue. 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 will cause second harmonic interference to the 5G 3.5GHz in the downlink. Additionally, there are higher-order intermodulation interferences such as fourth-order intermodulation and fifth-order intermodulation interference.

The conventional way to reduce interference is to limit the transmit power of UEs in LTE and 5G. The inventor noticed that the reduction of UE transmit power will affect the signal strength received by the network side. Another common approach is to maximize PCB isolation in UE designs. For example, wiring and equipment that may generate mutual interference should be kept away to increase isolation, and shielding can be added to critical components to reduce radiated interference. In addition, harmonic filters can be used to suppress harmonic interference. Improved PCB isolation or the use of harmonic filters can reduce interference but result in a significant increase in UE cost and design complexity.

In 3GPP specifications such as 3GPP TS 37.340, UE-specific and UE-associated X2-AP signaling is specified to be used in a semi-static time and frequency pattern to indicate LTE UL and NR DL carriers on non-overlapping frequencies Expected to receive/transmit. As another example, to dynamically avoid the generation of harmonic interference, Evolved LTE (eNB) and NR NodeB (gNR) can coordinate UE DC Radio Bearer (RB) scheduling without UE related signaling. Coordination may be implemented on medium access control (MAC) packet schedulers in the eNB and gNB. During frequency domain scheduling, the use of interfering frequency combinations should be avoided by allocating dynamic physical resource blocks (PRBs) to UEs.

However, the inventors note that since PRBs on overlapping frequencies cannot be used by the 5G-EN DC UE to serve the Transmission Time Interval (TTI), the LTE UL and 5G DL throughput at the UE will be impacted separately.

Example embodiments of the present disclosure propose a scheme for suppressing interference between two network devices and the communication between the terminal device in the DC and the two network devices. The scheme involves three stages, where the first stage reduces the modulation order, such as the modulation order (MCS) for one communication with a network device, to improve the probability of success for decoding with lower order modulations. In the second phase, a reduced number of interfering resource elements, such as physical resource blocks (PRBs), are allocated or granted to another communication by another network device. In the third stage, there are two options for the end device to choose from. The terminal device may request coordinated scheduling of the two network devices, or communicate with other network devices on non-interfering resource elements among the allocated or authorized resource elements.

In this way, the first two stages provide network-assisted interference mitigation, and the terminal device can decide the preferred interference cancellation method in the final stage. In this way, harmonic interference to interfering resource units can be suppressed and eliminated effectively and efficiently.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. The environment 100 as part of a communication network includes two network devices 105 and 110 and a terminal device 115 . For discussion purposes, the two network devices 105 and 110 will be referred to as a first network device 105 and a second network device 110, respectively.

It should be understood that two network devices and one terminal device are shown in environment 100 for illustration purposes only and do not imply any limitation. Environment 100 may include any suitable number of network devices and terminal devices.

The terminal device 115 is dual-connected to the first network device and the second network devices 105 and 110 . As shown, the terminal device 115 performs a communication 120 (referred to as a first communication 120 ) with a first network device 105 and performs a communication 125 (referred to as a second communication 125 ) with a second network device 110 . Either of the two communications 120 and 125 may be an uplink or a downlink communication. In the environment 100, the terminal device 115 may also communicate with further terminal devices (not shown) directly or via the first network device 105 and/or the second network device 110.

Communication 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), Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC), Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC), Carrier Aggregation (CA), Dual Connectivity (DC), New Radio Unlicensed (NR-U) and V2X technologies.

The 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 a primary node or a primary node and a secondary node dual-connected to the terminal device 115, respectively. 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 gNBs.

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 this disclosure, resource elements included in overlapping resources are referred to as interfering resource elements. If both the first and second network devices 105 and 110 use interfering resource elements for communications 120 and 125 with the terminal device 115 , then at the terminal device 115 , such as harmonics, between the two communications 120 and 125 may be induced interference and intermodulation interference.

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 ) the 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 unit (eg, at least one interfering PRB) is allocated to the second communication 125 . In some example embodiments, the second network device 110 may know a number of interference resource units that are available to both the first network device and the second network devices 105 and 110. Accordingly, the second network device 110 may determine whether any one of the interference resource units has been allocated for the second communication 125 .

The second network device 110 may obtain the plurality of interference resource units in any suitable manner. As an example, the second network device 110 may receive an indication of multiple interference resource units from the first network device 105 . The indication may be received from the first network device 105 at any suitable opportunity. In an example embodiment where the first and second network devices 105 and 110 are implemented by eNBs and gNBs respectively, the bitmap of interference resource elements as an indication may be set by the second network device 110 at the 5GENB DC radio block (RB) The period is received from the first network device 105 . For example, the second network device 110 may receive an SGNB modification request (MODIFICATION REQUEST) message from the first network device 105 including an indication of multiple interference resource elements. The indication may also be transmitted via other X2 Application Protocol (AP) signaling.

If the second communication 120 is degraded, the second network device 110 continuously reduces (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 falls below a threshold level. The second network device 110 may determine the degradation of the second communication 125 in any suitable method. For example, where the second communication 125 is a downlink communication, if the second network device 110 detects one or more non-acknowledgements (NACKs) for the second communication 125 from the terminal device 115, the second network device 110 It may be determined that the second communication 125 is degraded.

In some example embodiments, the second network device 110 may determine whether the degradation level 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 dropped below a certain degradation level.

In some example embodiments, determining the degradation of the second communication 125 may be accomplished prior to determining whether an interference resource unit has 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 interference resource units have been allocated for the second communication 125 .

When the second communication 125 is degraded, the second network device 110 continuously reduces 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 the 64-QAM to 16-QAM, etc., until some lower 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 2nd or 3rd order. For example, 256-QAM can be directly reduced 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 need for the first network device 105 and the terminal Interference resource units allocated by the first communication 120 between the devices 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 elements for the first communication 120 . The reallocated resource units include a reduced number of interfering resource units. The reduction in the number of interfering resources may be performed continuously until the number of interfering resource elements falls below a threshold number, eg, zero or any other number, depending on the implementation.

At the same time, the terminal device 115 monitors (235) the resource grant from the first network device 105 for the first communication 120 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 know the interference 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 multiple interference resource elements from the first network device 105 in a handover (HO) command message, eg, during DC RB setup. Thus, the terminal device 115 can determine which interference resource units are allocated for the first communication 120 and whether the number of allocated interference resource units is reduced.

If the number of interfering resource elements continues to decrease and the second communication 125 is still degraded after the modulation order used is below a threshold order, the terminal device 115 determines (240) an action to be performed. One option of action is that the end device 115 may send ( 245 ) to the first network device 105 a request for coordinated scheduling by the first and second network devices 105 and 110 . In some example embodiments, receipt of the request may be an event in which the first network device 105 ends the reduction in the number of interference resources allocated to the first communication 120 .

A request for coordinated scheduling may be sent by the terminal device 115 when the second communication 125 is still degraded after a certain number of transmission time intervals (TTIs). In some example embodiments, the request may be sent in a Buffer Status Report (BSR) message. For example, the request can be sent via the 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 elements (referred to as the first set) for the first communication 120 . In addition to the indication of allocating resource units, the first network device 105 may also send an indication of grant time and other scheduling information.

Indications 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 network device and the second network devices 105 and 110 , an 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 tunnels, existing UP frame protocols defined in 3GPP specifications (such as 3GPP TS 38.425) can be reused. As an example, the UP tunnel may include a General Packet Radio Service Tunneling Protocol User Plane (GTP-U) tunnel. Existing messages or even new messages containing auxiliary or additional information can be used to send scheduling information over the UP tunnel. For example, messages up to 1018 octets can be transported in a dedicated NR Radio Access Network (RAN) container in the GTP packet header. In some example embodiments, new PDUs may be required in the NR UP frame protocol. The new frame protocol can also be used for UP tunnels.

The UP protocol may be used to implement flow control of single-bearer user data transmitted in the GTP-U tunnel on the interfaces associated with the first and second network devices 105 and 110 . For example, in EN-DC operation, the interfaces may include the X2 interface between two eNBs, the Xn interface between the gNB and the eNB, and the F1 interface between the gNB's Central Unit (CU) and Distributed Unit (DU) . By means of the tunnel, the secondary network device can connect with the network device hosting the 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 can be independent of any bearer or UE. With this tunnel connecting the MAC entities of 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 the example embodiment where the first and second network devices 105 and 110 are implemented by eNB and gNB, respectively, when X2/Xn is about to be established (either from eNB or gNB side), the CU of gNB can use F1AP CP signaling requests a new tunnel endpoint IP (TEID) from the gNB's DU. 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 that DU. The CU forwards the TEID of the eNB to the DU. Then, direct fast communication between the DUs of the eNB and the gNB is possible. In this case, the TEID may need to be exchanged during the X2/Xn setup and modification process, or it may need to be acquired via F1. If the TEID needs to be changed on either side, an appropriate modification procedure can be employed.

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

In some example embodiments, the request to reduce the number of interference 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. Therefore, the exchange of information between the two network devices 105 and 110 can be further accelerated.

Alternatively or additionally, UP tunnels may not be used. In some example embodiments, indications of 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 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 can also reduce latency.

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

Sending (245) a request for coordinated scheduling and sending (250) an indication of the first set of resource elements are optional. As another option, the terminal device 115 may determine ( 240 ) to perform the first communication 105 using non-interfering resource elements in the 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 the interfering resource elements, but these resource elements are allocated or authorized by the first network device 105 . Therefore, the first network device 105 also uses the 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 elements in the first set of resources and using non-interfering resource elements in the first set of resources. For example, at the first network device 105, the uplink PHY channelizer may receive from the MAC packet scheduler two grant patterns for resource elements (such as PRBs), where one pattern indicates all granted PRBs and the other pattern indicates Non-interfering PRBs. All granted resource elements may be used first for channel estimation and decoding. If decoding fails, the PHY channelizer may then perform channel estimation using non-interfering resource elements to avoid decoding failures or errors due to low signal-to-noise (SNR) ratios.

Figure 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 the eNB 305 in LTE, the second network device 110 in FIG. 1 is implemented by the gNB 310 in 5G, and the terminal device 115 in FIG. 1 is implemented by the UE 315 accomplish. The first communication 120 is achieved by LTE Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmissions, and the second communication 125 is achieved by 5G Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) transmissions.

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

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

The eNB 305 may also signal the interfering PRB information to the UE 315 via the 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 contains an interfering PRB bitmap to indicate the interfering PRBs. The UE 315 sends ( 330 ) an RRC Connection Reconfiguration Complete message to the eNB 305 . eNB 305 sends (332) a SGNB reconfiguration complete message to gNB 310. As a result, after the DC RB is set, all parties are aware of the interfering PRB.

The UE 315 starts (334) data transmission on the DC RB. At the same time, gNB 310 detects ( 336 ) that the PDSCH transmission to UE 310 is not acknowledged (NACKed) and the LTE interfering PRB is used for PDSCH transmission. For example, gNB 310 (such as its MAC entity) should check whether the allocated PRBs will be interfered with by interfering PRBs. When the next PDSCH schedule is in the same situation, the gNB 310 continuously reduces (338) the PDSCH modulation order instead of the MCS index. When QPSK modulation is used, the PDSCH modulation order reduction ends (340).

After applying low order modulation such as QPSK, it is still possible for gNB 310 to detect NACK to PDSCH transmissions. In this case, gNB 310 signals (342) eNB 305 to request interference PRB reduction on the LTE PUSCH, eg, using UP fast signaling. The eNB 305 reduces (344) the allocated PUSCH interference 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.

Interfering PUSCH PRBs granted by the eNB 305 continue to decrease, but decoding errors for 5G PDSCH transmissions 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 the LTE PUSCH and the 5G PDSCH.

In option 1, UE 315 sends (352) an LTE BSR message to eNB 305. The BSR message includes an ELIMINATING HARMONIC INTERFERENCE request bit for requesting 5G-ENB coordination 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. The eNB 305 sends ( 356 ) a PRB bitmap of the LTE PUSCH grant to the gNB 310 to inform the LTE UL grant time and the PUSCH PRB frequency of the grant for the 5G gNB 310 . The authorized PRB bitmap may be transferred via the UP tunnel.

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

In option 2, when the UE 315 determines that the interfering PUSCH PRBs granted by the eNB 305 continue to decrease for some TTIs but the 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 not used by the eNB 305 authorization. As shown, after UE 315 receives (360) the LTE UL grant from eNB 305, UE 315 performs (362) PUSCH transmission on non-interfering PRBs of the PRBs indicated in the LTE UL grant. Thus, the eNB 305 can use both all granted PRBs and non-interfering PRBs for channel estimation and further decoding. For example, two grant modes of granted PRBs may be indicated from the MAC packet scheduler to the uplink PHY channelizer in eNB 305, including one for all granted PRBs and the other for non-interfering PRBs . In the event that decoding fails on all granted PRBs, the PHY channelizer can perform channel estimation on non-interfering PRBs to avoid decoding errors due to low SNR.

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart 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, 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 the number of interference 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 interference resource units allocated to the first communication 120 until an event occurs. An event includes the number of interfering resource units falling 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 falling below a threshold number. In some example embodiments, the request for coordinated scheduling may be received by the first network device 105 from the terminal device 115 in a BSR message.

In some example embodiments, the first network device 105 may send an indication of the first set of resource elements allocated for the first communication 120 to the second network device 110 after receiving the request from the terminal device 115 to perform coordinated scheduling. In some example embodiments, the indication of the first set of resource elements 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 the UP tunnel.

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

In some example embodiments, the first network device 105 may send an indication of the plurality of interference resource units to the second network device 110 in a SGNB modification request message. In some example embodiments, the first network device 105 may send an indication of the plurality of interference resource units 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 shows a flowchart of an example method 500 in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 500 may be implemented by the second network device 110 shown in FIG. 1 . For discussion purposes, method 500 will be described with reference to FIG. 1 .

At block 505 , the second network device 110 determines that at least one interference 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 reduces 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 the number of interference resource units to be allocated for the first communication 120 .

In some example embodiments, the request is sent via the 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 the first network device and at least one of the second network devices 105 and 110 . UP tunnels may include, but are not limited to, GTP-U tunnels.

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

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

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of an example method 600 in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 600 may be implemented by the terminal device 115 as shown in FIG. 1 . For discussion purposes, 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 the modulation order for the second communication 125 is below a threshold order. At block 610, the terminal device 115 detects a continuous decrease in the number of interference resource units allocated to the first communication 120. At block 615, the end device 115 determines the action to be performed. The action includes 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 interference resource units from the first network device 105 in a handover command message.

All operations and features as described above with reference to FIGS. 1-3 are equally applicable to methods 400-600 and have similar effect. For simplicity, details will be omitted.

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

As shown, the device 700 includes a processor 710, a memory 720 coupled to the processor 710, a communication module 730 coupled to the processor 710, and a communication interface (not shown) coupled to the communication module 730. The memory 720 stores at least the program 740 . The communication module 730 is used for two-way communication, eg, via multiple antennas. A communication interface can represent any interface required for communication.

Program 740 is assumed to include program instructions that, when executed by associated processor 710, enable device 700 to operate in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure as discussed herein with reference to FIGS. 2-5. The 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.

Memory 720 may be of any type suitable for a local technology network 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 Storage and Removable Storage. 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 for a local technology network, and may include, by way of non-limiting example, general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), and processors based on multi-core processor architectures. one or more of the. Device 700 may have multiple processors, such as application specific integrated circuit chips that are temporally slaved to a clock synchronized with the main processor.

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

All operations and features described above with reference to FIGS. 1-6 are equally applicable to device 700 and have similar effects. For simplicity, details will be omitted.

In general, the various embodiments of the present 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 that may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. Although various aspects of the embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other graphical representation, it should be understood that the blocks, apparatuses, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be Implemented in hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controllers, or other computing devices, 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 includes computer-executable instructions, such as computer-executable instructions included in program modules, which are executed in a device on a target real or virtual processor to perform the methods 400 to 600 described above with reference to FIGS. 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 among the program modules as desired. The machine-executable instructions of the program modules may be executed within local or distributed devices. In a distributed facility, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

Program code for carrying out the methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. The 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, perform the functions specified in the flowcharts and/or block diagrams /Operation is 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 the various processes and operations described above. Examples of carriers include signals, computer-readable media, and the like.

The computer-readable medium may be a computer-readable signal medium or a computer-readable storage medium. Computer-readable media may include, but are not limited to, electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor systems, devices, or devices, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of computer readable storage media would include electrical connections having one or more wires, portable computer floppy disks, hard disks, random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM or flash memory), fiber optics, portable compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM), digital versatile disc (DVD), optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, or any suitable combination of the above.

Additionally, although operations are described in a particular order, this should not be construed as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown, or sequential order, or that all operations shown be performed to obtain desirable results. In some cases, multitasking and parallel processing can be advantageous. Likewise, while the above discussion contains several specific implementation details, 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 as 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. In addition to or in addition to the above, the following examples are described. Features described in any of the examples below can be used with any of the other examples described herein.

In some aspects, the 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 are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the first network device: from the first Two network devices receive a request to reduce the number of interference resource units to be allocated to a first communication between the first network device and a terminal device dual-connected to the first network device and the second network device and in response to receiving the request, continuously reducing the number of interference resource units allocated to the first communication until an event occurs, the event comprising at least one of the following: receiving from the terminal device coordinated scheduling by the first network device and the second network device requests, and the number of interfering resource units is below the threshold number.

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

In some example embodiments, the indication of the first set of resource elements is sent to the second network device via a user plane tunnel between the medium access control layer of the first network device and the medium 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: via between a medium access control layer of the first network device and a medium access control layer of the second network device The user plane tunnel between the two receives the request from the second network device.

In some example embodiments, the first network device is further caused to establish 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 interference resource units is included in the plurality of interference resource units, and the first network device is further caused to: send an indication of the plurality of interference resource units to the second network device in the SGNB modification request message .

In some example embodiments, the first network device is further caused to: in the handover command message, send an indication of the plurality of interference resource units 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 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 at least one One interference resource unit is allocated for the second communication between the second network device and the terminal device, and the terminal device is dual-connected with the first network device and the second network device; if the second communication is degraded, the second communication is continuously degraded the modulation order until the modulation order is lower than a threshold order; and sending a request to the first network device to reduce the number of interference resource units allocated for the first communication between the first network device and the terminal device.

In some example embodiments, the at least one interference resource element is included in the plurality of interference resource elements, and the second network device is caused to determine that the at least one interference resource element is allocated for the second communication by: modifying the request at the SGNB In the message, an indication of the plurality of interference resource units is received from the first network device; and based on the received indication, it is determined that at least one interference resource unit of the plurality of interference 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: via a user between the media access control layer of the second network device and the media access control layer of the first network device The flat tunnel sends a request to the first network device.

In some example embodiments, the second network device is further caused to: receive from the first network device an indication of the first set of resource elements allocated for the first communication; determine that the at least one interfering resource element is included in the first set of resource elements and assigning a second set of resource elements for the second communication, the second set of resource elements not including at least one interfering resource element in the first set of resource elements.

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

In some example embodiments, the second network device is further caused to establish a 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.

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

In some aspects, the terminal device includes: at least one processor; and at least one memory, the 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, enable the first network device The terminal device dual-connected with the second network device: determine that the second communication with the second network device is degraded and the modulation order for the second communication is lower than the threshold order; the number of allocated interference resource units decreases continuously; and determining an action to be performed, the action comprising: sending a request to the first network device for coordinated scheduling by the first network device and the second network device, or using the first network device The first communication with the first network device is performed for non-interfering resource elements in the first set of resources allocated 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 interference resource units is included in the plurality of interference resource units, and the terminal device is further caused to receive, in the handover command message, an indication of the plurality of interference resource units from the first network device.

In some aspects, a method implemented by a first network device includes receiving a request from a second network device to reduce a number of interference resource units allocated for a first communication between the first network device and a terminal device, the terminal device and the A network device and a second network device are dual-connected; and in response to receiving the request, continuously reducing the number of interference resource units allocated for the first communication until an event occurs, the event comprising at least one of the following: receiving the first communication from the terminal device The number of requests for coordinated scheduling by the network device and the second network device and the number of interference resource units is lower than the threshold number.

In some example embodiments, the method further comprises: in response to receiving the request for coordinated scheduling from the terminal device, sending an indication of the first set of resource elements allocated for the first communication to the second network device.

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

In some example embodiments, receiving the request to reduce the number of interference resource units includes receiving data from the second network device via a user plane tunnel between the medium access control layer of the first network device and the medium access control layer of the second network device network device request.

In some example embodiments, the method further includes establishing a user plane tunnel with the 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 user plane tunnel comprises a general packet radio service tunneling protocol user plane tunnel.

In some example embodiments, the number of interference resource elements is included in the plurality of interference resource elements, and the method further comprises: sending an indication of the number of interference resource elements to the second network device in the SGNB modification request message.

In some example embodiments, the method further includes: in the handover command message, sending an indication of the plurality of interference resource units to the terminal device.

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

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

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

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

In some example embodiments, the method further comprises: receiving an indication from the first network device of a first set of resource elements allocated for the first communication; determining that at least one interfering resource element is included in the first set of resource elements; and for The second communication allocates a second set of resource elements, and the second set of resource elements does not include at least one interfering resource element in the first set of resource elements.

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

In some example embodiments, the method further includes establishing a user plane tunnel with the first 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 user plane tunnel comprises a general packet radio service tunneling protocol user plane tunnel.

In some aspects, a method implemented by a terminal device dual-connected to a first network device and a second network device includes 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 continuous decrease in the number of interference resource units allocated for the first communication with the first network device; and determining an action to be performed, the action comprising: sending a message to the first network device sent by the first network device and the second network The device makes a request for coordinated scheduling, or performs the first communication with the first network device using non-interfering resource units in the first resource set 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 interference resource elements is included in the plurality of interference resource elements, and the method further comprises receiving, in the handover command message, an indication of the plurality of interference resource elements from the first network device.

In some aspects, an apparatus includes means for receiving, by a first network device from a second network device, a request to reduce a number of interference resource units allocated for a first communication between the first network device and a terminal device, the terminal The device is dual-connected with the first network device and the second network device; and means for continuously reducing the number of interference resource units allocated for the first communication in response to receiving the request until an event occurs, the event comprising at least one of the following : 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 interference resource units is lower than the threshold number.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for sending, to the second network device, an indication of allocating the first set of resource elements for the first communication in response to receiving the request from the terminal device for coordinated scheduling.

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

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

In some example embodiments, the apparatus further includes means for establishing a user plane tunnel with the 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 user plane tunnel comprises a general packet radio service tunneling protocol user plane tunnel.

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

In some example embodiments, the apparatus further includes means for sending an indication of the plurality of interference resource units to the terminal device in the handover command message.

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 apparatus includes means for determining, by the second network device, that at least one interference resource unit is allocated for a second communication between the second network device and a terminal device, the terminal device and the first network device and the second a network device dual connection; means for continuously reducing the modulation order of the second communication if the second communication is degraded until the modulation order is lower than a threshold order; and means for sending a reduction for the first network device to the first network device A component of the request for the number of interference resource units allocated by the first communication between the network device and the terminal device.

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

In some example embodiments, the means for sending the request to the first network device comprises: 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 , the component that sends the request to the first network device.

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

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

In some example embodiments, the apparatus further includes means for establishing a user plane tunnel with the first 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 user plane tunnel comprises a general packet radio service tunneling protocol user plane tunnel.

In some aspects, the apparatus includes: for determining, by a terminal device dual-connected to the first network device and the second network device, that the second communication with the second network device is degraded and that the modulation order for the second communication is below a threshold order means for detecting a continuous decrease in the number of interference resource units allocated for the first communication with the first network device; and means for determining an action to be performed, the action comprising: sending a request to the first network device Send a request for coordinated scheduling by the first network device and the second network device, or use non-interfering resource units in the first resource set allocated by the first network device for the first communication to perform a first communication with the first network device. 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 interference resource units is included in the plurality of interference resource units, and the apparatus further includes means for receiving an indication of the plurality of interference resource units from the first network device in the handover command message.

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 methods according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

Claims (44)

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:

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.

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

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.

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:

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

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;

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.

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:

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 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:

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.

32. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

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

determining that 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.

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:

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; and

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.

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:

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

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:

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.

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:

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.

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.

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