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WO2022071098A1 - Terminal device for establishing time synchronization, control method, and program - Google Patents

Terminal device for establishing time synchronization, control method, and program Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2022071098A1
WO2022071098A1 PCT/JP2021/035005 JP2021035005W WO2022071098A1 WO 2022071098 A1 WO2022071098 A1 WO 2022071098A1 JP 2021035005 W JP2021035005 W JP 2021035005W WO 2022071098 A1 WO2022071098 A1 WO 2022071098A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
base station
reference time
station device
terminal device
information
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/JP2021/035005
Other languages
French (fr)
Japanese (ja)
Inventor
洋樹 武田
ヤンウェイ 李
Original Assignee
Kddi株式会社
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Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Kddi株式会社 filed Critical Kddi株式会社
Publication of WO2022071098A1 publication Critical patent/WO2022071098A1/en

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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W56/00—Synchronisation arrangements
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W88/00—Devices specially adapted for wireless communication networks, e.g. terminals, base stations or access point devices
    • H04W88/02—Terminal devices
    • H04W88/06—Terminal devices adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a time synchronization technique in a cellular communication system.
  • the base station device may notify the terminal device of the reference time, and the terminal device may establish time synchronization based on the notified reference time. (See Non-Patent Document 1).
  • the base station device can notify the terminal device of this reference time information by broadcasting or individual signaling.
  • the terminal device may be connectable to the 5G base station device only in the form of EN (EUTRA-NR) -DC (Dual Connectivity).
  • EN EUTRA-NR
  • DC Dual Connectivity
  • the terminal device receives the main control information from the EUTRA (Long Term Evolution (LTE)) base station device, and cannot acquire control information such as reference time information from the 5G base station device. .. Therefore, the terminal device cannot establish highly accurate time synchronization based on the reference time information transmitted by the 5G base station device.
  • the present invention provides a technique that enables a terminal device to establish highly accurate time synchronization with a base station device.
  • the terminal device acquires information on the reference time from the receiving means for receiving the notification signal transmitted from the second base station device and the notification time from the notification signal while waiting in the first base station device. It has an acquisition means for establishing a time synchronization and an establishment means for establishing time synchronization based on the information of the reference time.
  • the terminal device can establish highly accurate time synchronization with the base station device.
  • FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a wireless communication system.
  • FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration example of a terminal device and a base station device.
  • FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a functional configuration example of the terminal device.
  • FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a functional configuration example of the base station device.
  • FIG. 5 is a schematic explanatory view of an example of processing executed by the terminal device.
  • FIG. 6 is a schematic explanatory view of an example of processing executed by the base station apparatus.
  • FIG. 7 is a schematic explanatory diagram of an example of a process for establishing time synchronization using reference times from a plurality of base station devices.
  • FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of the wireless communication system according to the present embodiment.
  • the wireless communication system includes, for example, a first base station device 101 and a second base station device 102.
  • the wireless communication system also includes a terminal device 111 that can be connected to the first base station device 101 and the second base station device 102 by Dual Connectivity.
  • the first base station device 101 shall provide the primary cell
  • the second base station device 102 shall provide the secondary cell. That is, the terminal device 111 establishes a connection with the second base station device 102 based on the connection with the first base station device 101, and is parallel to the first base station device 101 and the second base station device 102. Can communicate with each other.
  • the second base station device 102 is a fifth generation (5G) base station device, and can notify the terminal device 111 of the reference time.
  • the first base station device 101 may be a 5G base station device or a long-term evolution (LTE) base station device.
  • the primary cell may be, for example, a macro cell having a relatively wide coverage area in order to enable sufficiently stable execution of control communication.
  • the secondary cell may be, for example, a small cell having a relatively narrow coverage area in order to secure sufficient communication capacity.
  • the terminal device 111 can establish time synchronization with high accuracy by acquiring the reference time information from the 5G base station device.
  • a 5G base station device is configured to be capable of transmitting information at a reference time on the level of 10 nanoseconds.
  • the reference time information is transmitted by a broadcast signal (SIB9) or an individual control signal (DLInformationTransfer).
  • SIB9 broadcast signal
  • DLInformationTransfer individual control signal
  • the terminal device 111 cannot receive these signals from the second base station device 102 that provides the secondary cell. That is, the terminal device 111 does not receive the broadcast signal of the second base station device 102 while connected to the first base station device 101 that provides the primary cell.
  • the terminal device 111 since the individual control signal is received only from the first base station device 101, the terminal device 111 does not receive the individual control signal from the second base station device 102. This is because the individual control information of the second base station device 102 is transmitted from the first base station device 101. The individual control information to be transmitted to the terminal device 111 is transferred from the second base station device 102 to the first base station device 101, but the DL Information Transfer is the first from the second base station device 102. It is not transferred to the base station device 101. This is because DLInformationTransfer is not transmitted by SRB3, which is an SRB (Signalling Radio Bearer) for transmitting information for Dual Connectivity from the network to the terminal device.
  • SRB3 is an SRB (Signalling Radio Bearer) for transmitting information for Dual Connectivity from the network to the terminal device.
  • the terminal device does not receive SIB9 and DLInformation Transfer from the second base station device 102 connected based on the connection with the first base station device 101 in Dual Connectivity.
  • the terminal device 111 is compatible only with EUTRA-NR Dual Connectivity (EN-DC), and unless it is connected to the first base station device 101 of Long Term Evolution (LTE), it is the second of 5G. If it is not connected to the base station device 102, the reference time information cannot be acquired from the 5G base station device. Further, when the first base station device 101 is a 5G base station device, the terminal device 111 can acquire the reference time information from the first base station device 101, as described above.
  • the terminal device 111 may not be able to establish accurate time synchronization.
  • the terminal device 111 can establish accurate time synchronization, but in this case, the frequency of handover at the time of connection and cell reselection during standby is high. As a result, the stability of communication may decrease.
  • the terminal device 111 can acquire the reference time information from the second base station device 102. That is, the present embodiment provides a mechanism for enabling the terminal device 111 to receive information on the reference time that could not be received in the secondary cell of the conventional Dual Connectivity as described above. According to this, the terminal device 111 can acquire the reference time information in the small cell where the propagation delay is expected to be sufficiently small, and it becomes possible to establish highly accurate time synchronization. ..
  • the second base station device 102 transmits the signal that needs to be transmitted to the terminal device 111 when connecting to and communicating with the terminal device 111, including the reference time information.
  • the second base station device 102 may transmit, for example, including reference time information in the downlink control information (DCI) in order to specify a radio resource (resource block) used in communication with the terminal device 111. ..
  • the second base station apparatus 102 may transmit, for example, including the reference time information in the control element (MAC CE) for controlling the medium access control (MAC) layer.
  • MAC CE control element
  • the second base station device 102 uses radio resource control (RRC) messages transmitted and received at the timing when the connection between the terminal device 111 and the second base station device 102 is started to obtain information on the reference time. It is possible to notify the terminal device 111.
  • RRC radio resource control
  • the second base station apparatus 102 is connected to the terminal apparatus 111 connected to the second base station apparatus 102 by Dual Connectivity with the cell formed by the first base station apparatus 101 as the primary cell.
  • the reference time information is transmitted by the signal addressed to the terminal device 111, which is necessary for communication with the terminal device 111.
  • the terminal device 111 can receive the reference time information from the second base station device 102 in the secondary cell while maintaining the conventional control signaling mechanism of Dual Connectivity.
  • the conventional DLInformationTransfer is used to notify the reference time information, it is not accurate because the terminal device 111 may retransmit the packet including the reference time information by wireless link control (RLC) if it fails to receive the packet.
  • RLC wireless link control
  • the time information may be notified to the terminal device 111.
  • the second base station device 102 may transmit the reference time information to the terminal device 111 as a response to the request. .. Further, the second base station device 102 executes timing advance (TA) control in order to ensure the orthogonality of the uplink signal of the connected terminal device 111, for example, and is connected to the terminal device 111. Propagation delay can be estimated.
  • TA timing advance
  • the second base station device 102 may notify the terminal device 111 of the information of the reference time offset by the magnitude of the estimated propagation delay. That is, for example, when the propagation delay estimated value is 3 nanoseconds, the second base station device 102 can add 3 nanoseconds to the value of the reference time and transmit it to the terminal device 111. According to this, it is possible to make the difference between the time when the information of the reference time is received in the terminal device 111 and the value of the reference time smaller. It should be noted that the second base station apparatus 102 may transmit a small number of bits (for example, 1 bit) of information indicating whether or not the propagation delay estimated value is the information of the reference time in consideration together with the information of the reference time. good.
  • the method according to this embodiment can also be applied when the terminal device 111 is connected to the device and the second base station device.
  • the second base station device 102 can provide the information of the reference time to the terminal device 111 during connection or connection processing, but is in standby (in a non-connected state). ) Information on the reference time cannot be provided to the terminal device 111. Therefore, the second base station device 102 sends out the reference time information by the SIB 9 as in the conventional case, so that the terminal device 111 can receive the reference time information. That is, the terminal device 111 receives the notification signal transmitted from the second base station device 102 while waiting in the first base station device 101, and acquires the reference time information from the notification signal. .. For example, the terminal device 111 receives the notification signal transmitted from the second base station device 102 at the timing when the reference time information is transmitted from the second base station device 102, and the reference time is transmitted from the notification signal. Information can be obtained.
  • the first base station apparatus 101 may include information on whether or not the reference time information is transmitted from the second base station apparatus 102 in the notification signal and transmit the notification signal.
  • the first base station device 101 is a cell in which at least a part of the range thereof overlaps with the cell formed by the own device, and the base station device forming a cell that can be used as a secondary cell in Dual Connectivity is referred to. Information on whether or not to send time information can be notified. Further, the first base station device 101 provides information on whether or not another base station device constituting a cell formed by the own device and a cell in which at least a part of the range overlaps sends information on the reference time. You may notify.
  • the terminal device 111 can receive the notification signal from the second base station device 102 only when the information of the reference time is transmitted. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the power consumption of the terminal device 111 from being unnecessarily consumed.
  • the transmission timing information of the notification signal including the reference time information from the second base station device 102 is notified to the terminal device 111 by the notification signal transmitted from the first base station device 101. May be good. If all of the notification signals include information on the reference time, information such as the transmission cycle of the notification signal may be notified to the terminal device 111. Further, the information of the reference time may be transmitted once for each notification signal of a predetermined number of times. In this case, the information of the predetermined number of times may be notified to the terminal device 111. Based on this notification signal, the terminal device 111 identifies the timing at which the reference time information is transmitted from the second base station device 102, and receives the notification signal from the second base station device 102 at that timing. You may do it.
  • the terminal device 111 When the terminal device 111 is in standby in the first base station device 101, the terminal device 111 needs to receive the notification signal of the first base station device 101. Therefore, when the timing at which the terminal device 111 receives the notification signal of the first base station device 101 and the timing at which the information at the reference time is transmitted by the second base station device 102 coincide with each other, for example, the first one.
  • the broadcast signal of the base station apparatus 101 may be preferentially received. Further, for example, the terminal device 111 may receive the reference time information from the second base station device 102 without receiving a part of the notification signal of the first base station device 101. If the terminal device 111 can receive the notification signal from the first base station device 101 and the information of the reference time from the second base station device 102 in parallel, such control is performed.
  • the terminal device 111 receives the information according to the respective timings. All you have to do is execute the process.
  • the first base station apparatus 101 uses the above information of the second base station apparatus 102 as parameters Served Cell Information NR, X2 SETUP REQUEST, etc. defined in the Xn interface such as XN SETUP REQUEST and XN SETUP RESPONSE. It may be acquired by the parameter Served Cell Information defined in the X2 interface such as X2 SETUP RESPONSE.
  • the second base station apparatus 102 can notify the reference time information by DCI (DCI format 1_0 with CRC scrambled by P-RNTI) used for scheduling the paging message.
  • DCI DCI format 1_0 with CRC scrambled by P-RNTI
  • P-RNTI Paging Radio Network Temporary Identifier
  • the scheduling of the paging message is to specify the frequency position and the timing at which the paging message is transmitted.
  • the reference time information can be notified by DCI (DCI format 1_0 with CRC scrambled by SI-RNTI) used for scheduling system information.
  • SI-RNTI is an acronym for System Information RNTI.
  • the second base station device 102 may notify the reference time information by WakeUpSignal (WUS) for activating the terminal device 111 in the standby state such as the RRC_Idle state.
  • WUS WakeUpSignal
  • the terminal device 111 establishes time synchronization using the received reference time information. That is, the terminal device 111 adjusts the internal clock according to the received reference time information.
  • the terminal device 111 receives, for example, information on the first reference time from the first base station device 101, establishes time synchronization using the information on the first reference time, and establishes time synchronization, and the second base station.
  • Information on the second reference time may be received from the device 102 as described above, and the second reference time may be used to correct the established time synchronization.
  • the first base station device 101 is a 5G base station device
  • the first base station device 101 can transmit reference time information by SIB9 or the like as before.
  • the first base station device 101 can transmit information on a rough reference time.
  • the terminal device 111 establishes a coarse time synchronization using the information of the reference time.
  • the terminal device 111 can refine the roughly established time synchronization by using the information of the reference time transmitted by the second base station device 102 as described above.
  • the reference time information to be transmitted by the second base station apparatus 102 can be in a format that does not include rough time information, for example, only in nanosecond units. It is possible to sufficiently reduce the size of the reference time information transmitted by the base station apparatus 102 of 2.
  • the communication device includes, in one example, a processor 201, a ROM 202, a RAM 203, a storage device 204, and a communication circuit 205.
  • the processor 201 is a computer including one or more processing circuits such as a general-purpose CPU (central processing unit) and an ASIC (integrated circuit for a specific application), and is stored in a ROM 202 or a storage device 204. By reading and executing the existing program, the entire processing of the communication device and each of the above-mentioned processing are executed.
  • the ROM 202 is a read-only memory that stores information such as programs and various parameters related to processing executed by the communication device.
  • the RAM 203 is a random access memory that functions as a workspace when the processor 201 executes a program and stores temporary information.
  • the storage device 204 is configured by, for example, a detachable external storage device or the like.
  • the communication circuit 205 is composed of, for example, a circuit for LTE or 5G wireless communication. Although one communication circuit 205 is shown in FIG. 2, the communication device (for example, the terminal device 111 is for LTE and 5G, and the second base station device 102 is for 5G and wired communication) is shown. ) Can have multiple communication circuits.
  • the communication device may have a separate communication circuit 205 for each of the plurality of usable frequency bands, or may have a common communication circuit 205 for at least a part of those frequency bands. good. Further, for example, the terminal device 111 may have not only the communication circuit 205 for cellular communication but also the communication circuit 205 corresponding to other wireless communication standards such as wireless LAN.
  • FIG. 3 shows an example of the functional configuration of the terminal device 111 according to the present embodiment.
  • the terminal device 111 has, for example, a reference time information acquisition unit 301 and a synchronization establishment unit 302 as its functional configuration.
  • FIG. 3 shows only the functions particularly related to the present embodiment, and the illustration of various other functions that the terminal device 111 may have is omitted.
  • the terminal device 111 naturally has other functions generally possessed by the terminal device in the cellular communication system.
  • the functional blocks in FIG. 3 are schematically shown, and each functional block may be integrated or further subdivided.
  • each function of FIG. 3 may be realized, for example, by the processor 201 executing a program stored in the ROM 202 or the storage device 204, for example, a processor existing inside the communication circuit 205 is predetermined. It may be realized by running the software.
  • the reference time information acquisition unit 301 acquires reference time information from the second base station device 102. For example, the reference time information acquisition unit 301 extracts and acquires reference time information from DCI and MAC CE included in the signal transmitted from the connected second base station device 102 to the terminal device 111. Further, the reference time information acquisition unit 301 may acquire information on the reference time included in the RRC message, for example, when establishing a connection with the second base station apparatus 102. The reference time information acquisition unit 301 requests the second base station apparatus 102 for the reference time information, and as described above, the reference time information acquisition unit 301 includes the reference time information as a response to the request. It may be configured to receive various signals.
  • the reference time information acquisition unit 301 may be configured to receive a notification signal including reference time information from the second base station device 102 during standby in the first base station device 101.
  • the reference time information acquisition unit 301 can acquire, for example, a paging message from the second base station apparatus 102 and information on the reference time included in the system information.
  • the reference time information acquisition unit 301 may be configured to acquire information on the reference time included in the DCI used for scheduling the paging message and the DCI used for scheduling the system information.
  • the reference time information acquisition unit 301 uses only when the second base station device 102 sends out the reference time information by the notification signal from the first base station device 101, the second base station device. It may be configured to receive the broadcast signal from 102.
  • the reference time information acquisition unit 301 specifies the information for specifying the transmission timing by the notification signal transmitted by the first base station apparatus 101. You may.
  • the reference time information acquisition unit 301 cannot receive, for example, the first notification signal from the first base station device 101 and the second notification signal from the second base station device 102 in parallel. When the reception timings of these notification signals overlap, control can be performed so as to set the timing for receiving the second notification signal, for example, by skipping the reception of the first notification signal.
  • the synchronization establishment unit 302 establishes time synchronization using the acquired reference time information. For example, the synchronization establishment unit 302 adjusts the internal clock of the terminal device 111 so as to match the acquired reference time.
  • the synchronization establishment unit 302 uses, for example, both the information of the first reference time acquired from the first base station apparatus 101 and the information of the second reference time acquired from the second base station apparatus 102. It may be configured to establish time synchronization. For example, a coarse synchronization on the order of milliseconds may be established based on the information of the first reference time, and a fine synchronization on the order of nanoseconds may be established based on the information of the second reference time.
  • FIG. 4 shows an example of the functional configuration of the second base station device 102.
  • the second base station device 102 has, for example, a reference time acquisition unit 401 and a reference time information notification unit 402 as its functional configuration.
  • FIG. 4 shows only the functions particularly related to the present embodiment, and the illustration of various other functions that the second base station apparatus 102 may have is omitted.
  • the second base station apparatus 102 naturally has other functions generally possessed by the 5G base station apparatus.
  • the functional blocks in FIG. 4 are schematically shown, and each functional block may be integrated or further subdivided.
  • each function of FIG. 4 may be realized, for example, by the processor 201 executing a program stored in the ROM 202 or the storage device 204, and for example, a processor existing inside the communication circuit 205 may be predetermined. It may be realized by running the software.
  • the reference time acquisition unit 401 acquires the time notified as the reference time from the internal clock of the second base station device 102. It is assumed that the internal clock of the second base station device 102 keeps accurate time by using, for example, GPS (Global Positioning System) or the like.
  • the reference time information notification unit 402 transmits a signal including the acquired time as the reference time. For example, the reference time information notification unit 402 transmits a signal with DCI or MAC CE including reference time information to the connected terminal device 111. Further, the reference time information notification unit 402 can transmit an RRC message including the reference time information to the terminal device 111 during the connection process.
  • the reference time information notification unit 402 may transmit a signal including the reference time information as a response to the request only when the request is received from the terminal device 111, or the reference time information.
  • the notification unit 402 may transmit system information (SIB9) including reference time information, for example, as defined in a conventional standard. Further, the reference time information notification unit 402 may send, for example, include the reference time information in the paging message. Further, the reference time information notification unit 402 may transmit the reference time information including the reference time information in the DCI for scheduling the paging message and the system information.
  • SIB9 system information
  • SIB9 system information
  • the reference time information notification unit 402 may send, for example, include the reference time information in the paging message.
  • the reference time information notification unit 402 may transmit the reference time information including the reference time information in the DCI for scheduling the paging message and the system information.
  • the reference time information notification unit 402 can estimate the propagation delay between the second base station device 102 and the terminal device 111, for example, when controlling the timing advance, the terminal device 111
  • the information of the reference time to be addressed may be transmitted offset by the estimated propagation delay value.
  • the terminal device 111 when the terminal device 111 is connected to the second base station device 102 (or is in the process of establishing a connection) (YES in S501), that is, the second base station device 102 sends a signal addressed to the terminal device 111. If transmission is possible, information on the reference time included in the signal addressed to the own device from the second base station device 102 is acquired (S502). In this case, the terminal device 111 may request the reference time information to acquire the reference time information as a response to the request.
  • the second base station device 102 transmits a signal addressed to the terminal device 111. If this is not possible, the notification signal transmitted from the second base station device 102 is received, and the reference time information is acquired from the notification signal (S503).
  • the terminal device 111 adjusts the internal clock based on the acquired reference time information to establish time synchronization (S504).
  • the second base station apparatus 102 may notify the reference time information in a format different from this processing as described above.
  • the second base station apparatus 102 first acquires the time to be notified from the internal clock (S601). It is assumed that the internal clock keeps a highly accurate time by GPS or the like. Subsequently, the second base station apparatus 102 generates and transmits a signal including the reference time information generated based on the acquired information (S602).
  • the second base station apparatus 102 adds the processing delay time or the like to the acquired time, specifies the time corresponding to the timing at which the signal is actually transmitted, and specifies the information of the reference time. Send the included signal. Further, when the second base station device 102 transmits the information of the reference time to the specific terminal device 111 and the propagation delay estimated value to the terminal device 111 can be acquired, the propagation delay thereof. The time when the estimated value is further added may be specified as the reference time, and the signal including the information of the reference time may be transmitted. The second base station device 102, for example, when transmitting reference time information to a specific terminal device 111 during connection / connection establishment processing such as a source of a request signal, the terminal device 111.
  • the second base station device 102 transmits the reference time information for the terminal device 111 that is not connected, the second base station device 102 is used for notification signals such as system information and paging messages, and for scheduling those signals.
  • Information on the reference time can be transmitted by DCI or the like.
  • the terminal device 111 can acquire the reference time information from the base station device (second base station device 102) of the secondary cell of the Dual Connectivity, which generally tends to have a small cell size, and the propagation delay. Time synchronization can be established with the influence of the above suppressed sufficiently.
  • the influence of the processing delay can be reduced.
  • the processing delay can be further reduced as compared with MAC CE.
  • the layer becomes higher the amount of information of the reference time information can be increased, and the time information can be accurately expressed.
  • coarse synchronization is established based on the reference time information from the first base station device 101, and fine details are established based on the reference time information from the second base station device 102. Synchronization can be established. According to this, the amount of information of the reference time information to be transmitted from the second base station device 102 is reduced, and the information of the reference time is notified to the terminal device 111 in a format in which the amount of information such as DCI is limited. Will be able to. The outline of such processing will be described with reference to FIG. 7.
  • the first base station device 101 is an LTE base station device and the second base station device 102 is a 5G base station device.
  • the first base station device 101 transmits a signal having 0 microsecond 0 nanosecond as a reference time to the terminal device 111 by an RRC message (DLInformationTransfer) at a timing of 0 microsecond 0 nanosecond. ..
  • RRC message DLInformationTransfer
  • the first base station apparatus 101 also requires time for processing the internal MAC layer and the physical layer by transmitting the RRC message, which causes a delay. Further, since the propagation distance between the first base station device 101 and the terminal device 111 is long, a relatively long propagation delay may occur.
  • the terminal device 111 receives the signal at a timing of 0 microseconds and 8 nanoseconds.
  • the terminal device 111 sets the internal clock to 0 microseconds and 0 nanoseconds according to the information of the reference time.
  • the internal clock of the terminal device 111 ticks 0 microseconds and 0 nanoseconds even though the actual time is 0 microseconds and 8 nanoseconds, resulting in a deviation of 8 nanoseconds.
  • the second base station apparatus 102 transmits the reference time at the timing of 0 microseconds and 20 nanoseconds. At this time, the second base station apparatus 102 transmits only the unit of nanoseconds as the reference time.
  • the second base station device 102 transmits to the terminal device 111 with the reference time set to 20 nanoseconds.
  • the propagation distance between the second base station device 102 and the terminal device 111 is sufficiently short, and the propagation delay is also small.
  • the processing delay can be reduced as compared with the case of transmitting by the RRC message.
  • the MAC CE whose reference time is set to 20 nanoseconds arrives at the terminal device 111 at the timing of 0 microseconds and 22 nanoseconds.
  • the terminal device 111 sets the internal clock to 0 microseconds and 20 nanoseconds based on this reference time information. According to this, the deviation from the actual time is suppressed to 2 microseconds.
  • the second base station device 102 can acquire an estimated value of propagation delay with the terminal device 111, for example, by controlling the timing advance.
  • the second base station apparatus 102 can use the value obtained by adding the propagation delay estimated value to the time at which the reference time is transmitted as the reference time.
  • the second base station device 102 shall transmit information on the reference time at a timing of x microseconds and 20 nanoseconds.
  • the propagation delay is estimated to be 2 nanoseconds
  • the second base station apparatus 102 adds 2 nanoseconds to the timing of transmitting the actual reference time information, and sets the reference time to 22 nanoseconds. It can be transmitted to the terminal device 111 as seconds.
  • the time when the terminal device 111 actually receives the reference time is x microseconds and 22 nanoseconds, and by adjusting the internal clock according to the reference time, it is possible to establish time synchronization with higher accuracy. It becomes.
  • the second base station device 102 and the terminal device 111 as described above, in one or more devices / equipment provided with one or more terminal devices 111, high accuracy is achieved by using the mechanism of the cellular communication system. It is possible to establish time synchronization, for example, to execute machine drive control based on time with high accuracy.
  • the reference time is set from the base station device having a sufficiently small propagation delay to the terminal device. It is sufficiently effective just to transmit the information, and it is possible to obtain the same effect even if the information of the reference time is transmitted by the RRC message. Further, for example, by using DCI, processing in the MAC layer becomes unnecessary, so that more accurate processing can be executed.
  • the first base station device 101 is an LTE base station device and the second base station device 102 is a 5G base station device
  • the present invention is limited to this. not.
  • the first base station device 101 and the second base station device 102 may both be 5G base station devices, and these base station devices are both LTE base station devices. May be good.
  • the first base station device 101 may be a 5G base station device
  • the second base station device 102 may be an LTE base station device.
  • the terminal device 111 even after the time synchronization is once established, it is assumed that the time of the internal clock and the actual time may deviate due to the performance of the oscillator of the own device. Therefore, the terminal device 111 periodically executes the above-mentioned time synchronization process. If this process is executed frequently, the power consumption of the terminal device 111 increases. Therefore, this process should be executed at an appropriate frequency. Therefore, the terminal device 111 may hold information such as a catalog value indicating the performance of the oscillator in the terminal device 111, and determine the frequency of receiving the reference time information based on this information. .. That is, the terminal device 111 can reduce the frequency of receiving information at the reference time as the oscillator has higher performance, and increase the frequency of receiving information at the reference time as the oscillator has lower performance.

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Abstract

This terminal device receives a notification signal transmitted from a second base station device during a standby state in a first base station device, acquires information about a reference time from the notification signal, and establishes time synchronization on the basis of the information about the reference time.

Description

時刻同期を確立する端末装置、制御方法、およびプログラムTerminal devices, control methods, and programs that establish time synchronization
　本発明は、セルラ通信システムにおける時刻同期技術に関する。 The present invention relates to a time synchronization technique in a cellular communication system.
　第５世代（５Ｇ）のセルラ通信システムにおいては、基地局装置が端末装置に対して参照時刻を通知し、端末装置がその通知された参照時刻に基づいて時刻同期を確立することができるようになっている（非特許文献１参照）。基地局装置は、ブロードキャスト又は個別シグナリングによって、この参照時刻の情報を端末装置に通知することができる。 In the 5th generation (5G) cellular communication system, the base station device may notify the terminal device of the reference time, and the terminal device may establish time synchronization based on the notified reference time. (See Non-Patent Document 1). The base station device can notify the terminal device of this reference time information by broadcasting or individual signaling.
　参照時刻の情報が基地局装置から端末装置へ通知される際の伝搬遅延の影響により、端末装置が受信した参照時刻と実際の時刻とが乖離することが想定される。このため、カバレッジエリアの大きい基地局装置から送信された参照時刻の情報は、端末装置の位置によっては、実際の時刻との乖離が大きく、時刻同期に使用することができない場合がありうる。また、端末装置が、ＥＮ（EUTRA－NR）－ＤＣ（Dual Connectivity）の態様でのみ５Ｇの基地局装置に接続可能であることがありうる。この場合、端末装置は、主たる制御情報をＥＵＴＲＡ（ロングタームエボリューション（ＬＴＥ））の基地局装置から受信し、５Ｇの基地局装置からは、参照時刻の情報などの制御情報を取得することができない。このため、端末装置は、５Ｇの基地局装置が送出する参照時刻の情報に基づく高精度な時間同期を確立することができない。 It is assumed that the reference time received by the terminal device and the actual time will deviate due to the influence of the propagation delay when the information of the reference time is notified from the base station device to the terminal device. Therefore, the reference time information transmitted from the base station device having a large coverage area may not be used for time synchronization due to a large deviation from the actual time depending on the position of the terminal device. Further, the terminal device may be connectable to the 5G base station device only in the form of EN (EUTRA-NR) -DC (Dual Connectivity). In this case, the terminal device receives the main control information from the EUTRA (Long Term Evolution (LTE)) base station device, and cannot acquire control information such as reference time information from the 5G base station device. .. Therefore, the terminal device cannot establish highly accurate time synchronization based on the reference time information transmitted by the 5G base station device.
　本発明は、端末装置が基地局装置と高精度な時刻同期を確立することを可能とする技術を提供する。 The present invention provides a technique that enables a terminal device to establish highly accurate time synchronization with a base station device.
　本発明の一態様による端末装置は、第１の基地局装置において待ち受け中に、第２の基地局装置から送出される報知信号を受信する受信手段と、当該報知信号から参照時刻の情報を取得する取得手段と、当該参照時刻の情報に基づいて時刻同期を確立する確立手段と、を有する。 The terminal device according to one aspect of the present invention acquires information on the reference time from the receiving means for receiving the notification signal transmitted from the second base station device and the notification time from the notification signal while waiting in the first base station device. It has an acquisition means for establishing a time synchronization and an establishment means for establishing time synchronization based on the information of the reference time.
　本発明によれば、端末装置が基地局装置と高精度な時刻同期を確立することができるようになる。 According to the present invention, the terminal device can establish highly accurate time synchronization with the base station device.
　本発明のその他の特徴及び利点は、添付図面を参照とした以下の説明により明らかになるであろう。なお、添付図面においては、同じ若しくは同様の構成には、同じ参照番号を付す。 Other features and advantages of the present invention will be clarified by the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the attached drawings, the same or similar configurations are given the same reference numbers.
　添付図面は明細書に含まれ、その一部を構成し、本発明の実施の形態を示し、その記述と共に本発明の原理を説明するために用いられる。
図１は、無線通信システムの構成例を示す図である。 図２は、端末装置および基地局装置のハードウェア構成例を示す図である。 図３は、端末装置の機能構成例を示す図である。 図４は、基地局装置の機能構成例を示す図である。 図５は、端末装置が実行する処理の例の概略説明図である。 図６は、基地局装置が実行する処理の例の概略説明図である。 図７は、複数の基地局装置からの参照時刻を用いて時刻同期を確立する処理の例の概略説明図である。 The accompanying drawings are included in the specification and are used to form a part thereof, show embodiments of the present invention, and explain the principles of the present invention together with the description thereof.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a wireless communication system. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration example of a terminal device and a base station device. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a functional configuration example of the terminal device. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a functional configuration example of the base station device. FIG. 5 is a schematic explanatory view of an example of processing executed by the terminal device. FIG. 6 is a schematic explanatory view of an example of processing executed by the base station apparatus. FIG. 7 is a schematic explanatory diagram of an example of a process for establishing time synchronization using reference times from a plurality of base station devices.
　以下、添付図面を参照して実施形態を詳しく説明する。なお、以下の実施形態は特許請求の範囲に係る発明を限定するものではなく、また実施形態で説明されている特徴の組み合わせの全てが発明に必須のものとは限らない。実施形態で説明されている複数の特徴のうち二つ以上の特徴が任意に組み合わされてもよい。また、同一若しくは同様の構成には同一の参照番号を付し、重複した説明は省略する。 Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. It should be noted that the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims, and not all combinations of features described in the embodiments are essential to the invention. Two or more of the plurality of features described in the embodiments may be arbitrarily combined. In addition, the same or similar configuration will be given the same reference number, and duplicated explanations will be omitted.
　（システム構成）
　図１に、本実施形態にかかる無線通信システムの構成例を示す。無線通信システムは、例えば、第１の基地局装置１０１と第２の基地局装置１０２とを含む。また、無線通信システムは、Dual Connectivityにより、第１の基地局装置１０１および第２の基地局装置１０２に接続可能な端末装置１１１を含む。このとき、第１の基地局装置１０１は、プライマリセルを提供し、第２の基地局装置１０２は、セカンダリセルを提供するものとする。すなわち、端末装置１１１は、第１の基地局装置１０１との接続に基づいて第２の基地局装置１０２と接続を確立し、第１の基地局装置１０１および第２の基地局装置１０２と並行して通信することができる。なお、第２の基地局装置１０２は、第５世代（５Ｇ）の基地局装置であり、端末装置１１１に対して参照時刻を通知することができる。一方、第１の基地局装置１０１は、５Ｇの基地局装置であってもよいし、ロングタームエボリューション（ＬＴＥ）の基地局装置であってもよい。また、プライマリセルは、例えば、制御用の通信を十分に安定して実行可能とするために、相対的にカバレッジエリアの広いマクロセルとされうる。一方で、セカンダリセルは、例えば、通信容量を十分に確保可能とするために相対的にカバレッジエリアの狭いスモールセルとされうる。 (System configuration)
FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of the wireless communication system according to the present embodiment. The wireless communication system includes, for example, a first base station device 101 and a second base station device 102. The wireless communication system also includes a terminal device 111 that can be connected to the first base station device 101 and the second base station device 102 by Dual Connectivity. At this time, the first base station device 101 shall provide the primary cell, and the second base station device 102 shall provide the secondary cell. That is, the terminal device 111 establishes a connection with the second base station device 102 based on the connection with the first base station device 101, and is parallel to the first base station device 101 and the second base station device 102. Can communicate with each other. The second base station device 102 is a fifth generation (5G) base station device, and can notify the terminal device 111 of the reference time. On the other hand, the first base station device 101 may be a 5G base station device or a long-term evolution (LTE) base station device. Further, the primary cell may be, for example, a macro cell having a relatively wide coverage area in order to enable sufficiently stable execution of control communication. On the other hand, the secondary cell may be, for example, a small cell having a relatively narrow coverage area in order to secure sufficient communication capacity.
　端末装置１１１は、５Ｇの基地局装置から参照時刻の情報を取得することにより、高精度に時刻同期を確立することができる。実際、５Ｇの基地局装置は、１０ナノ秒レベルの参照時刻の情報を送信可能に構成されることが規格化されている。ここで、参照時刻の情報は、報知信号（ＳＩＢ９）または個別制御信号（DLInformationTransfer）によって送信される。ただし、端末装置１１１は、セカンダリセルを提供する第２の基地局装置１０２から、これらの信号を受信することはできない。すなわち、端末装置１１１は、プライマリセルを提供する第１の基地局装置１０１に接続している間は、第２の基地局装置１０２の報知信号を受信することはない。また、個別制御信号については、第１の基地局装置１０１からのみ受信するため、端末装置１１１は、個別制御信号を第２の基地局装置１０２から受信することはない。第２の基地局装置１０２の個別の制御情報が、第１の基地局装置１０１から送信されるからである。なお、端末装置１１１に送信されるべき個別の制御情報は、第２の基地局装置１０２から第１の基地局装置１０１へ転送されるが、DLInformationTransferは第２の基地局装置１０２から第１の基地局装置１０１へ転送されない。DLInformationTransferは、Dual Connectivityのための情報をネットワークから端末装置へ送信するためのＳＲＢ（Signalling Radio Bearer）であるＳＲＢ３では送信されないからである。 The terminal device 111 can establish time synchronization with high accuracy by acquiring the reference time information from the 5G base station device. In fact, it is standardized that a 5G base station device is configured to be capable of transmitting information at a reference time on the level of 10 nanoseconds. Here, the reference time information is transmitted by a broadcast signal (SIB9) or an individual control signal (DLInformationTransfer). However, the terminal device 111 cannot receive these signals from the second base station device 102 that provides the secondary cell. That is, the terminal device 111 does not receive the broadcast signal of the second base station device 102 while connected to the first base station device 101 that provides the primary cell. Further, since the individual control signal is received only from the first base station device 101, the terminal device 111 does not receive the individual control signal from the second base station device 102. This is because the individual control information of the second base station device 102 is transmitted from the first base station device 101. The individual control information to be transmitted to the terminal device 111 is transferred from the second base station device 102 to the first base station device 101, but the DL Information Transfer is the first from the second base station device 102. It is not transferred to the base station device 101. This is because DLInformationTransfer is not transmitted by SRB3, which is an SRB (Signalling Radio Bearer) for transmitting information for Dual Connectivity from the network to the terminal device.
　このように、端末装置は、Dual Connectivityで、第１の基地局装置１０１との接続に基づいて接続される第２の基地局装置１０２から、ＳＩＢ９およびDLInformationTransferを受信することはない。この結果、端末装置１１１は、EUTRA-NR Dual Connectivity（ＥＮ－ＤＣ）にのみ対応し、ロングタームエボリューション（ＬＴＥ）の第１の基地局装置１０１と接続していない限りは、５Ｇの第２の基地局装置１０２に接続されない場合、５Ｇの基地局装置から、参照時刻の情報を取得することができない。また、端末装置１１１は、第１の基地局装置１０１が５Ｇの基地局装置である場合には、第１の基地局装置１０１から参照時刻の情報を取得することができるが、上述のように、プライマリセルは、制御用の通信を十分に安定して実行可能とするためにカバレッジエリアが広く設定されることが想定され、参照時刻の送信時刻と受信時刻に大きな乖離が発生する場合がある。このため、端末装置１１１は、正確な時刻同期を確立することができないことがありうる。ここで、プライマリセルのサイズを小さくすることによって、端末装置１１１が正確な時刻同期を確立することは可能となるが、この場合、接続時のハンドオーバや待ち受け中のセル再選択の発生頻度が高くなり、通信の安定性が低下してしまいうる。 As described above, the terminal device does not receive SIB9 and DLInformation Transfer from the second base station device 102 connected based on the connection with the first base station device 101 in Dual Connectivity. As a result, the terminal device 111 is compatible only with EUTRA-NR Dual Connectivity (EN-DC), and unless it is connected to the first base station device 101 of Long Term Evolution (LTE), it is the second of 5G. If it is not connected to the base station device 102, the reference time information cannot be acquired from the 5G base station device. Further, when the first base station device 101 is a 5G base station device, the terminal device 111 can acquire the reference time information from the first base station device 101, as described above. , It is assumed that the coverage area of the primary cell is set wide enough to enable stable execution of control communication, and a large discrepancy between the transmission time and the reception time of the reference time may occur. .. Therefore, the terminal device 111 may not be able to establish accurate time synchronization. Here, by reducing the size of the primary cell, the terminal device 111 can establish accurate time synchronization, but in this case, the frequency of handover at the time of connection and cell reselection during standby is high. As a result, the stability of communication may decrease.
　本実施形態では、このような事情に鑑みて、端末装置１１１が、第２の基地局装置１０２から参照時刻の情報を取得できるようにする。すなわち、本実施形態では、上述のように従来のDual Connectivityのセカンダリセルにおいて受信できなかった参照時刻の情報を、端末装置１１１が受信できるようにする仕組みを提供する。これによれば、端末装置１１１は、伝搬遅延が十分小さいことが想定されるスモールセルにおいて参照時刻の情報を取得することができるようになり、高精度な時間同期を確立することが可能となる。 In the present embodiment, in view of such circumstances, the terminal device 111 can acquire the reference time information from the second base station device 102. That is, the present embodiment provides a mechanism for enabling the terminal device 111 to receive information on the reference time that could not be received in the secondary cell of the conventional Dual Connectivity as described above. According to this, the terminal device 111 can acquire the reference time information in the small cell where the propagation delay is expected to be sufficiently small, and it becomes possible to establish highly accurate time synchronization. ..
　一例において、第２の基地局装置１０２は、端末装置１１１と接続して通信する際に端末装置１１１へ宛てて送信される必要のある信号に、参照時刻の情報を含めて送信する。第２の基地局装置１０２は、例えば、端末装置１１１との通信において使用する無線リソース（リソースブロック）を指定するために、下りリンク制御情報（ＤＣＩ）に参照時刻の情報を含めて送信しうる。また、第２の基地局装置１０２は、例えば、媒体アクセス制御（ＭＡＣ）層の制御のための制御エレメント（ＭＡＣ　ＣＥ）に、参照時刻の情報を含めて送信してもよい。また、第２の基地局装置１０２は、端末装置１１１と第２の基地局装置１０２との間の接続が開始されるタイミングにおいて送受信される無線リソース制御（ＲＲＣ）メッセージによって、参照時刻の情報を端末装置１１１へ通知することができる。 In one example, the second base station device 102 transmits the signal that needs to be transmitted to the terminal device 111 when connecting to and communicating with the terminal device 111, including the reference time information. The second base station device 102 may transmit, for example, including reference time information in the downlink control information (DCI) in order to specify a radio resource (resource block) used in communication with the terminal device 111. .. Further, the second base station apparatus 102 may transmit, for example, including the reference time information in the control element (MAC CE) for controlling the medium access control (MAC) layer. Further, the second base station device 102 uses radio resource control (RRC) messages transmitted and received at the timing when the connection between the terminal device 111 and the second base station device 102 is started to obtain information on the reference time. It is possible to notify the terminal device 111.
　このように、本実施形態に係る第２の基地局装置１０２は、第１の基地局装置１０１が形成するセルをプライマリセルとしてDual Connectivityにより第２の基地局装置１０２に接続する端末装置１１１に対して、その端末装置１１１との通信のために必要な、その端末装置１１１宛ての信号により、参照時刻の情報を送信するようにする。これにより、端末装置１１１は、従来のDual Connectivityの制御シグナリングの仕組みを維持したまま、参照時刻の情報をセカンダリセルの第２の基地局装置１０２から受信することができるようになる。なお、従来のDLInformationTransferで参照時刻の情報を通知する場合、端末装置１１１が参照時刻の情報を含んだパケットの受信に失敗した場合に無線リンク制御（ＲＬＣ）による再送が行われうるため、正確でない時刻情報が端末装置１１１に通知されてしまいうる。これに対して、ＭＡＣ　ＣＥやＤＣＩを用いる場合、再送が行われないため、正確でない時刻情報が端末装置１１１に通知されることを防ぐこともできる。なお、第２の基地局装置１０２は、端末装置１１１から参照時刻の情報の要求を受信した場合に、その要求への応答として、参照時刻の情報を端末装置１１１へ送信するようにしてもよい。また、第２の基地局装置１０２は、例えば、接続中の端末装置１１１の上りリンクの信号の直交性を担保するために、タイミングアドバンス（ＴＡ）制御を実行し、端末装置１１１との間の伝搬遅延を推定することができる。第２の基地局装置１０２は、この推定した伝搬遅延の大きさ分だけオフセットした参照時刻の情報を端末装置１１１へ通知してもよい。すなわち、第２の基地局装置１０２は、例えば伝搬遅延推定値が３ナノ秒である場合、参照時刻の値に３ナノ秒だけ加算して、端末装置１１１へ送信しうる。これによれば、端末装置１１１において参照時刻の情報が受信された時点の時刻と、参照時刻の値との差をより小さくすることが可能となる。なお、第２の基地局装置１０２は、伝搬遅延推定値が考慮された参照時刻の情報であるか否かを示す少数ビット（例えば１ビット）の情報を、参照時刻の情報と共に送信してもよい。なお、Dual Connectivityでプライマリセルの第１の基地局装置およびセカンダリセルの第２の基地局装置に接続する場合の例を示しているが、Carrier Aggregation等の他の技術によって、第１の基地局装置および第２の基地局装置に端末装置１１１が接続する場合にも本実施形態に係る手法が適用されうる。 As described above, the second base station apparatus 102 according to the present embodiment is connected to the terminal apparatus 111 connected to the second base station apparatus 102 by Dual Connectivity with the cell formed by the first base station apparatus 101 as the primary cell. On the other hand, the reference time information is transmitted by the signal addressed to the terminal device 111, which is necessary for communication with the terminal device 111. As a result, the terminal device 111 can receive the reference time information from the second base station device 102 in the secondary cell while maintaining the conventional control signaling mechanism of Dual Connectivity. In addition, when the conventional DLInformationTransfer is used to notify the reference time information, it is not accurate because the terminal device 111 may retransmit the packet including the reference time information by wireless link control (RLC) if it fails to receive the packet. The time information may be notified to the terminal device 111. On the other hand, when MAC CE or DCI is used, since retransmission is not performed, it is possible to prevent inaccurate time information from being notified to the terminal device 111. When the second base station device 102 receives a request for reference time information from the terminal device 111, the second base station device 102 may transmit the reference time information to the terminal device 111 as a response to the request. .. Further, the second base station device 102 executes timing advance (TA) control in order to ensure the orthogonality of the uplink signal of the connected terminal device 111, for example, and is connected to the terminal device 111. Propagation delay can be estimated. The second base station device 102 may notify the terminal device 111 of the information of the reference time offset by the magnitude of the estimated propagation delay. That is, for example, when the propagation delay estimated value is 3 nanoseconds, the second base station device 102 can add 3 nanoseconds to the value of the reference time and transmit it to the terminal device 111. According to this, it is possible to make the difference between the time when the information of the reference time is received in the terminal device 111 and the value of the reference time smaller. It should be noted that the second base station apparatus 102 may transmit a small number of bits (for example, 1 bit) of information indicating whether or not the propagation delay estimated value is the information of the reference time in consideration together with the information of the reference time. good. An example of connecting to the first base station device of the primary cell and the second base station device of the secondary cell with Dual Connectivity is shown, but the first base station is used by other technologies such as Carrier Aggregation. The method according to this embodiment can also be applied when the terminal device 111 is connected to the device and the second base station device.
　なお、第２の基地局装置１０２は、上述のようにして、接続中又は接続処理中の端末装置１１１に対して参照時刻の情報を提供することができるが、待ち受け中の（非接続状態の）端末装置１１１に対しては、参照時刻の情報を提供することはできない。このため、第２の基地局装置１０２は、従来通りにＳＩＢ９によって参照時刻の情報を送出し、端末装置１１１が、その参照時刻の情報を受信できるようにする。すなわち、端末装置１１１が、第１の基地局装置１０１において待ち受け中に、第２の基地局装置１０２から送出される報知信号を受信し、その報知信号から参照時刻の情報を取得するようにする。例えば、端末装置１１１は、第２の基地局装置１０２から参照時刻の情報が送出されるタイミングにおいて、第２の基地局装置１０２から送出される報知信号を受信し、その報知信号から参照時刻の情報を取得しうる。 As described above, the second base station device 102 can provide the information of the reference time to the terminal device 111 during connection or connection processing, but is in standby (in a non-connected state). ) Information on the reference time cannot be provided to the terminal device 111. Therefore, the second base station device 102 sends out the reference time information by the SIB 9 as in the conventional case, so that the terminal device 111 can receive the reference time information. That is, the terminal device 111 receives the notification signal transmitted from the second base station device 102 while waiting in the first base station device 101, and acquires the reference time information from the notification signal. .. For example, the terminal device 111 receives the notification signal transmitted from the second base station device 102 at the timing when the reference time information is transmitted from the second base station device 102, and the reference time is transmitted from the notification signal. Information can be obtained.
　なお、第１の基地局装置１０１は、第２の基地局装置１０２から参照時刻の情報が送出されるか否かの情報を報知信号に含めて、その報知信号を送出してもよい。例えば、第１の基地局装置１０１は、自装置が形成するセルとその範囲の少なくとも一部が重複するセルであり、Dual Connectivityにおけるセカンダリセルとして利用可能なセルを形成する基地局装置が、参照時刻の情報を送出するか否かの情報を通知しうる。また、第１の基地局装置１０１は、自装置が形成するセルとその範囲の少なくとも一部が重複するセルを構成する他の基地局装置が参照時刻の情報を送出するか否かの情報を通知してもよい。すなわち、Dual Connectivityにおけるセカンダリセルを形成しない基地局装置についての情報が送信されてもよい。これによれば、端末装置１１１は、参照時刻の情報が送出される場合にのみ、第２の基地局装置１０２からの報知信号を受信するようにすることができる。このため、端末装置１１１の消費電力が不必要に消費されることを防ぐことができる。 The first base station apparatus 101 may include information on whether or not the reference time information is transmitted from the second base station apparatus 102 in the notification signal and transmit the notification signal. For example, the first base station device 101 is a cell in which at least a part of the range thereof overlaps with the cell formed by the own device, and the base station device forming a cell that can be used as a secondary cell in Dual Connectivity is referred to. Information on whether or not to send time information can be notified. Further, the first base station device 101 provides information on whether or not another base station device constituting a cell formed by the own device and a cell in which at least a part of the range overlaps sends information on the reference time. You may notify. That is, information about a base station device that does not form a secondary cell in Dual Connectivity may be transmitted. According to this, the terminal device 111 can receive the notification signal from the second base station device 102 only when the information of the reference time is transmitted. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the power consumption of the terminal device 111 from being unnecessarily consumed.
　また、例えば、第２の基地局装置１０２から参照時刻の情報が含まれる報知信号の送信タイミングの情報は、第１の基地局装置１０１から送出される報知信号によって、端末装置１１１に通知されてもよい。なお、報知信号のすべてにおいて参照時刻の情報が含まれる場合は、報知信号の送信周期等の情報が端末装置１１１に通知されてもよい。また、所定回数の報知信号ごとに１回の参照時刻の情報が送信されるようにしてもよい。この場合、その所定回数の情報が端末装置１１１に通知されてもよい。端末装置１１１は、この報知信号に基づいて、第２の基地局装置１０２から参照時刻の情報が送出されるタイミングを特定し、そのタイミングにおいて第２の基地局装置１０２からの報知信号の受信を行うようにしてもよい。端末装置１１１は、第１の基地局装置１０１において待ち受け中の場合、第１の基地局装置１０１の報知信号を受信する必要がある。このため、端末装置１１１は、第１の基地局装置１０１の報知信号を受信するタイミングと、第２の基地局装置１０２による参照時刻の情報の送出タイミングが一致する場合には、例えば第１の基地局装置１０１の報知信号を優先して受信するようにしてもよい。また、端末装置１１１は、例えば、第１の基地局装置１０１の報知信号の一部を受信しないで第２の基地局装置１０２からの参照時刻の情報を受信するようにしてもよい。なお、端末装置１１１は、第１の基地局装置１０１からの報知信号と第２の基地局装置１０２からの参照時刻の情報とを並行して受信することができる場合は、このような制御を実行しなくてもよい。また、第２の基地局装置１０２からの参照時刻の情報の送出タイミングが第１の基地局装置１０１の報知信号の送出タイミングと一致しない場合は、端末装置１１１は、それぞれのタイミングに応じた受信処理を実行するだけでよい。 Further, for example, the transmission timing information of the notification signal including the reference time information from the second base station device 102 is notified to the terminal device 111 by the notification signal transmitted from the first base station device 101. May be good. If all of the notification signals include information on the reference time, information such as the transmission cycle of the notification signal may be notified to the terminal device 111. Further, the information of the reference time may be transmitted once for each notification signal of a predetermined number of times. In this case, the information of the predetermined number of times may be notified to the terminal device 111. Based on this notification signal, the terminal device 111 identifies the timing at which the reference time information is transmitted from the second base station device 102, and receives the notification signal from the second base station device 102 at that timing. You may do it. When the terminal device 111 is in standby in the first base station device 101, the terminal device 111 needs to receive the notification signal of the first base station device 101. Therefore, when the timing at which the terminal device 111 receives the notification signal of the first base station device 101 and the timing at which the information at the reference time is transmitted by the second base station device 102 coincide with each other, for example, the first one. The broadcast signal of the base station apparatus 101 may be preferentially received. Further, for example, the terminal device 111 may receive the reference time information from the second base station device 102 without receiving a part of the notification signal of the first base station device 101. If the terminal device 111 can receive the notification signal from the first base station device 101 and the information of the reference time from the second base station device 102 in parallel, such control is performed. You don't have to do it. If the transmission timing of the reference time information from the second base station device 102 does not match the transmission timing of the broadcast signal of the first base station device 101, the terminal device 111 receives the information according to the respective timings. All you have to do is execute the process.
　なお、第１の基地局装置１０１は、第２の基地局装置１０２の上述の情報を、XN SETUP REQUEST、XN SETUP RESPONSEなどのXnインターフェースに定義されるパラメータServed Cell Information NRや、X2 SETUP REQUEST、X2 SETUP RESPONSEなどのX2インターフェースにおいて定義されるパラメータServed Cell Informationによって取得してもよい。 The first base station apparatus 101 uses the above information of the second base station apparatus 102 as parameters Served Cell Information NR, X2 SETUP REQUEST, etc. defined in the Xn interface such as XN SETUP REQUEST and XN SETUP RESPONSE. It may be acquired by the parameter Served Cell Information defined in the X2 interface such as X2 SETUP RESPONSE.
　なお、第２の基地局装置１０２は、ページングメッセージのスケジューリングに用いられるＤＣＩ（Ｐ－ＲＮＴＩによってスクランブリングされたＣＲＣを伴うＤＣＩフォーマット１＿０）によって、参照時刻の情報を通知しうる。なお、Ｐ－ＲＮＴＩはPaging Radio Network Temporary Identifierの頭字語である。ここで、ページングメッセージのスケジューリングは、ページングメッセージが送信される周波数位置やタイミングを指定することである。また、システムインフォメーションのスケジューリングに用いられるＤＣＩ（ＳＩ－ＲＮＴＩによってスクランブリングされたＣＲＣを伴うＤＣＩフォーマット１＿０）によって、参照時刻の情報を通知しうる。なお、ＳＩ－ＲＮＴＩは、System Information ＲＮＴＩの頭字語である。また、第２の基地局装置１０２は、RRC_Idle状態などの待ち受け状態の端末装置１１１を起動させるためのWake Up Signal（ＷＵＳ）によって、参照時刻の情報を通知してもよい。 The second base station apparatus 102 can notify the reference time information by DCI (DCI format 1_0 with CRC scrambled by P-RNTI) used for scheduling the paging message. P-RNTI is an acronym for Paging Radio Network Temporary Identifier. Here, the scheduling of the paging message is to specify the frequency position and the timing at which the paging message is transmitted. Further, the reference time information can be notified by DCI (DCI format 1_0 with CRC scrambled by SI-RNTI) used for scheduling system information. SI-RNTI is an acronym for System Information RNTI. Further, the second base station device 102 may notify the reference time information by WakeUpSignal (WUS) for activating the terminal device 111 in the standby state such as the RRC_Idle state.
　端末装置１１１は、受信した参照時刻の情報を用いて時刻同期を確立する。すなわち、端末装置１１１は、受信した参照時刻の情報によって、内部時計を調整する。 The terminal device 111 establishes time synchronization using the received reference time information. That is, the terminal device 111 adjusts the internal clock according to the received reference time information.
　なお、端末装置１１１は、例えば、第１の基地局装置１０１から第１の参照時刻の情報を受信し、その第１の参照時刻の情報を用いて時刻同期を確立し、第２の基地局装置１０２から第２の参照時刻の情報を上述のようにして受信して、その第２の参照時刻を用いて、確立した時刻同期を補正してもよい。例えば、第１の基地局装置１０１が５Ｇの基地局装置である場合、第１の基地局装置１０１は、従来通り、ＳＩＢ９等によって参照時刻の情報を送信しうる。また、例えば、第１の基地局装置１０１がＬＴＥの基地局装置である場合にも、第１の基地局装置１０１は、大まかな参照時刻の情報を送信しうる。端末装置１１１は、その参照時刻の情報を用いて粗い時間同期を確立する。そして、端末装置１１１は、第２の基地局装置１０２が上述のようにして送信した参照時刻の情報を用いて、粗く確立された時間同期を精細化しうる。この実施形態によれば、第２の基地局装置１０２が送信すべき参照時刻の情報を、例えばナノ秒の単位のみにするなど、大まかな時刻の情報を含まない形式とすることができ、第２の基地局装置１０２が送信する参照時刻の情報のサイズを十分に小さく抑えることが可能となる。 The terminal device 111 receives, for example, information on the first reference time from the first base station device 101, establishes time synchronization using the information on the first reference time, and establishes time synchronization, and the second base station. Information on the second reference time may be received from the device 102 as described above, and the second reference time may be used to correct the established time synchronization. For example, when the first base station device 101 is a 5G base station device, the first base station device 101 can transmit reference time information by SIB9 or the like as before. Further, for example, even when the first base station device 101 is an LTE base station device, the first base station device 101 can transmit information on a rough reference time. The terminal device 111 establishes a coarse time synchronization using the information of the reference time. Then, the terminal device 111 can refine the roughly established time synchronization by using the information of the reference time transmitted by the second base station device 102 as described above. According to this embodiment, the reference time information to be transmitted by the second base station apparatus 102 can be in a format that does not include rough time information, for example, only in nanosecond units. It is possible to sufficiently reduce the size of the reference time information transmitted by the base station apparatus 102 of 2.
　（装置の構成）
　続いて、上述のような処理を実行する通信装置（例えば第２の基地局装置１０２と端末装置１１１）のハードウェア構成例について図２を用いて説明する。通信装置は、一例において、プロセッサ２０１、ＲＯＭ２０２、ＲＡＭ２０３、記憶装置２０４、及び通信回路２０５を含んで構成される。プロセッサ２０１は、汎用のＣＰＵ（中央演算装置）や、ＡＳＩＣ（特定用途向け集積回路）等の、１つ以上の処理回路を含んで構成されるコンピュータであり、ＲＯＭ２０２や記憶装置２０４に記憶されているプログラムを読み出して実行することにより、通信装置の全体の処理や、上述の各処理を実行する。ＲＯＭ２０２は、通信装置が実行する処理に関するプログラムや各種パラメータ等の情報を記憶する読み出し専用メモリである。ＲＡＭ２０３は、プロセッサ２０１がプログラムを実行する際のワークスペースとして機能し、また、一時的な情報を記憶するランダムアクセスメモリである。記憶装置２０４は、例えば着脱可能な外部記憶装置等によって構成される。通信回路２０５は、例えば、ＬＴＥや５Ｇの無線通信用の回路によって構成される。なお、図２では、１つの通信回路２０５が図示されているが、通信装置は、（例えば端末装置１１１はＬＴＥ用および５Ｇ用の、第２の基地局装置１０２は、５Ｇ用および有線通信用の）複数の通信回路を有しうる。なお、通信装置は、使用可能な複数の周波数帯域のそれぞれについて別個の通信回路２０５を有してもよいし、それらの周波数帯域の少なくとも一部に対して共通の通信回路２０５を有してもよい。また、例えば端末装置１１１は、セルラ通信用の通信回路２０５のみならず、無線ＬＡＮ等の他の無線通信規格に対応する通信回路２０５を有してもよい。 (Device configuration)
Subsequently, a hardware configuration example of a communication device (for example, the second base station device 102 and the terminal device 111) that executes the above-mentioned processing will be described with reference to FIG. The communication device includes, in one example, a processor 201, a ROM 202, a RAM 203, a storage device 204, and a communication circuit 205. The processor 201 is a computer including one or more processing circuits such as a general-purpose CPU (central processing unit) and an ASIC (integrated circuit for a specific application), and is stored in a ROM 202 or a storage device 204. By reading and executing the existing program, the entire processing of the communication device and each of the above-mentioned processing are executed. The ROM 202 is a read-only memory that stores information such as programs and various parameters related to processing executed by the communication device. The RAM 203 is a random access memory that functions as a workspace when the processor 201 executes a program and stores temporary information. The storage device 204 is configured by, for example, a detachable external storage device or the like. The communication circuit 205 is composed of, for example, a circuit for LTE or 5G wireless communication. Although one communication circuit 205 is shown in FIG. 2, the communication device (for example, the terminal device 111 is for LTE and 5G, and the second base station device 102 is for 5G and wired communication) is shown. ) Can have multiple communication circuits. The communication device may have a separate communication circuit 205 for each of the plurality of usable frequency bands, or may have a common communication circuit 205 for at least a part of those frequency bands. good. Further, for example, the terminal device 111 may have not only the communication circuit 205 for cellular communication but also the communication circuit 205 corresponding to other wireless communication standards such as wireless LAN.
　図３に、本実施形態に係る端末装置１１１の機能構成例を示す。端末装置１１１は、その機能構成として、例えば、参照時刻情報取得部３０１と、同期確立部３０２とを有する。なお、図３では、本実施形態に特に関係する機能のみを示しており、端末装置１１１が有しうる他の各種機能については図示を省略している。例えば、端末装置１１１は、セルラ通信システムにおける端末装置が一般的に有する他の機能を当然に有する。また、図３の機能ブロックは概略的に示したものであり、それぞれの機能ブロックが一体化されて実現されてもよいし、さらに細分化されてもよい。また、図３の各機能は、例えば、プロセッサ２０１がＲＯＭ２０２や記憶装置２０４に記憶されているプログラムを実行することにより実現されてもよいし、例えば通信回路２０５の内部に存在するプロセッサが所定のソフトウェアを実行することによって実現されてもよい。 FIG. 3 shows an example of the functional configuration of the terminal device 111 according to the present embodiment. The terminal device 111 has, for example, a reference time information acquisition unit 301 and a synchronization establishment unit 302 as its functional configuration. Note that FIG. 3 shows only the functions particularly related to the present embodiment, and the illustration of various other functions that the terminal device 111 may have is omitted. For example, the terminal device 111 naturally has other functions generally possessed by the terminal device in the cellular communication system. Further, the functional blocks in FIG. 3 are schematically shown, and each functional block may be integrated or further subdivided. Further, each function of FIG. 3 may be realized, for example, by the processor 201 executing a program stored in the ROM 202 or the storage device 204, for example, a processor existing inside the communication circuit 205 is predetermined. It may be realized by running the software.
　参照時刻情報取得部３０１は、第２の基地局装置１０２から参照時刻の情報を取得する。例えば、参照時刻情報取得部３０１は、接続中の第２の基地局装置１０２から端末装置１１１宛てに送信された信号に含まれるＤＣＩやＭＡＣ　ＣＥから、参照時刻の情報を抽出して取得する。また、参照時刻情報取得部３０１は、例えば、第２の基地局装置１０２との接続確立時等のＲＲＣメッセージに含まれる参照時刻の情報を取得してもよい。なお、参照時刻情報取得部３０１は、例えば、第２の基地局装置１０２に対して、参照時刻の情報を要求することにより、その要求への応答として、参照時刻の情報を含んだ上述のような各種信号を受信するように構成されてもよい。 The reference time information acquisition unit 301 acquires reference time information from the second base station device 102. For example, the reference time information acquisition unit 301 extracts and acquires reference time information from DCI and MAC CE included in the signal transmitted from the connected second base station device 102 to the terminal device 111. Further, the reference time information acquisition unit 301 may acquire information on the reference time included in the RRC message, for example, when establishing a connection with the second base station apparatus 102. The reference time information acquisition unit 301 requests the second base station apparatus 102 for the reference time information, and as described above, the reference time information acquisition unit 301 includes the reference time information as a response to the request. It may be configured to receive various signals.
　また、参照時刻情報取得部３０１は、第１の基地局装置１０１において待ち受け中に、第２の基地局装置１０２からの参照時刻の情報を含んだ報知信号を受信するように構成されうる。参照時刻情報取得部３０１は、例えば、第２の基地局装置１０２からのページングメッセージや、システムインフォメーションに含まれる参照時刻の情報を取得しうる。また、参照時刻情報取得部３０１は、そのページングメッセージのスケジューリングに用いられるＤＣＩや、そのシステムインフォメーションのスケジューリングに用いられるＤＣＩに含まれる参照時刻の情報を取得するように構成されてもよい。なお、参照時刻情報取得部３０１は、第１の基地局装置１０１からの報知信号により、第２の基地局装置１０２が参照時刻の情報を送出している場合にのみ、第２の基地局装置１０２からの報知信号を受信するように構成されてもよい。また、参照時刻情報取得部３０１は、第２の基地局装置１０２が参照時刻の情報を送出する場合に、その送出タイミングを特定する情報を第１の基地局装置１０１が送出した報知信号によって特定してもよい。なお、参照時刻情報取得部３０１は、例えば、第１の基地局装置１０１からの第１の報知信号と、第２の基地局装置１０２からの第２の報知信号とを並行して受信できず、これらの報知信号の受信タイミングが重なる場合は、例えば第１の報知信号の受信をスキップするなどにより第２の報知信号を受信するタイミングを作るように制御を行いうる。 Further, the reference time information acquisition unit 301 may be configured to receive a notification signal including reference time information from the second base station device 102 during standby in the first base station device 101. The reference time information acquisition unit 301 can acquire, for example, a paging message from the second base station apparatus 102 and information on the reference time included in the system information. Further, the reference time information acquisition unit 301 may be configured to acquire information on the reference time included in the DCI used for scheduling the paging message and the DCI used for scheduling the system information. The reference time information acquisition unit 301 uses only when the second base station device 102 sends out the reference time information by the notification signal from the first base station device 101, the second base station device. It may be configured to receive the broadcast signal from 102. Further, when the second base station apparatus 102 transmits the reference time information, the reference time information acquisition unit 301 specifies the information for specifying the transmission timing by the notification signal transmitted by the first base station apparatus 101. You may. The reference time information acquisition unit 301 cannot receive, for example, the first notification signal from the first base station device 101 and the second notification signal from the second base station device 102 in parallel. When the reception timings of these notification signals overlap, control can be performed so as to set the timing for receiving the second notification signal, for example, by skipping the reception of the first notification signal.
　同期確立部３０２は、取得した参照時刻の情報を用いて、時刻同期を確立する。例えば、同期確立部３０２は、端末装置１１１の内部の時計を、取得した参照時刻と一致するように調整を行う。なお、同期確立部３０２は、例えば第１の基地局装置１０１から取得した第１の参照時刻の情報と、第２の基地局装置１０２から取得した第２の参照時刻の情報との両方を用いて時刻同期を確立するように構成されてもよい。例えば、第１の参照時刻の情報に基づいてミリ秒オーダの粗同期を確立し、第２の参照時刻の情報に基づいてナノ秒オーダの精細同期を確立するようにしてもよい。 The synchronization establishment unit 302 establishes time synchronization using the acquired reference time information. For example, the synchronization establishment unit 302 adjusts the internal clock of the terminal device 111 so as to match the acquired reference time. The synchronization establishment unit 302 uses, for example, both the information of the first reference time acquired from the first base station apparatus 101 and the information of the second reference time acquired from the second base station apparatus 102. It may be configured to establish time synchronization. For example, a coarse synchronization on the order of milliseconds may be established based on the information of the first reference time, and a fine synchronization on the order of nanoseconds may be established based on the information of the second reference time.
　図４に、第２の基地局装置１０２の機能構成例を示す。第２の基地局装置１０２は、その機能構成として、例えば、参照時刻取得部４０１と、参照時刻情報通知部４０２とを有する。なお、図４では、本実施形態に特に関係する機能のみを示しており、第２の基地局装置１０２が有しうる他の各種機能については図示を省略している。例えば、第２の基地局装置１０２は、５Ｇの基地局装置が一般的に有する他の機能を当然に有する。また、図４の機能ブロックは概略的に示したものであり、それぞれの機能ブロックが一体化されて実現されてもよいし、さらに細分化されてもよい。また、図４の各機能は、例えば、プロセッサ２０１がＲＯＭ２０２や記憶装置２０４に記憶されているプログラムを実行することにより実現されてもよいし、例えば通信回路２０５の内部に存在するプロセッサが所定のソフトウェアを実行することによって実現されてもよい。 FIG. 4 shows an example of the functional configuration of the second base station device 102. The second base station device 102 has, for example, a reference time acquisition unit 401 and a reference time information notification unit 402 as its functional configuration. Note that FIG. 4 shows only the functions particularly related to the present embodiment, and the illustration of various other functions that the second base station apparatus 102 may have is omitted. For example, the second base station apparatus 102 naturally has other functions generally possessed by the 5G base station apparatus. Further, the functional blocks in FIG. 4 are schematically shown, and each functional block may be integrated or further subdivided. Further, each function of FIG. 4 may be realized, for example, by the processor 201 executing a program stored in the ROM 202 or the storage device 204, and for example, a processor existing inside the communication circuit 205 may be predetermined. It may be realized by running the software.
　参照時刻取得部４０１は、第２の基地局装置１０２の内部時計から参照時刻として通知する時刻を取得する。なお、第２の基地局装置１０２の内部時計は、例えばＧＰＳ（全地球測位システム）等を用いて正確な時刻を刻んでいるものとする。参照時刻情報通知部４０２は、取得した時刻を参照時刻として含んだ信号を送信する。例えば、参照時刻情報通知部４０２は、参照時刻の情報を含んだＤＣＩやＭＡＣ　ＣＥを伴う信号を、接続中の端末装置１１１に宛てて送信する。また、参照時刻情報通知部４０２は、参照時刻の情報を含んだＲＲＣメッセージを、接続処理中の端末装置１１１に送信しうる。なお、参照時刻情報通知部４０２は、端末装置１１１から要求を受信した場合にのみ、その要求への応答として参照時刻の情報を含んだ信号を送信するようにしてもよい、また、参照時刻情報通知部４０２は、例えば、従来の規格に定められているように、参照時刻の情報を含んだシステムインフォメーション（ＳＩＢ９）を送信しうる。また、参照時刻情報通知部４０２は、例えばページングメッセージに、参照時刻の情報を含めて送出してもよい。また、参照時刻情報通知部４０２は、ページングメッセージやシステムインフォメーションのスケジューリングのためのＤＣＩに、参照時刻の情報を含めて送信してもよい。なお、参照時刻情報通知部４０２は、例えば、タイミングアドバンスの制御の際等において第２の基地局装置１０２と端末装置１１１との間の伝搬遅延を推定することができた場合、その端末装置１１１宛ての参照時刻の情報を、その伝搬遅延推定値の分だけオフセットして送信するようにしてもよい。 The reference time acquisition unit 401 acquires the time notified as the reference time from the internal clock of the second base station device 102. It is assumed that the internal clock of the second base station device 102 keeps accurate time by using, for example, GPS (Global Positioning System) or the like. The reference time information notification unit 402 transmits a signal including the acquired time as the reference time. For example, the reference time information notification unit 402 transmits a signal with DCI or MAC CE including reference time information to the connected terminal device 111. Further, the reference time information notification unit 402 can transmit an RRC message including the reference time information to the terminal device 111 during the connection process. The reference time information notification unit 402 may transmit a signal including the reference time information as a response to the request only when the request is received from the terminal device 111, or the reference time information. The notification unit 402 may transmit system information (SIB9) including reference time information, for example, as defined in a conventional standard. Further, the reference time information notification unit 402 may send, for example, include the reference time information in the paging message. Further, the reference time information notification unit 402 may transmit the reference time information including the reference time information in the DCI for scheduling the paging message and the system information. If the reference time information notification unit 402 can estimate the propagation delay between the second base station device 102 and the terminal device 111, for example, when controlling the timing advance, the terminal device 111 The information of the reference time to be addressed may be transmitted offset by the estimated propagation delay value.
　（処理の流れ）
　続いて、端末装置１１１が実行する処理の流れについて図５を用いて概説する。なお、各処理ステップの詳細については上述の通りであるため、ここでは説明を繰り返さない。なお、この処理例は一例に過ぎず、端末装置１１１は、この処理と異なる形式で、上述のように参照時刻の情報を取得して時刻同期を確立するようにしてもよい。本処理では、端末装置１１１は、まず、第２の基地局装置１０２と接続中（接続確立処理中）であるか否かを判定する（Ｓ５０１）。そして、端末装置１１１は、第２の基地局装置１０２と接続中（又は接続確立処理中）である場合（Ｓ５０１でＹＥＳ）、すなわち、第２の基地局装置１０２が端末装置１１１宛ての信号を送信することができる場合、第２の基地局装置１０２から自装置に宛てた信号に含まれる参照時刻の情報を取得する（Ｓ５０２）。なお、端末装置１１１は、この場合に、参照時刻の情報を要求することにより、その要求への応答として参照時刻の情報を取得するようにしてもよい。 (Process flow)
Subsequently, the flow of processing executed by the terminal device 111 will be outlined with reference to FIG. Since the details of each processing step are as described above, the description thereof will not be repeated here. Note that this processing example is only an example, and the terminal device 111 may acquire the reference time information and establish the time synchronization in a format different from this processing as described above. In this process, the terminal device 111 first determines whether or not it is being connected to the second base station device 102 (during the connection establishment process) (S501). Then, when the terminal device 111 is connected to the second base station device 102 (or is in the process of establishing a connection) (YES in S501), that is, the second base station device 102 sends a signal addressed to the terminal device 111. If transmission is possible, information on the reference time included in the signal addressed to the own device from the second base station device 102 is acquired (S502). In this case, the terminal device 111 may request the reference time information to acquire the reference time information as a response to the request.
　一方、端末装置１１１は、第２の基地局装置１０２と接続中（および接続確立処理中）でない場合（Ｓ５０１でＮＯ）、すなわち、第２の基地局装置１０２が端末装置１１１宛ての信号を送信することができない場合、第２の基地局装置１０２から送出された報知信号を受信し、その報知信号から参照時刻の情報を取得する（Ｓ５０３）。 On the other hand, when the terminal device 111 is not connected to the second base station device 102 (and is in the process of establishing a connection) (NO in S501), that is, the second base station device 102 transmits a signal addressed to the terminal device 111. If this is not possible, the notification signal transmitted from the second base station device 102 is received, and the reference time information is acquired from the notification signal (S503).
　そして、端末装置１１１は、取得した参照時刻の情報に基づいて、内部時計を調整して、時刻同期を確立する（Ｓ５０４）。 Then, the terminal device 111 adjusts the internal clock based on the acquired reference time information to establish time synchronization (S504).
　次に、第２の基地局装置１０２が実行する処理の流れについて図６を用いて概説する。なお、各処理ステップの詳細については上述の通りであるため、ここでは説明を繰り返さない。なお、この処理例は一例に過ぎず、第２の基地局装置１０２は、この処理と異なる形式で、上述のように参照時刻の情報を通知してもよい。本処理では第２の基地局装置１０２は、まず、内部時計から通知する対象となる時刻を取得する（Ｓ６０１）。なお、内部時計は、ＧＰＳ等により高精度な時刻を刻んでいるものとする。続いて、第２の基地局装置１０２は、取得した情報に基づいて生成された参照時刻の情報を含んだ信号を生成して送信する（Ｓ６０２）。 Next, the flow of processing executed by the second base station device 102 will be outlined with reference to FIG. Since the details of each processing step are as described above, the description thereof will not be repeated here. Note that this processing example is only an example, and the second base station apparatus 102 may notify the reference time information in a format different from this processing as described above. In this process, the second base station apparatus 102 first acquires the time to be notified from the internal clock (S601). It is assumed that the internal clock keeps a highly accurate time by GPS or the like. Subsequently, the second base station apparatus 102 generates and transmits a signal including the reference time information generated based on the acquired information (S602).
　例えば、第２の基地局装置１０２は、取得した時刻に処理遅延時間等を加算して、信号が実際に送出されるタイミングに対応する時刻を参照時刻として特定して、その参照時刻の情報を含んだ信号を送信する。また、第２の基地局装置１０２は、特定の端末装置１１１に対して参照時刻の情報を送信する場合で、その端末装置１１１までの伝搬遅延推定値を取得可能な場合には、その伝搬遅延推定値をさらに加算した時刻を参照時刻として特定して、その参照時刻の情報を含んだ信号を送信してもよい。なお、第２の基地局装置１０２は、例えば、要求信号の送信元等の接続中／接続確立処理中の特定の端末装置１１１に対して参照時刻の情報を送信する場合は、その端末装置１１１宛ての信号のＤＣＩやＭＡＣ　ＣＥに、又はＲＲＣメッセージ等に、参照時刻の情報を含めて送信しうる。また、第２の基地局装置１０２は、接続していない端末装置１１１のために参照時刻の情報を送信する際には、システムインフォメーションやページングメッセージなどの報知信号や、それらの信号のスケジューリングのためのＤＣＩ等によって参照時刻の情報を送信しうる。 For example, the second base station apparatus 102 adds the processing delay time or the like to the acquired time, specifies the time corresponding to the timing at which the signal is actually transmitted, and specifies the information of the reference time. Send the included signal. Further, when the second base station device 102 transmits the information of the reference time to the specific terminal device 111 and the propagation delay estimated value to the terminal device 111 can be acquired, the propagation delay thereof. The time when the estimated value is further added may be specified as the reference time, and the signal including the information of the reference time may be transmitted. The second base station device 102, for example, when transmitting reference time information to a specific terminal device 111 during connection / connection establishment processing such as a source of a request signal, the terminal device 111. It is possible to send the signal to DCI or MAC CE, or to the RRC message, etc., including the information of the reference time. Further, when the second base station device 102 transmits the reference time information for the terminal device 111 that is not connected, the second base station device 102 is used for notification signals such as system information and paging messages, and for scheduling those signals. Information on the reference time can be transmitted by DCI or the like.
　以上の処理により、端末装置１１１は、一般にセルサイズが小さい傾向にあるDual Connectivityのセカンダリセルの基地局装置（第２の基地局装置１０２）から参照時刻の情報を取得することができ、伝搬遅延の影響が十分に抑制された状態で時刻同期を確立することができる。なお、このときに、ＭＡＣ　ＣＥが参照時刻の情報に用いられている場合、ＲＲＣメッセージより低レイヤの信号であるため、処理遅延の影響をも低減することができる。また、ＤＣＩを用いることにより、ＭＡＣ　ＣＥよりもさらに処理遅延を低減することができる。一方で、レイヤが高くなるほど、参照時刻の情報の情報量を増やすことができ、時刻の情報を正確に表現することができる。 By the above processing, the terminal device 111 can acquire the reference time information from the base station device (second base station device 102) of the secondary cell of the Dual Connectivity, which generally tends to have a small cell size, and the propagation delay. Time synchronization can be established with the influence of the above suppressed sufficiently. At this time, when MAC CE is used for the information of the reference time, since it is a signal of a lower layer than the RRC message, the influence of the processing delay can be reduced. Further, by using DCI, the processing delay can be further reduced as compared with MAC CE. On the other hand, as the layer becomes higher, the amount of information of the reference time information can be increased, and the time information can be accurately expressed.
　このような事情に鑑みて、例えば、第１の基地局装置１０１からの参照時刻の情報に基づいて粗同期を確立し、第２の基地局装置１０２からの参照時刻の情報に基づいて精細な同期を確立することができる。これによれば、第２の基地局装置１０２から送信されるべき参照時刻の情報の情報量を減らし、ＤＣＩ等の情報量に制限がある形式で参照時刻の情報を端末装置１１１に通知することができるようになる。このような処理の概要について、図７を用いて説明する。 In view of such circumstances, for example, coarse synchronization is established based on the reference time information from the first base station device 101, and fine details are established based on the reference time information from the second base station device 102. Synchronization can be established. According to this, the amount of information of the reference time information to be transmitted from the second base station device 102 is reduced, and the information of the reference time is notified to the terminal device 111 in a format in which the amount of information such as DCI is limited. Will be able to. The outline of such processing will be described with reference to FIG. 7.
　図７では、一例として、第１の基地局装置１０１がＬＴＥの基地局装置であり、第２の基地局装置１０２が５Ｇの基地局装置であるものとする。ここで、第１の基地局装置１０１は、０マイクロ秒０ナノ秒のタイミングで、ＲＲＣメッセージ（DLInformationTransfer）により０マイクロ秒０ナノ秒を参照時刻とする信号を端末装置１１１へ送信したものとする。このとき、第１の基地局装置１０１では、ＲＲＣメッセージを送信することによる内部的なＭＡＣ層や物理層の処理の時間も必要となり、遅延が発生する。また、第１の基地局装置１０１と端末装置１１１との間の伝搬距離が長いことにより、相対的に長い伝搬遅延が発生しうる。そして、端末装置１１１は、０マイクロ秒８ナノ秒のタイミングで受信したとする。この場合、端末装置１１１は、内部時計を、参照時刻の情報に合わせて、０マイクロ秒０ナノ秒に設定する。この結果、端末装置１１１の内部時計は、実際の時刻が０マイクロ秒８ナノ秒であるのにも関わらず、０マイクロ秒０ナノ秒を刻むこととなり、８ナノ秒のずれが生じた状態となる。その後、第２の基地局装置１０２が、０マイクロ秒２０ナノ秒のタイミングで、参照時刻を送信するものとする。このとき第２の基地局装置１０２は、ナノ秒の単位のみを参照時刻として送信する。すなわち、ここでは、第２の基地局装置１０２は、参照時刻を２０ナノ秒として端末装置１１１へ送信する。このとき、第２の基地局装置１０２と端末装置１１１との間の伝搬距離は十分に短く、伝搬遅延も小さくなる。また、例えばＭＡＣ　ＣＥで参照時刻を送信することにより、ＲＲＣメッセージで送信する場合と比して処理遅延を低減することができる。図７の例では、参照時刻が２０ナノ秒に設定されたＭＡＣ　ＣＥが、０マイクロ秒２２ナノ秒のタイミングで端末装置１１１に届いたものとする。端末装置１１１は、この参照時刻の情報に基づいて、内部時計を０マイクロ秒２０ナノ秒に設定する。これによれば、実際の時刻とのずれが２マイクロ秒まで抑制されることとなる。 In FIG. 7, as an example, it is assumed that the first base station device 101 is an LTE base station device and the second base station device 102 is a 5G base station device. Here, it is assumed that the first base station device 101 transmits a signal having 0 microsecond 0 nanosecond as a reference time to the terminal device 111 by an RRC message (DLInformationTransfer) at a timing of 0 microsecond 0 nanosecond. .. At this time, the first base station apparatus 101 also requires time for processing the internal MAC layer and the physical layer by transmitting the RRC message, which causes a delay. Further, since the propagation distance between the first base station device 101 and the terminal device 111 is long, a relatively long propagation delay may occur. Then, it is assumed that the terminal device 111 receives the signal at a timing of 0 microseconds and 8 nanoseconds. In this case, the terminal device 111 sets the internal clock to 0 microseconds and 0 nanoseconds according to the information of the reference time. As a result, the internal clock of the terminal device 111 ticks 0 microseconds and 0 nanoseconds even though the actual time is 0 microseconds and 8 nanoseconds, resulting in a deviation of 8 nanoseconds. Become. After that, it is assumed that the second base station apparatus 102 transmits the reference time at the timing of 0 microseconds and 20 nanoseconds. At this time, the second base station apparatus 102 transmits only the unit of nanoseconds as the reference time. That is, here, the second base station device 102 transmits to the terminal device 111 with the reference time set to 20 nanoseconds. At this time, the propagation distance between the second base station device 102 and the terminal device 111 is sufficiently short, and the propagation delay is also small. Further, for example, by transmitting the reference time by MAC CE, the processing delay can be reduced as compared with the case of transmitting by the RRC message. In the example of FIG. 7, it is assumed that the MAC CE whose reference time is set to 20 nanoseconds arrives at the terminal device 111 at the timing of 0 microseconds and 22 nanoseconds. The terminal device 111 sets the internal clock to 0 microseconds and 20 nanoseconds based on this reference time information. According to this, the deviation from the actual time is suppressed to 2 microseconds.
　なお、第２の基地局装置１０２は、例えばタイミングアドバンスの制御により、端末装置１１１との間の伝搬遅延推定値を取得することができる。この場合、第２の基地局装置１０２は、参照時刻を送信するタイミングの時刻にその伝搬遅延推定値を加算した値を参照時刻とすることができる。例えば、第２の基地局装置１０２は、ｘマイクロ秒２０ナノ秒のタイミングで、参照時刻の情報を送信するものとする。このとき、伝搬遅延が２ナノ秒であると推定されている場合、第２の基地局装置１０２は、実際の参照時刻の情報を送信するタイミングに２ナノ秒を加算し、参照時刻を２２ナノ秒として、端末装置１１１へ送信しうる。この場合、端末装置１１１が参照時刻を実際に受信した時刻がｘマイクロ秒２２ナノ秒であり、参照時刻に合わせて内部時計を調整することにより、さらに高精度に時刻同期を確立させることが可能となる。 The second base station device 102 can acquire an estimated value of propagation delay with the terminal device 111, for example, by controlling the timing advance. In this case, the second base station apparatus 102 can use the value obtained by adding the propagation delay estimated value to the time at which the reference time is transmitted as the reference time. For example, the second base station device 102 shall transmit information on the reference time at a timing of x microseconds and 20 nanoseconds. At this time, if the propagation delay is estimated to be 2 nanoseconds, the second base station apparatus 102 adds 2 nanoseconds to the timing of transmitting the actual reference time information, and sets the reference time to 22 nanoseconds. It can be transmitted to the terminal device 111 as seconds. In this case, the time when the terminal device 111 actually receives the reference time is x microseconds and 22 nanoseconds, and by adjusting the internal clock according to the reference time, it is possible to establish time synchronization with higher accuracy. It becomes.
　以上のような第２の基地局装置１０２と端末装置１１１とを用いることにより、１つ以上の端末装置１１１を備えた１つ以上の装置・設備において、セルラ通信システムの仕組みを用いて高精度な時刻同期を確立させ、例えば時刻に基づく機械の駆動制御などを高精度に実行することが可能となる。 By using the second base station device 102 and the terminal device 111 as described above, in one or more devices / equipment provided with one or more terminal devices 111, high accuracy is achieved by using the mechanism of the cellular communication system. It is possible to establish time synchronization, for example, to execute machine drive control based on time with high accuracy.
　なお、上述の処理例では、第２の基地局装置１０２がＭＡＣ　ＣＥで参照時刻の情報を送信する場合の例を示したが、伝搬遅延が十分に小さい基地局装置から端末装置へ参照時刻の情報が送信されるだけでも十分に効果的であり、ＲＲＣメッセージによって参照時刻の情報が送信されても同様の効果を得ることが可能である。また、例えばＤＣＩを用いることにより、ＭＡＣ層での処理が不要となるため、さらに高精度な処理を実行可能となる。 In the above processing example, the case where the second base station device 102 transmits the reference time information by MAC CE is shown, but the reference time is set from the base station device having a sufficiently small propagation delay to the terminal device. It is sufficiently effective just to transmit the information, and it is possible to obtain the same effect even if the information of the reference time is transmitted by the RRC message. Further, for example, by using DCI, processing in the MAC layer becomes unnecessary, so that more accurate processing can be executed.
　なお、上述の実施形態では、第１の基地局装置１０１がＬＴＥの基地局装置であり、第２の基地局装置１０２が５Ｇの基地局装置である場合の例について説明したがこれに限られない。例えば、第１の基地局装置１０１と第２の基地局装置１０２とが、共に５Ｇの基地局装置であってもよく、また、これらの基地局装置は、共にＬＴＥの基地局装置であってもよい。また、第１の基地局装置１０１が５Ｇの基地局装置であり、第２の基地局装置１０２がＬＴＥの基地局装置であってもよい。 In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the first base station device 101 is an LTE base station device and the second base station device 102 is a 5G base station device has been described, but the present invention is limited to this. not. For example, the first base station device 101 and the second base station device 102 may both be 5G base station devices, and these base station devices are both LTE base station devices. May be good. Further, the first base station device 101 may be a 5G base station device, and the second base station device 102 may be an LTE base station device.
　また、端末装置１１１が、基地局装置１０１（又は基地局装置１０２）から送信されるＲＲＣメッセージによって受信した参照時刻を、同じ基地局装置１０１（又は基地局装置１０２）から送信されるＭＡＣ　ＣＥやＤＣＩで受信した参照時刻の情報で補正してもよい。 Further, the MAC CE or the MAC CE in which the terminal device 111 transmits the reference time received by the RRC message transmitted from the base station device 101 (or the base station device 102) from the same base station device 101 (or the base station device 102). It may be corrected by the information of the reference time received by DCI.
　なお、端末装置１１１では、一度時刻同期を確立した後も、自装置の発振器の性能等により、内部時計の時刻と実際の時刻とがずれることが想定される。このため、端末装置１１１は、上述の時刻同期処理を定期的に実行することとなる。なお、この処理を高頻度で実行すると、端末装置１１１の電力消費が大きくなるため、この処理は適切な頻度で実行されるべきである。このため、端末装置１１１は、例えば、自装置内の発振器の性能を示すカタログ値などの情報を保持しておき、この情報に基づいて、参照時刻の情報を受信する頻度を決定してもよい。すなわち、端末装置１１１は、発振器が高性能であるほど、参照時刻の情報の受信頻度を下げ、発振器が低性能であるほど、参照時刻の情報の受信頻度を上げるようにしうる。 In the terminal device 111, even after the time synchronization is once established, it is assumed that the time of the internal clock and the actual time may deviate due to the performance of the oscillator of the own device. Therefore, the terminal device 111 periodically executes the above-mentioned time synchronization process. If this process is executed frequently, the power consumption of the terminal device 111 increases. Therefore, this process should be executed at an appropriate frequency. Therefore, the terminal device 111 may hold information such as a catalog value indicating the performance of the oscillator in the terminal device 111, and determine the frequency of receiving the reference time information based on this information. .. That is, the terminal device 111 can reduce the frequency of receiving information at the reference time as the oscillator has higher performance, and increase the frequency of receiving information at the reference time as the oscillator has lower performance.
　発明は上記の実施形態に制限されるものではなく、発明の要旨の範囲内で、種々の変形・変更が可能である。 The invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications and changes can be made within the scope of the gist of the invention.
　本願は、２０２０年９月２９日提出の日本国特許出願特願２０２０－１６３２６３を基礎として優先権を主張するものであり、その記載内容の全てを、ここに援用する。 This application claims priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2020-162363 submitted on September 29, 2020, and all the contents thereof are incorporated herein by reference.

Claims (10)

  1. 　第１の基地局装置において待ち受け中に、第２の基地局装置から送出される報知信号を受信する受信手段と、
    　当該報知信号から参照時刻の情報を取得する取得手段と、
    　当該参照時刻の情報に基づいて時刻同期を確立する確立手段と、
    　を有する端末装置。     A receiving means for receiving a notification signal transmitted from the second base station device during standby in the first base station device, and
    An acquisition means for acquiring reference time information from the notification signal, and
    An establishment means for establishing time synchronization based on the reference time information,
    Terminal device with.
  2. 　前記受信手段は、前記第１の基地局装置から送出された別の報知信号を受信し、前記第２の基地局装置からの前記報知信号が前記参照時刻の情報を含むことを当該別の報知信号が示す場合に、当該第２の基地局装置からの当該報知信号を受信する、
    　請求項１に記載の端末装置。     The receiving means receives another notification signal transmitted from the first base station device, and the other notification that the notification signal from the second base station device includes the information of the reference time. When the signal indicates, the notification signal from the second base station device is received.
    The terminal device according to claim 1.
  3. 　前記受信手段は、前記第１の基地局装置から送出された別の報知信号を受信し、当該別の報知信号によって示された、前記第２の基地局装置からの前記参照時刻の情報の通知のタイミングにおいて、当該第２の基地局装置からの当該報知信号を受信する、
    　請求項１又は２に記載の端末装置。     The receiving means receives another notification signal transmitted from the first base station device, and notifies the information of the reference time from the second base station device indicated by the other notification signal. At the timing of, the notification signal from the second base station apparatus is received.
    The terminal device according to claim 1 or 2.
  4. 　前記受信手段は、前記タイミングと、前記別の報知信号の受信タイミングとに基づいて、前記第２の基地局装置からの前記報知信号の受信タイミングを制御する、
    　請求項３に記載の端末装置。     The receiving means controls the reception timing of the notification signal from the second base station device based on the timing and the reception timing of the other notification signal.
    The terminal device according to claim 3.
  5. 　前記参照時刻の情報は、ページングメッセージのスケジューリングに用いられる下りリンク制御情報によって送信される、請求項１から４のいずれか１項に記載の端末装置。 The terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the reference time information is transmitted by downlink control information used for scheduling a paging message.
  6. 　前記参照時刻の情報は、システムインフォメーションのスケジューリングに用いられる下りリンク制御情報によって送信される、請求項１から４のいずれか１項に記載の端末装置。 The terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the reference time information is transmitted by downlink control information used for scheduling system information.
  7. 　前記第１の基地局装置は、ロングタームエボリューション（ＬＴＥ）の基地局装置であり、前記第２の基地局装置は、第５世代（５Ｇ）の基地局装置である、請求項１から６のいずれか１項に記載の端末装置。 The first base station apparatus is a long term evolution (LTE) base station apparatus, and the second base station apparatus is a fifth generation (5G) base station apparatus, according to claims 1 to 6. The terminal device according to any one.
  8. 　前記第１の基地局装置によって提供されるセルはマクロセルであり、前記第２の基地局装置によって提供されるセルはスモールセルである、請求項１から７のいずれか１項に記載の端末装置。 The terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the cell provided by the first base station device is a macro cell, and the cell provided by the second base station device is a small cell. ..
  9. 　端末装置によって実行される制御方法であって、
    　第１の基地局装置において待ち受け中に、第２の基地局装置から送出される報知信号を受信することと、
    　当該報知信号から参照時刻の情報を取得することと、
    　当該参照時刻の情報に基づいて時刻同期を確立することと、
    　を有する制御方法。     A control method performed by a terminal device
    Receiving the broadcast signal transmitted from the second base station device during standby in the first base station device, and
    Acquiring reference time information from the notification signal and
    Establishing time synchronization based on the reference time information,
    Control method having.
  10. 　端末装置に備えられたコンピュータに、
    　第１の基地局装置において待ち受け中に、第２の基地局装置から送出される報知信号を受信させ、
    　当該報知信号から参照時刻の情報を取得させ、
    　当該参照時刻の情報に基づいて時刻同期を確立させる、
    　ためのプログラム。     To the computer installed in the terminal device,
    While waiting in the first base station device, the notification signal transmitted from the second base station device is received.
    The information of the reference time is acquired from the notification signal, and the information is obtained.
    Establish time synchronization based on the reference time information,
    Program for.
PCT/JP2021/035005 2020-09-29 2021-09-24 Terminal device for establishing time synchronization, control method, and program WO2022071098A1 (en)

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Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2018030307A1 (en) * 2016-08-12 2018-02-15 京セラ株式会社 Communications device
CN111565449A (en) * 2019-02-14 2020-08-21 财团法人资讯工业策进会 Base station for mobile communication system

Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2018030307A1 (en) * 2016-08-12 2018-02-15 京セラ株式会社 Communications device
CN111565449A (en) * 2019-02-14 2020-08-21 财团法人资讯工业策进会 Base station for mobile communication system

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