CN103379501A - Resource management method for device-to-device communication - Google Patents

Abstract

The present disclosure proposes a resource management method for device-to-device communication. More particularly, the present disclosure proposes a method for managing Device to Device (D2D) network resources based on maintaining a User Equipment (UE) network topology. The proposal includes a device (UE) requesting authorization from the network for D2D communication on a licensed spectrum, the UE then to receive, by a control node or by another non-mobile UE, an authorization including Identification (ID) information that allows the UE to D2D communication in the licensed spectrum even if the UE is out of range of a serving base station.

Description

Resource management method for device-to-device communication

technical field

The present disclosure proposes a resource management method for device-to-device communication and an apparatus using the method.

Background technique

Device to Device (D2D) communication is a technology that allows user equipment (UE) to communicate directly with each other without requiring eNB (enhanced NodeB or eNodeB) to continuously forward data between them. Traditional cellular communication systems such as LTE systems usually only allow the exchange of signals between the UE and the base station, and the direct exchange between the UE itself has not been defined. Therefore, D2D communication is not yet feasible in the LTE communication system at this time . Currently, although UEs may be located in close proximity to each other in an LTE system, UEs still need to go through a base station to complete the network entry procedure, which forwards every data sent by one UE to another UE. Therefore, various schemes for inter-UE direct communication are currently proposed.

There are various D2D communication schemes, but a D2D resource management scheme is required in the licensed band. If users operate on an unlicensed band, users can communicate with each other without authorization using eg WiFi, Bluetooth, etc. However, if a user communicates on a licensed frequency band, the user must be authorized by the spectrum owner to communicate directly with other users. Therefore, a D2D radio resource management scheme is required to efficiently perform network management functions, such as resource leasing, charging, priority management, and the like. Therefore, in this disclosure, a method and apparatus for performing D2D radio resource management will be proposed.

Contents of the invention

The present disclosure proposes a method for device-to-device communication and an apparatus using the method. More precisely, the present disclosure proposes a method and apparatus for managing D2D network resources based on network topology.

The present disclosure proposes a resource management method for device-to-device (D2D) communication in a network, the method is suitable for a user equipment (UE), and the method includes the steps of: requesting from the network in licensed spectrum Authorization to perform D2D communication; receiving authorization to perform D2D communication in the licensed spectrum, wherein the authorization includes identification (ID) information; and performing D2D communication in the licensed spectrum.

This disclosure proposes a resource management method for device-to-device (D2D) communication in a network, the method is adapted to a control node, and the method includes the steps of: receiving a request for D2D communication in a licensed spectrum a request for authorization; delivering a request for authorization to conduct D2D communication to the network; receiving from the network an authorization to conduct D2D communication in a licensed spectrum, wherein the authorization includes identification (ID) information; and transmitting a first message, the second A message includes authorization for D2D communication in the licensed spectrum.

In order to make the aforementioned features and advantages of the present disclosure easy to understand, preferred embodiments with accompanying drawings will be described in detail below. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and are intended to provide further explanation of the claimed disclosure.

Description of drawings

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosure, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain principles of the disclosure.

FIG. 1A illustrates a system architecture for D2D communication according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1B illustrates a UE according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

Figure 1C illustrates a control node according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2A illustrates a geographic zone-based radio resource management method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2B illustrates an expanded geographic band based radio resource management method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2C illustrates a radio resource management method based on a predetermined geographical zone according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3A illustrates a slot-based resource allocation method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3B illustrates a resource allocation method based on transmission bandwidth according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3C illustrates a resource allocation method using a random back-off window size according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example system, showing mobile and non-mobile D2D devices.

Fig. 5A is a flowchart outlining the proposed D2D resource management method from the point of view of the control node.

Fig. 5B is a flowchart outlining the proposed D2D resource management method from the user equipment's point of view.

Fig. 6 illustrates the concept of non-mobile D2D device management based on network topology.

FIG. 7 illustrates proximity indication assisted D2D communication according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

8A-8B illustrate remote topology maintenance by a data center, according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

9A-9B illustrate a network entry procedure according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9C illustrates a proximity detection procedure according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9D illustrates a network update procedure according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

Figure 9E illustrates a neighbor table according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 10A illustrates a device location reporting method to a server according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 10B illustrates a device location reporting method for another device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 10C illustrates a device location reporting method for a group of devices according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 11 is a flowchart according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application, which shows a network topology-based management method from the perspective of user equipment.

Fig. 12 is a flowchart according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application, which shows the proposed D2D resource management method from the point of view of the control node.

Detailed ways

In this disclosure, keywords or phrases like 3GPP (3rd generation partnership project) are merely used as examples to present inventive concepts according to this disclosure; The same concept applied to any other system, for example, IEEE802.11, IEEE802.16, WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access), etc.

Although a UE may be configured to communicate directly with another UE, a UE communicating on a licensed band needs to be authorized by the spectrum owner of the licensed band to communicate directly with other UEs. Therefore, UEs communicating in D2D mode still need to attach to the spectrum owner's network belonging to the licensed frequency band in order to obtain proper authorization and obtain radio resources. Therefore, a resource management method and equipment operating in a network are proposed to implement resource leasing, charging and priority management. The proposed method will firstly include a method of performing access authorization so that users are licensed to communicate directly with other users on the licensed spectrum. After the user is authorized, the proposed method will allocate D2D resources. The proposed method will also include methods to enhance resource management by maintaining network topology, so that D2D communication can be extended even beyond the coverage of base stations.

FIG. 1A illustrates an overall architecture for managing D2D communication according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. In the proposed system architecture, one or more UEs can attach to the network through one or more control nodes, thereby obtaining authorization and radio resources. For example, UEs (111 to 116) may attach to the network through a control node (101 to 107). More specifically, a single UE 111 may be attached to the network via control node 101, multiple UEs such as 113 and 114 may be attached to the network via control node 104, or a single UE 112 may be attached to the network via multiple control nodes such as 102 and 103 network.

The control node in this disclosure will be called a base station (base station; BS) or eNB. It should be noted that such references are only exemplary, and therefore do not limit the type of control node, because those skilled in the art can easily understand that other types of control nodes can be selected to achieve the purpose of network control, such as Advanced base station (advanced base station; ABS), base transceiver system (base transceiver system; BTS), access point (Access point), home base station (home base station), relay station (relay station), scatterer (scatter), Repeaters, intermediate nodes, intermediate devices and/or intermediary/satellite-based communication base stations. The control node can include various entities, such as mobility management entity (Mobility Management Entity; MME), serving gateway (Serving Gateway; S-GW), packet data network gateway (Packet Data Network Gateway; PDN-GW), serving GPRS support Node (Serving GPRS Support Node; SGSN), Gateway GPRS Support Node (Gateway GPRS Support Node; GGSN), Mobile Switching Center (Mobile Switching Center; MSC), and Home Subscriber Server (Home Subscriber Server; HSS) or maintain information related to users node of the database.

A control node may be at least represented by functional elements as shown in FIG. 1B according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. Each control node 101 may contain at least (but not limited to) transceiver circuitry 123, analog/digital (A/D)/digital/analog (D/A) converter 124, processing circuitry 126, optional memory circuitry 125, and one or more antenna elements 122 . The transceiver circuitry 123 wirelessly transmits downlink signals and receives uplink signals. The transceiver circuit 123 may also perform operations such as low noise amplification (LNA), impedance matching, frequency mixing, frequency up-down conversion, filtering, amplification, and the like. Analog/digital (A/D)/digital/analog (D/A) converter 124 is configured to convert an analog signal format to a digital signal format during uplink signal processing, and to convert digital signal format during downlink signal processing. The signal format is converted to an analog signal format.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the processing circuit 126 is configured to process digital signals and execute procedures of the proposed method for a bit adaptive pre-coding matrix indicator feedback mechanism. Furthermore, processing circuitry 126 may optionally be coupled to memory circuitry 125 to store programming codes, device configurations, codebooks, buffered or persistent data, and the like. The functions of processing circuitry 126 may be implemented using programmable units such as microprocessors, microcontrollers, DSP chips, FPGAs, and the like. The functions of the processing circuit 126 may also be implemented by a separate electronic device or IC, and the processing circuit may also be implemented by hardware or software.

The term "User Equipment" (UE) in this disclosure may refer to various embodiments which may include, for example but not limited to, mobile stations, advanced mobile stations (AMS), servers, clients , desktop computer, laptop computer, network computer, workstation, personal digital assistant (personal digital assistant; PDA), tablet personal computer (personal computer; PC), scanner, telephone device, pager, camera, television, handheld video Game devices, music devices, wireless sensors, etc. In some applications, a UE may be a stationary computing device operating in a mobile environment such as a bus, train, airplane, boat, automobile, and the like.

A UE may at least be represented by functional elements as shown in FIG. 1C according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. Each UE 111 in the communication system may contain at least, but not limited to, transceiver circuitry 133, analog/digital (A/D)/digital/analog (D/A) converter 134, processing circuitry 136, optional memory circuitry 135, and one or more antenna units 132. The memory circuit 135 may store programming codes, device configurations, buffered or persistent data, codebooks, and the like. Processing circuitry 136 may also be implemented in hardware or software. The function of each element in the UE 111 is similar to that of the control node 101, so no detailed description of each element will be given.

Referring back to FIG. 1A, the control nodes (101 to 107) in FIG. 1A can communicate with spectrum owner/charging center server (charging center server) 120, which performs spectrum leasing and charging center server. fee function. Spectrum owner/billing center server 120 may communicate and negotiate with transaction center 130 through which service providers outside the network (e.g., military 140, emergency services 150, and other services 160) may receive information from spectrum owner The operator/billing server 120 obtains permission to authorize the access of the D2D UE belonging to the service provider. In the case of LTE, an instance of the charging center server 120 may be a Policy and Charging Rules Function (Policy and Charging Rules Function; PCRF) node responsible for quality-of-service (QoS) processing and charging, And the PCRF node is coupled to a Home Subscriber Service (HSS) node, from which a database containing subscriber information can be obtained. The detailed operation principle is as follows.

Before a UE can conduct D2D communication with another UE, the UE will first need to obtain authorization from the spectrum owner/billing server through the control node. A method for implementing device authorization for D2D communication may be to use a geographic zone-based radio resource management method. FIG. 2A illustrates a geographic zone-based radio resource management method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. In the proposed geographic zone-based radio resource management method, multiple geographic zones are defined by multiple control nodes. A geographic zone is defined as an area delineated by at least three control nodes, since it would take at least three vertices, or three points, to logically form a non-zero two-dimensional area. Groups of said at least three control nodes together will further determine whether the geographic zone defined by the at least three control nodes is a valid D2D zone or an invalid D2D zone. Within an effective D2D band, a UE can perform D2D communication with other UEs, and the UE can also perform D2D communication with other UEs across different effective geographic bands. For more specific details, please refer to the following examples.

In the exemplary scenario in FIG. 2A , multiple geographic zones 221 - 225 are bounded by multiple control nodes 201 - 209 . Within multiple geographic zones, active regions (VR) 221 , 222 , 224 and inactive regions (IR) 223 , 225 may exist. In general, an active area is an area that may allow a device to communicate directly with at least one other device. In the dead zone, a device cannot communicate directly with another device, but only through a control node or coordinator. In each of the geographic zones 221 to 225 defined by the control node, the control node defining each zone determines whether the zone is valid or not according to a rule. The control nodes 201 to 209 will indicate whether any of the control nodes 201 to 209 allows or does not allow D2D communication.

According to an exemplary embodiment, a certain zone is considered to be a valid zone if all control nodes forming the zone indicate that they will each individually allow D2D communication. For example, zone 221 is a valid zone 221 because it is bounded by control nodes 201 , 202 , 204 , 205 and 206 and all control nodes 201 , 202 , 204 , 205 and 206 indicated that they would allow D2D communication. Conversely, if any of the control nodes that together define a certain zone indicate that it will not allow D2D communication, the zone is considered to be an invalid D2D zone. For example, zone 223 is an invalid zone 223 because the control node 207 has indicated that it will not allow D2D communication, although the other control nodes 205, 206 and 208 have indicated that they will allow D2D communication.

Similar principles apply to active area 222 and active area 224 . In the active area 222, all control nodes 202 to 204 delimiting the area 222 indicate that they will allow D2D communication. Likewise, in the valid area 224, all control nodes 204, 205 and 208 delimiting the area 224 indicate that they will allow D2D communication. However, zone 225 is an invalid zone 225 because the control node 209 indicated that it would not allow D2D communication, although the other control nodes 203, 204 and 208 delimiting the zone indicated that they would allow D2D communication.

According to another exemplary embodiment, a valid zone may be defined as a zone defined together by all control nodes in which not all control nodes have indicated that they will allow D2D communication. A null zone may be defined as a zone defined together by all control nodes where two or more control nodes have indicated that they will not allow D2D communication.

A certain zone can be calculated using the coordinates of the coordinators that together define the zone. For example, in active zone 224 , the zone may be defined in terms of geographic coordinates such as the latitude and longitude of each control node or coordinator 204 , 205 and 208 . After obtaining the geographic coordinates of each control node 204, 205 and 208, whether the device is inside or outside the zone can be easily determined by the device itself or by any control node or by the spectrum owner/billing server 120. Calculated.

The effective area can be expanded based on the radio coverage of each control node or coordinator. For example, a device may still be considered to be in an active zone if it is sufficiently within RF range of an allowable coordinator outside the boundary of the active zone, and thus the device may communicate with Other devices communicate or communicate across the active area with another active area.

FIG. 2B illustrates an expanded geographic band based radio resource management method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. In the exemplary embodiment in FIG. 2B , a set of control nodes 231 to 235 or coordinators define a geographic zone 238 . It is assumed that the boundary 239 is the maximum extent that the radio coverage of the set of control nodes 231 to 235 can cover. Between the boundary 239 and the geographic zone 238 there is an enlarged geographic zone 240 which is considered to be an extension of the geographic zone 238 and thus effectively considered to be the same area as the geographic zone 238 . This implies that a UE 236 in the geographic zone 238 can communicate with another UE 237 in the enlarged geographic zone 240 because the UE 236 is in the geographic zone 238 and the UE 237 is within the coverage of the control node 234 . Likewise, the active or invalid status is consistent between geographic band 238 and expanded geographic band 240 .

FIG. 2C illustrates a radio resource management method based on a predetermined geographical zone according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. For the exemplary embodiment in FIG. 2C , predetermined geographic zones 248 are defined according to their absolute geographic coordinates (eg, longitude and latitude). Within the region delineated by the predetermined geographic zone 248, any area within the region is considered to be the same zone, regardless of the location of the control nodes 241 to 245. If the band is determined to be valid by the set of control nodes 241 to 245, then the UE 246 can communicate directly with another UE 247 .

A geographic band may be predetermined for a group of D2D devices subscribed to a service allowing communication in a predetermined area. Figure 3 illustrates an example. A D2D device can calculate its position, checking whether the device is in a predetermined geographical zone. If the D2D device is in a predetermined geographical zone, the D2D device can perform direct communication.

Based on the aforementioned geographic zone defined by a combined set of coordinating control nodes, UEs must first be authenticated by the network according to their geographic zone before they can conduct D2D communication. This disclosure proposes three ways for a D2D device to verify whether it is in an allowed geographic zone.

The first approach is the D2D device computing approach. In this approach, the D2D device first obtains the locations of some control nodes that define the current geographical zone where the D2D device is located. Based on the locations of these control nodes, the D2D device will calculate whether it is located in the active zone according to the geographical coordinates of these coordinators.

The second approach is the D2D device reporting approach. In this approach, the D2D device reports its current location to the control node. Subsequently, the control node will check whether the D2D device belongs to the active zone. If the D2D device belongs to the active zone, the network will inform the device that it is allowed for D2D communication.

The third way is the network positioning way. In this approach, the D2D device sends a pilot signal (pilot signal) to one or more nearby control nodes. Nearby control nodes will estimate the arrival time of the pilot signal, thereby estimating the distance between the one or more control nodes and the D2D device. The control node may then calculate the position of this D2D device based on the estimated distance. If the location of the D2D device is found to belong to the valid zone, the network will inform the D2D device that it is allowed to conduct D2D communication.

After the D2D device is verified as capable of D2D communication, the network will then implement resource leasing and charging. This disclosure proposes two approaches. The first approach is a D2D device-oriented approach; and the second approach is a service provider-oriented approach. Referring back to FIG. 1A , in a first approach, UEs 111 to 116 (ie at least any of them) will first access the control node to request radio resources. Assuming that the UEs 111 to 116 are found to be in a valid geographical area, the control node will then request the spectrum owner/billing server 120 for permission to access the network. The spectrum owner/billing server 120 will then determine whether it allows the UEs 111 to 116 to conduct D2D communication. In addition, Spectrum Owner/Billing Server 120 may send requests to other instances or services (e.g., Military 140, Emergency Services 150, and Other Services 160) via Transaction Center 130 to determine whether UEs 111 to 116 belong to these entities or services Negotiate with the ordering service in . If the UEs 111 to 116 belong to the subscription service, the UEs 111 to 116 can communicate with other D2D UEs 111 to 116.

The second approach is a service provider-oriented approach. In this approach, UEs 111 to 116 may request permission and resources to conduct D2D communication through service providers (eg, military 140 , emergency services 150 , and other services 160 ). The service provider may request the D2D communication service through the spectrum owner/billing server 120 by negotiating with the spectrum owner/billing server 120 through the transaction center 130 . The spectrum owner/billing center 130 will determine whether the UEs 111 to 116 are subscribed to a service provider (e.g., 140, 150, 160) and will authorize the UEs 111 to 116 belonging to the service provider to pass through the spectrum for communication. UEs 111 to 116 may access control nodes 101 to 107 to request radio resources. The control nodes 101 to 107 will then request the spectrum owner/billing server 120 for permission to communicate in D2D mode. The spectrum owner will then authorize the UEs 111 to 116 that have subscribed to the server to use the spectrum.

With respect to charging, the corresponding UE, which is authorized to communicate directly with another UE in D2D mode, may be charged and given radio resources according to time and/or frequency usage. UEs can also be charged according to priority or the number of available contention slots.

In one exemplary embodiment, this disclosure proposes that resource allocation can be done on a time slot basis. For slot-based resource allocation, a frame structure can be divided into multiple slots (slot 301 is one such slot). Charging and resource allocation can be done based on allocated time slots. FIG. 3A illustrates a slot-based resource allocation method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. In the exemplary embodiment, it is assumed that the superframe 300 consists of 8 time slots in total. And assume that the slot marked "1" occurs once in every superframe. The slot marked "2" occurs twice in each superframe. Slots labeled 1 or 2 may repeat in a fixed pattern in each superframe, or the pattern may vary in different superframes. Therefore, if the user pays more, the user can transmit on the slot marked 2. If the user pays less, the user can transmit on the slot marked 1.

In an exemplary embodiment, the amount of transmission bandwidth may be allocated according to the price that the user is willing to pay. The higher the price that users are willing to pay, the greater the bandwidth that can be allocated. FIG. 3B illustrates a resource allocation method based on transmission bandwidth according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. In general, time slot 302 can be divided into at least three time slots. A block marked 1 in each slot may appear twice in each slot, while a block marked 2 will appear at most once in each slot. If the user pays more, the user can transmit on the slot marked 1. If the user pays less, the user can transmit on the slot marked 2.

In one exemplary embodiment, the backoff window size may be a variable that determines the amount by which the user can still be billed. Contention-based mechanisms will usually rely on backoff windows to resolve contention conflicts during random access. The more users are willing to pay, the smaller the random backoff window size will become. FIG. 3C illustrates a resource allocation method using a random backoff window size according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 3C shows three random backoff window sizes 304 , 305 and 306 . Users who are most willing to pay will have the smallest backoff window size 304 and likewise users who pay the least will have the longest backoff window size 306 .

Various embodiments can be proposed for different priority schemes. For example, the number of contention slots may be based on the amount a user is willing to pay. Users willing to pay more will enjoy more competitive slots. In another embodiment, the maximum transmission power may also be determined according to the user's willingness to pay. Users who pay more will be allowed to transmit with a higher maximum transmission power. In another embodiment, users may be assigned priorities. Users who pay more will be assigned a higher priority than users who pay less, and users with higher priority are given priority access than users with lower priority.

Furthermore, regarding charging and resource allocation, multiple UEs of D2D can be classified into mobile devices and non-mobile devices. For D2D UEs that tend to be used as infrastructure and do not have any mobility themselves, such as smart meters, each UE can be assigned a fixed identity. These non-mobile devices can be charged more because they each occupy a fixed identity for a long time. These identities can be assigned according to the services subscribed by the user. It is also possible for two or more devices to share the same identity in a time-division fashion, thereby reducing the total number of all necessary identities.

For multiple mobile D2D UEs that can migrate from one control node to another control node, these mobile UEs can be assigned according to the temporary identity. And when one such mobile UE migrates from one control node to another, the mobile UE can change from one temporary identity to another. These mobile D2D multiple UEs may need to update their identities every given time period. Under normal circumstances, a mobile D2D device is authorized through a mobile identity, and a non-mobile D2D device is authorized through a non-mobile identity. When a mobile device moves within the coverage of another control node, it will be authorized with another identity, the mobile identity.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example system, showing mobile and non-mobile D2D devices. In the system, control nodes 401 , 402 and 403 provide coverage to mobile UEs 411 , 412 and non-mobile UEs 406 , 407 . For multiple non-mobile D2D UEs, they are authorized by the control node 401 using a fixed identity. For the mobile D2D devices 411 and 412 that can hop from one control node 412 to another control node 402, their authorization may be to change from one temporary identity to another.

FIG. 5A is a flowchart illustrating the proposed D2D resource management method from the point of view of the control node. In step S501, the control node will receive a request to communicate in D2D mode from the user equipment. In step S502, after the user equipment has requested to communicate in D2D mode, the control node will authenticate the user equipment based on the geographical zone where the user equipment is located. If the control node determines that the user equipment is in a valid geographical band, the user equipment may be authorized by the spectrum owner to use the spectrum owner's radio resources for D2D communication. In step S503, after the user equipment has been properly authorized, the control node will notify the user equipment whether the user equipment can communicate in D2D mode. The user equipment may then be charged based on any of the aforementioned charging and leasing schemes.

Fig. 5B is a flowchart illustrating the proposed D2D resource management method from the perspective of the user equipment. In step S551, the user equipment transmits a request to communicate in D2D mode to the control node. In step S552, after the user equipment has requested to communicate in D2D mode, the user equipment may receive an authentication result based on the geographic zone where the user equipment is located from the control node. If it has been determined that the user equipment is in a valid geographical band, the user equipment may be authorized by the spectrum owner to use the spectrum owner's radio resources for D2D communication. In step S553, after the user equipment has been properly authorized, the user equipment will receive a notification from the control node whether the user equipment can communicate in D2D mode. The user equipment may then be charged based on any of the aforementioned charging and leasing schemes.

For the aforementioned D2D resource management scheme, if a certain UE is non-mobile and located outside the radio coverage of any control node, as long as the UE is within the radio coverage of another non-mobile UE, it can still pass D2D wireless services are provided to the UE based on network topology management. Also, if a certain non-mobile UE is located in an invalid geographical zone and thus cannot communicate in D2D mode with another UE, D2D wireless services can still be provided to the non-mobile UE through network topology-based management by placing The non-mobile UE is attached to a nearby control node.

For example, referring back to FIGS. 2A and 2B , if the non-mobile UE is assumed to be located outside the geographical band formed by the control nodes 201, 202, 203, 209, 208, 207, 206, or if the non-mobile UE is located within the extended geographical band Outside the outer boundary 239, as long as the UE is within the radio coverage of another non-mobile UE, D2D wireless services can still be provided to the UE through management based on network topology. If a certain non-mobile UE is located in the invalid area 223, 225, or actually located in the active area 221, 222, 224, D2D wireless service can still be provided to the non-mobile UE through network topology-based management, the method is to attach the non-mobile UE to a nearby control node 201 to 209 .

The concept of the network topology management method will be clarified as follows. Referring back to FIG. 4 , and specifically with reference to a setup comprising a control node 401 and non-mobile UEs 407, one gist of the concept of a network topology management method is that it is possible to provide information to UEs by letting the control node 401 maintain a tree (or chain)-like form of UE topology. The UE provides D2D wireless services, so that if a certain UE falls outside the coverage of the control node 401, the UE can still communicate in D2D mode through another non-mobile UE, and the other non-mobile UE is in the control node 401. is within radio range and thus able to act as a relay for UEs that are out of range of the control node 401 .

Figure 6 further illustrates the concept of D2D multiple UE management based on network topology. In general, the control node 401 can communicate with non-mobile UEs 407 located within radio range of the control node 401 . The non-mobile UE 407 can then act as a relay for other UEs 451 and 452 to communicate in D2D mode, as long as the UEs 451 and 452 are within the radio range of the UE 451 . Since the non-mobile UE407 is assigned a fixed identity, the control node can track the non-mobile UE407 through the fixed identity of the non-mobile UE407. If UE451 and 452 are non-mobile, UE451 and 452 will also be assigned a fixed identity. The control node 401 will then be able to track the non-mobile UEs 407, 451 and 452 by their fixed identities.

UE451 can even communicate with UE452 in D2D mode through the radio coverage of UE407 without the control node 401 constantly delivering wireless data between non-mobile UE451 and 452 . If UE451 and UE452 are within the radio coverage of the control node 401, UE407 may also act as a relay between UE451 and UE452, thereby facilitating communication in D2D mode.

Similarly, non-mobile UE451 and/or non-mobile UE452 may act as a relay for UE453. In case UE 453 is also non-mobile, non-mobile UE 453 may in turn act as a relay to provide radio coverage to mobile UE 414 . Similarly, non-mobile UE 452 may act as a relay and provide D2D radio coverage to mobile UE 413 . Therefore, as long as the links 401, 451, 453 and 414 are formed in unbroken fashion, the mobile UE 414 can be indirectly attached to the control node 401 through the non-mobile UEs 453 and 451, because each node in the link is Sufficiently within radio coverage of neighboring nodes. Thus, for the scenario in Fig. 6, the control node 401 will keep track of the non-mobile UEs 407, 451, 452 and 453, as each of them can act as a relay to provide D2D communication to other mobile UEs.

In another embodiment, the non-mobile UE 453 and the mobile UE 414 as a unit may be implemented as an individual private network. In general, the network can assign a static identification (ID) and track non-mobile UEs by means of the static ID, which in turn can assign IDs to other UEs attached to the non-mobile UE.

Generally speaking, since non-mobile UEs are assigned fixed identities, the control node can track these non-mobile UEs. For UEs with non-mobility identities, the coordinator can obtain network topology through D2D UEs directly connected to the coordinator, since these UEs are assigned fixed identities. These UEs may further collect identities of a next group of UEs connected to these UEs and assigned fixed identities. The above steps can be repeated until the complete network topology of multiple D2D UEs with fixed identities is obtained. As for multiple UEs of D2D with temporary identities, they can be attached to UEs with fixed identities. Therefore, for non-mobile UEs that have been authorized to have a fixed identity, they can be regarded as the expansion of the control node obtained by expanding the radio coverage of the control node, so as to be able to provide D2D communication to UEs outside the range of the control node .

Establishing a network topology may require knowledge of the connections between devices (eg, control nodes, mobile UEs, and non-mobile UEs), as well as the locations or relative locations of these devices. The location of a device can be used to identify the relationship between a device and its surrounding devices. Generally speaking, the absolute position of the UE can be measured by a common positioning device, such as a global positioning satellite (global positioning satellite; GPS) positioning device. The absolute position of the control node can be obtained by a GPS positioning device, or it can be supplied by the network. The position of one device relative to another device (ie, the relative position of the devices) may also be calculated and determined. When devices communicate with each other in a D2D mode, proximity information of each device may be delivered to a network. In other words, the determination of the proximity information of each device can be assisted by the D2D communication of these above-mentioned devices.

FIG. 7 illustrates proximity indication assisted D2D communication according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 7 comprises a control node 701 which has established a wireless connection with a UE 702 which in turn can communicate directly with two other UEs 703,704. UE 702 can report its absolute position to control node 701 . The UE 702 may also report to the control node 701 that it is within the radio communication range of the two UEs 703,704. (ie, UE703, 704 are close to UE702). UE703 can also report its location and whether other nearby UEs are within the radio range of UE703 to control node 701 through the relay of UE702. UE704 can also report its location and whether other nearby UEs are within the radio range of UE704 to control node 701 through the relay of UE702. In this way, the control node 701 can maintain a complete topology of D2D devices according to the UE's proximity report.

8A-8B illustrate remote topology maintenance by a data center, according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. Assume that there is a network topology formed by a series of UEs 811 to 816 as shown in FIG. 8A . Specifically, UEs 811, 812, 814 and 816 are within the radio range of the control node 801 as shown in FIG. All the UEs 811 to 816 can communicate with each other in the D2D mode through the relay of other non-mobile UEs. After receiving available proximity reports from UEs 811 to 816, the control node 801 will maintain the network topology in Figure 8A. The control node 801 then forwards the network topology to a data center 850 in the network. The data center 850 will then maintain the complete network topology under the control node 801 .

The network topology can be updated as follows. In one embodiment, in response to the first device not being able to discover in the vicinity a second device that was previously in the vicinity of the first device and was part of the network topology, the first device will report to the control node that the second device is not in the vicinity and therefore has missing from the topology. In reply to the first device reporting to the control node, the control node will then report to the data center, which will then update the topology accordingly. For example, if UE 812 cannot detect the presence of UE 813 within radio range of UE 812 , UE 812 then reports the updated topology to control node 801 . The control node 801 will then forward the information to the data center 850 which will then update the topology to exclude the UE 813 .

In another exemplary embodiment, the control node may have a timer such that when the relationship between two devices no longer exists in a proximity report received by the control node, the control node will The topology is updated to no longer include the relationship after more than a predetermined period of time. For example, the control node 801 may have a timer such that when the UE 813 is lost for a predetermined period of time, such as 10 seconds, 45 seconds or 60 seconds, the UE 813 will be removed from the topology, and the control node 801 will update the updated The topology is forwarded to the data center 850 .

FIG. 9A illustrates a network entry procedure according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The network entry procedure can be described as follows. In step S951, the UE enters the D2D network. In step S952, the network authorizes the UE to perform D2D communication in the network. In step S953, the UE detects neighboring UEs in the indicated D2D resources. In step 954, the UE reports neighboring UEs to the control node.

The network entry procedure in Figure 9A can be illustrated with the example shown in the scene in Figure 9B. In the scenario of FIG. 9B , it is assumed that UE 911 enters a D2D network comprising server/cloud 905 , control node, two neighboring UEs 912 and 913 within radio range of UE 911 . The server/cloud 905 may be the aforementioned spectrum owner/billing server 120, or it may be an external server (e.g., military 140, emergency services 150, and other services 160). In step S951, UE911 enters the D2D network. In step S952, the network server/cloud 905 authorizes the UE 911 to perform D2D communication in the network. In step S953 , UE911 detects neighboring UEs, ie, UE912 and UE913 . In step 954 , the UE 911 reports the neighboring UEs 912 , 913 to the control node 901 .

It should be noted that when the network topology is being managed, the procedures involved in authorization and resource allocation will be similar to the aforementioned procedures previously disclosed, and thus will not be repeated.

FIG. 9C illustrates a proximity detection procedure according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. In step S961, the first UE periodically broadcasts a message including the ID of the first UE. In step S962, a second UE within the broadcast range of the first UE may receive the message containing the ID. In step S963, the second UE adds the first UE to the neighbor list. Referring back to the example in FIG. 9B in conjunction with FIG. 9C , in step S961 , the UE 911 broadcasts its ID periodically. In step S962, UE912 receives the broadcasted ID of UE911. In step S963, UE912 adds UE911 to its neighbor list. Based on the proximity detection procedure described above, UE912 will include UE911 in its neighbor list, and UE911 will include UE912 and UE913 in its neighbor list.

FIG. 9D illustrates a network update procedure according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. In step S971, the UE periodically detects neighboring UEs. In step S972, the UE updates its neighbor UE list after having scanned for neighbor UEs. In step S973, the UE reports the updated neighbor UE list to the control node.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the list of neighbor UEs may be compiled into a neighbor list, which will then be sent to the control node. FIG. 9E illustrates a neighbor list according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. Using the example in FIG. 9B , UE911 will have both UE912 and 913 marked "yes" because both UE912 and UE913 are in the vicinity of UE911. Likewise, UE912 will have UE911 marked "yes" and UE913 marked "no", and UE913 will have UE911 marked "yes" and UE912 marked "no".

With the entry procedure, update procedure and detection procedure defined, the network still needs to know the location of UE members in the topology to authorize and allocate resources for D2D UEs. Conventional positioning methods typically require the UE to detect its absolute position in terms of longitude and latitude and report it to the network. However, according to the present disclosure, a device may only need to know its relative location to another device to adequately document the network topology. The relative position between two devices may include distance and angle. For example, let's say the first UE is 50 meters away from the second UE. It can be said that the distance between the first UE and the second UE is 5 meters. Lets say the first UE is 35 degrees north of the second UE. And the relative position between the two devices may include the relative time of moving from one device to the other as well as the relative direction between the two devices. (That is, one device is in front of or behind the other.)

The concept of relative information can also be applied to other variables, such as the relative temperature between two devices in the case of one device being a thermometer. By transmitting the relative temperature of a device relative to a reference device, the device does not need to know its absolute temperature. Also, where one device is a motor vehicle, the concept of relative information can be applied to traffic loads, since the vehicle only needs to transmit relative traffic load information relative to a reference vehicle. Relative information can also be used to transmit information such as car license plates. In the case of smart meters, each smart meter may also deliver any relative information rather than absolute information.

One of the advantages of transmitting relative information is that the application on the device may not need to know the absolute position. Applications such as instant messengers or some social networking applications may not need to know about absolute positions. Devices that do not have any positioning hardware may benefit from delivering relative information to neighboring devices and then relying on the neighboring devices to relay the relative information to the final device, which converts the relative information to absolute information. For certain circumstances, such as in a tunnel, a device cannot receive a signal strong enough to perform absolute positioning and will therefore utilize other devices to obtain or calculate its own position.

The device may report the relative information to the server or another proximate D2D device in the vicinity. FIG. 10A illustrates a device location reporting method to a server according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application. In this embodiment, the first UE device performs calculations and reports to the server. First, the server/cloud 1001 may optionally request the relative location of the second UE 1011 from the first UE 1010 . The first UE 1010 will then calculate the relative position of the second UE 1011 and report the relative position of the second UE 1011 to the server/cloud 1001 .

In another exemplary embodiment, the second UE may perform the calculation and report to the server. For example, the server/cloud 1001 may optionally request the location of the second UE 1011 relative to the first UE 1010, and may only require such relative information. The first UE 1010 will then request the absolute location of the second UE 1011 from the second UE 1011 . The second UE 1011 will then obtain its absolute position and calculate its position relative to the first UE 1010 . The second UE 1011 then sends the relative position to the first UE 1010 , and the first UE 1010 may report the relative position of the second UE 1011 relative to the first UE 1010 to the server/cloud 1001 .

FIG. 10B illustrates a device location method performed on another device, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application. In this exemplary embodiment, the calculation is performed by the first device and reported directly to the other device. In the scenario of FIG. 10B, there are three D2D UEs close to each other, namely, the first UE1110, the second UE1111, and the third UE1112. First, the third UE 1112 optionally requests the relative location of the second UE 1111 from the first UE 1110 . The first UE1110 then calculates the relative position of the second UE1111 and reports the relative position of the second UE1111 to the third UE1112.

In another exemplary embodiment, the second UE 1111 may perform calculations and directly report to another device. First, the third UE1112 optionally requests the relative position of the second UE1111 with respect to the first UE1110. The first UE1110 then requests the absolute location of the second UE1111. The second UE calculates the absolute position of the second UE1111. The second UE1111 then calculates the relative position of the first UE1110 based on the absolute position of the second UE1111. The second UE 1111 then sends the relative position to the first UE 1110 . The first UE 1110 then delivers the relative position of the second UE 1111 relative to the first UE 1110 to the third UE 1112 .

FIG. 10C illustrates a device location reporting method for a group of devices according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application. In this exemplary embodiment, after the server optionally sends a request to a group of nearby UEs, a UE reports the location of all UEs in the group to the server. First, the server/cloud 1002 may optionally request the absolute positions of all UEs (including the second UE 1201 , the third UE 1202 , and the fourth UE 1203 ) in the vicinity of the first UE 1200 from the first UE 1200 . The first UE1200 then requests or calculates or collects the absolute positions of the second UE1201, the third UE1202, and the fourth UE1203. The first UE 1200 may then report the absolute positions of all UEs 1200 to 1203 to the server/cloud 1003 .

In another embodiment, instead of the first UE 1200 reporting the original absolute positions of all UEs 1200 to 1203 to the server/cloud 1003, the absolute position data may be reported in a compressed form. The compressed form essentially takes the raw data of the absolute position and converts the raw absolute data into relative data to a reference UE. For example, if a first UE 1200 is located at longitude 25.0392 and latitude 121.525, and a second UE is located at longitude 25.0393 and latitude 121.525, then the first UE 1200 need only report the location of the second UE 1201 as longitude 0.0001 and latitude relative to the first UE 1200 0, so that positioning data can be represented with only a few bits.

Fig. 11 is a flowchart according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application, which shows a network topology-based management method from the perspective of user equipment. In step S2001, the UE requests authorization from the network through the control node. If the UE is within radio range of a control node, the UE may request a neighbor list from the control node. Otherwise, the UE can detect the presence of neighboring UEs and use the non-mobile UEs as relays to request authorization from the network. In step S2002, the UE receives authorization and resource allocation, which includes but not limited to a static ID. In this step, the spectrum owner allows the UE to access the spectrum through the control node, and can assign a static ID to the UE when the UE is non-mobile, or assign a temporary ID to the UE when the UE is mobile . In step S2003, the UE performs D2D communication with one or more other UEs.

Fig. 12 is a flowchart according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application, which shows the proposed D2D resource management method from the point of view of the control node. In step S2011, the control node receives a request for D2D communication from the UE. The control node may also receive a neighbor list or an updated neighbor list from said UE. The control node may then deliver the UE's request to conduct D2D communication, and the delivery may include that the updated network topology is to be recorded by a data center within the network. In step S2012, the control node receives grants and resource allocations from spectrum owners. In step S2013, the control node transmits the authorization and resource allocation to the UE, the authorization and resource allocation including but not limited to a static ID.

In view of the foregoing description, the present disclosure proposes a method for implementing D2D communication resource management, such that the network can allocate D2D resources to multiple UEs of D2D and perform resource leasing and charging. The method includes: authenticating UEs for communication in D2D mode according to the geographical zone in which they are located; performing authorization and resource allocation; and managing the network topology of UEs so that they can operate without Communicate with the help of control nodes.

It will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and changes may be made in the structure of the disclosed embodiments without departing from the scope or spirit of the disclosure. In view of the foregoing, this disclosure is intended to cover modifications and variations of this disclosure provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Cross References to Related Applications

This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/639,059, filed April 26, 2012, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/639,107, filed April 27, 2012. The above patent application is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety and constitutes a part of this specification.

Claims (42)

1. A network topology management method for device-to-device communication in a network, the method being suitable for user equipment UE, and the method comprising: requesting authorization from the network for device-to-device D2D communication in a certain frequency spectrum; receiving said authorization for D2D communication in said frequency spectrum; performing the D2D communication in the frequency spectrum; detect nearby neighboring user equipment; and Reporting the neighboring user equipments to a control node. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of detecting nearby neighboring user equipments further comprises: receiving broadcast information of the nearby user equipments; and Reporting the broadcast information of the nearby user equipment to the control node in response to receiving the broadcast information of the nearby user equipment. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the authorization includes identification ID information. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the ID information comprises a static ID assigned by the network if the UE is non-mobile. 5. The method of claim 3, wherein the ID information includes a temporary ID assigned by the network if the UE is mobile. 6. The method of claim 4, wherein the non-mobile UE is further assigned another static ID to a non-mobile UE or another temporary ID to a mobile UE. 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein if the UE is within the radio range of a control node, requesting the network for authorization to conduct D2D communication in the frequency spectrum is performed through the control node . 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the control node is one of: an evolved node (eNB), a base station, a relay station, or a UE. 9. The method of claim 4, wherein requesting authorization from the network for D2D communication in the frequency spectrum is by a non-mobile UE if the UE is not within radio range of the control node. 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising broadcasting the ID information. 11. The method of claim 1, further comprising: periodically detecting other UEs within radio range of the UE to update the neighbor list; and A report including the neighbor list is transmitted to the network. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein transmitting the report to the network is relayed by a non-mobile UE within radio range of the UE. 13. The method of claim 11, wherein the report includes an absolute location of at least one UE in the neighbor list. 14. The method of claim 11, wherein the report includes relative information of at least one UE in the neighbor list. 15. The method of claim 11, wherein the UE relays the report of the UE to the network if the UE is immobile. 16. The method of claim 14, wherein the relative information comprises a relative location of the at least one UE in the neighbor list. 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the relative position comprises a relative distance, a relative time, or a relative angle. 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the UE calculates the relative position of at least one UE in the neighbor list with respect to a reference UE. 19. The method of claim 14, wherein the relative information is compressed from absolute information with respect to a reference UE. 20. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of conducting said D2D communication in said frequency spectrum further comprises: The D2D communication is performed in the frequency spectrum and out of radio range of the control node. 21. The method of claim 1, wherein the control node includes a transceiver for transmitting and receiving wireless data and processing circuitry coupled to the transceiver for performing the steps of claim 1. 22. A network topology management method for device-to-device communication in a network, the method being adapted to a control node, the method comprising: receiving a request for authorization to conduct device-to-device D2D communication in a certain frequency spectrum; delivering said request for authorization to conduct said D2D communication to said network; receiving the authorization to conduct the D2D communication in the frequency spectrum from the network; transmitting a first message including said authorization for D2D communication in said frequency spectrum; and In reply to transmitting the first message, a report including network topology information is received. 23. The method of claim 22, further comprising receiving the request for authorization to conduct the D2D communication in the frequency spectrum from a first user equipment, UE. 24. The method of claim 22, wherein the authorization includes identification ID information. 25. The method of claim 22, wherein the control node is one of: an evolved node (eNB), a base station, or a relay station. 26. The method of claim 24, further comprising transmitting the first message to a first UE, wherein the ID information includes a static ID assigned by the network if the first UE is immobile. ID. 27. The method of claim 24, further comprising transmitting the first message to the first UE, wherein if the first UE is mobile, the ID information includes mobile ID. 28. The method of claim 23, further comprising the control node transmitting the first message directly to the first UE if the first UE is within radio range of the control node. 29. The method of claim 23, further comprising: if the first UE is not within radio range of the control node, the control node indirectly transmits the first message to the The first UE. 30. The method of claim 29, wherein the second UE is immobile and authorized by a static ID. 31. The method of claim 22, wherein receiving the report including user equipment proximity information comprises: receiving a report from a first UE including a neighbor list for the first UE; and A network topology is updated based on the neighbor list. 32. The method of claim 22, further comprising: The network topology is transmitted to the network for recording by the network. 33. The method of claim 22, wherein the network topology includes one or more UEs and one or more relationships between the one or more UEs, the one or more UEs being controlled by the The node accesses the D2D resources of the network. 34. The method of claim 33, wherein if one of the one or more relationships between the one or more UEs does not exist in the network topology after a first predetermined period of time, Said one of said one or more relationships between said one or more UEs is then released. 35. The method of claim 32, wherein the neighbor list comprises an absolute location of at least one UE in the neighbor list of the first UE. 36. The method of claim 32, wherein the neighbor list includes relative information for at least one UE in the neighbor list for the first UE. 37. The method of claim 32, wherein a second UE relays the neighbor list of the first UE to the network. 38. The method of claim 36, wherein the relative information comprises a relative location of the at least one UE in the neighbor list. 39. The method of claim 36, wherein the relative positions comprise relative distances, relative times, or relative angles. 40. The method of claim 36, wherein the UE calculates a relative position of at least one UE in the neighbor list with respect to a reference UE. 41. The method of claim 36, wherein the relative information is compressed from absolute information with respect to a reference UE. 42. The method of claim 22, wherein the control node includes a transceiver for transmitting and receiving wireless data and processing circuitry coupled to the transceiver for performing the steps of claim 22.

Images