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`(12) United States Patent
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`(10) Patent No.:
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`(45) Date of Patent:
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`US 8,457,676 B2
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`Jun. 4, 2013
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`(58) Field of Classification Search
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`USPC ............. .. 455/522, 67.11, 68—70, 115.3, 126,
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`455/127-1: 127-2: 135: 226-3: 277-2: 2963
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`2007); 3"" Generation Partnership
`3GPP TS 36.300 V8.00
`Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network;
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`Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) and Evolved
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`Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN); Overall
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`(74) Attorney, Agent, or Fzrm — Harrington & Smith
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`(57)
`ABSTRACT
`
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`A method, user equipment, network device, and software
`
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`product enable a user equipment to determine that at least one
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`of several triggering criterion have been met, in which case
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`th
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`e user equipment provides a power control headroom report
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`on an uplink from the user equipment. The triggering crite-
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`rion includes a threshold having been reached, and the thresh-
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`old is adjustable via a signal to the user equipment from a base
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`station (such as an eNodeB).
`35 Claims, 4 Drawing Sheets
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`(54) POWER HEADROOM REPORTING METHOD
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`(75)
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`Inventors: Juergen Michel, Miinchen (DE); Klaus
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`Ingemann Pedersen, Aalborg (DK);
`Claudio Rosa, Randers (DK)
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`(73) Assignee: Nokia Siemens Networks Oy, Espoo
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`(F1)
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`< * > Netiee:
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`subject to any disclaimer. the term eithis
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`Patent 15 extended or adlusted under 35
`U~S~C~ 154(b) by 396 days
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`12/665,427
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`J““- 232 2003
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`(86) PCT No.:
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`§ 371 (cm
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`(2)= (4) Date
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`PCT Pub. Date: Dec. 24, 2008
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`(65)
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`Prior Publication Data
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`US 2010/0173665 A1
`Jul. 8, 2010
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`Related U-S-Application Data
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`(60) Provisional application No’ 60/936549’ filed on Jun’
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`20, 2007.
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`Int. Cl.
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`(51)
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`Criteria Are Met
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`UE Gives Power Control
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`Report if Adjustable
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`Petitioner's Exhibit 1001
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`Petitioner's Exhibit 1001
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`US 8,457,676 B2
`Page 2
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`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
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`* cited by examiner
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`Petitioner's Exhibit 1001
`
`Petitioner's Exhibit 1001
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`U.S. Patent
`
`n.HJ
`
`31024,
`
`4f01ae_h__S
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`SU
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`2B67
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`6,522<m_§__oMm_fi2.__o<
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`.._33¢M;_O.:.:OO§son_mm>_@
`
`Petitioner's Exhibit 1001
`
`Petitioner's Exhibit 1001
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`U.S. Patent
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`Jun. 4, 2013
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`Sheet 2 of4
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`US 8,457,676 B2
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`E—UTRAN
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`MME A
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`\&X2//_
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`A eNB
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`S
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`V
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`FIG.2
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`63
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`ReportifAdjustableCriteriaAreMet
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`Petitioner's Exhibit 1001
`
`Petitioner's Exhibit 1001
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`U.S. Patent
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`Jun. 4, 2013
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`Sheet 3 of4
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`US 8,457,676 B2
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`Adjusting a threshold at UE by signalling from base x
`station.
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`1
`307
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`Determining at UE that a triggering criterion has been
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`met because the threshold has been reached. X
`l
`315
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`Providing power control headroom report on uplink. X
`l
`325
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`Receiving report at base station. K
`L
`335
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`Providing closed loop power control correction
`command to UE
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`J 3
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`70
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`300
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`FIG. 3
`
`Petitioner's Exhibit 1001
`
`Petitioner's Exhibit 1001
`
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`
`U.S. Patent
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`Petitioner's Exhibit 1001
`
`Petitioner's Exhibit 1001
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`US 8,457,676 B2
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`1
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`POWER HEADROOM REPORTING METHOD
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`CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED
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`APPLICATIONS
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`This application claims the benefit of Provisional Applica-
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`tion No. 60/936,649, filed Jun. 20, 2007, the disclosure of
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`which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
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`FIELD OF THE INVENTION
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`The invention relates to the field of wireless telecommuni-
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`cations. More particularly, the present invention pertains to
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`power control.
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`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
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`10
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`15
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`The telecommunications industry is in the process of
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`developing a new generation of flexible and affordable com-
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`munications that includes high-speed access while also sup-
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`porting broadband services. Many features of the third gen-
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`eration (3G) mobile telecommunications system have already
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`been established, but many other features have yet to be
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`perfected. The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)
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`has been pivotal in these developments.
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`One of the systems within the third generation of mobile
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`communications is the Universal Mobile Telecommunica-
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`tions System (UMTS) which delivers voice, data, multime-
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`dia, and wideband information to stationary as well as mobile
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`customers. UMTS is designed to accommodate increased
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`system capacity and data capability. Efiicient use of the elec-
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`tromagnetic spectrum is vital in UMTS. It is known that
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`spectrum efficiency can be attained using frequency division
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`duplex (FDD) or using time division duplex (TDD) schemes.
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`Space division duplex (SDD) is a third duplex transmission
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`method used for wireless telecommunications.
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`As canbe seen in FIG. 1, the UMTS architecture consists of
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`user equipment 102 (UE),
`the UMTS Terrestrial Radio
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`Access Network 104 (UTRAN), and the Core Network 126
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`(CN). The air interface between the UTRAN and the UE is
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`called Uu, and the interface between the UTRAN and the
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`Core Network is called Iu.
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`High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and High-
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`Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) are further 3G mobile
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`telephony protocols in the High-Speed Packet Access
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`(HSPA) family. They provide a smooth evolutionary path for
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`UMTS-based networks allowing for higher data transfer
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`speeds.
`Evolved UTRAN (EUTRAN) is a more recent project than
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`HSPA, and is meant to take 3G even farther into the future.
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`EUTRAN is designed to improve the UMTS mobile phone
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`standard in order to cope with various anticipated require-
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`ments. EUTRAN is frequently indicated by the term Long
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`Term Evolution (LTE), and is also associated with terms like
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`System Architecture Evolution (SAE). One target of
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`EUTRAN is to enable all intemet protocol (IP) systems to
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`efiiciently transmit IP data. The system will have only use a
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`PS (packet switched) domain for voice and data calls, i.e. the
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`system will contain Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP).
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`Information about LTE can be found in 3GPP TS 36.300
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`(V8.0.0, March 2007), Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio
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`Access (E-UTRA) and Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio
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`Access Network (E- UTRAN)—0verall description; Stage 2
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`(Release 8), which is incorporated herein by reference in its
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`entirety. UTRAN and EUTRAN will now be described in
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`some further detail, although it is to be understood that espe-
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`cially E-UTRAN is evolving over time.
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`2
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`The UTRAN consists of a set of Radio Network Sub-
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`systems 128 (RNS), each of which has geographic coverage
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`ofa number of cells 110 (C), as can be seen in FIG. 1. The
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`interface between the subsystems is called Iur. Each Radio
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`Network Subsystem 128 (RNS) includes a Radio Network
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`Controller 112 (RNC) and at least one Node B 114, each
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`Node B having geographic coverage of at least one cell 110.
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`As can be seen from FIG. 1, the interface between an RNC
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`112 and a Node B 114 is called Iub, and the Iub is hard-wired
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`rather than being an air interface. For any Node B 114 there is
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`only one RNC 112. A Node B 114 is responsible for radio
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`transmission and reception to and from the UE 102 (Node B
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`antennas can typically be seen atop towers or preferably at
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`less visible locations). The RNC 112 has overall control ofthe
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`logical resources of each Node B 114 within the RNS 128,
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`and the RNC 112 is also responsible for handover decisions
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`which entail switching a call from one cell to another or
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`between radio charmels in the same cell.
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`In UMTS radio networks, a UE can support multiple appli-
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`cations of different qualities of service running simulta-
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`neously. In the MAC layer, multiple logical channels can be
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`multiplexed to a single transport channel. The transport chan-
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`nel can define how traffic from logical channels is processed
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`and sent to the physical layer. The basic data unit exchanged
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`between MAC and physical layer is called the Transport
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`Block (TB). It is composed of an RLC PDU and a MAC
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`header. During a period of time called the transmission time
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`interval
`(TTI), several
`transport blocks and some other
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`parameters are delivered to the physical layer.
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`Generally speaking, a prefix of the letter “E” in upper or
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`lower case signifies the Long Term Evolution (LTE). The
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`E-UTRAN consists of eNBs (E-UTRAN Node B), providing
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`the E-UTRA user plane (RLC/MAC/PHY) and control plane
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`
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`(RRC) protocol terminations towards the UE. The eNBs
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`interface to the access gateway (aGW) via the S1, and are
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`inter-connected via the X2.
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`An example of the E-UTRAN architecture is illustrated in
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`FIG. 2. This example of E-UTRAN consists of eNBs, provid-
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`ing the E-UTRA user plane (RLC/MAC/PHY) and control
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`plane (RRC) protocol terminations towards the UE. The
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`eNBs are connected by means of the S1 interface to the EPC
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`(evolved packet core), which is made out of Mobility Man-
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`agement Entities (MMEs) and/or gateways such as an access
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`gateway (aGW). The S1 interface supports a many-to-many
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`relation between MMEs and eNBs. Packet Data Convergence
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`Protocol (PDCP) is located in an eNB.
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`In this example there exists an X2 interface between the
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`eNBs that need to communicate with each other. For excep-
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`tional cases (e.g.
`inter-PLMN handover), LTE_ACTIVE
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`inter-eNB mobility is supported by means ofMME relocation
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`via the S1 interface.
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`The eNB may host functions such as radio resource man-
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`agement (radio bearer control, radio admission control, con-
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`nection mobility control, dynamic allocation of resources to
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`UEs in both uplink and downlink), selection of a mobility
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`management entity (MME) at UE attachment, scheduling and
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`transmission ofpaging mes sages (originated from the MME),
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`scheduling and transmission of broadcast information (origi-
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`nated from the MME or O&M), and measurement and mea-
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`surement reporting configuration for mobility and schedul-
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`ing. The MME may host functions such as the following:
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`distribution ofpaging messages to the eNBs, security control,
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`IP header compression and encryption of user data streams,
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`termination of U-plane packets for paging reasons; switching
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`of U-plane for support of UE mobility, idle state mobility
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`control, System Architecture Evolution (SAE) bearer control,
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`and ciphering and integrity protection of NAS signaling.
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`Petitioner's Exhibit 1001
`
`Petitioner's Exhibit 1001
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`
`US 8,457,676 B2
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`5
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`10
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`15
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`3
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`the two basic types of
`In mobile telecommunications,
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`power control are open-loop and closed-loop. In open-loop
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`power control (OLPC), a mobile terminal measures received
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`pilot signal power and accordingly sets the transmission
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`power density (PDS) according to this measured quantity, and
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`based on the pilot transmitted power, the S(I)NR target, and
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`the interference level (these last values are usually broad-
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`casted by the base station). In closed-loop power control, the
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`measurements are done on the other end ofthe connection, in
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`the base station, and the results are then sent back to the
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`mobile terminal so that the mobile terminal can adjust its
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`transmission power. Note that the term “base station” is used
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`broadly in this application, and may refer to a Node B, or an
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`eNodeB, or the like.
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`The current trend in the art is that uplink power control will
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`include: (i) an open loop power control mechanism at the
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`terminal, as well as (ii) options for the eNode-B to send closed
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`loop power control correction commands to the terminal. The
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`current invention solves problems that occur with uplink
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`power control and associated signalling from the terminal to
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`the base station (eNode-B) to facilitate efiicient uplink radio
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`resource management decisions at the eNode-B.
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`Given this uplink power control scheme, the eNode-B may
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`be unaware of the transmit power level at which different
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`terminals are operating. This information is important for the
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`eNode-B, because this knowledge is needed for optimal radio
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`resource management decisions such as allocating MCS
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`(modulation and coding scheme) and transmission band-
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`width for the different terminals. It therefore has been dis-
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`cussed in 3GPP that terminals should be able to provide
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`power control headroom reports to the eNode-B. The power
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`control headroom report basically provides a measure of how
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`close the terminal’s power spectral density (PSD) is to the
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`maximum PSD limit. The maximum PSD might be derived
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`from the maximum UE transmit power (typically assumed to
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`be on the order of 24 dBm) and the minimum bandwidth
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`(typically 1 PRB).
`
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`Unfortunately, 3GPP has not yet been able to find satisfac-
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`tory criteria for sending a power control headroom report
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`from the user terminal to the eNode-B. In LTE uplink (UL),
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`the eNode-B makes the scheduling and radio resource man-
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`agement decisions such as selecting the UEs to transmit,
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`allocating the UE transmission bandwidths, and (as men-
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`tioned above) selecting the MCS they should use. These
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`decisions are then signalled to the terminal(s) via dedicated
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`signalling (e.g. UL scheduling grant message). And, in order
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`to make these decisions properly, the eNode-B should be
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`aware of the power level at which the terminals are transmit-
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`ting, or some equivalent information like the power headroom
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`information, since from this information the eNodeB derives
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`which MCS can be supported in the future with a targeted
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`block error rate (BLER) which would be otherwise not pos-
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`sible. Knowing at the eNode-B the power spectral density
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`used by the mobile terminals is particularly important when
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`selecting the transmission bandwidth (rather than the MCS).
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`Not knowing with precision the PSD used by a mobile termi-
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`nal when selecting the MCS has only a major impact in case
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`of slow AMC (in which case the PSD is “automatically”
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`increased/decreased when the MCS is modified).
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`Consequently, reporting of power headroom or some
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`equivalent information is needed. However, reporting of the
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`power control headroom is a trade-offbetween uplink signal-
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`ling overhead versus performance improvements that result
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`from having this information readily available at the eNode-
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`B.
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`It is problematic to have the terminal periodically report the
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`power control headroom at a frequency higher than the
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`4
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`adjustments of the actual terminal power spectral density
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`(PSD). Further, the aim of these power adjustments at the
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`terminal is basically to (partly or fully) compensate the path-
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`loss (including antenna-pattem, distance dependent path-loss
`and shadowing) between the eNode-B and the terminal, and
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`the measurement of path-loss is done based on the DL (e.g.
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`DL pilot channel). Even if the frequency of potential power
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`adjustments at the terminal is high but the measured path-loss
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`is not changing, UL signalling would be a waste ofresources;
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`the only issue then for reporting would be if closed loop
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`power control commands would come from the eNodeB and
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`some of those commands would be misinterpreted at the UE.
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`Then, the problem occurs that the eNodeB does not know the
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`used transmission power. The problem with power control
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`commands being misinterpreted at the mobile terminal is
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`only an issue ifrelative closed loop power control commands
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`are used (which is also the working assumption in 3GPP).
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`In HSUPA, the UE Power Headroom (UPH) is part of the
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`Scheduling Information (SI), which is transmitted by the UE
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`as part of the MAC-e header. If the UE is not allocated
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`resources for the transmission of scheduled-data, then Sched-
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`uling Information can be transmitted periodically and/or
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`based on specific triggers (i.e. when data arrives in the buffer).
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`Otherwise, only periodic reporting is supported.
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
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`Although the present invention is applicable in the context
`
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`ofthe E-UTRAN (LTE or 3 .9G), its principles are not limited
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`to such an environment, and instead may also be applicable to
`
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`various other current and future wireless telecommunications
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`systems and access technologies. This invention provides
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`specific reporting criteria that are an attractive trade-off
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`between signalling overhead versus overall uplink perfor-
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`mance for LTE. The following triggering criteria are found to
`
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`be very efficient for sending a power control headroom report
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`in the uplink, while optimizing uplink performance, and
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`while minimizing signalling overhead.
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`The first triggering criterion is that, once “n” closed loop
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`power corrections have been received by a terminal (sent
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`from the eNode-B), the power control headroom is measured
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`by the terminal over the next “m” transmission time intervals
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`(TTIs) and afterwards reported to the eNode-B. The reason
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`for this first criterion is, as already mentioned above, that the
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`closed loop commands can be misinterpreted at the terminal
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`and therefore tracking of power status at the eNodeB would
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`lead to the accumulation of such errors. The problem with
`
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`power control commands being misinterpreted at the mobile
`
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`terminal is only an issue if relative closed loop power control
`
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`commands are used (which is also the working assumption in
`
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`3GPP).
`
`The second triggering criterion is that, after the terminal’s
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`open loop power control algorithm modifies the PSD, the
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`terminal shall measure the power control headroom over the
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`following “m” TTIs and afterwards report it to the eNode-B.
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`The third triggering criterion is that, in order to further limit
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`the signalling of uplink power control headroom reports, the
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`terminal shall only send a new power control headroom report
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`if the time since the last reporting exceeds “k” TTIs.
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`And, the fourth triggering criterion is that, instead of the
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`third triggering criterion, another embodiment of the inven-
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`tion is that the terminal shall only send a new power control
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`headroom report if the absolute difference between the cur-
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`rent and the latest path-loss measurement is higher than a
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`given threshold “p”.
`The three aforementioned quantities “n”, “m”, “k” (or “p”
`
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`
`if the fourth rather than third triggering criterion is used) are
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`
`Petitioner's Exhibit I001
`
`20
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`25
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`30
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`35
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`40
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`45
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`50
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`55
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`60
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`65
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`
`Petitioner's Exhibit 1001
`
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`
`US 8,457,676 B2
`
`6
`
`the CPU, the memory may reside at a single physical location,
`
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`
`
`
`comprising one or more types of data storage, or be distrib-
`
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`uted across a plurality of physical systems in various forms.
`
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`It is to be understood that the present figures, and the
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`accompanying narrative discussions of best mode embodi-
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`ments, do not purport to be completely rigorous treatments of
`
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`
`the method, system, mobile device, network element, and
`
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`software product under consideration. A person skilled in the
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`art will understand that the steps and signals of the present
`
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`
`
`application represent general cause-and-effect relationships
`that do not exclude intermediate interactions ofvarious types,
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`and will further understand that the various steps and struc-
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`tures described in this application can be implemented by a
`
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`variety of different sequences and configurations, using vari-
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`
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`
`
`ous different combinations of hardware and software which
`
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`
`need not be further detailed herein.
`
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`
`The invention includes a variety of concepts, which can be
`
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`
`
`briefly described as follows, without in any way limiting what
`
`
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`
`
`
`will be claimed in the future in reliance upon this provisional
`
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`
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`
`
`
`application. It is to be understood that the following concepts
`
`
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`
`can be further combined with each other in any multiple
`
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`
`dependent manner, without departing from the scope of the
`
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`
`
`invention.
`
`
`
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`
`
`The invention claimed is:
`
`
`
`1. A method comprising:
`
`
`
`determining that a set of at east one triggering criterion is
`
`
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`
`
`
`met; and
`
`
`providing a power control headroom report on an uplink
`
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`from user equipment, in response to determining that the
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`set is met, wherein said at least one triggering criterion
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`include at least one threshold having been reached,
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`wherein said at least one threshold is adjustable via a
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`signal to the user equipment, wherein the set of at least
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`one triggering criterion comprises a criterion being met
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`based on reaching a threshold of the at least one thresh-
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`old ofk transmission time intervals following a previous
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`power control headroom report, wherein k is an integer
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`and wherein said at least one threshold adjustable via the
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`signal comprises adjusting the threshold integer k.
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`2. The method of claim 1, wherein said power control
`
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`
`headroom report is for use in a power control correction
`
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`command to the user equipment.
`
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`3. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of at least one
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`triggering criterion comprises a triggering criterion such that
`
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`an absolute difference between current and mo st recent path-
`
`
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`loss measurements has reached a threshold of difference.
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`4. The method of claim 1, wherein said set of at least one
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`triggering criterion include any one of a plurality of criteria
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`that each entail teaching a respective threshold.
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`5. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of at least one
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`triggering criterion comprise a first criterion, a second crite-
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`rion, and a third criterion.
`
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`6. The method of claim 5, wherein the first criterion is such
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`that a number of received closed loop power corrections has
`
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`reached a threshold of corrections, and wherein the second
`
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`criterion is such that an amount oftransmission time intervals
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`following an open loop power control modification has
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`reached a threshold of intervals since modification.
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`7. The method ofclaim 6, wherein the third criterion is such
`
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`that an amount of transmission time intervals following a
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`previous power control headroom report has reached a thresh-
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`old of intervals since reporting.
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`8. The method ofclaim 6, wherein the third criterion is such
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`that an absolute difference between current and most recent
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`path-loss measurements has reached a threshold of differ-
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`ence.
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`Petitioner's Exhibit 1001
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`5
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`parameters that are configured by the eNode-B. As an
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`example, these parameters can be configured via RRC sig-
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`nalling from the eNode-B to the terminal. These described
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`triggering criteria can be combined (e.g. using a logical “OR”
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`combination).
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`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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`FIG. 1 shows a UTRAN network.
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`FIG. 2 shows an LTE architecture.
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`FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing and embodiment of a method
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`according to the present invention.
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`FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a system according to an
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`embodiment of the present invention.
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`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
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`A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now
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`be described. This is merely to illustrate one way of imple-
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`menting the invention, without limiting the scope or coverage
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`of what is described elsewhere in this application.
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`In this preferred embodiment, the reporting criteria are
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`implemented in the terminal. However, the protocol for sig-
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`nalling the parameters “n”, “m”, “k” and/or “p” requires
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`implementation at both the eNode-B and the terminal. This
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`embodiment of the invention provides an attractive trade-off
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`between signalling overhead and performance.
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`As seen in FIG. 3, the method 300 can begin with the base
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`station adjusting 307 one or more of the thresholds “n”, “m”,
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`“k” and/or “p” at the user equipment (UE) by signalling to the
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`UE. At some subsequent point in time, the UE determines 315
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`that a triggering criterion has been met because one of those
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`thresholds have been reached (or some combination of those
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`thresholds have been reached). This will trigger the UE to
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`provide 325 a power control headroom report on the uplink.
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`When this report is received 335 at the base station, the base
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`station will then use that report to help provide 370 a closed
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`loop power control correction command to the user equip-
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`ment.
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`Referring now to FIG. 4, a system 400 is shown according
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`to an embodiment of the invention, including a network ele-
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`ment 492 and a user equipment 405. At the network element,
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`a threshold adjustment module 468 instructs transceiver 454
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`to send a threshold adjustment signal to the user equipment.
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`At some subsequent point, a triggering module 413 at the user
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`equipment determines that the threshold has been reached,
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`and therefore instructs transceiver 411 to provide a power
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`control headroom report to the network element, which pro-
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`cesses the report in a report receiving module 463. The report
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`receiving module 463 will thereby help the network element
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`to provide a closed loop power control correction command
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`to the user equipment 405.
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`Each of the embodiments described above can be imple-
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`mented using a general purpose or specific-use computer
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`system, with standard operating system software confo