Abstract: Mobile devices, base stations, and/or relay stations may implement a method for an improved and reliable automatic repeat request feedback indication. A mobile device (UE) may establish communication within a wireless network, and indicate to the network that the UE is a special type device, e.g. a constrained device. The network (base station) may then not send an indication on a physical indicator channel to the UE when certain conditions are met, and instead, the mobile device may interpret control information received from the network on a physical control channel as a negative acknowledgment indication corresponding to an automatic repeat request from the network. The UE may then perform a retransmission according to the interpreted control information. A new control information format may be used to further define how the network and UE implement the automatic repeat request process, to reduce the total number of bits required in the control information.

Abstract: This disclosure relates to accommodating link budget constrained wireless devices performing random access procedures. A base station may detect a preamble message from a wireless device. It may be determined that the preamble message is received from a link budget constrained wireless device. Characteristics of a response message may be selected based at least in part on determining that the preamble message is received from a link budget constrained wireless device. The response message may be transmitted to the link budget constrained wireless device using the selected characteristics.

Abstract: This disclosure relates to techniques for selecting operational modes of a wireless device. The operational mode may be selected based on determining the presence or absence of reference symbols. A low power mode may be selected when the presence or absence of reference symbols suggests that a control channel used by the wireless device may not be present.

Abstract: This disclosure relates to techniques for a link budget limited UE to improve communications performance with a cellular network. The UE may perform signal to interference noise ratio (SINR) measurements and use these measurements to adjust a received signal power value that is provided to the cellular network as a received signal power measurement. The UE may generate the received signal power value based at least in part on the SINR measurement in order to reduce the likelihood of handover when the UE has good SINR but poor received signal power. The UE may also provide preferred configuration information to the base station which enhances the performance of the UE when link budget limited. The configuration information may specify one or more parameter values designed to provide improved performance for a link budget limited device.

Abstract: Systems, apparatuses, and methods for coverage improvements in wireless communication devices. A wireless communication device may be configured to selectively receive one of a plurality of paging signals, or a portion thereof, based on measured or expected coverage quality of communications from a base station. In some scenarios, the wireless communication device may provide an indication to the base station of which paging signal the wireless communication device will attempt to receive, such that the base station may include paging information directed to that UE only in the indicated paging signal. In some scenarios, the base station may include paging information directed to that UE in a plurality of paging signals, each of the paging signals including a different number of repetitions of the paging information. In some scenarios, the UE may receive only a portion of a paging signal including a plurality of repetitions of the paging information.

Abstract: A power control method for device-to-device communication includes dynamically backing off transmit power value for synchronization signals and discovery messages when the distance between the two devices is less than a pre-determined threshold. The threshold distance may correspond to a distance where the receive power may exceed a pre-determined value. Embodiments may loop the transmit power of synchronization signals between a default transmit power value and backed-off values in consecutive slots of each frame.

Abstract: This disclosure relates to performing grouped MIMO communications in a cellular communication system. A cellular base station may select a precoding matrix for transmitting a downlink signal to a wireless device via a MIMO channel. The selected precoding matrix may have unequal weights for different MIMO subchannels. The downlink signal may be precoded using the selected precoding matrix. The precoded downlink signal may be transmitted to the wireless device via the MIMO channel. The wireless device may receive and decode the downlink signal.

Abstract: A wireless communication device may operate in different power modes based at least on a decoding of a Physical Data Control Channel (PDCCH). The wireless communication device may operate its receiver front end circuitry (RX AFE) in any one of a number of different power modes, and may switch to operating the RX AFE in a different power mode based at least on decoding of the PDCCH. The transmit leakage does not need to be monitored, and the wireless communication device may adjust/adapt the sensitivity and linearity of its RX AFE based on PDCCH decoding and in some cases based additionally on one or more metrics, to reduce power consumption. The different power modes may correspond to different respective combinations of sensitivity level and linearity level at which the RX AFE is operating.

Abstract: A wireless user equipment (UE) device may include a receiver and transmitter. The UE device may dynamically vary the fidelity requirements imposed on the analog signal processing performed by the receiver and/or the transmitter in response factors such as: amount of signal interference (e.g., out-of-band signal power); modulation and coding scheme; number of spatial streams; extent of transmitter leakage; and size and/or frequency location of resources allocated to the UE device. Thus, the UE device may consume less power on average than a UE device that is designed to satisfy fixed fidelity requirements associated with a worst case reception scenario and/or a worst case transmission scenario.

Abstract: This disclosure relates to using a dedicated reference subframes in a cellular communication system. According to one embodiment, a base station may transmit reference signals in a dedicated synchronization and measurement reference subframe. Neighboring base stations may also transmit reference signals in dedicated reference subframes in a temporally coordinated (synchronized) manner. The reference signals transmitted be each base station may be orthogonal with the reference signals transmitted by each neighboring base station. The reference subframes may be transmitted periodically, and data subframes may be transmitted between reference subframes. Some or all of the data subframes may not include cell-specific reference symbols, as their function may be unnecessary given the use of the dedicated reference subframes.

Abstract: A wireless communication device (UE) may include a paging subsystem that performs paging-monitoring as part of wireless communications of the wireless communication device. The UE may place wireless communication system resources not required during paging-monitoring into either a low-power state or a power-down state, and those system resources may remain in one of those respective states during paging-monitoring. The wireless communication system resources not required during the paging-monitoring may include at least a wireless communications protocol stack used during the wireless communications of the UE, and at least system resources used for performing uplink related tasks independently of wireless communication system resources used for performing downlink related tasks.

Abstract: This disclosure relates to techniques for a link budget limited UE to improve communications performance with a cellular network. The UE may perform signal to interference noise ratio (SINR) measurements and use these measurements to adjust a received signal power value that is provided to the cellular network as a received signal power measurement. The UE may generate the received signal power value based at least in part on the SINR measurement in order to reduce the likelihood of handover when the UE has good SINR but poor received signal power. The UE may also provide preferred configuration information to the base station which enhances the performance of the UE when link budget limited. The configuration information may specify one or more parameter values designed to provide improved performance for a link budget limited device.

Abstract: A wireless communication system is presented for future scheduling of secondary component carrier(s) (SCC) during carrier aggregation in LTE wireless communications. A primary component carrier in a first subframe can be used to indicate at what future subframe SCC data may exist for the mobile device (e.g., UE, etc.). The UE can then leave off all SCC receive circuitry until the future subframe, when it can turn on all needed SCC receive circuitry to receive the SCC data. After receiving the SCC data, the UE can again power off the SCC receive circuitry.

Abstract: This disclosure relates to techniques for supporting narrowband device-to-device wireless communication, including possible techniques for performing discovery in an off grid radio system. A wireless device may obtain synchronization with a peer-to-peer communication group. The wireless device may determine the location of the wireless device within the peer-to-peer communication group based at least in part on signal strength of a synchronization signal used to obtain the synchronization. The wireless device may perform peer-to-peer discovery in the peer-to-peer communication group, such that time and frequency resources used by the wireless device to perform the peer-to-peer discovery are determined based at least in part on the location of the first wireless device within the peer-to-peer communication group.

Abstract: This disclosure relates to techniques for supporting narrowband device-to-device (D2D) wireless communication, including possible techniques for providing synchronization and master information block signals in an off grid radio system. A wireless device may provide D2D synchronization signals for a D2D communication group. The D2D synchronization signals may be provided using multiple frequency channels. The D2D synchronization signals may be provided on each respective frequency channel of the frequency channels during a respective portion of a D2D synchronization signal cycle in a sequential manner.

Abstract: In some embodiments, a user equipment device (UE) implements a method for discovering the presence of neighboring UEs using an on-demand discovery signal transmission technique. This discovery process may be performed to enable the UEs to perform peer-to-peer communications with each other, wherein peer-to-peer communications is defined as direct communication between the UEs without involving a base station. The UE may be configured to transmit a discovery request signal when it has moved greater than a threshold amount since transmission of a prior discovery request signal. The discovery request signal causes one or more neighboring UEs to each transmit a discovery signal in response, and also causes the UE which generated the discovery request signal to transmit its own discovery signal. The received discovery signal from each of the neighboring UEs is useable to discover, or detect the presence of, these neighboring UEs.

Abstract: This disclosure relates to performing cellular communication in unlicensed spectrum in a manner that accounts for the possible existence of hidden nodes by opportunistically introducing the use of RTS and CTS messages. A listen-before-talk procedure may be performed to determine whether a wireless medium is available. When the listen-before-talk procedure is complete, an amount of time until a next possible start time for communicating in the cellular communication system according to a timing synchronization scheme for the cellular communication system may be determined. The wireless medium may be occupied until the next possible start time for communicating in the cellular communication system in a manner selected based at least in part on the amount of time until the next possible start time for communicating in the cellular communication system. Cellular communication may be performed on the wireless medium at the next possible start time for communicating in the cellular communication system.

Abstract: A wireless communication device (UE) may include a paging subsystem that performs paging-monitoring as part of wireless communications of the wireless communication device. The UE may place wireless communication system resources not required during paging-monitoring into either a low-power state or a power-down state, and those system resources may remain in one of those respective states during paging-monitoring. The wireless communication system resources not required during the paging-monitoring may include at least a wireless communications protocol stack used during the wireless communications of the UE, and at least system resources used for performing uplink related tasks independently of wireless communication system resources used for performing downlink related tasks.

Abstract: This disclosure relates to using a dedicated reference subframes in a cellular communication system. According to one embodiment, a base station may transmit reference signals in a dedicated synchronization and measurement reference subframe. Neighboring base stations may also transmit reference signals in dedicated reference subframes in a temporally coordinated (synchronized) manner. The reference signals transmitted be each base station may be orthogonal with the reference signals transmitted by each neighboring base station. The reference subframes may be transmitted periodically, and data subframes may be transmitted between reference subframes. Some or all of the data subframes may not include cell-specific reference symbols, as their function may be unnecessary given the use of the dedicated reference subframes.

Abstract: This disclosure relates to techniques for supporting asymmetric uplink and downlink bandwidth allocations for a wireless device, and for dynamically modifying the bandwidth allocations for a wireless device, in a wireless communication system. A cellular communication link may be established between a base station and a wireless device. The base station may determine an uplink bandwidth allocation and a downlink bandwidth allocation for the wireless device. The uplink bandwidth allocation and the downlink bandwidth allocation may be selected based on different criteria and may include different amounts of bandwidth. Indications of the uplink bandwidth allocation and the downlink bandwidth allocation may be provided to the wireless device. The base station and wireless device may communicate according to the uplink bandwidth allocation and the downlink bandwidth allocation.