CN106888482B

CN106888482B - Terminal, LTE-U base station and communication method thereof

Info

Publication number: CN106888482B
Application number: CN201510938978.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 俞忠兴; 陈国础
Original assignee: Spreadtrum Communications Shanghai Co Ltd
Current assignee: Spreadtrum Communications Shanghai Co Ltd
Priority date: 2015-12-15
Filing date: 2015-12-15
Publication date: 2020-04-07
Anticipated expiration: 2035-12-15
Also published as: CN106888482A

Abstract

The terminal, the LTE-U base station and a communication method thereof comprise the following steps: when a communication data request signal sent by the LTE-U base station is received, judging whether a 5GHz frequency band is in an idle state; when the 5GHz frequency band is confirmed to be in an idle state currently, broadcasting and sending a working state signal to a network node using 5GHz, and sending a response signal comprising idle state information to the LTE-U base station to inform the LTE-U base station of starting to transmit communication data; when the communication data sent by the LTE-U base station through the 5GHz frequency band is received, sending a confirmation signal to the LTE-U base station to inform the LTE-U base station that the communication data is received. By adopting the scheme, the mutual interference of signals between the LTE-U base station and the network node using the 5GHz frequency band can be avoided.

Description

Terminal, LTE-U base station and communication method thereof

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of wireless communication, in particular to a terminal, an LTE-U base station and a communication method thereof.

Background

With the burst of the traffic data volume, the Long Term Evolution (LTE) communication technology is more and more crowded with the data carried on the original authorized frequency band. Long term evolution-unlicensed (LTE-U) over unlicensed band is a communication technology that directly runs LTE over 5GHz unlicensed band, and is drawing attention in the industry because it can use a free and unlicensed band of about 500M around 5 GHz. In an air interface environment where multiple APs exist, a Time Division multiplexing (TDD) scheme is generally adopted to ensure that a base station of an LTE-U and the multiple APs can jointly use a frequency band of 5GHz for communication.

At present, a scheme of implementing TDD by using a mechanism of communication in advance (Listen-Before-Talk, LBT) is adopted, that is, Before an Access Point (AP) connected to a terminal through WIFI sends communication data to the terminal, it is first detected whether a base station of LTE-U sends communication data to the terminal in a frequency band occupying 5GHz, when a base station of LTE-U sends communication data to the terminal in a frequency band occupying 5GHz, the communication data is not sent, and when a base station without LTE-U sends communication data to the terminal in a frequency band occupying 5GHz, the communication data starts to be sent.

However, when the TDD scheme is adopted, the above mechanism may cause interference between signals of the LTE-U base station and the AP.

Disclosure of Invention

The problem to be solved by the invention is how to avoid the mutual interference of signals between an LTE-U base station and a network node using 5GHz when a TDD scheme is adopted.

In order to solve the above problem, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for a terminal to communicate with an LTE-U base station, where the method includes:

when a communication data request signal sent by the LTE-U base station is received, judging whether a 5GHz frequency band is in an idle state, wherein: the communication data request signal comprises the time length of occupying a 5GHz frequency band for sending communication data;

when the 5GHz frequency band is confirmed to be in an idle state currently, broadcasting and transmitting an operating state signal to a network node using 5GHz, and transmitting a response signal comprising idle state information to the LTE-U base station so as to inform the LTE-U base station to start transmitting communication data, wherein: the idle state information indicates that a 5GHz frequency band is in an idle state, and the working state signal comprises identification information and occupied duration of equipment occupying the 5GHz frequency band;

when the communication data sent by the LTE-U base station through the 5GHz frequency band is received, sending a confirmation signal to the LTE-U base station to inform the LTE-U base station that the communication data is received.

Optionally, the network node comprises at least one of: AP and LTE-U base station.

Optionally, the communication with the LTE-U base station is performed through an LTE licensed band.

Optionally, the identification information of the device occupying the 5GHz band is a physical address of the terminal itself.

Optionally, the LTE-U base station communicates with the LTE-U base station through a 5GHz band.

Optionally, the identification information of the device occupying the 5GHz band is a physical address of the LTE-U base station.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

and when the 5GHz frequency band is in a busy state, transmitting a busy signal to the LTE-U base station through the LTE authorized frequency band.

The embodiment of the invention provides a method for communication between a terminal and an LTE-U base station, which comprises the following steps:

transmitting a communication data request signal to the terminal, wherein: the communication data request signal comprises the time length of occupying a 5GHz frequency band for sending communication data;

when receiving a response signal including idle state information from the terminal, starting to transmit communication data in a 5GHz frequency band, wherein the idle state information indicates that the 5GHz frequency band is in an idle state;

determining that the communication data has been received by the terminal when an acknowledgement signal is received from the terminal.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

detecting whether the 5GHz frequency band is in an idle state for more than a preset time;

and when the 5GHz frequency band is in the idle state for more than the preset time, executing the step of sending a communication data request signal to the terminal.

Optionally, the preset duration is a maximum value of a distributed inter-frame interval and backoff time for the AP to send the communication data.

Optionally, the terminal communicates with the LTE licensed frequency band.

Optionally, the terminal communicates with the terminal through a 5GHz frequency band.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

and when receiving a busy state signal sent by the terminal through a 5GHz frequency band, confirming not to send the communication data to the terminal.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a terminal, where the terminal includes:

a first receiving unit, which receives a communication data request signal sent by an LTE-U base station, wherein: the communication data request signal comprises the time length of occupying a 5GHz frequency band for sending communication data;

the first judging unit is suitable for judging whether the 5GHz is in an idle state or not when the first receiving unit receives a communication data request signal sent by the LTE-U base station;

a broadcasting unit, adapted to broadcast and send a working state signal to a network node using 5GHz when the first determining unit determines that the 5GHz band is currently in an idle state, wherein: the working state signal comprises identification information and occupation duration of equipment occupying the 5GHz frequency band;

a first sending unit, adapted to send a response signal including idle state information to the LTE-U base station to notify the LTE-U base station to start transmitting communication data when the first judging unit confirms that the 5GHz band is currently in an idle state, wherein: the idle state information indicates that the 5GHz frequency band is in an idle state;

the second receiving unit is suitable for receiving communication data sent by the LTE-U base station through a 5GHz frequency band;

and the second sending unit is suitable for sending a confirmation signal to the LTE-U base station to inform the LTE-U base station that the communication data is received when the second receiving unit finishes receiving the communication data sent by the LTE-U base station through the 5GHz frequency band.

Optionally, the first receiving unit, the first transmitting unit, and the second transmitting unit communicate with the LTE-U base station through an LTE licensed frequency band.

Optionally, the first receiving unit, the first transmitting unit, and the second transmitting unit communicate with the LTE-U base station through a 5GHz band.

Optionally, the terminal further includes: and the third sending unit is suitable for sending a busy signal to the LTE-U base station through the LTE authorized frequency band when the first judging unit confirms that the 5GHz is in a busy state.

The embodiment of the invention provides an LTE-U base station, which comprises:

a fourth transmitting unit adapted to transmit a communication data request signal to the terminal, wherein: the communication data request signal comprises the time length of occupying a 5GHz frequency band for sending communication data;

a third receiving unit adapted to receive a response signal including idle state information from the terminal;

a fifth transmitting unit, adapted to start transmitting communication data in the 5GHz band when the third receiving unit receives a response signal including idle state information from the terminal, where the idle state information indicates that the 5GHz band is in an idle state;

a fourth receiving unit adapted to receive an acknowledgement signal of the terminal;

an acknowledgement unit adapted to determine that the communication data has been received by the terminal when the fourth receiving unit receives an acknowledgement signal from the terminal.

Optionally, the LTE-U base station further includes:

a second determining unit, adapted to detect whether a 5GHz band is in an idle state for more than a preset duration before the fourth transmitting unit transmits a communication data request signal to the terminal;

the fourth sending unit is adapted to send a communication data request signal to the terminal when the second determining unit determines that the 5GHz band is in the idle state for longer than the preset duration.

Optionally, the preset time is a maximum value of a distributed inter-frame interval and a backoff time for the AP to send the communication data.

Optionally, the fourth transmitting unit, the third receiving unit, and the fourth receiving unit communicate with the terminal through an LTE licensed band.

Optionally, the fourth transmitting unit, the third receiving unit, and the fourth receiving unit communicate with the terminal through a 5GHz band.

Optionally, the LTE-U base station further includes:

the fifth receiving unit is suitable for receiving a busy state signal sent by the terminal through a 5GHz frequency band;

the fifth sending unit is adapted to confirm that the communication data is not sent to the terminal when the fifth receiving unit receives a busy state signal sent by the terminal through a 5GHz frequency band.

Compared with the prior art, the technical scheme of the invention has the following advantages:

the method comprises the steps that a communication data request signal is sent to a terminal through an LTE-U base station, the terminal judges whether a 5GHz frequency band is in an idle state or not, then when the terminal confirms that the 5GHz frequency band is in the idle state currently, a working state signal is sent to a network node using the 5GHz frequency band in a broadcasting mode, a response signal including idle state information is sent to the LTE-U base station, the LTE-U base station starts to transmit communication data to the terminal, and the terminal can detect the states of all network nodes capable of communicating with the terminal, so that the actual use condition of the 5GHz communication frequency band can be known, the terminal gives the use state information of the communication frequency band, and mutual interference of signals between the LTE-U base station and an AP can be avoided.

Further, by detecting that the idle state of the 5GHz frequency band exceeds the maximum value of the distributed interframe space and the backoff time of the AP for sending the communication data, the communication data request signal is sent to the terminal, so that the LTE-U base station can be prevented from seizing resources when the communication between the AP and the terminal is not completed, and the signals between the LTE-U base station and the AP can be further prevented from interfering with each other.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a method for a terminal to communicate with an LTE-U base station according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating another method for a terminal to communicate with an LTE-U base station in an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a communication interaction process of a communication system in an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal in an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of an LTE-U base station in an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of another LTE-U base station in the embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

At present, a time division multiplexing (TDD) scheme is implemented by using a Listen-Before-Talk (LBT) mechanism, that is, Before an AP connected to a terminal through WIFI sends communication data to the terminal, it is first detected whether a LTE-U base station sends communication data to the AP in a frequency band occupying 5GHz, when the LTE-U base station sends communication data to the AP in the frequency band occupying 5GHz, the communication data is not sent, and when the LTE-U base station does not send communication data to the AP in the frequency band occupying 5GHz, the communication data is sent. However, when the TDD scheme is adopted, the above mechanism may cause interference between signals of the LTE-U base station and the AP.

In order to solve the above problem, embodiments of the present invention provide a method for a terminal to communicate with an LTE-U base station, sending a communication data request signal to a terminal through an LTE-U base station, judging whether a 5GHz frequency band is in an idle state or not by the terminal, then when the terminal confirms that the 5GHz band is in an idle state currently, broadcasting and sending an operating state signal to a network node using the 5GHz band, and transmitting an acknowledgement signal including idle state information to the LTE-U base station, and the LTE-U base station starts transmitting communication data to the terminal, since the terminal can detect the states of all network nodes which can communicate with the terminal, the actual use condition of the 5GHz communication frequency band can be known, therefore, the terminal gives the use state information of the communication frequency band, and the signals between the LTE-U base station and the AP can be prevented from interfering with each other.

In order to make the aforementioned objects, features and advantages of the present invention comprehensible, embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below.

Fig. 1 shows a flowchart of a method for a terminal to communicate with an LTE-U base station in an embodiment of the present invention, and the following describes in detail the specific steps of the method with reference to fig. 1:

s11: and judging whether a communication data request signal sent by the LTE-U base station is received.

In specific implementation, the terminal may determine whether a communication data request signal sent by the LTE-U base station is received, where the communication data request signal includes a duration that the communication data needs to occupy a 5GHz frequency band when the communication data is sent;

when receiving a communication data request signal transmitted by the LTE-U base station, the terminal performs S12; otherwise, the flow ends.

S12: and judging whether the 5GHz frequency band is in an idle state or not.

When confirming that the 5GHz band is currently in the idle state, the terminal performs S13 and S14; otherwise, S17 may be performed.

S13: and broadcasting and transmitting the working state signal to the network node using the 5GHz frequency band.

In specific implementation, the working state signal includes identification information and occupied duration of the device occupying the 5GHz band, and the terminal may broadcast and send the working state signal to a network node using the 5GHz band, so that the network node stops communicating with itself within the duration of the LTE-U base station occupying the 5GHz band.

S14: and sending a response signal comprising idle state information to the LTE-U base station.

In a specific implementation, the idle state information indicates that the 5GHz band is in an idle state, and the terminal may notify the LTE-U base station of starting to transmit communication data by sending a response signal including the idle state information to the LTE-U base station.

S15: and receiving the communication data sent by the LTE-U base station through the 5GHz frequency band, and judging whether the communication data sent by the LTE-U base station through the 5GHz frequency band is received.

When the communication data transmitted by the LTE-U base station through the 5GHz band is completely received, the terminal may perform S16; otherwise, the flow ends.

S16: and sending an acknowledgement signal to the LTE-U base station.

In a specific implementation, the terminal may inform the LTE-U base station that the communication data has been received by transmitting an acknowledgement signal to the LTE-U base station. Thus, the entire transmission flow of the communication data is completed.

S17: and transmitting a busy signal to the LTE-U base station through the LTE authorized frequency band.

In specific implementation, when the 5GHz is in a busy state, the terminal can send a busy signal to the LTE-U base station through the LTE authorized frequency band.

It should be noted that the execution sequence of S13 and S14 is not specific, for example, S14 may be executed first, and then S13 may be executed, or S13 and S14 may be executed simultaneously, and those skilled in the art may set the execution sequence of the two according to actual needs, and the execution sequence does not limit the present invention.

In order to make the present invention better understood and implemented by those skilled in the art, another embodiment of a method for a terminal to communicate with an LTE-U base station is provided below, and the method is described in detail below with reference to fig. 2:

s21: and sending a communication data request signal to the terminal.

In specific implementation, the LTE-U base station may send a communication data request signal to the terminal, where the communication data request signal includes a duration that the terminal needs to occupy a 5GHz frequency band for sending the communication data.

S22: and judging whether a response signal including idle state information is received from the terminal.

In a specific implementation, the idle state information indicates that the 5GHz band is in an idle state.

When receiving a response signal including idle state information from the terminal, the LTE-U base station performs S23; otherwise, the flow ends.

S23: and starting to transmit communication data in the 5GHz frequency band, and judging whether an acknowledgement signal from the terminal is received.

When receiving an acknowledgement signal from the terminal, the LTE-U base station performs S24; otherwise, the flow ends.

S24: determining that the communication data has been received by the terminal.

In a specific implementation, when receiving an acknowledgement signal from the terminal, the LTE-U base station may determine that the communication data has been received by the terminal.

In order to make those skilled in the art better understand and implement the present invention, the following describes the interaction relationship when the terminal communicates with the LTE-U base station in detail, and referring to fig. 3, the system may include: the terminal 1, the LTE-U base station 2 and the AP 3, the specific working process of the communication system comprises the following steps:

s31: the LTE-U base station 2 transmits a communication data request signal to the terminal 1, wherein: the communication data request signal includes a duration of occupying a 5GHz band for transmitting the communication data.

In specific implementation, in the process that the AP 3 sends the communication data to the terminal 1, there may be some time slot intervals, so as to avoid interference with communication data transmission that has already started between the AP 3 and the terminal 1, before the LTE-U base station 2 starts sending the communication data request signal to the terminal 1, it may be detected whether the 5GHz band is in an idle state for more than a preset time, and then when the 5GHz band is in the idle state for more than the preset time, the LTE-U base station 2 may send the communication data request signal to the terminal 1.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the preset time duration is a maximum value of a distributed inter-frame interval and a backoff time for the AP 3 to send the communication data. It is understood that the preset time period can be in other forms, and can be set by those skilled in the art according to actual needs.

In specific implementation, the LTE-U base station 2 may communicate with the terminal 1 in multiple ways, for example, may communicate with the terminal 1 through an LTE authorized frequency band, and may also communicate with the terminal 1 through a 5GHz frequency band.

Specifically, the LTE-U base station 2 may transmit the communication data request signal in a variety of ways, for example, the communication data request signal may be transmitted to the terminal 1 in an LTE format through an LTE authorized frequency band, or the communication data request signal may be transmitted to the terminal 1 in a WIFI format through a 5GHz frequency band.

It should be noted that the configuration of the LTE-U base station 2 may affect which frequency band the LTE-U base station 2 may communicate with the terminal 1. Specifically, when the LTE-U base station 2 supports both an LTE-U communication operation mode and a WIFI communication mode, in a specific implementation, a person skilled in the art may select a communication frequency band between the LTE-U base station 2 and the terminal 1 according to actual needs. When the LTE-U base station 2 only supports the LTE-U communication operating mode, the LTE-U base station 2 may select to use the LTE authorized frequency band to communicate with the terminal 1.

S32: the terminal 1 detects the state of the 5GHz frequency band and judges whether the 5GHz frequency band is in an idle state.

In specific implementation, the terminal 1 can detect all nodes communicating with the terminal 1, so that the terminal 1 can determine whether the 5GHz band is in an idle state, and thus can know the actual use state of the 5GHz band, and can avoid potential mutual interference between the AP 3 and the LTE-U base station 2.

When it is confirmed that the 5GHz band is currently in the idle state, the terminal 1 may perform S33 and S34; on the contrary, when the terminal 1 can send a busy state signal to the LTE-U base station 2 through the 5GHz band, and then the LTE-U base station 2 can confirm that the 5GHz band is in a busy state, the communication data is not sent to the terminal 1.

It should be noted that the order of executing S33 and S34 by the terminal 1 is not limited at all, and for example, S33 may be executed first, then S34 may be executed, then S34 may be executed, then S33 may be executed, and then S33 and S34 may be executed at the same time. The order of execution of the two steps S33 and S34 is not intended to limit the present invention in any way.

S33: the terminal 1 broadcasts and sends an operating state signal to a network node using 5 GHz.

In specific implementation, the terminal 1 may broadcast and send a working status signal to all network nodes using 5GHz, so that the network nodes stop communicating with themselves within a duration that the LTE-U base station 2 occupies a 5GHz frequency band, and specifically, the working status signal may include identification information and an occupied duration of a device occupying the 5GHz frequency band.

In specific implementation, the network node may be a variety of objects, for example, may be an AP 3, and may also be an LTE-U base station 2 using a 5GHz frequency band.

In an embodiment of the present invention, when the LTE-U base station 2 communicates with the terminal 1 through the LTE authorized frequency band, the terminal 1 determines that the LTE-U base station 2 cannot recognize a signal in a WIFI format, so that the identification information of the device occupying the 5GHz frequency band, which is sent by the terminal 1, is a physical address of the terminal 1 itself, where an object corresponding to the physical address is a device that can communicate with the terminal 1 in a next time period, that is, the terminal 1 occupies the 5GHz frequency band, so that the LTE-U base station 2 can send communication data to itself in the next time period.

In another embodiment of the present invention, when the LTE-U base station 2 communicates with the terminal 1 through the 5GHz band, the terminal 1 may determine that the LTE-U base station 2 can identify a signal in a WIFI format, so that the identification information of the device occupying the 5GHz band, which is sent by the terminal 1, is a physical address of the LTE-U base station 2, that is, the terminal 1 directly specifies that, in the next duration, only the LTE-U base station 2 can communicate with itself using the 5GHz band.

S34: the terminal 1 transmits a response signal including idle state information to the LTE-U base station 2.

In a specific implementation, the terminal 1 may send a response signal including idle state information to the LTE-U base station 2 to notify the LTE-U base station 2 to start transmitting communication data, where the idle state information may specifically be information indicating that a 5GHz band is in an idle state.

In an embodiment of the present invention, when the LTE-U base station 2 communicates with the terminal 1 through an LTE authorized frequency band, the response signal is an idle signal in an LTE format transmitted through the LTE authorized frequency band.

In another embodiment of the present invention, when the LTE-U base station 2 communicates with the terminal 1 through a 5GHz band, the response signal is a receivable communication data signal in a WIFI format.

It should be noted that the two steps S33 and S34 are not in a strict execution order, and as described above, S33 may be executed first and S34 may be executed later, S34 may be executed first and S33 may be executed later, or S33 and S34 may be executed simultaneously.

S35: the LTE-U base station 2 starts transmitting communication data to the terminal 1 in the 5GHz band.

In a specific implementation, when the LTE-U base station 2 receives a response signal including idle state information from the terminal 1, it may be determined that the 5GHz band is in an idle state from the current time and in the following time period for occupying the 5GHz band, so that the LTE-U base station 2 may start to transmit communication data in the 5GHz band.

S36: the terminal 1 receives the communication data from the LTE-U base station 2, and determines whether to complete receiving the communication data.

In a specific implementation, since the above steps already ensure that the 5GHz band can be occupied by the LTE-U base station 2 to transmit its own communication data, the terminal 1 receives the communication data that can come from the LTE-U base station 2, and determines whether to complete receiving the communication data.

And when the communication data transmitted by the LTE-U base station 2 through the 5GHz frequency band is completely received, executing S37, otherwise, continuing executing S36.

S37: the terminal 1 sends an acknowledgement signal to the LTE-U base station 2.

In a specific implementation, the terminal 1 may send an acknowledgement signal to the LTE-U base station 2 to inform the LTE-U base station 2 that the communication data has been received.

In an embodiment of the present invention, when the LTE-U base station 2 communicates with the terminal 1 through an LTE authorized frequency band, the terminal 1 may send a confirmation signal to the LTE-U base station 2 in the LTE authorized frequency band.

In another embodiment of the present invention, when the LTE-U base station 2 communicates with the terminal 1 through a 5GHz band, the terminal 1 may send an acknowledgement signal to the LTE-U base station 2 in the 5GHz band.

S38: when receiving an acknowledgement signal from the terminal 1, the LTE-U base station 2 determines that the communication data has been received by the terminal 1.

In an implementation, since the data interaction process with the terminal 1 includes the step of the terminal 1 sending a data reception acknowledgement signal to the device with which the terminal interacts, the LTE-U base station 2 may detect whether the acknowledgement signal from the terminal 1 is received, and when the acknowledgement signal from the terminal 1 is received, determine that the communication data has been received by the terminal 1.

It can be understood that, for convenience of description, only one AP and one LTE-U base station are shown in fig. 3, and the method of the present invention is also applicable to a case where multiple APs communicate with multiple LTE-U base stations, and those skilled in the art may refer to the method shown above for implementation, which is not described herein again.

In summary, a communication data request signal is sent to a terminal by an LTE-U base station, the terminal determines whether a 5GHz band is in an idle state, and then when the terminal determines that the 5GHz band is currently in the idle state, the terminal broadcasts a transmission operating state signal to a network node using the 5GHz band, and sends a response signal including idle state information to the LTE-U base station, so that the LTE-U base station starts transmitting communication data to the terminal.

In order to make those skilled in the art better understand and implement the present invention, the following also provides a terminal which can implement the above method for communication between the terminal and the LTE-U base station.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides an embodiment of a terminal, and referring to fig. 4, the terminal may include: a first receiving unit 41, a first judging unit 42, a broadcasting unit 43, a first transmitting unit 44, a second receiving unit 45 and a second transmitting unit 46, wherein:

the first receiving unit 41 receives a communication data request signal sent by the LTE-U base station, where: the communication data request signal comprises the time length of occupying a 5GHz frequency band for sending the communication data;

the first judging unit 42 is adapted to judge whether the 5GHz band is in an idle state when the first receiving unit 41 receives a communication data request signal sent by the LTE-U base station;

the broadcasting unit 43 is adapted to broadcast and send an operating state signal to a network node using the 5GHz band when the first determining unit 42 confirms that the 5GHz band is currently in an idle state, where: the working state signal comprises identification information and occupation duration of equipment occupying the 5GHz frequency band;

the first sending unit 44 is adapted to send a response signal including idle state information to the LTE-U base station to notify the LTE-U base station to start transmitting communication data when the first judging unit 42 confirms that the 5GHz band is currently in an idle state, where: the idle state information indicates that the 5GHz frequency band is in an idle state;

the second receiving unit 45 is adapted to receive communication data sent by the LTE-U base station through a 5GHz frequency band;

the second sending unit 46 is adapted to send an acknowledgement signal to the LTE-U base station to inform the LTE-U base station that the communication data has been received when the second receiving unit 45 completes receiving the communication data sent by the LTE-U base station through the 5GHz band.

In a specific implementation, the network node comprises at least one of: AP, other LTE-U base stations.

In a specific implementation, the first receiving unit 41, the first transmitting unit 44, and the second transmitting unit 46 communicate with the LTE-U base station through an LTE licensed band.

In this case, the identification information of the device occupying the 5GHz band is a physical address of the terminal itself.

In a specific implementation, the first receiving unit 41, the first transmitting unit 44, and the second transmitting unit 46 communicate with the LTE-U base station through a 5GHz band.

In this case, the identification information of the device occupying the 5GHz band is a physical address of the LTE-U base station.

In a specific implementation, the terminal may further include: a third sending unit 47, adapted to send a busy signal to the LTE-U base station through the LTE authorized frequency band when the first determining unit 42 determines that the 5GHz frequency band is in a busy state.

In order to make those skilled in the art better understand and implement the present invention, the following also provides an LTE-U base station that can implement the above method for a terminal to communicate with the LTE-U base station.

The following also provides an embodiment of an LTE-U base station, which may refer to fig. 5, and the LTE-U base station may include: a fourth sending unit 51, a third receiving unit 52, a fifth sending unit 53, a fourth receiving unit 54 and a confirmation unit 55, wherein:

the fourth transmitting unit 51 is adapted to transmit a communication data request signal to the terminal, wherein: the communication data request signal comprises the time length of occupying a 5GHz frequency band for sending the communication data;

the third receiving unit 52 is adapted to receive a response signal including idle state information from the terminal;

the fifth transmitting unit 53 is adapted to start transmitting communication data in the 5GHz band when the third receiving unit 52 receives a response signal including idle state information from the terminal, where the idle state information indicates that the 5GHz band is in an idle state;

the fourth receiving unit 54 is adapted to receive an acknowledgement signal of the terminal;

the confirmation unit 55 is adapted to determine that the communication data has been received by the terminal when the fourth receiving unit 54 receives a confirmation signal from the terminal.

Another LTE-U base station embodiment is provided below, and specifically referring to fig. 6, compared with fig. 5, in addition to the above-mentioned fourth transmitting unit 61, third receiving unit 62, fifth transmitting unit 63, fourth receiving unit 64, and confirmation unit 65, the LTE-U base station may further include: a second determining unit 66 and a fifth receiving unit 67, wherein:

the second judging unit 66 is adapted to detect whether the 5GHz band is in the idle state for more than a preset time before the fourth sending unit 61 sends the communication data request signal to the terminal;

the fourth sending unit 61 is adapted to send a communication data request signal to the terminal when the second judging unit 66 confirms that the 5GHz band is in the idle state for more than the preset time duration.

In a specific implementation, the preset time is the maximum value of the distributed inter-frame interval and the backoff time for the AP to send the communication data.

In a specific implementation, the fourth transmitting unit 61, the third receiving unit 62 and the fourth receiving unit 64 communicate with the terminal through an LTE licensed band.

In a specific implementation, the fourth transmitting unit 61, the third receiving unit 62 and the fourth receiving unit 64 communicate with the terminal through a 5GHz band.

The frequency band or the mode in which the fourth transmitting unit 61, the third receiving unit 62, and the fourth receiving unit 64 can communicate with the terminal is related to the configuration of the LTE-U base station. Specifically, when the LTE-U base station supports both the LTE-U communication operation mode and the WIFI communication mode, in a specific implementation, a person skilled in the art may select a frequency band for the fourth transmitting unit 61, the third receiving unit 62, and the fourth receiving unit 64 to communicate with the terminal according to actual needs. When the LTE-U base station only supports the LTE-U communication mode, the fourth transmitting unit 61, the third receiving unit 62, and the fourth receiving unit 64 may be selected to use the LTE licensed frequency band to communicate with the terminal.

In a specific implementation, the fifth receiving unit 67 is adapted to receive a busy state signal sent from the terminal through a 5GHz frequency band;

the fifth sending unit is adapted to confirm that the communication data is not sent to the terminal when the fifth receiving unit 67 receives a busy state signal sent from the terminal through a 5GHz band.

It is understood that, referring to the above description of the fourth sending unit 51, the third receiving unit 52, the fifth sending unit 53, the fourth receiving unit 54 and the confirming unit 55, a person skilled in the art can implement the fourth sending unit 61, the third receiving unit 62, the fifth sending unit 63, the fourth receiving unit 64 and the confirming unit 65, and details are not described herein again.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that all or part of the steps in the methods of the above embodiments may be implemented by hardware related to instructions of a program, which may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, and the storage medium may include: ROM, RAM, magnetic or optical disks, and the like.

Although the present invention is disclosed above, the present invention is not limited thereto. Various changes and modifications may be effected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for a terminal to communicate with an LTE-U base station is characterized by comprising the following steps:

when a communication data request signal sent by the LTE-U base station is received, judging whether a 5GHz frequency band is in an idle state, wherein: the communication data request signal comprises the time length of occupying a 5GHz frequency band for sending communication data; the communication data request signal is sent by the LTE-U base station after the fact that the 5GHz frequency band is in an idle state is determined to exceed a preset time length, wherein the preset time length is the maximum value of distributed inter-frame interval and back-off time of AP sending communication data;

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the network node comprises at least one of: AP and LTE-U base station.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the terminal communicates with the LTE-U base station via an LTE licensed band.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the identification information of the device occupying the 5GHz frequency band is a physical address of the terminal itself.

5. The method for communicating the terminal with the LTE-U base station according to claim 1, wherein the terminal communicates with the LTE-U base station through a 5GHz frequency band.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the identification information of the device occupying the 5GHz frequency band is a physical address of the LTE-U base station.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein the method further comprises:

8. A method for a terminal to communicate with an LTE-U base station is characterized by comprising the following steps:

detecting whether the 5GHz frequency band is in an idle state and exceeds a preset time length, and when the 5GHz frequency band is in the idle state and exceeds the preset time length, sending a communication data request signal to the terminal, wherein: the communication data request signal comprises the time length of occupying a 5GHz frequency band for sending communication data;

the preset duration is the maximum value of the distributed inter-frame interval and the backoff time of the AP for sending the communication data;

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the terminal communicates with the LTE-U base station via an LTE licensed band.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the terminal communicates with the LTE-U base station via a 5GHz band.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

12. A terminal, comprising:

a first receiving unit, which receives a communication data request signal sent by an LTE-U base station, wherein: the communication data request signal comprises the time length of occupying a 5GHz frequency band for sending communication data; the communication data request signal is sent by the LTE-U base station after the fact that the 5GHz frequency band is in an idle state is determined to exceed a preset time length, wherein the preset time length is the maximum value of distributed inter-frame interval and back-off time of AP sending communication data;

13. The terminal according to claim 12, wherein the network node comprises at least one of: AP and LTE-U base station.

14. The terminal of claim 12, wherein the first receiving unit, the first transmitting unit and the second transmitting unit communicate with the LTE-U base station through an LTE licensed band.

15. The terminal according to claim 14, wherein the identification information of the device occupying the 5GHz band is a physical address of the terminal itself.

16. The terminal of claim 12, wherein the first receiving unit, the first transmitting unit and the second transmitting unit communicate with the LTE-U base station through a 5GHz band.

17. The terminal of claim 16, wherein the identification information of the device occupying the 5GHz band is a physical address of the LTE-U base station.

18. The terminal of claim 14, further comprising: and the third sending unit is suitable for sending a busy signal to the LTE-U base station through the LTE authorized frequency band when the first judging unit confirms that the 5GHz is in a busy state.

19. An LTE-U base station, comprising:

the second judgment unit is suitable for detecting whether the 5GHz frequency band is in an idle state for more than a preset time;

a fourth sending unit, adapted to send a communication data request signal to the terminal when the second determining unit determines that the 5GHz band is in the idle state for longer than the preset duration, where: the communication data request signal comprises the time length of occupying a 5GHz frequency band for sending communication data; the preset time is the maximum value of the distributed inter-frame interval and the backoff time for the AP to send the communication data;

20. The LTE-U base station of claim 19, wherein the fourth transmitting unit, the third receiving unit, and the fourth receiving unit communicate with the terminal through an LTE licensed band.

21. The LTE-U base station of claim 19, wherein the fourth transmitting unit, the third receiving unit, and the fourth receiving unit communicate with the terminal through a 5GHz band.

22. The LTE-U base station of claim 19, further comprising: