WO2013113143A1

WO2013113143A1 - Ue assisted in-device interference handling

Info

Publication number: WO2013113143A1
Application number: PCT/CN2012/070772
Authority: WO
Inventors: Wei Hong; Jukka Ranta; Na WEI; Erlin Zeng; Haiming Wang
Original assignee: Renesas Mobile Corporation
Priority date: 2012-01-30
Filing date: 2012-01-30
Publication date: 2013-08-08

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for managing in-device interference. During a period during which a device is restricted from licensed network communication to prevent interference between a licensed network module and a WLAN module in close proximity, signaling is conducted between the module and a base station. If a determination is made that the WLAN module and the licensed network module will not interfere because the WLAN module has no traffic or because the channel will be occupied, the base station is able to schedule licensed traffic to the device. The device may signal to the base station that interference will not occur during a particular duration. Alternatively or in addition, the base station may signal that no licensed traffic is present for the device.

Description

UE ASSISTED IN-DEVTCE INTERFERENCE HANDLING

TECHNICAL FIELD:

[0001] The exemplary and non-limiting embodiments of this invention relate generally to wireless communication systems, methods, devices and computer programs, and more specifically relate to what is termed in the art as autonomous denial for controlling interference among components of a multi-radio device.

BACKGROUND:

[0002] The following abbreviations that may be found in the specification and/or the drawing figures are defined as follows:

3 GPP third generation partnership project

AP access point (in a WLAN system)

BII beacon information indication

BOI beacon offset indication

BSSID basic service set identifier

BT bluetooth

CA carrier aggregation

CC component carrier

CE control element

CRS common reference signal

CTS clear to send

DCI downlink control information

DDI dynamic denial indicator

DL downlink

DRX discontinuous reception

DTIM delivery traffic indication message

eNB node B base station in an E-UTRAN system

E-UTRAN evolved UTRAN (LTE)

GNSS global navigation satellite system

GPS global positioning system

ISM industrial, scientific, medical (unlicensed spectrum)

LCID logical channel identifier

LTE long term evolution (E-UTRAN)

LTE-A long term evolution-advanced (of E-UTRAN)

MAC medium access control

NAV network allocation vector

OLLA outer loop link adaptation

PCC primary component carrier (also termed PCell)

PDCCH physical downlink control channel

PUCCH physical uplink control channel

PUSCH physical uplink shared channel

RAT radio access technology

RF radio frequency

RRC radio resource control

RTS request to send sec secondary component carrier (also termed SCell)

SR scheduling request

STA station (in a WLAN system) which is not also operating as an AP

TBTT target beacon transmit time

TU time unit

UE user equipment

UL uplink

UTRAN universal terrestrial radio access network

WiFi wireless fidelity, generally a WLAN system

WLAN wireless local area network (IEEE 802.11, also termed WiFi)

[0003] The increasing use of smartphones - handheld mobile station that can provide access to voice communication as well as extensive data services - has fostered an increased attention to the design and manufacture of such handheld mobile stations to communicate using multiple different radio technologies and thus provide access to the varied services they offer. While some of this multi-RAT capacity may be handled by a single RF chain in the UE (termed a software defined radio), in other cases such as GNSS and WLAN there is an RF chain separate from that used for the cellular system RAT(s). Other UEs may have different RF chains for 3G and 4G cellular systems, with or without GNSS and/or WLAN capability. Due to the different antenna architectures for these different frequencies and the compact space a UE offers to enclose all of this various hardware, engineering a UE often includes designing to mitigate the interference these various closely-packed radios might cause to one another while in operation. In the radio arts this is generally termed coexistence interference.

[0004] Figure 1 schematically illustrates an RF front end of a UE 100 employing multiple radio transceivers. In this example, there are three distinct RF transceivers each shown as RF and baseband components in a chain with the related antenna. These sequences of components may be referred to as a WiFi module 102, providing service under WLAN and Bluetooth BT protocols, an LTE module 104, providing service in the LTE system, and a GNSS module 106, providing services for GNSS, specifically, global positioning system GPS. The WiFi module 102 comprises an RF component 108, a baseband component 110, and an antenna 112. The LTE module comprises an RF component 114, a baseband component 116, and an antenna 118. The GNSS module comprises an RF component 118, a baseband component 120, and an antenna 122. Transmissions from the LTE radio may interfere with the GPS receiver and with the WLAN/BT receiver, while transmissions from the WLAN/BT transceiver may cause interference to the LTE receiver.

[0005] Interference results in significant part from the close spacing of multiple radio transceivers within the same UE. Due to this close spacing, the transmit power of one transmitter may be much higher than the received power level of another receiver. By means of filter technologies and sufficient frequency separation, the transmit signal may not result in significant coexistence interference. But for some coexistence scenarios, such as different RATs within the same UE operating on adjacent frequencies, current state-of-the-art filter technology might not provide sufficient rejection of the signals that are spurious to that RF chain. For this reason solving the problem of coexistence interference by a single generic RF design for use in multiple UE models may not always be possible.

[0006] The 3 GPP group has therefore established an ongoing study item in RAN2 on this topic, notably at 3 GPP TR 36.816 vl 1.0.0, "Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Study on signaling and procedure for interference avoidance for in-device coexistence". Four usage scenarios are described in this document, two of which involve wireless data network communication, popularly known as wifi. In order to fulfill latency requirements of common services, each of these scenarios adheres to a set of guidelines. The scenarios are:

[0007] LTE + WiFi portable router. The guidelines followed by this scenario are that the LTE scheduled and unscheduled periods should typically not be more than 20-60 ms, and that the scheduled and unscheduled periods should be long enough for reasonable operation of LTE and WiFi timelines.

[0008] LTE + WiFi offload. The guidelines followed by this scenario are that the LTE scheduled and unscheduled periods should typically not be more than 40- 100 ms, and that the scheduled and unscheduled periods should be long enough for reasonable operation of LTE and WiFi timelines. In addition, the LTE unscheduled period should be aligned with WiFi beacons and the ratio of the scheduled and unscheduled periods should be aligned to the ratio of the volume of non-offloaded and offloaded traffic.

[0009] Other relevant documents include R2-110230, "Timeline analysis of TDM solutions for coexistence with WiFi"; and R2-112188, "Analysis of DRX based solutions for in-device coexistence". These propose a time domain multiplexing solution based on the LTE Release 8/9/10 "DRX mechanism."

[0010] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:

[0011] According to one embodiment of the invention, an apparatus comprises at least one processor and at least one memory storing computer program code. The at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least determining if a wireless local area network module on board the apparatus will be active during a period normally reserved for the wireless local area network module and, if the wireless local area network module will be inactive during the period, signaling a base station to indicate an interference-free period during which the apparatus may be scheduled to communicate over licensed network frequencies.

[0012] According to another embodiment of the invention, an apparatus comprises at least one processor and at least one memory storing computer program code. The at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least determining if interference from a wireless network module on board a communication device served by the apparatus will be present during a period normally reserved for communication by a wireless network module and, if no interference will be present, scheduling communication with the device by the apparatus.

[0013] According to another embodiment of the invention, a method comprises determining if a wireless local area network module on board an apparatus will be active during a period normally reserved for the wireless local area network module and, if the wireless local area network module will be inactive during the period, signaling a base station to indicate an interference-free period during which the apparatus may be scheduled to communicate over licensed network frequencies.

[0014] According to another embodiment of the invention, a computer readable medium stores a program of instructions. Execution of the program of instructions causes an apparatus to perform at least determining if a wireless local area network module on board an apparatus will be active during a period normally reserved for the wireless local area network module and, if the wireless local area network module will be inactive during the period, signaling a base station to indicate an interference-free period during which the apparatus may be scheduled to communicate over licensed network frequencies.

[0015] These and other embodiments of the invention are described below with particularity.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:

[00 6] Fig. 1 is a device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0017] Fig. 2 illustrates an exemplary time division mutiplexing period;

[0018] Fig. 3 illustrate a wireless network cell in which are shown operating components according to one or more embodiments of the present invention;

[00 9] Fig. 4 illustrates details of devices according to one or more embodiments of the present invention;

[0020] Fig. 5 illustrates a process according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

[0021 ] Fig. 6 illustrates exemplary signaling carried out using one or more embodiments of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION:

[0022] The background section references two documents which rely on D X based solutions. The UE provides the eNB with a desired TDM pattern. To take an example, the parameters related to the TDM pattern can consist of periodicity of the TDM pattern, as well as the duration of scheduled or unscheduled periods. Fig. 2 illustrates a TDM pattern 200, with a periodicity of 120ms and equal scheduled and unscheduled periods of 60ms each. The eNB determines and signals the final DRX configuration to the UE based on the UE's suggested TDM pattern and other possible criteria such as traffic type. During inactive times, the UE is allowed to delay the initiation of dedicated scheduling requests and RACH procedures.

[0023] However, in the LTE+WiFi portable router and LTE+WiFi offload scenarios described above, there is a significant likelihood that in the unscheduled period no WiFi traffic will be handled by the UE's WiFi module. This may occur, for example, if the UE's WiFi module is unable to control the WiFi channel. In another example, there may be little or no WiFi traffic to be routed by the UE's WiFi module, so that no WiFi transmission or reception will occur in the unscheduled period. However, because the eNB has defined a pattern in which LTE transmission is unscheduled, the eNB will not schedule the UE even if LTE traffic is present needing service.

[0024] In addition, if the WiFi module is in power saving (PS) mode, the WiFi module of the UE wakes up to listen for TIM/DTIM only at a predetermined time, and if no WiFi traffic is present, the WiFi module returns to power saving mode. In such cases, the unscheduled period is available for scheduling LTE traffic. In addition, the Beacon interval defined under protocols used for WiFi is typically 100ms, and the typical Listenlnterval of a PS WiFi STA is 2 or 3ms. The low power state of the WiFi module might therefore be 200-300ms or even longer. In addition, if a collision occurs, a WiFi STA must wait until it controls the WiFi channel in order to exchange traffic. In scenarios such as those described above, therefore, the use of DRX can substantially reduce the efficiency of LTE transmission because a substantial portion of the available transmission time is reserved for a WiFi module that is not using the time.

[0025] Embodiments of the present invention, therefore, provide for signaling between a UE and an eNB to indicate whether or not a UE's onboard WiFi module needs to use its scheduled time.

[0026] Fig. 3 illustrates a wireless network cell 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The cell 300 represents a geographic area served by a base station, here implemented as a eNodeB or eNB 302. The eNB 302 serves one or more wireless devices, of which a representative device is illustrated here, referred to as a UE 304. Also operating in the cell are a wireless access point 306, serving a WiFi module of the eNB 304, as well as representative STAs 306A-306D.

[0027] The WiFi module of the UE 304 may communicate during the DRX OFF period, but it will be recognized that frequently there will be no need to communicate WiFi traffic, and that at other times the WiFi module of the UE 304 will be unable to occupy the WiFi channel because the channel is being occupied by one of the STAs 308A-308D. Therefore, the eNB 302 and the UE 304 employ mechanisms according to one or more embodiments of the present invention to allow for LTE communication when the WiFi module of the UE 304 cannot or does not need to engage in WiFi communication.

[0028] Fig. 4 illustrates additional details of the UE 304 and the eNB 302. The UE 304 may suitably be similar in configuration to the UE 100 of Fig. 1, and may comprise a WLAN module

406, an LTE module 408, and a GNSS module 410, as well as antennas 412, 414, and 416. The

UE 304 may also suitably comprise a processor 418, memory 420, and storage 422, communicating with one another and with the various modules 306, 308, and 310 over a bus 424.

The UE 304 also employs data 426 and programs 428, suitably residing in storage 422.

[0029] The eNB 302 suitably comprises a transmitter 430, receiver 432, antenna 434, and radiocontroller 436. The eNB 402 also suitably comprises a processor 438, memory 440, and storage 442, communicating with one another and with the radiocontroller 436 over a bus 446.

The eNB 302 also suitably employs data 448 and programs 450, suitably residing in storage 442.

[0030] According to one or more embodiments of the invention, the UE 302 communicates with the eNB to inform the eNB when the WiFi channel is going to be occupied. At such times, the UE

302's LTE module can operate during the DRX unscheduled period without interfering with the

WiFi module, because the WiFi module cannot communicate anyway.

[0031] In DRX, or discontinuous reception, an eNB such as the eNB 302 defines a scheduled period in which the LTE module of a UE such as the UE 304 operates and an unscheduled period in which LTE module does not operate. Such a procedure prevents interference between the LTE module and the WiFi module of the UE. The scheduled period may be referred to as the DRX ON period and the unscheduled period may be referred to as the DRX OFF period, During the DRX ON period, the WiFi module is able to recognize signaling from other stations, such as request to send (RTS), clear to send (CTS) and DATA.

[0032] The Wifi module, therefore, is able to recognize when other devices are occupying the WiFi channel. While the WiFi channel is so occupied, WiFi module will be unable to occupy the channel. The signaling detected by the WiFi module includes indications of the duration for which it will be unable to occupy the WiFi channel. If the WiFi module recognizes during the DRX ON period that it is not going to be able to occupy the WiFi channel during the DRX OFF period, embodiments of the present invention provide for a UE such as the UE 304 to report the duration of channel unavailability to an eNB such as the eNB 302. Such reporting may be accomplished using WiFi Occupancy Indication (WOI) signaling, which is accomplished through MAC CE or LI signaling. Specific details of such signaling are discussed below.

[0033] Upon receiving WOI signaling, the eNB 302 may continue to schedule the UE 304 for the duration of the time the WiFi channel will be unavailable to the WiFi module.

[0034] In addition, during the DRX OFF period, the UE's WiFi module may receive RTS/CTS/Data from other STAs indicating that the WiFi channel will be occupied by another STA. If the duration of occupancy of the other STA is sufficient (for example, according to predetermined criteria used by the UE) to allow for use in LTE communication, the UE 304 may report the occupied duration to the eNB 302 using defined WOI signaling. The eNB 302 may continue to schedule the UE 304 as needed without a risk of in-device interference from the WiFi module.

[0035] If the WiFi module of the UE 304 is operating in power saving mode, the UE 304 may report "ReceiveDTIMs" and "Listenlnterval" to the eNB 302 in order to notify the eNB 302 when the WiFi module 406 needs to listen to any Beacon signal broadcast by WLAN APs, and whether the WiFi module 406 needs to listen for DTIM or not. If, after the WiFi module 406 has come out of power saving mode to read the Beacon and either no traffic needs service by the WiFi module 406 or the WiFi module 406 is unable to gain access to the WiFi channel, any of a number of actions may be taken to manage activity by the LTE module 408.

[0036] If uplink traffic is present, the UE 304 may use scheduling request or random access signaling to attach to the eNB 302 to transmit the UL signaling or data. If no uplink traffic needs to be transmitted, the UE 304 may transmit signaling to the eNB 302 to indicate that activity of the WiFi module 406 does not need to be taken into account. Such signaling may comprise WiFi Free Indication signaling (WFI) defined signaling to the eNB 302.

[0037] To manage downlink traffic, a wakup timer can be predefined. If no physical downlink control channel (PDDCH) is received after the wakeup timer expires, the UE 406 may safely assume that no traffic is directed to it and keep the LTE module 408 inactive until the next DRX ON period. All of these scenarios provide for indications to the eNB 302 as to whether or not WiFi activity will be carried on during the listen interval. Such an indication allows the eNB 302 to schedule LTE uplink and downlink traffic without a risk of in-device interference from the WiFi module 406. [0038] It will be noted that both WOI and WFI signaling fundamentally indicate to the eNB 302 that the time indicated by the signaling is available for LTE traffic because no WiFi interference will be present. One or more embodiments of the present invention therefore provide for an interference-free-period indication, or IFPI, which indicates the duration of the period during which no WiFi activity is to be expected from the WiFi module. Such an indication can be achieved by combining the WOI and WFI described above in a single signaling format.

[0039] The occupied, or otherwise interference-free, duration of the WiFi channel may suitably be expressed as a system frame number of the interference-free period or the start of the system frame number of the interference-free period in addition to the duration of the period. Alternatively or in addition, the duration of the interference- free period may be calculated from a time of transmission of the signaling indicating the interference- free period, such as WFI, WOI, or IFPI.

[0040] In one or more embodiments of the invention, the eNB 302 may itself send the traffic status of the UE 304 to the UE 304 before the beginning of the DRX OFF period. The traffic status may include an indication of whether the eNB 302 has LTE downlink traffic to send to the UE 304. If the eNB 302 has no downlink traffic, the eNB 302 need not use the LTE module 408 unless it has LTE uplink traffic to send. Therefore, if the UE 304 has no uplink traffic and has been notified that the eNB 302 has no downlink traffic, it will recognize that it does not need to use the LTE module 408 during the DRX OFF period. In such a case, therefore, the UE 304 does not need to send WOI, WFI, or IPFI signaling to the eNB 302. The eNB 304 may signal the traffic status of the UE 304. Traffic status signaling may be accomplished using traffic indication (TI) signaling, described in greater detail below. The TI signaling may also be used in cases in which WOI or WFI signaling is performed, in order to indicate to the UE 302 which resources are to be used in transmitting a WOI or WFI signal.

[0041 ] Fig. 5 illustrates a process 500 according to an embodiment of the present invention, for analyzing traffic conditions and WiFi channel availability conditions, and managing signalling between an eNB and a UE in order to increase transmission efficiency by using the DRX OFF period for LTE when LTE traffic is present to be transmitted and either no WiFi traffic is present or the WiFi channel is unavailable.

[0042] At step 502, an eNB serving a UE defines a DRX pattern according to a report from the UE. The report may include "ReceiveDTIMs", "Listenlnterval" and similar information elements. At step 504, at a first DRX cycle, the eNB sends a traffic indication to the UE at the end of the DRX ON period, indicating that LTE DL traffic exists to be transmitted to the UE. [0043] At step 506, at the DRX OFFperiod of this first cycle, the, UE's WiFi module receives the Beacon from a WiFi AP, and the Beacon indicates there is WiFi traffic for UE's WiFi module. At step 508, therefore, the WiFi module competes for the WiFi channel and sends PS-Poll to request WiFi traffic after it controls the WiFi channel.

[0044] At step 510, at a second DRX cycle, the eNB also sends TI to the UE at the end of the DRX ON period, indicating that there is still LTE DL traffic left for the UE. At step 512, at the DRX off period, the UE's WiFi module receives the Beacon from the AP, and the Beacon indicates there is no WiFi traffic for UE's WiFi module. At step 514, therefore, the WiFi module sends WFI to request LTE downlink traffic and sets a wakeup timer. At step 516, after receiving the UE's WFI, the eNB starts to schedule UE's LTE DL traffic. At step 518, upon expiration of the wakeup timer, the UE enters power saving mode if no downlink traffic has been received before the expiration of the wakeup timer. This will be true, for example, if the eNB fails to receive the WFI signaling.

[0045] At step 520, at a third DRX cycle, the eNB does not send TI to the UE because no LTE traffic downlink is present to be sent to the UE. At step 522, at the DRX off period, the UE's WiFi module receives the Beacon from the AP, and the Beacon indicates there is WiFi traffic for UE's WiFi module. However, because the WiFi channel is occupied by another WiFi STA, the UE's WiFi module does not occupy the WiFi channel. Therefore, at step 524, the WiFi module sends a scheduling request to request an LTE resource to send LTE UL traffic during this period. At step 526, after receiving the UE's SR, the eNB begins to schedule LTE UL traffic for the UE.

[0046] Fig. 6 illustrates a signaling diagram 600 illustrating various signals communicated to and by various elements according to one or more embodiments of the present invention. In the particular example show, the signalling is similar to that occurring in the process described with respect to Fig. 5. The durations of first, second, and third DRX cycles 602, 604, and 606. A graph 608 showing active and inactive times in the DRX cycles 602, 604, and 606 is shown. A WiFi activity graph 610 is shown, showing the WiFi signalling and data transfer occurring during the inactive portions of the DRX cycles. Signals shown are WiFi beacons 612 and 614 indicating traffic by the UE, WiFi beacon 616, indicating that there is no WiFi traffic by the UE, and a busy channel activity 618, characteristic of a busy WiFi channel. UE data 620 and 622 are also shown.

[0047] The eNB Activity graph 624 illustrates TI signals 626 and 628, as well as UE data 630, 632, 634, and 636. The UE activity graph 638 shows PS-Poll signaling 640 and 642, used to compete for the WiFi channel, a W40iFi Free indication 644, sent to the eNB to indicate that no WiFi activity is to be conducted, and a scheduling request 646 to request downlink data. [0048] The following table is a signaling table presenting characteristics of signals that may be used in embodiments of the present invention. Of particular note is the Traffic Indication signal, which has an index of 11010 and a logical channel ID value of " Traffic Indication"

[0049] The field duration may defined by a buffer size field of be 8 bits, defined as identifying the total amount of data available across all logical channels of a logical channel group after all MAC PDUs for the TTI have been built. The amount of data is indicated in number of bytes.

[0050] WOI signaling may, for example, take the form of fast LI control signaling using a PUCCH signal format. Such an approach takes advantage of the high multiplexing capacity of the PUCCH format. For example, for PUCCH format la/lb there can be a maximum of 18 UEs multiplexed in a single PRB, while for PUCCH format 3 the capacity is 5 UEs).

[0051] First, some predefined PUCCH format F_k and PUCCH resource {R_k,T_k} may be defined for a UE #k. In practice F_k can be format lb or format 3. R_k and T_k is the PUCCH channel index and subframe index, respectively, This means a UE is allowed to use the PUCCH channel R in the subframe T_k for such reporting.

[0052] If the UE finds that some other WiFi STA will occupy the WiFi channel during DRX OFF period, it will report the duration of such occupancy in the nearest subframe which contains a predefined PUCCH resource for itself as above. For example, for PUCCH format 3, the payload size can be up to 20 bits. Then the Duration can be quantized to for example some bits for reporting. With such fast LI reporting, the feedback and processing delay can be reduced to just a few ms, e.g., 2ms or 3ms. With such a short processing delay time, the eNB would have time to schedule the UE's downlink traffic in the DRX OFF period after receiving the WOI.

[0053] Various modifications and adaptations to the foregoing exemplary embodiments of this invention may become apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts in view of the foregoing description. While the exemplary embodiments have been described above in the context of the LTE and LTE-A system, as noted above the exemplary embodiments of this invention may be used with various other types of wireless communication systems.

[0054] Further, some of the various features of the above non-limiting embodiments may be used to advantage without the corresponding use of other described features. The foregoing description should therefore be considered as merely illustrative of the principles, teachings and exemplary embodiments of this invention, and not in limitation thereof.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor;

at least one memory storing computer program code;

wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least:

determining if a wireless local area network module will be active during a period normally reserved for the wireless local area network module; and

if the wireless local area network module will be inactive during the period, determining to perform a control function to indicate an interference-free period during which the apparatus may be scheduled to communicate over licensed network frequencies.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus is a user equipment operating in a long term evolution cellular network and wherein the period normally reserved for the wireless local area network module is a discontinuous reception OFF period.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein determining whether to perform the control function comprises signaling to the base station using at least one long term evolution information element.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, 2, or 3, wherein determining if the wireless local area network module will be active comprises determining if a wireless network channel will be occupied.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, 2, or 3, wherein determining if the wireless local area network module will be active comprises determining if the wireless network module has data to transmit over a wireless local area network.

6. The apparatus of any of claims 1-5, wherein determining whether to perform the control function comprises signaling to the base station defining an interference free period, including signaling a system frame number of an end of the interference-free period.

7. The apparatus of any of claims 1-5, wherein determining whether to perform the control function comprises signaling to the base station defining an interference free period signaling a system frame number of the beginning of the interference-free period plus a duration of the interference-free period.

8. The apparatus of any of claims 1-5, wherein determining whether to perform the control function comprises signaling to the base station defining an interference free period indicating a duration from the time of signaling.

9. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the actions further comprise receivmg an indication from the base station if licensed downlink traffic is present to be transmitted to the apparatus and determining to perform control functions directing the base station to schedule the apparatus only if licensed downlink traffic is present or the apparatus has licensed uplink traffic to send.

10. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor;

at least one memory storing computer program code;

determining if interference from a wireless network module on board a communication device served by the apparatus will be present during a period normally reserved for communication by a wireless network module; and

if no interference will be present, scheduling communication with the device by the apparatus.

1 1. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein determining if interference will be present comprises receiving signaling indicating that no interference will be present.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 or 11, further comprising sending an indication to the device informing the device that downlink traffic is present to send to the device.

13. The apparatus of claim 10, 11, or 12, further comprising sending an indication to the device indicating resources to be used for signaling by the device indicating that no interference will be present.

if the wireless local area network module will be inactive during the period, signaling a base station to indicate an interference-free period during which the apparatus may be scheduled to communicate over licensed network frequencies.

14. A method comprising:

determining if a wireless local area network module on board an apparatus will be active during a period normally reserved for the wireless local area network module; and

if the wireless local area network module will be inactive during the period, determining to perform control functions to indicate to a base station an interference-free period during which the apparatus may be scheduled to communicate over licensed network frequencies.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the apparatus is a user equipment operating in a long term evolution cellular network and wherein the period normally reserved for the wireless local area network module is a discontinuous reception OFF period.

16. The method of claim 14 or 15, wherein determining to perform the control functions comprises determining to signal to the base station is accomplished using at least one long term evolution information element.

17. The method of claim 14, 15, or 16, wherein determining if the wireless local area network module will be active comprises determining if a wireless network channel will be occupied.

18. A computer readable medium storing a program of instructions, execution of which by a processor configures an apparatus to perform at least:

determining if a wireless local area network module on board the apparatus will be active during a period normally reserved for the wireless local area network module; and

19. The computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein the apparatus is a user equipment operating in a long term evolution cellular network and wherein the period normally reserved for the wireless local area network module is a discontinuous reception OFF period.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 18 or 19, wherein the determining to perform the control functions comprises signaling to the base station using at least one long term evolution information element.

21. An apparatus for managing multiple communication technologies, comprising: means for determining wireless local area network module will be active during a period normally reserved for the wireless local area network module; and

means for, if the wireless local area network module will be inactive during the period, determining to perform a control function to indicate an interference-free period during which the apparatus may be scheduled to communicate over licensed network frequencies.