Interference measurement method and apparatus for user equipment having multiple heterogeneous communication modules in wireless communication system

Abstract

An interference measurement method and a user equipment supporting the method are provided. The method enables the user equipment having multiple heterogeneous communication modules for Long Term Evolution (LTE), WiFi, Bluetooth and Global Positioning System (GPS) to perform interference measurement so as to avoid coexistence interference. The user equipment may perform effective communication by identifying non-preferred frequency bands and avoiding coexistence interference caused by the heterogeneous communication modules.

1 . A measurement method for a user equipment in a wireless communication system, the measurement method comprising:
 identifying, upon detection of activation of an interfering communication technology that potentially causes interference to cellular communication of the user equipment, at least one frequency that is likely to be affected by the potential interference;   sending a measurement configuration request message including the identified frequency that is likely to be affected by the potential interference to a base station; and   performing, upon reception of a measurement configuration message from the base station, measurement according to measurement configurations included in the measurement configuration message.   
     
     
         2 . The measurement method of  claim 1 , wherein the received measurement configuration message includes an indication indicating measurement of in-device interference caused by the interfering communication technology in the user equipment. 
     
     
         3 . The measurement method of  claim 2 , wherein the performing of the measurement according to the measurement configurations comprises separately storing a measurement result for subframes not affected by in-device interference and another measurement result for subframes affected by in-device interference. 
     
     
         4 . The measurement method of  claim 1 , wherein the identifying of at least one frequency that is likely to be affected by the potential interference comprises determining a frequency that is supported by the user equipment and that is not separated by a preset gap or more from the frequency of the interfering communication technology as a frequency that is likely to be affected by the potential interference. 
     
     
         5 . The measurement method of  claim 1 , further comprising creating, when a trigger condition specified in the measurement configuration message is met, a measurement report message including measurement results, and sending the measurement report message to the base station. 
     
     
         6 . The measurement method of  claim 5 , wherein the measurement report message separately includes a measurement result for subframes not affected by in-device interference and another measurement result for subframes affected by in-device interference. 
     
     
         7 . The measurement method of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 receiving a handover command reflecting the measurement results from the base station; and   performing handover according to the received handover command.   
     
     
         8 . A user equipment capable of interference measurement in a wireless communication system, the user equipment comprising:
 a transceiver unit for sending and receiving a signal to and from a base station; and   a control unit for controlling a process of identifying, upon detection of activation of an interfering communication technology that potentially causes interference to cellular communication of the user equipment, at least one frequency that is likely to be affected by the potential interference caused by the interfering communication technology, for sending a measurement configuration request message including the identified list of at least one frequency that is likely to be affected by the potential interference to the base station, and for performing, upon reception of a measurement configuration message from the base station, measurement according to measurement configurations specified in the received message.   
     
     
         9 . The user equipment of  claim 8 , wherein the control unit receives, through the transceiver unit, a measurement configuration message including an indication indicating measurement of in-device interference caused by the interfering communication technology in the user equipment. 
     
     
         10 . The user equipment of  claim 9 , wherein the control unit controls an operation to separately store a measurement result for subframes not affected by in-device interference and another measurement result for subframes affected by in-device interference. 
     
     
         11 . The user equipment of  claim 8 , wherein the control unit determines a frequency that is supported by the user equipment and is not separated by a preset gap or more from the frequency of the interfering communication technology as a frequency that is likely to be affected by the potential interference. 
     
     
         12 . The user equipment of  claim 8 , wherein the control unit controls, when a trigger condition specified in the measurement configuration message is met, an operation to create a measurement report message including measurement results, and to send the measurement report message to the base station. 
     
     
         13 . The user equipment of  claim 12 , wherein the control unit sends, through the transceiver unit, a measurement report message separately including a measurement result for subframes not affected by in-device interference caused by the interfering communication technology and another measurement result for subframes affected by in-device interference. 
     
     
         14 . The user equipment of  claim 13 , wherein the control unit controls, upon reception of a handover command reflecting the measurement results from the base station, an operation to perform handover according to the received handover command. 
     
     
         15 . A system for coordinating measurement of in-device interference, the system comprising:
 a base station; and   a terminal that communicates with the base station,   wherein the base station instructs the terminal to measure in-device interference if the terminal determines that an interfering communication technology is activated as the terminal is communicating with the base station.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein upon detection of the activation of the interfering communication technology, the terminal identifies at least one frequency that is likely to be affected by potential interference from the interfering communication technology. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the terminal identifies at least one frequency that is likely to be affected by potential interference from the interfering communication technology by determining frequencies over which the terminal communicates that are within a predefined threshold from the frequency over which the interfering communication technology is capable of communicating. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the base station coordinates a handover with the terminal to a frequency which will likely not suffer interference from the interfering communication technology. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the terminal, upon receipt of instructions from the base station to measure in-device interference, transmits a message which separately indicates a measurement result for subframes not affected by in-device interference and a measurement result for subframes affected by in-device interference.