Method and apparatus for device-to-device communication

Abstract

A first user equipment (UE) wirelessly communicates with a network element (e.g., an eNB) on a carrier (e.g., a cellular uplink or downlink carrier) in accordance with its first capability partitioning configuration. The first UE engages in direct wireless communication on the carrier with a second UE in accordance its second capability partitioning configuration.

1 . A method in a first user equipment, the method comprising:
 wirelessly communicating with a network element on a carrier in accordance with a first capability partitioning configuration of the first user equipment;   engaging in direct wireless communication on the carrier with a second user equipment in accordance with a second capability partitioning configuration of the first user equipment.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the first capability partitioning configuration comprises a first buffer partitioning configuration, and   wherein the second capability partitioning configuration comprises a second buffer partitioning configuration.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the carrier is a first carrier, the method further comprising acquiring information regarding at least the second capability partitioning configuration from the network element, via a second carrier. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the second buffer partitioning configuration comprises at least one of:
 a maximum number of HARQ processes that the first user equipment will use for communicating with the second user equipment;   the size of a soft buffer that the first user equipment will use for communicating with the second user equipment   a number of soft channel bits that the first user equipment will use for communicating with the second user equipment   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the first buffer partitioning configuration comprises at least one of the following:
 the HARQ processes that the first user equipment will use for communicating with the network element,   the size of a soft buffer that first user equipment will use for communicating with the network element, and   the total number of soft channel bits that the first user equipment will use to communicate with the network element.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the carrier is a first carrier, the method further comprising:
 transmitting information regarding a capability configuration of the first user equipment to the network element via the first carrier,   receiving information regarding a capability partitioning configuration of the second user equipment from the network element via a second carrier;   wherein the engaging step comprises engaging in wireless communication directly with the second user equipment on the first carrier in accordance with the capability partitioning configuration of the second user equipment and the capability partitioning configuration of the first user equipment.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving, from the second user equipment, information regarding a category of the second user equipment;   wherein the engaging step comprises engaging in wireless communication directly with the second user equipment in accordance with the second user equipment's category.   
     
     
         8 . A method in a first user equipment, the method comprising
 wirelessly communicating with a network element on a carrier;   encoding a packet in accordance with a capability partitioning configuration of a second user equipment; and   wirelessly transmitting the encoded packet on the carrier directly to the second user equipment.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the carrier is a first carrier, the method further comprising:
 receiving information regarding the capability partitioning configuration of the second user equipment from the network element on a second carrier.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the carrier is an uplink carrier, the method further comprising:
 receiving information regarding the capability partitioning configuration of the second user equipment from the network element on a downlink carrier.   
     
     
         11 . The method  claim 8 ,
 wherein the encoding step further comprises encoding the packet in accordance with the category of the second user equipment.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the capability partitioning configuration of the second user equipment comprises a configuration of the second user equipment's soft buffer. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the second user equipment's soft buffer configuration comprises a number of soft channel bits used by the second user equipment for device to device communication. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , the method further comprising partitioning the first user equipment's soft buffer for simultaneous communication with the network element and the second user equipment. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 8 ,
 wherein the capability partitioning configuration comprises a maximum number of HARQ processes that can be used by the second user equipment for device to device communication.   
     
     
         16 . A method in a first user equipment, the method comprising
 wirelessly communicating with a network element on a carrier;   wirelessly receiving a packet directly from a second user equipment on the carrier; and   decoding the packet in accordance with a capability partitioning configuration of the second user equipment.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the carrier is a first carrier, the method further comprising:
 receiving information regarding the capability partitioning configuration of the second user equipment from the network element on a second carrier.   
     
     
         18 . The method  claim 16 , further comprising:
 wherein the decoding step further comprises decoding the packet in accordance with the category of the second user equipment.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the carrier is an uplink carrier, the method further comprising:
 receiving information regarding the capability partitioning configuration of the second user equipment from the network element on a downlink carrier.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the capability partitioning configuration of the second user equipment comprises a configuration of the second user equipment's soft buffer. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the second user equipment's soft buffer configuration comprises a number of soft channel bits used by the second user equipment for device to device communication. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 20 , the method further comprising partitioning the first user equipment's soft buffer for simultaneous communication with the network element and the second user equipment. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 16 ,
 wherein the capability partitioning configuration comprises a maximum number of HARQ processes that can be used by the second user equipment for device to device communication.   
     
     
         24 . A first user equipment comprising:
 a transceiver;   a memory communicatively linked to the transceiver, the memory being configured to store data representing a first capability partitioning configuration of the first user equipment and a second capability partitioning configuration of the first user equipment;   a processor communicatively linked to the memory and to the transceiver, the processor being configured to retrieve the data from the memory and, using the retrieved data, control the transceiver to communicate with a network element according to the first capability partitioning configuration and with a second user equipment according to the second capability partitioning configuration.