System and Method for Machine-Type Communications

Abstract

A method for operating a machine-type device (MTD) includes determining communications requirements for a machine-type device (MTD), and assigning a first signal waveform selected from a plurality of signal waveforms to the MTD in accordance with the determined communications requirements, wherein each signal waveform has an associated characteristic signal bandwidth.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 transmitting, by a base station, information about a first narrow-band signal waveform to a machine-type device (MTD) configured to perform machine-type communications (MTC), the first narrow-band signal waveform obtained from a plurality of signal waveforms; and   communicating, by the base station with the MTD, data using the first narrow-band signal waveform.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 obtaining, by the base station, communications requirements for the MTD, wherein the first narrow-band signal waveform is selected from the plurality of signal waveforms in accordance with the obtained communications requirements.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the communicating comprises:
 receiving, by the base station, a packet from the MTD, wherein the packet is transmitted using the first narrow-band signal waveform.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the information about the first narrow-band signal waveform comprises transmission characteristics of a communications channel used to transmit the packet using the first narrow-band signal waveform. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the transmission characteristics comprise at least one of a bandwidth associated with the MTD, and a level of a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) used for transmission. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 altering the transmission characteristics of the communications channel in accordance with at least one of a channel condition of the communications channel, and a system load of the base station;   assigning a second narrow-band signal waveform selected from the plurality of signal waveforms to the MTD in accordance with the altered transmission characteristics; and   transmitting information about the second narrow-band signal waveform to the MTD.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein altering the transmission characteristics comprises:
 increasing the level of the MCS in response to determining that the system load of the base station is overloaded; and   increasing the bandwidth associated with the MTD in response to determining that the system load of the base station is underloaded.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the increasing the level of the MCS further comprises reducing the bandwidth associated with the MTD. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the increasing the bandwidth associated with the MTD further comprises reducing the level of the MCS. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first narrow-band signal waveform is selected from the plurality of signal waveforms in accordance with communications requirements of the MTD, and the communications requirements comprise at least one of a coverage requirement, a communications system load, MTD geometry, MTD power consumption, a frequency of transmissions made by the MTD, a bandwidth requirement of the MTD, an amount of data to be transmitted by the MTD, a priority level of the MTD, and a priority level of transmissions made by the MTD. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first narrow-band signal waveform has a characteristic signal bandwidth that is narrow enough such that no repetition coding is needed for the base station to provide enhanced coverage to the MTD. 
     
     
         12 . A method comprising:
 receiving, by a machine-type device (MTD) configured to perform machine-type communications (MTC), from a base station, information about a first narrow-band signal waveform, the first narrow-band signal waveform obtained from a plurality of signal waveforms; and   communicating, by the MTD with the base station, data using the first narrow-band signal waveform.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the communicating comprises:
 transmitting, by the MTD, a packet to the base station using the first narrow-band signal waveform.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the information about the first narrow-band signal waveform comprises transmission characteristics of a communications channel used to transmit the packet using the first narrow-band signal waveform. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the transmission characteristics comprise at least one of a bandwidth associated with the MTD, and a level of a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) used for transmission. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the first narrow-band signal waveform has a characteristic signal bandwidth that is narrow enough such that no repetition coding is needed for the base station to provide enhanced coverage to the MTD. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 transmitting communications requirements to the base station, wherein the communications requirements are used to obtain the first narrow-band signal waveform.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the communications requirements comprise at least one of a coverage requirement, a communications system load, MTD geometry, MTD power consumption, a frequency of transmissions made by the MTD, a bandwidth requirement of the MTD, an amount of data to be transmitted by the MTD, a priority level of the MTD, and a priority level of transmissions made by the MTD. 
     
     
         19 . A base station comprising:
 a non-transitory computer-readable memory; and   a processor coupled to the non-transitory computer-readable memory and configured to:
 transmit information about a first narrow-band signal waveform to a machine-type device (MTD) configured to perform machine-type communications (MTC) communications, the first narrow-band signal waveform obtained from a plurality of signal waveforms; and 
 communicate, with the MTD, data using the first narrow-band signal waveform. 
   
     
     
         20 . The base station of  claim 19 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 obtain communications requirements for the MTD, and wherein the first narrow-band signal waveform is selected from the plurality of signal waveforms in accordance with the communications requirements for the MTD.   
     
     
         21 . The base station of  claim 19 , wherein the processor is configured to:
 receive a packet from the MTD, wherein the packet is transmitted using the first narrow-band signal waveform.   
     
     
         22 . The base station of  claim 21 , wherein the information about the first narrow-band signal waveform comprises transmission characteristics of a communications channel used to transmit the packet using the first narrow-band signal waveform, and the transmission characteristics comprise at least one of a bandwidth associated with the MTD, and a level of a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) used for transmission. 
     
     
         23 . The base station of  claim 22 , wherein the processor is configured to:
 alter the transmission characteristics of the communications channel in accordance with at least one of a channel condition of the communications channel, and a system load of the base station,   assign a second narrow-band signal waveform selected from the plurality of signal waveforms to the MTD in accordance with the altered transmission characteristics, and   transmit information about the second narrow-band signal waveform to the MTD.   
     
     
         24 . The base station of  claim 23 , wherein the processor is configured to increase the level of the MCS in response to determining that the system load of the base station is overloaded, and to increase the bandwidth allocated to the MTD in response to determining that the system load of the base station is underloaded. 
     
     
         25 . The base station of  claim 19 , wherein the first narrow-band signal waveform is selected from the plurality of signal waveforms in accordance with communications requirements of the MTD, and the communications requirements comprise at least one of a coverage requirement, a communications system load, MTD geometry, MTD power consumption, a frequency of transmissions made by the MTD, a bandwidth requirement of the MTD, an amount of data to be transmitted by the MTD, a priority level of the MTD, and a priority level of transmissions made by the MTD. 
     
     
         26 . A machine-type device (MTD) configured to perform machine-type communications (MTC), the MTD comprising:
 a non-transitory computer-readable memory; and   a processor coupled to the non-transitory computer-readable memory and configured to:
 receive, from a base station, information about a first narrow-band signal waveform, the first narrow-band signal waveform obtained from a plurality of signal waveforms; and 
 communicate, with the base station, data using the first narrow-band signal waveform. 
   
     
     
         27 . The MTD of  claim 26 , wherein the processor is configured to:
 transmit a packet to the base station using the first narrow-band signal waveform.   
     
     
         28 . The MTD of  claim 27 , wherein the information about the first narrow-band signal waveform comprises transmission characteristics of a communications channel used to transmit the packet using the first narrow-band signal waveform. 
     
     
         29 . The MTD of  claim 28 , wherein the transmission characteristics comprise at least one of a bandwidth associated with the MTD, and a level of a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) used for transmission. 
     
     
         30 . The MTD of  claim 26 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 transmit communications requirements to the base station, wherein the communications requirements are used to obtain the first narrow-band signal waveform.   
     
     
         31 . The MTD of  claim 30 , wherein the communications requirements of the MTD comprise at least one of a coverage requirement, a communications system load, MTD geometry, MTD power consumption, a frequency of transmissions made by the MTD, a bandwidth requirement of the MTD, an amount of data to be transmitted by the MTD, a priority level of the MTD, and a priority level of transmissions made by the MTD. 
     
     
         32 . The MTD of  claim 26 , wherein the first narrow-band signal waveform has a characteristic signal bandwidth that is narrow enough such that no repetition coding is needed for the base station to provide enhanced coverage to the MTD.