Method and Apparatus for Transmitting and Receiving Signals in a Frequency Band

Abstract

There is provided a method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving signals in a frequency band in a wireless communications network. The method comprises determining a frequency separation between a frequency of a transmit signal and a frequency of a receive signal within the frequency band based on at least one of a power of the transmit signal, a number of physical channels associated with the transmit signal, and a number of physical channels associated with the receive signal. The method further comprises transmitting and receiving signals in the frequency band in accordance with the determined frequency separation. The method may be performed by a User Equipment of a Network Node.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for transmitting and receiving signals in a frequency band in a wireless communications network, the method comprising:
 determining a frequency separation between a frequency of a transmit signal and a frequency of a receive signal within the frequency band based on at least one of a power of the transmit signal, a number of physical channels associated with the transmit signal, and a number of physical channels associated with the receive signal; and   transmitting and receiving signals in the frequency band in accordance with the determined frequency separation.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the method is performed by a User Equipment. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the transmit signal is an uplink signal, from the User Equipment to a network node; and the receive signal is a downlink signal, from the network node to the User Equipment. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein determining the frequency separation comprises:
 selecting a transmit-receive frequency separation value from at least two predefined transmit-receive frequency separation values based on at least one of a power of the transmit signal, a number of physical channels associated with the transmit signal, and a number of physical channels associated with the receive signal.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein selecting the transmit-receive frequency separation value comprises:
 comparing at least one of a parameter indicative of a power of the transmit signal, a parameter indicative of a number of physical channels associated with the receive signal, and a parameter indicative of a number of physical channels associated with the receive signal with a threshold; and   selecting the transmit-receive frequency separation value from the plurality of predefined transmit-receive frequency separation values based on the comparison.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the determined frequency separation is associated with at least one of a respective maximum transmit power of the User Equipment, a respective maximum number of uplink physical channels, and a respective maximum number of downlink physical channels. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein transmitting and receiving signals in the frequency band in accordance with the determined frequency separation comprises the User Equipment adapting its transmitter and or receiver based on the determined frequency separation. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising scheduling transmission of uplink data using the determined frequency separation. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the method is performed by a network node. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the transmit signal is an uplink signal, from a User Equipment to the network node, and the receive signal is a downlink signal, from the network node to the User Equipment. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising signalling the determined frequency separation to the User Equipment. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the signalling comprises an identifier identifying the determined frequency separation. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the determined frequency separation is signalled to the User Equipment in Radio Resource Control (RRC) signalling or Layer 1 signalling. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the determined frequency separation is signalled to the User Equipment as part of scheduling information. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein transmitting and receiving signals in the frequency band in accordance with the determined frequency separation comprises the network node adapting its transmitter and or receiver based on the determined frequency separation. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising scheduling transmission of downlink data and or uplink data using the determined frequency separation. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the User Equipment is capable of full-duplex Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) operation. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the User Equipment is capable of narrowband operation. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the physical channels are Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs) or Resource Elements (REs). 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the determined frequency separation is a minimum transmit-receive carrier frequency separation. 
     
     
         21 . A User Equipment comprising:
 a receiver; and   a transmitter;
 wherein the User Equipment is operable to: determine a frequency separation between a frequency of a transmit signal and a frequency of a receive signal within a frequency band in a wireless communications network based on at least one of a power of the transmit signal, a number of physical channels associated with the transmit signal, and a number of physical channels associated with the receive signal; and 
 transmit and receive signals in the frequency band in accordance with the determined frequency separation. 
   
     
     
         22 . A network node comprising:
 a receiver; and   a transmitter;
 wherein the network node is operable to: determine a frequency separation between a frequency of a transmit signal and a frequency of a receive signal within a frequency band in a wireless communications network based on at least one of a power of the transmit signal, a number of physical channels associated with the transmit signal, and a number of physical channels associated with the receive signal, and 
 transmit and receive signals in the frequency band in accordance with the determined frequency separation. 
   
     
     
         23 . The network node of  claim 22 , wherein the transmit signal is an uplink signal, from a User Equipment to the network node, and the receive signal is a downlink signal, from the network node to the User Equipment, wherein the network node is further operable to signal the determined frequency separation to the User Equipment.