PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-10110355-B2
Application Number: US-201514636028-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Uplink transmission on unlicensed radio frequency band component carriers

Abstract:
Methods and apparatus for using an unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier for uplink transmission are disclosed. A wireless communication device receives a carrier aggregation configuration, which can include at least one licensed radio frequency band component carrier and at least one unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier. The wireless communication device establishes a set of radio bearers and associates an unlicensed radio frequency band permission level with each of the radio bearers. The wireless communication device multiplexes uplink traffic for the radio bearers on the at least one licensed radio frequency band component carrier and the at least one unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier based at least in part on the unlicensed radio frequency band permission levels associated with the radio bearers.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for using an unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier for uplink transmission, the method comprising:
 by a wireless communication device: 
 receiving a carrier aggregation configuration from a network element of a wireless network, wherein the carrier aggregation configuration comprises at least one licensed radio frequency band component carrier and at least one unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier; 
 establishing a plurality of radio bearers; 
 associating, with each radio bearer of the plurality of radio bearers, a corresponding unlicensed radio frequency band permission level that indicates whether uplink data for the radio bearer can be routed on the at least one unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier; and 
 multiplexing uplink traffic for the plurality of radio bearers on the at least one licensed radio frequency band component carrier and the at least one unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier based at least in part on the unlicensed radio frequency band permission levels associated with the plurality of radio bearers and on a prioritized bit rate (PBR) for each of the plurality of radio bearers, 
 wherein the unlicensed radio frequency band permission levels include:
 an unlicensed radio frequency band forbidden permission level that disallows routing uplink data traffic on an unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier, 
 a licensed radio frequency band preferred permission level that allows routing uplink data traffic on the unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier only when no licensed radio frequency band component carrier resources are available for a transmission time interval, and 
 an unlicensed radio frequency band permitted permission level that allows routing uplink data traffic on the unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier when licensed radio frequency band component carrier resources are available. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the licensed radio frequency band component carrier comprises a Long Term Evolution (LTE) component carrier using a licensed LTE radio frequency band, and wherein the unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier comprises an unlicensed LTE (LTE-U) component carrier. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the associating, with each radio bearer of the plurality of radio bearers, the corresponding unlicensed radio frequency band permission level comprises associating the unlicensed radio frequency band forbidden permission level with a first radio bearer, and 
 multiplexing uplink traffic for the plurality of radio bearers comprises routing uplink traffic for the first radio bearer only on the at least one licensed radio frequency band component carrier. 
 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 3 , wherein the first radio bearer carries data having less than a threshold level of delay tolerance and requiring more than a threshold throughput level. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the associating, with each radio bearer of the plurality of radio bearers, the corresponding unlicensed radio frequency band permission level comprises associating the licensed radio frequency band preferred permission level with a first radio bearer, and 
 the first radio bearer carries data having more than a threshold level of delay tolerance and requirement more than a threshold throughput level. 
 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the associating, with each radio bearer of the plurality of radio bearers, the corresponding unlicensed radio frequency band permission level comprises associating the unlicensed radio frequency band permitted permission level with a first radio bearer, and 
 the first radio bearer carries best effort data. 
 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 each radio bearer of the plurality of radio bearers has an associated quality of service level, and 
 the associating, with each radio bearer of the plurality of radio bearers, the corresponding unlicensed radio frequency band permission level comprises assigning the corresponding unlicensed radio frequency band permission level to each respective radio bearer based at least in part on the quality of service level associated with the respective radio bearer. 
 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the associating, with each radio bearer of the plurality of radio bearers, the corresponding unlicensed radio frequency band permission level comprises associating network assigned unlicensed radio frequency band permission levels with each radio bearer of the plurality of radio bearers. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the multiplexing is performed at a media access control (MAC) layer of the wireless communication device. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the multiplexing comprises multiplexing, for each of a plurality of transmission time intervals, data provided by a radio link control (RLC) layer for the plurality of radio bearers. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 1 , wherein multiplexing comprises fulfilling the PBR of each radio bearer on radio frequency band component carriers in accordance with the respective unlicensed radio frequency band permission level. 
     
     
       12. A wireless communication device configurable for using an unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier for uplink transmission with a wireless network, the wireless communication device comprising:
 a wireless communication interface configurable to transmit signals to a plurality of cells of the wireless network using a plurality of radio frequency band component carriers; 
 processing circuitry comprising one or more processors and memory storing executable instructions, the processing circuitry communicatively coupled with the wireless communication interface; and 
 a multiplexing module communicatively coupled with the processing circuitry, 
 wherein the executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the wireless communication device to:
 receive a carrier aggregation configuration via one of the plurality of cells of the wireless network, the carrier aggregation configuration comprising at least one licensed radio frequency band component carrier and at least one unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier; 
 establish a plurality of radio bearers with one or more of the plurality of cells of the wireless network; 
 associate, with each radio bearer of the plurality of radio bearers, a corresponding unlicensed radio frequency band permission level that indicates whether uplink data for the radio bearer can be routed on the at least one unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier; and 
 multiplex uplink traffic for the plurality of radio bearers on the at least one licensed radio frequency band component carrier and the at least one unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier based at least in part on the unlicensed radio frequency band permission levels associated with the plurality of radio bearers and on a prioritized bit rate (PBR) for each of the plurality of radio bearers, 
 wherein the unlicensed radio frequency band permission levels include:
 an unlicensed radio frequency band forbidden permission level that disallows routing uplink data traffic on an unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier, 
 a licensed radio frequency band preferred permission level that allows routing uplink data traffic on the unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier only when no licensed radio frequency band component carrier resources are available for a transmission time interval, and 
 an unlicensed radio frequency band permitted permission level that allows routing uplink data traffic on the unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier when licensed radio frequency band component carrier resources are available. 
 
 
 
     
     
       13. The wireless communication device of  claim 12 , wherein:
 the wireless communication device associates, with each radio bearer of the plurality of radio bearers, a corresponding unlicensed radio frequency band permission level by at least associating the unlicensed radio frequency band forbidden permission level with a first radio bearer, and 
 the wireless communication device multiplexes uplink traffic for the plurality of radio bearers by at least routing uplink traffic for the first radio bearer only on the at least one licensed radio frequency band component carrier. 
 
     
     
       14. The wireless communication device of  claim 12 , wherein:
 each radio bearer of the plurality of radio bearers has an associated quality of service level, and 
 the wireless communication device associates the corresponding unlicensed radio frequency band permission level with each radio bearer of the plurality of radio bearers based at least in part on the quality of service level associated with the respective radio bearer. 
 
     
     
       15. The wireless communication device of  claim 12 , wherein the wireless communication device multiplexes uplink traffic by at least fulfilling the PBR of each radio bearer on radio frequency band component carriers in accordance with the respective unlicensed radio frequency band permission levels. 
     
     
       16. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a wireless communication device, cause the wireless communication device to:
 receive a carrier aggregation configuration via one of a plurality of cells of a wireless network, the carrier aggregation configuration comprising at least one licensed radio frequency band component carrier and at least one unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier; 
 establish a plurality of radio bearers with one or more of the plurality of cells of the wireless network; 
 associate, with each radio bearer of the plurality of radio bearers, a corresponding unlicensed radio frequency band permission level that indicates whether uplink data for the radio bearer can be routed on the at least one unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier; and 
 multiplex uplink traffic for the plurality of radio bearers on the at least one licensed radio frequency band component carrier and the at least one unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier based at least in part on the unlicensed radio frequency band permission levels associated with the plurality of radio bearers and on a prioritized bit rate (PBR) for each of the plurality of radio bearers, 
 wherein the unlicensed radio frequency band permission levels include:
 an unlicensed radio frequency band forbidden permission level that disallows routing uplink data traffic on an unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier, 
 a licensed radio frequency band preferred permission level that allows routing uplink data traffic on the unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier only when no licensed radio frequency band component carrier resources are available for a transmission time interval, and 
 an unlicensed radio frequency band permitted permission level that allows routing uplink data traffic on the unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier when licensed radio frequency band component carrier resources are available. 
 
 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the wireless communication device associates the unlicensed radio frequency band permission levels with each of the plurality of radio bearers based on a set of application requirements for applications that generate the uplink traffic. 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 providing to the network element of the wireless network an indication of support for unlicensed radio frequency band component carriers, and 
 receiving from the network element of the wireless network a set of unlicensed radio frequency band permission levels. 
 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 18 , further comprising:
 receiving from the network element of the wireless network a set of associations between the set of unlicensed radio frequency band permission levels and the plurality of radio bearers. 
 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 19 , further comprising:
 modifying the set of associations between the set of unlicensed radio frequency band permission levels and the plurality of radio bearers received from the network element of the wireless network based on a set of application requirements for applications that generate the uplink traffic.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/950,388, entitled “UPLINK TRANSMISSION ON AN UNLICENSED BAND COMPONENT CARRIER,” by Belghoul et al., filed on Mar. 10, 2014, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes. 
    
    
     FIELD 
     The described embodiments relate generally to wireless communications technology. More particularly, the present embodiments relate to uplink transmission on an unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier by a carrier aggregation capable wireless communication device. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Modern wireless communication devices continue to evolve, offering an increasing array of capabilities, and are now virtually ubiquitously used by consumers to access a variety of data intensive services via wireless networks. For example, wireless communication devices are used to access a wide array of Internet services, such as audio/video streaming services, web browsing, and the like. The exponential increase in demand on wireless networks to support such data intensive services has placed a demand on wireless network operators to upgrade their wireless networks to support both increased data capacity and faster data rates. As such, ongoing efforts are being made to develop and deploy improved radio access technologies (RATs) capable of supporting higher throughput for data transmitted via wireless networks to satisfy the demand for data services from modern wireless communication devices. 
     Some modern cellular RATs, such as Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) Release 10 and beyond, also referred to as LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), address the increased demand for data intensive services by implementing a technique known as carrier aggregation, in which radio frequency bandwidth available for communication can be extended through the aggregation of multiple component carriers (CCs). In this regard, rather than using a single carrier to support communication between a device and a wireless network, carrier aggregation uses multiple component carriers in parallel such that radio frequency bandwidth for data transmissions to and/or from a wireless communication device can be increased through the aggregation of multiple component carriers for conveying data transmissions. 
     While carrier aggregation techniques provide improved throughput for supporting data intensive services, there is a limited amount of licensed radio frequency spectrum available for LTE wireless network operators to use for carrier aggregation purposes. In this regard, wireless network operators of LTE and other cellular RATs are traditionally allocated (e.g., licensed) one or more defined radio frequency bands within the radio frequency spectrum for use to support cellular transmissions. This limited availability of licensed radio frequency spectrum available to wireless network operators is likely to make it increasingly difficult in the future for wireless network operators to accommodate the ongoing exponential growth in data traffic for advanced wireless communication devices. As such, wireless network operators and wireless communication device manufacturers are looking to the use of unlicensed radio frequency bands to accommodate additional data traffic growth. In this regard, unlicensed radio frequency bands, such as the 2.4 Gigahertz (GHz), 5 GHz, and other industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) radio frequency bands, are free to use without a license. As such, LTE and other cellular RATs can be extended to use unlicensed radio frequency bands to expand their capacity. For example, unlicensed LTE (LTE-U) allows for the deployment of LTE in unlicensed radio frequency spectrum, e.g., for carrier aggregation purposes. However, given that unlicensed radio frequency spectrum is free to use, unlicensed radio frequency spectrum cannot match the quality of service provided by licensed radio frequency spectrum due to the unpredictability of interference from competing uses of the unlicensed radio frequency spectrum, such as from Wi-Fi devices. Uplink data that is sensitive to throughput, delay, latency, and/or other quality of service requirements can be particularly sensitive to the impact of interference in the unlicensed radio frequency spectrum. Accordingly, uplink transmission in the unlicensed radio frequency spectrum, such as for LTE-U capable systems, continues to be problematic. 
     SUMMARY 
     Some example embodiments provide techniques for uplink transmission on an unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier by a carrier aggregation capable wireless communication device. In this regard, some embodiments disclosed herein allow for efficient use of an unlicensed radio frequency band by a carrier aggregation capable wireless communication device while satisfying quality of service requirements that can be associated with some radio bearers. More particularly, the wireless communication device of some example embodiments can be configured to associate an unlicensed radio frequency band permission level with each radio bearer carrying data for uplink transmission. In some embodiments, the unlicensed radio frequency band permission level associated with a radio bearer can be defined based at least in part on and/or can be otherwise correlated with a quality of service level associated with the radio bearer. Thus, for example, a radio bearer carrying data that is particularly sensitive to delay and has high throughput requirements can be assigned an unlicensed radio frequency band permission level forbidding transmission over an unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier, while a radio bearer carrying best effort data can be assigned an unlicensed radio frequency band permission level allowing data for the radio bearer to be freely transmitted over an unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier. The wireless communication device of such example embodiments can be further configured to multiplex uplink traffic for active radio bearers on available component carrier resources, including any available unlicensed radio frequency band component carriers, based at lest in part on the unlicensed radio frequency band permission levels associated with the active radio bearers. Accordingly, as described further herein, usage can be made of available unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier resources to increase uplink throughput while satisfying quality of service requirements for radio bearers that carry data that can be sensitive to interference that may occur in unlicensed radio frequency spectrum. 
     This Summary is provided merely for purposes of summarizing some example embodiments so as to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the disclosure. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the above described example embodiments are merely examples and should not be construed to narrow the scope or spirit of the disclosure in any way. Other embodiments, aspects, and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the described embodiments. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The disclosure will be readily understood by the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate like structural elements, and in which: 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a wireless communication system implementing carrier aggregation in both a licensed radio frequency band and an unlicensed radio frequency band in accordance with some example embodiments; 
         FIGS. 2A and 2B  illustrate example LTE-A communication systems including a wireless communication device in communication with a primary cell and one or more secondary cells in accordance with various example embodiments; 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus that can be implemented on a wireless communication device in accordance with some example embodiments; 
         FIG. 4  illustrates an example transceiver architecture that can be implemented as part of a wireless communication interface of a wireless communication device to support carrier aggregation in accordance with some example embodiments; 
         FIG. 5  illustrates an architecture for supporting the multiplexing of radio bearers on a plurality of component carriers in accordance with some example embodiments; 
         FIG. 6  illustrates prioritization and multiplexing of data for a plurality of radio bearers having various unlicensed radio frequency band permission levels on a plurality of component carrier resources including an unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier in accordance with some example embodiments; 
         FIG. 7  illustrates a conceptual example of prioritization and multiplexing of data for a plurality of radio bearers on an LTE component carrier and an LTE-U component carrier in accordance with some example embodiments; 
         FIG. 8  illustrates another conceptual example of prioritization and multiplexing of data for a plurality of radio bearers on an LTE component carrier and an LTE-U component carrier in accordance with some example embodiments; and 
         FIG. 9  illustrates a flowchart according to an example method for utilizing an unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier for uplink transmission in accordance with some example embodiments. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Reference will now be made in detail to representative embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the following descriptions are not intended to limit the embodiments to one preferred embodiment. To the contrary, it is intended to cover alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as can be included within the spirit and scope of the described embodiments as defined by the appended claims. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a wireless communication system  100  implementing carrier aggregation in both a licensed radio frequency band and an unlicensed radio frequency band in accordance with some example embodiments. In this regard,  FIG. 1  illustrates a wireless cellular access network including a wireless communication device  102  and a serving base station  104 , which can provide network access to the wireless communication device  102  via multiple component carriers. By way of non-limiting example, the wireless communication device  102  can be a cellular phone, such as a smart phone device, a tablet computing device, a laptop computing device, or other computing device configured to access a cellular and/or other wireless network via a serving base station  104 . When used with certain RATs, such as LTE, the wireless communication device  102  can be characterized as user equipment (UE). The serving base station  104  can be any cellular base station, such as an evolved node B (eNB), node B, base transceiver station (BTS), and/or any other type of base station. 
     The wireless cellular access network of the wireless communication system  100  can be a carrier aggregation capable wireless network implementing any RAT that can support carrier aggregation techniques, including, by way of non-limiting example, LTE-A (e.g., LTE Release  10  and beyond), and/or other present or future developed carrier aggregation capable LTE RAT. It will be appreciated, however, that the embodiments disclosed herein are not limited to application within LTE systems, and can be applied to any present or future-developed RAT supporting carrier aggregation. Further, it will be appreciated that some example embodiments can be applied to non-cellular wireless RATs in which carrier aggregation techniques can be implemented. Thus, for example, it will be appreciated that a wireless network access point in accordance with any such RAT can be substituted for and/or used in addition to the serving base station  104  within the scope of the disclosure. Further, it will be appreciated that where various embodiments are discussed by way of example as being applied to LTE and/or another cellular RAT, such examples are provided as non-limiting examples of the applications of some example embodiments and the techniques can be applied mutatis mutandis to another RAT using carrier aggregation techniques within the scope of the disclosure. 
     When carrier aggregation is activated on the wireless communication device  102 , the wireless communication device  102  can use multiple component carriers to support uplink and/or downlink communication between the wireless communication device  102  and a serving cellular wireless network (e.g., between the wireless communication device  102  and serving cells that provide cellular service to the wireless communication device  102 ). Each component carrier used in carrier aggregation can be centered at different radio frequency values within a common radio frequency band (e.g., intra-radio frequency band) or across two or more separate radio frequency bands (e.g., inter-radio frequency band). The component carriers can include two or more component carriers in contiguous radio frequency bands and/or two or more component carriers in non-contiguous radio frequency bands. The separate radio frequency bands can include two or more licensed radio frequency bands or a combination of both one or more licensed radio frequency bands and one or more unlicensed radio frequency bands. In some embodiments, communication via a primary component carrier used for carrier aggregation can be within a licensed radio frequency band, and communication via a secondary component carrier used for carrier aggregation can be within an unlicensed radio frequency band. 
     Two component carriers, the licensed radio frequency band component carrier  106  and the unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier  108 , are illustrated by way of example in  FIG. 1 . The licensed radio frequency band component carrier  106  can use a licensed radio frequency band that can be licensed, such as by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and/or other regulatory authority commissioned with regulating radio frequency spectrum usage to a network operator. Accordingly, the licensed radio frequency band component carrier  106  may not be required to coexist with other wireless technologies in the licensed radio frequency band. The unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier  108  can use an unlicensed radio frequency band, such as the 2.4 GHz and/or 5 GHz radio frequency band and/or other ISM radio frequency band that can be freely used by multiple wireless technologies. The unlicensed radio frequency band that can be used by the unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier  108  can be shared with other wireless devices, which can use non-cellular RATs, such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and/or other wireless communications technologies that can be used for communication in unlicensed radio frequency bands. As such, the quality of service offered by the unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier  108  can be lower than that offered by the licensed radio frequency band component carrier  106  due to interference from competing uses of the unlicensed radio frequency spectrum. Component carriers that operate in the licensed radio frequency spectrum and the unlicensed radio frequency spectrum can operate using any of the following combinations of frequency division duplexing (FDD) and time division duplexing (TDD): FDD/FDD, TDD/TDD, FDD/TDD, and TDD/FDD. 
     It will be appreciated that as the classification of radio frequency bands as licensed or unlicensed can be based on a licensing regime implemented by a government authority, such as the FCC, and/or other regulatory authority, the radio frequency bands that are unlicensed can vary from country to country, or from region to region. As such, an unlicensed radio frequency band that can be used to support the unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier  108  in a first country/region can be a licensed radio frequency band in a second country/region such that another radio frequency band can be used to support the unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier  108  in a second country/region. 
     In embodiments in which the wireless cellular access network of the system  100  uses an LTE RAT supporting carrier aggregation, such as LTE-A, the licensed radio frequency band component carrier  106  can be an LTE component carrier and the unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier  108  can be an LTE-U component carrier (which can also be referred to as an LTE Assisted Access component carrier). In this regard, the wireless communication device  102  of some example embodiments can be an LTE-U capable wireless communication device that can be capable of using a mixture of LTE component carriers (e.g., in a licensed radio frequency band) and LTE-U component carriers (e.g., in an unlicensed radio frequency band). 
     While two component carriers are illustrated by way of example in  FIG. 1 , it will be appreciated that in some instances in which carrier aggregation is activated, the wireless communication device  102  can use three or more component carriers. For example, present LTE specifications allow for up to five component carriers to be used simultaneously, for a maximum of 100 megahertz (MHz) of aggregated radio frequency bandwidth (e.g., up to 20 MHz radio frequency bandwidth can be provided by each individual component carrier). As such, it will be appreciated that one or more licensed radio frequency band component carriers in addition to the licensed radio frequency band component carrier  106  and/or one or more unlicensed radio frequency band component carriers in addition to the unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier  108  can be used by the wireless communication device  102  in some example embodiments. 
     Each component carrier used by the wireless communication device  102  can correspond to a separate cell. A cell associated with the primary component carrier can be characterized as the primary cell, while a cell associated with a secondary component carrier can be characterized as a secondary cell. Both primary cells and secondary cells can be characterized as serving cells, and thus can also be referred to as primary serving cells and secondary serving cells respectively. For example, in embodiments in which the licensed radio frequency band component carrier  106  is the primary component carrier, the licensed radio frequency band component carrier  106  can correspond to the primary serving cell, and the unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier  108  can correspond to a secondary serving cell. The serving base station  104  and/or other network equipment of the wireless cellular access network can manage a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection for the wireless communication device  102  and schedule data communication between the wireless cellular access network and the wireless communication device  102  via the primary component carrier, such as specified in LTE/LTE-A wireless communication protocols. In this regard, the primary cell and secondary cell(s) can be managed through a common base station, such as the serving base station  104 . Data communication can be supplemented with additional radio frequency bandwidth in the unlicensed radio frequency band over secondary component carriers. 
     In some instances, such as the example illustrated in  FIG. 1  and the example illustrated in and described below with respect to  FIG. 2B , each component carrier used by the wireless communication device  102  can be supported by a single base station, such as the serving base station  104 . In this regard, the serving base station  104  can, in some example embodiments, support multiple co-located cells. In some embodiments, the co-located cells can have varying areas of coverage. 
     In some instances, such as the example illustrated in and described with respect to  FIG. 2B , one or more component carriers that can be used by the wireless communication device  102  can be supported by one or more further base stations that can be disposed within the wireless cellular access network. Thus, in some embodiments, the unlicensed radio frequency band CC  108  can be provided by a second base station beyond the serving base station  104 . Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, the system  100  can include one or more further base stations supporting one or more additional component carriers, which can include licensed radio frequency band component carriers and/or unlicensed radio frequency band component carriers. In some embodiments, the system  100  can include a heterogeneous wireless network (HetNet) deployment in which a wireless network operator can deploy one or more “small” cells (e.g., a micro-cell, nano-cell, femto-cell, and/or the like), which can operate in an unlicensed radio frequency band(s) over a relatively limited geographic coverage area, which can be significantly smaller than the coverage area of a macro-cell of a cellular wireless access network. 
       FIG. 2A  illustrates an example LTE-A communication system  200  including a wireless communication device  202  in communication with a primary cell  210  and secondary cells  212  and  214 . In this regard,  FIG. 2A  illustrates an example embodiment of the system  100  in which an LTE-A RAT, such as one or more of LTE Releases  10 ,  11 ,  12 , and beyond, can be used, and multiple serving cells can be provided by a single serving base station. As such, the wireless communication device  202  can comprise an embodiment of the wireless communication device  102  that is LTE-A compliant and LTE-U compliant. The eNB  204  can comprise an embodiment of the serving base station  104 . 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 2A , the serving cells of the wireless communication device  202  (e.g., the primary cell  210  and secondary cells  212  and  214 ) can have overlapping coverage areas, including at the location of the wireless communication device  202 , but do not necessarily cover a coextensive geographic area. 
     In the example of  FIG. 2A , the eNB  204  can have radio frequency transmission and reception equipment for providing radio frequency signal coverage for the wireless communication device  202  (e.g., in the uplink and/or downlink) via multiple distinct radio frequency resources (also referred to as carriers or in the context of carrier aggregation as component carriers), such as, by way of example, F 1 , F 2 , and F 3 . The three carriers in the example of  FIG. 2A  can be used as individual component carriers for communication that can be provided to the wireless communication device  202  in aggregate to offer higher communication radio frequency bandwidth and/or throughput than can be possible by using only a single component carrier. From the perspective of the wireless communication device  202 , the component carrier radio frequency resource F 1  can be associated with the primary cell  210 , the component carrier radio frequency resource F 2  can be associated with the secondary cell  212 , and the component carrier radio frequency resource F 3  can be associated with the secondary cell  214 . One or both of the radio frequency resources F 2  and F 3  can be an unlicensed radio frequency band resource such that one or both of the component carrier radio frequency resource F 2  and the component carrier radio frequency resource F 3  can be an LTE-U component carrier. 
       FIG. 2B  illustrates an example LTE-A communication system  250  including a wireless communication device  252  in communication with a primary cell  210  and a secondary cell  256 , which can be a small cell. In this regard,  FIG. 2B  illustrates another example embodiment of the system  100  in which an LTE-A RAT, such as one or more of LTE Releases  10 ,  11 ,  12 , and beyond can be used, and multiple serving cells can be provided by a single serving base station. The example system  250  can comprise a HetNet including the eNB  204  and a small cell eNB  254 . The wireless communication device  252  can accordingly comprise an embodiment of the wireless communication device  102  that is LTE-A compliant and LTE-U compliant. 
     The wireless communication device  252  can be in communication with the primary cell  210  via a primary component carrier at radio frequency F 1  (e.g., in accordance with an LTE/LTE-A wireless communication protocol) and with the secondary cell  256  via a secondary component carrier at radio frequency F 4 . The radio frequency F 1  can be in a licensed radio frequency band. The wireless network provider can operate the small cell eNB  254  using a carrier in an unlicensed radio frequency band. F 4  can accordingly provide an LTE-U component carrier, such that the wireless communication device  252  can be serviced in the primary cell  210  via a licensed radio frequency band LTE component carrier and in the secondary cell  256  via an unlicensed radio frequency band LTE-U component carrier. 
       FIG. 3  illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus  300  that can be implemented on a wireless communication device, such as wireless communication device  102 , in accordance with some example embodiments. In this regard, when implemented on a computing device, such as wireless communication device  102 , apparatus  300  can enable the computing device to operate within a wireless communication system, such as one or more of the systems  100 ,  200 , and  250 , in accordance with one or more example embodiments. It will be appreciated that the components, devices or elements illustrated in and described with respect to  FIG. 3  below may not be mandatory and thus some may be omitted in certain embodiments. Additionally, some embodiments can include further or different components, devices or elements beyond those illustrated in and described with respect to  FIG. 3 . 
     In some example embodiments, the apparatus  300  can include processing circuitry  310  that is configurable to perform actions in accordance with one or more example embodiments disclosed herein. In this regard, the processing circuitry  310  can be configured to perform and/or control performance of one or more functionalities of the apparatus  300  in accordance with various example embodiments, and thus can provide means for performing functionalities of the apparatus  300  in accordance with various example embodiments. The processing circuitry  310  can be configured to perform data processing, application execution and/or other processing and management services according to one or more example embodiments. 
     In some embodiments, the apparatus  300  or one or more portions or components thereof, such as the processing circuitry  310 , can include one or more chipsets, each of which can include one or more chips. The processing circuitry  310  and/or one or more further components of the apparatus  300  can therefore, in some instances, be configured to implement an embodiment on a chipset. In some example embodiments in which one or more components of the apparatus  300  are embodied as a chipset, the chipset can be capable of enabling a computing device to operate within a wireless communication system, such as one or more of the systems  100 ,  200 , and  250 , when implemented on or otherwise operably coupled to the computing device. In some example embodiments, the apparatus  300  can include a cellular radio frequency baseband chipset, which can be configured to enable a computing device, such as wireless communication device  102 , to operate as a carrier aggregation capable device on one or more cellular networks. 
     In some example embodiments, the processing circuitry  310  can include a processor  312  and, in some embodiments, such as that illustrated in  FIG. 3 , can further include memory  314 . The processing circuitry  310  can be in communication with or otherwise control the wireless communication interface  316  and/or the multiplexing module  318 . 
     The processor  312  can be embodied in a variety of forms. For example, the processor  312  can be embodied as various hardware-based processing means such as a microprocessor, a co-processor, a controller or various other computing or processing devices including integrated circuits such as, for example, an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit), an FPGA (field programmable gate array), some combination thereof, or the like. Although illustrated as a single processor, it will be appreciated that the processor  312  can comprise a plurality of processors. The plurality of processors can be in operative communication with each other and can be collectively configured to perform one or more functionalities of the apparatus  300  as described herein. In some example embodiments, the processor  312  can be configured to execute instructions that can be stored in the memory  314  or that can be otherwise accessible to the processor  312 . As such, whether configured by hardware or by a combination of hardware and software, the processor  312  capable of performing operations according to various embodiments while configured accordingly. 
     In some example embodiments, the memory  314  can include one or more memory devices. Memory  314  can include fixed and/or removable memory devices. In some embodiments, the memory  314  can provide a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that can store computer program instructions that can be executed by the processor  312 . In this regard, the memory  314  can be configured to store information, data, applications, instructions and/or the like for enabling the apparatus  300  to carry out various functions in accordance with one or more example embodiments. In some embodiments, the memory  314  can be in communication with one or more of the processor  312 , the wireless communication interface  316 , and the multiplexing module  318  via one or more busses for passing information among components of the apparatus  300 . 
     The apparatus  300  can further include a wireless communication interface  316 . The wireless communication interface  316  can enable the apparatus  300  to send wireless signals to and receive signals from one or more wireless networks. Thus, for example, when implemented on wireless communication device  102 , the wireless communication interface  316  can be configured to support a connection to one or more base stations, such as serving base station  104 , eNB  204 , and/or small cell eNB  254 , via one or more component carriers. The wireless communication interface  316  can accordingly include one or more transceivers and supporting hardware and/or software for enabling communication via one or more component carriers in accordance with any carrier aggregation capable RAT. 
     In some embodiments, the wireless communication interface  316  can include two or more radio frequency (RF) chains to support carrier aggregation. For example, the wireless communication interface  316  of some example embodiments can comprise a number of RF chains equivalent to a maximum number of concurrent component carriers that can be supported by the wireless communication device  102 . For example, in some embodiments in which the wireless communication device  102  can support aggregation of up to five component carriers, the wireless communication interface  316  can include five RF chains. An example transceiver architecture comprising a plurality of RF chains that can provide at least a portion of the wireless communication interface  316  in accordance with some such embodiments is illustrated in and described below with respect to  FIG. 4 . 
     The wireless communication interface  316  can additionally include one or more transceivers and/or other radio components to support one or more further wireless communication technologies that can be implemented on a wireless communication device  102 . For example, the wireless communication interface  316  can include radio components for supporting communication via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and/or other ISM radio frequency band communications technologies. 
     The apparatus  300  can further include multiplexing module  318 . The multiplexing module  318  can be embodied as various means, such as circuitry, hardware, a computer program product comprising computer readable program instructions stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium (for example, the memory  314 ) and executed by a processing device (for example, the processor  312 ), or some combination thereof. In some embodiments, the processor  312  (or the processing circuitry  310 ) can include or otherwise control the multiplexing module  318 . The multiplexing module  318  can be configured to perform prioritization and multiplexing of uplink traffic for active radio bearers based at least in part on unlicensed radio frequency band permission levels associated with the radio bearers in accordance with various example embodiments disclosed herein. In some example embodiments, at least a portion of the functionality of the multiplexing module  318  can be performed and/or otherwise implemented at a media access control (MAC) layer and/or a radio link control (RLC) layer of the wireless communication device  102 . 
       FIG. 4  illustrates a diagram  400  of an example transceiver architecture that can be implemented on a wireless communication interface, such as wireless communication interface  316 , of a wireless communication device, such as wireless communication device  102 , to support carrier aggregation in accordance with some example embodiments. As illustrated in  FIG. 4 , a transceiver architecture on a carrier aggregation capable wireless communication device, in accordance with some example embodiments, can include multiple RF chains, each which can be used to support a respective component carrier. For example, a first RF chain can be used for CC 1 , a second RF chain can be used for CC 2 , . . . , and an n th  RF chain can be used for CC n . In this regard, a transceiver architecture, in accordance with some example embodiments, can include at least a number of RF chains corresponding to a number of component carriers that can be aggregated in accordance with device and/or network specifications. For example, some LTE-A systems support aggregation of up to five component carriers, and a transceiver configuration on a device configured to operate on such LTE-A systems can include at least five RF chains to support the use of five component carriers. It will be appreciated, however, that a carrier aggregation capable wireless communication device having a wireless communication interface comprising the transceiver architecture of  FIG. 4 , in accordance with various example embodiments, can include any number, e.g., n≥2, RF chains. 
     In the example architecture illustrated in  FIG. 4 , each RF chain can include an RF band pass filter  402 , an RF front end  404 , and an analog-to-digital converter (ADC)  406 . In this regard, the first RF chain can include the RF band pass filter  402   a , RF front end  404   a , and ADC  406   a ; the second RF chain can include the RF band pass filter  402   b , RF front end  404   b , and ADC  406   b ; and the nth RF chain can include the RF band pass filter  402   n , RF front end  404   n , and ADC  406   n . It will be appreciated, however, that the RF chain architecture illustrated in FIG.  4  is illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation. In this regard, an RF chain in accordance with various example embodiments can include additional and/or alternative elements to those illustrated in  FIG. 4 . In the example architecture of  FIG. 4 , each RF chain can feed into a digital signal processor (DSP)  408 , which can provide DSP services for each of the RF chains. 
       FIG. 5  illustrates a diagram  500  of an architecture for supporting multiplexing of radio bearers on multiple component carriers that can be implemented by a wireless communication device, such as wireless communication device  102 , in accordance with some example embodiments. As illustrated in  FIG. 5 , a wireless communication device can include multiple logical layers, such as packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer  502 , radio link control (RLC) layer  504 , and MAC layer  506 . By way of example,  FIG. 5  illustrates multiplexing of uplink data for two radio bearers, a first radio bearer  508  and a second radio bearer  510 , on two component carriers, CC 1    512  and CC 2    514 . It will be appreciated, however, that the architecture of  FIG. 5  is extensible to handle additional radio bearers and/or additional component carriers. 
     The PDCP layer  502  can provide header compression services, such as robust header compression (ROHC), and security services for uplink data generated for each radio bearer. Uplink data for each bearer can then be passed to the RLC layer  504 , which can perform segmentation of the data into RLC packet data units (PDUs), which can be provided to and/or otherwise accessed by the MAC layer  506  for uplink transmission. The RLC layer  504  can also perform further services, such as automatic repeat request (ARQ) services for retransmitting PDUs that are not properly received by the network when operating in acknowledged mode (AM). 
     The MAC layer  506  can perform a scheduling and priority handling function  516  for RLC PDUs for the first radio bearer  508  and the second radio bearer  510 . Scheduling and priority handling functions  516  can, for example, include prioritizing uplink data for a given transmission time interval (TTI) based at least in part on any prioritized bit rate(s) (PBR) that may be associated with the radio bearers, on quality of service level(s) that can be associated with the radio bearers, on one or more scheduling grants for the component carriers for the TTI, and/or other factors. Examples of prioritization of data for a plurality of radio bearers based on such factors are illustrated in and described below with respect to  FIGS. 7 and 8 . The scheduled and prioritized data can then be multiplexed via the multiplexing function  518  and sent on component carriers CC 1  and CC 2 . In embodiments in which one of the component carriers CC 1    512  and CC 2    514  uses an unlicensed radio frequency band, the first radio bearer  508  and/or the second radio bearer  510  can be assigned respective unlicensed radio frequency band permission levels, and the scheduling/priority handling function  516  and the multiplexing function  518  can be performed based at least in part on the respective unlicensed radio frequency band permission levels of the radio bearers, such as described further herein below with respect to  FIGS. 6-9 . In some embodiments, the scheduling/priority handling function  516  and the multiplexing function  518  can be performed by and/or under the control of the multiplexing module  318 . 
     Prioritization and multiplexing of data for a plurality of radio bearers in accordance with some example embodiments will now be discussed with respect to  FIG. 6 . In accordance with various example embodiments, component carriers available for uplink transmission can be labeled as either a licensed radio frequency band component carrier or an unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier. Thus, for example, in  FIG. 6 , CC 1    612  can be labeled as a licensed radio frequency band component carrier, CC 2    614  can be labeled as a licensed radio frequency band component carrier, and CC 3    616  can be labeled as an unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier. The available component carriers can additionally be prioritized for transmission. In general, licensed radio frequency band component carriers can be prioritized higher than unlicensed radio frequency band component carriers. For example, in the example of  FIG. 6 , a priority for the component carriers can be defined as: CC 1    612 &gt;CC 2    614 &gt;CC 3    616 , where the licensed radio frequency band component carrier CC 1    612  has a higher priority than the licensed radio frequency band component carrier CC 2    614 , which in turn has a higher priority than the unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier CC 3    616 . It will be appreciated that the example of three component carriers in  FIG. 6  is provided by way of example, and not by way of limitation. In this regard, the concepts described with respect to  FIG. 6  can be applied to any number of component carriers, including any mixture of licensed radio frequency band component carriers and unlicensed radio frequency band component carriers. 
     To facilitate support for prioritization and multiplexing uplink traffic over a plurality of component carriers including one or more unlicensed radio frequency band component carriers, such as CC 3    616 , in accordance with various example embodiments, each uplink radio bearer can be associated with an unlicensed radio frequency band permission level. The unlicensed radio frequency band permission level can define whether and/or under what conditions uplink traffic for a radio bearer can be routed over an unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier. In this regard, different radio bearers can have different required quality of service requirements, such as can be defined based at least in part on a quality of service (QoS) class indicator (QCI), end-to-end transmission requirements, packet loss requirements, delay tolerance, minimum throughput requirements, tolerated packet loss, and/or the like. Depending on the quality of service requirements, some radio bearers can tolerate their uplink data being routed via an unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier, while other radio bearers may not. 
     For example, some radio bearers, such as radio bearer  602  in  FIG. 6 , can be associated with an “unlicensed radio frequency band forbidden” permission level, which can also be referred to as “LTE-U forbidden” in instances in which an LTE-U component carrier(s) is used. Uplink traffic for a radio bearer associated with the unlicensed radio frequency band forbidden permission level may not be tolerant of the lower quality of service that can be offered on an unlicensed radio frequency band and therefore cannot be routed over an unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier. For example, a radio bearer carrying data having a low end-to-end delay tolerance (e.g., less than a threshold level of delay tolerance) and a relatively high throughput requirement (e.g., requiring more than a threshold throughput level) can be associated with an unlicensed radio frequency band forbidden permission level. For example, radio bearers used for real time services, such as voice over LTE (VoLTE), real time video, and/or other high quality of service applications can be associated with an unlicensed radio frequency band forbidden permission level. 
     Some radio bearers, such as radio bearer  604  in  FIG. 6 , can be associated with a “licensed radio frequency band preferred” permission level, which can be referred to as “LTE preferred” in instances in which an LTE-U component carrier(s) is used. Uplink traffic for a radio bearer associated with the licensed radio frequency band preferred permission level can be routed over a licensed radio frequency band component carrier provided resources are available (e.g., after satisfying unlicensed radio frequency band forbidden bearer data and/or other higher priority data). In some embodiments, however, if there are not any licensed radio frequency band component carrier resources available for a TTI, data for a licensed radio frequency band preferred radio bearer can be routed over an unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier. For example, a radio bearer carrying data that is not as sensitive to delay (e.g., greater than a threshold level of delay tolerance) but still requiring a relatively high throughput requirement (e.g., requiring more than a threshold throughput level) can be associated with a licensed radio frequency band preferred permission level. For example, non-real time streaming video services can be associated with a licensed radio frequency band preferred permission level. 
     Some radio bearers, such as radio bearer  606  in  FIG. 6 , can be associated with an “unlicensed radio frequency band permitted” permission level, which can be referred to as “LTE-U permitted” in instances in which an LTE-U component carrier(s) is used. Uplink traffic for a radio bearer associated with the unlicensed radio frequency band permitted permission level can be routed over both licensed radio frequency band component carriers and unlicensed radio frequency band component carriers without any preference, and thus can be routed over an unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier even when one or more licensed radio frequency band component carriers are available. As such, data traffic for licensed radio frequency band preferred permission level radio bearers can be prioritized higher than unlicensed radio frequency band permitted radio bearers, and a PBR for a licensed radio frequency band preferred permission level radio bearer can satisfied via a licensed radio frequency band component carrier before routing unlicensed radio frequency band permitted data over a licensed radio frequency band component carrier for a given TTI. A radio bearer associated with the unlicensed radio frequency band permitted permission level can, for example, carry best effort data, such as general web browsing traffic. 
     In some embodiments, the wireless communication device  102  (e.g., a multiplexing module  318  that can be associated with the wireless communication device  102 ) can assign unlicensed radio frequency band permission levels to radio bearers, such as radio bearer  602 , radio bearer  604 , and radio bearer  606 . For example, the wireless communication device  102  of such example embodiments can assign an unlicensed radio frequency band permission level to a radio bearer based at least in part on a QCI and/or other quality of service level that can be associated with the radio bearer. For example, the wireless communication device  102  can maintain a data structure that maps quality of service levels to respective unlicensed radio frequency band permission levels and can use the data structure to assign an unlicensed radio frequency band permission level to a radio bearer based on the quality of service level associated with the radio bearer. 
     Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, the cellular wireless network, with which the wireless communication device  102  is associated, can assign unlicensed radio frequency band permission levels to radio bearers, and the wireless communication device  102  can associate a cellular wireless network assigned unlicensed radio frequency band permission level to a radio bearer. For example, the cellular wireless network can assign a radio bearer with an unlicensed radio frequency band permission level based at least in part on a QCI and/or other quality of service level associated with the radio bearer. The assigned unlicensed radio frequency band permission level can be signaled to the wireless communication device  102 , such as during radio bearer setup, during a radio resource control (RRC) configuration procedure, in an RRC connection reconfiguration message, and/or in other control signaling that can occur between the wireless communication device  102  and network elements of the cellular wireless network. In some example embodiments in which the cellular wireless network can assign an unlicensed radio frequency band permission level to a radio bearer, the assignment can be signaled to the wireless communication device  102  via the primary serving cell. 
     In some embodiments, an association between one or more radio bearers and unlicensed radio frequency band permission levels can be provided through an RRC/RLC layer and/or a non-access stratum (NAS) layer, e.g., based on configurations communicated from one or more network elements, e.g., an eNB and/or a mobile management entity (MME), of the cellular wireless network to the wireless communication device  102  via the RRC/RLC layer and/or the NAS layer. In some embodiments, the wireless communication device  102  can determine an association between one or more radio bearers and unlicensed radio frequency band permission levels based on a set of application requirements, which can co-exist with and/or modify configurations provided by one or more network elements of the cellular wireless network. In some embodiments, the wireless communication device  102  can provide an indication of its capabilities to one or more network elements of the cellular wireless network, e.g., whether or not the wireless communication device supports the use of LTE-U component carriers. In some embodiments, one or more network elements of the cellular wireless network can use information about capabilities of the wireless communication device  102  to determine a set of unlicensed radio frequency band permission levels to associate with radio bearers for the wireless communication device  102 . In some embodiments, the one or more network elements provides a set of unlicensed radio frequency band permission levels and/or a set of associations between unlicensed radio frequency band permission levels and a set of radio bearers for a wireless communication device  102  to the wireless communication device  102 , e.g., via an RRC/RLC layer and/or a NAS layer. In some embodiments, messages by which network elements of the cellular wireless network can inquire about capabilities of the wireless communication device  102  and/or messages by which the wireless communication device  102  can indicate its capabilities to one or more network elements can be added and/or modified to indicate support for LTE-U communication characteristics, e.g., support for one or more LTE-U component carriers, support for one or more LTE-U unlicensed radio frequency bands, support for one or more LTE-U component carrier frequencies, and/or combinations of these. In some embodiments, one or more network elements of the cellular wireless network can inquire about capabilities of a wireless communication device  102  to support carrier aggregation, e.g., whether the wireless communication device  102  supports communication using one or more combinations of LTE component carriers in licensed radio frequency bands and LTE-U component carriers in unlicensed radio frequency bands. In some embodiments, the wireless communication device  102  can be categorized as belonging to a wireless communication device category type, e.g., an existing and/or new UE category type, which can indicate whether the wireless communication device  102  supports carrier aggregation using a combination of LTE licensed radio frequency band component carriers and LTE-U unlicensed radio frequency band component carriers. For example, the wireless communication device  102 , in some embodiments, can be categorized as belonging to a category 9-U, 10-U, 11-U, 12-U, or another #-U type, in accordance with one or more categorizations defined for one or more wireless communication protocols that support LTE-U component carriers. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 6 , the wireless communication device  102  can perform a prioritization and multiplexing function  610  on uplink traffic for the radio bearers. The prioritization and multiplexing function  610  can be performed by the multiplexing module  318 , in some embodiments. In some embodiments, the prioritization and multiplexing function  610  can occur as part of the MAC layer  506 . The prioritization and multiplexing function  610  can be performed based at least in part on the unlicensed radio frequency band permission levels assigned to the radio bearers. In some example embodiments, the prioritization and multiplexing function  610  can additionally consider any PBRs associated with the radio bearers. In this regard, the prioritization and multiplexing function  610  can be performed to at least satisfy respective minimal packet bit rates for each of the radio bearers. 
     A MAC PDU size granted for a component carrier (e.g., for a given TTI) can serve as a constraint on the maximum amount of data that can be routed over the component carrier. The MAC PDU size and can also be factored in the performing of the prioritization and multiplexing function  610 . In this regard, where possible given any constraints imposed by the unlicensed radio frequency band permission levels of active radio bearers, some example embodiments prioritize and multiplex data to fill up available MAC PDUs for a given TTI. More detailed examples of prioritization and multiplexing in accordance with granted MAC PDU size are illustrated in and described below with respect to the examples of  FIGS. 7 and 8 . 
     The PBRs of unlicensed radio frequency band forbidden radio bearers, such as radio bearer  602 , can be accorded a highest priority, and the PBRs can be enforced to the total available transmitting resources of a set of licensed radio frequency band component carriers, such as CC 1    612  and CC 2    614 . In some embodiments, MAC control elements (CEs) and/or other control signaling can also be assigned (and/or understood to have) an unlicensed radio frequency band forbidden permission level, and thus a set of MAC CDs and/or other control signaling can always be routed over one or more licensed radio frequency band component carriers and not be routed over any unlicensed radio frequency band component carriers. 
     The PBRs of licensed radio frequency band preferred radio bearers, such as radio bearer  604 , can be enforced over any available transmitting resources in a set of available licensed radio frequency band component carrier(s) first (e.g., after satisfying the PBRs of any unlicensed radio frequency band forbidden radio bearers). Any remaining portion of the PBRs of licensed radio frequency band preferred radio bearers can subsequently be satisfied via unlicensed radio frequency band component carriers. 
     As discussed hereinabove, data for unlicensed radio frequency band permitted bearers, such as radio bearer  606 , can be routed over any radio bearer, irrespective of whether the radio bearer is in a licensed RF band or an unlicensed RF band. For example, in some embodiments, data for licensed radio frequency band permitted bearers can be routed over available licensed radio frequency band component carrier resources, and data for unlicensed radio frequency band permitted bearers can be routed over unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier resources, unless there is an available licensed radio frequency band component carrier resource after fulfilling data (or at least the PBRs, if any) for licensed radio frequency band permitted bearers on licensed radio frequency band component carrier resources. In some embodiments, data for a licensed radio frequency band permitted bearer can be routed over unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier resources first before using any licensed radio frequency band component carrier resources. 
       FIG. 7  illustrates a diagram  700  of a conceptual example of prioritization and multiplexing of data for a first radio bearer  702  and a second radio bearer  704  to an LTE component carrier  714  and an LTE-U component carrier  716 , for an example TTI, in accordance with some embodiments. The first radio bearer  702  can be associated with an LTE-U forbidden permission level, and the second radio bearer  704  can be associated with an LTE-U permitted permission level. The RLC PDU available to the MAC layer for the first radio bearer  702 , for the example TTI, can comprise  700  bits of data, and the PBR of the first radio bearer  702  can be 400 bits. The RLC PDU available to the MAC layer for the second radio bearer  704 , for the example TTI, can comprise 1000 bits of data, and the PBR of the second radio bearer  704  can be 100 bits. 
     Prioritization  710  can be performed (e.g., by the multiplexing module  318 ) for the available RLC PDU data for the first radio bearer  702  and second radio bearer  704  based at least in part on the respective unlicensed radio frequency band permission levels and PBRs for the radio bearers. In this regard, as the first radio bearer  702  is an “LTE-U forbidden” radio bearer, 400 bits of data for the first radio bearer  702  can be prioritized highest in order to satisfy the PBR of the first radio bearer  702 . 100 bits of data for the second radio bearer  704  can be accorded the second highest priority so as to satisfy the PBR of the second radio bearer  704 . The remaining 300 bits of available RLC PDU data for the first radio bearer  702  can be accorded the third highest priority, followed by the remaining 900 bits of available RLC PDU data for the second radio bearer  704 . 
     In the example of  FIG. 7 , an 800 bit MAC PDU grant is provided to each of the LTE component carrier  714  and the LTE-U component carrier  716 , for a total grant of 1600 bits. Multiplexing  712  can be performed (e.g., by the multiplexing module  318 ) based at least in part on the results of the prioritization  710  as well as based on the unlicensed radio frequency band permission levels associated with the first radio bearer  702  and second radio bearer  704  within the constraints of the individual MAC PDU size grants. Thus, for example, the PRBs for both radio bearers can be included in the MAC PDU for the LTE component carrier  714 , occupying 500 of the 800 bits of its MAC PDU. As the remaining 300 bits of available RLC PDU data for the first radio bearer  702  has a higher priority than the remaining 900 bits of available RLC PDU data for the second radio bearer  704  and cannot be routed over the LTE-U component carrier  716 , the remaining 300 bits of available RLC PDU data for the first radio bearer  702  can also be included in the MAC PDU for the LTE component carrier  714 . 800 of the remaining 900 bits of available RLC PDU data for the second radio bearer  704  can then be used to fill the unused capacity of the 800 bit MAC PDU for the LTE-U component carrier  716 . 
       FIG. 8  illustrates a diagram  800  of another conceptual example of prioritization and multiplexing of data for a plurality of radio bearers to an LTE component carrier  814  and an LTE-U component carrier  816 , for an example TTI. In the example of  FIG. 8 , a first radio bearer  802  can be associated with an LTE-U forbidden permission level. The RLC PDU available to the MAC layer for the first radio bearer  802 , for the example TTI, can comprise 700 bits of data, and the PBR of the first radio bearer  802  can be 400 bits. A second radio bearer  804  can be associated with an LTE preferred permission level. The RLC PDU available to the MAC layer for the second radio bearer  804 , for the example TTI, can comprise 800 bits of data, and the PBR of the second radio bearer  804  can be 200 bits. A third radio bearer  806  can be associated with an LTE-U permitted permission level. The RLC PDU available to the MAC layer for the third radio bearer  806 , for the example TTI, can comprise 1000 bits of data, and the PBR of the third radio bearer  806  can be 100 bits. 
     Prioritization  810  can be performed (e.g., by the multiplexing module  318 ) for the available RLC PDU data for the first radio bearer  802 , the second radio bearer  804 , and the third radio bearer  806  based at least in part on the respective unlicensed radio frequency band permission levels and PBRs for the radio bearers. In this regard, as the first radio bearer  802  is an “LTE-U forbidden” radio bearer,  400  bits of data for the first radio bearer  802  can be prioritized highest, in order to satisfy the PBR of the first radio bearer  802 . In general, data for the second radio bearer  804  can be prioritized higher than data for the third radio bearer  806 , as the second radio bearer  804  is an “LTE preferred” radio bearer and the third radio bearer  806  is an “LTE-U permitted” radio bearer. As such, 200 bits to satisfy the PBR of the second radio bearer  804  can be accorded the second highest priority, and 100 bits to satisfy the PBR of the third radio bearer  806  can be accorded the third highest priority. The remaining 300 bits of available PDU data for the first radio bearer  802  can then be accorded the fourth highest priority, followed by the remaining 600 bits of available PDU data for the second radio bearer  804 , and finally the remaining 900 bits of available RLC PDU data for the third radio bearer  806 . 
     In the example of  FIG. 8 , an 800 bit MAC PDU grant is provided for each of the LTE component carrier  814  and the LTE-U component carrier  816 , for a total grant of 1600 bits. Multiplexing  812  can be performed (e.g., by the multiplexing module  318 ) based at least in part on the results of the prioritization  810  as well as the unlicensed radio frequency band permission levels associated with radio bearer  802 , radio bearer  804 , and radio bearer  806  within the constraints of the MAC PDU size grants. Thus, for example,  400  bits to satisfy the PBR of the first radio bearer  802  can be included in the MAC PDU for the LTE component carrier  814 , as that data cannot be transmitted over an LTE-U component carrier. 200 bits to satisfy the PBR of the second radio bearer  804  can also be included in the MAC PDU for the LTE component carrier  814 , as the second radio bearer  804  is associated with an LTE preferred permission level. As the 100 bit PBR of the third radio bearer  806  can be freely satisfied on the LTE-U component carrier  816 , and data for the first radio bearer  802  is forbidden from being transmitted over an LTE-U component carrier, the remaining 200 bits of space in the MAC PDU for the LTE component carrier  814  can be filled with an additional 200 bits of data for the first radio bearer  802 , (e.g., resulting in a total of 600 bits from the first radio bearer  802 ). 
     The 100 bits of data for the third radio bearer  806 , needed to satisfy the PBR of the third radio bearer  806 , can be included in the MAC PDU for the LTE-U component carrier  816 . As the 600 bits of remaining RLC PDU data for the second radio bearer  804  has a higher priority than the remaining 900 bits of RLC PDU data for the third radio bearer  806  after all PBRs have been satisfied, the remaining 600 bits of RLC PDU data for the second radio bearer  804  can also be included in the MAC PDU for the LTE-U component carrier  816 , leaving room for an additional 100 bits (e.g., 200 bits total) of RLC PDU data for the third radio bearer  806 . 
     It will be appreciated that the techniques illustrated and described with respect to the examples of  FIGS. 7 and 8  can be applied mutatis mutandis to any number of radio bearers having various associated unlicensed radio frequency band permission levels and/or to any number of component carriers, including various numbers of licensed radio frequency band component carriers and/or unlicensed radio frequency band component carriers, on which uplink data can be multiplexed. It will be further appreciated that the techniques illustrated in and described with respect to the examples of  FIGS. 7 and 8  can also be applied when using carrier aggregation capable RATs other than LTE. 
       FIG. 9  illustrates a flowchart according to an example method for utilizing an unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier for uplink transmission in accordance with some example embodiments. In this regard,  FIG. 9  illustrates operations that can be performed by a wireless communication device, such as wireless communication device  102 , in accordance with some example embodiments. One or more of processing circuitry  310 , processor  312 , memory  314 , wireless communication interface  316 , or multiplexing module  318  can, for example, provide means for performing one or more of the operations illustrated in and described with respect to  FIG. 9 . 
     Operation  900  can include the wireless communication device  102  receiving a carrier aggregation configuration that includes at least one licensed radio frequency band component carrier (e.g., licensed radio frequency band component carrier  106 ) and at least one unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier (e.g., unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier  108 ). 
     Operation  910  can include the wireless communication device  102  establishing a plurality of radio bearers with a wireless network. The radio bearers can be established contemporaneously and/or can be established over a period of time, such as in response to activation of various services that the radio bearers may support. 
     Operation  920  can include associating an unlicensed radio frequency band permission level with each of the radio bearers. For example, an unlicensed radio frequency band permission level selected from: (i) unlicensed radio frequency band forbidden, (ii) licensed radio frequency band preferred, and (iii) unlicensed radio frequency band permitted can be associated with each respective radio bearer. The selection of the unlicensed radio frequency band permission level for the radio bearers can be based on quality of service requirements associated with data carried by the radio bearer. In some embodiments, the wireless communication device  102  can autonomously assign one or more of the unlicensed radio frequency band permission levels, such as based on QCIs that can be associated with the radio bearers. Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, one or more network elements of the cellular wireless network (e.g., the serving base station  104 ) can assign one or more of the unlicensed radio frequency band permission levels to radio bearers and can signal the assigned unlicensed radio frequency band permission levels to the wireless communication device  102 , such as during radio bearer establishment and/or in an RRC reconfiguration message. 
     Operation  930  can include the wireless communication device  102  multiplexing uplink traffic for the plurality of radio bearers on the at least one licensed radio frequency band component carrier and the at least one unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier based at least in part on the unlicensed radio frequency band permission levels associated with the plurality of radio bearers. In some example embodiments, operation  930  can be performed at a MAC layer. Operation  930  can also take into account any PBRs for the radio bearers, such that the PBRs can be fulfilled within any constraints that may be imposed by the unlicensed radio frequency band permission levels and/or MAC PDU size grants. For example, operation  930  can be performed using the techniques for prioritization and multiplexing illustrated in and described hereinabove with respect to the examples of  FIGS. 7 and 8 . Operation  930  can be performed, in some example embodiments, for every TTI for which RLC PDU data is available. 
     In some example embodiments, the unlicensed radio frequency band permission level associated with a radio bearer can be changed on the fly. In this regard, when the wireless communication device  102  observes an increasing level of interference on an unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier and/or another indication that a quality of service level for a radio bearer cannot be met on the unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier, the wireless communication device  102 , of some example embodiments, can be configured to change the unlicensed radio frequency band permission level of the radio bearer to force data to be communicated over one or more licensed radio frequency band component carriers and away from one or more unlicensed radio frequency band component carriers. For example, when a radio bearer is associated with a “licensed radio frequency band preferred” permission level and an interference level is noted on an unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier such that a minimum quality of service level for the radio bearer cannot be guaranteed to be satisfied on the unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier, the unlicensed radio frequency band permission level of the radio bearer can be changed to the “unlicensed radio frequency band forbidden” permission level. In some embodiments, a determination of an interference level on the unlicensed radio frequency band can, for example, be estimated based on a number of HARQ processes that can be triggered on an unlicensed radio frequency band component carrier. 
     The various aspects, embodiments, implementations or features of the described embodiments can be used separately or in any combination. Various aspects of the described embodiments can be implemented by software, hardware or a combination of hardware and software. The described embodiments can also be embodied as a computer readable medium (or mediums) storing computer readable code including instructions that can be performed by one or more computing devices. The computer readable medium may be associated with any data storage device that can store data, which can thereafter be read by a computer system. Examples of the computer readable medium include read-only memory, random-access memory, CD-ROMs, HDDs, DVDs, magnetic tape, and optical data storage devices. The computer readable medium can also be distributed over network-coupled computer systems so that the computer readable code may be stored and executed in a distributed fashion. 
     In the foregoing detailed description, reference was made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of the description and in which are shown, by way of illustration, specific embodiments in accordance with the described embodiments. Although these embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable one skilled in the art to practice the described embodiments, it is understood that these examples are not limiting; such that other embodiments may be used, and changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the described embodiments. For example, it will be appreciated that the ordering of operations illustrated in the flowcharts is non-limiting, such that the ordering of two or more operations illustrated in and described with respect to a flowchart can be changed in accordance with some example embodiments. As another example, it will be appreciated that in some embodiments, one or more operations illustrated in and described with respect to a flowchart can be optional, and can be omitted. 
     Further, the foregoing description, for purposes of explanation, used specific nomenclature to provide a thorough understanding of the described embodiments. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the specific details are not required in order to practice the described embodiments. Thus, the foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments are presented for purposes of illustration and description. The description of and examples disclosed with respect to the embodiments presented in the foregoing description are provided solely to add context and aid in the understanding of the described embodiments. The description is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the described embodiments to the precise forms disclosed. It will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that many modifications, alternative applications, and variations are possible in view of the above teachings. In this regard, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that the described embodiments may be practiced without some or all of these specific details. Further, in some instances, well known process steps have not been described in detail in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the described embodiments.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20150302
Publication Date: 20181023
Grant Date: 20181023
Priority Date: 20140310
Inventors: BELGHOUL, FAROUK
TABET, TARIK
ZHANG, DAWEI
LIANG, HUARUI
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "H04L5/006", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04J11/0023", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L5/001", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W16/14", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L5/0032", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L5/0091", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W76/16", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W76/16", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L5/001", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L5/0091", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04J11/0023", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L5/0032", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W16/14", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L5/006", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 54018503