Systems and methods for supporting evolving band regulations

Abstract

A base station may send an indication of frequency subranges supported by the base station to user equipment, which may respond with an indication of the frequency subranges that are also supported by the user equipment. Additionally, a Spectrum Access System (SAS) controller, using environmental sensing capability sensors, may determine whether non-federal networks are disposed in a coverage area of a base station and neighboring coverage areas. If so, then the SAS may indicate to the base station to send an indication to user equipment in the coverage area to operate using a default power mode. Otherwise, the SAS may indicate to the base station to send an indication to the user equipment to operate using a lower power mode. Moreover, a base station may indicate a regulatory requirement to user equipment using network signaling value of multiple network signaling values corresponding to multiple regulatory requirements of multiple geographical regions.

1 . A method of operating user equipment, comprising:
 detecting a base station via the user equipment;   synchronizing the user equipment to the base station;   receiving, at the user equipment, system information from the base station, the system information comprising one or more network signaling flags, the network signaling flags indicating a plurality of frequency ranges supported by the base station;   receiving, by the user equipment, one or more frequency ranges of the plurality of frequency ranges supported by the user equipment corresponding to the one or more network signaling flags; and   sending an indication of the one or more frequency ranges supported by the user equipment from the user equipment to the base station.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein sending the indication of the one or more frequency ranges comprises setting one or more modified maximum power reduction behavior bits corresponding to the one or more frequency ranges supported by the user equipment, the indication comprising a signal having the one or more modified maximum power reduction behavior bits. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the base station is configured to establish communication with the user equipment over a channel within the one or more frequency ranges indicated by the user equipment. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the base station is configured to allocate a secondary cell to the user equipment over a channel within the one or more frequency ranges indicated by the user equipment. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the base station is configured to perform a handover event of the user equipment with an additional base station by sending an indication of the one or more frequency ranges indicated by the user equipment to the additional base station. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of frequency ranges comprises a first frequency range between 3.45 GHz to 3.55 GHz, and a second frequency range between 3.7 GHz to 3.98 GHz. 
     
     
         7 . A system, comprising:
 a base station supporting a non-federal network in a coverage area;   user equipment disposed in the coverage area communicatively coupled to the base station;   a plurality of environmental sensing capability sensors configured to determine whether additional non-federal networks are deployed in neighboring coverage areas with respect to the coverage area; and   a Spectrum Access System communicatively coupled to the base station and the plurality of environmental sensing capability sensors, wherein the Spectrum Access System is configured to
 receive a plurality of indications from the plurality of environmental sensing capability sensors as to whether the additional non-federal networks are deployed in the neighboring coverage areas, and 
 send an indication to the base station that the user equipment is permitted to operate using a default power mode based on the plurality of indications indicating that the additional non-federal networks are deployed in the neighboring coverage areas. 
   
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the base station is configured to send an indication to the user equipment that the user equipment is permitted to operate using the default power mode based on the indication that the user equipment is permitted to operate using the default power mode. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the indication to the user equipment that the user equipment is permitted to operate using the default power mode comprises a network signaling value of a system information block sent from the base station to the user equipment. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the indication to the user equipment that the user equipment is permitted to operate using the default power mode comprises a lack of setting the network signaling value of the system information block. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the default power mode comprises a power backoff value of the user equipment. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the power backoff value comprises between 0 and 6.5 decibels. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the base station is configured to send an indication to the user equipment to operate using a lower power mode based on the plurality of indications indicating that no additional non-federal networks are deployed in at least one neighboring coverage area with respect to the coverage area. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the indication to the user equipment to operate using the lower power mode comprises a network signaling value of a system information block sent from the base station to the user equipment. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the lower power mode comprises a power backoff value between 4 and 11.5 decibels. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the indication to the user equipment that the user equipment is permitted to operate using the default power mode is associated with a frequency range between 3.55 gigahertz and 3.7 gigahertz. 
     
     
         17 . A method for operating user equipment, comprising:
 receiving, at a receiver of the user equipment, a system information block from a base station, the system information block comprising a network signaling value of a plurality of network signaling values corresponding to a plurality of regulatory requirements of a plurality of geographical regions;   receiving, using processing circuitry of the user equipment, a regulatory requirement of the plurality of regulatory requirements of a geographical region of the plurality of geographical regions corresponding to the network signaling value; and   configuring, using the processing circuitry of the user equipment, a transmitter or the receiver of the user equipment to comply with the regulatory requirement.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the plurality of network signaling values comprises greater than eight network signaling values. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the regulatory requirement is associated with a frequency between 5.925 gigahertz and 7.125 gigahertz. 
     
     
         20 . A method for operating user equipment in a geographical region, comprising:
 receiving, at a receiver of the user equipment, a system information block from a base station, the system information block comprising a network signaling value of a plurality of network signaling values corresponding to a plurality of regulatory requirements of the geographical region;   receiving, using processing circuitry of the user equipment, the geographical region that the user equipment is located;   receiving, using the processing circuitry of the user equipment, a regulatory requirement of the plurality of regulatory requirements corresponding to the network signaling value and based on the geographical region; and   configuring, using the processing circuitry of the user equipment, a transmitter or the receiver of the user equipment to comply with the regulatory requirement.   
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein receiving, using the processing circuitry of the user equipment, the geographical region comprises receiving an indication of the geographical region from a location sensor of the user equipment. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein receiving, using the processing circuitry of the user equipment, the geographical region comprises receiving a Public Land Mobile Network value from the base station. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the regulatory requirement is associated with an unlicensed frequency band.