The present application relates to systems in which for example in-device coexistence interference may be experienced and particularly but not exclusively to systems in which in-device coexistence interference information is sent to an access point after a handover has taken place.

A communication system can be seen as a facility that enables communications between two or more entities such as a communication device, e.g. mobile stations (MS) or user equipment (UE), and/or other network elements or nodes, e.g. Node B, enhanced Node B (eNodeB) or base transceiver station (BTS), associated with the communication system. A communication system typically operates in accordance with a given standard or specification which sets out what the various entities associated with the communication system are permitted to do and how that should be achieved.

Wireless communication systems include various cellular or otherwise mobile communication systems using radio frequencies for sending voice or data between stations, for example between a communication device and a transceiver network element. Examples of wireless communication systems may comprise public land mobile network (PLMN), such as global system for mobile communication (GSM), the general packet radio service (GPRS), the universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), and the long term evolution (LTE).

A mobile communication network may logically be divided into a radio access network (RAN) and a core network (CN). The core network entities typically include various control or management entities, and gateways for enabling communication via a number of radio access networks and also for interfacing a single communication system with one or more communication systems, such as with other wireless systems, such as a wireless Internet Protocol (IP) network, and/or fixed line communication systems, such as a public switched telephone network (PSTN). A geographical area covered by a radio access network is divided into cells defining a radio coverage provided by a transceiver network element or access point, such as a NodeB, eNodeB and/or base transceiver station. A single transceiver network element may serve a number of cells. A plurality of transceiver network elements is typically connected to a controller network element, such as a radio network controller (RNC) or other management entity.

A user equipment may have the capability of communicating via more than one radio access network. For example a user equipment may be the capability of communication over a radio access network of a mobile communications system, for example a UMTS terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN), GSM/EDGE radio access network (GERAN) and evolved UMTS terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN), as well as via additional access system such as a Wifi or Bluetooth.

In order to provide users access to these services and systems, some use equipment may include multiple radio transceivers. For example, a user equipment may be equipped with LTE, Wifi, Bluetooth and/or global navigation satellite system (GNSS) radio transceivers. While these multiple transceivers may allow a user to access more services and networks, a transceiver may cause interference in the other transceivers in a user equipment.

According to a first aspect of the present application, a method may be provided comprising: at a handover of the user equipment, determining that sending information corresponding to in-device interference of a user equipment can be delayed; and delaying sending the information.

The method may further comprise determining that the sending can be delayed in response to a characteristic of the handover. The method may further comprise determining that the sending can be delayed when the handover is an intra- frequency handover. The method may further comprise determining that the sending cannot be delayed when the handover is an inter-frequency handover.

The method may further comprise determining that the sending can be delayed in response to a characteristic of the information. The method may further comprise determining that the sending can be delayed when the information corresponds to time information. The method may further comprise determining that the sending cannot be delayed when the information corresponds to frequency information. The information may comprise time information and frequency information. It may be determined that the sending of the time information can be delayed and the sending of the frequency information cannot be delayed.

The information may comprise an in-device coexistence interference indication. The method may further comprise: delaying sending the information in response to a timer. The timer may be a prohibit timer.

Delaying sending the information may comprise one of: resetting the timer; and allowing the timer to continue running. The method may further comprise: determining that sending the information cannot be delayed comprises stopping the timer.

According to a second aspect, there may be provided a computer program embedded on a computer readable medium, which when executed causes a computer to carry out the method of the first aspect.

According to a third aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising at least one processor, and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform: at a handover of the user equipment, determine that sending information corresponding to in-device interference of a user equipment can be delayed; and delay sending the information.

The sending may be delayed in response to a characteristic of the handover. The sending may be delayed when the handover is an intra-frequency handover and the sending may not be delayed when the handover is an inter-frequency handover.

The sending may be delayed in response to a characteristic of the information. The sending may be delayed when the information corresponds to time information and the sending may not be delayed when the information corresponds to frequency information.

The apparatus may be further configured to determine that the sending of time information can be delayed and the sending of frequency information cannot be delayed.

The apparatus may be a user equipment comprising a first transceiver and at least on further transceiver. The information may be associated with a first transceiver of the user equipment corresponding to a communication network on which the handover has taken place. The information may be related to in-device coexistence interference to the first transceiver caused by the at least one further transceiver.

The apparatus may be configured to delay sending the information in response to a timer.

According to a fourth aspect, there is provided a method comprising: at a handover of the user equipment, determining that reporting information related to the user equipment can be delayed; and delaying the reporting of the information.

The method may further comprise determining that the reporting information related to the user equipment can be delayed in dependence on at least one of a characteristic of the information and a characteristic of the handover.

Embodiments will now be described in further detail, by way of example only, with reference to the following examples and accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows an example of a communication system in which some embodiments may be implemented;

Figure 2 shows an example of a user equipment having multiple transceivers;

Figure 3 shows an example of frequency division multiplexing to address in- device coexistence interference;

Figure 4a and 4b show an example of time division multiplexing to address in- device coexistence interference; Figure 5 shows a signalling diagram corresponding to in-device coexistence communication between a user equipment and access node;

Figure 6 shows a signalling diagram showing an example operation of a handover;

Figure 7 shows a flow diagram depicting method steps that may be carried out by a user equipment; and

Figure 8 shows a flows diagram depicting method steps that may be carried out by an access point.

The following embodiments are exemplary. Although the specification may refer to "an", "one", or "some" embodiment(s) in several locations, this does not necessarily mean that each such reference is to the same embodiment(s), or that the feature only applies to a single embodiment. Single features of different embodiments may also be combined to provide other embodiments. Furthermore, words "comprising" and "including" should be understood as not limiting the described embodiments to consist of only those features that have been mentioned and such embodiments may also contain also features/structures that have not been specifically mentioned.

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 shows an example of a mobile communication system 10. Mobile communications apparatus or user equipment (UE) 1 can typically access wirelessly a mobile network system via at least one access point 12 or similar wireless transmitter and/or receiver node of the access system. An access point 12 may for example be a Node B, base station and/or eNodeB. An access point site typically provides one or more cells of a cellular system. In the figure 1 example the access point 12 is configured to provide a cell, but could provide, for example, three sectors, each sector providing a cell. Each mobile communications apparatus 1 and access point 12 may have one or more radio channels open at the same time and may communicate with more than one other station. In addition to communications with the access point 12, the communications apparatus 1 may be in direct communication with the other communication apparatus. An access point 12 in some embodiments may carry out some control functionality. Additionally, the access point 12 may be in communication with a management entity or further network entity 1 1 .

The management entity 1 1 may be connected to one or more further access points (not shown). The user equipment 1 , access point 12 and management entity 1 1 may be considered to collectively comprise a radio access network (RAN).

The network of figure 1 may further include one or more gateways entities (not shown) for communicating with further networks such as an external IP network. A communication system may be provided by one or more interconnected networks and the elements thereof, and one or more gateway nodes may be provided for interconnecting various networks. The gateways may facilitate communication with entities on the further communication networks for example a server 13. In some embodiments the server 13 may be able to communicate with the management entity 1 1 , either via a gateway or by another means.

The communications apparatus 1 may be provided with wireless access to the communication system based on various access techniques, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), wideband CDMA (WCDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), space division multiple access (SDMA), and so on. This wireless access may be provided by a radio receiver of the communications apparatus 1 .

It will be appreciated that the communication apparatus 1 may further be equipped with multiple radio transceivers. For example, a UE may be equipped with an LTE, WiFi and Bluetooth transceiver, and/or GNSS receiver. The incorporation of more than one transceiver in a communication apparatus however may result in coexistence interference between collocated radio transceivers. In some embodiments, this interference may be called in-device coexistence (IDC) interference. Figure 2 shows an example of a communications device having more than one transceiver.

Figure 2 shows a communication apparatus 200 having multiple transceivers. The communication apparatus 200 may comprise a first transceiver, a second transceiver and a third transceiver. It will be appreciated however that in other embodiments, the communication apparatus 200 may comprise two or more transceivers.

In the example of figure 2, the first transceiver may be for example a long term evolution (LTE) transceiver comprising a first antenna 210, a first radio-frequency processor 21 1 and a first baseband processor 212. The second transceiver may be for example a GNSS transceiver, for example a global positioning system (GPS) transceiver. The second transceiver may comprise a second antenna 220, a second radio-frequency processor 221 and a second baseband processor 222. The third transceiver may be for example a bluetooth and/or wifi transceiver. The third transceiver may comprise a third antenna 230, a third radio-frequency processor 231 and a third baseband processor 232.

It will be appreciated that while the first, second and third transceivers have been exemplified as LTE, GPS and bluetooth/Wi-Fi transceivers, this is by way of example only and the transceiver may correspond to other wireless access networks and the communication apparatus 200 may comprise other or additional transceivers.

It will also be appreciated that while in the example of figure, a transceiver is shown to comprise an antenna, RF processor and baseband processor, a transceiver may comprise more or less of these entities. For example, in some embodiments the radio frequency and base band processing may be combined. In other embodiments some parts of the transceivers may for example make use of shared circuitry.

As can be seen from figure 2, in some embodiments the transceivers may be in close proximity to each other in the communication apparatus 200. In this case the transmit power of one transceiver may be for example much higher than the power of a signal received at another transceiver. This may lead to interference of one transceiver by a collocated transceiver. For example, the dashed line 260 of figure 2 shows interference that may be experienced by a receiver of the second transceiver from signals transmitted from the first transceiver. The dashed line 240 depicts interference that may be experienced by a receiver of the third transceiver from signals transmitted from the first transceiver. The dashed line 250 shows the interference that may be experienced by the first transceiver from signals transmitted from the third transceiver. This interference from collocated transceivers may be considered to be in-device coexistence interference.

This in-device coexistence interference may be addressed in some embodiments by frequency separation of signals being transmitted and received and/or by the time separation of such transmitted and received signals.

For example, frequency division multiplexing FDM may be implemented in some embodiments with regards to interfering signals, to separate the frequencies of the signals. Similarly, time division multiplexing TDM may be additionally or alternatively be implemented in order to separate the interfering signals in time.

Figure 3 shows an example of an embodiment where frequency division multiplexing may be used to address in-device coexistence interference.

Figure 3 shows a graph with an x-axis corresponding to a frequency of the signal and a y-axis corresponding to a power with which the signal is transmitted or received. A first signal 310 may represent a signal received by the first transceiver. A second signal 320 may represent a signal transmitted by one of the other transceivers, for example the third transceiver. The second signal 320 may additionally comprise for example out of band emissions 321 and spurious emissions 322. It be seen from figure 3 that second signal 320 and its out of band and spurious transmissions, overlaps the frequency range of the first signal 310. Additionally, as the power level of the second signal is greater than that of the first, it can be assumed that the second signal 320 may cause in-device coexistence interference with the reception of the first signal 310 by the first transceiver.

The second signal 320 may be shifted in its frequency band in order to reduce this in-device coexistence interference. The shifted second signal is shown for example by the signal 330. It can be seen that the shifted second signal 330 is transmitted in a different frequency band to that of the second signal 320 and no longer overlaps with the first signal 310.

It will be appreciated that while the second signal 320 transmitted from the third transceiver has been depicted as been shifted in figure 3, the frequency of the first signal 310 may be shifted in other embodiments. In some embodiments, in order to help the third transceiver to complete the necessary procedure to enable the shifting of the second signal 320, the first transceiver may also shift the frequency range of the first signal 310. This may be done for example, by signalling to a transmitter in the wireless access network of the first transceiver to transmit the first transceiver in a shifted frequency range.

In other embodiments, the in-device coexistence interference may be addressed by shifting a signal in time in order to not overlap other signals received or transmitted from a communication device 200. This is shown for example in figures 4a and 4b.

Figure 4a shows a graph with an x-axis corresponding to a frequency of the signal and a y-axis corresponding to a power with which the signal is transmitted or received. A first signal 410 may represent a signal received by the first transceiver. A second signal 420 may represent a signal transmitted by one of the other transceivers, for example the third transceiver. The second signal 420 may additionally comprise for example out of band emissions 421 and spurious emissions 422. It be seen from figure 4 that second signal 420 and its out of band and spurious transmissions, overlaps the frequency range of the first signal 410. Additionally, as the power level of the second signal is greater than that of the first, it can be assumed that the second signal 420 may cause in-device coexistence interference with the reception of the first signal 410 by the first transceiver.

In order to address in in-device coexistence interference, the transmission time of the first and/or second signal 410 and 420 may be shifted in time so that they do not overlap. Figure 4b shows an example of the transmission times of the first signal 410 and the second signal 420. Figure 4b has an x-axis corresponding to transmission/reception time and a y-axis corresponding to transmission power. It can be seen from figure 4b, that the first signal 410 is received at the time t1 while the second signal 420 is transmitted as time TO. The shifting in time of the transmission and/or reception of the second signal 420 and/or the first signal may reduce in-device co-existence interference in some embodiments.

In some embodiments, the time and frequency of the received signal 410 may be shifted in response to in-device interference. In some embodiments, the communication apparatus 1 may send an indication of in-device coexistence interference to the wireless access network associated with the first transceiver. The indication may correspond to interference experienced by the first transceiver associated with that wireless access network. For example, the first transceiver may be in communication with a network access point 12 of wireless access network 10 and may provide an indication of interference to the wireless access network 10.

Figure 5 shows an example of such signalling. Figure 5 shows an example of the signalling between a communication apparatus, for example communication apparatus 1 , 200 and an access point 12 of the communication network 10.

At step 501 , radio resource control (RRC) connection configuration may be carried out between the user equipment 1 and access point 12. The RRC connection configuration may in some embodiments set up and control a communication across the radio access network between the user equipment 1 and access point 12.

The user equipment 1 may determine information related to in-device coexistence interference. For example the user equipment 1 may carry out measurements and other processing in order to determine whether in-device coexistence interference is being experienced in the communication with the access point 12.

At step 502, the user equipment 1 may send an in-device coexistence (IDC) indication to the access point 12. In some embodiments the access point 12 may receive the IDC indication at 502. The access point 12 may carry out RRC connection reconfiguration with the user equipment 1 at step 503 in response to the IDC indication. The reconfiguration may be carried out in some embodiments, in order to provide a shift in the reception/transmission frequency and/or reception time of communications with the user equipment 1 to minimise in-device coexistence interference.

In some embodiments, the IDC indication 502 may relate to time division multiplex (TDM) information and/or frequency division multiplex (FDM) information. For example, the IDC information may include a list of frequencies which are unusable or compromised due to in-device coexistence. In some embodiments, the IDC indication may include an affected carrier frequency list which may comprise a list of carrier frequencies between the user equipment 1 and access point 12 which are experiencing in-device coexistence interference. The FDM information in the IDC indication may further include, in some embodiments, an interference direction which indicates whether the interference is being experienced in the reception or transmission of signals. In such a case, in some embodiments the access point 12 may order the user equipment 1 to perform a handover to a frequency that has not been reported by the user equipment 1 in the affected subcarrier frequency list as being victim of IDC interference.

Additionally or alternatively the in device coexistence interference indication 502 may include information regarding time division multiplexing (TDM) and interference in terms of the time domain. For example, the user equipment 1 may include information about scheduled and unscheduled transmission times. The access point 12 may schedule transmissions in a time not indicated as being subject to IDC interference in response. For example, in some embodiments, the user equipment 1 may implement discontinuous reception (drx) and the user equipment 1 may send information such as drx cycle length, drx offsets and drx active time to the access point 12.

It will be appreciated that the IDC indication may include FDM information, TDM information or both FDM and TDM information. In some embodiments the access point 12 may decide to implement a handover operation in which the user equipment 1 is handed over from the access point 12 to another access point, for example from a source access point to a target access point. This may be for example in response to an IDC indication or in response to other factors, for example signal strength of the user equipment 1 , surrounding access points 12 and/or network load.

This handover from a source access point to a target access point may be for example an intra-frequency handover in which a user equipment remains in communication on a same frequency for both the source and target access points. Alternatively, the handover may be an inter-frequency handover in which the user equipment communicates with the source access point on a different frequency to which the user equipment communicates with the target access point. In response to a handover operation, the user equipment 1 may send uplink signalling to the target access point in order to provide the target access point with information about the user equipment 1 . This uplink signalling may for example comprise information relating to measurements made by the user equipment, for example signal strength of other access points, or may relate to characteristics of the user equipment. The handover triggered uplink signalling may include the sending of an IDC indication to the target access point. These handover triggered uplink transmissions however may increase signalling overhead and put a strain on the network.

Some embodiments of the present application may determine whether a transmission of an IDC indication from the user equipment to a target access point is necessary in response to a handover. In other words in some embodiments user equipment may determine whether an uplink transmission related to in-device interference triggered by the handover is necessary. If the transmission is not necessary, the user equipment may delay the transmission of such an indication to a later time. It will be appreciated that in some embodiments, the uplink transmission may relate to different IDC information and only some of that information may be delayed. For example, in some embodiments, it may be determined that the transmission of TDM information relating to in-device interference may be delayed, while the transmission of FDM information related to in-device interference may not be delayed. For example, in some embodiments a characteristic of the handover for example whether the handover is an intra-frequency or inter-frequency handover may be used to determine whether an IDC indication should be transmitted to the target access point 12. In other embodiments, a characteristic of the information to be reported in an IDC indication may be used to determine whether the indication or part thereof can be delayed. For example in some embodiments, if the IDC indication related to TDM information, the indication may be delayed and if the indication related to FDM information, the indication may not be delayed. In some embodiments, where the IDC indication includes both TDM and FDM information (or comprises two IDC indications, one including TDM information and the other including FDM information), the transmission of the TDM information may be delayed while the transmission of the FDM information may not be delayed.

For example, in a situation where a user equipment experiencing ongoing IDC interference is handed over in an intra-frequency handover from a source access point to a target access point, the target access point may use time division multiplexing information received from the source access point relating to the user equipment 1 in the configuration of the communications with that user equipment. This TDM information may have previously been received by the source access point from the user equipment 1 when the user equipment was in communication with this source access point 12.

The target access point 12 may then translate the time division multiplexing information to be applicable to the connection between the target access point and the user equipment as the frequency on which the user equipment and target access points communicate has not changed. Therefore, there may not be a need for the user equipment 1 to report time division multiplexing IDC interference information to the target access point right after handover, as the target access point may have access to such information from the source access point.

The user equipment one may delay the transmission of such IDC information in order to reduce the signalling overheads associated with handover. The target access point may still take into account the reported IDC information in the configuration of a connection between the user equipment and access point. It will also be appreciated that in such a case, as the communication frequency is unchanged, FDM information may be valid for both the source access point and the target access point.

In a situation where a user equipment 1 experiencing ongoing in-device interference is handed from a source access point to a target access point in an inter-frequency handover, it may be determined that IDC information should be reported to the target access point in response to the handover, in other words without a delay. In an inter- frequency handover, the transceiver hardware may be retuned in order to communicate in the frequency associated with the target access point. This retuning may greatly affected the level of in-device interference experience by a transceiver associated with the communication system of the target access point. In this case, an IDC indication may be transmitted in response to the handover without delay.

Figure 6 shows an example of the signalling and operation of a user equipment 1 , a source access point 12a, a target access point 12b in a handover of a user equipment experiencing IDC interference.

At 601 the user equipment 1 may be in communication with the source access point 12a and may generate and transmit an IDC indication to the source access point 12a. It will be appreciated that the IDC indication may be similar to the IDC indication 502 in figure 5.

At 602 the source access point 12a may make a decision to hand over the user equipment 1 to the target access point 12b. It will be appreciated that in some embodiments this decision may be made based on measurements from the user equipment 1 and/or other characteristics of the network and of the surrounding access points.

At 603 signalling occurs between the user equipment 1 , the target access point 12b and the source access point 12a to set up and execute a handover of the user equipment 1 from the source access point 12a to the target access point 12b. It will be appreciated that such handover signalling may be in accordance with handover according to the mobile communication network 10, for example a long term evolution (LTE) system. It will be appreciated however that during the handover signalling 603, the source access point 12a may provide IDC indication information 604 to the target access point 12b. The IDC indication information provided at 604 may be correspond to the IDC indication sent to the source access point 12a at 601 .

The target access point 12b the may therefore be aware of IDC information sent from the user equipment 1 to the source access point 12a.

The user equipment 1 may determine whether an IDC indication can be delayed at 605. It will be appreciated in some embodiments a handover of the user equipment 1 from the source access point 12a to the target access point 12b may trigger the user equipment 1 to generate an IDC indication and send the indication to the target access point 12b. The user equipment 1 may determine whether the generation of such an IDC indication can be delayed at step 605. The determination may be dependent on the type of handover, for example whether it is an inter or intra frequency handover In some embodiments, the determination may additionally or alternatively be dependent on the type of IDC information to be reported to the target access point 12b. For example, if the IDC information to be reported is frequency division multiplexing information, the user equipment 1 may determine that an IDC indication may not be delayed. However if the information to be reported is related to time division multiplexing, the user equipment 1 may determine that the IDC indication may be delayed.

At 606, the target access point 12b may carry out a configuration of the user equipment 1 for communication with the target access point 12b. It will be appreciated that while this has been shown after step 605, the configuration of user equipment 1 at 606 may be carried out prior to the determination of whether the IDC indication can be delayed in some embodiments. For example configuration of the use equipment 1 at 606 may be carried out during the handover signalling 603.

If it is determined at step 605 that the IDC indication can be delayed, the user equipment 1 may delay transmission and generation of an IDC indication at 607. In some embodiments this delay may be carried out by starting or not resetting a timer, for example a prohibit timer, which may prevent the generation or transmission of an IDC indication or part thereof. The timer may for example count up to predetermined value at which point a prohibition of the generation of an IDC indication may be lifted.

It will be appreciated that the IDC indication may include frequency division multiplex FDM and time division multiplex TDM information. In some embodiments, the determination at 605 may be to determine whether an IDC indication relating to the time division multiplex information may be delayed. In some embodiments, a frequency division multiplex indication may be sent in response to the handover of the user equipment 1 from the source access point 12a to the target access point 12b and an IDC indication relating to the time division multiplex information that may be delayed.

Figure 7 shows an example of the method steps carried out by a user equipment 1 in accordance with the signalling of figure 6 in some embodiments.

At step 701 the user equipment 1 may receive an indication of handover from source access point 12a to a target access point 12b. The method progresses to step 702 where it is determined if an IDC indication can be delayed. In some embodiments, it may be determined that IDC indication may be delayed if the handover is an intra- frequency handover. In this case the source access point 12a may have provided IDC information to the targets access point 12b and the target access point 12b may use the information provided from the source access point 12a to configure communication with the user equipment 1 taking into account IDC interference.

In other or additional embodiments, it may be determined that the IDC indication may be delayed if the information to be provided in IDC indication is related to time division multiplexing. In this case, user equipment 1 may assume that time division multiplexing information may have been provided from the source access point 12a to the target access point 12b and the target access point 12b may configure communication with the user equipment 1 based on this information. It will also be appreciated than in other embodiments the determination to delay sending of the IDC indication may be dependent on both the type of handover, for example an intra-handover or inter-handover and the type of information to be sent in IDC indication, for example time division multiplexing and/or frequency division multiplexing information.

If it is determined at step 702 that delaying of the IDC indication cannot take place, the method progresses to step 703 where the user equipment 1 may send an IDC indication to the target access point 12b.

If it is determined at step 702 that the IDC indication can be delayed, the method may progress to step 704 where a delay is started. In some embodiments the user equipment 1 may comprise a prohibit timer which may be started or not reset in order to generate a time delay for which the IDC indication is not sent. It will be appreciated that this timer may take any form, for example an incrementer, decrementor or have other ways of measuring a delay.

Steps 705 and 706 show an example of the operation of a timer according to some embodiments. It will be appreciated that the delay may be implemented in various ways and steps 705 and 706 shows only one example. It will be understood that these steps may be optional.

At step 705 it is determined whether the delay is over. This may be for example checking the value of the prohibit timer. If the delay is not over the method progresses to 705 until it is determined that the delay is over.

When it is determined that the delay is over, the method may progress to step 706 where it is determined whether an IDC indication needs to be generated. In some embodiments, determining whether to generate the IDC indication step 706 may be dependent on characteristics of transmissions sent and received from the user equipment 1 . For example if no IDC interference is detected at the user equipment 1 , a IDC indication need not be generated. It will be appreciated that there may be other requirements for a IDC indication to be generated. It if it is determined at step 706, that an IDC indication need not be generated, the method may return to step 706 until it is determined that an IDC indication should be generated.

When it is determined at step 706 that the IDC indication should be generated, the method progresses to step 703 when IDC indication may be sent to the access point.

Figure 8 shows an example of the method steps that may be carried out by an access point in accordance with a handover. It will be appreciated that in some embodiments the method steps of figure 8 may be carried out by a target actress point. However it will also be appreciated that the method steps may be carried out by another network entity integrated with the access point or a separate entity in communication with the access point.

Figure 8 shows an example of the method steps and may be carried out by the target access point, for example the target access point 12b, in a handover of a user equipment 1 experiencing ongoing in-device coexistence interference.

It will be appreciated that the target access point 12 the may further carry out method steps associated with the handover in addition to the method steps as depicted in figure 8.

At step 801 the targets access point 12b may receive IDC information from a source access point 12a. It will be appreciated that the IDC information may have originally originated from a user equipment 1 in communication with the source access point 12a. It will also be appreciated that in some embodiments, the IDC information may not be in the same format as an IDC indication received from a user equipment but may include information relating to the information originally received from the user equipment in the IDC indication.

At step 802, the target access point 12b may translate IDC information to be applicable to communications with the target access point 12b. For example, time division multiplexing information in the IDC indication from the source access point may be different to time division multiplexing information that would be applicable to the target access point. This may be due to, for example, differences in the subframe number. However the target access point 12b may further translate the IDC information to apply to communications carried out with the target access point 12b.

The method may then progress to step 803 where this information may be used to configure communication with the user equipment 1 . For example, in some embodiments, information may be used to set transmission and reception times of the user equipment in dependence on the in device coexistence interference.

In the foregoing in some embodiments, the determination of whether an indication can be delayed when a user equipment is handed over may be dependent on a type of handover or a the type of information to be sent. It will be appreciated however that the determination may be dependent on a combination of these factors. For example for a first type of handover, the determination may depend on the type of information to be sent and the determination for a second type of handover may depend on the handover type only. For example for an intra-frequency handover, it may be determined to delay information is the information is a first type of information, for example TDM information. If the handover is an inter-frequency handover, it may be determined not to delay the information based on the type of handover only.

It will also be appreciated that while in the foregoing, an in-device coexistence independence indication has been given as an example of information that may be sent from the user equipment to an access point, some embodiments may be applicable to other types of information that may be sent from a user equipment to a target access point after handover. For example, in some embodiments, the information may relate to interference related to the user equipment, for example interference from in-device sources and/or external sources. In some embodiments, the information may be related to measurements made by a user equipment and/or conveyed to a user equipment by other sources.

It will be appreciated that while embodiments have been described in relation to an access point, the access point may be a node B, enhanced node b, base station and/or other network entity or network access point in some embodiments. It will be appreciated that in the foregoing, information relating to in-device coexistence interference has been described as being sent as an IDC indication from a user equipment to an access point. It will be appreciated that such information may be sent in any form. For example, in some embodiments, the information may be sent as a an InDeviceCoexlndication according to some communication standards.

While the foregoing has described a user equipment and a communication device, it will be appreciated that these terms may be interchangeable and such equipment or devices may be non-limiting examples, a mobile station (MS) such as a mobile phone or what is known as a 'smart phone', a portable computer provided with a wireless interface card or other wireless interface facility, personal data assistant (PDA) provided with wireless communication capabilities, or any combinations of these or the like.

It will be appreciated that the user equipment 1 and access point 12 of figure 1 may comprise any circuitry necessary to carry out a method or functionality as described above and/or with reference to the accompanying figures.

An appropriate user equipment 1 may be provided by any device capable of sending radio signals to and/or receiving radio signals. A mobile communication device may provide, for example, communication of data for carrying communications such as voice, electronic mail (email), text message, multimedia and so on. Users may thus be offered and provided numerous services via their communication devices. Non- limiting examples of these services include two-way or multi-way calls, data communication or multimedia services or simply an access to a data communications network system, such as the Internet. Non-limiting examples of content data include downloads, television and radio programs, videos, advertisements, various alerts and other information.

The user equipment 1 may be configured to receive signals in the downlink over an air interface via appropriate apparatus for receiving and to transmit signals in the uplink via appropriate apparatus for transmitting radio signals. For this purpose, a user equipment may comprise a transceiver means. The transceiver means may be provided for example by means of a radio part and associated antenna arrangement. The antenna arrangement may be arranged internally or externally to the user equipment. It will be appreciated that the user equipment may comprise more than one transceiver means for communication over other networks such as other wireless access networks, for example Wifi and/or Bluetooth.

The user equipment 1 may also be provided with at least one data processing entity, at least one memory and other possible components for use in software and hardware aided execution of tasks it is designed to perform, including control of access to and communications with base stations and/or other communication devices. The data processing, storage and other relevant apparatus can be provided on an appropriate circuit board and/or in chipsets.

A user may control the operation of the user equipment 1 by means of a suitable user interface such as key pad, voice commands, touch sensitive screen or pad, combinations thereof or the like. A display, a speaker and a microphone can be also provided. Furthermore, a communication device may comprise appropriate connectors (either wired or wireless) to other devices and/or for connecting external accessories, for example hands-free equipment, thereto.

The method steps or functionality associated with an access point may be carried out by or incorporated in the access point 12 or other network entity. In some embodiments an access point 12 may comprise an integrated control apparatus. In some other embodiments, the control apparatus can be provided by a separate network element. The control apparatus can be interconnected with other control entities. The control apparatus and functions may be distributed between a plurality of control units. In some embodiments each access point may comprise a control apparatus. In alternative embodiments, two or more access points may share a control apparatus.

The arrangement of the control may depend on the standard, and for example in accordance with the current LTE specifications no separate radio network controller is provided. Regardless of the location, a control apparatus can be understood as providing control on communications in the service area of at least one access point. The control apparatus may be configured to provide control functions in accordance with embodiments described above. For this purpose the control apparatus can comprise at least one memory, at least one data processing unit and an input/output interface. Via the interface the control apparatus may be coupled to an access point 12 or other parts of the access point 12 to cause operation of the access point 12 in accordance with the above described embodiments. The control apparatus can be configured to execute an appropriate software code to provide the control functions.

An appropriately adapted computer program code product or products may be used for implementing the embodiments, when loaded on an appropriate data processing apparatus, for example for preparing the transmission uplink transmissions, for example bundled subframes. The program code product for providing the operation may be stored on, provided and embodied by means of an appropriate carrier medium. An appropriate computer program can be embodied on a computer readable record medium. A possibility is to download the program code product via a data network. In general, the various embodiments may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Embodiments of the application may thus be practiced in various components such as integrated circuit modules. The design of integrated circuits is by and large a highly automated process. Complex and powerful software tools are available for converting a logic level design into a semiconductor circuit design ready to be etched and formed on a semiconductor substrate.

Further in this regard it should be noted that any blocks of the logic flow as in the Figures may represent program steps, or interconnected logic circuits, blocks and functions, or a combination of program steps and logic circuits, blocks and functions. The software may be stored on such physical media as memory chips, or memory blocks implemented within the processor, magnetic media such as hard disk or floppy disks, and optical media such as for example DVD and the data variants thereof, CD.

Some aspects of the embodiments may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device, although the invention is not limited thereto. While various aspects of the invention may be illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other pictorial representation, it is well understood that these blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

It is also noted herein that while the above describes exemplifying embodiments of the invention, there are several variations and modifications which may be made to the disclosed solution without departing from the scope of the present application.