UTILIZATION OF RESOURCES IN NARROWBAND INTERNET OF THINGS PHYSICAL BROADCAST CHANNEL TRANSMISSION

In Narrowband, NB, networks such as NB Internet of Things, IoT, transmissions of NB Physical Broadcast Channel, NPBCH from a NB base station (11) to in-band mode NB IoT UEs (31) requires the reservation of predetermined symbols and resource elements, RE, for non-interference with legacy LTE UE operation. In contrast, in stand-alone and guard-band mode deployments, transmissions to NB IoT UEs (31) may include NB IoT data in these resources. Examples include the first, e.g., three symbols of NPBCH, reserved for the LTE Physical Downlink Control Channel, PDCCH, and numerous REs reserved for LTE Cell-specific Reference Symbols, CRS. These resources may be used to transmit NB IoT data to stand-alone and guard-band mode NB IoT UEs (31), such as by repeating data from other symbols or REs. The repetition allows the stand-alone and guard-band mode NB IoT UEs (31) to perform frequency tracking or enhanced reception by energy accumulation.