HK1095441B - Method of downlink resource allocation in a sectorized environment - Google Patents

Description

Method for downlink resource allocation in a partitioned environment

Technical Field

The present invention relates to communication systems, and in particular to methods and apparatus for allocating resources (e.g. bandwidth in time) in a sectorized cellular communication network.

Background

In cellular radio systems, the service area is divided into several coverage areas commonly referred to as "cells". Each cell may be further subdivided into sectors. Using different frequencies in different sectors, or in some cases, the same frequency bandwidth repeatedly in each sector, a base station may transmit information on a downlink channel to wireless terminals in each sector of the base station's cell simultaneously. Wireless terminals may include a wide variety of mobile devices including cellular telephones and other mobile transmitters such as personal data assistants (pda's) with wireless modems.

A problem with sectorized cellular communication systems is that signals transmitted by a base station targeted to a first wireless terminal to a first sector of the cell may interfere with signals transmitted from the base station to a second sector targeted to a second wireless terminal. In the case of multiple sectors of one cell, this interference is much greater than in the case of transmissions from neighboring cells (in which case the antennas of the transmitter and neighboring base stations are located in different cells), due to the close proximity of the transmitters.

Interference between sectors is particularly severe for wireless terminals located in sector boundary regions, e.g., regions where the signal strength levels measured in the wireless terminal received from two sector base station transmissions are nearly equal. By preventing transmission information from being located on the same bandwidth in adjacent sectors, interference between sectors can be reduced, thereby improving transmission reliability; however, this also has the negative effect of reducing the overall system capacity. Different information types are often encoded in different ways, for example using different block sizes and/or different numbers of error correction codes, and, in some cases, no error correction codes at all. In general, where some form of signal coding is used, the larger the block size used in the coding, the greater the ability to prevent burst errors where one or a few consecutive bits are lost at one or more different locations in the coded block. In the case of wireless systems, burst errors are common and may be caused by unpredictable impulse noise occurring at one or more tones. Unfortunately, large blocks do not fit well into a variety of data. For example, in the case of time-critical control information, it may be impractical to encode the control information in large blocks, which may take a relatively long time to communicate over the wireless link before being decoded. As such, small block sizes are often used for time-critical data, particularly where the data cell to be transmitted can be represented in relatively few bits. For example, some control signals may be transmitted using a single bit or a few bits, often in relatively small blocks. Where the transmitted block includes multiple bits, such as 2 or 3 bits, repetition coding may be used, such as repeating the data bits. However, given the small number of bits, the information in the small blocks is still particularly susceptible to loss due to signal interference.

Some control signals are typically represented using several bits, and such signals are often encoded as medium-sized blocks. Such blocks typically include error correction coded bits or some other form of error protection. Although error correction is supported, medium size coding blocks are more prone to errors than larger size blocks due to pulse signal interference, where error correction coding and data reordering for larger block sizes provides better capability to prevent short term interference pulses than is provided in medium size coding blocks.

Information and/or control signals that are not particularly time critical may be combined together to form a larger block of data that may be encoded and transmitted as a unit (e.g., a large coded block). Large coded blocks are often used for non-time critical data and/or data that requires a large number of bits to be useful. A large coded block may comprise, for example, hundreds or even thousands of bits that are treated as a single block for error correction coding.

As can be appreciated from the above discussion, different types of information and/or different sized blocks of data transmitted from a base station to a wireless terminal may tolerate different levels of interference before affecting system operation, as well as different reliabilities of the communicated information.

In order to use bandwidth efficiently, it is generally desirable to reuse the spectrum in each sector as much as possible. Unfortunately, in the case of sectorized cells, the greater the amount of frequencies reused in each sector, the greater the risk of signal interference and data loss. As described above, different types of data and different coding block sizes may often tolerate different amounts of interference before becoming unusable. Thus, while avoiding the use of the same tones in adjacent sectors minimizes signal interference, it may result in unacceptable bandwidth loss if applicable to all of the coded blocks transmitted in a cell. Similarly, transmitting information on the same tone in each sector at the same time, especially for relatively small coded blocks, such as one or a few bits, may result in an unacceptable error rate.

In view of the above discussion, it is apparent that there is a need for methods and apparatus that can exploit different levels of tolerable interference for different types of information, and thereby provide multiple levels of compromise between bandwidth and transmission reliability.

Drawings

Fig. 1 illustrates an exemplary sectorized communications system implemented in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 2 illustrates an exemplary base station implemented in accordance with the present invention suitable for use in the system of fig. 1.

Fig. 3 illustrates an exemplary wireless terminal implemented in accordance with the present invention suitable for use in the system of fig. 1.

Fig. 4 shows various sizes of data blocks, error correction processes, and various sizes of transport blocks for illustrating the present invention.

Fig. 5 shows an example of tone allocation to different types of channels in two adjacent sectors in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 6 illustrates that tones allocated to the channel shown in fig. 5 may hop over time in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 7 shows an example of tone allocation to different types of channels in a three-sector system according to the present invention.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention is directed to communications methods and apparatus, and in particular, to methods and apparatus for communicating different sized coded information blocks in a multi-tone, multi-sector, multi-cell communications system. The system may be a Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM) system. Various embodiments may be implemented as an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) system. In some embodiments, the system may use the same set of tones in each sector of the system at the same time.

The invention will be explained below in the context of using at least three different code block sizes (e.g., blocks of a first size, blocks of a second size, and blocks of a third size), although more sizes may be used. In one embodiment, the first size of information blocks is smaller than the second size of information blocks, and the second size of information blocks is smaller than the third size of information blocks.

In various embodiments, the first size block may be only one bit or a few bits in length. For a block having one data bit, one or more repetition coded bits may be included in the code block to generate a small block in which a single information bit is repeated. Since the block size is limited, the information in a one-bit block is particularly susceptible to loss due to interference. In such embodiments, the second size block may comprise tens of bits. A third size block may include hundreds or even thousands of bits.

In some embodiments, information blocks of a first size are used to transmit wireless terminal power control information, which is relatively time critical and requires only a few bits to be transferred, e.g., less than 10 bits, and in many cases 3 or less bits. Information blocks of the second size are sometimes used to convey other types of control information, such as timing control information, which is still time critical, but which conveys more than a few bits, such as 3-20 bits in various exemplary embodiments. Information blocks of a third size are often used for transmitting user data, such as text, sound and/or information files. Typically, such information is not easily represented in a very small number of bits, and is not as time critical as various control signals. Blocks of the third size typically include more than 20 bits, and in many cases more than 100 bits, and even sometimes thousands of bits in length.

According to the invention, the code blocks to be transmitted are classified according to size. Different tone groups are allocated for transmission of different sized blocks. The same tones are allocated in each sector of the cell for transmission of the same size blocks during the same symbol transmission time period. In the case where blocks of first, second and third sizes are transmitted within the same symbol time period, at least a first set of tones is allocated for transmission of blocks of the first size, a second set of tones is allocated for transmission of blocks of the second size, and a third set of tones is allocated for transmission of blocks of the third size. In any one sector, not all of the allocated first and second sets of tones may be used at any given time. Each set of tones allocated for transmission of a block of a particular size may correspond to a communication channel supported in each sector. There may be multiple tone groups for transmitting a block of a particular size. In such a case, multiple communication channels are dedicated to transmitting the particular single size block. In such a case, the tone reuse methodology of the present invention can be applied per channel, e.g., each tone group of a given block size is reused in each sector in the same manner as other tone groups dedicated to blocks of the same size.

In view of the fact that information in smaller-sized blocks is more prone to transmission losses than larger-sized blocks due to errors resulting from signal interference, steps are taken to minimize transmission interference between adjacent sectors that would affect small blocks (particularly, one-bit control signal blocks). In particular, transmissions in adjacent sectors are controlled such that when a block of a first size is transmitted using tones in a first sector, tones used to transmit the block of the first size in the first sector are not used in a second sector adjacent to the first sector.

With respect to blocks of the second size, it should be understood that a higher level of error may be acceptable and tolerated without losing information as compared to blocks of the first size (e.g., small size). However, in the case where the full set of tones used to transmit a block of the second size in the first sector are simultaneously used to transmit coded blocks in the second sector, a block of the second size may experience an unacceptable level of error. Accordingly, the present invention controls transmitters in adjacent sectors to perform fractional frequency reuse at a time for frequencies used to transmit blocks of the second size. In one embodiment, a second set of tones is used to transmit blocks of a second size during a particular transmission time period in each of the first and second sectors. A first subset of one or more tones in the second set of tones is used to simultaneously transmit information in each of the first and second sectors. A second subset of tones in the second set of tones is used to transmit information in the first sector but is not used in the second sector. Further, in some embodiments, a third subset of tones in the second set of tones is used to transmit information in the second sector but is not used in the first sector. As such, in the case of blocks of the second size, there is partial overlap but not complete overlap in terms of tone utilization in adjacent sectors, and some tones used to transmit blocks of the second size are typically not used in one or each sector of the cell.

In the case of a third size transmission block, a third set of tones is used to transmit the third size block in each sector. The tones in the third set are fully reused in each sector, and each sector simultaneously transmits information corresponding to a block of the third size on each tone in the third set. In this manner, full frequency reuse is achieved in the sector for tones used to transmit relatively large blocks of the third size.

Over time, the tone may jump. However, the tone groups allocated for communicating blocks of different sizes during each transmission time period, e.g., symbol time period, are the same in adjacent sectors. As such, the frequency reuse scheme of the present invention is relatively simple to implement, even in the case of frequency hopping.

According to the invention, different types of communication channels can be constructed to transmit different size information blocks.

As discussed above, different communication channels implemented in accordance with the present invention are allocated blocks of different sizes. The first type of communication channel used for transmission of the first size (small) blocks of information may be referred to simply as a communication channel having non-overlapping tones because, in a given sector, the tones used to transmit signals do not overlap tones utilized in adjacent sectors because tones in adjacent sectors are allocated to the first channel but are not used.

The second type of communication channel used for transmission of second size (medium size) information blocks may be referred to simply as a channel with partial tone overlap. This is because some of the utilized tones allocated to the second communication channel will be used in each of the adjacent sectors to transmit information, while other tones allocated to the second communication channel will not be used in each of the adjacent sectors. As such, there is partial overlap in tones used to transmit blocks of the second size in adjacent sectors.

The third communication channel for transmitting third size (large) blocks of information may be referred to simply as a communication channel with full tone overlap, since tones used to transmit information on the third channel are used in adjacent sectors, resulting in full or nearly full tone reuse.

In some embodiments, the first type of communication channel is used as a wireless terminal power control command downlink channel. In some embodiments, the second type of communication channel is used as a downlink time control channel. And a third type of communication channel is often used as a downlink communication (user data) channel for communicating text, voice, and/or other user-related application data or information.

The transport blocks of information of the first, second and third sizes for each sector may be transmitted simultaneously on the first, second and third communication channels, respectively. As discussed above, tones allocated to a communication channel may hop over time, wherein hopping is synchronized between sectors of a cell.

In some embodiments, information types such as wireless terminal power control, other control information, and user data may be categorized according to coding block size and associated with particular channel types such as non-overlapping tone channels, partially overlapping tone channels, and fully overlapping tone channels. Such classification information may be stored in the base station and/or the wireless terminal so that classification need not be performed continuously, and the base station and the wireless terminal may use this information to implement the method of the present invention and appropriately allocate data to the channel.

In other embodiments, the classification of information types and channel types may be flexible and may be dynamically changed during operation, e.g., adjusted to changing conditions such as overall system loading, user priority, data rate required by the user, allowed user error rate, and the nature of the data and information being transmitted.

Although the present invention is described herein in the context of exemplary downlink data, information, communication channels and transmissions, the present invention may also be used, in part or in whole, for the uplink in some wireless communication systems. The apparatus and methods of the present invention may be implemented using hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.

Many other features, advantages and details of the method and apparatus of the present invention are described in the detailed description that follows.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 illustrates an exemplary communication system 100 implemented in accordance with the invention that includes a plurality of cells, such as cell 1102, as shown. Each cell 102 of exemplary system 100 includes three sectors. According to the present invention, a cell having two sectors (N ═ 2) and a cell having 3 or more sectors (N > 3) are also possible. Cell 102 includes a first sector, sector 1110, a second sector, sector 2112, and a third sector, sector 3114. Each sector 110, 112, 114 has two sector boundary regions; each sector boundary region is shared between two adjacent sectors. Dashed line 116 represents a sector boundary region between sector 1110 and sector 2112; dashed line 118 represents a sector boundary region between sector 2112 and sector 3114; the dotted line 120 represents a sector boundary region between the sector 3114 and the sector 1110. Cell 1102 includes a Base Station (BS) in each sector 110, 112, 114, a base station 1106, and a plurality of wireless terminals, such as End Nodes (ENs). Sector 1110 includes EN (1)136 and EN (x)138 connected to BS 106 via wireless links 140, 142, respectively; sector 2112 includes EN (1 ') 144 and EN (X') 146 connected to BS 106 via wireless links 148, 150, respectively; sector 3114 includes EN (1 ") 152 and EN (X") 154 coupled to BS 106 via wireless links 156, 158, respectively. System 100 also includes a network node 160 connected to BS1106 by a network link 162. Network node 160 is also coupled to other network nodes, such as other base stations, AAA server nodes, intermediate nodes, routers, etc., and the internet via network link 166. Network links 162, 166 may be fiber optic cables, or the like. Each end node, e.g., EN (1)136, may be a wireless terminal that includes a transmitter as well as a receiver. Wireless terminals, such as EN (1)136, may move throughout system 100 and may communicate over wireless links with base stations in the cell in which the EN is currently located. Wireless Terminals (WTs), such as EN (1)136, may communicate with peer nodes, such as other WTs in system 100 or external system 100, through base stations, such as BS 106 and/or network node 160. WTs, such as EN (1)136, may be mobile communication devices such as cellular telephones, personal data assistants with wireless modems, and the like.

Fig. 2 illustrates an exemplary base station 200 implemented in accordance with the present invention. The exemplary base station 200 implements the downlink resource allocation method of the present invention. Base station 200 may be used as any of base stations 106 of system 100 of fig. 1. The base station 200 includes a receiver 202 having a decoder 212, a transmitter 204 having an encoder 214, a processor such as a CPU 206, an input/output interface 208, and a memory 210, coupled together by a bus 209 over which the various elements 202, 204, 206, 208, and 210 may exchange data and information.

Sectorized antenna 203 connected to receiver 202 is used for receiving data and other signals, such as channel reports, from wireless terminals in each sector of the cell in which base station 200 is located. Sectorized antenna 205 coupled to transmitter 204 is used for transmitting data and other signals, such as wireless terminal power control command signals, timing control signals, resource allocation information, pilot signals, etc., to wireless terminals 300 (see fig. 3) within each sector 110, 112, 114 of base station's cell 102. In various embodiments of the present invention, the base station 200 may use multiple receivers 202 and multiple transmitters 204, such as a single receiver 202 per sector 110, 112, 114 and a single transmitter 204 per sector 110, 112, 114. The processor 206 may be a general purpose Central Processing Unit (CPU). Memory 210 includes routines 218 and data/information 220. The processor 206 controls the operation of the base station 200 under the direction of one or more routines 218 stored in memory 210 and implements the methods of the present invention using data/information 220. I/O interface 208 provides a connection to other network nodes, connects BS 200 to other base stations, access routers, AAA server nodes, etc., other networks, and the internet.

Data/information 220 includes data 234, downlink channel information 236, tone information 237, and Wireless Terminal (WT) data/information 238, including a plurality of WT information: WT1 info 240 and WT N info 254. Each set of WT information, e.g., WT1 information 240, includes data 242, control information for small data blocks 244, control information for medium data blocks 246, a terminal Identifier (ID)248, a sector Identifier (ID)250, and assigned downlink channel information 252.

Routines 218 include communications routines 222 and base station control routines 224. The base station control routines 224 include a scheduling module 226 and signaling routines 230 including a downlink tone allocation hopping routine 232 and an error correction module 233.

Data 234 may include data/information to be processed by encoder 214 and transmitted by transmitter 204 on a downlink channel to multiple WTs 300, as well as data/information received from WTs 300 that has been processed after reception by decoder 212 of receiver 202. Downlink channel information 236 may include information identifying downlink channels for functional use, such as downlink traffic channels, downlink WT power control channels, and other downlink control channels such as downlink time control channels. Downlink channel information 236 may also include information identifying different types of downlink channels with tone overlap between adjacent sectors, such as fully overlapping channels, non-overlapping channels, and partially overlapping channels. In addition, downlink channel information 236 may also include information associating different types of functional usage channels with different types of tone overlap. For example, the downlink communication channels of large coded transport blocks carrying non-time critical data may have full tone overlap; the WT power control downlink channel carrying small transport blocks using single or few bits and carrying time critical data may have no tone overlap between adjacent sectors. Other control channels, such as time-controlled downlink channels carrying medium-sized coded blocks with some error protection, but relatively large blocks are more prone to bursty interference, may have partial tone overlap between adjacent sectors. Tone information 237 may include information indicating the carrier frequency assigned to each base station 200, the index of logical tones, the number of tones in the downlink hopping sequence, the physical tone index and frequency of the subcarriers corresponding to different frequencies used in the downlink hopping sequence, the duration of the super slot, e.g., the repetition interval of the downlink tone hopping sequence, and cell specific values such as the slope used to identify a particular cell. WT1 data 242 may include data received by base station 200 from a peer node intended for WT1300, data that BS 200 should transmit to WT1300 on a downlink communication channel, after error correction processing, e.g., as data classified according to the invention as corresponding to a large coding block size, e.g., 100 or 1000 bits, and data that WT1300 wishes to transmit to a peer node. Small block size control information 244 may comprise a small data block, e.g., 1 bit or a few bits, such as WT1300 power control command information transmitted by BS 200 on a WT power control downlink channel. The small block size control information 244 is typically time-critical data or control information, and/or the unit of data to be transmitted may be represented by one or several bits. The small block control information 244 to be transmitted may be free of ECC processing prior to transmission, e.g., where the information is formed into a single bit transport block size, where no bits are reserved for error correction purposes. In other cases, the small block size control information may be processed using small error correction coding, such as repetition coding, to generate more ECC bits prior to transmission. The medium block size control information 246 includes control information, such as timing control information. A medium size coded block comprises more than a few bits, such as 10 or 100 bits. The information in the midblock may be point-to-time critical. A medium sized block of information is typically subjected to some ECC processing when formed into an encoded medium sized transport block that typically includes at least some ECC bits. Terminal ID248 is the ID assigned to BS 200 by base station 200 identifying WT 1300. Sector ID 250 includes information identifying the sector 110, 112, 114 in which WT1300 is operating. Assigned downlink channel information 252 includes information identifying channel segments assigned by scheduler 226 for communicating data and information to WTs 1300, e.g., downlink communication channel segments of data with full tone overlap, WT power control command channel segments without tone overlap between adjacent sectors, and other control channel segments, e.g., time control channel segments with partial tone overlap between adjacent sectors. Each downlink channel assigned to WT1300 may comprise one or more logical tones, each tone following a downlink hopping sequence.

Communications routines 222 control the base station 200 to perform various communications operations and implement various communications protocols.

Base station control routines 224 are used to control the base station 200 to perform basic base station functional tasks such as signal generation and reception, including tone hopping and error correction coding processing, scheduling of channel segments to WTs 300 and implement the steps of the method of the present invention to communicate different sized blocks of information from the base station to WTs 300 in a sectorized environment in accordance with the present invention.

The scheduling module 226 assigns downlink and uplink channel segments to WTs 300 within each sector 110, 112, 114 of its cell 102. Each channel segment includes one or more logical tones within a determined time period. Downlink channel segments, such as downlink traffic channel segments carrying large transport data blocks, WT power control channel segments carrying small transport blocks, and other control channel segments, such as time control channel segments carrying medium transport blocks, are allocated to WTs 300 by scheduler 226.

The signaling routine 230 controls the operation of the receiver 202, including the decoder 212, and the transmitter 204, including the encoder 214. The signaling routine 230 is responsible for controlling the generation and detection of transport blocks of various sizes including data, control information, and ECC bits. Downlink tone hopping routine 232 uses information, including tone information 237, as well as downlink channel information 236, to determine the downlink tone hopping sequence. The downlink tone hopping sequences are synchronized among the sectors 110, 112, 114 of the cell 102 such that at any given time in each sector of the cell 102, the total number of tones available, including the entire tone group of the spectrum, is divided into non-overlapping tone groups, with each channel in each sector being assigned to use one of the non-overlapping tone groups. In one embodiment, corresponding channels in various sectors of cell 102 use the same set of tones at any given time, and signals are transmitted in a synchronized manner in the various sectors. Error correction module 233 controls the operation of receiver 202 and its decoder 212 to remove coding on data and information transmitted from WTs 300. Error correction module 233 also controls the operation of transmitter 204 and its encoder 214 to encode data and information to be transmitted from BS 200 to WTs 300. The ECC module 233 may apply an EEC process to the information block, thereby creating a transport block including ECC bits, according to the present invention.

Fig. 3 shows an exemplary wireless terminal (end node) 300 that may be used as any of the wireless terminals (end nodes) of the system 100 shown in fig. 1, such as EN (1) 136. The wireless terminal 300 is implemented according to the downlink resource allocation method of the present invention. The wireless terminal 300 includes a receiver 302 having a decoder 312, a transmitter 304 having an encoder 314, a processor 306, and a memory 308 coupled together by a bus 310 over which the various elements 302, 304, 306, 308 may exchange data and information. An antenna 303 for receiving signals from the base station 200 is connected to the receiver 302. An antenna 305 for transmitting signals to e.g. the base station 200 is connected to the transmitter 304.

The processor 306 controls the operation of the wireless terminal 300 by executing routines 320 and using data/information 322 in memory 308.

Data/information 322 includes user data 334, small block control information 336, medium block control information 338, user information 340, downlink channel information 350, and tone information 352. User data 334 may include text, sound, and/or information files. User data 334 may comprise large blocks of data, such as 100 or 1000 bits, processed by decoder 312 from large transport blocks transmitted by BS 200. Such information may be of a type that requires a large number of bits to be useful and/or not as time critical as the various control signals. In general, downlink user data is communicated from BS 200 to WTs 300 via downlink communication channels having full overlap between tones used to transmit signals in adjacent sectors. User data 334 may also include data destined for a peer node (e.g., WT) that should be transmitted to base station 200 over an uplink communication channel after processing by encoder 314. Small block control information 336 may include data such as WT power control command information transmitted from BS 200 over a downlink control channel. The small block control information 336 is typically time critical and requires few bits to pass. In the case of a small information block 336 in which the encoding block size is one bit, no bits are reserved for ECC purposes, and ECC encoding is not utilized when transferring information, in such a case, the small block information 336 is made particularly susceptible to loss due to interference. In other cases, the small block control information 336 may be processed by small error correction coding (e.g., repetition coding) into a small block size coded block comprising several ECC bits. Where a small coded block includes several ECC bits, it is still susceptible to loss due to pulsing or other noise because the data sequence is limited to a very small number of bits or is not used at all, making the small block susceptible to bursts of pulsing or other short-term noise. Small information blocks 336 are communicated from BS 200 to WT300 over downlink control channels with no tone overlap between adjacent sectors in terms of tones used to transmit small blocks over the channels at a particular point in time. As such, in the case of transmitting blocks with small code sizes, interference between sectors can generally be avoided. The medium block size control information 338 may include control information that is somewhat time sensitive, but less time critical than the small block information 336, and may be represented by medium size coded blocks, e.g., 10 or 100 bits. The medium type block size control information 338 may be time control information. Such information may be transmitted from BS 200 to WT300 using a downlink control channel, where certain tones, but not all tones, are used in adjacent sectors to transmit the midamble block during the transmission time period overlap. The midrange transport block used to transport information 338 may typically include some ECC bits. User information 340 includes allocated downlink channel information 342, terminal ID information 344, base station ID information 346, and sector ID information 348. Assigned downlink channel information 342 includes information identifying channel segments allocated by scheduler 226 for communicating data and information to WTs 300, e.g., downlink communications channel segments having full transmission tone overlap between adjacent sectors of data, WT power control command channel segments having no transmission tone overlap between adjacent sectors, and other control channel segments such as time control channel segments having partial transmission tone overlap between adjacent sectors. Each downlink channel assigned to WT300 may comprise one or more logical tones, each tone following a downlink hopping sequence, synchronized between each sector of the cell.

User information 340 further includes terminal ID information 344, which may be base station 200 assigned identification information, and base station ID information 344 identifying the particular base station 200 with which WT300 has established communications may provide a cell slope value used to generate downlink hopping sequences, sector ID information 348 identifying the particular sector of the cell in which WT300 is currently located.

Downlink channel information 350 may include information identifying downlink channels for functional purposes, e.g., downlink traffic channels, downlink WT power control channels, and other downlink control channels such as downlink time control channels. Downlink channel information 350 can also include information identifying different types of downlink channels with transmission tone overlap between adjacent sectors, e.g., channels with full transmission tone overlap, channels with no transmission tone overlap, and channels with partial transmission tone overlap. In addition, downlink channel information 350 may also include information associating different types of functional usage channels with different types of transmission tone overlap. For example, downlink communication channels carrying large transport blocks may have a complete overlap in terms of tones used for actual transmission tones (referred to as transmission tones); WT power control downlink channels with small transport blocks may have no transmission tone overlap between adjacent sectors and other control channels, e.g., time control downlink channels, may have partial transmission tone overlap between adjacent sectors.

Tone information 352 may include the carrier frequency assigned to each base station 200, the index of the logical tone, the number of tones in the downlink hopping sequence, the physical tone index and frequency in the downlink hopping sequence, the duration of the super slot, the repetition interval, e.g., of the downlink tone hopping sequence, and cell specific values, such as the slope of each base station 200.

Routines 320 include communications routines 324 and wireless terminal control routines 326. Communications routines 324 control the various communications protocols used by the WT 300. Wireless terminal control routines 326 control basic wireless terminal 300 functions, including: control of the receiver 302 and transmitter 304, power control, timing control and synchronization, and user input/output options and requests. Wireless terminal control routines 326 also include signaling routines 328 that control signal generation, reception, and processing. Signaling routines 328 include a downlink channel hopping routine 330 and an error correction module 332. The downlink channel hopping routine 330 uses the user data/information 322, including downlink channel information 350, base station ID information 346, such as slope, tone information 352, to generate downlink tone hopping sequences and process received data for transmission from the base station 200. Decoder 312 of receiver 302 processes the transport blocks, as directed by error correction module 332, to perform ECC and to obtain the information and data transmitted by BS 200. The ECC module 332 also controls the encoder 314 of the transmitter 304 to encode data and information prior to transmission to the base station 200.

Fig. 4 shows exemplary different size information blocks, error correction procedures, and transport blocks of various sizes in accordance with the present invention. Although the encoding is described as error correction encoding, it should be understood that the error detection bits may be encoded in addition to, or instead of, the error correction bits, and in various embodiments. In many cases, error correction bits can also be used as error detection bits. As such, it should be appreciated that error detection and/or error correction bits may be generated and included in encoded blocks for transmission as part of the error correction process shown in FIG. 4. Graph 400 of fig. 4 shows a base station 200 as it might wish to transmit to a wireless terminal 300 in a communication cell of a wireless sector, e.g., sector 1112 of cell 102 of fig. 1. Other embodiments of the invention may have more than three different size information block categories with different amounts of transmission tone overlap being used for different size blocks, the amount of transmission tone overlap increasing as the coding block size increases. Fig. 4 includes an exemplary first size block of information 402, which is a size 0 (small) block of data and may include Wireless Terminal (WT) power control command information. The first size (small) block of information 402 is time critical in this example and as such is not combined with other control information into a larger block. In some embodiments, the first size (small) block of information 402 is less than 10 bits in length and is used to convey control information. The encoded blocks 404 in the case of blocks of the first size may be the same as the uncoded blocks or include small error correction encoding bits 407. In one embodiment, for a unit block of data 402, one or more reset bits are generated and included in the encoded block 404. In such a case, the coding block 404 will include at least one ECC bit 407 in addition to the control information bits 405. In the example of fig. 4, ECC bits 407 are generated in step 403 using a method that produces relatively few ECC or error detection bits (resulting in a small error correction code). Examples of suitable methods include repetition coding and parity coding. Fig. 4 also includes an exemplary second size block of information 406, the block of information 406 having an exemplary uncoded data block size of 1(20 bits) and may include control information such as timing control information. Error correction coding and/or interleaving (re-sequencing) may be performed on the second type of block to help prevent burst errors. The resulting encoded blocks 410 of the second size comprise the same number of bits, or more bits than the unencoded blocks 406. In the example of fig. 4, error correction code bits 414 are generated from the bits in block 406 and then added to the information bits 412 in step 408 to generate an encoded information block of the second size to be transmitted. In some embodiments, different tones are used to transmit different ones of the ECC bits 414 and/or the information bits 412 to further prevent the possibility of errors due to noise that may be encountered in the frequency of one of the utilized tones.

Fig. 4 also includes an exemplary third size block of information 416, which is a data block of size 2(200 bits) and may include user data, etc. The third size (large) block of information 416 may include information and/or control signals that are not particularly time critical and allow them to be combined together to form a larger block of data that may be encoded and transmitted as a unit (e.g., a large coded block). In step 418, the third size uncoded data block 416 is error correction coded and/or interleaved to produce a large coded block 420 to be transmitted. Error correction bits 424 are generated as part of ECC process 418 and added to data bits 422, thereby forming large coded block 420. ECC bits 407, 414, and 424 are shown at the end of transport blocks 404, 410, and 420, but may also be interleaved with data bits.

In general, where some form of signal coding is used, the larger the block size used in the coding, the greater the ability to prevent burst errors where one or a few consecutive bits are lost at one or more different locations in the coded block. In the case of wireless systems, burst errors are common and may be caused by unpredictable impulse noise occurring at one or more tones. Error correction is typically supported in both medium and large transport blocks (410, 420), and may also be supported in small transport block 404. The small (coded) transport block 404 may be more error prone than the medium (coded) transport block 410 due to impulse signal interference and/or other interference types, since small block error codes, such as repetition codes, are not as effective as the coding techniques typically used for medium (coded) transport blocks 410 in cancelling the effects of impulse signal interference. The medium sized (coded) transmission block 410 is more error prone than larger sized blocks 420 due to impulse signal interference and/or other interference, where error correction coding and data reordering for the larger block sizes 420 provides better interference prevention than in the medium sized coding block 410. In large coded blocks 420, a relatively large number of bits may be allocated for error detection and correction, providing greater protection than smaller blocks (e.g., medium sized coded blocks 410), with proportionally fewer ECC bits relative to the number of blocks of data bits.

Different encoded blocks 404, 410, 420 of first, second and third sizes, each transmitted over a communications channel using tones allocated in accordance with the present invention, are transmitted by transmitter 204 to WTs 300 via sectorized antenna 205.

In some embodiments of the invention, information blocks of a first size, e.g., data block size 0 (small) 402, are smaller than information blocks of a second size, e.g., data block size 1 (medium) 406, and information blocks of the second size, e.g., data block size 1 (medium) 406, are smaller than information blocks of a third size, e.g., data block size 2 (large) 416. For each sector 112, 114, 116 of the cell 102 there may be information blocks and transport blocks of the first, second and third sizes, with the transport blocks being transmitted in each sector simultaneously or at different times in accordance with the present invention.

In some embodiments, the operation of classifying information and data into different sized information and transport blocks may be predetermined by the type of information, such as user data, power control information, etc., which classification may be stored in both BS 200 and WT300 for implementing the present invention.

Fig. 5 illustrates, by way of a graph 500, exemplary tone assignments for respective downlink channels in two adjacent sectors of an exemplary OFDM wireless system (e.g., a two-sector system) to illustrate the present invention. The air link resources available for downlink communications from base station 200 to WTs 300 may be represented by spectrum 502, which spectrum 502 corresponds to the entire tone group including tones 0 through 9. In each sector a and B, the same frequency spectrum 502 may be subdivided into OFDM tones, such as 10 exemplary OFDM tones: tone 0564, tone 1566, tone 2568, tone 3570, tone 4572, tone 5574, tone 6576, tone 7578, tone 8580, and tone 9582. In sector a, the 10 OFDM tones are further represented as: 0_A504. Tone 1_A506. Tone 2_A508. Tone 3_A510. Tone 4_A512. Tone 5_A514. Tone 6_A516. Tone 7_A518. Tone 8_A520 and tone 9a 522. In sector B, the 10 OFDM tones are further represented as: tone 0_B534. Tone 1_B536. Tone 2_B538. Tone 3_B540. Tone 4_B542. Tone 5_B544. Tone 6_B546. Tone 7_B548. Tone 8_B550 and tone 9_B552. Referring now to FIG. 5, a general discussion will be providedAn exemplary tone allocation and utilization method of the present invention is indicated by the reference numeral 500. As shown in fig. 5, the entire frequency spectrum 502 is divided into ten tones, tone 0 through tone 9, in the symbol transmission time period shown, as shown in column 509. According to the present invention, tones are divided to support at least three channel types, a first channel, such as a communication channel, for transmitting large coded information blocks, a second channel, such as a first control channel, for transmitting small coded blocks, and a third channel, such as a second control channel, for transmitting medium sized coded blocks. In fig. 5, in columns 501 and 505, shading is used to indicate tones allocated for transmission of signals corresponding to coded blocks. The unshaded tones in columns 501 and 505 are controlled to be unused.

For purposes of illustrating the invention, it is assumed that the same tone group is designated in each sector of the cell as corresponding to the same channel. However, in the case of small and medium sized coded blocks, it is important that the relationship between the tones in one sector that are allocated for data transmission and the tones in one or more adjacent sectors that are controlled to be unused for a particular transmission period to avoid or reduce interference between sectors. It will be appreciated that it is not important to allocate unused tones to a particular channel, as the tones will not be used to carry information and therefore will be the same as any other unused tones. In the non-overlapping case, it is important that tones in the first sector that are allocated for transmission tones are not used in adjacent sectors. However, conceptually, it is also useful to consider that the unused tones correspond to a particular channel. Also, in fig. 5, the tones of a given channel are shown as being contiguous for simplicity. However, in practice, the tones may be non-contiguous.

Fig. 5 and 6 show various tone allocations for two adjacent sectors a and B during first and second symbol transmission times, respectively. In some embodiments, the transmission symbol time of fig. 6 occurs immediately after the symbol time of fig. 5. Two different symbol times are shown to show that the tones allocated to a particular channel may vary over time, such as hopping.

In the illustration of fig. 5, columns 501, 503 correspond to tone allocations for sector a, and columns 505, 507 correspond to tone allocations for sector B. Tones allocated for transmission of information are shown in columns 501, 505 using shading. These transmission tones may or may not actually be used for transmitting data, depending on the system loading conditions. In a fully utilized system, information is transmitted on these tones. Accordingly, for purposes of illustrating the present invention, it is assumed that data is transmitted on the shaded tones of columns 501 and 505. According to the present invention, a transmission control mechanism implemented in one cell may prevent transmission on unshaded tones in columns 501, 505. These tones are not used during the exemplary symbol period shown in fig. 5.

Column 503 shows the relationship between the tones listed in column 501 and the various communication channels in sector a. Similarly, column 507 shows the relationship between the tones listed in column 505 and the various communication channels in sector B. Note that the same communication channel is supported in sectors a and B, but there is a significant difference in the overlap of transmission tones depending on the size of the coding blocks being transmitted.

For larger coded blocks, in fig. 5, in sector a, tones 0, 1, 2(504, 506, 508) are allocated to communication channel a, as shown in block 524, for use as transmission tones in transmitting information corresponding to large coded data blocks, e.g., communication blocks. In sector B, the same set of tones 0, 1, 2 (534, 536, 538) are allocated to communication channel B, as shown in block 554, for use as transmission tones in transmitting information corresponding to large coded data blocks (e.g., more communication blocks). In the case of transmission of large coded blocks, there is complete overlap of tones allocated for information transmission, as shown by the double hatching shown by tones 0, 1, 2(564, 566, 568) shown in column 509.

In the case of small coded information blocks, e.g., the coded information block transmitted on the first control channel, tones used to transmit information in one sector are not used in adjacent sectors. In column 501, it can be seen in this example that tones 3 and 4(510, 512) are allocated for use as transmission tones in sector A, which correspond to control channel 1 as indicated by block 526 in column 503. During the symbol transmission time period shown, these tones are unused in sector B and tones 5 and 6(544, 546) are allocated for use as transmission tones in sector B. In sector B, tones 5 and 6 correspond to control channel 1 as indicated by block 556. Note that in sector a, transmissions are controlled so that tones 5 and 6(514, 516) are not used in sector a when they are allocated for small coded block transmission in sector B. Unused tones 5 and 6 in sector a and unused tones 3 and 4 in sector B may be interpreted as corresponding to control channel 1 even though they are not used for information transmission during the displayed symbol time. In the case of control channel 1 for transmission of small coded blocks, the transmission tones do not overlap, i.e., the tones allocated for transmission of information signals on the tones are different in each sector and unused in adjacent sectors. Tones 3, 4, 5, 6(570, 572, 574, 576) remain unshaded in column 509 because the transmission tones in sectors a and B do not overlap in the case where the tones correspond to the first control channel.

In the case of a medium size coded information block, e.g., a coded information block transmitted on a second control channel, some but not all of the tones used to transmit information in one sector are unused in an adjacent sector. In column 501, it can be seen in this example that tones 7 and 8 are allocated for use as transmission tones in the first sector, which correspond to control channel 2 as indicated by block 528 in column 503. Of these tones, tone 7(548) is not used in sector B and tones 8 and 9(550, 552) are allocated for use as transmission tones in sector B during the symbol transmission time shown. In sector B, transmission tones 8 and 9(550, 552) correspond to control channel 2 as indicated by block 558. Note that in sector a, transmission is controlled so that when tone 9(522) is allocated for medium size coded block transmission in sector B, it is not used in sector a. Unused tones 9(522) in sector a and unused tone 7 in sector B may be interpreted as corresponding to control channel 2 even though they are not used for information transmission during the displayed symbol time. In the case of a medium size coded block control channel 2 for transmission, there is partial overlap of the transmission tones, i.e., some tones allocated for actual transmission of information signals are used in both sectors, while other tones are not used in both sectors. Tones 7 and 9(578, 582) remain unshaded in column 509 because in the case of these tones, the transmission tones in sectors a and B do not overlap, while tone 8(580) is shown cross-hatched because it is used for transmission in both sectors a and B, resulting in complete signal overlap for tone 8 (580).

In the illustration of fig. 6, columns 601, 603 correspond to tone allocations for sector a, and columns 605, 607 correspond to tone allocations for sector B. Tones allocated for transmission of information are shown in columns 601, 605 using shading. These transmission tones may or may not actually be used for transmitting data, depending on the system loading conditions. In a fully utilized system, information is transmitted on these tones. Accordingly, for purposes of illustrating the present invention, it is assumed that data is transmitted on the shaded tones of columns 601 and 605. According to the present invention, a transmission control mechanism implemented in one cell may prevent transmission on unshaded tones in columns 601, 605. These tones are not used during the exemplary symbol transmission time period shown in fig. 6.

Column 603 shows the relationship between the tones listed in column 601 and the various communication channels in sector a. Similarly, column 607 shows the relationship between the tones listed in column 605 and the various communication channels in sector B. Note that the same communication channel is supported in sectors a and B, but there is a significant difference in the overlap of transmission tones depending on the size of the coding blocks being transmitted.

For larger coded blocks, in fig. 6, in sector a, tones 2, 3, 4(608, 610, 612) are allocated to communication channel a, as shown by block 624, for use as transmission tones in transmitting information corresponding to large coded data blocks, e.g., communication blocks. In sector B, the same set of tones 2, 3, 4 (638, 640, 642) are allocated to traffic channel a, as indicated by block 654, for use as transmission tones in transmitting information corresponding to large coded data blocks, e.g., traffic blocks. In the case of transmission of large coded blocks, there is complete overlap of tones allocated for transmission of information as shown by the cross-hatching shown by tones 2, 3, 4(668, 670, 672) shown in column 609.

In the case of small coded information blocks, e.g., the coded information block transmitted on the first control channel, tones used to transmit information in one sector are not used in adjacent sectors. In column 601, it can be seen in this example that tones 5 and 6(614, 616) are allocated for use as transmission tones in sector a, which correspond to control channel 1 as indicated by block 626 in column 603. During the symbol transmission time period shown, these tones are unused in sector B and tones 7 and 8(648, 650) are allocated for use as transmission tones in sector B. In sector B, tones 7 and 8(648, 650) correspond to control channel 1 as shown in block 656. Note that in sector a, transmissions are controlled so that tones 7 and 8(618, 620) are not used in sector a when they are allocated for small coded block transmission in sector B. Unused tones 7 and 8 in sector a (618, 620) and unused tones 5 and 6 in sector B (644, 646) may be interpreted as corresponding to control channel 1 even though they are not used for information transmission during the displayed symbol time. In the case of control channel 1 for transmission of small coded blocks, the transmission tones do not overlap, i.e., the tones are allocated for actual transmission of information signals on the tones, rather than being controlled to an unused state. Tones 5, 6, 7, 8(674, 676, 678, 780) remain unshaded in column 609 because the transmission tones in sectors a and B do not overlap in the case where these tones correspond to the first control channel.

In the case of a medium size coded information block, e.g., a coded information block transmitted on a second control channel, some but not all of the tones used to transmit information in one sector are unused in an adjacent sector. In column 601, it can be seen in this example that tones 0 and 9(604, 622) are allocated for use as transmission tones in sector a, which correspond to control channel 2 as indicated by block 628 in column 603. Of these tones, tone 9(652) is not used in sector B and tones 0 and 1(634, 636) are allocated for use as transmission tones in sector B during the symbol transmission time shown. In sector B, transmission tones 0 and 1(634, 636) correspond to control channel 2 as indicated by block 658. Note that in sector a, transmission is controlled so that when tone 1(606) is allocated for medium size coded block transmission in sector B, it is not used in sector a. Unused tone 1(606) in sector a and unused tone 9(652) in sector B may be interpreted as corresponding to control channel 2 even though they are not used for information transmission during the displayed symbol time. In the case of the control channel 2 for transmission of medium-sized coded blocks, the transmission tones are partially overlapped, i.e., the tones are allocated for actual transmission of information signals, rather than being controlled to be in an unused state. Tones 1 and 9(666, 682) remain unshaded in column 609 because in the case of these tones, the transmission tones in sectors a and B do not overlap, while tone 0(664) is shown cross-hatched because it is used for transmission in both sectors a and B, resulting in complete signal overlap for tone 0 (664).

Fig. 7 shows, by way of a graph 700, three sectors of an exemplary 3-sector OFDM wireless system: exemplary transmission tone assignments for various downlink channels in sectors A, B and C (e.g., sector 1112, sector 2114, and sector 3116 of system 100 of fig. 1). Air link resources available for downlink communications from base station 200 to WTs 300 may be represented by spectrum 702. In each sector A, B and C, the same frequency spectrum 702 may be subdivided into the same OFDM tones, such as 10 exemplary OFDM tones, identified in sector a as: tone 0_A704. Tone 1_A706. Tone 2_A708. Tone 3_A710. Tone 4_A712. Tone 5_A714. Tone 6_A716. Tone 7_A718. SoundTone 8_A720 and tone 9_A722, identified in sector B as: 0_B734. Tone 1_B736. Tone 2_B738. Tone 3_B740. Tone 4_B742. Tone 5_B744. Tone 6_B746. Tone 7_B748. Tone 8_B750 and tone 9_B752, identified in sector C as: tone 0_C764. Tone 1_C766. Tone 2_C768. Tone 3_C770. Tone 4_C772. Tone 5_C774. Tone 6_C776. Tone 7_C778. Tone 8_C780 and tone 9_C 782。

Fig. 7 shows completely overlapping communication channels: sector a communication channel_A724. Sector B communication channel_B754 and sector C communication channels_C784. Fig. 7 also shows non-overlapping control channels 1: sector a control channel 1_A726. Sector B control channel 1_B756 and sector C control channel 1_C. In addition, fig. 7 also shows partially overlapping control channels 2: sector a control channel 2_A728. Sector B control channel 2_B758 and sector C control channel 2_C788. Communication channels 724, 754, and 756 use the same four tones (0, 1, 2, 3) for transmission in each of the three sectors. Control channels 1726, 756, 786 each use a different one of the subset of three tones (4, 5, 6) as a transmission tone, with the other tones unused in a single sector. Control channels 2728, 758, 788 each use two of the three tones (7, 8, 9) as transmission tones, such that between each of two adjacent sectors, one tone will be an overlapping tone and two tones in a subset of 3 tones (7, 8, 9) will be non-overlapping tones.

For sector a, diagonal shading of the upward slope from the left to right of blocks 704, 706, 708, 710, 712, 718, and 720 indicates that BS 200 is assigned tones 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, and 8 for transmitting signals to channels in sector a. For sector B, the downward sloping diagonal shading from the left to the right of blocks 734, 736, 738, 740, 744, 748, and 752 indicates that BS 200 is allocated tones 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, and 9 for transmission of signals to channels in sector B. For sector C, vertical line shading from the left to right of blocks 764, 766, 768, 770, 776, 780, and 782 indicates that BS 200 has allocated tones 0, 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, and 9 for transmitting signals to channels in sector C.

Column 790 represents each tone 0.. 9 and indicates by shading 0, 1, 2, 3, and 7 the overlapping transmission tones between sectors a and B. Column 792 represents each tone 0.. 9 and indicates by shading 0, 1, 2, 3 and 9 the overlapping transmission tones between sectors B and C. Column 794 represents each tone 0.. 9, and indicates by shading 0, 1, 2, 3, and 8 the overlapping transmission tones between sectors C and a.

It will be appreciated that the method of the present invention involves implementing different transmission channels in adjacent sectors of a cell, 1) using non-overlapping transmission tones for code blocks of a first size, 2) using partially overlapping transmission tones for code blocks of a second size larger than the first size, and 3) using fully overlapping transmission tones for code blocks of a third size larger than the second size, the method of the present invention can be extended to more channels for code blocks of other sizes. For example, a fourth size coded block may be designated to correspond to a fourth channel, which is another overlapping channel. In the case of the fourth channel, the fourth size of code blocks is larger than the second size of code blocks but smaller than the third size. In one such embodiment, the relative ratio of overlapping to non-overlapping tones allocated to the fourth channel is greater than the value of the second communication channel, and the non-overlapping tones in each particular sector are unused. Thus, in such an embodiment, the fourth communication channel has a greater frequency reuse than the second communication channel, but less frequency reuse than the third communication channel.

Many variations of the invention are possible. For example, multiple channels may be supported for one or more of at least 3 different coded block sizes supported by the present invention.

The modules for implementing the present invention may be implemented as software, hardware or as a combination of software and hardware. The invention can also have, among other things, a machine-readable medium, a memory, for controlling a device, such as a processor, to implement one or more steps according to the invention, e.g., transmitting encoded data blocks of different sizes over channels having different frequency multiplexes.

The method and apparatus of the present invention may be used with OFDM communication systems as well as other kinds of communication systems including CDMA systems.

Claims (29)

1. A method of communicating blocks of information in a wireless sectorized frequency division multiplexed communication cell including a base station, a first sector and a second sector, the second sector being located adjacent said first sector, said blocks of information including blocks of a first size, blocks of a second size and blocks of a third size, the method comprising:

allocating a first set of tones to a first communication channel in each of first and second sectors;

allocating a second set of tones to a second communication channel in each of the first and second sectors;

allocating a third set of tones to a third communication channel in each of the first and second sectors;

using a first set of tones in a first sector for a first period of time to communicate information corresponding to a block of a first size, wherein the first set of tones is not used in a second sector while tones in the first set of tones are being used to communicate information in the first sector;

using a second set of tones in the first and second sectors for a second time period to communicate information corresponding to a block of a second size, the step of using the second set of tones for the second time period comprising:

simultaneously transmitting information corresponding to a block of a second size in both the first and second sectors using the same tones, the same tones being a first subset of tones in the second set of tones;

transmitting information corresponding to a block of a second size in the first sector using a second subset of tones in the second set of tones, while tones in the second subset of tones used to transmit information in the first sector are unused in the second sector; and

transmitting information corresponding to a block of the second size in the second sector using a third subset of tones in the second set of tones, tones in the third subset of tones used to transmit information in the second sector not being used in the first sector; and

information corresponding to blocks of a third size is conveyed during a third time period using a third set of tones in the first and second sectors, the tones in the third set of tones being used to transmit information in the first and second sectors simultaneously.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second subset of tones and the third subset of tones have the same number of tones.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the information corresponding to blocks of the second size in the first sector comprises at least one of a set of error detection bits and a set of error detection bits, at least one bit of the at least one set of bits being transmitted using a tone in the first subset of tones, and at least another bit of the at least one set of bits being transmitted using a tone in the second subset of tones.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first, second and third time periods are the same.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the length of the first size blocks is less than the length of the second size blocks, and the length of the second size blocks is less than the length of the third size blocks.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the first size blocks are less than 10 bits in length and are used to convey control information.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the first size block is a single bit in length.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the third size block is greater than 20 bits in length.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the third size of blocks is greater than 100 bits in length, wherein each block includes error correction bits, wherein the error correction bits are encoded over a majority of bits in the third size of blocks that include the error correction bits.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the first, second and third time periods are the same symbol transmission time period.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the first, second and third time periods are the same symbol transmission time period, the method further comprising:

assigning a fourth set of tones to the first communication channel in each of the first and second sectors;

assigning a fifth set of tones to the second communication channel in each of the first and second sectors;

assigning a sixth set of tones to the third communication channel in each of the first and second sectors;

using a fourth set of tones in the first sector for a fourth period of time to convey information corresponding to blocks of the first size, wherein the fourth set of tones is not used in the second sector when tones in the fourth set of tones are used to convey information in the first sector;

using a fifth set of tones in the first and second sectors for a fifth time period to convey information corresponding to blocks of the second size, the step of using the fifth set of tones for the fifth time period comprising:

simultaneously transmitting information corresponding to blocks of the second size in both the first and second sectors using the same tones, the same tones being a first subset of tones in the fifth set of tones;

transmitting information corresponding to a block of a second size in the first sector using a second subset of tones in the fifth set of tones, while tones in the second subset of tones in the fifth set of tones used to transmit information in the first sector are unused in the second sector; and

transmitting information corresponding to a block of the second size in the second sector using a third subset of tones in the fifth set of tones, while tones in the third subset of tones in the fifth set of tones used to transmit information in the second sector are unused in the first sector; and

information corresponding to a block of the third size is conveyed during a sixth time period using a sixth set of tones in the first and second sectors, the tones in the sixth set of tones being used to transmit information in the first and second sectors simultaneously.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein at least one tone in the first and fourth sets of tones is different.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein at least one tone in the second and fifth sets of tones is different.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein at least one tone in the third and sixth sets of tones is different, wherein the fourth, fifth and sixth time periods are the same symbol time, which follows the first time period.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein allocating a first set of tones comprises using a tone hopping sequence to determine tones to include in the first set of tones.

16. A method of communicating blocks of information in a wireless sectorized frequency division multiplexed communication cell including a base station, a first sector and a second sector, the second sector being located adjacent said first sector, said blocks of information including blocks of a first size, blocks of a second size and blocks of a third size, the method comprising:

allocating a first set of tones to a first communication channel, said first set of tones being used for transmitting signals in said first sector and not being used in said second sector;

allocating a second set of tones to a second communication channel, the second set of tones for transmitting signals for each of the first and second sectors;

allocating a third set of tones to the second communication channel, the third set of tones being used for transmitting signals in the first sector and not being used in the second sector;

allocating a fourth set of tones to a third communication channel, the fourth set of tones being used for simultaneous transmission of tones in the first and second sectors;

using a first set of tones in a first sector to convey information corresponding to blocks of a first size for a first time period, while leaving tones in the first set of tones unused in a second sector;

communicating information corresponding to blocks of the second size in the first sector using second and third sets of tones for a second time period, the second set of tones being used to transmit information corresponding to blocks of the second size in the second sector, the third set of tones not being used in the second sector; and

a fourth set of tones in the first and second sectors are used simultaneously during a third time period to convey information corresponding to blocks of a third size.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

allocating a fifth set of tones to the second communication channel, the fifth set of tones being used for transmitting signals in a second sector and not being used in the first sector; and

a fifth set of tones is used during the second time period to convey information corresponding to blocks of a second size in a second sector, while the fifth set of tones is unused in the first sector.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the first, second, and third time periods are the same time period.

19. A base station for controlling transmission of coded blocks to a first sector and a second sector in a sectorized frequency division multiplexed communications cell, the second sector being located adjacent said first sector, said blocks of information comprising blocks of a first size, blocks of a second size and blocks of a third size, the base station comprising:

tone allocation means for allocating tones for use in each of said first and second sectors, said means for allocating tones allocating a first set of tones to a first communication channel in each of the first and second sectors, a second set of tones to a second communication channel in each of the first and second sectors, and a third set of tones to a third communication channel in each of the first and second sectors; and

communication means for:

i) using a first set of tones in a first sector for a first period of time to communicate information corresponding to a block of a first size, wherein the first set of tones is not used in a second sector while tones in the first set of tones are being used to communicate information in the first sector;

ii) communicating information corresponding to a block of a second size using a second set of tones in the first and second sectors for a second time period, the step of using the second set of tones for the second time period comprising:

simultaneously transmitting information corresponding to blocks of the second size in both the first and second sectors using the same tones, the same tones being a first subset of tones in the second set of tones, for transmitting information corresponding to blocks of the second size in the first sector using a second subset of tones in the second set of tones, while tones in the second subset of tones used to transmit information in the first sector are unused in the second sector; and transmitting information corresponding to a block of the second size in the second sector using a third subset of tone tones in the second set of tones, tones in the third subset used to transmit information in the second sector not being used in the first sector; and

iii) communicating information corresponding to blocks of a third size during a third time period using a third set of tones in the first and second sectors, the tones in the third set of tones being used to simultaneously transmit information in the first and second sectors.

20. The base station of claim 19, wherein the communication device comprises:

at least one communication routine for controlling data to be transmitted;

a transmitter for receiving data selected by the at least one communication routine to be transmitted; and

an antenna for transmitting partitions of blocks of the first, second and third sizes generated by the transmitter.

21. The base station of claim 19, wherein the second and third subsets of tones have the same number of tones.

22. The base station of claim 19, wherein the information corresponding to blocks of the second size in the first sector includes at least one of a set of error correction bits and a set of error detection bits, at least one bit of the at least one set of bits being transmitted using a tone in the first subset of tones, and at least another bit of the at least one set of bits being transmitted using a tone in the second subset of tones.

23. The base station of claim 19, wherein the first, second and third time periods are the same.

24. The base station of claim 19, wherein the length of the blocks of the first size is less than the length of the blocks of the second size, and the length of the blocks of the second size is less than the length of the blocks of the third size.

25. The base station of claim 24, wherein the first size blocks are less than 10 bits in length and are used to convey control information.

26. The base station of claim 24, wherein the first size block is a single bit in length.

27. The base station of claim 26, wherein the third size block is greater than 20 bits in length.

28. The base station of claim 26, wherein the third size blocks are greater than 100 bits in length, wherein each block includes error correction bits, wherein the error correction bits are encoded over a majority of bits in the third size blocks that include the error correction bits.

29. The method of claim 8, wherein the first, second and third time periods are the same symbol transmission time period.