HK1154321B - Method and apparatus to report and manage cells in a multi carrier system - Google Patents

Description

Method and apparatus for reporting and managing cells in a multi-carrier system

Cross Reference to Related Applications

The present application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application No.61/039,164 entitled "METHODS and data applications TO REPORT AND MANAGE CELLS IN A MULTI carrier system", filed on 25.3.2008.

Technical Field

The present application relates generally to wireless communications, and more particularly, to methods and systems that facilitate managing cells in a multi-carrier system.

Background

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication; for example, voice and/or data may be provided via a wireless communication system. A typical wireless communication system or network may enable multiple users to access one or more shared resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, etc.). For example, one system may use multiple access techniques such as Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM), Time Division Multiplexing (TDM), Code Division Multiplexing (CDM), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), high speed packet (HSPA, HSPA +), and the like. Additionally, a wireless communication system may be designed to implement one or more standards, such as IS-95, CDMA2000, IS-856, W-CDMA, TD-SCDMA, and so on.

Generally, a wireless multiple-access communication system can simultaneously support communication for multiple wireless terminals. In such a system, each terminal may communicate with one or more base stations via transmissions on the forward and reverse links. The forward link (or downlink) refers to the communication link from the base stations to the terminals, and the reverse link (or uplink) refers to the communication link from the terminals to the base stations. The communication links described above may be established via a single-input-single-output (SISO) system, a multiple-input-single-output (MISO) system, or a multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) system.

MIMO systems utilize multiple (N)_TMultiple) transmitting antennas and multiple (N)_RAnd) receiving antennas for data transmission. May be composed of N_TA transmitting antenna and N_RMIMO channel decomposition into N_SIndividual channels, which are also referred to as spatial channels, where N_S≤{N_T，N_R}。N_SEach of the individual channels corresponds to a dimension. MIMO systems can provide improved performance (e.g., higher throughput and/or greater reliability) if the additional dimensionalities created by the multiple transmit and receive antennas are utilized.

MIMO systems support Time Division Duplex (TDD) and Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) systems. In a TDD system, the forward and reverse link transmissions are on the same frequency interval, so the reciprocal principle allows the estimation of the forward link channel from the reverse link channel. Thus, when multiple antennas are available at the access point, the access point is enabled to extract transmit beamforming gain on the forward link.

Recent research has focused on the feasibility of scheduling on two HSDPA carriers. This study is of particular interest: by multiplexing carriers in the CELL DCH state, this scheduling method is utilized to increase the peak data rate per user and better utilize the available resources. This Dual carrier approach is also commonly referred to as DC-HSDPA (Dual Cell HSDPA) or Dual carrier HSDPA), where DC-HSDPA provides higher resource utilization and higher frequency selectivity in order to obtain better performance gains, especially for UEs experiencing poor channel conditions.

Existing cell management schemes for DC-HSDPA systems do not allow the base station to take into account the downlink conditions measured by the UE. Undesirably, such a scheme forces the base station to perform cell management functions without knowledge of the real-time downlink conditions experienced by the UE. Accordingly, there is a need for a method and apparatus that facilitates managing cells in a multi-carrier system based on downlink measurements performed by a UE.

Disclosure of Invention

The following presents a simplified summary of one or more embodiments in order to provide a basic understanding of such embodiments. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated embodiments, and is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of all embodiments nor delineate the scope of any or all embodiments. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more embodiments in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

In accordance with one or more embodiments and corresponding disclosure thereof, various aspects are described that facilitate managing cells in a multi-carrier system. In one aspect, a method, apparatus, and computer program product are disclosed that facilitate managing cells in a multi-carrier system from a base station. In this embodiment, a base station communicates with an access terminal via at least one of an anchor carrier or a supplementary carrier. Generating a triggering algorithm that includes instructions for an access terminal to report downlink measurements based on detection of a triggering event occurring on at least one of an anchor carrier or a secondary carrier. A triggering algorithm is then sent to the access terminal and downlink measurements are subsequently received from the access terminal. The access terminal is then provided with cell management instructions based in part on the downlink measurements.

In another aspect, a method, apparatus, and computer program product are disclosed that facilitate managing cells in a multi-carrier system from an access terminal. In this embodiment, an access terminal communicates with a base station via at least one of an anchor carrier or a supplementary carrier. An access terminal is configured with a triggering algorithm received from a base station, wherein the triggering algorithm includes instructions for determining whether to report downlink measurements performed by the access terminal. The access terminal detects a trigger event defined by a trigger algorithm and occurring on the anchor carrier. The downlink measurements are then reported to the base station after detecting the triggering event, and a response is then received from the base station, the response including cell management instructions based in part on the downlink measurements.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the one or more embodiments comprise the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and the annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative aspects of the one or more embodiments. These aspects are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of various embodiments may be employed and the described embodiments are intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is an illustration of an example wireless communication system that facilitates managing cells in a multi-carrier system in accordance with an embodiment.

Fig. 2 is an illustration of exemplary dual carrier communication, in accordance with an embodiment.

Fig. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary base station unit in accordance with an embodiment.

Fig. 4 is an illustration of an exemplary coupling of electronic components that enable managing cells in a multi-carrier wireless system from a base station.

Fig. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating an example methodology that facilitates managing cells in a multi-carrier wireless system from a base station.

Fig. 6 is a block diagram of an exemplary access terminal unit in accordance with an embodiment.

Fig. 7 is an illustration of an exemplary coupling of electronic components that enable management of cells in a multi-carrier wireless system from an access terminal.

Fig. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating an example methodology that facilitates managing cells in a multi-carrier wireless system from an access terminal.

Fig. 9 is an illustration of a wireless communication system in accordance with various aspects set forth herein.

Fig. 10 is an illustration of an example wireless network environment that can be employed in conjunction with the various systems and methods described herein.

Fig. 11 is an illustration of an example base station in accordance with various aspects described herein.

Fig. 12 is an illustration of an example wireless terminal implemented in accordance with aspects described herein.

Detailed Description

Various embodiments are now described with reference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of one or more embodiments. It may be evident, however, that such embodiment(s) may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to facilitate describing one or more embodiments.

The techniques described herein may be used for various wireless communication systems such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), single carrier-frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), and other systems. The terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably. A CDMA system may implement a radio technology such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), CDMA2000, etc. UTRA includes wideband CDMA (W-CDMA) and other variants of CDMA. cdma2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95 and IS-856 standards. TDMA systems may implement radio technologies such as global system for mobile communications (GSM). The OFDMA system may implement radio technologies such as evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11(Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16(WiMAX), IEEE802.20, Flash-OFDM, etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). The 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a coming release of UMTS that uses E-UTRA, which employs OFDMA on the downlink and SC-FDMA on the uplink.

Single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) utilizes single carrier modulation and frequency domain equalization. SC-FDMA has similar performance and substantially the same overall complexity as OFDMA systems. SC-FDMA signal possesses lower peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) due to its inherent single carrier structure. For example, SC-FDMA can be used for uplink communications, where a lower PAPR would be very beneficial to the transmit power efficiency of the access terminal. Thus, SC-FDMA may be implemented as an uplink multiple access scheme in 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) or evolved UTRA.

High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) may include High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) technology and High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) or Enhanced Uplink (EUL) technology, and may also include HSPA + technology. HSDPA, HSUPA and HSPA + are part of release 5, release 6 and release 7, respectively, of the third generation partnership project (3GPP) specifications.

High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) optimizes data transmission from the network to the User Equipment (UE). As used herein, transmissions from the network to the user equipment UE are referred to as the "downlink" (DL). The transmission method may allow data rates of several megabits/second. High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) may increase the capacity of a mobile radio network. High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) may optimize data transmission from the terminal to the network. As used herein, transmission from a terminal to a network is referred to as an "uplink" (UL). The uplink data transmission method may allow a data rate of several megabits/second. As explained in release 7 of the 3GPP specifications, HSPA + provides further improvements both for the uplink and for the downlink. Typically, in data services transmitting large amounts of data, such as voice over IP (VoIP), video conferencing, and mobile office applications, a High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) method allows faster interaction between downlink and uplink.

Fast data transmission protocols such as hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) can be used in both uplink and downlink. Such protocols (e.g., hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)) allow a receiver to automatically request retransmission of packets that may have been received in error.

Various embodiments are described herein in connection with an access terminal. An access terminal is also known as a system, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, wireless communication device, user agent, user device, or User Equipment (UE). An access terminal may be a cellular telephone, a cordless telephone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a handheld device having wireless connection capability, a computing device, or other processing device connected to a wireless modem. In addition, various embodiments are described herein in connection with a base station. A base station, also referred to as an access point, node B, evolved node B (enodeb), or some other terminology, may be used for communicating with access terminals.

Referring next to fig. 1, an illustration of an example wireless communication system that facilitates managing cells in a multi-carrier system in accordance with an embodiment is provided. As shown, the system 100 may include: a Radio Network Controller (RNC)120 in communication with the core network 110; and each of the plurality of base stations 130 and 132 in the active set. In this embodiment, RNC 120 receives downlink data packets from core network 110 and relays those data packets to UE140 via base stations 130 and 132. In this particular example, although base station 132 is shown as the current source base station, a serving cell change to one of base stations 130 and an active set update may also be made based on downlink measurements provided by UE 140.

In one embodiment, system 100 facilitates dual carrier communication between UE140 and base stations 130 and 132, wherein an "anchor" carrier and an "auxiliary" carrier are used to facilitate the communication. To this end, it should be understood that the anchor carrier is defined as a downlink frequency carrier associated with an uplink frequency carrier allocated to the UE during dual carrier operation in CELL _ DCH, and the supplementary carrier is defined as a downlink frequency carrier that is not the anchor carrier. In one aspect, the anchor carrier and the supplementary carrier have the same time reference and their downlinks are synchronized, wherein the serving cell is the same on both carriers. It should be understood herein that the downlink queues at the base stations 130 and 132 may operate in a joint or non-joint manner for the two carriers. Similarly, scheduling on the two downlink carriers may also be joint or non-joint.

In another aspect, a "sector" is defined as one or more cells belonging to the same base station and covering the same geographic area. It should be appreciated from this definition that sectors that facilitate DC-HSDPA communications may support deployment of hot spots (hotspots). That is, the UTRAN should be able to allocate HSDPA channels on one or two carriers from any sector in the active set. For example, an active set comprising sectors a and B should be available for allocation, where sector a operates with DC-HSDPA and sector B operates with single carrier HSDPA.

In another aspect, the introduction of DC-HSDPA in system 100 does not affect the operation of legacy UEs. In particular, it should still be possible to operate a UE in MIMO mode on either of the two carriers, while the other UE may be in DC-HSDPA mode using both carriers.

In fig. 2, a diagram of an exemplary dual carrier communication between a base station and a UE is provided, according to an embodiment. As shown, system 200 includes a base station 210 in communication with a UE 220 via an anchor carrier 230 and a supplementary carrier 240. In an aspect, downlink traffic flows from the base station 210 to the UE 220 as shown. When the UE 220 receives data from the base station 210, the UE 220 monitors and reports downlink conditions according to a specific triggering scheme. In one embodiment, the triggering scheme performed by the UE 220 is provided/updated by the base station 210. Here, depending on the particular triggering scheme, the UE 220 may report downlink conditions based on triggering events detected at an anchor receiver assigned to the anchor carrier 230 and/or at a secondary receiver assigned to the secondary carrier 240. The base station 210 then processes the downlink conditions reported by the UE 220 to determine if any cell management modifications (e.g., updating the active set, changing the serving cell, etc.) need to be made. If desired, cell management instructions to implement such modifications are sent to the UE 220 as shown.

Referring next to fig. 3, a block diagram of an exemplary base station unit in accordance with an embodiment is provided. As shown, base unit 300 may include a processor component 310, a memory component 320, a communication component 330, a trigger generation component 340, and a cell management component 350.

In one aspect, the processor unit 310 is configured to execute computer readable instructions related to performing any of a number of functions. Processor component 310 can be a single processor or multiple processors dedicated to analyzing information to be communicated from base unit 300 and/or generating information available to memory component 320, communication component 330, trigger generation component 340, and/or cell management component 350. Additionally or alternatively, processor component 310 may be used to control one or more components of base unit 300.

In another aspect, the memory component 320 is coupled to the processor component 310 and is configured to store computer readable instructions for execution by the processor component 310. The memory component 320 can also be utilized to store any of a number of other types of data, including data generated by any of the communication component 330, the trigger generation component 340, and/or the cell management component 350. The memory component 320 may be configured in a number of different configurations, including random access memory, battery-backed memory, hard disks, tapes, and the like. Various features may also be implemented on the memory component 320, such as compression and automatic backup (e.g., using a redundant array of independent drives configuration).

As shown, the base unit 300 further comprises a communication section 330, the communication section 330 being coupled to the processor section 310 and being arranged to provide an interface between the base unit 300 and external entities. In a particular embodiment, communications component 330 facilitates communicating between base unit 300 and access terminals via an anchor carrier and/or a supplementary carrier. By way of example, the communication component 330 can be employed to receive downlink measurements performed by an access terminal on an anchor carrier and/or a secondary carrier. The communications component 330 can further be configured to transmit triggering algorithms and cell management instructions (e.g., active set updates, serving cell changes, etc.) to the access terminal. In one embodiment, the communications component 330 is further configured to use a common time reference for the anchor carrier and the supplementary carrier to synchronize downlink transmissions on the anchor carrier with downlink transmissions on the supplementary carrier.

In another aspect, base unit 300 further includes trigger generation component 340. Here, the trigger generation component 340 is configured to generate a trigger algorithm that is provided to the access terminal. In this embodiment, the triggering algorithm includes instructions for the access terminal to report downlink measurements based on detection of events occurring on the anchor carrier and/or the secondary carrier.

It should be appreciated that the trigger generation component 340 can generate different types of trigger algorithms that monitor any of a variety of types of trigger events. For example, the trigger algorithm can be generated to include instructions for the access terminal to detect only trigger events on the anchor carrier. Upon detecting an anchor carrier trigger event, a triggering algorithm can instruct the access terminal to report downlink measurements performed on the anchor carrier only or on the anchor carrier and the secondary carrier.

In another embodiment, the trigger generation component 340 is configured to generate a trigger algorithm that causes the access terminal to detect trigger events on the anchor carrier and the secondary carrier. Here, although downlink measurements performed from the anchor carrier and the secondary carrier are reported after each detected trigger event, such a reporting scheme may be inefficient because some of the trigger events may be repeated. To overcome this inefficiency, a triggering algorithm can be generated to command the access terminal to determine an elapsed time between detection of a first triggering event (e.g., on an anchor carrier) and detection of a second triggering event (e.g., on a secondary carrier), wherein downlink measurements associated with the second triggering event are reported along with downlink measurements associated with the first triggering event only if the elapsed time does not exceed a time threshold.

The trigger generation component 340 is further operable to generate a trigger algorithm in which the access terminal is instructed to report measurements performed only on the secondary carrier in accordance with trigger events that occur only on the secondary carrier. In one embodiment, such a triggering algorithm facilitates performing compressed mode operation while making downlink measurements. That is, during downlink compressed mode, the access terminal may perform the requested measurements using the receiver assigned to the secondary carrier without interrupting reception. Meanwhile, downlink power control and downlink data transmission on the anchor carrier may continue uninterrupted. Thus, although this algorithm disables dual carrier reception, the algorithm does not affect downlink power control or data transmission from the anchor carrier.

In another aspect, base unit 300 further includes a cell management component 350, where cell management component 350 is configured to generate cell management instructions for provision to access terminals. In this embodiment, the cell management instructions are based in part on downlink measurements received from the access terminals, where the downlink measurements are triggered by a triggering algorithm provided by the base station. The cell management instructions may include any of a number of types of cell management instructions, including instructions for updating the active set, changing serving cells, enabling/disabling secondary carriers.

Turning to fig. 4, illustrated is a system 400 that facilitates managing cells in a multi-carrier system. System 400 can reside within a base station, for instance. As shown, system 400 includes functional blocks that can represent functions implemented by a processor, software, or combination thereof (e.g., firmware). System 400 includes a logical grouping 402 of electrical components that can act in conjunction. As shown, logical grouping 402 can include: an electrical component 410 that facilitates communicating with an access terminal via an anchor carrier or a supplementary carrier; and an electronic component 412 for generating the triggering algorithm. Additionally, logical grouping 402 can comprise an electrical component 414, the electrical component 414 can for transmitting the trigger algorithm to the access terminal. Logical grouping 402 can also include: an electrical component 416 for receiving downlink measurements from an access terminal; and an electrical component 418 that provides cell management instructions to the access terminal. Additionally, system 400 can include a memory 420, memory 420 for storing instructions to perform functions associated with electrical components 410, 412, 414, 416, and 418. While shown as being external to memory 420, it is to be understood that electrical components 410, 412, 414, 416, and 418 can exist within memory 420.

In fig. 5, a flow diagram is provided that illustrates an exemplary methodology that facilitates managing cells in a multi-carrier system from a base station. As shown, process 500 begins at step 505, generates a triggering algorithm at step 505, and then sends the triggering algorithm to the access terminal at step 510. Here, it should be noted that any of the aforementioned triggering algorithms may be generated/transmitted. For example, such a triggering algorithm may define triggering events and indicate whether the triggering events should be monitored on the anchor carrier and/or the secondary carrier. The triggering algorithm may also indicate whether measurements should be reported from the anchor carrier and/or the secondary carrier, and whether "limited" reporting of measurements triggered from the two carriers should be implemented.

After sending the triggering algorithm at step 510, process 500 continues to step 515 where the base station receives downlink measurements from the access terminal at step 515. Once received, the base station can then utilize the downlink measurements to determine which management order should be sent to the access terminal when multiple management orders are present. For example, it may be determined at step 520 whether a new triggering algorithm should be generated at step 505 based on current downlink conditions.

If it is determined at step 520 that a new triggering algorithm is not needed, a subsequent series of determinations are made regarding whether additional management commands are needed, wherein the commands can be sent to the access terminal concurrently. For example, at step 525, it is determined whether to switch between single carrier operation and dual carrier operation. This feature is particularly desirable for power saving purposes at the access terminal by allowing the base station to enable/disable the supplementary carrier depending on downlink traffic and channel conditions. To this end, the HS-SCCH order may be used to provide this mechanism. If it is determined that the anchor carrier or the supplementary carrier should be enabled/disabled, the command is saved for subsequent transmission to the access terminal at step 530.

As shown, after determining whether to switch between single carrier operation and dual carrier operation at step 525 and (if necessary) recording the command at step 530, process 500 proceeds to step 535 where a determination is made as to whether to perform an active set update at 535. For example, in some downlink conditions, a base station may be required to allocate an active set that includes a first sector for communicating with an access terminal via a single carrier and a second sector for communicating with an access terminal via a dual carrier. If it is determined that an active set update command is necessary, the command is saved for subsequent transmission at step 540, and process 500 then continues to step 545. Otherwise, if an active set update is not necessary, process 500 proceeds directly from step 535 to step 545.

At step 545, it is determined whether a change to the current serving cell of the access terminal is required. If it is determined that the serving cell should indeed be changed, then an access terminal command indicating such a change is recorded at step 550. Process 500 then continues to step 555 where the base station determines whether a command has been recorded at step 530, 540, or 550 at step 555. If no order is recorded, process 500 returns to step 515 where the base station continues to receive downlink measurements from the access terminal at step 515. If, however, the commands are indeed recorded, they are aggregated and simultaneously transmitted to the access terminal at step 560 before process 500 returns to step 515. Here, although the commands are described as being sent simultaneously, it should be understood that the commands may be sent independently.

Referring next to fig. 6, a block diagram of an exemplary access terminal unit in accordance with an embodiment is provided. As shown, the base unit 600 may include a processor component 610, a memory component 620, a communication component 630, a measurement component 640, a triggering component 650, a management component 660, and a timing component 670.

Similar to processor element 310 in base unit 300, processor element 610 is operative to execute computer readable instructions related to performing any of a number of functions. The processor component 610 can be a single processor or multiple processors dedicated to analyzing information to be transmitted from the access terminal unit 600 and/or generating information that can be used by the memory component 620, the communication component 630, the measurement component 640, the triggering component 650, the management component 660, and/or the timing component 670. Additionally or alternatively, processor component 610 may be used to control one or more components of access terminal unit 600.

In another aspect, a memory component 620 is coupled to the processor component 610 and is used to store computer readable instructions that are executed by the processor component 610. The memory component 620 can also be utilized to store any of a number of other types of data, including data generated by any of the communication component 630, the measurement component 640, the triggering component 650, the management component 660, and/or the timing component 670. It should be noted here that the memory section 620 is similar to the memory section 320 in the base station unit 300. Thus, it should be understood that any of the above-described features/structures of memory component 320 also apply to memory component 620.

Similar to the communication component 330 in the base unit 300, the communication component 630 is coupled to the processor component 610 and is used to provide an interface between the access terminal unit 600 and external entities. In a particular embodiment, the communicating component 630 facilitates communicating between the access terminal unit 600 and a base station via an anchor carrier and/or a supplementary carrier. For example, communications component 630 can be configured to transmit downlink measurements to a base station, wherein the downlink measurements are performed by access terminal unit 600 on an anchor carrier and/or a supplementary carrier. The communication component 630 can also be configured to receive trigger algorithms from base stations as well as cell management instructions (e.g., active set updates, serving cell changes, etc.).

As shown, base unit 600 also includes measurement component 640. In an aspect, measurement component 640 is configured to record downlink conditions determined from signals received from base stations. In addition, downlink conditions are also logged from measurements performed from the anchor carrier and/or the secondary carrier.

The access terminal unit 600 can also include a triggering component 650 that the triggering component 650 can be configured to detect triggering events that occur on the anchor carrier and/or the secondary carrier. In one aspect, such trigger events are defined by a trigger algorithm received from a base station, wherein the logged downlink conditions are reported to the base station upon each trigger event.

It should be appreciated that the trigger component 650 can execute different types of trigger algorithms that monitor any of a variety of types of trigger events. For example, a triggering algorithm can be executed that instructs the access terminal to detect triggering events only on the anchor carrier. As described previously for algorithms triggered with such anchor-only carriers (anchor-exclusive), downlink measurements may be sent according to each detected trigger event, where the downlink measurements may be performed on the anchor carrier only or on the anchor carrier and the supplementary carrier.

In another embodiment, the triggering component 650 is configured to execute a triggering algorithm that causes the access terminal unit 600 to detect triggering events on the anchor carrier and the supplementary carrier. Here, as also previously described, a triggering algorithm can be executed to instruct the access terminal unit 600 to determine an elapsed time between detection of a first triggering event (e.g., on an anchor carrier) and detection of a second triggering event (e.g., on a secondary carrier), wherein downlink measurements associated with the second triggering event are reported along with downlink measurements associated with the first triggering event only if the elapsed time does not exceed a time threshold. To facilitate this embodiment, the access terminal unit 600 may also include a timing component 670 for determining the time elapsed between trigger events.

The triggering component 650 can further be employed to execute a triggering algorithm in which the access terminal 600 reports measurements performed only on the secondary carrier based upon detection of a triggering event that occurs only on the secondary carrier. As previously described, such a triggering algorithm may be used to perform compressed mode operation while making downlink measurements. Further, the access terminal unit 600 may perform the requested measurements on the secondary carrier while continuing uninterrupted with downlink power control and downlink data transmission on the anchor carrier.

In another aspect, the access terminal unit 600 further includes a management component 660. Here, management component 660 is configured to execute cell management instructions received from a base station in response to downlink conditions reported by access terminal unit 600. As previously described, the cell management instructions may include any of a number of types of cell management instructions, including instructions for updating an active set, changing a serving cell, or enabling/disabling a secondary carrier.

Referring next to fig. 7, illustrated is another system 700 that facilitates managing cells in a multi-carrier system. System 700 can reside within an access terminal, for instance. Similar to system 500, system 700 includes functional blocks that can represent functions implemented by a processor, software, or combination thereof (e.g., firmware), where system 700 includes a logical grouping 702 of electrical components that can act in conjunction. As shown, logical grouping 702 can include: an electrical component 710 for communicating with a base station via an anchor carrier or a supplementary carrier; and an electrical component 712 that facilitates configuring the access terminal with a triggering algorithm received from the base station. Additionally, logical grouping 702 can include an electrical component 714 that electrically detects a triggering event occurring on the anchor carrier 714. Logical grouping 702 can also include: an electrical component 716 for reporting downlink measurements to a base station upon detecting a triggering event; and an electrical component 718 that receives the cell management instructions from the base station. Additionally, system 700 can include a memory 720, memory 720 for holding instructions to perform functions associated with electrical components 710, 712, 714, 716, and 718, wherein any of electrical components 710, 712, 714, 716, and 718 can reside within or external to memory 720.

In fig. 8, a flow diagram is provided that illustrates an exemplary methodology that facilitates managing cells in a multi-carrier system from an access terminal. As shown, process 800 begins at step 805, where an access terminal is configured for dual carrier operation at step 805. In one aspect, the configuring step can include receiving configuration data from a base station, wherein a triggering algorithm can be embedded in the configuration data. However, it should be understood that the access terminal may also be configured to be independent of the base station (e.g., manually and/or pre-configured by the manufacturer).

Once configured, the access terminal begins receiving instructions and traffic data from the base station at step 810. Process 800 then continues at step 805 by determining whether communication between the access terminal and the base station is via single carrier or dual carrier. Indeed, as previously described, the instructions received from the base station may include switching between single carrier operation and dual carrier operation for power saving purposes at the access terminal. If the instructions from the base station indicate single carrier operation, the secondary carrier is disabled at step 820, and process 800 returns to step 810 to receive data/instructions.

If dual carrier operation is indicated, process 800 continues to step 825 where the anchor carrier and the secondary carrier are enabled. Then, at step 830, the carriers that the base station requires the access terminal to trigger event monitoring are determined. If the access terminal is commanded to monitor for only trigger events on the anchor carrier, process 800 continues at step 835. Otherwise, if monitoring for triggering events on the anchor carrier and the secondary carrier is required, process 800 continues at step 850.

At step 835, the access terminal performs monitoring for downlink conditions between the base station and the access terminal, involving monitoring for trigger events only on the anchor carrier. Here, it should be noted that the monitoring scheme may include recording downlink measurements on only the anchor carrier, or recording downlink measurements on both the anchor carrier and the secondary carrier. If a triggering event is detected on the anchor carrier at step 840, downlink measurements collected from only the anchor carrier, or downlink measurements collected from the anchor carrier and the supplementary carrier, are reported to the base station at step 845. Once these downlink measurements are reported, process 800 returns to step 835 where monitoring for downlink measurements continues. However, if no triggering event is detected at step 840, process 800 returns directly to step 835, as shown.

At step 850, the access terminal monitors for downlink conditions on the anchor carrier and the supplementary carrier in relation to monitoring for triggering events on the anchor carrier and the supplementary carrier. If a triggering event is not detected on either the anchor carrier or the secondary carrier at step 855, then the process 800 returns to step 850 to continue monitoring for downlink measurements at step 850. However, if a trigger is indeed detected, a time threshold comparison is made at step 860 to determine whether to report downlink measurements associated with the trigger event detected after the first trigger event at step 865. For example, if a first trigger event is detected, downlink measurements associated with the trigger event may be reported immediately, wherein downlink measurements associated with subsequent trigger events are reported only if the time elapsed between trigger events exceeds a time threshold. In another embodiment, if the first trigger event is detected, downlink measurements associated with subsequent trigger events are reported with downlink measurements associated with the first trigger event only if the time elapsed between trigger events does not exceed the time threshold. Once the downlink measurements are reported, the process 800 returns to step 850 to continue monitoring for the downlink at step 850.

Referring now to fig. 9, a wireless communication system 900 is illustrated in accordance with various described embodiments of the invention. System 900 comprises a base station 902, wherein base station 902 comprises multiple antenna groups. For example, one antenna group can include antenna 904 and antenna 906, another can include antenna 908 and antenna 910, and an additional can include antenna 912 and antenna 914. Although two antennas are shown for each antenna group; however, more or fewer antennas may be utilized for each antenna group. Base station 902 can additionally comprise a transmitter chain and a receiver chain, each of which can in turn comprise a plurality of components associated with signal transmission and reception (e.g., processors, modulators, multiplexers, demodulators, demultiplexers, antennas, etc.), as will be appreciated by one skilled in the art.

Base station 902 can communicate with one or more access terminals (e.g., access terminal 916 and access terminal 922); however, it is to be appreciated that base station 902 can communicate with virtually any number of access terminals similar to access terminal 916 and access terminal 922. Access terminal 916 and access terminal 922 may be, for example, cellular phones, smart phones, laptops, handheld communication devices, handheld computing devices, satellite radios, global positioning systems, PDAs, and/or any other suitable device for communicating over wireless communication system 900. As depicted, access terminal 916 is in communication with antennas 912, 914, where antennas 912 and 914 transmit information to access terminal 916 over forward link 918 and receive information from access terminal 916 over reverse link 920. Moreover, access terminal 922 is in communication with antennas 904 and 906, where antennas 904 and 906 transmit information to access terminal 922 over forward link 924 and receive information from access terminal 922 over reverse link 926. In a Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) system, forward link 918 can utilize a different frequency band than that used by reverse link 920, and forward link 924 can employ a different frequency band than that employed by reverse link 926, for example. Further, in a Time Division Duplex (TDD) system, forward link 918 and reverse link 920 can utilize a common frequency band and forward link 924 and reverse link 926 can utilize a common frequency band.

Each group of antennas and/or the area in which they are allocated for communication can be referred to as a sector of base station 902. For example, antenna groups can be allocated to communicate to access terminals in a sector of the areas covered by base station 902. In communication over forward link 918 and forward link 924, the transmitting antennas of base station 902 can use beamforming to improve signal-to-noise ratio of forward link 918 of access terminal 916 and forward link 924 of access terminal 922. Moreover, base station 902 can be made to experience less interference when transmitting using beamforming to access terminal 916 and access terminal 922 scattered randomly through an associated coverage area, as compared to a base station transmitting through a single antenna to all its access terminals.

Fig. 10 illustrates an exemplary wireless communication system 1000. The wireless communication system 1000 illustrates one base station 1010 and one access terminal 1050 for sake of brevity. It is to be appreciated that system 1000 can include more than one base station and/or more than one access terminal, wherein additional base stations and/or access terminals can in fact be the same as or different from example base station 1010 and access terminal 1050 described below. Additionally, it is to be appreciated that base station 1010 and/or access terminal 1050 can employ the systems and/or methods described herein to facilitate wireless communication there between.

At base station 1010, traffic data for a number of data streams is provided from a data source 1012 to Transmit (TX) data processor 1014. According to one example, each data stream is transmitted over a respective antenna. TX data processor 1014 formats, codes, and interleaves the traffic data for the data stream based on a particular coding scheme selected for that data stream to provide coded data.

The coded data for each data stream can be multiplexed with pilot data using Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) techniques. Additionally or alternatively, the pilot symbols may be Frequency Division Multiplexed (FDM), Time Division Multiplexed (TDM), or Code Division Multiplexed (CDM). The pilot data is typically a known data pattern that is processed in a known manner and can be utilized at access terminal 1050 to estimate channel response. The multiplexed pilot and coded data for each data stream is modulated (e.g., symbol mapped) based on a particular modulation scheme (e.g., binary phase-shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK), M-phase-shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM), etc.) selected for that data stream to provide modulation symbols. The data rate, coding, and modulation for each data stream can be determined by instructions performed or provided by processor 1030.

The modulation symbols for the data streams can be provided to a TX MIMO processor 1020, which TX MIMO processor 1020 can further process the modulation symbols (e.g., for OFDM). Then, the TX MIMO processor 1020 will N_TOne modulation symbol stream is provided to N_TAnd Transmitters (TMTR)1022a through 1022 t. In various embodiments, TX MIMO processor 1020 applies beamforming weights to the symbols of the data streams and to the antenna from which the symbol is being transmitted.

Each transmitter 1022 receives and processes a respective symbol stream to provide one or more analog signals, and further conditions (e.g., amplifies, filters, and upconverts) the analog signals to provide a modulated signal suitable for transmission over the MIMO channel. Then, N from transmitters 1022a through 1022t_TEach modulated signal being from N_TThe antennas 1024a to 1024t transmit.

At access terminal 1050, the transmitted modulated signal consists of N_RAntennas 1052a through 1052r are configured to receive and the received signal from each antenna 1052 is provided to a respective receiver (RCVR)1054a through 1054 r. Each receiver 1054 conditions (e.g., filters, amplifies, and downconverts) a respective signal, digitizes the conditioned signal to provide samples, and further processes the samples to provide a corresponding "received" symbol stream.

RX data processor 1060 to process the data from N based on a particular receiver processor technique_RN of receiver 1054_RA stream of received symbols is received and processed to provide N_TA "detected" symbol stream. RX data processor 1060 can demodulate, deinterleave, and decode each detected symbol stream to recover the traffic data for the data stream. The processing by RX data processor 1060 is complementary to that performed by TX MIMO processor 1020 and TX data processor 1014 at base station 1010.

As described above, processor 1070 can periodically determine which available technology to use. In addition. Processor 1070 can generate a reverse link message comprising a matrix index portion and a rank value portion.

The reverse link message may comprise various types of information regarding the communication link and/or the received data stream. The reverse link message is processed by a TX data processor 1038, modulated by a modulator 1080, conditioned by transmitters 1054a through 1054r, and transmitted back to base station 1010, where TX data processor 1038 also receives traffic data for a number of data streams from a data source 1036.

At base station 1010, the modulated signals from access terminal 1050 are received by antennas 1024, conditioned by receivers 1022, demodulated by a demodulator 1040, and processed by a RX data processor 1042 to extract the reverse link message transmitted by access terminal 1050. Processor 1030 can then process the extracted message to determine which precoding matrix to use for determining the beamforming weights.

Processor 1030 and processor 1070 can direct (e.g., control, coordinate, manage, etc.) operation at base station 1010 and access terminal 1050, respectively. Processor 1030 and processor 1070 can be associated with memory 1032 and memory 1072 that store program codes and data, respectively. Processor 1030 and processor 1070 can also perform computations to derive frequency and impulse response estimates for the uplink and downlink, respectively.

Fig. 11 illustrates an example base station 1100 in accordance with various aspects. Base station 1100 implements tone subset allocation sequences in which different tone subset allocation sequences are generated for different respective sector types of the cell. Base station 1100 includes a receiver 1102, a transmitter 1104, a processor 1106 (e.g., CPU), an input/output interface 1108, and memory 1110 coupled together by a bus 1109, where the various units 1102, 1104, 1106, 1108, and 1110 may exchange data and information over bus 1109.

Sectorized antenna 1103 coupled to receiver 1102 is used for receiving data and other signals (e.g., channel reports) from wireless terminal transmissions from each sector within the base station's cell. Sectorized antenna 1105 coupled to transmitter 1104 is used for transmitting data and other signals, e.g., control signals, pilot signals, beacon signals, etc., to wireless terminals 1200 in each sector of the base station's cell (see fig. 12). In various aspects, base station 1100 may employ multiple receivers 1102 and multiple transmitters 1104, e.g., a separate receiver 1102 for each sector and a separate transmitter 1104 for each sector. The processor 1106 may be, for example, a general purpose Central Processing Unit (CPU). Processor 1106 controls operation of base station 1100 under direction of one or more routines 1118 stored in memory 1110 and used to implement the methods previously described. I/O interface 1108 provides a connection to other network nodes, couples BS 1100 to other base stations, access routers, AAA server nodes, etc., and couples BS 1100 to other networks and the internet. Memory 1110 includes routines 1118 and data/information 1120.

Data/information 1120 includes data 1136, tone subset allocation sequence information 1138, and Wireless Terminal (WT) data/information 1144, where tone subset allocation sequence information 1138 includes downlink strip-symbol (strip-symbol) time information 1140 and downlink tone information 1142, and Wireless Terminal (WT) data/information 1144 includes sets of WT information: WT1 information 1146 and WT N information 1160. Each set of WT information (e.g., WT1 information 1146) includes data 1148, terminal ID1150, sector ID 1152, uplink channel information 1154, downlink channel information 1156, and mode information 1158.

Routines 1118 include communications routines 1122 and base station control routines 1124. Base station control routines 1124 include a scheduler module 1126 and signaling routines 1128, where signaling routines 1128 include: tone subset allocation routine 1130 for the strip-symbol periods; other downlink tone allocation hopping routines 1132 for the remaining symbol periods (e.g., non-strip-symbol periods); and a beacon routine 1134.

Data 1136 includes data to be transmitted that is intended for encoder 1114 of transmitter 1104 to encode prior to transmission to WTs, and received data from WTs that has been processed by decoder 1112 of receiver 1102 after reception. Downlink strip-symbol time information 1140 includes: frame synchronization structure information, e.g., superslot (superslot), beaconing slot (beaconionslot), and ultraslot (ultraslot) structure information; and information for specifying whether the given symbol period is a strip-symbol period, and if the given symbol period is a strip-symbol period, the information also for specifying an index of the strip-symbol period and whether the strip-symbol is a reset point to truncate the tone subset allocation sequence used by the base station. Downlink tone information 1142 includes information including: the carrier frequency assigned to base station 1100, the number and frequency of tones, the set of tone subsets assigned to the strip-symbol periods, and other cell and sector specific values such as slope (slope), slope index, and sector type.

The data 1148 may include: data received by WT 11200 from a peer node, data that WT 11200 wants to send to a peer node, and downlink channel quality report feedback information. Terminal ID1150 is an ID assigned by base station 1100 to identify WT 11200. Sector ID 1152 includes information identifying the sector in which WT 11200 operates. For example, sector ID 1152 may be used to determine the type of sector. Uplink channel information 1154 includes information identifying channel segments that have been allocated for use by WT 11200 by scheduler 1126, e.g., uplink traffic channel segments for data and dedicated uplink control channels for requests, power control, timing control, etc. Each uplink channel assigned to WT 11200 includes one or more logical tones, each of which follows an uplink hopping sequence. Downlink channel information 1156 includes information identifying channel segments that have been allocated by scheduler 1126 for transmitting data and/or information to WT 11200, e.g., downlink traffic channel segments for user data. Each downlink channel allocated to WT 11200 includes one or more logical tones, each logical tone following a downlink hopping sequence. Mode information 1158 includes information identifying the operational status of WT 11200, e.g., sleep, hold, power on.

Communications routines 1122 control the base station 1100 to perform various communications operations and implement various communications protocols. Base station control routines 1124 are used to control the base station 1100 to perform basic base station control function tasks such as generation and reception of signals, scheduling, and implementing steps of the method of some aspects, including transmitting signals to wireless terminals using the tone subset allocation sequences during strip-symbol periods.

Signaling routine 1128 controls the operation of receiver 1102 and its decoder 1112, and transmitter 1104 and its encoder 1114. The signaling routine 1128 is responsible for controlling the generation of the transmit data 1136 and control information. Tone subset allocation routine 1130 uses the method of the scheme and uses data/information 1120 (including downlink strip-symbol time information 1140 and sector ID 1152) to construct the tone subsets to be used during the strip-symbol periods. The downlink tone subset allocation sequences are different for each sector type in one cell and different for adjacent cells. WT 1200 receives signals in strip-symbol periods according to downlink tone subset allocation sequences; base station 1100 generates the transmitted signals using the same downlink tone subset allocation sequences. Other downlink tone allocation hopping routine 1132 constructs downlink tone hopping sequences for symbol periods other than the strip-symbol period, where the routine constructs using information including downlink tone information 1142 and downlink channel information 1156. The downlink data tone hopping sequences remain synchronized across the sectors of the cell. Beacon routine 1134 controls the transmission of beacon signals (e.g., signals having relatively high signal power concentrated on one or some tones) that are used for synchronization purposes, such as: the frame timing structure of the downlink signal, and thus the tone subset allocation sequence, is synchronized with respect to the time slot boundary.

Fig. 12 shows an exemplary wireless terminal (end node) 1200. Wireless terminal 1200 implements a tone subset allocation sequence. Wireless terminal 1200 includes a receiver 1202 (including a decoder 1212), a transmitter 1204 (including an encoder 1214), a processor 1206, and memory 1208 coupled together by a bus 1210 over which the various units 1202, 1204, 1206, 1208 may exchange data and information. An antenna 1203 used for receiving signals from a base station (and/or other wireless terminal) is coupled to receiver 1202. An antenna 1205 for transmitting signals to, for example, a base station (and/or other wireless terminal) is coupled to transmitter 1204.

Processor 1206 (e.g., a CPU) controls operation of wireless terminal 1200 and implements methods by executing routines 1220 and using data/information 1222 in memory 1208.

Data/information 1222 includes user data 1234, user information 1236, and tone subset allocation sequence information 1250. User data 1234 may include: data to be transmitted to the peer node, wherein the data to be transmitted is routed to encoder 1214 for encoding prior to transmission by transmitter 1204 to the base station; and data received from the base station, where the received data has been processed by a decoder 1212 in the receiver 1202. User information 1236 includes uplink channel information 1238, downlink channel information 1240, terminal ID information 1242, base station ID information 1244, sector ID information 1246, and mode information 1248. Uplink channel information 1238 includes information identifying uplink channel segments that have been assigned by the base station to wireless terminal 1200 for use in transmitting to the base station. The uplink channels may include uplink traffic channels, dedicated uplink control channels, such as request channels, power control channels, and timing control channels. Each uplink channel includes one or more logical tones, each logical tone following an uplink tone hopping sequence. The uplink hopping sequence is different between each sector type in a cell and also different between adjacent cells. Downlink channel information 1240 includes information identifying downlink channel segments that have been assigned by the base station to WT 1200 for use when the base station is transmitting data/information to WT 1200. The downlink channels may include downlink traffic channels and assignment channels, each downlink channel including one or more logical tones, each logical tone following a downlink hopping sequence, wherein the sequences maintain synchronization between each sector of the cell.

User info 1236 also includes terminal ID information 1242, base station ID information 1244 and sector ID information 1246, where terminal ID information 1242 is a base station assigned identification, base station ID information 1244 identifies the particular base station with which the WT has established communications, and sector ID information 1246 identifies the particular sector in the cell in which WT 1200 is currently located. Base station ID 1244 provides the cell slope value and sector ID info 1246 provides the sector index type; the cell slope value and sector index type may be used to derive the tone hopping sequence. Mode information 1248 also included in user info 1236 identifies whether WT 1200 is in sleep mode, hold mode, or on mode.

Tone subset allocation sequence information 1250 includes downlink strip-symbol time information 1252 and downlink tone information 1254. Downlink strip-symbol time information 1252 includes: frame synchronization structure information, e.g., superslot, beaconslot, and superslot structure information; and information for specifying whether the given symbol period is a strip-symbol period, and if the given symbol period is a strip-symbol period, the information also for specifying an index of the strip-symbol period and whether the strip-symbol is a reset point to truncate the tone subset allocation sequence used by the base station. Downlink tone info 1254 includes information including: the carrier frequency assigned to the base station, the number and frequency of tones, the set of tone subsets assigned to the strip-symbol periods, and other cell and sector specific values such as slope, slope index, and sector type.

Routines 1220 include communications routines 1224 and wireless terminal control routines 1226. Communications routines 1224 control the various communications protocols used by WT 1200. Wireless terminal control routines 1226 control the basic functions of the wireless terminal 1200, including the control of the receiver 1202 and transmitter 1204. Wireless terminal control routines 1226 include signaling routines 1228. Signaling routines 1228 include a tone subset allocation routine 1230 for strip-symbol periods and other downlink tone allocation hopping routines 1232 for the remaining symbol periods (e.g., non-strip-symbol periods). Tone subset allocation routine 1230 uses user data/information 1222 (including downlink channel information 1240, base station ID information 1244, e.g., slope index and sector type) and downlink tone information 1254 to generate downlink tone subset allocation sequences and process received data transmitted from the base station according to some schemes. Other downlink tone allocation hopping routine 1230 constructs downlink tone hopping sequences for symbol periods other than strip-symbol periods, where the sequences are constructed by the routine with information including downlink tone info 1254 and downlink channel info 1240. When processor 1206 executes tone subset allocation routine 1230, it is used to determine when and on which tones one or more strip-symbol signals are received by wireless terminal 1200 from a base station. Uplink tone allocation hopping routine 1230 utilizes the tone subset allocation function along with information received from the base station to determine which tones it transmits on.

In one or more exemplary embodiments, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, the functions are stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media, where communication media encompasses any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio frequency, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio frequency, and microwave are included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, includes Compact Disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, Digital Versatile Disc (DVD), floppy disk and blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs usually reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

When the above embodiments are implemented in program code or code segments, it should be understood that the code segments may represent procedures, functions, subroutines, programs, routines, subroutines, modules, software packages, classes, or a combination of instructions, data structures, or program declarations. A code segment may be coupled to another code segment or a hardware circuit by passing and/or receiving information, data, arguments, parameters, or memory contents. Information, arguments, parameters, data, etc. may be passed, forwarded, or transmitted via any suitable means including memory sharing, message passing, token passing, network transmission, etc. Additionally, in some aspects, the steps and/or operations of a method or algorithm may reside as one or any combination or set of codes and/or instructions in a machine readable medium and/or computer readable medium, which may be incorporated into a computer program product.

For a software implementation, the techniques described herein may be implemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein. The software codes may be stored in memory units and executed by processors. The memory unit may be implemented within the processor or external to the processor, in which case it can be communicatively coupled to the processor via various means as is known in the art.

For a hardware implementation, the processing units may be implemented within one or more Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), Digital Signal Processing Devices (DSPDs), Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, or a combination of the foregoing.

What has been described above includes examples of one or more embodiments. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes of describing the aforementioned embodiments, but one of ordinary skill in the art may recognize that many further combinations and permutations of various embodiments are possible. Accordingly, the described embodiments are intended to embrace all such alterations, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the term "includes" is used in either the detailed description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term "comprising" as "comprising" is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim.

As used herein, the term to "infer" or "inference" refers generally to the process of reasoning about or inferring states of the system, environment, and/or user from a set of observations as captured via events and/or data. Inference can be employed to identify a specific context or action, or can be employed to generate a probability distribution over states, for example. The inference can be probabilistic-that is, the computation of a probability distribution over states of interest based on a consideration of data and events. Inference can also refer to techniques employed for composing higher-level events from a set of events and/or data. Such inference results in the construction of new events or actions from a set of observed events and/or stored event data, whether or not the events are correlated in close temporal proximity, and whether the events and data come from one or more event and data sources.

In addition, as used herein, the terms "component," "module," "system," and the like are used to refer to a computer-related entity, namely: hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware and software, or executing software. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to: a process running on a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or a computer. By way of example, both an application running on a computing device and the computing device can be a component. One or more components can reside within a process and/or thread of execution and a component may be localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or more computers. In addition, these components can execute from various computer readable media having various data structures stored thereon. For example, the components may communicate by way of local and/or remote processes in accordance with a signal having one or more data packets (e.g., data from one component interacting with another component in a local system, distributed system, and/or across a network such as the Internet with other systems by way of the signal).

Claims (36)

1. A method for an access terminal in a wireless network that facilitates managing cells in a multi-carrier system, the method comprising:

executing, with a processor, computer-executable instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium to:

communicating with a base station via an anchor carrier and a supplementary carrier;

receiving a signal through an anchor receiver assigned to the anchor carrier and an auxiliary receiver assigned to the auxiliary carrier;

configuring the access terminal with a triggering algorithm received from the base station, the triggering algorithm including instructions for determining whether to report downlink measurements performed by the access terminal;

detecting at least one trigger event via the anchor carrier or the secondary carrier, each of the at least one trigger event being defined by the trigger algorithm;

reporting the downlink measurements to the base station upon detecting each of the at least one triggering event;

detecting a subsequent trigger event via the anchor carrier or the secondary carrier;

reporting the downlink measurements associated with the subsequent trigger event only if an elapsed time between one trigger event and the subsequent trigger event exceeds a time threshold; and

receiving a response from the base station, the response including a cell management instruction based in part on the downlink measurements.

2. The method of claim 1, the cell management instructions comprising:

instructions for enabling or disabling the secondary carrier.

3. The method of claim 1, the cell management instructions comprising instructions that cause the access terminal to:

temporarily disabling secondary carrier reception;

performing the downlink measurements from the secondary receiver; and

detecting each of the at least one triggering event at the secondary receiver.

4. The method of claim 1, the reporting operation comprising:

reporting downlink measurements performed on the anchor carrier and the supplementary carrier.

5. The method of claim 1, the detecting operation further comprising:

detecting each of the at least one triggering event on the secondary carrier.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising determining an elapsed time between detecting the first trigger event and detecting the second trigger event, and

the reporting operation includes: reporting the downlink measurements associated with the second trigger event with the downlink measurements associated with the first trigger event only if the elapsed time does not exceed a time threshold.

7. The method of claim 1, the communication operation comprising:

and jointly scheduling the anchor carrier and the auxiliary carrier.

8. The method of claim 1, the communication operation comprising:

and performing non-joint scheduling on the anchor carrier and the auxiliary carrier.

9. The method of claim 1, the communication operation comprising:

using a common time reference for each of the anchor carrier and the supplementary carrier,

wherein downlink transmissions via the anchor carrier are synchronized with downlink transmissions via the supplementary carrier.

10. The method of claim 1, the communication operation comprising:

communicate with the base station in a MIMO mode via the anchor carrier or the auxiliary carrier.

11. An access terminal that facilitates managing cells in a multi-carrier wireless system, comprising:

a memory component for storing computer readable instructions;

a processing component coupled to the memory component and configured to execute the computer-readable instructions, the instructions comprising instructions to implement a plurality of operations on:

communication means for facilitating communication between the access terminal and a base station via an anchor carrier and a supplementary carrier, the communication means for receiving a signal through an anchor receiver assigned to the anchor carrier and a supplementary receiver assigned to the supplementary carrier;

measuring means for recording a downlink condition, wherein the downlink condition is recorded from measurements performed from at least one of the anchor carrier or the secondary carrier;

trigger means for detecting at least one trigger event occurring on the anchor carrier or the secondary carrier, wherein each of the at least one trigger event is defined by a trigger algorithm received from the base station and reporting the downlink condition to the base station as a function of each trigger event, wherein the trigger means are further for reporting the downlink measurements to the base station upon detection of each of the at least one trigger event, detecting a subsequent trigger event via the anchor carrier or the secondary carrier, and reporting the downlink measurements associated with the subsequent trigger event only if an elapsed time between one trigger event and the subsequent trigger event exceeds a time threshold;

management means for executing cell management instructions received from the base station, wherein the cell management instructions are received in response to the downlink conditions reported by the access terminal.

12. The access terminal of claim 11, the management component further to:

executing instructions for enabling or disabling the secondary carrier.

13. The access terminal of claim 11, the management component further to execute instructions to:

temporarily disabling secondary carrier reception at the communications component;

configuring the measurement component to record the downlink condition from measurements performed from the secondary receiver; and

configuring the trigger component to detect each of the at least one trigger event at the secondary receiver.

14. The access terminal of claim 11, the triggering component further to:

reporting downlink conditions based on measurements performed on the anchor carrier and the secondary carrier.

15. The access terminal of claim 11, the triggering component further to:

detecting a trigger event on the secondary carrier.

16. The access terminal of claim 15, further comprising: a timing component for determining the time elapsed between the detection of the first trigger event and the detection of the second trigger event, an

The trigger component is further configured to: reporting a downlink condition based on the downlink measurements associated with the second trigger event and the downlink measurements associated with the first trigger event only if the elapsed time does not exceed a time threshold.

17. An apparatus that facilitates managing cells in a multi-carrier system from an access terminal, comprising:

means for communicating with a base station via an anchor carrier and a supplementary carrier;

means for receiving a signal through an anchor receiver assigned to the anchor carrier and an auxiliary receiver assigned to the auxiliary carrier;

means for configuring the access terminal with a triggering algorithm received from the base station, the triggering algorithm including instructions for determining whether to report downlink measurements performed by the access terminal;

means for detecting at least one trigger event via the anchor carrier or the secondary carrier, each of the at least one trigger event defined by the trigger algorithm;

means for reporting the downlink measurements to the base station upon detecting each of the at least one triggering event;

means for detecting a subsequent trigger event via the anchor carrier or the secondary carrier;

means for reporting the downlink measurements associated with the subsequent trigger event only if an elapsed time between one trigger event and the subsequent trigger event exceeds a time threshold; and

means for receiving a response from the base station, the response comprising a cell management instruction based in part on the downlink measurements.

18. A method for a base station in a wireless network that facilitates managing cells in a multi-carrier system, the method comprising:

executing, with a processor, computer-executable instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium to:

communicating with an access terminal via an anchor carrier and a supplementary carrier;

generating a trigger algorithm comprising instructions that cause the access terminal to report downlink measurements upon detection of a plurality of trigger events via at least one of the anchor carrier or the supplementary carrier, wherein the plurality of trigger events comprises one trigger event and a subsequent trigger event, and the instructions comprise instructions that cause the access terminal to report the downlink measurements associated with the subsequent trigger event only if an elapsed time between the one trigger event and the subsequent trigger event exceeds a time threshold;

sending the trigger algorithm to the access terminal;

receiving downlink measurements from the access terminal; and

providing cell management instructions to the access terminal, the cell management instructions based in part on the downlink measurements.

19. The method of claim 18, the providing operation comprising:

providing instructions to the access terminal for enabling or disabling the supplementary carrier.

20. The method of claim 18, the trigger algorithm being generated to include:

instructions that cause the access terminal to report downlink measurements performed on the anchor carrier and the supplementary carrier.

21. The method of claim 18, the trigger algorithm being generated to include:

instructions that cause the access terminal to detect the trigger event on the anchor carrier and the secondary carrier.

22. The method of claim 21, the trigger algorithm being generated to include:

instructions for causing the access terminal to determine an elapsed time between detection of a first trigger event and detection of a second trigger event,

wherein the access terminal is instructed to report downlink measurements associated with the second trigger event with downlink measurements associated with the first trigger event only if the elapsed time does not exceed a time threshold.

23. The method of claim 18, the trigger algorithm is generated to include instructions that cause the access terminal to:

temporarily disabling secondary carrier reception;

performing the downlink measurements only from the secondary receiver; and

detecting a trigger event only at the secondary receiver.

24. The method of claim 18, the communicating operation comprising:

a joint queue is used for the anchor carrier and the secondary carrier.

25. The method of claim 18, the communicating operation comprising:

using a non-joint queue for the anchor carrier and the secondary carrier.

26. The method of claim 18, the communicating operation comprising:

a common serving cell is used for the anchor carrier and the supplementary carrier.

27. The method of claim 18, the communicating operation comprising:

using a common time reference for each of the anchor carrier and the supplementary carrier,

wherein downlink transmissions via the anchor carrier are synchronized with downlink transmissions via the supplementary carrier.

28. The method of claim 18, the providing operation comprising:

an active set is assigned to the access terminal,

wherein the active set comprises a first sector for communicating with the access terminal via a single carrier and a second sector for communicating with the access terminal via a dual carrier.

29. A base station that facilitates managing cells in a multi-carrier wireless system, comprising:

a memory component for storing computer readable instructions;

a processing component coupled to the memory component and configured to execute computer-readable instructions, the instructions comprising instructions for implementing a plurality of operations on:

means for facilitating communication between the base station and an access terminal via an anchor carrier and a supplementary carrier;

trigger generation means for generating a trigger algorithm for provision to the access terminal, the trigger algorithm including instructions to cause the access terminal to report downlink measurements upon detection of a plurality of trigger events via at least one of the anchor carrier or the supplementary carrier, wherein the plurality of trigger events includes one trigger event and a subsequent trigger event, and the instructions including instructions to cause the access terminal to report the downlink measurements associated with the subsequent trigger event only if an elapsed time between the one trigger event and the subsequent trigger event exceeds a time threshold;

cell management means for generating cell management instructions for provision to the access terminal, the cell management instructions based in part on downlink measurements received from the access terminal in accordance with the triggering algorithm.

30. The base station according to claim 29, said cell management means being adapted to:

generating cell management instructions for enabling or disabling the secondary carrier.

31. The base station of claim 29, the trigger algorithm is generated to include:

instructions that cause the access terminal to report downlink measurements performed on the anchor carrier and the supplementary carrier.

32. The base station of claim 29, the trigger algorithm is generated to include:

instructions that cause the access terminal to detect the trigger event on the anchor carrier and the secondary carrier.

33. The base station of claim 32, the trigger algorithm generated to include:

instructions for causing the access terminal to determine an elapsed time between detection of a first trigger event and detection of a second trigger event,

wherein the access terminal is instructed to report downlink measurements associated with the second trigger event with downlink measurements associated with the first trigger event only if the elapsed time does not exceed a time threshold.

34. The base station of claim 29, the trigger algorithm is generated to include instructions to cause the access terminal to:

temporarily disabling secondary carrier reception;

performing the downlink measurements only from the secondary receiver; and

detecting a trigger event only at the secondary receiver.

35. The base station of claim 29, the communication component further configured to:

using a common time reference for each of the anchor carrier and the supplementary carrier,

wherein downlink transmissions via the anchor carrier are synchronized with downlink transmissions via the supplementary carrier.

36. An apparatus that facilitates managing cells in a multi-carrier system from a base station, comprising:

means for communicating with an access terminal via an anchor carrier and a supplementary carrier;

means for generating a triggering algorithm comprising instructions that cause the access terminal to report downlink measurements upon detection of a plurality of triggering events via at least one of the anchor carrier or the supplementary carrier, wherein the plurality of triggering events comprises one triggering event and a subsequent triggering event, and the instructions comprise instructions that cause the access terminal to report the downlink measurements associated with the subsequent triggering event only if an elapsed time between the one triggering event and the subsequent triggering event exceeds a time threshold;

means for sending the trigger algorithm to the access terminal;

means for receiving downlink measurements from the access terminal; and

means for providing cell management instructions to the access terminal, the cell management instructions based in part on the downlink measurements.